Can Buhari really follow the money?

In the lead up to the presidential election, I wrote on this page that: ‘a few years ago when I read about an intern who became an executive director at Goldman Sachs in London just under 10 years of joining the company, I started looking around for such stories in our country, I found none. The names I found were people who got to such position because their fathers had big stakes in the companies as shareholders or they are the owners of the businesses.

In Nigeria, it’s man-know-man system. So how can an intern become an executive director in a company his father has no idea how it all started?

Many eggheads are in the country that could fast-track the growth of this nation, if the era of equal opportunities is returned just like in the past, but how can this be without a President that can make the institutions work?

And because the institutions are not working, we have all turned miracle seekers. Are you surprised that even the best person for any job/position in this country relies on miracle?  The principalities and powers in those institutions wouldn’t just allow for merit, so miracle does it. It’s the reason every family in the country has got at least a prayer warrior.

The next president must know that Nigeria is an underperforming business entity that needs a turnaround and the next CEO must come to the office thinking above the cloud.’

After about 70 days in power, I think that Buhari’s presidency is somehow trying to fit into the CEO that Nigeria needs at the moment. Yes, after the lull in his presidency that made him to appear like a go-slow president, the country is now getting some vibes that are encouraging and his image that was sagging is beginning to change for the positive.  The overhauling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its subsidiaries is an important signal to that change, although scepticisms still abound, especially since NNPC leadership is known to have been frequently changed in the past without any serious reform taking place.

Correspondingly, the unification of government bank accounts through the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) is another important milestone. The TSA will no doubt remove cankerworm and enable consolidation and optimal utilisation of government cash resources.  I agree with Buhari that money will not be missing anyhow and in large volume, if every federal government ministry, department or agency starts paying into a TSA for all government revenues, incomes and other receipts.

But Buhari’s burden is really in following the money beyond the coffers of the federal government. The state governments are known to control money as well and some of them are super rich, but oftentimes the funds are used frivolously by the governors, while states continue to sink deeper in debts. The recent controversial N78 million spent on the personal website of the immediate past Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola is a good example of frivolity.

Every year, state governments in Nigeria spend tens of billions on road contracts and other social amenities with little lifespan. The contracts are often inflated with no chance for citizens to make a demand on the governors.

Now, accountability and public scrutiny are necessary to ensure that the public can trust that state funds are well spent and this is where I am afraid President Buhari may not be able to do well.

But since most of the states are governed by governors from Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC), I expect that the president shouldn’t have any difficulty in getting them to do the right thing.

To boot, state governments across the country can create transparency websites that provide chequebook-level information on government spending. That means any taxpayer in a particular state can view the payments made to individual companies as well as details about the purchased goods, services or other public benefits. These websites will let those living in the states and pressure groups to ensure that taxpayers get value for their money.

Such initiatives have been in operation in advanced countries such as the United States and if we claimed to be the largest country in Africa with the biggest economy, it shouldn’t be a problem to try it out.

Indeed, if the governors can have the courage to do this, the controversy we are currently having in Osun State on whether the state Governor, Rauf Aregbesola, truly embezzled the state fund— an allegation made by no less an important citizen than a judge in the state judiciary— will not stir any controversy.

Significantly, why i think the state governments should be more open is that the prosperity of each state remains the gateway for the progress that Nigeria desperately needs.  But if people can’t follow the money then the government isn’t open. That is the situation with all Nigerian states at the moment.

My final word is this: Buhari must follow the money beyond the coffers of the federal government. That way Nigeria will not hear more of any Governor-General.