CNPP laments govt's rising debt profile
AN alleged $40 million Internet surveillance contract by the Federal Government drew criticism from the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Sunday.
The party specifically regarded the contract as a launch of an unprecedented attack by the Jonathan Administration on the civil rights of the citizens, especially journalists and those considered to be opponents of the administration.
Besides, the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has accused the government of "rapidly rail-loading Nigeria back into debt trap" despite the unprecedented revenues from oil and gas, among other duties accruing to the country.
The group lamented that less than 10 years after the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, made the country pay $12.4 billion to the Paris and London Clubs and the assurance that Nigeria was out of the debt trap, the country's external debt would before the end of next year hit $20 billion while domestic debt would rise to N6 trillion.
The ACN noted in a statement that since the report of the contract, said to have been awarded to an Israeli firm, had yet to be denied several days after it was published, it was safe to assume that it was indeed true.
If so, the statement by the party's National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it would mark the beginning of what was sure to be the curtailment of the right to freedom of speech and expression and the freedom of the press, in addition to the invasion of citizens' privacy, among other implications.
''For a government that is increasingly paranoid, having failed to meet the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry who are justifiably becoming restive by the day, the ability to spy on the Internet communications of citizens as well as to intercept and read private emails, not to talk of being able to suppress unwanted connections, is a potent weapon against the civil rights of Nigerians as well as the constitutionally-guaranteed rights like freedom of expression, freedom of the press and freedom of association.
''It is a common knowledge that the Jonathan Administration has been getting a bad rap from Nigerians in the traditional media as well as the social media - a veritable platform for the citizens to vent their frustrations at a do-nothing government.
''It is also a common knowledge that journalists have borne the brunt of the administration's increasing propensity to stifle freedom of expression and press freedom, while members of the opposition are being portrayed more and more as enemies of the administration, rather than being seen as indispensable allies in the nation's quest to evolve a strong and enduring democracy.
''These may have been the motivation for the administration to acquire the Internet surveillance capability. However, no government in the history of our country, whether elected or otherwise, has taken this kind of brazen measure for whatever reason, hence it must raise serious concerns among the citizenry, their political representatives as well as civil liberties organisations,'' the ACN said.
The party said while the government may seek to hoodwink Nigerians by saying the technology would enable it to keep a tab on the insurgents rampaging a section of the country, such justification could not hold water since the project would violate the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The party queried who would police the use of the technology to ensure that it would not be abused.
''Desirable as it may be for the government to be able to gather useful intelligence on the terror groups that have held a section of our country by the jugular, nothing can justify what will essentially become a weapon for harassment, intimidation and even decimation of perceived opponents by a desperate and paranoid administration that is already firing poisoned arrows at those it sees as its enemies, within and outside its fold, in the run up to the 2015 elections.
''This is why we are calling on the National Assembly, civil liberties organisations, professional groups and ordinary citizens to speak out now before it is too late. No government should have the right to play a 'Big Brother' role in the lives of the citizens, because this will ultimately herald the return to autocratic rule and sound the death knell of our democracy,'' it said.
According to the CNPP, the debt profile has been raised by the $9 billion loan allegedly approved by the National Assembly and the National Economic Council (NEC) for the Federal Government.
In a statement in Enugu yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, the CNPP said instead of stemming the pervasive corruption allegedly going on in the administration, the government was going for another loan.
"We posit that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala's economic policy of government has no business in business, premised on the private sector driver, and targeted on abstract percentage growth cannot succeed in a primitive economy like Nigeria. There cannot be growth without huge state investment in robust critical infrastructure, as 98 per cent of the so-called captains of industry have no factory. Otherwise, how come a country which earns yearly $20 billion in oil and gas revenue, $5 trillion from Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) tax revenue, over $1 trillion from Customs Duty and $10 billion Excess Crude Account still records over 70 per cent of her citizens living below poverty line, over 30 per cent illiterate population, life expectancy of below 50 years and gross unemployment dislocating families?"
The CNPP said that those who rail-loaded Nigeria into the debt trap, instead of managing its resources prudently, must bear in mind that they were not positively projecting the image of the country as a disciplined and organised nation with which foreigners could do business.
According to the CNPP, Nigeria has no good reason to borrow and should in fact stop borrowing.
The Guardian