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  • Gbajabiamila to Meet Finance, Education Ministers, ASUU Reps on Thursday over Looming Strike

    Gbajabiamila to Meet Finance, Education Ministers, ASUU Reps on Thursday over Looming Strike

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has resolved to meet with the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu; as well as the representatives of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in his office on Thursday in order to stop the impending industrial action.

    The House has also mandated its Committees on Education, Tertiary and Basic to investigate if the money the federal government intends to pay ASUU in lieu of the agreement reached with the body is housed in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or not and unravel why the money hasn’t been paid.

    The decision of the House to intervene and stop the impending industrial action by ASUU was sequel to the adoption of a motion moved at the plenary on Tuesday by Prof. Julius Ihonvbere.

    Moving the motion, the lawmaker said ASUU was threatening to proceed on another industrial action on a matter that has been on the front burner for so long.

    Ihonvbere said the federal government has not been forthcoming, nor has it attached any consistent seriousness to the urgent need to reposition and refocus the education sector in line with our developmental objectives.

    The lawmaker stressed that ASUU has threatened to call out its members across the nation, if all the issues, including those of unpaid academically earned allowances and the universities revitalisation fund are not addressed within a period of three weeks.

    Ihonvbere noted that the future of Nigerian students, once again, would be negatively impacted if the impending strike by ASUU is not nipped in the bud by the federal government.

    According to him, embarrassed that the federal government has, since the last strike was called off in December 2020, continued to pass the buck, make excuses and engage in diversions and distractions rather than meet the terms of agreement it signed with the union.

    The lawmaker argued that ASUU was not asking for anything new, but they are only asking the federal government to implement the agreement signed in December 2020.

    He said: “If you look at the track record of conversations, the Minister of Education is saying we don’t handle money, it is Minister of Finance, but ASUU is under the Ministry of Education and it has a responsibility to make this cause to ensure the money is there to pay for the revitalization of universities.”

    Ihonvbere therefore called on the federal government to live up to expectation and implement an agreement it signed without duress.

    He pointed out that if the federal government disrupts the activities of the universities again by not honouring the agreement, the implications would be far-reaching, adding that the country can’t continue like this.

    Contributing, the Deputy Chief Whip, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha said if ASUU is allowed to go on strike, it would affect so many souls.

    She said it was wrong for the federal government to sign the agreement and later renege.

    In his contribution, Hon. Nicholas Ossai said the time has come for the parliament to put some certain sectors in the first line charge.

    On his part, the Chief Whip, Hon. Tahir Monguno, said the House should take the bull by the horn by taking advantage of the ongoing budget defence to vote more money for the sector.

    The lawmaker noted that It was the responsibility of the House to make sure that the education sector is well-founded.

    But the Speaker said the issue was not about funding, as funding was already there, stressing that both the ministers of finance and education are passing the buck of where the money is.

    Gbajabiamila said: “The Committees on Education, Tertiary and Basic should investigate and report back to the House. I will meet with the minister of finance, the minister of education, and representatives of ASUU in my office on Thursday.”

  • Subsidy Draining Nigeria’s Economy – Finance Minister

    Subsidy Draining Nigeria’s Economy – Finance Minister

    Minister of finance, budget and national planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, has said petroleum under-recovery popularly known as fuel subsidy is a major drain on the nation’s economy, which ought to have been scrapped to free up money for critical sectors like health and education.

    She said, “It is a major waste, a major drain on the economy. We are worried that we are spending money we should be spending on education and other areas.”

    The minister stated this yesterday when she appeared on the Politics Today programme on Channels Television.

    Ahmed said the lack of actual deregulation in the oil sector is denying Nigeria of the needed revenues, saying the subsidy is currently being given to people that can afford it. Stating that there is no provision for subsidy in the 2022 budget from July next year, Ahmed restated the government’s readiness to abolish the incentive from that date.

    She said ahead of the plan to remove the fuel subsidy by next July, the government is currently negotiating with the labour union while also providing social welfare packages for more Nigerians to cushion the expected effect of the removal of subsidy on their livelihoods and businesses.

    The minister said the government is also working with development partners, including the World Bank to provide alternative means of transportation for Nigerians as palliatives.

    On road infrastructure, Ahmed said there is a toll policy that has been approved on roads for the government to recoup the monies spent on provision of road projects. She however said the government is not looking at recovering the funds immediately. She said the government is aware that those plying the roads will pay tax from the economic gains from the good roads.

  • Buhari’s Government has done extremely well – Finance Minister

    Buhari’s Government has done extremely well – Finance Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said that the Buhari-led government has done extremely well as the growth indices indicate that the country is moving forward.

    Ahmed said this when she appeared on Channels TV on Thursday evening, November 11. When asked if it is right for any Nigerian to be disappointed in this government, she responded;

    ”I think this government has been unfairly assessed and unfairly treated. The government of President Muhammadu Buhari has done extremely well. If you look at the growth indicators of the country, they are all positive. Things are improving. It’s just that people want to see improvements like between today and tomorrow, It doesn’t work like that because the degradation didn’t happen overnight.

    Where we are right now didn’t happen overnight. It was a process. So the improvement is a process. It is sad that some people are suffering but we really need to do what we have to do now so that everybody would have relief in the medium term and long term.”

    On the rising cost of food prices, Ahmed said President Buhari is ”pained” by this.

    ”I sympathise with the citizens. The President is pained by the hardship that citizens undertake especially in terms of food prices. When you look at why food prices are high. There are several consequencial reasons but one of the major reasons is the cost of transportation of moving goods from farms to market.” she said

  • FG in Talks with IMF on Repayment Terms of $3.4bn SDR – Finance Minister

    FG in Talks with IMF on Repayment Terms of $3.4bn SDR – Finance Minister

    The federal government is negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on repayment terms for the $3.4 billion extended to Nigeria under the Fund’s global $650 billion Special Drawing Right (SDR).

    As part of further measures to enable member countries cope with the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the IMF in had August approved $650 billion in SDR, out of which Nigeria received $3.4 billion based on its quota contribution and economic standing.

    But the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, disclosed recently that although the money has already been released to Nigeria through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), discussions on the terms of repayment were still ongoing with the IMF.

    Responding to a question at the public presentation and breakdown of the 2022 budget proposals, the minister stressed that negotiations on the terms of repayment were ongoing with the multilateral institution.

    Ahmed explained that the SDR fund has a very concessional window, disclosing that the $3.4 billion would be part of the 2022 External Borrowing Plan.

    The finance minister also revealed that the federal government was to evaluate the process and policy effectiveness of fiscal incentives, including a review of sectors eligible for Pioneer Tax Holiday Incentives under the Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act (IDITRA).

    The principle of pioneer status as a tax incentive relieves sectors designated as pioneers from paying company income tax in their formative years to enable them to make a considerable profit for re-investment into the business.

    The pioneer status is administered by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC).

    The federal government had in 2017 approved additional 27 industries and products to enjoy the pioneer status, including mining and processing of coal; processing and preservation of meat/poultry and production of meat/poultry products; manufacturers of starches and starch products; processing of cocoa; manufacture of animal feeds; tanning and dressing of leather, manufacturers of leather footwear, luggage and handbags; manufacturers of household and personal hygiene paper products and manufacturers of paints, vanishes and printing ink.

    Others were manufacturers of plastic products (builders of plastic wares) and moulds; manufacturers of batteries and accumulators; manufacture of steam generators; manufacturers of railway locomotives, wagons and rolling stock; manufacturers of metal-forming machinery and machine tools, manufacturers of machinery for metallurgy, manufacturers of machinery for food and beverage processing.

    They also included manufacturers of machinery for textile, apparel and leather production; and manufacturers of machinery for paper paperboard production.

    Manufacturers of plastics and rubber machinery; players in waste treatment, disposal and material recovery; e-commerce services; software development and publishing; motion pictures, video and television programme production, distribution, exhibition and photography; music production, publishing and distribution were included

    Also on the list were real estate investment vehicles under the Investments and Securities Act; mortgage-backed securities under the Investments and Securities Act; and business process outsourcing.

    On the review of the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which led to the recent upward adjustment of the 2022 appropriation bill from N13.98 trillion to N16.4 trillion, the minister said the revision became imperative to reflect the new fiscal terms in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, as well as other critical expenditure in the 2022 proposed budget.

    But she was quick to point out that the fiscal effects of the PIA’s implementation expected to take effect from January would kick in mid-2022.

    She said: “The revised 2022-24 Fiscal Framework is premised on hybrid of January-June (based on current fiscal regime) and July-December (based on PIA fiscal regime), while 2023 and 2024 are now fully based on the PIA.”

    The minister, who also spoke about government’s revenue drive initiatives added: “Our target over the medium term is to grow our revenue-to-GDP ratio from about 8–9 per cent currently to 15 per cent by 2025.

    “At that level of revenues, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio will cease to be a critical concern. It is now critical to fix our revenue challenge, because cutting expenditure is not currently a viable option, as our public expenditure /GDP ratio is also the lowest among some Africa’s leading economies.

    “We must however continue to rationalise our expenditures as we cannot afford waste. In reality, our largest expenditure items are currently personnel cost debt service and capital expenditure, which between them account for 85 per cent of the 2022 budget.”

    According to her, the most viable solution to the nation’s fiscal challenges was to grow revenues and plug all leakages

  • Nigeria Would Still be in Recession If not for Borrowing – Finance Minister

    Nigeria Would Still be in Recession If not for Borrowing – Finance Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has again defended recent borrowings by the Federal Government, insisting they were instrumental to the country’s exit from recessions.

    She said this on Friday during the Public Presentation and Breakdown of the 2022 Appropriation Bill.

    “Having witnessed two consecutive recessions, we have had to spend our way out of the recession which contributed significantly to the growth of our public debts,” the minister stated in Abuja, one day after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly.

    “It is unlikely that our recovery from these recessions would have been as fast without the sustained government expenditure funded partly by debt.”

    Before now, the minister had said Nigeria will fund its 2022 budget deficit, pegged at N6.258 trillion, through fresh borrowings.

    The move was greeted with controversy across the country. Critics and members of the opposition said the development, as well as other borrowings by the Federal Government, call for concern.

    “Our party holds it as an act of wickedness that individuals who know that they will be leaving office in less than two years will be accumulating debts instead of seeking ways to reduce the liability they have brought upon our nation,” the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said following Buhari’s request for approval to borrow $4 billion and €710 million to fund the deficit in the 2021 budget.

    Technically At War

    Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed the borrowings are within “sustainable limits.”

    But Zainab has explained that borrowings have helped the government in providing infrastructure to boost the economy.

    “Borrowings are essential to enable us to deploy necessary capital expenditure and invest in human capital development,” she maintained.

    According to her, with the country’s rising levels of insecurity, the government had to resort to borrowing.

    “To compound matters, the country has technically been at war, with the pervasive security challenges across the nation,” the minister added.

    “This has necessitated massive expenditures on security equipment and operations, contributing to the fiscal deficit; Defence and Security sector accounts for 22% of the 2022 budget!”

    She further allayed fears over Nigeria’s debts, insisting the “debt level of the Federal Government is still within sustainable limits”.

  • Continue VAT Collection in all States, Finance Minister Directs FIRS

    Continue VAT Collection in all States, Finance Minister Directs FIRS

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has directed the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to continue the collection of value added tax (VAT) and advised all Nigerians to pay their VAT to FIRS until the appellate court rules otherwise.

    The Rivers State Government had last month secured a major court victory over the federal government in the collection of VAT in the state, and had gone ahead, along with Lagos State, to enact necessary laws and agencies for the collection of the tax.

    But the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal on September 10 ordered all parties that had submitted themselves before the court to maintain status quo ante bellum pending the hearing of an application seeking to stay the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.

    Following the Appeal Court ruling, the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), became confused, and desperately called on the federal government to clear the confusion.

    Apparently in reaction, the Minister of Finance, in a newspaper advertorial on Thursday, stated the position of the federal government on the rulings, directing the FIRS to continue the collection.
    The minister stated: “The tax-paying public has been confused about whom to pay VAT to as a result of the Federal High Court’s judgement in Suit No. FHC/PH/CS/149/2020.

    “The Appeal Court’s ruling, halting the execution of the judgement of the Federal High Court required all parties to maintain the status quo ante bellum. As such, FIRS shall continue to administer VAT in all the states of the federation unless the appellate court rules otherwise.
    “The ruling of the Court of Appeal, therefore, implores all taxpayers in all the states to continue to pay their VAT, and for the FIRS to continue to collect VAT on behalf of the government in compliance with the VAT Act.

    She appealed to all parties to stop their litigations in the interest of the nation, stating that the economy had ominous challenges and needed the support of every Nigerian for it not to go under.
    Ahmed said, “The uncertainty caused by the recent pronouncements of the Federal High Court, sitting in Rivers State and the subsequent enactment of Value Added Tax (VAT) laws by some states is unnecessary and very regrettable.
    “The Nigerian economy, just as the economy of other nations, is facing serious challenges occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    According to her, “Government is facing serious revenue challenges and, therefore, this is not the time for litigations, but for all hands to be on deck, to pull through this difficult period.”
    The ruling of the Court of Appeal, she said “has provided the much needed certainty, clarity, and consistency that will enable compliance without disruption to business while final resolution is awaited.”

    She said the federal government “shall continue to update the tax-paying public on this matter as the proceedings unfold at the appellate courts. All businesses are hereby encouraged to continue with their lawful operations.”

    The leaders of the Organised Private Sector of Nigeria (OPSN), had on September 17, spoken in one voice, urging the federal government to make a statement that would clear the VAT confusion.
    They said that the reality and consequences of the controversy “portend grave danger for the business community and by extension, the fragile economic recovery the country had been witnessing in recent times.”

    The OPSN, which is comprised of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA), and the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI) and the Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASMEs), said a statement from the federal government would give a clear direction to the business community.

    It said it would also save them the dilemma of remitting their VAT to the wrong government that might necessitate double payment; it would also save them the consequence of paying penalty fees for withholding the remittance of their VAT beyond the due date of Tuesday, September 21, 2021.
    The Chairman of the OPSN, Mr. Taiwo Adeniyi, said: “We want to pay the VAT. But it is for the government at the centre to make a pronouncement because we do not want the situation where we will pay the VAT to the FIRS and the court will later say that it is state governments that shall collect VAT. We are shouting that the government will give us a direction as to what to do. It is not even late as a pronouncement can be made on Tuesday, September 21.

    Adeniyi said that the OPSN was seriously concerned about the consequences of the ongoing controversy over the right of the government to collect VAT in the country, adding that it would be an “aberration to punish businesses or make them suffer from the proverbial ‘two elephants fighting.”
    He said the situation had created an environment of uncertainty, which would negatively affect business competitiveness and sustainability in the country.

    The federal government, through the FIRS by virtue of the Value Added Tax Act of 1993, has been the sole collecting authority of VAT in Nigeria until the Rivers State Government’s court victory, which empowered it to collect VAT from businesses located in the state.

  • We have been borrowing from recovered loot – Finance Minister reveals

    We have been borrowing from recovered loot – Finance Minister reveals

    The Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed has revealed that the government has been borrowing from recovered loots to fund the budget.

    The minister also revealed that the government has not been able to repay back the loans taken so far.

    She revealed this while appearing before the House of Representatives committee investigation recovered loots on Thursday.

    The minister appeared alongside the Accountant General of the federation, Ahmed Idris.

    The lawmakers condemned the withdrawals from the accounts without the funds being transferred to the consolidated account.

    A member of the committee, Wole Oke said the government withdrew N19 billion from the EFCC recovery account and transferred it to the African Development Bank (AfDB) with evidence of budgetary allocation.

    He added that the government also borrowed N20 billion to fund the budget of the Ministry of Defence.

    “From the EFCC Account, you took N19 billion. You took a whole N19 billion from the EFCC account and paid an international organization. N19 whole billion is not remitted here. I am sure the accountant-general is familiar with this money. On what basis did you withdraw or transfer the money?”

    The Chairman of the Committee, Adejoro Adeogun queried the Accountant General for N150 million, which according to him is missing.

    The committee also resolved to summon Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor, to explain the status of the accounts.

    The committee adjourned till Friday.

  • Doctors’ strike: Reps leadership to invite Finance Minister next week

    Doctors’ strike: Reps leadership to invite Finance Minister next week

    …as Gbajabiamila visits doctors

    In its bid to proffer an enduring resolution of contending issues with resident doctors in the country, the leadership of the House of Representatives will next week invite the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed over the industrial action by the Nigerian resident doctors, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila disclosed on Tuesday.

    According to Gbajabiamila, the meeting would be over how to ensure the execution of the Memorandum of Action entered into between the government and members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD).

    The Speaker, while meeting with the executive of the NARD led by the President, Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi at the association’s secretariat in Abuja, assured that the House would ensure an amicable and acceptable resolution of the contentious hazard allowance issue as well as other contentious issues.

    It would be recalled that the resident doctors suspended the industrial action that began on April 1, 2021, after 10 days of its commencement.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, the Speaker noted that though it was impossible to accommodate the hazard allowance in the 2021 National Budget, the House would work to ensure that it is included in the supplementary budget.

    While commending the doctors for suspending the strike at the request of the House, the Speaker said, “Even the constitution talks about essential services, but there’s nothing as essential a service than that which seeks to save and protect lives.”

    Saying that the House believes that “the labourer must earn his wages,” Gbajabiamila said “We’ll monitor issues being processed, the IPPIS, training fund, hazard allowances which the House championed at the peak of the Covid-19 crisis.

    “All the issues will be addressed. We’re looking to come to a reasonable and acceptable hazard allowance as well as the training fund, which when the supplementary budget is introduced, we hope and expect to justify why this should be accommodated

    “We will do everything we need to do to see how we can capture that.

    “We are inviting Finance Minister next week so that we can talk and see how, as best as we can, accommodate all these issues and cement the Memorandum of Action”.

    On why the leadership of the House had to visit the NARD secretariat for the meeting, the Speaker said it was to appreciate the respect and understanding the association has shown for the Speaker and the House to suspend the strike to allow for the resolution of the issues.

    He said: “The decision to visit you is a clear message that we are with you because the role of doctors cannot be understated and to thank you for calling off the strike because of what we have done.

    “We are here to encourage and thank you for calling off the strike and give you assurances that the House will be there with you, talking with the executive on what needs to be done”.

    Earlier, the president of the association, Okhuaihesuyi, who expressed appreciation for the visit, observed that this is the first time a member of the Federal Government will be coming to the secretariat.

    He commended the Speaker and the leadership of the House, recalling several past interventions of the Speaker and the house in other industrial actions of the association.

    The president said the strike was called off on the heels of the intervention of the Speaker and the House.

    While thanking the Speaker for all his previous interventions, he noted that the association has entered into a Memorandum of Action with the Executive and work has commenced on some of the issues.

    The Speaker was accompanied by the House Leader, Rep. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, Minority Leader Rep Ndudi Elumelu, Chairman, House Committee on Health Services, Rep. Tanko Sununu, his deputy, Rep Babatunde Adejare and Rep. Sani Farouk.

  • Sale Of Govt Assets Will Benefit Nigerians, Boost Economy – Finance Minister

    Sale Of Govt Assets Will Benefit Nigerians, Boost Economy – Finance Minister

    The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, on Friday, said the Federal Government’s planned sale of public assets will benefit Nigerians and help to boost the economy.

    In an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Mrs Ahmed, who is also the Minister of Budget and National Planning, said some government assets are currently moribund and provide little or no value to Nigerians in their current state.

    “There are some government assets that are dead that can be sold to the private sector to be reactivated and put to use for the benefit of Nigerians,” the Minister said.

    “So we are looking at different – and I am a member of the National Council on Privatisation – we are looking at different categories of government assets that government has not been able to manage, that are lying down and in some cases even completely rundown, to cede them off to the private sector.

    On January 12, Mrs Ahmed had revealed the government’s plan to sell public assets to partly finance the N13.58 trillion 2021 budget.

    On Friday, Ms Ahmed stressed that the “intention is not just funding the budget, it is to reactivate these assets and hand it over and have them bring contributions to the growth in the economy.”

    She added that the Bureau of Public Enterprises will begin to coordinate with other arms of government on the asset sales in the first quarter of the year.

    ” . . . in the last week of December, we had a meeting of the National Council on Privatisation where we approved the annual work plan, the 2021 work plan, for that Bureau of Public Enterprises,” she said.

    “And I guess it is in this first quarter that the BPE will now be engaging the Senate committee and other committees they work with to say this is our work plan for the year.”

    In a statement on Sunday, civil society group SERAP had asked the National Assembly to stop the federal government from selling public assets to fund the 2021 budget.

    The group said the government should, instead, look to identify areas in the budget to cut, such as salaries and allowances for public officials.