Newswatch: How has governance been in Enugu State?

Gov. Nnamani: Governance in Enugu State is getting more and more interesting as we continue with the disengagement process that will see us get to the terminus of what appears to have been an active political life here in Enugu State after two terms of eight years of governance. We are already preparing for our exit. Yes, it gives me a good feeling to talk to you about it. We have tried as much as possible to get to where we wanted to be at this time. When we came into governance, majority of our students were living in boys’ quarters and garages all across Enugu. But as we are disengaging, there is a brand new permanent site of the State University sitting on 600 hectares of virgin land where the students have already been relocated and classes have started over there. We had a small Parklane Hospital. Today, as we disengage, we have the Enugu State University of Science and Teaching Hospital a brand new medical complex, both teaching and clinical. As we disengage, we are leaving a judiciary headquarters – twin courtroom chambers, separate courtroom building for the chief judge. We are leaving a 75 percent completed international conference centre and the first underground tunnel in Nigeria and so many other projects. We are also leaving a list of stakeholder-driven reforms and partnerships with development partners. So, it’s a good feeling.

Newswatch: How do you see the forthcoming PDP Convention?

Gov. Nnamani: We are looking forward to it with a lot of enthusiasm and expectation. Enthusiasm in the sense that it marks a formal process. It’s one of the formal indications that the transition process to another administration in 2007 is on course.

Newswatch: How is the State preparing to attend?

Gov. Nnamani: It’s a delegates convention. The activities will, of course, start at the ward level. Next month, there will be the ward congresses to produce the delegates to the various conventions including the 25 delegates who will go to the state congress, two primaries for the House of Assembly, the National Assembly, governorship and then reconvene for the presidential candidate. The process is on to mobilize our people so they can participate actively in those congresses.

Newswatch: The last time we came, some projects were yet to be completed. How much further have you gone?

Gov. Nnamani: We have the international conference center left. The structural work has been completed. The metal panels are being done for the building of the curtain walls. Also, the Loma Linda Housing Estate has been bogged down with financial issues. As you know we have been rolling over overdrafts. With eight months to the end of the administration, there is an extent to which you can roll over an overdraft and we don’t want to leave any debts for the incoming government. So, the financial outlay has reduced a lot and this is affecting the projects.

Newswatch: Are you going to complete the outstanding projects before you leave office?

Gov. Nnamani: Yes, we will by the grace of God.

Newswatch: How do you see the recent EFCC report on you?

Gov. Nnamani: I am aware that there is an EFCC report which I read, which I believe you read too. I would have been highly surprised if this discourse had continued without drawing my attention to it. As I have said time and time again, we put the EFCC report in the context of what is happening in Nigeria today, which is essentially expression of the vision of the President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. The vision to move Nigeria into the globalised community. We see anti-corruption as one piece of the entire package. One part of the big picture of expression of the tenets of globalization, information technology, stakeholder-driven developmental governance and privatization. A process that has led to an expansion of the telecoms industry. That has seen the deregulation and liberalization of the energy industry, banking consolidation, the expansion of tourism, building and transportation. A process of economic diplomacy leading to debt relief and so on. So, anti-corruption is only part of it. We support the anti-corruption mechanism, not just through EFCC but also through ICPC and other modalities that will increase public enlightenment and sensitization. I believe Enugu State has gone through that process which we regard and describe as a self cleansing or process of critical consciousness. We have gone through that period which has lasted about 10 months. It’s exactly 10 months since EFCC came to Enugu State. And when they came, we did welcome them. And we have gone through the investigations and interviews. We saw the report they came out with. We maintain after careful study, reading, advice and good counsel on that report, that the report is a complete exoneration of the government of Enugu State. We say that clearly because there are three major parameters in that report. One is that of contractual obligation, the terms of the contract for the work done for Enugu State. The other is the issue of the net worth of the governor and the local government issue; recovery of loan and then, the governor’s relations doing business. In all, there are about five basic issues that the EFCC looked at.

On the issue of contracts, if you still remember your statistics, statistics you read in the university or the one you did in research; there is mean, median and there is mode. There is also standard deviation. So, statistically, you are going to identify the norm, which is if you take the totality of numbers, the totality of characters, what is the closest to the norm is the center. With the data that will fall into the centre and you plot a graph, and if you look statistically at the contract values for Enugu State compared to other organizations in Nigeria, it is well within the norm. I am telling you this because the EFCC sent experts here who spent about three fleeting days and looked about 70 percent of the entire project and came out with numbers, what I describe as a price variance between the price of their experts and that of their consultants. These contracts were awarded after due process, which included advertising for the bidding process, going through the bidding process, award and publication of award. There are various variables that could determine the contract price. One, cost of energy. Two, the site itself – how close is it to materials like laterite and chippings. The cost of labour and even weather and climatic changes. Even factors such as soil testing, geodetic survey can affect the price. And based on that I do not think that a price variance of N2.8 billion of an over N30 billion contract is statistically significant, especially when it is still unconfirmed. These are their experts and there could also be government experts. The contractors could also have their own experts. In a system where people are inflating contracts by 50 percent, 100 – 200 percent and you have unconfirmed price variance of less than 10 percent, I am not worried about it. They talked about a price variance. That is still subject to confirmation.

My interest is that it went through due process and, of course, the contractors are contesting it. The consultants are contesting it. Government is contesting it based on the information we have on the ground. That is one area that EFCC looked at.

The second issue they looked at was the so-called stupendous wealth of the governor – net asset value of N50 billion. If you look at that report carefully, they also said that the N50 billion could not have been made between 2003 and now, and that the N2.8 billion price variance couldn’t have been the source of the governor’s wealth but that probably it could have been made between 1999 and 2003. That is still not possible, because between 1999 and 2003, the total accumulated revenue to the state was somewhere around N30 billion. That was the period when we were getting monthly allocations of N100 million, N200 million – N500 million, at the highest about N600 million. So, the issue of the net worth of governor is completely wrong. It’s something you don’t even give a second thought. It’s ridiculous. I can’t even imagine a situation where an official of government of any state in this country, much less Enugu, will be worth US$400 million.

And then, of course, the issue of relations in business, you have interviewed me and I believe we have discussed this time and again. We made it clear that relatives who are adults under a democratic setting can engage in whichever business they choose. The bottom line is to make sure that government money is not involved in these businesses. So, those businesses are welcome in Enugu State; they do contribute to our economy. We would rather have here than have them in other states of Nigeria or have them in America or in the UK. The bottom line is that there is no evidence whatsoever that there is government money in these businesses.

The next issue they raised was that of local governments. We have looked at the report. It is our contention that based on the constitution and also based on the Supreme Court’s ruling, local government issues are purely state issues. Local government funds distributed through state/local government joint accounts are supervised by the House of Assembly through its committee local government. And it is a constitutional paradox. If the federal cannot supervise local governments or do not have authority or say in the running of local governments, could a sub-agency of the federal government have such authority? It is subject to judicial interpretation, judicial reinterpretation over the next few years, I believe.

Having said that, I acknowledge, however, that where there are cases of embezzlement or fraud; it’s everybody’s business. It’s the business of the media, the business of the NGOs, civil society, the man in the street, EFCC, federal, state and local governments, Houses of Assembly, the National assembly…. Once there is confirmed embezzlement or fraud, it’s the business of the society.

The next issue they talked about was the recovery of funds refunded to the state government for implementing of Federal Government projects. It’s also an exoneration because, remember, they said we didn’t do any federal projects – that was what the opposition was saying. So for you to agree that we were refunded and that there are federal projects, indeed, that we did is a compliment to the government of Enugu State. Those funds, just like the allocations, went into accounts and were disbursed and spent based on budgetary appropriations.

Newswatch: Could you have in any way used your position as governor to help your relations in business?

Gov. Nnamani: It is possible. Because remember I told you the EFCC has been an unpleasant experience but rewarding. The EFCC experience we had has made us stronger, has made us more knowledgeable, more sensitive and better in governance. That is why I am saying that the EFCC is succeeding. The realization of President Obasanjo’s vision is being effected. Because of the EFCC, we have had to look at issues. If you look at their report, they mentioned open cheques, that people were being paid with open cheques. As governor, I didn’t go down to the extent of finding out how people were paid. It was only when the investigation started and the question was put to me and, then, I sat back and said no, it’s not right to have done that. I take it as administrative lapse. And as soon as we found out, it was stopped. That is why we say it is part of the disengagement process. The EFCC experience gave us the opportunity to cross our “t” and dot our “i”s. Even before EFCC, I had already gone through my own self critical consciousness and looked at the ethical and moral dilemma involved in government. It’s an ethnical dilemma. I have had to go through it, criticize myself, deciding whether I will do it again.

The main issue they raised was the car dealership, where my relatives have major shareholding. And I looked at it, even though they have supplied quite a number of cars to the state government, they are not sole suppliers. The process of supply also goes through the bidding procedure and they even have the disadvantage that they can be owed quite sometime, although they have the confidence that they are going to be paid. But the bottom line is, did it go through the due bidding process? Were the vehicles supplied at the appropriate and current prices? Were they in good condition? Yet, I certainly admit that there is an ethical question. There is an ethical issue, there is a moral issue. But I believe that as democracy progresses in the land, as the reform process continues, we will be able to define the thin line between matters of legality and matters of ethics and morality. Society has to set the norm. They have to be accepted societal norm. Either through conferences or lectures but certainly not legislation.

Newswatch: How do you see the possibility of the EFCC taking you to court after your tenure has expired?

Gov. Nnamani: No, they don’t have to wait for my tenure to expire to take me to court. I’m not worried about that, I’ve already told you. You read and you understand. Go and read that report. Let me summarize again, if you are saying that a government in Nigeria built the most modern university campus in Africa, we are not talking Nigeria now, we are talking Africa, go there and see it. We built the most modern teaching hospital in Africa, built the first underground tunnel in Nigeria. We are building the best international conference centre in Nigeria, better than what we have at Abuja. You have been there, one that will seat 5000, lower deck and upper deck. The judicial headquarters built is the most modern, digital, computerized. A government that has built capacity, a government that went through a benchmarking process, independent benchmarking process of independent assessors, of development partners and the National Planning Commission and came first, scored highest. A government that was assessed at one time by 14 European Ambassadors, a government that was assessed at one time by the chairman of our party and by the President himself, a foremost engineer. A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, the father of modern Nigeria, who declared that Enugu is working.

When you look at things in that context and you look at that report, that of over N30 billion worth of contracts and without doing measurement on the ground but just driving through for three days and looking at a few papers – letter of intent, letter of cost, award, contract agreement, variations, architectural drawings, structural drawings and soil testing. All the documents they had, whether it was from consultants, contractors or ministries, were the same. And based on that they came with a price variance of within 10 percent. It’s not a bad deal. If you buy a car at N10,000 and someone buys his at N11,000, statistically its within the norm. There is and when there is no confirmation whatsoever that the company belongs to the governor and you also come up with a net asset value of N50 billion for the governor of Enugu State which you and I know is wrong, and doesn’t even arise, is impossible. And when you talk about local government issues, an issue that awaits judicial interpretation of the technical aspects, of who has the authority over local governments, it is an issue that many people will be willing to take to court to interpret. So, certainly, the concern here is not about court. Our attention is on the fact that we’ve gone through a process that has been rewarding to us as a government; court or no court is not the issue. The essence of the anti-corruption drive is not to take people to court. It’s not even to jail people. It is to create awareness, to acculturate our people to anti-corruption, to change habits. So if you change habits of governors, they become change agents. Change agents against corruption. If you change habits of legislators, ministers, gentlemen of the press, they’ve all become change agents. I understand that vision of President Obasanjo. With all due respect, I can lay claim to that, I understand his vision. His vision of anti-corruption is not to fail people, it’s not to chase people all over the place. It’s not to jail ministers and governors, no. The vision of anti-corruption is to change our culture, to change our habits, to educate and enlighten us, and we now become change agents.

Newswatch: With all the good works you have done in Enugu State, do you thin the report has sort of dented your image?

Gov. Nnamani: You answer for yourself. How would you dent my image when you are telling me that the price variance is within 10 percent and we don’t know what the statistical data is. You have to go out there and collect statistics on what is going on in terms of contract prices between the Federal Government agencies and contractors like Julius Berger, Setraco. Just keep naming them… the Chinese … and look at what is going on in other states in terms of contracts. Go to the oil companies and look at what is going on in terms of how they award their contracts, look at private businessmen, how they award their contracts. It’s based on all these, that you may now derive the norm statistically, with science. Then you will tell us whether in the first place, Enugu State government, as a federating unit, as a wholly independent government, a federating unit in this country, whether it can award contracts, whether acting under due process it can set prices for its contract awards, whether it’s going to be dictated by another government then. You will tell us, based on data, in terms of costs of materials, labour, site location, weather, variations, and in terms of available contractual laws, whether a 10 percent unconfirmed variance, without physical measurements on the site, is something for anybody to worry about.

The only thing that concerned me in that report was the reference to my sister. You’ll not believe it, in that whole EFCC report, the major thing that gave me concern was the assertion that an Nnamani absconded from Nigeria. That an Nnamani absconded from Nigeria, why? Why? Nigeria is our home. We are major stakeholders in this country. Why would an Nnamani abscond, for what? That’s the only thing that concerned me. Every other thing was rewarding to government and an exoneration. The allegation of her fleeing from her home country, I find it disturbing. But of course, you know that because of my background, I have people calling. I was receiving as many as 18 calls in an hour, from friends, relatives and associates, asking what’s going on? As if all you’re seeing on the internet and on television are computer generated images. I thought the President has said they are not computer-generated images. So, I don’t feel that my image is dented. But the issues have to be explained. The EFCC report, based on transparency and communication, has to be explained. Not with the attitude of image making or non-image making, it has to be explained. Not only that, when I talked about the benchmarking assessment, what is it about? It’s about service delivery. What do you deliver to your people? In what way do you deliver it? How do you assess it? What is the feedback you get from them? Transparency and communication, budgetary and fiscal management and vision. There were four parameters: vision, budgetary and fiscal management, service delivery, transparency and communication. Stakeholder input by development partners and the NPC. And based on that we scored the highest. There was no close second. So, how do you dent my image? You dent my image if you come to Enugu and you don’t see the university, you don’t see the conference centre, the judiciary headquarters and the teaching hospital and the roads are not there. You dent my image if the President was not here to confirm these. My image is, certainly, not dented but the issues must be put on the table and explained.

Newswatch: Few governors were given a clean bill and the EFCC, we know, operates, based on petitions it receives and you are on your way out of office. Why do they think anyone would still want to stain your record of achievements in Enugu State.

Gov. Nnamani: There is nobody driving nail. The EFCC exercise is not a persecution or opposition action in any shape or form. We are not blaming the opposition or the EFCC. The EFCC is a normal process as part of the stakeholder-driven reforms the president has put in place. The anti-corruption is part of it. It is through the anti-corruption that the president has succeeded in removing the so-called pariah status of Nigeria. We can’t subscribe to the president’s vision, we can’t say we support President Olusegun Obasanjo, we can’t say he is the father of modern Nigeria, and yet a part of his programme, we say we don’t want to be a part of it. So, the EFCC exercise is part of the anti-corruption drive, part of the vision of the president to which we subscribe. And we have been through that process for 10 months, though unpleasant, but rewarding.

Newswatch: It is said that even good people have enemies and someone must have sent in petitions to the EFCC. Whom have you identified as your real enemies or detractors plotting your downfall?

Gov. Nnamani: It does not arise. They’ve been writing petitions against the Enugu State government for many years. They write petitions everyday. You see, more so in a state where the government is dominant, where there is no opposition. Go round; you will see there is a total lock on the system. You have a party control, the ward, local government and state level. And in addition to that party control, you have dominance of political leanings. So, we have a few people who have been locked out of the system.

They have to find ways of making noise. Or what some people call ‘shaking body’ – they will ‘shake body’ somehow so you will know they are around and may be negotiate with them. That is expected.

Newswatch: They have written petitions all the same and the EFCC has a procedure. Are you ready to meet them in the court?

Gov. Nnamani: It does not arise. It is not an adversarial relationship. I would like you to educate your readers from the beginning. The relationship between the EFCC and their “clients” if I may use the word is not adversarial. It is not a fight (laughter). I mean, it’s part of the process. Just as you have the police and other agencies – ICPC, NDLEA, NAFDAC, you don’t see them and draw the line and say where does the fight start? It’s not an adversarial relationship, it’s an inter-complimentary relationship. It is like saying “what do you have? I heard such and such, prove this to me, okay, I’m not satisfied. Okay, can we discuss this …” and then finally, “we’ve got to go to court.” Maybe as a corrective measure or just to recover funds. So, it’s not an adversarial relationship. We are therefore, not saying we’ll meet you anywhere. We can’t say we’ll meet you in court, no, it’s not a medico-legal thing…

Newswatch: You are ready to meet them in the court all the same…?

Gov. Nnamani: No, I’m not ready. If that is the answer, I’m not ready for anybody… I’m not going to court with anybody. The issue for us is educational, it’s enlightenment, it’s helpful.

Newswatch: Let’s move to politics. How do you perceive President Obasanjo?

Gov. Nnamani: The issue is that we have one presidency in this country. That Presidency is symbolized in totality by President Olusegun Obasanjo. We have to put President Olusegun Obasanjo in historical context. When you put him in proper historical context of Nigeria you now define his contributions to the nation-state at different levels. When you put that in the context of what is going on, what you have is a leader of a nation whose activities have spanned across fifty years, going back through the fifties.

Newswatch: But recently, the image of the President has been dented because of the revelations coming from the Atiku Abubakar campaign group.

Gov. Nnamani: What’s the revelation?

Newswatch: About the money?

Gov. Nnamani: Show me he who has not sinned, let me point the first finger or throw the first stone. It’s not a question of calling names, he did that, even if it were to be true. Even at the highest possibility that it is true, show me he who has not sinned. Let him point the first finger or throw the first stone. So, you don’t dent Obasanjo’s image by calling this or calling that. Obasanjo is an institution, a national treasure, a resource both for Nigeria and for the international community. Obasanjo stands as a symbol of modern Nigeria. A symbol of modern Nigeria that is the giant of Africa. A symbol of a Nigeria that can sit side by side with America and Great Britain in United Nations, in the comity of nations. A symbol of voice for HIV, voice for debt enslavement, voice for democracy in Africa. So you dent an image, his image is already under a table, believe me.

Newswatch: But Nigerians in some quarters are calling for his resignation because of the revelations.

Gov. Nnamani: This is news to me. I’ve never heard anybody call for his resignation. Maybe one or two people who have access to the media, because they are products of the largesse of the nation-state over the years, people who are privileged, part of the political class, the ruling class who have been dislodged for the past seven years. They are calling for his resignation. Why would you call for this resignation? What you should do is to pray to God to keep him alive, so he can anchor a transition process and after that, stay as a symbol of stability, of continuity, remain as a father of the nation and play that role.

Newswatch: What is your stance on the reality of corruption in Nigeria, your personal opinion.

Gov. Nnamani: I am scientific in my approach to whatever I do. I believe we must find a way where stakeholders must get together and take a holistic view of the process of corruption. I terms of definition, scope, incidents and in terms of values. We have to go through a whole critical consciousness and decide what is “thank you,” what is incentive, what is motivation, define what is “shake your body.” “shine your eyes,” and “kola.” We have to do that. Because you have to get the background, define the problem, look at the cause of that problem. Are you talking about zero tolerance? Are you talking about 25 percent tolerance? Or 50 percent tolerance? If it’s zero tolerance, when does it start and who are the parties? How far do you go back and where do you start? And how far do you go forward? Then you go through a process of sensitization and enlightenment, it all goes. Do you understand, my brother? I maintain, that the essence of anti-corruption is enlightenment , sensitization, education. Court and jail is the minority.

Newswatch: During your retirement, should your admirers expect something like “Letters To My Country Men” – the kind that Tony Momoh used to write in his days as minister?

Gov. Nnamani: We are just going to continue with our lecture series. There is so much to talk about. We hope to look at ethics in governance, we want to look at collectivism in African politics, a term that appears to be emerging, “the power collective.” Because it is emerging clearly that political interests are no longer individual; they are collective. And those who emerge are actually symbols of that collective interest.

Culled from Newswatch, October 16, 2006, pp. 16-26