Business
NASS Approves N369bn Projects Settlement For 19 States
Lagos State will receive the lion’s share of the N369 billion approved by the National Assembly to 19 states of the Federation for the settlement of outstanding claims and liabilities for executing Federal Government projects.
The approval followed a request by President Muhammadu Buhari in March to the National Assembly for the issuance of promissory notes and bonds to settle inherited local debts and contractual obligations worth N2.698 trillion.
The states will be refunded for rehabilitating or constructing federal roads and bridges.
While Lagos State receives the highest reimbursement of N114.6 billion, Niger gets the lowest of N333.8 million.
The approval followed adoption of the interim report of the Ad-hoc Committee on Issuance of Promissory Note and Bond Issuance in the Senate and that of the House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management in the House of Representatives.
Although both legislative chambers approved the President’s request on their last day of sitting on June 7, 2018 before embarking on Sallah break.
Other states and the refunds approved for them include: Akwa-Ibom N78.7 billion, Zamfara N39.9 billion, Anambra N37.9 billion, Ebonyi N15.4 billion, Osun N13.2 billion, Plateau N12.1 billion, Ekiti N11.6 billion and Kwara N11.2 billion.
Others are: Jigawa N10.7 billion, Edo N10.4 billion, Gombe N6.9 billion, Kano N4.4 billion, Ondo N4.3 billion, Adamawa N4.2 billion, Benue N3.02 billion and Imo N2.8 billion.
States across the Federation have been demanding for immediate reimbursement of funds spent on Federal roads on behalf of the Federal Government.
It was gathered that many of the states had to intervene in the pitiable condition of federal roads and bridges between 2010 and 2015 when they were abandoned by contractors mainly due to lack of funds.
However, the upper legislative chamber gave the number of states with outstanding claims and liabilities for executing federal highways on behalf of Federal Government as 25, with a debt of N584.983 billion.
In a letter dated March 8, 2018, President Buhari had requested for approval to commence a promissory note and bonds issuance programme to clear long-standing obligations inherited by the present administration.
The obligations, according to the President, include: unpaid obligations to pensioners, salaries and promotional arrears to civil servants; subsidy arrears, interest accrued and foreign exchange differentials; contractors and supplier debts; unpaid power bills and obligations from tariff reversal in 2014; Export Expansion Grant (EEG) scheme debts; judgement debts and refund to State Governments for projects undertaken on behalf of the Federal Government.
Chairman of the Senate ad-hoc committee and Deputy Senate Chief Whip, Francis Alimikhena (APC, Edo State), submitted that while the obligations would stimulate the economy, approving all the obligations in one swoop would lead to inflation.
“It is important to approve the obligations in order to stimulate the economy, however to avoid inflation, all of the obligations cannot be approved at once,” Alimikhena said.
Breakdown of the N2.698 trillion for the settlement of obligations and liabilities submitted by the Executive include: N1.957 trillion for capital projects and N741 billion recurrent expenditure.
The committee, however, noted that for the National Assembly to approve borrowing for recurrent expenditure as requested by the President, there was need to amend Section 41(1)(a) and 44(2)(b) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007.
The sections stipulate that proceeds of borrowing by Government at all tiers, shall be applied solely towards capital expenditure.
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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