ADEOSUN BOWS OUT

Buhari accepts resignation

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, resigned yesterday, saying in line with the Buhari administration’s stance on integrity, it was honourable for her to resign over allegations on her NYSC exemption certificate.

Though internal ministry aides earlier debunked the story, reliable government sources had told Daily Trust that the minister indeed resigned after it became obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari was under pressure to let her off following a report which indicted her over controversies on the certificate.

In her resignation letter made available to Daily Trust, Adeosun expressed shock with the findings of the investigation into the allegation.

She explained that after being born and brought up in the United Kingdom, she obtained her first Nigerian passport at the age of 34 and when she relocated, there was debate as to whether the NYSC Law applied to her.

“Upon enquiry as to my status relating to NYSC, I was informed that due to my residency history and having exceeded the age of 30, I was exempted from the requirement to serve. Until recent events, that remained my understanding,” she said.

“On the basis of that advice and with the guidance and assistance of those I thought were trusted associates, NYSC were approached for documentary proof of status. I then received the certificate in question. Having never worked in NYSC, visited the premises, been privy to nor familiar with their operations, I had no reason to suspect that the certificate was anything but genuine. Indeed, I presented that certificate at the 2011 Ogun State House of Assembly and in 2015 for Directorate of State Services (DSS) Clearance as well as to the National Assembly for screening. Be that as it may, as someone totally committed to a culture of probity and accountability I have decided to resign with effect from Friday, 14th September, 2018,” she added.

Before the news broke, Adeosun did not attend official meetings yesterday. It appeared she also cancelled her public events. Mrs. Adeosun who was supposed to chair the Council of Ministers and Governors of Central Banks of West African Monetary Zone meeting didn’t attend the event held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. She rather sent the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Mahmoud IsaDutse, to represent her.

Buhari accepts resignation, names replacement

President Muhammadu Buhari has already accepted the resignation.

In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, the president thanked the minister for her services to the nation and wished her well in her future pursuits.

Buhari approved that the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, should oversee the Ministry of Finance with effect from yesterday.

How Adeosun became minister

In November 2015, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun was appointed Minister of Finance by President Muhammadu Buhari, ostensibly on the recommendations of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, even against the wishes of some APC chieftains in the South west. Adeosun had served as Ogun State Commissioner for Finance from 2011 to 2015. It was reported that she grew the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) by 500 percent. Those familiar with the intrigues behind the appointment said this was the unique selling point with which Amosun recommended her to the president. She was also reported to have spearheaded the tax residency campaign that people who live in Ogun State should pay their taxes in Ogun rather than Lagos where they worked in compliance with the tax laws. Over 100,000 people were said to have been added to the tax net with her tax drive.

Adeosun’s brief profile

Mrs. Adesoun was born in 1967 in the United Kingdom where her father, a civil engineer, worked as a civil servant. She attended the University of East London from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics and capped it with a post-graduate Diploma in Public Sector Financial Management from the University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). She qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered accountants of England and Wales (ICAEW) and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) as well.

The scandal

Trouble started for Adeosun when an online newspaper, Premium Times, reported that the minister who graduated at the age of 22 in 1989, failed to comply with the NYSC Act which made it compulsory for every Nigerian graduate to participate in a one year mandatory service to the nation, by presenting a fake NYSC exemption certificate. Daily Trust recalls that in July, the Presidency wrote the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) demanding a thorough probe of the alleged exemption certificate scandal.

The findings of the investigation by the presidency are still under wraps, but sources said the report which had already been prepared for the president had indicted her.

Politics of her resignation

But her resignation is largely seen as a ploy to give her a leeway for soft exit.

Following the NYSC scandal, President Muhammadu Buhari had been reportedly under intense pressure to sack her as she was becoming a problem for his 2019 campaigns. The opposition parties, especially the PDP, have been making issues out of the allegation which she has been unable to dispel. Pressure groups have also not relented in calling for her head if the president has any modicum of integrity. Recently, a report which was said to have indicted her was recently submitted to PMB for consideration and action, thus her resignation is seen as preempting her

impending sack, sources say.

Highlights of her activities in office

Here is a brief on activities of the minister. Efficiency Unit: One of her major initiatives is the Efficiency Unit (E-Unit) established in November 25, 2015 to ensure that all government expenditures are necessary and represent the best possible value for money. Prior to her assumption of office, available records showed that the nation’s recurrent expenditure completely dwarfed capital expenditure by a ratio of 84/16. This included non-wage related overhead expenditure such as travel costs, entertainment, events, printing, IT consumables, and stationeries, among others. Since its creation, the unit has been monitoring the MDAs, identifying and eliminating wasteful spending, duplication and other inefficiencies and identifying best practices in procurement and financial management. The federal government currently saves at least N15 billion annually from the services of the unit, according to the ministry.

Presidential Initiative On Continuous Audit (PICA): Adeosun was said to be instrumental to the establishment of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), a critical initiative in the implementation of a Continuous Audit Programme. The Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on March 9, 2016, approved the establishment of PICA to ensure full accountability of all public funds expended under the Buhari administration. Development of Whistle Blower Policy: The Whistleblowing policy, which was developed by the Federal Ministry of Finance in December 2016, empowers citizens to report public corruption. The primary goal of the policy is to support the fight against financial crimes and corruption by increasing exposure of financial crimes and rewarding whistle blowers. According to Adeosun, over 2,500 reports have been made through various reporting channels as at July 2017, with 365 being actionable tips. She disclosed that the sum of N375.8 million had been paid as reward for 20 whistleblowers in the first batch payment. Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS): The Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), an initiative of the Kemi Adeosun in collaboration with the State Tax Authorities, is a revolutionary programme that provides tax defaulters a nine-month opportunity to voluntarily and truthfully declare previously untaxed assets and incomes. As at May 2017, the total number of taxpayers in Nigeria was just 14 million out of an estimated 70 million who are economically active. VAIDS has however yielded over $50 million in revenue between June 29, 2017 when it was launched and October 31, 2017. Two foreign companies have also agreed to pay $110 million in regularizing their tax status. Treasury Single Account (TSA):

The TSA is another initiative towards efficient and transparent management of federal government finance and revenue collections that have been implemented in the past years, through the Federal Ministry of Finance under Adeosun. The government can monitor and manage revenue from revenue collecting and revenue generating agencies of government, through a window. It has so far mopped up over N3 trillion as revenue accruals since the policy of Treasury Single Account commenced.

Capital budget releases: Adeosun had said the Federal Government released over N1.580 trillion for capital projects to all its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). She said government released N1.58 trillion capital cost to the MDAs for the 2017 budget, considerably higher than the pre-PMB years.

Debt Profile under Adeosun

According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), Nigeria’s debt stood at N21.73tn as at December 31, 2017, while the figure as of June 30, 2015 was N12.12tn. This suggests that within a period of 30 months - July 2015 to December 2017 - the country’s debt rose by N9.61tn, or 79.25 per cent. DMO figures show the composition of the debts as of the end of 2017 showed that external debt was 26.64 percent of the portfolio, up from 20.04 per cent in 2016; while the domestic debt was 73.36 per cent, down from 79.96 per cent in 2016.