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Tag: 2021 Budget

  • Sanwo-Olu Signs 2021 ₦1.16trn Budget Into Law

    Sanwo-Olu Signs 2021 ₦1.16trn Budget Into Law

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Sanwo-Olu has signed into law the 2021 budget of ₦1.55trn, noting that his administration will continue its work of rebuilding the state.

    Sanwo-Olu, show signed the budget on Thursday reiterated the government’s commitment in advancing economic growth, and expanding opportunities for residents of the state to flourish despite the economic challenges caused by the coronavirus.

    “With the passage of the bill, we will continue our work of rebuilding Lagos, advancing economic growth, and expanding opportunities for Lagosians to flourish despite the economic challenges caused by the coronavirus,” he said.

    “As we already know, 2020 will go down in history as a peculiar year largely defined by the COVID 19 Pandemic and the ENDSARS protests, which were recklessly hijacked by those who destroyed some of our public assets and private businesses.

    “We are, however, fortunate to be going into the New Year, with an already passed budget, which will help to expedite our recovery process.

    “A significant portion of the budget has been committed to human capital development, youth engagement, social intervention initiatives, and the completion of ongoing projects that are critical to achieving the objectives of our T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.

    “The Honourable Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget will present to the general public the full details and breakdown of the budget in due course.”

    The budget christened the Budget of Rekindled Hope consists of N702,935,416,976 capital expenditure and N460,586,793,741 recurrent expenditure.

  • JUST IN: Buhari Signs 2021 Budget, Finance Bill Into Law

    JUST IN: Buhari Signs 2021 Budget, Finance Bill Into Law

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday signed the 2021 budget and the finance bill into law at the Council Chambers of the State House in Abuja.

    This comes ten days after both chambers of the National Assembly passed the N13.5trn budget and three days after it was transmitted to the President for assent.

    President Buhari presented the proposed 2021 budget to the National Assembly on October 8.

    The National Assembly, while approving the proposal on December 21, raised the estimate of N13.082 trillion to N13.588 trillion.

    This was an increase of N505 billion from the proposed figures presented by the Buhari administration.

    The budget signing is to ensure a January to December budget calendar.

    It is tagged the budget of economic recovery and resilience and, according to the president, is critical for the legacy of this administration in ensuring security, economic growth, and implementing health and emergency measures to counter the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The president also promised that the budget will address the challenges caused by the pandemic on the economy.

    On revenue generation, President Buhari warned heads of revenue-generating agencies to remit early and threatened sanctions for defaulters.

    President Buhari on Thursday announced that specific borrowing plans will be forwarded to the national assembly soon.

    After the signing ceremony, Channels Television questioned the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, on the use of over N3 trillion to service debts and his thoughts on more loan requests from the president.

    In response, the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Fem Gbahabiamila, both urged Nigerians to focus on what the loans are used for.

    They both stated that borrowing is a natural option when revenue is low and assured Nigerians that the National Assembly will ensure all monies borrowed must be used for the capital projects they are slated for.

  • Kaduna Govt to spend N2.8bn on water, sanitation, hygiene in 2021

    Kaduna Govt to spend N2.8bn on water, sanitation, hygiene in 2021

    The Kaduna State Government has earmarked N2.8bn to be spent on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) interventions in 2021 under its Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency.

    The amount is contained in the 2021 budget approved document on Tuesday.

    The document also showed that N1.4 billion was earmarked as a marching grant for Partnership for Expanded Water Supply, Hygiene and Sanitation (PEWASH) project.

    In the budget document, N924.7m was allocated for the construction and installation of 675 hand pumps boreholes as well as procurement of two drilling rigs and accompanying equipment at N622.8 million and N301.9 million respectively.

    The document also indicated that N262.4 million was earmarked for the construction of 1,716 blocks of gender-sensitive sanitation facilities in institutions and public places.

    N79.8 million will be spent on refurbishing and maintenance of three units of drilling rigs and components as well as the purchase of workshop materials.

    The government, however, allocated N51.7 million for the institutionalisation of the Village Level Operation and Maintenance concept in 525 communities for the sustainability of PEWASH facilities and N1.2 million for conducts of quarterly campaigns to promote effective hand washing.

    According to the document, N4.7 million was earmarked to train 414 facilitators of community-led total sanitation in the 23 local government areas of the state.

    The document added that N54.8 million would be spent on mechanisms for tracking, monitoring, contract management, media and publicity, supervision among other logistics in all project sites.

    The budget document equally showed that the state government allocated N32.8 million to the state’s Water Service Regulatory Commission for capital projects in 2021.

    Of the amount, N12.5 million would be expended on water resources infrastructure assessment and N4.9 million on development of the mini-water quality laboratory.

    Also, N4.3 million was earmarked for the development and management of information and communication technology facilities while N11 million would be expended on development and production of regulations, standards and guidelines.

  • Deltans will have cause to celebrate when I leave office by 2023 – Okowa

    Deltans will have cause to celebrate when I leave office by 2023 – Okowa

    Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has said the people of his State would have every reason to celebrate by 2023 when he would be out of office.

    Okowa stated this during the signing into law of the State’s 2021 Appropriation Bill, giving assurance that the state government would strive to recover from the economic challenges engendered by COVID-19 pandemic.

    He said Deltans have done so well in praying for his administration and that he can assure that his government would finish all of the programmes of the administration.

    Okowa, who signed the bill on Monday in Asaba, commended the state’s House of Assembly for speedy passage of the Bill and said that signing the budget with a month to the end of 2020 would avail the state government the spportunity to plan further towards the implementation of the 2021 budget from January, 2020.

    He thanked God for the warm working relationship between the executive and the legislature in the state, and said that the government would remain focused in implementing the budget as passed, for the benefit of all Deltans.

    “You have just witnessed my signing into law the 2021 Appropriation Bill, and as I said on Oct. 27, during the presentation of the bill, we are in very difficult times this year, no doubt both in this country and globally.

    “And, with the second wave of the pandemic, it will create a further challenge for the recovery of the economy of our nation.

    “However, we are optimistic that in the 2021 fiscal year, things will gradually improve and we will be able to get back to the levels of infrastructural development and the human capital development for our people.

    “This is very necessary because there is a lot of pain; there is a lot of unemployment and our people are generally getting restive nationally and I pray that God will help us and this nation to rediscover ourselves and to commit every work of our people and our state and nation for the common good of all our citizens.

    “The budget is termed ‘budget of economic recovery’ because we are very much aware of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, both on our health systems and the economy of the country, which is still largely dependent on the oil economy,’’ he said.

    The governor explained that a lot was being done to grow the agricultural sector nationwide, including Delta, but stated that the programme would take time for it to begin to manifest meaningfully.

    According to him, as long as we are still dependent mainly on the oil economy with the global pandemic going, we definitely have a lot of shortfall, both in the prices and the volumes of oil that is being sold in the international market.

    “This obviously impacted negatively on our budget in 2020 that we had to reduce our budget downward twice in the year.

    “However, I want to use this medium to appreciate our various contractors who had continued to stay in their various sites to work even when it is becoming increasingly difficult to make payments on contractual agreements already made.

    “We will continue to be very responsible as a state and we will continue to work with them to deliver on our projects,” he stated.

    The governor expressed delight that some of the key projects were still on course, including the new Secretariat building which was nearing completion and Ughelli-Asaba road dualisation, which would be completed in March, 2022.

    “I want to reassure you, Mr Speaker and all Deltans that the executive will keep focus on the development of projects that we are involved in, in the development of roads, schools, health institutions and we will continue to stay on course in trying to create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive,” he said.

    He disclosed that work had commenced at the Ogwashi-Uku Agro-Industrial Park, and reaffirmed that the state government was committed to delivering the project on time.

    Okowa stated that the state would continue to focus on entrepreneurship programmes, and would take it to higher levels in the 2021 fiscal year by engaging more youths.

    He said that the state government was also paying attention to the girl-child and the empowerment of our women.

    “It is our hope and prayer that we will be able to achieve a reasonably budgeted amount of revenue, so that we can truly impact positively on all aspects of our economy, touching every community and every local government in the state.

    “Deltans have done so well in praying for us and I can assure them that we shall finish all of those programmes and when we shall be leaving in 2023, Deltans and the government will have cause to say `thank God’ for all that we have achieved,” Okowa stated.

    Presenting the Appropriation Bill to the governor earlier, The Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, said that the Bill went through all legislative process before passage.

    Oborevwori recalled that Bill was presented to the House on 27th October, 2020 and was passed on 17 November, 2020 after it was considered sector-by-sector.

    “It is with great pleasure that I present to you the 2021 Appropriation Bill passed by the House of Assembly for your assent.

    “The urgency with which it was passed was informed by the legislative agenda of the House to partner with the executive to put the state on the path of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged the world.

    “We were mindful of the fact that the quick passage of the bill was necessitated by Your Excellency’s vision to bring the state out of the economic challenges posed by the pandemic,” he said.

    The budget figure was increased to N383 billion from N378.48 billion proposed by the governor. Recurrent expenditure is N173 billion and capital expenditure, N210billion.

    The speaker had explained that the increase in the budget as proposed by the governor was to provide for some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that were not captured in the proposal.

  • Nigeria needs N400b yearly to fix roads – Senate

    Nigeria needs N400b yearly to fix roads – Senate

    THE Senate has said Nigeria needs N400 billion for the maintenance of 35,000 kilometers of Federal roads across the country.

    It described the N38 billion earmarked for road maintenance in the 2021 budget estimates as paltry compared to the serious maintenance required on the nation’s Federal roads.

    This is even as the National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriation said it was working hard to submit a harmonised report on the N13.08trillion 2021 budget proposal on December 3.

    The Chairman of Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Gershom Bassey (Cross River South), decried the poor budgetary allocation for road maintenance in the 2021 Appropriation Bill while addressing reporters on Friday in Abuja.

    The senator explained that road maintenance in Nigeria, where road transportation is mostly used for the movement of people, goods and services across the country, could only be effectively carried out with about N400 billion each year.

    He added: “What the committee has just submitted to the Appropriation Committee for road maintenance in the 2021 fiscal year is the N38 billion proposed for it by the Executive, which cannot cover up to one-quarter of the entire length of deplorable roads in the country.

    “Unfortunately, despite having the power of Appropriation, we cannot as a committee jerk up the sum since we are not in a position to carry out the estimation of work to be done on each of the specific portions of the road.

    “Doing that without proposal to that effect from the Executive may lead to project insertion or padding, as often alleged in the media.

    “But the situation on ground, as far as the Committee on FERMA in both chambers are concerned, is very bad. It requires far more than the N38 billion earmarked.

    “If the roads are well maintained on yearly basis, reconstruction and rehabilitation, which require bigger amounts of money and years to carry out, may not be necessary as frequently as they are now.”

    As his committee was the last to submit its report to the Appropriation Committee on Friday, the Chairman, Jibrin Barau (APC, Kano North), said the next stage would be to scrutinise the reports, harmonise them with the House of Representatives for submission at both chambers on Thursday.

    He said: “The process of presentation of reports as regards the 2021 budget estimates for the various MDAs (Ministries, Departments and Agencies) by the various committees scrutinising them is over, since all of them have submitted their reports.

    “What remains now is for those of us in the Appropriation Committee to collate the reports in harmonisation with the House of Representatives for final consideration and passage by both chambers.

    “The timetable for that has already been drawn up and we shall work assiduously by submitting the harmonised report of the budgetary proposal to the Senate on December 3, 2020, for final consideration and passage latest by the following week.”

  • Recession: No plan to review 2021 spending estimates, says Buhari’s finance minister

    Recession: No plan to review 2021 spending estimates, says Buhari’s finance minister

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, yesterday in Abuja, said there is no plan to review the 2021 budget currently before the National Assembly.

    She has also allayed the fears of federal civil servants that the country’s entering into recession might stall salary payments of workers.

    Briefing journalists after the weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in the State House, Ahmed said even the consequential adjustment in the 2020 budget wholly addressed salary matters.

    “On the 2021 budget, we are not planning to retrieve the budget or to reverse the budget beyond the work of appropriation that the National Assembly is currently doing in consultation with us,” she said.

    According to her, payments of workers’ salaries are guaranteed despite the recession, noting that issues bordering on any challenge on salary payments, which only had to do with agencies funded through the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) had been remedied.

    She further explained that should any challenge on salary payments eventually arise, all that will be done is to move funds from the service-wide vote in the budget to the affected agencies so that they can pay salaries from their budgets, insisting that the issue of salary payments during the recession is a settled matter.

    “On the issue of federal workers’ salaries, there’s no issue with federal workers’ salaries. We have paid salaries for November and we shall pay salaries for December. So, there’s no issue at all with federal workers’ salaries.

    “If you hear about any issue, it is for agencies whose budget funding on the GIFMIS (Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System) system was exhausted and we are about to make an adjustment to them.

    “When we were doing the 2020 budget, we made estimates of the consequential adjustment that is required as a result of the minimum wage and we had sent the budget before a decision and approval were taken on the consequential adjustment. So, it is anticipated that some agencies might run short and we made a block provision in the service-wide vote of the budget.

    “So, when we have such a situation, what we simply do is remove the fund from the service-wide vote to the agency so that they pay from their budgets. So, there’s no problem of payment of salaries at all,” she said.

    Also asked on how the federal government hopes to bring Nigeria out of the recession, Ahmed said the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) had been conceived in anticipation of recession to facilitate Nigeria’s exit.

    She explained that already huge funds had already been released to fund capital projects adding that implementation of the ESP along with the 2020 budget would help Nigeria out of the recession which she said would be short-lived.

    ” You will recall that the ESP was designed to be a 12-month plan, to act as a bridge between the ERGP and its successor plan, but also it was designed specifically to help us quickly exit recession, which we had projected was going to happen.

    “So, the ESP implementation is really on course. It’s focused and also the implementation of the 2020 Budget is really on course and is very focused. We have been able to release a large volume of capital funding into ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), enabling a lot of public works going on simultaneously all over the country.

    “So, how we will maintain this is to make sure we continue to implement the ESP as it is planned. It will help us exit the recession. It will help us reset back on the path of growth and on a road that is sustainable,” she added.

  • Lawan reveals when NASS will pass Nigeria’s 2021 budget

    Lawan reveals when NASS will pass Nigeria’s 2021 budget

    The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan says the National Assembly will pass the 2021 budget of N13. 08 trillion by the second week of December.

    Lawan made this known while declaring open a retreat for members of National Assembly Management and National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) in Abuja on Friday.

    The Senate had in October, adjourned plenary for budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

    “We are working to pass the 2021 budget by the second week of December and we are working very assiduously, we will ensure there is every possible scrutiny of the budget presented by the executive arm of government.

    “So far, we achieved that in 2020 budget. We believe that we did the right thing, we promised Nigerians we will do that and it is going to be part of our legacy in the 9th National Assembly,” Lawan said.

    The President of the Senate said that other critical areas that will be considered when the Upper Chamber resume on Nov. 24 ,was the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    “The PIB which is one of the most essential legislations to have in this country, we intend to pass it before the end of the second quarter of 2021.

    “And then again, we will take our time because this is a very delicate and sensitive piece of legislation.

    “We will ensure what comes out of the National Assembly in the PIB is a product of legislation that will ensure that Nigeria earns its revenues from the oil and gas, as it should.

    “And of course, also, we will support our business people, the oil companies that are investing, and in fact retain and encourage new ones to invest in Nigeria,” he said.

    Lawan aded:”So it has to be a win situation, win for all of us. We will not be selfish as a country, trying to take everything; no, oil is like water now. Almost every country now has oil.

    “So if you don’t provide a competitive environment, the oil companies will have no difficulty relocating to other countries.

    “So we will ensure that we have a competitive environment for business and for investments.”

    He said that the two committees on Constitution amendment at the Senate and House of Representatives were already working behind the scene to ensure that the amendment was done in 2021.

    “As soon as we pass the budget, the Constitution amendment activities will start in earnest.

    “We believe that we should pass our amendments within 2021,” he said.

    Lawan added that the amendment of the Electoral Act will also be done within 2021 in good time to prevent unnecessary distractions.

  • Delta Assembly passes N384bn appropriation bill for 2021

    Delta Assembly passes N384bn appropriation bill for 2021

    The Delta State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed the 2021 Appropriation Bill of N384 billion.

    The passage followed a report presented by the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Mr Festus Okoh, to the lawmakers during the plenary in Asaba.

    Presenting the report, Okoh said that the amount was made up of N173 billion for recurrent and N210 billion capital expenditures.

    He said that the figure was higher than the N378.4 billion earlier presented to the assembly by Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa.

    The budget showed a 1.6 per cent increase from what the state governor presented to the assembly.

    Okoh said that the budget showed a clear direction of government to shore up productivity and propel the state economy on the path of growth.

    He explained that after the budget was committed to his committee, various reports of the sub-committees and their recommendations were duly scrutinised.

    He said ”It will also help to improve processes and systems in public financial management, monitoring and evaluation for better service delivery.

    “It will as well increase opportunities for youths, women and unemployed graduates under various jobs and wealth creation programme.”

    The Majority Leader of the assembly, Mr Tim Owhefere, later moved a motion for the third reading and passage of the bill.

    The motion, which was unanimously adopted when put to a voice vote by the speaker, Chief Sheriff Oborevwori, was seconded by the Minority Leader, Mr Innocent Anidi.

    The speaker thanked the committee and members for their contributions to the speedy passage of the bill.

  • Tinubu reacts over Sanwo-Olu’s plan to strip him of pension packages

    Tinubu reacts over Sanwo-Olu’s plan to strip him of pension packages

    Former Governor of Lagos State, Chief Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reacted over the plan of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to repeal the State’s pension law that gives pension packages to former governors and their deputies.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Tinubu reacted to the development on Wednesday while congratulating Governor Sanwo-Olu for the presentation of the State 2021 budget christened Budget of Rekindled Hope.

    He described the Lagos State 2021 budget as audacious and enterprising and that it will empower the people of the State and begin to rebuild the State.

    Tinubu commended Sanwo-Olu for the plan to commence the repeal of the pension law giving pension packages to former governors and their deputies.

    He said it is a bold and courageous move by the Governor and that he wholeheartedly supports him. He also encouraged other Governors to do the same.

    “Congratulations to Governor Sanwo-Olu over the Y2021 budget which he appropriately christened” Budget of Rekindled Hope”.

    _This audacious and enterprising budget will empower our people and begin to rebuild Lagos State.

    “In particular, I would also like to commend the Governor for the plan to commence the repeal of the Pension Law giving pension packages to former governors and their deputies.

    “This is a bold and courageous move by Mr. Governor and I wholeheartedly support him. I encourage all APC loyalists to do the same,” Tinubu stated.

  • Minister calls out Wike in controversial budget defence moment

    Minister calls out Wike in controversial budget defence moment

    The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Farouk has said Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike refused to collect federal government palliatives for his people.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Farouk made the statement during a controversial moment on Tuesday while defending her ministry’s budget before the House Committee on Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) and Humanitarian Matters.

    Controversy started when Rep. Fatahu Muhammed (APC-Katsina) accused a member of the committee, Rep. Abiante Awaji-Inombek (PDP-Rivers) of attacking the minister with his questions.

    Awaji-Inombek had during budget defence by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development in Abuja said the document she presented before the committee was not comprehensive.

    He moved a motion that the minister be asked to go and re-present the budget to ensure it was comprehensive enough before presenting it to the committee.

    He also told the minister to explain why out of over 700 employed youths in the ministry that only two were from Rivers.

    He had also alleged that such recruitment was skewed, while pleading with the minister to ensure that such gap was closed to accommodate people from Rivers.

    The Chairman of the Committee, Mohammed Jega, in his reaction said such a move was an attempt to derail the committee from doing its job, adding however that his statement should not be taken as protecting the minister.

    Also reacting, Mohammed Seide a member of the committee said such statement credited to Awaji-Inombek was with the intention to harass the minister, advising members to guard their utterances.

    However, members of the committee agreed that the utterances of some members could not amount to harassment as was being interpreted by some.

    The minister while responding said that the ministry did not employ anyone, adding that staff members were posted from other ministries by the Head of Civil Service of the Federation.

    She said that the only body saddled with the responsibility of recruitment was the Federal Civil Service Commission.

    According to her, the ministry had also distributed palliative to all the state except Rivers which according to her, Gov. Nyesom Wike had refused to collect.

    The minister said that over 70,000 tons of grain were released by the Federal Government for onward delivery to the poor and vulnerable as palliative.

    She also said that contrary to insinuation, the ministry had not distributed cash in the name of palliative, adding that no cash was received from any organisation within or outside the country.

    The minister said she had operated within the money appropriated for the ministry, adding that some relief materials in term of food were given to the ministry by some organisations.

    Reps Committee turns back Farouk over incomplete budget document

    Meanwhile, the House committee on IDPs and Refugees stepped down the 2020/2021 budget review and consideration of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development due to incomplete details presented by the ministry.

    According to the Muhammad Umar Jega-led Committee, the 2020 budget performance documents presented to the Committee by the Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouk, were not only incomplete but short on required information to access the performance of the ministry’s budget performance for the period under review.

    Besides the vague description of several expenditures on some items, the Committee was disappointed that details of food palliative from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Nigerian Customs Service could not be found in the presentation.

    The Committee advised that the documents be taken back and preferred to include all necessary information required to access the ministry’s performance for the year, “Because Nigerians will want to know how their resources are being spent,” Jega said.

    The Minister, Farouk in her response said no physical cash was disbursed by the ministry as palliative but food palliative was distributed to every state and the FCT, except Rivers that was yet to get hers.

    She said cash palliative transfer was done through existing platforms available to the ministry.

    The rescheduled budget defense/presentation session is slated for next Tuesday.