The Nation October 20, 2011

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Govt dissolves boards of parastatals NEW – Page 8

•Sambo chairs reconstitution panel

Baba Suwe sues NDLEA for N100m NEWS

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•Actor seeks release from custody

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TR UTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM TRUTH

VOL. 7, NO. 1919 THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011

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Reps battle Jonathan over NNPC, CBN •Why House opposes N98b virement, by Tambuwal From Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi, Abuja

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HE House of Representatives yesterday launched a fresh onslaught against the executive on the budgets of some key federal organs. It insisted that the budgets of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) must be submitted along with the 2012 Appropriation Bill. The House said its demand is in line with the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA). It made the same demand before this year’s budget was considered, but the executive did not comply. The lawmakers invited Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, to appear next Thursday to defend the poor implementation of this year’s budget. Also yesterday, the lawmakers knocked the 2012-2015 budget framework by President Goodluck Jonathan. In its statement inviting Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, •Riot policemen and protesters in a clash during a general strike against new austerity measures in Athens, Greece ... yesterday.

PHOTO: AFP

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Governors make U-turn on subsidy removal Six-man panel weighs options on Wealth Fund

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•Amaechi

OVERNORS may have made a volte face on the planned fuel subsidy removal, it was learnt yesterday. Sources said the governors, who initially endorsed the Federal Government’s plan to remove the subsidy, are rethinking their position. They have constituted a six-man panel headed by their chairman and Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi to finetune their stand on subsidy and the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF), which was launched on Tuesday by the Federal Government. The panel, it was gathered, met in Abuja last night. It is expected to submit its report to the Nigerian Governors Forum

Until this six-man panel completes its assignment, it is too early to talk of our position on the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and the Sovereign Wealth Fund. The presidency has not come with concrete terms to the negotiation table on these issues. From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation, Abuja

(NGF) which may meet in Abuja next week. After a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) presided over by Vice-President Namadi

Sambo on October 6, the governors backed the planned subsidy withdrawal. Subsidy removal, they said then, was part of the difficult decisions that leaders must take to impact on the people. The gains of the removal, they ar-

gued, would outweigh the pains. “One of the most important issues that we canvassed and decision reached on was the support for the Federal Government’s move to remove subsidy because we believe it is in the interest of the country. “We will save money for the development of the economy and at the end of the day, we will provide opportunity for the greater number of people”, they said. They, however, did not reach consensus on the SWF, saying it was a constitutionally wrong for the Federal Government to contemplate operating the Fund with money expected to be shared by all tiers of govContinued on page 2

•SPORT P24 •EDUCATION P25 •POLITICS P43 •E-BUSINESS P49


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The Nation October 20, 2011 by The Nation - Issuu