By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja

 A former Lagos State Commissioner for Finance during the administration of President Bola Tinubu as governor of Lagos State, Mr Wale Edun, has called for the creation of the office of the Accountant General of the Federal Government.

He said it should be distinct from that of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF).

He stated this while answering questions from senators when he appeared for screening as a ministerial nominee before the Senate on Tuesday,

He was screened alongside eight others while the remaining five will face the Senate at plenary yesterday.

The nominee while answering questions posed to him by senators, justified the call for the split of the OAGF.

He said it was to create the OAGFG, which will handle strictly the accounting records of the Federal Government.

He said, “I support the idea that there should be a separation of power from the office of the accountant general of the federation and the accountant general of the Federal Government.

“This would reduce the frequent friction between the FG and the government at the sub-national levels in terms of revenues sharing formula.”

Edun recommended a digital capturing of all beneficiaries of the cash transfer

He said, “Statements have been made on derogatory terms. It is not good to throw the baby away in the bad water.

“The provisions and conditions surrounding the $800m World Bank financing are that every beneficiary must have a biometric verification, otherwise they will not be eligible for the N8,000 cash.

“There is a register that has the biometrics of Nigerians to some extent but we need to do more to reach people outside the formal financial system and that is the goal of the government.

“On the N500bn Supplementary Budget, I think that is an appropriated sum and it is part of the current budget. On the foreign exchange, it is clearly on the uppermost in the minds of the monitoring authorities.

“For a country that has revenue flows from oil revenue, from remittances, and from other exports and financing of over N100bn a year, there is no reason that there should be no stable exchange rate, all other things been equal and provided that inflation is kept under control.

“The N860 to $1 is not backed up by the fundamentals of the Nigerian economy. The fact that there is a result of the foreign exchange practice of the past with the inefficiency and the corruption involved is putting pressure on the exchange rate.

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“Night and day, the monitoring authorities and the monitoring team of the president are trying to resolve the situation by raising revenue, other sources of investment funding and by attracting the investment funds, equity funds from those around the world that are interested in the Nigerian economy.

“Turkey has attracted $50bn in investment funding from the United Arab Emirates. It is in such direction that the solution to the shortage of liquidity in the foreign exchange market is being sought including an increase in oil production as a result of better security.

It is difficult to predict because the capital markets take all the liquidity of their own.

“I want to say that the fundamental value of the naira should be somewhere around N700. On the consolidated revenue funds, President Tinubu is a democrat that believes in true fiscal federalism and the rule of law. I believe that he will not authorised to be spent, funds, that have not been truly appropriated by the National Assembly.”

Edun, who said he was part of the stunning success story of Tinubu’s administration as governor of Lagos State, said a home-grown technology was developed and deployed to shore up the revenues of the state.

He maintained that Nigeria was blessed with human and natural resources and expressed optimism that the nation would come out of its current economic quagmire with President Tinubu in the saddle of its affairs.

He said, “Lagos’ success story was a result of heavy commitment and investment in Technology which was used to generate resources.

“We relied on the private sector investments to generate resources. Lagos economy was well positioned to an enviable position where it could source for funds domestically to meet the basic needs of its residents.”

He lamented that the nation’s economy was being challenged by insecurity and inflation because no deliberate efforts were made to harness the contributions of the private and the informal sectors.

He expressed hope that there would be an improvement in the nation’s economy if enough revenue could be generated to carry out government obligations and service debts.

He said the end of the subsidy regime and multiple exchange rate window has positioned the country for economic growth.

He urged Nigerians, especially those in the private sector to embrace the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration because the government cannot do it alone.

Edun also said Nigerians would soon be experiencing an improvement in electricity supply because there is liberalisation of the power sector to enable investors to participate in the once monolithic sector.

*el-Rufai wants DISCOS retrieved from banks

Another nominee, a former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir el-Rufai, also spoke on how the Federal Government could ensure constant electricity supply to the citizenry.

He said the federal government has subsidised electricity to the tune of N16trn so far since privatisation of the private sector was not justifiable and grossly unsustainable.

El-Rufai said, “On Power, 80 per cent of the power generation is by gas while 20 per cent is hydro. Power and gas should go together.

“Transmission infrastructure can only carry 6000 out of the 13,000 megawatts the nation is producing. We need to look at it.

“The distribution companies were designed to involve private individuals and major investors but it is not the case. At the moment three out of 11 DISCOs are doing well among them. Banks own six of the 11 discos.

“Subsidising of electricity consumption with N1.6trn despite privatisation is unsustainable. It is unacceptable.”

He stressed the need for fresh capital and fresh investments in the sector.

El-Rufai stressed the need to further amend the electricity because Tinubu has said power outages would soon be a thing of the past.

He said there was also the need to attract resources to the sector and that every house should have metre even as he said power should not be free.

There was a mild drama when the lawmaker representing Kogi West, Senator Sunday Karimi, stood up and told the chamber that he had a petition written against the former governor over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna.

Raising a brown envelope, Karimi said, “Mr President, I have a petition written against the nominee over the issue of insecurity in Southern Kaduna when he was governor.

“If I am permitted, I will like to read the petition.”

Karimi said he has a strong petition against el-Rufai on insecurity, unity, and cohesion.

But Senator Sani Musa and two other senators asked him to take a bow and go since he had appeared before the Senate some 20 years ago.

There was another interesting scene when Senator David Umahi took a bow after he gave a brief introduction of himself.

The Senate President caused a stir when he asked Umahi to resume his seat after his appearance.

The nominee from Katsina State, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa said the actual housing deficit was not known.

He, however, said data analysts and the National population commission would be consulted to know the actual housing deficit.

Meanwhile, a female nominee from Delta State, Stella Okotete, was asked to take a bow and go after her introductory remarks, giving details of her performance at the Nexim Bank where she’s currently serving as executive director.

The Enugu State nominee, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, was also asked to take a bow after introducing himself and saying that he has a special interest in Agriculture.

*Female nominee shed tears over poor family background

A female nominee, Hannatu Musawa from Katsina State, went emotional when she appeared for screening.

She said, “I came from a poor family. My father sells goro (kola nut) to send me to school. My greatest regret is that my father is not here to witness her daughter’s screening for a ministerial position”

Nominees who would be screened yesterday were Mr Muhammad Idris (Niger); Prof Ali Pate (Bauchi) Doris Anite Uzoka (Imo); Lateef Fagbemi SAN (Kwara); Ekperikpe Ekpo (Akwa (Ibom).