Flowerbud News

Author: Ibrahim Abusadiq

  • States move toward financial autonomy for LGs in South West -NAN Survey

    States and local government councils in the South West are putting in place structures to ensure financial autonomy for the third tier of government in line with the directive by the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU).

    A survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) across South West and Kwara state indicated that efforts were being made by the local government councils to open separate accounts from the contentious joint accounts.
    Mr Busola Adeyeni, the Chairman of Ife East Local Government Area (LGA) of Osun, said that the state and local government councils in the state are already working on the process of separating their accounts.
    Adeyeni said the process of separating the accounts also involves officials of the NFIU and some commercial banks.

    He, however, said the process is more complicated than hitherto contemplated and could take time.
    Adeyeni said the local councils are still operating accounts with the State
    Governments pending the conclusion of the process.

    Corroborating, Mr Adebisi Adejare, the Supervisory Head of Local
    Government Councils in the state, said the state would not be left out in granting
    autonomy to the local councils.

    He urged council chairmen to look inward on how they could generate
    more money in order to attain complete financial autonomy.

    Adejare , however,  said autonomy could only be  effective when
    local government councils look inwards on how to get more Internally
    Generated Revenue(IGR) without solely relying on federal allocation.

    ” The effectiveness of financial autonomy will go a long way in
    ensuring that people at the grassroots enjoy the dividends of
    democracy,” Adejare said.

    Similarly, Prof. Olajide Bamisayemi,  the Head of Political Science
    Department,  Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, said granting
    financial autonomy to local government councils would boost socio-economic
    development at the grassroots.

    Bamisayemi said if well maintained, the impact would have positive
    effect on people at the grassroots level.

    He said autonomy would also erase the popular belief that local
    councils were just mere extension of State Governments.

    ” The prevailing situation where local government councils are being hijacked
    by the state governments is not constitutional.

    “So if financial autonomy is not just a mere pronouncement, then
    financial autonomy will give chairmen freedom to execute projects
    that will be of benefit to the people.

    ” I will appeal to the Federal Government to expedite action on financial autonomy for the people to enjoy the dividends of democracy at the grassroots level,” he said.

    Mr Bola Taiwo, the President of the Ondo state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE),  on his part, said that the state had totally complied with the directive on financial autonomy for local government councils.
    Taiwo added that Gov. Rotimí Akeredolu had never tampered with local government funds even before the directive.

    “Before the directive on financial autonomy, we had a governor that did not even tamper with our money.

    “He asked ALGON to cooperate with NULGE so that workers’ salaries and
    welfare would be catered for.

    “Whenever Joint Accounts Allocation Committee (JAAC) receives any
    fund, he would insist that salaries must be paid before anything
    because he believes that labour must earn wages,” the labour leader
    said.

    According to him,  local government councils in the state have different bank
    accounts although the state government still operates a joint account with the local
    government councils”because it is constitutional.”

    “JAAC is a constitutional issue which nobody can tamper with except the law
    is amended,” he said.

    In Kwara, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Local Government, Dr Abibat
    Katibi, said the state government had complied with the NFIU directive on
    local government autonomy.

    She said that that all the local government councils in the state are now
    operating separate accounts.

    “Each local government council in the state has its own separate account since
    the directive was given by federal government; from June 2, they
    have access to their money,” she said.

    She said the state government had been in support of local government council’s
    autonomy while the state House of Assembly had been in the forefront of the campaign.

    Alhaji AbdulYekeen Mahmud,  a veteran local government administrator,
    however, urged the federal government to set up a special fiscal committee to monitor the activities of the 774 local government councils in the country.

    Mahmud, who had served in several local government councils in Kwara
    as Director of Personnel Management, said that financial experts
    and seasoned administrators in the committee should monitor the
    activities of the local councils to achieve the desired result.

    “The problem of financial crime and misappropriation of fund is
    similar in all the 774 local government councils in Nigeria.

    ” The committee should be put in place to monitor the local councils’
    monthly fund in order to ensure effective usage, ” Mahmud said.

    He observed that the financial autonomy granted to local government
    councils in the past failed because of lack sincerity on the part of
    operators of the local councils.

    In Ekiti state where there are Coordinating Directors for local government councils
    instead of elected chairmen, the process of implementing the NFIU
    directive is unclear.

    Many of the Coordinating Directors confirmed that though the new policy is yet to commence in the state, the state government has not been deducting money from their allocation.

    The Coordinating Director of Ikole local government council, Mr
    Olatunbosun Fasanmi, clarified that though the council is still
    operating joint account, separate accounts have been opened for monthly
    allocations.

    Also speaking, the Coordinating Director of Oye local government
    council, Mr Ayodeji Aluko, said that the issue of financial
    autonomy is a constitutional matter that needed proper documentation
    before it could be implemented in the state.

    Similarly, the Coordinating Director of Ido-Osi local government
    council, Mr Akinola Adebayo, said his council was equally enjoying ”
    relative” financial autonomy with management initiating projects
    without recourse to the state government.

    In their separate comments, the Coordinating Directors of Ilejemeje
    and Moba local government councils respectively, Mr Williams Adeola
    and Mrs Toba Ojo, corroborated their colleagues, saying Ekiti
    government had never interfered with councils’ budget.

    The state’s Chairman of NULGE, Mr Bunmi Ajimoko, also said there
    had been no report of mistrust between the state government and the local councils.

    The situation in Oyo is also unclear with the dissolution of the 33
    local governments councils and 35 Local Council Development
    Areas(LCDAs) in the state by the Gov. Seyi Makinde’s administration.

    The chairmen and councillors were elected on May 12, 2018 with their tenure expiring on May 12, 2021 in line with their contitutional three-year term.

    But the governor on his assumption of office announced their dissolution in spite
    of a pending court injunction restraining the state government from the
    dissolution.

    Mr Moshood Erubami, the President of Nigeria Voters Assembly(VOTAS),
    said that a valid election was conducted into the 33 local governments
    and 35 LCDAs in 2018.

    Erubami, who is also the Executive Director, Centre for Human Rights
    and Ethics in Development(CHRED), said the councils are expected to
    have opened separate accounts by now.

    “By now all the heads of local government councils must have been contacted on
    the new accounts since the system commenced in June 2019 and June
    allocation has been paid,” he said

    He added that the new governor in the state had in June dissolved the
    councils, denying them access to the accounts.

    Ayodeji Abass-Aleshinloye, the state’s Chairman, Association of Local
    Governments of Nigeria(ALGON), however, said the local councils
    were still awaiting NFIU directives.

    He insisted that all local government councils in the state still have
    democratically elected chairmen since May 12, 2018.

    “We are still operating as local government chairmen, but awaiting the
    NFIU directive to be fully compliant,” he said.

    But Mr Ramon Olatunde, the Head of Administration in Atiba Local
    Government Area, said that the state government had frozen all
    the local councils accounts although money was released for June
    salary.

    Olatunde also said local government councils had yet to have their own
    separate accounts except the joint accounts with the state government.

    In Ogun, the affairs of the 20 local government councils and the 37
    LCDAs are also currently being directed by Heads of Local Government
    Administration in the state.

    The development followed the suspension of all the local council chairmen in
    June by the state House of Assembly over allegations of financial
    impropriety.

    The state/local government joint accounts were also frozen by Gov.
    Dapo Abiodun pending investigation of the allegations.

    Some of the chairmen, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
    confirmed that the accounts had remained frozen since the suspension.

    The chairmen in separate interviews said the accounts were not closed
    but only suspended.

    The state Chairman of the Inter Party Advisory Council, Mr Abayomi Arabambi,
    however, insisted in an interview that the state government had not complied with the directive of the NFIU.

    Arabambi, who called for more effective monitoring of the affairs of
    the local government councils by NFIU, canvassed for prosecution of state
    governors who undermine the financial autonomy that the federal
    government had facilitated for the councils. (NAN)

  • Google doodle celebrates Buchi Emecheta 75th posthumous birthday

    Google on Sunday celebrated Nigerian novelist Buchi Emecheta with its Doodle on what would have been her 75th birthday.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google’s homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements and notable historical figures.

    “Born to Igbo parents in the Lagos suburb of Yaba on this day in 1944, Florence Onyebuchi (Buchi) Emecheta, moved to the U.K. in 1962, with her husband and first two children.

    “She had another two, and, at the age of 22, pregnant with a fifth, left her husband and set off on her own.

    “She supported her five children by working at a library, pursued her Sociology degree, all while working tirelessly on her novels— usually at the kitchen table as her children played,” it said.

    Her son Sylvester Onwordi recalled that as an immigrant single mother battling poverty in the slums of 1960s London, she would draw her five small children around her, light candles, and delight them with what she called her “Moonlight tales”.

    He said that according to her mother, the stories were what she had learned at twilight by the light of a hurricane lamp from her aunts in the village, or imbibed at her father’s knee during her family’s internal exile in Lagos.

    For the young Nigerian girl who dreamed even then of being a writer, these tales were like umbilical threads connecting the lonely orphan she became with the lost world of mythical ancestors and her beloved home town of Ibusa.

    Over the course of her life, Emecheta published 16 novels, including: “In The Ditch, Second-Class Citizen”, and “Slave Girl”, as well as her 1986 autobiography, “Head Above Water” and wrote several plays for stage, TV and radio.

    Although she resisted labeling herself a “feminist” author, much of Emecheta’s writing addressed issues of gender and race.

    “I work toward the liberation of women. My books are about survival, just like my own life,” she was quoted to have said.

    During the 1970s and ’80s, she worked as a lecturer and founded the Ogwugwu Afor Publishing Company with her son. She was named an Officer of the British Empire in 2005, a remarkable accomplishment for someone who faced such adversity.

    “Just keep trying and trying, if you have the determination and commitment, you will succeed,” Emecheta once said.

    Emecheta suffered a stroke in 2010, and she died in London on Jan. 25, 2017, aged 72. (NAN)

  • American multinational coy. hoists Nigerian flag to honour employee

    An American multinational company, Stericycle Inc., recently hoisted the Nigerian flag in honour of a hardworking new employee, Mrs Omolanke Shelle.

    Thirty eight years old Shelle, an indigene of Ekiti, Western Nigeria, works at the company’s facility in Aurora, Illinois, where the Green-White-Green was raised in April.

    This came barely a month after Stericycle gave the mother of three a full-time job on March 17, following the expiration of her temporary employment that lasted for about five months.

    Her supervisor, Mr John Katchka, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that Shelle was honoured on account of her “attitude, work ethic, ability to learn and team spirit’’.

    “Ms Shelle came to us via a temporary employment agency during our busy season,’’ Katchka said in a written response to NAN’s inquiry.

    “We were impressed by her attitude, work ethic, ability to learn and team spirit. When her (temporary) assignment ended; we offered her full-time employment, which she accepted,’’ it stated.

    A short video of the flag raising ceremony, which has been circulating on social media, caught the attention of Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission.

    On July 9, Dabiri-Erewa retweeted the video posted by a broadcast journalist, AbdulRasheed Abubakar, with the comment: “Big congrats. #Proudly Nigerian’’.

    Abubakar, on his part, wrote: “Nigerians are not criminals. A big congratulations to Lanke Shelle for making Nigeria proud in the Diaspora.’’

    Shelle told NAN on phone that she started working with Stericycle through a temporary employment agency when she moved to the U.S. with her family in 2015.

    “When we came to the U.S., I had to work to assist my husband with the bills; besides I want to return to school, so I need money.

    “As a temporary staff, I was supposed to work for eight and half hours from 7 a.m. to 3.30 p.m., but I begged them for overtime, which they granted.

    “This saw me working for 12 hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.) on week days and six hours most Saturdays, and I was being paid about 11 dollars per hour,’’ she said.

    Checks by NAN revealed that Illinois and federal labour regulations do not limit the number of hours employees are permitted to work in a day or week.

    But the state requires employers to give workers no fewer than 24 hours off in each calendar week.

    Shelle, who said she was the only African working at the Aurora centre, added that the Nigerian flag was still hoisting as at the time of filing this report on Saturday morning.

    Katchka explained that flag raising was a tradition introduced by the company since 2008 to honour the `birthplace and heritage’ of worthy new team members.

    Stericycle is an environmental and regulated waste management company, with specialty in the collection and disposal of medical, pharmaceutical and hazardous wastes.

    It also provides services for recalled and expired goods, in addition to provision of related education, training and patient communication services.

    Founded in 1989 and with its headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois, Stericycle, has many operational bases around the world, including toxic waste incinerators in Utah and North Carolina, U.S. (NAN)

  • Screening: Yobe Police command gives applicants second chance

    The Yobe State Police Command said it would conduct a mop-up screening exercise for applicants who missed its recruitment exercise with genuine reason.

    The command disclosed this in a press release signed by Abdulmalik Abdulhafeez, the Police Public Relations Officer in Damaturu.

    “The Yobe State Police Command wishes to inform the general public and the successful shortlisted applicants for the 2019 recruitment who missed the exercise with genuine reason with proof, that July 22 is set for the mop-up screening exercise.’’ Abdulhafeez said.

    The statement noted that the exercise would hold by 08:00 a.m. at the State Centre for Art and Culture Damaturu.
    The command warned that anybody that had nothing to do with the exercise should not come within the vicinity of the screening.(NAN)

  • CBN tasks banks, other financial institutions on customers relationship

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), has advised banks and other financial institutions in the country to be transparent in their dealings in order to build customers’ confidence.

    Mr Kofo Salam-Alada, the Director, Consumer Protection Department of CBN gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Salam-Alada said Nigerian banks  and other financial institutions rendering financial services must be transparent and ensure fair treatment to customers.

    “For banks to keep their customers and ensure they remain in business, there is the need to build confidence of customers and ensure that they are happy with the services provided by the banks.

    “What we are doing here is to help the business of the banks and our expectation is that at certain stage, the regulators will have less to do in terms of market conduct.

    “A satisfied customer goes out to advertise the bank because to me, good  treatment of customers should be the best advertisement for banking business, capital market, and Insurance among others.

    “If thousands or million of bank’s customers decide to withdraw their money from a particular bank, it will affect the health of such bank,” he said.

    The director said that due to what happened in the past in the sector, had made  the apex bank to put measures in place to ensure that consumers of financial services were protected.

    He said that investigations CBN had shown that the neglect of customers had contributed to the global financial crisis experienced worldwide in 2007 and 2008.

    Salam-Alada assured all customers of financial institutions in the country that CBN would ensure that all their investments were protected.

    He also advised the banks to stick to the rules and operate within the confines of set out financial regulations.

    According to him, CBN will not leave any stone unturned to grow their businesses and will continue to put necessary regulations in place for them to thrive. (NAN)

  • Expert advises MPC to reduce MPR by 50 basis points as inflation declines

    A Financial Expert, Prof. Uche Uwaleke has advised the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points.

    Uwaleke gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday ahead of the MPC meeting scheduled to hold on Tuesday, July 23 in Abuja.

    He said it was also pertinent for the committee to maintain 30 per cent Liquidity Ratio and 22.5 Cash Reserve Ratio.

    According to him, the call for adjustment of MPR is due to declining inflation rate from 11.35 per cent in May to 11.20 per cent in June as well as the growing external reserves and stability in exchange rate.

    Uwaleke said the reduction was also necessary because of persistent bearish performance of the stock market due to high interest rates.

    The expert said a gradual reduction in the MPR which was the benchmark interest rate was consistent with the CBN Governor’s pro-growth five-year blueprint which he unveiled recently.

    Uwaleke, also a professor of Capital Market at the Nasarawa State University Keffi, emphasised that further adjustment was also in line with global trend as the United States and many other economies were pursuing an expansionary monetary policy.

    “Reducing the MPR from 13.5 per cent to 13 per cent will still leave real interest rate in the economy positive and it will also most likely result in increased lending to the real sector.

    “This is the expectation, especially now that the CBN is encouraging this including through specifying for banks a minimum of 60 per cent of deposits which must be channelled to the real sector,” he said.

    Uwaleke noted that relaxing the MPR would also increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth which was presently put at 2.01 per cent as at first quarter of 2019.

    He said that besides, the risk to inflation arising from the new national minimum wage might not crystallise while threat to food production due to farmers and herders conflict was no more as rife as it was previously. (NAN)

  • Osinbajo, Okowa nominated for Niger Delta Leadership awards

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta are to be given Niger Delta Leadership Awards 2018 by Gbaramatu Voice Newspaper, a multi-media organisation.

    The award ceremony will hold at Transcorp Hotel in Abuja on Aug. 8.

    Mr Jacob Abai, the Publisher of the newspaper, said in Lagos on Sunday that the awards were to reward excellence in governance.

    “GbaramatuVoice wishes to announce the name of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, as winner of Niger Delta Peace Laureate of the year award for going out of his way in sustaining peace in Niger Delta through his lectures, townhall meetings, consultations and discourses.

    “His Excellency, Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, is Niger Delta Best Governor of the year on Grassroots and Rural Community Development,” he said.

    Others to be awarded are the environmental rights activist and the Special Adviser to Former President Goodluck Jonathan on Niger Delta Affairs and the Chairman of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Hon. Kingsley Kuku, who is to receive Lifetime Achivement Award.

    The Chairman of Niger Delta Bishops’ Forum, Archbishop Goddowell Avwomakpa, and Comrade Joseph Evah, the Coordinator of Ijaw Monitoring Group, are also to receive Lifetime Achivement Award.

    “Mr Matthew Tonlagha will receive the Niger Delta Philantropist of the year award.

    “Comrade Sammy George, Chairman, Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Rivers State will receive Niger Delta Most Active Youth Leader Award of the year for Peace, while Environmental Justice (CEPEJ), a Niger Delta based NGO, will receive Niger Delta Most Outstanding NGO of the Year award.

    “Ijaw Women of America Inc, based in the U.S., will receive the Niger Delta International Most Outstanding Women Organisation Award for building solar power borehole in five Niger Delta communities.

    “Comrade Daniel Ezekiel, a Niger Delta Human rights activist, will receive the Niger Delta Humanitarian Service of the year award for advocating for the rights of the common man.

    “Comrade Esimaje Awani, a fomer President of Itsekiri National Youth Council, will receive Niger Delta Most Outstanding Youth Leader award, while Chief Barriater Smooth, Niger Delta Music Icon award.”

    He said Chief Timipre Sylva, a former Governor of Bayelsa, would be the chairman of the occasion, while Deacon KIngsley Otuaro, the Deputy Governor of Delta would be the Chief Host.

    “Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, the Chairman of Aboki Publsihers and Investment Limited will be the keynote speaker, while Prof. Tosam Harriman, Director, Centre for the Development of Social Research in Nigeria, Kano, will be the speaker.

    “Royal Fathers of the Day are His Majesties, Oboro-Gbaraun II, Aketekpe, Agadagba, Pere of Gbaramati Kingdom, His Majesty, Elder (Capt.) Joseph Timiyan, Ebenanawei of Ogulagha kingdom and others.”

    Abai said that the awards were created in 2015 to recognize individuals and collective contributions to the Niger Delta, “especially those undervalued and unrecognized people who are making a difference in various areas”.

    “All across the Niger Delta, the nominees have demonstrated exceptional works through their philanthropism, environmental awareness, love for the Niger Delta, community service, rule of law and sundry issues,” he said.

    He said that the nominees were named after a thorough scrutiny by independent evaluators.

    “Categories of awards for which nominees have been shortlisted include Niger Delta Governor, philanthropist, woman, musician, Showbiz impresario, business personality, cooporate organisation, legislator and sports personality of the year.” NAN)

  • TCN suspends Kano DisCo from electricity market

    The management of Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), says it has issued suspension and disconnection orders to Kano Electricity Distribution Company (KEDCO) from the electricity market.

    The suspension order  was posted on  TCN’s twitter handle @TCN_Nigeria on Sunday.

    According to the twitter handle,  the suspension order was as result of KEDCO’s default in the Market Conditions/Market Participation Agreements. (NAN)

  • NNPC records N6.33b trade surplus in May -Report

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said it recorded a trade surplus of N6.33 billon for the month of May, 13 per cent higher than the N5.60 billion surplus made  in April .

    The corporation disclosed this in its Monthly and Operations report (MFOR) released on Sunday in Abuja

    It attributed the rise to the increase in gas and power output and surplus recorded by the corporation’s downstream entities like NNPC Retail, Petroleum Products Marketing Company(PPMC) , Nigerian Pipelines Security Company(NPSC) and Duke Oil.

    The report further indicated that within the period, the NNPC recorded a total of 580.32 million dollars in export sale of crude oil and gas which is 23.39 per cent higher than the previous month’s figure.

    ” Out of this number, crude oil export sales contributed 458.59 million dollars which translates to 79.02 per cent of the entire dollar transactions compared with 342.11 million dollars contributed in the month of May,” it said

    It also showed that between May 2018 and May 2019, crude oil and gas worth 5.97 billion dollars was exported.

    On the downstream, the report noted that for the corporation to ensure uninterrupted supply and effective distribution of petrol across the country, a total of 2.06 billion litres of petrol translating to 66.49mn liters/day were supplied for the month of May.

    It noted that beyond supply, the corporation continued to monitor the daily stock of petrol to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation.

    “Within the period, a total of 60 pipeline points were vandalized which represents 52 per cent decrease from the 125 points vandalized in April.

    “The Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Ibadan-Ilorin pipelines accounted for 38 per cent and 23 per cent respectively and other locations accounted for the remaining 39 percent of the total breaks,” the report said.

    The report attributed the improvement to the spirited efforts by NNPC in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders to continuously strive to reduce and eventually eliminate this menace.

    The May 2019 NNPC MFOR is the 46th in the series, designed to provide greater transparency and remove the perception of opacity associated with the operations of the national oil company.

    It will be recalled that the new NNPC Group of managing Director Malam Mele Kyari and his team had pledged to enhance the current approach to encourage increased citizenship participation and greater accountability to the public.(NAN)