Governance
Senate Queries Foreign Affairs Ministry for ‘Spending N248m Without Approval’
The query was raised by the Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Edo South led Senate Committee on Public Accounts.
The Committee is relying on a query issued by the Auditor General of Federation, Anthony Anyine against Nigeria’s embassy in Germany.
The Auditor General in a petition submitted to the Senate Committee on Public Accounts has demanded the source of extra-budgetary spending by the officials of the Ministry of foreign affairs in Germany.
The query read, “The Embassy (in Germany), over-spent its budget for 2014 in 16 subheads, totalling N248,025,564.88.
“This act of over expenditure by the embassy is a virement by the mission without approval from the National Assembly.
“The Mission through the Permanent Secretary has been advised to abide by the provisions of the financial regulations and extant circular which states that expenditure must be within the amount provided in the subheads.
“It is also necessary that the Embassy should explain the source of the extra funds spent.”
In its written response to the audit query, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, ‘Some of the subheads where funds were needed, were under-provided for.
“The only fund spent outside the budget was a donation of €5000, made by Julius Berger Nigeria Limited to the Mission as a gift for the National Day Celebration.
“The allocations to sub-heads were not in line with the requirements of the Mission, the cost of services was very high and delayed allocation were grossly responsible for the Mission’s action.
“Mission could not afford to delay payments for services provided to avoid being blacklisted by the host community.”
Established by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq CON, Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS) provides modern and efficient land administration in the State.The agency has since improved land administration and other processes related to land with the use of technology and digital platforms.It has also led to the harmonisation of all departments dealing with land administration to minimise bottlenecks and enhance efficiency.The reforms at KW-GIS has also secured land documents and curtail activities of land grabbers, as efforts are ongoing to digitise and serialise R of O, C of O, and other title documents.KW-GIS collates, gathers, analyse and digitise all geospatial data in the state and store them in a central database that can deliver products such as maps, satellite imageries, survey plans, building permits, among others.#IjobaMekunu#IseNlo
Prince Adewole Adebayo, the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) candidate for president, says his administration will focus on creating powerful institutions that will aid in limiting governmental excesses.
At a Town Hall Meeting titled “Building Nigeria’s Steel, Petrochemical, and Agroallied Industries,” which was hosted by media giant Arise Television, he made this bold declaration as a guest.
He said that this was nothing new because Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, the country’s then-prime minister, included it in the first development plan for the years 1960 to 1965.
As part of the “import substitution program,” which aimed to lessen the importation of those minerals, Prince Adebayo noted that these plans gave rise to the development of the Ajaokuta Steel Plant, Ajala Steel, and other companies.
He added that the First Republic’s accomplishments were a result of public servant discipline, clearly defined objectives, and a powerful Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The legal authority claimed that the CBN was so powerful that the bank’s former governor stopped General Yakubu Gowon, the country’s head of state at the time, from using money to buy ammunition for the Civil War.
The CBN is currently too weak to stand up to the current administration, and a large portion of the proceeds from the sale of crude oil are missing and unreported.
Addressing the solutions, he stated: “We already have the solution, but I need to establish a government that will make things function. To make it work, the CBN will have complete control over the amount of money in circulation, the price of money, and inflation.
In terms of money spent, my government would also be answerable to the people. In order to sort out deteriorating and unfinished projects, we will also establish project management.
We’ll achieve this by developing an economy that will draw capital to finish those projects and provide a stable exchange rate.
Additionally, he pledged to lower unemployment rates, keep inflation at single digits, and build a social system that will thrive on brains.
The Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has expressed concern over a bill at the House of Representatives, seeking abolition of local government councils in Nigeria.
Mr Hakeem Ambali, National President, NULGE, said this when he spoke with newsmen in Kano.
Ambali, represented by Mr Aliyu Haruna, NULGE National Treasurer, said abolishing local councils will worsen the security situation in the country.
“A lawmaker from Rivers has sponsored a bill at the House of Representatives seeking to abolish local government councils in Nigeria.
“In spite of the fact that governors have refused to implement the local government autonomy, what we are witnessing now is an attempt to abolish the local government councils in the country. This is a gang up against the masses.
“This is an attempt to bring the country backward. Therefore, we are calling on the National Assembly to look into the issue, which is an attempt to take away what remain for the people at the grassroots.
“I assured you that if the local government autonomy is implemented by the governors, the issue of insecurity would have been a thing of the past, because some security issues can be handled locally,” he said.
Ambali added that once the local government councils were granted full autonomy, socio-economic activities will spring up at the grassroots level.
He said that NULGE had made contact with the leadership of the National Assembly on the issue, adding that if such did not yield good result, it will embark on strike.
Ambali also expressed concern over sack of about 2,000 workers by the Kaduna State government as well as the slashing of workers’ salary by the Kano State government.
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