Author: Victor Emejuiwe

As we celebrate International Women’s Day there are needs to take practical steps to implement a robust agenda that would address the inequality gap and lack of inclusivity affecting Women in Nigeria. This year’s event should go beyond lip service or the ceremonious affinity associated with the event and concrete actions should be taken to fully invest in Women. Investment in Women should be made a top priority because no society can thrive in a scale of balance if a major population that makes up the society (such as Women) is less empowered. It is also common knowledge that the…

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As Nigeria grapples with the food shortage across the country, it is now time to re-think the pivotal role of women in promoting food sustainability in Nigeria. Women are natural beings with an innate potential to conceive, deliver, and nurture. This potential is not restrictive to the biological cycle of life but it extends to all spheres of life including political, social, and economic life. In almost all communities in Nigeria, women constitute a major percentage of active farmers. Women in rural communities have been able to combine strength, zeal, and dexterity in the production of farm inputs that contribute…

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No sane government should watch its citizens suffer untold hardship and live in poverty. The primary responsibility of government is to protect the life’s and to secure the welfare of the people. President Ahmed Bola Tinubu spontaneously announced the removal of fuel subsidy on the day of its inauguration without considering the attendant consequences of such a decision. In fairness to the removal, the amount of money claimed to be payment of subsidy in Nigeria was quite humongous from N300 billion during the Good Luck Jonathan administration in 2012, to N2.7 trillion in 2022. However, beyond the doubt as to…

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It is no longer news that every Nigerian is feeling the heat of the fuel subsidy removal. From the low-income earners to the middle-income earners. This is evident with the fewer cars that ply the once ever busy roads of Lagos and Abuja. The inability of most car users to drive their cars on a regular bases depicts so much deprivation of comfort and sacrifice which was demanded of Nigerians by the Federal Government.  Those who could not afford to drive their cars and those who have been used to plying the public transport, they are also experiencing great hardship…

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Some states are not responding badly on the need to extend Universal Health Coverage to its citizens. It is cheering news to note that national laws and policies that support the right to health of the citizens are being domesticated in most states. One of such law and policy is the establishment of the Mandatory Health Insurance scheme and the provision of the one percent Consolidated Revenue Fund for the Basic Health Care Provision Fund. The domestication of these laws and policy is the only vehicle to which Universal Health Coverage can be attained. Using Sokoto State as case study…

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It has been widely reported of the bill seeking to curb brain drain by mandating Nigerian medical doctors to practice for, at least, five years in the country before going abroad. The bill is said to have received majority support from members of the House or Representatives and have passed for second reading in the House of Representatives. According to the sponsor of the bill, Ganiyu Johnson, the bill when passed into law will check mate the mass exodus of doctors abroad. It is my personal opinion that such law is not only obnoxious and negates the fundamental human right…

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By next year 2024, a decade to the signing of the National Health Act 2014, would have been recorded. The NHA (2014) was enacted after a long battle of advocacy for Nigeria’s health system to provide a law that can guarantee the right to health of Nigerians. Like so many other significant laws in Nigeria with beautiful provisions, the National Health Act is not an exception. The National Health Act has so many beautiful provisions which unfortunately have not translated to efficiency and effectiveness in Nigeria’s health sector. A review of some of the provisions of the NHA (2014) reveals…

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 As stakeholders in the health sector continuously advocate for the enrollment of more citizens into the National Health Insurance Scheme, it is necessary to consider some limiting factors that could hinder the effectiveness of the NHIS Scheme. One of such limitation is the infrastructural gaps in the health sector.  It is no longer news that poor infrastructures have been the bane of Nigeria’s health systems. As a result of this a lot of Nigerians seek medical attention abroad. Only very few government hospitals have the required facilities to treat secondary health cases. Considering the health burden of Nigeria with over…

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In a bid to implement S.25 of the National Health Insurance Authority Act, which makes provisions for the establishment of the Vulnerable Group Fund. The Federal Ministry of Health revealed that the Federal Government plans to offer free health insurance to 83million poor Nigerians in 2023. The 2023 proposed budget also contained the sum of N297, 219,120, for National health Insurance Scheme, which was captured as Research and Development for the purpose of Elderly Health Insurance Coverage. While we welcome this intention, it is also necessary to interrogate the process to which the beneficiaries of the VGF were identified and…

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Series of town hall meetings and media engagements organized by Civil Society Organizations on the new National Health Insurance Authority Act revealed that despite the benefits contained in the Act, the number of persons enrolled in any form of pre-paid insurance in Nigeria is still very low. Beneficiaries of such town hall meetings confirmed that the NHIAA contains a lot of benefits which they are not aware of. Recall the NHIAA was enacted on May 24th 2022 with a major objective of making health insurance mandatory for all residents of Nigeria. The Act is expected to improve poor coverage of…

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The right to health is inextricably linked to the right to life. Nigeria is bound by certain laws and charters to protect the right to health of its citizens. The Sustainable Development Goal 3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Meanwhile article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of…

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The provisions of the Federal Government 2023 budgetary proposal on health, goes a long way to determine the extent of its commitments towards the realization of the mandatory health insurance scheme, as provided in the National Health Insurance Authority Act. Recall, the National Health Insurance Act 2022, was signed on the 24th of may 2022, by the Buhari led Federal Government. The functions of the NHIAA is to (a) promote, integrate and regulate all health insurance schemes that operate in Nigeria (b) ensure that health insurance is mandatory for every Nigerian and legal resident (c) enforce the basic minimum package…

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For more than eight years Nigeria has consistently maintained a budget deficit, which has progressively grown from 4 to six percent of GDP. The inflation figure left the single digit benchmark of 9 percent last attained in 2015. It was believed that the economic recession affected the inflation figures from 2016 to 2017 when the inflation figure rose from 15 to 16 percent. However the Federal government announced the successful transition from an economic recession in 2017 before the outbreak of the Covid-19 and lunched its economic and recovery growth plan. The double digit inflation reduced from between 12 to…

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Nigeria as a country has crossed the red line when it comes to the management of public resources. In the midst of revenue shortages where government borrows to pay salaries, it is disappointing, that there are still ongoing leakages and frauds perpetrated amongst government offices. Recent reports of lootings and open bribery at the party primaries betray government effort to sustain the fight against corruption as well as stabilize the economy. While the case of N80 billion looted by the Accountant General of the Federation were being mentioned, Nigeria witnessed the massive deployment of foreign currencies to woo delegates in…

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The Federal Government recently engaged the pedal of progress in the health sector by repealing the National Health Insurance Scheme Act 2014 and enacting the National Health Insurance Authority Act 2021. The goal of the Act is to ensure an effective implementation of a national health insurance policy that ensures the attainment of Universal Health Coverage in Nigeria. For decades stakeholders in the health sector have clamored for the implementation of Universal health coverage, to make it mandatory for all Nigerians irrespective of their status in the formal and informal sector to be captured in any form of prepaid health…

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Very recently, the news headlines have been reporting humongous amounts of money released by public servants for the purchase of political parties’ nomination forms and parting gifts to delegates in view of upcoming political party primaries. The probability of high level political spending, if not curtailed, to affect the macro-economic projections of government is high. The economy cannot grow at sustainable level, when resources that should be applied to productive sectors with capacity to generate profits, are distributed hugely amongst a few segment of the society. This article identifies the economic risk associated with the number and category of high…

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The concept of audit according to the Lima Declaration, is the creation of a regulatory system whose aim is to reveal deviations from accepted standards and violations of the principles of legality, efficiency, effectiveness and economy of financial management, early enough to make it possible to take corrective action. In individual cases, to make those accountable to accept responsibility, to obtain compensation, or to take steps to prevent – or at least render more difficult such breaches. Audit, being a post mortem exercise provides the opportunity to review budget implementation with a view to providing information and knowledge that can…

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The process for the amendment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act is currently before the National Assembly. It is however imperative that the National Assembly concludes the process and hand over to the President for assent before the advent of a new administration come 2023. The importance of the Fiscal Responsibility Act cannot be overemphasized. The FRA 2007 serves as the basis for accountability and transparency in the use of public resources. The Act is tailored towards ensuring prudence and fiscal discipline in the allocation of public funds. The law also serves as a guide for the macro-economic planning and actualization…

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As Nigeria prepares for the 2023 general elections, the tendency for responsible agents of government to shift focus from governance to politics is a possibility. Currently, the political tempo of who become the next president and the process of selecting the candidates has taken over the discourse. Little attention is being paid to the implementation of the 2022 budget and the state of the economy. From the guideline of INEC, the parties have up till the second quarter of the year to conclude the process of selecting their respective candidates. Thereafter parties are expected to commence high politicking, including amassment…

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One major way government generates revenue is through taxation, in the light of revenue shortfall, the FG is expected to boost its tax incomes and plug leakages occasioned by tax evasion by taxable companies, businesses and individuals. However, despite the huge market in Nigeria, Nigeria is yet to maximize its potential to generate adequate revenue through taxation. Nigeria has a very low tax to GDP ratio of 6 percent, when compared to other African countries with an average of 10-16 percent. Opportunities to maximize tax from multinational companies and investors are flipped away through unnecessary tax waivers to multinational companies…

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As several candidates’ jostles for the position of their party’s Presidential ticket to become the President of Nigeria come 2023. Beyond party politics, the candidates should strive to represent their parties based on practical knowledge of the fiscal governance challenges requiring urgent intervention. The candidate should articulate solutions bothering on reviving the economy as well as setting it on the path of sustainable growth.  This is very important considering the trajectory of Nigeria’s economic downturn and its rippling effects on the citizens. For instance, the value of the naira is uncontrollably low. Currently the naira exchanges at almost 600 naira…

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The President recently signed a budget size of 17.21trn. The budget figures is one of the highest ever experienced in the country for the last ten years.  The components of the budget include a debt service of 3.8trn, a deficit financing of 6.9trn, crude oil benchmark of 62 dollars. The sum of 5.61trn was earmarked for capital projects while recurrent projects is to gulp a total of 6.9trn.  For statutory transfers, the sum of 869bn is earmarked as statutory transfers. The altercations between the President and the National Assembly on the insertion of  about 6,576new projects into the budget and…

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The learned silk Stephen Oronsanye erred in its report when it recommended the merging of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission.  The report of the rationalization of Federal Government Agencies in 2014 recommended merging the FRC with the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission.  According to the report, Oronsanye recommended that (1) the Fiscal Responsibility Commission be abolished and its enabling law repealed. (2) The enabling law of the National Salaries, Income and wages Commission (NSIWC) be repealed and the functions of the Commission subsumed under the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), (3) the enabling law of the Revenue Mobilization…

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The recent discovery of budget duplication amounting to the tune of N20.6bn in the 2022 budget by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission ICPC is not a strange occurrence. Budget duplications amidst budgeting for frivolities have been an annual tradition in Nigeria’s budget cycle. Civil Society Organizations like the Centre for Social Justice have for more than 15 years identified such cycles of fraud and misappropriation in the budget and have as well recommended to the National Assembly, the Budget Office of the Federation and other relevant government agencies, action steps to be taken to curtail the…

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The Fiscal Responsibility Act is undoubtedly, one of the most significant fiscal legislation that has the capacity to lead Nigeria on the path of economic growth and stability. If properly implemented, it can also be a legal instrument for the practice of good governance in Nigeria. In light of the above, the FRA (2007) is an Act that provides for prudent management of the Nations Resources and guarantees its long term macro-economic stability. Unfortunately since the enactment of the FRA (2007), it has been flawed by the level of implementation. Some of the gaps observed in the implementation of the…

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The Fiscal Responsibility Act (2007) provides a framework for sound fiscal government practice in Nigeria. It was created with the intention of setting Nigeria on the path of good governance in a transparent and accountable manner. The objective of the Act is to ensure prudent management of the National Economy, secure greater accountability and transparency in Fiscal Policy Framework and establishment of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission to ensure the promotion and enforcement of the Nation’s Economic objectives, and for related matters. So many developed nations of the world have their own fiscal governance laws, the law also serve as a…

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It is ironic for the States and Federal government to sit on a huge pot of revenue yet complains of poor funds. Several revenue tracking policies of government, such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA) Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMS) have been introduced with the objective of coordinating all government payment systems into one account source as well as increase government ability to undertake central control and monitoring of expenditure receipts of MDAs. Despite this policy, it has proven difficult to bridge the leakage of funds from government coffers. Most government agencies have devised creative means to…

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The recent decision of the Federal government to stop the payment of subsidy from 2022 is currently generating a lot of tension amongst citizens of the country. The organized labor sector have warned government to shelve its plan to stop payment of subsidy, this is also followed by recent threats of strike actions and protest by the National Association of Nigerian Students. The last attempt to remove subsidy in 2012 led to a nation- wide protest tagged, “Occupy Nigeria”. Interestingly, the current president and some members of his cabinet and key APC stakeholders were part of the protest which lasted…

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The figures presented by the Debt Management Office as at March 2021 shows that Nigeria’s total debt stock is N33, 107trn. This comprises of debt stock of the Federal Government, thirty six state governments and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Further breakdown of the debt stock shows that promissory notes was in the sum of N940.220 billion, domestic debt stock stood at N20,637billion while the external debt stock remained at USD 32.86 billion. The federal government went further to obtain another loan in June and as at July the debt stock rose to N35.465 trillion. Recurring debt of the Federal…

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