Civil servants have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to withhold assent to the 45 bills hurriedly passed by the seventh Senate before it wound up in June.
They are particularly concerned about the Audit Bill, which seeks to establish the office of the auditor general of the federation; and the Tertiary Education Trust (TET) Fund Amendment Bill.
The Audit Bill seeks to provide additional powers and functions for the office, establish the Federal Audit Service Commission (FASC), repeal the Audit Act 1956, and the Public Accounts Committee Act 2004.
That of the TET Fund aims to amend the Act that set it up.
The lawmakers’ haste in passing the bills aroused suspicion from the public.
Ukura’s alleged ambition
Some top civil servants in the auditor general’s office have also voiced opposition to the Audit Bill, alleging that federal Auditor General (AG), Samuel Ukura, inserted some clauses to ensure his self-perpetuation in office.
The civil servants, who spoke anonymously, queried the proposal for the establishment of a FASC with Ukura as Chairman.
One said: “If the proposed Audit Bill establishes a commission whose chairman will double as the auditor general, will decisions made therefrom be objective in all ramifications?
“Whoever superintends a commission wields so much power, such that often times it could be misused.
“To qualify for the post of AG, according to the bill, such a person must be a registered member of the Financial Council of Nigeria (FRC).
“To be a registered member of the FRC, according to Section 41 (5) of the bill, the person must have a practice licence/certificate.
“It should be noted that no public/civil servant can have such a licence or be a member of the FRC while in service. This makes all staff illegible, irrespective of where the person works.”
This will affect productivity, he argued.
The bill seeks to change the structure of the office of AG, proposing that “anybody with equal to or less than four years will not qualify to contest” for it.
The civil servants complained that this will not encourage commitment from directors who may be affected.
They also pointed out that while the Constitution stipulates 60 years of age or 35 years of service – whichever comes earlier – as retirement age, the bill proposes 65 years of age or 35 years of service for the AG and no other worker in the office.
They warned that “if the power to hire and fire is given to the chairman of the commission, who will also be the AG/accounting officer, it may be putting poison in the fangs of the tiger, which can be misused.”
Ukura was seconded from Benue State civil service where he was a Level 13 officer and promoted to federal AG.
He is reportedly seeking a second term in office and allegedly sparing no effort to get Buhari to sign the bill into law, to make his (Ukura’s) sail easy.
Selfishness prompts TET Fund proposal
The same selfish ambition is also said to be the reason for the proposal in the TET Fund Bill that it should support private tertiary institutions.
The TET Fund currently assists public tertiary institutions which lack adequate funding from government.
Public schools in Nigeria are not allowed to charge high fees like private schools which are run for profit.
But the bill seeks to amend the TET Fund Act 2011 “to expressly provide that the meaning of university shall include the Nigerian Law School and any other tertiary institution established by law which runs full time programme which leads to formal qualification by law.”
Officials of the Ministry of Education see TET Fund Bill as an attempt to ensure government sponsorship of private tertiary institutions which are already operating as commercial and profit oriented ventures.