Aso Villa Reads for 12/03/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
According to Punch “between January and December last year, the Federal Government spent about N7.36tn on the implementation of the 2018 budget. The amount was spent on three major expenditure components. They are recurrent expenditure, capital expenditure and statutory transfers. The 2018 budget, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on June 20 last year, had total spending of N9.1tn. The capital expenditure was to gulp 31.5 per cent of the total expenditure at N2.87tn, while recurrent non-debt spending was put at N3.51tn in 2018. There was also a provision of N2.01tn for debt servicing which was 21 per cent of the total budget while a provision of N177bn to retire maturing bond to local contractors was made by the government. The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing had the highest allocation with N715bn for both recurrent and capital expenditure, Ministry of Interior was to get N577bn while Defence was allocated N576bn. The Ministry of Education was allocated N542bn; Health, N356bn; Transportation, N267bn; and Agriculture N203bn. Details of the fiscal operations of the Federal Government was obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria economic report for the fourth quarter of 2018.”
“The Federal Government has inaugurated a National Steering Committee to implement Leather Products Policy in the country. The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, inaugurated the committee in Abuja on Tuesday, according to a statement issued by Head of Public Relations at the ministry, Mr AbdulGaniyu Aminu. nu advised Nigerians to take advantage of the low cost of labour and invest in the leather industry”. Punch reports that “the minister said all efforts would be made to ensure effective implementation of the policy, adding that past efforts at industrialisation had failed because the first things were not done first. He added that the widely acclaimed Moroccan leather products were actually sourced from Nigeria. Onu said that the leather industry was very critical to national growth and development because it would boost Gross Domestic Product and increase Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. The minister said that the policy would solve most of the problems hindering the growth of the leather sector and enable Nigeria to produce shoes, belts and other leather products similar to what obtains in developed countries of the world.”
“President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of the 2019 Presidential Inauguration Committee. Mr Olusegun Adekunle, the Permanent Secretary, General Services Office in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja. Adekunle said that the SGF would serve as the chairman, while the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs Office in the office of the SGF would serve as the secretary of the committee. He said that members of the committee are, the Ministers of Information and Culture, Interior, Foreign Affairs and FCT. Others are the Ministers of Defence, Health, Education, the Minister of State for Aviation, the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman and the Inspector General of Police (IG).” THIS DAY reported this.
Daily Trust reports that “the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has recovered assets worth over N771 million from some marketers who had underpaid for petroleum products supplied to them from the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Kaduna Depot. The chairman of NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee, Mr. Mike Balami, said the committee, in collaboration with the Federal Government’s Intelligence and Anti-Corruption agencies such as the Department of State Security Services (DSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, recovered the assets from the defaulting marketers. A statement by the NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, in Abuja, Monday, said NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee brought in forensic experts to uncover the shady deals by some of the marketers affected. Mr. Balami disclosed that some of the assets recovered included filling stations, water factories and six sports utility vehicles, adding that the forensic investigation would be extended to other depots across the country to stop the bleeding of the national oil company.”
“The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Maikanti Baru, will on Monday address foreign investors at the CERAWeek, an international energy conference taking place in Houston, United States. Baru, who will speak during a Special Session entitled “Africa: Foundations for New Investment” will be joined by some African petroleum ministers, heads of National Oil Companies (NOCs) and other global energy industry leaders. He is expected to discuss the abundant investment opportunities in Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry, particularly providing meaningful insights into key investment initiatives as they affect the country’s emerging capital projects within the oil, gas, power and the renewable energy sectors.” This is according to BusinessDay (Wednesday March 11).
“The Federal Government on Monday says there is a decline in number of new cases of Lassa fever in the country. Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, the Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja. Ihekweazu said that the country had witnessed a reduction in the number of people who have died from the disease compared to 2018.” Daily Trust reported that “he revealed that the NCDC and partners had continued to sustain response activities in states across the country, despite progress made so far. “An outbreak of Lassa fever was declared in Nigeria on Jan. 21, 2019. Since then, 420 confirmed cases and 93 deaths have been reported in 21 states. “The national response is being coordinated by the national, multi-sectoral, multi-partner Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) led by the NCDC. “In addition, the centre has supported Ebonyi, Edo, Ondo, Plateau and Kebbi States in activating sub-national level EOCs for coordination,’’ the chief executive officer said. Ihekeazu said that following the large Lassa fever outbreak in 2018, the NCDC together with partners instituted five key measures to ensure improved preparedness in 2019. NCDC boss listed some of the measures as training of over 1,000 healthcare workers on Lassa fever management, diagnosis and surveillance, together with the Irrua Specialist Teaching Hospital.”
“President Mohammadu Buhari on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of two Executive Directors to the Board of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). The appointees are Stella Ojekwe-Onyejeli and Aminu Umar-Sadiq. Mr Sadiq was until his appointment NSIA’s Deputy Head of Direct Investments. “A statement from the NSIA said Mrs Ojekwe-Onyejeli, who is the Chief Operating officer of the NSIA, was reappointed for a second term. The NSIA statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by its spokesperson, Titilope Olubiyi, said the appointments followed the realignment in 2018 of NSIA’s strategy towards domestic infrastructure. Under the strategic agenda announced last year, the NSIA said it would focus attention on infrastructural development as reflected in the allocation of 50 per cent of future contributions to infrastructure investments. In 2018, the NSIA Board established for the first time a Direct Investment Committee for review and oversight of investments in core domestic infrastructure sectors such as motorways, agriculture, healthcare, power, and education. Recent NSIA initiatives reflecting this increased new focus on domestic infrastructure include the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), which will fast-track the completion of five infrastructure projects of national priority.” This is according to Premium Times.
