By AbdulGaneey Akanbi

The Federal Ministry of Livestock Development has debunked reports circulating in sections of the media and on social media alleging that it budgeted funds for the rehabilitation of Emir Palaces and Mosques in the 2026 budget.

In a press statement issued weekend by the Head of Information and Public Relations, Henrietta Okokon, the ministry described the reports as “false and misleading.”

The statement stated categorically that the budgetary provisions being referenced are not contained in the Headquarters budget of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development.

It explained that the items were wrongly attributed to the ministry, but are actually contained in the budget of the Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom, Plateau State.

“Rather, they are contained in the budget of the Federal College of Veterinary and Medical Laboratory Technology, Vom, Plateau State, a self-accounting institution with its own distinct budgetary allocations,” the statement read.

The ministry noted that the sum of N140 million allegedly budgeted for the rehabilitation of Emir Palaces and Mosques in Kaduna State, among other unrelated projects, does not form part of its programmes and priorities.

It said the erroneous attribution has created the impression that the ministry appropriated funds for projects outside its mandate.

The ministry recognized the legitimate concerns raised regarding the alignment and clarity of budgetary proposals submitted by institutions under its supervision.

It assured that in line with its commitment to transparency, accountability and prudent management of public resources, it will strengthen coordination with its agencies to ensure budget proposals are aligned with institutional mandates and clearly articulated.

The statement urged members of the public, media organisations and other stakeholders to distinguish between the budget of the Federal Ministry of Livestock Development and the separate budgets of its agencies and institutions before drawing conclusions or publishing reports.

“As partners in public information, we encourage journalists and media houses to actively verify data with relevant official government sources and seek necessary clarifications prior to publication,” Okokon stated.

The ministry said this collaborative approach will ensure the public receives accurate, verified reporting while preventing the spread of misleading information.

By George Mgbeleke

The Senate Tuesday through its committee on North Central Development Commission ( NCDC), described the N2.9billion monthly allocation being given to the commission as grossly inadequate when compared to N140billion budget size earmarked for the commission in 2026.

Speaking to journalists after interactive session between the committee and management of the commission , Senator Titus Zam in his capacity as Committee Chairman , said the N2.9billion monthly allocation being given to NCDC will at the end of the year not up to half of projected budgetary allocation for it .

He posited that the N2.9billion monthly allocation from the N140billion budgetary appropriation, is a temporary package which would be improved upon .

” If you give someone that has a budget of 140 billion, N2.9 billion per month, in 12 months, it won’t be up to half of the entire budgetary sum .

“I suppose that is just a temporary package. When the commission finally comes to fruition, much more funds will be released. So we thank Mr. President, we thank the executive for dropping something now but look forward for more “, he said .

He however added that the Senate Committee will see to judicious spending of the little allocation being collected by the commission now by guiding it on areas that should be focused on .

” North Central is mostly an agricultural land. We have arable land, we have good rainfall, we have vegetation, there’s policy for agriculture. We need the department of NCDC to take agriculture very seriously.

“We also have a challenge of insecurity. The commission is advised to support the security forces and state government to complement their efforts towards mitigating the tides of insecurity within the region.

“We also ask them to take rural development very seriously because we are also rural in nature”, he said .

By George Mgbeleke

Visibly angry at the absence of some key revenue earning of the federal government at Senate public hearing by Senate Committee on Finance on Monday,the panel threatened heads of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria ( SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund ( ITF), Federal Medical Centre ( FMC) Jabi etc , with severe sanctions for failing to appear before it .

This is as Comptroller – General of Nigeria Customs Service ( NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi has declared that costs of Import Duty Exemption Certificates ( IDEC) approvals on some imported goods and equipments, which commenced in March 2020, rose to N34trillion in 2025.

The Customs CG at the investigative session the committee had with some revenue generating agencies on Monday , said policies of government at different times affect revenue generating capacity of Customs , positively or negatively.

According to him , Customs as a leading revenue generating agency , would have generated far above , what it did in the past years ,if not for some government policies and other extraneous factors that inhibited it from doing so

He specifically informed the committee that Import Duty Exemption Certificates ( IDEC) on some goods and equipments introduced in March 2020 , is one of such policies inhibiting Customs revenue generation .

“IDEC approvals reached about ₦34 trillion in 2025 60% of which as rightly done by government related to military hardware procurements which attracted duty exemptions because of Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.

” Other government-backed waivers, included
Importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, Healthcare equipment and medical supplies; Industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs; and
Food import intervention programmes”, he said .

He however explained that fiscal policy should not be viewed solely from the perspective of revenue generation but also in terms of achieving broader economic and social objectives but suggested that government should establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to assess whether beneficiaries of duty waivers were delivering the intended economic benefits, such as lower prices, increased production and improved healthcare access.

Earlier in his submission , he said out of the N11. 04trillion revenue projected for 2026, N4.5trillion was generated by 30th of June , leaving balance of about N7trillion left to meet up with the set target for the fiscal year .

However, Bello Gulmare who represented Fiscal Responsibility Commission ( FRC) as Deputy Director , Monitoring &:Evaluation , alleged that Customs as at 2019, has N8.9billion liability of non – remittance of operating surplus into the Consolidated Revenue Fund ( CFR) , which was vehemently kicked against by Customs .

Similar liability on non remittance of operational surplus was made to the Corporate Affairs Commission ( CAC) , totalling N13.9billion from 2023 to 2025 which the Registrar – General of CAC , Hussaini Ishaq Magaji said was being upset gradually .

The committee chaired by Senator Sani Musa ( Niger East), however directed that CAC, the FRC and the committee should hold a meeting to reconcile the details in order to ascertain the exact outstanding balances.

” Detailed report on outcome of the planned meeting , should be ready within the next two weeks for another interface with CAC .

” Heads of agencies like NCAA , ITF , SMEDAN , FMC Jabi etc , who failed to physically attend today’s session , should unfailingly make themselves available at next sitting or risk severe sanction through invocation of relevant section of our rules against them”, he warned .