Tag Archives: We

We Need To Improve On Governance, Accountability, Buhari To ECOWAS Leaders

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President Muhammadu Buhari has stressed the need to review the ECOWAS Treaty in order to make the regional organisation more responsive to new national, regional and global challenges.

The president made the call at the opening of the 50th Ordinary Session of the Authority and Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, held in Abuja on Saturday.

He also called for the speedy conclusion of the reforms of all ECOWAS institutions to put ECOWAS on a much stronger footing and to prepare member nations for the challenges of such Institutional reforms.

President Buhari also stressed the need to make conscious efforts to improve on governance and accountability at all levels. “We also need to make conscious efforts to improve on Governance and accountability at all levels.

“This calls for the speedy conclusion of the reforms of all ECOWAS institutions to put ECOWAS on a much stronger footing and prepare us for the challenges of such Institutional reforms.

“To this end, we should ensure that priority is given to the implementation of development programmes, while the ECOWAS Parliament should be entrusted with more functions.

“In addition, the cost of governance must be reduced across all ECOWAS Institutions while resources should be devoted to programmes and projects that will have direct bearing on the lives of ordinary citizenry and create jobs fast enough to absorb our teeming youth population.

“In this regard, it is necessary that measures be taken to review the ECOWAS Treaty in order to make ECOWAS responsive to new national, regional and global challenges.”

On economic integration, Buhari observed that the modest achievements in regional integration were being challenged by globalisation. According to him, most member countries continue to record low volume of trade, occasioned by declining level of economic activities, caused by the sharp fall in commodity prices.

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http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/12/need-improve-governance-accountability-buhari-ecowas-leaders/

 

We Cannot Guarantee Efficacy of Herbal Drugs– NAFDAC

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The National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has said that it cannot guarantee the efficacy of herbal drugs and products being sold across the country.

It said the certification number issued for some herbal drugs and products was only to confirm that these products were fit for human consumption.

NAFDAC Director of Special Duties, Alhaji Abubakar Jimoh, who made these facts known in Minna, Niger State, on Monday at a stakeholders’ forum declared that the organization did not have the capacity to verify the efficacy of herbal products.

He said the NAFDAC number issued for some of these herbal products was only for one year after which the manufacturers would apply for recertification.

However, he said it was working with another organization that could eventually lead to issuance of “all clear certificates for some of these herbal products “.

Credit: thisdaylive

We Can’t Pay N284b Allowances, Government Tells ASUU

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The Federal Government yesterday said it could not afford the N284 billion earned allowances being demanded by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Earned allowances are the emoluments the lecturers are entitled to enhance academic productivity and increase research output.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige told reporters after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja that of the eight demands made by ASUU, the earned allowances could not be trashed out “because everybody knows and agrees that we are in recession. If we are in a recession, and you are asking us to pay you N284 billion, nobody will pay it because the money is not there.

“So, they agreed and the National Assembly also agreed. But the government offered them some amounts pending when we finish auditing of the first tranche of money that has been given to them in that same area of earned allowances.”

Ngige, who was joined by his Budget and National Planning as well as Information and Culture counterparts, Udoma Udo Udoma and Lai Mohammed, said government conceded to the union the right to exclude endowment funds that accrued to universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

He added: “TSA makes for accountability. You pay in whatever you derive from government funds, ask for it back and you get it. The only thing is that you must do the paper work for the accountability aspect of it to be there and for any institution, they should be able to look at first glance, see the monies they have in account A, B or C at the CBN and know what they have.

“Government agrees to ASUU’s demand but limited it to only endowment funds. But that doesn’t also mean that at the end of the day, the university councils will not have the right to audit such an account. That is really the only area that is still contentious.”

Ngige also disclosed that council approved purchase of 67 vehicles worth N464 million to strengthen the capacity of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC).

He specifically said 40 pick-up vehicles and 27 Peugeot 301 cars were approved to boost the commission’s fleet.

According to him, all vehicles are to be sourced locally from Innoson Motors and Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) in line with the country’s Local Content and Procurement Act.

Credit:

http://guardian.ng/news/we-cant-pay-n284b-allowances-government-tells-asuu/

Why We Sacked Randy Lecturer- UNIOSUN

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The management of Osun State University, Osogbo has said that a lecturer at the Department of Languages and Linguistics, Dr. Olabode

Wale Ojoniyi who engaged in illicit sex with a female student, Miss Mercy Ikwue, has been sacked because of his immoral act that embarrassed the university.

A member of the Governing Council of the university who preferred anonymity said that the appointment of Ojoniyi with UNIOSUN was terminated after the conclusion of the investigation on the sex tape that captured the lecturer’s illicit sexual affair with Mercy.

The randy lecturer appeared nude in the video, caressing the student. According to the video, Ojoniyi was seen struggling to have sex with Mercy unknown to him that the student was recording his actions.

Students of UNIOSUN who spoke with our correspondent said Ojoniyi was a dubious lecturer and they celebrated his dismissal.

The council member who is also the provost of one of the colleges in UNIOSUN said “I’m not supposed to disclose our decisions and the

rationale behind such decisions to journalists or anyone. Our oath of office does not allow that. Let me just tell you that Dr. Ojoniyi was

sacked because of the disgrace he brought to this university.”

“The Chairman of the Governing Council, Mallam Yusuf Ali, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and all of us felt disgusted over the reckless

action of Dr Ojoniyi and no reasonable and sane person would allow such shameless individual to remain in this citadel of learning. That

was why he was dismissed.”

“The termination of Dr. Ojoniyi’s appointment followed due process. His offence was punishable under the Code of Conduct of Staff of Osun State University, part II, articles 15 and 23. Therefore, his sack was the best decision so as to ensure sanity in the system.”

His conduct derogated his status as a lecturer and betrayed his academic qualification as a PhD holder. In fact, he has come to the

end of his carrier in the academics. He may even be handed over to relevant state authority for prosecution.

Reacting to the allegations of illicit sex against him, Dr Ojoniyi did not deny being the one in the video but he insisted that said he wanted a trial that would be broadcast live a national television.

When asked whether he was aware of the termination of his appointment, Dr. Ojoniyi said the truth would soon come out.

Credit: dailytrust

Budget: How We Shared N753.663bn To Ministries- Adeosun

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Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, yesterday gave details on how the 2016 budget was being implemented, revealing that N753,663,667,464 has so far been shared to various ministries being capital allocation as at October 31.
A tabulated presentation to journalists showed that the Power Ministry got the lion’s share of the allocation with N209,246,760,165, while the Petroleum Ministry received the least allocation of N2,413,847,044, even as Nigerians continue to lament the poor power supply over the last 15 months.
This was as the Defence Ministry was allocated N69,512,363,730 while Transport Ministry has so far received N30,540,042,428. According to the breakdown of expenditures, Agriculture got N29,578,929,050, Water Resources Ministry got N25,201,857,951 and the Interior Ministry has so far received N21,210,059,596. Health Ministry got N18,472,539,524 and N16,743,672,981 went to the Education Ministry while Niger Delta Ministry got a slice of N8,161,196,486.
Science and Technology Ministry has so far received N6,681,349,721 and Mines and Steel got N3,360,000,000. Petroleum Ministry got N2,413,847,044, while others cumulatively received N312,511,048,789.
Recall that the Appropriation Bill 2016 seeks to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N6,077,680,000,000.
Of the figure, N351,370,000,000 is for Statutory Transfers, N1,475,320,000,000 is for Debt Service while N2,648,600,000,000 is for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure.
The sum of N1,845,540,000,000 inclusive of N157,150,000,000 Capital Expenditure in Statutory Transfers and N86,000,000,000 as Interest on Capitalised Loans, is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on December 31, 2016.

Credit:

http://sunnewsonline.com/budget-how-we-shared-n753-663bn-to-ministries-adeosun/

We Fought Corruption Without Making Noise– Jonathan

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Former President Goodluck Jonathan has said that his administration fought corruption in the country without making noise about it.

Mr. Jonathan said this on Monday while speaking at the Oxford Union of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

The immediate past Nigerian leader spoke on the theme “Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship”.

Responding to inquiries by some of the students regarding his administration’s fight against corruption, Mr. Jonathan said he would not like to “interfere with the legal processes” because “several matters are pending in court”.

Mr. Jonathan however said he did enough to reform anti-corruption agencies to enable them function effectively.

“We reformed the institutions and introduced various mechanisms to stop the corruption problems in our country without publicity,” he said.

Using his Twitter handle, the former president paid glowing tributes to Nigerian youth and said “any Nation that does not spend its wealth and resources to develop the capacity of its youth, will be forced to use them to fight insecurity.

“As a leader, you can decide through your policies to educate the youth, or face the consequences of failing to do so,” he said.

Mr. Jonathan also said his administration put in place some youth related policies, which, he said, helped grow the Nigerian economy.

“Despite incredible challenges, Nigerian youths are achieving great things and placing Nigeria positively in the world map. They inspire us,” he said.

He also said his administration increased the allowances due to Youth Corps members by more than 100% in 2011.

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http://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/213551-fought-corruption-without-making-noise-jonathan.html

We Are Dying, Airline Operators Tell Senate

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Airline operators in Nigeria have told the Senate Committee on Aviation that unless the federal government promptly pumped intervention funds into the aviation sector, all domestic airlines operating in the country will die.

The operators stated this wednesday during an emergency interactive session convened by the Senate Committee on Aviation.

Speaking on behalf of Airline Operators’ Association of Nigeria, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arik Airline, Mr. Chris Ndule, said the economic state of the aviation industry had largely deteriorated. “The economic situation as it is today, is suffocating us out of operation,” he said.

Ndule said some other airlines besides Aero Contractors would collapse unless the federal government promptly intervened in the aviation sector.
He listed high interest rate of 24 per cent on bank loans, worsening exchange rate and multiple charges from various regulatory agencies as the factors militating against sustenance of aviation business in Nigeria.

“There are a lot of economic indicators that have made business more difficult which are now manifesting in the inability of the airlines to continue to operate,” he said, explaining that the airlines were operating in an industry that had very little (profit) margin.

According to him, “If you have to borrow money and you have to pay 24 per cent, and you don’t make a margin of 24 per cent, it means that you will find it very difficult to pay back the debt. And there is a limit to what you can do in terms of being able to manage the debt. These fundamentals are the things we need to address.

“The last time we were here (the Senate), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was here (too) and it was the CBN that made it clear to everybody that the intervention fund earlier granted, was not for the airlines. In effect, what this meant was that the loans we took from some banks were transferred to the Bank of Industry and there was a reduction in the interest rate. To that extent, there was a little trickle down effect on the airlines.

“But, there hasn’t been a bailout targeted at salvaging the airlines or addressing the finances of the airlines. I think that is where the committee could assist us by interfacing on our behalf with the federal government. The airlines did not get as much as they wanted in the first place, even for that little reduction in the interest rate. But now, the economic situation has moved from being bad to worse. I think the intervention needs to take place to avoid total collapse of the industry. Two airlines have closed shop; there could be more airlines if the trend continues.”

He advised the committee to collaborate with the federal government and bring Aero Contractors back to operation, noting that the extinction of the airline would send a wrong signal to other airlines, bearing in mind that the airline had operated in Nigeria for 59 years.
However, the Director General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Mr. Muktar Usman, assured the committee that the federal government was already taking steps aimed at salvaging the sector.

Read More: thisdaylive