- * Says Party 'Acted Irresponsibly'
- Nigeria Military Keeps Rating Higher Globally Under Buhari....BMO
By Chinwendu Agoha (Governance Reporter)
The Buhari Media Organization (BMO), has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) acted irresponsibly by leaving behind a Joint Venture (JV) cash call debt of $5.1bn that has now been almost fully defrayed by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led-All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
According to the BMO in a statement by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, it took a more responsible government to not only reduce the indebtedness to slightly above $1bn but to also meet its regular obligations to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in spite of lower oil revenue.
The BMO said that, "The Buhari administration inherited a cash call arrears of about $5bn in 2015, and within one year, it sealed an agreement with the five oil majors to pay up the debt within a period of time.
"And despite declining oil revenue over the years, the government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) paid off $3bn of the debt within 5 years.
"Today, the indebtedness that piled up at a time of an oil boom has been reduced to $1.1bn, while the government continues to meet its regular obligations to the oil majors.
"It is also noteworthy that the $5bn JV cash call debt is not part of the $63bn public debt the PDP left behind, with little or nothing to show for it.
"So it shows the level of rot President Buhari has been clearing up since assuming office in May 2015", the group said.
BMO added that the funds that the Buhari government committed to defraying the JV cash call debt could have been used for other purposes if PDP had acted like a responsible ruling party.
"So much has been said about the Buhari administration taking loans, with little attention to what those loans are being used for.
"We make bold to say that if the last three PDP-led administrations had acted responsibly with public funds and built necessary infrastructure across the country in 16 years, there would have been little need for the incumbent to take loans tied to infrastructure.
"Now, the country has, in under seven years, been forced to pay IOCs about $4bn that could have been committed to the health and other sectors of the economy in need of attention.
"So if not corruption, we wonder why the previous governments did not fulfil their obligations to the JV partners, even at a time the country was making so much money from crude oil".
The group also challenged PDP to explain to Nigerians why it failed to consistently make cash call payments to the country's JV partners "during its 16 years of misrule".
Meanwhile, the BMO has applauded the rating of the Nigerian military as the fourth in Africa and 35th in the world in the area of strength as evidence that under the President Muhammadu administration, adequate attention, in terms of funding and increase in personnel, has become the norm.
A reputable organisation, the Global Firepower, had released a report that the country’s military strength index currently stands at 0.5745 which is an improvement over the previous year's rating. Among other indicators, the power index is determined using several factors like manpower, airpower, naval power, resources, financial and other logistics.
In a statement by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary, Cassidy Madueke, BMO noted that the positive rating of the Nigerian military is well-deserved considering that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has since inception invested hugely in equipping the military.
"We acknowledge that the administration has acquired a total of 38 new aircraft for the Nigerian Air Force, 400 new platforms for the Nigerian Navy; which include 14 houseboats, four helicopters, four capital ships, 12 Manta class/inshore patrol craft and 22 fast attack boats, among others.
"We also note that Nigeria currently has a total military personnel of 215,000 out of which 135,000 are active and 80,000 make up the paramilitary. Since 2015 the Buhari administration has made it a priority to adequately fund and equip the Nigerian military in order to meet the security challenges confronting the country.
"In doing this, the government has acquired modern equipment which include 12 Tucano aircraft which are currently being used to deal deadly blows on Boko Haram terrorists in the North East".
BMO recalled that under the past PDP administrations, the policy of funding the military became a smuggling activity as huge funds were sometimes ferried to foreign countries for the purpose of acquiring arms, "but such funds usually ended up in individuals’ pockets. This actually exacerbated terrorism activities in the country.
"We therefore consider the latest ranking as well-deserved for the Buhari administration bearing in mind that security was also a major plank of the President's ’s three-pronged agenda", the statement added. NNL.
