The World Bank on Thursday announced Niger state as one of the recipients of the State Fiscal Transparency, Accountability and Sustainability (SFTAS) implementation awards. The state was sole recipient of the Efficiency of Public Expenditure in North Central Nigeria. The awards are: Sustaining overall achievements on SFTAS DLIs from 2018 -2021; Efficiency of Public Expenditure award (only North Central state to receive the award; and Debt Sustainability award won along with 10 other states.
Author: TheStories
This week, there was yet another meeting to review the state of governance and underdevelopment in the Sahel. It was organised by the UNDP and International-IDEA in Dakar, Senegal. One of the participants who has been counting Sahel meetings said it’s the 251st since 1992 and the said meetings have produced 22 strategy papers pathways to securing peace and development in the zone. The question that then arose was whether the meetings bereft of good ideas and effective strategies necessitating more of them or is the problem the unwillingness, if not determination of governments and international partners, not to not…
Ogun state governor, Dapo Abiodun on Thursday presented fiscal Appropriation Bill of N472.25billion to the State House of Assembly, with N270.41billion earmarked as capital expenditure. Abiodun stated that recurrent expenditure stood at N201.84 billion for the fiscal year. The Appropriation Bill, christened “Budget of Continued Development and Prosperity”, also has N79.49 billion as personnel cost, with N61.35 billion earmarked for overhead expenses; just as N39.90 billion is for public debt charge. The governor said an estimated N210.25 billion was projected as internally-generated revenue, with statutory allocation expected to be N92 billion. Abiodun added that capital receipt, which included internal and…
Incumbent Gianni Infantino is set for a third term as president of football’s world governing body FIFA. The organisation said on Thursday that Infantino was the only candidate for next year’s election. The vote takes place on March 16 in the Rwandan capital city Kigali. The 52-year-old Swiss has already received backing from South America, Asia and Oceania. This was in spite of the controversies surrounding the upcoming Qatar World Cup and his botched plans to hold the event every two years. The German football federation had announced on Wednesday that it would not openly support Infantino but would also not…
An oil firm Nadabo Energy Ltd, has asked a judge of an Ikeja High Court, Justice Christopher Balogun, to recuse himself from further presiding over a suit with case number ID/118C/2012, for allegedly meeting with Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa, the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The allegations of bias were made in an affidavit in support of a Motion on Notice sworn by Abubakar Peters, the Managing Director, Nadabo Energy Ltd and a defendant in the suit on Thursday. According to the affidavit, Bawa on March 31, minutes after giving evidence before the court had allegedly held a…
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has called for the modernisation of the production and use of agricultural statistics to improve food security. This is contained in a statement issued by the Communications Section UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) on Thursday. According to the statement, UNECA hosted a celebration for Africa Statistics Day 2022. It had as its theme “Strengthening data system by modernising the production and use of agricultural statistics with a view of informing policies to improve resilience in agriculture, nutrition, and food security on the African Continent.” The event was organised in collaboration with…
The murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi is one of the cruelest political killings of recent years. So far, the masterminds have not been convicted, but a US civilian court could change that. From a Saudi point of view, a royal decree stipulating that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) would also take over the post of prime minister from his father may have been a smart move. Since the appointment at the end of September, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince stands protected from possible prosecution in the United States. After the murder of Saudi dissident and journalist Jamal Khashoggi…
Adequate and accurate publicity for women has been advocated for, even at the instance of gender discrimination, religious bigotry, cultural and traditional factors among other factors militating against them in the society. This was the submission at a two day media training for political reporters organized by the Women Radio with support from United Nations Women and the Government of Canada held in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital on Thursday. According to the CEO Women Radio, Toun Okewale Sonaiya, female politicians and leaders are not given the adequate media coverage as their male counterparts. Okewale Sonaiya who spoke on “The…
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is ready for the conduct of the 2023 general election in the state. Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Shehu Garki gave the assurance during a stakeholders’ meeting at the commission’s headquarters in Minna on Wednesday. He said the commission is at the moment putting finishing touches to preparations for the election. The REC assured Niger people that the commission is ready to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2023. He stressed “on the day of the elections, every material needed for the elections would be ready to ensure free,…
Bauchi state governor, Bala Mohammed of Bauchi has presented a budget of N202 billion for 2023 to the state House of Assembly for approval. Presenting the budget tagged “Budget of Accomplishment and Renewed Commitment” on Wednesday in Bauchi, Mohammed assured members that the budget would be fully implemented. He said N114 billion capital expenditure of the budget represents 57 per cent, while N87 billion for recurrent expenditure, represents 43 per cent. Mohammed said that the budget was 2.6 per cent higher than the 2022 figure of N195.3 billion. The governor said that the 2023 budget was increased in line with…