The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: minister of finance

  • Finance minister, others face committal trial today

     

     

    Abuja division of the National Industrial Court (NIC), Abuja, will, today, hear an alleged contempt suit filed by medical doctors operating under the platform of Association of Specialist Medical Doctors in Academics (ASMEDA).

    The doctors filed the action against the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, over alleged disregard to court order.

    Also joined in the motion on notice for committal for contempt of court marked: NICN/ABJ/145/2021, before Justice Osatohanmwen Obaseki-Osaghae of NIC, include the Chairman, National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Ekpo Nta and Account General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris.

    The court had, on July 23, 2021, in an exparte motion, moved by counsel to the claimants, Martin Agba, ordered the defendants to pay the doctors based on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) and the Associated Allowances.

    The salary was approved by the Federal Government on September 29, 2009, which was the status quo, pending the determination of the suit.

    But the claimants averred that from August 2021 till date, the defendants were yet to fully comply with the said order.

    The claimants, Christopher Sakpa, Momoh Mcsionel, Ahmed Rabiu and Darlington Akukwu, had, for themselves and on behalf of the affected members of ASMEDA, filed the motion against the defendants.

    The NSIWC, AGF and finance minister are 1st to 3rd defendants respectively in the motion on notice dated January 18 and filed by Agba on January 26.

    The claimants had sought an order for leave of the court to proceed with committal proceedings for disobedience to its order “made on July 23, 2021 against the executive chairman of the 1st defendant, chief executive officer of the 2nd defendant and the person of the 3rd defendant.

    “An order of the court for committal of the named principal officers of the defendants for their disobedience, jointly and severally, to the interim restraining and mandatory orders of injunctions of this court made 23rd July 23, 2021, and served on all the defendants on or about July 28, 2021.”

    The claimants prayed the court to proceed on the committal proceedings on the grounds that the court granted all their reliefs directing the defendants to restore them to the status quo as at April 2021 on the CONMESS and associated allowances pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.

    They said the enrolment order of the court was duly served on the defendants on or about July 28, 2021, followed up by an official letter dated, August 9, 2021 by their lawyer, urging the principal officers of the defendants to comply but failed to do so.

     

    (Vanguard)

  • Minister of Finance unveils FG’s initiative for a robust revenue generation that would meet 2022 budget

    Minister of Finance unveils FG’s initiative for a robust revenue generation that would meet 2022 budget

     

    The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has unveiled the federal government’s strategic initiative for a robust revenue generation that would meet the federal government’s N10. 74 trillion target, with which to fund the 2022 budget.

     

    She said at the federal government’s 2022 Budget Public Presentation, in Abuja, on Wednesday, that revenue generation remained the major fiscal constraint of the federal government and that her team would vigorously pursue the administration’s Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives to improve its fiscal position in the year.

     

    According to her, “Several measures are being instituted under the Administration’s Strategic Revenue Growth Initiatives to improve government revenue and entrench fiscal prudence with emphasis on achieving value for money.”

     

    Some of the specific actions under the initiatives, Mrs. Ahmed said would include, “Evaluation of the process and policy effectiveness of Fiscal Incentives, including the review of sectors eligible for Pioneer Tax Holiday Incentives under the Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act; dimensioning the cost of tax waivers/concessions, and evaluating their policy effectiveness; setting annual ceilings on Tax Expenditures to better manage their impact on already constrained government revenues; and ensuring that MDAs appropriately account for and remit their internally-generated revenue.”

     

    Besides, the minister said that her team would identify and plug existing revenue leakages to enhance tax compliance and reduce tax evasion, as well as, leverage technology and automation to eliminate fiscal drainers like subsidies.

     

    Revenue streams

     

    According to the minister, an oil revenue forecast of N 3.362 trillion to fund the 2022 budget would be higher by N1.350 trillion (67.18%) above the previous year’s target of N 2.011 trillion.

     

    Similarly, FG share of Non-Oil Taxes would be expected to stand at N 2.132 trillion, this year, which is about 43.27 percent above last year’s budget of N1.488 trillion.

     

    Mrs. Ahmed said that N2.216 trillion would be earned as Independent Revenue, up from the 2021 budget of 1.061 , which recorded actual collection of N1.1 trillion, as at November, last year.

     

    Other revenue streams, according to the minister were: Dividend from various investments in companies, N195. 716 billion; NLNG Dividend, N187.397 billion; Share from Share of Minerals & Mining, N2.915 billion; Share of Electronic Money Transfer Levy (formerly called Stamp Duty), 29.367 billion down from 500 billion in the preceding year; and Share of Oil Price Royalty, N96.943 billion.

     

    The rest were: Revenue from Government Owned Enterprises (GOEs), N3.306 billion, up from N2.173 billion budgeted for 2021; Draw down from Special Levies Accounts, N 300.000 billion; Signature Bonus 280.855 billion; Domestic Recoveries, N 26.933 billion; Grants and Donor Agencies funding, N63.376 billion; and Education Tax, N305.998 billion.

     

     

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com