Huawei Technologies, China’s leading global Information and Communication Technology solution provider is set to partner with the government of Nigeria to initiate a social development program that would empower 1,000 youths in information and communications technology (ICT).
Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Youth and Student Affairs, Nasir Adhama, who disclosed this in a statement in Lagos, said that such partnership is part of the government’s efforts at addressing the issue of unemployment in the country.
He said that the initiative would commence at a date to be announced soon, adding that his office would select and screen the beneficiary participants from all geopolitical zones of the country for the training.
“Out of the 1,000 youth that would be trained by Huawei Africa, 200 would be sent to China for more training on ICT.”
The presidential aide stressed that there are many programs and activities that would get local youths engaged and involved.
During the recent visit by President Buhari to China, the special assistant also met with the leaders of the telecommunication company on the proposed ICT program.
Huawei, which is one of the global brands in ICT, has even announced that it would soon establish a world class ICT center in Nigeria to create more opportunities for Nigerian youths. [myad]
Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State has promised to establish a Tomato Processing Company to boost irrigation in the state.
Governor Masari who spoke today, Sunday in Mashi at a Town Hall meeting with people of the Mashi/Dutsi Federal Constituency, said that the company would be established in Danja Local Government Area through a Public Private Partnership (PPP).
The governor said that the decision to establish the company is part of the efforts of his administration to boost irrigation and create job opportunities for the people.
The governor, who saw the initiative as a mean towards preventing rural-urban drift in the state, said that his administration would continue to accord top priority to agriculture to enhance food productivity and guarantee food security.
Meanwhile, the Education Secretary for the Mashi Local Education Authority, Malam Abdullahi Garba, has said that the area is facing dearth of primary school teachers.
Garba appealed to the government to recruit more primary school teachers, rehabilitate the schools and settle promotion arrears of teachers from 2010 to date. [myad]
The Central Bank of Nigeria has imposed a total fine of N3.2 billion on United Bank for Africa Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc and Sterling Bank Plc for violating various regulatory orders.
The offences, which were committed during the 2015 financial year, were contained in the annual reports of the affected banks.
UBA had the highest fine among the four banks, paying the sum of N2.969 billion as penalty to the CBN for committing eight offences, including failing to meet the Treasury Single Account (TSA) reporting and remittance deadline, N2.946 billion; failure to update customers’ records and conducting continuous due diligence on some accounts, N2 million; and failing to review credit policy at least every three years in line with section 3.1 of the prudential guidelines 2010, N4 million.
Others are bidding for export proceeds in excess of the Bankers’ Committee guidance rates, N4.8 million; violating the CBN circular in respect of the 2015 Risk-based Examination, N2 million; and inadvertent omission of two customers from the PEP returns, N2 million.
Others are errors in response to an enquiry on offshore subsidiaries, N6 million; and processing import transaction for a customer, pending the receipt of the customer’s renewed NAFDAC certificate.
Zenith Bank, which had the second largest fine, paid the sum of N60.1 million to the central bank for committing nine offences with Offences, including infractions arising from risk assets examination as of December 31, 2014, N2 million; late rendition of fraud and forgeries returns, N2 million; fraudulent instant pay from an account in the Enterprise Bank to the Valluci Properties Limited, N10 million; and late rendition of returns in respect of CDL, N4 million.
Others are anti money laundering spot check exception, N4 million; the TSA deadline exception, N4 million; late rendition of returns, N100,000; penalty in relation to reporting of public sector deposit, N32 million; and failure to implement auditors recommendation contained in a management letter.
The GTBank was fined N60.05 million for committing three offences in the 2015 financial year, including delay in transmitting the list of the TSA names to the CBN, N2 million; late rendition of returns, N50,000; and contravention of the CBN circular on prior clearance of prospective employees of banks, N4 million.
Sterling Bank, which had the least fine among the four banks, was fined N13m for committing five offences for committing offences such as failure of its system in preventing tiered-customers from exceeding their thresholds, N2 million; not classifying customers into appropriate risk category and incomplete account opening forms, N4 million; and failure of the bank to provide reports to the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System Plc as required in the circular, N1 million.
Others are failure of the bank to meet the deadline for transfer of funds to the TSA, N4 million; and delay in response to the CBN directive in respect of reporting lines of the Chief Compliance Officer, N2 million. [myad]
Former Governor of Ekiti State and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Otunba Niyi Adebayo has described the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as being smart by conceding defeat after the 2015 Presidential election.
According to him, if Jonathan had insisted on continuing in office, Nigerians would have by now been hurling stones him whenever he is he seen on the street.
“Jonathan too was smart to concede defeat, because if Jonathan had remained at the helm of affairs, by now, people would have started stoning him on the street.”
In an interview he granted the Sun newspapers, the former governor lamented that while crude oil sold for over $100 per barrel under Jonathan, Nigeria had nothing to show for it, adding that the nation was ran aground under the previous administration.
“During the tenure of President Jonathan oil was selling at over $100 per barrel; but we have nothing to show for that money. It is always difficult to justify the fund. I mean by now our foreign exchange reserves should be in hundreds in billions of dollars. But today, we cannot speak of having that kind of money in our reserves.
“You know our refineries are not working, nothing is working. We have bad roads; the roads are not in good shape. I mean, it’s unfortunate; very unfortunate.
“But luckily for Nigeria; I always say to the people, God knows what He was doing when people turned against Jonathan and voted for Buhari.
“And Jonathan too was smart to concede defeat because if Jonathan had remained at the helm of affairs, by now people would have started stoning him on the street.” [myad]
A team of the Nigeria Service Chiefs, led by the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, General Gabriel Olanisakin, accompanied by the Chief of Naval Staff, CNS, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas have stormed the Niger Delta region to launch a counter-attack on militants that have retunred to the creek to destroy oil installations and commit other crimes.
The Service Chiefs arrived at the headquarters of the Operation Pulo Shield in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State yesterday, obviously on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari who had earlier warned while on an official visit to China that he would deal with militants in Niger Deta the same way he has been treating Boko Haram insurgents in the North East.
On arrival, General Gabriel Olonisakin pledged the resolve of the Nigerian Armed Forces to deal with pipeline vandals, oil thieves, kidnappers, cultists and sundry crimes in the Niger Delta region, even as the team identified 10 security threats in the region.
The CDS, who was conducted round by Commander of Operation Pulo Shield, Maj-Gen Alani Okunlola, explained: “the visit followed the strategic directive of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, President Muhammad Buhari, to deal with identified security threats in the Niger Delta.”
He added that the visit was to access the challenges of the troops with a view to addressing them and to ensure operational effectiveness in dealing with the threats.
“I am in Yenagoa on operational visit to Operation Pulo Shield as well as the Boat House vessel we have in Akassa. It is such that we can understand the challenges they are facing here and address these challenges to enhance their operational effectiveness and efficiency.” [myad]
“I never regret killing my wife. She has denied me education. I am a farmer in Angwan Sarki village and I am struggling to have a better life.”
These are the confessions of Joseph Okala, in his 20s, who has been arrested by the Nasarawa police for allegedly his 18 year old wife, Helen Precious, in the presence of his mother-in-law because at Ninda village, Kokona Local Government Area, Nasarawa State.
It all happened when Joseph allegedly went to the village of his in-laws, where he learnt that his wife and mother-in-law had gone to the farm. He then went to his mother-in-law’s farm at Nindama village in Kokona LGA Nasarawa State, met his wife working with his mother-in-law and instantly shot her (his wife) in the presence of her mother and younger sister and then left the scene.
He was allegedly wearing a face mask when he shot his wife and wanted to escape before he was arrested by policemen attached to Garaku Police station.
The suspect, Joseph Okala admitted that he was the one who killed his wife, saying: “my wife denied me going to school. My father warned me against marrying her rather I should go to school.
“Since my late wife insisted that I must marry her. I have to deny my father and abandon my education to marry my late wife in 2013. I was blessed with one kid, a baby boy.
“My late wife has been pregnant for me but she would abort the pregnancy, she has done the abortion severally. It was the senior brother of my wife who came on December 25, 2015 and packed my wife’s luggage and took her away from my house, we have been quarrelling over the matter.”
The suspect, who hailed from Kokona Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, said that it was four months later after his late wife left his house.
“It was April 4, 2016 around 2:00pm I went to Nindama village, my wife’s mother’s village and met them in the farm; I went in anger and took my dane gun and shot my wife dead in the present of her mother and I wanted to escaped before the policemen arrested me.
“I never regret killing my wife. She has denied me education. I am a farmer in Angwan Sarki village and I am struggling to have a better life.”
The Commissioner of Police, Nasarawa State Police Command, Lawal Shehu, confirmed the incident which he said occurred on April 4, 2016 around 2 pm when
He said that the policemen in Garaku Police Station had recovered the dane gun Joseph used to shoot his wife.
This was even as the Police Public Relation Officer, ASP Numan Umaru Ismaila from Nasarawa Command, warned the public not to take laws into their hands but rather always report any grievance to the nearest Police Station.
He said that the case of Joseph Okala who killed his wife was culpable homicide.
A representative of the he family of the deceased, who gave his name simply as Garba said that the suspect had been maltreating the deceased long before he finally killed her, and demanded that justice, should be done.
“We sent her elder brother to pack her luggage from the husband’s house on December 25, 2015.
“Suddenly, we saw the husband in my mother’s farm with her wife and he shot her dead without a reason. We want justice to be done. The policemen have released our daughter’s corpse to us and we have buried her on April 8, 2016.”
The police commissioner said that the suspect Joseph Okala would be charged to court for culpable homicide after investigation had been concluded.
The influential Congolese music star, Jules Shungu Webadio, popularly called Papa Wemba has died after collapsing on stage in Abidjan in Ivory Coast.
A video recording from the concert shows the artist, who was 66, slumped on the floor as dancers continue to perform; unaware of what had happened to their master.
On the African music scene since 1969, Papa Wemba won a world following with his soukous rock music.
The Congolese bandleader also inspired a cult movement known as the Sapeurs whose members, young men, spend huge amounts of money on designer clothes.
In 2004, he was convicted of people-smuggling in France and spent three months in prison.
A Belgian court convicted him of the same crime in 2012, handing down a fine of 22,000 euros (£17,143; $24,690) and suspended prison sentence of 15 months.
The artist fell ill while performing at 05:30 (05:30 GMT) on Sunday, local media report.
He died before he could be brought to the hospital, a spokesman for the Ivosep morgue in Abidjan told Reuters news agency.
He remained one of Africa’s most popular musicians. Soukous, also known as rumba rock, became the most popular sound across Africa.
Together with his bands, Zaiko Langa Langa, Isifi and Viva La Musica, he racked up hit after hit including L’Esclave and Le Voyageur, and worked with international stars like Peter Gabriel.
He appeared in two feature films, Life Is Beautiful (1987) and Wild Games (1997).
In addition to the prison time he spent in Europe, he was once jailed in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), for allegedly having an affair with a general’s daughter.
His conviction in France related to a racket whereby illegal immigrants were taken to Europe posing as members of his band. [myad]
“I inherited a Nigeria in which the trains were not working, and handed over a Nigeria in which citizens can safely travel by trains again. I inherited a Nigeria that was a net importer of cement, and handed over a Nigeria that is a net exporter of cement. In 2009 the richest Nigerian was the 5th richest man in Africa, but I handed over a Nigeria that produced the richest man in Africa.”
These were the words of the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan when he spoke with Friends of Africa Coalition at the Mayor’s office in New Jersey, the United States of America.
Jonathan continued: “I am proud to say that while I took over a Nigeria that was the second largest economy in Africa with a GDP of $270.5 billion in 2009, I handed over a Nigeria that had grown to become the largest economy in Africa and the 24th largest economy in the World with a GDP of $574 billion.
The former President went on to explain his reasons for handing over to Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after he lost the 2015 Presidential election, stressing that he respected the will of the people.
“Even in the 2015 general elections in my country, Nigeria, there was potential for major crisis if I was not a President duly elected by the will of the people.
“The campaigns leading to the elections almost polarized the country into Christian v Muslims and North v South divide. Most World leaders were worried that our elections will result into major crisis. Some pundits even from here in the United States said that those elections would spell the end of Nigeria and that we would cease to exist as a nation because of the polls.
“That is where the leadership question comes into play. As a leader that was duly elected by the people, I considered the people’s interest first. How do I manage my people to avoid killings and destruction of properties? With the interest of the people propelling all the decisions I took, we were able to sail through.
“Indeed, we sail through because I refused to interfere with the independence of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, having appointed a man I had never met in my life to run it. My philosophy was simple. For elections to be credible, I as a leader, must value the process more than the product of the process. And the citizens must have confidence in the electoral body.
“These are but a few of the parameters that illustrate some of the economic transformations we engineered during my term in office. This was made possible by the fact that there was a stable political leadership in Nigeria that did not have to pander to any other constituency except the electorate who brought me to power. And these actions have a contagious effect.” [myad]
The monthly Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting was held the other day in Abuja, with the representatives of state governments again cap in hand, asking for their share of federal revenue – read: oil revenue, or better still, national cake, or our money. A paragraph in the report by the online newspaper, Premium Times, caught my attention and here it is: “But at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC, meeting, representatives of the 36 state governments went home SAD (emphasis mine), as they were handed parlous shares from a total N299.75 billion statutory allocation for the month, the lowest allocations in more than five years.” For the month of March 2016, the states shared N55.34 billion, compared to N64.52 billion in February 2016. I have deliberately emphasized the word sad, because the day may well come when after the sharing of national revenue, we may be told that some Commissioners of Finance left the meeting crying, or wailing.
To prevent that happening this time, the Federal Government chose to suspend deductions of salary repayment loans owed by the states. When such deductions were made in February 2016, at least one state, Osun, went back home with a paltry N6 million only. The truth is that most of the 36 states are in dire straits, worst hit by the economic crisis that the country faces. About 27 out of the 36 states of the Federation are effectively insolvent, if not bankrupt. In July 2015, the Federal Government not only bailed out the states financially, the Central Bank of Nigeria further extended the repayment period for bank loans taken by the states from a period of seven years to 20 years. So far the affected states have collected salary assistance loans from the CBN to the tune of N689.5 billion, with an additional N310 billion as loans backed by the Excess Crude Account.
Across the country, these states are owing staff salaries, in some cases up to seven months. Pensioners have not been paid their arrears. Civil servants are angry because their allowances are being withheld. Most of the states (24) have not been able to improve on their internally generated revenue. The people are angry, wondering what this change has brought to their doorsteps. In January 2015, former CBN Governor, Charles Soludo, had sounded a cautionary note of warning in a piece titled “Buhari vs. Jonathan: Beyond the Election” wherein he argued that under President Jonathan, economic prosperity (oil boom) rather than generate wealth and opportunities resulted in greater pressures and the handing over of the economy to “self-conflicted traders and businessmen.”
He warned that the future of the Nigerian economy appeared bleak in the event of a slide in the spot price of crude oil. In November 2015, Soludo wrote a post-election piece titled “Can a New Buharinomics save Nigeria?” in which he slightly revised his trenchant attack on the Jonathan administration and argued that President Muhammadu Buhari had in fact inherited strong economic indicators and that in spite of the dwindling oil prices, he had an opportunity to further strengthen the Nigerian economy, given the right choices. The economist called for a debate on the subject, made his own recommendations and asked for the immediate setting up of a WAR ROOM on the economy.
Between January 2015 and March 2016, Soludo has been proven right in many respects; if you discount the politics of his January 2015 piece, that is, and focus on the analytical prescience of his contributions, you would easily agree that whatever may be happening in the economy today is foreseeable, foretold, and perhaps preventable. There is no challenge more urgent in Nigeria today than the economy. The health of the economy is linked to the well-being of the people. A recursive economy brings hardship and perhaps the last time Nigeria found itself in similar circumstances was truly between 1981 and 1985; the mismanagement of that challenge then, rather than improve our situation resulted in an uncontrollable decline, the effect of which has had Octopal implications for the well-being of the entire society. The concern of the concerned intelligentsia is that things should not get worse than they are now.
Because things are not really looking good, right now, President Goodluck Jonathan, for example, has had the great opportunity of engaging in an inevitable chest-beating-if-nobody-praises-me-I-will-praise-myself presentation in Newark, United States a few days ago. What he didn’t spell out is in the sub-text of his commentary. The current indication is that Nigeria’s GDP growth has dropped to below 3% in 2016 from about 7% in 2014. Income levels have similarly dropped. Inflation has jumped from single digit to a frightening double-digit range (12.11%). The manufacturing sector, which was on the rebound as at 2014, is now below 3% of GDP, which is as bad as saying there is no manufacturing going on at all and that the real sector is prostrate. The country’s reserves have been drained. Government deficit is rising. Unemployment has risen, even if one West African country is nonetheless asking Nigeria to come and help it solve its unemployment problem – I hope we will not again go and give what we do not have at home! Fuel queues are back as a feature of national life. Many Nigerians have not had an hour of electricity supply in the last four months. The people are angry and hungry.
In his November 2015 article, Soludo asked for a War Room. In March 2016, the Federal Government organized a Talk Shop in the form of a 2-day retreat of the National Economic Council (NEC) which came up with 71 proposals to revive the economy. 71 proposals! Sadly, there is nothing new in those proposals. Soludo called for a debate and pro-active measures. The administration is obviously not interested in what he has to say. Instead, there has been a lot of blame-this-blame-that going on. My take is that we cannot leave economics to the economists. Economists are fundamentalists; between the market fundamentalists and the state capitalists they only manage to produce problems, and that is perhaps why the idea of a War Room may be the wrong idiom. I also don’t consider the blame game helpful. Whatever is wrong with the Nigerian economy is an open secret that does not require any prolonged movement of the mandibular.
We are, to say the truth, paying the price for the failure of the Nigerian leadership elite to diversify the Nigerian economy and expand the country’s revenue base. We found oil in 1958, and since then we have been as a country, a victim of the curse of oil. The curse of oil in our context has meant indolence, the emergence of a rentier class, a squandering of riches and the alienation of the poor by the rich. Every country afflicted by the curse of oil has found it difficult to escape from the curse. In our case, it is worse. Crude oil accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s exports, 70% of Federal revenue and about 15% of GDP. The point has been made for years that without oil, or with great falls in the spot price of the Brent crude, Nigeria will be in trouble. Every scholar has spoken about the need for diversification, but oil money is so cheap, it does not allow our ruling elite to think. I wrote the foreword two months ago to a book tilted Memories of Yesteryears written by Akpandem James, formerly of the Independent Newspaper and in one of the chapters he reminisces about a long list of plantations across the South Southern part of the country, but those plantations are no longer there, either in the South South or the North or the East or West, because over the years, Nigerians got used to the easy money that comes with oil.
Oil, everyone said, is a wasting asset. But our leaders never listened. Instead, they argue that we have more gas than oil and that if nobody buys our oil, shale oil or no shale oil, Nigeria will sell gas. A country built on a philosophy of wealth without work or sense, commits a grievous sin. We have confronted the curse of oil on so many occasions. It caused the civil war of 1967-70. It resulted in the desperation of the North to seize Federal power and get a bigger share of the national cake by all means. It led to the agitations in the Niger Delta, the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Ogoni Eight, pipeline vandalism, Niger Delta insurgency, environmental degradation and the potent threat of a resurgent militancy in the Niger Delta, which is bound to cripple the Nigerian economy finally and tragically. The curse of oil is the source of a national cake mentality that has turned public service into an arena for primate accumulation. It is the root of corruption in Nigeria.
It is not a Buhari vs. Jonathan apotheosis therefore. To reduce it to that level is to ignobly avoid the messages of history. If anyone must be blamed, it must be all Nigerian leaders from independence at all levels. They have focused more on the fundamentals of ethnic, religious, regional and personal benefits, more than the fundamentals of national benefit. The leaders at the state levels are no better than gluttonous beggars. Elsewhere, states are centres of productive, economic activities. In Nigeria, every Governor is interested in what comes from the easy monthly allocation from Abuja. For IGR, they tax the people, multiple, punitive taxes. They create the impression that government exists to punish the people. Not every problem is Abuja-sourced. We need Governors who can think creatively economically and turn their states into economic units, not cowboys who spend more time in Abuja doing eye service. Truth is: some Governors are so cheap when they go to the Villa, they even expect to be given transport fare!
There are other issues: enhanced financial transparency will help, fraud has to be checked; there should be greater oversight scrutiny by civil society and the legislature; too many lawmakers are too busy trying to get their own bite of the national cake – can they please keep their rumbling and insatiable stomachs in check? And finally, the cost of governance must be reduced: Lawmakers who proudly ride vehicles worth N36.5 million are bandits not servants of the people. Governors who live ostentatiously and claim that there is not enough money to pay salaries are wrong. President Buhari is fighting corruption: he should allow states being run corruptly to sink if they must. [myad]
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has blown a whistle on how some state governments diverted and or mismanaged the recent bailout funds released to them by the Federal Government, strictly to pay the backlog of their workers’ salaries.
Report of the Commission indicated that while some state governments mismanaged the funds, others diverted it to other uses, even as others claimed to have used it for the payment of salaries but still owe workers salaries. The funds were disbursed by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). It was learnt that the funds have so far been disbursed to 27 States based on the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari. report said that in Imo and Zamfara States, the bailout fund was said to have been utilized for other purposes, saying that Imo State applied for and received bailout funds of ₦26,806,430,000.00 from the CBN. However, it was discovered that rather than paying workers, some transfers were made into certain Imo State Government accounts, which are not related to salaries and emoluments. The transfers included N2 billion into a Government House Account, N2 billion into an Imo State Project Account, N2 billion transferred to a Micro-Finance Bank and a management fee of N21,017,810.00 was paid into an unspecified account. Zamfara State was said to have requested for N32,512,495,183.27 bailout fund. It received N10,020,952,964.51. But it was discovered that the State was not owing Civil Servants and Pensioners any arrears as at the time the Federal Government released the bailout funds. The State Government, in order to utilize the funds, reportedly made overture to the Zamfara State House of Assembly requesting to use the funds to settle some liabilities amounting to N10,020,751,072.98. The money was then used as outstanding of payment to 14 local government areas of the State, amounting to N4,262,560,629.83; outstanding payment of fertilizer for the 2014 farming season, N3,056,300,000.00; outstanding Certificate for Construction of Bungudu-Nahuche Kyabarawa Road, which is 22.6km, coming up to N265,256,342.76; and outstanding Certificate of Hostel Block at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, T/Mafara: ₦55,000,000.00 among others. Below is the full report:
Introduction: As part of the Federal Government’s effort to end the lingering crisis of unpaid worker’s salary in most States of the Federation, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a comprehensive relief package designed to salvage the situation through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s Special Intervention Fund which offered affected States soft loans solely for the purpose of paying the backlog of salaries.
Benefitting States: Whereas the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is yet to officially confirm this to the Commission, the twenty-seven benefitting states from the open sources are: Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto and Zamfara State.
Findings: Following strident allegations of diversion of these bail-out funds and to avoid industrial unrest, ICPC in collaboration with the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), decided to monitor the disbursement of the bailout funds in the 27 benefitting States. However, relying on available resources we could only cover twenty-three States as follows:
Adamawa State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was ₦9, 578,369,000.000. The State received ₦9,578,360,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,378,360,000.00 with a balance of ₦7,200,000,000.00. The reason for the slow process of off-setting the debt was not provided as at the time of this report. However, the State claimed not to owe outstanding salaries as at September, 2015.
Bauchi State – total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was ₦14,820,775,109.50. The State received ₦8,609,100,000.00 as bail-out fund and disbursed ₦8,414,088,383.26 with a balance of ₦195,011,616.74. The State claimed not to owe salaries as at September, 2015.
Benue State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments amounted to ₦12,503,439,787.48. The State received ₦12,503,439,787.48 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦10,852,536,702.96 with a balance of ₦1, 650,903,084.52. Analysis of the documents submitted revealed a double payment of ₦37,760,000.00 in favour of Office of the Deputy Governor. This double payment is presently being investigated.
Cross River State is yet to submit her actual debt profile. The State received ₦7,856,400,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦3,140,883,040.77 with a balance of ₦4,715,516,959,23. However the State claimed not to have outstanding salaries to workers as at 19/11/2015.
Ekiti State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦3,000,266,146,64. The State received ₦9,604,340,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦9,213,816,252.44 with a balance of ₦390,613,747,56. The State owed one month salary as at 28th October, 2015.
Katsina State – a total debt accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦11,086,630,000.00. The State received 11,086,630,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,512,214,530.71 with a balance of ₦8,574,415,469,29. The state claimed to have cleared all outstanding salaries as at 18th February, 2016.
Gombe State has a total accrued from salaries and Staff emoluments of ₦9,222,432,872.67. A total of ₦11,000,000,000.00 was granted to the State as bailout and disbursed ₦6,321,684,423.67 with a balance of ₦4,679,315,576.33. The State claimed they do not owe salaries as at September, 2015.
Kogi State claimed not to have received bailout funds approved for the State by the Federal Government as at 8th August, 2015.
Nasarawa State received ₦8,317,167,368.87 in two tranches of ₦3,956,047,519.60 and ₦4,361,119,848.27 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦3,956,047,519.60 with a balance of ₦4,361,119,848.27. The State claimed not to have paid Local Government Workers’ salaries due to an on-going verification exercise.
Niger State received ₦4,396,810,000.00 as bailout fund and the entire amount was claimed to have been expended in off-setting salary debts.
Ondo State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments was put at ₦23,151,324,517.39. The State received 9,443,059,226.92 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦7,905,484,176.60 with a balance of ₦1,537,575,050.32. The State owes one-month salary and several months arrears of gratuity/pension as at 30th September, 2015.
Osun State received ₦34,988,990,000.00 as bailout fund. ₦18,677,224,582.20 was disbursed leaving a balance of ₦16,311,765,418 billion as at November, 2015. The Commission is verifying allegations that Osun State Public Servants have only been paid salaries up to July, 2015.
Ogun State received ₦18,916,208,664.86 as bailout fund. The State claimed to have expended the entire sum for salary arrears and does not owe workers as at 9th October, 2015.
Plateau State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments of ₦5,090,251,996.39. The State received ₦5, 357,570,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦5,330,589,061.15 with a balance of ₦26,980,938.85. The State owes two-months salaries as at 30th September, 2015.
Sokoto State – a total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments including pension, severance and gratuity of ₦3,488,11,165.77. The State was granted ₦10,093,370,000.00 as bailout fund and was yet to disburse as at the 19th October, 2015.
Kwara State received the sum of ₦4,320,950,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦4,291,087,985.08 for staff salaries and emoluments with a balance of ₦29,862,014.92. The State claimed to have cleared all outstanding salaries as at 20th October, 2015.
Bayelsa State applied for the sum of ₦1,285,000,000.00 and had concluded disbursement formalities but the Central Bank of Nigeria was yet to release the said fund to the State as at 18th December, 2015.
Imo State applied for and received bailout funds of ₦26,806,430,000.00 from Central Bank of Nigeria which were domiciled with two commercial banks namely Fidelity and Zenith Banks. In the course of analysis, it was discovered that some transfers were made into certain Imo State Government account which are not related to salaries and emoluments as follow:
₦2 Billion into a Government House Account • ₦2 Billion into an Imo State Project Account • ₦2 Billion transferred to a Micro-Finance Bank • A management fee of ₦21,017,810.00 was paid to unspecified account.
Zamfara State requested for the sum of ₦32,512,495,183.27 bail-out funds and received the Sum of ₦10,020,952,964.51. After careful analysis of the documents provided and interaction with the Nigerian Labour Leaders in Zamfara State by ICPC staff, it was revealed that the State was not owing Civil Servants and Pensioners any arrears as at the time the Federal Government released the bail-out funds. The State Government in order to utilize the funds, made overture to the Zamfara State House of Assembly requesting to use the funds to settle some liabilities amounting to ₦10,020,751,072.98 as follows:
Outstanding of payment to 14 LGS of the State: ₦4,262,560,629.83 • Outstanding payment of fertilizer for 2014 farming season: ₦3,056,300,000.00 • Outstanding Certificate for Construction of Bungudu-Nahuche Kyabarawa Road 22.6Km: ₦265,256,342.76 • Outstanding Certificate of Hostel Block at Abdu Gusau Polytechnic, T/Mafara: ₦55,000,000.00 • Payment of outstanding cost of Vehicles supplied to State: ₦319,430,000.00 • Outstanding Certificate of Construction work at K/Namoda Juma’ at Mosque: ₦20,479,100.39 • Outstanding Certificate of Construction work at Emir’s Palace, Gusau: ₦6,020,000.00 • Share of 14 Local Government Councils Bailout: ₦2,035,705,000.00 The Zamfara State House of Assembly passed a resolution for the utilization of the funds on the above items which was communicated to the Secretary to the State Government vide letter ZMHA/LEG/089/V.1/13 dated 31st August, 2015. • Enugu State has a total debt value accrued from Staff Salaries and emoluments of ₦13,764,622,723.38 and ₦23,279,099,157.58 as domestic debt. The State was granted ₦10,174,238,681.19 as bailout fund as at 16th November, 2015. Analysis of the documents submitted reveal that the State disbursed ₦5,967,238,681.19 from the bailout fund to settle domestic debts and claimed that funds for the payment of Staff salaries and emoluments was not yet assessed. • Oyo State total debt value accrued from Staff salaries and emoluments is ₦26,606,944,831.03. The State was granted ₦26,606,944,831.03 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦25,495,292,422.63 with a balance of ₦1,111,652,408.40. The State owes four Months salaries as at 7th April, 2016. • Delta State has a total debt value accrued from Staff salaries and emoluments of ₦36,417,217,601.53. The State was granted ₦10,936,799,299.36 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦8,129,888,279.86 with a balance of ₦2,806,911,019.50. However, the State claimed not to owe salaries as at 24th November, 2015. • Kebbi State’s total debt value accrued from staff salaries and emoluments is ₦8,778,594,714.78. The State received ₦7,080,000,000.00 as bailout fund and disbursed ₦2,617,152,577.20 with a balance of ₦4,463,975,420.27. The State claimed to have cleared all outstanding arrears on salaries as at September, 2015. NOTE: • The Report indicate findings at the dates indicated above for each State. Subsequent changes may have taken place thereafter which the various States and Nigerian Labour Congress are at liberty to bring to our notice for verification and further comments as the need arises. • This Report has been published to assist all parties eliminate unsubstantiated allegations and promote peaceful negotiations and understanding in the management of government processes. • This Report comes under ICPC Prevention mandate and States are welcome to use this initiative. [myad]
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
Huawei Technologies, China’s leading global Information and Communication Technology solution provider is set to partner with the government of Nigeria to initiate a social development program that would empower 1,000 youths in information and communications technology (ICT).
