NIGERIA NEEDS A PARLIAMENT OF 74 FEDERAL LEGISLATORS ON PART-TIME!

ZION B-BC   NEWSLETTER.  

(Looking at Nigeria's Political System from a godly Perspective).

A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 7. NO 240. 18th March, 2018.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You   Free! (John.8:32).

NIGERIA NEEDS A PARLIAMENT OF 74 FEDERAL LEGISLATORS ON PART-TIME!

Between 1998 and 1999, when political storms gathered on the Nigerian atmospheric terrain, frenzied political parties hardly realised that they all utilized the services of the same FIRM OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED AND INTELLIGENT SENIOR ADVOCATE OF NIGERIA (SAN), to procure their well-crafted look-alike MANIFESTOES, which promised the ELECTORATE a lot of goodies which included all social amenities, crime-free societies, qualitative education, employment opportunities, an economy laced with bread and butter, milk and honey and paid stipulated professional fees accordingly!

Why should it now cost Nigerians an incredible annual sum of N150 billion naira to maintain 469 legislators and their retinue of staff who were neither interested in legislative duties nor proficient in oversight functions as stipulated in the 1999  Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution, while millions of peasant citizens are either jobless or are not paid their legitimate wages?

Nigeria's population was last put at 180 million although census experts say there are over 200 million people in the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FTC)! At the Federal level, apart from the Executive arm of government, the other prominent representatives of the people are the legislators of the National Assembly (NASS), who are only 469 in number. In the States, depending on the number of their Local Government Councils, legislators were hardly more than 30 legislators and 20 Commissioners, per State! As for the Civil Servants, both at the Federal and State levels, the entire statistics of the management team of civil servants, technocrats, administrators, experts, advisers, etc, should not be more than 4 million personnel under the payroll of the three tiers of government at the top echelon of the Civil Service, nation-wide!

IT WAS HIGH TIME NIGERIAN POLITICIANS WERE CUT TO SIZE! 
Why would Nigerian politicians incessantly frustrate and provoke its downtrodden masses either with unpalatable revelations in respect of their "ingenuity" in siphoning the COMMOM WEALTH through annual Budget padding/illegal collection of humongous monthly salaries and allowances and through deliberate blockage of few benefits of the social contract like free education, health facilities through Nigerian Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), employment opportunities for youths and able-bodied citizens through the passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), and civil participation in an open administration through the Freedom of Information Bill (FOIB), etc.
There was public outcry over the outlandish lifestyle of politicians, administrators and civil servants during the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party's most-corrupt administrations but nothing seemed to have changed in the last three years of APC's Government in spite of concerted efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari and his very transparent management team to push and keep economic recession completely out of sight, through agricultural revolution, diversification into commercialization of our natural mineral resources, financial incentives into manufacturing and industrial sectors!

Though it took divine intervention for Honourable Jibrin Abdulmmumini, of APC to spew the beans in 2016 on how he and his colleagues of ALI BABA'S GANG, usually padded annual budgets to make room for stupendous riches for themselves, and also how distinguished Senator Shehu Sanni, also of All Progressives Congress (APC), revealed that he and his conniving colleagues, had received monthly allowances of N13.5million, designated as RUNNING COSTS, outside of their official salaries of N700.000! Hon. Jibrin was suspended for 180 legislative sittings for opening his mouth too wide, while Senator Sanni was lucky to retain his seat because his "distinguished" friends owned up and declared that the payment was very normal! An  whereas, the poor masses are denied of their meagre wages of N18.000, per month and their families are dying daily through infant/maternal mortality cases, preventable diseases like (Malnutrition, Kwashioko, Malaria, Typhoid, Lassa/Denge fever, etc; multiple road accidents, etc,), because of lack of basic social amenities - like clinics, hospitals, potable water, inter-state motorable roads, etc.
There is mass illiteracy among the children and adolescents and joblessness among the able-bodied up to 60% of the population of 180 million people!  For those who are engaged in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs), which is supposed to be the backbone of industrial growth/economic development, regular supply of electricity is nightmare!

DIVIDENDS OF WAR AGAINST CORRUPTION!
The kind of strategies employed to win the war against corruption by the Buhari Administration have never been witnessed in any past administration and the results have been both tremendous and astounding! Ibrahim Magu, acting Chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), during the 2017/2018 Budget defence at the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, confirmed the recovery of N 473,065 195,977.50;  N867 billion, USD $66.258 million; USD 98. 258, 124, 97 million; and €13.847 corruption proceeds in 2017 financial year. Other funds recovered according to him, include: GBP 294,851.82; Dirha 443400 and 70,500 South African Rand within the same period!
The following recoveries and forfeitures were also made: N32 billion and $5 million was recovered from Diezani Allison-Madueke, former Minister of Petroleum Resources; N449 million at Legico Plaza in Victoria Island, Lagos; and over USD $ 43 million, discovered in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos!  Others include: Recovery of N 329 billion, from Petroleum Marketers by EFCC's Kano Office; Withholding Tax Recovery of over N 27.7billion from banks; From Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), €6.6 Euros; On behalf of AMCON, N1.1 billion; and Recovery of Subsidy fraud funds of over N 4 billion!

THE WHISTLE BLOWERS SUCCESS!
We must not lose sight of the WHISTLE-BLOWERS POLICY also under the purview of EFCC, which had been very successful in most of the recoveries and forfeitures because the Federal Government has been faithful in fulfilling the promised monetary rewards as at when due; and that gesture has encouraged more patriotic Nigerians to actively participate in the national assignment! But EFCC is financially stiffled and frustrated when it comes to efficient operations and the required annual financial appropriation for the outfit to enhance better performances! Apart from Senate's twice rejection of the confirmation of Magu's position and Chairman, there is deliberate delay in the release of funds for the discharge of the Commission’s activities of investigation and prosecution especially at the Zones. According to Magu, " Out of the total sum of N 17,202,253,360 appropriated in 2017, only N11, 737, 492, 342, 07 (68%), was released as at 5th February, 2018!!!

TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL was aware of the gargantuan efforts of the present administration to completely destroy the endemic nature and attitude of corruption amongst  fraudulent public office holders; the body is also aware of the establishment and maintenance of the TREASURY SINGLE ACCOUNT (TSA), BUT NOT UNMINDFUL OF TICK BITES OF THE PARASITE MIXED MULTITUDE WHO ARE THE PDP NAIRA SUCKERS IN APC TOGA AT ALL LEVELS OF THE PRESENT ADMINISTRATION!

IN ALL OF THESE, THE TALAKAWAS KEPT DATE WITH AVOIDABLE SUFFERINGS!
THE NATIONAL HEALTH INSURANCE SCHEME (NHIS), designed to enhance health facilities of the REAL WORKFORCE OF THE HUMAN CAPITAL SECTOR, has been restricted to the insignificant FOUR MILLION, who received regular monthly incomes and all manner of illicit allowances, to the detriment of the supposed benefactors, who continue to die, unheard, unsung, and unrecognized, on daily basis! GRAPEVINE revealed that the Scheme's Contribution Fund was recently depleted by a whooping sum of N10 billion naira but due to the quick intervention of the House of Representatives, the said amount was quickly refunded to avoid national embarrassment! CAN YOU IMAGINE WHAT TEN BILLION COULD DO TO SOLVE HEALTH-THREATENING ISSUES IN IDP's CAMPS, AND INDIVIDUAL SURGERY NEEDS THAT DEMANDED URGENT ATTENTIONS AT HOME AND ABROAD?
THE PETROLEUM INDUSTRY BILL, which is now being passed in "phases", according to NASS has proved to be a dummy document which has served no useful purpose considering the PETROL SHORTAGES at critical period of festivities from 2017, and which lingered into the first quarter of 2018, to interrupt, the self-employed meagre incomes and completely sealed any form of employment opportunities, which legislators claimed its passage would provide!
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION BILL, which should provide opportunities for the masses to expose acts of corruption of POLITICIANS/ADMINISTRATORS, has remained dormant because of the many deliberate HURDLES, purposely placed by the legislators to slow down the process and where efforts were made by some very determined NGO's like SERAP, the affected officials would disobey even court orders with impunity! SERAP, through the FOI Bill got a court judgement in 2015, that NASS should make public, their monthly and annual emoluments, including CONSTITUENCY ILLEGAL APPROPRIATIONS, but have bluntly refused to comply until, recently when Senator Shehu Sanni, Kaduna Central, burst a BUBBLE!

UNICAMERAL PARLIAMENT IS THE SOLUTION!
We will continue to advocate for A UNICAMERAL PARLIAMENT! The time is now ripe to send all these PRODIGALS IN GOVERNMENT packing because they would continue not only to support the wastages caused by their INSATIABLE desire for accumulation of illicit wealth but would also vehemently oppose all moves by patriotic Nigerians to expose them through distortion and manipulation of FACTS AND FIGURES! Were we surprised that SENATOR OLUREMI TINUBU, was bold to defend illegal monthly salary of N13.8 million and categorically said on camera that said amount could not be described as a JUMBO PAY, because, it was scarcely sufficient to take care of RUNNING COSTS ON CAR, HOUSE, RENT, SALARIES FOR OFFICE AND DOMESTIC STAFF etc,! We were not surprised because at least, she owned up and is even EYEING A THIRD TERM as Nigeria looks forward to general elections in 2019!

WHAT TO DO? GO FORWARD! GET YOUR PERMANENT VOTERS CARDS (PVC's) AND DRIVE ALL INCOMPETENT DO-GOODERS OUT WITH YOUR VOTES IN 2019!
"Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Galatians. 6:7-8).

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to:  facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch.

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390.  08080243066. g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com.