Business
‘Fashola’s Claim On 2017 Budget, Misleading’
The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, has described as misleading the claim that the National Assembly included projects not captured in the 2017 Budget.
The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, was reported as saying that the National Assembly included many projects that were not agreed on during budget defence.
Namdas, who addressed a news conference last Saturday in Yola, on the matter, said the claims by Fashola over cuts in budget for Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, 2nd Niger Bridge, Mambila Power Projects, among others, were attempts to blackmail the National Assembly and paint it as an irresponsible institution.
“We need to restate that the National Assembly leadership entered into certain understandings with the executive arm on the 2017 budget in good faith. It is a clear breach of these understandings for the executive to make public statements calculated to undermine and distort them.
“Nigerians deserve a total concentration of all government officials, arms of government and MDAs to grow the economy as we exit the recession. We in the House of Representatives are so passionately committed,” Namdas said.
He explained that regarding the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way, the leadership of the executive and legislature met where it was clarified that alternative funding for the road through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) existed and that the concessionaires had enough money to fund the project.
“That informed the decision to move some funds to other areas of need and the minister is fully aware of this but chose to ignore it.
“Why spend government money if there is a clear existing funding framework in place.”
On Mambila Power Project, Namdas said Fashola proposed N17 billion for only environmental impact assessment which the assembly felt “was misplaced and patently unjustifiable. The minister himself even wrote to the National Assembly to move some funds from one sub-head to another.”
On the 2nd Niger bridge, Namdas said N12 billion was appropriated for the bridge in 2016 and not a kobo was spent on it by the ministry.
“The money was returned. The ministry could not provide the committee of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on PPP or a contract for the bridge.
“The National Assembly, in its wisdom, decided to fund other projects from South East leaving N7 billion for the bridge that may yet be unspent,” Namdas said.
While noting that the National Assembly has power to review budget, the house spokesman claimed that Fashola might be angry with its refusal to approve a N20 billion proposal which details was not provided by his ministry.
“Contained in the budget of the ministry is an omnibus allocation of N20 billion. The details were not provided by the minister.
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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