Business

Okonjo-Iweala Attributes High Recurrent Expenditure To Increasing Wages

Published

12 years ago

January 22, 2014

The Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has attributed the high recurrent expenditure in the 2014 budget to increasing wage bill of workers and political office holders.
Also responsible for the huge expenditure profile, according to Okonjo-Iweala, is awards and incentives, which the Federal Government often gave to deserving Nigerians.
Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, made this known at the Public Presentation of the 2014 budget in Abuja last Monday.
She said that the situation had remained a major challenge to the economy and had led to the reduction in the funds available for capital projects.
“We worked hard to reduce this ratio from 74.4 per cent in 2011 to 71.5 per cent in 2012 and further to 67.5 per cent in 2013, but it has risen again to 74 per cent in 2014,” she said.
The minister said that stringent action needed to be taken to halt the trend, and stressed the need for Nigerians to make tough choices about the national budget structure.
Reports says that personnel cost rose from N1.72 trillion in 2013 to N1.72 trillion in the 2014 budget estimate.
Okonjo-Iweala said that in addition to the high wage, there were pension arrears, which needed to be incorporated in budgets in the future.
She cautioned that the size of expenditure on salaries would increase further if action was not taken to address the trend.
According to her, it is important to strike a balance between a growing wage bill for the public sector and investing more on infrastructure.
She decried the non-implementation of the Steve Oronsaye Committee’s Report on review of public service, saying: “We have had difficulty in streamlining redundant agencies because most of them are underpinned by law.
“We are, therefore, looking to the National Assembly to assist us in reviewing and repealing these laws to enable us rationalise some of these duplicating agencies.”
On the contentious 10.8 billion dollars oil revenue, Okonjo-Iweala said that her ministry had played its part by bringing all parties involved to the table to discuss the funds that should be remitted to the government.
“The next stage of this discussion is to ensure that these funds are paid into the Federation Account. Unfortunately, newspaper headlines will not bring money into the government coffers.
“What will actually bring money is the hard work of completing the reconciliation exercises to find out what NNPC has spent on its operations and what has to be remitted to the treasury,” she said.
She assured that the ministry of finance would continue to stand for accountability and ensure that monies that belong to the treasury were paid or accounted for.
On the non-oil revenue of the economy, she attributed recorded drop in the collection to the recent fiscal policies and smuggling of goods across the nation’s borders.
The minister, however, said that a review of the fiscal policy was ongoing and tasked the Nigeria Customs and the Immigration to increase their surveillance at the borders.
She added that the Federal Inland Revenue Services was collaborating with international agencies on ways to boost the non-oil revenue performance.

Business

Boat Mishap Kills Pastor, Wife And Church Members In Brass Water

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

A boat accident in Bayelsa state has killed a serving Pastor, Wife and other church members along Brass waterways

The sad incident happened at Odioama in Brass local government area of Bayelsa State when the Pastor, wife and members of his church were in a programme.

?Tide confirmed that the lifeless body of the Pastor’s wife has been found and deposited in a mortuary while the remains of her husband ,the Pastor is yet to be recovered

as search party are still ongoing.

Although the real cause of the boat Mishap is not yet known as at the time of this report, our Correspondent gathered that the identities of the Pastor, wife and church members were not disclosed to the public.

The mishap, Tide gathered occurred on Friday morning when the church members were on a boat transit

The Bayelsa State government and the state police command are yet to issue official statement’s on the sad accident

By: CHINEDU WOSU

Business

Rivers Workers Seek Scrapping Of Contributory Pension Scheme

Published

2 days ago

May 18, 2026

The Tide

The Rivers State Council of Nigeria Civil Service Union has called on the State Government to urgently scrap the contributory pension scheme, describing it as unfavourable to long-serving civil servants in the state.

Chairman of the union, Chukwuka Osuma, said this in an interview with newsmen in Port Harcourt, recently.

Osuma said the current pension structure has continued to worsen post-retirement hardship for workers.

He noted that the contributory pension scheme had failed to provide adequate retirement security for workers who had spent many years in service, especially those approaching retirement age.

According to him, civil servants who had served for more than 20 years were among the worst affected under the scheme, insisting that many retirees could no longer cope with prevailing economic realities.

He also informed that the Union has made moves to showcase their concerns, pleading with Governor Siminalayi Fubara to abolish the pension policy and introduce a more favourable arrangement for affected workers.

“The union was not opposed to pension reforms, the contributory scheme should only apply to newly employed workers or those with fewer years in service”, he said.

Osuma explained that workers who had already spent decades in the civil service ought to remain under a more secure pension structure capable of guaranteeing stability after retirement.

The labour leader further noted that inflation and the rising cost of living had continued to erode the value of retirement savings, thereby increasing the suffering of pensioners across the country.

He also appealed to the state government to consider extending the years of service in the civil service from 35 to 40 years and the retirement age from 60 to 65 years.

Osuma argued that such adjustment had become necessary in view of present-day economic realities and changing conditions in the workplace.

The unionist also reviewed that similar policies had already been adopted in some sectors and jurisdictions, expressing optimism that the State could also implement the reforms for the benefit of workers.

He however, commended Governor Fubara for approving an N85,000 minimum wage for workers in the state, noting that the amount was above the national benchmark of N70,000.

Osuma also acknowledged the government’s efforts in the area of workers’ promotions and bonuses, but insisted that pension reforms and extension of years of service remained critical to the long-term welfare and stability of civil servants in Rivers State.

By: King Onunwor

Business

FG Begins South-West Tour To Promote New Cooperative Bank

Published

7 days ago

May 13, 2026

The Tide

The Federal Government has launched the South-West zonal engagement and ministerial advocacy tour on the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria share capital mobilisation, sensitisation and cooperative sector digitalisation.

Reports say the initiative was launched through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

According to reports, the advocacy tour, organised by the ministry’s Federal Department of Cooperatives, began on Monday in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, said the initiative was part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Abdullahi described the exercise as a strategic effort to reposition the cooperative sector as a key driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity.

“Today represents a defining moment in our collective determination to reposition the cooperative sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth, financial inclusion, enterprise development, food security and national prosperity,” he said.

The minister noted the modern cooperative movement in Nigeria originated in the South-West following the 1934 Strickland Report, which led to the enactment of the Cooperative Societies Ordinance of 1935.

According to him, the decision to commence the sensitisation and share capital mobilisation tour in the region is symbolic, as it marks a return to the roots of cooperative development in the country.

Abdullahi said the advocacy tour was a direct outcome of resolutions reached at the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs held in Abuja in March 2026.

He said the council approved the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme, a comprehensive framework designed to strengthen the cooperative sector and align it with the administration’s goal of building a one-trillion-dollar economy.

“The reform programme focuses on seven strategic pillars, including governance reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation, capacity building, value chain development, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, and strategic partnerships,” he said.

He said the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria and the digitalisation of the cooperative sector were the two major transformational initiatives under the programme.

“The Cooperative Bank of Nigeria is aimed at rebuilding a strong cooperative financial system capable of supporting cooperators, farmers, artisans, traders, SMEs, youths, women and persons with disabilities with accessible and affordable financial services,” he said.

Abdullahi emphasised that the proposed bank would be government-enabled but not government-funded.

“Government is not establishing the bank as an owner, nor will it rely on Treasury Single Account funds.

“The role of government through the FMAFS is to provide policy support, stakeholder coordination, regulatory facilitation and an enabling environment under the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme,” he said.

Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to cooperative sector transformation.

She described cooperatives as critical tools for promoting inclusive growth, grassroots productivity, food security, financial inclusion and community wealth creation.

Ambrose-Medebem said Lagos State would continue to support reforms and collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (2025–2030).

“Together, let us build a cooperative ecosystem that is modern, transparent, digitally enabled, financially inclusive and globally competitive.

“Let us build cooperatives that not only mobilise savings, but also mobilise prosperity,” she said.