Suspend Emefiele Immediately, Group Tells Buhari

 

The Integrity Youth Alliance on Saturday demanded the suspension of the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, over the depreciating value of the Naira.

The group said the CBN governor should be suspended because he had disappointed Nigerians and plunged millions into poverty.

The Board Chairman of Integrity Youth Alliance, Comrade Adewole Kehinde, stated this in reaction to reports that the naira had depreciated further, exchanging at N710 against the dollar.

He said, "For how long will President Buhari and the National Assembly tolerate Godwin Emefiele's inefficiencies? For how long are Nigerians going to tolerate him? Can Naira continue to breathe under him?

“Even those who don't know about the economy now know that the Naira is in tatters under Emefiele's inept leadership. President Buhari must remove Emefiele from office because he has plunged millions into poverty and destitution. It’s time for him to step aside.

"It is instructive to note that when Emefiele took office as CBN Governor in 2014, the Naira exchanged for N164 to a dollar. Today, in the hands of Emefiele, the Naira has tumbled to nearly N710 to a dollar, putting the nation’s economy on its knees.

"Unfortunately, under Emefiele's leadership, the CBN has failed in its core mandate of managing the economy, instead blaming NNPC Limited with claims that do not reflect the harsh economic reality on the ground."

The CBN has in recent times come under criticism for failing to stabilize the Naira, which has continued to dip against major currencies.

However, the Naira hit an all-time low of N710 to the dollar earlier in the week, attracting criticism from the opposition.

The Naira has, however, remained stable at N420/$1 on the official market.

TETFund Is Being Run With A Deep Sense Of Responsibility – Management

The management of Tertiary Education Trust Fund has reassured its stakeholders and the general public that TETFund is being run with a deep sense of responsibility.

In reaction to a publication by the Sahara Reporters dated July 20th, 2022, titled “Disquiet in Nigeria Education Agency, TETFund over Contracts Fraud, Procurement Racketing, Others under New Head, Sonny Echono,” the Ag. Director, Public Affairs, Tetfund, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, said that the Executive Secretary of Tetfund, Arch. Sonny Echono remained committed to providing quality, accountable, and exemplary leadership and will not be distracted in any way whatsoever, by such unfounded allegations.

An excerpt is the full text of the rejoinder.

Disquiet In The Nigerian Education Agency, TETFUND Over Contracts Fraud, Procurement is CORRUPTION FIGHTS BACK AS ECHONO IMPLEMENTS SWEEPING REFORMS

“The attention of the Management of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) has been drawn to a publication by the Sahara Reporters dated July 20th, 2022 titled “Disquiet in Nigeria Education Agency, TETFund over Contracts Fraud, Procurement Racketing, and Others under New Head, Sonny Echono”.

“In the said report, it was alleged that the Executive Secretary of TETFund had turned the Fund into a fiefdom where contract splitting and padding were the order of the day.

“It would be recalled that Arc. Sonny S. T Echono was appointed as Executive Secretary of TETFund by President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, in March 2022 after his retirement as the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education; and this was based strictly on his track record as an astute administrator, having served meritoriously in the same capacity at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as the Federal Ministry of Communication.

“In a demonstration of his determination to provide quality, transparent, and accountable leadership, the Executive Secretary on the assumption of office, in a widely publicized press conference, expressed total commitment to upholding and entrenching tenets of accountability and transparency in the Fund, and this he has demonstrated in the period of being at the helm of affairs, through the introduction of innovative policies and reforms aimed at improving efficiency.

“I know petitions will start flying soon, and my opponents will band together,” said Arc. Sonny Echono, the new Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), as he signed the final batch of letters disengaging 37 members of the 87-member National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS & MC) for failing to diligently discharge their duties or whose roles were at best unclear.

Earlier, he had frozen, canceled, or suspended programmes and consultancies adjudged wasteful or economically disadvantageous to the Fund.  Some of those affected are licking their wounds, while a few who initially threatened legal action have settled for renegotiation after realizing their weak positions.

The unwieldy 99-man Technical Advisory Group (TAG) has been put on notice to right-size for prudence and greater operational efficiency. The Executive Secretary is indeed stepping on some long toes and the expected response is to question his qualification for the job, which none of his five (5) predecessors (3 academics and 2 technocrats) was better prepared for.

It is worth noting that Arc. Echono’s reforms include the need for curriculum review, skill acquisition/entrepreneurship, advancement of information and communication technology (ICT), and deeper research, development, and innovation. Others are the provision of funds for capacity building of lecturers to equip them with the requisite skills for entrepreneurial studies and research studies in digital technologies and preparing Nigerian students for global competitiveness with the end goal of building a knowledge economy and increasing the country’s global presence.

He has also initiated a series of partnerships with notable institutions globally and locally, such as the University of Brazil, Vicosa on tuition-free agreements for the training of more Nigerian professionals in agriculture; transnational cooperation with the Government of Britain, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), African Union (AU), signing of an MoU with the University of Sussex for the development of tertiary education in Nigeria, partnership with the European Union (EU) on Research, Development, and Innovation at Brussels, among others; all aimed at articulating new strategies to reinforce existing efforts of the government at improving the standard of education in Nigeria.

Internally, he is undertaking a holistic review of the operating procedures of the Fund, operationalizing the zonal offices with delegated functions, and setting targets for all departments and standing committees. For example, the Book Development Committee, which last published books in 2014, has been directed to publish at least 40 standards, peer-reviewed academic textbooks on diverse topics by December 31st, 2022. The Monitoring & Evaluation Department must complete site visits and process recommendations for tranche releases within 2 weeks of receipt of requests from institutions. Starting with ICT interventions, beneficiary institutions shall henceforth make submissions electronically (online) to minimize human contact. Staff of the Fund were also requested to make sacrifices by forgoing certain privileges in response to the sharp drop in tax collections in 2021, with the promise that they would be restored when the situation improves. He is also committed to the completion of ongoing projects rather than starting new ones, and has taken steps in that direction. He interacted with and secured the buy-in of the management and staff of the Fund for the reforms, which have received widespread support from stakeholders.

Perhaps more problematic are the procurement and project management reforms introduced to eliminate corruption, reduce delivery time of projects, prevent cost escalation, and improve general efficiency in the discharge of the Fund’s mandate. Under the new dispensation, all projects to be executed by the Fund are to be planned, packaged, and selected by the beneficiary institutions for review and concurrence by the Fund. There will be no more TETFund or vendor-promoted projects, as the needs of the institutions will take precedence.

Annual disbursement allocations were made directly to the beneficiary institutions at a public ceremony held at the National Universities Commission (NUC) on May 9th, 2022. The Vice-Chancellors, Provosts, and Rectors were directed to advertise and procure their projects through open, competitive bidding to achieve value for money. This was widely reported in the media and commended by the Procurement Professionals Association of Nigeria, along with the threat to punish erring contractors who delay project execution or deliver poor quality jobs. Hardly the stuff of a wheeler and dealer.

It is therefore laughable that these measures are being described by some aggrieved vested interests as “unwholesome practices”. Equally instructive is the fact that TETFund is not a contract awarding agency on behalf of beneficiary institutions, so the references to contract splitting and padding are totally baseless and incomprehensible. The design and costing of projects are done by the respective institutions. So too is the supervision and management. TETFund only monitors milestone attainments ahead of releases in tranches.

To allege that someone who publicly distributes allocation letters “is in the habit of asking for advance payment in dollars before grants are given” is to stand the truth on its head. It is on record that since the resumption of duty, Arc Echono has not personally issued any grant or letter to any beneficiary institution but rather through technical departments responsible for each intervention area. It is indeed cruel to insinuate that Vice Chancellors will be happy to meet the monetary demands without complaining and that the same Vice Chancellors will be instructed to award the contracts to anointed contractors. When people are consumed with evil and hate, logic departs. It is noteworthy that no institution or Vice Chancellor was cited to buttress or corroborate this callous claim. Is anybody hurting? Why?

Equally curious is the allegation that Arc Echono has a list of anointed firms that execute TETFund projects, yet the author failed to mention even one of them for fear of rebuttal. It was even asserted that his control of TETFund contracts preceded his appointment, judging from the singular example of a twin lecture theatre in a university in Southern Nigeria. Sahara reporters should find the courage to mention the institution so that serious-minded investigative journalists can unearth the truth and debunk the fat lies. The suspicion is that since 2022 allocations were only made recently in May and the projects are still being packaged and prepared by the institutions, it will be difficult to sustain any allegation under his recent tenure. Solution? Backdate the allegations.

“Brilliant though incomprehensible attempts were also made to make a link, as well as draw, parallels with an alleged phantom contract scam at NECO some years back.  What Sahara reporters did not say is that those allegations were thoroughly investigated by five (5) different anti-corruption and regulatory agencies and not a single one of them even mentioned, let alone, associated Arc Echono with any allegation of wrongdoing or misdemeanor. In fact, neither Arc Echono as Permanent Secretary nor the Federal Ministry of Education’s Ministerial Tenders Board approved any contract for NECO throughout the period, and not a single contractor with NECO was associated or linked to him in whatever form. In fact, Arc Echono met and recognized Mr. Ibrahim Peter Alih for the first and only time at the end of the 2021 National Council on Education Conference in Jalingo, Taraba State, more than a year after the allegations were made. So much for relationships (even if they are not from the same state), front and tacit support. Yet Sahara reporters chose to rubbish the reputation and character of an individual without an iota of evidence or proof.

“The allegation of lobbying powerful Vice Chancellors to facilitate his appointment betrays further ignorance of how such appointments are made and does not merit further comment. It is, however, unfortunate that the sacred duty of the fourth estate of the realm (media) to hold institutions and public officers accountable has been misappropriated for lucre and as a weapon for slander, libel, and character assassination in this particular case. Equally tragic is the fact that a once credible and respected medium has reduced itself to a purveyor of falsehood and trash.

“”It is instructive that some of the measures introduced have led to the stepping on many toes of individuals and firms whose services were considered not necessary, wasteful, or lacking in value and have had to be disengaged or discontinued. The public may therefore expect further false allegations with maximum prejudice.

“We seize this opportunity to reassure our stakeholders and the general public that TETFund is being run with a deep sense of responsibility. The Executive Secretary remains committed to providing quality, accountable, and exemplary leadership and will not be distracted in any way whatsoever, by such unfounded allegations.