President Tinubu To Present N47trillion 2025 Nigerian Budget Tuesday The development was communicated by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. President Bola Tinubu is expected to present the 2025 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly on Tuesday. The development was communicated by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio. “The president has made his intention known to the National Assembly to present the 2025 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly on the 17th of December, 2024," Akpabio said during the announcement at the Thursday plenary on the floor of the Senate. Akpabio announced that the budget presentation would take place at the House of Representatives Chamber. This move follows the submission of the medium term expenditure framework of the government by the lawmakers. According to the MTEF, the 2025 budget is expected at N47.9 trillion and is the highest in the country’s history. The Senate Committee on Finance, National Planning, and Economic Affairs is expected to consider the MTEF/FSP documents and report within one week. Key estimations in the MTEF/FSP include a $75 oil price benchmark per barrel, daily oil production of 2.06 million barrels, an exchange rate of N1,400 to $1, and a targeted GDP growth rate of 6.4%. #PayNPowerStipends #UnfreezeNSIPAccount #NPowerBacklog #ObeyHouseResolution #SupportNPowerBeneficiaries #HumanitarianAffairsAction #NPowerStipendRelief #EndNPowerDelays #NPowerRights #ResolveNPowerIssues

President Tinubu to launch construction of 3,500 housing units in Lagos, Kano President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is set to launch the construction of 3,500 housing units in Lagos and Kano on December 17 and 18, 2024. These housing projects, comprising 2,000 units in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and 1,500 units in Kano, are part of the Renewed Hope Cities under the broader Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme, aimed at addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit, with construction work already commenced at both sites. These housing projects, comprising 2,000 units in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and 1,500 units in Kano, are part of the Renewed Hope Cities under the broader Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme, aimed at addressing Nigeria’s housing deficit. While the official launch is yet to take place, construction work has already begun at both sites. The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Arc. Musa Dangiwa, made this disclosure during the Presentation of the 1st to 3rd Quarters 2024 Performance Assessment on Implementation of the Presidential Priorities and Ministerial Deliverables. This information was outlined in a statement published on the ministry’s official website on Tuesday. “From December 17 to 18, Mr. President has graciously accepted to break ground for two additional Renewed Hope Cities totaling 3,500 units —2,000 housing units in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and 1,500 housing units in Kano. In fact, construction work is already ongoing at these sites,” Dangiwa stated. Dangiwa also disclosed that the Renewed Hope Cities and Estates Programme now comprises 13,612 active housing units, including the projects in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos, and Kano. Additionally, he highlighted plans for new Renewed Hope Cities sites, with 2,000 units each, in Nasarawa, Enugu, and Borno States. #PayNPowerStipends #UnfreezeNSIPAccount #NPowerBacklog #ObeyHouseResolution #SupportNPowerBeneficiaries #HumanitarianAffairsAction #NPowerStipendRelief #EndNPowerDelays #NPowerRights #ResolveNPowerIssues

Student loan beneficiaries may hit 2.1m, says NELFUND The Nigerian Education Loan Fund, an intervention agency set up by the Federal Government, projected on Tuesday, that the beneficiaries of student loans may hit an estimated 2.1 million. The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this at the inauguration and induction of members of the SERVICOM unit and committee in Abuja. His projection comes one week after data obtained from NELFUND showed that it has disbursed over N104bn to 613,734 students from Nigerian tertiary institutions since inception. The disbursed funds encompass institutional fees paid directly to the institutions of applicants and upkeep loans paid directly to the account number provided by the applicants. Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Sawyerr explained that with the admission of about 400,000 new entrants this year, the Fund may be anticipating its total number of registrants to reach 2.1 million students. He said, “For the people we are responsible for in tertiary institutions that are government-owned such as polytechnics, universities and colleges of education and the bulk of students who will be coming in for the next session, we have estimated our commitment today to these people is somewhere in the range of 2.1m. “It is an estimate and it gets bigger than that when we start our skills programme. That is because there we have a lot more. We are expecting that about 400,000 students will be starting this new session.” When asked if the Fund would also address the plight of the over 20 million out-of-school children in the country, Sawyerr dismissed the notion. According to him, the loan scheme is strictly for students in tertiary institutions in line with the building principles and law. “When you look at the Act that set up NELFund, it is very specific that it is for tertiary education. So, while we recognise that there may be 20 million out-of-school children in Nigeria, the law only allows us to address those who are studying or about to start the course of tertiary institutions owned by the Federal Government and subnationals. “So the rest of the population of students is important. Some of them may eventually come into our purview as they get through their education system. But as of today, by law, we are only able to address those at the tertiary level. We have a two-pronged process. Before anyone can apply for a loan, he has to register with us. “We have about 417,000 students who have registered on our portals and about 328,000 who have actually applied. Some have been processed, many have been looked at and most of them will get the loan,” he stated. Earlier in her address, the National Coordinator and Chief Executive Officer of SERVICOM, Mrs Nnenna Akajemeli, called for teamwork and cooperation among the inductees to make the student loan process a seamless one for the beneficiaries. SERVICOM is a Federal Government initiative to promote effective and efficient delivery in ministries, departments and agencies to ensure customer satisfaction and manage performance. She said, “Wherever Nigerian students go, they stand out. So we need to continue encouraging them. It is also our job to build the skills of public servants for excellent service delivery. “I want to appreciate NELFUND because it has been in constant touch with the SERVICOM office to ensure this programme is a success. For you to go fast, you can walk alone. But to go far, NELFUND needs to walk together as a team.” Punch #PayNPowerStipends #UnfreezeNSIPAccount #NPowerBacklog #ObeyHouseResolution #SupportNPowerBeneficiaries #HumanitarianAffairsAction #NPowerStipendRelief #EndNPowerDelays #NPowerRights #ResolveNPowerIssues