Reality of a Campaign Pledge

Last week’s disagreement between the PDP and the APC senators over the payment of N5,000 stipend for unemployed youth as part of the ruling party’s campaign promises is no longer an issue steeped in politics but one of policy feasibility in view of the prevailing reality, writes Omololu Ogunmade, while Ademola Adeyemo and Shola Oyeyipo provide additional reports

When the All Progressives Congress (APC) began its campaign ahead of the 2015 general election, Nigerians were promised heaven and earth. The impression was created that a former military president, General Muhammadu Buhari had the magic wand to fix Nigeria in the twinkle of an eye. At the time, National Publicity Secretary of APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, went on air to promise that within the first three months of the APC administration, Nigerians would start to witness rapid change and progress. But six months after, the story is still the same, if not worse even.

The APC had made insecurity its campaign thrust, promising to wipe out insurgency once it seizes power. However, recent reports have shown that wanton destruction of lives and property has heightened since this administration took off, when compared to the situation at the twilight of President Goodluck Jonathan's administration, when the dogged fight of the military liberated many communities taken over by insurgents to the extent that elections were held in the North-east, the supposed stronghold of Boko Haram, without any bomb blasts. But in the past five months, bombings and killings by insurgents in the mosques, markets, churches, parks, while the internally displaced people's camps have reached an alarming rate.

esides, the fight against corruption by the government has been dismissed as not inspiring as many now believe that government lacks definite focus. Thus, the government that claims to possess zero tolerance for corruption is daily being accused of looking the other way when it affects its party members or sectional interests. For instance, two of the newly confirmed leaders of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the Senate were alleged last weekend by Mr. Femi Falana to have been previously indicted.

Also, the incumbent Chairman of Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), Mr. Danladi Umar, who was standing trial before the end of the last administration for allegedly demanding N10million from one Mr. Taiwo Rasheed, whom Danladi, according to documents once obtained by THISDAY, asked to pay the money into the account of his personal assistant, Abdullahi Gambo, appears to have been left off the hooks while his accomplice personal assistant, who allegedly received N1.8 million from Taiwo on his behalf through his Zenith Bank account is still standing trial.

It is against this background that Nigerians expressed concerns when APC senators threw out a prayer by their Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterparts last Wednesday, urging the Buhari administration to live up to its promise to pay the teeming unemployed Nigerian youths the monthly stipend of N5,000 each it promised during the electioneering.

The prayer was raised by the Minority Whip, Senator Philip Aduda and seconded by the Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio. But Nigerian youths were angry that APC senators opted to play politics with a matter which bordered on the fulfillment of a public promise and not a fresh demand. The trend provoked deep-seated anger in these hapless Nigerians, who took to the social media to lambast the senators whom they accused of earning millions of naira for practically doing nothing and yet found it convenient to reject a call for payment of meagre N5,000 to these youths, who literally live from hands to mouths.

The call for the payment by Aduda was an additional prayer to a motion by a PDP senator, Albert Akpan (Akwa Ibom North-east). Akpan, in his motion, had expressed grave concerns about soaring unemployment rate in Nigeria, describing it as a time bomb, which the government could not afford to ignore and therefore sought the prompt intervention of the government in the matter.

After approving the initial recommendations on the motion, Aduda then raised an additional prayer, tasking Buhari's government to fulfill one of its numerous campaign promises that it would pay N5,000 stipends to teeming unemployed youths with a view to alleviating their plights. "The federal government should immediately commence the payment of the N5,000 monthly stipend it promised during the pre-election campaign," Aduda had prayed.

But to the shock of the observing public, a prayer that should be collectively embraced by all senators in the spirit of patriotism and moral rectitude because it bordered on an unfulfilled promise was rejected on the altar of politics. This brings to the fore the dangerous politics which has characterised the eighth Senate since it was inaugurated.

The chamber since June 9 hardly demonstrates a sense of patriotism and nationalism especially where political interests are concerned. The APC senators tend to believe that it is anathema to speak against any government or party policies no matter how wrong. The situation now looks like an irony of sort as these same senators several times walked out of the chamber in protest of what they described as unpatriotic acts of the David Mark-led seventh Senate.

However, the turn of events now tends to create the impression that things were not as bad as it is now in the seventh Senate as the PDP majority at the time yet paraded some patriotic-minded senators such as Smart Adeyemi, Ayogu Eze and few others, who despite their utmost loyalty to their party would bluntly condemn perceived anti-people moves by the then Jonathan administration.
Even Mark did not spare the then Chairman of Pension Reform Task Force (PRTF), Abdulrashhed Maina, when it was clear to the Senate that Jonathan was shielding him from accounting for embezzled pension funds as Mark did not mince words to tell Jonathan to choose between the Senate and Maina.

But to underscore the fact that the current Senate is largely influenced by party affiliations and interests instead of a national course, an APC senator, Babajide Omoworare (Osun West), raised a counter prayer, urging Buhari to immediately hold Jonathan accountable for every amount spent by his administration on the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) and other poverty alleviation programmes.

The prayer portrayed the APC caucus as taking a pound of flesh against PDP caucus for daring to remind the APC government of its unfulfilled promise to the extent that the bitter rivalry, which ensued between the APC and PDP senators over the matter almost eroded the important thrust of Akpan's motion.
Thus, the development led to a stand-off between APC senators and their opposition PDP counterparts for 22 minutes, prompting the intervention of Senate President Bukola Saraki to end the row.

Saraki, in his bid to bring the prolonged rowdy session to an end, then asked Aduda to repeat his additional prayer. After doing so, Saraki put the additional prayer to a voice vote and it was accompanied by overwhelming "ayes" but the Senate president ruled in favour of its opponents, saying "the nays have it."

Saraki, thereafter, allowed Omoworare to raise another additional prayer, saying "I want to move that the immediate past government be made to account for every penny spent on SURE-P and other poverty alleviation programmes. I so move, Mr. President."

When Saraki put Omoworare's prayer to a voice vote, APC senators chorused "ayes," but PDP senators, who were apparently disenchanted by the handling of their own prayer, ignored the voice vote without a response. Consequently, Omoworare's prayer was passed.

Ordinarily, Akpan's motion was expected by those, who reacted to the episode to call for concern and simultaneously propel a sense of unity among the senators instead of polarising them along party lines. The senator had observed that the recent statistics on unemployment situation in Nigeria by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed how an unemployment rate had increased to the tune of 8.2 percent in the second quarter of 2015 from 7.5 percent recorded in the first quarter of the year and 6.4 percent in the last quarter of 2014.

He said: "The latest statistics as released by the Bureau reveals that economically active population or working age comprising Nigerians within the age range of 15 to 64, are now 103.5 million, increasing from 102.8 million in the last quarter of 2015, while the unemployed labour force now stands at 74 million Nigerian youths. This is truly a calamity," he noted.

Continuing, he added: "With a projected population growth of 200 million by 2020, we project an unemployed population of about 100 million Nigerians or more. Where lies the economic future of this country? If the unemployed youths of this country are effectively engaged in gainful employment, terrorism, kidnapping, armed robbery and other socio-economic and cultural vices will be drastically reduced as the saying goes, 'an idle mind is the devil's workshop'," he said.

The rising growth of unemployment without any solution in sight and the seeming indifference of senators to the trend as shown by the rejection of Aduda's prayer had since put the Senate and APC government on the spot. The rain of abuses poured on the party over the matter forced its leadership out of its shell to defend the perceived failure of the federal government to fulfill its promise. The party claimed that the promise would yet be fulfilled.

The party, through Mohammed, said: "The non-implementation of the payment policy so far is due to the fact that it was not included in the 2015 budget. The Muhammadu Buhari administration has been busy putting in place measures that will make it possible to start the implementation of this project. Such measures include the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

“We are happy to inform Nigerians that as at the end of September, 2015, over N1.4trillion which hitherto was lying unproductive in various commercial banks has been recovered."
In saner climes, social security is a normal way of life. In the United States for instance, it is not only the unemployed who benefit from social security, low income earners also have notable sums of money paid into their accounts to cushion the effects of their under-employment.

It is the same trend in the United Kingdom, where anyone who attains the age of 18 without a gainful employment is duty bound to report to relevant government institutions. From that moment, his needs will be met by the state until he secures gainful unemployment. Likewise, elderly men and women are entitled to social security.

The Court of Public Opinion
The development, expectedly, has seen Nigerians of differing leanings engage one another, both for and against. For instance, the Director of Communication and Strategy of PDP in Osun State, Mr. Diran Odeyemi argued that, “There was nothing to be skeptical about because we understood that right from day one that this promise was made, it only resulted from the spur of that moment and Indeed most of the promises were better off unfulfilled.

“Of course, we understand that in a bid to win the 2015 elections, a lot of unachievable promises were made out of the stress that accompanied the campaign and the strong desire to gather juicy points to win the electorate but in the words of my Warri brothers, ‘all those scope na wash.”

“About two weeks after the elections, it was expected that reality must have dawned on the political actors in APC and this would be a time for the people to know what should be expected from the Buhari-led government. Of course, you will certainly agree with me that it is an arrangement of putting the cart before the horse.

“But as a realist and one who accepts the fact that in today’s world, the politicians feel more comfortable telling you what you want to hear than the truth or the real situation and that explains why some parents and school children danced the latest steps when the APC scattered boards with the promise of a meal per day for all school children.”

On his part, Dr. Taiwo Akeju, a political researcher at Lead City University Ibadan, said “A lot of questions kept running through my mind and I kept asking, ‘what mechanism has been put in place or what mechanism would the APC put in place to ensure that indeed, only the unemployed and poorest people benefit from this money’? What parameters will be used in measuring those regarded as poor? Will we not be committing the same mistakes made by the PDP by enriching a few pockets at the expense of the intended target? Does the APC or does Nigeria have a record and database of unemployed citizens? If a man is regarded as unemployed today, he can be gainfully employed tomorrow recovering the years the caterpillars have eaten up from him by receiving a pay package that could cover up his years of joblessness.

“How do we get that update on his change of status and even when the update is made, how are we sure that those who, are in charge of disbursing this money would not be tempted to voluntarily continue receiving it on behalf of the once unemployed youth knowing the corruption bedeviling the civil service and the society at large. President Buhari must be very careful not to create another avenue for a scam which will further destroy every good intention he has for the country.”

National Publicity Secretary of a pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, who had been critical of the ruling party as one that is not absolutely committed to fulfilling the promises it made to Nigerians, said the ruling party is known for reneging on its promises.

“It is not new. On their 100 days in office, they denied all the promises they made to the people. The N5,000 is part of it. It also goes to underscore how much trust Nigerians can put on politicians. It shows the style of the APC – obtaining by trick. They obtained the mandate of the people by trick and it is unfortunate. It is an indication that the electorate should shine their eyes in future elections and not buy into promises that would not be fulfilled,” he urged.

Also, the National Secretary of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Kayode Ajulo maintained that what happened goes to show that it is the ruling party that denied the unemployed youths the promised stipends.
“Since the issue has been discussed at the highest legislative assembly in the country, it is on record that senators belonging to the APC shut it down. They deactivated their promise. Having been discussed at the Senate, it is on record that the ruling party senators killed the project. It is not the only promise they have made to Nigerians that they have failed.

“The hope of the vulnerable unemployed youths has been dashed. It shows that Nigerians have been sold dummies. From my personal records, the N5,000 stipends promised unemployed youth is the 72nd promise that the APC has failed in the past seven months.
“I’m however not surprised. We have raised the alarm and we are vindicated that this government is not the change we are looking for – there is nothing like change; what we have now is 'chance,' they should give us chance. Immediately the government got into power what they said was that we should not expect miracle, which means that the government has failed. They have been showing symptoms of failure and it is very bad.

“My advice to the ruling party is that they should quickly deviate from their promise and fail. If they continue this way, they should not be surprised if Nigerians start stoning them for being uncharitable to their promises, but I will like to beg the people that they should wait till after the expiration of their tenure – till the next election when they should vote them out. We should be patient till then,” he argued.

But a former House of Representatives member that represented Kabba/Bunu/Ijumu federal constituency of Kogi State on the PDP platform, Hon. Duro Meseko felt the debate went the way it went because of the suspicion among APC lawmakers that the motion was targeted at hampering the President Buhari administration.

“From my reading of the situation, the APC; rightly or wrongly interpreted the request to mean blackmail, by asking for immediate implementation – that was the issue; they should have removed the ‘immediate’ because the money was not appropriated.
“Emotion was raised and it led to the APC senators shooting down the proposal but there was nothing wrong about the PDP senators asking the government to implement its campaign promise but there was no way it could be implemented immediately,” Meseko noted.

The APC Publicity Secretary in Enugu State, Mrs. Kate Ofor also contended that the demand by the PDP for the immediate implementation of the campaign promise was carelessly presented without recourse to procedures.

“I think the PDP were not discretional at raising the issue. Yes, the president promised that but I know there are procedures for spending money. They are being guided by their own recklessness when at the helms of affairs. They should give him (Buhari) some time because of the serious mess they left behind.

“They are asking for instance change by the implementation of the N5,000 monthly stipend promised unemployed youths but it should be factored into the budget – certain things take procedure. President Buhari is taking things easy and he knows what to do. If you must live in a dilapidated building, you have to repair it first before moving into the house. He didn’t put the money in the budget, so where is he expected to get the money from?” she asked.

A Lagos-based stock broker, Mr. Oluwaseyi Adeyinka sees it differently. In his views, the call for the implementation of the campaign promise at this material time by PDP lawmakers was ill-motivated, mischievous and malicious despite the fact that it is helpful to the unemployed Nigerian youths.

“The PDP seemed malicious in their proposal. They are playing politics and that is also a way to incite the people against government. The implication is that sentiment will be whipped up against government because it would look like the APC senators are insensitive to the plights of the unemployed Nigerian youths.

“If not properly managed, they would have been able incite the unemployed youth and portray government in bad light – as a government that is not honouring its promises, but this is a government that just gave out bailout funds to states. Some few days ago, it paid N413bn to fuel marketers. So, to me, their timing is malicious.

“It is good that what they are asking for is in the interest of the public but they also know that their timing was malicious. The government inherited an empty treasury; he (Buhari) didn’t envisage bailout when he was making the promise to Nigerians during campaigns. The government that is just settling down to inaugurate the ministers too, so to me, the PDP lawmakers deliberately did what they did to portray the ruling party in bad light before the citizenry,” Adeyinka argued.

But the Secretary, Kwara Youth Coalition and Assistant Publicity Secretary, PDP, Mr. Femi Yusuf sees no reason to blame his party for requesting that President Buhari should fulfill an important campaign promise.

“Our reaction to the issue is clear. I don’t agree that the PDP senators were mischievous; they are only factual and at times, facts are bitter, but we always need to tell ourselves the truth. The fact is that when Jonathan was in power, he puts SURE-P in place, which had different phases but the larger part of it was benefited by unemployed youths.

“Over 3000 unemployed youths were employed with a take home pay of N10, 000 per month. If you multiply 3000 by 37 states you can see that a lot of people benefitted from the programme.
“When the APC were campaigning, it was not the PDP that told them to say it as campaign promise that they would give N5, 000. We believe it is their programme. Now, they are in power, it is amazing for the APC legislators to throw out that programme. One would believe they were part of those who formulated the programme.

“Are we now saying that it is not part of their campaign promises and have APC senators not thrown out the proposal? If the answer is yes, how can they say our party is mischievous? We’re only re-echoing what they promised.
“The same thing goes for the issue of Boko Haram. They promised that they would wipe out the insurgents in 100 days but immediately after the elections, they recanted and said that they didn’t give any timeline for wiping out Boko Haram. So, looking at all these, why are they saying we are mischievous, when we are only reminding them what they promised? So, Nigerians should read between the lines and judge,” he opined.

Even in spite of the debate, the APC has reassured Nigerians that it would not renege on its promise to pay N5,000 monthly to 25 million most vulnerable Nigerians. The party urged the citizens to ignore the “mischievous” attempt by the PDP to confuse and mislead them on the subject matter.
The party said with the Treasury Single Account of the Buhari administration, N1.4 trillion has been mopped up from various banks and are now safely in the TSA. APC also said the government has set aside $2.5 billion for various infrastructural projects and another N2.5 trillion as special intervention fund.

Senators were on Tuesday divided along party lines when PDP members canvassed a motion for the immediate payment of the N5000 stipend to all unemployed youth as promised by the APC. The motion appeared an attempt by the opposition party to mock the APC-government that is already struggling with severe revenue shortage.

The PDP later issued a statement on Wednesday saying the APC Senators were only doing the bidding of their party, which it said only used the monthly stipend as campaign strategy and that the party never intended to implement it.