PREMIUM TIMES has uncovered another budget padding scheme Nigerian
lawmakers and cohorts in businesses and the executive arm of the
government have deployed to steal billions of public funds through
annual budgets.
People familiar with this second strategy have been briefing PREMIUM TIMES since the first story was published.
This strategy is different from our last expose on budget padding
which dwelt on how criminally minded lawmakers steal from Nigerian
budget by allocating huge sums to themselves in the guise of
‘Constituency Projects.”
Several insiders who briefed PREMIUM TIMES said this second
strategy does not involve “Constituency Projects,” but solely
conceptualized to steal.
It involves lawmakers adding huge sums into the budgets of
legitimate government agencies to get paid 30 per cent of the padded sum
once the budget is signed into law by the president. Of course, the 30
per cent upfront payment does not stop them from forwarding companies
for the phantom contracts.
“The lawmakers are usually in a hurry to collect their money,” sources knowledgeable about this strategy told PREMIUM TIMES.
This strategy which has existed for more than a decade networks the
lawmakers with budget jobbers – mostly miscreants – criminally minded
businessmen, and government officials.
The network consists of the following:
Lawmakers: Made up a network of the leadership of
the National Assembly and groupings of lawmakers in both chambers.
Insiders say conceptualizing a padding project is as easy as network
henchmen coming up with a sum, say N50 billion.
The sum is then split between both chambers. “Usually, Senators receive the lion share,” a source told PREMIUM TIMES.
Within each chamber grouping,leaders take the bulk before sharing whatever is left with others.
The ideation includes coming upwith probable candidates for the actors in the network.
Agents (Budget Jobbers): As a lawmaker, it is
highly risky to go cajole a government official into a budget padding
scheme. It may backfire if the target official does not buy into it and
one would have been exposed to evidence based blackmail and
embarrassment. They therefore need an isolatable agent to clear the
grounds.
Budget jobbers consist of a ring of swindlers, racketeers and
touts. They have no known professional jobs and serve mainly as
facilitators. They serve as agents of the lawmakers and courier
information between every other member of the budget padding gang who
has a reputation to protect. They are the kind of people who have
nothing to lose and are willing to take the high risk of testing the
waters. When a deal is conceived by the lawmakers, these jobbers are
recruited. They in turn recruit every other member of the network.
Executive Arm Collaborator: To successfully pad
the national budget, lawmakers need a cohort in the executive arm of
government. Chairmen of presidential committees are preferred. Because
these committees are transient, it is easier to obliterate financial
documentations in history. Other target executive agents sort are heads
of commissions or agencies, director generals or ministers. These
executive agents provide the platform for the padding – they provide a
legitimate body to receive allocation from the budget. These executive
arm agents make their committees, agencies or ministries available to be
used as a cover for smuggling the padded funds. They are recruited into
a deal by the agents. Their participation earns them obscene amounts.
Money Bags: When this system of padding is
preferred over constituency projects, the lawmakers involved are usually
in a hurry to be paid. They have a standard 30 per cent of the entire
sum padded paid immediately the budget is signed into law by the
president. Because funds are usually not released immediately, a money
bag is recruited.
The money bags, usually high network business people, bankroll the
30 per cent upfront payment to the lawmakers. In return, they are made
“contractor” of choice for the Executive arm member of the gang. Over
the course of the year, the Executive Arm Collaborator awards the Money
Bag phantom contracts to cover the 30 per cent investment and make huge
profits.
Through the contracts awardedto the Money Bag, the Executive Arm Collaborator and everyone within his circle is paid.
“Usually, a little amount is left because the lawmakers come
back from time to time to either ask for money directly or nominate a
contractor for a phantom project,” a source said.
Culled from Premium Times
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