FG Archives — Page 2 of 5 — Business Bells

Business Bells

Tag: FG

  • FG Distributes Debit Cards For Payment of Stipends To Vulnerable People in Osun

    FG Distributes Debit Cards For Payment of Stipends To Vulnerable People in Osun

     

    The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has embarked on the disbursement of monthly stipends, using debit cards, to 15,562 poor and vulnerable persons in Osun.

     

    According to the News Agency of Nigeria, at the Boripe Local Government Secretariat, on Tuesday, 187 vulnerable persons were issued Debit Cards for the payment of their monthly stipends.

     

    Osun Coordinator of Household Uplifting Programme-Conditional Cash Transfer, Iyabo Ayofe, explained that the FG has now digitalised the payment system.

     

    Ayofe told the beneficiaries that their stipends would be paid/loaded on the debit cards henceforth, stating that they can always withdraw their money on any Point of Sales machine or Automated Teller Machines at any time.

     

    She said that the debit card has now erased the “cash by hand” mode of payment, and that anytime the beneficiaries are notified of payment, they can go to the ATM or use the POS closer to them to collect their money.

     

    “The cards being issued to beneficiaries today are preloaded with N30,000 for the payment of the backlog of 2020 stipends.

     

    “About 4,000 of the beneficiaries, however, would have more than N30,000 loaded on their cards because these categories of beneficiaries have additional health expenses and dependants like pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers and those with children from zero to five years.

     

    “This digitalisation mode of payment makes payment easy, eliminates attack on beneficiaries by criminals and makes it easier for beneficiaries to withdraw their money wherever they are, at any point in time,” she said.

     

    She, however, said the distribution of the debit cards to beneficiaries would only cover eight local government areas (as the pilot phase), but would be extended to the remaining 22 local government areas and area offices subsequently.

    (NAN)

  • We’re Borrowing Sensibly And Responsibly, Says FG

    We’re Borrowing Sensibly And Responsibly, Says FG

     

    Contrary to the criticisms that have continued to trail the nation’s increasing debt profile, the Federal Government on Monday says it is borrowing “sensibly and responsibly.”

     

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said this at a press conference in Abuja.

     

    She was joined at the brieifing by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and some other top government officials from her ministry.

     

    Ahmed was answering a question on whether the government’s continue borrowing is not capable of impacting negatively on the economic growth recorded so far recorded.

     

    But the minister explained that the government only borrow to invest on infrastructures that will later yield proceeds for the country.

     

    “We are borrowing sensibly and responsibly to invest in critical infrastructures.

     

    “These investments will make returns in future,” she said.

     

  • FG Implements Cooking Gas Imports Tax As Price Jumps By 100%

    FG Implements Cooking Gas Imports Tax As Price Jumps By 100%

     

    The Federal Government has implemented a 7.5 per cent tax on imported Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, popularly called cooking gas, as the cost of the commodity leap by over 100 per cent within a period of eight months.

     

    It was gathered on Sunday that the government implemented the VAT on LPG imports about three weeks ago and some dealers were also mandated to pay the tax for commodities imported several months ago.

     

    Operators told Punch that Nigeria imports about 70 per cent of the commodity, while the rest was mainly supplied by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas company.

     

    It was also gathered that the cost of a 12.5kg of cooking gas that sold for about N3,500 in December 2020 had jumped to as high as N6,800 in parts of Abuja.

     

    A resident along the Lagos-Ibadan road said she bought the commodity on Sunday at N7,200 in Lagos, as dealers projected that the cost might hit N10,000 in December this year.

     

    Operators stated the development had made small businesses and homes in rural and semi-urban areas to revert to firewood and charcoal, as the purchase of cooking gas had plunged in recent months.

     

    The National Chairman, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers Association of Nigeria, Michael Umudu, said there were three factors that caused the surge in price.

     

    He said, “There are three major factors to the hike in prices. Firstly, about 70 per cent of the gas we consume in Nigeria is imported and importers have to contend with the high cost of foreign exchange.

     

    “Secondly, there is a rise in the price of petroleum products in the international market and because of that, the cost of LPG has equally gone up. So importers now pay more on imports.

     

    “And thirdly, the government added VAT on imported LPG about three weeks ago. It (VAT) was 7.5 per cent of the cost of the commodity and this exacerbated the price hike of cooking gas in the past three weeks.”

     

    Umudu stated that before the introduction of VAT, foreign exchange and cost of petroleum products in the international market had been the factors causing the rise in price.

     

    “Around November/December last year, 12.5kg was sold at about N3,500, but in July it went up to around N5,500 and when VAT was introduced about three weeks ago, it now escalated to about N6,500 and above,” he stated.

     

    Umudu added, “The price hike seems to be happening on a daily basis and nobody can tell when it will stop. There has been a lot of appeal to the government to find a way of persuading NLNG to increase its domestic supply so that the product can be affordable.

     

    “NLNG supplies about 35 per cent of the gas we consume locally and that percentage is not adequate. And the gas sold by NLNG is even sold at international price and is priced in dollar not naira.”

     

    On the cost of the commodity in metric tonnes, Umudu, replied, “20MT is now in the average of about N8m. And before VAT was introduced, the price of 20MT was around N6.8m to N7m, which was the highest price then.”

     

    He noted that consequent to that, there has been an upsurge in the use of firewood and other alternative energy sources nowadays.

     

    “If you come to Lagos, you will see heaps of firewood like groundnut pyramids. Many people who use LPG to run their small businesses cannot cope again because of the price. They are in crisis right now; some of them are now using firewood, others, charcoal,” he stated.

     

    Umudu added, “Many people in the rural and semi-urban areas are dropping their cylinders. Those who find it difficult to get alternatives are actually going through a very hard time.”

     

    Also speaking on the issue, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers, Bassey Essien, said the cost of 12.5kg gas could hit N10,000 in December.

     

    He said, “If by December they (government) don’t take time to address this surge, it (12.5kg) will be N10,000. We are not the one causing this, rather it is the government. We sell what we get.”

     

    On what could be done, he replied, “The volume we produce in Nigeria is just about 40 per cent of the total consumption; the rest is imported. And you don’t have a forex window for these people to access to import gas.

     

    “And secondly, you suddenly woke up and said you want to start imposing VAT on imported gas, which was removed several years back. And now, you didn’t even start it fresh, rather you said it is going to be in retrospect, starting from several months back.”

     

    He added, “And you are imposing billions in taxes on gas imports, for instance, you ask one company to pay about N4bn as tax. Now if they pay that money, some other person needs to shoulder this cost.”

     

    On what the government was doing about the development, the spokesperson of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Garba-Deen Muhammad, said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had said the commodity was deregulated.

     

    Muhammed, who served as the media aide to Sylva before switching to become NNPC spokesperson recently, said, “The minister answered this question during his last press briefing two weeks ago.”

     

    At the briefing, Sylva had said, “We are not in position to determine gas pricing because gas is not a regulated product. But, of course, we are also very concerned that prices are rising and so I am actually doing something about it in the interest of the ordinary Nigerian.

     

    “I am calling some of the suppliers to discuss the reason for this hike.”

     

    He added that the intervention was outside government role.

     

  • FG Inaugurates 1,667 ICT Centres, 455 Other Projects

    FG Inaugurates 1,667 ICT Centres, 455 Other Projects

     

    The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Pantami said the Ministry has inaugurated no fewer than 1,667 Information Communications Technology (ICT) centres across the country.

     

    He also said more than 455 other projects were ongoing in different parts of the country.

     

    Pantami disclosed this when he featured on a special interview session, Forum, organised by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

     

    He said that the ministry had developed 16 policies within two years, geared toward supporting the digital economy sector in the country.

     

    He noted that there was no single state that a minimum of one class ICT park had not been established from the day he assumed office as a minister to date.

     

    According to him, the National ICT Park is under the ministry, it has its own role and National Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre (NDIEC) is a policy developed to support ICT infrastructure.

     

    “Part of the implementation of the Policy is largely by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and also it will provide office space for some of their activities.

     

    “I want to confirm to you that there is no single state from the date I became a minister to date that we have not established a minimum of one class ICT park.

     

    “I have already commissioned one in 2020 in Lagos State University.

     

    “We have already built an ICT park in Lagos University; this is one out of many.

     

    We have also provided the same intervention in the same zone in other institutions.

     

    “I personally commissioned the same ICT park in University of Port Harcourt. I travelled to Port Harcourt to commission it physically.”

     

    On the issue of training, the Minister said that the ministry and its agencies had so far trained a total number of 219,198 citizens.

     

    He explained that this was beside the training taking place at the 1,667 centres, adding that most of the training was advanced skills, not basic skills.

     

    “Within two years, we have trained 219, 198 citizens and most of them are advanced skills, not basic skills; in this, I have not included the training taking place at the 1,667 centres.

     

    “These are ICT centres and projects combined together.

     

    “The benefits of creating these ICT parks are many, we have job creation, providing digital skills and many more.”

     

  • ‘We’re Not A Revenue Generating Agency,’ FRSC Fumes as FG Hikes Vehicle Number Plate, Driving Licence Rates By 50%

    ‘We’re Not A Revenue Generating Agency,’ FRSC Fumes as FG Hikes Vehicle Number Plate, Driving Licence Rates By 50%

     

    The Federal Government has commenced the implementation of new rates for vehicle number plates and driving licence across the country.

     

    According to the Joint Tax Board, Nigerians will now pay N18,750 for standard private and commercial number plates against the old rate of N12,500.

     

    Fancy number plate which was N80,000 is now N200,000; motorcycle number plate is N5,000 from N3,000 while articulated number plates (three plates) attract N30,000 from N20,000. For these rates, the minimum increase is 50 per cent.

     

    Out of series number plate has also been revised to N50,000 from N40,000 while government fancy number plate is N20,000 against the former N15,000 rate.

     

    Driving licence (three years) was raised to N10,000 from N6,000, excluding bank charges; licence for five years is N15,000 from N10,000 while motorcycle/tricycle driving licence (three years) goes for N5,000 from N3,000 while the one for five years attracts N8,000 from N5,000.

     

    The decision was taken at the 147th meeting of the JTB, which held in Kaduna on March 25.

     

    A letter by the JTB titled ‘Implementation of the revised rates for vehicles number plates and driver’s licence in Nigeria’, dated July 30, 2021 and signed by the board secretary, Obomeghfe Nana-Aisha, directed various federal and state agencies to commence the implementation of the rates.

     

    Members of the JTB established by section 86 (1) of the Personal Income Tax Act cap. P8 LFN 2004, include the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service as the chairman of the board; one member from each state and representatives of the Federal Road Safety Commission; Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission; Federal Capital Territory Administration; Federal Ministry of Finance; and Federal Inland Revenue Service.

     

    The letter read, “You may wish to recall that at the 147th meeting of the Joint Tax Board held in Kaduna, Kaduna State on March 25, 2021, the board approved revised rates for the sale of vehicle number plates and driving licence in line with the recommendations of Appraisal and Technical Committee of the JTB.

     

    “In the light of the foregoing, we wish to inform you that the Chairman, JTB, has approved Thursday, August 1, 2021, as the commencement date for the implementation of the new rates.”

     

    Meanwhile, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has said that the agency remained a safety corps and not a revenue generating agency.

     

    Corps Public Education Officer, Bisi Kazeem, stated this while dismissing a report circulating on social media that the agency was behind the hike.

     

    He also described as incorrect the report that the standard number plate was N55, 000.

     

    Kazeem said that it had become necessary for the Corps to serve this as a warning to those circulating the fake news on the  prices of number plates and driver’s license.

     

    The Business Bells gathered that there had been a report circulating that FRSC had increased the price of number plates and driver’s license tagging it as a revenue generating agency.

     

    The reports stated that registration of New Blue Plate is now 55, 000, registration of New Red Plate 65,000, Registration of New Articulated Plate 100,000.

     

    Change of Ownership with New BLUE Plate Number 70,000, change of Ownership with New RED Plate Number 80, 000, Change of Ownership with New Articulated Plate Number 115,000.

     

    Transfer of existing Plate Number from One Vehicle to Another 35,000. Replacement of Loss Plate Number 36,000.

     

    Fresh issuance of Drivers license 38,000 for five years, 33,000 three years, Renewal 22, 500 for five years and 18,000 for three years.

    Vehicle Number Plate

    Kazeem said that the noble mandate of the FRSC was to make the nation’s highway safe for motorists and other road users across the country.

     

    According to him, Federal Road Safety Commission was not set up as a revenue generation agency but to ensure the protection of lives and property on the road.

     

    He said that the news circulating round that FRSC had increased the prices of number plates and driver’s license was not true.

     

    He said “The Price increase is from Joint Tax Board (JTB) and not from FRSC. However, the approved price for articulated vehicle number plate is 30,000.

     

    “Motor vehicle driver’s license price for three year is 10,000 while 15,000 is for five years. Standard private and commercial vehicle number place is 18,750 respectively.

     

    “Implementation of the revised rates for vehicles number plates and driver’s license in Nigeria commences on Aug. 1 according to Joint Task Board, “ he said.

     

    Kazeem solicited the support and cooperation of Journalists especially in publicising the activities of the corps saying that the media needed to verify before reporting.

     

    He urged members of the public to note that only the Joint Tax Board (JTB) has the statutory powers to review the prices of the items in question adding that it was the Board that approved the price reviewed.

     

    He further appealed to the motoring public to continue to ensure their vehicles were properly registered as it enhances the security of the vehicles.

     

    Reports shows that the last review on the prices of number plates and driver’s license was done in 2011.

     

  • FG Has Lifted 10 Million Nigerians Out of Poverty in 6 Years —Minister

    FG Has Lifted 10 Million Nigerians Out of Poverty in 6 Years —Minister

     

    The Federal Government said it has lifted over 10 million Nigerians out of extreme poverty in six years, through the National Social Investment Programmes (NSIPs).

     

    Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this yesterday at a virtual launch of the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.

     

     

    Umar Farouq explained that Nigeria has joined many countries that have moved towards improving the efficiency of their decision-making processes through the evidence generated by MPI.

     

    In a statement by her Special Adviser on Media, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, she said: “The consensus around the use of the MPI emerges from different approaches and global agreements, including the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs), which has been replaced by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to cover the multiple aspects of deprivation at the core of poverty and their inter-linkages.

     

    “It is therefore an honour to join other strong voices to highlight the importance of multi-stakeholder engagements on poverty eradication, zero hunger, quality education, climate action and inclusion, all of which are central to the evidence generated by the MPI.

     

    “The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has successfully empowered more than 10 million people out of extreme poverty through the many initiatives of Government, including the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), GEEP, Npower, NHGSFP and many more.

     

    “This aspiration takes into cognizance the country’s current estimated population of about 200 million people, as well as the need for better evidence for programming.

     

    “The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development therefore, stands ready to collaborate with different government agencies, donor organisations and private investors to shape policies and drive real impact in the use of MPI data to foster government accountability to citizens through improved multi-sectoral interventions targeted at the root of deprivations.

     

    “In addition, the ministry will collaborate closely with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) to conduct regular multidimensional poverty measurements alongside monetary measures at both national and sub-national levels to ascertain the true poverty status of Nigeria and use the findings to shape policy and programming.”

     

    Umar Farouq noted that government would partner with private sector actors using the special purpose vehicle of social investments to create a national and state poverty map/tracker which will help provide progress towards poverty reduction goals.

     

    “It will also collaborate with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning using MPI data to improve budget allocations by sector and State in order to target individuals, communities and areas needing dire attention,” she added.

     

    She thanked the World Bank Group, UNDP, OPHI, UNICEF, the High Commission of Canada, and other bilateral and multi-lateral bodies, for their support towards eradicating extreme poverty by 2030.

     

  • FG Unveils Plan To Unbundle NIPOST Into Courier Services, Microfinance Bank

    FG Unveils Plan To Unbundle NIPOST Into Courier Services, Microfinance Bank

     

    The Federal Government has unveiled plans to unbundle the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) into a courier service, microfinance bank among others.

     

    The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, disclosed this on Tuesday during the unveiling of NIPOST’s N50 revenue stamp for denoting transactions in the country.

     

    He listed other aspects of NIPOST unbundling which would take place before the end of the year to include NIPOST transport and logistics, courier services, and microfinance bank.

     

    “We have many policies for transforming NIPOST in the pipeline. Part of the policy is the plan to unbundle NIPOST.

     

    “We have in the pipeline, Transport and Logistics Company, a Courier Service and a Microfinance Bank. We will do the best we can before the year ends to ensure that the slot are achieved,” the Minister said.

     

    According to him, these are part of efforts to boost Nigeria’s revenue generation which will be invested into education, security, agriculture, among other sectors in the country.

     

    Pantami expressed optimism that NIPOST would be transformed into a world-class outfit.

     

    “The unveiling of the N50 revenue stamp is the beginning of the transformation of NIPOST. We have recorded modest achievements in NIPOST that will increase its revenue and raise monies for other sectors of the Nigerian economy.

     

    “Part of the transformation is to unbundle NIPOST. This includes NIPOST Property development Company; this is a company that will bring all the NIPOST Properties together and develop them and generate revenue from them,” he said.

     

    Pantami tasked the staff of NIPOST to double efforts aimed at increasing revenue generation for the country, as that would be the only justification for the increased welfare package.

    NIPOST

    NIPOST Re-enactment Bill

     

    In June 2021, the Senate passed the NIPOST repeal and re-enactment bill 2021, which had restricted the agency to only postal operations in the country.

     

    The bill which was passed also seeks to unbundle NIPOST for efficient service delivery by creating a commission to regulate its affairs.

     

    It was passed by the Senate following the consideration of the report of the Committee on Communications, which is Chaired by Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

     

  • SERAP Drags FG to Court Over ‘$25bn Overdraft Taken From CBN’

    SERAP Drags FG to Court Over ‘$25bn Overdraft Taken From CBN’

     

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) says it has filed a lawsuit, asking the court “to compel the federal government to disclose details of a $25 billion (N9.7trn) overdraft reportedly obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

     

    In a statement on Sunday, Kolawole Oluwadare, SERAP’s deputy director, said the group also asked the court to ask the government to disclose spending details of the overdrafts and loans obtained from the apex bank since May 29, 2015.

     

    Oluwadare said the suit followed SERAP’s freedom of information (FoI) request to President Buhari to disclose the overdraft and repayment plan details.

     

    He added that ensuring transparency and accountability in the spending of CBN overdrafts and loans would promote prudence in debt management, reduce any risks of corruption and mismanagement, and help the government to avoid the pitfalls of excessive debt.

     

    “Transparency and accountability in the spending of CBN overdrafts would also ensure that public funds are properly spent, reduce the level of public debt, and improve the ability of the government to invest in essential public goods and services, such as quality education, healthcare, and clean water,” SERAP said in a statement.

     

    “It is the primary responsibility of the government to ensure public access to these services in order to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty and to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

     

    “Transparency and accountability in the spending of CBN overdrafts and loans would also improve the ability of the government to effectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis. This means that the government would not have to choose between saving lives or making debt payments.

     

    “The recent overdraft of $25.6bn (about N9.7trn) reportedly obtained from the CBN would appear to be above the five-percent limit of the actual revenue of the Federal Government for 2020, that is, N3.9trn, prescribed by Section 38(2) of the CBN Act 2007. SERAP notes that five-percent of N3.9trn is N197bn.

     

    “While Section 38(1) of the CBN Act allows the Bank to grant overdrafts to the Federal Government to address any temporary deficiency of budget revenue, sub-section 2 provides that any outstanding overdraft ‘shall not exceed five-percent of the previous year’s actual revenue of the Federal Government.”

     

    “Similarly, Section 38(3) requires all overdrafts to ‘be repaid as soon as possible and by the end of the financial year in which the overdrafts are granted.’”

     

    SERAP said Abubakar Malami, the attorney general of the federation and minister of justice, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, and Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, are joined in the suit.

     

    The anti-corruption group said the court actions are brought in the public interest and in line with the Nigerian Constitution, the freedom of information act, the fiscal responsibility act, the Central Bank Act; the Debt Management Office Act; and the country’s international legal obligations.

     

    No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

  • FG Suffers N15tn Revenue Shortfall in Six Years

    FG Suffers N15tn Revenue Shortfall in Six Years

     

    The Federal Government recorded a revenue shortfall of N15tn from 2015 to 2020, official data obtained by our correspondent have shown.

     

    The revenue shortfall led to a funding gap of N3.75tn in the implementation of capital projects of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, according to an analysis of the budgetary provisions and budget implementation reports from the Budget Office of the Federation.

     

    According to the documents, the total revenue projection for the six-year period was N31.9tn, while about N16.9tn was generated, resulting in a shortfall of N15tn.

     

    The total revenue allocated for capital projects in the period under review was N11.9tn, while the actual amount released to the MDAs was estimated at N8.2tn.

     

    The data showed that in the 2015 fiscal year, the Federal Government approved the sum of N557bn for capital projects, out of which N387bn was actually released, resulting in a funding gap of N169.6bn.

     

    From the N1.58tn budgeted for capital projects in 2016, the sum of N1.21tn was released, creating a deficit of N368bn.

     

    For 2017, N1.56tn was released for the execution of capital projects, out of the budgeted amount of N2.17tn. This resulted in a funding shortfall of N611.35bn.

     

    In 2018, the government approved N2.8tn for capital projects but released N1.8tn for implementation. This caused a funding deficit of N1.01tn.

     

    Further analysis of the data revealed that in 2019, a funding gap of N863.9bn for the execution of capital projects was recorded.

     

    In the 2019 annual budget, the total amount of N2.03tn was allocated for capital expenditure, out of which N1.16tn was released.

     

    An analysis of the revised budget for the 2020 fiscal year showed that N2.6tn was projected to be spent on capital projects, but N1.94tn was released. This resulted in a funding gap of N733bn.

     

    Economists told our correspondent that the annual revenue shortfalls could be largely attributed to the disproportionate reliance of the Nigerian economy on crude oil.

     

    They advised the Federal Government to focus on expanding its revenue sources in order to generate adequate revenue to finance capital projects for the benefit of the country’s economy.

    How LG Refrigerators Deliver Smarter Culinary Life and More Hygienic Food Management

    They explained that the revenue projections contained in the annual budgets were largely based on crude oil prices.

     

    A professor of Economics at the University of Ibadan, Adeola Adenikinju, said, “What the government should do is that they need to reduce their dependence on oil because oil will continue to transmit shocks and volatility to the revenue system.

     

    “And as much as possible, the executive and the legislature should work together to create a benchmark price for oil that is realistic; it shouldn’t be set arbitrarily. In other words, they should be more realistic in projecting oil price to mitigate the volatility on that side.

     

    “By expanding our revenue base this will enable us fund capital projects that are critical to a developing economy like ours.”

     

    Another expert and the Chairman Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, lamented that whenever the government recorded a revenue shortfall, the capital component of the budget suffered while the recurrent expenditure was prioritised.

     

    He said, “Prioritising capital projects will create job opportunities, reduce unemployment, reduce inflation via increased output, enhance ease of doing business and foreign investments, and strengthen the naira value.

     

    “In short, doing so will facilitate economic growth and development generally.”

  • FG Halts N22bn Aviation Palliative To Stakeholders

    FG Halts N22bn Aviation Palliative To Stakeholders

     

    The Federal Government has put on hold its promise to the aviation sector as N22bn palliative meant to sustain the sector remains unpaid.

     

    The government had last year pledged its support to the sector by announcing a sum of N27bn to help sustain the sector amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

     

    It was gathered that only N5bn had been disbursed to some stakeholders while others were yet to receive any funds.

     

    The Assistant Secretary for Aviation Safety Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, in his recent presentation at the Airport Business Summit, had called for transparency in the sector.

     

    In an interview with our correspondent, the aviation analyst said the total amount of money allocated to the aviation sector was N27bn but only N5bn had been disbursed.

     

    He said “We have an outstanding payment of N22bn. The minister said the N22bn is still with the government agency. There is a problem with keeping the sum of N22bn for a national carrier when the objective of that money is to help these organisations.

     

    “The idea of the fund is to save existing jobs and organisations. There are many organisations that need these funds due to the fallout of COVID. The US had their own and ensured that there was fairness in the distribution of their funds to all organisations.”

     

    According to him, there were steps put in place in the US to monitor the disbursement to ensure that no company pay excess money to their executives, declare insolvency or sack workers.

     

    “In Nigeria, nobody monitored if the money was properly disbursed. It was some airlines who came out to say that they did not get part of the money disbursed,” he added.

     

    When contacted, the Director, Public Affairs, Federal Ministry of Aviation, James Oduadu, told our correspondent that the N22bn had not been released by the Federal Government to the ministry.

     

    He said the N22bn was not meant for the national carrier alone but also to help other agencies under the ministry.

     

    He said, “The N22bn has not been released at all to the ministry. It is not just for the national carrier; it is also meant as palliative to the agencies under the ministry. Other agencies are meant to get from the balance of the money from the Federal Government which has not been released.”

     

    He noted that some of the agencies had yet to recover fully from the impact of the pandemic.

     

    “The agencies are still struggling to meet up their obligation, especially in terms of payment of salary, allowances and others. Their revenue generation had not stabilised; so when they get the palliative, it would help to stabilise them,” he added.