President Jonathan approves 2011 budget

The 2011 budget has finally received President Goodluck Jonathan's assent and that he signed it in Lagos State on Monday 22nd May.

He had accused the House of Representatives of padding the budget and stated that he did not trust the House to pass the amendments that he made to the budget. He therefore only reluctantly signed the budget after having made several deductions especially from the budget of the National Assembly, in order to end the six-month long impasse.

The budget has now been passed back to the National Assembly as an Act so that the presidential amendments can be effected.

The total cost of the 2011 budget is N4,407,052,300,582 (US$28.142 billion. Of this amount:

N387,824,288,743 (US$2.467 billion) is for Statutory Transfers
N495,096,682,115 (US$3.162 billion) is for Debt Service
N2,401,330,677,943 (US$15.34 billion) is for Recurrent
Expenditure; and N1,122,800,651,781 (US$7.170 billion) is for Capital Expenditure.
The unpopular Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dieziani Alison-Madueke, is desperately lobbying to be retained in her portfolio in the president's new cabinet. As part of her lobbying effort she recently sponsored a paid advertisement in national dailies purported to be from a national women's group, praising her achievements as the first female minister in the influential and highly lucrative Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

Insiders and many oil industry insiders are opposed to her because they are fed up with having to silently suffer through what they believe is her unprofessional and demanding approach. She is famed for throwing tantrums and exploiting her personal relationship with Jonathan to her advantage. She has been embroiled in several “cash for approval” scandals.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Nigeria: President Jonathan ahead in the running

Nigeria went into shut-down last night ahead of the presidential election on Saturday 16th April. A curfew on movement came into effect throughout the country at 22.00 last night amid concerns about political violence and possible bombings by dissident Niger Delta and Islamist groups. All political campaigning for the presidency was halted on Friday 15th April.

As Nigeria headed for its third successive presidential election since the 1999 return to civilian rule, incumbent President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was seen by most commentators to have the advantage for two reasons. Besides the disarray amongst the opposition parties is the ability of his much better funded political machine to secure results at the ballot box, however, controversial the circumstances may be.

The Jonathan Campaign Team feel that they have done enough and are taking comfort from the results of the National Assembly elections which were held last week on the 9th April. Although the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) was wiped out in the South West - with opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) making a clean sweep - the PDP vote held up surprisingly well in parts of the North at the expense of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

The PDP appeared to secure stunning and therefore highly controversial results in Kebbi and Jigawa States, making clean sweeps in areas thought to be home turf for the CPC and its presidential candidate, Lt Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd).

While the results declared indicate that the PDP will keep control of the Senate, such was the scale of the losses in the South West, that the PDP may have lost its majority in the House of Representatives. That could pose serious problems for the future legislative program of the next government.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2011 Menas Associates

Nigeria's opposition accuses Jonathan of “arrogance”

Three of Nigeria's main opposition candidates – Gen Muhammadu Buhari of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC); Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); and Ibrahim Shekarau of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) – have pulled out of election debates with President Goodluck Jonathan on account of Jonathan's “arrogance”.

Jonathan declined to take part in a debate last week, organised by NN24 TV, saying he would only participate in a debate organised by Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON). The other candidates have voiced their concern over Jonathan's affiliation with BON, saying it was somewhat "suspicious".

The three candidates released a joint statement, saying: “We state without ambiguity that our principals will not honour any debate session with President Jonathan in the 2011 elections as he has arrogantly shunned the credible debate for which we made ourselves available. We wish to clear the air on the matter of the presidential debate organised by NN24 so that our teeming supporters and Nigerians in general will understand and appreciate our position.”

Jonathan, who inherited power last year after president Umaru Yar'Adua died, is the candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) which has won every national poll since 1999. Elections for the National Assembly are scheduled for 2nd April.

Sources: BBC News, Afrique en Ligue, AFP

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

Vietnam vows to become a modern industrialised state by 2020

Vietnam's ruling Communist Party opened its 11th National Congress amid talk that its economic policy has steered off course. Communist Party chief Nong Duc Manh said it is imperative to boost the economy, curb inflation and better manage state-owned firms in order to achieve modernisation and turn Vietnam into an industrial power.

“We must pay attention to the quality and efficiency of growth and sustainable development…We must combine economic growth with social progress and equality,” said Manh.

Over 1,400 delegates opened the meeting with the singing of the Communist anthem. The task in hand for the congress is to choose party leaders for the new central committee consisting of 200 members, who will be selected by the end of the nine day gathering in Hanoi.

In recent months, Vietnam has been beset by a trade deficit, mounting inflation and a near-bankruptcy of the state-owned shipbuilding conglomerate, Vinashin. Speaking about the plans for the country's future, Manh said that Vientnam aims to raise growth from 7 per cent to 8 per cent by 2020, and intends to triple per capita income to $3,000 in that time.

Manh told the congress that the nation must, "renew the growth model and restructure the economy to speed up industrialisation and modernisation with fast and sustainable development… The strategy is to strive towards 2020 so that our country will basically become an industrialised nation."

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, who introduced the speakers and oversaw the proceedings, will find out this week, during the nine day gathering, whether he will be reappointed to the Politburo, a move that would secure him a return as premier when the National Assembly chooses government officials in May.

Sources: Bloomberg, VOVNews, Morning Star Online, BBC News

For more news and expert analysis about Vietnam, please see Vietnam Focus.

National Assembly adopts crucial amendments

The National Assembly's two chambers – the Senate and the House of Representatives – have both voted overwhelmingly in favour of constitutional amendments that will allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to move the date for the elections from January 2011 to April 2011.

The voting on the constitutional amendments, which was conducted at the individual plenary sittings of both chambers, follows the adoption of reports by the committees mandated to review the 1999 Constitution. The new amendments have also addressed the adjudication of gubernatorial election petitions.

Specifically, the new amendments affect sections 76, 116, 132 and 178 of the 1999 Constitution as first altered, which provide that elections shall be held “not earlier than 150 days and not later than 120 days before the expiration of the incumbent's tenure in office”.

The new amendments now provide that elections shall be held “not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the incumbent's tenure in office”. Crucially, this means that while elections can still be conducted in January as previously planned, they could also be conducted in April 2011, which is “not later than 30 days” before the 29th May 2011 handover date.

The National Assembly further amended section 285 of the Constitution, which provides for gubernatorial election petitions. The new amendments have reinstated gubernatorial election petition tribunals, which were abrogated in the first amendment exercise, and extend the litigation process to the Supreme Court. Previously, gubernatorial election petitions terminated at the Court of Appeal.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates

Nigeria: Tensions emerge between Senate and election commission

A storm appears to be brewing between Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Attahiru Jega and the Nigerian Senate. The main point of contention is a comment credited to Jega that appeared to insinuate that the National Assembly was frustrating the Commission's plans to secure a delay in the election timetable.

According to a local daily, Jega stated that if the National Assembly delayed a decision on the approval of the election's timelines extension beyond November, it would negatively affect its plan for the registration of voters and the 2011 elections.

A number of Senators at a plenary sitting on Tuesday 12th October took umbrage at Jega's comments, saying they amounted to “blackmail to rubbish the image of the Senate.” The Senate leadership issued a statement that it was unfortunate for Jega to make such comments about the National Assembly given that the legislature had cut short its recess for the sole purpose of approving INEC's N87.7 billion budget.

Some Senators have stated that they had foreseen a situation in which the National Assembly would be unfairly blamed for the failure of the Commission to properly discharge its duties. Consequently, the Senate has directed its Ethics, Public Petitions and INEC Committees to investigate the comments.

Senate spokesperson Senator Ayogu Eze , addressing the media, also pointed out that the National Assembly was “apprehensive” about INEC's preparedness to conduct the 2011 elections even following any approval of its time extension request. The Senate's concern arises from indications that INEC had not yet ordered the Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines, a crucial component of the Voters' Registration process.

For more news and expert analysis about Nigeria, please see Nigeria Focus and Nigeria Politics & Security.

© 2010 Menas Associates