The newspaper review for Tuesday, December 19, leads with the Nigerian Senate uncovering padding of proposed expenditures in the 2018 budget estimates among other stories.
Vanguard reports that the Senate, yesterday, uncovered padding of proposed expenditures in the Ministry of Power and duplication of items in the 2018 budget estimates.
In the budget proposals, the Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South-led Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, discovered that N120 million, N480 million and N288 million respectively, were budgeted for the purchase of utility vehicles by the ministry headed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.
Vanguard newspaper for Tuesday, December 19, photo credit: snapshot from NAIJ.com
In the case of NEPZA, it emerged that the agency had raised its 2018 personnel budget by N205 million. That was besides the claim that the same agency in 2017 succeeded in padding its budget by N122 million.
READ ALSO: FG accuses David Mark of illegally acquiring Senate president’s official residence
According to the lawmakers, duplication of items has remained a recurring episode, where the Ministry present the same items repeatedly in the budget and ask for more funds to execute them.
The Punch reports that the efforts of the Peoples Democratic Party to reconcile its members who are aggrieved because of the outcome of the party’s recent national convention may have hit the rocks.
One of the aspirants who vied for the position of the party’s national chairmanship at the December 9 convention, Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, has filed a suit seeking the nullification of the result of the chairmanship election.
The Punch newspaper for Tuesday, December 19, photo credit: snapshot from NAIJ.com.
Prince Uche Secondus, who polled 2,000 votes in the election, was declared the winner ahead of Adedoja, Dr. Raymond Dokpesi and Prof. Tunde Adeniran, who were the other aspirants.
Dokpesi got 66 votes, Adeniran, 230 and Adedoja, zero.
Other aspirants like Chief Olabode George, Chief Gbenga Daniel, Mr. Jimi Agbaje and Senator Rashidi Ladoja stepped down before the election.
The Nation reports that the row over the $1 billion anti-Boko Haram battle fund to be withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) grew yesterday, with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peopes Democratic Party (PDP) throwing darts at each other.
The APC described the allegation by the PDP that the government planned to pump the money into its reelection as “ludicrous and baseless”.
The Nation newspaper for Tuesday, December 19, photo credit: snapshot from NAIJ.com
It asked the PDP to demand for accountability in the spending of the fund rather than imputing political motives.
APC National Publicity Secretary Bolaji Abdullahi said in a statement that being in opposition did not imply opposing everything before one has the opportunity to understand the issues.
Abdullahi said the NGF that approved the money had 11 PDP governors, who would not support voting money to fund another party.
The Guardian reports that the House of Representatives yesterday summoned the Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun and her counterparts in Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige and Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma.
The invitation by the House adhoc committee was to answer questions on alleged non-remittance of contributions by federal, states and local governments to the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).
The Guardian newspaper for Tuesday, December 19, photo credit: snapshot from NAIJ.com
Also, the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, was summoned to answer questions on workers one per cent contribution from their monthly salaries.
According to the committee Chairman, Chukwuka Onyema, the three tiers of governments, as well as Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had not made appreciable contributions to the fund since 2010, when the NSITF Act came into being.Onyema disclosed that the federal government agencies owe the NSITF N17 billion, adding that the Nigerian Police is currently indebted to the tune of N16.2 billion.
He cited other organs of government that had disregarded the provisions of the Act, as the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Police.
ThisDay reports that for the 10th consecutive month, inflation rate continued a downward trajectory, recording a marginal decline from 15.91 per cent in October to 15.90 per cent in November.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) stated that the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures inflation increased by 15.90 per cent (year-on-year) in November, 0.01 percentage points lower than the rate recorded in October (15.91) per cent.
ThisDay newspaper for Tuesday, December 19, photo credit: snapshot from NAIJ.com 9.
PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigeria’s #1 new app
The 10th consecutive disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate) though still positive in headline year-on-year inflation since January 2017 increases were recorded in all Glossary: Classification of individual consumption by purpose (COICOP) divisions that yield the Headline Index.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.78 per cent in November 2017, 0.02 per cent points higher from the rate of 0.76 per cent recorded in October.
2019 Presidency: Nigerians reveal why they prefer Atiku to President Buhari - on NAIJ.com TV.
Source: Naija.ng
ROSY CREST
Tuesday, 19 December 2017