DAILY T RUST
Friday, May 18,2012
fHE 5 I~REAT C
Increase in rice tariff would reduce import -Minister
RA.SHES 1929-2013
Minister of Stale for Agricultun: Dr. Bulcar Tijani yesterday said an increase in the import tariff of rice
would help boost local production and also help Ina. the Nigeria; vi· ..ion of being among the top twenty world economies by the 2020. Addressing MWly appointnl slate and tqional directors who would work for the rnllulion of the various agriculture value chains under the Agriculture TramJormation Agenda. Tijani said gov-
fast
FG blames salary delays on su sidy riots, new software I,
Yunus AI:Id.ib.wid
Commitlee (FAAC) meet-
ings.
THEtklay In lht paymmt oh.larks!. 50medvUservanu 11 au-.at by the pro-
tests over subsidy nmOY:lI in 10000uary, the Minista of
Stale for Fin~"cC'Dr. Yerima Lawan Ngama said )'Uterday ln Abu] L He ,Iso qd thallmplemtntali.lO o( two ttntr.l.1 softwul" n,e:-.nl to chedt fraud in !he pi1ymtnl S)'Stem is also • fa.. tor causing the
""'y.
Speakin~
HOU5t
when
the
of Represel1tillh'C
He .Aid the monthly FAAC merrings has been shifitd to 181h and 19th of every mourn as againsl: IJthand 14thbcaU5Cgovcmmcnfs inIDility to meet eJ."pKtation orthc date.. lie said: -That pt!Oplc are not getting their salaries two or three days afttr FAAC is because we a~ changtng the way we pay 5iLIarlcs In Ihis country. Before. budget wu made en-block. noery parastatal
had III p;lyroll nrery month and nobody will tdl you
Cotnmillet tJIl Finma paid an ow~nig.hl visit to the minI5try. Npffil d..!'llffilum speculations IIn.ing IheddayslO latC' hoIdlngo( mOlllhty mt-
that the amounllhcy set il aacLly Ltv amount for the salary in their agency. -More often than nOl,
Ullion Ace )!Jill A1location
the moneylheY8tliS higher
than the lollll salary they pay because the budgd was no\ that scientifIC. You find tllat after payment of sal· ary, I 101 of money wiU be floating in the bank account of so m .. ny MOAs whkh could be recouped for othn' apilal dtvdopmenLThe mmister uptained thaI the deployment of the Inttgnilnl a(ld PeJsonai InfOTIDillion S)'IIm1 compuler software llull gets aIIst.afJ of govunmertl parastltlls together mam il possible for their salaries to be paid al the same ti.ttlt from the office of the Aa:ountant Genenil of the Federation by the cJickof. button He said the efTorl hu yielded good result with the discovery of JS, 000 ghOSI
,,_........
'Nigeria saves N16bn from technology transfer agreements'
~rul'1l'
and the saving of NJ4 billion. As al 1:151 week. there were reports of some civil servants yet to set thelf AprU salaries but the minis· ler assured it was a temporary challenge. He said: -When you Implement a new project. you experience hiCCUps. This is a lemporary delay wt: Itt" r«riYing. As at today. wt: have~ 183MDAsand we discovered JS, 000 ghost workers and had I savings of Nl4billion. -By the lime ~ finish WIth odu:r agencies Uke the military, Police etc, the sav· Ings will be phmomenal. True the consultants are having challenges. but this 15 lemporary~
TRUST INDEX In~1tate
12.1%
'1lP1PorhNdl
1I.lOO
Budq<t
HUtr
foregn R~ Acrt
1l6.Bhn
wesiCrude Acrt
$4.1bn
~Rallo
""
MondafJ PoIicJ W
--_"""
""
..... 1"""'. 001)
~lbn
0tI PriO! {Bonny Ughl)
$1143. birre
011 ootput per day
....
1!J.IJlJ
emmertt is trying to encourage Nigerians to consumed locally produced food such IS rice In order 10 cuI down importJ. He said.: -Food security Is one of the most critical concerns of every nation because it is only food security that brings about national security. 10 achieve thls.. ~ are encouraging evcry Slate to grow and devdop crops they h .. V1: compOlrative advantage so that Nigeria would wake up from beIng I sleeping giant by doing things rightly and difrcrently for better rault:
2,87SMW
>.Imbd HH,25S,ll1.111 NI(~maa
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Souru: CBN, ftftntI ~ of FilwnCf, 1"oMf ilnd P!tr~.