The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Fed Govt

  • Fed Govt doing everything to get Leah Sharibu freed, says minister

    MINISTER of Information Lai Mohammed said yesterday that the Federal Government is doing everything to get Leah Sharibu freed.

    He, however, said the negotiation for her release from the Boko Haram is becoming tortuous.

    The terrorists abducted 111 girls from the Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State on February.

    One hundred and five of them were released on March 21.

    Sharibu, a Christian girl, was held back following her refusal to denounce her faith.

    Fielding questions from reporters after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, the minister revealed that the negotiation has become tortuous, but assured that Buhari’s administration was “doing everything necessary to get others freed”.

    He, however, did not give further details on the present status of the negotiations.

    He said: “Mr. President actually addressed that issue in Washington and my position is always the same that we are yet to resolve the issue of six girls. One hundred and eleven girls were kidnapped, 105 were returned and we are busy on daily basis asking and negotiating and asking what happened to those five officially at least and then what is delaying the young girl, Leah Sharibu.

    “Negotiations with insurgents are quite tortuous and complicated at times,  but I can assure you we are not leaving her to her fate and those who should are daily  busy working on her release.”

  • Fed Govt to settle contractors’ debts, ex-Airways’ workers

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, yesterday said the Federal Government would settle the inherited debts and contractual obligations to local contractors between 2006 and 2015.

    Appearing before the Ad-Hoc Committee of the Senate on “Promissory Note Programme and Bond Issuance”, she said the debts owed to various classes of contractors, including the terminal benefits of ex-Nigerian Airways workers, would be paid through promissory notes and bonds issuance.

    The Committee is chaired by the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Francis Alimikhena.

    A statement endorsed by her Special Adviser, Media & Communications, Oluyinka Akintunde,  said the unpaid Federal Government obligations constituted a drag on economic activity across many sectors, adding that the government was determined to address the problem.

    She listed the unpaid obligations to include that of pensioners, salary and promotion arrears to civil servants; obligations to contractors and suppliers who in turn, owe banks increasing the quantum of non-performing loans, and unpaid electricity bills by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    Others are exporters owed funds under the Export Expansion Grant Scheme (EEGS) and unpaid refunds due to state governments in respect of projects undertaken on behalf of the Federal Government.

    “The Federal Government is working towards settling these inherited debts. The Small and Medium scaled Enterprises (SMEs) are the lifeline of our nation. The Federal Government will be stimulating the economy by paying these legacy debts,” Mrs Adeosun said.

    The government, according to her, has approved the issuance of promissory notes and bonds to settle its contractual obligations subject to the approval of the National Assembly.

    On the ex-Airways workers, the minister explained that their terminal benefits were reconciled and agreed at N45 billion following verification.

    She debunked claims by the ex-workers that there was a presidential approval for the payment of terminal benefits of N45 billion to the workers.

    “There has been a misconception in the media that the president had approved the payment of N45 billion terminal benefits to the workers. There is no presidential approval and no appropriation yet for the payment of N45 billion to the ex-workers,” she said.

    Earlier, the representative of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Usman, had told members of the Committee that the government paid N34.2 billion to clear the promotion arrears to workers in the MDAs.

     

    Usman, who is the Director of Funds in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, added that the payment process was still ongoing.

    “These payments were made to the accounts of the beneficiaries in the MDAs after detailed verification of all documents attached as proof of promotion,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Fed Govt working on 300 roads, says Fashola

    •Minister, NUPENG disagree on state of roads

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said work is ongoing on about 300 roads across the country.

    Fashola, who delivered the keynote address at the fourth quadrennial delegates’ conference of the Petroleum Tanker Driver branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) in Abuja, said since the government is addressing the state of roads, there was no need declaring a state of emergency on them.

    According to him, the Federal Government was working on at least one major road in each of the 36 states.

    He said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government has spent about N300 billion on roads, saying of the N18 billion budgeted for roads in 2015, only N9 billion was paid.

    The minister cautioned tanker drivers against over loading and over speeding, stressing that while over loading destroys roads, over speeding accounts for about 70 per cent of accidents, while bad roads account for less than 10 per cent.

    President of NUPENG Comrade Williams Akporeha wants the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency on roads to attract urgent attention.

    Akporeha said the life and safety of tanker drivers depend on good roads, noting that though the government is already taking steps to address the state of the roads, more needs to be done and quickly.

    He said: “An average tanker driver, who is active on the wheel, spends most of his working life in the road traversing one loading location to several discharge locations, all to get the economy going. His safety, health, prosperity, promotion, effectiveness and even life expectancy depend almost entirely on the state of the roads…”

     

  • Fed Govt eyes more revenues from tax

    Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, yesterday said the Federal Government would mobilise more revenues to drive its growth plan for the economy.

    A statement endorsed by the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the minister, Oluyinka Akintunde, explained that Mrs Adeosun spoke in Abuja during a meeting with a World Bank Mission of 10 Executive Directors led by Mr. Patrizio Pagano.

    She said the government would accelerate  growth level and improve the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country.

    “The Nigerian Government is working towards accelerating the country’s growth level. The growth will be underpinned by stimulating the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in Nigeria and improving our capital expenditure which we have done in the last two years.

    “Nigerians should trust the government to deliver on its promises of improving the economy and providing sustainable infrastructure development. We are very optimistic but we will remain vigilant,” Adeosun said.

     

     

  • ‘Fed Govt, states, local govts share N1.9tr’

    The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursed N1.938 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of this year.

    The cash shared represented an increase of 37.3 per cent when compared with N1.411 trillion shared during the same period last year and 71.1per cent of the N1.132 trillion shared in the same quarter of 2016, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), has said.

    A breakdown of the FAAC allocations showed that the Federal Government received N812.8 billion; the 36 states got N683.4 billion, while N393.3billion went to the 774 Local Governments Areas. A further breakdown showed that N655.2 billion was disbursed by FAAC in January, N635.6 billion in February, and N647.4 billion in March this year.

    A statement endorsed by NEITI’s Director of Communications and Advocacy, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, explained that the information was contained in the latest edition of the NEITI Quarterly Review by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

    He said the publication observed that even with increasing trends in the revenue disbursements to the three tiers of government, the disbursement in the Q1 of this year was still 25.6per cent lower than the N2.6 trillion disbursed during the same period in 2013 before the crash in global oil prices.

    According to him, the report projected brighter prospects for higher revenue disbursements for the rest of the year because of rising oil prices, which he noted currently hovered around $70 per barrel, in addition to the increase in oil production.

    The report however called for caution while celebrating the cash disbursed in Q1 2018 because of the volatility of the international oil market. “The year started on a bright note as all tiers of government received higher revenues than corresponding quarters in the past two years. This was largely on the account of sustained increase in domestic oil production and global oil prices,” the statement added.

    On allocations received by each state, the report revealed that Akwa Ibom got the highest with N50.44 billion while Osun State received the lowest net share of N4.99 billion, a change of 920per cent between the highest and the lowest the statement added.

    The  report explained that the disparities in FAAC disbursements suggested differences in revenue capacities of different states and the implications for expenditure decisions in the affected states.

    According to the statement, there were concerns about the relationship between the projected revenues of states and their proposed budgets. “The budget of all the states completely outstriped their projected total revenues,” the report stated. For instance, the publication observed that the gap between projected total revenues and budgets is small in some states like Kano, Enugu, Delta and Bayelsa. In these states, projected revenue is at least 60percent of the budgets.

    However, in about 18 states, projected revenue was less than 40 per cent of budgets. Examples are in the 2018 budgets of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River and Ebonyi states, the statement added. Other states were Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara).The report described the situation in Cross River State as chronic as its projected total revenue only constituted  four per cent of the proposed budget it stated.

     

     

    “These conditions would ultimately result in a situation where the states would either not be able to execute their budgets or have to increase borrowing,” the report noted.

    Ogbonnaya said the NEITI Quarterly Review, designed to provide timely information and data, was a tool to support citizens’ engagement, advocacy, promote constructive debate, information sharing and enlightenment in tracking the utilisation of the funds for purposes of development.

    He added that NEITI’s interest in FAAC disbursements and the statutory recipients is in view of the fact that more than 50per cent of the funds were derived from the extractive industry.

  • Fed Govt scores Ilorin-Omuaran road job low

    The Federal Government has decried the level of work on the 136-kilometre Ilorin-Omuaran-Kabba road.

    Minister of State II for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Zarma, during an assessment of federal projects in Kwara State, said the project fell far below expectation.

    Zarma blamed the contractor, Messrs CGC Nigeria Limited, and the Federal Controller, Wasiu Atitebi, for the delay.

    He said: “Mr. Controller, you will be held responsible for the delay but I will give you the benefit of doubt because of the peculiarity of the location.”

    The Ilorin -Omuaran- Kaba road project, which was contracted in 2013, started on February 22, 2017, and has only attained 0.07 per cent completion.

    It was awarded at N21,734,054,761.70 and billed for completion on February 23, 2020.

    Zarma wondered if the company did a proper land survey in 2013 and asked if there were other projects handled by the company causing the delay.

    However, he promised to monitor the contractor to ensure that the project is executed on time.

    Project Manager of CGC Mr. Nie Young said  a  sub-soil drainage test, topographical survey, drawings and downpour interrupted work.

    He said insecurity interfered with the first phase of the project.

  • Fed Govt seeks more energy distributors

    The Federal Government is seeking more investments in  distribution  to improve   electricity, Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has said.

    The government, he said, was working towards actualising its dream of making electricity generated in the rural areas, a commercial product.

    He said the government was committed to making generation, distribution and transmission of electricity  a business activity.

    The government, according to him, can only maximise the potentials in the sector, when it is able to sell what it produces.

    He said: ’’ We must be able to sell what we produce, because there is no gain in generating what you cannot distribute or supply to the people.

    Fashola, who spoke at the side line of the inauguration of 2xby 60 MVA 132/133 KVA in Odogunyan power sub-station in Ikorodu, Lagos, said energy distribution is vital to the growth of the industry, stressing that the government is targeting  more investments from it.

    According to him, the country requires more players in the distribution value chain, in order to be able to compliment the services of the eleven companies, approved by the Federal Government, to distribute power to the consumers in the country.

    He said the country was able to distribute 5,000 megawatts of electricity out of 7,000 megawatts of electricity that was generated in recent times, adding that the shortfall of 2,000Mw of electricity would have been avoided, if there is enough power destruction capacity on ground.

    Fashola said: ‘’At the moment, the country generates 7,000 Mw of electricity, while it is distrusting only 5,000 Mw of electricity. In the meantime, the country needs more capacity and capital in the distribution segment of the sector. That is where the country needs to focus its attention now, if Nigeria is to handle the industry as a business venture. We must be able to sell what we produce, because there is no gain in generating what you cannot distribute.’’

    He said the country would generate more electricity, adding that the power generation must be matched with distribution to achieve growth in the sector.

    The Minister said the country is expecting 240 Mw of electricity from Afam Power Plant, adding that the development will help in improving power generation in the country.

    Still on power, he said the government has created and executed 90 projects in Yola, and other parts of the country, adding that the idea would help improve supply of electricity.

    Similarly, LAGA CE Power Limited Managing Director,  Mrs Rhoda Afolabi, said her firm had in the past nine years built the power sub-stations in Ipaja, Odogunyan and two others, adding that Odogunyan sub-station will help improve electricity supply to the industrial areas.

    She said steel, manufacturing and other companies in Ikorodu will be able to access electricity through feeders on the sub-station.    She said the project ensures that 90 Mw of electricity would be release to the industries and other users in the area.

    She said his ministry inherited over 800 containers at the ports, on assumption of office in 2015, adding that the containers were not cleared due to poor finance.

    The inability of past government, Afolabi  said, to clear the containers, made it difficult for contractors in the power sector to get materials to work with.

    He said the ministry has been able to clear 500 containers, while at the same time, moved the equipment in those containers to sites where electricity is being transmitted and distributed in the country.

    He said the government would have by the end of 2018, expand the distribution capacity in the country, to boost supply iof electricity in Nigeria.

  • Fed Govt: varsities no longer producing graduates to meet market needs

    Industries are rejecting graduates from the universities because they no longer meet the demands of the market, the Federal Government said yesterday.

    It said the country’s university systems had collapsed.

    Minister of State for Education Prof. Anthony Anwukah spoke at a two-day retreat for Governing Councils of Nigerian Universities organised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja.

    Anwuka, who suggested the introduction of a re-schooling project, said the Student Industrial Working Experience Scheme (SIWES) had failed to fulfill its purpose.

    He suggested a one-year extra practice for students in related field of studies after graduation.

    The minister said: “There is need for us to introduce a re-schooling project. The SIWES programme is not providing the needed bridge between the students and the industry.

    “This is not functioning and the industries have continued to clamour. They are refusing to employ our graduates. At what point are we breaking the jinx of our graduates not been able to meet the needs of our industries?”

    “We should look at how our graduates will be able to proceed on one whole year of practice in related fields.”

    The minister challenged participants at the retreat to bridge the gap between the universities and the industry.

    Chairman, Governing Board of NUC, Prof. Ayo Banjo, who spoke on the importance of creating new knowledge in the Nigerian University System, said for the universities to achieve high ranking in World University Ranking System, they must be adequately funded.

    He said Federal Government subventions must be visible in the universities.

    “University is judged largely by quality of its academic staff, international faculty ratio and international student ratio are key elements of ranking any university in the world.”

    “Nigerian universities for a start should open doors to students in West Africa countries . This will open revenue,” Prof. Banjo said.

    He called for curriculum reforms in the universities to produce excellent graduates to place Nigerian universities on the world map.

     

     

  • Tinubu to Fed Govt: declare public holidays for collection of PVCs

    THE senator representing Lagos Central District, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, has urged the Federal Government to declare public holidays for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), ahead of the December 2018 deadline.

    Senator Oluremi, in a statement in Lagos, identified PVCs as the tools to participating in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.

    She also urged residents in the state to ensure that they collect their PVCs.

    The call sequel to revelations by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that over seven million PVCs were yet to be collected nationwide, with 1, 400,000 from Lagos State.

    Prior to the 2015 elections, INEC introduced the use of smart card readers. This has necessitated issuance of PVCs as part of the identification and authentication process.

    After the 2015 elections, about 12 million PVCs had remained in the electoral body’s custody.

    She said: “With previous elections, Nigerians developed voter apathy due to a distrust of the system. The 2015 elections taught us, however, that as individuals, our votes count. Thus, we must rise up as citizens to fulfill our civic responsibility and ensure accountability in governance.”

    Ahead of the forthcoming elections, INEC had released modalities for ongoing continuous voter registration. The centres open from 9 am to 3 pm daily.

    Mrs. Tinubu pleaded that the period should be extended; and should include weekends to allow those who were unable to visit the centres during work hours to do so at weekends.

    She said INEC should ensure that it had adequate resources to make the process quick and easy.

    The senator called for increased voter education and sensitisation to achieve the desire results

     

  • Cleric urges Fed Govt to end innocent killings

    The Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos Mainland of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), The Rt Rev Akinpelu Johnson, has urged the Federal Government to end the killing of innocent Nigerians.

    Johnson spoke at this year’s pre-synod breakfast fellowship of the church at Ebute Meta in Lagos.

    The gathering was to kick-start the preparation for the third session of the fourth Synod of the diocese.

    Johnson urged the Federal Government and all those in positions of authority to ensure that security is restored across the country.

    The cleric noted that the killing of innocent people must stop henceforth.

    He said: “Is it that those in positions of authority in the country are not competent? There must be justice and all those who are perpetrating these killings must be brought to brook.”

    Johnson said the essence of the gathering was to prepare the church for this year’s Synod.

    The cleric said it was meant to discuss where the church was coming from and plan for the years ahead.

    He added: “Our aim is to carry out the mission of the church, which is evangelism, to all nooks and crannies of the country. We are targeting the building of the church, knowing that nothing is too much for us to give God. The Synod is a reminder to us all that whatever God has given to us we are to give it back to him and, by extension, our society. We impact our society positively in all spheres, including education and health.”