Business
Court orders RMAFC to fix salaries of federal lawmakers
- NASS members’ pay to reflect economic realities
The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday ordered the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to fix the salaries and allowances of all senators and House of Representatives’ members to reflect the economic realities in the country.
It also ruled that the National Assembly Service Commission had no power to determine the remuneration and allowances of lawmakers.
The judgment by Justice Chuka Austine Obiozor followed the consolidated suits brought by Mr Monday Ubani, Mr John Nwokwu, more than 1,500 concerned Nigerians, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), BudgIT and Enough is Enough Nigeria (EiE).
The judgment came after the hearing of originating summons in suit number FHC/L/CS/690/2018: Mr Monday Ubani and other, and suit number FHC/LA/CS/943/2019 involving SERAP, EiE, BudgIT, (suing for themselves and on behalf of 1522 concerned Nigerians).
The court ruled that RMAFC remained the only body responsible for determining the salaries, remuneration and/or allowances of the National Assembly or political offices holders.
The court heard arguments from the plaintiffs’ lawyers Mr Femi Falana (SAN) and Ms Adelanke Aremo.
This was disclosed in a statement by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare.
It stated that the court ruled that “the National Assembly Service Commission has no power whatsoever to fix and determine or allocate the remuneration, allowances, salaries, emoluments or monetary values to the members of the National Assembly.”
The suit was filed following the reports that members of the National Assembly received running costs and allowances not determined by RMAFC and that such allowances were illegal because they were far above what the RMAFC prescribed.
Senator Shehu Sani had in an interview with The News magazine on the 8th of March 2018 revealed that “each senator receives N13.5 million monthly as running cost in addition to over N750,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances.”
The plaintiffs in their consolidated suits stated, “RMAFC has failed to do any downward review of salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly since 2007 in spite of the economic downturn in Nigeria. Yet, the commission is statutorily required to review the pay of the lawmakers, in conformity with the country’s economic realities and to achieve fiscal efficiency.”
The suits, read in part, “Given many years of extreme poverty in the country, and the inability of several state governments to pay salaries of workers and pensions, the refusal or failure of the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to review and cut the salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly is a gross violation of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) and the commission’s own Act.
“The allowances of wardrobe, newspapers, kitchen traveling domestic and constituency project allowances of the members of the National Assembly are never contemplated or in the intendment of the constitution which created them and specified how they can be remunerated.
“The duty of the RMAFC to review the salaries and allowances of members of the National Assembly is mandatory and the Commission cannot choose not to comply. Therefore, the failure or refusal by the Commission to comply with its own Act amounts to arbitrariness.
“Unless the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs are granted, the defendants and members of the National Assembly will continue to benefit from these outrageous salaries and allowances, in breach of the law and at the expense of millions of Nigerians living in extreme poverty.
“The amounts budgeted as payment for furniture and accommodation allowance to members of the 9th National Assembly negates the oath of office under the Seventh Schedule of the 1999 Constitution by members to perform their functions in the interest of the well-being and prosperity of Nigeria.
“The National Assembly comprises of 469 members – with 109 in the Senate and 360 in the House of Representatives. These public officers form a very tiny percentage of about 200 million Nigerians. Members are still eligible to collect huge sums of money as monthly allowances and severance pay at the end of their respective terms.”
Business
Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%
Food price, transport fare hike push Nigeria’s inflation to 33.88%
Rising cost of living based on the increase in food prices and transport fares among others has reflected in the latest inflation figures in Nigeria, put at 33.88 per cent.
Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 33.88 per cent in October 2024, up from 32.7 per cent in September 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Friday.
Newstrends.ng observes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised interest rates five times this year in an effort to rein in inflation.
The NBS in its latest report attributed the rise in inflation to increased transportation costs and higher food prices.
On a year-on-year basis, the rate was 6.55 percentage points higher than the 27.33 per cent recorded in October 2023, highlighting a substantial increase in inflation over the past year.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in October 2024 stood at 2.64 per cent, representing a 0.12 per cent increase from the 2.52 per cent recorded in September 2024
This indicates that the rate of increase in the average price level in October 2024 was higher than the rate of increase observed in September 2024.
Aviation
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.
The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.
All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.
A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.
Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.
The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.
“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.
“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.
“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”
Business
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).
The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.
“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.
Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.
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He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating into sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808mbpd in November.
“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2mbpd by the end of the year,” he stated.
Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy”.
He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cashflow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3mbpd.
On his part, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team and pledged the Federal Government’s support for the company to do more.
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
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