Minimum Wage : Senate Deny Plan To Seize States, LGs Funds

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Yemi Adaramodu, has categorically denied recent speculations suggesting that the National Assembly’s Upper Chamber is considering a clause to seize funds from states and local councils in the forthcoming New Minimum Wage Bill proposed by the Executive. The controversy began after a report by a national daily, claimed that federal lawmakers were contemplating the inclusion of a controversial clause that would allow for the seizure of funds when the bill is introduced in the Senate. This report has since sparked widespread discussions and concerns among stakeholders. In response to these claims, Yemi Adaramodu issued a formal statement from Abuja on Saturday, dismissing the allegations as entirely unfounded. Adaramodu said, “Mr. President in his national broadcast on Democracy Day only informed Nigerians that he would soon send the New Minimum Wage Bill to us. “No one among us, not even the Senate President, knows the content of the Bill. How can we take a position on a document that we haven’t even sighted? “During my interface with some journalists, who approached me for an interview as part of activities to mark the one year anniversary of the 10th National Assembly, I did not at any point, state that the allocations belonging to States and Local Governments will be seized. “Nigeria is a federation, with sub-national governments that are autonomous. The misleading headline by The Punch Newspaper that allocations belonging to States and local councils will be seized is false and should be disregarded. “We are still awaiting the Executive Bill and once we have it, it will go through all Legislative stages and once this is done and it receives Presidential assent, it becomes law. And it is law that can specify sanction, not the National Assembly. “My interview was well reported today in the national dailies. It was not exclusive to The Punch. Other newspapers reflected adequately what I said. Why did Punch choose to misrepresent me?”

FAAC Shares ₦1.1 Trillion Revenue To FG, States, LGs

The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) distributed a substantial sum of ₦1.123 trillion from the March 2024 Federation Account revenue to the federal, state, and local government tiers on Friday. The allocation, as reported by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, reflects an uptick in several major revenue streams, including import duty, value-added tax (VAT), gas royalty, and companies’ income tax (CIT). According to a communique released after FAAC’s April meeting, the total distributable revenue consisted of ₦311.233 billion from distributable statutory revenue, ₦511.879 billion from distributable VAT revenue, ₦14.754 billion from Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and ₦285.525 billion from exchange difference revenue. The total available revenue for March was ₦1,867,808,000,000. Deductions for the cost of collection amounted to ₦69.537 billion, while transfers, interventions, and refunds totaled ₦674.880 billion. March’s gross statutory revenue was ₦1.017 trillion, a decrease of ₦175.212 billion from February’s ₦1.192 trillion. Conversely, the gross revenue available from VAT for the same period was ₦549.698 billion, marking an increase of ₦89.210 billion over the previous month. The communique detailed that the Federal Government received ₦345.890 billion, state governments were allocated ₦398.689 billion, and local government councils received ₦288.688 billion. Additionally, mineral-producing states received ₦90.124 billion as a 13% derivation of mineral revenue. From the ₦311.233 billion distributable statutory revenue, the Federal Government received ₦133.960 billion, state governments ₦67.946 billion, and local government councils ₦52.384 billion. A total of ₦56.943 billion was distributed as derivation revenue to the benefiting states. For the distributable VAT revenue of ₦511.879 billion, the Federal Government received ₦76.782 billion, state governments ₦255.940 billion, and local government councils ₦179.158 billion. The allocation of the ₦14.754 billion EMTL revenue saw the Federal Government receiving N2.213 billion, state governments ₦7.377 billion, and local government councils ₦5.164 billion. Furthermore, from the ₦285.525 billion in exchange difference revenue, the Federal Government was allotted ₦132.935 billion, state governments ₦67.426 billion, and local government councils ₦51.983 billion, with an additional ₦33.181 billion shared as derivation revenue with the mineral-producing states.

Uzodimma Dissolves Imo State Cabinet

Governor Hope Uzodomma of Imo State has dissolved the State Executive Council and sacked the Local Government Area Chairmen. The governor disclosed this on Tuesday during a state executive council meeting at the Sam Mbawke Executive Chambers at the Government House, Owerri. Those affected included the Secretary to the State Government, Commissioners, Special Advisers and Senior Special Advisers, the Chief of Staff, and the Chief Press Secretary. While dissolving the cabinet, Uzodomma thanked his former appointees for their contributions towards the success of his administration during his first term in office. He said the dissolution has become necessary to rejig the new administration for optimum performance and new direction and to meet up with the realities of the moment. The governor also apologised for any wrongdoing to any appointee during his first tenure and promised to carry everyone along in his second tenure in the interest and development of the state. Uzodimma is expected to constitute a new cabinet by sending commissioner-nominees to the state assembly for confirmation. Governor Uzodinma and his deputy, Lady Chinyere Ekomaru, on Monday, took their oath of offices at the Dan Ayiam Stadium in Owerri, the Imo State capital. President Bola Tinubu, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo, the Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the Speaker of the House of Representative Tajudeen Abbas, and other All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftains were among those in attendance.