Task Before Enugu House of Assembly
Before it was dissolved two years ago, the previous Enugu State House of Assembly passed far reaching resolutions. Yet, residents in the state continue to look forward to the current assembly to implement these lofty resolutions, writes Segun James
For those who still remember, the last days of Sullivan Chime as the governor of Enugu State were characterized by probes and massive public outcry over alleged mismanagement of state funds and sales of government properties. At the twilight of his tenure, Chime probably thought that things were going well for him after all, he was leaving behind a developmental plan he thought would leave the people of the state better off, richer and more prosperous if the template he set was pursued and rigorously sustained by his successor.
However, this was not to be. There was a fierce opposition to him and his plans, a situation that led to protests and sometimes violence demonstration. Things got to a head when the state’s House of Assembly insisted on impeaching him.
On May 4, 2015 the move to impeach him factionalised the house State. While 15 members led by the former speaker Rt. Hon. Eugene Odoh were bent on removing him, another group of nine members led by Hon. Chinedu Nwamba staunchly stood by the governor.
Crux of the matter
The State Assembly did not however start off on a factionalised note as members were unanimous on some perceived unconstitutional and excesses of the ex-governor.
First, the house alleged that while the new State Secretariat Complex was awarded at initial cost of N13 billion despite opposing views, the cost was increased to over N20 billion without recourse to the house.
They also accused Chime of forgery of the 2012 budget and undermined the constitutional powers of the house by shielding his functionaries from honouring parliamentary summons.
Chime, however, denied the allegations, explaining that there was no budget forgery as he simply vired monies already appropriated in the 2012 budget to other areas of pressing needs and without exceeding the total appropriated figure for the fiscal year. But the lawmakers insisted that he had no constitutional right to vary the appropriation law without recourse to the house for amendments to the budget law.
The lawmakers were also together in the probe of the 25 years water concession agreement to a private company to manage and collect revenues accruable from water for a quarter of a century. Therefore, the house stopped the concessioning agreements, especially after both the commissioner in charge and the Managing Director of the State Water Corporation admitted at the public hearing conducted by the house that they did not have details of the transactions, including owners of the company, even though they were made to sign the concession papers.
The Managing Director was immediately sacked. The house was also furious over what it saw as lack of transparency and accountability in the management of the N5 billion World Bank water reticulation project as the challenges of potable water persisted in the capital city, despite the huge loan.
Furthermore, the house summoned the Chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) as well as the Commissioner for Education over the N3.6 billion primary schools renovation projects. The House Committee on Education had accused ENSUBEB of shoddy and sluggish projects execution one year after they were awarded.
Then as part of move to find out the truth, the house invited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to freeze the finances of the board until investigation was completed.
Mrs. Ethel Nebo, who initially headed the board but now living in exile, had alleged that she was sacked for her refusal to obey the directives by a senior official of the government to award contracts in breach of UBE rules. She sued the government and got judgment with an award of N10 million compensation.
Another area of contention was the alleged indiscriminate allocation of every available parcel of land at the International Conference Center, built to an advanced stage by former Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, to people close to the governor.
Dispute over Loans
The house also cancelled an N11 billion-loan facility sought by the ex-governor in the last month of his administration as Enugu had already amassed the heaviest debt burden under that administration. This became a major burden to the Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi government.
According to the the lawmakers, the Domestic Debt Stock of Enugu State as at 30th December 2013 was N12.061bn, by far the highest in the South-East geopolitical zone. A glance at the documentation for loan approvals by the State Executive Council (EXCO) between 2009–2014 showed that it approved a N20 Billion State Bond at its meeting of September 30, 2009. On August 18, 2010, it approved an N89 Million First Bank loan for purchase of vehicles for government use.
On the same date, a First City Monument Bank loan of N863,552,203 was approved for counterpart funding of 2009 MDGs projects. On August 5, 2010, N12.5 Billion loan was approved to finance Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Nexus Ltd. The Exco also approved a Bank PHB N3 billion loan on April 14, 2010 to “bridge resource”. A Skye Bank loan of USD275,000 was approved on October 13, 2011 for counterpart funding of AIDS control project with World Bank. Diamond Bank loan of N1,551,000,000 was approved by Exco on October 13, 2011 for purchase of 300 units of 16-seater busses for public secondary schools.
Other loans included a Fidelity Bank loan of N1 Billion which was approved on September 12, 2012 for the expansion of agric projects in the state and purchase of machinery for the state’s pineapple project. FMCB and Skye Bank loans of N835,459,032.7 were approved on October 30, 2013 for counterpart funding of MDGs 2012 capital projects. Exco also approved a N1 Billion UBA loan on March 28, 2014 for refinancing of N5 Billion GTB loan. Another loan of N1.5 Billion (Stering Bank) was approved on March 28, 2014 for UBE projects.
Besides the heavy debt burden, there were general feelings that the Chime administration lacked the fiscal policy objectives, the macroeconomic framework and policy basis for the loans. Within a year, a N20 billion bond request and subsequent demand for an extra loan of N863 Million at 17% interest (N149 million) was placed via FCMB. This naturally called to question the rational for the State Bond.
Also, the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Assembly acknowledged that part of the N11 Billion sought by Chime in the twilight of his administration would go into: Supply and Installation of Security (CCTV) and Access Control Systems in the offices of the New Secretariat Building at the cost of N2.674 million; Supply of Information Technology Facilities in the New Governor’s Office at the cost of N300 million; Supply and Installation of Audio-Visual Conferencing Solution at the Executive Chambers of the governor’s office at the cost of N207 Million.
But what impact did these loans have on development and services delivery? That is the question that has left many people wondering as the rationale behind an over N20 billion secretariat in a state where more than twothirds of the capital city had no pipe-born water continues to rankle the legislature even though the state already had existing secretariat structures.
Despite the popular and far-reaching resolutions triggered by the probes, many have expressed surprise that the current house of assembly has not deemed it fit to ensure that the resolutions are implemented.
For instance, the construction of shopping complex has continued, while the sale of the Presidential Hotel and public lands in the last days of the administration are yet to be revoked.
Analysts believed that the none-implementation of the house’s resolutions could be due to the efforts of the current governor to break the jinx of predecessor-successor war in Enugu or Chime’s relationship with the current house leadership. While Ugwuanyi has unusually retained Chime’s Chief of Staff, Chief Security Officer, among other key government functionaries to promote continuity and political harmony. Mr. Edward Ubosi and Donatus Uzogbado, who ‘fought’ on the ex-governor’s side during the crisis resulting in the sealing of the state’s House of Assembly Complex by police to scuttle Chime’s impeachment, emerged Speaker and Deputy Speaker, respectively.
This appears to validate the position of the former national auditor of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Ray Nnaji who spoke to newsmen at the inception of the Ugwuanyi administration and that the present house must bear the burden of righting the wrongs and issues it inherited from its predecessor.
Nnaji, who had himself sued ENSUBEB over the alleged refusal of its former Chairman, Nneka Onuora, to supply him details of the contracts awarded by ENSUBEB based on the Freedom of Information Act, maintained that “there were many atrocities that must be investigated.
“We will be surprised if after passing a resolution that a private developer who bought land at the International Conference Centre or adjacent the Assembly should stop work and it is not harkened to or the government will pay deaf ears and look the other way”.
Nevertheless, as the 2017 Democracy Day and second anniversary of end of Chime’s government approaches, all eyes remain on both the Ugwuanyi administration and the state assembly to implement the findings and resolutions by the previous legislature or conduct fresh probes into the alleged excesses of the Chime administration.
Will the House of Assembly wake up to its responsibilities? Only time will tell.