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12 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2022
:Vanguard
News
:@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
BRIEFING—From left: Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Olisa Ifeajika;
Commissioner for Finance, Fidelis Tilije, with Commissioner for Special Duties, Government
House, Henry Sakpra, during the briefing with journalists on the update and activities
in Delta State.
2023: Wike proposes N550.6bn
budget
By Egufe
Yafugborhi, Davies
Iheamnachor
PORT HARCOURT—
Governor Nyesom Wike
of Rivers State has presented
the 2023 Appropriation Bill of
N550.6 billion to the state
House of Assembly for
consideration and approval.
The budget, christened
‘Budget of Consolidation and
Continuity', has
N350,977,495,537 for
Capital Expenditure for the
2023 fiscal year, representing
about 63.2 per cent of the total
budget, and Recurrent
Expenditure
of
N175,249,692,497,
representing about 31 per cent
of the spending proposal.
Obaseki inaugurates 2 new Airbuses for
Ibom Air
....Describes A-Ibom as Nigeria's pride
By Harris Emanuel
& Chioma Onuegbu
U YO—GOVERNOR
Godwin Obaseki of
Edo State has described
Akwa Ibom State as a pride to
Nigeria, given its exploits in
the aviation sector.
Obaseki stated this while
inaugurating two Airbus
A320-200 recently acquired by
the state government to
increase the number in the
fleet of Ibom Air to nine planes.
Performing the
inauguration at Victor Attah
International Airport, Uyo,
yesterday, Obaseki applauded
Governor Udom Emmanuel
for the giant strides in the
aviation sector.
"Even Nigeria as the
biggest country in Africa
cannot run an aviation sector
successfully. Ibom Air is
always fully booked. Let me
thank you on behalf of
Nigerians. Don't be deterred
by insult, focus on your goal,”
he said.
In his welcome remarks,
Governor Emmanuel said his
administration has
committed huge resources to
the development of the
aviation sector in the state.
He said he had committed
more funds than received
from the Federal Government
to the development of the
state, even as he is at the verge
of commissioning a world
class Terminal Building and
a Maintenances, Repair and
Overhaul facility at the
airport.
"We did not come to give
excuses, we came to do
governance. Look at what we
have done in the aviation
sector, if it is not more than
what we have collected, then
you can challenge me
anywhere.
"Our terminal building
there is world class in Africa,
our MRO is world class. If
you find one today in the
entire Gulf of Guinea, tell me
I will break down this one and
construct another. This MRO
can take 24/47 800 series, will
service eight of the CRJs that
we are flying at the same time.
This is the only MRO in this
part of the world. People are
coming, asking us to lease this
MRO.
"I invest in areas we can
have return on our investment.
Airbus is on us to come and
use our MRO for all their
regional flights. We are going
to open up this place from
January next year for
commercial activities and we
are going to earn in dollars,
not Naira,” he said.
Bayelsa utilising derivation funds prudently —Diri
Y
E
By Samuel
Oyadongha
N A G O A —
GOVERNOR Douye
Diri of Bayelsa State has said
the 13 per cent oil derivation
funds accruing to the state
were being prudently spent,
mostly on infrastructure
development.
Diri stated this, yesterday,
when the Interim
Administrator, Presidential
Amnesty Programme, PAP,
Maj.-Gen. Barry Ndiomu
....Vows to complete ongoing projects
Under capital expenditure,
N114,264,480,208 is
proposed for infrastructure,
N36,999,486,717 for
education
and
N31,500,002,023 for health.
Wike, while presenting the
spending proposal to the state
law makers, said: “The sum
of N114,264,480,208 is
provided in the 2023 capital
budget estimate to fund the
completion of all ongoing
roads and other physical
infrastructural projects
awarded by our
administration."
He explained that his
administration proposed a
recurrent expenditure of
N175,249,692,497, as
N73,460,278,307 would be
spent on salaries (Ministries/
Departments/Parastatals), N
(retd), called on him in
Yenagoa.
The governor, in a
statement by his Chief Press
Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah,
insisted that the
administration had nothing to
hide and that the state’s
monthly allocations from the
Federation Account had
always been made public
through its monthly
transparency briefings.
He explained that what the
state received as 13 per cent
derivation refund from the time
7,758,772,851 on new
recruitment, N33.6bilion on
monthly pensions as well as
N12billion on gratuities/
death benefits.
Wike said the fiscal year
2023 budget is targeted at
delivering economic growth,
additional infrastructure and
prosperity for citizens.
He said: “We have,
therefore, resolved to continue
with the existing fiscal
measures for the year 2023.
This means that there would
be no increase in tax rates. No
new taxes will also be
introduced.
“However, we will continue
to intensify our drive to
significantly improve IGR by
expanding opportunities for
more investments,
industrialization and efficient
of the previous administration
was being paid in instalments,
after it had been discounted.
Diri also stated that the
amount did not make much
impact in terms of development,
noting that the income and
expenditure of the state were
accounted for on a monthly basis
through the transparency
briefings.
He added that the cost of
construction in a difficult terrain
such as Bayelsa was three or
more times than elsewhere,
adding that the cost of
tax collection," he added.
He disclosed that the state
remains determined to reduce
its dependence on statutory
federal allocations to finance
its budget and development.
To this end, he urged other
sister states to join Rivers in
the struggle to secure the right
to impose and collect VAT at
the sub-national level.
Wike while reviewing the
2022 budget performance,
said N420, 485,053,736 was
only approved.
He opined that by the end
of October 2022, total revenue
receipts of the state stood at
N321, 250,781,228.91, only
about 70 percent
performance, while, the total
receipts from internally
generated revenue (IGR) was
N112.099 billion.
constructing a road project in the
state was more than three or four
flyovers in some other states
even in the Niger Delta.
On PAP, the governor called
on the Federal Government not
to end it as it contributes
significantly to the peace and
security of the Niger Delta
region.
Diri congratulated Ndiomu on
his appointment and urged him
to write his name in gold as he
had the capacity to ensure that
Niger Delta youths benefit from
the programme.
Edo APC challenges Obaseki
on 13% derivation, others
By Ozioruva Aliu
BENIN CITY—EDO
State chapter of the All
Progressives Congress, APC,
yesterday, came hard on the
government of Governor
Godwin Obaseki, accusing him
of not disclosing how much the
state received from the arrears of
13 per cent derivation paid by the
President Muhammadu Buhari
administration, as recently
revealed by Governor Nyesom
Wike of Rivers State.
The party also accused the
state government of not
disclosing the financial position
of the state and hoarding the
derivation fund to 'buy votes’
during the 2023 election,
'particularly the election into the
House of Assembly'.
Addressing newsmen at the
party’s Secretariat, state chairman
of the party, Col David
Imuse (retd) claimed that the
activities of Obaseki was because
there was no properly
constituted state House of
Assembly.
He said: “Obaseki should
explain why he has deliberately
refused to specify amounts
received as 13 percent derivation
fund in his 2023 budgets
estimates.
“Mr. Obaseki has been busy
maligning the Federal
Government, accusing it of
printing paper money to fund
statutory allocations and
mismanagement of the national
economy, whereas as a
deliberate policy, he has been
pocketing Edo State monies by
mismanaging the derivation
funds.
LP chair urges supporters to
vote for Peter Obi
By Gabriel
Enogholase
B ENIN—NATIONAL
Chairman of Labour
Party, LP, Mr. Julius Abure, has
called on supporters of the
presidential candidate of the
party, Peter Obi, to ensure that
their current huge and
committed support is
translated into vote that would
guarantee victory for the party
in next year's general elections.
Abure also reminded them
to bear in mind that there is
much work to be done to
achieve the party's desires of
winning the next year's
election by moving from
house to house to convince
voters on why they should elect
Obi as the next president of
the country.
He made the call, while
addressing the party’s support
group Coordinators, LGAs,
Wards, Units Chairmen and
Secretaries at a dinner party
in Benin City, organised by
him to appreciate them for the
successful presidential rally
in Edo State a fortnight ago.
Expressing gratitude to
them and all Peter Obi
supporters, who turned out
enmasse for the Labour Party
rally without inducement or
any payment of any kind,
Abure said: "The Edo Labour
Party rally is the talk of the
town despite the state
government's refusal to allow
us access to public space for
the presidential rally."
He revealed that Edo State
government ensured that they
blocked the use of Ogbe
Stadium, Uniben Sport
arena, UBTH Ground and a
host of others but was unable
to block the Baptist ground,
which was eventually used by
the party to flag off its
presidential rally in Edo
State.
2023: Poverty now
unbearable in Nigeria
—Delta PDP guber candidate
By Festus Ahon
A
S A B A —
GOVERNORSHIP
candidate of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta
State and Speaker of the state
House of Assembly, Sheriff
Oborevwori, has lamented
that poverty in Nigeria has
reached unbearable level
between 2015 and 2022,
under the All Progressives
Congress, APC-led Federal
Government.
Oborevwori, who stated this
during the continuation of his
ward-to-ward campaign in Sapele
wards 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 11, 10, 9, 7
Communities laud Kalanama
over scholarships for flood
victims
By Chancel Sunday
C chairmen, OMMUNITY
under the
umbrella of Community
Chairmen's Forum, CCF,
Bomadi Local Government
Area of Delta State, have
lauded the Pere of Akugbene-
Mein Kingdom, HRM Pere
Luke, Kalanama VIII, for the
award of scholarships to
students/pupils and
empowerment of indigenes in
the kingdom.
The community leaders,
and 1, decried that Nigerians are
living in abject poverty, adding
that the only option left for
Nigerians is to vote for the PDP
for a positive change.
Insisting that PDP is the only
party that has the solution to
the problems currently
bedeviling the country, he said;
"what you have been enjoying
in Sapele are done by the PDP".
Oborevwori who is also the
National Deputy Chairman of
the Conference of Speakers of
State Legislatures of Nigeria,
decried the poor state of federal
roads in Delta State. He said
they were in the wards to solicit
for votes and on a need
assessment of the area.
also lauded the monarch for
the cash gift to communities
to cushion the effect of the
recent flood in the areas.
Speaking after an enlarged
meeting at Akugbene,
chairman of CCF, Theophilus
Omoro, noted that
Bomadians were ever
grateful for his human
empowerment initiatives in
Bomadi council.
"We, community chairmen
in Bomadi, hereby thank Pere
Kalanama VIII for all his
efforts towards human
empowerment, peace and
security in kingdom."