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Tinubu approves ₦300 billion to repair Eko, Third Mainland bridges, roads

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An approved ₦2.1 trillion supplementary budget will cater to many national issues.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Monday approved ₦2,176,791,286,033 supplementary budget to fund urgent national issues including ₦605 billion for national defence and security.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, made this known while briefing State House Correspondents at the end of FEC meeting in Abuja.

"The council considered a request for supplementary appropriation which is a second for 2023 and graciously approved the sum of ₦2,176,791,286,033, as supplementary budget and this supplementary budget is to fund urgent issues including ₦605 billion for national defence and security.

"This is to sustain the gains made in security and to accelerate and these are funds that are needed by the security agencies before the year runs out."

Bagudu also said that FEC approved ₦300 billion for the repair of Eko and Third Mainland bridges as well as construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of many roads nationwide before the return of the rainy season.

Similarly, he said council approved ₦200 billion for the provision of seed, agricultural input, supplies and agricultural implements and infrastructure to support expansion of production.

"Equally the sum of ₦210 billion is provided for the payment of wage awards. In negotiation with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the government agreed to pay ₦35,000 each to about 1.5 million employees of the federal government for September, October, November and December.

"And that amounts to about ₦210 billion which has been approved and also ₦400 billion as Cash Transfer payments."

He recalled that the federal government has secured $800 million loan from the World Bank to pay cash transfers of ₦25,000 to 15 million households. According to him, the $800 million dollars is for October and November.

"The President graciously approved that an additional month should be funded by the federal government and that is what this ₦100 billion is for.

"Equally, ₦100 billion has been provided for the Federal Capital Territory in order to support them in urgent and immediate capital expenditure works that can enhance the infrastructure in the city."

"Also, ₦18 billion was provided for the Independent National Electoral Commission to support them in the conducting the Bayelsa, Kogi and Imo states elections."

The minister stated that ₦5.5 billion was also provided for the funding of the takeover of the student loans board and ₦8 billion for the take-off grant of new ministries.

"Equally the sum of ₦200 billion was provided as capital supplementation to deal with urgent requests that have been made to President Bola Tinubu from various parts of the country."

Tinubu praises late Professor Nwabueze for valuable contributions to Nigeria

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The president prays that God Almighty grant Professor Nwabueze eternal rest.

President Bola Tinubu has condoled with the Nwabueze family, the government and people of Anambra State, on the death of Professor Ben Nwabueze, one time minister of education.

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Tinubu, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, described the death of Nwabueze who was also a foremost constitutional lawyer as a profound loss.

According to him, Nwabueze’s knowledge of law was outstanding.

"Prof. Nwabueze’s contribution to the precedents and principles of the nation’s constitution is notable. His involvement in the drafting of the 1979 constitution is a legacy that stands him out as well as his outstanding contributions to the legal profession at large."

Tinubu asked his family, the good people of Anambra State, and Nigerians in general to take solace in the worthy legacy that the deceased left behind.

The president prays that God Almighty grant Professor Nwabueze eternal rest.

NIS boss orders investigation into misconduct at passport offices

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Caroline Adepoju, acting comptroller general, Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), has directed an investigation into some complaints of alleged misconduct against officers of the service in some passport offices across the country.

This is contained in a statement by the service public relations officer, Adedotun Aridegbe, on Saturday in Abuja.

Mrs Adepoju, who expressed concern about the situation, directed an immediate investigation into the matter, especially in regard to the noncompliance with ministerial directives on the timeline of passport administration.

She said “following the complete clearance of passport application backlogs nationwide in line with the directive of the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, a new timeline of two weeks for processing and issuance of passports was announced by the minister on Oct. 4.

“The minister and the NIS provided different phone numbers to the general public to report misdemeanours by NIS personnel at any of the NIS offices.

“The service has on a daily basis, monitored the compliance level at all passport offices nationwide and at our missions abroad.

“We receive daily reports on the production and issuance of passports from all Passport Control Officers.

“As of today, most of our passport offices are producing passports of applicants enrolled on Wednesday, Oct. 11,” she said.

Mrs Adepoju, however, explained that applications for re-issuance of lost passports and change of data took a longer time.

She added that some applicants in this category might put the service in bad light when they complained of delay and noncompliance with the new timeline.

“These applications are required to go through security clearance and correspondence with Service Headquarters before approval for production,” she said.

The NIS boss appealed to members of the public to contact the service through its various public communication channels.

This, she said included Twitter, Facebook handles (@nigimmigration) and contact centre on 09121900655, 09121556359 and 09121477092 to report any form of misconduct by any member of the workforce, for appropriate sanctions.

Nigeria’s Finance Minister says national debt is sustainable

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The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, says the country’s debt situation is sustainable and does not require restructuring.

Mr Edun said this on Saturday in Marrakech, Morocco, on the sidelines of the ongoing World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) annual meetings.

The minister, however, agreed that the country’s debt service revenue was on the high side. He said that the response was to improve oil and non-oil revenue.

“Also, we have spent time meeting oil producers and encouraging them to invest further in production so as to boost revenue as oil prices are relatively high.

“President Bola Tinubu has also inaugurated a fiscal policy and tax reforms committee that is already working on improving revenue generation.

“The committee has a target of moving the country from under 10 per cent tax to GDP to 18 per cent within a year. That is also a way of dealing with debt servicing,” he said.

According to the minister, the more revenue a country has, the more affordable debt servicing will be.

“The world we are in now is a world of high-interest rates. Debt is becoming unaffordable,” he said.

He said that with the courageous steps that the Nigerian government under Tinubu had taken, the country was at the forefront of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) that would further boost revenue generation.

“There is more to be done, but Nigeria is on the right path, taking the right decisions for the economy to recover and attract FDIs, and also achieve inclusivity of women and youths.

“These are painful reforms, but there is a set of interventions being rolled out to cushion their effects and improve the well-being of Nigerians,” Mr Edun said.

Angola’s farming potential draws US interest

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A business delegation from the American agricultural sector, led by the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development of the United States of America (USA), Xochitl Torres Small, will visit Angola between the 28th of November and the 1st of December this year.
The announcement was made official in Washington D.C, by the Angolan ambassador to the USA, Agostinho Van-Dúnem, at the end of a meeting, Wednesday (11), with Jamie Haig, responsible for Business Missions at the US Department of Agriculture.

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According to a press release from the Embassy of Angola in the United States of America, to which ANGOP has had access, Torres Small’s trip, at the head of a business mission of 31 American businesspeople linked to agri-business, is an example of the investment that the Executive is making in this sector.

"We have been concerned with conveying to our American partners the need to look at food security as a factor of social cohesion, economic diversification and, above all, a factor for regional stability", said the Angolan diplomat.

Ambassador Agostinho Van-dúnem said that, in addition to American businesspeople, the US Department of Agriculture also invited businesspeople from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia and Kenya who are expected to join the Angolan business class, in what is the first major American business mission to the African continent.

For the United States, Angola has a significant consumer market and great opportunities for the export of American products, such as poultry, legumes, wheat and wine. Local and American industrial partners also see opportunities for other products, including rice, soybeans, vegetable oil, beef and pork and distilled beverages, said the official.

According to the visit’s work agenda, the delegation will meet with national businesspeople and those from the invited countries.

With government officials, American authorities hope to evaluate and discuss topics such as climate change, biotechnology and the Angolan Government’s projects, aimed at expanding crops and livestock.

Meetings are also expected with the ministers of Commerce and Industry, Education, as well as a roundtable between the Department of Agriculture and the Angolan counterpart and businesspeople to discuss and promote environmentally friendly agriculture.

In 2022, US food and agriculture exports to Angola totaled US$236.8 million, making it the 7th largest African market for US exporters.