Over the years, what looked like a cold war has been going on among the various agencies of the government and this portends tardiness for government programmes. ELEOJO IDACHABA takes a look at such beef, especially as it relates to the recent near-rift between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Ministry of Finance over currency redesign.
It is said that a house divided against itself can never stand. Nowhere is this saying a reality than within the Nigerian government cycle, especially in the recent past.
This is because what is known as inter-agency beef has caused successive government policies to grind to a halt. In most cases, the situation damaged the reputation of the government.
A good example is the latest uproar between the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the minister of finance, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, over the re-designing of Naira notes. As if there is no synergy or a harmonious working relationship among the agencies of the government responsible for monetary and fiscal policies, the minister while appearing before the Senate recently to defend the ministry’s budget berated the move by CBN, a move which, according to the CBN, got the nod of the president. It took a statement by President Muhammadu Buhari to calm frayed nerves.
While apparently distancing from the planned re-designing, the minister warned the CBN about the consequences of the policy. In her response to a question by Senator Bamidele Opeyemi as to why the Naira suddenly began to experience unprecedented fall against the Dollar immediately the announcement was made, the minister said, “Distinguished senators, we were not consulted at the Ministry of Finance by CBN on the planned naira redesigning and cannot comment on it as regards its merits or otherwise.
“However, as a Nigerian privileged to be at the top of Nigeria’s fiscal management, the policy as rolled out at this time portends serious consequences on the value of the naira to other foreign currencies.
“I will, however, appeal to this committee to invite the CBN governor for required explanations as regards merits of the planned policy and rightness or otherwise of its implementation now.”
What’s wrong?
Days after this rift, a former deputy governor of CBN, Kingsley Moghalu, took a swipe at the minister for her comments, saying something was wrong somewhere.
Moghalu said, “It is still not clear about the position taken by the minister of finance over the redesigning of Naira notes. I left the CBN about seven years ago and I know that before such a major decision can be taken by the CBN, the ministry would have been carried along. I say this because there is a board for the CBN which comprises representatives from other government agencies including the finance ministry who is usually represented by the permanent secretary.
A decision of this nature is always taken during such meetings and there is no way the ministry would not have been represented. If the permanent secretary was at that meeting, is it that he or she did not brief the minister that such a major decision was about to be taken or we take it to mean that these days, the ministry no longer has a representative in that meeting? However I know that by the CBN Act, the apex bank is autonomous and can take any decision without recourse to the ministry as long as it secures the approval of the president. The confusion needs to be properly clarified.”
Even though governors are not part of the major decisions often taken at the federal level, being a part of the current administration, one expects that at the various levels of the government, there would be harmony. This is, however, not the case as the Edo state governor, Godwin Obaseki, a trained economist, condemned the economic policies of the current administration, especially on the alleged printing of currency notes for projects in 2021. In the wake of the planned re-designing of Naira notes, he reiterated that he was aware that Naira notes were deliberately printed by the government.
While speaking in Benin City last week, Obaseki said, “I am an economist and I can tell you categorically that this policy by the CBN and federal government has no basis in Nigeria’s economy. There is no reason to do this; the move is purely political as there is no urgency in changing our currency.
“The urgency is on how to get food for our citizens to remove starvation and hunger from the land. The urgency is on how to maintain discipline in our monetary policy so that we can manage our foreign exchange rate because we are import-dependent. We can’t allow those managing our country to continue because if we do, the country would fail.”
History
Examples abound of inter-agency feuds over the years. In the not-too-distant past, the chairman of Nigeria Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and the minister of communications technology, Isah Pantami, were locked in arguments over office space leading to what NIDCOM said was its forceful ejection from the space it occupied in the NCC building. The confrontation was so intense that it became a media war.
In a series of tweets, NiDCOM published a video accusing Pantami of masterminding the eviction of its staff from office space at the NCC building, a property under the control of Pantami as the communication minister. Although Pantami denied it, Dabiri-Erewa insisted that the minister was to be blamed for the problem as she even went ahead to call the minister a liar known for disrespecting her because she is a woman.
Dabiri-Erewa had said, “An Islamic scholar should not lie, Hon Minister. You did that to me cos I am a woman. Your disrespect for women is legendary. I have left the ugly incident behind me, but please release all our office equipment. Public office is transient.”
However, NCC in a statement by its spokesman, Henry Nkemadu, dismissed the report of forceful eviction as untrue while Pantami on his part accused NiDCOM chairman of telling what he described as a ‘big fat lie.’ Although the matter has since been laid to rest, it speaks volumes about the level of disharmony within the government cycles.
Army vs police
Among the security agencies, the development is commonplace, especially between the police and military operatives; for instance, in 2016, soldiers from the Nigerian Army Cantonment, Nkwagu near Abakaliki in Ebonyi state, clashed with policemen who were on a stop-and-check duty leading to pandemonium in the entire city. According to an eyewitness account, “Trouble started when a police patrol team on road check requested for the identity cards and vehicle particulars of army officers from the Nkwagu Military Cantonment.
“The soldiers, who were in their uniforms except one personnel, told the police team that they were returning from a wedding ceremony and felt embarrassed by their request for documents. At this point, one of the police officers stopped the soldiers from going and the latter angrily fired sporadically into the air.”
Also, in Aba, Abia state, several policemen and a soldier were in 2018 confirmed dead after a bloody clash between them. An eyewitness, Chinyere Nkem, said, “It happened like what we used to watch in American movies. It happened in a flash and before you knew what was happening, trucks of army and police vans were everywhere.
“Police and army were shooting themselves face-to-face. From what we later learnt, two policemen and a soldier died in the gun duel. It is better seeing than being told. I don’t know what is happening at this Osisioma junction. Don’t forget that some time ago, police and army clashed here and shot at each other leaving one policeman dead.”
In the last general elections in River state, there was tension at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Port Harcourt between some policemen and soldiers arising from the battle for supremacy over who was empowered to guard the premises of the electoral umpire.
It was reported that it took the intervention of Governor Nyesom Wike to calm the frayed nerves from the looming clash otherwise the outcome would have been disastrous.
‘It’s an unfortunate situation’
In the view of Murtala Ahmed, the executive director of Good Governance for Justice and Development, inter-agency feud is the reason the gains of the present administration have been dwarfed.
“Those in the position of drawing attention to the gains of the current administration are always engaged in a match of superiority contest. That is why what people see are the problems, challenges and controversies in the country rather than achievements otherwise why on earth would it take the Presidency to take a stand on Naira re-designing before the minister of finance would accept the reality that the final decision on monetary matters taken by the CBN lies with the president? But because everyone is seeking to do what they call ‘breaking news’ in the media, no one is happy if another person or agency appears to take the shine over any issue that is even long overdue?
“Despite the series of retreats organised for appointees of this government on how to work harmoniously towards delivering on the president’s mandate, many of them are still self-serving. It’s unfortunate,” he said.
