Segun Adeniyi goofed on Uwais report

I wish to call the attention of the general public to the act of deliberate misinformation by the Presidency particularly the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, on issues relating to Uwais Committee report on Electoral Reform. Adeniyi in a chat with State House correspondents on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, was quoted as saying that the Political Party Registration and Regulatory Commission(PPRRC) bill, thrown out by the Senate on May 26, was prepared by the Uwais Committee as one of its recommendations and not by the president or his cabinet. That is being economical with the truth.

I have read the Electoral Reform Committee(ERC) report and the true position is that though the Uwais committee did recommend for the establishment of PPRRC as one of the three new commissions to be created in the process of unbundling the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the committee did not prepare any bill having known that the 1999 Constitution will have to be amended first before this can be done. The three bills prepared and attached to the ERC main report are: A Bill for an Act to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999; A Bill for an Act to amend the Electoral Act, 2006 and A Bill for an Act to establish the Electoral Offences Commission. Even in proposing the establishment of Political Party Registration and Regulatory Commission, the ERC, on page 29 of its report, proposed a democratic nomination process which will see to it that the National Judicial Council advertises the board positions, screen the applications and recommend to the president for appointment subject to Senate confirmation.

Unfortunately, in the executive bills sent by the president to the National Assembly on April 30, 2009, the president decided to play omnipotent role in terms of appointment, removal and control of the board of the proposed commissions. Specifically, as regards the PPRRC bill, Section 3 (2) of the bill states that the commission’s board members are to be appointed solely by the president. Section 5 of the bill also empowers the president to unilaterally remove any board member at his whims and caprices. Section 14 gives power to the president to give general directions to the PPRRC and this must be obeyed. What then is the whole essence of having a new commission that will be dependent on the executive?

ERC advanced reasons for proposing the establishment of the new commissions and we should not forget that the committee received 1,466 memoranda from the zonal public hearings conducted in the course of its assignment from which the recommendations were distilled. I agree that the present economic realities might not be favourable to the setting up of new commissions but if that is what we need to do to have credible elections, I am all for it.

Jide Ojo,
Abuja.
jideojong@yahoo.com

Attention, Federal Ministry of Health, NAFDAC

The health sector affects the life of every Nigerian. There is, therefore, a need for the government to carefully rebuild the confidence of Nigerians in the sector as part of the ways to achieve Vision 2020.

Below is an outline of my suggestion on how to reform the drug dispensing sub-sector of the pharmaceutical industry. This move, if followed, will help to check the sale of fake and expired drugs in our society almost completely, if not totally, and restore the citizen’s confidence in drugs purchased anywhere in Nigeria. This move will also discourage established importers and manufacturers of fake and substandard drugs from staying in such business as their businesses will die a natural death as soon as the new intiative is established. This is because there won’t be market for their illicit goods.

The National Agency for Foods and Drugs, Administration and Control (NAFDAC) should reconsider the requirement for setting up a pharmaceutical store. These stores should be regulated by NAFDAC and the Ministry of Health, just as banks are regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Under this arrangement, the number of pharmaceutical stores that will be allowed to sell drugs in Nigeria should not be more than 20. These 20 stores may now have thousands of retail outlets throughout the country. The fact that they are not more than 20 will allow for adequate check on drug retail in the country by NAFDAC. These stores should be required to pay a huge licence fee of over USD 1 million.

These stores must tender to the regulatory body, a detailed account of their business activities quarterly. The details should contain the following:
•Record of drugs (must include type and volume) dispensed within the quarter and their sources.
•Record of customers (must include contacts of customers) that patronised them showing the drugs each customer purchased and the specific outlet and time at which purchase was made.
•Clearly stated account of their firms: Profit and loss account of their firm for the quarter.

These stores should be hi-tech and IT driven. Individuals should be allowed to complain on drugs purchase that are thought to be questionable. This can be investigated and legal claims should be available for affected customers, if a customer’s accusation is found to be true. In this regard, the erring store stands a chance of being punished, even at a risk of losing its licence depending on the gravity of the offence.

When this suggestion is considered and established, the few pharmaceutical stores that would be licensed would ensure they get their drugs from reliable sources and sell them at the right time. There would also be healthy competition among the stores. Futhermore, the development would give adequate room for the government to effectively tax the industry.

Since it is capital intensive to set up these mega stores, existing ones can merge to achieve this size or purchase franchise from mega stores.

Tolu Soyannwo,
tolusoyannwo@yahoo.com