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The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), says Nigeria ’ s economy may slip back into recession .

Buhari spoke at the presentation of the 2021 budget estimates to the Joint Session of the National Assembly in Abuja .

The president explained that Nigeria ’ s economy is being battered by the global economic fallout from COVID- 19 , adding that a drop in crude oil prices deprives the country of key revenues .

He presented a budget of N13 . 1 trillion , which represents over 20 per cent increase from last year ’ s spending plan.

The budget , he said , comes with a deficit of N4 . 8 trillion that will be financed mainly by borrowing .

Buhari noted that global crude prices tumbled early in the year, falling below $ 20 per barrel in April.

He said , “The 2021 Budget was prepared amidst a challenging global and domestic environment due to the persistent headwinds from the Coronavirus Pandemic . The resulting global economic recession , low oil prices and heightened global economic uncertainty have had important implications for our economy .

“ The Nigerian economy is currently facing serious challenges , with the macroeconomic environment being significantly disrupted by the Coronavirus Pandemic. Real Gross Domestic Product growth declined by 6 . 1 percent in the second quarter of 2020 .

“ This ended the 3 – year trend of positive, but modest , real GDP growth recorded since the second quarter of 2017 . I am glad to note that , through our collective efforts, our economy performed relatively better than that of many other developed and emerging economies .

“ GDP growth is projected to be negative in the third quarter of this year . As such , our economy may lapse into the second recession in four years , with significant adverse consequences .

“ However , we are working assiduously to ensure a rapid recovery in 2021 . We remain committed to implementing programmes to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty over the next 10 years . ”

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The Federal Government has directed Batches A and B beneficiaries of the N- Power Programme who were earlier omitted from the payment of their stipends to report to their various state focal persons for verification and revalidation .

Minister of Humanitarian Affairs , Disaster Management and Social Development , Sadiya Umar- Farouq , gave the directive in Abuja .

She stated that efforts to resolve unpaid stipends withheld due to discrepancies in records of the beneficiaries were almost being concluded .

She said investigations conducted by the Office of the Accountant- General of the Federation following the omission of some N – Power beneficiaries from payment of stipends indicated that some of the affected persons were also drawing salaries from other Federal Government agencies.

The minister , however , directed that opportunity has been given to the affected beneficiaries to verify and re -validate their eligibility so that qualified beneficiaries could be paid for their participation in the N – Power Programme.

“ Beneficiaries are hereby directed to report to their State Focal Persons immediately with their bank account details , including bank statements from March 2020 to date , NYSC Discharge Certificates , birth certificates and other related screening documents , ” Umar – Farouq added .

She said the deadline for verification would be October 13 , 2020 .

The minister said beneficiaries who fail to attend the verification exercise would forfeit their stipends .

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Senior Staff of Nigerian Polytechnics has issued a 21 – day ultimatum to embark on an indefinite strike if the Federal Government failed to address lingering issues associated with the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System .

This is coming 24 hours after the Senior Staff of Association of Nigeria Universities and Non – Academic Staff Union commenced a 14 – day warning strike in protest against the IPPIS and the delay by the government in the re – negotiation of the 2009 SSANU/Federal Government Agreement .

Rising from an emergency meeting in Abuja , the polytechnic workers , under the auspices of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics expressed displeasure with the way the National Board for Technical Education had handled the scheme of service .

In a communique read to journalists at the end of the meeting, the National President of SSANIP , Philip Ogunsipe , said the workers ’ grievances include the non – release of the new minimum wage arrears , inconsistencies in the release of third -party deductions , non – payment of COVID- 19 hazard allowance for health workers , high draconian tax regime on consolidated salary , delay in promotion arrears , among others.
Ogunsipe said , “ Against this backdrop , the council wishes to call on the relevant agencies of government to expedite actions toward resolving these highlighted challenges .

“ Equally , the council wishes to frankly state that failure of the IPPIS to address these highlighted challenges within 21 days from the date of this communique would leave the union with no other option than to review its stance on IPPIS. ”

Commenting on the alleged poor handling of the scheme of service by the NBTE , the union leader accused the board of reviewing the document “ without due consultation with relevant stakeholders. ”

He added , “ On the strength of this , the council resolved that any attempt to foist a scheme of service document on SSANIP without our input is unacceptable and therefore , would be an invitation to an atmosphere of disharmony .

“ The council wishes to specifically and frankly state that the failure of NBTE to address this issue within 21 days from the date of this communique would leave the union with no other option than to declare industrial dispute . ”

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There were strong indications that students of public universities in the country would stay at home further as the Academic Staff Union of Universities dismissed the Federal Government’ s directive that all educational institutions should resume on Monday next week .

The National President of ASUU , Prof Biodun Ogunyemi , in a telephone interview with newsmen , said the Federal Government was not sincere about negotiations with the union , adding that lecturers would not resume on an empty stomach .

Ogunyemi specifically took a swipe at the Accountant General of the Federation , Mr Ahmed Idris , for violating a directive of the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) , that lecturers ’ salaries should be paid.
He hinted that Nigerians should be ready for a long- drawn strike in universities with the way government was handling negotiations .

Also , the Non – Academic Staff Union said the Federal Government’ s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System was not transparent , saying many of its members were being cheated.

Both NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities began a 14 – day warning strike over the adoption of the IPPIS in universities and non -payment of minimum wage to their members .

The Minister of Education Adamu Adamu , had, at a media briefing in Abuja on Friday , said government had approved the reopening of educational institutions beginning from Monday , October 12 .

Recall that all educational institutions in the country were shut in March following the outbreak of COVID- 19 .

But before March , the Federal Government and ASUU had been at loggerheads over the IPPIS, which the later said should not be adopted in universities because it would violate their autonomy .

Buhari , during the presentation of the 2020 budget in October last year , ordered ministries, departments and agencies to migrate to the IPPIS as part of efforts to check fraud.

On March 23 , ASUU began an indefinite strike to force the Federal Government to implement its agreements with lecturers and protest against the IPPIS .

Responding to a question on when the strike would end, Ogunyemi stated , “ You can ’ t expect people to go back to their offices on an empty stomach . You don ’ t expect my members to suspend this action when their demands have not been met . It is a very clear decision that anybody will make in this circumstance . ”

He said that on August 18 , ASUU wrote the Federal Government, stating that it was ready to demonstrate its University Transparency Accountability Solution , which it designed as alternative to the IPPIS .

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The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , will present the 2021 budget at a joint sitting of the National Assembly on Thursday , October 8 , 2020 .

This was contained in a letter written to the National Assembly and read by the Senate President Ahmed Lawan at the resumption of plenary.

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed , disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting .

The minister said the budget proposal was predicated on $ 379 exchange rate, oil benchmark of $ 40 barrel per day and oil production volume of 1 . 86 million per day .

The minister had said , “ The budget assumptions that were presented to the council include : one , crude oil price benchmark at $ 40 per barrel ; two , oil production at 1 . 86 million barrels per day ; three, exchange rate of N379 to $ 1 ; four, Gross Domestic Product growth target of three per cent; and five, inflation rate of 11 . 95 per cent .

“ We have a total aggregate revenue of N7 . 89 tn and also an aggregate expenditure of N13 . 08 tn for 2021 . There is a fiscal deficit of N4 . 49 tn, this represents 3 . 64 per cent, slightly above what is required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act of three per cent and also to report that the total capital expenditure that is projected in the budget is 29 per cent of the aggregate expenditure .

“ This is an improvement over the 24 per cent that we had in the 2020 budget , but slightly below the 30 per cent that we targeted in the economic recovery. ”

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The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , has approved a special salary scale and new retirement age for teachers .

The President increased the number of service years for the teachers from 35 to 40 .

The gesture was announced in Abuja by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in commemoration of the 2020 World Teachers Day.

Over the years , Nigerian teachers have continued to agitate amongst others, an increase in their retirement age , welfare, and salaries .

The minister , at the 2020 WTD celebration, explained that the implementation of the new teachers ’ salary scheme was to encourage the teachers in delivering better services .

The President said , “Government notes the emergency situation in our educational system with particular reference to the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system .

“ To address these challenge and set our country on the path of industrialisation where our educational system will produce the needed skills and manpower, I have approved the following :

“ The reintroduction of bursary award to education students in Universities and College of Education with assurance of automatic employment upon graduation , payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students as well as granting them automatic employment after graduation is now a government policy .

“ The Tertiary Education Fund will now fund teaching practice in Universities and Colleges of Education, special salary scale for teachers in basic and secondary schools including provisions for rural posting allowance , science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance .

“ Special teacher pension scheme to enable the teaching profession retain its experienced talent as well as extend teachers retirement age to 65 years and teachers service years to 40 , create a career path policy for teaching profession in Nigeria and , teachers conversion programme and ICT training to mitigate the current dearth of qualified teachers in the school system . ”

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The pump price of petrol may reduce marginally this month , going by the fall in global crude oil prices, oil marketers said .

According to them, since the cost of petrol has been largely determined by the price of crude oil, the recent marginal plunge in crude oil cost could lead to a drop in petrol price in Nigeria .

Findings by news correspondent howed that Brent , the global benchmark against which Nigeria ’ s crude is priced, dropped in price by $ 1 . 66 or 4 . 06 per cent as at 13 . 20 pm Central Standard Time.

The commodity ( Brent ) traded at $ 39 . 27 per barrel at the same time , while the cost of crude in the OPEC Basket was put at $ 39 . 94 per barrel .

Crude oil in OPEC basket dipped by $ 1 . 77 when compared with what it traded on the preceding day .

Speaking to news correspondent in Abuja , the National President , Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria , Billy Gillis – Harry , said the prediction of marketers was that petrol price could dip in October .

He , however , said that oil marketers , particularly members of PETROAN , would continue to call for an enlarged stakeholders meeting in determining the price of petrol across the country.

Gillis – Harry said , “ We will continue to insist that the arm- chair pattern of fixing prices is not correct . You saw the confusion it caused the last time . We are going to have a meeting with them ( government ) that will involve all the stakeholders.

“So , hopefully by then we should be able to have proper information to give to you on the latest in price.

“ However , based on the slide in crude oil prices , there is the suspicion that petrol price may come down. ”

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The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities has directed its members to proceed on a 14 – day warning strike from today ( Monday ) over alleged inconsistencies in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System , non – payment of the arrears of the national minimum wage and the failure of the government to pay the earned allowances .

The union also hinged its decision on the non – payment of retirement benefits to its members , lack of seriousness and delay by the government in the re – negotiation of the 2009 SSANU /Federal Government Agreement .

The SSANU, in a statement by its President , Samson Ugwoke , explained that the strike was a prelude to a full – blown, indefinite industrial action if the grievances were not addressed by the government .

It alleged usurpation of the headship of the non – teaching units by academic staff members “ in clear violation of conditions of service and establishment procedures , ” corruption in the university system and non -constitution of visitation panels for the universities in line with the laws and neglect and poor funding of state universities .

The statement said , “Following the recent directives from the National Universities Commission to Vice -Chancellors for the immediate resumption/ safe reopening of universities , you are hereby directed to commence a 14 – day warning strike effective from October 5 to 19 , 2020 . ”

The Joint Action Committee , comprising SSANU and the Non -Academic Staff Unions of Universities and Associated Institutions, had earlier written to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige , over the contentious issues and their intention to embark on strike immediately the universities reopened to press home their demands .

The letter , dated June 1 , 2020 , and signed by the Chairman of JAC and President of SSANU, Ugwoke and the General Secretary of NASU , Peters Adeyemi , urged the minister to act fast to avert the impending strike.

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Steps to reopen the schools may meet a brick wall, as staff unions in schools, especially those owned by the FG, have sounded warning strike, while those already on strike, may not back out yet.

Commenting on the development, the National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, told one of news correspondents that the union’s ongoing strike would continue.

“We started out industrial action before the outbreak of Coronavirus disease in the country. All the issues we raised are yet to be addressed. The government is free to open their schools, just like our members are also entitled to their dues.

“As we speak, our members are being owed between three to six months of salaries. The government’s so-called fund saving platform, the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, is a colossal failure. Apart from that, the government is yet to take any step to revitalise education sector among others,” he said.

Ogunyemi said though ASUU had been invited to a meeting by the government, it would wait and see what happens, adding that ASUU was always available for negotiation.

He added that if the government did not reach an agreement with the union before the reopening date, ASUU members would not resume work.

The Federal Government has announced that all Unity Schools in Nigeria should resume with effect from October 12 .

The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu , stated this during a press conference in Abuja .

According to the minister , schools across the country, are at liberty to fix resumption dates and ensure adequate safety measures .

Adamu warned that schools who fail to adhere to outlined COVID- 19 safety protocol , risk closure if there is an outbreak from such institutions.

He said , “ We have consulted widely with all stakeholders in the education sector . Our eyes and ears are opened to the international media .

“ I ’ m glad to report that there has not been any single case of COVID- 19 in all Unity Schools . No single fatality among the students .

“ We have come to the conclusion that we have to review our decisions . After consultation with PTF, we have resolved that our Unity Schools be opened on October 12 , 2020 . ”

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