The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Adeosun

  • Buhari, Adeosun, others for ICAN’s confab

    Buhari, Adeosun, others for ICAN’s confab

    President Muhammadu Buhari, Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and other dignitaries are expected to be part of the 46th yearly accountants’ conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) scheduled for between today and October 14 in Abuja.

    In a statement, ICAN said it had assembled a team of technocrats, professionals and key government functionaries to discuss the current economic situation in the country and proffer solutions on how to pull the economy out of recession.

    With Accountability Now Nigeria as its theme, President Buhari is expected to declare the conference open while the President of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC), Ms Olivia Kirtley will deliver the lead paper titled: Accountability and good governance.

    The theme of the conference, which is the global accountability campaign of IFAC titled: Accountability now, is an initiative to encourage higher standards of public sector information around the world. It challenges governments to recognise the importance of working toward financial reporting that meets international standards known as the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS)

    ICAN, therefore, seeks to encourage the Federal Government in the spirit of change, to imbibe the culture of good financial reporting in government spending and public sector financial reporting.

    ICAN promised to work with the government to build a global coalition to bring together organisations that support the objective of improving transparency and accountability in the public sector; raise awareness through reinforcing the benefits of sound financial reporting to governments on the need for change; develop partnerships to effect change and bring together key actors in the public sector to improve financial information in the public sector; and build more capacity by providing professional accountants to work with government organisations to bring about the change that is required.

    Others billed to speak at the conference are Ogun State Governor, IbikunleAmosun; Lagos State Governor, MrAkinwunmiAmbode, Head of Service of the Federation, Mrs. Winifred Oyo-Ita. Minister for Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CEO, Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema and the Chairman, FirstBank of Nigeria, Mrs. IbikunAwosika.

    Others include the immediate past President of Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounts (CIPFA), Mr. John Matheson, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, Managing Partner, SIAO and Executive Director, Enough is Enough, Ms Yemi Adamolekun.

  • Jibrin faults Melaye’s call for sack of Adeosun, others

    Jibrin faults Melaye’s call for sack of Adeosun, others

    Former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC, Kano) has said that the call for President Muhammadu Buhari to sack some of his Ministers was not borne out of genuine patriotism but one dictated by sentiments, envy or simply for an opportunity to join the fray.

    While  backing President Buhari’s political appointments, Jibrin,who was a former  Chairman, House Committee on Finance in the last Assembly,  noted that it is wrong to accuse the President for being responsible for the current economic challenges being faced by Nigerians with his policies.

    In a statement yesterday, Jibrin  faulted Sen Dino Melaye’s (APC, Kogi) call for the sack of President Buhari’s economic team, saying,  “As a former Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, and until recently Appropriation, I am in a good position to contribute and proffer solutions to the problem.

    “Let me state very categorically that the President is not to blame on the state of our economy today. It is unfair and very wicked to push such blame on a man who just came on board barely a year ago.

    “Not even a magician can turn around the economy within a period of one year. The biggest spending in our economy, that is the budget, hasn’t even run a full course of one year. Yet, some people want to crucify President Buhari. Haba! Let’s face reality!Â

    “We all know how badly oil price has gone, a situation that adversely affected our foreign reserves and mounted pressure on the naira. No matter what approach we adopt to manage and deal with the situation, recovery will be slow.

    “It is not President Buhari’s fault. Everyone seems to forget when the whole country was supporting more spending as against saving. But here we are today, soaked in the rainy day. President Buhari should not be used as anybody’s scape goat!Â

    “The recurrent expenditure, which has escalated and constituted a huge burden on our yearly budget rose from N950.32billion in 2006 to N1.372.20 trillion in 2008 and N2.593.62 trillion in 2015. This was not created by President Buhari.

    “Similarly, the total cash call (oil production cost) which rose from about N200 billion in 2006 to about N1.2 trillion in 2015 was not a creation of President Buhari.

    “The cash call has remained another tale of burden on our yearly budget. Statutory transfers including that of the NASS are not left behind. Statutory transfers rose from just about N100 billion in 2006 to N375.62 billion in 2015. President Buhari was not the President then.

    “Debt servicing also rose from about N300 billion in 2006 to N953.62 billion in 2015. These expenditures have over 8the years constrained the budget and made it difficult to channel sufficient funds towards productive sectors that can sufficiently grow the economy. Domestic borrowing also skyrocketed during this period and created devastating consequences on the economy.

    “Government at that time continued to mop up money from commercial banks at a rate considered one of the highest in the world, while the real sector is left with nothing. And even when they were able to access funds, it came with an unbearable interest rate.

    “President Buhari met this situation on ground. He did not create it, but is doing his very best to take us out of the economic quagmire. We should all support him.

    “On the call by Sen. Melaye on Mr. President to sack some ministers, I disagree with that proposition. Nigerians are of the habit of asking for the sack or removal of public officers, often for sentimental reasons, envy or simply for an opportunity to join the fray.

    “In my assessment, I have not seen any member of the President’s cabinet today — from SGF, HOS to ministers — that is not good enough to hold the office. At worse, the President may wish to reshuffle a couple of or more ministers based on their strength and weaknesses for better service delivery.

    “A minister doesn’t have to know everything. A minister has an ample latitude to draw knowledge from the MDAs staff or within the larger society to achieve result in his ministry. I believe that most of the present cabinet ministers can source information or knowledge from these reservoir when the need arises.

    “I have worked very closely with most of them and I am convinced that they have proved their mettle despite managing a very difficult situation that they did not create.

    “I am sure nobody can question the competence of Udoma Udoma. Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun is also doing her best, and having worked with her, I am convinced she has all it takes to turn around the economy.

    “The Central Bank Governor is managing the most challenging period the apex bank has ever witnessed. I think the president has worked with this team for about a year. His cabinet team understands him better and vice-versa.

    “I believe if they stay focused and refuse to be distracted, we shall soon start seeing the dividends. The President must not fall for the trap of people trying to distort the progress made so far. Whoever he appoints again, the call for sack will never stop.

    “I am therefore calling on my colleague, brother and friend, Senator Dino Malaye that we should rather look inward and address our own contribution to this problem as lawmakers.

    “We can start by addressing the budget and other monumental fraud under the watch of Speaker Yakubu Dogara, a systemic corruption that affected and continued to derail the economy of our dear country. That is the appropriate place to start. Remember, charity begins at home!”

  • Adeosun disowns twitter account

    Adeosun disowns twitter account

    Minister of Finance Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has denied operating a twitter account.

    The minister, in a  statement by her media aide, Festusn Akanbi, said:  “The attention of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has been drawn to a fake Twitter handle in her name saying that ‘recession is just a word’.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, the Honourable Minister does not own a twitter account. The Twitter handle currently trending, and any other twitter handle presently in existence is not, and cannot be that of the Honourable Minister, as a twitter account has not yet been set up for her. It is obviously fake and does not represent the views and opinions of the Honourable Minister.?

     “Also at no time did the Honourable Minister, who addressed the media immediately after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council, make such a statement.

    “The minister has consistently demonstrated empathy for the plight of Nigerians hard hit by dwindling oil prices and the impact on the economy.

    “This administration is known for integrity and has never hidden the true situation of things from Nigerians, rather it has looked for ways to alleviate the hardships through social intervention programmes.

     “We therefore enjoin all well-meaning Nigerians to disregard these spurious allegations against the Honourable Minister of Finance.

     “We remain committed to reflating and resetting the economy on a path towards sustainable growth.”

  • Why tax on luxury goods cannot be implemented, by Adeosun

    The Federal Government has explained why it has not started taxing luxury goods as planned by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Addressing reporters on the state of the economy in Abuja at the weekend, Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun said: “Taxing of luxury items was more of statement than a policy, there is no current tax position on luxury items but the committee that was inaugurated last week will look at putting the laws into place because issues of tax are legislative.”

    According to Mrs Adeosun, “that statement on taxing luxury items and private jets had no legal backing but we need laws in place to tax such items.”

    On the duplication of taxes, she noted that “that is one area where the Joint Tax Board (JTB) is working to harmonise taxes and where there is overlapping between federal, states and local governments they do need to be harmonised and that is part of the ease of doing business initiative because this is one of the issues that make businesses close down, so we are trying to harmonise taxes.”

    The government, she also said, “is trying to identify the agency that is best suited to collect taxes, “one agency can collect on behalf of others instead of different agencies because it is very expensive to collect taxes.”

    On charges, Mrs Adeosun said government is “trying to harmonise charges like the one collected for passports with both ministries of finance and interior working together to harmonise this and in the process block leakages.”

    The government two weeks ago said it was developing a new tax policy to show that Nigeria is open for business with a tax system that is easy to understand and comply with and reduces tax burden on small businesses.

    While inaugurating the committee, Mrs Adeosun stated that businesses react to tax policies and government was determined to ensure that the Nigerian tax policy “sends the right message being that Nigeria is open for business and is encouraging businesses with a tax system that is easy to understand and comply with.”

    She noted that “areas of our tax code and laws that are in need of review will be addressed as part of this exercise, as will modalities for simplifying our processes and reducing the tax burden on small businesses.”

  • Adeosun blames operators for poor publicity

    Adeosun blames operators for poor publicity

    Finance Minister, Mrs Kemi Adeosun has blamed insurance operators for failing to create awareness through advertisement in the print media, radio and television.

    She made this known to reporters in Abuja.

    She attributed the operators’failure to advertise as one of the major reason for the underdevelopment in the industry.  She said there was need for them to embrace advertisement to grow their business. She stressed that of 57 operators, less than half advertise in the print media, less than 20 on radio and less than 10 on TV.

    She said: “There are several factors that contribute to the underdevelopment of the insurance industry. It majorly includes low awareness. Out of 57 operators, less than half advertise in the print media, less than 20 on radio and less than 10 on TV.

    “There is also the issue of poor distribution channels. Operators of the industry have only focused on one channel which is brokers. This has led to a huge gap in market penetration especially in the retail market which is our greatest opportunity for growth.”

    She further said the challenge of under penetration and non-compliance with the laws relating to compulsory insurance of vehicles, property among others is a much debated issue, combination of poor government enforcement and poor industry practice.

    She pointed out that the discounting industry has some causes of premiums as a competitive strategy, a strategy which would be expected at a much more mature phase of the development lifecycle of the industry.

    It creates a vicious cycle that will ultimately lead to reduced cover in real terms and reduced profitability and capacity for the industry and it must be stopped, she said.

    She noted that in Nigeria, only one in eight cars are insured, only few corporates and the federal civil have group life insurance.

    “Even high risk entities – buildings in multiple occupancy, such as hotels and hostels – have a low rate of compliance.  The regulator alone cannot drive the enforcement, this must be a collaborative effort of the operators, the various arms of government both state and Federal and the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM).

    “To support this, given our vast population and wide geographical spread, the deployment of modern technology is an essential pre-requisite to success. Out of 57 operators, less than a quarter advertise in the print media, less than 20 on radio and less than 10 on TV,” she added.

  • ‘Adeosun must appear before Senate today’

    ‘Adeosun must appear before Senate today’

    Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was yesterday asked to appear before the Senate today to brief the upper chamber about measures the Federal Government is taking to shore up the country’s dwindling resources.

    The directive followed the failure of the Minister to brief the Senate yesterday as scheduled.

    Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, informed the Senate in plenary that Mrs. Adeosun sent a message that she was held up at the Federal Executive Council meeting and therefore could not attend the scheduled briefing.

    Ndume said the Senate should give the minister another date to appear for the briefing.

    Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio who seconded the motion observed that it was Mrs. Adeosun that picked yesterday and wondered why she failed to honour the invitation.

    Akpabio said the minister should have taken cognizance of the fact the FEC meeting would hold  on the day she chose.

    “We would not take it as a slight and disrespect for the Senate. We will take it as a mistake on her part but it should not repeat itself again because the minister ought to have known about the FEC meeting,” Akpabio said.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki ruled that Mrs. Adeosun must appear before the Senate today, arguing that the issue of the economy is very important and Nigerians needed to be informed about what is happening.

    He said: “She must be here tomorrow (today) at the end of council meeting because we are here. It is important for Nigerians to know what is happening.”

    The Central Bnak of Nigeria Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele had briefed the Senate on Tuesday on the same subject matter.

  • Fed Govt releases N109b to boost economy, says Adeosun

    Fed Govt releases N109b to boost economy, says Adeosun

    • 35 states apply for N90b loan

    The Federal Government has already pumped N109billion of its promised N350billion into the economy, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has said.

    Mrs. Adeosun, who spoke on Channels Television Programme – Sunrise, yesterday, said the balance of the amount is being held back because of the need to meet with due process requirements.

    She said: “N109billion out of the N350billion has already been disbursed. The funds are ready, however, there are procedural delays, due to the required public procurement processes.”

    She said 35 states have applied to access the N90 billion loan earmarked by the Federal Government to boost state governments’  fiscal sustainability capabilities, saying the states “are in the process of submitting the required documentation which are being reviewed.”

    The finance minister stated that monthly disbursements to each state will be conditional on compliance with pre-agreed Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) milestones.

    She said if Nigeria is to achieve sustainable growth, it needs a planned approach to financial discipline, targeted investment and economic diversification, pointing out that government’s Economic Plan is strong on fiscal discipline.

    In her words: “The people know we need to get our country working, and to do that, we need to do three things: get the country’s spending in check with firm financial controls, raise money for targeted investment in much needed infrastructure and see us diversify the economy from a damaging dependence on oil.”

    The minister who addressed a wide range of issues, said the diversification of the economy will increase when each state starts to increase their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), adding that this would create local jobs and expand wealth within the states.

    She cited  Kebbi State as one state that has taken the initiative to increase its production of rice as a means of increasing its IGR.

    “Ultimately, when we collectively expand IGR, we generate more jobs and create more wealth,” stating that other states have different resources that can be developed to generate IGR within their domain.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the the economic blueprint is about putting in place the financial pillars to enable states to work effectively and efficiently with the Federal Government, stressing that getting this right will enable “states to be critical economic drivers for prosperity and pillars of professional probity.”

    She expressed optimism that Nigeria would eventually overcome the current challenges, saying that the higher revenue collection and the greater sharing of non-oil earnings are indications that the reforms are starting to work.

    On the new foreign exchange policy, she said: “We are happy with the new FX policy. This was the missing link between monetary and fiscal policy and we are happy that it is now in place.  It is supply and demand driven.”

    On her ministry’s decision not to reinstate special bonus and overtime payments paid to civil servants in 2013/2014,  she said: “This is part of the same clear goal of ensuring fiscal discipline. We recognise the value of our staff and have made sure salaries are paid and we’ve worked hard to avoid redundancies. Although I understand the disappointment some staff may have, any special payments wouldn’t be appropriate and there simply aren’t any provisions to pay out the N 1.2billion. We need to return fiscal discipline not just to the Ministry of Finance, but to every arm of government.”

    Mrs. Adeosun however said  any delayed legitimate overtime payments will be paid.  “The Director of Finance and Administration will address these and ensure that they are paid.  Staff will get what they are legally entitled to.

    “The task now is for management and staff of the ministry to work together to achieve the goals of the administration: real reform through financial discipline, providing targeted investment and diversifying our economy.  The staff work hard and they are committed so they must be paid what they are due,” she stated.

    She said state governments have a key role in diversifying the economy, saying the whole essence of the reform is to improve accountability and transparency, increase public revenue, rationalise public expenditure, improve public financial management and ensure    sustainable debt management.

  • Senate invites Adeosun, Emefiele over economy

    Senate invites Adeosun, Emefiele over economy

    • Senators seek measures to fix economy

    The Senate yesterday resolved to invite the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, to brief it on the state of the economy.

    The invitation followed the adoption of a motion on “urgent need to address present economic state of the nation”.

    Senator Bassey Albert Akpan (Akwa Ibom North East), who sponsored the motion, said the motion was informed by last week’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) release on the nation’s economic scorecard for the first quarter of this year for Gross Domestic Product (GDP), inflation and unemployment.

    He observed that the report showed that the economy plunged into recession with a decline of 0.3 per cent year-on-year in real term, which is a drastic drop from 2.11 per cent in quarter four of last year’s GDP.

    He also observed that from the report, unemployment rate rose to 21.1 per cent from 10.4 per cent in the last quarter of last year.

    According to him, unemployment also increased to 19.1 per cent from 18.7 per cent in the same period while inflation rate rose from 9.6 per cent in January this year to 13.8 per cent in April this year with attendant increase in prices of basic food commodities and services in the country.

    Akpan said he was worried that the declining GDP and unemployment, besides the high inflation rate, clearly showed that economic policies “are not achieving desired impact and requires an urgent review to avoid further plunge in our economy”.

    The lawmaker is worried that the current economic contraction is the first major drastic slump since June, 2004, which, according to the CBN, is a 12-year-low when the World Bank’s position is a 21-year-low.

    He recalled that the CBN, had in March deployed a contracting monetary policy increasing bench mark interest rate from 11per cent and cash reserve ratio from 20per cent to 22.5 per cent.

    “The question is why contracting monetary policy instead of expansionary monetary policy of boosting economic activities at such a critical time as this,” he said.

    Akpan said he was deeply concerned that the continued complacency of the current state of the economy, if allowed unchecked, will set the tone for a full blown economic recession by the end of June as already confirmed by the CBN in its last Monetary Policy Committee meeting.

  • Adeosun: Govt ‘ll redefine spending for maximum impact

    Adeosun: Govt ‘ll redefine spending for maximum impact

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has reiterated the resolve of the Federal Government to redefine spending in order to get maximum result.

    The minister, who was a guest at the Ogun State Investors’ Forum, holding in the state capital, Abeokuta, spoke during a panel discussion on the economy.

    She assured that the administration is determined to ensure that going forward, government spending will achieve maximum impact.

    According to her, government spending in previous years had been ineffective and not directed in the right areas. She reiterated the focus of the government on investing in critical infrastructure to enable growth.

    During her remarks, she highlighted the fact that contrary to popular beleive, Nigeria is not an oil economy. Although oil accounts for 70 per cent of revenue, it constitutes only 13 per cent of our gross domestic product.

    “By fully harnessing the potential of our non-oil sectors, we can create a more diversified and resilient revenue base which would provide the necessary fiscal buffers to insulate the economy against the impact of external shocks in the future,”she said.

    Adeosun also spoke on the need for the Federal Government to play its role so that states could focus on their core functions. According to her, the Federal Government will level the playing field by removing rent-seeking opportunity to unleash entrepreneurial activity and job creation.

    “We must engage in economic patriotism to support local job growth,” she said.

    Mrs. Adeosun commended Ogun State government for patronising local entrepreneurs in producing its conference bags.

    The minister concluded by assuring that the government is fully aware of the current economic challenges facing individuals and businesses and is working very hard on resetting the economy on the path towards achieving sustainable growth. She assured that better days are ahead with President Muhammadu Buhari’s resolve to check corruption and wastage.

  • N165b monthly salaries not sustainable, says Adeosun

    The N165 billion monthly salaries to federal civil servants was over-bloated and could no longer be sustained by government,  the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said.

    The Minister, who spoke at a meeting with the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN)  hosted by her counterpart in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the figure, represented 40 per cent of the total spending of government, an amount she claimed, was too high.

    She pointed out that government was pursuing aggressive measures to detect and eventually prosecute ghost workers and other saboteurs in the system that have resulted in the malaise.

    “We spend 165 billion every month on salaries and when I came in there was no checking.

    “Now, we have created a Unit assigned with the sole responsibility of checking the salaries and catching those behind the over bloated salaries,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) introduced by the previous administration was faulty and sabotaged by the elements benefitting from the salary fraud, adding that many Federal Government establishments, including the Police were yet to be captured in the system.

    It is shocking that the Nigerian Railway Corporation which was not fully functioning, still had 10,000 workers in its payroll serviced by government, she said, assurring that government would correct the anomalies in the payroll system and weed out all ghost workers in the service.

    Mrs. Adeosun said the fiscal focus of the administration is to ensure an economic growth that would be measured on job creation and productive sectors.

    “The economy is not measured by how many private jets we have, but how many jobs we create People must be productive for the economy to grow,” she said.

    She expressed disappointment that Nigeria has been a consumer economy, stressing, “we want to be productive and stop buying everything from abroad. We have been borrowing to pay salaries for years and that has to stop because it is not sustainable.”

    She said last year, the nation spent N64 billion on travelling and only N90 billion on roads. Travelling does not grow the economy and this must also stop,’’ she stressed.

    Mrs. Adeosun said that the compound Gross Domestic Product ( GDP) of the country has been growing negatively in the last 10 years, staing that the administration is working to correct the trend.

    Also, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said government would reposition the agricultural sector to become the mainstay of the economy.

    “The ministry will give policy direction and coordination to make farming attractive and for people to practice it as business,” he said. adding that government will put policy in place to recover the $22 billion which is floating out of the country’s resources to sustain farms in other countries.

    He said government will also ensure that banks review the two digits interest rate on loan to farmers and other productive sectors.

    Ogbeh assured that the Change promised may appear to be slow, but it is actually taking place, he said saying that year, the country has harvested a million tons of rice..

    The Minister of the Environment, Amina Mohammed said government would complete the clean-up of the Ogoni land in the next one year and ensure the degraded land was revived for productive purposes.

    She said the Great Green Wall project of planting trees to control desert encroachment would also be given priority by the administration.