TheNewsGuru

Tag: states

  • Strikes: Be more proactive to workers’ demand – NLC tells FG, States

    Strikes: Be more proactive to workers’ demand – NLC tells FG, States

    The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Thursday urged the Federal, States and Local Governments to be more proactive to workers’ demand to avoid a total breakdown of activities as currently obtained in the health and education sectors.

    In an exclusive phone conversation with TheNewsGuru.com, an executive of the union, who spoke on condition of anonymity said most times government waits till labour enforces the option of strikes before agreeing to honour agreements they willingly entered into with the unions.

    “Governments need to be more proactive to workers’ demands. Workers most times don’t prefer going on strike but that is the only language government understands. People work under poor conditions and still get poorly remunerated. Sometimes they don’t even get remunerated for months and even years. And they hear of same government officials spending billions on insignificant projects. This is why we most times chose to embark on strikes to get what they deserve from them (the government).”

    When he was asked for comments on the proposed strike action by workers under the aegis of United Labour Congress, UCL, the comrade said: “I’m sure they must have engaged the government before deciding to embrace the strike option. It is government’s insensitivity to workers demand that causes strike. I’ll implore the government to meet with them and consider their requests. We can’t afford going on another strike especially in key sectors like power and oil. That will be disastrous. The unions will shelve the strike if governments fulfil its end of the bargain,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the United Labour Congress, ULC, and its affiliate unions on Tuesday threatened to shut down the oil and power sectors by Friday if the Federal Government does not meet its demands.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that other affiliates of the union that promised to shut down the sectors by Friday include Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE.

    Others are National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE; National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees, NUBIFIE; Nigeria Union of Mine Workers, National Association of Aviation Professionals, Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria; Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria; Nigeria Union of Railway Workers; Private Telecommunications, Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Union of Shop and Distributive Employees.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that while the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, called off its three weeks old strike on Thursday (today), the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, is still meeting with the federal government to finalise ending it’s over one-month-old strike that has crippled academic activities across state and federal institutions.

     

     

  • Plan, implement developmental strides based on available resources, FG tells states, councils

    The federal government said states and local councils should learn to develop their terrain with the available resources accruing to them instead of running to it (FG) for financial bail outs at all times.

    It also warned that further financial support to them will be based on how well they implement the 22 Action points of the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP).

    This was revealed on Monday by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja at a workshop organized by the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) on alternative sources of revenue generation for sustainable development in states and local government councils in Nigeria.

    Represented by the finance minister Kemi Adeosun, Osinbajo noted that “independent monitoring and evaluation of states against agreed milestones under the FSP, has been conducted and further consideration for support to states, will be solely dependent on reports from this exercise.”

    The Vice President stated that “fiscal discipline, improved revenue generation, rational allocation and efficient use of resources, must be strategies adhered to by every tier of government if we must return to a path of sustainable growth.”

    The 22-Point FSP for states and local governments he said “was introduced and acceded to by states governments in 2016 with the view to enhancing fiscal prudence and transparency in public expenditure, monitoring the ongoing public financial management reforms being undertaken by the federal government.”

    Osinbajo added that the strategic objective 2 of the FSP was focused on improving public revenues, requiring each state to set realistic and achievable targets for improving Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from all revenue generating activities of the state in addition to tax collection.”

    The idea, he said, “was for each state government to look inwards and come up with a plan that was best suited for their states based on available resources.”

    Other action points for the state governments include privatisation of state-owned enterprises, establishment of efficiency units to reduce overhead expenditures, biometric capture of all civil servants, implementation of continuous audit to reduce revenue leakages and measures to achieve sustainable debt management.

    Acting Chairman of the RMAFC, Alhaji Shettima Umar Abba-Gana, said the commission was designing new sources of revenue and ways of generating and collecting these revenues for the benefit of the states and local governments.

    He lamented that the challenges of a troubled economy, caused by drastic fall in the international price of crude oil, the fall in the level of oil production, security challenges and general drop in national productivity negatively affected the inflow of funds into the Federation Account.

    Abba-Gana expressed optimism that in due course, the over-dependence on statutory transfers of funds from the Federation Account for governance by the states and local governments would begin to reduce.

  • Don’t release fresh tranche of Parish Club refund to governors – NLC tells Buhari

    …Says Buhari should probe investments in power sector

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari not to release the third and final tranche of the Paris Club refund to state governors until they account for past releases and make a concrete commitment to the final release to settle outstanding salaries, allowances and pension of workers and retirees in the country.

    The congress is also demanding an immediate and comprehensive audit of all monies so far spent in government effort at reviving the power sector in the country since 1999 which it said has failed to yield result, but rather produce several billionaires as a result of diversion of the funds.

    In a communique made available to newsmen at the end of its Central Working Committee meeting, the Congress is asking the government to immediately inaugurate the National Minimum Wage negotiating committee in view of the impoverishment of workers.

    The communique signed by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary, Dr, Peter Ozo-Ezon also wants the federal government to compel state governors to properly account for the bailout they received from the federal government as well as the two tranches of the Paris Club refund which was supposed to be used for the payment of salaries and pensions, but diverted to other uses.

    The Congress regretted that government has not lived up the expectation of Nigerians and are in the habit of reneging on signed agreements with unions, pointing out that the ongoing strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities was avoidable.

    The congress said that “many of the discussions around restructuring have not paid adequate attention to the question of health. It resolved to set up a committee to harmonise the various views expressed at the meeting with a view to articulating a congress position on the issue for subsequent presentation to the organised labour.

    “It reviewed the continuous non payment of months of outstanding salaries of workers in some states of the federation as well as various arrears of pension which has also run into several months which is the actual situation despite President Buhari’s passion to address this matter since he assumed office by giving bail out to governors to clear this shameful state of affairs with the nation’s workforce.”

    The Congress also deplored the poor service delivery in the power sector saying, “since the current administration came to power in May 2015, it had given N740 billion to the power sector as intervention fund without much to show for it. CWC therefore cannot comprehend the rationale behind the administration’s preparedness to give a further N39 billion bailout to DISCOs for metering purpose.”

  • Be more proactive to flood cases – PDP advises FG, States

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on state and federal governments to be more proactive to curtail flood disaster in the country.

    A statement by the party’s Head, Publicity Division Administration, Chinwe Nnorom, for the National Publicity Secretary, on Sunday in Abuja, said the party expressed its sympathy with government and people of Benue over recent devastating flood in Benue.

    She said that the party urged all agencies of government whose duty it was to provide emergency services to do so promptly to
    save lives.

    She stated that “we call on both the state and Federal Government to be more proactive by taking adequate steps to put in place mechanisms that will curtail such level of disaster in other flood-prone areas across the country.

    “We pray for the souls of all those that lost their lives to rest in perfect peace and condole with affected families to bear this irreparable loss.”

    Flood ravaged communities in Benue last week, where villages, farmlands and food storage facilities were washed away and many displaced.

    Two camps have already been opened in Makurdi to ensure that the displaced persons have shelter and received assistance as chairmen of the 23 local government areas were directed to use some primary schools as designated camps for affected victims in their areas.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had immediately directed the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to support persons affected by the flood.

    The flood submerged two major bridges on River Guma at Tor Kpande, and Mande Ortom.

    Some 11 bridges and culverts were submerged, while the worst hit communities included Tse-Adorogo, Tse-Igba, Tse-Akor, Tse-Terzar, Tse-Abi, Tor Kpande and some villages on the stretch between Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi and Gbajimba, the local government council headquarters.

     

     

     

    NAN

     

  • We have commenced housing projects in 33 states – FG

    We have commenced housing projects in 33 states – FG

    The Federal Government on Thursday said it has commenced a national housing scheme in 33 states under which it plans to build 2,736 housing units across the country.

    This was revealed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola.

    According to a statement by his media aide, Hakeem Bello, the minister said this in Abuja at the Sixth National Council Meeting on Lands, Housing and Urban Development themed; “Building for Inclusion, Growth and Prosperity.”

    The former Lagos state governor said the scheme is also creating employment opportunities for Nigerians. Apart from artisans, 653 contractors were engaged in the pilot scheme and a total of 54,680 people were employed in the process, he said.

    “This must give a lot of hope to our people that this Government will do what it says, and I want to thank all the states who gave us land, the staff of the Ministry who have worked hard to drive the programme, and the Honourable Minister of State, Mustapha Baba Shehuri, who has been visiting and inspecting project sites,” Mr. Fashola said.

    “I have myself made whistle stop visits to our sites in Taraba, Gombe, Ekiti, Oyo and what I saw demonstrates to me very clearly how impactful the National Housing Programme has been, even at the pilot and inception stage.

    “The bricklayers I met in Taraba, Gombe and Ekiti, Rilwanu Adamu and Abubakar Umar, who asked me to thank President Buhari, for putting them back to work, the owners of the cement mixer in Oyo who said that his equipment has been idle for two years but was now earning N20,000 daily on our site in Oyo.

    “And of course, Mr. and Mrs. Emmanuel, a builder and caterer respectively who live in Lagos, but who now find dignity, labour and employment…” he added.

    Commenting on Nigeria’s housing deficit, Mr. Fashola maintained that rather than complain about the size of the deficit, the government was putting efforts in place to address the deficit.

    “Yes, I understand the need to get value for money and the processes that have been put in place by previous administrations to guide procurement,” he said.

    “The question we must ask ourselves then is whether we have truly saved money and whether we have developed?

    “On the evidence that is available, the country has clearly made more money from oil sales in the last decade that cannot be accounted for by way of project delivery and infrastructure development.

    “But if this was not enough problem, the procurement requirements then limits the amount of advance payment Government can pay to 15% and sets conditions that overlook the level of literacy of the vast majority of our people and the nature of small businesses that they run.”

    The minister, however, explained that the bigger the size of the population, growth rate and urbanization rate, the bigger the size of the deficit.

    Speaking further, Mr. Fashola described the housing programme as the first of its kind on a national scale in many decades, stressing that other agencies of government have been positioned to facilitate the ministry’s efforts.

    “While our National Housing Programme, is the first of its type on a National scale in many decades that seeks to respond to the deficit, government agencies such as the Federal Mortgage Bank, Federal Housing Authority are being repositioned to play their role more effectively to address the housing problem,” he said.

    “For example, the Federal Housing Authority has been mandated by the ministry to reposition herself to be one of our champions of housing delivery based on her previous track record.

    “Similarly, the Federal Mortgage Bank continues to deepen participation in the National Housing Fund which forms a reliable pool of funding from which she lends money to contributors by way of mortgage loans to acquire houses.

    “In addition, the bank has granted loans to estate developers to build houses; and from their recent report to me, they currently have 3,823 housing units available for sale in various states of the Federation,” he said.

     

  • How federal, states, councils share N2.8tr in six months – NEITI

    The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) on Sunday said the three tiers of government; federal, states and local governments shared N2.788 trillion between January and June this year.

    According to a statement by NEITI Director of Communications, Dr. Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, the allocation shows a 38 per cent increase on the N2.019 trillion shared in the first half of 2016.

    NEITI said the figure is contained in its Quarterly Review, which focuses on disbursement from the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC).

    The review was based on data obtained by the agency at the meetings of FAAC and data from National Bureau of Statistics, Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Federal Ministry of Finance and the Debt Management Office.

    Out of $2.788 trillion disbursed in the first half of 2017, the Federal Government received N1.09 trillion, 36 state governments received N923 billion while N549.8 billion went to 774 local governments.

    A further breakdown shows that total releases to the three tiers of government was N430.16 billion in January, N514 billion in February, N496.40 billion (March), N418.82 billion (April), N418.82 billion (May) and N462.36 billion (June).

    However, despite the 38 per cent increase in disbursements in the first half of 2017 when compared with 2016, the three tiers of government suffered significant revenue decline in terms of projected FAAC disbursement.

    “Coupled with the low price of oil is the country’s difficulty in meeting the targeted/budgeted production rate of 2.2 million barrels per day. Production has consistently fallen below two million barrels per day since March 2016. Thus the double “whammy” of low oil prices and lower production that hit the country since 2014 has remained” the NEITI Quarterly Review observed.

    For instance, while the expected FAAC disbursement for the three tiers of government was N4.7 trillion, the actual FAAC disbursement to them was N2.788 trillion, representing a shortfall of over 40.67 per cent.

    According to the publication, “the volatility nature of disbursements to all tiers of government in the first half of 2017 would suggest difficulty in implementing budgets at Federal, state and local government levels. The volatility in revenue inflows will adversely affect planning and expenditure of government and thus likely hamper efforts at stimulating growth and development”.

    The quarterly review added that a total of N513 billion was spent on debt servicing by the three tiers in the first quarter of 2017.

    This was against the N1.276 trillion disbursements in the first quarter. This means that debt servicing took up 40.27 per cent of FAAC disbursement for the first quarter of this year.

    “The figure reveals that debt servicing as proportion of total FAAC allocations is generally higher in the first quarter of the year, after which it falls to lower levels. Based on this, the figure of 40.27 per cent observed in the first quarter of 2017 might be an upper threshold and it would thus be expected that this figure will be lower for the remaining quarters of the year”, the report said. However, the Debt Management Office (DMO) is yet to provide data on the figure for the second quarter of 2017.

    In this direction, the NEITI publication expressed concern that the nation’s debt in relation to revenues appears to have reached critical levels. It further noted that domestic debt servicing constituted 90 per cent of total debt servicing.

    The report remarked that “domestic debt servicing consistently outstrips external debt servicing. In the first quarter of 2015, domestic debt servicing made up over 93 per cent of total debt servicing. This figure did not change much by the first quarter of 2017 as domestic debt servicing was over 92 per centof total debt servicing”.

    On the Paris Club debt refund to the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory (FCT), the NEITI Quarterly Review confirmed that N760.18 billion was released by the Federal Government to the 36 states and the FCT.

    The money, which was paid in two tranches represents refunds of over deductions from FAAC allocations to states and local governments used for quick payment of debt relief granted to Nigeria by the Paris Club between 1995 and 2002.

    The NEITI publication disclosed that Rivers received the highest amount of N44.93 billion followed by Delta with N37.61billion and Akwa Ibom N35.98 billion. Bayelsa got N34.9 billion and Kano State received N31.74 billion. The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja received the lowest amount of N2.05 billion.

     

  • Hate speech, terrorism: FG, states agree on special courts to try suspects

    The Federal and state governments have agreed to designate special courts for the purposes of prosecuting purveyors of hate speeches as well as suspected terrorists and kidnappers.

    According to a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Sunday by the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice-President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Laolu Akande, the decision was reached at a one-day National Security Retreat organised by the National Economic Council on Thursday.

    The council which is chaired by the Vice President has the 36 states governors, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria as members.

    Akande said the retreat discussed concerns about the delay in the nation’s criminal justice system and NEC members concluded that prompt action by law enforcement agencies was imperative.

    In arriving at special courts for purveyors of hate speeches as well as suspected terrorists and kidnappers, he said it was resolved that the Federal Government would help states to develop a template for such courts.

    He said, “NEC members urged prompt action in the arrest and prosecution of perpetrators of terrorist acts, kidnapping and purveyors of hate speeches.

    “To facilitate this, the designation of special courts was also advocated and the consensus was that judicial and executive arms of the Federal and state governments will be working together to establish such courts.

    “The Federal Government will also be helping states develop a template on how such special courts would be established and managed.”

     

  • Focus attention on releasing dams to states, not restructuring, Sultan tells FG

    The Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, on Monday called on Nigerians to focus on devolution of ‘dams’ rather than restructuring the country.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Sultan made the call at the Niger State Investment Submit in Minna.

    The summit which attracted economic experts, industrialists and manufacturers as well as some state governors across the country, was organised to attract investors in various fields to boost the state’s economy.

    He said the nation was blessed with human and mineral resources needed to achieve greatness.

    He said the Shiroro Dam in Niger, Goronyo Dam in Sokoto and several others across the country should be used to start all-year farming.

    He said proper utilisation of the nation’s dams would enable farmers too produce assorted food crops for both local consumption and export.

    “Rather than the clamour for restructuring the country, emphasis should be on Federal Government releasing dams across the country to state governments for massive participation of Nigerians in all-year farming seasons,” Mr. Sultan said.

    “We have the ability and technical knowledge to feed the continent with what we can produce, with the required political commitment, through the provision of modern farming implements for our teaming farmers.”

    He also urged Federal Government to ensure early completion of Minna to Suleja road and Ilorin to Kaduna federal roads.

    He said the poor condition of the roads was affecting smooth economic development of the state and the region.

    He called on the state government to ensure proper analysis and smooth implementation of programmes put forward by individuals and corporate organisations during the submit.

    He said Nigeria was one of the best countries in the world with various mineral resources needed to better the lots of the public.

    Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State commended the acting president, Yemi Osibanjo, for providing a purposeful leadership for the political growth of the country.

    He said the state governors would continue to support and cooperate with the Federal Government for peace, progress and political growth of the country.

    “We will continue to initiate people-oriented policies and programmes that will ensure rapid growth. ”

    “Above all, various forms of security measures will be put in place to guarantee the safety of our farmers to ensure the production of assorted food crops for local consumption and export,’’ he said.

    (NAN)

  • Constitution Amendment: Reps reject devolution of power to states, women’s indigeneship right, others

    Constitution Amendment: Reps reject devolution of power to states, women’s indigeneship right, others

    Members of the House of Representatives on Thursday commenced voting on the bills to amend some sections of the 1999 constitution albeit in a rowdy session.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Senate had earlier voted on Wednesday.

    The House rejected the devolution of power to the states, the separatrion of the office of the Attorney-General from that of Justice minister, women’s indigeneship right, and the plan to ensure the appointment of only indigenes as Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister.

    At the proceeding on Thursday, the House took votes on 22 of the 33 items listed for amendments in the constitution.

    Deputy Speaker LasunYussuff, who heads the Constitution Review Committee said 32 alterations were treated by the Committee.

    The move to put former Senate presidents and ex-speakers of the House of Representatives in the Council of State passed with 294 votes.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the threshold to pass any item is 240 votes .

    Also the reduction of Authorisation of Expenditure of the President from six months to three months in case of non- passage of budget” was approved with 295 votes, but efforts to ensure that a minister emerges from the Federal Capital Territory was defeated as it could only rake up 191 votes.

    The 35 per cent affirmative action was also passed alongside timeline for submission of nominees for Ministers/ Commissioners with portfolio attachment with a vote of 248 against the 46 and one abstaining.

    The removal of the nomenclature “Force” from the Nigeria Police Force was effected with 280 votes as opposed to nine against and four abstaining.

    Also, a bill seeking to make provisions for pre- election matters and the time for the determination of pre-election disputes passed with 288 votes. Three were against and one abstained.

    Though the House agreed to give the Auditor- General independence with 289 votes, the attempt to separate the office of the Attorney General from the Minister of Justice was defeated as it only garnered 234 votes.

    The House approved the power of the National Assembly to override the President on Constitutional Amendment should he withhold assent with a vote of 248 and a negative of 28 and four abstaining.

    The lawmakers rejected devolution of power to decongest the Exclusive list, legislative list by transferring certain items contained to the concurrent list, thereby enabling the states to make laws in respect of those items passed with 210 votes which was less than the required 240 votes, and rejected State Creation and boundary adjustment.

    It, however, passed the age reduction bill (popularly known as “Not too young to run,” Bill) after spirited appeal for the Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila and the Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, passed with 261 votes, 23 against and 2 lawmakers abstaining.

    Women lawmakers became furious over a technical hitch that caused the House to vote against citizenship and indigeneship for women for their husbands’ states of origin.

    The issue, which caused a spontaneous reaction from the women held up voting for about 15 minutes. The Speaker ordered for another vote.

    In a flash, the women surrounded Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s seat, vehemently protesting the result of the vote.

    The repeat vote still ended in a defeat for the item as it garnered only. 208 votes, a far cry from the 240 votes needed.

    The consistent efforts from Hon. Mojeed Alabi (Osun State) through a point of Order to explain some procedural lapse got a tongue-lashing from the Deputy Speaker who considered it an attempt to truncate the voting.

    Lasun’s remark did not go down well with Alabi who raised a point of Order 13 sub section 1(2), and referred to the preamble of the Constitution.

    He was, however, ruled out of order by the Speaker Yakubu Dogara,

    Dogara said: “We are taking vote on all the clauses despite the fact that most of them did not survive in the Senate, so that Nigerians will know our position on them,”

    The Speaker regretted the failure of his colleagues to amend the 1999 Constitution to allow Abuja indigenes to be empowered henceforth to produce the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    The amendment would have also ensured that the FCT is adequately represented at the Federal Executive Council (FEC), like other states.

    The proposal was rejected as it failed to meet the requisite two-thirds majority of votes cast with 191 for and 91 against; 240 votes were required to pass it.

    Of all the rejected bills, the Speaker was also particularly disturbed that the recommendations of the Committee on Citizenship and Indegenship as well as separation of the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and the Office of the Minister of Justice were equally rejected by the lawmakers.

    Dogara, confirming what transpired at the Committee of the Whole, said it was unfortunate that the law that would have allowed women married to someone from another State claimed the indegenship of her husband’s state did not scale through.

    He also was shocked that the separation of the office of the AGF from that of the Minster of Justice to failed to sail trough, considering the debates the issue had gone through over time.

    “It is rather unfortunate, our women in the House must have found this unfortunate. Well, this is democracy and we are still growing,” he said.

    Dogara was optimistic that some of the rejected bills would find better favour in the next constitution review.

     

  • FG releases details of second tranche of Paris club payment to states

    FG releases details of second tranche of Paris club payment to states

    The Nigerian government has released details of payments to the 36 states as refund of “over-deductions on Paris Club, London Club Loans and Multilateral debts on the accounts of States and Local Governments (1995-2002).”

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the latest payment is the second tranche of the refunds to the states.

    A total of N243.8 billion was released to the 36 states and Abuja in the second tranche.

    The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, said approval for the release of the fund was given by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on May 4.

    The details, released by the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday evening, showed that Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Kano and Rivers received the largest sum of N10 billion each.

    The states had earlier promised to use a large chunk of the money to settle debts owed workers and pensioners in their respective domains.

    “The releases were conditional upon a minimum of 75 per cent being applied to the payment of workers’ salaries and pensions for States that owe salaries and pension,” Salisu Dambatta, a finance ministry spokesperson said in the statement.

    The finance ministry said it was reviewing the impact of these releases on the level of arrears owed by the various state governments.

    See details of payments below: