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Tag: Zainab Ahmed

  • Senate receives revised MTEF/FSP bill

    Senate receives revised MTEF/FSP bill

    The Federal Government has presented a revised 2018 to 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the Senate for consideration.

    The government specifically adjusted the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate from 4.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent.

    Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed made the disclosure at an interactive session with the Senate Joint Committee on Finance, Appropriations and National Planning in Abuja on Tuesday.

    She, however, explained that other key parameters and assumptions like oil benchmark, daily oil production estimates and exchange rate were retained.

    The minister allayed fears that the adjustments would affect the 2018 budget proposal of N8.61 trillion.

    She added that the adjustments had already been reflected in the 2018 budget estimates submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to a joint session of the National Assembly on Nov.m7.

    Zainab listed some of the adjustments made on the 2018 to 2020 MTEF submitted by the Executive to the National Assembly in October to include: “N710 billion to be generated from the restructuring of government’s equity in all the Joint Venture oil assets.

    “N320 billion additional revenues from revision of terms to improve government take in the Production Sharing Contracts; additional N60 billion from Excise Duties on cigarettes and alcohol, among others.

    “The key assumptions on the macro framework is as defined in our MTEF and the only difference in the key assumptions is that we have adjusted the GDP growth from 4.5 per cent.

    “And this is as a result of a meeting we had with you while discussing the last MTEF down to 3.5 per cent.

    “But all the other assumptions at 2.3 million barrels per day, oil price of $45 per barrel, exchange rate of N305/$1 are the same.

    “The fiscal deficit is now N2.05 trillion, down by over N940billion, also pushing the debt/GDP ratio downwards from 2.61 per cent to 1.77 per cent,” she said.

    Read Also: Experts express mixed feelings on 2018 budget

    The minister said the adjustments were the fallout of the recommendations of a committee chaired by Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun, which identified additional revenue sources of about N1trillion to cut the 2018 budget deficit.

    She added:”When the FEC approved the MTEF/FSP, it constituted a Committee, chaired by the Minister of Finance, which was tasked with identifying additional sources of about N1 trillion revenues to cut the 2018 budget deficit and New borrowings.

    “The outcome of the work of the committee necessitated a revision of the Medium Term Fiscal Framework (MTFF), which also formed the basis of the 2018 budget proposal.

    “This briefing note and accompanying submissions relate to the revised MTEF/FSP and MTFF, which are in alignment with the 2018 Executive Budget proposal, and were part of the documents that accompanied the 2018 Budget laid before NASS”.

    Lawmakers who spoke at the session, insisted that the non-oil revenue were unrealistic.

    Specifically, they cited the FGN Independent Revenue projection of N807billion for 2017, where only N155.14billion (representing 74 per cent failure) was achieved as of September this year.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. John Enoh and a member of the joint committee, Sen. Ibrahim Danbaba (APC-Sokoto), wondered why the same projection was used in 2018.

    “Why don’t we have anything on interest rate as part of the MTEF document? That will be the best way to talk about aligning the monetary and the fiscal.

    “Why are we putting more than N800 billion as independent revenue when the president admitted in his address to the National Assembly that it had suffered about 74 per cent variance?

    “And yet in 2018, we are still putting more than N800 billion for independent revenue. Are we just balancing the figures?

    “How do you expect to get the revenue from the beginning even what you are projecting you know that you can’t make it?” Enoh queried.

    In his contribution, Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi), said: “I find it difficult to understand why the budget for 2017 should be truncated by 31st December when less than 20 per cent of the capital budget has been released.

    “By withholding capital releases, you are more or less contracting the economy.”

    The development comes as the Senate had revealed that it would approve the 2018 to 2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) this week.

    To this end, the debate on general principles of the N8.61 trillion 2018 Appropriation Bill, earlier scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday this week, has been shifted to Nov. 28 and Nov. 29.

    MTEF/FSP provides the parameters upon which the budget is prepared.

    According to the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the fiscal documents must be approved before the budget is considered.

  • FG to open privatised power sector to new investment process – Minister

    FG to open privatised power sector to new investment process – Minister

    The Federal Government  says  the  privatised power sector  will open up for new investment process to enable  new investors invest  further  in the development of the sector.

    The Minister of State for National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said this in Abuja.

    Ahmed said the plan by government became necessary given the challenges in the sector.

    “The power sector has been privatised, but I am sure that every Nigerian will testify that the privatisation has not worked out well.

    “What we set to achieve  in terms of the development of the power sector  has not yet happened.

    “We have now come to a point where  government, which is a share holder in power sector, and the investors  must come together and decide  to cede some of their holdings  to the fresh investors .

    “The ceding of the holding to the fresh investors will enable them to inject new funds and new expertise to enable us to grow the power sector the way that will serve Nigerians.

    She said the process would  involve  government negotiating with the existing owners  and  deciding  the right  level of holding that would go for another round of sale.

    She said that the opening of the power sector would also entail  the review of  tariff “to the extent that we said that the power sector will be opened up to a new investments process.

    “It is very clear that no new investor will be  coming without  having a satisfaction of the level of tariff that will  be attained in the industry.

    “That will be a discussion that will be heard with the new investors; it is very clear to us that the level of tariff that we have now is not sustainable.

    “But where the tariff  will go will be a subject of negotiation between government, existing investors, the new investors and the consumers; so we try to attain  an optimal  level, but there will be an impact on  the tariff.“

    She, however, said that the starting point for the review of the entire process would be  the Distribution Companies ( DISCOs ), adding that distribution of electricity was most pressing.

    On government borrowing, she said that government did not go and borrow at 21 or 22 per cent.

    According to her, the market actually  determines  the  point  of  government borrowing .

    “The point we are making is that because the government is borrowing heavily, the financial sector is now concentrating on borrowing to government,  and the private sector gets little or no attention.

    “So government must reduce its level of domestic borrowing  to free the space so that the financial sector is able to borrow to the  private   sector.

    NAN

  • ‘Nigeria needs $142bn to meet NDC’s target’

    ‘Nigeria needs $142bn to meet NDC’s target’

    The Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions’ ( NDC ) ambition under Climate Change Accord will cost estimated 142 billion dollars,  to meet the 2030 target.

    Minister of State for Environment Ibrahim Jibril disclosed this at the UN while presenting Nigeria’s progress report on climate change goal under the Sustainable Development Goals.

    The NDC is a binding agreement, which spelt out the actions a country intends to take to address climate change – both in terms of adaptation and mitigation – when it ratifies the Paris Agreement.

    The Minister said: “The delivery of our NDC will require a fundamental re-orientation of financial flows within the economy.

    “It is estimated that Nigeria will require around 142 billion dollars , translating to about 10 billion dollars per annum to meet her NDC target by 2030,” he said.

    He said Nigeria had recognised that climate change presented one of the greatest challenges of the world today.

    “In the midst of this vulnerability, an opportunity resides for Nigerian economy to grow in a manner that is climate resilient and empowers people whilst meeting its energy deficiency.

    “One of the innovative means of exploring this opportunity is through the issuance of green bonds, which has gained recognition as means of raising finance for climate friendly purposes.

    “Accordingly, the Federal Government has advance plans to issue a program of N150 billion in green bonds over the next few months.

    “This is with a pilot issue of N12.384 billion in the third quarter of 2017 and the balance over the course of the budget year.

    “Collaboration between Ministry of Environment and Finance continues to pull together the institutional partners necessary to achieve what would be Nigeria and Africa’s first sovereign green bond and the worlds third.”

    Jibril said Nigeria was partnering with the Lake Chad basin countries to address the challenges of drying up of the lake which will have adverse consequences on  the people and the ecosystem.

    “Equally, actions to fast track the environmental clean-up of the Niger Delta beginning with Ogoniland are undoubtedly one of the most significant decisions taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s Administration.

    “The President’s action has now breathed new life into a four-year report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which hitherto had experienced a series of false starts since it was published on Aug. 4, 2011.”

    The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said Nigeria’s progress towards localising the SDGs was with an emphasis on ensuring implementation across all levels of government.

    “Specifically, the Ministry incorporated and ensured policy linkages between the SDGs and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, a four-year medium term development plan launched on April 5, 2017.

    “The plan is aimed at ensuring sustained and inclusive growth; building a globally competitive and diversified Nigerian economy, investing in our people and building strong governance institutions to drive change.”

    Additionally, specific programmes and projects aimed at achieving the SDGS have been integrated into the 2017 National Budget, and will be included in future budgeting frameworks, she said.

  • NEC approves telecommunication right of way charges’ harmonization 

    NEC approves telecommunication right of way charges’ harmonization 

    The National Economic Council (NEC) on Thursday approved a policy to harmonize right of way charges payable by the telecommunications companies and related public utility infrastructure on Local Governments, States and Federal Highways.

    The Minister of Communication Adebayo Shittu briefed State House correspondents at the end of the NEC chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    He was with Abia State Governor Okieza Ikpeazu, Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah, and Minister of State Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

    Shittu said that the new policy will encourage co-location of the companies’ fibre optic cables.

    Just like the telecommunication masts which were harmonised after long years of defacing the environment, he said, that the government wants to do the same for the laying of fibre optic cables which is becoming a burden on the Nigerian roads.

    According to him, the trend is causing high cost tariffs due to multiple taxes charged telecommunication companies by the Federal, States and local governments.

    The new policy, he said, will minimise the spaces occupied, burden on the roads and reduce taxes payable by the telecommunication firms.

    He said “The memo spelt out roles/responsibilities of LGCs, States and telecommunication operators in the management of Right of Way (ROW) issues.

    “Most States are still charging different and higher rates, despite NEC’s resolution that mandate States to adopt and implement Federal Ministry of Works guidelines for grant of Right of Way to ICT service on Highways.

    “Current practice in Nigeria where various telecommunication operators design, survey, dig, deploy and manage their individual fibers networks amounts to duplication of efforts, multiple earthworks and treaches as well as increased administrative and licensing costs.

    “The Memo invited all stakeholders to consider, adopt and approve the use of shared duct strategy, managed by a designated Agency in all tiers of government for the deployment of public utility infrastructure for effective and efficient service delivery and accelerated socio economic development of the country, particularly the transformation of our various cities, towns and villages to a smart status.

    “Council asked the Ministry of Communication to liaise with the States and relevant stakeholders for the smooth implementation of the Right of Way project.” he said

    Enelamah said that he made a presentation to Council on reforming Nigeria at the Subnational level, emphasizing the need to bring Enabling Business Environment Reforms to all tiers of Government and all Nigeria.

    He informed the Council that there is a strong correlation between Ease of Doing Businesses Ranking and Economic prosperity.

    According to him, the Businesses Enabling Environment Agenda being coordinated by the Presidential Enabling Businesses Council is at the heart of Government Agenda, and has the following mandate:

    “Removed critical bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints to doing businesses in Nigeria, aimed at moving the country upwards in global businesses ranking.

    “Areas of focus in removing the bottlenecks include; starting a business, entry and exit of people, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, paying taxes, trading across borders and the ease of getting construction permits.”

    The Minister also informed the Council that the 4th subnational Doing Business rankings for Nigeria is scheduled for 2018, with the 1st, 2nd and 3rd having taken place in 2008, 2010 and 2014 respectively.

    He said that appropriate templates are already being drawn up to prepare States for the exercise.

    He said that the Council was also informed that a National Steering Committee has already been constituted to ensure synergy across all stakeholders to ensure the coordinated delivery of the reform objectives.

    The Council, he said, urged his Ministry to work with an already existing Committee being chaired by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning in this regard.

    From the presentation by the Minister of State for Budget and National Planning on NEC Resolution Implementation Monitoring 2016/2017 Report, Ahmed said that the Council urged the States to liaise strongly with the Federal Government in the task of National Planning and Development.

    Abia State Governor said that the
    Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, briefed Council on the balances in the following accounts as at 19th July, 2017:

    “Excess Crude Account (ECA) $2.303 billion, Ecological Fund Account – N27.466 billion, Stabilization Account – N2.553 billion, and Development of Natural Resources Account – N77.922 billion.

    Talking points released by the NEC Secretariat also revealed that Gombe State Governor presented a report to the Council on Forensic Audit of Revenue Accrued from Revenue Generating Agencies (RGAs) into Federation Account (FA), Excess Crude Account (ECA) and Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF)

    “The Acting President welcomed the Interim Report and noted that Council will await the outcome of the final report and then discuss the Report.”

    “The EL-Rufai led AD-Hoc committee of the Council on Ecological fund set up by the NEC April, 2017 today submitted its report to Council, recommending among other things a robust governance structure and a stringent disbursement criteria to sanitize the management of the fund.

    “The committee made the following recommendations: That disbursement of the fund should be based on the following criteria;

    “Physical visitation by the Ecological office team and on the spot assessment and verification of the ecological disaster.

    “Technical evaluation of the disaster by experts, Community involvement, Prior to the disaster, there must be evidence of Advocacy, Evidence of existing prompt, Emergency response mechanism in place before the disaster, Monitoring and Evaluation framework must be built into the application of Ecological fund as a road map for measuring performance of the fund.

    “A feedback team that will review the reports of the disbursement must be in place, Adequate publicity of Ecological disaster to create awareness and consciousness in the citizenry to avoid future occurrence is necessary, Evidence of cost estimate must be attached to application, Adequate justification for the project must be given.

    “Due process in vendor engagement must be followed, At all times 50% of the FG share or N20 billion must be reserved for emergencies at the discretion of Mr President.

    “Council commended the El-Rufal Committee for the painstaking job and noted that the Federal Government will consider the recommendations.”

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, informed the Council of the overriding need to return the budget cycle to the January – December calendar year.

    “That the 2018 – 2020 MTEF is anchored on the ERGP. The current Global Economic outlook posited that the country is expecting growth, though there are still some challenges that may impact negatively on growth from now till 2020.

    “He listed policy changes in the US and Britain’s exit from EU, the climate change issue, oil price fluctuations as some of the uncertainties. Assured that the country is already getting out of recession even as oil prices are still sliding. The non-oil sector is growing.

    “Recoveries being recorded in Manufacturing, Agriculture and Services. Efforts aimed at achieving peace in Niger Delta yielding fruits.

    ERGP key objectives and the execution priorities will get country back to growth.” it stated

     

  • FEC okays new policies for oil, labour

    FEC okays new policies for oil, labour

    …FG to end fuel importation by 2019

     

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved new policies for oil and labour sectors.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu and Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    They were with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed.

    Kachikwu said that the Federal Government is committed to ending fuel importation into Nigeria by 2019.

    He said “In terms of specifics. What a policy document does is that it gives you a general guideline in terms of where you are headed then you go into the specifics in other separate documents for purpose of execution. If you take the 2019 time frame for refinery for instance, it won’t tell you what I’m doing today but will tell you that I have set a timeline to exit importation and to get the refineries working by 2019.

    “But if you ask me specially off the shelve what are we doing on that? There is a steering committee already in place which I head, there is a technical committee team already set up headed by chief operating officer in NNPC, we have had series of meetings with individuals who are willing to put money into the refineries.

    “I need to state this clearly, this is not a sale, this is not a concession, this is a financing scheme and there are over 30 people who have indicated interest in that financing.

    “They are going to go through the usual due process mechanism to see who qualifies for that financing. What we have resolved however which we have at least have a landing is that each of the refineries would be repaired by the individual company that built the refinery.

    “Who does the  work is different from who does  finance the work to be done. We are still dialoguing who is going to get the financing opportunity but who is going to get the contracting opportunity to do the work is already decided. If you check the companies that built I think is Chioda in the north, Saitem in Warri if I’m not mistaken. I have forgotten the one in Port Harcourt but all of them have reached agreement with us in terms of willingness and readiness to do the so work.

    “Government is not putting money into this. It’s going to be very sector led effort and they will recover their money through incremental volumes that will arise from the production increase arising from the repairs. We are doing about 30 percent performances on most refineries now so if you get them to above 90 percent template we are going to use some of the product line to pay for some of the debts and free ourselves from the importation problems.” he said

    While noting that all the refineries in Nigeria today when repaired cannot cover all her consumption, he said that some level of efficiency and upgrade will increase the refineries capacity in the country.

    He said “We are banking on the fact that efficiency steps we are taking will reduce the consumption. We have gone from the 50 million liter per day when I resumed office down to today that is about 28 million liters per day.

    “So, obviously efficiency has wiped off smuggling, efficiency has reduced consumption and also whatever gains we made under the subsidy regime by taking the subsidy out has also taken out. So if we are reducing the level of consumption and increasing the efficiency of the refineries, we are banking that we will be able to exit importation completely. And this is not building in Dangote refinery that is 165,000 barrel cap on it, or the modular refineries we are looking at or the AGIP we are looking at.

    “So I think we are finally on course and we are going to be very aggressive on target,” he said.

    But he said that improving oil production target was very dicey.

    “We are targeting to recover full barrels; it’s going to be a longer time provided the OPEC environment permits I think I see the potential of 2.5 and 3 million barrels over the two year period. But then we are all looking at market fluidity and the challenges that goes with how much we pump into this market,” he said.

    On legislation, he said that a policy is a policy and cannot over take the legislation that will help drive inputs into some of what the National Assembly has done.

    “Ultimately we are going to work collaboratively to make sure all is put in place to push some of the policies we are doing here. Some are efficiency off the shelf things we can do on our own but some the legislative mandates behind it would have to crystallized.” he said

    According to him, the Council on Wednesday considered the Nigeria Petroleum Policy document.

    Stressing that the essence of the gas policy, which was considered three weeks ago, is towards changing the imperatives of Nigeria from an oil producing country to a gas producing country.

    He said “We are lot more privileged to produce more gas. Today policy focused on oil, the imperative needed to change in policy in the oil sector, it dealt in certain fundamentals we are already pursuing some of the policy.

    “We are working assiduously to exit the importation of fuel in 2019 and captured the cash calls changed we have done which enables the sector to fund itself through incremental volumes, it captures the reorganisation in the NNPC for efficiency and enable accountability, it captured the issues in the Niger Delta and what we needed to do as a government to focus on stability and consistency in the sector.

    “It is a very comprehensive 100 page document that deals with all the spectrum in the industry, the last time this was done was in 2007 and it has been 10 Years and you are aware that the dynamics of the oil industry has changed dramatically.

    “Apart from the fact fluidity in pricing and uncertainty in terms of the price regime in crude. We are pushing for a refining processing environment and move away from exporting as it were to refining petroleum product, that’s one change you will see.

    “Secondly how we sell our crude is going to be looked at, there is a lot of geographical market we need to look at long term contracting and sales as opposed to systemic contracting we have been doing,” he added.

    He was optimistic that the change process that was started in 2015 will be brought to logical conclusion in next few years if the new document is well executed.

    Ngige disclosed that FEC received the National Employment Policy which will guide the administration.

    He said that the last employment policy in operation in Nigeria was approved in 2002.

    “That’s 14 years and in that 14 years a lot of things have changed in labour and employment industry.  Things like employment, for people with disabilities, decent jobs programme and doing jobs without polluting the environment and other things that are new and contemporary in the labour market.

    “So this policy was reviewed in 2013 with technical assistance from international labour organisations and major stakeholders like employers were involved, workers, unions and this document was crystallised and this policy seeks to give decent jobs to people.

    “Job creation is multi sectoral, it is not limited to one ministry, not limited to the public service alone and private sector is involved and this policy seeks to capture the relevant affected persons and people that will apply this so that we can fight unemployment and under employment,” he said.

    On the issue of minimum wage, he said “You were here in May when FRC approved the composition of the minimum wage committee. We have since then gone into action

    “Government has approved their representation which is the secretariat. The secretariat is domiciled at the National Council for Salaries and Wages Commission with the chairman there acting as secretary.

    “We also have the minister of labour and employment as deputy chairman, minister of finance, minister of budget and national planning as members. The only appointee which is being awaited now is the chairman and we have concluded the process for the nomination. We are waiting for the requisite approval.

    “The labour centers that is NLC and TUC are yet to bring their nomination that is on the workers side. On the employers’ side, you know we are like a subunit. We have Nigeria Employers Consultative Assembly, Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture. (NACCIMA), Small and Medium Scale Industry Association (SMSIA).

    “These groups will give us nominations so we are waiting. Once these nominations are in place the president will then inaugurate the committee.

    “On the other side, the labour laws are clear; the labour laws seek to protect both the workers and the employers. You don’t sleep on your right. When you know what is there your worker cannot take you for granted provided you also conform to the law. You cannot lock them out and if you do the law says you pay them for the period of lock out. They too cannot take the law into their hands and embark on strike without giving you the mandatory notice, due consideration and social dialogue with you internally, second level with the ministry of labour and employment and third level is the issue of giving you notice.” he added

    Ahmed said that her Ministry presented the National Social Protection policy to the Council on Wednesday.

    The policy, she said, is a framework that seeks to provide social justice equity and inclusive growth by using a transformative mechanism for mitigating poverty and unemployment in Nigeria.

    According to her, the social investment programme started by the Federal Government since 2016 were drawn from the policy, which is currently in a draft form.

    “What we have done is to submit to the council today, a policy that is largely inspirational, aspirational but seeks to ensure that every Nigerian gets at least a minimum of what is required in terms of human development and protection,” she stated.

  • ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

    ECOWAS to set up solidarity fund to rebuild North East

     

    Mr. Edward Singhatey, the Vice President, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission says that plans are on-going to establish a solidarity Fund for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the North-East.

    Singhatey made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the celebration of the 2017 World Refugee Day with the theme “We stand together with refugees and IDPs”.

    He said the Solidarity Fund was in compliance with the decision of the Mediation and Security Council to support the Federal Government’s Plan for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of North-East Nigeria.

    He said that the humanitarian crises in the insurgency affected states of the North-East was enormous, adding that it was constantly being assessed by the ECOWAS Commission.

    Singhatey said that the dire situation in the North-East deserved special attention, adding that it had necessitated the international community and ECOWAS Commission to engage in several interventions.

    He said that the ECOWAS Commission, working with partners had donated one million dollars’ worth of food items to support the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and 300,000 dollars for Nigerian refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

    The ECOWAS Commission vice president said that it also donated 400,000 dollars for the support of affected communities in the North-East.

    According to him, a recent statistics by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates over 65 million out of the eight billion worldwide population are refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs.

    Singhatey said that the African region represents about 30 per cent of the total number of refugees worldwide with a record of 180 million refugees as at 2016.

    He said that in West Africa, displacement and sufferings were caused by conflicts and other natural and human made causes.

    Singhatey said that failing to address the situation of refugees and other persons of concern amount to inviting adverse consequences for the environment.

    He said that the Commission’s Department of Social Affairs and Gender leads the humanitarian works with the goal of a borderless, prosperous and cohesive region with the capacity to effectively prevent and mitigate conflicts.

    He said the goal was also to limit the impact of conflicts and disasters on citizens and residents with a view to achieving human centered development.

    Singhatey said that the commission would continue to support the efforts of the Nigerian Government in assisting refugees, IDPs and other persons of concern.

    Also speaking, Mr. Jose-Antonio Canhandula, UNHCR Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS tasked Nigeria to join the new approach, which he said was the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework.

    He said that the framework was already being piloted by other African countries, including development actors and private sector in Chad, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.

    Canhandula, however, said that UNHCR was working with various partners to foster the protection of refugees and IDPs, to collectively seek ways to increase support to the government in assisting people.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the occasion was attended by Acting President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who was represented by Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning.

    Others present were Hajiya Sadiya Farouq, the Federal Commissioner, NCFRMI, humanitarian actors and the refugees and IDPs who displayed the wares they made from various skills acquisition programmes.

  • Presidential panel ratifies two days for new business registration

    The Presidential Ease of Doing Business panel has reduced the number of days required for registration of new businesses in Nigeria from 10 to two days.

    The panel also approved 24-hour timeline for company registration from when application form was completed and all required documents made available.

    Those were among highlights of a report presented at a Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), on Monday at the Presidential Villa.

    The report was presented by Dr Jumoke Oduwole, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Trade and Investment and came as reforms targeting the end of the 60-day Action Plan on Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.

    According to the recommendations prospective business owners can now search on Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) portal   (www.cac.gov.ng) to avoid duplication of names and prevent selection of prohibited names.

    Also it is now optional for SMEs to hire lawyers to prepare registration documents for companies.

    The Council, established by President Muhammadu Buhari, is chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    However, Monday’s meeting was chaired by Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, as the Vice President was busy with the work of the Presidential Investigative Panel set up for two top government officials.

    According to the report, CAC has introduced single incorporation form (CAC1.1) to save time and reduce costs while the agency has introduced document upload interface on its website to enable e-submission of registration documents.

    Other aspects of the reforms actualized in the last 60 days include the Integrated FIRS e-payment solution into CAC portal to enable e-stamping while the reform empowers CAC internal lawyers to certify company incorporation forms and conduct statutory declaration of compliance for just N500.

    According to the report, the PEBEC listed “dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit and paying taxes,” as some of the areas where the council recorded progress in the past 60 days.

    The report also highlighted the completed reforms on the “Entry and Exit of People,” indicator which includes Simplified Visa-on-Arrival process, Infrastructural improvements at the Abuja airport, and the new Immigration Regulation 2017.

    It also indicated that the completed reforms were being closely monitored to ensure diligent implementation with minimal disruption while pending reforms were being escalated to ensure completion in the coming weeks.

    On Trading across Borders, some of the completed reforms include palletisation of imports, advanced cargo manifests, reduction in documentation requirements and scheduling of Joint Physical Examination by the Customs Service.

    The National Action Plan contained initiatives and actions implemented by responsible Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the National Assembly, a number of State Governments, as well as some private sector stakeholders.

    The Council emphasised that with the conclusion of implementation of the Action Plan, it would move into the next phase.

    That phase would involve “deepening existing reforms; completing and implementing pending initiatives; engaging with the public; validating completed reforms and kicking-off medium-term reforms.”

    The Council would also begin “sub-national reforms across Nigeria’s 36 states; trading within Nigeria; initiatives and reforms improving business processes and regulations within Nigeria; and ease of movement of goods within and across regions in Nigeria.”

    Ministers at the meeting included Foreign Affairs Ministers Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of State for Industry Trade and Investment Aisha Abubakar, and her counterpart in Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed.

    Other government functionaries at the meeting included the Head of Service, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, and several heads of MDAs.

  • FG spent N1.1tr on debt servicing in 2016 – Minister

    The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Tuesday said Nigeria spent N1.094 trillion on debt servicing between January and September 2016.

    She gave the statistics while presenting the draft 2016 budget implementation and performance monitoring report for the third quarter at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja

    The figure included N1.044 trillion for local debt servicing and N50.22 billion for external debt servicing.

    External debt stock stood at $11.583 billion representing an increase of $320.70 billion (or 2.85 per cent) from external debt stock in the second quarter of 2016 and an increase of $965.24 billion (or 9.09 per cent) over the $10.618 billion documented in the third quarter of 2015.

    The minister said, “The increase in the external debt stock in the third quarter of 2016 was due largely to the rise in Non-Paris Club Bilateral Debts drawdown.”

    She also disclosed that government’s revenue dropped by over 60 percent due to uncertainties in global oil prices, which was exacerbated by crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and militancy in the Niger Delta region.

    She said non- oil revenue improved by 9.47 percent to N777.37 billion in third quarter of 2016 from N709.96 billion in same quarter of 2015.

     

  • Ministry to present report on 2016 budget to FEC

    The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, said the ministry would present the monitoring and evaluation report of the 2016 budget to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in January 2017.

    Ahmed disclosed this during the public presentation of the 2017 Budget Proposals in Abuja on Monday, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    She said the ministry would continue to improve on monitoring of budget implementation.

    According to her, the Federal Government is asking waivers for the National Assembly to shorten the procurement process.

    The minister also said the implementation plan for the 2017 budget would be approved by the National Assembly together with the 2017 budget proposals.

    She said, “Recall that when the 2016 budget was passed into law, the National Assembly made a special provision to say that the budget was for 12 months.

    “The budget was passed at the end of May and the capital projects are ongoing. They will continue to be implemented in 2017 until the budget is passed.’’

    Ahmed added that the release for capital project was done in stages from July to September.

    “The projects are not done at the same level. There are lot of contracting process ongoing and have delayed the utilisation of the funds that have been released to some of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    “We couldn’t start monitoring and evaluation until the month of November.

    “We have had batches of staff we deployed to the six geo-political zones and the physical evaluation had been completed. We have had reports turned in by respective MDAs.”

     

     

  • 2016 Budget: FG achieves fifty percent capital expenditure implementation

    2016 Budget: FG achieves fifty percent capital expenditure implementation

    …FG releases N25 billion for social intervention investment

    The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed on Wednesday placed the implementation of capital expenditure in the Federal Government’s 2016 Budget at fifty percent.

    She briefed State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    She was with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed and Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

    The Minister of State also said that the Ministry presented a memo to council for notation and implementation on the progress of national roll out of the social investment Programme.

    The programmes, she said, are in four parts.

    She said: “First is the homegrown school feeding Programme which is targeting 5.5 million primary school people in all the states of the federation from primary 1-3.

    As at today, 11 states are fully ready to start and first phase will feed 3.5 million school children.

    “The second Programme is a job creation Programme which is aimed at preparing 500,000 university graduates; they will be equipped with devices contained information to train them as teachers, agricultural workers and also as health support workers. They will be deployed to work in their local community. They will be receiving a monthly stipend of N30, 000 monthly for a period of two years.

    “The third is the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT), where one million care givers will be given N5000 monthly for a period of two years. Focus has been given to the extremely poor and vulnerable in our society and special emphasis is being place to providing as many as possible the northern eastern part of the country where a lot of internally displaced persons.

    “The fourth is the Enterprise promotion Programme which is essentially the loan scheme which will be handled by the Bank of Industry. 1.6 million People made up of market women, traders, artisans, small businesses, youths will be given loan from N10, 000 to N100, 000 with a repayment period of three to six months and administration cost of five per cent.

    “N500 billion was budgeted for the social investment Programme in the 2016 budget. We are rolling out with this first four programmes and it will continue till 2017.” She added

    According to her, there is approval from the steering committee in sum of N150 billion, but so far only N25 billion has been released into the account while another N40 billion is in the process of being released into the account.

    She also pointed out that implementation will be done in stages as the states ready for each of the Programme will be added into each of the schemes.

    The school feeding Programme, she said, has started in some states like Kaduna and Osun while the federal government is only adding its resources to it.

    “The federal government will handle from primary 1-3 while the states will handle from 4-6.

    “The cooks have been selected, banks are in place. The only thing that needs to be done including training the persons as well as taking data of the school children have been done in those nine states.

    “There is no spending yet on the national social investment Programme, we are just kicking off, the funds will be released to the Bank of Industry this week for the EIP Programme and for the school feeding Programme is only after the cooks have performed that they will get their first payment.”

    For the job creation Programme, she said that money will only be released when the graduates have resumed and have worked for the first month.

    The 2017 budget preparation, she said, is at an advanced stage.

    According to her, the Economic Management Team has reviewed it extensively, while it will soon be presented to the federal executive council for approval, before going to the National Assembly.

    On the borrowing plan, she said that Mr. President has sent to the National Assembly the borrowing plan for the amount required for both local and foreign borrowing to fund the 2016 budget deficit.

    “The budget implementation itself is on course, the 2016 budget is fully performed to date in terms of personnel, that is to say we do not owe,” She stated.

    Fashola said that the Council approved two memos including 215 megawatt Kaduna power plant and construction of sub-station to evacuate 40 megawatt of power from the Gurara hydro electric power plant phase one.

    On the first project, he said: “The memo sought procurement and implementation defects and lack of budget support for the project which was started 2009 and should have been completed in 2012.

    “But we are now in the position that we can complete this project by next year to add 215 megawatt of power to the national grid. And in particular dedicate some of the power to Kudana dam in Kaduna to support industrial complex there.”

    On the second project, he said, it will enable interconnectivity to Mamdo transmission substation and strengthening the transmission grid.

    He said: “What these two approvals will do is to complete ongoing projects which is a commitment of this administration, create work because contractors will return to site and also increase our power by 215 megawatt, from Kaduna and we will get 40 megawatt extra into the grid from Gurara phase 1 and we are also expanding the transmission across the country.”