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Osinbajo says civil servant deserves their own homes

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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo
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Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says every civil servant deserves to own a home as part of necessity to justify working and for better performance.

Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement on Friday, said the vice president spoke after receiving a briefing on the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan 2021-2025 at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The presentation was made by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folashade Yemi-Esan.

The meeting is a presidential level briefing of the reform process of the Federal Civil Service which has been on since 2017.

The reform is being led by Steering and Implementation Committees with membership drawn from the public and private sectors with the engagement of development partners.

According to Osinbajo, there is need to do something bold and big that will make a difference.

“It is evident that perhaps, for the first time in a long time, some very serious attention is being paid to all of the various issues in our civil service.

“I think that we should really do something that is bold, big and that will really make the difference in order to address some of the issues especially that of accommodation for civil servants.

“We can do much more with mass housing; we have a target now of 300,000 houses under our Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) social housing scheme.

“CBN has allocated N200 billion, but we have seen that we can provide mass housing, and we can make civil servants beneficiaries of the scheme.”

He said though the housing scheme was very modest, it was the kind of thing that could at least be done to begin to take into account, the fact that everybody who worked for the civil service deserves to live in their own home.

Osinbajo said that there must be a strategy for giving everybody a place to live in.

“It is a vital part of what we are trying to do; we must address it.

“A civil servant ought to be able to own a home, and justify to his family the reason why he went for the job,” he said.

Citing his experience while serving as Attorney General in Lagos State, Osinbajo said reforming the Lagos State Judiciary was done like fixing the welfare of federal civil servants. This was key to addressing challenges associated with productivity and corruption.

Yemi-Esan also presented a report on the implementation status of the Federal Civil Service Strategy Plan 2017-2021.

She identified staff welfare, particularly remuneration and housing, as areas that require better focus and urgent intervention by the Federal Government.

The head of service appealed for improved support, particularly in funding the implementation of successive strategy and implementation plans to overhaul the service for better productivity.

Yemi-Esan said the current reform in the Federal Civil Service had enabled government to save huge sums through the verification of personnel payroll and digitization of some operations, among others.

She said that her office would continue to lead the reform process as the 2021-2025 plan went forward to the Federal Executive Council for approval.

The meeting featured comments and observations on the proposed plan tabled on behalf of the Steering Committee, chaired by the Head of Service.

In attendance at the meeting were the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, Ministers of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, and Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed.

Others were Ministers of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem-Agba, and Works and Housing, Engr. Abubakar Aliyu.

The Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu, development partners, World Bank officials and the President of the Africa Initiative for Governance, Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede also attended the meeting. (NAN)

 

 

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Business & Economy

CBN Stops Free Withdrawals For Customers Using Other Banks’ ATMs

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CBN Headquarters Abuja
CBN Headquarters Abuja
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says charges will now apply anytime customers use the Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) of banks other than theirs.

This was contained in a circular dated February 10, 2025, and addressed to all banks and financial institutions, the apex bank’s acting Director of Financial Policy and Regulation Department, John Onojah.

“The three free monthly withdrawals allowed for remote-on-us (other bank’s customers/not-on-us consumers) in Nigeria under Section 10.6.2 of the Guide shall no longer apply,” the circular partly read.

The CBN directed banks and other financial institutions to apply the following charges with effect from March 1, 2025.

The apex bank said while customers withdrawing at the ATMs of their banks and financial institutions won’t be charged, customers withdrawing from the ATM of other banks would now be charged ₦100 per every ₦20,000.

The CBN said for off-site ATMs — automated teller machines not on a bank’s premises – like those at shopping malls, eateries and other public places — a surcharge of not more than ₦500 per every ₦20,000 will apply in addition to the statutory ₦100 fee for withdrawals by customers of other banks’ ATMs.

The apex bank attributed the reviewed charges to rising costs and the need to improve the efficiency of ATM services in the country.

“This review is expected to accelerate the deployment of ATMs and ensure that appropriate charges are applied by financial institutions to consumers of the service,” the circular stated.

 

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Senate Passes MTEF/ FSP, To Probe N8.4tn Withheld Subsidy Funds By NNPCL

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Nigerian Senate
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The Senate has passed the 2024 – 2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) for implementation by the Federal Government.

The passage followed the presentation of a report by the chairman of the Joint Committees on Finance and National Planning & Economic Affairs presented by Sen. Musa, Mohammed Sani (Niger East).

The senate also tasked its Committees on Finance and Petroleum as well as Gas to investigate allegations of withheld funds by the NNPC, including NGN 8.48 trillion in petrol subsidies, and $2 billion (NGN 3.6 trillion) in unpaid taxes.

The allegation was highlighted by reports from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Responsibility Commission.

The development comes following the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation, saying it had received the necessary and complete documents required to verify the N2.7 trillion fuel subsidy claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited against the government.

The Senate approved the exchange rate projection of 1,400 USD for 2025-2027 with a provision for review in early 2025, based on prevailing monetary and fiscal policies.

They also resolved that any excess on the official figure would be used for debt servicing.

During the debate on the report submitted by the Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Sani Musa (APC, Nigeria East ), the Lawmakers also demanded a reduction in the petrol prices against the backdrop of the commencement of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Adeola Olamilekan referenced the Federal Government’s Compressed Natural Gas initiative as the underlying imperative for the adoption of the N1400 to one dollar.

According to him: “With the functioning of our refineries the demand for Forex will drop. With the CNG initiative, Nigerians will have an option for your information if you leave Benin to Lagos the amount of fuel is about 130 thousand but with CNG you can’t use more than 48 thousand Naira. Another issue to be addressed is the recurrent to-capital ratio which is very high.

The need to support the manufacturing industries was also raised by Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, of the Peoples Democratic Party, Kebbi North if the projections of the MTEF are to be achieved.

In their resolutions, the Senate also adopted inflation rate projections of 15.75, 14.21 and 10.04 per cent for 2025, 2026 and 2017 respectively.

According to the recommendations, “The 2025 Federal Government of Nigeria budget proposed spending of N47.9trilion of which N34.82 trillion is retained. New borrowings stood at N9.22tn, made up of both domestic and foreign borrowings.

Capital expenditure is projected at 16.48 trillion naira with statutory transfers standing at 4.26 trillion naira and sinking funds projected at N430.27billion.

 

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Tinubu Writes NASS, Seeks Approval For N1.77tn Fresh External Borrowing

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President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu
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President Bola Tinubu has written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 appropriation act.

If approved, the loan will be used to part-finance the deficit of N9.7tn for the 2024 budget.

The president’s request was read by the speaker during plenary on Tuesday.

The president has also forwarded the MTEF/ FSP 2025- 2027 to parliament and the National Social Investment Programme establishment amendment bill, to make the social register the primary tool for the implementation of the federal government’s social welfare programmes.

This is as the Central Bank of Nigeria recently said the Federal Government spent $3.58 billion servicing the country’s foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.

Data sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.

According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.

The trend in international debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.

Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.

March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.

The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.

July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.

Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.

The total debts of the 36 states in Nigeria rose to N11.47tn as of June 30, 2024, despite allocations by the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), and their respective internally generated revenues (IGR).

An analysis of data from the public debt reports released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) said the rise was 14.57 per cent higher than the N10.01tn recorded in December 2023.

External debt for the states and the Federal Capital Territory also climbed from $4.61bn to $4.89bn within the period under review.

In naira terms, the debts increased by 73.46 per cent, from N4.15tn to N7.2tn, following the devaluation of the naira from N899.39/$1 in December 2023 to N1,470.19/$1 by June 2024.

 

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