FG plans N8tn budget for 2016, proposes 40% for capital projects

The Federal Government is currently working on the 2016 budget that will be between N7tn and N8tn. The figures are higher than the 2015 budget of N4.4tn.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed in a paper entitled: ‘The economy – Where we are today’, which he delivered at a presidential retreat organised by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation for ministers-designate on Thursday.

The retreat, which ends today (Friday), is holding behind closed-doors inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, and has ‘Delivering change: From precepts to practice’ as its theme.
According to a copy of the paper, Osinbajo told his audience that the government was working towards pegging capital expenditure in the 2016 budget at N2tn.

This, he said, was against the N1.31tn allocated to capital expenditure in this year’s budget.

He further said that while the percentage of capital expenditure to recurrent expenditure in the 2015 budget was 19.4, the government would propose 40 per cent for next year’s budget.

Osinbajo said, “The budget process will be zero based, a method of budgeting by which all expenses must be justified for each new budget year.

“For the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, the actual 2015 budget is N4.4tn, while the proposed 2016 budget will be N7tn to N8tn.

“Capital expenditure for the 2015 budget is N1.31tn, while the proposed capital expenditure for 2016 is N2tn.”

The vice president also disclosed that 655 Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government had so far registered for the Treasury Single Account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.
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He put the number of TSA sub-accounts so far created by the CBN at 755.

Osinbajo further said that 518 MDAs had been verified and now had access to the central bank’s accounts.

Despite the September 15 deadline given to all the MDAs to key into the TSA system, the vice president said 137 MDAs had yet to comply with the directive.

He added that a total of N1.4tn had so far been paid into the TSA to date.

A TSA is a unified structure of government bank accounts enabling consolidation and optimal utilisation of cash resources.
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It is a bank account or a set of linked bank accounts through which the government transacts all its receipts and payments, and gets a consolidated view of its cash position at any given time.

While giving an overview of the current state of the nation’s economy, Osinbajo noted that Nigeria experienced its worst economic decline in decades in May 2015.

“In May 2015, Nigeria experienced its worst economic decline in decades with sharp decline in oil prices from an average of $105 between 2011 and 2014, to $45 in 2015; foreign reserves at 10-year low of $29.595bn; oil production has declined to 2.05 million barrels per day; and power supply down to less than 3,000MW,” he said.

The vice president noted that the insurgency being witnessed in the North-East also led to a decline in agriculture production and an extensive damage to infrastructure.

He also noted that extensive corruption and mismanagement of resources were noticed in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s parallel budgets and what he called the legacy defence expenditure in the North-East.

Osinbajo put the budget deficit in 2015 at N1.05tn against the N960bn recorded in 2014, adding that foreign reserves had reduced from $38.4bn in 2014 to $30.2bn this year.

The vice president also put the nation’s Absolute Poverty Index at 62.6 per cent, while unemployment was at 8.2 per cent.

While putting the population of the poor at 110 million, Osinbajo said most Nigerians had remained poor despite rising revenues and Gross Domestic Product growth because the nation’s main revenue earners, the extractive oil and gas, did not by themselves create many jobs.

He also attributed the situation to the irony of a top-down economic model where the major revenue earner was extractive and the value chain was poorly developed.

Stock Exchange Bounces Back With 0.50% Gain

 After five straight sessions of losses, the All Share Index bounced back with a 0.50% gain today compared to a 0.01% loss recorded yesterday. The All Share Index appreciated by 145 basis points to end the day at 29,175.35 basis points. Market Capitalization for the market at the close of trading today was N10.02 Trillion.

The total of number of deals recorded on the floor of the local bourse were 2,711 compared to 3,074 recorded yesterday ; the total volume of shares traded on the floor were 997,782,020, while the total value of transactions recorded today were N6.1 Billion.

BETAGLASS led the gainers chart today gaining N2.31 to close at N48.51, followed by UACN and NB which added N1.32 and N0.96 to close at N27.73 and N136.03 respectively; CADBURY and STANBIC added N0.95 and N0.61 to close at N20.10 and N20.86 respectively.

The Losers chart was led by WAPCO who lost N1 to close with a share price of N94 followed by CAVERTON and ETRANZACT who lost N0.14 and N0.14 to close with share prices of N2.7 and N2.76 respectively; FIDSON and ETERNA lost N0.12 and N0.08 to close with share prices of N2.81 and N1.61 respectively.

The top five most actively traded shares by volume on the exchange today were ACCESS with shares valued at N3.4 Billion, ZENITHBANK with shares valued at N1.2 Billion, FBNH with shares valued at N159 Million, UBA with shares valued at N107 Million and TRANSCORP with shares valued at N36 Million.

Market breadth closed positive as BETAGLASS led 24 Gainers against 15 Losers led by WAPCO.

Year-To-Date currently stands at -15.82%.

    
   

CBN asks youths to embrace saving culture

The Central Bank of Nigeria has urged pupils to embrace saving culture as well as engage in buying shares early in life.

This, the bank said, would help to prepare them for future economic challenges.

The CBN Ekiti State branch Controller, Samuel Ogungbayi, gave the advice during a mentoring programme held at Christ’s School, Ado Ekiti, to mark the 2015 World Savings Day.

Ogungbayi, represented by the Head of Currency Department, Mr. Ayo Ajayi, said the event was organised to inculcate the habit of saving in children.

Also, the Director, CBN Consumer Protection Department, Mr. Umma Dutse, represented by Mrs. Bolaji Lartey, urged the pupils to save and plan for their future.

Ekiti shuts down abattoir, butchers protest cow tax

Butchers in Ekiti State on Friday trooped out in their hundreds to protest the imposition of new tax and closure of all abattoirs by Governor Ayo Fayose’s administration.

Government had imposed a tax of N1, 000 on each cow slaughtered in the state, but the butchers refused to pay the new tax which they described as “exorbitant and outrageous.”

Apart from the new tax, which is up from the previous N300 per cow, the butchers also claimed that they are paying veterinary tax, inspection rate and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) levy.

The angry butchers said the new tax, which according to them, would see each butcher paying at least N26,000 in a month could kill their businesses

Ekiti State government has shut down all abattoirs following the refusal of butchers to pay the new tax.

Tension had mounted since Thursday following a radio announcement by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Kehinde Odebunmi, that all abattoirs would be shut down following the resistance of the butchers to pay the new tax and any butcher caught operating illegal abattoirs is liable to a fine of N20,000.

Led by the Chairman of Butchers Association in Ado Ekiti Local Government, Alhaji Mustapha Kareem, the protesters who held leaves and chanted war songs, stormed the abattoir as early as 6:30am on Friday, but they met a detachment of armed policemen who prevented them from occupying the place.

DPR Seals Six Petrol Stations In Kwara

As part of effort to ensure the availability of petrol, guard against hoarding and artificial scarcity, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) in Kwara State has sealed off six petroleum filling stations.

The DPR’s new Operation Controller in the state, Phillips Salvation, alongside other officials, monitored petrol stations in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to ensure that they comply with rules guiding the purchase and selling of the products.

The monitoring process included checking of metres, the quantity of fuel in the tanks and the quality of the fuel being sold, among others.

Those found wanting were fined with two million naira each and their stations were sealed.

The monitoring team had to move in company of security operatives due to an ugly incident that occurred a day earlier, where some officials of DPR were attacked by hoodlums.

However, the manager of the station, while explaining the situation, absolved his staff of any attempt to attack the staff of DPR, but blamed it on petroleum buyers who thought they were about stopping the sale of petrol, having waited for hours.

The Controller, however, gave the assurance that the monitoring would be a continuous exercise and warned filling stations to abide by the rules and regulations.

CBN Restates Stance On BVN For Forex Transactions

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated that the provision of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) to Bureau De Change operators for forex transactions, is targeted at promoting transparency within the market and does not attract any security risk.

In a statement released by the regulator, it explained that this became necessary owing to the fact that some customers are reluctant in disclosing their BVN to authorised dealers and buyers because of claims that there are risks to the disclosure.

The CBN assured customers that this move is expected to reduce the incidence of multiple purchases, round tripping and illicit transfer of funds and sanitize the retail segment of the market.

The apex bank added that the BVN is neither a payment instrument nor an account number, and therefore cannot be used to access any account by unauthorized users.

41 Ships to arrive Lagos ports with foods, petroleum products

41 Ships to arrive Lagos ports with foods, petroleum products, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said on Thursday in Lagos.

The NPA made the disclosure in its daily publication “Shipping Position’’, a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

The document indicated that 16 of the expected ships would arrive at the ports with containers, while 11 others were expected with general cargoes.

It said that 11 other ships would sail in with frozen fish, bulk sugar, buckwheat and rice in bags.

According to the document, the remaining three ships are expected to bring in bulk gas and kerosene.

14 ships laden with petroleum products and general cargoes have arrived at the Lagos ports and are waiting to berth.

FG pledges prompt payment of workers salaries

The Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Ahmed Idris, says government is taking proactive steps to make sure that salaries are not delayed again.

Idris said this in an interview with newsmen after the commissioning of a creche donated to the office of the AGF by ECOBANK on Thursday in Abuja.

He expressed regret that most Federal Government workers as of Thursday were yet to receive their salaries for October.


He said the delay was caused by technical fault in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information Solution (IPPIS) system.
Idris said, “We are being proactive and we will do whatever it takes to maintain the technology and make sure that this kind of thing does not happen again.

“It is not in our interest that this kind of thing is happening and we bear the responsibility. We are doing all it takes to make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

“We have established a backup for GIFMIS (Government Integrated Financial Management Information System) and this will ensure that we are prepared the next time we experience system failure.”
Idris said that whatever technical fault experienced, it had already been resolved and salaries were now being paid.

“It is not anything that has to do with lack of money. We have resources; we have money but the technology to deploy.
“We now do e-payment so any slight glitch in the technology will impact on payment. And that is what has happened.
“But this has been resolved and alerts have been coming. People have started receiving their salaries,” he said.
The IPPIS facilitates automation and storage of personnel records to support monitoring of staff emolument payments against budget.

It also ensures prompt payment of salaries directly to employees’ accounts with appropriate deductions and remittances of third party payments such as tax, pension, cooperatives, union dues and bank Loans.

Tax evasion: LASG shuts six firms

The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service on Thursday sealed additional six companies for failure to remit N34.98 million personal income taxes of their workers to the state government.

Assistant Head, Distrain Unit of LIRS, Mr. Olasheni Ajadi, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria after an enforcement exercise.

Ajadi, who led the enforcement team, said the affected companies’ tax liabilities were for period between 12 months to seven years.

She said two of the companies instantly raised cheques to LIRS in respect to their unpaid tax liabilities.

According to him, the two companies that raised the cheques were LadyStar International Nigeria Ltd. and Future View Financial Services Ltd.

“The other four companies, which are GMO, Siktobs Nigeria Ltd., Bibson Engineering and Pricerite Products Ltd, will come to LIRS office at Alausa Secretariat to ratify and pay-off their debts,” he said.

Amadi, however, identified relocation of companies as a challenge facing the team in the discharge of its duties.

He said many companies were either out of business or had relocated to other places.

Ajadi said three out of the 11 companies that were targeted by the enforcement team to distrain had relocated to unknown locations.

“The state is losing huge sums of money because the payable tax amount of the companies that have relocated and those that have moved out of business will not be accounted for,” he said.

SEC, DMO to strengthen collaboration on Development of Bond Market

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Debt Management office Nigeria (DMO) have assured investors of greater collaboration to ensure that funds raised by State Governments from the Capital Market are properly utilized.

Director General of SEC, Mounir Gwarzo gave this assurance when the Director General of DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo visited him in his office in Abuja on Wednesday.

Gwarzo said the utilization of funds raised from the market is very important hence the Commission has taken monitoring of the utilization of issue proceeds to the highest level, while restating the commitment of the Commission in implementing the 10 Year Master Plan one of whose key objectives is to revive and transform the Bond Market.

He renewed the commitment of both agencies in ensuring that they deliver maximally to the development of the economy using their limited platforms through closer co-operations among each other to achieve set objectives.

Pay Your $5.2bn Fine, South African VP, Cyril Ramaphosa Tells MTN Nigeria

In line with the $5.2 billion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Cyril Ramaphosa, vice president of the South Africa has asked the company to respect the sanctions imposed on the company.

Speaking to lawmakers in the Cape Town, Ramaphosa said the sanctions would affect South Africa’s revenue generation, but MTN should follow the operating rules. “We will obviously be taking note of what is happening with a view of seeing how the company involved responds and reacts in this matter,” he said.

“We would like our companies to comply with the laws and regulations of countries where they operate, without violating those. “It does seem like in the case of Nigeria, there were issues, and those issues need to be addressed. If this fine is indeed imposed as it is, it is going to impact on South Africa as well, as our revenue fortunes from a taxation point of view are going to be lower.”

Ramaphosa, who happens to be a former chairman of MTN Group, is reported to be leaving the giant telecommunication company to face the NCC music. Coincidentally, Yemi Osinbajo, Nigeria’s vice president, is also a shareholder in MTN Nigeria, and has distanced himself from diplomatic interventions, saying he has not been in talks with the telco.

MTN group has seen a slump of 14 percent in its shares, since the NCC imposed the strict sanction on the company for failing to disconnect 5.1 million subscribers who had not been duly registered.

According to Bloomberg, South African authorities may be reluctant to confront their Nigerian counterparts following a series of diplomatic spats that have soured relations between Africa’s two biggest economies. Nic Borain, a political analyst who advises BNP Paribas Cadiz Securities, told Bloomberg that “Ramaphosa’s words about the issue seem weak as they veer too much on the side of caution”.

DPR Faults Depot Owners For Fuel Scarcity Across Nigeria

Major oil marketers are blaming the current fuel scarcity on depot owners who now sell to the marketers at N91.00 instead of the control price of N76.50 kobo to enable them sell to motorist at N87.00.

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Controller for Nasarawa\Benue States, Mr Benjamin Ewuga told newsmen that investigations and information gathered from the marketers so far, implicates some depot owners.

According to the DPR report, Mr Ewuga said, it is gathering proof against depot owners identified to be selling the product for as high as N97.00 per litre to marketers for further sanctions.

Most fuel stations in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, including the NNPC Mega station have been shut to motorist, some of whom went out as early as 5.00AM to queue with the hope of buying the product.

While most of the fuel stations are closed to motorists, the only station dispensing fuel at N87.00 in Makurdi, experiences long queues.

Medview Airline plane makes air return to MMAII

A Medview Airline aircraft en route to Abuja on Thursday morning made an air return some minutes after take-off from the Murtala Muhammed Airport II, Lagos.

A source told the News Agency of Nigeria that the aircraft developed a pressurisation problem which affected the cooling system while flying at about 8,000 feet.

The source said there was no panic as the pilot properly briefed the passengers and landed safely.

According to the source, another aircraft was made available immediately and the passengers were flown to Abuja.

Acting General Manager, Public Relations, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, confirmed the incident and told NAN that the air return was a precautionary measure to prevent any untoward occurrence.

Adurogboye said the pilot acted according to Standard and Recommended Practices, adding that such incidences should not be sensationalised.

“The pilot must have observed something which necessitated the return. That is the normal precautionary action he is expected to take.

“Once such incidence occurs, it is mandatory for the airline to make a report to the NCAA,” he added.

Adurogboye also restated NCAA’s commitment to the safety and security of Nigeria’s aviation sector.

Buhari approves N413b subsidy payment to oil marketers

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the payment of N413 billion ($2.1 billion) to oil marketers as outstanding payment for fuel subsidy claims.

The government had not announced a payment to oil marketers since July. NNPC said it hoped the payment meant marketers would help to ensure the country “remains wet with petroleum products all year round”.

Nigeria imports the bulk of the 40 million litres a day of petrol and fuels that it consumes owing to a neglected refining system and operates a costly subsidy system to reimburse oil product importers.

An acute fuel shortage crippled Africa’s most populace nation in April and May as fuel importers shut their depots to press their case for the payment of subsidy-related debts they said were owed by the then government.

That administration was run by Goodluck Jonathan, the predecessor of President Muhammadu Buhari who took office in late May.

Buhari, who has said he will keep the petroleum portfolio for himself in his cabinet, has been expected to review closely the subsidy scheme, which was revealed to have paid out over $6 billion in fraudulent claims in 2012.