By Kelechi Ogunleye

Mr Victor Muruako, the Chairman of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), says the culture of financial impunity is gradually becoming a thing of the past in the country.

Muruako made this known during a courtesy visit by the Nigerian Economics Students’ Association (NESA), University of Nigeria, Nsukka to the commission on Friday in Abuja.

He said the commission which was set up by the Fiscal Responsibility Act No. 31 of 2007 and started operations in 2009, had made alot of giant strides since its inception.

“We have indeed made some landmark achievements from when we first began as a commission to where we are today.

“First and foremost, the culture of impunity is definitely disappearing and people are becoming more responsible.

“Although, corruption cannot just evaporate like that but you can see today that unlike before people are now being held accountable for whatever they do,” he said.

According to him, that in terms of budget implementation, the situation was far better than what was obtained before now.

“In the past Mr President would just release his budget speech few days to the end of the year and that is it.

“But now, with the Act and the commission as well as our engagements with the relevant stakeholders, including Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning, we now have series of activities that will definitely lead to the national appropriation.

“Like the engagement with Civil Society Groups, the Medium term expenditure framework, the public hearings that are carried out and alot of other processes,” he said.

The chairman said that all these were definite steps towards planning in such a way that national budget was no longer the way it used to be which has led to gains.

“There must be absolute planning because if you fail to plan, then you have already planned to fail,” he said.

The FRC boss said that the commission had also made alot of giant strides in the aspect of revenue generation.

He explained that the ability of the commission to come up with the template for the calculation of operating surplus that was quite acceptable, had really yielded lots of revenue.

“Earnings to the consolidated revenue funds of the Federal Government have greatly increased. I can tell you that year upon year, we have continued to improve in that area.

“We have been working in collaboration with other stakeholders, particularly the National Assembly, the Office of the Budget of the Federation, Ministry of Finance and Accountant General of the Federation.

“So if you check the quantum. For the first time in 2021, the independent revenue of the Federal Government was able to hit the trillion mark.

“This can obviously be traced to alot of activities by the commission and we are still counting,” he said.

He said that there was need to continuously embark on youth sensitization to help in instilling the culture of fiscal discipline in the lives of young citizens.

“This is because one of the problems we identified with issues of instilling fiscal discipline in public officials is that it is very difficult to change adults as bad habits die very hard.

“So, we at the commission felt that one of our key strategies is to reach out to the leaders of tomorrow who are the public-officials-to-be.

“We want to catch them young while they are still at that early stage and we started this by setting up what we call ‘Army of Fiscal Responsibility Enthusiasts’,” he said.

Godspromise Ngadi, the President of NESA, University of Nigeria, Nsukka said the association was privileged to have been impacted with so much knowledge about the activities of the commission.

“We have come to understand that one of the primary responsibility of the FRC is to harness the country’s resources, promote efficiency as well as dynamism and economic development.

“We have also been charged as fiscal responsibility enthusiasts to be disciples of fiscal accountability.

“We will cascade this message to our various institutions, homes and the society and ensure our impact is felt in the country at large,” he assured. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Ruth Oketunde

The Helpline Foundation for the Needy, has reiterated its commitment to improve the lives of widows in Nigeria by supporting and raising more awareness about their plights.

Dr Jumai Ahmadu, Founder of the foundation, said this at an event to commemorate the 2023 International Widows Days and the 20th anniversary of the foundation, in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the International Widows Days is celebrated annually on June 23 and the day aims to raise awareness about the challenging circumstances faced by widows.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.

Ahmadu said that the foundation remained resolute in supporting vulnerable women and widows, who most often suffer several forms of abuses, resulting into poverty.

She said it was important to raise awareness on the plights of widows who face all sorts of injustices, ranging from discrimination, cultural, political and social segregation.

“Surely, widows deserve more from us, corporate organisations, the international community and the governments.

“Through our work at the Helpline Foundation for the Needy, we have so far committed 20 years to empowering the less privileged.

“We continue to empower widows by providing them access to skills and acquisition training, non-profit loans and economic opportunities.

“We are of the firm conviction that by leveraging innovation and technology, we will not only uplift the widows but also bridge the gender gap, thus creating a much more inclusive society for widows, women and girls,” she said.

Ahmadu added that it is necessary to rebuild the lives of widows in the country, help them regain their confidence and break free from the cycle of poverty.

“Do not forget that every positive action we take, no matter how small, has the power to create a positive change in the lives of widows and vulnerable women,” she added.

NAN reports that the event featured the launch of the book, titled “Rise from the Ashes” and the premier of the documentary, “Ajadu”, with both telling the stories of the plights of widows. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Vincent Obi

By Ruth Oketunde

The FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) says 116 houses have been affected by flood at Trademore Estate, Lugbe, Abuja.

The Director-General, FEMA, Dr Abbas Idriss, who said this in a statement by Nkechi Isa, Head, Public Affairs, FEMA, however said no life was lost in the incident.

“No fewer than 116 houses were submerged, but no life was lost, following a heavy downpour which started in the early hours of the day.”

He said that the flood which was caused by infractions on the water channels, had made the Estate to be vulnerable to flooding.

The FEMA boss dismissed social media reports alleging that a resident of the estate was missing as a result of the flood.

He however appealed to residents whose houses were built on water channels to relocate.

Idriss who said that the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had predicted heavy flooding in the FCT this year, also advised residents living on flood prone areas to relocate.

He called on the residents to use the 112 Emergency toll free number to report emergencies. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

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Edited by Muhammad Suleiman Tola

By Priscilla Osaje

The Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe    says President Bola Tinubu has the capacity to take the nation’s tourism sector to the desired destination .

Runsewe said this while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

He said that the quality and calibre of advisers the president had appointed showed his administration was ready for business.

He said  Tinubu displayed so much passion for tourism  and did so much for the sector during his tenure as governor of Lagos State.

Runsewe said Tinubu, as governor, invited  foreign experts to develop tourism in the state, in the area of hotel registration, grading, among others.

The NCAC boss said if the president had done all that as state governor, Nigerians should be ready for a turn around of  the nation’s tourism sector.

“My appeal to Nigerians is that they should be patient and take things easy with him. I  am competent to speak about what he did in the sector because I was the DG of Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation at that time.

“We must be ready to see a new Nigeria, new values, new orientation and new beginning,” he said.

Runsewe, who noted that journalists were key to development of any sector, said their support  was needed to promote and move the sector forward.

He also commended Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), for the recent training programme, he organised for journalists, in commemoration of the 2023 Gastronomy Festival.

He described the training as innovative and helpful as it was designed to enhance the capacities of the benefitting journalists.

“My appeal today is that we continue to partner journalists with a view to developing the sector.

“For few years now, the sector has suffered because journalists have not been  given the role they are  supposed to play.

“My view is that we work more with journalists, re-engineer and reawaken both side’s consciousness on how to  report this sector the right way” he said. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kevin Okunzuwa/Buhari Bolaji

By Ibironke Ariyo

The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) says about 97,000 passport booklets still remain uncollected in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

The Service Public Relations Officer, Comptroller of Immigration, Mr Tony Akuneme said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.

Akuneme said that the service recently found out that Lagos State had half of the uncollected passports.

He said that there was also a danger that half of the owners of the uncollected passports could not be reached due to lack of proper documentation because of third party involvement.

He said the essence of state of emergency declaration was to draw attention of the media so they could deepened the process for the service as a lot of people do not know if their passport were ready for collection.

“Some of them engaged agents to help them in their passport processing and these agents might be doing for alot of persons.

“They end up dropping wrong contacts and thereby making it difficult to reach out to the owners of these passports when they are ready for collection. This is a big challenge,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Acting Comptroller General of the NIS, Mrs Caroline Adepoju had recently declared state of emergency on passport issues across the country.

The spokesman said the service recently found out that most applicants’ complaints bothers on some human and technical factors which included slow speed of the internet.

According to him, the CG didn’t want to leave anyone in doubt as to the issue of passport processing being her core area of interest.

“That’s how she came about that term of declaring state of emergency in the passport issues.

“When the acting CG assumed office, she made it very clear that she was going to focus on passport reforms and staff welfare,” he said.

According to him, the Lagos State Governor is willing to collaborate with the CG in terms of expanding the passport services.

“So, we went to Lagos State Governor to help in terms of giving us office space where we can set up front desk offices and immediately, the governor was very positive in his response

“Lagos is a tourism place and immigration have a key role to play in the mind of anybody visiting the state.

“So it was a welcome development and the state of emergency declared is already yielding fruits as the governor accepted CG’s request on land allocation to build staff quarters in Lagos,” he said.

The service, he said, needed the media to tell Nigerians that people should not think there were no passport booklets.

He said, “there are booklets issued that are not collected. It is ironical, we don’t have problem of booklet, we don’t have shortage of booklets.

“What we have had in the last one or two years is a sudden upsurge in the number of Nigerians wanting to travel . We felt it was also related to COVID-19,” he said.

Akuneme assured that the result would be instant as more facilities were going to be put in place to curtail challenges of passport issuance across the country. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Sadiya Hamza

By Lizzy Okoji

British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Richard Montgomery on Thursday pledged to work closely with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) toward the development of stronger ties between both countries.

Montgomery made the pledge during a courtesy call on the Managing Director of NAN, Mr Buki Ponle in Abuja.

The British envoy said the collaboration between the high commission and NAN became necessary, especially at a time both countries “are in their transition periods’’.

The high commissioner who is the new British envoy in the country expressed delight at being in Nigeria “at such an exciting time’’.

“I know that the News Agency of Nigeria is a long-standing news agency and one of the biggest in Africa.

“I also know that because Nigeria is watched by so many other countries, the news that you produce is very important for the citizens here and also all over the world.

“I am happy that you are giving me time today and it is an incredibly exciting time with the transition of the two administrations.

“This is my first open media engagement. I am very appreciative of the role that you play and I look forward to good collaborations,” Montgomery said.

Responding, the managing director of NAN urged the government of the United Kingdom to support the new administration in Nigeria led by President Bola Tinubu so that it will achieve huge success.

According to Ponle, as commonwealth nations, both Nigeria and the UK have had very successful, long-standing close ties across many sectors.

He said that Nigeria would be looking forward to enjoying the support of the UK government in boosting its economy, trade relations, and strengthening the security situation in the country.

He added that Nigeria would be looking forward to deepening diplomatic relations with the UK under the leadership of President Tinubu and King Charles III.

“We are highly honoured to receive you here and as you have rightly pointed out, this is the first media house you are visiting since you arrived Nigeria two months ago, because you came at a critical time – during transition to a new government – although government is a continuum.

“We need your assistance to fight insecurity. We need your assistance in the area of the economy, especially where trade imbalance is concerned.

“We look up to you for support in terms of whatever you could do to make this new administration a success.

“Yes, it has been receiving global goodwill but we want that to be sustained.

“We need more positivity, more visibility in terms of reforms and everything to make this administration a success we count on you,” Ponle said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

(Edited by Emmanuel Yashim)