Against the spirit of the times

The man who set the ugly ball rolling was the chairman of the event Chief Tunde Ayeni, the man who recently won the bids for the moribund state-owned telecom carrier NITEL and its sister organisation Mtel. Ayeni donated N1 billion on behalf of himself and another N1 billion on behalf of his friends, whom he […]

The man who set the ugly ball rolling was the chairman of the event Chief Tunde Ayeni, the man who recently won the bids for the moribund state-owned telecom carrier NITEL and its sister organisation Mtel. Ayeni donated N1 billion on behalf of himself and another N1 billion on behalf of his friends, whom he did not name. It is very important that he should be made to mention the names of these “friends” just in case some of them are confirmed bank debtors or are otherwise wanted by some crime fighting agencies. PDP must not accept money from unnamed sources lest it mortgages the country’s dignity and security when it is payback time.
The chairman of the fund raising committee, ex-university lecturer and ex-minister Professor Jerry Gana also raised eyebrows when he announced a donation of N5 billion which he said was from his friends in the power sector. There are at least three reasons why this should cause outrage. To begin with, the power sector privatisation program reeked of undue favouritism when the 17 Gencos and Discos were sold last year. For their new owners to turn around and pour so much money into ruling party coffers tends to confirm many Nigerians’ worst suspicions. Secondly, the new genco and disco owners are yet to fulfil a key aspect of the program which is to pour new investments into them so that this country’s power troubles would be over. Only recently, the government proposed to advance to them loans in hundreds of billions of naira. Thirdly, the sector will for the foreseeable future continue to have running battles with regulatory authorities over tariffs and other issues. Hence it was most insensitive and inconsiderate of PDP to accept huge donations from them for election purposes.
Not only the power sector but other key sectors of the Nigerian economy one by one made donations at the PDP fund raiser. They include the oil and gas sector, N5 billion; real estate sector, N4 billion; transport and aviation, N1 billion; food and agriculture, N500 million; construction, N300 million; and the National Automotive Association, N450 million. In almost all cases here, conflict of interest is real and dangerous. Take for example the oil and gas sector whose dominant multinational players have succeeded in stalemating the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill [PIB] for many years now. How could citizens have confidence that their rights would be protected when the ruling party is hobnobbing with and is literally wining and dining with the same companies that are bent on frustrating a revolutionary national legislation?
The same thing applies to the aviation sector. Even though this sector has made progress since government ended its monopoly ownership of an airline, many problems still abound. Not too long ago aviation authorities complained that private airlines owe them billions of naira in unpaid fees and charges. They also owe billions of naira to the banks; how could pressure be sustained on them if the ruling party is openly on the take from them?
Equally worrisome was the donation made at the event by PDP’s 21 state governors. Bauchi State Governor Isa Yuguda announced that each one of them would donate N50 million. In so far as some PDP-controlled states have not paid their teachers’ and other workers’ salaries for several months, citizens of their states were shocked to hear their governors making such ostentatious donations. Their slogan seems to be charity begins abroad, not at home.
The fund raiser could also be illegal, simply. The Electoral Act pegs spending by a presidential candidate at N1 billion and N500 million for a governorship candidate. Even though last Saturday’s fund raiser was plainly on behalf of its presidential candidate, PDP tried to be clever by half by claiming that it was a general fund raiser to assist the party to complete its secretariat and to help its candidates at all levels. This was a ruse designed to circumvent the law.  It was most unfortunate that people who are sworn to uphold and protect the law will partake in a clever ruse to undermine and subvert it for their selfish electoral purposes.
And what is the point of deploying so much money to the campaign for 2015? Many observers have been saying for a long time that lavish use of money by politicians subverts the cause of democracy and is responsible for many of the negative features of the Nigerian electoral process. Instead of running an issues-based campaign or relying on its record of achievements to convince voters to vote for it, the ruling party is raising money of historic proportions, the use of which will push all issues and programs to the background. This is most unfortunate, callous and ultimately ruinous for Nigerian democracy.
Saturday last week’s fundraiser was totally not in accord with the spirit of the times. All talk these days is about falling oil prices, shrinking government revenues, steep fall in the naira’s value against foreign currencies, belt tightening and the onset of tough times. The last thing Nigerians expected to see was ostentation, insensitivity, flaunting of ill-gotten wealth and open bribery.  PDP must give a damn about this.
Our back page columnist, Sonala Olumhense, is on break. He will be back shortly. Editor