The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fed Govt

  • ‘Don’t blame army for involvement in elections’

    The Bayelsa Deputy Governor, retired Rear Admiral John Jonah has urged Nigerians not to blame the army for its involvement in the 2019 general elections.

    Jonah said this on Saturday at Elebele in Yenogoa during the inauguration of some projects in the 16 Brigade Barracks otherwise known as “Tukur Buratai Camp” located in the community.

    The deputy governor said he had investigated the army involvement in the elections and found that what they did was not different from what the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai had said.

    He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to continue to support the Nigerian army which he described as a stabilising factor, to discharge its duties.

    Buratai had at different fora said the constitution empowers the army to support civil authority in addressing internal security challenges when called upon, citing Section 217 of the 1999 constitution as amended.

    The army chief said this role also extend to providing security during elections.

    He, however, warned those deployed for the conduct of the elections to be professional, respect human rights and remain apolitical.

    Earlier, while inaugurating building projects in the barracks, Buratai who was represented by Maj.-Gen. A. A. Saliu, the Commander, Training and Doctrine Command – TRADOC, charged commanders to always impact positively on their environment.

    He promised more fund to provide required infrastructure in the Brigade and army formations across the country.

    Buratai also called on the citizens to cooperate with the military by providing it with useful information to enable it ensure their safety.

    Also speaking, the GOC 6 Division Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. Jail Sarham noted that the Brigade would assist in addressing security challenges in Bayelsa and the Niger Delta in general.

    Sarham thanked the state government for the assistance it provided for the construction of the barracks.

    In his welcome address, Brig.-Gen. Kelvin Aligbe, the Brigade Commander, said what was required in the new barracks now was perimeter fence, parade ground and officers’ quarters.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the building inaugurated included Guard house, a two-storey medical centre, Brigade Garrison, Soldiers and Warrant Officers/Sergeant clubs and a block of 30 flats for Corporal and below. (NAN)

  • Fed Govt urges workers to shun corruption

    The Federal Government has urged civil servants to shun corruption  and other offences in their work places, in line with the anti-corruption mantra of the government.

    Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Permanent Secretary Mrs Ibukun Odusote made the call in Abuja when she flagged off a sensitisation workshop on transparency and anti-corruption practices, organised for junior officers.

    Represented by Human Resource Management Director Ajibola Ibrahim, Odusote said the workshop would educate participants on the proper understanding of corruption, as well as their roles, individually and collectively, in curbing the menace.

    She explained that corruption was not limited to financial crimes alone, but included: “the little things you do, or neglect to do in the conduct of your daily schedule of duties like movement of files, handling mails/other official documents, among others”.

    In a welcome address, Special Duties/Projects Director, Dr. M. E. Nwordu, said the workshop was organised to equip he junior officers with adequate information to guide their official engagements to be in line with the principles and practices of transparency devoid of corruption.

    She expected the workshop to usher in a significant improvement in service delivery by the officers, which would consequently aid the war against corruption as instituted by government.

    In his presentation titled “The Integrity Imperative in the Workplace”, the resource person from the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Mr. Ahmed Abdul, discussed corruption in the workplace – the definition, forms, causes and consequences.

    He also stated the importance of integrity in the workplace and its positive impact on any organisation.

    Abdul enjoined the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment management to not only provide punitive measures for corrupt practices, but also reward officers for outstanding performance as a motivation to members of the staff.

  • Fed Govt knocks Cameroonian govt over deportation of 40, 000 Nigerians

    The Federal Government has condemned the reported deportation of 40,000 Nigerians, who were living in Cameroon as victims of Boko Haram from Rann Local Government of Borno State.

    The government said it appealed to Cameroonian authorities not to chase out the victims of Boko Haram from Rann living in their country.

    The Honourable Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons (NCFRMI), Sadiya Farouq, stated this in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday.

    She explained that the Federal Government made a passionate appeal for the refugees not to be chased out when Cameroonian authorities threatened to expel them from their country.

    Farouq said the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will take appropriate steps on the matter in due course.

    The statement reads: “It is highly regrettable and sad to note that despite the passionate appeal made by the Nigerian Authorities to the Government of Cameroon not to chase out the victims of Boko Haram attacks from Rann Local Government of Borno State, this appeal has been ignored.

    “Information reaching us is that the Cameroonian Government has thrown out the Displaced Persons from Rann who ran into Cameroun for safety in total disregard for the appeal and a clear breach of the United Nations Charter and Convention on the protection of Displaced Persons which both countries endorsed.

    “The United Nations Convention on Refugees and its 167 Protocol states that: ‘no contracting state shall expel or return a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his or her life or freedom will be threatened on account of his or her race, religion or nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.’

  • CSO appeals to Fed Govt not to deploy military for polls

    A Coalition of Civil Society Organisation and Election Observers yesterday appealed to the Federal Government not to deploy the military for Saturday’s governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

    The group noted that it was not the role of the military to participate in elections but should instead restrict itself to the mandate of providing support for the Nigerian police during elections.

    Coordinator of the group, Okpanachi Jacob and its Secretary, Olufemi Johnson, made the appeal in a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday.

    They called for the immediate withdrawal of alleged military siege in some states in the Niger Delta region.

    They noted that any attempt to derail the country’s democracy would be too tragic for the nation to bear, noting that Nigerians must all wake up to this reality.

    The statement reads: “As democrats and stakeholders in the Nigeria’s democratic process, we strongly feel obliged to draw the attention of the media, the Nigerian people and the international community, to the attempt being orchestrated mainly to intimidate, harass and build unnecessary tensions around an election process, which ordinarily should be a civil exercise.

    “We have a duty to our country, to Nigerians and democracy, in ensuring that every elements that threatens our democratic growth are challenged and rejected as a matter of patriotism.

    “We must not allow desperate politicians and their collaborators within the security agencies, to truncate this democracy. And when we find ourselves under such circumstance such as it is presently being witnessed, appropriate action must be taken not to allow our democracy to be derailed.

    “We also call on our people to remain peaceful in their conducts as they prepare to exercise their constitutional franchise on Saturday. We urge them to be steadfast and not be intimidated by anybody particularly the security agents, as we continue to demand that the military siege on the Niger delta is immediately halted.

    “We ask Nigerians and lovers of democracy to remain vigilant and be ready to ensure that the votes of our people count, as we struggle to defend our democracy. The price of liberty and sustenance of our democracy is eternal vigilance and appropriate reaction to ward off iniquities.”

  • Fed Govt, states, local govts share N610.368b

    The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared N610.368 billion federal revenue generated last month to the three tiers of government.

    The Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris,  said approval is being awaited from the Minister of Finance for additional N50 billion from the Foreign Exchange Equalisation Account, which will be distributed accordingly.

    He spoke at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja, yseterday, stating that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) currently stands at $249 billion.

    A communique issued by the FAAC indicates that from the N610.368 billion, the Federal Government received N252.412 billion, states got N170.541, while the local government councils received N127.923 billion. The Oil Producing states received N41.992 billion as 13 per cent Derivation Revenue and the Revenue Generating Agencies received N17.500 billion as cost of revenue collection.

    Idris said N505.246 billion was received in January, saying this was lower than the N547.462 billion realised in the previous month by N42.216 billion.

    Read also: Tackling insecurity in schools during elections

    The gross revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) was N104.468 billion as against N100.760 billion distributed in the previous month, resulting in an increase of N3.708 billion. From the total gross revenue from VAT, the Federal Government received N15.044 billion, the states got N50.145 billion,  local government councils received N35.102 billion, while the Revenue Generating Agencies received N1.178 billion.

    The communique stated that for last month, crude oil sales increased by 2.4 million barrels, resulting in  $149.94 million increase in revenue, despite a drop in price of crude oil from $81.06 to $75.00 per barrel.

  • Why Fed Govt launched new digital identity ecosystem

    The Federal Government launched the new Digital Identity Ecosystem programme so as to facilitate the collection of citizens’ biometric data nationwide within the shortest time possible, the Director-General, National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Engr. Aliyu Aziz, has said.

    He spoke in Abuja at the reform seminar organised by the Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR).

    He said: “The purpose of the ecosystem approach is to leverage existing capabilities and enrolment facilities of government agencies, partners and private sector organisations in Nigeria, as opposed to building new ones.”

    This, he said, involves coordinated efforts of all enrolment partners, including all government agencies involved in biometric data collection as well as partners and companies in the private sector to be licensed by NIMC.

    In his presentation titled: “Reinventing Nigeria’s Digital Identity Ecosystem,” Aziz said with the approval by the Federal Executive Council of the National Roadmap on Identity Development in Nigeria, the NIMC Regulations 2017, ISO Certified and upgraded backend in place, it’s now time to commence the implementation of the Mandatory usage of the National Identification Number (NIN).

    The new Digital Identity Ecosystem is a Federal Government-led initiative to collect biometric data nationwide in one-go by leveraging existing ecosystem of all government agencies including federal, state and local government areas and the private sector.

    Aziz said the ecosystem approach of enrolment will constitute “trusted partners,” and a “pay-per-play model” to facilitate successful enrolments and fast-track the process nationwide.

    He said: “NIMC will facilitate collecting of identity data (biometric and demographic data) by also ensuring that partners collect data and are paid per successful enrolment. NIMC stores data and uses same to offer a Unique ID to the citizens and legal residents.

    “As the Federal Government Agenda, we are all enjoined to work together as one Government (though many agencies) to achieve the ID objectives and bequeath a sustainable and credible system of identity to our nation and generations to come.

    “Therefore, everyone, every sector (public or private) has a role to play – participate, partner, be compliant, champion the project, support the process and educate others on the importance of the initiative and how it can and must be achieved.”

    According to him, “there is a strong relationship or correlation between Identification and Reforms, both are central in realising effective delivery of important government services to the people.”

     

  • Fed Govt, AGF ask Supreme Court to stay off Onnoghen’s case

    •Cross River seeks court’s intervention

    THE Federal Government and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) have asked the Supreme Court to decline jurisdiction over a suit seeking its intervention in the trial of suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    The FG and the AGF contended that Onnoghen’ trial was personal to him and could only involve the  Supreme Court, where an appeal arises from the Court of Appeal on a decision reached either during or after the trial at the CCT.

    Their position is contained in a notice of objection they filed against a suit instituted at the Supreme Court by Cross River State.

    The state government, in their originating summons, queried the propriety of Onnoghen’s trial before the CCT and urged the Supreme Court to declare it illegal on the grounds that it was only the National Judicial Council (NJC) that could exercise disciplinary powers over a serving judge.

    In their objection, the FG and AGF (listed as defendants in the suit), argued that the subject of the case did not qualify as a dispute between the Cross River State and the Federal Government, as envisaged under Section 232(1) of the Constitution.

    They added: “The subject matter of this suit is personal to Hon. Justice Onnoghen Nkanu Walter Samuel and does not, in any way, affects the Cross River State Government as to confer it with the locus to institute this suit.

    “The reliefs and claims made herein by the plaintiff are not for the benefit of Cross River State, but personal to Justice Onnoghen Nkanu Walter Samuel.

    “The alleged cause of action in the subject matter of this suit is not one that creates the existence or extent of a legal right between the Cross River State Government, in its capacity as a state and the defendants in this suit as stated under Section 232(1) of the Constitution.

    “The Honourable Justice Onnoghen Nkanu Walter Samuel, being an indigene of Cross River State and the highest judicial officer from the state does not confer on the plaintiff the locus to institute this suit.

    “The fact that the suit partly relates to the interpretation of the Constitution does not confer on the plaintiff the locus to invoke the original jurisdiction of this honourable court.”

    The plaintiff, in their originating summons, want the court to among others, declare that, by the provisions of sections 4, 5, and 6 of the Constitution, there a clear recognition of the doctrine of separation of powers and checks and balances in relation to the operations of the three arms of government.

    The Cross River State wants the court to declare that, by virtue of the provisions of sections 153(1), 158(1(, Paragraph 21(b) of Part 1 of the Third Schedule to Constitution, it is the NJC that is exclusively empowered to recommend to the President or Governor the appointment/removal of any judicial officer.

    It also seeks a declaration that the CCT, not being the NJC, is not vested with the jurisdiction over any judicial officer for an alleged official misconduct on the part of a judicial officer, without a formal complaint of such official misconduct being first made to and investigated by the NJC.

    The plaintiff equally wants the Supreme Court to declare that the filing of the charge, before the CCT, against Onnoghen, being a judicial officer, without any formal complaint having been made against him to the NJC, robbed the CCT of jurisdiction to try the charge and all the proceedings relating thereto, amount to a nullity.

    It, therefore, urged the court to grant an order of injunction, restraining the defendants and their agents from further initiating or proceedings with any similar charge or charges against Onnoghen or any judicial officer of the superior court created by the Constitution, until a formal report of misconduct is first, made to and investigated by the NJC.

    At the Supreme Court yesterday, lawyer to the defendants, Dayo Apata (who is the Solicitor General of the Federation), told the court that his clients have just filed some processes, including a memorandum of appearance, notice of preliminary objection and a counter affidavit to the originating summons.

    Apata said he was able to serve the processes on the plaintiff’s lawyer shortly before the court began sitting yesterday.

    Lawyer to the plaintiff, Lucius Nwosu (SAN), acknowledged the service of the defendants’ processes on him.

    Nwosu said, in view of the importance of the case, he would urge the court to grant a short adjournment to enable him respond to the defendant’s processes.

    Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, who presided over a seven-man panel of the court, adjourned to February 28 for the hearing of the defendants’ objection along with the substantive suit.

  • Fed Govt asks IOCs, others to pay $20b tax arrears

    The Federal Government has ordered foreign oil and gas companies to pay nearly $20 billion in taxes it said are owed to local states, industry and government sources said, in a move that could deter investment in Africa’s largest economy.

    In a letter to the companies earlier this year through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC), the government cited what it called outstanding royalties and taxes for oil and gas production.

    Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Eni, Total and Equinor were each asked to pay the central government between $2.5 billion and $5 billion, said the sources, who saw or were briefed on the letters.

    Norway’s Equinor, which produced around 45,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in 2017, confirmed the request.

    “Several operators have received similar claims in a case between the authorities in Nigeria and local authorities in parts of the country,” an Equinor spokesman said.

    Exxon “is currently reviewing the matter”, a spokeswoman for the U.S. company said.

    Shell, Total, Eni and Chevron declined to comment, as did the Presidency, petroleum ministry and NNPC.

    The charge came after the Federal Government and local states settled a dispute over the distribution of revenue from hydrocarbon production. The sides agreed last year that Abuja would pay the states several billion dollars, three company and government sources said.

    The companies were expected to dispute their respective payment claims.

    “Equinor sees no merit to the case,” the company’s spokesman said.

    “This looks like an internal dispute between the federal and local governments. The central government is simply trying to shift to the IOCs (international oil companies) money it owes,” A source at another company said.

    The tax demand adds a fresh challenge to energy companies investing in Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil and gas producer, which have been negotiating production-sharing agreements with the government to develop and operate giant offshore fields.

    Oil theft, massive oil spills and corruption further complicate operations in the country.

    Nigeria, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), produced around 2.1 million bpd of oil last year, compared with 1.86 million bpd in 2017, NNPC says.

    Nigeria uses several types of contract with energy companies including the establishment of joint ventures and production sharing, the two most common partnerships for international oil companies in the country.

    The companies pay the government in the form of royalties and tax as well as providing the state with oil and gas.

  • Fed Govt to clamp down on illegal immigrants

    THE Federal Government yesterday said it would soon clamp down on illegal immigrants in the country.

    It followed the deportation of 723 Nigerians by the Ghana Immigration Service.

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola, who stated this in Lagos at the BRF Gabfest, lamented inhuman treatment of Nigerians abroad.

    According to him, the country also has extant laws to deport illegal immigrants.

    The event, tagged BRF2GABFEST, second edition, was organised by some youth groups to celebrate Fashola.

    It is themed: “Where are the jobs”.

    The minister said there is a current audit of workers on so many construction sites in the country to ascertain how many Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) citizens, who are working on the sites. He noted that even though they do not need a visa to come into the country but they need a work permit.

    Fashola said: “But you heard that Ghana deported some Nigerians. It is the right that every country has, but it is a right we have never exercised but we are going to exercise it now. It is just the law; every foreigner who has legitimate papers to come to Nigeria is welcome. If you want to work in Nigeria, the same regulation that applies in your country that you must get a work permit applies to you here also.

    “If you don’t have a work permit here and you are in my site, I will take you out. That is already happening. I refused to approve payment for one consultant two months ago because I said I wanted to see his work permit and make sure it was valid for the period the job was done and thankfully, he produced it and he was paid. These are the policies about jobs and employment that are put in place by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.”

    He said the issue of job creation in the country was hampered by policies enunciated by the previous administration.

    On job creation strategy of the present administration, he said the President has issued an Executive Order known as Executive Order 5.

    “What Executive Order 5 seeks to achieve is that anytime our economy produces opportunity, we must ensure that if Nigerians are able to do that job, we should give them preference,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt, USAID partner on low TB detection

    The Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has concluded plans to carry out a pilot intervention programme in Lagos and Kano states to address low tuberculosis (TB) detection.

    The Head of Advocacy Communication and Social Mobilisation (ACSM) unit of the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program (NTBLCP) in the ministry, Mrs. Itohowo Uko, made this known at a workshop in Nasarawa.

    She said the decision to choose Lagos and Kano was based on data and their urban areas.

    The programme is being funded by the USAID through the Breakthrough Action project to show the value it will add to the sector.

    “We decided to deviate from the conventional way to go into the communities to interact with them and understand the situation from the community members’ perspective; not just sitting in Abuja and developing messages that might not really speak to the needs of the people.

    “In Lagos, we will be working in Ajeromi and Badagry local government areas (LGAs) where they have high TB burden. We will also be working in two LGAs in Kano. The pilot is going to last for 12 weeks, after which we will do a survey to see what impact it has added. We will also take data from various DOTS centres to see the rate of TB reporting and case findings in those centres. Then after two weeks, we will go back to see if there has been an increase in the number of cases reported in those LGAs from the DOTS centres. With that, we will be able to say whether the interventions are worth expanding,”she said.

    Read also: Woman kills cleric in attempted rape

    On funding, Mrs. Uko explained that apart from resources the ministry gets from the government (which is not enough), the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, was keen to have in-country financing through the public-private mix (PPM) where the private sector and philanthropists were being encouraged to come and contribute to the fight against TB in Nigeria.

    According to Mr. Joseph Edoh, a Senior Programme Officer for TB at Breakthrough Action, TB findings in Nigeria have been very low over a long time, adding that this is happening because of programming, reach of information and awareness.

    “Stigma has also contributed to the low case finding that we have been having so far. The approach we are adopting is a human-centre design (HCD), which is using the user perspective to look at the situation of TB across the country. And the HCD has the intent phase is where Breakthrough Action Nigeria as well as the donor agency – USAID, NTBLCP – agreed that the main challenge that we want to address is the low TB case detection across the country.

    “The next phase is to understand the problem, which is the discovery phase. It helps us to understand the problem from the patient’s, provider’s and expert’s perspective who design programmes.This leads us to the third phase, which is the design and test phase. This is where we generate ideas, test them among people in which the ideas are designed to help improve cases around.

    “We went through a process of reiteration; then we came up with the final five interventions that we are taking to the next phase. The next phase is the feasibility; some people call it piloting. Here, we are going to test the strength and any other weakness that this approach has so that we can recommend for scale up nationally,” he said.

    Edoh further explained that it is obvious that funding gap for TB is so wide, and majority of the funding is donor-funded. He added that the NTBLCP will improve in her reach and activities if it gets more funding.

    “In this case, we will be looking at the private sector coming in and supporting the whole TB case programmes in the country. For policy, I think some are already on the ground and a lot has been done in these areas, but we also need the buy-in of legislators to come up with policies that will help people with TB by considering the human right context of not forcing people. But when they become a public health risk, we need to get these people to get treatment so that they will not put every one of us at risk,” he advised.