The Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Police Affairs, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, has inaugurated the ministry’s Anti-Corruption and Transparency Unit, ACTU, in conjunction with the Independence Corrupt Practice Commission, ICPC.

The inauguration of the 11-member ACTU was performed by the permanent secretary in the presence of the representative of the chairman of ICPC at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.

Gwarzo pointed out that the Ministry of Police Affairs is committed to entrenching a culture of transparency and accountability in running the affairs of the ministry.

He said the inauguration marked a turning point in the management of the ministry’s resources, adding that ACTU, in conjunction with ICPC, would be required to examine all the processes and procedures in the ministry to plug all loopholes and leakages.

In his words: “ACTU will be properly equipped to function effectively despite the shortage of office space. Efforts will be made to provide the secretariat for ACTU and I am soliciting the assistance of ICPC in the training of ACTU members.”

The chairman of ICPC, Dr Musa Adamu Aliyu, represented by the Director of the System Study and Review Department, Mr Olusegun Adigun, said: “It is hoped that with this inauguration, the unit will be empowered to deliver on its mandate, which includes periodic sensitisation of staff on and against corruption; examination of systems, processes, and procedures that are prone to corruption; and proffering solutions.”

Five months after assenting to the 2024 appropriation bill by the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, the State House of Assembly has shored up the budget to N409, 217,894,248,87 billion.

The governor had on December 22, 2023, assented to N342.825,969,909,21 billion appropriation bill, which was N17.5 billion higher than the N321.4 billion earlier presented to the House.

The raising of the budget to N409.2 billion was sequel to the House’s consideration and approval of the Governor Obaseki’s letter requesting a revision of the 2024 budget.

The lawmakers, while speaking in favour of the revised/supplementary budget, noted that it would enable the governor to finish his eight-year administration of the state well.

Moving the motion, Charity Aiguobarueghian, the Majority Leader of the House, noted that the supplementary budget was necessary for the state government to get legislative backing for the implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage approval for the state’s workers recently.

Charity, also opined that it would also allow the governor to complete all the ongoing projects awarded.

Other lawmakers that spoke in favour of the supplementary budget include, Maria Edeko (PDP), the deputy speaker, Eric Okaka, (APC), the minority leader of the House, Eigbiremonlen Fada Sunday, (PDP), Esan Central and Ugabi Kingsley Oghenakhogie (APC), Etsako East constituencies.

They all noted that, if approved, the revised supplementary budget would give the government the financial enablement to complete all ongoing projects and thereby eliminate cases of abandoned projects.

The House, at the committee of the whole, however, shored up the 2024 fiscal year budget to N409.2 billion, an increase of N66.4 billion.

In the new supplementary budget, recurrent expenditure is now N182, 446,255,325, 16 billion, while capital expenditure stood at N226, 771, 634, 923, 71billion as against the earlier assented budget of N154, 276,225,868,96 billion and N188,549,744,040,26 billion, respectively.

The Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, who summed up the deliberation, said a clean copy of the approval will be sent to the state governor for his assent.

President Bola Tinubu will on Thursday, May 23, depart Abuja for N’Djamena, the Republic of Chad, to attend the inauguration of President Mahamat Déby.

The inauguration of President Déby follows his declaration as the winner of the country’s presidential election earlier this month and subsequent affirmation by the Constitutional Court of Chad.

President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by senior government officials and will return after the ceremony, a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, noted.