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THE NATION FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2012
NEWS
Govt spends N8.4b on sitting allowances Continued from page 1
•President of Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor And Leader of Federal Government Delegation to the 2011 Christian Pilgrimage to Isreal, the Vatican and Greece, presenting the report to President Goodluck Jonathan at the State House, Abuja … yesterday
North warns panel Jonathan: don’t distract my work
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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan last night asked Northern leaders not to distract his administration’s agenda with its politics of 2015 succession. He also said he is spending his first term in office and could not have been pursuing a Third Term Agenda. The President fired back at the Northern leaders through his spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati. Abati said: “The President is focusing on governance and he remains committed to the transformation agenda. And he refuses to be distracted by those who are already playing the politics of succession. “It is not in any evidence, in any way, that the Belgore Committee, which the President set up to look at the outcomes of previous political conferences’ recommendations, has submitted any report, any where. “I am not aware of any report that has been submitted any where making any recommendations. We would expect that people, who claim to be major stakeholders in the Nigerian project, when they make contributions, their contributions will show commonsense and decency. “To comment on the report of the Belgore committee that has not been Continued from page 1
Some of its committee chairmen are: Senator John Wash Pam (Inter-Faith Dialogues); Alhaji Mahmud Yayale Ahmed (Security) ; Prof. Nur Alkali (Education); Mallam Mohammed Haruna (Media); Dr. Sanusi Abubakar (Economics, Policy Frameworks, Strategic Investments and Infrastructure); Dr. Shettima Mustapha (Agriculture, Water Resources and Mineral Investments); Prof. Awalu Yadudu (Constitutional Amendments, Revenue and
From Yusuf Alli, Abuja
concluded and a report that has not yet been submitted, will amount to witchcraft or if you like sorcery, and it is therefore curious and entirely mischievous. As far as I know, the Belgore committee has not concluded its work. “It also appears strange to me that a group of people, who otherwise would be described as distinguished Nigerians, would claim that the President is looking for a third term. “Every intelligent man in this country knows that President Jonathan is in his first term in office. So, how have they suddenly jump from first term to third term. From the point of view of arithmetic, even their claim cannot stand. So, that claim is weak, it is unacceptable. “If their concern is about the sevenyear term tenure, President Jonathan has made it clear that his proposal is out of patriotic concern about the amount of wastefulness, greed, tension, conflict and the obsession that go into the search for second term. “It is borne out of patriotic concern that elected officials at all levels should dedicate themselves and concentrate their efforts during a specific period. This proposal is not original to the President.” Fiscal Systems, Structure of Nigerian Federalism); and Dr. Sule Bello (Youths, Policy Strategies and Contacts). It could not be immediately ascertained if all the chairmen were at the session. But the statement of the Coalition, which was signed by its convener, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said the North will resist any attempt to extend Jonathan’s tenure beyond May 29, 2015. Continued on page 61
Lawmakers pass Budget 2012 •N888b voted for fuel subsidy
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HERE is room for the Federal Government to spend more this year, with the Senate approving N4.877 billion expenditure, jerking up President Goodluck Jonathan’s proposal by N228 billion. The House of Representatives, increased the Presidential expenditure profile by N180 billion. Both chambers approved N888 billion for fuel subsidy for this year and in arrears for last year. The lawmakers also kicked against the refusal of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to present its expenditure for legislative appropriation. The highlights of the budget are: •Total Expenditure: N4.88tr (increased from N4.65tr) • Oil benchmark: $72 per barrel •2.48m barrels of oil per day production •Exchange rate: N155 to $1 •GDP growth of 7.2 per cent
From Onyedi Ojiabor and Sanni Onogu, Abuja
At the Senate, the Appropriation Bill was read for the third time and passed. Committee on Appropriation chairman Senator Ahmad Maccido, who presented the budget report to the Senate, said of the amount, N372,593,095,601 is for statutory transfers; N559,580,000,000 is for debt servicing. The recurrent expenditure is N2,425,049,954,640. The capital expenditure is N1,519,986,106,691. The committee chair said the estimate included N180billion for the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) and N888billion for fuel subsidy. He said raising the oil benchmark from $70 to $72 has helped to reduce the provision for deficit budget of N1.162billion by N98billion. Continued on page 58
in four years on the sitting allowances of 3,731 board chairmen and members. Going by the directive of the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, each of the 71 boards was either expected to sit four times in a year or eight times. The document states: “The figures are based on rates approved by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission circular on 10th June 2010. “The estimates are for sitting allowances only of board chairmen and members for the maximum of eight meetings per annum approved by the above-cited circular. ‘The two columns capture the estimated figures per annum and for four years, respectively. “Members of some commissions and boards enjoy other allowances covering such benefits as accommodation, out of station travel expenses, furniture, vehicles, medical.” According to the circular, the al-
lowances per sitting were graduated as follows: Special category (Chairman - N150,000, member N120,000); Category A (Chairman - N100,000, member-N75,000); Category B (Chairman - N85,000, member N65,000); Category C (Chairman N75,000, member - N55,000); Unclassified Category D (ChairmanN50,00, member - N40,000). A breakdown of the payment is as follows: Federal Universities Council, with 660 members(N1,372, 800,000); National Population Commission, 37 members-(N142, 080,000); Federal Polytechnic Councils, 420 members (N873,600,000); Federal Colleges of Education, 420 members (N873,600,000); University Teaching Hospitals Boards, 380 members - (N790,400,000); Federal Specialist Hospitals, 260 (N540,800,000); River Basin Authorities Boards, 84 members(N174,720,000); INEC, 13 (N49,920,000); Federal Character Commission, 36 members (N138, 240,000); Revenue Mobilisation Allo-
cation and Fiscal Commission, 38 members (N145,920,000); PPPRA, 35 members (N134,400,000); and NNPC, 11 members (N42,240,000), among others. A government source said the allowances were paid outside the jostle for contracts, accommodation, out of station travel expenses, furniture, vehicles and medical. He said: “What they got in terms of contracts was scandalous. Chairmen and board members usually breathe down on chief executives of parastatals. So, N8.4billion could be regarded as a surface cost. “With the state of the economy, the government cannot continue to pay this bill. This is why the Federal Government is out to merge parastatals. “The Oronsaye Panel has gone far and it will soon submit its report to President Goodluck Jonathan.”
Name
Total Board Members
Board Category
Total sitting Allowances payable
•National Boundary Commission •Federal Character Commission •Smedan •Standard Organisation of Nigeria •Consumer Protection Council •National Agency for the Control of Aids •National Film Video Censors Board •Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria •Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria •Nigerian Television Authority •ICRC •National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission •Revenue Mobilisation Allocation & Fiscal Commission •National Gallery of Arts •National Institute for Cultural Orientation •National Orientation Agency •Nigerian Inevstment Promotion Council •Federal Civil Service Commission •National Population Commission •Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation •Central Bank ofNigeria •National Emergency Management Agency •Nigerian Communications Commission •Nigerian Broadcasting Commission •News Agency of Nigeria •Nigerian Railway Corporation •Federal Road Maintenance Agency •Fiscal Responsibility Commission •PPPRA •National Economic Intelligence Committee •WAEC •EFCC •Debt Management Office •National Lottery Trust Fund •NECO •Local Content Monitoring Board •NIACOM •National Productivity Centre •NIPPS •NITDA •Industrial Training Fund •NIMASA •Nigerian Shippers Council •Citizen and Leadership Training Centre •National Centre for Women Development •Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency •Code of Conduct Tribunal •Commission for Refugees •Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Agency •NEITI •Federal Universities Council •Universities of Agriculture Council •Universities of Technology Council •Federal Polytechnics Council • Federal Colleges of Education Council • Federal Colleges of Agriculture Council • University Teaching Hospitals Board • Federal Specialist Hospitals • Federal Road Safety Commission • INEC • National Lottery Regulatory Commission • Pharmacist Council of Nigeria • Nigerian Press Council • Voice of Nigeria • National Agency for the Prohibition of Traffic in Persons Nigerian Intergrated Water Resources Management • Commission • National Sugar Development Council • Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority • National Automotive Council • Petroluem Training Institute • River Basin Authorities Boards •Estimated sitting allowance payable for 4 years •Estimated amount opayable for sitting allowances per annum
18 36 18 19 41 21 54 21 11 17 12 21 38 12 10 16 17 16 37 11 11 14 7 11 9 20 14 11 35 14 35 21 7 12 9 10 11 11 10 11 13 11 8 21 17 5 10 6 13 15 660 60 80 420 420 320 380 260 12 13 11 69 19 9 8
Special Special B A C B C B A A Special Special Special C C B A Special Special Special Special Special A A A A A A Special Special A Special Special A A A A A C B B A A C B C Special C Special Special B B B B B B B B A Special A B A A B
69,120,000 138,240,000 37,440,000 45,600,000 72,160,000 43,680,000 95,040,000 43,680,000 26,400,000 40,800,000 46,080,000 80,640,000 145,920,000 21,120,000 17,600,000 33,280,000 40,800,000 61,440,000 142,080,000 42,240,000 43,240,000 53,760,000 16,800,000 26,400,000 21,600,000 48,000,000 33,600,000 26,400,000 134,400,000 53,760,000 84,000,000 80,640,000 26,880,000 28,800,000 21,600,000 24,000,000 26,400,000 26,400,000 17,600,000 22,880,000 27,040,000 26,400,000 19,200,000 26,960,000 35,360,000 8,800,000 38,400,000 10,560,000 49,920,000 57,600,000 1,372,800,000 124,800,000 166,400,000 873,600,000 873,600,000 665,600,000 790,400,000 540,800,000 28,800,000 49,920,000 26,400,000 143,520,000 45,600,000 21,600,000 16,640,000
16 10 12 10 10 84
C A A B B B
28,160,000 24,000,000 28,800,000 20,800,000 20,800,000 174,720,000 8,407,520,000 2.101,880,000
•The above figures are only for 71 bodies. Assuming there are almost 500 bodies, then we can extrapolate what the figures would be.
CORRECTION The front page headline on the Boko Haram suspects should have read: “SSS parades suspected killers of Briton, Italian”.
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