.Tinubu to present 2025 budget Tuesday
Ignatius. Okorocha, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that it would replace Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) with computer-generated slip as the sole means of identification on election day.
The electoral body added that those who already have the PVCs can still use them to vote, however, the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) has made the review imperative.
NEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on detailed issues of planning and reform learning from the experience of the 2023 General Election.
He said having released its 524-page main report on the election, a copy of which is available on its website, the commission has consulted widely internally with its own officials and externally with all major stakeholders.
Yakubu stressed that with the conclusion of five major off-cycle Governorship elections and nine out of 21 bye-elections since the 2023 general election, this was the most appropriate time for us to commence the implementation of the recommendations arising from our review of the General Election.
He noted that out of the 142 recommendations, 86 require administrative action by the Commission, saying it was therefore pertinent that the commission engages first with RECs because of their frontline role in the implementation of the recommendations.
He said this was followed by 48 recommendations that require action by a variety of stakeholders, including security agencies, mobile network operators, statutory bodies, political parties, transport unions, civil society organisations and the media.
Yakubu stated: “On the legal review, there are eight recommendations that require legislative action by the National Assembly. Very soon, the Commission will make a presentation to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Electoral Matters as they continue to deliberate on electoral reform.
“Among the major highlights of the Commission’s recommendations is the imperative of legal clarity in result management, with regard to manual transfer versus the electronic transmission of results.
“The Commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
“Those who already have the PVCs can still use them to vote, but going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation.
“This will not only save cost, it will also eliminate the issues around the collection of PVCs and the diabolical practice of buying up the cards from voters in order to disenfranchise them.”
.Tinubu to present 2025 budget Tuesday
President Bola Tinubu will on Tuesday, December 17 present the N47.9trillion 2025 budget proposal before the joint session of the National Assembly.
Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio disclosed this at the end of plenary session on Thursday.
He urged all Senators to be in the Red Chamber at 10.30a.m from where they would proceed to the Green Chamber in the House of Representatives for the joint session of budget presentation.
Federal Executive Council, FEC, had on November 15, approved N47.9trn for the 2025 budget, executing capital projects and managing the Federal Government’s recurrent expenditures.
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, disclosed this in a briefing to State House media after the FEC meeting.
He said the council approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, for 2025-2027, adding that the government pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel and oil production at 2.06 million barrels per day.
The proposed 2025 budget will have an exchange rate pegged at N1,400 to $1, and the government is targeting a GDP growth of 6.4%.
Senator Bagudu said: “And equally, the fiscal objectives were conservative, because we want to ensure that we study the course much as we believe the projections will be exceeded. The budget size approved for presentation to the National Assembly in the MTEP is N47.9 trillion, with new borrowings of N9.2 trillion to finance the budget deficit in 2025.
“We need to sustain the commendable market deregulation of petroleum prices and exchange rates, compel the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited to lower its oil and gas production cost significantly, and even consider amending the relevant sections of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 to address the significant risk to Federation.”
“The Federal Executive Council approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Paper, which will be submitted to the National Assembly.
“In addition to bills already at the National Assembly, the economic stabilisation bills and tax reform bills, which we believe will have a robust growth in 2025.”
