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FAAC: FG, States, LGs Share N559.101bn For Dec 2011
The federal, state and local governments shared N559.101 billion from the Federation Account for December 2011, the Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, has announced.
Ngama made the announcement while briefing newsmen on Monday after the meeting of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) in Abuja.
He said the federal government approved the amount for the three tiers of government.
The minister however said due to the late arrival of the figures, FAAC was not able to compute the breakdown of the total revenue to be distributed to the tiers.
“But by Tuesday morning, the breakdown of the figures would be distributed and made known to the public,” he said.
Ngama said the strike called by the organised labour had affected the speed with which some of the information needed was to be gathered for FAAC.
“This is as regards especially the information on internally generated revenue and Value Added Tax (VAT),” he said.
The minister pointed out that it was while the committee was still meeting that it received the confirmation of the total VAT collection for December.
“The figure of N57.1billion for this was received from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation as we were meeting,” he said.
Ngama assured Nigerians that the funds would be credited to the accounts of the various beneficiaries as soon as possible after work fully resumes on Tuesday.
He said the FAAC meeting needed to hold urgently after the strike as a result of President Goodluck Jonathan’s pronouncement on workers’ salaries.
Our correspondent reports that Jonathan had on January 4 directed FAAC to meet on or before January 15.
He had said this was to ensure that workers’ January salaries were paid on or before January 20.
While speaking on the funds to be realised from the partial removal of fuel subsidy, Ngama said the federal government was hopeful of realising its objectives.
“We do hope this year will be a prosperous year and we are happy that we are all united in ensuring this.
“We are hopeful that the entire various programmes we have developed and which we have discussed with the commissioners will be implemented successfully, particularly the SURE programme.
“We have asked the state commissioners to go and draw their own programmes from the revised amount that will be made known to them on the subsidy savings in order to ensure that our people get the benefit of the deregulation that we are embarking upon,” he said.
The minister said the committee had already computed the savings from the subsidy removal, as well as what the savings would have been.
“But due to Monday’s change in the price of fuel, which has now made it partial deregulation and not full deregulation, the committee has to do the computation again,” he said.
Ngama however disclosed that the National Assembly would have to approve the allocation of the funds as a supplementary budget before the subsidy savings could be shared.
He also disclosed that the Accountant-General of the Federation had effected the 25 per cent reduction in basic salaries of political office-holders in the executive arm of government.
Our correspondent reports that Jonathan had on January 7 announced the 25 per cent cut.
The Minister of State for Finance then allayed fears on the country’s financial status.
“The total foreign reserve of Nigeria is over N32 billion US dollars, and a country with a foreign reserve of this amount cannot be a poor country but a rich country,” he said.
Ngama lamented that Nigeria has over 600 unfinished projects, saying Nigeria would have needed to borrow to actually finish some of the road projects in the country, such as the Abuja-Lokoja Road.
“This particular project has been on for over five years, and in order to accelerate the development of the country, we need to actually block out all inefficiencies,” he said.
Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, has called on Nigerians to reject silence in the face of extrajudicial killings and other abuses of human rights.
Soyinka stressed that accountability and civic courage remain essential to rebuilding public confidence in the nation’s institutions.
He made the call during the 28th Wole Soyinka Lecture held in Port Harcourt, last Friday as part of activities marking his 92nd birthday.
The lecture, themed “Reclaiming the Nigerian State through Accountability, Justice and Civic Courage,” drew participants from different sectors of society.
The renowned playwright and human rights advocate said the country’s greatest tragedy was not only the unlawful killings carried out by state and non-state actors, but also the silence that often follows such incidents, allowing perpetrators to evade justice.
According to him, indifference by citizens to abuses of power and violations of fundamental human rights has contributed to the persistence of extrajudicial killings and other forms of injustice across the country.
Soyinka said he dedicated this year’s lecture to victims of unlawful killings, noting that the event was intended to honour individuals who had lost their lives as a result of failures within the justice system and society’s inability to protect the sanctity of human life.
He stressed that the lecture was dedicated to what he described as the basic unit of every society – the human being, and urged Nigerians to place greater value on human dignity irrespective of ethnicity, religion or social status.
The Nobel Laureate recalled several incidents of violence, including the fatal shooting and killing of a young man in Ugheli in Delta State by a police officer, and the mob killing of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto State sometime ago, lamenting that many of those responsible are yet to face justice.
He expressed concern that some perpetrators of violent crimes had openly admitted their actions without fear of prosecution, describing such situations as evidence of serious failures within the nation’s justice system.
Soyinka maintained that when justice is delayed or denied, public confidence in state institutions continues to erode, thereby encouraging further violations of human rights.
Responding to critics who accuse him of promoting religious or ethnic divisions whenever he spoke on such issues, Soyinka dismissed the allegations and pointed out that his advocacy has always centred on the protection of human life and the rule of law.
He urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and continue demanding justice in cases of alleged extrajudicial killings, including the recent shooting of a young man by a police officer, stressing that every life deserves equal protection under the law.
The literary icon also recalled an earlier pledge by a past incoming president to make public the files relating to unresolved assassinations and extrajudicial killings, questioning the status of the promised investigations.
He challenged citizens to continue asking questions about unresolved cases, insisting that justice, accountability and respect for human dignity are indispensable to building a peaceful, democratic and inclusive Nigerian society.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has clarified that there was no fire at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, contrary to its earlier advisory.
Earlier yesterday, FAAN had announced that a fire incident had occurred at Terminal 2 of the nation’s busiest airport, and assured that its Aerodrome Rescue and Firefighting Service had been deployed to contain the situation.
There were also reports that activities were briefly disrupted at the airport yesterday after smoke was seen inside parts of the terminal.
Videos circulating online showed passengers kept standing outside the terminal while firefighters responded to the incident.
However, in an update issued less than two hours later by the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Henry Agbebire, and posted on FAAN’s official X handle, the authority said preliminary findings showed that the smoke seen at the terminal was caused by the discharge of the facility’s FM-200 fire suppression system.
“Further to our earlier advisory regarding the incident at Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) wishes to provide the following update,” the statement read.
“Preliminary findings indicate that there was no fire at the terminal. The smoke observed within the affected area resulted from the discharge of the terminal’s FM-200 fire suppression system. The reason for the activation of the fire suppression system is currently being investigated,” FAAN stated.
The authority said normal operations had resumed at the terminal while investigations were ongoing to determine the cause of the incident.
“Normal operations have since resumed at the terminal, while detailed investigations are ongoing to determine the exact cause of the incident,” the statement added.
The authority thanked passengers, airlines, airport users and other stakeholders for their understanding and cooperation.
FAAN appreciated the understanding and cooperation of passengers, airlines, airport users and all stakeholders, and reiterated its commitment to the safety and security of all airport operations.