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Tag: Udoma Udo Udoma

  • Akpabio hails Senator Udoma @ 70

    Akpabio hails Senator Udoma @ 70

    President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio has hailed Senator Udoma Udo Udoma on his 70th birthday anniversary.

    Akpabio in a congratulatory message her personally signed said: “On behalf of my family, constituents, the Senate, and the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I wish to rejoice with an illustrious son of Akwa Ibom and an eminent Nigerian stateman, Distinguished Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.

    “I am happy to celebrate you on this auspicious occasion of your 70th birthday. All your life has been iconic and pace setting, you have been a huge blessing to mankind, and your contributions to the advancement of our democracy are widely acknowledged.

    “You are a man of principle and impeccable integrity and I cherish your astute personality.

    “I pray to the Almighty God to grant you many more healthy years and the strength to continue to devote your life to doing good and promoting peace.

    “Happy birthday and Congratulations to a brother in whom I am well pleased with!

  • 2019 budget: FG liaises with NASS

    2019 budget: FG liaises with NASS

    The Federal Government is liaising with the National Assembly on a date for the presentation of the 2019 budget estimates to the Legislature.

    The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, disclosed this in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Mr Akpandem James, on Thursday in Abuja.

    The minister said that it was the procedure when the budget is ready for the Executive to liaise with the Legislature for a date for presentation.

    He said a date would be given by the Legislature for the Budget to be laid before the joint session of the National Assembly.

    Udoma, however, refuted that he blamed the National Assembly over delay in presentation of 2019 Budget estimates as reported by some news media.

    He said it was obvious that some of the reporters misconstrued his response while responding to the question on when the Budget would be submitted to the Legislature after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC).

    The minister said there was no time throughout the interaction with the media did he blamed the National Assembly for the delay in the presentation.

    He also said he did not give any impression that there was any issue between the two arms of government over the Budget.

    The FEC had on Oct. 24 approved the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for the 2019-2021 to provide template for the 2019 budget.

    In the MTF/FSP, N8.73 trillion was estimated for the 2019 budget which is N400 billion lower than that of 2018.

    The price of crude oil per barrel was pegged at 60 dollars and exchange rate at 305 dollars.

    The MTEF/FSP was designed to translate strategic development objective of the economic recovery and growth plan into a realistic and implementable budget framework.

     

  • FG regrets drop in real GDP growth rate

    Following the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, Nigeria’s Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has expressed regret at the slight drop in real GDP growth rate for Q2 2018.

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) reports Udoma said the slight drop in real GDP growth rate for Q2 was due to the contraction in the oil and gas sector, which he attributed to some production issues that are being addressed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    The Minister said once the issues are addressed, there should be able positive growth in the oil and gas sector.

    Another area of concern for government was the slightly weaker growth in the agriculture sector which slowed to 1.19% in the second quarter in 2018 compared to 3.0% in the first quarter of 2018.

    Udoma partly attributed this to the security challenges mainly in the North-east and North-central regions of the country.

    “These security challenge affected activities of farmers with impact on commodity output,” he said.

    He, however, noted that the various measures being taken by government to tackle the situation is already reducing incidents of violent conflicts and other disruptions to farming activity in the regions.

    Meanwhile, the Minster said the FG is encouraged by the continuing growth recorded in the non-oil sector, which grew by 2.05% in Q2 2018.

    This he noted was evidence that the implementation of the targeted policies and programs of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) is yielding positive results.

    Udoma emphasized that the focus of the ERGP is on diversifying the economy away from dependence on the oil and gas sector and was encouraged that efforts are yielding fruits by the continuing growth in the non-oil sector.

    He noted that the 2.05% growth in the non-oil sector represents the strongest growth in the non-oil GDP since the fourth quarter of 2015.

     

  • FG screens 240 projects for ERGP focus labs – Udoma

    Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma, the Minister of Budget and National Planning says that the Federal Government has so far screened 240 projects for the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) focus laboratories.

    A statement issued by Mr Akpandem James, the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media on Tuesday in Abuja, said Udoma disclosed this at the inauguration of the focus labs by President MuhammaduBuhari.

    The minister said the government was targeting to mobilise at least 25 billion dollars or its Naira equivalent in private investments through the labs.

    “Many have asked whether we are not being too ambitious in targeting 25 billion dollars. My answer is that we have no choice.

    “We actually need multiples of 25 billion dollars, or its equivalent in Naira of new investments to create enough jobs to address the high unemployment rate in the country.
    “So, we will not stop after the first set of labs. After this first set of labs, we will hold more labs and more labs.

    “We shall keep on addressing all the constraints to investments until we achieve the goals we have set for ourselves,” he said.

    According to him, the implementation of the initiative will further drive quick delivery of some of the outcomes of ERGP and contribute to accelerating the growth momentum of the country.

    Udoma said the labs, scheduled to run for the next six weeks, would start with setting the agenda on projects capable of impacting on the economy.

    The minister said the labs would end with the final syndication and sign offs on the projects capable of impacting the economy and creating jobs for Nigerians.

    “The expected deliverables are the identification of projects followed by detailed implementation plans for each project with identified budgets and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

    “The process has become imperative because government is fully committed to the achievement of the primary objective of the ERGP, which is restoring the strength of the economy.

    “We cannot rest until we achieve the ERGP’s vision of a new Nigeria.

    “We cannot rest until we see a Nigeria that is transformed from a consuming nation to a producing nation, from an import dependent nation to an export oriented nation.

    “A Nigeria from a nation that survives on one single commodity to a nation that runs on multiple engines of growth,” he said.

    Udoma said that the government had invited potential and existing local and foreign investors, who may be interested in investing in any of the three focus areas to attend the closed-door sessions.

    “The three sectors are: Agriculture and Transportation, Manufacturing and Processing, and Power and Gas.

    “At the sessions, they will have access in one location to all the officials of government, including officials of state governments.

    “The officials, whose support or approvals they may need to enable them to commit to an investment decision.
    “In short, the focus labs will involve stakeholders from the public and private sectors working together in a single environment.

    “The stakeholders from the sectors will think out practical and workable solutions for delivering the kind of results Nigeria needs,” said the minister.

    He also said the central objective of the labs would be to bring in private capital to finance projects across the country.

    According to him, the aim was to raise the level of productivity in Nigeria, saying “we want more things to be grown in Nigeria.

    “We want more things to be processed and manufactured in Nigeria, we want more jobs to be created in Nigeria. That is what the focus labs are all about.

    “We will be having various economic agents (public and private) including industry leaders, subject matter experts, domestic and international funding agencies etc. interfacing in the labs.

    “They will be interfacing to find practical solutions to the issues raised, breakdown silos, ensure alignments and secure commitment for financing and implementation.”

    Udoma explained that the labs were workshop-style arrangements with intense open debates and an “all hands-on deck” approach and with a number of syndications to arrive at practical and innovative solutions.

    The ERGP is a medium-term plan, 2017-2020, launched by the President in April 2017.

    ERGP sets out the direction of government policy for the economy to put it on path of a strong, diversified, inclusive and sustainable growth.