Links

The Federal Government and Organised Labour has met to resume negotiations on the increase in electricity and petrol hikes.

The two parties had met on September 28 where the price hikes were discussed and consensus reached , leading to the inauguration of a seven – man Technical Sub – committee to review the increase in electricity tariff .

The committee which was given two weeks was expected to present its report at the meeting .

Punch

The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ), has congratulated the governor of Ondo State , Rotimi Akeredolu , on his re – election and urged him to be humble and magnanimous in victory .

Buhari ’ s congratulatory message was contained in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity , Femi Adesina , titled “ President Buhari congratulates Rotimi Akeredolu on re- election as Ondo governor. ”

The President was quoted as advising Akeredolu to serve the people of the state better than how he did in his first term .

He also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission for organising credible election.

The statement read , “ President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with Rotimi Akeredolu SAN , on his re -election as Governor of Ondo State for another four- year term .

“ The President lauds the resounding victory of the Governor at the election held on Saturday, October 10 , 2020 , noting that the votes garnered ‘ show that one good turn surely deserves another. ’

“ He thanks the people of Ondo State for keeping faith with their Governor , and the All Progressives Congress , noting that ‘ the people know the person and party that truly serves them, and have spoken in clear voice and unmistakable terms . ’

“ President Buhari appreciates the electorate in Ondo State for comporting themselves decently and in order, and for exhibiting conduct that indicates that the country is making progress in its electoral behaviour .

“ He also gives kudos to the Independent National Electoral Commission for organising credible , free and fair election , and to security agencies which ensured that orderliness was enthroned and maintained.

“ The President urges Gov Akeredolu to be humble and magnanimous in victory , and serve the people of Ondo State even better than how he did in the first term , noting : ‘ when you serve with heart and might , the people respond in like manner, and we can easily get to where we are headed as a country. ’”

Punch

The Inspector – General of Police , Mohammed Adamu , says a new policing arrangement to replace the now – defunct Special Anti – Robbery Squad will be announced “ in due course ” .

Reports says that the IGP has earlier announced the dissolution of the special arm of the Nigeria Police Force .

The announcement came after days of online and offline protests against the brutality and extra – judicial killings by SARS, a specialised unit that was created over a decade ago to tackle armed robbery .

Over the years , however , SARS operatives started extorting money from youths driving big cars, using expensive phones , laptops or wearing dreadlocks .

The harassment has on several occasions degenerated to killings .

At the briefing , the IGP said , “The Federal Special Anti- Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force otherwise known as SARS is hereby dissolved in all the 36 State Police Commands and the Federal Capital Territory. ”

The briefing was immediately followed by a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba . The statement was titled, ‘ IGP Dissolves The Special Anti -Robbery Squad (SARS)’.

The statement partly read , “ The IGP , while noting that the dissolution of SARS is in response to the yearnings of the Nigerian people, observes that by this dissolution , all officers and men of the now – defunct Special Anti -robbery Squad are being redeployed with immediate effect .

“ The IGP notes that the Force is not oblivious of the ever – present need to combat armed robbery , kidnapping and other violent crimes in the country which was before now the core mandate of the erstwhile Squad .

“ He assures that a new policing arrangement to address anticipated policing gaps the dissolution of SARS would cause has been evolved and shall be announced in due course .

“ Meanwhile , as part of measures to prevent a re – occurrence of events that gave rise to the dissolution of SARS, a Citizens ’ and Strategic Stakeholders’ Forum is being formed to regularly interface with Police leadership at all levels and advise on police activities as they affect the general public .

“ In addition , the Force is constituting an Investigation Team which shall include Civil Society Organisations and Human Rights Bodies to work with the Police in investigating alleged cases of human rights violations .

“ The measure , the IGP believes , will enhance transparency and accountability in police services as well as providing a system of deterrence for erring police officers whose action clearly violates the rights of the citizenry.

Punch

The President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd . ) , says only workers captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System platform will be paid salaries .

He said this during the presentation of the proposed 2021 Budget of N13 trillion to the National Assembly .

Before presenting the proposed budget , Buhari gave a breakdown of the performance of the 2020 budget .

He explained that the decision not to pay federal workers not captured on the IPPIS was to reduce personnel cost.

This is coming amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities over IPPIS and other matters.

He said , “ Personnel cost is still our largest single item of expenditure. In the 7 months to 31 st July 2020 , it accounted for 34 percent of total Federal Government spending and is projected at 33 percent of 2021 expenditure .

“ To check the incidence of payments to non – existent personnel and unauthorised allowances , only Federal staff that have been captured on the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (‘IPPIS’) platform will receive salaries .

“ All agencies have been directed to ensure that they obtain all necessary approvals before embarking on any fresh recruitment . Any breach of these directives will be severely sanctioned . ”

Punch

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan , has said the National Assembly is ready to pass the 2021 Appropriation Bill before the end of 2020 .

Lawan made this known in his opening remarks before the President , Major General Muhammadu Buhari ( retd . ) , was called to lay the national budget before the joint session of the National Assembly .

The Senate President recalled how the parliament promised to pass the 2020 budget before the year ended , which was achieved.

“ The National Assembly is ready to pass the 2021 budget before the end of the year , by the grace of God , ” Lawan said .

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 . ”

Punch

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 .

Punch

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 . ”

Punch

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 .

Punch

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. ”

Punch