El-Rufai. vs NASS: Speaker Dogara Releases His Monthly Payslips, See Copies

The Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara made public, his monthly payslip.

The Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai had challenged the Nigerian Federal lawmakers to reveal publicly their earnings.

Dogara in a tweet @YakubDogara displayed his payslip for six months. 

His tweets read:

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In line with the promise of #Change & embracing transparency in @HouseNGR, I hereby share with you all my payslips for the past 6 months (1) pic.twitter.com/bfAuNelVMK

— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) April 11, 2017

Payslips for January - March 2017 (2) pic.twitter.com/6BELdzHD2T

— Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara (@YakubDogara) April 11, 2017

Yesterday, the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, accepted the challenge of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yabubu Dogara, by releasing details of his security vote, salary and allowances.

The governor also released the disbursements to the 23 Local Government Areas in the state.

El-Rufai, while releasing the details, again challenged the National Assembly members to do likewise.

The governor said the federal legislature had the most opaque budget in the country, adding that Nigerians had spent N1tn on the lawmakers without knowing the details.

The governor had, at the National Assembly retreat in Kaduna on Friday, dared members of the federal lawmakers to disclose details of their N115bn budgetary allocation, salaries and allowances.

Dogara was reported, on Saturday, to have challenged el-Rufai and other governors to publish their security votes.

In a statement on Monday by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, el-Rufai said  he had nothing to hide.

The February pay slip of the governor indicates that his monthly  pay  was N470, 521.71 after deductions.

According to the pay slip, details of the monthly pay include basic salary, N185,308.75; hardship allowance, N370,617.50;  gross pay, N555,926.25, PAYE N85,404.51; total deduction amounts to N85,401.51 while the net pay stands at N470,521.74.

The governor noted that the amount might appear puny, but it reflected what the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission approved as the salary and allowances of governor “adjusted to reflect provision in-kind of accommodation and transportation.”

He said he accepted Dogara’s challenge as a necessary step to improve and strengthen the nation’s democracy.

El-Rufai stated that he had consistently made the budget of the state public unlike the National Assembly budget  “which is a single line item of over N100bn  that divulges zero information or details.”

On the local government funds, the governor referred the lawmakers to the online portal, www.openkaduna.com.ng, for relevant information.

“The proposed 2017 local government budgets, currently before the State Assembly, are also already online on the same website, and on www.kdsg.gov.ng. Approved State Budgets 2016-2017 can be found on http://openkaduna.com.ng/ Budget/approved-budget.

“We invite the Right Honourable Speaker to download and peruse at his pleasure,” the governor added.

As regards the Kaduna State security vote, El-Rufai stated, “As our Kaduna Comprehensive Security Architecture  outlines, the state is directing security spending on four pillars:  justice, technology, community engagement and support to security agencies. The 2017 budget details specific amounts:

“N1.5bn for the procurement and installation of CCTV cameras for monitoring and surveillance towards reducing criminal activities within the metropolis.

“N193m for procurement of geo-position interceptor and location of GSM UMTS System to check the trends and intercept/locate kidnappers’ GSM calls.

“N265m for the procurement of drones/unmanned aerial vehicles to identify locations of armed bandits in our forest reserves across the state and the establishment of a forensic laboratory to assist in determining substantial evidence in cases that otherwise proved difficult in the past.

“N2.6bn is allocated in 2017 to support the network of federal security agencies in Kaduna with communications, logistics and materiel.”

The governor insisted that the call to #OpenNASS was not a personal one, adding that “it is one which the leadership of the National Assembly owes to all Nigerians.”

He noted that it was disingenuous for the Speaker to use state government budgets as the excuse for the opacity of the National Assembly budget.

El-Rufai said in 2016, the National Assembly budget for its 469 members was bigger than the capital budget of Kaduna State, with close to 10 million inhabitants.

The Kaduna State governor added, “It is also larger than the entire budget of several Nigerian states. Indeed, over the past 10 years from 2008, the National Assembly, as an institution, has cost the country over N1tn without any detail on how this amount was allocated and spent.

“There is no state government in Nigeria with a budget nearly as opaque as that of NASS. In March 2016, this National Assembly, led by its Chairman, promised to provide a detailed breakdown of the National Assembly budget. Nigerians are waiting,” he said

The governor said he would like to reiterate his call for the NASS leadership to do the same and disclose the details of the National Assembly budget, and the salaries and allowances of its leadership to Nigerians.

Below are copies of Speaker Yakubu Dogara's 6 months payslips

El-Rufai Lied, ATIKU Not On Our WANTED CRIMINAL List - US Govt.

Apparently, in denial of a claim by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the United States Department of Justice has denied having any record that indicates that Nigeria’s former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has a pending lawsuit in the US.

A fresh report in Sunday Punch Newspaper suggests that a spokesperson for the US DOJ, Peter Carr said in a reply of an email; 

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“Thank you for reaching out to us. I have checked the public court records, and they do not show cases filed against a defendant named Atiku Abubakar."

This was stated as a response to SUNDAY PUNCH’s request for information on whether Abubakar is wanted in the US in connection with any issue of money laundering.

The mail also asked the department to confirm whether Abubakar has been banned from entering the US and if there is any court case against him concerning the Halliburton scandal which resulted in the conviction of a US lawmaker, William Jefferson.

Asked if it is true that the ex-vice president (now a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress) was banned from entering the US, the American official said the issue was confidential.

He said, “Visa issues are confidential under section 222(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. If your question is specifically about entry – not about visas per se – I would refer you to the US Customs and Border Protection.”

Last week, Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, had implied that Abubakar was avoiding a visit to the US because he might be charged with a case of money laundering.

He reacted to Abubakar’s interview which he granted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s quarterly publication, Zero Tolerance, where he had accused the Kaduna governor of corruption by offering him Transcorp’s shares.

Punch Newspaper

JCI,NHRC Reports: What Is FG Waiting For? By Anthony Kolawole

‘Save Zakzaky’s Life Group of Nigeria’, the new creation of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) has threatened to overwhelm Abuja, the nation’s capital with protests if their leader, Mr Ibraheem El-Zakyzaky is not released from the custody. National Coordinator of the IMN subsidiary, Bashir Marafa hinted that millions would be attending the protests.

As a background, El-Zakyzaky was taken into custody in the aftermath of a military operation in Zaria, Kaduna state after extremists in the IMN made an attempt on the life of the Chief of Army Staff. He reportedly sustained injuries from that operation for which he has been treated. Going by the account of the military, that operation led to the recovery of caches of weapons that could have potentially been enough to destabilize the country.

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The operation also led to widespread condemnation because of the human toll reportedly recorded. The consequence of this was the several probes and investigations that were launched in its aftermath. Three reports on the incidence stand out by reason of what they prescribed.

First was the report of Amnesty International, which came out in record time thereby casting doubt on its thoroughness especially when it mostly spoke with the extremists and recourse to the military as a last resort. Its report wants the military punished as it made light of the aggression put up by IMN members.

Secondly is the report of the Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry that was set up by the Kaduna state governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai. That commission found the IMN and its leadership culpable in precipitating the situation that led to the operation. Its recommendation included trying and punishing those that were responsible for instigating the IMN youths to go to war with the army.

Thirdly, the report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) directly indicted EL-Zakyzaky. The Commission consequently called for the speedy trial of El-Zakzaky after it found that the leadership and members of the sect “were responsible for the abuse of right to freedom of movement of the convoy of the COAS and other members of the public by blocking the public highway on December 12, 2015.”

It is therefore cofounding that the Federal Government is yet to act on any of these reports to take decisive steps that will ensure that Nigerians do not have to live in fear and read of IMN members oppressing them and denying them of their rights on daily basis.

The delay in acting on the recommendations to put El-Zakyzaky and other IMN leaders on trial is that they are now playing reversed psychology game on the state. Instead of retreating as the indicted party, the one in the wrong, they have whipped up propaganda that accuses the Nigerian government and its institutions of being the aggressors.

In total insensitivity and regards for the historical fact that their penchant for terrorizing other citizens with processions that seal off public roads was a factor in the clashes they have had with security agencies, IMN members have take to the streets of major cities in attempt to stage crippling protests. Fortunately, those protests fell flat as the group’s notoriety preceded it. They then resorted to declaring a provocative trek from Zaria to Abuja, which also failed as several critics were quick to point out that the trek could be a cover for wanted IMN fanatics to flee their known location to establish new cells in other cities. They were also reportedly looking to use the trek and its associated protests to trigger a faceoff with security agencies.

This latest threat of grounding Abuja with protests is the latest in the series of baiting that IMN has been involved in to make the federal government and organizations like the police and army look bad. Somewhere in the wing there is Amnesty International waiting, possibly to launch a report that will criminalize any response to the provocative protests.

We should at this point begin to ask ourselves how as a country we got to this point where an extremist group backed by an Islamic country became a law unto itself. We must interrogate why IMN and its leadership have arrogated to themselves the status of not being bound by the laws by which other groups and persons are bound. If we follow the precedence being sought by IMN authorities would have to release any captured Boko Haram commander without trial even though these terrorists and IMN leadership have a lot in common in that they promote extremism, radicalize youths and commit acts of violence against state and citizens alike. By what token are they then demanding that El-Zakyzaky be released?

The fanatical zeal with which they are demanding the release of a man who several reports have recommended for trial lends credence to speculations that some of his followers and backer, Iran are not interested in his wellbeing but only want him released to them so that they can finish him off and then blame his demise on the Nigerian state. The thinking is that as a “martyr” he would be able to provoke an “earth shaking crisis” that his entire vitriolic cannot achieve while in the land of the living. As farfetched as this speculation is, the government must be wary not to make the mistake of caving in to blackmail.

Should El-Zakyzaky be released on the basis of the blackmail protests then it would amount to setting bad precedence that will come back to haunt the nation. Extremists groups will simply proliferate and no one would be able to hold their leaders responsible for anything. The ugly suggestion of the plan by some IMN members with Iran is further proof that everything must continued to be done according to the book – the courts should be allowed to decide the man’s fate in accordance of whatever the government would charge him for and how well the charges are marshaled.

This leaves the federal government with a clear option: they should begin El-Zakzakky's prosecution on the strength of the Kaduna State Judicial Commission of Inquiry and the NHRC reports, which have strongly indicted him.

Kolawole PHD is a University lecturer and contributed this piece from Keffi, Nasarawa State.

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