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Tag: Kemi Adeosun

  • Updated: FEC bids Fayemi farewell 

    The immediate past Minister of Mines and Steel, Kayode Fayemi on Wednesday attended his last Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The Council held a valedictory session for Fayemi, who has resigned his appointment to run for the governorship election in Ekiti State billed for July 14.

    President Muhammadu Buhari noted that he was reluctantly allowing Fayemi to go to his state because of his constructive contributions at FEC meetings.

    He said “As I sat here, I watched every minister that spoke and about his contributions, this revealed not only intellect but when he is given the necessary time to contribute to important memorandum, he made contributions. This shows commitment to the progressive of this government and the country.

    “By chance he was given the portfolio of solid minerals and steel development and you know that sector was virtually abandoned. During the colonial days, they took what they wanted from us – tin, columbite and the rest were the priorities until they struck oil somewhere, it was simply priority of investment shifted offshore.

    “When he went in, he began to deal with both Nigerians and foreigners that are exploiting the lack of commitment of those who are responsible of that sector before he went there. If you recall the number of children and women that suffered from the effect of mining in Zamfara State and other parts of the country and the people responsible, knowing that Nigeria will dump as decently as possible.

    “He only briefed me occasionally but he was packing them out of the country, with the cooperation of some his colleagues he will come here and let me know.” he said

    He urged Fayemi to get Ekiti State for APC.

    He said “I hope you will get the Ekiti back for the party. The only time I saw the INEC chair was to insist that go voters Education should be emphasized, so that ordinary Nigerians will believe that Nigeria is beginning to respect them and that their PVC is their status.

    “And then couple with the card readers, God willing we are here with the help of technology. Because, previous elections and I am in the position to say so having lost three times and got to Supreme Court, I know if not for technology, we will be doing the same thing.

    “A lot of constituencies were bought, voters were allocated and results were announced and people were told to go to court if they don’t agree with it.

    “Now, for someone who is looking for the next meal, how is he going to get the money to give   to SAN, to demand for justice for his marginalization.

    “So, we thank technology because with the introduction of PVC and the readers’ card, votes counted. Please go and emphasize this to your constituencies, let Nigerians be respected that they can vote anybody across any party and at any constituency.

    “I think that will give them the pride to voluntarily go and vote. It is not easy to go to Supreme Court three times, but I went through it, I wonder how many people will be proud to go through it in this country.

    “So, we certainly wish you the best of luck but it will take me sometimes to get a substantive minister and more so with the 2019 prospects that I have already indicated. But we need a very strong minister, strong in intellect and courage, so as to make sure that both the Nigerian and foreign collaborators of taking away our resources can be checked effectively.

    “We thank you very much for your contribution for your country. Goodbye, we will come for the inauguration.” he added

    Six members of the cabinet were selected from the six geopolitical zones to speak on Fayemi.

    The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu said that Fayemi is both special and unique.

    According to him, he played important roles in the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) and creation of the Progressives Governors Forum.

    Read Also:Ekiti 2018: Election ‘Fire’ will consume Fayose, says Fayemi

    Minister of Interior, Abdulraman Danbazzau said “I found him to be a gentle man and an academic of repute.

    “We became very close during the campaigns. We are going to miss him in this chamber because of his contributions to discussions, which have increased the informed decisions we have taken here.

    “I want to wish him success in the campaign and wish he wins the election.” he added

    The Minister of Women Affairs, Amina Alhassan said that Fayemi has repositioned the Ministry of Mines and Steel in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision.

    She also noted that Fayemi was a gender friendly minister.

    “He is a He for She and has always included women in his programmes. The Nigerian women miss you already.

    On her part, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun said “He is a unique public servant.”

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi said that Fayemi was instrumental to his success as Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum.

    Amaechi, who was former Rivers State Governor, said “It is difficult to speak about Fayemi. You cannot talk about my success as Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum without talking about Fayemi. I wish him best of luck.”

    Fayemi’s Deputy, Minister of State for Mines and Steel, Bawa Bwari said that the Ministry will greatly miss him.

    He said “What we met on ground at the Mines and Steel Development Ministry, when we came on board, was so discouraging that we didn’t know where to start from.”

    According to him, the success recorded in the sector in the past three years was due to Fayemi’s leadership.

    The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was not part of those selected to speak on Fayemi from the six geopolitical zones, told his colleagues that he had something to say against Fayemi.

    Complaining that Fayemi, who had been very close to him has now been dodging him since his ambition to get Ekiti gubernatorial seat.

    He also pointed out that Fayemi will be more useful at the national level than in Ekiti State.

    Adamu later urged his colleagues to support Fayemi to win the forthcoming Ekiti gubernatorial election.

    In his remarks, Fayemi, who jokingly said that he would have to learn how to dodge bullets, said that his winning Ekiti State Governorship seat will not be a national loss as it will give more opportunity to serve the country and the President better.

    He said “At occasions like this, words normally fail me. But I have to say thank you to Mr. President for the opportunity to serve the people and also for agreeing for me to run for the Ekiti Gubernatorial seat.”

    He also thanked his colleagues for all their supports in moving the country forward and the progress made in the past three years.

    According to him, he had no regret of been called ‘Buhari’s Boy’, because Buhari stood for transparency and accountability.

  • FEC approves $60 million to scale up RAMP II

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Wednesday disclosed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved to obtain a French Development Agency (AFD) credit of US$60 million for scale up of the Second Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP II) to include Imo State.

    Giving briefs on RAMP II, she said “The National Assembly had, in the 2010 External Borrowing Plan of the Federal Government of Nigeria, approved AFD’s credit facility of US$60 million to implement RAMP in Imo State.

    The development objectives of the project, she said, like the first phase (RAMP I), is  to improve transport conditions and bring sustained access to the rural population, through rehabilitation and maintaining key rural transport infrastructure in a sustainable manner in Imo State.

    Read Also: FEC okays $995 million, N15.45 billion for roads projects

    According to her, lack of accessibility, caused by highly deteriorated transport infrastructure, is key determinant of rural poverty and low agricultural productivity.

    She also disclosed that the project is designed around three components.

    The components, she said, included Upgrading, Rehabilitation and Maintenance of Rural Transport Infrastructure, Community-based road maintenance and mechanized maintenance, and Project Management and Strengthening of Imo State road sector Institutional, Policy and Regulatory Framework.

    On the project expectation, she said “RAMP II is expected to achieve an improvement in reducing cost of transportation of both passengers and goods, access to health facilities and improved income from agricultural activities in the affected communities.”

  • 19m tax payers: Fed Govt to mobilize more revenues- Adeosun

    With 19 million tax payers captured into the tax net, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has disclosed that the Federal Government would mobilize more revenues to drive its growth plan for the economy.

     

    The Minister made this known on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with a World Bank Mission of 10 Executive Directors led by Mr. Patrizio Pagano.

     

    She stated that the Government would accelerate Nigeria’s growth level and also improve the ‘Ease of Doing Business’ in the country. 

     

    According to her, “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.

    Read Also: Adeosun, Emefiele join economic experts at IMF/World Bank’s meeting

     The Minister revealed that the country’s tax payers’ base had risen from 14 million in 2016 to 19 million in 2018, grossing additional five million tax payers into the system.

     

    She noted that “by 2019, the growth will be stronger than the present level in 2018. We are optimistic of sustaining Nigeria’s economic growth. That is why we are driving the mobilisation of more revenues.

     

    “We have been able to grow the tax payers’ base to 19 million in two years from the 65 million economically active people who are not tax complaint,” she added.

     

    The Leader of the World Bank Mission to Nigeria, Patrizio Pagano, explained that the team was in the country to acquaint itself with the Government’s growth and power priorities.

     

    “We have met with several Nigerian entrepreneurs and have seen how vibrant the private sector is. We want to understand how the power sector is evolving in Nigeria,” Pagano said.

     

    The World Bank officials had earlier met with the organised private sector in Lagos and undertaken a tour of LAPO Microfinance project in Lagos.

     

    The 10 World Bank’s Executive Directors, representing 96 countries, are expected to inspect the Azura Power Plant in Edo State in the course of their three-day visit to Nigeria.

     

    The visit is expected to provide a first-hand impression of the challenges that both the Federal and State Governments face in implementing development projects as well as ensuring good governance overall.

     

    It will further enhance the goal of the Bank for member-countries and the effectiveness of the Executive Directors in providing the necessary support.

     

  • World Bank officials to meet Osinbajo, Adeosun over projects in Nigeria

    A World Bank Mission, comprising of 10 Executive Directors, is expected in Nigeria today to hold high-level discussions with the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo; Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and some Governors over the Bank’s projects in the country.

    In the World Bank Mission are the Bank’s Executive Directors for Switzerland, France, Italy, Nordic, Peru, Germany, South Africa (representing Angola, Nigeria and South Africa), Burkina Faso (representing Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa), Zimbabwe (representing Anglophone Sub-Saharan Africa), United Kingdom and Indonesia.

    A statement from the ministry of finance signed by Oluyinka Akintunde, Special Adviser on Media and Communications to Minister of Finance said “the delegation will discuss ongoing World Bank projects and the country’s development priorities with the Vice President, Minister of Finance and the Governors.”

    The officials will also meet the organised private sector in Lagos as well as undertake a tour of LAPO Microfinance project in Lagos and Azura Power Plant in Edo State.

    The visit Akintunde noted “is expected to provide a first-hand impression of the challenges that both the Federal and State Governments face in implementing development projects as well as ensuring good governance overall.”

    “It will further enhance the goal of the Bank for member-countries and the effectiveness of the Executive Directors in providing the necessary support” he said.

  • TSA: FG recovers N1.6b illegal bank charges from commercial bank – Adeosun

    N1.6b illegal bank charges has been recovered  from one of the many branches of one money deposit bank, Minister of Finance,  Kemi Adeosun told the House of Representatives on Thursday.

    Adeosun, who said the recovery was made possible by the Treasury Single Account (TSA), added that other branches of the unamed bank would go through the same process.

    According to her, the fund was illegally taken by banks as excess charges on the accounts they maintained for government agencies in the pre-TSA era.

    Speaking during an investigative public hearing into the status of TSA by the Abubakar Danburam-Nuhu (APC-Kano)-led  Ad-hoc Committee, the Minister also disclosed that another N600m was recovered from some money deposit banks in continuation of the TDA policy.

    She said that the level and nature of the operations of the recoveries required the expertise of consultants which made the discoveries posibble.

    She said: “In one branch of a bank, we recovered N1.6b in just one branch. There are many other branches.

    “You are looking at the many accounts holding government money before the TSA started. There is a lot,” the Minister observed.

    On the recovered N600m, Adeosun said it was recovered as part of the ongoing mopping up of government funds in accounts still being traced, adding, “We got the N600m recently, which was for charges by these banks. It was returned and we are still on it.

    “The TSA had been implemented almost 100 percent by the MDAs, though  there are a few accounts still outside the system were being followed up”.

    She also said some accounts operated by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and West African School Certificate (WAEC) were exempted from the TSA because of the nature of their operations.

    On the engagement of Consultants for recoveries while the Office of Auditor General of the Federation (AGF) has competent hands, the Minister explained that Consultants are engaged because their engagement  assisted in achieving faster result.

  • FG restates commitment to global fight against terrorism

    The federal government has affirmed its commitment to the global fight against the financing of terrorism.

    A press release issued and signed by Oluyinka Akintunde, Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance said finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, gave this pledge at an International Conference against the financing of terrorism in Paris, France.

    The Conference, which had as theme “No money for terror”, Akintunde said, was hosted by the French President, Emmanuel Macron and was attended by the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde; President of the World Bank Group, Jim Kim; US Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin as well as UK Chancellor, Phillip Hammond.

    Adeosun, who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the Conference, said the country was reinvigorating efforts to tackle the financing of terrorism.

    In her address to the conference, the Minister said, “the Nigerian Government is very committed to the fight against terrorism and cutting off funding for terrorists’ activities.

    “The Government, in addition to monitoring of the formal channels of finance via the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) and other bodies, is also monitoring ‘non-formal cash-based structures’, which can often be used for illicit purposes.”

    Adeosun emphasized the need to address the root cause of terrorism and not the symptoms.

    She disclosed that the men and officers of the Nigeria Customs Service were working to effectively track physical cash movements and transactions at the various borders, including Niger, Benin Republic and Cameroon.

  • N2.4b rice donated by Chinese government intact – NEMA DG

    Contrary to insinuations that the 6779 metric tons (about N2.4b) of rice donated to the Nigerian government by China were not missing.

    The first batch of the cleared relief materials had been warehouses in Maiduguri and Yola.

    Also, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and the Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS ) confirmed the process of securing the delivery of the rice.

    The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency ( NEMA ), Engr. Mustapha Maihaja cleared the air on Wednesday while appearing before the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness at the continuation of the investigation of

    He said no time was wasted to secure and a take delivery of the goods as directed by the Federal Government.
    Maihaja said: “As soon as we secured the necessary documents, we liase with all relevant agencies concerned with clearing but we  have to invoke Section 43 (1)b of the Emergency Act  because the good has stayed for six months in the port.

    “Secondly, it was a tough decision to take considering  the situation we found ourselves in. We have to consider the condition of the people of the region that is North-East, who are in danger of hunger and famine. We also have to consider the condition of the rice too.

    “We are still in the process of procuring the rest of the material, but we have taken poasession of 110 containers and they are in two locations in Maiduguri and Yola.

    “We had to follow that pattern to save the item and the people. “There are still some in the port but all expenses are incurred by NEMA, though  we have not paid on clearing but a little above N400m have been paid  on demurrrage for the total consignment.

    “With all sincerity of purpose, the problem is about the process which involved three agencies. The process should be looked at”.

    Maihaja said the delay in clearance of goods at the ports was not peculiar to NEMA.

    The DG added: “About 135,500 bags of rice, worth about N2.4billion,  were donated to Nigeria by the Chinese Government. The actual clearance started in January and those already offloaded are being kept in warehouses in Maiduguri and Yola. The bags of rice were not missing and they were not diverted.

    “The delay in completing the clearance was caused by inherent process including securing exemptions. Waivers and other clearance related matters.

    “This delay in clearing government goods is not only peculiar to this exercise, it is applicable to many. The Federal Government has noted the inherent process in clearing goods and it is looking at eliminating the causative factors.

    “As soon as the clearance is completed, the bags of rice will be offloaded and distributed to the IDPs.”

    The representative of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Samuel Iloma a Deputy Director said being the recipient of the donation, the waiver certificates were processed for the consignment that came in five batches.

    He said: “We thought with the collection of the waiver, NEMA  will just go and distribute but we got to understand later that the clearance is much more than that.

    “That was why we approached a clearing firm about what’s  involved to do the  clearing and it was then we were told its going to involve money to get the neccesary  documents,” he said.

    On her part, Ezekezie Kaycee, an Assistant Comptroller General (ACG) of Customs, who represented the CG said 3,779 metric tonnes have been cleared by Customs leaving a balance of  3,000 mt.
    She also cautioned that the said number does not mean that the entire consignment has left the ports.

    She said: “Even from this number, only 1,250 has been cleared because this depends on the vessels  it takes an average of 30 days to clear.

    “From our records, three Bills of laden have been cleared but this does not mean they have left the port. The NCS is only  are only through with three bills,” she added.

    The committee however ruled that the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her Budget and National Planning counterpart, Udo Udoma must appear before it.

    Also, the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh as well as the Comptroller General ( CG) of the Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS ), Col. Hameed Ali (rtd) have also been invited by the lawmakers to explain their roles over the movement of the relief material.

  • ‘Switzerland returned $322.5m Abacha loot with interest’

    Switzerland said it has returned all the money kept in the country by late Nigeria’s Head of State Gen. Sani Abacha, with 1.5 million dollars interest.

    Amb. Pio Wennubst, Assistant Director-General and Head, Global Cooperation Department, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, told our Correspondent in New York.

    Wennubst said Switzerland returned about 322.5 million dollars ( N116.11 billion ) to the Federal Government.

    According to him, the original amount was 321 million dollars.

    The Federal Government had announced receipt of 322.51 million from the Swiss government as part of the looted funds recovered from the late former Head of State.

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, through her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Oluyinka Akintunde, had confirmed the receipt of money from Switzerland.

    Akintunde said: “We state that $322,515,931.83 (N116,105,735,458.80) was received into a Special Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ) on Dec. 18, 2017, from the Swiss government’’.

    Confirming this, Wennubst said: “We returned 321 million dollars including the interests.

    “We return all the amount, 322.5 million dollars including the interest for the time that the funds were blocked’’.

    The Swiss envoy also said that the money was returned to the Nigerian Government unconditionally.

    “We are not talking about the condition; there was a programme on the social safety net that was developed by the Government of Nigeria and the Bank.

    “After discussing, the only condition, set by the judiciary, not by us, was that the return of this asset should have been monitored by the World Bank and this is where we worked on’’.

    According to him, these funds were part of the Nigerian Government contributions to the social safety net programme, “plus concessional loans from the Bank”.

    We recall that the ‘Abacha loot’ was frozen in 2014 by a Swiss court after a legal procedure against his son, Abba Abacha.

    Originally deposited in Luxembourg, the money was a fraction of the billions of dollars allegedly looted during his rule from 1993 to 1998.

    Similarly, the UK Government also pledged its commitment to ensuring that money and other assets illegally transferred from Nigeria are repatriated back to the country.

    Mr Nick Dyer, Director General, Economic Development and International, UK Department for International Development told our correspondent that assets return would contribute to the development of the origin countries.

    Dyer said it was an important part of the development process to identify how and where assets were going astray and to also recover them and send them back.

    NAN

  • Sagay: Not all whistleblowers will get five percent reward

    Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) chairman Prof Itse Sagay (SAN) on Friday said not all whistleblowers will get five per cent of recovered sum.

    According to him, the reward could be as low as one per cent of what is recovered depending on the amount.

    Minister of Finance Kemi Adeosun said the Federal Government has received 1,231 tips from whistleblowers since the policy was introduced in 2016.

    She said 791 investigations were commenced; 534 had been concluded, with N7.8billion, $378million and 27,800 pounds recovered so far.

    Sagay and Adeosun spoke in Abuja at an “Evaluation workshop on the whistleblower policy and the role of the inter-agency asset tracing team,” organised by PACAC.

    Adeosun was represented by Head, Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) and Whistleblower Unit of the Ministry of Finance, Dr Mohammed Dikwa.

    Sagay said Nigerians should be made aware that not every whistleblower would get five per cent of what is recovered.

    “One controversial issue in the policy is the question of remuneration. The public seems to be fixated on five per cent. But in fact, five per cent is the maximum.

    “It can be as little as one per cent, depending on the amount of money involved. It could be slightly more if it is an extremely large amount,” he said.

    The eminent professor of law described the whistleblower policy as “very successful”, adding that it was not limited to looted funds.

    “Things like breach of procurement practice, which is closely associated with corruption, and unapproved expenditure by agencies, are all subject of whistleblowing,” Sagay said.

    Read Also: Buhari’s revelation explains herdsmen puzzle, says Sagay

    Adeosun said the Whistleblower Team in her ministry went on a study tour of the United Kingdom and met with relevant agencies to learn best practices.

    “Following lessons learnt from the study tour, we will begin to focus more on preventive measures, putting in place tight control measures, making it more difficult for a few people to take away assets that belong to an entire country.

    “In addition to this, the investigation framework of the whistleblower policy will be reviewed.

    “We will continue to work with all stakeholders to improve the effectiveness of the policy and put in place required institutions and tools to achieve our objective,” she said.

    PACAC Executive Secretary Prof Bolaji Owasanoye said not all acts of whistleblowing attract reward.

    For instance, he said a situation where a planned fund diversion is stopped, there would be no financial reward for the person who gave the tip-off.

    He, however, urged Nigerians to view whistleblowing as a civil duty and a constitutional responsibility.

    “There is a duty to report, even without the five per cent reward,” he said.

  • Abacha loots: Adeosun dismisses reports on payment to lawyers

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has dismissed a recent media report alleging that she wrote a “strongly-worded letter to the President” objecting to the payment of $16.9 million fees to two lawyers for the money recovered from the family of the late maximum ruler, Gen. Sani Abacha.

    A statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance, Oluyinka Akintunde,  said “the minister had at no time written any letter to the President or any member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on the payment of lawyers for the Abacha recovery.”

    She also refuted the report of controversy surrounding the Abacha recovery, disclosing that the sum of $322,515,931.83 was received into a Special Account in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on December 18, 2017 from the Swiss Government.

    The statement said: “For the avoidance of doubt, there is no controversy concerning the recovery of the Abacha monies from the Swiss Government.”