The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fund

  • Uduaghan calls for more local govt funds

    Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan has called for a review of the federal revenue allocation to local governments to enable them meet the developmental needs of the people.

    Uduaghan made the call when the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) visited him in Asaba yesterday.

    “If we want the local governments to succeed, the federal revenue allocation should be reviewed and more funds given to them.

    “This is to enable them pay primary school teachers’ salaries and carry out their other developmental needs.

    “Over 80 per cent of local governments are expended on the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries.

    “This is not healthy for the development of the council areas. If the councils must continue with this responsibility, then their revenue allocation needs to be reviewed upwards or the responsibility should be taken from them to enable them carry out infrastructural projects and meet the developmental needs of the people at the grassroots.”

  • ESUT launches N10b infrastructure fund

    In its bid to reposition as one of the best on the African continent, the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) is to launch a N10 billion Infrastructural Development Trust Fund under the distinguished chairmanship of Senator Ike Ekwerenmadu, the Deputy Senate President.

    The launch, which would have the Governor of Enugu State, Sullivan Chime, as chief host and Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State as guest speaker is scheduled for May 10 at the Auditorium Agbani.

    Chairman of the seven-man ESUT Trust Fund Committee, Prof Ike Ndolo, said the fund would help the institution provide facilities for the institution.

    “The idea of the Trust Fund is primarily to reposition and re-engineer ESUT to be one of the best in Africa. These funds will help in many critical sectors of the university needing services and infrastructural development and intervention,” he said.

    The infrastructural development intervention areas include critical teaching and research facilities, post graduate studies building, completion of two new faculty buildings/main university library and the fencing of the entire university landscape.

    Others are provision of recreational facilities, the senate building endowment of chairs in departments, completion of professors/staff quarters and student hostels and a school of communication building. ESUT was established in 1991 with a philosophy of a unique university that must be closely related to society, its industry and above all, serve as a catalyst in the technological advancement of the people.

    Since its establishment, ESUT has grown into an ivory tower with nine faculties which include Agriculture, Applied Natural Sciences, Engineering, Education, Environmental Sciences, Law, Management Sciences, Medicine and Social Sciences.

    In addition, it also has School of Postgraduate studies, Matured Students’ programme, General Studies division and a business school.

     

  • Maina: task team tracking N3.3tr stolen fund

    The last may not have been heard about the pension scam.

    The Presidential Pension Reform Task Team (PPRTT) has said it is investigating a N3.3 trillion pension fraud.

    The team said it has lost confidence in the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service, which is looking into the activities of the team.

    The Chairman of the task team, Abdulrasheed Maina, spoke yesterday during a chat with reporters in Abuja.

    Maina, who confirmed investigation into the fraud, said the task team has uncovered a huge scam in pension administration and would soon make it public.

    He was not forthcoming with the names of the agencies or individuals involved, saying it was too early and that this might jeopardise ongoing investigation.

    He said PPRTT would go public with the names when investigations are concluded.

    “I want to tell you that what we have uncovered will surprise Nigerians. We have found that pension funds up to N3.3 trillion were stolen by the cabal and we will recover the money,” Maina said.

    He said the task team has recovered about N241 billion and has deleted 73,000 ghost pensioners from the civil service list.

    Maina said over 170,000 pensioners have been captured under the biometrics data capturing exercise.

    He listed part of the achievements of the team to include cutting of N1billion police pension monthly releases (from N1.59billion to N500 million) and the stoppage of monthly leakage of N4.25billion from the Head of Service pension office.

    That N74 billion of the N181 billion discovered and saved by the pension task team has been mopped up for utilisation in the 2012 budget,” he said.

    Maina, who also spoke about his running battle with the Senate Committee on Establishments, which is investigating the Pension Office, said the committee is biased.

    He said: “The committee is unfair to us because it has taken sides with the cabal. It is against those of us fighting corruption in the system.

    “That was why I wrote a protest letter to the Senate President, complaining that the committee is biased. They don’t allow us to answer questions because they will insist on yes or no as answer and this is unfair.”

    Maina denied knowledge of the alleged theft of N195 billion by the Pension Office, saying: “The Pension Task Team does not control or approve the utilisation of the finances of the aforementioned pension offices; and for this reason, it could not have been possible for anybody to hold the team accountable for allegedly missing funds by other pension offices, which the team has no control over.”

     

  • Niger SURE-P fund hits N2.5b, says Aliyu

    The Niger State Government yesterday said its savings in the state’s Subsidy Reinvesting Programme (SURE-P) has reached N2.5billion.

    Governor Babangida Aliyu spoke in Minna, the state capital, when he received committee members of the fund, led by Alhaji Aliyu Mamman.

    The governor said of the amount, N1.5billion was deposited into the fund for the state government while the balance belongs to the 25 local governments.

    He said a separate bank account has been opened for the fund to ensure that the money is used judiciously and accounted for.

    Aliyu assured that an effective mechanism has also been built into the programme to avoid a duplication of federal projects by the state.

    The governor said three representatives each from the state and the 25 local governments would join the federal committee in Minna to understudy and give technical advice on projects to be undertaken.

    Mamman told Aliyu that about 1,200 indigenes have been employed, adding that the committee would meet the target 3,000 jobs before the end of this month.

    He explained that the committee operates in the 25 local government areas but needs government assistance to get vehicles and renovate its offices.

  • Content board begins pilot scheme on fund deployment

    The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) said it has started a pilot scheme with two Nigerian companies on how the Nigerian Content Fund (NCF) should be deployed.

    The Fund which is built through the payment of one per cent of every contract awarded in the oil and gas industry, is meant to be used in assisting the development of indigenous content and capacity in the petroleum industry.

    The Executive Secretary, NCDMB, Ernest Nwapa, said the fund is growing and that it has secured the services of fund managers to operate it and ensure transparency.
    He said by the way the management of the fund is structured, 30 per cent would be used to stimulate growth of capacity, while the remaining 70 per cent would used to guarantee local oil firms’ loans from banks.

    He said: “To ensure transparency, the Board brought in fund managers to manage the fund. Currently 30 per cent of the fund will be used for stimulating capacity building, while 70 per cent will be used as guarantee for oil firms’ borrowing s from bank.

    “For example, if an indigenous oil company goes to a bank to borrow $20 million, besides guaranteeing the loan with the fund, the interest that accrues on the loan will be shared 50-50. While the company bears 50 per cent of the interest, the fund will bear the remaining 50 per cent,” assuring that the 70 per cent part of the fund would not be depleted. “The 70 per cent of the fund will not be depleted. It will be made to continue to grow.

    Nwapa, said currently, the Board is running a pilot on the fund usage and deployment with two members of the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN). The association is made up of Nigerian oil companies, particularly those in the services sector of the upstream segment of petroleum industry.

    He said between 2010 and June this year, the country has recorded investment inflow of $2.8 billion as a result of the Nigerian Content Act, adding that before the Act, Nigerian firms were increasingly buying equities in new rigs because it was pretty difficult for them to buy new ones alone, as one new rig can cost as much as $200 million. None of the companies currently has new rigs, but they are making headway in marine vessel acquisition.

    Nwapa, said once a vessel is owned by a Nigerian company, it is given priority for jobs, adding that the board is uploading evidence to confirm that these vessels truly belong to Nigerians. Part of what the board wants to use to confirm evidence that the vessels belong to Nigerians, he said, is try to see the banks that are financing the vessels.

    To buttress the increasing involvement of Nigerians in marine vessel business and management, Nwapa said four of Nigeria’s Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) carriers are completely manned by Nigerians.