Headline
Edo Govt. Clears Air On 13% Derivation Refund
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorThe Edo State Government says it has received just N2.1billion so far out of the N28 billion accrued to the state from the backlog of one trillion naira 13 per cent derivation refund that is due to the oil producing states in Nigeria.
The state’s Commissioner for Finance, Budget, Economic Planning and Development, Mr. Joseph Eboigbe, disclosed this on Wednesday in Benin City at a press conference shortly after the State Executive Council meeting.
Evoigbe, flanked by Mr. Chris Nehikhare, Commissioner for Communication and Orientation and Mr. Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser to Governor Godwin Obaseki on Media Project, said: “Edo State’s share of that figure was N28billion naira. A small figure out of the N1 trillion, that was what got to us.
“So, we have received three quarterly releases so far, N700 million, N700 Million, N700 million, totaling N2.1billion. That is what has come into the State’s coffers and it is verifiable in the bank, and the office of the Accountant-General has the records.
“Our share was N28 billion, the net is to be distributed over five years, quarterly, that will be 20 quarterly installment releases, three have come so far, each has been N700 million, N700 million, N700 million and how that money was spent again, we have the records for anybody that wishes to see.”
Providing a context for the derivation refund and how the money was established, the Commissioner explained: “The commissioners of finance in Nigeria under the aegis of the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), especially those from the oil producing States, we spotted the fact that there was an anomaly in the way federal government was spending money from crude oil and gas sales and not taking out derivation. So the work was done, and a total of about one trillion naira was established to the oil producing states.
READ ALSO: Account For 13% Oil Derivation Backlog Paid By Buhari, Wike N’Delta Governors
“It went through the whole process, the Economic Council approved, and the President approved and a distribution methodology was adopted from the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) and they now established what was going to each State. Edo State’s share was N28 billion. What was also approved was the way and manner this money was to be distributed to the States.
“The net amount, again there are usually sundry deductions, so the net amount will come to each state over five years, each year you will have quarterly remittances which means four releases each year over five years. This disbursement was to start this year, but some States went to court with restraining order. Releases now started in October, just last month.
“What the Federal government did do was to keep the share of each State. So by the time they started releasing, Edo State got 2 tranches in arrears and what we got was 700 million per quarter, this is verifiable in our bank account just behind here at sterling bank.”
The Commissioner for Communication and Orientation,
Also speaking, Nehikhare emphasized that the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration will continue to apply all resources due to the State in the most frugal manner and in the best interest of Edo people.
“The state has consistently used our resources prudently. We are not using our money for fancy projects but for projects that have direct impact on the lives on the majority of our people,” Nehikhare stressed.
You may like
Edo Govt., APC In Verbal War Over State’s Rising Debt Profile
Edo Govt Announces Routes For Intra, Intercity Free Transport Service
Edo Govt Warns Against Acts of Violence, Terror
Why Edo Govt paid May Salaries, Pension Early – SSG
Alleged Disruption Of Road Project: Edo Community Apologises To State Govt Over Threat Of Reprisal
Edo Govt To Recover N1.5 Billion From Land-grabbers
Headline
UPDATED: Defence Chief, Nine Others Die In Kenya Military Helicopter Crash
Published
15 hours agoon
April 18, 2024By
EditorA Kenyan military helicopter carrying top brass including the defence chief crashed on Thursday, police said.
President William Ruto convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council, his office announced after news of the crash emerged.
Defence forces chief General Francis Omondi Ogolla was among those on board the helicopter that went down in Elgeyo Marakwet county, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) northwest of the capital Nairobi, a senior police officer told AFP.
“The helicopter burst into flames after crashing and it had more than 10 senior commanders on board including General Ogolla,” the officer said.
READ ALSO: Heavy Floods in UAE, Afghanistan, Pakistan, 135 People Killed
“They were in the area on a security mission because there are KDF (Kenya Defence Forces) soldiers deployed in the region,” he said.
Earlier, there was no report of official comment on casualties.
“President William Ruto has convened an urgent meeting of the National Security Council at State House Nairobi this evening following a Kenya Defence Forces’ helicopter crash this afternoon in Elgeyo-Marakwet County,” State House spokesman Hussein Mohamed said in a statement.
Ogolla, 61, was appointed Chief of the Defence Forces by Ruto in April last year after a stint as deputy.
READ ALSO: Court Restrains EFCC From Arresting, Detaining Yahaya Bello
Ruto told journalists last May that he appointed Ogolla despite him being among those who tried to overturn his narrow election win against opposition leader Raila Odinga in 2022.
“When I looked at his CV, he was the best person to be (a) general,” Ruto said, adding his decision went against the wishes of many people.
A trained fighter pilot, Ogolla joined the KDF in April 1984, rising through the ranks to command the Kenyan Air Force in 2018, a post he held for three years.
However, in a latest report, President Ruto said Ogolla and nine other senior military officers died in a helicopter crash on Thursday.
He added that only two survived the air accident.
“Today at 2:20 pm, our nation suffered a tragic air accident… I am deeply saddened to announce the passing on of General Francis Omondi Ogolla,” Ruto said.
AFP
Headline
Heavy Floods in UAE, Afghanistan, Pakistan, 135 People Killed
Published
17 hours agoon
April 18, 2024By
EditorAround 70 people have been killed by heavy rains lashing Afghanistan over the past five days, the government’s disaster management department said on Wednesday.
Neighbouring Pakistan has also been hammered by spring downpours, with 65 people killed in storm-related incidents as rain falls at nearly twice the historical average rate, officials told AFP.
Dubai’s flagship Emirates airline cancelled all check-ins on Wednesday as staff and passengers struggled to arrive and leave, with access roads flooded and some metro services suspended.
Afghanistan was parched by an unusually dry winter that desiccated the earth, exacerbating flash-flooding caused by spring downpours in most provinces.
READ ALSO: Germany Arrests Two Alleged Russian Spies
Disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeq said “approximately 70 people lost their lives” as a result of rains between Saturday and Wednesday.
Fifty-six others have been injured, he added while more than 2,600 houses have been damaged or destroyed and 95,000 acres of farmland wiped away.
Giving a smaller death toll last week, Sayeq said most fatalities at that point had been caused by roof collapses resulting from the deluges.
The United Nations last year warned that “Afghanistan is experiencing major swings in extreme weather conditions”.
After four decades of war, the country ranks among the nations least prepared to face extreme weather events, which scientists say are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change.
READ ALSO: E-Money Promises To Support Nollywood Actor, Junior Pope’s Children
At least 25 people were killed in a landslide after massive snowfall in eastern Afghanistan in February, while around 60 were killed in a three-week spate of precipitation ending in March.
In Pakistan, heavy downpours between Friday and Monday unleashed flash floods and caused houses to collapse, while lightning killed at least 28 people.
The largest death toll was in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 32 people have died, including 15 children, and more than 1,300 homes have been damaged.
“All the casualties resulted from the collapse of walls and roofs,” the spokesman for the province’s disaster management authority, Anwar Khan, told AFP on Wednesday.
Dubai’s giant highways were clogged by flooding and airport passengers were urged to stay away on Wednesday as the glitzy financial centre reeled from record rains.
READ ALSO: Man, 40, Arrested For Allegedly Raping 14-year-old Girl In Anambra
Huge tailbacks snaked along six-lane expressways after up to 254 millimetres of rain – about two years’ worth – fell on the desert United Arab Emirates on Tuesday.
At least one person was killed after a 70-year-old man was swept away in his car in Ras Al-Khaimah, one of the country’s seven emirates, police said.
Passengers were warned not to come to Dubai Airport, the world’s busiest by international traffic, “unless absolutely necessary,” an official said.
“Flights continue to be delayed and diverted… We are working hard to recover operations as quickly as possible in very challenging conditions,” a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.
Climatologist Friederike Otto, a specialist in assessing the role of climate change on extreme weather events, told AFP it was “highly likely” that global warming had worsened the storms.
Two German-Russian men were arrested in Bavaria on suspicion of spying for Russia and planning blasts and arson attacks to undermine Berlin’s military support for Ukraine, German prosecutors said Thursday.
The pair, identified only as Dieter S. and Alexander J., were arrested in the city of Bayreuth in southeastern Germany on Wednesday, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
The main accused, Dieter S., is alleged to have scouted potential targets for attacks, “including facilities of the US armed forces” stationed in Germany.
Police officers also searched both men’s residences and workplaces on Wednesday.
READ ALSO: Tracing Putin’s 25-year Reign As Russians Vote
They are suspected of “having been active for a foreign intelligence service” in what prosecutors described as a “particularly serious case” of espionage.
According to prosecutors, Dieter S. had been exchanging information with a person linked to Russian intelligence services since October 2023, discussing possible sabotage acts.
“The actions were intended, in particular, to undermine the military support provided from Germany to Ukraine against the Russian aggression,” prosecutors said.
The accused allegedly expressed readiness to “commit explosive and arson attacks mainly on military infrastructure and industrial sites in Germany”.
To this end, Dieter S. collected information about potential targets, “including facilities of the US armed forces”.
READ ALSO: Putin Wins Russian Presidential Election With 87.97% Of The Vote
Fellow accused Alexander J. began assisting him in March 2024 at the latest, they added.
Dieter S. scouted some of the potential targets by taking photos and videos of military transport and equipment. He then allegedly shared the information with his contact person.
Dieter S. also faces a separate charge of belonging to a foreign terrorist organisation, as prosecutors strongly suspect he was a fighter of an armed unit of the so-called “People’s Republic of Donetsk” in eastern Ukraine in 2014-2016.
Germany has been shaken by several cases of alleged spying for Russia since the invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, amid suggestions that officials in Berlin are too sympathetic to Moscow.
A former German intelligence officer is currently on trial in Berlin, accused of handing information to Moscow that showed Germany had access to details of Russian mercenary operations in Ukraine. He denies the charges.
In November 2022, a German man was handed a suspended sentence for passing information to Russian intelligence services while working as a reserve officer for the German army.
AFP
Bandits Seek Peace Talks With Zamfara Gov In Viral Video
JUST IN: More Trouble For Bello As Immigration Service Places Ex-Kogi Gov On Watchlist
Police Rescue Three Toddlers Locked Up In Lagos Home
Woman S*xually Abuses Child, Films It In Viral Video
Jnr Pope: ‘That Guy No Suppose Knack Bell’ – Boat Captain Narrates His Own Side Of Story [VIDEO]
Junior Pope: ‘Our Boat Captain Hit Fisherman’s Canoe’ – Survived Actor Narrates How It Happened [VIDEO]
Trending
- Metro4 days ago
Junior Pope: Photos From Funeral Of Makeup Artiste, Abigail Frederick
- News5 days ago
Video: Moment Pastor Enenche Sent Lady Away For Giving False Testimony On The Altar
- Metro2 days ago
Two Soldiers Arrested For Allegedly Stealing Armoured Cables At Dangote Refinery In Lagos
- News4 days ago
BREAKING: APC Suspends National Chairman Ganduje
- Headline4 days ago
US-based Nigerian Bodybuilder Dies 18 Days After Being Shot By Wife
- News3 days ago
BREAKING: FG Begins Disbursement Of N200bn Palliative Loans
- Headline2 days ago
B-I-Z-A-R-E: Woman Wheels Dead Uncle’s Corpse Into Bank To “Sign Off” Loan In Her Name [VIDEO]
- Metro3 days ago
Transformer Vandal Met Waterloo, Electrocuted In Benin
- News4 days ago
Pastor Enenche Under Fire For Accusing Church Member Of Fake Testimony
- Metro4 days ago
‘Side Chick’, Family Members Allegedly Attack Lover’s Wife