There are moments when government decisions give citizens a reason to hope that something may finally change for the better. Last week was one of those moments.
Two decisions by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu particularly gladdened my heart: the directive for a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems and the decision to undertake a comprehensive reform of Nigerian football. Both are long overdue.
But there is another issue on which I strongly disagree with the President: his determination to keep Nigeria’s moribund refineries alive despite the wastage of trillions of naira trying to resuscitate them.
Let me start with the good news. The directive for a comprehensive forensic audit of Federal Government systems, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), is precisely the kind of action Nigeria needs at this critical stage of our national life.
The exercise will cover IPPIS, federal agencies, their administration and internal controls. It follows the Federal Executive Council’s August 19 resolution after findings by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission concerning fake agencies, ghost workers and other control failures.
For a country struggling with dwindling revenues and enormous public debt, this is not a luxury. It is an economic necessity.
Nigeria cannot continue borrowing money to fund a government system riddled with leakages while those entrusted with managing public resources look the other way.
The issue of ghost workers is not new. Nigerians have heard for years about fictitious names on government payrolls, questionable agencies like the Adeniyi Adeyemi- led Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), and people receiving salaries for jobs they do not perform.
Even more disturbing are cases involving Nigerians who ‘japa’ abroad but continue receiving salaries from the Nigerian government.
In 2024, President Tinubu ordered a crackdown on civil servants who continued collecting salaries after relocating abroad. He also directed that those involved refund money they had fraudulently received.
But Nigerians are entitled to ask: how much has been recovered? How many people have been prosecuted? How many officials who facilitated the fraud have been punished?
That is where this latest directive must be different.
We have had enough of investigations that end with press conferences, committees and beautifully written reports. Nigerians want consequences.
If a civil servant collected a salary for years after relocating abroad, recover the money. If an official connived with the person, prosecute the official. If an agency exists only on paper to create positions and drain public funds, abolish it. If an internal control system failed, identify those responsible and fix it.
The forensic audit must not become another government document that disappears into a filing cabinet.
It should produce names, numbers, recoveries, prosecutions and institutional reforms.
There is something fundamentally obscene about a country where a fictitious employee can allegedly receive a salary from government while genuine pensioners who gave the best part of their lives to Nigeria struggle to receive their entitlements.
Public service should be a service, not a feeding trough. That is why this exercise deserves public support.
The second decision that deserves applause is the President’s intervention in Nigerian football.
Football is perhaps Nigeria’s greatest unifying force. A country divided by politics, ethnicity and religion can become one nation within seconds when the Super Eagles score.
Yet the administration of our football has too often failed to reflect the enormous potential of the game.
Nigeria has talented footballers, passionate supporters and an enormous football culture. What we frequently lack is competent, transparent and accountable administration especially in the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).
The President’s decision to initiate comprehensive football reform could therefore not have come at a better time especially when our senior male and female football teams, Super Eagles and Super Falcons failed to qualify for the World Cup.
The resignation of Ibrahim Gusau as NFF president and other members of the federation’s leadership after string of poor results, persistent welfare disputes, governance concerns and questions over financial accountability is a welcome development and this has created an opportunity for a genuine reset.
However, truth is, changing the people occupying the offices is not enough. Changing names on the NFF letterhead is not reform. Real reform means changing the culture of Nigerian football administration.
The NFF manages a national asset. Its decisions affect millions of Nigerians and the careers of footballers who sacrifice their youth to represent this country. Its leadership must therefore be held to a much higher standard.
We need administrators who understand football and the business of modern football. We need people who understand grassroots development, scouting, coaching, player welfare, sports marketing, international relations and financial accountability.
Most importantly, we need administrators who can exercise independent judgment.
This is where the Amaju Pinnick episode is instructive. Pinnick, a former NFF president and FIFA Council member, recently backed Gianni Infantino’s controversial proposal to sell stakes in competitions to private investors.
The FIFA proposal attracted strong opposition from several major football confederations and stakeholders. A FIFA executive, Carlos Cordeiro, resigned in protest at the private equity plan while FIFA’s chief operating officer, Kevin Lamour was sacked for criticising Infantino openly. Faced with serious opposition, FIFA eventually abandoned the plan. These are courageous men who want the best for the game, not bootlickers like Pinnick.
Nigeria needs football administrators who can sit at the table with FIFA and CAF as equals, not officials whose greatest achievement is maintaining relationships with powerful football politicians or and doing kowtowing to them like Pinnick.
We need transparent processes for selecting administrators, audited accounts, measurable performance targets, stronger stakeholder representation and clear consequences for failure.
Nigeria cannot keep producing exceptional footballers and mediocre football administration.
Now to the issue on which I disagree with President Tinubu. Please, Mr President, enough with pumping endless funds into the refineries. Nigeria needs refineries. That is not in dispute. What is in dispute is whether government-owned, ageing refineries that have consumed enormous public resources over the years should continue receiving taxpayers’ money.
The President has repeatedly insisted that Nigeria’s old refineries will return to operation and become profitable. The question should not simply be whether Nigeria can technically restart an old refinery. The question is whether it makes economic sense to continue putting scarce public resources into these facilities.
I am not an energy or oil and gas expert. That was why I sought the opinions of experts and professionals before writing this article. 90 percent of them said it is time the FG put up the refineries for sale, even if it is cheaply instead of pouring endless monies into the repair.
The government should ask whether these facilities can operate efficiently, compete commercially and generate sufficient returns to justify further public investment.
If competent private investors believe the refineries can be profitable, let them take over under transparent and commercially sensible arrangements.
Sell them if that is the best option. Concession them if that makes more sense. But please, let us stop making Nigerian taxpayers permanent shareholders in enterprises that have repeatedly failed to deliver. The money saved could be invested in hospitals, schools, roads, electricity, water and other basic amenities.
President Tinubu now has an opportunity to demonstrate that his government will be different. Let the forensic audit expose fake agencies and ghost workers. Let stolen money be recovered. Let those responsible face the consequences.
Let football administration be handed to people who understand the game, respect the players and supporters and put Nigeria’s interests above personal ambition.
And let us stop pouring taxpayers’ money indefinitely into moribund and outdated refineries.
Lastly, President Tinubu must ensure that those directives do not end where too many Nigerian government initiatives begin — at the announcement. Nigeria does not have a shortage of presidential directives. We have a shortage of implementation.
Nigerians are tired of announcements. They want results. My worry is if these directives can be implemented now especially now that President Tinubu has just embarked on a three-week vacation to Europe and will return home after the working vacation to join the hectic campaign for the January 2027 election. In Nigeria once campaign starts, every other thing is grounded to a halt or done haphazardly.
Akinsuyi, former group politics editor of the Daily Independent, is a member of the Society of Editors, United Kingdom. He can be reached via shabydayo@gmail.com.
