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FAAC: FG, States, LGs Share N581.5bn
The Federal Ministry of Finance yesterday announced that the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) had shared N581.498 billion to the three tiers of government for December 2013.
The Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, announced this in Abuja when he addressed newsmen on the outcome of the FAAC meeting which ended yesterday
Ngama said that the amount shared included N64.725 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT), N7.617 billion refunded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and N35.549 billion from SURE-P.
He said that actual distributable amount for the month was N473.607 billion as against budgetary expected figure of N623.768 billion.
“The distributable statutory revenue for the month is N473.607 billion, which is N150.161 billion less than the N623.768 billion that was budgeted for the month.
“Also distributed is the sum of N7.617 billion refunded by the NNPC to be shared to states and local governments. In addition, the sum of N35.549 billion is proposed for distribution under the SURE-P Programme,’’ he said.
A breakdown of the distribution showed that the Federal Government received N221.161billion, representing 52.68 per cent; states got N112.176 billion, representing 26.72 per cent, while local governments received N86.483 billion, representing 20.60 per cent.
He also announced that N48.461 billion, representing 13 per cent derivation revenue, was shared among the oil producing states.
On VAT, the minister said that the gross revenue collected in December was N64.725 billion as against N91.730 billion distributed in November, representing a drop of N27.005 billion.
He said that the mineral revenue collected for the month was N379.122 billion, which was less than the N490.765 billion realised in November and also less than budgeted expectation of N465.057 billion for the month.
He stated that non-mineral revenue collected during the period was N100.828 billion, showing a reduced difference of N6.159 billion from the N106.987 that was collected in November.
Ngama said N6.343 billion was transferred to the nation’s Excess Crude Account (ECA) for December, adding that revenue realised in the month was poor.
He attributed the low revenue to serious disruption in oil production, vandalism of pipelines and “Force Majeure” declared at Bonny Terminal.
Also addressing newsmen, the Chairman of Finance Commissioners Forum, Mr Timothy Odah, said that the forum had extensive discussions on how best to resolve the issue of returns from the revenue collecting agencies.
He said that a committee, headed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, had been constituted to look into issues of returns from the agencies, especially NNPC.
“We want to know the average daily oil production so that we can use it as a yard stick to measure what they bring to us as the returns for the month hence forth,” he said.
He said that the committee would also look into the contentious issue of 10.8 billion dollars, alleged not to have been remitted to the federation’s account by the NNPC.
“The essence of the committee is to look into the explanation that was given by the NNPC in regards to the missing 10.8 billion dollars so that we will know if we will agree with it or not,” he explained.
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I’m Committed To Community Dev – Ajinwo
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RSG Tasks Rural Dwellers On RAAMP …As Sensitization Team Visits Akulga, Degema, Three Others

Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
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Senate Replaces Natasha As Committee Chairman

The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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