These are the stories you should be monitoring today:
Nigerian students at the Cambridge University in England have protested the recent killings in parts of the country as a result of the herdsmen-farmers crisis.
At the demonstration held on Saturday, the students bearing placards with different inscriptions decried government’s indecisiveness in resolving the insecurity challenges in Nigeria and demanded action to end the killings and justice for the victims of the attacks.
This is coming in the wake of condemnations and protests by prominent citizens and various groups in the country over the recent attack on some villages in Plateau which left no fewer than 100 persons dead.
The Forum of States Commissioners of Finance have claimed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) shortchanged the Federation Account to the tune of N20 billion.
The Chairman of the Forum, Mamoud Yunusa on Saturday night told journalists in Abuja that instead of N 147 billion, NNPC remitted N127 billion, adding that the N3.5 billion which the oil agency claimed to have spent on leaking oil pipelines was another area of contention as the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) claimed ignorance of it.
The development has reportedly affected the prompt payment of June salaries of public servants, as no new date has been set for a Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) on Saturday, says it would be meet with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to address the issue of remittances to the Federation Account that caused the suspension of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.
Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the NNPC, Ndu Ughamadu who disclosed this Abuja said the decision to address the issue with the Vice President was due to the stance of the state commissioners of finance.
According to Ughamadu “The NNPC N147 billion June remittance to the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC), is in line with the terms of agreement it had with governors on the matter,” describing the he demands of the governors as unfortunate and a breach of the said agreement.
“The issue will be resolved with the Vice President who chairs the National Executive Council (NEC),” he added.
The Gubernatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Kayode Fayemi, in the July 14 election in Ekiti has said the white paper issued by the state government barring him from holding political office is of no effect.
The Former Minister of Mines and Steel Development who disclosed this in an interview with Vanguard, said the White Paper could neither stop him nor any other person, adding that it used to be the case in the country where administrative panel report or a judicial commission report were so used to orchestrate the ban of a political office holder, but that period has since gone because it became very clear that this was a witch-hunting tool.
Fayemi citing the rulings of the Supreme Court courtesy in the case between Atiku Abubakar and the Federal Government stressed that it is a settled matter and If anyone had any concrete/verifiable case against me, he/she should prove it in court.
“I am not the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) but there is judicial precedence,” he added.
The Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of BudgIT, Seun Onigbinde has questioned the rationale behind the President’s signing of the 2018 budget despite discrepancies noticed by the executive.
Onigbinde who was speaking in an interview with PUNCH said the President did not take the right approach, as the Budget office ought to have taken advantage of the 26 days window legally allowed to review the budget and brought the points to the President’s notice, who in turn would have made his points known before signing the budget.
“The National Assembly has the power to appropriate funds and that function is open-ended. The estimates submitted by the executive can be tinkered with to any length but great power comes with great responsibility.”
“Because you have the powers to modify the budget does not mean to appropriate for private gain or without alignment to the set vision. I don’t think the National Assembly has done the right thing and the President should not have signed it,” he added.
If the executive is still serious about these projects, they will rapidly present a supplementary budget and make up for the cuts introduced by the National Assembly.
Read » The Big 5: Nigerian Students in the UK protest against Plateau killings, NNPC accused of shortchanging Federation account of N20b and other stories on YNaija
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