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Tag: FG

  • FG bans importation of vehicles through land borders

    FG bans importation of vehicles through land borders

    The Federal Government has banned the importation of vehicles into the country through land borders.

    In a statement on Monday in Abuja, Mr Wale Adeniyi, the Nigeria Customs Service Public Relations Officer, stated that “the prohibition order covers all new and used vehicles”.

    Adeniyi also said the ban was sequel to a presidential directive restricting all vehicle imports to Nigeria’s Sea ports only, adding that the order takes effect from Jan. 1, 2017.

    “The restriction on importation of vehicles follows that of rice; import of rice through land borders has been banned since April 2016.

    “Importers of vehicles through the land borders are requested to utilise the grace period until Dec. 31, 2016 to clear their vehicle imports landed in neighbouring Ports,” Adeniyi said.

  • Obey court order, release El-Zakzaky, wife now, Shiites tell FG

    Obey court order, release El-Zakzaky, wife now, Shiites tell FG

     

    Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) also known as Shiites, have told the Federal Government to release their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky immediately, so he can get medical attention abroad.

    This comes after a Federal High Court, ordered the government to release the cleric.

    The court said Zakzaky should be released within 45 days and further awarded N50million to him and his wife.

    A statement by their spokesman, Mallam Ibrahim Musa, said: “We are calling on the authorities holding Sheikh El-Zakzaky and his wife that they must expedite action to allow them access to their doctors, lawyers and any other person they so wish to see without hindrance.

    “They must also be allowed to go wherever they so wish as free people so that they can attend to their medical needs now that the court has set them free.”

    Commending the court’s judgment, he stated: “The judge showed a full grasp of all the issues at stake when he said he views the whole matter as religious intolerance, where a majority Sunnah is oppressing a minority Shi’ah.

    “This case pertained to the issues of liberty, freedom and human rights of Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife. The landmark judgment obtained will however certainly impact on the numerous others presently ongoing as well as all other matters yet to be clarified such as the crime of mass grave that government officials disclosed earlier.”

    He added: “It remains to be seen how the Nigerian government is going to react to this judgment. We are not unmindful of the penchant of this government to disregard court orders on spurious excuses. We will continue our peaceful and patient campaign until justice is done in its entirety.”

  • Forgery: FG dumps fresh police report indicting Saraki, Ekweremadu

    Forgery: FG dumps fresh police report indicting Saraki, Ekweremadu

     

    Indications emerged Saturday that the Federal Government will no longer be pursuing the case of forgery of the Senate Standing Orders, 2015, allegedly masterminded by Senate President, Bukola Saraki and his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu.

    Recall that the police had submitted a fresh report of investigation to the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice through the National Prosecution Coordination Committee indicting Saraki and Ekweremadu.

    The Federal Government had, on October 7,2016, withdrawn the charges of criminal conspiracy before an Abuja Federal High Court. It was learnt that the AGF’s office got fresh police investigation some days after the charges were withdrawn.

    Secretary of the NPCC and a Special Adviser to the AGF, Sylvester Imhanobe, said that though the AGF office received the report, it would not change the earlier decision to withdraw the charge.

    However, an anonymous source in the Federal Ministry of Justice told Punch that the Federal Government also, partly resolved to stop pursuing the case in order to “bolster the rapport” with the Senate, which President Muhammadu Buhari “desperately needs to push through a number of its policies.”

  • FG set to reimburse States for over deduction of foreign loans

    State Governments have submitted to the Federal Government (FG) claims of over-deductions for external debt service arising between 1995 and 2002 as a result of First Line Charge deductions from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) allocations.

    According to the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi , in a press statement on issued on Friday, the debt service deductions were in respect of the Paris Club, London Club and Multilateral debts of the FG and States. “While Nigeria reached a final agreement for debt relief with the Paris Club in October 2005, some states had already been overcharged”.

    “On the request by State Governments for a refund of amounts owed by the Federal Government, Mr. President directed that claims be subject to verification by the Debt Management Office and a team was established and given the mandate to scrutinise claims and reconcile with available records. The brief for the team was also extended to include a review of interim payments made under previous administrations.

    “Work has commenced to resolve each State Government’s claim and the exercise is expected to take approximately 12 months. The exercise will be thorough, including a complete reconstruction of records dating back to the period in question.

    “In the interim however, State Governors have continued to appeal for release of payment on the grounds of fairness because some States had already received refunds under previous administrations.

    “The Federal Government has reached a conditional agreement to pay 25% of the amounts claimed subject to a cap of N14.5 Billion to any given State. Balances due thereafter, will be revisited when fiscal conditions improve.

    “Mr. President’s overriding concern is for the welfare of the Nigerian people considering the fact that many States are owing salaries and pension, causing considerable hardship. Therefore, to ensure compliance with the directive that a minimum of 50% of any amount disbursed is dedicated to this, funds will be credited to an auditable account from which payments to individual creditors would be made. Where possible, such payments would be made to BVN linked accounts and verified.

    “Due to the fact that reconciliation is still on-going and the final outcome might show an under or overstatement of claims, an undertaken has been signed by State Governors, declaring that in the event the amount already paid exceeds the verified claim, the surplus would be deducted directly from the State’s monthly FAAC allocations.

    “The total amount approved by the President is N522.74 Billion and is to be paid in batches. The first batch of N153.01 Billion is currently being processed for release to 14 State Governments.

    “The release of these funds is intended to support the fiscal stimulus programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to provide direct stimulus through Government spending. It is particularly aimed at boosting demand at consumer level and reversing the slowdown in economic activity”. The statement said.

  • 2019 Elections: FG back calls for diaspora voting

    2019 Elections: FG back calls for diaspora voting

    The Federal Government has said it would support “any’’ mechanism to ensure the inclusion of Nigerians abroad in future elections.

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama said this at a seminar on the validation of proposed “National Policy on Diaspora Matters’’ in Abuja on Thursday.

    Onyeama was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye.

    The minister said there was the need to promote the capacity of Nigerians abroad to achieve the “immense potential of the diaspora’’.

    He added that enhanced inclusion of Nigerians abroad in the voting process would support their contributions to national development.

    “This is for the socio-political and economic development of the nation.

    “In addition, the empowerment of Nigerians in the Diaspora as change agents for national development should be speedily scaled up.

    “On our part, we deeply support any mechanism for the inclusion of Nigerian Diaspora to participate in future elections,’’ he said.

    He urged that the challenges impeding the effectiveness of Nigerians abroad should be considered.

    “Many of them (Diaspora) are deeply concerned about the situation in the country and have critical skills and potential that could be harnessed to solving Nigeria’s sociology-economic challenges.

    “What has been lacking is the mechanism of effective engagement and interface with the government, with a view to ensuring that our country reaps fully the benefits of this engagement.

    “The ministry is therefore sharpening its in-house resources to effectively harness the potential of Nigerians wherever they are based.’’

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs Sen. Monsurat Sunmonu said that the committee was in touch with the Independent National Electoral Committee on Diaspora voting.

    Sunmonu added that efforts were being made by the committee to promote opportunities for Nigerians abroad to participate in future elections.

    She reiterated that Nigerians had “huge potential, if properly harnessed would contribute to the development of the country’’.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa also emphasised the need to strengthen the diaspora policy.

    Dabiri-Erewa said that the development of a viable policy would address the concerns of Nigerians abroad.

    “We cannot ignore our diaspora; when Ireland went into recession they reached out to their diaspora community and one thousand of them saved the country from recession.

    “Now that Nigeria is going through challenges, we cannot have this enormous human resource and not engage with them.

    “We are working on the diaspora policy today; with the document, we have identified a few challenges impeding the effective contributions of Nigerians in the diaspora.

    “We do not have an accurate database of Nigerians in the diaspora; there is the lack of an enabling environment, bilateral agreements on avoidance of double taxation, and integrated framework for Nigerians in the diaspora.

    “Let us have a policy that we will be proud of.’’

    She said that a technical committee would be set up to work on the recommendations agreed on and come up with an action plan for implementation.

    Dabiri-Erewa also emphasised that the passing into law of the Diaspora Commission Bill would facilitate the realisation of a commission that would address diaspora matters.

    “The eighth assembly has taken it up, the house has passed it, we are waiting on the Senate to pass it and it has assured that it will pass.

    “It is going to be a one-stop agency to deal with diaspora matters, domiciled in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,’’ she said.

     

  • Foundation urges FG to keep its promise to fund testing, treatment of HIV/AIDs

    Foundation urges FG to keep its promise to fund testing, treatment of HIV/AIDs

    Aids Healthcare Foundation (AHF), an NGO, has called on the Federal Government to keep its promise to fund testing and treatment of HIV/Aids in order to put the virus under control.

    Dr Kema Onu, Site Coordinator of the Foundation, made the call on Thursday in Abuja at a sensitisation workshop as part of activities to mark the 2016 World’s Aids Day.

    He identified inadequate domestic funding in the face of declining assistance from foreign donors the major challenge facing HIV response in Nigeria.

    He urged the government to scale up the political will and step up domestic funding in order to achieve healthy population.

    “Funding is still a huge challenge and we want the government to take full responsibility of funding as some patients still pay for their lab test in some states.

    “Nigeria has the capacity to fund and sustain the fight against the virus; we should take up the responsibility of our citizens and foreign donors can complement us.

    “We want the government to fund the procurement of anti-retro viral drugs in order to end the scourge in Nigeria and globally,’’ he said.

    Onu appealed to foreign countries such as Germany, China among others, carrying out social responsibilities in Nigeria to increase their funding for the treatment of HIV/Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.

    He said that are still a large number of Nigerians who do not have access to treatment for HIV/AIDs, adding that increasing funding would enable more persons to receive treatment.

    “Statistics from UNAIDS shows that over 3.2 million people are living with the virus in Nigeria and only about 700,000 are on treatment, which translates to 27 percent treatment gap which is a huge challenge.

    “Out of over 3.2 million persons living with the virus, about 1.3 million are young women and girls between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

    “Over 170,000 new infections are recorded annually with over 220,000 Aids-related deaths yearly,’’ he said.

    The coordinator said that achieving an Aids-free generation was possible if more people knew their status and those found positive placed on treatment.

    He said that the awareness level of HIV was high in Nigeria, and stressed the need for behavioural change among the youths to enable them take healthy decisions.

    AHF Nigeria has been operating in the country since 2011 and has offices in six states in the federation.

     

  • FG never authorized NCC to hike data tariffs – Shittu

    FG never authorized NCC to hike data tariffs – Shittu

    The Federal Government on Wednesday through the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu dismissed claims that it directed telecommunications operators to increase the price of data subscriptions by December 1.

    Reports had it that effective from Thursday Nigerians will begin to pay more for data services.

    Reacting to the reports, the Minister of Communication, Adebayo Shittu, while featuring on a monitored programme on radio, said he was never a party to the planned tariff hike for data.

    Insisting that government did not authorize telecoms operators to raise the tariffs, Shittu assured Nigerians that the government would look into the matter and that it would continue to protect their interest.

    In his words: “There are reasons for what they have done. The reasons, I’m sure, will not be political; the reason will be more of logistics and all of that and as you have requested me to do I will do that.

    “But I want to say that I was not privy to it, I was not party to it. Government never gave any such instruction and the government, as the representative of the people, have never done that; that the voice of Nigerians must not be muscled.

    “This government came into the democratic process and it has a duty to continue to protect the interest of Nigerians and I can assure you, we will do that and we will do the needful in protecting the rights and privileges of Nigerians.”

    On the issue of unsolicited text messages by telecom operators, Shittu said “About six months ago I had cause to invite all the telecom operators and virtually read the riot act to them. If that has not been done I can assure you it will be done. We are concerned about the interest of Nigerians.

    “We are concerned that Nigerians should not be taken for ride. As the minister of communications, I’m also a victim just like every other Nigerian. I also suffer the same fate as telecom operators, so let me assure you that we will redouble our efforts to curtail the excesses of the telecom operators.”

    Recall that barely three hours after the Senate passed a resolution asking telecommunications service providers to stop the planned increase in data tariffs, the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, announced the immediate suspension of the proposed new tariff.