Ten Places President Jonathan Can Get His N479 Billion

After the third day of a nationwide protests, with over a dozen people dead and many more likely to die in the days to come, maybe there is a way to help President Jonathan avoid splashing more blood of innocent Nigerians on his hands. This is more important now that we know that the president is overwhelmed by fights at several fronts, including fighting Boko Haram members that have penetrated the innermost circle of his government.

Based on Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s calculations, there is N1.3 trillion naira in oil subsidy. Ignoring her fuzzy math, she stated that of the amount, N478.49 billion will come to the Federal government. The rest will go to the states and the local government where they will disappear.

As a loyal citizen, I want to help President Jonathan and his advisers to find N479 billion naira so that he will leave the poor people of Nigeria alone for at least a year. Within that year, he should put in place policies that will cushion the impact of the subsidy removal and then gradually take the true subsidy out in a responsible way. That’s after getting the government math right.

So here are the top ten places President Jonathan can get his N479 billion.

1.)    Go to the last 36 governors that served with Olusegun Obasanjo. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they all return N10 billion naira each. After all, most of them were facing charges totaling over N100 billion before their files disappeared from the EFCC. That will give President Jonathan N360 billion naira overnight.
2.)    Get all former Director-Generals of the NNPC in the last 20 years. Offer them immunity from prosecution if they all return N1billion for every year they were director. Having been part of an agency of the government that does not know how much oil the multinational corporations are sucking up each day and cannot account for the crude oil dedicated for domestic consumption, they should each give the government N1 billion and we let bygone be bygone. This will give Jonathan at least N20 billion.
3.)    President Jonathan should cancel all import waivers given to religious leaders in Nigeria for 2012. Nigeria lost billions of naira just on the waivers given to Pastor Adeboye and his likes under the Obasanjo administration - waivers they used to import expensive cars and luxury goods. Who knows what the big Imams get in waivers? Right there, another N10-50 billion will be readily available.
4.)    A 50% cut in the salaries and allowances of members of the Nigerian House of Representative. At $1.4 million each for 360 members, Jonathan can easily get $252 million dollars, which is over N40 billion.
5.)    In the senate, with 109 senators each making $1.7 million, a 50% cut in their pay package will give President Jonathan over N14.8 billion naira.
6.)     President Jonathan should audit the record books of the government with oil importers. A good auditing firm will easily unearth stolen wealth of the nation. Since these so-called cabals are friends of the president, some of them members of his economic team, the president should just ask them to refund N200 billion and we will let bygones be bygone.
7.)    The president should, as a matter of urgency, investigate and evaluate all workers associated with the importation of fuel into Nigeria. Those found wanting should be prosecuted and fired. A good investigation of their assets and accounts will recover at least N1billion.
8.)    The same thing should be done with staff of the NNPC, both those serving and the retired staff. A good investigation will net over N10 billion.
9.)    The security votes of all state governors should be cut by 50%. At an average of N300 million a month, it runs up to N3.6 billion for a year each. For the 36 state governors, that amount is N129.6 billion naira. A 50% cut will give President Jonathan N64.8 billion a year.
10.)                        The president should close half of Nigerian missions abroad in a major scale back and find other countries to manage Nigeria’s affairs. That will save at least N10 billion.

Putting the savings together, we have N745.6 billion for the President. That is before he touches his food money and his security vote. That is before he touches Olusegun Obasanjo, Abubakar Atiku, Turai Yar’Adua and the heads of all the failed banks.
 

So next time they tell you that there is no alternative to the immediate removal of the subsidy, tell them it is a lie. There is an alternative to killing unarmed protesters over mere N479 billion naira that Aliko Dangote can close his eyes and donate to his friend, President Jonathan. After all, the Nigerian state has been good to him over the years.

Source: Sahara Reporters