The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GOVT

  • ‘Our confidence in this govt is waning’

    ‘Our confidence in this govt is waning’

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has said that the confidence labour has in the present administration when it came to power in 2015 is gradually waning, as all efforts geared towards fighting corruption have become a mirage.

    In a press statement signed by its National President, Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary General, Musa-Lawal Ozigi, the labour leaders said Nigeria’s case has become that of “one-day one-trouble-kind of.”

    “Only recently some ministers made case for ‘No Work No Pay’ doctrine. Their argument was that they want to check the public service workers in the country. Just imagine, how do you tell a worker that has not been paid for six months to continue to borrow to transport himself or herself to job? How do you explain it that a country that is broke still pays twitter lawmakers over N29 million on a monthly basis. This is inhuman, wicked, derogatory and devilish,” they said.

    The union said that one way poverty can be addressed is when the wage of workers is increased even as it lamented that the last wage increase was in 2011.

    “Though due for review but some forces who take delight in using our children as political thugs have refused. They want the status-quo to remain- (master-servant relationship),” the union said.

    On bail out funds, TUC praised President Muhammadu Buhari for telling governors the gospel truth on how he feels about their failure to pay salaries and pensions despite the interventions of the Federal Government.

    The congress carpeted some state governors for asking for the release of 50 per cent of the Paris Club loan refund, even when they cannot account for the tranches already released to them.

  • OGFTA: Govt to sanction erring operators

    OGFTA: Govt to sanction erring operators

    The Federal Government will sanction any operator who contravenes the rules guiding the operation of the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zones (OGFTA) across the country, its Managing Director, Dr. Umana Okon Umana, has said.

    The operators are mainly those that bring oil and gas equipment into the country.

    Umana said this became necessary in view of the corrupt practices in many of the zones.

    He said the government frowned at a situation whereby operators brought goods into the zones without following the rules guiding shipment.

    He said the pre-release facility through which operators effect the release of their cargoes ahead of payment of required fees has been abused in recent times, stressing that the government would not condone such acts.

    Umana said  henceforth, the government would stop erring operators from effecting the release of their cargoes ahead of payment of the required fees in subsequent shipments as provided for in section (5) of the MoU signed between OGFTA and its clients.

    According to him, OGFTA is the body directed by the Federal Government, to regulate activities in the free trade zones, in line with the best possible standards, stressing that the body has vowed not to circumspect the rules.

    In a circular issued to free zones investors after the meeting of the management of OGFTA at Onne Zone, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, and contained in the OGFTA journal, Umana said reports from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) have indicted many of the operators in recent times.

    He said the operators were indicted by the Customs for failing to redeem their bonds, adding that the issue is a violation of the condition that is precedent to the pre-release facility as contained in section 1(b) of the Memorandum of Understanding between OGFZA and its clients.

    He said the MoU stated that all Customs formalities including payment of duty are being ignored by operators.

    Umana assured that in upholding the laws and rules of engagement in the free zones, OGFZA would work in line with the global best practices to ensure that the Federal Government was not shortchanged in terms of revenue.

  • Govt to refinance debts with $3b, says Adeosun

    Govt to refinance debts with $3b, says Adeosun

    The Federal Government is to apply $3 billion in refinancing the legacy debts of the immediate past government, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has said.

    She said the outlay is part of the $5.5 billion foreign loan being sourced from the international financial markets.

    Mrs. Adeosun, who spoke on Arise TV’s News Programme, said the proposed $5.5 billion loan is to refinance inherited debts to the tune of $3billion and new borrowing of $2.5 billion for 2017 Budget.

    “Let me explain the $5.5 billion borrowing because there have been some misrepresentations in the media in the last few weeks. The first component of $2.5 billion, represents new external borrowing provided for in the 2017 Appropriation Act to part finance the deficit in that budget,” she said, pointing out that “ the borrowing will enable the country to bridge the gap in the 2017 budget currently facing liquidity problem to finance some capital projects.”

    On the second component, she said: “We are refinancing existing domestic debt with the $3 billion external borrowing. This is purely a portfolio restructuring activity that will not result in any increase in the public debt.”

    Adeosun further noted that the country’s debt rising from N7.9 trillion in June 2013 to N12.1 trillion in June 2015, despite the fact that only 10 per cent of the budget was allocated to capital expenditure when oil price exceeded $120 per barrel.

    She said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration was investing in critical infrastructural projects such as roads, rails and power in order to deliver a fundamental structural change to the economy that would reduce the nation’s exposure to crude oil.

    “Under this dispensation, we are not borrowing to pay salaries. If all we do is to pay salaries, we cannot grow the economy. This administration is also assiduously working to return Nigeria to a stable economic footing. In light of this, the government adopted an expansionary fiscal policy with an enlarged budget that will be funded in the short term, by borrowing,” Adeosun said.

  • Telcos blame govt for low service quality

    Telecoms operators have blamed the government for the poor telecoms services in the country.

    The operators, acting under the aegis of Association of Licensed Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), said the actions of government and its agencies contribute to low service quality.

    Its Chairman, Gbenga Adebayo who spoke on the sideline of the last Telecoms Consumer Parliament (TCP) in Lagos, lamented that some state governments have turned telecoms infrastructure to bait with which they extract funds from the telcos.

    He cited Ogun State where no fewer than 25 Base Transmission Stations (BTS) had been sealed up by the state government and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),  where carriers had been denied approval to expand capacity through the building of new BTS.

    He said: “We have problem with Ogun State government over site approval payment and also what they call the grant rental payment and what has happened in the last six months is that our members that provide services there have had issue with the planning authority there.

    “By last count, 25 sites have been shut down by the government of Ogun State; two of those sites are hub sites providing services to neighbouring states of Oyo and part of Lagos. The impact of that will be bad consumer experience; we are engaging them, and we do hope that the matter will be resolved in matter of days. But more than closure of sites and reopening of sites, what is worrisome is the trend of site closure due to the issue of revenue collection, and I think these are issues that should be clearly separated.

    “The government is looking for money; let them do so by other means not by services that will have security implications. For the fact that there are no services in those parts of the state as we speak , the people there are open to all kinds of experiences which they may not be able to report to police and other security agencies.”

    According to Adebayo, these developments underscore the need to have tlecoms infrastructure classified as national security and economic infrastructure where nobody at any level of government will have right to shut down.

    “We have written a letter to the governor of the state but it sends a very bad signal   because the fact that sites are being made as baits to extract money from service providers, is not the right thing to do and we think the level of our development has gone far beyond that,” he had said.

    Speaking on carriers’ challenge in Abuja, he said the Federal Capital Territory Development Authority (FCDA) said the masterplan of the FCT did not foresee the emergence of mobile telephony and made no provision for its infrastructure.

    “What we were told was that when the masterplan was made, there was no provision for telecoms infrastructure understandably so because 40 years ago, there was no popularity of mobile services. So, we have been engaging with the authority of the FCTDA for the purposes of approval of sites but the fact is that none of that has happened I got information from the director of NCC (Nigerian Communications Commission) now that a meeting was held about two weeks ago and the minister had committed to getting something to happen soon but the experience we have in Abuja is a function of the fact that we don’t have sufficient capacity to support subscribers in Abuja,” he said.

  • NLNG pays $4.1b taxes to govt

    NLNG pays $4.1b taxes to govt

    The Nigerian Liquefied and Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has, in the past six years, paid $4.1billion in taxes, including Company Income of Tax (CIT), to the Federal Government.

    The firm paid the amount between 2011 and 2017, following the decision of the Federal Government to remove the pioneer status it granted the company. Pioneer status empowers the NLNG, being the first to start processing gas for domestic and export markets, not to pay taxes for some time.

    Data from the NLNG shows that the company paid $65.080 million in 2011; $107.037 million in 2012; $118.5 milliion in 2013; $1.4 billion in 2014; $2.1 billion in 2015 and $323.2 million in 2016.

    Its former Managing Director, Mr. Godswill Ihetu, in an interview with The Nation, said NLNG would have saved $4.1billion and spent it on importation of heavy-duty equipment, among other needs.

    He noted that the military regime of Gen Muhammadu Buhari, promulgated a decree, which culminated in the pioneer status, that the government granted NLNG. He said the decree, among other things, ensured that an inter-ministerial committee was set up to provide direction to NLNG.

    He said the committee drafted what is known as “Guarantees and Assurances programmes” for the growth of the NLNG.

    Ihetu said: “The Guarantees and Assurances stipulate that NLNG will enjoy a pioneer status for some time. By this, NLNG would be excluded from paying taxes for years. The idea was applauded by the NLNG shareholders namely the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Total Upstream Nigeria Limited and Nigeria Agip Oil Company. NLNG was not paying taxes until 2011, when the pioneer status granted it was removed by the Federal Government.”

    According to him, the decision by the Federal Government to remove the pioneer status from NLNG and further made it to pay Corporate Income Tax to the government, was not in the best interest of the company, which has contributed huge revenue to the government’s coffers, after oil.

    Ihetu said: “This implies that the pioneer status given to the NLNG has changed coupled with the fact that a sizeable portion of the firm’s revenue would now be devoted to taxes. Though the responsibility to make and change the laws of a nation lies with the government, the government needs to take into considerations sensitive roles played by some sectors of the economy.

    On NLNG’s Act amendment, Ihetu said amending the Act was not only wrong, but would send wrong signals to foreign investors.

    He said foreign investors would believe that the government could toy with laws anytime, and as such would not have confidence in the country. He said NLNG would be paying less to its stakeholders, if the amendment sails through at the Senate.

  • ‘Lagos govt is committed to affordable housing delivery’

    ‘Lagos govt is committed to affordable housing delivery’

    The Lagos State government has concluded plans to deliver 20,000 housing units in the next three years. This is aside the 4,355 housing units that have been commissioned across the three senatorial districts in the state. This, according to the government, will reduce the housing deficit gap and improve Lagosians‘ access of to affordable housing.

    This was the submission of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode last week at the celebration of the World Habitat Day in Lagos. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs. Idiat Adebule, said the effort was connected to the overall objective of making the state liveable, especially its urban renewal and slum upgrading/regeneration.

    According to the Ambode, this year’s celebration, themed: “Housing Policies: Affordable Homes,” is an integral part of the “Lagos @ 50” celebration to showcase the administration’s achievements in regeneration and urbanisation of the state.

    He further stressed that with this year’s theme, the United Nations (UN) was calling the attention of governments around the world to the need to make housing within the reach of the common man.

    “Shelter is one of the basic needs of man. The challenge before us is to explore innovative ways by which this can be achieved through public private part Wcontent in the construction of houses, ensure efficiency in land utilisation, as well as develop a financing system that is convenient, reasonable and economical,” the governor noted.

    He said his administration’s position on affordable housing has been demonstrated through the Rent-to-Own scheme and Rental Housing Initiative, which are specifically designed with the low income and middle income earners in mind. Under both schemes, Ambode said, apart from reducing the initial deposit requirement from 30 per cent to five per cent, a larger proportion of 80 per cent of the total stock of housing units under this programme is dedicated to the Rent–to-Own scheme, which is targeted at the low income group.

    He listed some of the projects the state is implementing under this include the redevelopment of Adeniji Adele Phase I-V, comprising 720 housing unit, into a residential mixed use development of 2, 500 – 3, 500 housing units and the redevelopment of Isale Gangan Phase I leading to the construction of 11–floor structure, which comprised 48 serviced luxury apartments. The second phase of this project, planned to be a 13-floor structure, is under construction.

    “As we strive to provide the enabling environment for investment in the housing sector, we are open to new ideas, new technology and new methods, the private sector remains our key partner in ensuring the delivery of decent, functional and affordable housing in the quantity that will match the increasing demand across the state,” Ambode remarked.

    Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Anifowoshe Abiola, said making housing available and within the reach of the common man is one of the most critical issues in the socio-economic well-being of the people. This, he explained, is the reason the ministry is ready to partner more than ever before, with all stakeholders in the built environment in order to realise and bridge the gap of the housing stock deficit.

    The guest speaker at the event, Mr. Fola Arthur-Worrey, maintained that the citizens have a responsibility of paying their taxes to make the implementation housing policies and actualising same to happen. He advised that people should have a clear cut idea of what they intend to use a house for before embarking on its ownership because owning a house is not necessarily a must.

    “The reality is that majority of people cannot afford a home by themselves, hence, the reason for informal houses,” Arthur-Worrey said, while urging government to intervene in the unhealthy relationship between landlords and tenants, especially as it concerns incessant increase in rent.

    Commissioner for Housing, Mr. Gbolahan Lawal, argued that to make houses affordable, there is a need to scale up the income of the citizens. He also advised the Federal Government to reduce interest rate on mortgage so that transaction cost will be reduced and that more people can come into the mortgage net.

    In a similar vein, the UN Habitat programme manager in Nigeria, Kabir Yari, commended the state for consistently hosting the World Habitat Day and for being the only state in the country to be doing so.

    He said affordable housing is a challenge that has made a lot of Africans live in slums, including about 60 per cent of the population living in informal settlements without water. He disclosed that this year’s Habitat Day is used by the UN to reflect on the state of towns and cities, and on the basic right of all to adequate shelter.

    “Housing policies: Affordable homes, promotes one of UN-Habitat’s focal areas such as inclusive housing and social services. A safe and healthy living environment for all. The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 11 target is that by 2030, everybody should live in safe and affordable houses; I have no doubt that Lagos State will continue to do the right thing,” Yari submitted.

  • Govt to disburse $150m solid minerals grants

    The Federal Government has concluded plans for the disbursement of the $150 million World Bank grant to solid mineral sector operators.

    Part of the procedures includes vetting applications from operators who applied for the grant, in line with the rules as advertised and published in national dailies.

    The procedures are to determine the eligibility of the applicants, examine their impacts on the sector and see whether their purposes for seeking the funds tally with the aspirations of the World Bank to grow economies, among others.

    Minister of Solid Minerals Development Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr. Yinka Oyebode, said making the grant accessible for operators had reached an advanced stage, adding that the grants would be disbursed soon.

    He described operators with tangible evidence as those that have proven track records of performance in the sector, while operators at the principal mining areas were those mining strategic minerals.

    He said the government wanted operators with tangible evidence of operation as well as those working in principal mining areas to benefit from the facility.

    According to him, due process is being followed, in order to ensure that the right operators get the fund.

    Oyebode said the government was carrying out investigations to determine the eligibility of those that applied for financial or material assistance, which the World Bank provided the sector in the second quarter of this year.

    Oyebode said: “Many people may be wondering, why the grants have not been disbursed to the operators since it was issued by World Bank months ago. The answer is simple. World Bank prides itself as a reputable financial institution that meets the needs of operators in developed and developing economies by providing either grants or aids or loans to them, while at the same time ensuring that the funds were judiciously spent by the receiving nations or sectors.

    “The Federal Government, which received the grants on behalf of the operators in the solid minerals, is not ready to work at cross-purpose with the World Bank, hence the decision to provide the grants to suitable operators in the sector. That is the reason for the delay in providing the fund to the operators. But I can assure you that the government would disburse the loans to qualified operators very soon.”

    According to him, using grants or any other assistance for the purpose they are intended is the World Bank’s philosophy.

    “The global financial body has done it in critical sectors such as power, agriculture and others and it ensured that the funds were utilised. The bank will not give the money cash to the operators, who applied for it. Rather, it helps an operator or sector to get the equipment needed for his operation, as contained in the agreements, which he has signed. For instance, if an operator in the solid minerals sector needs a particular technology, what the World Bank does is that it would help the operator gets the technology, and not to give him the money. This is contrary to a situation whereby the bank would give cash to the operator in form of loan to purchase the technology,” he said.

  • ‘Govt helpless over casualisation, sack’

    The Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has said it is helpless on issues, such as workers retrenchment, and casualisation by some companies in the country. It lamented that the development has become a great concern for the Federal Government.

    Speaking at a two-day Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) synergy programme in Akwa Ibom State, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr  Chris Ngige, said in addressing these issues, the Ministry will need the support of PENGASSAN and other unions in the country.

    “It is a pity that the issues of casualisation, retrenchment and other industrial disputes have been a major concern to us. In fact, I must tell you that we can only bark; we cannot bite. We need the supports of PENGASSAN and other unions to be able to tackle this menace,” he said.

    Represented at the forum by Akwa Ibom State Controller of the Ministry, Mrs Tonye Thom-Manuel, Ngige said the machinery of the settlement of labour conflict could be categorised into two.

    According to him, these include the internal machinery that is collectively negotiated between the management and the union and the external machinery that is statutory and enshrined in the constitution of the country and comprises the provision of the labour laws.

  • Boroh: It’s duty of communities, govt, oil firms to provide jobs

    Boroh: It’s duty of communities, govt, oil firms to provide jobs

    The Coordinator Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Brig.-Gen. Paul Boroh (rtd), has said it is the duty of communities, the Federal Government and oil companies to provide jobs for youths in the Niger Delta.

    A statement signed by Mr Owei Lakemfa, Head of Media PAP, quoted Gen. Boroh as speaking while addressing the chiefs, elders, women and youth groups of George Town, Okrika, Rivers State at the weekend.

    Gen. Boroh, also Special Adviser to the President on the Niger Delta, said 20 ex-militants were empowered in a cluster co-operative integrated farm by the government.

    According to him, the model farm, which was fully funded by the programme has 30 ponds, one ‘Run-off Earthen Pond,’ 5000 Bird Poultry, including Broiler and Layers, Free Range, Cropping and Processing Sections, Administration and Sales Office, 2 Feed Stores, 2 Implement Stores and one Control Room.

    The Coordinator told the beneficiaries that they have once in a life time opportunity not just to make a decent living for themselves and their families but also to employ a number of the unemployed.

    Gen. Boroh said the cluster farming would impact positively on the beneficiaries and assist them to be employers of labour.

    He said the beneficiaries were introduced to the fish smoking kiln and a multipurpose seafood processor to aid their businesses.

    According to the Coordinator, the introduction to a more effective and efficient technology of fish/seafood preservation and processing had a tremendous impact on their livelihood activities.

    He said the Amnesty Office would further empower the beneficiaries by handing over to them as a start off package, 1000 fingerlings to 2000 post fingerlings,  100 Point of Lay Birds and an additional 200 broilers, 10 Piglets  and a Crop Section: with  Cucumber, Pepper, Pumpkin and Okra.

    The presidential aide said the modern cluster farm for which the Rivers State Government has given a registration as “Okrika Agro Farmers 105 Cooperative and Investment and Credit Society Limited,” would be replicated in other parts of the region.

    Gen. Boroh also visited some individual aquaculture holdings in Okrika funded by PAP.

    Also, the George Town Traditional leader, Chief Akuro George, in his response at the meeting, thanked PAP under Boroh for extending “Federal presence” to George Town.

    George said the project has established a bond between the people and the Federal Government and called for a skills acquisition centre be established by the Amnesty Office in George Town to cater for unemployed youths.

    The traditional ruler, also a former First Vice President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), said “the problem of the Niger Delta is a collective challenge.”

    He urged other federal, state and local government agencies to collaborate for the development of the region and the country.

    The monarch appealed for the completion of roads in the town by the Federal Government intervention agency.

    The Songhai Farms, which trained the beneficiaries and helped them established the cluster farm, said it would spend the next three months to mentor the beneficiaries.

    Its General Manager, Mr Tammy Jaja, said the model farm is based on a zero-waste technology in which the use of waste materials in one section is a critical input in another section.

    The Chairman of the beneficiaries’ cooperative society, Mr Emmanuel Promise, thanked the Federal Government for giving them the opportunity to run a business of their own.

    The Amnesty Programme said it was committed to human capacity development among youths in the Niger Delta as a deliberate step to ensure reintegrate the 30,000 ex-agitators captured under the Amnesty programme.

    The programme, which started in 2009, had sponsored beneficiaries in various skills training in the areas of education and entrepreneurship, automobile engineering, auto electrical, auto manufacturing, auto maintenance, underwater welding, aviation, agriculture, tourism & hospitality and sports, among others.

  • Retirees urge govt to pay 33% pension arrears

    Retirees urge govt to pay 33% pension arrears

    The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has appealed to the Federal Government to expedite action on the payment of 33 per cent arrears of pension increase to pensioners, who retired from the Nigeria Police and other arms of the public service, to make life better and comfortable for them.

    Its President, Dr. Abel Afolayan, who made the appeal in an interview with The Nation in Abuja, urged the government to make provision for the payment of gratuity to pensioners, who retired from service under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) similar to what was obtainable under the Defined Benefit  Scheme (DBS).

    Expressing optimism that the ongoing verification by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) will put an end to incessant verification of pensioners, Afolayan said the government owed 18 months arrears of the 33 per cent to civil service pensioners and 30 months to police and parastatal pensioners.

    He said: “With all the verification exercises, we don’t envisage a situation where there will be incessant verification again once they have a data base of pensioners.

    “We are pleading with the government to expedite action in the payment of 33 per cent arrears of pension increase of 18 months to civil service pensioners and 30 months to police and parastatal pensioners so that the pensioners from there can be comfortable.”

    On pensioners under the CPS, Afolayan said “those who retired under the Contributory Pension Scheme are in two categories. Those who served partly under the DBS and partly under the CPS. The years they served under the DBS is supposed to be taken care of by the federal government.

    Afolayan said: “But that money is not being made available and so, it is creating a lot of problem. That money is running into several billions and so, the Federal Government has agreed to be paying five per cent of monthly salary bill to the Central Bank that offset that pension benefit.

    “The second category are those who spend their entire service years under the CPS. Those one are not supposed to have problem because the employers are supposed to deduct certain percentages from their monthly salary and match it with their contribution.

    “It is eight per cent from your salary and ten per cent from the employer. Once there is no problem with that payment, once you retire,you will start getting your entitlement.

    “Under the DBS, you are paid a bulk sum as gratuity. We are pleading that those under the CPS should also be paid a bulk sum as gratuity by their employers.”