FG, STATES, LGs SHARE N2TN IN THREE MONTHS

Increase in crude oil price as well as domestic oil production raised the nation’s revenues from oil, which made the three tiers of government to share N2tn in the second quarter of this year, the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative has said.

The Director, Communications and Advocacy, NEITI, Dr Ogbonnaya Orji, said in a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday that the disclosure was contained in agency’s Quarterly Review.

According to the statement, the federal, state and local governments shared N3.95tn from the Federation Account in the first six months of the year.

Featuring data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics, the statement also showed that within the first half of the year, Osun State received N10.24bn from the Federation Account, while its account was debited with N14.52bn.

This means that the total deductions from the state’s account was N4.28bn more than it received from the Federation Account. States accounts are debited due to local and foreign debts they have contracted.

In contrast, Delta State received the highest amount of N101.19bn in the first half of the year. Total deductions for the state amounted to N13.81bn or 13.65 per cent of the money received from the Federation Account within the period.

The Quarterly Review, according to Orji, further showed that the total Federation Accounts Allocation Committee disbursements in the second quarter of the year were 46 per cent higher than the figure for the same period in 2017 and 127 per cent higher than for the same period in 2016.

The report noted that while N2tn was shared in the second quarter of the year, N1.38tn was disbursed during the same period last year and only N886.38bn was shared in the second quarter of 2016.

“In fact, quarter two 2018 was the first time an amount of N2tn was disbursed since the quarter three of 2014. This is a run of 14 consecutive quarters of disbursements below N2tn,” the report stated.

NEITI hinged the increase in revenue earned and shared by the three tiers of government on the rebound in oil prices in the international crude oil market as well as increase in domestic crude oil production.

The rise in disbursement recorded in the second quarter of 2018, the report noted, was the highest to the federation since the third quarter of 2014.

The report attributed the positive development to the rise in crude oil prices and similar increase in oil production.

The Quarterly Review was quoted as stating, “Average oil price in 2016 was $43.5 per barrel, while in 2017 oil price averaged $54.2 per barrel. However, in the first six months of 2018, average oil price was $70.6 per barrel. Thus, on the average, oil price increased by 62.2 per cent between 2016 and the first half of 2018.

“Total oil production in 2016 was 661.1 million barrels, while the figure was 690 million barrels in 2017. In 2016, average monthly oil production was 55.1 million barrels, while it was 57.5 million barrels in 2017. For the first two months of 2018 for which data is available, average production was 59 million barrels.”

The disbursements made by FAAC represented an increase of 41 per cent when compared to the N2.79tn disbursed in the first half of 2017 and 95 per cent increase on the N2tn disbursed in the first half of 2016.

A breakdown of the disbursements showed that the Federal Government received N1.65tn; states received N1.38tn; while the local governments got N795bn.

The disparity in the revenues received by each of the three tiers of government was based on the revenue sharing formula of the federation as stipulated in the Constitution, the statement added.

The NEITI Quarterly Review showed that the lowest monthly figure of N635.6bn disbursed in the first half of 2018 was N121.4bn higher than the highest monthly figure of N514.2bn disbursed in the first half of 2017 and N218bn higher than the N417bn for 2016.

“These figures clearly indicate that revenue accruing to the federation in the first half of 2018 completely outstripped revenues in the previous two years,” the report stated.

Another feature of the NEITI report was the significant increase in Value Added Tax disbursements during the period under review. VAT disbursements increased by 35 per cent between the first quarter of 2015 and the second quarter of 2018.

“It is interesting that VAT has been generally increasing over time. This bodes well for the government’s efforts at increasing revenue from non-oil sources,” it added.

NEITI expressed hope about increased revenues to the government from both oil and non-oil sectors, but cautioned that the volatile and unpredictable nature of government revenues would continue to make planning difficult for all tiers of government, increasing difficulties in implementing their budgets.

It said that there was a need to place priority attention on internally generated revenues.

MFM SLAMS LIBEL SUIT AGAINST THISDAY NEWSPAPERS, DEMANDS N500BN

The Incorporated Trustees of Mountain of Fire & Miracles Ministries and the church’s founder, Dr Daniel Olukoya, have commenced a legal action against ThisDay Newspapers for allegedly publishing a libellous story against them.

The suit marked PHC/2257/2018 was filed before the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt.

The cleric and his church are demanding N500bn in damages from the newspaper for the alleged injury caused them by the defendant’s publication.

The claimants are urging the court to make an order, directing the newspaper “to tender a written apology and a retraction published prominently on its website and for three consecutive days on the front page of ThisDay Newspaper and in at least three other nationally circulating newspapers and two international magazines, including TIME International.”

The claimants also want the court to order the defendant “to pull down and erase the offending story from the Internet forthwith.”

They are also seeking an order of perpetual injunction “restraining the defendant by itself, its agents, servants, privies or other persons howsoever called or described from further publishing and/or disseminating libellous stories and statements against the claimants.”

The cleric and his church are also praying the court to put the cost of filing the lawsuit on the newspaper.

ALAO-AKALA DENIES DUMPING APC, SUBMITS OYO GOV NOMINATION FORMS

A former Oyo State governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, has denied plans to dump the All Progressives Congress in order to achieve his ambition of contesting in the state governorship election in 2019.

The former governor, on Monday, left Ibadan for Abuja to submit his governorship nomination forms which confirmed his decision to contest the 2019 governorship election on the platform of the APC in the state.

After two meetings between the governor, Abiola Ajimobi, and 26 governorship aspirants of the party on Saturday and Sunday, an unconfirmed report said Alao-Akala and a few other aspirants were uncomfortable with the governor’s body language and that they were considering defecting to other parties.

Alao-Akala was said to have made contact with the leadership of the Africa Democratic Congress in a bid to be the party’s standard bearer for the 2019 governorship election in the state.

But a statement signed by the Head, New Media and Public Affairs, Alao-Akala Campaign Organisation, Jeremiah Akande, denied the move, stressing that the former governor was not considering dropping his ambition or dumping the APC.

The statement read in part, “The Media and Publicity Directorate of Alao-Akala Campaign Organisation, after a careful study of the said report and unfounded information pieced together in the body of the story, came to a professional conclusion that the idea behind the report was a mere publicity stunt aimed at laundering the image of the political party in question.

“The campaign organisation of Alao-Akala wishes to once again reiterate His Excellency, Alao-Akala’s unshaken commitment and dedication to the ideals of the APC in Oyo State and at the national level and urge his teeming supporters to remain steadfast and resolute in their belief in him, as the journey towards 2019 begins in earnest.”

GEORGE AKUME ATTACKS ORTOM, SAYS GOV’S PhD CERTIFICATE IS FAKE

 

The senator representing Benue North-West Senatorial District, George Akume, and Governor Samuel Ortom took on each other on Monday in a war of words.

Akume had at the All Progressives Congress expanded caucus meeting held at Castle Event Centre, Makurdi on Sunday described Ortom as a non-performer, alleging that the governor was parading a fake doctoral degree.

Akume, who accused the governor of running the Social Investment Programme like his family entity, argued that he needed to be voted out of power next year.

Apparently reacting to the views expressed by Ortom in an interview he granted newsmen, Akume said, “Ortom said he has PhD from the Commonwealth University of Berlin, but there is nothing like Commonwealth University. At least, I’m a graduate of the University of Ibadan, where I bagged my first and second degrees. I am also a fellow of the Institute of Management and I have honourary PhD from the University of Jos.

“He said I was a protocol officer while he was a local government chairman and that I served him, I never saw Ortom in the government house that period.

“He is saying I never won an election, but I won an election in 1999, he (Ortom) was in SDP; also in 2003 when I moved to ACN, I also won elections but the last election, Ortom lost in his local government. When I was building PDP, where was Ortom?” Akume asked.

Akume also accused Ortom of always insulting President Muhammadu Buhari.

He challenged the governor to clear the backlog of salaries arrears owed workers and pensioners in the state, who, he said, were dying of hunger.

But reacting on behalf of his principal, Ortom’s Adviser on Media and ICT, Tahav Agerzua, described Akume as a drunk who could not be taken seriously.

Agerzua, who said PhD was not a prerequisite for being a governor, described Akume’s allegation as a diversionary tactic.

The governor’s aide, who wondered when Akume became an assessment authority, challenged the senator to give an account of his stewardship in the red chamber.

“Akume is not an accreditation authority and he cannot speak on that. In any case, that has no basis because PhD is not a prerequisite for governorship; so, it is a diversionary tactic.  Let him give an account of his stewardship; he should stop assessing others, he is not an assessment authority.

“Moreover, everybody knows that he is a drunk; what he said stems out of his drunkenness; he is not someone to be taken seriously.”

EX-IGP SULEIMAN ABBA PICKS APC SENATORIAL FORMS

Suleiman Abba

Suleiman Abba, a former Inspector General of Police, has joined the race for the All Progressives Congress ticket for the Jigawa State central senatorial district.

Abba picked his nomination and expression of interest forms at the National Secretariat of the APC in Abuja, on Monday.

He told newsmen that he was in the race to bring quality representation for his constituents and contribute meaningfully to national development.

ICPC TO PARTNER INEC AGAINST VOTE-BUYING

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has expressed its readiness to partner the Independent National Electoral Commission to tackle the menace of vote-buying in the electoral system.

Acting Chairman of ICPC, Musa Abubakar, made this known when he visited the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, on Monday in Abuja.

Abubakar said that ICPC identified with INEC and Nigerians on the issue of vote-buying and was willing to work with the election management body to curb the ugly trend.

He said the commission was empowered to deal with all cases of corruption, including those committed during elections.

“The ICPC is empowered to investigate and prosecute any person involved in any act of bribery and corruption under any laws that prohibit corruption.

“I believe the Electoral Act also has provisions that deal with corruption and all forms of malpractices during the election.

“So, vote-buying is one of the corrupt practices under both our law and Electoral Act.

“The main reason for this visit is to identify with the commission and the general public on the issue of vote-buying.

“We assure you that the ICPC is ever ready to partner INEC to ensure that this trend is totally eliminated or reduced to the barest minimum,” he said.

Responding, Yakubu commended ICPC for its commitment to partner INEC to tackle “this new brand of electoral crime.”

He said that the commission was prepared to ensure that vote-buying did not determine the outcome of 2019 general elections.

“The votes cast by citizens will continue to determine who wins in our elections. We are focusing more on the processes leading to that outcome.

“The outcome of any election is in the hand of the voter, but we are responsible for ensuring that the process is free and credible,” he said.

(NAN)

KANO POLICE ARREST WHATSAPP GROUP ADMIN, MEMBERS FOR SHARING FAKE NEWS

The Kano State Police Command has arrested an administrator and members of a WhatsApp Group for circulating fake news and an image of a married woman whom they claimed was trafficking in children in the city.

The spokesperson of the Police in the state, Magaji Majiya, told PRNigeria that the suspects were arrested and paraded after the victim of the circulated image lodged a formal complaint to the Police Command.

Mr Majiya said: “We received a complaint from a married woman and a civil servant, Mrs Bushirat Madaki, that her picture is being shared on WhatsApp group with the intent to malign and incite the public against her.

“Upon receiving the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Rabiu Yusuf ordered an immediate investigation by a special team who were able to trace and arrest three married suspects a man and two women for circulating the fake and offensive information.

“When confronted over the petition against them, the suspects admitted that the image and material on the woman were shared and forwarded in their group.

“They also admitted that they didn’t know the woman in person and have never had interaction with her before distributing the image and the story. They, therefore, sought forgiveness.

“For now, the Police Command has granted the suspects bail because the offense is bailable while further investigation is ongoing.

“The police command is also currently providing security cover for the innocent woman for fear of mob attacks because her image and the false report on her have gone viral.”

The police spokesperson said it is an offence to share or circulate fake news that could undermine national security or incite the public against innocent people.

“We call on social media users to be wary of what they receive and share or forward on social media, especially WhatsApp. We should guard against the misuse of social media platforms by sharing and forwarding objectionable or fake messages,” he said.

Concerns have been raised about social media misuse as fake news, morphed photographs and disturbing videos with fabricated local narratives are being circulated that can trigger tension, political crisis and even communal conflict in sensitive communities.

TWO DEAD, 37 INJURED IN GAS EXPLOSION IN NASARAWA

File photo: Gas explosion

The Nasarawa State Government on Monday expressed shock and sadness over a gas explosion in Lafia in which two persons have been confirmed dead and 37 others injured.

The Deputy Governor, Mr Silas Agara, said during on-the-spot assessment visit to the scene of the incident that the government would take the necessary steps to unravel the cause of the accident.

Agara, accompanied by the Commissioner of Police, Yahaya Bello, and Chairman, Lafia Local Government, Malam Aminu Muazu, described the explosion which occurred at Monaco Gas plant within the premises of Natson Filling station on Jos Road, Lafia, as most unfortunate.

He expressed his condolences and sympathy to the victims on behalf of Governor Umaru Al-Makur and assured the people of the government’s readiness to respond to the emergency and ensure a thorough investigation of the incident.

Agara applauded the security and emergency response teams for their quick intervention and advised the public to stay away from the scene to allow relevant agencies to carry out their investigation into the matter.

He and his entourage later visited the 37 victims with various degrees of injuries at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital, Lafia.

On the casualty figure, Mrs Faustina Alegbe, the Federal Road Safety Corps Sector Commander in the State, told NANthat two persons died while 37 people were injured.

“So far, 37 people are receiving treatment in the hospital but two have been confirmed dead by the doctors.

“Tomorrow, we will go back to the hospital to do an update. But I can tell you that I was in the hospital myself to do a physical count and as at now, 37 are receiving treatment with two dead,” she said.

(NAN)

ABUJA-KADUNA BOUND TRAIN CRUSHES 52 COWS

The Kaduna state commissioner of police sunday confirmed that 52 cows were crushed to death by a Kaduna-Abuja bound train.  Addressing a press conference in Kaduna, police Commissioner Ahmad Abdurahaman said the incidence happened in Kasarami in Kagarko local government of the state. 

According to him, the command received a distress call of the accident and he personally led principal staff of the Command to the spot. “When we got to the spot we found out that contrary to earlier calls of insurgents attack, what actually happened was an accident involving cows. 

The Fulani Herdsmen who passed the night at kasarami asked if they could cross over with their cattles and were misinformed that there was no rail services on Sunday. “It was when they were half way that a fast moving train from Rigasa station on the way to Abuja approached. 

“The train was on a high speed and in the process crushed to death 52 Cattles while 27 that were still alive were ordered to be slaughter and sold out to reduce the lost on the Herdsmen “I want to assure the good people of Kaduna state that what happened was an accident and no life was lost only the cattles’ he said. 

The police commissioner explained that the Fulani Herdsmen were on their way back to katsina state when the unfortunate incidence happened. I had a meeting with their leaders and the farmers in the area in other to check future occurrence. 

I call on the people of kaduna state to go about with their lawful activities as the command is doing everything to ensure that lives and properties are protected in the state” he said.

PLANE CRASH: DEATH TOLL RISES TO 20 IN SOUTH SUDAN

Plane crash site.

A plane crash in South Sudan killed 20 people, including an Anglican bishop and four foreigners, a regional official said, updating the toll.

Regional spokesman Taban Abel Aguek said 20 people died and three survived when a small plane crashed into a lake close to Yirol in the centre of the country on Sunday morning.

“Among the dead, 16 are South Sudanese nationals while four are foreigners including the pilot and the co-pilot, who are Sudanese. One Ugandan and an Ethiopian… also died in the crash,” Abel said.

The Anglican Bishop of Yirol, Simon Adut, was among those killed as was a staff member of the South Sudanese Red Cross, while an Italian doctor and two children were among the survivors.

An official with the South Sudan Aviation Authority said investigations were underway but that overloading and bad weather may have led to the accident.

Abel said the regional governor had declared three days of mourning.

(AFP)