₦airaland Forum

Onosb1990:
Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLhsIXAlhwg

Stop the looting in Osun State. Collect APC's money and vote Adeleke. Imole Osun De.. Dont commercialize your conscience. SDM

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cf6VBZmofLs/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

famology:
https://www.arise.tv/borno-can-applauds-selection-of-shettima-as-tinubus-running-mate/amp/

bennybuhari:
https://independent.ng/lack-of-running-mate-shows-tinubus-unreparedness-to-lead-nigeria-ologbondiyan/

PENNYSWAP:
will be there live and direct

bigboluet:
https://twitter.com/OfficialPDPNig/status/1534608550873407491?t=C9Qirt8V0q1l9t_u80sPDQ&s=19[/quote]It's APC that should say this and not PDP.

Hungry fellows!!!

Ghester:
Mostly Islamic countries.

The scope of the ongoing probe of the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has reached N170billion.

Idris, who was battling for bail last night, has opened up on some top government officials allegedly involved in some transactions.

The EFCC has grilled a Permanent Secretary in connection with some “deals in which he was implicated”.

The anti-graft agency was also closing in on a minister who was fingered in the allegations against the suspended AGF.

It was learnt that Idris was arrested after he shunned 80 invitations by the EFCC.

According to an investigation by our correspondent, detectives of the EFCC have made startling discoveries about some transactions in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF).

It was gathered that although the AGF was initially accused of alleged N80 billion fraud, findings have unveiled another N90 billion scam.

There were indications that the AGF had made a commitment to the EFCC to refund some cash to the coffers of the government.

A reliable source, who spoke in confidence, said: “So far, the EFCC chairman Abdulrasheed Bawa and his team have made substantial progress.

“This is one of the biggest scandals that Bawa’s administration has uncovered.

“Based on preliminary investigation, the suspended AGF now will account for N170billion. Detectives are still digging more into his activities in office.

“Since his arrest on May 16th, he has made useful disclosures including some suspicious accounts and transactions.”

It was gathered that the AGF has also made available a list of government officials having to do with some financial activities in OAGF.

The source added: “As part of his disclosures during the investigation, a Federal Permanent Secretary was invited and interrogated by the EFCC last week.

“The Permanent Secretary is presently on bail and his movement restricted to Abuja. The Permanent Secretary has made a useful statement to investigators.

“A minister was also implicated.

“We have to verify whether or not the links with the minister were real or maybe the suspect was just desperate to rope in others.”

The source gave insight into why Idris was trailed to Kano to effect his arrest.

“From records, the suspended AGF was invited by the commission about 80 times but for reasons best known to him, he shunned EFCC’s request for interaction. He was just evasive.

“He was later trailed to Kano where he was picked up on May 16. He was still in custody as of yesterday but he has been offered bail.

“He needs to fulfil the conditions for bail and he has been battling to do so on Sunday.”

In a statement on May 16, the Head of Media and Publicity of EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, said the arrest of Idris followed his alleged refusal to honour the invitation.

The statement said: “Operatives of the EFCC, on May 16, arrested serving Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris in connection with diversion of funds and money laundering activities to the tune of N80billion only.

“The commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates.

“The funds were laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.

“Idris was arrested after failing to honour invitations by the EFCC to respond to issues connected to the fraudulent acts.”

AboveTheRim:
I have been thinking about this for a while now. Do you know anybody who by chance had the opportunity of meeting their Representatives and Senators in the National Assembly who facilitated their employment quest? Especially for federal government jobs?


Abi are they just there to chop money and sleep during plenary sessions?

Share your experiences

States and Councils will earn more from the Consolidated Revenue Fund should the National Assembly ratify the proposed sharing formula from the federation account.

The Federal Government will lose 3.3 per cent so as to shore up the accrual to the states and councils.

It is the first time in 30 years that the revenue sharing formula is close to adjustment. The subsisting formula was enacted in 1992.

The Revenue Allocation Mobilisation Fiscal Commission (RAMFC) submitted a sharing proposal to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa yesterday.

The President promised to send the proposal to the National Assembly for enactment.

In the proposal, the RMAFC recommended that states’ monthly allocation be increased by 3.07 per cent from the current 26.72 per cent. The Councils will have their 20.60 per cent share increased by 0.44 per cent.

The 3.07 per cent and 0.44 per cent will be sliced off Federal Government’s 52.68 per cent.

In the proposal Federal Government will take 45.17 per cent, states will share 29.79 per cent and the 774 Local Governments will have 21.05 per cent.

RMAFC Chairman Elias Mbam presented the report.

Buhari, according to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the report would be subjected to internal review and approval processes while awaiting finalisation of the efforts by the National Assembly.

The statement reads: “Ordinarily, I would have gone ahead to table this report before the National Assembly as a Bill for enactment.

“However, since the review of the vertical revenue allocation formula is a function of the roles and responsibilities of the different tiers of government, I will await the final outcome of the constitutional review process, especially as some of the proposed amendments would have a bearing on the recommendations contained herein.”

The President listed some of the proposed amendments in the report as follows:

• establishing local government as a tier of government and the associated abrogation of the state/local government account;

• moving airports; fingerprints, identification and criminal records from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list;

• empowering the RMAFC to enforce compliance with remittance of accruals into and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account; and

• streamlining the procedure for reviewing the revenue allocation formula.

The President commended the RMAFC for a job well done, pledging his commitment and support to the members in carrying out their constitutional mandates.

Buhari also thanked Nigerians, especially the state and local governments for making their inputs through the broad stakeholder engagement processes that produced the report.

He said: “I am aware that the present revenue allocation formula has not been reviewed since the last exercise carried out in 1992.

“Considering the changing dynamics of our political economy, such as Privatisation, Deregulation, funding arrangement of Primary Education, Primary Health Care and the growing clamour for decentralisation among others; it is necessary that we take another look at our revenue sharing formula, especially the vertical aspects that relate to the tiers of government.

“This becomes more compelling as we need to reduce our infrastructural deficit, make more resources available for tackling insecurity, confront climate change and its associated global warming and make life more meaningful for our rapid growing population”, he said.

He stated that as an advocate for grassroots development, he had always remained committed to ensuring that all tiers of government were treated fairly, equally and justly in the sharing of national resources.

“I want to let you all know that I have keenly followed most of the discussions held in the geopolitical consultative process and one thing that struck me clearly was the agreement that a review of our vertical revenue formula cannot and should not be an emotional or sentimental discussion and it cannot be done arbitrarily.

“All over the world, revenue and resource allocation have always been a function of the level of responsibilities attached to the different components or tiers of government.

“I am, therefore, happy to note that the discussions were held along these lines and rested squarely on roles and responsibilities as spelt out in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

“However, I also note that in reaching the final decisions at most of these engagements, not much emphasis was placed on the fact that the Second Schedule of the Nigerian constitution contains Sixty Eight (68) items on the Exclusive Legislative List and the remaining Thirty (30) items on the Concurrent List requiring both the Federal and State Government to address”, he said.

Buhari, therefore, declared that for the nation to have a lasting review of the present revenue allocation formula, there must first be an agreement on the responsibilities to be carried out by all the tiers of government.

In particular, he noted that the proposal seeks a reduction in the current Federal Government allocation and on the other hand an increase of 3.07 per cent and .44 per cent for the states and councils.

He added that with regards to the Special Funds, the report by the RMAFC proposed an increase of. two per cent for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and a decrease of .38 per cent for the Development of Natural Resources.

The President recounted that the Federal Government also made its input into the process of reviewing the vertical revenue allocation formula based on existing constitutional provisions for roles and responsibilities for the different tiers of government.

“We must note the increasing visibility in Sub-national level responsibilities due to weaknesses at that level, for example, primary health care; basic primary education; levels of insecurity, and; Increased remittances to states and local governments through the Value Added Tax sharing formula, where the Federal Government has only 15 per cent and the states and local governments share 50 per cent and 35 per cent respectively”, he said.

Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said the RMAFC followed due process in undertaking the exercise.

Giving a synopsis of the report, Mustapha said it was in four volumes, including a summary in the main report.

Mbam said the philosophy behind the proposed review was guided “by the need for distributive justice, equity and fairness as enshrined in relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution (as amended)”.

He added that the principles took into cognizance, the indivisibility of the country, public opinion and weighted constitutional responsibilities and functions of the three levels of government.

He announced that the proposed vertical revenue allocation formula advised 45.17 per cent for the Federal Government, 29.79 per cent for states and 21.04 per cent for local governments.

Under Special Funds, he said, the report recommended one per cent for Ecology, 0.5 per cent for Stabilisation, 1.3 per cent for Development of Natural Resources and 1.2 per cent for the FCT.

Mbam noted that since the last review was conducted 29 years ago, the political structure of the country had changed with the creation of six additional states in 1996.

Correspondingly, he said, the number of local governments councils also increased from 589 to 774.

“There have been considerable changes arising from the policy reforms that altered the relative share of responsibilities of the various tiers of Government such as deregulation, privatisation and the lingering controversies over funding of primary education, primary healthcare,” he said

The battle for the 2023 Presidential ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has split the main opposition platform into three camps.

The division underscores the protracted disagreement over zoning, ahead of the primary.

In the first camp are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who submitted his presidential nomination form yesterday, and his supporters, including Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Fintiri and his Edo State counterpart, Godwin Obaseki.

The second camp comprises aspirants pushing for a consensus presidential candidate.

The contenders are former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Bauchi State Governor Bala Mohammed and his Sokoto State counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal.

The third camp is made up of Northerners and Southerners canvassing for power shift and zoning of the ticket to the South.

Led by Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, the group comprises pro-zoning governors from the South and their Northern allies.

Other members of the third group include Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom and his predecessor, Senator Gabriel Suswam.

However, the camps that other aspirants, including former Senate President Anyim Pius Anyim, Publisher Dele Momodu, and Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa belong to are not known yet.

Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel has been lukewarm, despite collecting presidential nomination form.

While the pro-consensus group visited Governors Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta) in Asaba and Obaseki in Benin yesterday to sell the consensus option to him, the pro-zoning camp paid a consultative visit to former military President Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar at Babangida’s Hilltop Residence, Minna, capital of Niger State.

Wike was accompanied to the meeting by Ikpeazu, Ugwuanyi, Makinde and Suswam.

The group first held a closed-door meeting with Abdulsalami, who followed them to Babangida’s house where the meeting continued for about 20 minutes.

Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, Ikpeazu said they were in Minna to consult with the two elder statesmen and discuss pressing national issues.

“I have come with my colleagues, the governors of Enugu, Oyo, River and some members of the National Assembly to consult with the former Head of State and President and discuss national issues and the problems affecting our country.

“We commended him for his support for the unity of this country and the discussions went very well and we will take it from there,” he said.

When asked about the response of Babangida to their visit, Ikpeazu said the former military President expressed his preference for the younger generation to take up the baton of leadership and rescue Nigeria.

On Wike’s presidential ambition, the governor said it would be discussed later.

Saraki, Tambuwal and Mohammed met with Obaseki and Okowa separately in their states.

The aspirants are exploring the possibility of having one of the 13 aspirants as a consensus candidate for the 2023 presidential ticket.

The consultation is coming amid agitation by PDP stakeholders in the South to have the ticket conceded to the region.

The four PDP governors have aligned with the demand of the Southern Governors Forum for power to shift to the South in 2023.

Details of discussions between the three aspirants and the four governors were not disclosed.

The team had held a similar meeting with the Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku in Abuja last week.

Obaseki said Nigeria needed a president with the capacity to rebuild and unite the nation.

He said: “Forty years ago, we had a big cake to share, but not today. That cake has disappeared. Whoever aspires to be president of this country must be somebody who Nigerians are ready to give ingredients to start to rebuild a bigger cake for us all.

“For us in Edo, we are ready for building a bigger, stronger and better Nigeria, as we cannot continue the way we are today. We are concerned that except the PDP comes out and rallies Nigerians around, it will be difficult to pull Nigeria back from the brinks.

“Things are really bad and difficult for our people. We have never had it this bad. We have never had the level of combination of poverty and inflation, as food inflation in Nigeria is pushing millions of people into starvation, coupled with the security challenges.”

Yesterday, Atiku submitted his nomination documents at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja.

The documents were submitted on his behalf by media mogul, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi, who is the chairman of a technical committee in charge of Atiku’s presidential aspiration.

Dokpesi, while submitting the documents, declined comments on Atiku’s disposition to zoning.

“By the special grace of God, when we get to the bridge, we will cross it,” Dokpesi said.

He dismissed reports of disagreement among PDP stakeholders over zoning.

“I am not aware of any internal problems in the PDP. No crisis whatsoever. PDP is one big family. We shall all be together as brothers and sisters.

“Definitely, we have nothing against whatever the party will decide, but the zoning will not be against us,” he said.

The 37-member zoning committee chaired by Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State is slated to hold its third meeting at the PDP national secretariat today.

The committee, which was given a two-week time frame, is expected to submit its recommendations this week.

Fintiri has backed Atiku’s presidential bid.

He declared his support for Atiku on Sunday on his return to Yola after about three weeks outside Adamawa State.

Speaking to reporters at the Yola International Airport, Fintiri said Atiku was the best option for the ticket.

The governor said he was confident that Atiku would get it.

He added that his team has already set machinery in motion to canvas for support across the country and ensure that Atiku gets the PDP ticket.

Fintiri said: “Politics is local. Whether you’re aspiring for the smallest or the highest position, you must have the base, which is home. This we have provided for our leader, the former Vice President, in his aspiration for the presidency of Nigeria for the 2023 general elections.

“We have started the scheming, working, and canvassing for support, and very soon, you’ll see him emerging as the flag bearer.”

He said with Atiku as president, the unity of Nigeria will be assured and insecurity will become a thing of the past.

He said: “Atiku has the experience and he understands the dynamics of this country and I believe he will be able to close the gap and bring us together as a nation and that will solve part of the security challenges we are facing in this country.”

Also speaking during the submission of the forms, a former senator representing Kogi West, Dino Melaiye, described Atiku as a man with multiple competencies and a unifier.

Melaiye also said that God had revealed to him that Atiku would be president of Nigeria.

He added: “We are here to submit to you the form of a Nigerian with multiple competencies, indoctrinated with the art of civil administration and the rudiments of politics, the only unifier.

“Atiku was the first to pick his form and the first to submit his form.”

Ortom, who is supporting Wike, urged the aspirants to consider the big picture by elevating the collective interest of the party over personal interests.

He spoke in Makurdi, where he presided over the meeting of the Zoning Committee.

Ortom said if consensus or zoning fails, aspirants will test their popularity at the poll.

The clamour for resource control and state police by the Southern Governors’ Forum seems to have suffered a setback going by the details of the 68 amendments proposed by the Joint Senate and House of Representatives’ Special AdHoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution.

Also, the gains brought by the Federal High Court judgment giving powers to the states to collect Value Added Tax, now risk being reversed as the National Assembly will vote on whether VAT should remain on the concurrent legislative list or be moved to the exclusive list.

Members of the National Assembly are billed to vote on the recommendations on Tuesday and Wednesday after which the proposal would be sent to the states for concurrence. At least 24 Houses of Assembly must concur for any provision to scale through.

Both state police and restructuring are not included in the 68 proposals,

There were demands for restructuring and return to the regional system of government, with some Nigerians specifically seeking conversion of the six geopolitical zones or states to federating units.

The National Assembly is only considering devolution of powers from the Federal Government to the state and local governments by moving some items from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list.

For instance, the Southern Caucus in the House had on May 12, 2021, adopted the resolutions of the Southern Governors’ Forum on the demand for true federalism and restructuring as well as members of the House from the 17 southern states of the country, made this known in a statement signed by the Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu; Deputy Majority Leader, Peter Akpatason; Deputy Majority Whip, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha; Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu; Deputy Minority Whip Adesegun Adekoya; Dolapo Badaru, Jimoh Ojugbele and Femi Fakeye.

The lawmakers expressed their support for the governors’ demand for true federalism “through restructuring that will lead to the devolution of power, creation of state police, review of resource control and revenue allocation formula as well as strict adherence to federal character principle in federal appointments in the shared interests of the federating states.”

Also, governors in the South-West had proposed conversion of the present six geopolitical zones into federating units, which is part of a series of proposals to weaken the central government and allocate more powers to the federating units and states.

The South-West Governors’ Forum, in their memo to the National Assembly after a meeting with the South-West Caucus, titled ‘Proposals for the Review of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended): Presentation by South West Governors’ Forum’ and dated July 5, 2021, proposed an amendment to Section 3(1) and (3) of the Constitution.

The present Section 3(1) reads, ‘There shall be 36 states in Nigeria, that is to say, Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.’

However, the governors said, “We propose that Section 3(1) be amended as a federation consisting of six geopolitical zones constituted from the states. The federating units or regions are divided into the following geopolitical zones: North-West Zone, North-Eastern Zone, Middle – Belt Zone, South-East Zone, South-South Zone, South-West Zone and the Federal Capital Territory.

Citing the reason for the proposed amendment, the forum said, “The geopolitical zones have been recognised and accepted by Nigeria’s political class.

The governors added, “Section 3(6) be amended to provide for a number of local governments or such autonomous administrative units to be created by the respective federating units or states, the criteria of which shall include population, taxable capacity, ethno-religious or other cultural and social affinities.”

Similarly, the House passed for second reading, a bill seeking to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow the creation of state police and legalise regional security outfits on July 6, 2021.

The current police system was to be decentralised by moving police from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list, as the bill proposed.

Chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Onofiok Luke, who sponsored the bill, said in the explanatory note that the bill seeks to alter the constitution “to provide for state police and other state government security services to enhance security and preservation of lives and properties in Nigeria.”

The bill especially proposed amendment to Section 197(1) by inserting new Paragraphs ‘e’ and ‘f’ to provide for ‘State Police Council’ and ‘State Police Service Commission,’ respectively.

The second schedule to the constitution was to be altered in Part I by deleting Item 45 from the exclusive legislative list; and in Part II by inserting after Item 30 on the concurrent legislative list, new items 31 and 32.

However, the House’ Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution chaired by the Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Wase, voted against and dropped the proposal for state police.

The National Assembly also received memos to create no fewer than 20 states but the proposals are not part of the recommendations made by the committee.

States should control VAT

Some senior advocates who spoke to The PUNCH, however, argued that VAT should not be placed on the exclusive legislative list.

Adegoke Rasheed (SAN), said while the National Assembly could not be stopped from performing its constitutional duties, the process would not be successful, adding that two-thirds of states would not support the decision to put VAT on the exclusive list.

Adegoke said, “I would consider the mentality of our legislators to be unitary and not federal in nature. I don’t think there is any sense in it to include the collection of VAT in the exclusive list. To achieve what? To make more money available at the centre? It was the military intervention that made the government at the centre to be collecting VAT.

“Under the 1979 constitution, VAT was not different from the sales tax. It is better if we are going to assist the states to develop at their own pace and have the capacity to generate more IGR. It is better to designate the collection of VAT as residual matter rather than making it an item on the exclusive list. They should reject it. They should realise that they are from various states that are struggling to survive.”

He stated that the decision to bring the matter on the exclusive list was against the federalism we practise in the country, calling on the legislators to reject the bill.

Another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa said the state governments who took the matter to court should notify the court if it would affect the matter, saying that the court cannot stop the legislators from making law.

He said, “The case pending is in court. There is nothing stopping them from discharging their legislative duties. Within the court generally, our understanding is that the court would not stop the legislature from performing constitutional responsibilities of lawmaking but if after they make the law and then parties that are in court feel that the law would overreach the case that is pending in court, they can bring the amendment before the supreme court to decide on it, but the court would not stop the assembly from performing its duties.”

Adegboruwa stressed that the purpose of devolution of power would be defeated if VAT was placed on the exclusive list.

Adegboruwa added, “My position is that VAT is a matter for the states. You cannot be approbating and reprobating. The purpose of this amendment is to achieve devolution of power by giving more powers to the state and shedding the federal government of its weight.

“Then moving VAT to the exclusive list would be drawing us back to the unitary system of government. There is an inconsistency on the part of the National Assembly if, on the one hand, it is seeking to remove matters such as electricity from the Federal Government and taking VAT to the Federal Government. VAT should be for the state generating the tax for itself. There’s no basis for voting VAT to be on the exclusive list.

“If they vote it to be on the exclusive list, it would be a matter for the Supreme Court to decide as to the effect of that, because the suit had commenced before the amendment took place. If the amendment succeeds, the matter would become more or less academic.”

Also speaking with The PUNCH, a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), said states would not vote in support of the amendment. He advised the National Assembly to await the outcome of the matter at the Supreme Court rather than amend the constitution.

He said, “The matter is pending before the Supreme Court, the National Assembly should wait. I would advise them to await the judgment of the court. Assuming the Supreme Court says the Federal High Court was wrong, so what would be the basis of amending the constitution?”

Falana said he was confident that the states would not concur with the National Assembly if VAT is placed on the exclusive list.

States should control VAT – Lagos

The Lagos State Government, which is one of the parties to the suit before the Supreme Court, also stated that VAT should be left for the states to collect.

The Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, disclosed this on Sunday during a phone interview with The PUNCH. He, however, has said the state government would abide by any decision made by the National Assembly.

He said, “I cannot dictate to the National Assembly, because we belong to the executive and the legislature has their own rules and regulations and their own powers. It is all about the separation of powers and democracy.

“But what we are after concerning VAT is that the states should be the ones to collect it, and any decision that the legislature or the judiciary makes about this, we will abide by it, so long as it has to do with equity, justice and fairness, so long as it is a matter of what is good for our democracy, and fiscal federalism.

“So I know that the National Assembly, being the home of lawmakers and lawmaking, will do the right thing – anything that will further the interest of democracy and true federalism, and in the interest of justice – and I think that is what they will do.”

The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to overhaul the operations of the Port Health Services and equip it to a world-class standard.

The House also urged the National Primary Health Care Development Agency to work towards creating the required synergy between its vaccine operations and the Port Health Services to ensure online real-time access to vaccination records of travelers from the database provided for such purpose.

Furthermore, the House has mandated its Committee on Healthcare Services to “investigate the activities of the COVID-19 vaccination units, especially as it relates to their records of vaccinations to ensure that such records are duly kept in the approved database; the issuance of fake COVID-19 vaccination cards; and the funds spent on maintaining a national database of COVID-19 vaccination and the inability of key government agencies to have real-time access to the COVID-19 vaccination database.”

The committee is to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

These resolutions followed the unanimous adoption of the motion moved by a member of the House, Obinna Chidoka, at the plenary on Thursday, titled ‘Call to Investigate the COVID-19 Vaccine Database of Travelers.’

Moving the motion, Chidoka noted that it is a precondition for foreign travels to most countries that intending travelers must present their vaccination cards showing evidence of COVID-19 vaccination before such trips.

He also noted that records of COVID vaccination administered by the various units nationwide are expected to be uploaded in a database, which can be accessed by the COVID-19 units at the various entry and exit points in Nigeria, particularly at the international airports.

Chidoka said, “The House is concerned that the Ports Health Services at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, which has the primary responsibility of checking the vaccine and health status of travelers, do not have efficient synergy with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency that takes care of the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, thereby creating embarrassing bottlenecks for travelers on a daily basis.

“The House is also concerned that the National Primary Health Development Agency, with all the resources at its disposal, cannot maintain effective and efficient handling of its database such that its website collapses frequently, rendering it mostly inaccessible.

“The House is worried that the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, which is in charge of COVID-19 the vaccination database, has become a service provider for the airline business, and does not have a dedicated call centre for resolving travelers’ COVID-19 related inquiries.

“The House is also worried that the working environment of the Ports Health Services is shabby and grossly equipped.

“The House is determined to address the poor working environment of Port Health Services at the airports and improve synergy between the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, COVID-19 vaccination units nationwide, and the Ports Health Services.”

The Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation has announced that it has suspended the salaries of 243 suspected ‘ghost’ workers in the ministries of Information and Culture; Labour and Employment; Agriculture and Rural Development; Education; Works and Housing; and Youths and Sports Development.

It said other departments and agencies where ‘ghost’ workers were uncovered were the office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and some Federal Government colleges.

The disclosure was made in a circular with the reference number: HCSF/CSO/HRM/1137/Vol.1/T6/31 signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Career Management Office, OHCSF, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, in Abuja.

The circular read in part, “It will be recalled that in an effort to roll out the human resource module of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation issued various circulars calling on public servants to update their records online on the IPPIS verification platform.

“The office carried out sensitisation and publicity in both the print and audio media to further draw the attention of public servants to this very important exercise.

“The exercise was meant to facilitate the identification of ‘ghost’ workers in order to curtail avoidable financial excesses in personnel costs, while also ensuring credible staff records.

“Consequently, the verification portal was opened for all public servants from April 2017 to May 2018 to enable them carry out the online records’ updates. Another opportunity was given from November 2019 to March 2020. However, despite all the publicity and circulars to Ministries, Department and Agencies, some employees in the core MDAs did not comply with this directive and were suspected as ‘ghost’ workers.

“The salaries of 243 officers in the attached list have been suspended from the IPPIS platform immediately. Officers in the list are, therefore, advised to appear in person at the office of the Permanent Secretary, CMO of the OHCSF before April 15, 2022 with all relevant documents and credentials to prove that they were duly employed by the Federal Civil Service Commission.”

In the list, the OHCSF identified 91 officers from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, headed by Dr Chris Ngige; and 48 from the Ministry of Information and Culture, headed by Lai Mohammed, among others.

This year, the long wait for Godot will come to an end.

The second bridge over the River Niger will be commissioned, and put to use. And what a dream come true it would be.

Last December, a friend had traveled from Lagos to the South East for the Christmas holidays. When he had spent six hours on the River Niger bridge, a journey which should take less than five minutes, since the bridge is only 1.6km long, he called me in frustration. He was almost bursting a blood vessel.

I consoled and comforted him, and added for good effect: “This is the last time you and other travellers would be stranded on that bridge. By next Christmas, there would be two bridges in operation, and it would be a jolly good ride.”

He said a resounding amen, and went off the line. What trauma and travails users of the River Niger bridge have passed through. Built in 1965, the artery between the South East, South South and the rest of the country has become grossly inadequate, and a torture to navigate at peak seasons. There was a year travellers even spent the night on the bridge.

There is a long history to the building of a second bridge over the River Niger, and it had over the years become a tool of false promises, lies and propaganda. When politicians want the votes of South Easterners as elections approach, they go and offload shovels, pick axes, wheelbarrows, cutlasses and others at the site, as if that is what is required to build a bridge of that magnitude. After they’ve got the votes, they come to remove their miserable implements. Goodbye basket, I’ve carried all my apples. The Peoples Democratic Party did it for 16 years, building the bridge with their mouths.

The first recollection was during the campaign for the 1979 presidential election. Candidate of the National Party of Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, went to the South East, and promised a Second Niger bridge. That was all it was. A promise, though the NPN government lasted from 1979 to 1983.

Then came the military regimes headed by Muhammadu Buhari, which lasted only 20 months, that of Ibrahim Babangida, which endured for eight years, Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, 84 days, Sani Abacha, five years, and Abdulsalami Abubakar, 11 months. Nothing was heard about the bridge.

Under Babangida, an alarm was raised about the deteriorating condition of the bridge. Ever the master of artifice and sleight of hand, the then military president challenged Nigerian engineers to design a new bridge. They did! End of story.

Then came Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military head of state, as civilian President. He promised to build the bridge. It didn’t happen in eight years.

About five days before he left office, Obasanjo flagged off the project, to cost N58.6 billion, and handed it to his successor, Umaru Yar’Adua. No action in the three years that the administration lasted. Understandably so, for Yar’Adua was infirm.

Then came Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, who even at a point added Azikiwe to his name. He promised Heaven on earth, saying he was a South easterner, and he would build the bridge. During a Town Hall meeting on August 30, 2012, in the region, he said what would he claim he had done for his Igbo brethren, if he didn’t build the bridge.

Later, Azikiwe disappeared from Jonathan’s name, and the Second Niger bridge disappeared with it. All that happened in the about six years that the administration lasted was a Federal Executive Council approval for final planning and design of the bridge. All motion, no movement.

And then came the man from Daura, a Fulani, with no affinity with the South East. He didn’t make promises, he didn’t boast. He just went to work quietly.

From September 1, 2018, without fanfare or swashbuckling, action started on the Second Niger bridge. Babatunde Raji Fashola, Minister for Works and Housing, was the chief executioner. Doggedly, he and his principal set to work. And here we are today. What has defeated many military and civilian administrations is now reality in our country.

I will never forget the day I traveled to Onitsha for a private event. I was on the same flight from Lagos to Onitsha with His Royal Majesty, the Obi of Onitsha. When we alighted, and were walking towards the arrival hall of the airport, I went to pay my courtesies to the distinguished monarch.

He greeted me warmly, asked after President Buhari, and told me to pass his appreciation for the work being done on the Second Niger bridge.

“Every time I drive on the old bridge, and I look to my side, seeing the new upcoming one, joy wells in my heart,” the Obi said.

And that is the thing to do. We must appreciate the ramrod straight man from Daura for succeeding where many other leaders before him had failed. Where there is a will, there is a way.

President Buhari has taken up many major infrastructure works, most of which would be due for commissioning before he exits next year May. Roads, rail, airports, bridges, many others. If only for the Second Niger bridge, Nigerians will never forget Muhammadu Buhari. But then, you can add Loko-Oweto bridge, Bodo-Bonny road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Abuja to Kaduna and Kano, AKK Pipelines, rail network across the country, and many others. Surely, this country will always remember Muhammadu Buhari for good, no matter how revisionists have tried to shroud the successes with only talk of insecurity ravaging the country. While the security challenges are being met frontally, infrastructure proceeds apace. It takes determination and doggedness.

Indaboski! Nigeria will always remember Buhari for his strides in infrastructure when the country was earning far less than it used to do.

Indaboski? What does it mean? Search me. Ask Prophet Chukwuemeka Odumeje what the word means. He coined it.

But I repeat: Indaboski! This country will never forget Buhari, if only for the Second Niger bridge.

Adesina is Special Adviser to President Buhari on Media and Publicity.

The Federal Government and the 36 states are set for a showdown over the planned deduction of N950bn from the allocation due to the states in 2022.

To this end, it was learnt that the commissioner for finance in all 36 states are expected to meet in the coming days.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Tuesday, transmitted the 2022 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill to the National Assembly, seeking the approval of the federal parliament for a supplementary budget with estimates totalling N150bn.

Buhari also sought approval for another N2.557tn to extend payment for subsidy on petrol.

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, read Buhari’s letter dated February 10, 2022, in plenary.

Buhari’s letter read in part, “An additional provision of N2.557tn will be required to fund the petrol subsidy in 2022. Consequently, the Federation Account (main pool) revenue for the three tiers of government is projected to decline by N2tn, while FGN’s share from the account is projected to reduce by N1.05tn.”

This implies that about N950bn would be deducted from the accounts of the states and local governments.

The federal government had proposed an 18-month extension for the implementation of the petroleum industry law to cater for subsidy shortfall.

Subsidy: Buhari is condoning scam in NNPC, says Benue finance commissioner

Speaking with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the Chairman, Forum of Commissioners of Finance and Benue State Finance Commissioner, David Olofu, on Tuesday said that states of the federation will continue to have it tough with the decision to re direct huge amount of money meant for states to subsidy payment.

Olofu who analysed the opaque nature of the NNPC said that the country is in big trouble if Nigerians continue to allow the malpractices going on in the oil sector.

He said that with the manner the oil industry is being run under the present administration it shows that the institution (NNPC) is above the country and more powerful than the government.

Olofu also slammed the National Assembly which he said has constitutional oversight on the NNPC but had remained silent.

“The President is a minister of petroleum and there is nothing happening in the oil industry that he doesn’t have his approval.

“So we expect that he (President) should show some transparency in the operation of NNPC, particularly, the subsidy because he said during his campaign that subsidy in the country is a scam so why will he be president now and condone it?

“There is nothing needed to be said that has not been said either by the government of the day or opposition, it is now a national matter.”

When asked if states are not going to have it tough with the planned deductions from FAAC, the commissioner said, “States have always been having it tough and they will continue to have it tough”.

We will interrogate the deduction at FAAC meeting, it’s against principle of federalism – Ekiti commissioner

To get out of the logjam, Olofu admonished every Nigerian to now showing interest in what is happening in the oil industry, saying, “The National Assembly has oversight function but their silence over this issue is suspect.”

Also speaking with The PUNCH, the Ekiti State Commissioner for Finance, Akin Oyebode, said on Tuesday that the position of any state on whether they agreed to the plan or not was meaningless because the Federal Government had already adopted it on their behalf.

Oyebode, who said the Federal Government did not allow debate on the issue, argued the proper thing was to have allowed debate on it, adding, “We have often said that states should be allowed to debate the merit of the decision or that the Federal Government should simply bear the burden from its own share of revenues.”

The commissioner maintained that a situation where Ekiti State, which consumes less than one per cent of the petrol consumed in the country, pays substantial part of the subsidy payment, goes against the principle of federalism.

“We all read the President’s letter in the media, but we shall be interrogating this at the next FAAC meeting. I personally would like to ask the question in specific details of what this budgetary provision entails. Is it covering the Federal Government’s portion of subsidy payment or all of the payments?

“In the event that it is only covering the Federal Government’s portion of the subsidy payment, where was the decision taken? Should it not be a decision that should be taken at FAAC so that the committee should be asked to deliberate whether or not subsidy payment should be deducted and from FAAC receipts?” he asked.

In a related development, the Enugu State Chapters of Trade Union Congress and Association of Civil Servants have opposed the Federal Government’s plan to re-direct nearly N1tn supplementary budget that ought to go to states through FAAC to petrol subsidy payments.

Leaders of the unions in separate interviews with one of our correspondents warned the All Progressives Congress led Federal Government not to plunge the country into the ditch with such unthinkable thinking of re-directing funds meant for states to pay petrol subsidy which the government had earlier said was a fraud.

The TUC Chairman, Ben Asogwa, said “Our leaders in this country are treating us as though we are fools. Mr President should know that we cannot continue to watch while they plunge Nigeria into the ditch.

“They know where they get the billions and trillions that they embezzle and spend lavishly but when it comes to fuel subsidy, they will remember that there is no money. The Federal Government has allowed the corruption in the oil sector to grow wings and eat into the fabrics of our nation’s economy. Why do they want to rest their inabilities on states?”

On his part, the state chairman of Association of Civil Servants, Chukwuma Igbokwe, said the union doesn’t support anything that would affect state finances which in turn could affect the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions.

Igbokwe added, “It is assumed that if the Federal Government implements that it will likely affect state finances. And so, anything that will affect state finances and in turn affect payment of salaries and pensions in the state is not agreeable to us as a union.

“So we’ll request that the Federal Government and states find a way of adjusting whatever, so that it would not affect payment of salaries and pensions because basically every state now is relying on federal allocation to pay salaries and pensions.”

He noted that it was difficult these days for most states to pay salaries and pensions, adding “If you withdraw N1tn from states allocation to pay subsidy, it will definitely affect our salary and pension. Last Christmas we got our salary very late, almost on December 24, 2021 because the FAAC did not resolve their issue.”

However, the Gombe State Commissioner for Information and Culture Julius Ishaya, urged workers not to be perturbed by the possible withdrawal from federation allocation.

Ishaya said Muhammadu Yahaya has shown capacity to manage resources, adding that deductions wouldn’t affect workers’ salaries.

“His Excellency is a very prudent person. He has proven that overtime, so we will believe in his ingenuity of financial management and we know it is one of the challenges that the governor has capacity to handle,” he said.

The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) top scorer Odion Ighalo said his non-release for the on-going 2021 AFCON in Cameroon by Saudi Arabian side Al Shabab partly contributed to city rivals Al Hilal on an 18-month deal.

Speaking on a Lagos-based Sports radio, the 32-year-old former Manchester United striker said he was so distraught over his non release for the continent’s flagship tournament, adding the Super Eagles did their best even without his presence.

“I was not really happy because I was not released for the AFCON by Al Shabab,” Ighalo who is currently the leading goal-scorer in the Saudi Pro League season with 12 goals, told Brila FM. “Though it’s my job as a player but I was no longer happy because I was not released for the AFCON’ and was actually not speaking to a lot of people in the team .

“Of course, I wanted to come for the AFCON but they stopped me from leaving just about four hours before my departure because I needed both the exit and entry visa only to be told they did not get any invitation for my release from the NFF.”

Ighalo would further confirmed that the Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) pulled the strings for his release but it proved abortive due to the insistence and the hanky-panky game by management of Al Shabab .

''The NFF tried but the club management kept bring up one excuse or the other because they don’t want me to come for the AFCON,” he further said. “ The NFF President Amaju Pinnick even called the Saudi Arabia Football Federation President ; the whole episode gave me migraine and I did not even attend their trainings for two days because I was not happy.

I belief everything happened for a reason and I think God allowed that to happened. I’m no longer sad and I know better days ahead.”

Contrary to wild-held opinions, Ighalo said he had no contractual clause with Al Shabab that would have prevented him from turning out for the Super Eagles: “I did not sign any clause with Al Shabab that I was no longer going to play for the national team and that’s why I don’t listen what many were saying on the social media.”

Meanwhile, Ighalo has praised the Super Eagles despite crashing out in the Round of 16 following that 1-0 loss to Tunisia in Garoua penultimate Sunday.

“Though we didn’t progress beyond the group stage, I’ll say the team did well and I’ll score them seven (over 10) because we were the best team after the first round since won the first three matches and collected the nine maximum points. “

He added: “That was why everybody thought we had the chance of winning the AFCON but this is football and sometimes, it doesn’t go the way you want it.

“But we don’t have to look back rather we have to look forward to the next game which is the most important; what is gone is gone but you can plan better for the future games and we just need to keep working hard about the future matches,” he advised.

NO fewer than 127,491 candidates who applied to join the police will from Tuesday storm the various state police command headquarters nationwide for physical screening.

The applicants consist of 104,403 from the North and 23,088 from the Southern part of the country.

A breakdown revealed that Abia State has 596 constable applicants; Akwa Ibom 3,536; Anambra 314; Bayelsa 759; Cross River 2,704; Delta 976; Ebonyi 463; Edo 1,206; Ekiti 1,417; Enugu 707; Imo 852; Lagos 562; Ogun 1,154; Ondo 2,472; Osun 2,006; Oyo 1,767 and Rivers 1,597.

Others are Plateau 4,100; Kebbi 3,596; Katsina 7,605; Kano 7,557; Kaduna 7,436; Jigawa 4,951; Benue 6,578; Adamawa 8,206; Bauchi 7,140; Borno 8,693; Federal Capital Territory 4,418; Kogi 4,412; Kwara 2,410; Nasarawa 4,700; Niger 4,672; Sokoto 2,450; Taraba 4,075; Yobe 4,992; Gombe, 4,416 and Zamfara 1,990.

A wireless message directed the applicants to resume at specified police commands with effect from February 1-20.

The applicants were directed to appear with their National Identity Number, original and duplicate copies of credentials, certificates of origin, birth certificates or declaration of age, printouts of application and duly completed guarantor’s forms.

The message titled, ‘2021 recruitment of 10,000 police constables,’ advised the officers in charge of the exercise to ensure that screened candidates are recommended only on merit.

It cautioned against corrupt practices and admonished the officers to adhere strictly to the guidelines stipulated in the Police Act and Regulations.

“You are to ensure that nominated Special Investigation Bureaus are present at the various states and FCT command headquarters designated as centres for the exercise, before, during and after the physical screening.

“They are to draw up threat analysis at their respective centres and profile all invited applicants so that criminal elements are not recruited into the force,” the order from the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, read.

The police boss also directed his men to ensure that only indigenes of the state are screened, noting that the screening would be conducted on a local government basis.

okrote4real:
https://dailytrust.com/pdp-mocks-buhari-for-cancelling-zamfara-trip

Fears are mounting over recent attacks by kidnappers in the Ogun and Oyo states axes of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, with three reported cases recorded between January 8 and 17.

Some drivers and commuters who regularly ply the route told our correspondent during the week that they were worried by the incidents which according to them had become rampant since December 2021.

Penultimate weekend, a Toyota Sienna bus heading for Lagos from Ibadan was reportedly attacked by kidnappers who suddenly emerged from the bush at Onigaari end of the expressway and started shooting repeatedly.

A commercial driver, identified as Oluwatosin Aruwajoye, was killed in the process and five passengers abducted, while another victim, one Ibrahim Tiamiyu, was shot in the thigh. One of the passengers was said to have narrowly escaped.

Operatives from the Oyo State Police Command’s anti-kidnapping squad and the Toll Gate Police Division where the case was reported went to the scene for the on-the-spot assessment.

It was said that the kidnappers contacted the family of one of the five abducted victims, a female, and demanded N30m ransom. It is not clear whether the victims had been freed or rescued.

Also, last Saturday, a Nollywood actress, Bimpe Akintunde, shared how she and her daughter had a close shave with kidnappers along the same Oni-gaari axis on their way to Lagos from Ibadan.

Narrating the encounter on her Instagram page, the actress said the gunmen dressed in military camouflage shot directly at vehicles plying the expressway.

She wrote, “Let’s be careful on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. I escaped the bandits’ attack around 5pm this evening, after Oni-garri on my way to Lagos. They were shooting at all the vehicles coming from Ibadan. They were like 10 in army uniform shooting directly at us. God saved me and my daughter, I can’t believe this.

“Like, they were shooting directly at us! Where are we going in this country, broad daylight attack! God came through for us, I turned back! Followed one way and alerted other drivers too. Just help me thank God for my life and that of my innocent daughter. We are back in Ibadan and healthy but in shock.”

The following day, Sunday, hoodlums also donning military uniform abducted seven wedding guests at the Isara, Ogun State end of the expressway.

The victims had attended a wedding in Ibadan the previous day (January 16) and were returning to their base in Lagos when one of the vehicles carrying them broke down on the road.

One of the victims, Folahan Akinsola, told The PUNCH that they were attempting to tow the faulty vehicle when the kidnappers struck in the morning.

He said of the seven persons abducted by the gang, three of them were freed, as the hoodlums demanded N60m ransom for the others.

He had said, “The kidnappers were all dressed in Army uniform and commanded us to enter the bush. They were more than four, as there were some of them inside the bush. They took some personal belongings and set some of us free.

“I was part of the people that were released and we were told to go and raise N15m to secure the release of each of the remaining four victims. We are to raise N60m and that is why we are seeking help from Nigerians as these kidnappers said they would waste them if they didn’t get the money.

“After we regained our freedom, we called 911. We were driving back to Ibadan when we met some metropolitan policemen and also reported the case to them. But we were told that the case was not within their jurisdiction. We were referred to the Isara Police Division.

“We later reported the case there and got to know that the Divisional Police Officer had mobilised about 25 policemen to the scene of the incident. These kidnappers have been sending threat videos showing us our friends in their custody.”

Akinsola said on Tuesday that the remaining four victims were eventually released after payment of N7.5m ransom.

“We were the ones who raised the money alongside the company my friends work for, among others,” he added.

Some other unreported cases

Commenting on Akintunde’s post on Instagram, one kashamadupeadelawal disclosed that his friend was also kidnapped at oni-garri on New Year day and shot dead in the bush the following day.

He stated, “Thanks so much, ma for bringing this out. On the 1st of January, our friend and brother was kidnapped in that same oni-garri and shot dead inside the bush the next day! I’m in pain right now! These people are everywhere…but most people didn’t know kidnapping is on Lagos-Ibadan Express now… it never happened to someone close to them! That is why no one is speaking out!”

Another commentator, maryamjameela3147, said she once witnessed kidnapping in the Oni-garri area.

“I’ve experienced such within the same area; may God save us,” she wrote.

She had yet to reply to questions sent to her by our correspondent on her encounter as of the time of filing this report.

Tagging the Nigeria Police Force and Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, one kunleadeigbe, lamented, “@nigeriapoliceforce @seyi amakinde, this is the second of these attacks in less than one week. Must we wait for Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to turn into another Abuja-Kaduna Expressway before these animals are terminated?”

Drivers, commuters worry

Meanwhile, some motorists and commuters who ply the expressway frequently told Saturday PUNCH that the recent ugly trend had instilled fear in them.

A driver at a park in Ojota, Kola Ilesanmi, said they were now more vigilant than before whenever they were around the black spots on the expressway.

He said, “We drivers are now vigilant when plying that axis. We always ask our co-drivers who have gone ahead of us about the situation on the road. This issue of kidnapping along the expressway became frequent in December. It used to be rare before then.

“This is the only job most of us have and we can’t leave it. We will continue to be more vigilant and pray to God for safety. Our passengers are also worried but we try as much as possible to douse their fears. We are appealing to security agencies to rise up to the occasion.”

Another interstate motorist at Berger, shuttling Lagos and Ilorin, Kwara State, Musa Akanni, also bemoaned the security situation along the road, adding that personnel of the South-West Security Network known as Amotekun, now patrol the flashpoints.

He stated, “We are afraid to pass through those black spots in the evening. The attacks are becoming frequent and something needs to be done urgently. I have been seeing Amotekun personnel from Oyo State patrolling the oni-gaari area.”

An 18-passenger bus driver shuttling Lagos and Ibadan, Fatai Alatise, appealed to the police to beef up security on the expressway, saying there was a need for regular patrol to keep the attacks at bay.

One of the commuters, Mrs Dupelola Afolabi, a businesswoman, urged the government to check the problem before it became a full-blown menace.

She added, “It is unfortunate we have to worry over a journey between Ibadan and Lagos. I was shocked when I learnt about the wedding guests abducted in the morning last Sunday.

“I hope the government will take this issue seriously and not play politics with it. The expressway is an important route for people from different parts of the country going to Lagos for commercial activities.”

On Tuesday, an actor, Adeniyi Johnson, equally wrote about the prevailing insecurity on the expressway on his Twitter handle, @AdeniyijohnsonO. In multiple slides he shared on Instagram, the actor complained that the attacks had impinged on his work.

He wrote, “You need to be on that road to see how people drive now, drivers now over-speed, are reckless due to the fear of being kidnapped! Some will say what’s your own… Need I remind you that my job requires travelling as movies are not only shot in Lagos, but this recent terror has restricted me from going to work.

“I have bills to pay and mouths to feed…. As it is, the fear of being kidnapped has kept me from going… I know more than three of my colleagues who said Ibadan is a no-go area for now.”

We’re strategising, intensifying efforts – Amotekun, Police

A few days ago, the Amotekun officials in Osun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti states, told The PUNCH that they had got credible intelligence that terrorists fleeing military operations in the North-West would seek refuge in the forests of the southern states.

The personnel said they had started combing forests in the region for the fleeing terrorists from the North-West.

The Commandant of Amotekun in Oyo State, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd.), said his men had been on the lookout for strange faces who might want to use forests in the state as hideouts.

Olayanju had said, “We are aware that some of the bandits who escaped the military onslaught may want to migrate down South to start causing problems and we have started patrolling to prevent them from coming here.”

The Field Commander of Amotekun in Ogun State, David Akinremi, told our correspondent on Thursday that the corps was working with Oyo Amotekun on joint border patrol of the troubled spots.

He said, “We have our men inside the bush there because of the intelligence we received. The Amotekun Commander in Oyo and I are meeting at the border end as part of the joint border patrol efforts put in place by the Amotekun commanders in the South West.

“Whoever they (the kidnappers) might be, we are putting all security strategies in place. We may end up blocking roads to check these things. People might be inconvenienced; there is no doubt about that, but it is to ensure their safety. As I speak with you, I am almost at the meeting point where both commanders are going to meet and further strategise and reinforce the security architecture of that axis.”

Akinremi, a retired Commissioner of Police, further said in a statement that security had been a cardinal point of Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration since he assumed office, noting that it would be preposterous to suggest that the governor or his counterparts in the South-West was playing politics with the lives of the people.

He said that the state government had concluded arrangements to fortify all the 20 local government areas of the state with Amotekun operatives.

The Amotekun boss also noted that the corps had been collaborating with the Army, police, Department of State Services, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, among others “to rid the state of criminals.”

Akinyemi said, “The security situation in Ogun State is a peculiar one; the state shares border with the nation’s commercial capital, with international borders that are porous and easily accessible by criminals.”

He, however, assured that the state “will rout the criminals with superior fire power,” adding that the government had spent so much to upgrade the security architecture of the state to maintain peace in the state.

Also, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the January 17 kidnapping at the Isara end of Ogun State was an ‘opportunistic attack’ as the hoodlums “quickly struck while those people were fixing their faulty car because police had not got to that spot.”

He said the command had put in place a robust security arrangement in conjunction with the Oyo State Police Command, adding that both state Commissioners of Police had carried out on-the-spot assessment.

The PPRO stated, “We have our Safer Highway Team there, the Federal Highway Team and a team of the anti-kidnapping unit. They will be patrolling the road from time to time to ensure that such ugly incident does not happen again. We are after those hoodlums and we won’t rest until we get all of them arrested. Two of them were gunned down about two months ago and two AK-47 rifles recovered from them.”

Oyeyemi however said the police had yet to establish the claim that the assailants were terrorists who fled from military offensive in the North.

He added, “We cannot say for now until we are able to get them. Whatever insinuations or suspicions people have, we are not ruling anything out. We are investigating every claim. The important thing is to ensure that our people are travelling along that road without any hindrance.”

When contacted, the police spokesperson in Oyo State, DSP Adewale Osifeso, referred our correspondent to a statement issued by the command on Tuesday, titled, ‘Oyo Command restructures security apparatus around Lagos/Sagamu/Onigaari axis in a bid to forestall activities of criminal elements.’

The statement read in part, “The Oyo State Police Command under the leadership of CP Ngozi Onadeko fdc, has reaffirmed its commitment to leave no stone unturned in ridding the state and its environs of criminal elements.

“Furthermore, in a bid to forestall future abduction incidents along Onigarri axis of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and other adjoining routes, the Commissioner of Police has emplaced proactive security measures to ensure that the nefarious activities of these hoodlums are nipped in the bud in coordinated corporation with adjoining state commands.”

The command enjoined members of the public “not to panic,” claiming that adequate tactical and operational assets would be deployed in the area and there would be joint surveillance, aggressive patrols with adjoining states and combing of forests alongside local hunters and vigilantes.”

He added, “Consequent upon these, private and public users of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway are encouraged to go about their day-to-day activities without any form of fear of molestation or harassment from unscrupulous elements as adequate security measures are on the ground.”

Former Head of the Interim National Government (INC), Chief Ernest Shonekan, is dead.
He died in Lagos at 85, sources told The Nation.

Here are things you probably didn’t know about Shonekan:

1. Chief Ernest Shonekan GCFR was born on May 9, 1936.

2. He was titled Abese of Egbaland in 1981 (in addition to a variety of other chieftaincy titles).

3. He had his secondary education at CMS Grammar School and Igbobi College.

4. He received a law degree from the University of London and was called to the bar. He later attended Harvard Business School.

5. He was a lawyer and statesman who served as the interim Head of States from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993.

6. Shonekan was chairman of the INC, which succeeded the military junta of General Ibrahim Babangida.

7. Prior to his political career, Shonekan was the chairman and chief executive of the United African Company of Nigeria (successor of The Niger Company), a vast Nigerian conglomerate, which at the time was the largest African-controlled company in Sub-Saharan Africa.

8. In November 1993, three months into his administration, Shonekan was overthrown in a palace coup by Abacha.

9. In 1994, he founded the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, an advocacy group and think-tank for private sector-led development of the Nigerian economy.

10. He was the third oldest surviving Head of States by age after Queen Elizabeth II and Gen Yakubu Gowon(Rtd).

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday turned down the decision of the National Assembly to insert 6,576 projects in the 2022 budget.

Buhari said the inclusion of new provisions totaling N36.59 billion for what the federal lawmakers called National Assembly’s projects in the Service Wide Vote negates the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislative arm of government.

The President spoke at the signing of the 2022 Appropriation Bill entitled “Budget of Economic Growth and Sustainability” into law at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He said he would return the act to the National Assembly for amendment as soon as the assembly resumes to ensure that critical ongoing projects cardinal to his administration do not suffer a setback due to reduced funding.

But Senate President Ahmed Lawan said the National Assembly did nothing wrong, arguing that the judgments of the legislature and the executive, on various issues do not always have to be the same.

The President’s displeasure confirms the lead story of the last Sunday’s edition of The Nation entitled 2022 BUDGET: MISGIVINGS IN PRESIDENCY OVER N1 TRILLION INCREASE BY NASS

Buhari, who yesterday also signed the Finance Bill 2021, which he said is critical to the execution of the 2022 budget, said he assented to the 2022 Appropriation Bill to enable its implementation to commence today.

The President was disappointed that the NASS ignored his concern while presenting the budget in October that the fiscal year 2022 would be very crucial in his administration’s efforts to complete and put to use critical agenda projects, as well as improve the general living conditions of our people.

“It is in this regard that I must express my reservations about many of the changes that the National Assembly has made to the 2022 Executive Budget proposal,” he said.

He listed some of the ‘worrisome changes’ as follows:

“Increase in projected FGN Independent Revenue by N400 billion, the justification for which is yet to be provided to the Executive;

“Reduction in the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Maturing Bonds by N22 billion without any explanation;

“Reduction of the provisions for the non-regular allowances of the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Navy by N15 billion and N5 billion respectively.”

Continuing, he said: “This is particularly worrisome because personnel cost provisions are based on agencies’ nominal roll and approved salaries/allowances;

“Furthermore, an increase of N21.72 billion in the overhead budgets of some MDAs, while the sum of N1.96 billion was cut from the provision for some MDAs without apparent justification;

“Increase in the provision for Capital spending (excluding Capital share in Statutory Transfer) by a net amount of N575.63 billion, from N4.89 trillion to N5.47 trillion.”

Buhari was similarly shocked by reductions in provisions for some critical projects, including N12.6 billion in the Ministry of Transport’s budget for the ongoing rail modernisation projects; N25.8 billion from Power Sector Reform Programme under the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning; N14.5 billion from several projects of the Ministry of Agriculture, and introducing over 1,500 new projects into the budgets of this ministry and its agencies.

He said: “Inclusion of new provisions totaling N36.59 billion for National Assembly’s projects in the Service Wide Vote, which negates the principles of separation of Powers and financial autonomy of the Legislative arm of government.

“The changes to the original Executive proposal are in the form of new insertions, outright removals, reductions and/or increases in the amounts allocated to projects.

“Provisions made for as many as 10,733 projects were reduced while 6,576 new projects were introduced into the budget by the National Assembly.

“Reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment’ projects.

“The cuts in the provisions for several of these projects by the National Assembly may render the projects un-implementable or set back their completion, especially some of this administration’s strategic capital projects.

“Most of the projects inserted relate to matters that are basically the responsibilities of state and local governments, and do not appear to have been properly conceptualised, designed and costed.

“Many more projects have been added to the budgets of some MDAs with no consideration for the institutional capacity to execute the additional projects and/or for the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required.”

President Buhari declared that it was surprising that despite the National Assembly increasing projected revenue by N609.27 billion, the additional Executive request of N186.53 billion for critical expenditure items could not be accommodated without increasing the deficit, while the sum of N550.59 billion from the projected incremental revenues was allocated at the discretion of the National Assembly.

Explaining why he signed the bill despite its ‘flaws’, Buhari said it was to “enable its implementation to commence on 1st January, 2022.

He added: ”However, I will revert to the National Assembly with a request for amendment and/or virement as soon as the Assembly resumes to ensure that critical ongoing projects that are cardinal to this administration and those nearing completion do not suffer a setback due to reduced funding.”

On COVID-19 and budget implementation, the President was happy at the success recorded in the implementation of the 2021 Budget even in the face of the lingering adverse effects of the pandemic.

His words: ”The sum of N3.94 trillion that was provided for the implementation of capital projects by MDAs during the fiscal year has been released fully.

”To enable MDAs to complete the implementation of their 2021 capital projects and optimise the impact of the capital budget on the economy, they have been allowed to continue to expend the funds released for their 2021 capital budgets till 31st March, 2022.”

The President commended the understanding and speedy action of the National Assembly on this matter.

The Budget Office of the Federation has said restructuring Nigeria into six regions is pivotal to reducing the high cost of governance.

It noted that the number of ministers also needs to be pruned and the number of political office holders and their aides reduced, lamenting that the huge recurrent expenditure had constrained the provision of good roads, steady power supply, health care services, quality education and quality shelter etc.

This, it said, had contributed to observable underperformance of the economy, slow growth and current infrastructural challenges.

These recommendations were contained in a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission at its Third National Summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja on Tuesday.

The event, with the theme, ‘Corruption and cost of governance: New imperatives for fiscal transparency’, was attended by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Chairman of ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), among others.

The ICPC report referenced the Budget Office as blaming the high cost of governance on bloated cabinet size, high cost of elections, corrupt budget practices, multiplicity of Ministries Departments and Agencies and high number of political office holders and their aides.

It said a direct result of the expensive governance structure was that less than 30 per cent of Federal Government’s resources were available to fund the much needed capital projects.

However, the Budget Office, according to the document, recommended that government should “prioritise completion of ongoing projects, restructure Nigeria into six regions and reduce the number of ministers, and build a more efficient civil service and conduct periodic staff audit.”

It added that[b] “MDAs should consider government fiscal position in reviewing salaries, adopt a cost- effective electoral system and limit the number of aides of political office holders.”[/b]

While highlighting the drivers of the high cost of governance, the document quoted the Budget Office as saying that Nigeria has a large cabinet with 27 ministers, 16 ministers of state and 27 ministries, adding that MDAs raise their personnel cost by engaging in indiscriminate recruitment without clearance from the Budget Office.

Nigeria has about 934 MDAs with duplicated functions and 541 public corporations and enterprises.

It noted further that high cost of elections and resultant litigation contribute to the high cost of governance in Nigeria and that the current structure/size of the federal bureaucracy was clearly unsustainable for the size of the economy. “The high number of political office holders and their aides also adds to the high cost of governance,” it added.

The Budget Office lamented that personnel cost for the past three years gulped N9.7tn, adding that cost of governance had generally been on the rise and personnel costs represent significant proportion of the spending.

According to the report, MDAs’ recurrent spending rose from N3.61tn in 2015 to N5.26tn in 2018 and N7.91tn in 2020. This excludes the costs of government-owned enterprises and transfers to the National Assembly and the National Judicial Council.

“Recurrent spending accounted for 40 per cent of actual recurrent spending in 2020 while overhead was just three per cent. Cost of governance has generally been on the rise and personnel costs represent a significant proportion of the spending,” it added.

The President, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and several other leaders had repeatedly stated the need to reduce the cost of governance, but not much has been done to actualise it.

Meanwhile, there has been an increasing public clamour for restructuring, with sociopolitical groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Pan Niger Delta Forum, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum and the Coalition of Northern Groups insisting that it is the only way the country could return to the path of progress.

The Presidency had in response to the agitations asked the proponents to approach the National Assembly with their request.

Why we can’t punish those behind budget duplication – Budget Office

The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, on Friday disagreed with the ICPC, saying only 185 projects were found to be duplicated in the 2021 budget, and not 257 as announced by the commission.

He said it was beyond the responsibility of the Budget Office to discipline those responsible for the duplication because the staff of the MDAs who prepare their budgets were not answerable to his office.

He however argued that errors were inevitable since the budget was prepared by human beings but that those culpable for the “willful duplication” of projects should be fished out by the ICPC and prosecuted.

The ICPC chairman had at the summit said 257 projects amounting to N20.138bn were duplicated in the 2021 budget.

Akabueze, who spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise daily’ on Friday, stated that some of the projects identified by the ICPC were not duplicated but had description challenge.

He said, “The ICPC came up with a report which they sent to us about duplicated projects in the budget. We did our own review and found that 54 of those projects were actually not duplicated. There were issues with project description, which made them look the same.

“Every project in the budget has a unique identifier and for the projects found to be duplicated, funding was withheld. 185 (projects) were found to be duplicated, 54 were not.”

Akabueze said there were about 20,000 projects in the budget and that if only about 200 projects were duplicated, it amounts to about 0.01 per cent. He added that the total MDAs’ in the budget estimate was under N4trn, and that the duplicated projects valued at about N20bn was about 0.005 per cent.

He added, “Every system has a level of tolerance in terms of error. It is human beings that prepared it, some may be erroneous, some may be willful duplication but the important thing is that there is self-correcting mechanism. The best of systems in the world have audit attached to them because there is an acknowledgement that something can go wrong. We work collectively with the ICPC and it is part of its role as correcting mechanism.”

He however said the Budget Office was working towards a zero level of such duplications.

He added, “At the level of the Budget Office, what we do is withhold funding for such projects and to that extent, it doesn’t create the sort of problem you alluded to; misuse of state resources.”

“As to the discipline of those people, that is outside of our own responsibilities; we look to the day where we have a structure within the budget office where the budget office can deploy its own personnel across the MDAs…to hold them directly accountable. The staff who are involved in preparing this budget in the MDAs are not accountable to the budget office and we have no line of responsibility to question them.”

He said the ICPC with its investigative powers should invite the people involved to find out if the duplications were willful actions intended to defraud the government or they were erroneous.

The Presidency as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies have earmarked the sum of N13.2bn for refreshments, meals, food and catering materials and sitting allowance in the 2022 budget proposal, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

Amid rising food inflation in the country, the sum of N5.8bn had been budgeted for refreshments and meals, N1.76bn for food and catering materials while N5.7bn was budgeted for sitting allowance.

The figure, it was learnt, could be higher as the budget of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service, the Independent National Electoral Commission and a few other major agencies were not disclosed.

The sum also does not include the N260m earmarked for foodstuff by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Correctional Service which feed detainees.

About 38 revenue generating agencies are to share N2.2bn on meals and refreshments, while the Presidency has the largest budget for food and refreshments. The State House headquarters earmarked N135.6m for meals and refreshment and a separate N245m for foodstuff while the Office of the President set aside N30.6m for refreshment and N301m for foodstuff.

The Office of the Vice-President earmarked N156.6m for foodstuffs and N20m for refreshment while the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President will spend N17.6m for meals and refreshments. The Office of the Chief Security Officer earmarked N4.1m for the same purpose while the State House liaison office in Lagos earmarked N4m for both refreshments and foodstuffs.

The Presidential air fleet will also spend N160m for meals in 2022.

Collectively, the Presidency and the Presidential air fleet office will spend N1.074bn on food, refreshments and catering materials.

Meanwhile, out of 38 revenue agencies, the Federal Inland Revenue Service tops the list with a budget of N550m. It is followed by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation, which plans to spend N520m on meals and refreshments.

Also, the National Social Investment Office earmarked N496.8m for refreshment while the National Automotive Design and Development Council plans to spend N152.7m for the same purpose. The Nigerian Ports Authority budgeted the sum of N144.1m for refreshments while the Department of Petroleum Resources (now Upstream Regulatory Commission) will spend N115m.

Police formations across the country will spend N100m while the Presidential air fleet earmarked 38m. The Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation budgeted 60m for meals and refreshments.

Others include the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control with N73.9m, the Nigerian Postal Service with N62.6m, the Standards Organisation of Nigeria with N59.2m, the Raw Materials Research and Development Council with N57.5m, the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria with N50m and the Nigerian Communications Commission with N40m.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit earmarked N60.9m and N75m respectively while the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters will spend N110m on refreshments, the largest budget for refreshments among the ministries.

The Office of the Head of Service also earmarked N38.8m for refreshments.

In his Independence Day speech, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), lamented the challenge of food shortage in the country, blaming middlemen for the development.

“To address this, I am hereby directing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to rehabilitate the National Food Reserve Agency and also work with security agencies, the Nigerian commodity exchange, and the National Assembly to find a lasting solution to these disruptive and unpatriotic hoarding activities,” he added.

Many Nigerians had blamed the high cost of food items on the spate of insecurity, which has chased many farmers away from their farms.

While the Presidency has been able to hike its food bill by over 37 per cent from N781m in 2021 to N1.07bn in 2022, poverty has risen within the same period, pushing more Nigerians into hunger.

According to the World Bank, roughly 18 per cent of households in Nigeria have at least one adult who does not eat for an entire day at a time compared to six per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic. Inflation is near an all-time high, and food prices account for almost 70 per cent of the rise, according to a report by Reuters.

MDAs to spend N5.7bn on sitting allowance

Meanwhile, Federal Government’s MDAs plan to spend N5.7bn on sitting allowance according to the analysis of the proposed 2022 budget.

This amount is more than the combined capital expenditure of the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (N2.57bn), Auditor General of the Federation (N218.97m), Police Service Commission (N232.15m), National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (N227.10m) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (N1.34bn).

The budget proposal showed that 368 MDAs have allocations for sitting allowance, with the top two being the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria proposing N790.5m and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria proposing N359.9m.

The FIRS, National Social Investment Office, Nigerian Export and Import Bank, and the NCC budgeted N200m, N198m, N185.1m and N180m respectively as their sitting allowances.

Others include Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative with N83.9m, Oil and Gas Free Zone areas with N64.8m, Nigerian Postal Service with N61.1m, NAFDAC with N53.3m, and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency with N51.5m.

Others are the Standards Organisation of Nigeria with N50.6m, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission with N48m, Federal Road Safety Corps with N47.8m, Nigerian Meteorological Agency with N43m, and Ministry of Women Affairs with N34m.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had earlier this month presented N16.39tn as the 2022 budget proposal before a joint session of the National Assembly.

The budget deficit, estimated at N6.23tn, is slightly above the three per cent limit stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. The government plans to finance the deficit by borrowing N5tn from local and foreign sources.

Economists and other experts have continued to lament the spate of borrowing, while asking governments at all levels to cut down on the high cost of governance.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had during the formal inauguration of the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental and Social Standards Enhancement in Abuja recently stressed the need for Nigeria to reduce the cost of governance in the public sector and entrench transparency and accountability at all levels.

Osinbajo, represented by the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, said, “Nigeria must make progress in reducing the high cost of governance in the public sector as well as strengthened by entrenching transparency and accountability at all levels of government, while issues relating to construction, rehabilitation and extension of existing buildings, acquisition of land, purchase of laboratory equipment, disposal of reagents and samples amongst others must conform with world standards.”

The PUNCH recently reported that personnel cost rose by 79.48 per cent and gulped N13.2tn in four years.

The Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Loans on Tuesday kicked against the proposal by the Federal Ministry of Health to borrow $200m under the Malaria Programme to buy mosquito nets in the 2022 budget.

The committee’s condemnation was in response to the Ministry of Health’s submission about its intention to borrow the amount for purchase of mosquito nets for 13 vulnerable states.

The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mahmuda Mamman had justified the proposal before the panel. He said, “The loan , if approved by the National Assembly and accessed , will be used to medically fight malaria in the 13 orphan states which cover 208 local government Councils and 3, 536 primary health care centres “

Angered by his submission, Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe and other senators present descended heavily on the Permanent Secretary and the Executive Secretary , National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr.Faisal Shuaib.

Oloriegbe wondered why N450m was budgeted for Malaria treatment in the proposed 2022 budget and yet, plans being made to borrow $200m for the same purpose.

He said, “This is unacceptable . We should be able to put our feet down when dealing with these donor agencies or creditors as regards loans to be taken and what it should be expended on.”

“ Don’t we have local manufacturers of mosquitoes nets and malaria drugs in Nigeria to patronise with the loan even if approved .

“ This is a clear case of money and jobs for the boys by creditors luring you for loans and railroading you on what it should be spent on .

“ Washington or whatever creditor offering the loan, should stop giving us money with one hand and taking it back with another hand through railroaded spending, “ he said .

Other members of the committee like Senators Adelere Oriolowo ( APC Osun West), Abba Moro ( PDP Benue South) and other, also blamed the Ministry for coming up with such idea.

The N450m already budgeted for fighting the scourge in the alleged vulnerable areas , according to them, was enough .

They angrily asked the permanent Secretary to explain how the idea was arrived at and how it will be implemented .

The Permanent Secretary in his response said subsidiary arrangement had been made with all the states involved through required signing of agreement.

In his further clarification, the Executive Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, Dr. Faisal Shuaib noted that the $200m was for importation and local production of mosquito nets.

The panel however demanded for the total needs of the agency to ascertain if there was need for borrowing.

Its Country Director for Nigeria, Shubham Chaudhuri, who spoke on Monday at a panel session during the 27th National Economic Summit, said the country could channel the money being spent on subsidy to primary healthcare, basic education and rural roads.

“This year, Nigeria is on track to spend N2.9tn on PMS subsidy, which is more than it spends on health,” he said.

Also speaking at the session, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the Federal Government had made provision for petrol subsidy till the end of June next year.

“In our 2022 budget,we only factored in subsidy for the first half of the year; the second half of the year, we are looking at complete deregulation of the sector, saving foreign exchange and potentially earning more from the oil and gas industry," she said.

The World Bank director, who likened Nigeria to a malnourished individual needing urgent treatment, said some critical decisions need to be made now for the country to realise its potential.

He said, “I think the urgency of doing something now is because the time is going in terms of retaining the hope of young Nigerians in the future and potential of Nigeria. The kinds of things that could be done right away – the petrol subsidy; yes, I hear that six months from now, perhaps with the PIA(Petroleum Industry Act) coming into effect, this will go away.

“But the fact is can Nigeria even afford to wait for those six months? And there is a choice: N3tn to PMS subsidy which is depriving states of much-needed revenues to invest in basic services.”

The Chairman, Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Prof. Doyin Salami, said he had argued for a long time that subsidy really needed to go.

He said, “With the PIA essentially it makes illegal petrol subsidy and yes, there is a period where NNPC and the new regulatory agencies must calibrate themselves, but at the end of this period – and I think it is about six months, which explains why the minister has said for the first half of the year, there is provision.

“My view will be if we could get it done sooner than that, it will be excellent. It releases money. The key point is simply this: we are now, any which way, at the tail end of that conversation, except if we choose not to obey the law. My sense is we will obey the law and subsidy will be gone.”

hilltop007:
My final year project supervisor called me to summarize my research work of 2 years for publication. He sent me a copy of one of his ex-student work that he published. It was only his ex student who did the work with guidance from my supervisor, but the published paper has two authors; my supervisor (main author) and his ex student. Only my supervisor's contact was also in the paper.

I strongly believe that's what he will also do with mine. Should I give him the go ahead? If I don't publish it, it will probably rot. Or is there a way for me to publish it myself?

36 House of Assembly Speakers have called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists and enemies of the nation.

This was their resolution at a Conference of Speakers of State Houses of Assembly in Katsina on Sunday.

The Chairman of the Conference, who is also Bauchi Speaker, Abubakar Suleiman, while making the call at the end of their third annual meeting, said it was part of their five-point communiqué at the end of their 8-hour deliberations.

He said: ’’We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists and enemies of the state. The Conference has observed all the activities carried out by the bandits as containing the same mode of operations used by terrorists"

‘’The Conference also decried the state of insecurity in the country, and resolved to work out legislative frameworks, to complement the efforts of the Federal Government to address the security challenges in the country’’.

‘’In addition, the Conference also resolved to make appropriate laws to address the fundamental issues that breed insecurity in the land, as well as create employment for the youths and curb the menace of insecurity in the country’’.

The Speakers’ Conference further commended Governors who gave their assents to the fund management bills passed by their respective State assemblies and called on those yet to do so to expedite action on the bill for effective implementation of financial autonomy for the state legislatures and judiciary.

The Federal Government can save over N241bn if the Stephen Oronsaye report on public sector reforms is implemented, Sunday PUNCH has learnt.

The Oronsaye report, which was submitted in 2011, stated that there were 541 Federal Government parastatals, commissions and agencies (statutory and non-statutory).

The report added that 263 of the statutory agencies should be reduced to 161,38 agencies should be abolished while 52 agencies should be merged.

It further recommended that 14 agencies should revert to departments in ministries.

For instance, the report recommended the abolition of the Federal Character Commission. The PUNCH estimates that the government will save at least N3.6bn in allocated to this commission in the 2022 budget if the report is implemented.

About N814.4m will be saved if the same action is taken on the Fiscal Responsibility Commission.

The report further recommended that the law establishing the National Salaries and Wages Commission be repealed and its functions taken over by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Responsibility Commission. This is expected to save the government N2bn.

The Oronsaye report advised the government to merge the nation’s top three anti-corruption agencies- the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Code of Conduct Bureau.

The average the government is expected to save from the merger amounts to at least N31.5bn.

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission is expected to be subsumed under the Bureau of Public Enterprise, saving the government N1.9bn.

The Border Communities Development Agency is to be brought under the National Boundary Commission, saving the government N4.1bn.

The government was advised to stop funding recurrent expenditure of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies but maintain its capital funding. This will save the government N1.6bn.

The report recommended that the National Emergency Management Agency and the National Commission for Refugees be merged. This is expected to save the government N4.5bn.

The Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research is to stop receiving government funding but funded from a proposed National Research Development Fund. This is expected to save the government N1.6bn.

The National Directorate of Employment is expected to be amalgamated with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria to form the National Agency for Job Creation and Empowerment. This should save the government N15.4bn on the average.

The law establishing the Federal Road Safety Corps is expected to be repealed and the agency reverting to the Highways Department of the Federal Ministry of Works while the personnel are to be absorbed by the Police Service Commission and Vehicle Inspection Office. This would save the government N50.8bn based on budget estimates.

The National Agency for the Control of AIDS will no longer be a stand alone agency but is expected to be subsumed into the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control. This will save the government N5.4bn.

The committee recommended that both the Hajj and Christian commissions should be abolished and government should stop sponsoring pilgrimages. Also, the government was advised to stop granting concessionary foreign exchange to pilgrims. This could save the government N2.6bn.

Nigeria is expected to save N1bn if the Administrative Staff College of Nigeria and the Public Service Institute of Nigeria are merged.

The committee recommended that the Nigerian Communications Commission, National Broadcasting Commission and Nigerian Postal Service be merged into one entity known as the Communications Regulatory Authority of Nigeria. This could save the government N149.2bn.

Similarly, the committee recommended that the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Nigerian Air Space Management Agency and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency be merged into a body known as Federal Civil Aviation Authority. This could save the government N97.9bn.
The committee recommended that the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria be fully privatised. This will save Nigeria at least N93.5bn in recurrent and capital expenditure going by FAAN’s 2022 budget.

The Nigerian Communication Satellite is expected to be fully privatised, thereby saving the government N9.2bn.

The National Examinations Council is expected to be brought under the West African Examination Council. This will save Nigeria of at least N16.1bn in recurrent and capital expenditure going by NECO’s 2022 budget.

The committee recommended a merger between the National Universities Commission, the National Board for Technical Education and the National Commission for Colleges of Education to form the Tertiary Education Commission. This should save the government N13bn.

The government was asked to stop bearing the recurrent cost of the National Open University of Nigeria. This ought to save the government N7.6bn.

The Nomadic Education Commission is expected to be abolished while the Universal Basic Education Commission takes over its responsibilities. This will save the government N1.4bn.

Similarly, the law establishing the Mass Literacy Council is expected to be repealed and its functions taken over by UBEC. This will save the government N1.1bn.

The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency is expected to be scrapped and its functions taken over by the Federal Ministry of Environment and the Department of Petroleum Resources. This is expected to reduce the cost of governance by N2.9bn.

The committee recommended that the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency be scrapped and its duties transferred to the ministry of environment which could save the Federal Government N4.9bn.

It was recommeded that the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution should be scrapped and its functions transferred to the Department of Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs. This should save Nigeria N1bn.

The same recommendation was made for the Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa. This should reduce the cost of governance by N657.6m based on budget estimates.

The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Voice of Nigeria and the Nigerian Television Authority are expected to merge to form the Federal Broadcasting Corporation of Nigeria. This is expected to reduce the capital and overhead budget by N16.3bn.

The committee advised the government to abolish the Civil Defence, Immigration, Prisons Services Board while its functions relating to appointment, promotion and discipline be transferred to a proposed Federal Public Service Commission. This is expected to save the government N548.6m.

The law establishing the Nigerian Copyright Commission is expected to be repealed and its functions taken over by the Commercial Law Department of the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment saving the government N1.4bn in overheads and capital.

The committee recommended that the National Productivity Centre be scrapped. It will reduce the cost of governance by N2.7bn.

The law establishing the National Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency is expected to be scrapped thereby saving the government N1.5bn. The functions of the NSRMEA are expected to be taken over by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency.

The government was advised to scrap the National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, and Metallurgical Training Institute, Onitsha which would jointly reduce the cost of governance by N2.3bn.

The committee recommended that the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund be merged.

Sunday PUNCH could not estimate how much could be saved since the budget of PEF is not made public. However, the budget for PPPRA is N18.9bn.

Also recommended was the repeal of the law establishing the Petroleum Technology Development Fund while the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board is expected to take over its functions.

The Federal Ministry of Police Affairs is expected to be scrapped and its functions taken over by the Ministry of Special Duties. This is expected to save the government N4bn.

The committee called for the scrapping of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria. This should save the country N1.6bn based on the 2022 budget estimates.

Similarly, the government was advised to abolish the National Rural Electrification Agency. This should save the government N115.9bn.

The National Centre for Technology Management is expected to be abolished, saving the government N1.1bn.

The National Council of Arts and Culture is expected to be merged with the National Troupe of Nigeria and the National Theatre. This would reduce the cost of governance by N2.3bn.

The committee recommended that the National Commission for Museums and Monuments be merged with the National Gallery of Art to form the National Commission for Museums, Monuments and Arts. This will save the government N4.3bn.

The Nigeria Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Development Studies is to be abolished and its functions taken over by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation. About N2.4bn is expected to be saved from this action.

The government was advised to close down all 774 offices of the National Orientation Agency and the functions of the NOA be taken over by the Public Communications Department in the Ministry of Information and Culture. This should reduce the cost of governance by at least N8.3bn.

The National Institute for Cultural Orientation is to be abolished, saving the government N2.8bn.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission are to be merged to form the Nigerian Import-Export Promotion Commission. This will save the government N1.5bn.

The Centre for Automotive Design and Development Council is to be scrapped, saving the N565.6m in recurrent and capital expenditures.

The Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority is expected to take over the functions of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, reducing the cost of governance by N3.6bn.

The government was advised to stop funding the recurrent expenditure of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron and limit itself to capital projects. This should save the government N1.9bn.

The committee asked the government to stop funding the Nigeria Football Federation as recommended by FIFA. This should save the government N1.3bn.

The committee recommended that the National Inland Waterways’ functions be taken over by the Nigerian Ports Authority. This should save the government N14bn in capital and recurrent expenditures.

Aside from asking 12 professional health bodies to stop receiving government funding but depend on subscriptions from members, another 20 professional and regulatory agencies were asked to stop receiving government funding.

The report further recommended that about 23 research institutes should draw funding from a proposed National Research and Development Fund and grants. This is expected to save the government at least N48.2bn.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had ordered that a committee be set up to look into the report and implement it in order to reduce the cost of governance in the face of a looming economic crisis occasioned by the drop in global oil prices.

The Federal Government, however, said workers would not be sacked. Nevertheless, the recommendations in the report have yet to be implemented.

It is now mandatory for would-be policemen and those joining other gun-wielding security agencies to undergo psychiatric and drug tests, the Federal Government said yesterday.

Besides, those who are serving in the armed forces and the allied agencies will go through such tests periodically.

This is one of the measures taken by the government in the aftermath of last year’s #EndSARS protests.

Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed announced this yesterday in Abuja.

Yesterday was the first anniversary of the widespread protests by some youths against brutality by policemen especially men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The protest snowballed into violence which led to the destruction of various government and private properties runing into over a trillion naira.

In Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan and some other cities, some youths held rallies and processions to mark the anniversary. There was no record of margin violence at any part of the country.

Speaking in Abuja, the minister, who itemized other remedial measures by the government in response to the call by the youths, said the Federal Government’s nine-reform plans for police and other security agencies.

He said “of 28 states that set up panels of inquiring on the #EndSARS protests have limited their reports to the National Executive Council (NEC).

Also yesterday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo urged the youths to participate in politics to effect the desired changes in government.

Mohammed, who addressed reporters in Abuja, said the reforms were aimed at enhancing the efficiency of security agency.

He said the said: will insist on adhence to the rules of engagement and use of cutting edge technology in the fight against crimes.

Mohammed added: “NEC called on the leadership of the security agencies to ensure that persons recruited into arms-bearing security agencies undergo psychiatric evaluations and drug tests before enlistment and periodically after enlistment to ensure that the personal are psychologically, fit to carry live weapons and to identify behavioural tendencies that may require psycho-social intervention’s.

Other reforms are: “Persons recruited into arms-bearing security agencies undergo psychiatric evaluations and drug tests before enlistment and periodically after enlistment to ensure that the personnel are psychologically fit to carry live weapons and to identify behavioural tendencies that may require psycho-social interventions.

"Personnel of the agencies dutifully observe Rules of Engagement in the discharge of
their functions/duties around and within the civilian populace.

"While acknowledging the various initiative introduced by the Federal Government to strengthen police accountability through the Police Service Commission, sustain improved funding and budgetary allocation to the Nigeria Police Force and other securities agencies, and the lifting of the ban on recruitment of police officers, Council urged the Federal Government to give priority to the general welfare of police officers and personnel of other security agencies. In particular, it advocated the review of pension and gratuity of retired police officers and attainment of parity of remuneration by police officers with sister security agencies.

“Undertake a comprehensive assessment of all police stations across the country with a view to ensuring that they are fit for purpose.

“Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies should deploy cutting-edge technology in the fight against crimes.

“Nigeria Police Force to, in line with the mandatory training provisions of the Police Act 2020, prioritize training of Police Officers on procedures for the entrenchment of human rights provisions guaranteed by the constitution and on the professional handling of weapons.

“All those detained by the Police as a result of the EndSARS protests are expeditiously processed with due regard to the principles of fair hearing.

“The system established within the Nigeria Police Force for receipt and handling of complaints or petitions is strengthened, and all police officers on duty should be in police-approved uniform with their full names and force numbers boldly written for easy identification.

“The states should, as resolved by NEC:

– Properly utilize and support the community policing programme of the Federal Government, with active collaborative efforts and participation of traditional rulers, elders, youths, vigilante groups, etc.;

– Establish standing committees under States Ministries of Justice to address human rights violations on a continuous basis; and

– Take measures aimed at flushing out miscreants squatting in uncompleted buildings, and other blackout spots that serve as hideouts for criminals.

The minister highlighted the actions already taken by Federal and state governments to address the grievances that led to the 2020 protests, including:

the disbandment of SARS; establishment of judicial panels of inquiries to investigate allegations of human rights violations by the police and other security agencies; the setting up of Victims Compensation Funds from which many victims have received payments of sums awarded to them by the panels; and prosecution of police personnel indicted by the panels.
Mohammed said 11 of 28 states that raised panels have submitted reports to the National Economic Council (NEC).

He said all those indicted by the various judicial commissions will face trial.

The minister however, described the alleged massacre at Lekki Toll Gate as “phantom.”

He said the six soldiers and 37 policemen who died during the EndSARS protests are human beings with families lamenting that the human rights organizations ignored the casualty figures.

He said: “Out of the 28 States, 11 States (Abia, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, and Rivers) have submitted their final reports to the National Executive Council (NEC). Governors of other States have also indicated that their reports would be submitted soon.

Osinbajo, who spoke at a virtual forum with Nigerian Fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, said youths should embrace politics.

According to a statement by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Office of the Vice President, Mr Laolu Akande, Osinbajo said the transformation of society is largely dependent on the actions and decisions of those who occupy public offices.

He said: “You need to go the extra length if you are not already involved, get involved in politics—while a lot can be achieved in civil society, government still holds the ace in terms of capacity and resources to bring social goods to the largest numbers.

“Besides, being deciders instead of pressure group at the table in policy formulation are hugely different positions. The consummation of our great ideas to transform our societies ultimately will depend on “those politicians” as we sometimes derisively describe them.”

Osinbajo added: “African nations and especially our country, cannot afford to have its best minds and most committed social activists remain only in the civil space. No, we simply can’t afford it, you have to get involved in politics. You have to be in the position to make the difference on the scale that is required.

“Of course, there are many who will not be involved in politics but those that are inclined should, and there will be many challenges even in the winning or getting heard in politics. But I want to say to you that it should be an objective that you should set for yourselves, to get involved at whatever level of politics so that you can make the difference on the scale that is required.”

Leaders of Pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, have paid a visit to a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at his home in Lagos.

They include Afenifere leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Chief Supo Sonibare, Oba Olaitan Oladipo, and retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Tunji Alapini.

This is coming days after Tinubu returned from a medical trip to the United Kingdom where he underwent knee surgery.

The last time Tinubu and Adebanjo met was in April when the former Afenifere spokesman, Yinka Odumakin died.

Prior to the visit, Adebanjo had told PUNCH Online interview programme, The Roundtable that the reason why Tinubu has been silent on the herdsmen crisis is that he thinks the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), will make him his successor.

In another interview with SUNDAY PUNCH, Adebanjo stated that Buhari won’t hand over power to Tinubu, adding that they are both deceiving themselves.

He said, “I have said it openly before and I would say it again that Buhari is deceiving Tinubu and Tinubu is deceiving Buhari. I’m an old man and I’m a funeral candidate already, so quote me. If Tinubu contests the primary in APC today, he will fail.”

Adebanjo then advised Tinubu and other APC members from the South-West to leave the party in the interest of Yorubaland.

He said, “I have always told them, from Tinubu downwards, that it’s better they save themselves speedily. I’m talking to all of them, that in the interest of Yorubaland and the country, they should get out of the carcass they call APC. I made a public pronouncement that they were a conglomeration of incompatibles. It’s on record. I said it then and I’m still saying it now; if they don’t save themselves early enough, then they are ready for a disaster.”