Osinbajo presides over first FEC meeting as Ag. President

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is currently presiding over first meeting of the Federal Executive Council in that capacity.

Osinbajo assumed the position of acting President last Thursday when President Muhammadu Buhari proceeded on a short vacation.

The President who is expected to undergo medical checkups in London, United Kingdom, is expected to resume work on February 6.

The council meeting which has almost all ministers in attendance started at about 10.02am with Osinbajo’s arrival.

The Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali; and the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; took the opening prayers before the meeting went into closed door.

Adeosun, Emefiele back BoI scrapping, bank kicks

The Bank of Industry has kicked against the current move by the Senate to scrap it and establish the National Development Bank in its place.

The Acting Managing Director, BoI, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, made this known on Monday at a public hearing organised by the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions on the establishment of the NDB.

The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; and the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, however, backed the Senate on the move.

A bill seeking to establish the NDB had passed second reading in the Senate on October 12.

Titled: ‘A Bill for an Act to establish the National Development Bank, 2015’, and sponsored by Senator Ibrahim Gobir, it seeks to repeal the BoI, the Bank for Commerce and Industry Act and the National Economic Reconstruction Fund Act.

The bill further seeks to bring the total assets of the organisations under one body to be called the National Development Bank.

Olagunju, in his presentation, insisted that the BoI was already fulfilling the mandate of the proposed development bank.

The BoI boss stated that what was needed was more funding of the bank by the Federal Government so as to increase its support to the real sector rather than duplicate functions with the establishment of another bank with a similar purpose.

Olagunju said, “We are of the opinion that the BoI, as presently constituted, is fulfilling the mandate envisaged in the proposed legislation by supporting genuine entrepreneurs. Therefore, it should be left to continue its operations as it is. The merger envisaged in the proposed bill has already taken place.

“The BoI should be provided with more capital to be able to further support the real sector instead of duplicating functions by creating new development finance institutions, bearing in mind the failure of similar DFIs in the past, such as the NBCI, NERFUND, People’s Bank, Community Banks, etc.”

He added, “We advise that the National Assembly should support industrialisation by enacting legislation that will help create an enabling environment for business to thrive, such as an amendment to the Land Use Act, tax incentives for SMEs and establishment of industrial parks.

“This will substantially address the demand challenges of finance for SMEs in Nigeria, as vagaries of the business environment have been making the sector unattractive to private and public lenders.”

However, Adeosun, who was represented by a director in Ministry of Finance, Christopher Gabriel, said the ministry strongly supported the bill, adding that the proposal was in tandem with the economic reconstruction efforts of the Federal Government.

Punch

Recession: FG plans tax relief for manufacturers

The Federal Government, in a bid to ease the burden of the current economic recession on the manufacturing sector, is planning some form of tax relief for the sector.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, dropped the hint on Wednesday in Abuja while responding to questions from journalists at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting.
She said the tax relief was part of measures by the Federal Government to reduce the negative impact of the foreign exchange crisis on the sector.
Based on the Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the manufacturing sector’s growth rate was recorded at -2.93 per cent year-on-year.
This is lower by 1.02 percentage points than what was recorded in the second quarter of the year.
The report had blamed the decline in manufacturing activities to the continued drop in the naira to dollar exchange rate, which has made industrial inputs more expensive.
Adeosun said since the sector was one of those badly hit by the economic crisis, the Federal Government would support it with some form of incentives next year.
In addition, she said massive investments in infrastructure would be made to reduce the operating costs of the manufacturing sector.
The minister stated, “It is clear from the figures that the manufacturing sector is the one that is really challenged and the challenge in the sector is clearly that of foreign exchange availability. I think that the sector will benefit from more consistency of the foreign exchange policy.
“On the fiscal side, we are rolling out a number of measures to support the manufacturing sector in terms of tax reliefs and other measures that will allow the balance sheet of the sector to be repaired. They (manufacturers) have taken quite a hit and we will continue to try and support them through it.
“We have a fiscal road map that we will be rolling out and it includes a number of measures around revenue mobilisation, tax reliefs and the fiscal instrument, which will be issued in 2017 to get the economy back to recovery.”
Responding to a question on the position of the Central Bank of Nigeria that the Federal Government should quickly settle its indebtedness to economic agents, the minister said the issue was also affecting the fiscal stimulus objective of the government.
She said with huge debts owed local contractors, money released to the contractors through the banks for projects was not being felt.
Adeosun explained that since the contractors were also indebted to the banks, they were usually denied access to those funds released by the government.

She said while the debts had risen owing to the fact that the government changed its accounting system from cash-based to accrual-based, the ministry would work with the CBN to address the liabilities.
“We are working on a solution with the CBN that will enable us actually reflect these obligations and begin to pay them off because, indeed, they are affecting a number of sectors in the economy and the ability to get the economy growing,” Adeosun stated.
Meanwhile, the Federation Account Allocation Committee distributed a sum of N420bn among the three tiers of government for the month of October.
The minister put the gross revenue received for the month at N238.7bn, adding that this was lower by N41.03bn than the N279.74bn allocated in September.
She attributed the decrease in revenue to challenges in the oil sector caused by the activities of militants in the Niger Delta, as oil production dropped by about 950,000 barrels per day in August.

Senate summons Adeosun as it fails to stop ASUU strike

Nigeria Senate

Attempts by the Senate to stop the warning strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which started on Wednesday - yesterday -, have failed.

Senate President Bukola Saraki presided over a three-hour closed-door meeting with the officials of the union.

Saraki did not, however, speak with journalists after the crucial meeting.

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFund, Senator Jibrin Barau, who addressed journalists, said the Senate could not stop the warning strike.

He, however, said its intervention would prevent the strike from transforming to an indefinite action.

Barau added that the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, had been asked to attend a meeting of a committee comprising officials of ASUU and the ministries of education and  labour on Thursday.

The meeting on Wednesday was also attended by the officials of the Ministry of Education as well as representatives of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who was absent at the meeting, was represented by the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka.

Barau said the lawmakers had a “fruitful deliberation” with the striking lecturers, adding that “a way forward has been found” and that “the issues will soon be resolved.”

He admitted that the warning strike would continue while the Senate worked towards preventing the lecturers from embarking on a total strike.

The senator announced that a sub-committee, made up of representatives of all the stakeholders had been set up while the panel would continue with the roundtable discussions on Thursday.

He said what the Senate had done was to create a template for dialogue, describing an end to the crisis as “a work in progress.”

Barau said, “We have had a fruitful deliberation and a way forward has been found by creating a sub-committee of this committee to sit and find out certain things in the Ministry of Finance, which will bring us closer to the resolution of this problem.

“We will start sitting tomorrow (Thursday), including the Minister of Finance (Kemi Adeosun), who has not been able to attend this meeting but we are sure she will be here tomorrow and the Director-General of the Budget Office.

“We have created a template on how to resolve this problem. And you know ASUU is a democratic body, they have to consult. So, it’s ongoing; it’s a work in progress and a very important headway has been created. A good template has been created and we see light at the end of the tunnel.”

The National President of ASUU, Abiodun Ogunyemi, who earlier declined to speak on the outcome of the meeting, later thanked the Senate for its intervention.

 He said, “We have discussed and our union will work with him (Saraki). We will do all possible, with the approval of our membership, to get the matter resolved as soon as possible.”

The Senate had, on Tuesday, expressed its resolve to intervene in the face-off between the Federal Government and ASUU.

The lawmakers had specifically asked to intervene in the matter and prevent ASUU from embarking on the one-week warning strike.

The lawmakers, during the plenary on Tuesday, urged the two parties to embrace dialogue.

A document containing the demands of ASUU, which was obtained from one of its executive members after the meeting, indicated that demands bothered on the implementation of the 2009 agreement and the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding between the union and the Federal Government.

Under the ‘Payment of fractions of staff entitlements’, ASUU said, “The 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement Implementation Committee had submitted a report of the outstanding balance of N65, 833, 047,372.24 (2009-2013) plus N62,417‚645‚224.23 (2014-2016), amounting to an unpaid balance of N128‚250‚692‚596.47. This was in line with the Memorandum of Understanding between the Federal Government and ASUU, while resolving the crisis of June-November, 2013.

“ASUU stated that the initial N30bn paid university staff as part of EAA (earned allowance) in 2013 was given to the governing councils, not the union, as presented by the ministry. The union also corrected the impression that the record of the balance of the EAA had not been submitted by the lMC. The minister subsequently directed the Director of Tertiary Institutions to expeditiously address the matter to enable him to follow up on the matter.”

DMO selects banks for $1bn Eurobond sale

The Debt Management Office has selected some banks to manage the planned sale of $1bn Eurobond, according to a Reuters report.

It was, however, learnt that the Federal Government had yet to make a final decision on the list.

The government is planning to sell $1bn in Eurobonds by the end of the year, although no bank has been appointed yet to arrange the issue.

A government official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters that the list had been sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement, after which the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, would offer the names to the cabinet for approval.

He did not disclose how long the process might take.

“The names have been picked but it has to go through government process; the issue will happen this year,” he told Reuters.

Adeosun has said that the Federal Government has $500m of commitments for the planned Eurobond and any decision to increase the size of the offer will depend on pricing.

The official said Adeosun met with Moody’s Investors Service on Friday to discuss Nigeria’s ratings before the bond sale.

Moody’s had in April downgraded Nigeria’s sovereign rating to B1 from Ba3, citing risks to government efforts to diversify revenues away from oil, its mainstay.

Citibank and Deutsche Bank managed previous issues by Nigeria in 2010 and 2013.

Finance minister explains 2017 budget figures

The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, yesterday, said the Federal Government would put forward the sum of N6,866,335,052,740 as 2017 budget.

She told members of the Senate Committee on Finance, led by its chairman, John Owan Enoh (PDP, Cross River Central), that government would present the figure because it spends over N3 trillion on salaries, pensions and debt services, leaving a paltry amount for capital projects.

The committee members were on an oversight visit to her ministry.

Adeosun said government’s efforts at realising money from revenue generating agencies were being hampered by high-level corruption in agencies, especially the Nigerian Customs Service, and solicited intervention of the National Assembly in curbing leakage.

She said: “Salaries on their own are about N1.8 trillion to N1.9 trillion. And by the time you add the Judiciary, the National Assembly, pensions, and others, you are at N2 trillion. Add debt service, which is about N1.4 trillion. So, if you want to bring down the size of the budget, you won’t be able to do very many capital projects.

“That’s the problem, and that has been the vicious circle that has been affecting Nigeria for so long. By the time we pay salaries, pay debts, nothing is left. So, I think for the next few years, we have to take a gamble, as a nation. We must take a gamble that if we fix our roads, fix power, can we generate more than that additional cost? I think we can.”

Enoh said the visit was “driven by the collective decision of the Senate, a few weeks ago, that all its standing committees embark on oversight visits to all ministries, departments and agencies of government.”

He said: “This is October. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework is already sent to the National Assembly for approval, so that the 2017 budget can come. We have a few revenue challenges; above all is the performance of the independent revenue of government. So, we think that the minister would take advantage of this meeting and bring us to speed on a few of these things.”

The committee berated the minister over what it described as poor handling of agencies under her watch, resulting in monumental leakage. “There are a lot of drain pipes and leakages in the Customs. I don’t think the ministry, under your watch, has given sufficient attention to this,” said Enoh.

Adeosun admitted that the Nigerian Customs Service was financially bankrupt. She said her ministry was working with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, to correct its financial fate.

“On the issue of Customs, we are working very closely with them. They have some challenges. The general contraption in the economy has really affected their level of input-forex scarcity and so on. They have some leakages. We are working with them to try and block these. Largely, all their scanners are not working, except the one in Idiroko.”

Buhari should not have appointed Kemi Adeosun as Finance Minister – Reno Omokri

Former Special Assistant on new media to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has charged President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint capable hands into his cabinet.

In a message he posted on his social media handle on Sunday, Reno said, “With all due respect, Kemi Adeosun cannot be able to pullout the economic magic that Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will pullout.

“For example, the President took about six months to set a cabinet after which he replaced Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala with Kemi Adeosun who has a bachelor degree in economics from the University of East London. I schooled in London and I know that the University is not a really well ranked university.‎

“Moreso this is someone who has just a degree in economics and post graduate diploma which is not as high as bachelors.

“Now you had someone who has a PHD in regional and economic development and worked as a Managing Director at the World Bank and also a former Minister of Finance replaced by Kemi who I have nothing against in a difficult period like this. You need to put your best hands.

“She is a very nice woman but as a leader, you have to be unsentimental and take hard decisions. Nigeria is in recession and we need our best hands.

“It doesn’t matter if they are PDP or APC, they don’t have to be politicians as long as they are the best hands, bring them on to help you achieve what you can`t do by yourself.

“If we keep looking at who to blame, we will not be able to solve the present recession and fix it in the shortest possible time. Therefore it is very important we look beyond blame and try to resolve this recession.”

Buhari is no hater of women – Adeosun

Finance minister Kemi Adeosun has dismissed insinuations of President Muhammadu Buhari being a hater of women even as she Friday said that the administration has pumped in the last four months pumped an unprecedented N720 billion to boost infrastructure.

Mrs. Adeosun who disowned dates attributed to her on when the nation would come out of recession said economic growth would depend on global oil prices and how the economy responds to the spending stimulus fashioned out by the administration. Among the spending plans she enumerated was the Affordable Housing Programme aimed at boosting home ownership in the country. She said the contractors for the programme moved to site this week.

Mrs. Adeosun spoke on a BBC programme Friday evening.

Asked if the president was a misogynist, she said: “I think the fact that he has appointed women into very senior positions says his view about women. I work with him very closely and I don’t see any misogynistic tendencies in him; in fact if for anything, I think he is very much in favour of women.”

On the administration’s plans to recover the economy from recession, she said: “We have released about N720 billion in about four months and that is the highest ever and we are still going to do more in investing in infrastructure because that is what has held Nigeria back.”

“For a number of years and almost for a whole generation we were moving in the wrong direction depending on oil, we didn’t invest in infrastructure. And everyone has known about the power challenges in Nigeria, the road challenges, the health challenges and the only thing that was just keeping us up was the high oil price and the high oil price has been stripped away and we have been laid bare, so it is going to take a bit of time to recover.”

Asked to reiterate a time when the country will slip out of recession, she said: “I didn’t say six months, I have refused to give a date and what I have said consistently is that we have to invest in infrastructure to get growth back again. Who is going to predict when we are going to come out of recession?

“It is a function of many things. It is a function of global oil prices and how the economy responds to the spending stimulus. What we have said consistently is that if we stick to the plan that growth will return.

“We are doing the Affordable Housing Programme and the contractors have just moved to site this week and that is aimed at addressing the cost of living issue.

“We understand the peoples pain and what we are trying to do is spend our money in a way that addresses that pain,” she said.

FG must account for $300 billion oil earnings

The revelation by a former senior executive of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation that Nigeria earned $300 billion in five years should attract close scrutiny. Juxtaposed with the near empty treasury that confronts the country today and the crisis of consensus on how to combat corruption, Nigerians should critically uncover how resources were utilised in the recent past in order to chart a better way out of recession.

Indeed, when Tim Okon, a former senior executive with the NNPC, narrated at a public lecture in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, how this country earned “close to $300 billion” from oil between 2010 and 2014, he was only reminding Nigerians of the immediate past when high oil prices, vanishing revenues, waste and corruption were the directive principles of the ruling elite. For years, we have been confronted with the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty. Olusegun Obasanjo left about $43 billion reserves and $22 billion in the Excess Crude Account when he handed over the presidency to the late Umaru Yar’Adua on May 29, 2007.

These funds had been built up, as Charles Soludo, a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and others reminded us, when oil prices ranged from $35 per barrel to a maximum of $65pb. Despite Yar’Adua’s raiding of the ECA, higher oil prices, as recalled by the current CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, facilitated the growth of reserves to a record $62 billion by late 2008.

In the period 2010 to 2014, oil prices hovered around $100pb.  According to an analysis by Soludo and others, Nigeria ought to have had reserves of over $100 billion and not less than $60 billion in the ECA. Curiously, while the Obasanjo government also paid off a hefty $12.4 billion even while oil prices were low to exit the crippling external debt overhang of $35.9 billion in 2005/6, thereby reducing external debt to a manageable $3.5 billion, this had risen to $5.6 billion by August 2011.

The Goodluck Jonathan era started in 2010, first as acting President and later confirmed in May of that year. We reject strongly those who argue for collective amnesia and a self-destructive acceptance of corruption and lack of accountability. No country breaks with past retrogression without demanding accountability from past regimes and misbehaviour. Witness the travails of Brazil’s ousted Dilma Rouseff and her predecessor, the once popular Inacio Lula Da Silva; the corruption trials of past South Korean regimes, and asset forfeitures in Zambia, Egypt and the Philippines.

Nigeria is not a failed state: we demand accountability from officials of the Jonathan administration. Apart from the revelations, filed in the courts and via media reports, of the reckless looting of the treasury, it is important to recover as much of public funds that have gone into private hands as possible. The $15 billion targeted from suggested national asset sales pales in comparison to the $17 billion of undeclared oil and gas sales the House of Representatives has decided to probe; the $20 billion that former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi, alleged was never remitted to the Federation Account by the NNPC, or the unbudgeted $15.1 billion appropriated for arms and allegedly diverted for personal uses and to fund political parties.

To avoid the monumental mistakes of the past that ruined the country, we must confront the past to deter future misconduct. Nigeria’s woes are exposed primarily by collapsing oil prices and our dysfunctional, rentier economy. While other major oil producers (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Algeria, Russia etc) are drawing from their robust reserves and sovereign wealth funds to cushion current adversity, our own SWF is a meagre $2.9 billion,  ECA, which was specifically designed for today’s scenario was $2.26 billion in May, while external reserves are precariously low at $25.9 billion.

High oil prices and bumper sales in the period 2010 – 2014 did not reflect substantially in reserves, while ECA, which should have been the main beneficiary, was depleted. Worse; the government borrowed at a furious pace and according to the Debt Management Office website, total debt as of June 30, was $61.44 billion of which $11.26 billion is external debt compared to a combined $17.3 billion in August 2006 and $6.67 billion external debt by June 2013, according to a former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

There are other revelations of financial misdeeds that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government must investigate, and bring offenders to book. This requires courage and transparency. The forces ranged against accountability appear strong, but are no match for the resources of the state. There should be intelligent counter-measures to defeat the push-back forces that have deployed threats, violence and sabotage of the economy, legal and judicial ambush, propaganda, ethnicity and religious manipulation to obstruct the anti-corruption war. The cleansing of the NNPC, the major conduit for the industrial-scale theft of public funds, is however being hobbled by Buhari, who has returned an insider to the topmost post. You cannot unravel the misdeeds of the past without a total cleaning out of the NNPC.  It is doubtful if a long-time insider can muster the courage to do this.

Buhari should clean up and give the anti-graft agencies, auditors and the National Assembly full backing to uncover where all the oil wealth went to.  Moreover, there should be a strong resolve by the government and the parliament that never again would the country fritter away resources and drive itself to the edge of bankruptcy.

(PUNCH)

RECESSION: FG to inject N350 billion into economy next week

DISMAYED by the steady decline of Nigeria’s economy and its disturbing impact on Nigerians, the Federal Government yesterday said that plans have been concluded to inject N350 billion into the economy next week in order to stimulate economic activities. It also noted that the process of obtaining $1 billion Eurobond had commenced, noting that it would be concluded before this year ends. The government further stated that it’s pledged feeding programme, recruitment of 500.000 teachers and payment of N5000 to vulnerable citizens would commence this month. These came as the Senate, Comrade Joe Ajero-led Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, and Nigerian Insurers Association hailed the development but demanded more measures in order to ameliorate the hardship across the land. However, capital market operators said that FG’s decision would not have any noticeable impact on the economy, while contractors under the auspices of Federation of Construction Industry, FOCI, lamented that they were being owed over N2 trillion by the federal government. Nonetheless, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, who revealed the government’s plan yesterday in Abuja while briefing newsmen, said the funds would be paid to Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs. In addition, she said when the N350 billion would be released, it would mean that the federal government had disbursed N750 billion for capital projects this year having released N400 billion earlier. While stating that N60 billion had been set aside for social investment, Adeosun said the funds so far released went into on-going projects especially defence, transportation, interior, power and agricultural projects. The minister revealed that Integrated Personnel Payrolls Information System ,IPPIS, had eliminated about 40, 000 ghost workers, thereby saving N10 billion for the country monthly. In that light, she noted that government’s wage bill had been reduced from N165 billion to about N155 billion monthly. Continuing, she added that a fresh forensic audit of the payrolls would be carried out, stating that about 30, 000 workers currently on the payroll are not on the nominal rolls of MDAs. Shedding light on the plan to raise $I billion Eurobond, Director-General of Debt Management Office, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo , said: “On the Eurobond, we intend to raise the money before the year ends. In terms of the progress made so far, more than five weeks ago we put an advert for Request For Proposals, RFPs, in local and international media, following due process to allow our transaction partners who are interested to compete . “The closing date for the RFPs is September 19, 2016. Immediately after that, we will fast track the process of vetting and selection. “We have a directive to make sure we use a minimum time to conclude all these activities. So we assure you that we are going to cut the time because of the emergency situation to be able to realise the money. Before the middle of December, we will have the money. “However, based on the directive of the minister, by the time we reach a stage, it might be possible to conduct certain arrangement once we are sure of when we are going to raise the money. Certain arrangements could be made to find a way of getting the money, more or less, arranging it in advance. We are very focused on the fact that these monies are needed urgently to solve the problem and turn around the economy and we are working on that.” We need more actions—Senate However, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, told Vanguard thus” It is a pleasant information to hear in spite of the difficulties. It is coming at the right time and it shows the government’s total commitment to addressing the difficulties Nigerians are going through. “Now that the federal government has taken this bold step, we expect all MDAs to hasten the due process, diligence as well as guarantee that all projects awarded will turn the economy and Nigeria around. The action of the government will bring succour to the unemployed in the country. We want to see more actions for things to turn around. We have never doubted the President, we hope that this will turn things around.” A member of Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, said: ‘’The money is too small, we expect that it should be more than this. We are in the ninth month and the federal government is telling us that it has saved N3 trillion from the TSA and if that is true, we need over N10 trillion to be pumped into the economy because the N350 billion is too small unless the government is saying that what they are telling us about the TSA are stories that could be categorized as fiction.” FG, states owing us over N2 trillion—Contractors On his part, National Chairman of the Nigerian Contractors As­sociation, NCA, Mr. Onuche Okoh, said: ‘’By our sta­tistics, the federal govern­ment alone is owing contrac­tors about N1.97 trillion and if put together with the 36 states, the FCT, and the 774 local gov­ernment areas, the total debt is N2.42 trillion. Most of us took loans to execute the jobs and failure to pay the banks at the right time, would make them go after us and the interest rate keeps accumulating.’’ Similarly, President of FOCI, Solomon Ogunmola said they were being owed about N600 billion. It’s not enough—NLC On his part, Comrade Joe Ajero said,’’I think injecting N350 billion into the economy for capital projects as announced by the federal government is a very nice development at least for a start even though it is not enough.” Similarly, General Secretary of NLC, Comrade Peter Ozo-Eson, said: ‘’It is important however that the release is tied to actual mobilisation to site so as to ensure the desired positive impact.’’ A Capital Market Operator, Mr. Mustapha Suberu, who is a Research analyst at Eczellon Capital Limited, a Lagos- based investment banking firm, said,”Part of the funds to be released will be used in paying contractors, so the money will invariably end up in banks. We know that the CBN has been quite aggressive in mopping up excess liquidity from the system. So, the possibility is that the central bank will entice banks through Treasury Bills with attractive rates in order mop the fund from the banking system. Therefore, I don’t see it having much impact on the capital market.” Also, Managing Director of Highcap Securities, Mr. David Adonri, said that any time funds are released for capital projects, it impacts positively on the capital market because it will increase liquidity in the financial system. He, however, opined that there is the likelihood of the action increasing inflation. “It might not increase inflation because it is funds released for recurrent expenditure that increases inflation,” he added. Director of NIA, Mr. Sunday Thomas said: ‘’If the proposed fund is released, it will create expansion in the economy and assets will be acquired and such assets will be insured.’’ Managing Director of RiskGuard Africa, Mr. Yemi Soladoye said, “If part of the fund is deployed into Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, then it will have a huge impact on the insurance sector. ‘’

Economy: The times are confusing but we as an administration are not confused- Kemi Adeosun

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun says contrary to opinions by some Nigerians, this administration is not confused as to how it intends to grow the economy. According to Adeosun, the times may be confusing but the administration is not confused. She said this while speaking with state House correspondents.

"We are here because we were pumping the oil and using the money in recurrent expenditure. We were not investing. The NBS statistics are clearly showing that the level of investment has gone up so we are moving away from consumption to investment.
What does investment do? It is permanent. If you build a road, it is there for 40 years. These railways we want to revive was done in the colonial years. and it is still there. So we have to invest in capital. That is what this administration has said was our economic strategy. No we are not confused. The times are confusing but we are not confused. We are extremely focused. Know that if we can just bear and get through this difficult period, Nigeria is going to be better for it. And I must say, those who are criticizing us, not one person has come up and said this is what you should do. All they are saying is we don't like what we see. And we don't like it either. It is inevitable"she said

Nigeria saves N8 billion monthly by eliminating 40,000 ghost workers – Presidency

A presidential aide has said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is saving N8 billion monthly by getting rid of 40,000 ghost workers.

Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President, stated this in a statement issued on Monday on the state of the Nigerian economy.

“See what the current administration is doing to sanitise the huge salary bill by eliminating payroll fraud,” Mr. Shehu said.

“So far, the federal payroll has been rid of about 40,000 ghost workers. More than eight billion naira stolen monthly has been saved.”

He said the Federal Government is also determined to enforce fiscal discipline across the states to check wasteful spending.

He said the Federal Government would force the state governments to reform their spending and build savings and investments.

Mr. Shehu said the reform would include blockage of leakages that allowed government’s revenues to be siphoned into private hands.

“The Federal Government is not limiting the reforms to the centre, but forcing state governments to reform their spending and build savings or investments,’’ he said.

He said that the ongoing probe into the finances of the military authorities was part of the reform aimed at checking corrupt practices in the military establishment.

“Look at what a civilian administration is today doing to the military, investigating their finance and accounts that the military could not do to themselves.

“We are also saving on wasteful expenses like First Class Travel and Private Jets for official trips.

According to the presidential aide, government is also increasing spending on capital projects, especially on infrastructure needed to make Nigerian businesses competitive and create jobs.

“Currently, there is focus on key sectors (apart from oil) that can create jobs and or generate revenue such as Agriculture, Solid Minerals and Manufacturing.’’

He said that if these things had been done when the oil price was as high as $140 per barrel, Nigeria would not be in the current predicament.

“We would not be suffering now if we had no cash reserves, but we had regular supply of power, a good rail system, good roads and good housing.

“Now that the oil has fallen as low as 28 dollars per barrel, it is very difficult to do what is needed but they must be done to save Nigeria.

“There is no other way if we want to be honest.

“If PDP were still in power they would have continued deceiving people, by borrowing to fund stealing and wastage and the problem would have simply been postponed for future generations to face.”

Mr. Shehu also responded to criticisms that the Buhari administration’s economic policies were not clear.

“There are many who say that this Government’s economic strategy is unclear whereas the previous government seemed well co-ordinated,” he said.

“I will make the confession that we, the officials hired to communicate government policies, that includes myself, have not done as well as we should have.

“The truth is that more than any other time before, there is a clear direction and strategy for achieving growth and development.

“Revisionists may not agree, but the truth of the matter is that the previous administration only had one issue, which was how to spend money (oil revenues and borrowed money).’’

He said that the spending by the past administration was focused on the wrong things and even though the economy seemed to be growing it was not sustainable.

Economy: Melaye urges Buhari to sack Adeosun, Emefiele, Udoma

A member of the Senate representing Kogi-West Senatorial District, Senator Dino Melaye, on Sunday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take drastic measures on the ailing economic, including the immediate removal of the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma; and the Governor of the Central bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele.

In a statement in Abuja, Melaye said the President must shake up his cabinet, and accused some members of cabinet as lacking the capacity to deliver on the mandates of their ministries and agencies.

He said Adeosun, Udoma and Emefiele should be axed for the economy to be effectively rebooted to deliver on the change agenda of the present administration.

Melaye said, “At the moment, it must be crystal clear to all discerning minds that the President’s widely-acclaimed magical body language has lost its presumed aura and efficacy. His no-nonsense demeanor is equally neither instilling fear nor commanding respect and loyalty from among his cabinet members.

“It is therefore obvious that the time for barking is over; now is the time to bite and boot out all those who have demonstrated, in the past several months, a crass lack of capacity to effectively carry out the functions of their office.”

The All Progressives Congress senator, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory, also condemned Buhari’s economic team led by Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, saying that “their decisions will not be and has never been respected by the economic managers and the bureaucracy in Nigeria.”

Melaye urged the President to, instead, constitute an ‘Emergency Ad Hoc Economic Team’ made up of all former ministers of finance, ex-ministers of budget and national planning, ex-CBN governors as well as members drawn from the academia with “deep knowledge of developmental economics to drive the economic revival programme.”

He said, “The President must immediately transit from mere rhetoric to drastic but positive action to save the economy and Nigeria from total collapse. The hunger in the land is real, pervasive, widespread and debilitating for the poor masses.

“As I walk the streets of my constituency these days, I constantly harbour a foreboding that I could be stoned by my angry constituents for the failure of Mr. President to fulfill his campaign promises and expectations to Nigerians.

“Nigeria is tottering on a dangerous precipice, sliding perilously to a certain catastrophe if the current economic malaise is not halted immediately.”