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Tag: Committee

  • Why Buhari didn’t join other African leaders to sign Continental Free Trade Agreement

    …inaugurates FEC committee to review CFTA

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday raised a committee to review within two weeks, the content of the proposal for the Continental Free Trade Agreement (CFTA) and report back to the Federal Executive Council.

    Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina listed the committee members from the Ministries, Departments and Agencies as: Finance, Budget and National Planning, Labour, Foreign Affairs, Science and Technology, FIRS, CBN, Customs and Immigration.

    According to him the committee will “look into the proposals that are contained in the CFTA and they will brief the FEC within two weeks and a way forward will then be unfolded.’’

    He said that the explanation was necessary because the agreement was signed in Kigali, Rwanda, yesterday but the President did not attend the AU summit.

    Adesina said that the explanation by President Buhari to FEC which the council bought was that he would not want to agree to anything that would hinder local entrepreneurs as on the surface the agreement had the capacity to do so.

    He added that the President said he would not want to sign an agreement that could encourage the dumping of finished goods in Nigeria as it would be contrary to the country’s interest.

    Also Buhari stated that the country had yet to understand the full economic and security implications of the agreement and that more consultations with stakeholders were necessary.

    Adesina said some of the African countries could have signed treaties with other nations which, by the CFTA, would warrant their pumping products not needed in the country from other nations.

    Recall that 44 other African countries in Kigali on Wednesday signed the agreement establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The signing took place during the 10th Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU) on the AfCFTA.

    Chairperson of AU Commission Moussa Mahamat was handed over the legal instruments. After the signing, the agreement will be submitted for ratification by state parties of the agreement in accordance with their domestic laws.

    Experts said African regional integration will help enhance economic development.

    This will be achieved through the lowest transaction costs for business, lower risks associated with investments, expansion of markets, better utilisation of economies of scale in production and more efficient

    allocation of resources, said Ismael Buchanan, Dean of the School of Economics and Governance at the University of Rwanda.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo stressed the importance of intra-African trade for Africa’s economic development.

    Obasanjo who spoke yesterday at the AfCFTA Business Forum said African countries must unite and trade with each other.

    “I am surprised that any African leader at this time would be doubting or debating the benefits of what is going to be signed here and fail to show up,” he said.

    The AfCFTA is aimed at creating a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of businesses and investments.

    According to the AU, the AfCFTA will make Africa the largest free trade area in terms of the number of participating countries since the formation of the World Trade Organisation.

    It could create an African market of over 1.2 billion people with a GDP of 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars, the pan-African bloc said.

    The AfCFTA will progressively eliminate tariffs on intra-African trade, making it easier for African businesses to trade within the continent and cater to and benefit from the growing African market, said the AU.

    The UN Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the AfCFTA has the potential both to boost intra-African trade by 53.2 per cent by eliminating import duties, and to double this trade if non-tariff barriers are also reduced.

  • House committee commends NIMASA on budget implementation

    …As Dakuku assures Committee on Accountability

    The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has received commendations from the House of Representatives Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration for its performance in the 2017 budget implementation adding that NIMASA should strive to improve on its performance in 2018.

    The commendation was made by the House Committee led by its Chairman, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago who expressed delight on the Agency’s strides in repositioning the Nigerian maritime sector since the inception of this administration during an oversight visit to the Agency today.

    Speaking shortly after listening to a presentation from the Agency on 2017 budget performance, which was based on the five transformation agenda of the Dr. Dakuku led Management, Hon. Bago noted that there have been improvements in the Agency’s activities in the last year and it is a welcome development for the nation’s maritime industry.

    While also commending the Agency on the feat achieved in the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP) through the sea time training, which was hitherto a challenge in the recent past, the Committee urged the Agency to fast track the delivery of the fifth largest floating dock to Nigeria as it will help mitigate capital flight and also create more jobs.

    “We are have visited beneficiaries of NSDP in some countries, in Egypt for example we discovered over 300 cadets undergoing sea time training. As a Committee, we will continue to give the Agency the required legislative backing in ensuring that it achieves its mandate in order to ensure a robust maritime sector”, Hon. Bago said.

    On his part, the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside expressed appreciation to the committee for their unalloyed support to the course of the Agency, reiterated the Agency’s commitment to continue to make accountability its watchword and the Agency’s resolve to continue to cooperate with the Committee in the interest of the maritime industry and the country as a whole.

    According to the DG, “when you are given an assignment, you are expected to be accountable; you are expected to conduct the assignment in a transparent manner and that is exactly what NIMASA is doing. We have the mandate to promote and regulate shipping activities in Nigeria and we have to continue to engage all Stakeholders both locally and internationally and assure them of a conducive environment for their businesses to thrive”, the DG said.

    Also in the area of capacity development, which is one of the five strategic pillars of the current leadership of the Agency to revamp the sector, the DG stated that training and retraining of staff has been a major focus, which has helped in improving productivity and professionalism of the workforce.

    Dr. Peterside who assured the Chairman and members of the Committee that the Agency will continue to collaborate with the committee also welcomed the call for synergy between the Executive and Legislative arms of government for the benefit of Nigerians.

    In his words, “The beauty of democracy is collaboration, synergy between the Executive and the Legislative arms of government. It is not we versus them; we are all working for a single purpose to help Nigerians. We are working to help the Nigerian people to ensure that life is better for all our people. No single arm of government can do it alone; we must work in a collaborative manner”.

    It may be recalled that in the last two years of the Dr. Dakuku Peterside’s led administration several transformation has taken place and this has been made possible through continuous collaboration with Stakeholders, both locally and internationally.

  • FG inaugurates National Steering Committee on Development of Nanotechnology

    FG inaugurates National Steering Committee on Development of Nanotechnology

    The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology (FMST) on Tuesday inaugurated National Steering Committee on Nanotechnology development to produce policy that would guide Nanotechnology operation in the country.

    The FMST Minister, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu said the committee would need to engage in aggressive public awareness on Nanotechnology in all states of the Federation.

    Nanotechnology is the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all other science fields such chemistry, biology, physics, material science, among others.

    According to him, Nanotechnology is one of the areas of science and technology that is crucial to any nation’s development due to its multiplier impact on the economy such as in the developed countries.

    “Nigeria at this stage of its development cannot be left on the need to urgently embrace nanotechnology advances because of the inherent benefits the country will derive from its application.

    “This committee is therefore expected to drive the ministry’s desire of providing a comprehensive national Nanotechnology policy and implementation strategies that could serve as reverence and guidelines for national needs and aspirations on deployment of this technology.

    “In the past, the FMST had led in the promotion of cutting edge technologies in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Biotechnology; Space Science Technology and Renewable Energy.

    “These have all enhanced the lives of our citizens through job and wealth. We therefore, intend to take full advantage of this relatively new technology called Nanotechnology, “ he said.

    He urged the committee to attach high degree of importance to the national assignment in order to achieve the aim.

    The minister said the ministry would be ready to receive a workable report at the end of the assignment that would dictate the pace of national development in Nano-Science and Nano-Engineering.

    Responding, the Chairman of the National Steering Committee on Nanotechnology Development, Mr Oyefeso Akinyemi, the Director, Chemical Technology Department in the ministry said the committee would try its best to accomplished its mandate on scheduled.

    He said the committee would play a leading role in putting Nigeria on the world map on Nanotechnology.

    He said the committee would collaborate with MDAs to encourage Research and Development in Nanotechnology in tertiary institutions and research institutes.

     

  • 22 political parties raise committees on security, restructuring, 2019 polls

    22 political parties raise committees on security, restructuring, 2019 polls

    Twenty-two political parties, under the umbrella of Committee of Concerned Political Parties (CCPP) have constituted six committees on security, restructuring and 2019 general elections.

    Interim Chairman of CCPP, Dr Onwubuya Breakforth, made this known to newsmen on Friday in Abuja.

    Breakforth, who is the National Chairman of Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), said that the group was concerned about boiling national issues, including killings by herdsmen and restructuring.

    He said that the group was committed to contributing its quota towards addressing them.

    The sub-committees, according to Breakforth, are on restructuring Nigeria and inter-governmental affairs; national security and integration, and planning and finance.

    Others are on contact and mobilisation, and on research and documentation.

    He added that the committees would commence action and make recommendations on before the unveiling of the group in a few weeks.

    “The CCPP also resolved to jointly discuss and proffer solutions to key national issues threatening the peace and unity of our dear country.

    “It was further resolved that various options open to the group in relation to the 2019 general elections would be explored in the best interest of the country,” he said.

    Breakforth said that the group had agreed to form a three-member steering committee to pilot its affairs.

    He added that additional sub-committees were formed to articulate overall objectives for the group and other on topical national issues.

    The chairman disclosed that while 22 political parties were present at the meeting, nine others had indicated interest to join the group.

    He listed some of the political parties represented at the meeting as Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), Sustainable National Party (SNP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

    It also included Grassroots Development Party of Nigeria (GDPN) and National People’s Congress (NPC).

  • Restructuring: El-Rufai led committee presents report, recommends establishment of state police, resource control, others

    The Governor Nasir El-Rufai led committee on restructuring on Thursday presented its report to the National Chairman of the party, John Odigie-Oyegun with some recommendations aimed at making the states and local governments more independent.

    Some of the key recommendations are resource control, making local government an affair of states, constitutional amendment to allow merger of states, state police, state court of appeal and independent candidacy.

    The committee was set up in August 2017 to formulate the position of the party on restructuring which was clamoured for by most influential Nigerians.

    The committee initially had 10 members but this was later expanded to 23 members.

    According to its mandate, the committee was to distill the true intent and definition of true federalism as promised by the party during the last electioneering campaign, and to take a studied look on the report of the various national conferences, especially that of 2014; and come up with recommendations.

    Submitting the report at the party’s secretariat, Mr. El-Rufai said 8,014 people were engaged in the process of their research and that Nigerians indicated interest in 24 issues.

    Out of these 24 items, the committee made recommendation on 13 in its report, which has four volumes.

    “After four months of rigorous research, we are pleased to inform the chairman we have completed our assignment and are here to present our report. Our report is in four volumes,” the committee chairman said.

    “The report is in four volumes with Volume One containing background information of the research and recommendations; Volume Two, Action plans from the research to implement its resolution and draft of bills; Volume 3, Media reports and the result of the online survey of the issue; and Volume Four, the appendix- summary of all memoranda received.

    “I’ll like to highlight some principal recommendation by the committee. We articulated 14 issues re-occuring in previous conferences.

    “At the end of our rigorous research, debates and deliberations, we came up with 24 items that Nigerians have indicated interest views that balance our federation.

    “These items are; creation of states, merger of states, delegation principle, fiscal federalism, devolution of power and resources between state, federal and local governments, federating units, form of government, independent candidacy, land tenure system, local government autonomy ,power sharing and rotation, resource control, types of legislature, demand for affirmation for vulnerable groups;people with disabilities, women and youth, ministerial appointment, citizenship, state constitution, community participation, minimum wage, governance, judiciary, state re-alignment and border adjustment, circular status of the federation; and referendum.

    “We articulated only 13 issues from the various opinions expressed by Nigerians in our engagement, identified these 24 issues for which the committee deliberated and has made recommendations in the report.

    “We went ahead to look at these recommendations to convert them into concrete actions that the party, government and the national assembly can take to re-balance our federation.

    These items are:

    Merger of states

    “The first item that we thought needed legislative action is merger of states because creation of states is already in the Constitution; so there is a procedure, so there was no action needed.

    “However, it is appropriate to point out, Mr. Chairman, that only 36 percent of Nigerians want more states created. so majority of Nigerians don’t want creation of states.”

    “So, the first recommendation for which we have proposed a draft bill for constitution amendment is the merger of states. Though there was no consensus from stakeholders on the merger of states, we felt that we should propose a bill that allows state to merge and it is up to the party, the National Assembly and the people of Nigeria to decide on that. But we drafted a bill that is there for the party and the government to move on with.

    Delegation principle

    “The second that we have considered is the delegation principle. Here, it is recommended that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act be amended to vest the commission with the power and responsibility to periodically review the delegation formula and make proposal to the President who shall then table the said before the National Assembly for legislation.

    “We have therefore drafted a bill that will expand section six sub section one of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission act to give them that power. The bill is in Volume 2 of our report.

    Fiscal federalism

    “We also have recommendation on fiscal federalism and revenue allocation in which we propose amending section 162 and sub-section two of the Constitution; as well as amend the revenue allocation of revenue Federation Account Act to give more revenue to the states and reduce the federal government’s share of revenue.

    “This again is what we got as feedback from majority of Nigerians that the state should get more revenue and the federal government should slim down a little.

    Devolution of power

    “This recommendation, has to do with the devolution of powers. There was overwhelming popular demand for the devolution of power to the states by the federal government, and the committee recommends the same.

    “Accordingly, we have proposed that the Second Schedule of Part One and Part Two of the Constitution should be amended to transfer some items that are now on the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List that will enable both then states and the federal government to legislate on them.

    “Under devolution of power, there are items that were recommended to be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent.

    Here are the items:

    ” 10 items have been identified for the movement from the Executive List to the Concurrent List.

    – Food and Drugs

    “Food, drugs, poison, narcotics and psychotropic substances. We are proposing an amendment to the Constitution for the president to keep narcotics and psychotropic should be left on the Exclusive List while food drug and poison should be moved to Concurrent List so that state can legislate on these items in addition to the federal government. At the moment only the federal government can legislate on them.

    – Fingerprint identification of criminals

    “The second item is finger print and identification of criminal records. This is currently on the Exclusive List. The committee for feedback received from Nigerians recommendations that they should be moved to the Concurrent List.”

    -Registration of business names

    “The third item is registration of business names. Registration of business names for firms that want to operate throughout Nigeria should be done at the federal level. For small businesses that wan to work exclusively within the state, they should be registerable at the level of the state. we recommend that that should be moved to the Concurrent List as well.”

    -Labour matters

    “We have also recommended that labour matters should be moved to the Concurrent List such that the federal government and the sate can legislate on these matters. Labour, including trade unions, industrial relations, safety and well-being of labour, industrial disputes and prescribing minimal wage and industrial arbitration should be in the state. Meaning every state can determine its minimum wage.”

    – Mines and minerals.

    “The fifth item is mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological and natural gas. This should be moved to the Concurrent List. However, all offshore oil shall remain absolutely vested in the government of the federation.

    “I think it is time to take these bold steps and move away from over-centralisation.

    -The police.

    “Item six, police. We have also moved to the Concurrent List. We are recommending that police should be both federal and state.”

    -Prisons.

    “We have also recommended that prisons should be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List, where we can have federal prisons and state prisons. This will make more prisons available and reduce the burden of the federal government.”

    -Public holiday

    ” Item eight is public holiday. We want public holiday to be moved from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List so that there will be federal public holidays and state public holidays. This is already happening unconstitutionally. This will just make the action of state governments lawful and legal and avoid confrontation from the federal government.

    -Stamp duties

    “Finally, we are recommending that stamp duties, legislation on stamp duties should be moved to the Concurrent List. The state will only legislate on stamp duties only for transactions involving individual s and business needs but not limited liabilities that are incorporated in the government of the federation.

    “We believe that if these amenddment are passed by the National Assembly, they will significantly re- balance our federation, devolve more powers to the states, reduce the burden of the federal government and make our country work better.

    “We have taken into consideration reports of all constitutional conferences and put this before Nigerians in 2017 and this is the feedback that we got, and we drafted the bill that will enable that to be passed by the National Assembly and the state Houses of Assembly.”

    Independent candidacy

    “The next recommendation is on independent candidacy. The committee knows that majority of respondents are opposed, surprisingly to independent candidacy. However, the committee still recommends that the party should support the demand for widening the political space by allowing for independent candidates. We believe that this will make the political party more honest.

    “We have included in the bill that no one that wants to run as an independent candidate should be a member of any political party six months to the election. We have put enough safeguards in our recommendation to ensure that independent candidacy is not a platform for opportunism.

    “We have put four safeguards. One; anybody that wants to stand for elective positions as an independent candidate, should not be a registered member of any political party at least six months before the date set for the election for which he intends to contest.

    “Number two, his nominators will not be members of any registered political party. Three; independent candidate must pay an amount to INEC in the same range as the non refundable fees payable by candidates sponsored by political parties to their parties. So instead of paying to the parties, you now pay to INEC.

    “Finally, the candidate must also meet all qualification requirements by the Constitution or any other, which is better than the independent candidate amendment.

    Local government

    “The next recommendation has to do with local government autonomy.

    There are divergent opinions on this. We recommend that the current system of local government administration as provided by the Constitution to be amended and the state be allowed to enact laws to local government that is peculiar to each of them.

    “We propose amendments to sections 7,8,162 of the First Schedule and Fourth Schedule of the Constitution to give effect to our recommendation.”

    “We are by this recognising the federal government which can only be two tiers of government. Having three tiers of government is an arbitration, there is nowhere in the world where our research has shown us there are three tiers of government.”

    Revenue allocation

    “We have also proposed amending Section One of the Allocation of Revenue Federation Act to reflect this reality. We have also proposed amendment to section 40 to the Value Added Tax Act. They are in Volume Two.

    “There is the question of what people call resource control. The committee noted the growing agitation by states to exercise control over natural resources within their respective territories and pay taxes and royalties to the federal government. If this recommendation is taken, then there will consequential amendment.

    Citizenship.

    “The issue of citizenship has been addressed by our report.’

    Ministerial appointment.

    “Arising from this is the issues of ministerial appointment. The president should have the freedom to nominate ministers from any part of the country, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    Judiciary

    “There are also recommendations on the judiciary. the National Judicial Council as the single judicial in Nigeria is operating a unitary judicial system in a federal system. So we have proposed amendment to the Constitution to create a state judicial council that will appoint an discipline judges in a state while the National Judicial Council will exercise control over the appointments, discipline of judges of the federal government only. By that, we have proposed the creation of a state court of appeal.”

    State re-alignment and boundary adjustment

    “We have proposed constitutional amendments on state re-alignment and boundary adjustment to section A sub-section 2 and A sub-section a 4 if required .”

    Referendum

    “We have a constitutional amendment to enable a referendum to be undertaken on national issues. Right now, our constitution has no provision for referendum except in the creation of states.”

    The chairman of the committee concluded by thanking the APC Chairman for properly choosing the member of the committee and also appreciating the members of the committee responsible for the recommendation.

    Mr. Oyegun who received the report, praised the committee for a job well done and promised that the report would be considered and a decision made before the middle of February.

    “Today, we have a report produced by some of the most intelligent, young Nigerians dealing with the most fundamental challenges.

    “The concept is accepted, the need for it is accepted but what exactly do we mean. are we talking on a federation based on eight zones, six zones or what?.

    “From the presentation of the chairman of this committee, everyone now has an idea of what the APC stands for when you say true federalism.”

    “It is still going to go through the mill but what I will promise you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, for you hard work that you have put in for four to five months, is that this report is going to get expeditious consideration by the party.”

    “I am going to promise that before the middle of February, it would have been considered and decided upon by the various structures of the party.

    “The NEC and the Caucus of the party and whatever is there after will be presented to the authorities as the considered view and decision of the APC for appropriate implementation.”

  • FG sets up committee on data harmonization

    The Federal Government has established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on harmonisation of data collection and evaluation for the country.

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who confirmed this on Monday in Abuja, said the committee would be chaired by the Statistician General of the Federation and Director-General of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Yemi Kale.

    The Minister disclosed that the inter-ministerial committee would serve as the clearing house and focal authority for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government for data collection, authentication and publication.

    She also noted that the Committee would ensure national standards for data collection, evaluation and publication as well as regularly provide guidance to all MDAs and other stakeholders engage in data collection, analysis and publication for policy formulation, implementation and monitoring.

    “The establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee has become imperative to develop the production of national statistics and avoid data production duplication,” the Minister stated.

    The inter-ministerial committee is also expected to submit half-yearly reports to the Minister of Finance for necessary briefing of Mr. President.

    Members of the Committee include: the Accountant General of the Federation, Idris Ahmed; Director General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha; Director-General of Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, and representatives of the Federal Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Health, Agriculture and Rural Development, Labour and Productivity, Education, Communication Technology.

    Other members of the Committee are: representatives of the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of Petroleum Resources, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Customs Service, National Population Commission, Nigerian Police, and Nigerian Governors Forum.

    Signed:

    Oluyinka Akintunde

    Special Adviser, Media & Communications to the Honourable Minister of Finance

    Federal Ministry of Finance

    22nd January, 2018

  • Osinbajo inaugurates sanctions committee

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has inaugurated the National Sanctions Committee.

    The committee comprised the Minister of Justice, Malam Abubakar Malami, as chairman, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, and the National Security Adviser.

    Other members are the Director General of DSS, the IGP, CBN Governor and the Chief of Army Staff.

    The rest are the DG National Intelligence Agency and the DG Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit.

    The mandate of the committee is to trace and freeze financial flows of terrorist funds.

    At the event the Vice President reiterated government’s commitment to eliminating terrorism in the country.

     

  • Farmers/herdsmen clashes: Osinbajo, nine governors form committee to tackle menace

    As part of deliberate attempts to end the farmers/herdsmen incessant clashes that have cost several lose of lives and properties across the country, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and nine state governors have constituted a committee with the mandate to end the killings.

    The Vice President is chairman of the committee.

    This was one of the decisions reached at a meeting of the National Economic Council held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday.

    The Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over Osinbajo.

    Ganduje named members of the committee to include governors of Kaduna, Zamfara, Taraba, Benue, Adamawa, Edo, Plateau, Oyo, and Ebonyi states.

    The governor said the committee would collaborate with the Federal Government in addressing impunity regarding killings and violence.

     

    Details later…

     

  • UN appoints Adeosun into pension fund investment committee

    The United Nations has appointed Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun into the Investments Committee of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund (UNJSPF).

    In a statement signed by the Adeosun’s Special Adviser, Media and Communication, Mr Oluyinka Akintunde, on Sunday in Abuja, the minister would serve a one-year term effective from January 1, 2018.

    According to the statement, UN Under-Secretary-General, Jan Beagle, in a letter said that the appointment was ratified at the 55th plenary meeting of the 77th session of the General Assembly.

    “The General Assembly decided to appoint you as an ad-hoc member of the Investment Committee for a one-year term of office, beginning from 1st January, 2018.

    “I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate you on your appointment and wish you success in your work,” he said.

    Also, the representative of the UN Secretary-General on the Investments Committee, Ms Carolyn Boykin, congratulated the minister on her appointment and welcomed her to the committee.

    Boykin said that the purpose of the investments was to secure the pension entitlements of the international civil servants participating in the Fund.

    “The fiduciary responsibility is to all parties concerned and it is the responsibility of the Secretary-General to ensure that those investments are managed to preserve the capital of the Fund.

    “And to also obtain a long-term real rate of investment return that is in line with the actuarial assumptions, without jeopardising the capital of the Fund by taking excessive risks,” she said.

    The UNJSPF provides pension, death, disability and the other related benefits for staff of the United Nations and other organizations admitted to membership in the Fund.

    It is a multiple employer defined benefit plan governed by the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board, the Staff Pension Committee for each member organization, and a secretariat.

    The Fund was established through UN General Assembly resolution 248 (III), passed in December 1948 and came into effect on January 23, 1949 as a permanent retirement scheme.

    It currently serves 23 member organizations, with 128, 262 active participants and approximately 75,000 retirees in nearly 200 countries.

    According to the statement, Adeosun has accepted her appointment into the UN committee.

     

  • FG, Stakeholders inaugurate committee on long-term solution to fuel scarcity

    The Federal Government and critical stakeholders in the nation’s oil and gas sector on Tuesday inaugurated a committee saddled with the responsibility of finding long-term solutions to petrol scarcity in the country.

    The Minister of State, Petroleum, Mr Ibe Kachikwu, made this known to newsmen after a closed door meeting involving government officials, labour leaders and stakeholders in the oil sector.

    The meeting, which was presided over by the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari, wss held at the old Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    Kachikwu, who is to head the committee, said members of the committee included the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). Maikanti Baru and representatives of agencies under the Ministry of Petroleum.

    According to him, membership of the committee also include Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), labour unions, Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN) and NOMAN.

    ““We set up a committee which I will head; members included the GMD, most of the parastatals in the ministry, DAPMAN, IPMAN, NOMAN, Labour unions.

    ““We are to meet in my office tomorrow (Jan. 3) and dig deeper into this thing and find a long term solution,’’ he said.

    Kachikwu noted that petrol scarcity was a major concern and Nigerians should not be made to suffer, assuring that the committee would come out with lasting solution to the persistent petrol crisis in the country.

    He reiterated that appropriate sanctions would be taken against any marketer or staff implicated in fuel diversion or any act capable of frustrating government’s efforts aimed at stabilising the supply of petroleum products across the country.

    “”I feel your pain. People who are culprits will be identified.

    “”In fact the chief of staff instructed that specific names should be put on the table, those who have gone against the rule, done certain things that are against the book should be punished.

    ““But the greatest difficult in Nigeria is that people make allegations but when you ask for evidence even one, everybody now goes back into the safety nets. You cannot prosecute except you have evidence.”

    The Chairman of Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPMAN), Mr Dapo Abiodun, said the meeting was called at the instance of the chief of staff to the president and it was to find out exactly what happened.

    ““He wanted to know the truth and to ensure that this problem will be solved once and for all.

    ““From our point of view as marketers, we made our submission known to government and we emphasized the fact that this was not a marketer-related problem.

    ““There was no hoarding on the part of any marketer. Marketers are your brothers, they are Nigerian citizens, they are businessmen, no marketer makes money from hoarding petroleum products, our business is to take petrol and sell,’’ he explained.