Budget impasse: Buhari in crucial meeting with Osinbajo, Udoma

ITRealms:

In effort to resolve the budget impasse between the Executive and Legislature in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday summoned his Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udo Udoma to the State house, Abuja, reports ITRealms.

President Buhari, ITRealms recalls had been away in China on a state visit for the past one week.

Whereas Presidency was trading blame with the National Assembly for the delay in assenting to the 2016 budget, the National Assembly on the other hand said they have done their best as far as the 2016 appropriation bill is concerned, insisting the ball is in the Executive court.

Development experts have also warned that with the continuous of blame between NASS and the executive arm of government, the Federal Government and indeed, Nigeria may shut down in June due to the delays in assenting to the budget.

Meanwhile the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked presidency and NASs to resolve whatever issues they have because Nigerians are the ones suffering while the two elephants fight.

Also, Senator Udoma had earlier met with Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki ahead of this meeting with Mr. President.

It is expected that the meeting between the trio of President, his vice president and Udo Udoma is to fashion a way forward.

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Uganda, Sudan others understudy Nigeria’s DMO

 ITRealms

 

Some countries including Uganda, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe have approached Nigeria for their debt management offices, central banks and national planning to understudy Nigeria’s experience in public debt management, as the country’s DMO has become a model in Africa, ITRealms reports.

Information reaching ITRealms has it that Uganda had twice visited Nigeria for same reasons, which had impacted efficiently on the economy of the East African country.

The first was in November 2006 when a delegation came to learn from Nigeria’s debt management office model as basis for institutional arrangement, towing same line, a delegation from Sudan also came on a study tour to Nigeria on two occasions.

Disclosing this, the President of Heritage Savings, Mr. Adegboye Ikiola, who has a deep knowledge of the workings of DMO, said‘’The first delegation came in December 12-16, 2005. Similarly, another delegation from the External Debt Management Unit in the Central Bank of Sudan and Domestic Debt Unit in the Ministry of Finance of the same country, visited the DMO for a month secondment programme from Monday, June 23 - Tuesday July 15, 2014.

The core objectives of both visits by the Sudanese teams, ITRealms gathered, were to learn from the Nigeria’s debt relief and restructuring phases as well as Nigeria’s debt management experiences prior to the establishment of the DMO.’’

Another instance, he said, was a visit by: “A delegation from the Ministry of Finance and National Planning of the Republic of Zambia  which undertook a one-week study tour of the Debt Management Office in Nigeria, from 20th - 24th September, 2009. The purpose of the study tour was to enable the Zambians learn how the Debt Management Office, Nigeria is structured, the functions of the Office and how it carries out its responsibilities of managing the country’s public debt and issuance of the FGN Bonds.’’   

‘’I can continue with the examples, because we have to understand what the DMO is doing at this time. A seven-man team from the Zimbabwe Aid  and Debt Management Office (ZADMO) in the Ministry of Finance of Zimbabwe visited the DMO for a week study tour from July 17 to 27, 2011 to understudy the processes of establishing and running an effective debt management office in its efforts to set up a centre of excellence in debt management in Zimbabwe.’’

Industry players are of the opinion that given the successes of the DMO the Nigerian model should be extended to other African countries to emulate in order to strengthen

their debt management profiles.They are as well quick to add that the Office should be encouraged to sustain the training and equipping of her staff for the challenges ahead, particularly in this period that our nation is facing some economic challenges, ITRealms learnt.

CyiacusNnaji/GEE

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