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Tag: 2018 budget

  • $1bn insurgency fund might be supplementary part of 2018 Budget – Ita Enang

    Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, Senator Ita Enang, has said the one billion dollars insurgency fund approved by governors for the Federal Government to tackle insecurity in the country might pass as a supplementary bill in the 2018 budget.

    The Presidential aide stated this while addressing Statehouse correspondents on Friday in Abuja, saying that the money had yet to be drawn down.

    He stated that before drawing the amount the approval of the National Assembly would be sought after through an appropriation process.

    He said that if the process was completed before the passage of the 2018 appropriation bill the amount could be disbursed but, if not, Buhari would submit it as part of Supplementary Bill for passage by the NASS.

    “No money in law can be taken from there and spent without appropriation and that is not contemplated.

    “Before appropriation is sent, details have to be obtained as to what the Nigerian Army, Air Force, Navy component, what other support services, the intelligence community, need.

    “It is the details of the needs that Mr President will forward but I am aware that the appropriate authorities are working on the details of how it will be applied so that the details will be tied together,” he said.

    He said that, thereafter, the NASS would be apprised of it before being forwarded as appropriation amendment or further input to the 2018 appropriation.

    The legislative aide stated that the President and members of the executive would not do anything unlawful, adding that the matter would not be laid before the legislature now as the processes had yet to be completed.

    “Until the processes are completed and the details of how it would be applied by each of the services and other matters, that is when the NASS would be apprised,” he added.

    Enang also addressed the concerns of some governors on the fund saying that security matters do not recognized parties, religions or individuals, and could put the entire country into trouble if not well tackled.

    He cited instances such as when the OPC problem in the South-West and the militancy in the South-South cropped up and the entire country came together to resolve the impasse.

    He said it was through such processes that the Niger Delta Ministry and the Amnesty office were created as well as the removal of on shore/off shore dichotomy which placed more money in the South-South states.

    He appealed to those criticizing the move to consider that the entire country was being affected by various kinds of insurgency adding that the amount would be used to solve many of the national security challenges.

     

  • Senate, Adeosun war over FG’s plan to pass 2018 budget in January

    Senate, Adeosun war over FG’s plan to pass 2018 budget in January

    The Senate on Tuesday challenged the Minister of Finance kemi Adeosun, on Federal Government’s insistence on passing the 2018 Budget in January when less than 50 per cent of the 2017 budget was only implemented.

    The upper chamber also queried why the 2017 Budget had no correlation to the 2018 Budget, insisting the implementation, if passed by January, would be poor because of the size of Nigeria.

    Chairman Senate Committee on Finance, Sen. John Eno, made the position known during the budget defence of the ministry.

    Eno asked to know how the ministry achieved 64 per cent budget performance in 2017 when other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were nearly scratching below 40 per cent.

    Responding, Adeosun said the ministry was working to raise all the MDAs to 50 per cent performance before the end of the year.

    On leakages in Federal Government earnings, she said the ministry would look into other agencies, outside the Federal Inland Revenue Service, that could augment earnings as pointed out.

    “We have taken on board some of key reform initiatives. A total of N306 billion is expected from privatisation and N5 billion from sale of other government’s property to finance the deficit.“

    She said oil revenue would contribute 37 per cent of the total revenue of N6.6 trillion.

    Others, according to her, are recovered looted funds, 7.8 per cent; tax amnesty, 1.3 per cent; signature bonus, 1.7 per cent; joint venture equity restructuring, 10.7 per cent; grants and donors funding, three per cent and others, 5.5 per cent.

    The minister said the revenue targeted for 2017 was largely achieved, with a record of 64 per cent performance.

  • News Hour: Senate condemns Buhari’s 2018 budget; says ‘it was poorly prepared’ I TNGtv

    News Hour: Senate condemns Buhari’s 2018 budget; says ‘it was poorly prepared’ I TNGtv

  • Drama as Senate uncovers padding, duplication of items in Fashola’s 2018 ministry budget

    Drama as Senate uncovers padding, duplication of items in Fashola’s 2018 ministry budget

    There was mild drama on Monday as the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy uncovered padding of proposed expenditures and duplication of items in the in the 2018 budget estimates of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing.

    In the budget proposals, the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South-led Senate Committee discovered that N120 million, N480 million and N288 million respectively, were budgeted for the purchase of utility vehicles by the ministry headed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

    In the case of NEPZA, it emerged that the agency had raised its 2018 personnel budget by N205 million. That was besides the claim that the same agency in 2017 succeeded in padding its budget by N122 million.

    According to the lawmakers, duplication of items has remained a recurring episode, where the Ministry present the same items repeatedly in the budget and ask for more funds to execute them.

    During the 2018 budget defence, the Committee members queried the Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Mustapha Baba Shahuru and the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Frank Edozie for duplicating items in the budget. In the 2018 budget, the Ministry earmarked N100 million for transfer and management of office files with the senators expressing anger over what they described as repetition of projects by the ministry.

    The duplications were discovered when Senator Clifford Ordia, PDP, Edo Central raised the alarm over the duplication of purchase of utility vehicles, captured in three separate pages of the budget document, just as he asked the Minister and the Permanent Secretary to explain how the Ministry would spend N100 million to transfer files, despite another huge provision for ICT.

    Senator Ordia said: “I need to understand this thing. Look at the different pages. You earmarked N120 million, N288 million and N480 million for the purchase of vehicles. I do not understand. Are these vehicles different? If you add up this figure, it gives you about N888 million. “You also said that you want to spend N100 million on transfer of office files. How do you intend to do that? The people in your office, what have they been doing? I can also see from your estimates here that you captured another item for ICT, different from the N100 million for transfer of files. You need to explain these things.”

    Corroborating Ordia, Senator Hassan Mohammed, APC, Yobe South, who took a swipe at the ministry officials, said that as lawmakers, they were tired of being bombarded every year with the same items, adding that the Ministry must put its house in order.

    Chairman of the committee, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who revealed that the 2017 budget (capital) of the Ministry only recorded 18 per cent performance, said: “We will take it that the 2017 budget was abysmally low at only 18 per cent performance. This is unacceptable and I need to put it on record.” Senators were surprised when the Minister of State, Shahuru, could not respond to questions posed to him and appealed to the committee to allow the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Edozie to provide answers on his behalf.

    There was, however, a mild drama when the Senators vehemently rejected his proposal that the Permanent Secretary should answer all the questions because he had already introduced himself as the representative of Fashola.

    Turning down Shahuru’s request, Senator Abaribe said: “You were sent here to represent the Minister. It means you are here to respond to our questions. Last week, we invited the permanent secretary to respond. Today, it is your turn. “My colleagues asked me how come you are the person here and not Fashola. But I told them since you were also a Minister, you could be here to on behalf of your Minister.”

    Defending Fashola, the Minister of State told the lawmakers that Fashola was attending to other state matters. Last week, the committee walked out Fashola over his alleged “unpreparedness to face the committee for his 2018 budget defence” because he did not come with necessary documentations.

    Speaking on Fashola’s refusal to face the Committee, Senator Abaribe said: “Maybe Fashola decided to snub us because of some media reports, last week. But he ought not to have been angry by that. I am sure that was why he sent you because he did not want to come here. “I said it that it was deliberate that Fashola did not show up. What we need to scrutinise the budget was not provided. We needed some things to make the process easy. Nobody is satisfied with these vague items. We are going to have to adjourn this meeting, pending when we will get these submissions from you.”

    Abaribe asked the Minister of State and the Permanent Secretary to inform Fashola that he must present himself at the next yet -to-be date for the budget defence session. The Minister of State and other officials of the Ministry were asked to go back and return prepared next time.

    Abaribe said: “We are asking you to inform the Minister to be here to properly respond to all the questions we need to ask. We will do a comprehensive letter asking for explanation on items where we have raised questions. That will guide you in giving your submissions. We need you to be prepared when next you come.”

  • UPDATE: As predicted, Ambode presents N1.046trn 2018 budget proposal to Lagos Assembly

    As predicted by TheNewsGuru, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Monday presented a N1.046 trillion 2018 budget proposal to the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    Following the trends of the State’s previous year’s budgets, TheNewsGuru predicted Governor Ambode will most likely present a 2018 budget towering more than N1 trillion.

    On Monday, TheNewsGuru reports the State’s Governor presented a budget of One Trillion, Forty-six Billion, One Hundred and Twenty-one Million, One Hundred and Eighty-one Thousand, Six Hundred and Eighty naira (N1,046,121) to the State House of Assembly.

    The Lagos State Governor presented the budget proposal to the House with a pledge that his administration will make every effort to complete all ongoing projects as well as initiate new ones to consolidate on the development recorded in the last 30 months.

    Governor Ambode, who christened the 2018 Budget as “Budget of Progress and Development”, said it would be used to consolidate on the achievements recorded in infrastructure, education, transportation/traffic management, security and health sectors.

    Lagos state 2018 Budget outline

    Outlining the key components of the budget, Governor Ambode said capital expenditure would gulp N699.082billion while N347.039billion would be dedicated to recurrent expenditure, representing a Capital/Recurrent ratio of 67 percent to 33 percent and a 28.67 percent increase over Y2017 budget.

    Giving a sectoral breakdown at a press briefing in Alausa, Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Akinyemi Ashade said General Public Services got N171,623bn, representing 16.41 percent; Public Order and Safety, N46.612bn, representing 4.46; Economic Affairs, N473,866bn, 45.30 percent; Environmental Protection, N54,582bn, representing 5.22percent while Housing and Community Amenities got N59,904bn, representing 5.73 percent.

    Ashade also told journalists that Health sector got N92.676billion, representing 8.86percent; Recreation, Culture and Religion got N12.511billion, representing 1.20 percent; Education got N126.302billion representing 12.07percent, while Social Protection got N8.042billion representing 0.77percent.

    Governor Ambode said that despite the modest achievements recorded in 2017, there was still much work ahead, assuring that Government would not relent in its efforts to give Lagosians the best by way of continuous and efficient service delivery.

    “Lagos has always been a trailblazer and we must consolidate on the economic gains made so far by initiating people-friendly programmes and projects that will attract more economic improvement in Y2018.

    “It is our resolve in Y2018 to strive and complete all on-going projects in order to meet their specified completion period and embark on new strategic projects.

    We intend to improve on our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in the face of the dwindling accruable revenue allocation from the Federal Government, sustain our vision on wealth creation and poverty alleviation,” Governor Ambode said.

    Infrastructural development/Projects

    The Governor also listed key projects captured in the 2018 Budget to include the Agege Pen Cinema flyover; alternative routes through Oke-Ira in Eti-Osa to Epe-Lekki Expressway; the 8km regional road to serve as alternative route to connect Victoria Garden City (VGC) with Freedom Road in Lekki Phase I; completion of the on-going reconstruction of Oshodi International Airport Road into a 10-lane road and the BRT Lane from Oshodi to Abule-Egba.

    On infrastructural renewal, Governor Ambode said his administration remains committed to sustaining the tempo of continuous construction, rehabilitation, upgrading and maintenance of network of roads across the State including those within the boundary areas of Lagos and Ogun States and that the bus reform initiative would be consolidated with the introduction of high and medium capacity buses, construction and completion of bus depots at Oshodi, Anthony, Yaba and many others.

    He also said the movement of Mile 12 market to Imota had reached an advanced stage and would be completed in good time to pave way for relocation next year, while the 181 Local Government Roads will be commenced as contractors will be mobilized immediately, as well as continuous gridlock resolution, junction improvement, construction of more laybys and advancement of signalization that will improve traffic congestion especially along the Lekki-Epe corridor.

    On Housing, Governor Ambode said that all on-going projects especially those at Gbagada, Igbogbo, Iponri, Igando, Omole Phase I, Sangotedo and Ajara-Badagry would be completed for delivery under the Rent-to-Own policy.

    Job creation/human capital building

    In the area of job creation, Governor Ambode said the Government would construct an ICT Focus Incubator Centre in Yaba, commence the development of Imota and Igbonla Light Industrial Park as well as the provision of additional small scale industrial estate at Shala, while the State Employment Trust Fund will disburse more funds to Lagosians to support business and stimulate the economy.

    He said the Budget would also focus on mandatory capacity building for civil servants, all teachers in public secondary/primary schools, officers in the health service sector and women and youth empowerment alongside Medium and Small/Micro Size Entrepreneurs (MSMSE’s).

    Power generation

    Governor Ambode assured that his administration will vigorously pursue its planned direct intervention in the power value chain towards generating 3,000MW Embedded Power Programme within a three-year plan to achieving 24/7 power supply for the State, stressing that the challenge of inadequate power supply must be resolved for the economy to perform optimally.

    Entertainment, Sports, and tourism

    He said within the 2018 fiscal year, the Government would continue to rekindle its efforts in the area of Tourism, Sports, Arts and Culture as well as embark on some major projects that would ensure that the State emerges as the hub for tourism, sports and entertainment.

    He listed some of the projects to include completion of the five new Art Theatres; establish a Heritage Centre at the former Federal Presidential State House recently handed over to the State Government; build a world class museum between the former Presidential Lodge and the State House, Marina; fast-track construction of the proposed four new stadia in Igbogbo, Epe, Badagry and Ajeromi Ifelodun (Ajegunle) and complete the on-going Epe and Badagry Marina projects.

     

    While acknowledging the cooperation and support received from Lagosians, members of the Business Community, Professional Bodies, Non-governmental Organizations and the State Civil Servants in years past, the Governor noted that the modest achievements by his administration within a short period couldn’t have been possible without residents who have been paying their taxes willingly and faithfully.

    Besides, Governor Ambode urged residents to embrace the Public Utility Levy as the Cleaner Lagos Initiative aimed at ensuring a cleaner and healthier environment would commence in 2018.

    Governor Ambode also commended members of the House of Assembly for their selfless service and support, saying that they have proven themselves to be dynamic and robust lawmakers and partners in progress.

     

    Receiving the budget, Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon Mudashiru Obasa commended Governor Ambode for faithfully executing the year 2017 budget, saying the positive impact of such had been felt across the State with various projects such as the Abule Egba, Ajah and Pen Cinema Flyovers, among other numerous projects in various sectors.

    Obasa, who specifically lauded the fact that the 2018 budget estimate had provision for continuous infrastructural development in various sectors such as transport, security, environment, housing, health and capacity building for all public servants including teachers and health workers, however assured that the House would scrutinize it and ensure that the budget delivered on its promises to stimulate the economy of the State by focusing on infrastructure development, delivering inclusive growth and prioritizing the welfare of all Lagosians.

    The event was attended by dignitaries in the State including members of the State Executive Council led by the Deputy Governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, former Speakers of the Lagos State House of Assembly, members of the National Assembly from Lagos State, former Deputy Governors of the State, party chieftains, traditional rulers, religious leaders, among others.

     

  • 2018 Budget: Buhari postpones FEC meeting to Thursday

    The weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, expected to hold on Wednesday (today) has been postponed to Thursday (tomorrow) to allow for completion of preparation of the 2018 budget.

    This was revealed in a tweet by the official handle of Office of the President @NGRPresident on Wednesday.

    The Presidency reiterated its commitment to return the annual budget calendar to January – December, hence its decision to work towards passing the 2018 budget before the end of 2017.

    “Federal Executive Council (FEC) Meeting will hold tomorrow, Thursday, Oct 26. Agenda is #Budget2018, which is currently being finalized.”

    “We’re on course with plans to have passed into law before the end of 2017, and restore the budget calendar to Jan—Dec”

    The meeting, as usual, will be presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari who just arrived from a working visit to Niger.

    The Minister of Budget and Planning, Udo Udoma, had in August announced that the 2018 budget estimates will be submitted to the National Assembly for consideration at the end of October.

  • 2018 budget ready, to be passed to NASS for approval before month end – FG

    The Federal Government has reiterated its determination to pass the 2018 budget to the National Assembly before October ending.

    This disclosure was made by the minister of state for Budget and National Planning Hajia Zainab Mohammed at a press briefing to mark the end of the 23rd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja on Thursday.

    Hajia Mohammed said the prepared 2018 budget will be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari shortly for the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval before the budget is finally transmitted to the National Assembly.

    The minister noted that the Federal Government hope to commence the implementation of the budget from January 2018.

    “We are working closely with the legislature. We want to ensure the budget is passed in December so that it start to work from January 2018” she said.

    Zainab Mohammed who was silent on when the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) will be presented to the National Assembly said she was optimistic that the 2018 budget will passed in time to meet the January commencement of the fiscal year as planned.

    The MTEF is supposed to be submitted to the legislature months before the budget but with the minister’s revelation that the budget will be submitted this month, it is unclear if the budgeting process will not be thrown into another controversy.

    The MTEF is supposed to guide the legislators in passing the main budget and pointing them in the general direction of government’s fiscal activities for the coming three years.

    Speaking on the power sector tariff crisis, Zainab Mohammed stated that “it is clear no new investor will come without tidying the issue tariff adjustment. They insist the current tariff is not sustainable but the new tariff will be a joint agreement with all stakeholders.”

    The Federal Government she said: “will carry out another privatisation exercise for the power sector because what we sought to achieve by the previous privatisation has not been achieved. It has not worked well.”
    According to her, “government is still a shareholder in the current arrangement and so we want to call all existing stakeholders to the table and agree on way forward. We will agree on the level of shareholding and other issues so that this power issue can be addressed once and for all.”

    According to the minister, power “is key to economic development and it is something the government is determined to ensure it works.”

    On private sector players’ worry that government heavy local borrowing has crippled banks’ ability to lend to them, the Minister said “the government will reduce local borrowing for private sector to get adequate credit to operate.”
    Regarding recommendations aggregated for the successful execution of the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), she said: “We will review them and we have said the functional economic laboratories will be set up across the country in two weeks from now. We are not waiting for months. It is part of the recommendations.”An issue that generated a lot talk at the summit was the multitude of bills pending before the National Assembly which if passed will accelerate economic growth. Zainab Mohammed on her part said “there are pending bills and we always try to carry out economic impact on them. For instance, the Competition Bill has the capacity to create 381,000 jobs annually, generate revenue of N148.3 billion yearly. It will also lead to a 10 per cent reduction in price of goods.”

    “For the National Transportation Commission Bill, it will also boost job creation and government revenue,” the minister said.

     

  • National Assembly gets 2018 Budget by October – Presidency

    The Presidency has assured Nigerians that the Nigeria’s 2018 Appropriation Bill will be submitted to the National Assembly in October.

    Ita Enang, Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters (Senate), gave the assurance when he appeared at the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja.

    The National Assembly had last year fixed October as deadline for the submission of the bill.

    Mr. Enang said the federal government accept the deadline as sacrosanct and was committed to meeting it.

    He said that the government was working assiduously to ensure that the deadline was complied with to take the country back to the annual budget cycle of January to December.

    According to him, different Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have made their budget inputs and submissions to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning.

    “The ministers are already appearing before the ministry and defending their submissions.

    “It is intended that in the next few days they would have completed the exercise and have the total of the budget as well as get ready with the final draft.

    “Everything is being done to ensure that we keep to the date,’’ Mr. Enang said.

    He added that in presenting the 2018 proposal in October, “the National Assembly will consider it between October and November and by December it would have been passed.

    “The current budget will end in 12 months and having been signed on June 12, 2016, the budget is legally to run between June 12, 2017 and June 12, 2018.

    “But the intention of the government is to make sure that the implementation date and assent will be for January 1, 2018 so that we will return the budget to the conventional January.’’

    Mr. Enang also said that the National Assembly was committed to ensuring that the budget was passed in time after presentation by the Executive.

    “This was a negotiated position between the executive and the legislature and in fact, the legislature is more anxious to get the budget passed by December and assented to in January.

    “It is what was discussed and agreed and we are working together; there is harmony and there is understanding and unison on this subject.

    “There is no matter that will frustrate this because all things were taken into account at arriving at this decision,’’ he said.

    Examining the 2016 budget performance, the presidential aide said that the government recorded some constraints in the execution of capital projects.

    “We made it clear that most of the funds for capital projects will come from borrowing and if it has to come from external sources, it will have to be approved by the National Assembly.

    “If the National Assembly approves the borrowing and the international agency from which you intend to borrow the money did not release the money, you cannot release it for capital projects.

    “Also, sometimes it is the slow procurement process by different ministries that affect the implementation of capital projects.

    “Some get proactive by setting timelines of when they will advertise, open the bid, open for selection and when they will seek certificate of no objection, while some ministries start it late.

    “Some start it and get stuck within their processes and sometimes one file lies in one place or the other in longer time so it affects the procurement.

    “This is one of the things that affect capital implementation.’’

    Mr. Enang further said that passage of statutory budgets of government corporations and agencies by the National Assembly when it resumed September 26 from its seven-week recess was vital to reviving the economy.

    According to him, the passage of budgets of agencies like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service will boost the country’s economy.

    He explained that approval of budgets of the statutory corporations and agencies was a requirement of the law that must be carried out by the national assembly.

    Mr. Enang said that the process was crucial in making life bearable for the citizenry.

    “It has become necessary for Nigerians to know that it is time for this country to begin to rip dividends from its own investments.

    “The world has given notice to Nigeria and the economy of the world that oil is going to be less important and that makes it necessary for us to go back to the investment we made in each of these parastatals.

    “So, approval of these budgets as the national assembly resumes will create employment, make money available to fund the budget and make it certain that the parastatals are now contributing non-oil revenue to the budget,’’ he said.