Category: Press Release

RIVERS STATE 2024 BUDGET STATEMENT:
PRESENTED TO THE RIVERS STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

BY HIS EXCELLENCY SIR SIMINALAYI FUBARA GSSRS,GOVERNOR, RIVERS STATE,
(13TH DECEMBER 2024).

1. Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen.

2.​It is my pleasure to be before this hallowed chamber today to present our state’s budget estimates of Revenues and Expenditures for the fiscal year 2024.

3.​Before I proceed with my presentation, I wish to, again, thank God for the special opportunity to serve our people as their elected Governor.

4.​We thank our dear President, His Excellency @officialABAT GCFR for his special interest in the peace & progress of Rivers State & the bold steps he has taken to revamp the nation’s economy and sustainable development across the country.

5.​We are also grateful to the good people of Rivers State & the progressive members of the State House of Assembly for your continuing support & prayer for the success of our administration.

6.​We assure you that we will never take your trust & confidence for granted. We will remain faithful to our oath of office and do the best we can to advance the aspirations of our people for good governance, peace, security, and inclusive development.

7.​Our spirit is high; our determination is forever strong as we remain focused on delivering on our mandate in an honest, accountable, just, & fair manner to all parts of the State & all segments of society.

8.​Under our watch, no part of the State will be neglected in our development agenda; no one will be left behind in the distribution of resources and opportunities.

9.​We reaffirm our commitment to working closely with the State House of Assembly to fulfil all our promises and take Rivers State to greater heights of peace, progress, & prosperity.

10.​ Mr Speaker, recall that we launched the construction of the Port Harcourt Dual Carriage Ring Road as a flagship project to accelerate the socio-economic development of our State. Julius Berger has since mobilized to the site and work on this multi-billion-naira project has begun.

11.​ In line with our consolidation mantra, we have in the last six months, completed many of the uncompleted projects we inherited from the immediate past administration, including roads, hospitals, and schools, while those not yet completed, have reached advanced stages of completion.

12.​ Some of the completed roads include Oyigbo – Okoloma Road, Alode – Onne Road, Botem-Gbene-Ue-Hiro Road, Mgbodahia internal roads, Ogbo-Uhugbogo-Udiemude Road, Omoku-Aligwu-Krigene road, Eneka internal roads, Ogbakiri internal roads, & Omagwa internal roads.

13.​ Other roads, which construction is proceeding very well include Ahoada-Omoku dualization, Emohua-Tema junction dualization, Umuakali – Eberi road, Alode-Ebubu-Eteo junction road, Egbu-Ehuda internal roads, Elelenwo internal roads, Rumuepirikom internal roads, phase 2, Bori city internal roads, the Ngo section of the Ogoni-Andoni-Opobo unity road, & the Opobo ring road and electrification projects.

14.​ On education, we have delivered Government Comprehensive Secondary School, Borokiri, Government Secondary School, Eneka, Government Secondary School, Emohua, Government Secondary School, Okehi, Comprehensive Secondary School, Alesa – Eleme, Government Secondary School, Ataba, and the 10,000 capacity University of Port Harcourt Auditorium. The hostel and auditorium projects at the Yenagoa campus of the Nigerian Law School are also almost completed.

15.​ Our commitment to healthcare delivery remains strong. Already, we have delivered the Professor Kelson Harrison Hospital, the Dental, Maxillofacial, Ear Nose Throat & Ophthalmology Hospital, and several primary healthcare centres across the state.

16.​ To accelerate the delivery of affordable housing, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TAF Global Africa and turned the sod for the phased development of 20,000 units of houses in the State.

17.​This is another signature project of our administration, which is targeted at creating new model cities within Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas of the State with enormous socio-economic benefits to the State and our people.

18.​ On sports development, we have opened the Real Madrid Football Academy for full academic and football training activities with the admission of the first batch of students. We have also rehabilitated the indoor basket hall and pitch at Niger Street, Port Harcourt.

19.​ We are poised to stimulate industrialization by creating an enabling business environment to attract investors to invest in the different sectors of the State’s economy.

20.​ To this end, plans are underway to organize the first Rivers State Investment Summit in decades to work out an investment and industrialization road map for the State.

21.​ We have also approved three bills: the Rivers State Investment Promotion Agency Bill, the Rivers State Youth Entrepreneurship Development Trust Fund Bill, the Rivers State Electricity Bill, and the Rivers State New Towns Development Bill, which are critical to accelerating investments, job creation, energy security, economic empowerment, and the socio-economic advancement of the State when passed into law.

22. ​Furthermore, we have concluded arrangements to launch the N4,000,000,000.00 seed fund in partnership with the Bank of Industry to support small and medium-scale enterprises across the State at a single-digit interest rate.

23.​ We have also entered into a memorandum of understanding with an investor to build a modern spare parts market in the State.

24.​ We appreciate the relevance and importance of the civil service to the development of the State through effective implementation of government policies and programmes.

25.​ Consequently, our commitment is to strengthen and motivate the civil service for optimal and responsible performance through regular promotions, payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities, and the provision of a good working environment.

26.​ Accordingly, we are happy to report that we are up to date in the payment of salaries and pensions to our civil servants and concluded the promotion exercise for our mainstream civil servants and other staff, except those without functional governing boards, such as the secondary school teachers and health to legally conduct the exercise, will be done as soon as we constitute the governing boards.

27.​ We have restored water and installed new lifts at the State’s Secretariat complex to improve sanitation and ease access to the higher floors of the complex.

28.​ Since we came on board, we have spent over 6 billion naira to pay the gratuities backlog to retired civil servants. Again, our commitment is to ensure that we clear all areas of gratuities owed to civils by previous administrations.

29.​ Also, the recruitment exercise of 10,000 workers into the State’s civil service is almost completed and successful candidates will receive their engagement letters as soon as the report from the State’s Civil Service Commission is ratified by the State Executive Council.

30.​ Finally, we have worked with security agencies, local governments, and community leaders to keep our State peaceful, safe, and secure. This is an achievement we will continue to further improve and sustain throughout the yuletide and beyond.

31.​ Mr Speaker, I have highlighted some of our achievements in policies and projects as a relatively young administration implementing a budget and programmes we inherited from the immediate past administration.

32.​ As we government, we are satisfied with the modest mileage we have gained in implementing our blueprint despite the prevailing economic hardship and the political challenges and distractions we faced since the inception of our government.

33.​Nevertheless, we can assure our people that the tempo of governance and delivery of services in our priority areas of investments and economic growth, infrastructure delivery and job creation, education, healthcare and human capital development, agriculture, and food security will gain traction and accelerate with speed and vigour in the new year.

2023 BUDGET PERFORMANCE REVIEW

34.​Mr Speaker, a total revenue of 755,666,987.238 was projected for the 2023 fiscal year. This sum included a supplementary estimate of 200,000,000,000.00, which we accessed for the exclusive purpose of funding the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road project.

35.​The breakdown of the 2023 budget was as follows:

(i) Recurrent Expenditure:​​​N175,249,692,201.00
(ii) Capital Expenditure:​​​​N380,417,395,037.00
(iii) Supplementary capital estimates:​N200,000,000,000.00
Total:​​​​​​N755,666,987.238.00

36.​As of October 2023, the total actual receipts from all sources, was approximately 66% performance on the revenue side.

37.​There were encouraging improvements in internally generated revenue receipts as against the projections for the year, while the performance of recurrent expenditure was 100%.

THE 2024 BUDGET ASSUMPTIONS

38.​Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, the 2024 budget, christened Budget of Promise is based on the following assumptions:

(i) oil price benchmark of $70 per barrel;

(ii) oil production rate of 1.5 million barrels per day; and

(iii) exchange rate of #750/US as projected by the Federal Government.

THE 2024 BUDGET SIZE
39.​The total projected revenue for Rivers State for the 2024 Fiscal Year is N800, 392,485,433.01 billion. This is constituted as follows:

(i) Recurrent Expenditure:​=​361,598,242,570.85​
(ii) Capital Expenditure​​=​410,266,485,090.64
(iii) Total:​​​​=​800,392,485,433.01

FINANCING THE 2024 BUDGET
40.​ The financial sources of the 2024 budget are as follows:

1. Internally Generated Revenue​​ – 231,057,836,945.00

2. Statutory Allocation – 68, 458,610.00

3. Mineral funds – 145, 526,581,463.00

4. Value Added Tax – 55, 650,000,000.00

5. Refunds Escrow, Paris/ECA – 1, 200,000,000.00

6. Refunds from bank charges – 1, 500,000,000.00

7. Excess Crude Account – 1, 700,000,000.00

8. Exchange rate gain – 1, 200,000,000.00

9. Forex equalization – 3, 000,000,000.00

10. Other FAAC – 5, 000,000,000.00

11. Asset sales – 20, 000,000,000.00

12. Capital receipts – 9, 879,557,210.00

13. Proposed internal/external grants – 24, 570,000,000.00

14. International Credits – 2, 000,000,000.00

15. Bonds – 237, 000,000,000.00

16. Internal loans – 235, 000,000,000.00

17. Prior year Balance – 6, 934,784,872.01

TOTAL = 800, 392,485,433.01

RECURRENT EXPENDITURE

41.​The Recurrent Expenditure is projected to be spent as follows:
​
1. Personnel Emolument – 99, 588,939,939.39

2. New Recruitments – 28, 924,562,980.61

3. Overhead costs – 18, 871,623,339.00

4. Grants,contributions & subsidies – 7,908,000,000.00

5. Counterpart pension scheme – 15,000,000,000.00

6. Gratuities/Death Benefits – 77,850,000,000.00

7. Monthly pensions – 30,240,000,000.00

8. Domestic loans interest – 32,420,734,367.60

9. Foreign loan interest – 536,709,798.04

10. Domestic loan, principal repayment- 26,018,966,086.70

11. Foreign loan, principal repayment – 5,081,731,374.51

12. FAAC Deductions- 12,865,723,913.00

13. COT/Charges/General Admin – 5,000,000,000.00

CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

42.​The capital allocation of 410,266,485,090.64 represents about 51 per cent of the total budget projections for the fiscal year 2024.

SECTORAL ALLOCATION OF THE CAPITAL BUDGET

43.​The sectoral allocation of the capital budget is as follows:

1. Governance – 161,742,835,256.27

2. Information & Communication – 2,234,273,168.00

3.Public Administration – 13,852,493,641.59

4.Finance and Planning – 7,779,818,293.13

5. Agriculture – 20,311,574,254.53

6. Infrastructure – 128,003,540,952.66

7. Commerce and Investment – 1,787,418,534,40

8. Culture and Tourism – 1,381,187..049.31

9. Education – 40,426,441,994.74

10. Health – 30,555.506,748.20

11. Social Development – 10,155,787,127.27

12. Environment & Sustainable Development – 8,449,614,889.89

13.Judiciary – N 5,646,617,642.76

The 2024 Budget Policy and Objectives

44.​Hon. Speaker, the overall policy objectives of the 2024 budget are to promote economic development in the State through inclusive growth, the provision of critical infrastructure to support economic, business, and social activities, and the creation of an enabling environment for private sector-led industrialization, job creation and poverty reduction.

45.​We will strive to address the challenges of socio-economic inequalities by ensuring improved access to quality and affordable education, healthcare, water, electricity, housing, social investments, gender empowerment and social inclusion.

46.​This accounts for the reasonably high allocations in the 2024 capital budget to infrastructure, education, healthcare, social development, environment, sustainable development and agriculture.

47.​With these funds, we will build more road networks to interconnect the State, rehabilitate, equip, train and staff all dilapidated primary and secondary schools, build technical and vocational education centres, and allocate more funds to our tertiary schools to improve the quality of teaching, learning and research.

48.​We will also rehabilitate, equip and staff dilapidated primary healthcare facilities, restore, equip, and staff all our general hospitals, complete, equip and staff all five zonal hospitals, implement socially beneficial healthcare schemes, and introduce social investment schemes to fight poverty, social exclusion, and gender discrimination.

49.​Given the importance of the judiciary in the advancement of the rule of law, economic growth, and social accountability, we have also improved the allocation for the funding of the judiciary, law, and justice sectors in this budget to achieve effective and speedy dispensation of justice in the State.

50.​We will ensure that accessed local and international credits are used only for capital projects that would benefit economic growth, give attention to the completion of ongoing projects before embarking on new ones, and grow the economy through targeted investments in areas of comparative economic advantage, including commercial agriculture, electricity generation, renewable energy, oil and gas, housing, and sports development.

51.​We will also provide our young people with the skills and tools they need to succeed in the 21st-century economy and to ensure that education and healthcare are accessible to all regardless of background and means.

Conclusion:
52.​Mr Speaker, Honourable Members, thank you again for your patriotism and dedication to the service and advancement of the State.

53.​The budget we have put forward reflects our commitment to responsible financial management and our dedication to the progress of our State and the well-being of our people.

54.​Our priorities are clear: to secure our State, foster sustainable economic growth, create opportunities for all, invest in the future, and ensure our collective prosperity.

55.​As we all know, the security and well-being of the people are the reason we are in government. The budgeting process is fundamental to the realization of this fundamental objective of state policy.

56.​We recognize the challenges we face as a State and the pointless efforts to frustrate and sabotage our government even before we get started. As you know desperate situations call for desperate measures. I assure you of our determination to weather the raging storm strategically and responsibly.

57.​Mr Speaker, I, therefore, commend this budget to the House of Assembly for your consideration and speedy passage.

58.​Thank you for your kind attention. God bless you all; God bless Rivers State.

The Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide has condemned the accidental bombing by the Nigerian Army that claimed the lives of about 85 villagers and injured several others at Tudun Biri village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

It is indeed a paradox that at a time Nigerians are facing various challenges and losses of lives in the hands of bandits, kidnappers, Boko-Haram insurgents amongst others, an air mishap by the Nigerian Army will claim about 85 lives.

The President General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Chief Engr. Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu expressed deep sorrow over the avoidable catastrophe.

The Igbo Leader urges President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to conduct a thorough investigation on the bomb mishap and those found to be negligent should face the full weight of the Law.  The Igbo Leader is optimistic that the outcome of the investigation will help the Nigerian Army to attain a more prudent, skillful, professional military-civilian engagements in their operations.

Iwuanyanwu calls for adequate compensation to the families who lost their loved ones in the incident as well as appropriate treatment to the victims of the airstrike who are in the hospitals.

On behalf of the National Executive Committee of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide and indeed the entire Igbo, we sympathize with the affected families, the government and the good people of Kaduna State for this very unfortunate tragedy.

E-Sign.

Dr. Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia; the National Publicity Secretary, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is alarmed by the killing of over 120 Nigerians and wounding of several others in the reported mishap bombing of Tudun Biri community in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State by the military.

The PDP laments the mishap bombing as heartrending and agonizing given that the victims were harmless Nigerians who were observing their religious rites.

The fact that the area was bombed twice raises serious concern and questions which border on intelligence gathering, information processing, synergy, command and operation control coordination in the security system.

The PDP calls on the Federal Government to immediately commence an independent system-wide inquiry to dispassionately investigate this sad and unfortunate episode.

Our Party deeply commiserates with the families of the victims of the bombing and prays for the speedy recovery of the wounded.

The PDP condoles with the Government and people of Kaduna State, particularly the Tudun Biri Community and urges the Federal Government to take necessary steps to compensate the families of dead as well as provide urgent medical attention to the wounded.

Our Party also demands that the Federal Government declare a day of national mourning in memory of the dead.

While calling for more professionalism in the battle against terrorism, the PDP urges Nigerians and indeed the military not to relent in the fight to end terrorism in our country.

Signed:

Hon. Debo Ologunagba
National Publicity Secretary

Being Text of the Budget Speech of His Excellency, Dr Peter Ndubuisi Mbah, on the Occasion of the Presentation of Enugu State Draft 2024 Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth, Today, Tuesday 5th, December, 2023 at the Legislative Chambers of Enugu State House of Assembly

The Deputy Governor,
The Right Honourable Speaker,
The Secretary to the State Government
Principals Officers of the State House of Assembly
Honourable Members of the State House of Assembly
The Chairman, PDP Enugu State Chapter
Members of Enugu State Executive Council
Chairmen of Boards and Parastalals
Permanent Secretaries, Clerk of the House
Gentlemen of the Press
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great honour and a deep sense of responsibility that I stand before you today to present our state’s 2024-2026 Multi-Year Budget before this hallowed chambers. This event is of even more import given that it is this administration’s first full year budget, which will go a long way in setting the pace for the achievement of our growth objectives.
It is not so long ago that we presented the revised budget for 2023 before you, honourable members of the House of Assembly, and I must again recognise your expedited consideration of that bill and put on record our appreciation for your commitment. In line with human nature, we have become accustomed to this level of commitment and, therefore, request that you deploy a similar degree of dispatch in your consideration of this current bill.

As you are aware, we had taken a bold view of the growth our state is capable of achieving if we are willing to believe in ourselves and utilise our God-given human and material resources to their fullest. Our vision remains ‘To make Enugu one of the top 3 states in Nigeria in terms of Gross Domestic Product and achieve a zero percent rate in the poverty headcount index.’ We also intend to grow our GDP from the current $4.4b to $30b before 2031.

To achieve these ambitious goals, we have adopted a number of philosophies, which have also found expression in this budget I am presenting today. The first philosophy is that private sector involvement is critical to the generation of the growth that we seek, and consequently we must invest in the factors required to attract private sector investments such as basic infrastructure and amenities (like roads and water supply), transport services as well as modernisation and digitalisation of our public services and their associated processes. Second, we have taken the view that one of the surest ways of ensuring sustainable eradication of poverty is through the aggressive enhancement of our education and public health systems. After all, we know that education corelates all over the globe with economic advancement and prosperity, while health, on the other hand, is critical for the optimisation of the human resources of any nation or sub-national entity. Finally, but most critically, we have taken the view that reliance on allocations from FAAC has not served us well to date and is unlikely to take us to the ‘promised land’. Consequently, you will see in this budget a philosophy to maximise our internal revenue generation efforts, by improving the efficiency of collections, enhancing the efficacy of government services to the populace and evolving creative new revenue generation sources particularly by optimising our natural resources, for example, improved oversight and regulation of mining activities and landed assets.

Before going into the current budget proposal, permit me to cast a glance backwards at our performance in the past period. By end of year 2022, this Honourable House approved a budget size of One hundred and sixty-six billion, six hundred and two million, four hundred and sixteen thousand, seven hundred and seventy naira (N166,602,416,770). During the 3rd quarter of 2023 there was need for a supplementary budget to accommodate new projects and programmes arising from priorities of the new administration in Enugu State and also to reflect the price variations due to inflation. The budget was therefore revised to a tune of two hundred and twenty four billion, six hundred and ninety seven million, eight hundred and ninety-nine thousand, and sixty three naira (N224,697,899,063).

Based on this revised budget, we have been able to make some appreciable progress in fulfilling our promises to Ndi Enugu over the last few months. In our view, some of the more notable achievements have included the following:

We have recently launched the ultra modern water scheme at Ninth Mile which has a daily production capacity of 70 million cubic meters (70,000,000m3) of clean water, combined with the production of 50 million cubic litres from Oji River. This gives a total volume of 120 million cubic meters per a day as against less than 2,000,000m3 we met on resumption of office. This achievement disrupts over two decades water scarcity in Enugu urban, and also fulfils our promise to Ndi Enugu to provide Enugu urban residents with water within 180 days.

We have awarded contracts for the construction and rehabilitation work on the over 81 roads, including several urban roads as well as some priority non-urban roads such as the dualization of Enugu Airport flyover, to Eke Obinagu and Ebonyi border, approximately 22km, and also the construction of Owo-Ubahu-Ama Nkanu-Neke-ikem road of approximately 45km. As you may be aware, work on these roads has since commenced.

We have also expanded the National Cash Transfer Register of the Federal Government from 43,000 to 260,000 beneficiaries. The expansion was to accommodate more poor and vulnerable residents in the state in line with our vision to eradicate poverty.

We have commenced the accumulation of 300,000 hectares of land for our land bank, which will be made available to corporate farmers for massive cultivation of agro produce. In line with this, one partner firm is already planting cassava under the pilot scheme of Cassava to Ethanol Programme in Aninri, Nkanu East, and Uzo Uwani LGAs. Related to this, we are advancing conversations with key development agencies for the development of Special Agro Processing Zones (SAPZs) in the 3 senatorial zones of the state.

We also held the Enugu State Investment Roundtable which attracted the best of the private sector as well as development partners such as AfDB, AFREXIM, FCDO, the WB, etc, thus signalling our government’s zeal to transform Enugu State into private sector driven economy.

In line with our commitment to reinvent our education system in Enugu State, we are constructing 260 Smart Model Basic Schools across the 260 wards in the state which will rank amongst the best in the country. The pilot Smart Model Basic School in Owo, Nkanu East Local Government Area is now ready for commissioning and similar Schools will be replicated in all the 260 wards across the 17 LG councils in the state.

We are also in the process of constructing 260 Type-2 Primary Health Centres across the 260 wards in the state to carter for the health needs of rural communities which are paramount in our health care agenda.

Last but not least, in recognition that no economic growth is possible without security, we have ensured the discontinuation of the ignoble Monday sit-at-home campaign and boosted the security framework within the state with the introduction of the Distress Response Squad, which has recorded several successes, effectively bringing the crime rate in Enugu State to a bare minimum. We are going further by commencing the installation of a CCTV surveillance network around the state. Work is at an advanced stage on this initiative.

The 2024-2026 Multi-Year Budget is named Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth. This is on account of the fact that it is structured to drive growth in a markedly different pattern than we had attempted to do hitherto. This departure from the usual is most apparent in two main areas. First, our approach to basic education where we are bringing into effect our cut-off program through the development of the 260 model schools to which I had earlier alluded. These schools are unique, not only in the fact that they will house the entire basic school classes from creche to JS3, but also in terms of the significant changes we are making to the curriculum of the children, where we will be infusing new subject areas like Technology, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, to mention but three. In addition, the approach to teaching in these schools will be experiential, with extensive use of practicals, examples, dramatization, gamification, and so on. This naturally requires extensive re-training of our teachers to enable them to grasp these new learning approaches as well as the various technology-based teaching and learning tools which we shall deploy examples of which are tablets, interactive white boards, learning management systems, etc. Beyond the ‘hard’ elements of learning, we will also infuse many ‘softer’ elements such as ethics, morals, critical thinking and hygiene to prepare our children to become the leaders we need tomorrow.

Another major area of positive disruption that finds expression in this budget is our drive to change our approach to public service by infusing the use of technology. In this regard, we are in the process of developing a new automated approach to governance, that will involve the automation of all MDAs in the government both in terms of how they run their internal operations and in terms of how they serve the populace. Upon conclusion of this transition to e-governance, it will be possible to initiate most government services without once visiting any government office or physically interacting with any public officer. This will result in increased operational efficiency in government and a higher level of service delivery with fewer revenue leakages. Implementing this will naturally require extensive training and re-training of our public servants to acquaint them with both the new technological tools required as well as the improved work processes to be adopted in executing their work functions under this new dispensation.

Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members, permit me to present the summary of recurrent and capital allocations and its proposed allocations to each sector that makes up this new Budget of Disruptive Economic Growth.

We are proposing a total budget of size of ₦ 521,561,386,000.00 for the 2024 fiscal year as against the approved revised provision of ₦ 224,697,899,063.00 for 2023. This represents a 132% increase from the 2023 revised budget. The budget is broken down as follows:

Recurrent Expenditure
N107,227,266,000.00

Capital Expenditure
N414,334,120,000.00

Total
N521,561,386,000.00

In the area of our revenues, we estimated that total recurrent revenues during 2024 will amount to ₦383,789,000,000.00 as against the approved revised provision for 2023 of ₦143,571,592,917. The recurrent revenues for 2024 are broken down as follows:

Opening Balance
N11,000,000,000

Internally Generated Revenue (IGR)
N252,789,000,000

Statutory Revenue
N60,000,000,000

Excess Crude and others
N16,000,000,000

Value Added Tax (VAT)
N44,000,000,000

Total Recurrent Revenue
N383,789,000,000

For 2024 Fiscal Year, Recurrent Expenditure which is proposed at ₦107,227,266,000.00 is made up of:

Personnel Costs
N47,583,677,000

Overhead Costs
N41,804,698,000

Consolidated Rev. Fund Charges
N17,838,891,000

Total Recurrent Expenditure
N107,227,266,000

With the total recurrent Expenditure at ₦ 107,227,266,000.00, this translates to a Net Recurrent Revenue of ₦ 276,561,734,000.00, which is thus transferred to the Capital Development Fund.
The total Capital Expenditure for the year 2024 is projected at ₦ 414,334,120,000.00 as against ₦135,715,099,693.00 for 2023 Revised Budget. The current capital expenditure estimate will be funded from the sum of ₦ 276,561,734,000.00 to be transferred from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, and the capital receipts of ₦137,772,386,000.00 to be realized as follows:

External and Internal Aids and Grants
N27,922,386,000

Public Private Partnership
N6,100,000,000

Domestic Loans/ Borrowings Receipts
N71,000,000,000

International Loans/ Borrowings Receipts
N32, 750,000,000

Total
N137,772,386,000

On a sectorial basis, the capital expenditure is broken down as follows:

Administration Sector
N20, 877,662,350

Economic sector
N207,837,753,513

Law & Justice Sector
N1,225,643,490

Regional Sector
N1,443,550,000

Social Sector
N182,949,510,648

As I mentioned earlier, education is a key plank in our strategy to eradicate poverty in our state. Consequently, ₦134,587,982,647.78, representing 73.6% of the social sector has been earmarked to help reinvent education in our state by developing the new Smart schools which I mentioned earlier as well as repositioning our senior secondary and tertiary institutions by training and retraining teachers and updating our curricula across all levels of education to infuse technology and technology appreciation and skills. This capital expenditure on education combined with the planned recurrent expenditure in the sector will bring our total spend on education to 33% of the total budget.

Healthcare remains paramount, especially in these challenging times. This budget allocates the sum of ₦ 21,777,421,000 to enhance healthcare facilities, expand access to quality healthcare services, and bolster our response to health emergencies. Our goal is to ensure every citizen has access to reliable and efficient healthcare. We pledge to upgrade healthcare facilities, ensure the availability of essential medicines, and implement initiatives to enhance public health awareness. In particular, we have commenced the construction of 260 Type-2 Primary Health Centres across the 260 wards in the State to carter for the health needs of rural communities.

We also understand the significance of infrastructural development in propelling economic growth. Hence, ₦82,535,147,361.03 is planned for road construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of public building across the state. This initiative will facilitate smoother connectivity, bolster trade, and enhance overall accessibility, and attract investments that create jobs.

The sum of ₦28, 970, 250, 000 is planned for the enhancement of the water sector to ensure safe and quality water supply to Ndi Enugu. This investment will ensure the expansion of the current water scheme by boosting reticulation of water across the Enugu Metropolis.

Agriculture remains a crucial sector in our drive towards self-sufficiency and economic diversification. We are committed to developing at a Special Agro Processing Zone in each of the senatorial zones. In deed, we have reached an understanding with a development agency for the first one on which work will commence this year. These zones will enable us to support farmers with modern techniques, infrastructure and access to markets, ultimately boosting food production and creating employment opportunities. We are also in advanced stages of discussions with funders for the development of a Quality Assurance Centre in Enugu to facilitate the export of agro commodities from the Enugu Airport. In order to achieve this, a sum of ₦25,184,154,671.81 has been earmarked for this sector in the 2024 budget.

Additionally, this budget prioritizes job creation, empowerment programs for our youth, and initiatives to attract private sector investment. We are dedicated to fostering an environment that encourages entrepreneurship and innovation, thereby unlocking the full potentials of our vibrant populace.

Furthermore, we are committed to ensuring good governance, accountability, and the prudent management of public funds. We will work tirelessly to eradicate corruption and promote a culture of transparency in all government activities. Fiscal prudence and accountability will remain at the core of our financial management. We will ensure transparency in the utilization of resources, optimizing every naira to deliver maximum value for the citizens of Enugu State.

To support our fiscal initiatives and improve implementation effectiveness, this administration will also pursue the following initiatives:

Sustain an effective collaboration with security agencies and strengthen our logistic support to remain among the most peaceful states in Nigeria; increase Public Private Partnership (PPP) with relevant investors to invest in the key sectors of the state economy and undertake robust human capital development;
expand the industrial base of the state through rapid industrialization and harnessing of untapped mineral resources in the state;
provide an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive through extensive improvement in the ease- of-doing-business ranking of the state; increase the domestic revenue base (IGR) significantly by eliminating evasion and leakages in collection and expenditure; develop the tourism potentials of the state and enhance creative industry; stimulate the agricultural and agro-allied industries to boost production of local farmers to ensure food sufficiency for local consumption, exports as well as the provision of raw materials for the industries; rapid empowerment of children, women and youths through capacity building, empowerment, skill acquisition and elimination of gender discrimination practices;
re-orientation of public servants through training & retraining, effective intra and inter MDAs collaboration by digitizing operations to enhance service delivery; provide recreational and sporting facilities to increase life expectancy, boost sports development and ensure improved performance of the state representatives at local, Nlnational and international sporting competitions; strengthen performance monitoring mechanism with a central coordinating unit at the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning Commission; improve fiscal transparency and accountability in all MDAs with emphasis on due process and cost effectiveness in all programs and projects of government.

Mr. Speaker and Honourable Members, this budget of Disruptive Economic Growth of ours represents our collective aspirations and endeavors to build a more prosperous, inclusive, and resilient Enugu State. Consequently, I urge all stakeholders to join hands in this journey towards a better future for all residents.Together, we will achieve greatness and leave a legacy of progress for generations to come.

Thank you and God bless you and the entire people of Enugu State. I wish you a happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year. Certainly, our Tomorrow is here!

PRESS STATEMENT

NIGERIA AT #COP28   

The Federal Government has noted with interest the public conversation on the number of delegates from Nigeria attending the ongoing Climate Summit in Dubai, otherwise called COP-28, and the need to provide clarity in line with a standing pledge to conduct itself with transparency and accessibility regarding public information.

The Convention of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the world’s pre-eminent Climate Change Conference, attended this year (COP-28) by more than 70,000 participants and delegates from over 100 countries. Nigeria’s representation is very much in line with our status as Africa’s leading Sovereign voice and player in climate action.

Parties to this Convention from Nigeria include government officials, representatives from the private sector, civil society, the voluntary sector, state governments, media, multilateral institutions, representatives of marginalised communities, and many others.

It is imperative to point out that the overall Nigerian delegation to COP-28 comprises Government-sponsored (Federal and State Governments) and non-government-sponsored participants (from Private Companies, NGOs, CSOs, Media, academia, etc).

 The Federal Government-funded delegation is made up of a total of 422 persons, as follows:

1. National Council on Climate Change = 32

2. Federal Ministry of Environment = 34

3. All Ministries = 167

4. Presidency = 67

5. Office of the Vice President = 9

6. National Assembly = 40

7. Federal Parastatals/Agencies = 73

As the biggest economy and most populous country in Africa, with a substantial extractive economy and extensive vulnerability to climate change, Nigeria has a significant stake in climate action, and our active and robust participation at COP is therefore not unwarranted.

COP-28 presents an array of investment and partnership opportunities for the various sectors affected by climate change, and Nigeria is already benefiting from its ongoing participation, as demonstrated by the following:

1.  Nigeria and Germany signed an accelerated performance agreement to expedite the implementation of the Presidential Power Initiative (PPI) to improve Nigeria’s electricity supply. The agreement was signed by Mr. Kenny Anuwe, the Managing Director and CEO of FGN Power Company, and Ms. Nadja Haakansson, Siemens Energy’s Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Africa, at a ceremony witnessed by President Tinubu and Chancellor Scholz.

2. President @officialABAT hosted a high-level meeting with stakeholders and investors on the Nigeria Carbon Market and the Electric Buses Rollout Programme on the margins of the COP28 climate summit.

a.  The President unveiled the Nigeria Carbon Market Activation Plan, co-chaired by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Zacch Adedeji, and the Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr. Dahiru Salisu.

b. The Electric Buses program is only the first step in a series of innovative, clean, modern, and sustainable initiatives across diverse sectors, all aimed at simultaneously addressing climate change-related challenges, reducing carbon footprint, modernizing infrastructure systems, and positioning Nigeria as an attractive destination for global investments.

3. Nigeria stands to benefit from the Loss and Damage Fund established during COP-27 in Egypt and formally operationalized at the opening plenary of COP-28 in Dubai. The Fund will provide substantial non-debt financing to support countries most affected by the impact of climate change. Hundreds of millions of dollars have already been pledged as contributions to the Fund.

4. The President also met the President of UAE to concretize engagements between the two countries. This is aside from the bilateral talks held with several countries and multilateral partners.

It should be highlighted that, over the years, Nigeria has firmly demonstrated its climate action credentials by being the first African country to launch its Energy Transition Plan, the first African country to issue a Sovereign Green Bond, and one of the first to pass national climate change legislation.

President Tinubu has been unequivocal in his position that Africa, which is battling problems of poverty and security and struggling to provide education and healthcare to her people, cannot be told to abandon its primary source of income, which is mostly from extractive industries, without the West providing the funding and investment in alternative and clean energy sources.

Since assuming office, President Tinubu has been a vocal champion for the African continent on the global stage, whether at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the G20, or the ongoing COP-28. The President has been supported by an equally active and engaged Nigerian delegation at these various fora.

It is, therefore, essential to keep setting the records straight while assuring Nigerians that President Tinubu and other officials on the Federal government delegation are in Dubai for serious business, not a jamboree.

Mohammed Idris, FNIPR

Honourable Minister of Information and National Orientation

4th December 2023

The Enugu State Government has observed with dismay the indiscriminate destruction of public utilities such as water pipes, electric cables and roads by contractors and contract workers in the course of laying of fibre optic cables, road construction, mounting of billboards or any other activity that requires digging or drilling in Enugu State.

The government hereby issues a stern warning that such destructions or damages will be treated as gross acts of economic sabotage for which the offenders shall be sanctioned with fines for full restoration of the damaged facilities, in addition to possible criminal prosecution.

Meanwhile, all contractors involved in laying of fibre optic cables and road constructions in the state are invited to an urgent meeting at the Office of the Secretary to the State Government as follows:

Date: Monday, December 4, 2023

Venue: SSG’s Board Room, Abuja Building, Government House, Enugu

Time: 2.00 pm prompt

Signed:
Professor Chidiebere Onyia
Secretary to the State Government

President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, in his welcome remark at the 2024 budget presentation session, outlines why the 10th National Assembly is proud to work collaboratively with President Bola Tinubu.

1. The Supreme Court issued a hearing notice dated 25th October 2023, notifying the Labour Party (LP) and its candidate in the Presidential Election, Mr Peter Obi, that judgment would be delivered in their appeal to the Supreme Court in Appeal No. SC/CV/937/2023 on Thursday, 26th October, 2023.

2. On the 26th of October, 2023, LP and her lawyers were in Court. The Supreme Court proceeded to read the judgment in Appeal No. SC/CV/935/2023 filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). After that, the Presiding Justice, His Lordship John Inyang Okoro JSC, verbally stated that the decision in the LP appeal would abide by the judgment just delivered in respect of the PDP appeal!

3. The LP finds the position taken by the Supreme Court regarding the judgment in her appeal extraordinary, terribly shocking, most unprecedented and unacceptable for the following reasons:

(a) The appeals filed by both the PDP and LP from the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court were two distinct appeals which emanated from two separate judgments of the Court of Appeal.

(b) The two appeals were not even consolidated at the Supreme Court but were heard separately.

(c) At the separate hearing of both appeals, the question was never raised, the parties never agreed, and the Court neither gave a directive nor ordered that the judgment in one appeal would abide by the decision in the other!

(d) The petitions from where the two appeals arose were heard separately at the Court of Appeal based on separate pleadings and different sets of witnesses. Thus, the facts of the two petitions were remarkably different.

(e) The only issue where the parties agreed in the two appeals was 25% votes in Abuja. The other issues submitted to the Supreme Court for determination in the two appeals differed remarkably. By way of illustrations, we draw attention to some of the issues:

(i) Forfeiture of funds being proceeds of narcotics trafficking contained in the LP petition (and not in the reply);

(ii) Double nomination of the 3rd Respondent (who was not even a party in the PDP petition);

(iii) Failure to comply with the mandatory requirement of Section 73(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022, the consequence of which the provision stipulates, renders the election invalid.

(iv) The effect of the certified true copies of 18,123 blurred and unreadable polling unit result sheets (Form EC8As) downloaded from the IReV, issued by the NEC to the LP and its candidate which they tendered in Court. Some were blank A4 papers, pictures, and images of unknown persons. They were purported to be copies of polling units results. Even with the materiality of the issue, the Court of Appeal evaded making a finding on it.

(f) They were all part of the LP appeal but not that of the PDP appeal.

(g) The LP had, out of an abundance of caution, by letter dated 26th October 2023, applied to the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court for the certified true copy of the judgment in the LP appeal. There was a reminder through a letter on 8th November 2023. However, to date, the requests have been ignored.

(h) The LP is also aware that by the provision of Section 294(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), every Court established under the Constitution (which necessarily includes the Supreme Court) has a duty to:

“Furnish all parties to the cause or matter determined with duly authenticated copies of the decision within seven days of the delivery thereof.”

(i) The Supreme Court has failed to do this in the present appeal.

4. In conclusion, the LP finds it very embarrassing and depressing that the Supreme Court would, after hearing the appeal by our party, refuse to deliver any judgment and also fail to avail our party of any copy of whatever it considers to be its decision.

5. With every sense of responsibility, the LP believes that the Supreme Court’s conduct is regrettable and unprecedented. This constitutes an unmitigated breach of the constitutional right of LP and her candidate to a fair hearing.

SIGNED:

ALHAJI UMAR FAROUK IBRAHIM
NATIONAL SECRETARY

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has been inundated with barrage of complaints from well-meaning Nigerians concerning unauthorized withdrawals from their bank accounts, which investigations by the Commission have linked to Automated Teller Machine, ATM, Debit Card swapping or fraud.

The modus operandi of fraudsters involved in this nefarious practice involves keeping a debit card of the same bank, and in the guise of helping a confused bank customer at any ATM point, swaps the card in such a hurry that the customer would not notice and at the same time memorises the pin used in trying the fake cards. These cards get stuck in the machine due to a wrong pin and the fraudster quickly abandons the victim, advising him/her to report to the bank while making away with the victim’s card to make immediate withdrawals from the account.

This card swapping typically happens in any service delivery point, such as Point of Sale, POS, terminals, ATM points, among others. The fraudulent practice is gaining momentum across the country and the banking public is enjoined to be more circumspect in the use of debit cards.

In view of the foregoing, the following tips may be useful in avoiding further financial losses by the banking public.

1. Cards should be kept in sight or a safe place. Whenever you get your card back after making any payment, make sure it is actually your card and not just one that looks similar.

2. Regularly check your bank statements for any unknown transaction.

3. Set transaction alerts to monitor any activity on your accounts or with your bank card.

4. Cover the keypad with your hand or body when entering your PIN at POS terminal/ATM machines.

5. Do not be in a rush to make payments or withdrawals and request for assistance only from officials of the bank.

6. Call your banks to block your ATM cards immediately when your cards are stuck in the ATM machines or whenever you observe any irregularity.

7. Ensure you know your bank’s ATM offline blocking code and quickly make use of it whenever it is misplaced or stolen.

8. Dial the USSD code *966*911# and follow the pop-up instructions to block your ATM card instantly.

The EFCC will not relent in safeguarding personal, corporate and national finances in its quest to rid our nation of all forms of economic and financial crimes.

Dele Oyewale
Head, Media & Publicity
November 27, 2023.

1. The attention of the Federal Ministry of Works has been drawn to the concerns of the public on the deplorable situations of some sections of the Federal roads throughout the Federation as reported in many media platforms, especially social media, the front page, pages 4,5,6 and 14 of the publication of Sun Newspaper of 26th November, 2023. Most of the sections of the roads frequently reported but definitely not exhaustive are: the Makurdi-Nsukka 9th Mile Road, East West Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Benin bypass road, collapsed bridges of Enugu- Port Harcourt road, collapsed bridges of Shandam-Plateau State, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road and Gombe- Bauchi etc.

2. The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR is aware of the state of our road infrastructure which he inherited on the 29th day of May 2023. Without prejudice to all the good efforts of the past administration on road infrastructure development which they tackled within the limit of their resources, the work to be done to change the ugly state of our roads is quite enormous.

3. Mr. President is not complaining of the challenges he inherited in nearly all sectors of the economy, especially as it concerns our road infrastructure, but he is quite courageous as he had promised to tackle the problems head-on which he has started to do not minding the debt burden inherited especially the funding gap of over Six Trillion Naira (₦6T) from most of the inherited on-going road projects.

4. Mr. President has since reeled out plans of commitment, consistence, and innovations towards actualizing a sustainable road infrastructure development throughout the country. He has just approved a 2023 Supplementary budget of Three Hundred Billion Naira (₦300B) for the Ministry of Works comprising of One Hundred Billion Naira (₦100B) for immediate palliative works in 36 States and FCT and Two Hundred Billion Naira (₦200B) for continuation of most of the inherited ongoing projects and very few new but critical road projects.

5. Mr. President has directed that works in those palliative projects must commence before 1st December 2023, while observing all due process. On the sections being frequently complained of by the public in all regions of the North and South of the country, Mr. President has equally isolated them and directed immediate actions on them and indeed work has started on all such roads. The public can crosscheck our claims and report back to us

6. The engagements of the Federal Ministry of Works will not be limited to these isolatedly reported cases but shall be holistic in our approach through these approved palliative measures and the interventions of FERMA in all the 36 States and FCT also.

7. The public is hereby requested to assist the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA by supervising the contractors that will be engaged in these palliative works and indeed all ongoing projects of the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA. It is the right of every Nigerian to have value for their money deployed to the road infrastructure sector and therefore must show both interest and passion in all the ongoing projects by the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA, and indeed all projects of the Federal, State and Local governments. All poorly constructed roads should be photographed and reported immediately to the following contacts: 08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197; showing the name of the contractor, the location and type of contract and defects observed. The Federal Ministry of Works will document such reports, verify and take effective action to correct such infractions. The Federal Ministry of Works shall also periodically recognize publicly those who made such reports that are genuine in a public engagement forum to be hosted quarterly by
the Federal Ministry of Works and will sanction such erring contractors publicly too.

8. THE USE OF ASPHALT AND CONCRETE PAVEMENT IN ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

a. The Federal Ministry of Works is shocked to observe the various acts of darkening counsel without knowledge on the position of the Ministry on the use of asphalt and concrete pavement in the development of our road infrastructure by people who have vowed not to release their hands off the brake of our road infrastructure development just for their selfish gains.

b. The Federal Ministry of Works has at no time banned the use of asphalt or directed that concrete pavement shall be the only means of road pavement structure. For the avoidance of doubt, the new policy of the Federal Ministry of Works is simply put as follows:

i. contractors for all the ongoing projects are simply requested to have a choice to continue to use asphalt or have their projects redesigned on concrete at no extra cost to government following the underlisted conditions:
ii. Use of asphalt: contractors shall stick to only 5% Variation On Price (VOP) in line with the signed contract agreement throughout the period of the project and the signed contract shall not be subject to review especially on bituminous items.

iii. The thickness of the asphalt pavement as designed must be strictly adhered to by all such contractors and the design shelf life for the asphalt (at least 15 years) shall be guaranteed by issuing an insurance bond through a reputable insurance company in favour of the Federal Government. This is in line with Article 2 of the signed contract and clause 51 of the general conditions of contract (which is part of the documents forming the signed contract with contractors which authorize the client through the Engineer to change the scope of the work, the quantity of the work, the quality of the work as the client may deem fit at any time etc.) for all the ongoing projects. These directives to the contractors do not in any way violate the Federal Ministry of Works’ signed agreement with the contractors.

iv. For the use of concrete, contractors must abide by the 5% VOP and 50 years design shelf life using concrete grade 40.

c. Those who are complaining and demarketing this policy are simply those who do not wish Nigeria well and they are the same people that use adulterated bitumen in their projects while putting pressure on our Naira through the importation of adulterated bitumen instead of developing our abundant God given bitumen deposits in Ogun State and other parts of Nigeria. Insofar as this new policy has not violated any law, the Federal Ministry of Works is forging ahead with this new policy. As at today, most of the ongoing projects are still ongoing with asphalt pavement in line with this new policy while some are redesigned on concrete pavement, depending on the terrain and with full understanding of the affected contractors of those projects.

9. The Federal Ministry of Works is very concerned with the supervision of our projects and effective 1st of December 2023, there will be a revolution in the ways and methods the Federal Ministry of Works supervises her projects nationwide. All concerned are HEREBY put on NOTICE as the Ministry will not spare anyone found culpable in his or her assignment.

10. The Director of Works of the 36 States and FCT and FERMA have been directed to audit all projects in their States and FCT especially equipment on and off sites with their pictures, personnel of contractors, status of all projects including financial status (contract sum, date of award, period of construction and time table, amount paid, challenges, % of work completion, augmentation of project if any, VOP claims etc). This assignment must be completed before 30th November 2023. Note that this directive was given since the past two months.

11. The Federal Ministry of Works wishes to thank Mr. President for his directive that all inherited projects from the past administration be continued while he makes frantic efforts to source for funds for the completion of these ongoing projects and the critical new ones within his 1st 4 years of his Divine 8 years of purposeful and fruitful divine administration through the power of God who divinely brought him to leadership at this critical moment of our Nation’s history..

12. On the part of the staff of the Federal Ministry of Works, I pledge to strictly and Godly follow the divine Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President, and God willing, we shall continue to support Mr. President and deepen the good efforts of Mr. President in all our road infrastructure development.

Signed:

H. E. Sen. (Engr.) Nweze David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE
Hon. Minister.

…calls for calm while reassuring maximum protection of citizens’ rights

Following the receipt of social media reports alleging the unprofessional conduct of some police officers in Nsukka town, the Enugu State Command’s Commissioner of Police, CP Kanayo Uzuegbu psc (+), has ordered the Deputy Commissioner in-charge of the State CID Enugu, to immediately commence a meticulous investigation that will lead to appropriate disciplinary sanctions against any of the police officers found wanting.

The Commissioner, therefore, calls for calm. He entreats those affected by the said acts of police misconduct to come forward and volunteer evidence that will aid the timely conclusion of the investigation and further police disciplinary actions.

Meanwhile, the CP has reaffirmed his unwavering stance against police unethical conduct and reassured the maximum protection of the rights of citizens in accordance with existing laws. Hence, he enjoins the citizenry to always support the Police Reform Agenda by remaining law-abiding and promptly reporting acts of police misconduct in the State for necessary disciplinary actions. This they can do by calling 08099854883 or sending an email to infoenugupolice@gmail.com.

DSP DANIEL NDUKWE, anipr
Police Public Relations Officer,
Enugu State Command,
State Headquarters,
GRA, Enugu.