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Tag: states

  • We’ve shared N1.9trn to states from Paris Club refund – Osinbajo

    The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it had so far shared N1.9 trillion among states as support from the Paris Club Refund.

    The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, made this known in his address at the ongoing fourth edition of the Ogun Investors’ Forum in Abeokuta.

    The theme of the programme, which is scheduled to end on Wednesday, is “Consolidating Gains and Accelerating Growth.’’

    Osinbajo said that the Muhammadu Buhari -led administration had continued to extend equal and unbiased support to states of the federation regardless of party affiliations.

    He said it would be difficult to point to any government that had been more supportive in the development of the ambitions of states as the present administration.

    The vice president recalled that no fewer than 26 of the 36 states in Nigeria could not pay the salaries of their workers when the present administration assumed power in 2015.

    Osinbajo explained that the federal government, however, came to their rescue by extending funds to them.

    ” We have been sensitive, attentive and responsive to their needs while our programmes and policies have been developed with the states in mind.

    ” The Anchor Borrowers Programme has continued to provide cheap credit to small holders farmers across the nation.

    “The President’s Fertiliser Initiative has ensured that farmers across Nigeria have direct access to fertiliser.

    “We have continued to feed about seven million primary school pupils in 21 states of the country.

    ” The Budget Support Facility to states has gone a long way in cushioning the shock experienced by the federating units which resulted from the sharp drop in prices of crude oil in 2016.

    ” So our support to states has remained unprecedented in the history of administration in Nigeria,” he said.

    Osinbajo explained that the present administration had been able to reverse the trend of corruption that existed in the country when it assumed power in 2015.

    He added that the present administration had also reversed the trend of underfunding of infrastructure with a total of N1.3 trillion allocated to capital projects in 2017, the highest in the country’s history.

    ” We have continued to block leakages and had increased funding of core sectors like agriculture and transportation by as much as 400 per cent.

    “External reserves are in highest level in five years while inflation rate has dropped for 13 consecutive months.

    “We have done all these and more inspite of the fact that we now earn 60 per cent lesser than Nigeria earned in 2014 and thereby show that we can achieve more with less revenue with prudency and sincerity of purpose,” he said.

    Osinbajo also commended Gov. Ibikunle Amosun for the transformation that his administration had brought to Ogun.

    He acknowledged that Ogun remains the industrial hub of Nigeria and encouraged it to explore increased collaboration with neighbouring Lagos State.

  • We have released N1.19 trillion support funds to states since 2015 – Osinbajo

    Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday confirmed that the President Muhammadu Buhari led Federal Government has released over N1.19 trillion support funds to states between 2015 and September 2017.

    According to the Vice President, the assistance came in form of the Excess Crude Account, the Paris Club refund and budget support loans, among others.

    Osinbajo said the funds were made available to the states for their programmes and do capital projects.

    The vice president spoke in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, at the inaugural Kogi State Economic/Investment summit.

    He said part of the funds were the legal entitlements of the states, which they had access to; some were repayable loans.

    The VP noted that the Buhari administration had committed the highest amount ever to capital expenditure, given what it had spent in the last two years.

    He said this was evident in the on-going railway lines, road construction and hydro power projects.

    Osinbajo said the summit was coming at the right time, with the country trying to reduce dependence on oil and increase non-oil income, promoting agriculture and solid mineral resources.

    He described Kogi State as strategically located with vast mineral resources that could make it a hub of commercial activities, adding that the summit was capable of reinvigorating and inspiring the people.

    Governor Yahaya Bello said the summit was packaged to change the identity of the 27-year old state, from that of a civil service state to an industrialised one.

    He said his administration in the last two years, prepared the ground for economic and industrial breakthroughs by solving the problems that hindered economic growth in the state.

    The governor said the problem of insecurity had been tackled, and the state is now safe for investors and investments.

    He said: “kogi State is now open for business; we want to be signing MoUs. I invite the private sector to collaborate with us in our bid to develop the state. Kogi State is for serious business”.

    Minister of Mines and Steel Dr Kayode Fayemi, said the bulk of Kogi’s revenue should be internally generated, based on the abundant mineral resources in the state.

  • Fulani herdsmen will lord over states that accept cattle colonies – Omokri

    Reno Omokri, former aide to ex-president Goodluck Jonathan has opined that states that approved cattle colony proposed by federal government will face dire consequences of their decision.

    Omokri on Saturday revealed that Fulani herdsmen will keep requesting for more piece of land once cattle colony is approved.

    According to him, this will lead to increase in population of herdsmen.

    He tweeted, “Here is what will happen to any state that allows cattle colonies. They will take the land you give them. They will increase in population. They will appoint a king. They will ask for more land. You will say no. Then at that point you will know the real meaning of the word colony.”

    So far, Sixteen Nigerian states have agreed to establishcattle colonies proposed by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh as a solution to the incessant herdsmen crisis.

    It was gathered that the 16 states, all in the North, have volunteered land for the establishment of cattle colonies in their domain while all the 17 states of Southern Nigeria have refused to volunteer land for colonies.

  • States enacting anti-open grazing law to blame for herdsmen killings – FG

    The Federal Government on Thursday blamed the passage of anti-open grazing law in some states as the cause of the recent killings by Fulani herdsmen in the affected states.

    Recall that the herdsmen recently murdered over 60 people in Benue State. Governor Samuel Ortom had also alleged that he had earlier informed the federal government of the impending danger but was not responded to. A statement that was vehemently denied by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

    The federal government furtther noted that the “remote” cause of the violence was the violation of areas demarcated over the years as grazing reserves.

    Benue, Taraba and Ekiti are some of the states where the anti-open grazing law has taken effect.

    The laws were enacted after several states suffered deadly violence often blamed on herdsmen.

    Hundreds of Nigerians were killed in the first two days of this year in some of these clashes in Benue and Taraba states.

    The Benue State government organised a mass burial on January 12 for 72 of the victims of the killings in Logo and Guma local government areas of the state.

    Speaking on the plans by the federal government to check the deadly clashes between farmers and herders, the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, said the anti-open grazing law sparked off the clashes.

    Mr. Dan-Ali, who was briefing State House correspondents at the end of a meeting of security chiefs with President Muhammadu Buhari, urged Nigerians to learn to accept foreigners in their areas.

    He also said it is illegal for state governments to set up and arm forest guards.

    “Whatever crisis that happened at any time, there has to be remote and immediate causes,” the minister said.

    “What are the remote causes of this farmers/herders crisis? Since Independence, we know there used to be a route whereby these cattle rearers use.

    “Cattle rearers are all over the nation, you go to Bayelsa, you see them, you go to Ogun, you see them. If those routes are blocked, what happens? These people are Nigerians, it’s just like you going to block river or shoreline, does that make sense to you?

    “These are the remote causes. But what are the immediate causes? It is the grazing law. These people are Nigerians, we must learn to live together with each other, that is basic.

    “Communities and other people must learn how to accept foreigners within their enclave, finish!” he said.

    Mr. Dan-Ali faulted the decision by some states to set up and arm forest guards, saying it is illegal.

    He said fully armed militia were arrested in some states, adding that killings were from all sides.

    To check the crisis, the minister said the quarterly security meeting with President Buhari decided to set up a commission on small arms proliferation in the country.

    He said the decision was “in compliance with the presidential directive for the establishment of National Commission on the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons in the country.”

    He said the Ministry of Defence, in conjunction with the office of the National Security Adviser, “has set up a committee to work out modalities to transform the Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons, PRESCOM, to a National Commission”.

    He said the committee will be inaugurated Thursday at the office of the NSA.

    Mr. Dan-Ali also said the meeting discussed the issue of the purchase of “Super Tucano” aircraft from the United States of America, USA.

    He said the meeting discussed the terms and conditions of the purchase “and agreed that the conditions are a bit stringent”.

    He said the meeting resolved that the Defence Minister and the NSA should meet with the USA Ambassador to Nigeria to review some of the conditions.

    He said the cost of the aircraft is $494 million, including for training and maintenance capabilities.

    “However, deadline for the payment was given as February 20, this year,” he said.

    The Defence Minister said the meeting discussed “some of the issues at hand, that is the farmers/herders crisis, which the IG gave full details”.

    Mr. Dan-Ali said the formation of the commission on small arms proliferation is one of the key measures being taken to curb the wanton killings in the country.

     

  • FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N655bn revenue in December

    The federal and the other tiers of government on Tuesday shared a total of N655.177 billion as revenue that accrued to the Federation Account and proceeds of the Value Added Tax in December 2017.

    The money was shared at Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja yesterday. Addressing journalists at the end of the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, said that N540.446 billion.

    The federal government got N252.543 billion, states, N128.093 billion, local governments got N98.755 billion while N47.738 billion was shelled out as 13 per cent derivation to oil producing states.

    Also another N80.604 billion was from proceeds of Value Added Tax (VAT), with the federal government receiving N13.091 billion, state governments, N40.302 billion and local governments N28.211 billion.

    The statutory allocation of N540.446 billion, excluding VAT, received for the month was lower than the N549.533 billion received in the previous month by N9.087 billion.

    The minister, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), explained that the decrease in crude oil exports by 0.59 million barrels resulted in decreased revenues from export sales of $11.65 million.

    Adeosun disclosed that the accruals into the Excess Crude Account (ECA) still stood at $2.317 billion.
    In his remarks after the meeting, the chairman of Finance Commissioners’ Forum, Alhaji Mahmoud Yunusa, said states were cutting costs in line with economic realities.

     

  • FAAC: FG, States, LGs share N609.95bn revenue in November

    The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed N609.95 billion to Federal, States and Local Governments as revenue generated in November.

    This is N77.25 billion more than what it shared in October, Ahmed Idris, the Accountant-General of the Federation said.

    Mr. Idris said that after the cost of collection deductions by FIRS, Customs and DPR, the Federal Government received N248.2 billion, representing 52.68 per cent; the states got N125.9 billion, representing 26.72 per cent and the 774 local councils received N97.06 billion, amounting to 20.60 per cent.

    According to Mr. Idris, oil producing states got N54.48 billion, which represents the derivation share of 13 per cent.

    He said the country generated N356.07 billion as mineral revenue and N193.46 billion as non-mineral revenue in November, both showing improvements over the earnings in October.

    Mineral revenue increased by N38.78 billion, while non-oil mineral revenue also jumped by N68.65 billion.

    Mr. Idris said oil revenue continues to be negatively impacted by low production due to poor maintenance, sabotage and the Force Majeure declared at Bonny Terminal.

    He said the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as at Dec. 15 remained $2.317 billion. He also put the balance in the Excess Petroleum Profit Tax account, at $133 million.

    Mr. Idris said the Federation Account has received instruction from the National Economic Council that $1 billion be removed from ECA to fight Boko Haram.

    “The instruction has been given. But there is a process before money is taken out of an account. So unless that withdrawal is made, the balance remains the same.

    “On what the money will be used for, the appropriate institution will have to give you that, namely the military, who are the ones that will utilise the money, and they know their needs,” he said.

    On why the money is being taken from the ECA, Mr. Idris said everyone should know that it is a savings account and ordinarily should have been distributed to the three tiers of government.

    “So if the same owners decide that part of it should be utilised to secure the country, to secure the system, to make the system work and provide security for life and property, I don’t think it should be an issue.

    “If the Governor of Ekiti has a problem with that, he should have made his position known to his forum, which is the Governor’s Forum.

    “His dissension should not come to me on the pages of newspapers. He is entitled to whatever, but it should be directed to the appropriate place,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Mahmoud Yunusa, the Chairman, Commissioners of Finance Forum, said the distribution was timely, as it would enable states and local councils to pay workers ahead of Christmas.

    NAN

     

  • Most states yet to meet up with FG’s conditions for budget support – Adeosun

    Most states yet to meet up with FG’s conditions for budget support – Adeosun

    The minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun has said some state governments are yet to fully comply with the with conditions for the Budget Support facility as agreed under the Fiscal Responsibility Plan.

    She added that particular states are yet to publish the mode of their financial disbursement, while some others have also not completed the Biometric Data of their staff list as agreed by the Council.

    The Fiscal Responsibility Plan endorsed last year by NEC details the conditions state governments are expected to meet to qualify for FG’s Budget Support Facility which ranges from N800 million to over N1 billion per State, per month.

    Adeosun revealed this on Thursday at forensic audit of revenue accrued from revenue generating agencies and meant for the Federation Account at the National Economic Council, NEC meeting presided by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

    The Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee of NEC on the audit, Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo of Gombe State, said the forensic audit is ongoing and assured Council that the full detail of the report would be ready in January, 2018.

    He mentioned the Nigerian Customs Service and the National Communication Commission as the two agencies that are now being audited in a review that has included other agencies including NNPC.

    The report is expected to detail the extent of revenue meant for the Federation but never made it to the Consolidated Account under the past administration.

    BELOW ARE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL MEETING PRESIDED OVER BY VICE PRESIDENT YEMI OSINBAJO

    UPDATE ON FORENSIC AUDIT OF REVENUE ACCRUED FROM REVENUE GENERATING AGENCIES (RGAS) INTO THE FEDERATION ACCOUNT, EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT AND CONSOLIDATED REVENUE FUND BY THE CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE, GOVERNOR OF GOMBE STATE,

    The Governor of Gombe State, and Chairman of the Forensic Audit Committee, Ibrahim Dankwambo, informedvCouncil that the audit firm Messrs. KPMG, is still conducting the forensic audit of some establishment and that a full report will be ready by January 2018.

    UPDATE ON THE BALANCE IN THE NATURAL RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT FUND

    Council was informed by the Accountant-General of the Federation that the balance in the Natural Resources DevelopmentFund Account as at 13th December, 2017 stands at N106.984 billion.

    REPORT ON EXCESS CRUDE ACCOUNT (ECA)

    The Accountant-General of the Federation also informed Council that the balance in the ECA as at 13th December, 2017 stands at $2.317 billion.

    UPDATE ON THE CURRENT BALANCE OF THE STABILIZATION FUND ACCOUNT

    The Accountant-General of the Federation informed Council that the balance in the Stabilization Fund Account as at December 13, 2017 stands at N7.78 billion.

    UPDATE ON BUDGET SUPPORT LOAN FACILITY

    Council was informed that payment for the months of June, July and August to States has been effected, and that preparations are underway to do same for the month of September 2017.

    GENERAL COMMENTS ON SPECIAL ACCOUNTS

    Council would be furnished with details of inflow and outflow beginning from 2015 to date regarding some of these special accounts: stabilization fund account and Natural resources development fund

    The Honourable Minster of Finance informed Council that the Budget Support facility to states is based upon certain conditions as agreed to under the Fiscal Responsibility Plan. But most of the states are yet to comply, she added. She said most of the states are yet to publish the mode of disbursement and most of them also have not completed the Biometric Data of their staff list as agreed in Council.

    A. PRESENTATION ON CURRENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WATER RESOURCES SECTOR BY THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF WATER RESOURCES

    The Honourable Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, presented a memo to Council, asking for urgent steps and action in the water sector if the country is to overcome the challenges of water supply, sanitation and water governance issues, as well as achieve the 2030 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on water supply and sanitation.

    He informed Council that Nigeria is lagging behind in terms of water supply, with access to pipe-borne water dropping from 32 per cent in 1990 to less than 7 pet cent in 2017, with a corresponding increase of 25 per cent in open defecation and the prevalence of water-borne diseases.

    He told Council that an estimated investment of N1.9 trillion is needed in the next 15 years to meet the SDGs by 2030.

    He outlined a three-phase Action Plan to revitalize the water, sanitation and hygiene sector to include the following:

    (a) A 12-month emergency plan beginning from the 2ndquarter of 2018 to April 2019.

    (b) A five-year recovery programme to last up to 2022

    (c) A 13-year revitalization strategy that will last till 2030

    These plans, he said, will involve the urgent establishment of an institutional and funding framework for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Services, and the engagement of Urban and Rural (WASH) sectors on an accelerated development path towards 2030.

    The plan also calls for tripling the current investment in water supply, establishment of a WASH fund, fast-tracking the development of the National policy on Sanitation and the presidential launch of a National Sanitation Campaign to eliminate open defecation.

    Furthermore, the plan is seeking the massive rehabilitation of existing infrastructure in the sector, and sectoral reform towards cost recovery and promotion of private sector participation in the sector, all aimed at taking care of the estimated 182 million population.

    The National Water Reserves Bill now before the National Assembly provides for the establishment of Catchment management committees, with representatives of states within each hydrological area as permanent members.

    In a similar development, the Minister informed Council that Nigeria requires an average annual investment of N59 billion to attain 78,000 hectares of planned irrigation by 2019, and a total of N1.5 trillion to attain 500,000 hectares of irrigation by 2030.

    Council was also informed that the River Basin Development Authorities across the country are undergoing structural reforms towards partial to full commercialization.

    Council thanked the Minister of Water Resources and urged collaboration between stakeholders in the approach to National Water Supply.

    ANY OTHER BUSINESS (AOB)

    ·SECURITY

    The Chairman Governor’s Forum, Alhaji Abdullazeez Yari, informed Council that Governors have offered to contribute over $1 billion to support Military Operations in the North-east. Governors said money should be taken from the ECA.

    ·SGF/SSG’S RETREAT

    ·The SGF informed Council that there will be a retreat in the coming days, 18th – 19thDecember,between the SGF and all Secretaries to the State Governments for better collaboration on issues of security and governance in all tiers of government.

    ·FUEL SUPPLY

    ·Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, told Council that fuel queues will disappear nationwide in the next 48 hours. All logistic arrangements to this effect have been concluded. He assured that there is enough fuel in the strategic reserve to last till the end of January.

    In his closing remarks at the meeting, the Vice President wished the governors and the people of their states Merry Christmas holiday as the meeting is the last in the year.

     

  • Dwindling allocation: We won’t borrow to bridge funding gap – States

    Governments of the 36 states of the federation have ruled out borrowing to bridge their funding gaps.

    The unanimous decision of the states was communicated on Tuesday through the Adamawa State Commissioner for Finance and the chairman of the Finance Commissioners Forum, Mahmood Yunusa.

    Yunusa told reporters at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting in Abuja that “states are not looking at borrowing to augment the funding gaps.”

    According to him, state governments are now looking at cutting costs and working closely with the federal government to increase non-oil revenue particularly Value Added tax (VAT), withholding tax and stamp duty to make more money.

    Accountant General of the Federation Idris Ahmed said “the total revenue distributable for the month of September including VAT is N558.082 billion.

    From this amount, the federal government took N234.286 billion, states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) got N152.739 billion, local government councils received N114.918 billion. Oil mineral producing states got an additional N40.216 billion under the 13 per cent derivation principle.

    Ahmed noted that gross statutory revenue of N423.961 billion received for the month was lower than the N550.992 billion received in the previous month by N127.023 billion.

    The AGF noted that “there was significant increase in revenue from export sales of $176.4 million due to an increase in crude oil production by 4.12 million barrels. However, the average price of crude oil decreased from $50.44 to $46.29 per barrel.”

    Idris Ahmed added that “activities resumed at Forcados Terminal for the first time since February 2016. There were shut-ins and shut-downs at Terminals for maintenance and repairs.”

    Oil royalty, he said recorded significant increase in the month under review but there was considerable decline in revenue from companies Income tax , petroleum profit tax, import duty and VAT.”

    It was also revealed that the balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) still stands at $2.309 billion while the balance in the excess Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT) stands at $68 million as at October 20.

  • FG, States, LG share N637.7bn revenue in September

    The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, has disclosed that the Federal Government, States and Local Governments shared N637.704 billion in September.

    Idris made this known at the end of the monthly Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said that the sum indicated a rise in the revenue shared by the three tiers of government of N169 billion for September compared to about N467.8 billion shared in August.

    According to him, the sum is inclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT).

    “Total revenue statutory gross is N550.992 billion, there is also an element of VAT of N86.712 billion, making it a total of N637.704 billion.

    “And this figure is distributed among the three-tiers of government after deduction of relevant cost of collection due to the revenue generating agencies.

    “On the whole, the Federal Government out of the gross statutory revenue got N263.609 billion, States received N132.184 billion and Local Government received N101.908 billion.

    “On the whole, it is evident from the records and from what we have distributed today that the figure distributed this month is by far greater than the distribution for the previous month by N169,852 billion.”

    According to Idris, there is derivation to the oil producing states of N41.977 billion.

    He said there was also an element of value added tax that was generated to the tune of N86.712 billion which was distributed among the three-tiers of government.

    He said the Federal Government got N12.87 billion; State government got N41.622 billion while the Local Government got N29.135 billion, “making a total of N83.244 billion; that is after deduction of cost of collection’’.

    Idris said that the balance in Excess Crude Account (ECA) stood at 2.309 billion dollars as at Sept. 27, 2017, adding that, “there is also the excess Petroleum Pofit Tax (PPT) of 68 million dollars”.

    He said that during the period under review, there was a decrease in the average price of crude oil from 51.05 to 50.44 dollars per barrel.

    He said that there was a significant increase in export volume by 0.85 million barrels and an export sales revenue for the federation increased by 41 million dollars.

    “The perennial challenges of shut-ins and shot downs at terminals caused minimal negative impact on crude oil operations during the period.

    “There were significant increases in revenue from companies income and petroleum profit taxes. Also import and excise duties and VAT recorded marginal increases,’’ he said.

  • We are not against states developing power projects – FG

    The Federal Government on Thursday said it was not against state governments developing their own power projects to support development and supply of incremental power.

    The Minster of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, reiterated the position of the Federal Government at a meeting of the National Council on Power (NACOP) in Jos.

    “I heard statements to the effect that Federal Government should allow the states to develop their own power projects.

    “The truth is that Federal government is not standing on the way of any state; the laws do not stand in the way of any state to develop power projects.

    “Because as governor, we built seven power plants, government did not stop us; what we could not do is to do commercial distribution which the law actually allows under license through Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).”

    Fashola said that the theme of meeting, “Completing Power Sector Reforms”, provided opportunity to share with representatives of state governments, other participants what the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRC) was about.

    The minister said some of the reform actions contained in the PSRC were already being undertaken at the Federal Government’s level.

    He, however, said that there were other areas of the reform where progress in the sector would be defined by what happened at the state and local government.

    He called on the state governments to champion advocacy in some areas of the reforms process in their states to further realise incremental power programme of the Federal Government.

    Fashola listed some of the advocacy required from states governments to their citizens to include:

    “State authorities should ensure that their residents comply with safety standard on building by not building on the right of way of 332/ 133, 33 and 11KVA lines.

    “States can also help by leading the advocacy for the residents to pay for the energy they fairly believe that they have consumed, while we continue to work to resolve the metering issues and estimated billing. ”