Nigerian Governors want to buy INEC’s 78,000 computers at discounted prices

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The National Economic Council met on Thursday in Abuja.
The governors of the 36 states of the federation have told the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, that they are willing to buy the 78,701 computers the commission wants to dispose; but only at a discounted price.


The governors were asked to buy the computers and the webcams, used by INEC for the 2011 voter registration, for distribution to Secondary Schools for the promotion of computer literacy.

The governor’s stance was one of the issues discussed during the National Economic Council meeting which held on Thursday at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa and chaired by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Briefing Journalists after the meeting, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, said the Council agreed that the States will buy the machines; but requested that INEC should give them discount of 25 per cent for the old machines and 10 per cent for the new ones.

He said further negotiations on the mode of payment will be finalized in the committee’s subsequent meeting with the electoral body.

The Edo Governor also said the council will, in its July meeting, discuss extensively the issues of corruption in the country, following a report presented by the National Seminar on Corruption, which was held in Minna, Niger State in collaboration with the National Planning Commission.

The organizers (Niger State), as part of its key recommendation had stated that Good leadership and Independence of the Judiciary is paramount to checkmating corruption. It also stated that a National Development Plan is required for economic & social stability. It added that offenders must be punished publicly and merit must be genuinely elevated above partisanship.

Mr. Oshiomhole said the Council agreed to look into the report and prepare inputs and contributions on how to work out the best approach on corruption in the country.

The Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Dankwambo, also told journalists that following a presentation at the NEC’s last meeting by CME/HMF on concessionary facilities being offered to both Federal and State Government by different international funding agencies to fund high impact projects in such vital areas as infrastructure, housing, water supply, erosion control and employment generation, the NEC recommended the establishment of a sub-committee to follow-up and work with interested states towards a better harmonization and coordination of the processes to enhance easier and quicker draw down.

He said the committee has the following State Governors as members representing their various geo-political zones: Benue (North Central), Anambra (South East), Bauchi (North East), Kaduna (North West), Delta (South South) and Ondo (South West). Other members include the Minister of Finance, Minister of National Planning, Chief Economic Adviser to the President, and Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters.

The Director General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Abraham Nwankwo, made a presentation to Council highlighting the gains recorded by his office on public debt management including the successful completion of debt data reconstruction (DDR) exercise in all the 36 States and the FCT last December.

He said after the DDR exercise, the total debt of the federal government, States and Abuja stood at N8.07 trillion by December 2011 consisting of N6.85 trillion for Domestic Stock and N1.217 trillion for external stock while the Consolidated public Debt/GDP Ratio stands at 21.5 per cent as against the standard threshold of 40 per cent.

Mr. Nwankwo added that All States and Abuja are within the liquidity solvency, sustainability thresholds.
The Council commended the DMO for the detailed information in the report and advised the State Governments to strengthen the State DMO offices to facilitate timely and accurate update of debt information.



Source: Premium Times