This is the continuation of our public information, which was first issued on 20^th of October, 2013 and titled: “Intersociety Fights For Igbo Cause & Good Governance In Nigeria: APC’s Attacks On Our Leadership Another War Against Igbo Gods & A Boarding Pass Off Anambra 2013 (part one)”. On 23^rd of October, 2013, the second part was issued and it was titled: “Separating Igbo Cause, Democracy & Good Governance In Nigeria (Egalitarian Partisanship) From Pecuniary Politicking (Libertarian Partisanship): Putting The Records Straight”. The issuance of the Public Information under reference is in response to coordinated attacks launched against us from several angles by the All Progressives Congress using its key members, branches, malicious elements in the media and some conformists in the rights community.

We wish to reassure our teeming followers and supporters all over the world that the leadership of International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law is equal to these challenges and unprovoked attacks. It is also our assurance that we will ensure at all times that our armpits are not hairy in order to be competently positioned to set and defend parameters of modern rights activism, good governance and accountability in public governance anywhere in Nigeria and its beyond.

It is sad that many Nigerian NGOs are still peopled and led by military confrontationists who still live in the past. These sets of NGOs’ leaders are not different from “BBC (born before computer) academicians” that are killing the Nigerian higher education because of their insistence on keeping the country’s higher education on “typewriter” path, or the present Nigeria Police Force that still promotes “homicidal policing” in place of modern “electronic and preventive policing”.

Focus on APC’s Epicenter of Political Governance in Nigeria:

Lagos State is the epicenter of the APC’s political governance in Nigeria. APC’s forefather is the Action Group of the 40s. The AG later begat UPN (Unity Party of Nigeria) in the late 70s, which gave birth to AD (Alliance for Democracy) in late 90s. Though AD claims that it still exists till date, but its bones are off leaving it boneless. The mainstream AD begat AC/N (Action Congress; plus “of Nigeria”) in the 2000s and this led to the recent birth of the All Progressives Congress.

Like its forefather, AG, the APC is southwest and northern Muslims’ dominated. Its leadership is presently dominated by its politicians of the Southwest orientation. Lagos has served as the epicenter of “opposition politics” in Nigeria since 1999. The Southwest “opposition politics” collapsed in 2003 and resurfaced in 2007 and 2008. The collapse was owing to the emergence of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as a second term President in 2003. It was then calculated that since Chief Olusengun Obasanjo came from the Southwest, continuing an opposition politics might rob the zone of “its national cake” and mainstream political inroad into the center.

Modern Lagos:

Lagos is Nigeria’s most populated state with over 15 million residents and has 20 constitutionally recognized LGAs. The state is one of the smallest in terms of land mass, measuring 3,577 square kilometers, out of which 787 is occupied by lagoons and creeks. It is also Nigeria’s richest state in terms of internally generated revenues hitting between N288 billion and N348 billion yearly. Its 2013 budget is N499.105 billion with a capital expenditure of N269, 376 billion and recurrent of N229.777 billion. The state has a monthly wage bill of under N7Billion and has served as the capital of Nigeria between 1861 when its illiterate Oba Desomu ceded it and by extension, other “Niger Area” social entities to the British colonialists through the “Treaty of Cession”, and December 1991 when Nigeria’s capital was moved to Abuja. Lagos has lesser land mass than Anambra, which measures 4, 416 square kilometers. Kano is more than two and a half larger than Lagos, measuring 9,398 square kilometers of land mass.

Lagos’ Huge Foreign & Domestic Debts Of N330 Billion:

Recently, Lagos State was in the news in a section of the Nigerian media as the “Most Indebted State” in Nigeria. Having successfully silenced larger section of the Nigerian media and many of the rights groups particularly those headquartered in the state, pens, voices and tongues were turned in glorification of its attainment of “this wonderful feat” by becoming “Nigeria’s most sustainable loans’ borrower”. The Lagos media and silenced rights groups joined in the “celebration” by making repeatedly a reference by the DMO (Debts Management Office)’s DG to the effect that “owing to Lagos fat revenues accruals”, its loans are “sustainable”. By implication, it has been licensed to borrow with utmost alacrity. Questions such as: “since Lagos is a sustainable or maintenance governance economy with huge revenues’ receipts, why the huge borrowings and for what purposes?” are kept in the cooler.

According to the official releases from the Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, Lagos State is the most indebted state in Nigeria both domestically and externally, with N193 billon (Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, DG-DMO: 2013) as at September 2013 and $857.53 million (about N137 billion as at June 2013). The State’s total domestic debt as at December 2011 was N157.53 billion. In other words, Lagos State presently owes total local and foreign debts of N330 billion or about $2.07 billion. The Nigerian Senate recently approved another $200 million (N32 billion) for the State to be borrowed from the World Bank in the incoming 2014 fiscal year. The total loan approved for the State by the World Bank in the 2010 Borrowing Plan is $600 million, out of which, first tranche was secured in 2011. With this, Lagos debts by 2014 fiscal year will be N362 billion or about $2.25 billion.

States’ Local & Foreign Debts by Geopolitical Zones:

In the area of geopolitical zone, South-south is the most indebted zone in terms of domestic debt with a total of N508,692 billion, followed by Southwest with N305.9 billion. The North-central zone and the FCT is the third most indebted zone in Nigeria in terms of local debt with N214.7 billion, followed by Southeast with N107.1 billion. The Northeast zone is the fifth most indebted zone with N72.7 billion and the least indebted zone is the Northwest with N69.8 billion. In the area of foreign debts, Southwest zone is the most indebted with $1.18 billion, followed by Northwest with $540 million. Nigeria’s third most indebted zone in foreign loans is South-south zone with $302.2 million, followed by the North-central and the FCT with $230.6 million. The Southeast zone comes fifth with $217.1 million, while the Northeast is the least most indebted zone in terms of foreign loans with $198.6 million.

15 Most Indebted States:

The fifteen most indebted States in Nigeria both domestically and externally for 2013 are: Lagos N330 billion, Bayelsa N167 billion, Cross River N107 billion, Delta 93 billion, the FCT N91 billion, Rivers N89 billion, Kaduna N75 billion, Ondo N56 billion, Akwa Ibom N50 billion, Ogun N47 billion, Ebonyi N46 billion, Edo N45 billion, Kogi N39 billion, Imo N34 billion and Adamawa N30 billion. Anambra State is one of the least indebted States in Nigeria with a total debt of N10.7 billion, which is made up of a local debt of N6.4 billion and a foreign debt of $27.3 million or about N4.27 billion. The source of the foregoing debts and their statistical breakdown was obtained from the official website of the Debt Management Office of the Federation. While the available DMO information concerning foreign debts is updated to June 2013 that of domestic debts is of December 2011. This clearly shows that the states’ official domestic debts records are most likely to be under-reported.

States’ Domestic Debts Statistics May Be Inaccurate:

While the local debt statistics of Lagos both domestic and foreign, looks officially updated because of a recent statement credited to the DG of the DMO by the media to the effect that “Lagos internal debt as at September 2013 stood at N193 billion”. A further enquiry by the leadership of Intersociety reveals that the States’ internal debts records obtained and used by the DMO may not have represented accurately what most of the States actually owe domestically. The DMO had in 2012 reported that it was having hitches compiling the States’ local debts. Pieces of information supplied to the DMO statisticians by some, if not many States, may have been half-baked especially when some States like Lagos and Imo are said to have reached “debt ceiling”. Yet the DMO official records still put Imo’s domestic and foreign debts to “N25.4 billion” and “$51.2 million” respectively. It appears that some, if not many States particularly those engrossed in huge domestic debts, are hiding the truth as regards their actual domestic loans figures.

Part Four In Making:

In part four of the subject under reference, we shall x-ray the APC and its policy of “loan governance in Nigeria” with Lagos State as a case study. We shall soon return to regional and international levels to take a stock of dictators and tyrants still holding sway in public offices in their respective countries, who continue to bring calamities and hardships to their peoples by their sit-tight

Bottling APC Flies & Their Ranting:

Lastly, we are not unaware of “flies” hired by our detractors to come and implant hairs in our armpits with a view to blackening us and dampening our spirits locally, nationally, regionally and internationally. We shall bottle them together with their empty noises and put them to shames as we have done to several others in recent past. We urge our teeming followers and supporters not to be distracted one bit. Anambra Governorship poll will come and go and we shall remain. Once the wind of the important poll settles our jungle and paid attackers and other jungle rights activists running riot on us will roost and wait for another poll year.

Refusing To Be Distracted & Marching On:

Just two days ago, our gallant field officers led by Comrades Justus Ijeoma and Alex Ijeoma freed 42 residents of Iyiowa Odekpe in Ogbaru LGA of Anambra State, who were mass-arrested by a unit of deadly Anambra NPF’s SARS (Special Anti Robbery Squad) in their various residences and streets between 7:30pm and 8:20pm on 29^th October, 2013. Among them were pregnant women, husbands and wives. On prompt intervention of our crack team the next morning, all of them were freed and two of them who have paid N10,000 each as “bail fees” before the arrival of our crack team were refunded after the extorted sums were recovered from the SARS extortionists. The SARS guys later apologized to our crack team with a bottle of “Henkel Wine” and begged us to offer prayers for them with it. Some of the arrested citizens were tortured with gun buts and other lethal objects.

•Umeagbalasi (emekaumeagbalasi@yahoo.co.uk ) is Chairman of the Board of Intersociety while Ijeoma (juijeoma@yahoo.com) is Head, Publicity Desk, of the organization. Photo shows Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.

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