News
Govt Compulsory Savings Hit N34bn
Rivers State Government, says it has saved about N34 billion for the state’s monthly N1 billion compulsory saving scheme started about three years ago.
The Commissioner for Finance, Dr Chamberlain Peterside disclosed this on Monday during an interaction with newsmen in Port Harcourt.
Dr Peterside explained that the state government spends about N8 billion monthly on salaries, pensions and overheads, stressing that with the dwindling allocation from the Federal Government, there was need to scale up efforts at Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
He hinted that Rivers State had the potentials to generate about 50 per cent internally like Lagos State that generates about 70 per cent internally to augment its federal allocation.
The Finance Commissioner said the state internal revenue sources generate about 10 per cent and attributed the lapses to leakages in the system, noting that strategic plans had been put in place to halt the trend.
According to him, the Ministry of Finance had undergone transformation in line with the vision of the governor to be transparent and accountable, emphasising that the accounting system had been modernised to meet global best practices.
Dr Peterside hinted that the ministry had taken over the pay rolling of workers’ salary since June 2012, and commenced the issuance of pay slips to workers, adding that the computerised system of record keeping would help in detecting errors in the process.
On government borrowing, the commissioner debunked insinuations that Rivers State Government was broke, pointing out that the borrowing was to finance specific projects to completion level and not to pay workers salaries.
He said the state government operates a centralised fund system for all arms of government which helps in proper categorisation of liabilities, noting that fund releases start with budgetary provision and due process before payments are made.
“In course of harmonisation in the system, we discover that some people in say level 8 or 9 take the salary of grade level 13 or above, but all that has been corrected and we shall no more have such kind of fraud, we are trying but give us more time,” the finance boss said.
Also speaking, the Executive Chairman, Board of International Revenue, Mrs Onone Osila Obelle-Oshoko said the board was trying to rebuild the confidence of residents of the state to pay their taxes.
She noted that the old tax system in Rivers State allows 5 per cent of workers basic, that is not found in any law but the current tax regime is based on the Gross Income as contained in the amended Tax Law.
The chairman harped on the need to enlighten the public by giving the right information, emphasising that the state was endowed with potentials to increase internally generated revenue.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Government has signed an agreement with a United States firm, International Trauma and Critical Care Centre Limited (ITCC) to recruit staff and manage two world class hospitals, Professor Kelson Harrison’s Hospital and Maxilo-Facia Hospital in Port Harcourt.
The Commissioner of Health, Dr Sampson Parker, who signed the agreement on behalf of the government with the group at the Ministry of Health in Port Harcourt, said the agreement was to hand over the operation and management of the two hospitals for effective management and maintaining international standards.
“Our vision to allow an experienced international firm to run the hospitals was not to have gain, but to have quality and standard healthcare that would discourage people from going overseas in search of standard treatment.
We carefully selected ITCC group, an international medical group from among the bidders internationally, as the best experience in hospital operation and management to run the hospitals to international standards, where people all over the world would be coming for medical care, this is exactly the vision of this government under Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi”, Dr Parker explained.
The commissioner urged the firm led by the Country Representative, Dr Sydney Ibeanusi to ensure that the vision of the state governor, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi to have quality health care was achieved.
He said, though the hospital would be completely run by the firm, which also has the power to recruit, sack, maintain and manage the hospital, the state ministry of health through the Hospital Management Board, would be playing the supervisory role on the hospitals like any other hospitals in the state.
According to the Health Commissioner, the two hospitals built and equipped a year ago would be commissioned before January, 2013.
He said the Prof Kelson Hospital is situated at the former Niger Hospital, at Emenike Street, Mile II, Diobu, Port Harcourt while Dental Maxilo-Facia Hospital is at Aba-Road, Opposite Garrison in Port Harcourt.
Dr Parker further disclosed that the hospital would also accommodate free medical, as money would be paid by the state government to the management of the hospitals for any free medical treatment referred to them.
Signing the agreement with the state government, the representative of International Trauma and Critical Care Centre Limited (ITCC) and National Project Co-ordinator, Dr Sydney Ibeanusi commended the state government for its commitment to give the people of the state and the country an international quality healthcare facility.
According to him, ITCC firm was an articulate concept to partner with professionals around the world to see how it could give out an international quality healthcare to the developing countries around the globe as it was the practice in developed countries like Israel, Russia, Europe, America, among others.
Dr Ibeanusi who noted that Rivers State Government was the first to embrace the group in Nigeria, promised to ensure an available, accessible and sustainable international quality healthcare that would meet the vision of the state governor.
He said with the signing of the agreement, the two hospitals would be put into effective operation before January 2013.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
News
RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.