On today’s N2P, we follow the COVID-19 money trail, plug leaks in Oil & Gas, and justify a $1.2 Billion loan. Elsewhere, students ponder their plight, with no end in sight for the ASUU strike.
$1.2 Billion Loan
In a never-ending series of “justified borrowings”, Nigeria seeks a $1.2 Billion loan from the Brazilian government. The funds according to Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, will aid in broadening the country’s agricultural spectrum as a revenue source; adding that it would further give farmers better opportunities to grow. Ahmed also spoke on the Police reform, noting the merits of a prompt review. In that way, the government could add the revised salary structure into the 2021 budget. If it isn’t completed on time, there might be an amendment or a supplementary budget.
₦500 billion
Back at it again with the COVID-19 funds, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls for in depth independent investigation on its expenditure. This comes after people discovered COVID-19 palliatives in warehouses across the country. In a statement released on Sunday, the PDP’s spokesperson urged the Humanitarian Minister, Sadiya Farouq, and some other government officials to not mislead the public. Kola Olobondiyan also added that the government could not con Nigerians into thinking the palliatives emanated from “₦500 billion voted by the government.” The palliatives, he continued, were donations from organisations and well-meaning individuals. To that end, PDP is calling for a transparent accounting of the COVID-19 funds and Ms Farouq’s ₦20,000 fund disbursement.
₦1.3 trillion Leakage
The solid mineral sector is costing Nigeria losses in the sum of ₦1.3 trillion. Not if Mr Elias Mba, the chairperson of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has anything to say about it. During the 2020 budget performance/2021 budget defence, Mr Mba revealed how his agency already recovered ₦75 billion from remittances. As such, proper monitoring of the sector is the way forward, he disclosed. The RMAFC chair further spoke of an ongoing collaboration with the Federal Inland Revenue Service to reconcile and recover tax liabilities (2009 to 2019) from government bodies. And so far, the coalition has noted liabilities worth ₦79 billion. Mba also called for quick deliberation of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to reduce the challenges in the petroleum industry. This would go a long way to restructure the key stakeholders in the Oil & Gas industry.
7 Months Strike
Seven months and still counting, Nigerian University students are left pondering their plight, wondering if there’s an end in sight. To what? To the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike. Giving his two cents, Lagos zonal coordinator, Olusiji Sowande, weighed in on the crises. He first noted how the government withheld salaries of the union’s members as a strategy to overpower them. In clearer terms, the government owes all federal universities ASUU members four months of unpaid salary (July 2020 to October 2020). The situation is also similar, if not worse, for some members in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture (MOUAU) and University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), where the government hasn’t paid salaries for five months (February 2020 to June 2020). Sowande further stated that the government has been insincere in their efforts. And instead of resolving the issue, they resorted to intimidation, blackmail and false promises.