Banner Online News

A whooping N600 million owed Fidelity Bank by the Chagouri Brothers, who drove the privatisation process of Asaba Textile Mill, Asaba is the albatross standing against the reactivation of the textile mill.
Delta State Commissioner for Finance, Olorogun David Edevbie who made this know while answering a reporter’s question at the on-going Ministerial Press briefing at the Confrence Hall of the Ministry of Information, Asaba, also disclosed that Asaba Textile Mill now technically belongs to Fidelity Bank.
Explaining why the Delta State Government cannot get involved in reactivating the textile mill with capacity for mass employment of workers, Edevbie said the Chagouri Brothers in driving the privatisation process of the textile mill borrowed money from a bank to the tune of N600million, and rather than use the money for the purpose of running the textile mill, which was the reason for approving the money, it was instead diverted to import rice.
The Commissioner explained that Chagouri Brothers used the assets of Asaba Textile Mill as collateral for the N600 million loan, and since it could not pay back the loan, the bank took over the assets of the textile mill. “The assets of Asaba Textile Mill now belong to the bank, and that bank has sold all the asset. That is why the Delta state Government cannot get involved in reactivating the textile mill,” Edevbie said.
He also disclosed that the Bendel Steel structures in Ughelli, has been down by ownership issues of land. “More than five persons are laying claims to the land, which is yet to be resolved,” he stated.
Olorogun Edevbie also explained that MDAs were stopped from collecting revenues on behalf of government because there was a problem. “It was discovered that money collected was not reaching the state treasury. So, stopping the MDAs from collecting money on behalf of the state government will address the issue of money collected not reaching government’s treasury,” he declared.
In respect of the upgrade repair work at the Asaba Airport, now being undertaken by SETRACO at a cost of N4billion, Edevbie announced that a total of N2.5 billion has so far been released to the construction company.
Speaking on the disbursement of fund for the Delta State Oil producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), he said that a total sum of N17,285,000,000.00 was released to the Commission as against the N28billion provided in the 2017 budget during the period, which according to him was in fulfillment of Government‘s obligations under the DESOPADEC law, explaining that the shortfalls in disbursements when compared to the amount budgeted was the shortfalls in revenue realized during the period.

The Commissioner said the Ministry of Finance is determined to running an efficient establishment that is responsive to the needs of all stakeholders to promote stability and confidence in the State’s financial system.

To achieve this various measures have been put in place in the Ministry since the inception of this administration, and was optimistic that the financial base of the State would continue to be strengthened through prudent management of resources and investment in viable projects while looking for new areas of economic growth. 
In the area of internally generated revenue (IGR), the Finance Commissioner hinted that the State realized between January to December 2017 a total sum of N51,352,398,514.95 representing 73.18% performance and an increase of 13 percent when compared to IGR of N45,586,142,651.63 received in the year 2016.
He disclosed that more than 95 percent of the entire internally generated revenue of the State were attributable to the Delta State Board of Internal Revenue (BIR), noting that since assuming office, the current Board had raised monthly IGR collection from N3.2 billion to an average of N4 billion, saying his ministry was deploying new strategies and initiatives towards realizing a monthly revenue target of about N7 billion.
In order to ensure quality, efficiency and responsiveness of its service delivery, Olorogun Edevbie said that the DBIR’s tax administration machinery was being overhauled through systematic repositioning of the structure of the organization and staff mobility. “The Board also is collaborating with the judiciary and security agencies with a view to stepping-up tax compliance and enforcement. It has also stepped-up taxpayer education through the media. To expand the database of taxpayers, the Board is also focusing on capturing more than 70% of taxable persons in the informal sector in the State in the tax net. It has also increased its tax agent database from 1800 to over 5800,” Edevbie said.
He said that the State during the period of 2017 received a total of N179,481,702,851.92 as the Gross Statutory Allocation, Value Added Tax (VAT) and derivation revenue from the Federation Account compared with the proportionate estimate of N294,457,040,477 showing a performance of 60.95%, attributing the below performance recorded to lower than expected oil prices and oil production volume within the period.
On expenditure, the Commissioner explained that the State Government’s aggregate expenditure for the period was N208,912,268,244.91 compared to  a  budget of N294,457,040,477, disclosing that the sum of N145,657,263,184.90 was spent on recurrent expenditure compared to the provision of N158,013,660,828 representing 92.18% performance.
 He also said that the sum of N136,443,379,649.00 was budgeted for capital expenditure, saying the actual expenditure for the period January to December, 2017 was only N63,255,005,060.01 representing a budget performance of 46.35 percent.
On internal and external debt management, the Commissioner said that the Debt Management Department of his Ministry had ensured the standardization of the debt management framework in the State as required by the Debt Management Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance.
“Consequently, a standard template for Debt management is being utilized in the State while an accurate and reliable debt database has been put in place. In this regard, the debt stock of the State stood at N228,328,360,009.20 as at end of Dec., 2017” he said.
In the area of investment, Olorogun Edevbie said “The Ministry of Finance through its Investment arm, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) has invested in a number of quoted and unquoted companies which currently have a market value of N9,675,990,140 comprised of N1,387,349,340.25 and N8,288,640,800 for quoted and unquoted companies respectively. This has yielded dividends of N295,701,047 within the period under review.
“The State’s investment in the Ogbeogonogomodern market generated rental revenue of N42,814,890.00 from May 2016 to May 2017. On the other hand, the Uvwie Modern Market is functional but underutilised. A committee set up by Government to address the underutilization has commenced work. The access road to the market has been rehabilitated and other amenities such as electricity and the abattoir are being addressed.
“The Ughelli/Ogor Modern Market,though completed,isnot in use. To make it functional, officials of Ministries of Finance and, Commerce and Industry visited the market to ascertain its current status. The bills of quantities for different rehabilitation works at the market have been prepared and work will soon commence. This is to enable the residents take advantage of the facility. Government has also assured that the old market at Iwhreko would not be closed, as it will exist alongside the Ughelli-Ogor market.TheOkwagbe and Otu-jeremi and Sapele Modern Markets are currently under construction.”