@cislacnigeria Nigeria: New Legislative Drive to...
Transcript of @cislacnigeria Nigeria: New Legislative Drive to...
VOL. 10 No. 11, NOV. 2016A PUBLICATION OF CISLAC
Continued on page 4
By Abubakar Jimoh
www.facebook.com/cislacnigeria@cislacnigeria website: www.cislacnigeria.net
Nigeria: New Legislative Drive to Revitalize Primary Health Care
On 7th and 8th September, 2016, the House of
Representatives Committees on Appropriation
and Health in partnership Civil Society
Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) organised
a two-day Retreat for House of Representatives on
financing Primary Health Care in Nigeria. The
Retreat which was held in Accra, the capital city of
Ghana aimed at providing a platform for relevant
Committees in the House of Representatives to
discuss and review current challenges and
opportunities in financing Primary Health Care
in Nigeria. The retreat drew about 60
participants from House of Representatives,
Ministries of Health, Budget and Planning, civil
society, and development partners.
. Health financing system is characterized by
low investment by Government – Rt. Hon.
Dogara
· Nigeria does not need to wait for economic
development to invest substantially in health
– Hon. Okafor
· PHC is the most acceptable approach to
deliver effective, accessible acceptable health
care – CISLAC
· Current delivery of care system will continue
to fail, except for radical reforms – CSIG
· Majority of Nigerians live in rural areas where
many diseases are prevalent – NSP
From L-R: Deputy Chair, House Committee on Health Institutions, Hon. Muhammad Umar Jega; Chair, Committee on Institutions, Hon. Betty Jocelyn Apiafi; Chair, Committee on Health Services, Hon. Chike John Okafor; Depty Chair Committee on Health Services, Hon. Muhammad Usman, during Public Hearing on “Financing Healthcare and Revitalizing the Primary Health Care system in Nigeria” held at National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
ivil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) is a non-governmental, non-profit, advocacy, Cinformation sharing, research, and capacity building organisation. Its mission is to strengthen the link between civil society and the legislature through advocacy and capacity building for civil society groups and policy makers on legislative processes and governance issues.
CISLAC was integrated as a corporate body (CAC/IT/NO22738) with the Nigeria's Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) on the 28th December 2006. Prior to this incorporation, however, CISLAC had actively been engaged in legislative advocacy work since 2005. The organisation is also compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2007. The Organisation reports to SCUML, any transaction that is above One thousand dollars, detailing the payee, purpose and the other KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements. This is done on a weekly or monthly basis depending on the volume of transactions and to ensure appropriate compliance with anti-money laundering laws. Also, CISLAC is registered organisation under the National Planning Commission.
As indicated above, the organisation emerged from the need to address the gaps in legislative advocacy work of civil society and government access to civil society groups. CISLAC's engagement with Federal Ministries, National and State Assemblies, Local Government Administrations, private sector interests, and non-government organisations, has opened a window through which the public and policy officials can interact and collaborate.
CISLAC through its engagement of the governance processes in Nigeria has facilitated the enactment of several primary legislations such as the Fiscal Responsibility Act, Public Procurement Act, and Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative Act which promotes transparency and accountability in governance as well as the domestication of international conventions at the Federal and state levels in Nigeria. CISLAC also supported the passage of the Freedom of Information Act. Other pieces of legislations such the National Tobacco Control Bill, National Health Bill, Disability Bill, Gender and Equal Opportunity Bill, Violence and Persons Prohibition Bill, Whistleblower Protection Bill, Prison Reform Bill, etc. are also supported by CISLAC.
As a renowned CSO in Legislative advocacy in the region, CISLAC has on several occasions shared its experience on best practises for legislative advocacy on invitation from its international partners such as the World Bank Parliamentary Forum and the United Nations Millennium Campaign in African countries such as Kenya and Zimbabwe. Similarly, Ghana, Kenya, and Democratic Republic of Congo have also requested support from CISLAC for replication of their work in Legislative advocacy. In many West African countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Cameroon, Niger, Togo and Benin Republic, CISLAC has carried out experience sharing and advocacy exercises on the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative processes through supporting the passage of extractive industry initiative laws in these countries. CISLAC has also undertaken capacity building for legislators, CSOs and Media on policy engagements in the above countries.
CISLAC's sub-granting experience includes grants to national organisations. With skilled, committed, experienced and proactive leadership and employees, particularly in the areas of coalition building, tenacious advocacy, community mobilization and the clout needed to engage lawmakers at all levels, the organization proven capacity to attract international solidarity, engage policy makers and mobilize local civil society groups and communities into action.
GOAL
“To make legislature accessible and responsive to all”.
VISION
“A Nigeria in which citizens are participating in governance; the government is safeguarding the rights and welfare of the people; and non-state actors are providing space for citizens to demand accountability”.
MISSION
“To increase the legislature and CSOs' impact in the legislative process”.
ADVOCACY VISITS
CISLAC has successfully engaged key members of the National Assembly in order to wield their influence in ensuring that civil society positions are accommodated. In 2006, for instance, CISLAC targeted key players and created public awareness on draft legislation and questionable provisions incorporated by the National Assembly. Such efforts improved the levels of discipline, transparency, and accountability in the management and openness of fiscal responsibility, public procurement, and the nation's extractive Industry sector in Nigeria.
Through such efforts, CISLAC has empowered communities mostly affected by the extractive industry sector, improved the levels of information dissemination, and ensure due process and transparency in the payments made by extractive industry companies to the Federal Government and its agencies. It has also educated State and Federal legislators, their advisory staff, CSOs, the media, and key stakeholders on their oversight roles in legislation and has reviewed their commitment in implementation.
PUBLICATION OF MONTHLY NEWSLETTERS
CISLAC has strengthened civil society intervention by the publication of a monthly newsletter Legislative Digest and Tobacco Control Update which have been in circulation for both public and legislative consumption since October 2006 and June 2013 respectively. It has been a central medium of accountability, as it monitors the performance of Legislators, and a channel for advocacy on critical issues that need legislation. Also, CISLAC has a wide range of publications such as Textbooks and Policy Briefs.
CISLAC'S MAJOR DONORS
1. Oxfam Novib
2. Oxfam International
3. Oxfam GB
4. Ford Foundation
5. Mac Arthur Foundation
6. PACT Nigeria/USAID
7. United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC)
8. Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA)
9. Heinrich Boll Foundation (HBF)
10. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
11. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (CTFK)
12. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
13. The Federal Public Administration Reform (FEPAR)/DFID
14. T.Y. Danjuma Foundation
15. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
16. Voice for Change (V4C)
17. National Endowment for Democracy
18. Nigeria Stability and Reconciliation Programme (NSRP)
19. USAID/Strengthening Advocacy and Civic Engagement (SACE)
20. International Organisation for Migration (IOM)
21. African Capacity Building Foundation
22. Australian Government
23. North East Regional Initiative (NERI)
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEE
This is the policy-making organ of the organisation. It approves the budget of the organisation, provides contacts for operational funds and supports the operation of the secretariat.
1. Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
2. Mr. Adesina Oke
3. Mr. Y.Z Y'au
4. Ms. Nkoyo Toyo
5. Ms. Hadiza Kangiwa
6. Mr. Adagbo Onoja
ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Advisory Council is an advisory organ consisting of people with vast experience and knowledge of socio-economic and political dynamics in the country and across the world. 1. Hon. Uche Onyeaguocha2. Prof. Okey Ibeanu3. Prof. Sam Egwu4. Dr. Abubakar Momoh5. Chom Bagu6. Gen. Ishola Williams (rtd)7. Dr. Afia Zakiya (Ms)8. Prof. Muhammed Tawfiq Ladan9. Halima Ben Umar (Ms.)10. Bukhari Bello
THE SECRETARIAT
The Secretariat is vested with the day-to-day running of the organization. It implements the decisions of the Board of Trustees. It is headed by an Executive Director who oversees the day-to-day running of the organisation while a Senior Program Officer oversees programmes implementation along with other programme staff.
Head Office, Abuja:
Mr. Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani) - Executive DirectorMr. Kolawole Banwo - Senior Program Officer (Extractive,
Environment and Security)Mr. Okeke Anya - Senior Program Officer (ECOWAS & AU)Ms. Chioma Blessing Kanu - Snr. Program Officer (MDGs, Gender, Reproductive
Health and Anti-corruption)Mr. Salaudeen Hashimu Nurani - Program Officer (Human Rights/Migration,
Agriculture/ Livelihood)Mr. Abubakar Jimoh - Head, Communication and InformationMr. Chinedu Bassey - Program Officer (Tax Justice)Mrs. Hauwa'u Bin Abdallah - Admin OfficerMr. Omomhenle Ehis - Finance OfficerMr. Gonji Dadoh Timbut - Assistant Finance OfficerMrs. Abimbola S. Okoilu- Miró - Secretary/Assistant Program OfficerMr. Augustine Erameh - Assistant Program OfficerMs. Lovelyn Agbor - Monitoring and Evaluation OfficerMs. Onyekachi Eke - Media OfficerMr. Muhammed Murtala Muhammed - Asst. Program OfficerMr. Prince Onwuike - M&E OfficerMs. Abiodun Oladipupo - Office AssistantMs. Fatima Shaibu - Office AssistantMs. Isese Sor - Intern Mr. Solomon Adoga Wonah - InternMs. Isibakhome Azugbene - InternMs. Ndidi Anih - Intern
Regional Office: Kano
Mr. Nura Maaji - Program Officer
About us
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 20162
EDITORIAL
hile adequate, accessible and affordable
health care system is paramount to the Wsurvival of the citizens, Nigerian health
care system is one of the worst hit by inadequate
budgetary allocation, delayed release, lack of
judicious utilisation of the existing funds, and poor
monitoring that discourage transparency and
accountability at all levels.
As Primary Health Care (PHC) remains the most
acceptable approach to deliver effective, accessible
and acceptable health and services at all levels,
effective implementation of PHC objectives has been
hampered by lingering inadequate budgetary
allocation.
This fact features in the recent revelation by United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) that under-
nutrition remains high in Northern Nigeria with about
2.2million out of the 2.5 million severely acute
malnourished children being from Northern Nigeria.
Majority of children do not receive minimum
acceptable diet.
While 50% child mortality in the country has
malnutrition as underlining cause, no fewer than
1200, out of 2600 estimated daily deaths are caused
by malnutrition. Inadequate budgetary allocation to
nutrition and delay or non-release of nutrition
appropriated funds by the state governments are
inherent systemic challenges in complementing
donors’ efforts in scaling up interventions in nutrition.
Similarly, it was observed by legislators during a Two-
day Retreat for House of Representatives on
Financing Primary Health Care in Nigeria organized
by House of Representatives Committees on
Appropriation and Health in partnership with CISLAC
in Accra, Ghana, that delayed domestication and
implementation of the National Health Act 2014,
inadequate budgetary allocation to health sector,
poor monitoring and lack of judicious utilisation of the
existing funds has hampered accountability, and
effective provision and distribution of basic health
package across the country.
Although the country experienced Revenue Deficit
amounting to N2.2trillion in the 2016 Appropriation
Act, and the subsequent lowest revenue-to-GDP ratio
posing inherent challenge to the adequate financing
for health care system in Nigeria, it has become
imperative for all levels of government to ensure
flexibility in the implementation of the National Health
Act 2014 by embracing innovative financing from
various sources within short, medium and long-term
such as economic diversification as well as
participatory and inclusive procedures to recognise
the various local context and peculiarities impacting
on the effective implementation of the Act by the State
Governments.
Furthermore, adequate Primary Health Care
financing in Nigeria through enhanced political
actions for resource mobilisation and full-fledged
implementation of the National Health Act 2014 with
prioritised attention to the 1% provision of
Consolidated Revenue Fund from the national budget
is essential to achieve affordable and accessible
quality health care system at all levels.
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
Editor-in-Chief
Abubakar JimohEditor
Chioma Kanu
Abimbola S. Okoilu-Miró
REGIONAL OFFICE: KANO
3rd Floor, NISTF Building
No. 1A, Social Insurance Road Behind Trade Fair Complex
Zaria Road, Kano
P.O. Box 10210
Kano State
REGIONAL OFFICE: ADAMAWA
Government Lodge Area
Off Main Drive
Dougerei Layout
Jimeta, Yola
Adamawa State
REGIONAL OFFICE: YOBE
Maiduguri Road,
Adjacent Federal Polytechnic
Near EcoBank,
Damaturu,
Yobe state
CONTACT ADDRESS:
Flat 3, No. 16 P.O.W. Mafemi Crescent
Off Solomon Lar Way
Behind Chida Hotel
Near Daily Trust Newspapers Office
Utako District, Abuja - Nigeria
Tel: 234-08033844646
Website: www.cislacnigeria.netEmail: cislac@
cislacnigeria.net
Still on poor funding for healthcare in Nigeria
A Publication of Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC)
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 3
COVER STORY
Continued from page 1
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 20164
health care services”. “In Nigeria
today, the government is using
different methods to address public
health financing. Unfortunately, the
health financing system is still
characterized by low investment by
Government, extensive out of pocket
payments (OOPP), limited insurance
funding and low donor funding,” he
explained.
The Speaker spoke on the need to
revitalize the Primary Health Care
centers across the country, as they are
the first port of call to majority of
Nigerians living in rural areas; and
eliminate the barriers to access health
care delivery through prepayments
and subsequent pooling of funds in
preference to direct out of pocket
payments.
Nigeria: New Legislative Drive to Revitalize Primary Health Care
Unfortunately, the health financing system is
still characterized by low investment by
Government, extensive out of pocket payments
(OOPP), limited insurance funding and low
donor funding…
Dogara
NASS as a transformation
agent
Hon. Okafor noted that the
National Assembly has a crucial role
t o p l a y i n c a t a l y z i n g t h e
transformation of the health sector in
Nigeria, stating that Primary Health
Care, no doubt, remains the most
acceptable approach for achieving a
universal health coverage in our
healthcare system as over 80% of
Nigerians live in the grassroots and
Primary Health Care centres are the
closest health institutions accessible
to them.
He said: “Currently, there are 774
Local Government Areas (LGAs) with
9,572 political wards in Nigeria. At
least, each of the LGAs has one
Primary Health Care Centre that is
not fully functional. Most of these
PHC centres lack drug supplies, basic
health infrastructures, and cannot
boast of good number of medical
personnel. In fact, patients accessing
these PHC centres can hardly afford
the cost of transportation or cost of
subsidized drugs in these centres due
to the economic hardship of most the
rural dwellers.
The Committee Chair reiterated
the impact of non-functional primary
health care in death of 192, 284, 143,
688, 212, 557 people from malaria,
diarrhea diseases, and neonatal and
maternal d isorders in 2015,
respectively.
As the attainment of Universal
Health Coverage in Nigeria hinges on
full functionality of the Primary
Health Care system, he said it was
imperative that current bottleneck
hindering the provision of efficient
Primary Health Care in Nigeria were
identified and removed in a holistic,
inclusive and strategic manner. “A
competent skilled and healthy
workforce is critical to policy and plan
formulation, regulation and service
delivery... Consequently, Nigeria does
not need to wait for the economy to
d e v e l o p b e f o r e i n v e s t i n g
n response to ca l l s and
commitments from the Retreat, Ion 20th October, 2016, the House
Chairman Committee on Health
Services, Hon. Chike John Okafor,
during a plenary session, moved a
motion on the “Urgent Need for
Revitalization and Adequate Funding
of the Primary Health Care System”.
The House mandated the Committee
to convene a public hearing to identify,
harmonize and streamline additional
sources of funding from stakeholders
and report back to the House within
four weeks for further legislative
action. It also urged the Federal
Government to declare a state of
emergency in the Primary Healthcare
Sector in Nigeria.
It is on this backdrop that the
Committee recently organized a two-
day Public Hearing to provide
interface between the House and
relevant stakeholders to identify and
proffer innovative, practical and
measurable strategies of financing
health sector and revitalizing the
Primary Health Care in Nigeria for
the promotion of the good health and
overall wellbeing of the citizens.
Inadequate financing, major
impediment to PHC
Speaking at the public hearing,
Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon.
Yakubu Dogara admitted that health
care financing remains “one of the
greatest problems hindering access to
COVER STORY
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016
…with 22% fund provision, Primary Health
Care accounts for highest disease burden and
highest population coverage.
Okafor
substantially in health and human
capital development.
“The national Government must
commit to improving minimum health
services by committing to a timetable
to reach the 15% Abuja Declaration on
Health budget target and must
immediately implement the National
Health Act. This should start by
funding the Basic Health Care
Provision Fund (BHCPF) with no less
than 1% of the Consolidated Revenue
Fund – or about 38.6 billion Naira – in
2017 budget. By providing a minimum
package of health services to all
citizens by creating primary health
care facilities, this fund will save
thousands of lives.
“Delivering this funding could
have a significant impact and put the
country on a path to better health once
and for all. Evidence suggests that a
10% increase in total health
expenditure per capita leads to a 21%
decrease in under-5 mortality rates
and a 22% decrease in infant
mortality rates,”Okafor added.
Poor Funding for Highest
Populated PHC
In its submission at the public
hearing, Civil Society Integrity Group
noted that the current models of
coordination and delivery of care in
the country will continue to fail the
Nigerian people, except systems-
based radical reforms and re-
organisations of the processes are
implemented. It explained that
though with 22% fund provision,
Primary Health Care accounts for
highest disease burden and highest
population coverage. The group urged
the Committee to reverse fund
allocation to health care to reflect
more resources to the Primary Health
Care.
Similarly, Knights of St. John
International called for reversed
funding pyramid in favour of Primary
Health Care where the highest
burden of diseases l ies, and
established standards of service
quality and regulation of practices.
Lack of Political Will to
Implement 1% CRF Provision
The National Immunization
Financing Task Team recalled in
2015, a report by the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) estimates
that about 750, 000 children in
Nigeria die annually before their 5th
birthday and 28% of the deaths were
caused by diseases that are vaccine
preventable diseases, which resulted
in paralysis (wild polio virus) and
financial burden.
According to the Team, although
Nigeria pays fully for the traditional
vaccines, Gavi supports government
of Nigeria heavily on new financing.
Nigeria however, became illegible for
continued Gavi support thus, the
gradual transition of Gavi support will
commence in 2017 and last till 2021.
During the transition period and
thereafter, Nigeria will need to
mobilise more financial resources to
fill the funding gaps.
It explained that data from
National Primary Health Care
Development Agency shows that
Nigeria needs to appropriate about
$ 1 4 0 m i l l i o n f o r r o u t i n e
immunization vaccine for 2017-18 in
the 2017 Appropriation Act to ensure
timely availability of vaccines. This
unprecedented increase, in the words
of the Team, results from the
introduction of new vaccines, the
increasing infant population, and the
transition out of Gavi support.
Unfortunately, these changes are
occurring in a dynamic context –
historically inadequate budget for
immunization, economic recession
and lack of political will to implement
the 15% Abuja Declaration or not less
than 1% Consolidated Revenue Fund
(CRF) for Basic Heath Care
Development Fund as stipulated in
the National Health Act 2014.
The Team recommended strategic
actions by key policy makers and
stakeholders to ensure sustainable
immunization financing in Nigeria;
enhanced working relationship
between the House and Senate to
ensure adequate budgetary allocation
for vaccine and immunization in 2017
budget. It also, urged the House to
ensure budgetary allocation of not
less than 1% CRF to finance the Basic
Health Care Fund in the 2017 budget.
Monitoring, Review and
Evaluation
The Wellbeing Foundation Africa
in its submission recommended
adoption of weekly review of national
and states data on the current state of
COVER STORY
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 20166
…effective implementation of PHC
objectives has been hampered by lingering
inadequate budgetary allocation.
billion in additional economic output;
in 2015 this would have yielded a
279% return to the economy.
Moreover, every dollar invested in
vaccine programs can yield at least 16
more dollars in economic returns.
Failure to invest in health forfeits
the potential economic benefits for
Nigeria and has life-or-death
consequences,” it warned.
The Coalition recommended
implementation of the National
Health Act, which set aside not less
than 1% of Consolidated Revenue
Fund to the Basic Health Care
Provisions Funds; increased
allocation to the health sector at all
levels of Government to reach the 15%
percent Abuja Declaration benchmark
of African Heads of State in 2001;
increased efficiency and effectiveness
of the health sector spending through
greater value for money strategies;
full and timely release of capital
budget of health sector starting from
2017 financial year; encouraged
public-private partnership to enhance
maternal health through a common
dashboard supported by the Nigeria
Bureau of Statistics, the National
Population Commission, and the
National Primary Healthcare
Development Agency to provide
holistic legislative support towards
adequate financing for Primary
Health Care in the country.
PHC revitalization, long
overdue
Nigeria Society of Physiotherapy
submitted that the need to revitalize
primary health care system in Nigeria
is long overdue, as majority of
Nigerians live in rural areas where
many diseases are prevalent. Many of
these diseases leave Nigerians with
permanent disabilities that may
require lifelong rehabilitation.
T h e g r o u p r e c o m m e n d e d
prioritized attention towards the
rehabilitation of Primary Health
Care; promotion of healthy lifestyle;
flexible, responsive and innovative
approach to developing services that
are reflective of local needs,
environment and available resources.
Life-or-death consequences
Civil Society Organizations in
Health Sector Reform Coalition
(HSRC) noted that investments in
health contribute to a healthy
population, and a healthy population
is paramount to the development of a
thriving and modern economy.
“I f Nigeria increased l i fe
expectancy by just one year, it would
translate to approximately $19.2
adequate fund provision for Primary
Health Care.
Ghana Retreat and Renewed
Legislative health Agenda
In a communiqué signed by Chair,
Committee on Health Services, Hon
Chike John Okafor; Chair, Committee
on Health Institutions Hon (Mrs)
Betty Apiafi; Chair, Committee on
Appropriation, Hon Mustapha Bala
Dawaki; and the Executive Director,
CISLAC, Auwal Ibrahim Musa
(Rafsanjani), at the end of the Retreat
in Ghana, it was observed that “while
adequate, accessible and affordable
health care system is paramount to
the survival of the citizens, Nigerian
health care system is one of the worst
hit by inadequate budgetary
allocation, delayed release, lack of
judicious utilisation of the existing
funds, and poor monitoring that
discourage transparency and
accountability at all levels.
“Although Primary Health Care
(PHC) remains the most acceptable
approach to deliver effective,
accessible and acceptable health and
services at all levels, effective
implementation of PHC objectives
has been hampered by lingering
inadequate budgetary allocation.
“Delayed domestication and
implementation of the international,
continental and regional conventions
and protocols on health as well as the
2014 National Health Act, inadequate
budgetary allocation to health sector,
poor monitoring and lack of judicious
utilisation of the existing funds has
hampered accountability, and
effective provision and distribution of
basic health package across the
country.
“Revenue Deficit amounting to
N 2 . 2 t r i l l i o n i n t h e 2 0 1 6
Appropriation Act, and the existing
lowest revenue-to-GDP ratio pose
inherent challenge to the adequate
financing for health care system in
Nigeria, including the allocation of
statutory 1% Consolidated Revenue
Fund as provides in the 2014 National
Health Act.
“Delayed incorporat ion of
COVER STORY
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 7
funding to the State Governments;
development of sustainable self-
funded and legislative-backed
immunisation plan through the
creation of an Immunisation Trust
Fund (ITF), a public-private vehicle to
fund procurement of vaccines and
drive critical research and acquisition
of appropriate technologies to
encourage local production of
immunisation vaccine, with the goal
of reducing and eliminating reliance
on importation; innovative financing
of Primary Health Care delivery
through various sources within short,
medium and long-term such as
economic diversification, use of % of
existing taxes and additional taxes on
Cigarettes and alcohol; investment in
preventive healthcare services and
infrastructure, including the
reactivation of DDT as an immediate
means to eradicating malarial at all
levels; local and State governments
ought to revive Primary health by
m a k i ng a d e q ua t e b ud g e t a ry
provisions so the Federal government
can face its responsibility of tertiary
health care.
T h e R e t r e a t f u r t h e r
recommended strengthening of
legislative oversight in Primary
Health Care financing through
legislative-executive collaboration
and creation of synergies to promote
transparency and accountability in
the management of funds for Primary
Health Care system; and proactively
creation of an enabling environment
to ensure effective and sustainable
Primary Health care and childhood
immunization financing in Nigeria.
Information Communication and
Technology into heal th care
management and delivery in the
country impedes adequate tracking
a n d m o n i t o r i n g a n d t i m e l y
achievement of Primary Health Care
objectives.
“Over-concentration of skilled
health workers in the urban areas at
the expense of the rural areas health
impedes effective health delivery and
ac cess t o adequate pr imary
healthcare at the grassroots.
Improved access, quality and equity in
the health sector are enabled by
adequate investment, infrastructure,
appropriate oversight and effective
institutional governance.
“Lack of political will by some
State and Local Governments to fulfill
counterpart commitments on health
care financing is a great impediment
to adequate primary health care in
Nigeria.”
The communiqué observed that
N i g e r i a h a s h i t h e r t o n o t
independently funded or produced its
own vaccine as a result of inadequate
funding for health and untapped
capacity or technical know-how for the
local production of vaccine; and
adequate revenue generation in
Nigeria to financing critical sector like
health is hindered by unchecked illicit
financial flows, loopholes in tax
collection and administration at all
levels.
The Retreat recommended
integrating Primary Health Care
u n d e r o n e r o o f t o i m p r o v e
coordination, effective management,
functional and quality healthcare
system, especially at local levels;
adoption of ICT-based approach in the
N i g e r i a h e a l t h c a r e s y s t e m
management and delivery to attain
cost-saving, adequate, accessible and
appropriate health service delivery at
all levels; provision of adequate
technology and innovation to
generate, analyse and communicate
health data disaggregated by gender,
age, geographical location, health
status amongst others; improved
incentive and reward system aimed at
encouraging and motivating health
workers, especially in the rural areas
to reduce rural-urban migration of
skilled health workers.
Part ic ipants recommended
flexibility in the implementation of
the National Health Act 2014 through
p a r t i c i p a t o r y a n d i n c l u s i v e
procedures to recognise the various
local context and peculiarities
i m p a c t i n g o n t h e e f f e c t i v e
implementation of the Act by the State
Governments; creation of enabling
institutional, legal and policy
environment to ensure increased
public-private investment in Primary
Health Care in order to promote
health care technology and innovation
and accessible and affordable health
care delivery at all level.
On financing for Primary Health
Care, the Retreat recommended
adequate Primary Health Care
financing in Nigeria through
enhanced political actions for resource
mobi l isat ion and ful l - f ledged
implementation of the National
Health Act 2014 with prioritised
attention to the 1% provision of
Consolidated Revenue Fund from the
national budget; improved budgeting
system through performance-based
approach to priorit is ing and
addressing endemic challenges
confronting the implementation of the
National Health Act 2014 and
adequate Primary Health Care
financing in Nigeria; establishment of
a Ministerial Fund Disbursement
Committee to ensure appropriate
tracking, monitoring and effective
management of the 1% statutory
allocation to health, to address
inherent problems of counterpart
Improved access, quality and equity in the
health sector are enabled by adequate
investment, infrastructure, appropriate
oversight and effective institutional
governance.
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 20168
he Senate President, Dr. Abubakar TBukola Saraki, has expressed readiness of the National Assembly to support the Nigerian Air Force in the development and deployment of Made-In-Nigeria technology in its operations.
The Senate President who was represented by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Air Force, Senator Ali Wakili, added that: “We must seek them out from wherever they may lie in our people by providing them with a platform to grow. As you must be well aware, with our institutional push towards marketing 'Made in Nigeria' ideas, ideals, goods and services to the rest of the world, the Air Force has a staunch partner in the National Assembly.
“I want you to also know that as you work to expand the scope of these ideas, the National Assembly is ready and willing to do all that it takes to help you get them off the ground through the appropriation process. Nigeria must maximize the applicability of the
cutting edge designs that are on display today — and the countless others that we have neglected over the years.
“As we do this, we must begin to look inwards in order to provide funding for these ideas that can help us address our current security challenges and advance our military technology,” Saraki said.
The Senate President reiterated that the Senate, through the passage of laws like the Public Procurement Act and the ongoing consideration of the
Federal Competition Bill, would continue to work to provide the legal platforms to enable local enterprise and innovation.
While commending the leadership of the Air Force for leading the way in innovat ion and loca l content development, Saraki said: “We will continue to tweak our laws to provide level playing fields that will allow our local innovators and entrepreneurs to benefit from the over N2 trillion Naira that is available each year in the Public Procurement Process.”
he Nigerian Senate has c o n s t i t u t e d a n A d h o c Committee to investigate T
Nigerian Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and other revenue generating agencies of government over alleged non-remittance of billions in revenue.
This followed a motion sponsored by Sen. Solomon Adeola. The Committee which will be chaired by the sponsor of the motion Sen. Adeola is to report back to the senate in six weeks.
President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, while setting up the committee, bemoaned the practice. He said revenue agencies generated over N1.5 trillion in 2015, but could only
he National Assembly has Tapproved the virement of N213 billion from the 2016 Appropriation Act.
The approval was sequel to the adoption of the report of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, chaired by Senator Danjuma Goje. He said N25bn was provided for the payment of local contractors and N5bn for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Ministry of Housing.
President Buhari had requested N180bn virement but the House of Representatives passed the virement and jerked it up to N208billipn, while Senate raised it to N213billion.
The breakdown of the virement approval for recurrent shows that Public Service Wage Adjustment (PSWA) N71.8billion; Contingency
deliver less than N500 billion in 2016.“As I keep on hammering,
independent revenue and non-oil revenue are very important areas of our budget. This independent revenue is 37 per cent. You remember that last year it was almost N1.5 trillion and am being told now that this year is likely to come down to 500 billion because they could not meet the target.
“The inability to meet the target is not that they do not have the capacity to meet the target. The problem is that there is too much abuse on these operating surpluses where people spend up to the last naira in all,” he said.
N1.2billion; margin for increase in cost (MIC)N2billion; cadet feeding (Police Academy, Kano) N932million and Amnesty Programme N35billion.
Others are internal operations of the Armed forces N5.2billion, Operation Lafiya Dole N13.9 billion, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) N19.7billion, Foreign M i s s i o n s N 1 6 . 3 b i l l i o n a n d augmentation of meal subsidy/ direct teaching and laboratory cost N900million; Public Complaints Commission N2.5bn,the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) N12.7billion and Presidential Initiative for the North East (PINE) N1.5billion, payment of local contractors N250 billion and N5 b i l l i on was f o r Sus ta inab le Development Goals (SDGs) in the Ministry of Housing.
s part of the efforts to reduce Aalleged influence of governors in financial management, the National Assembly has declared readiness to grant financial autonomy to local government councils and state Houses of Assembly.
This was made known by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, in recent interview with journalist in Abuja.
He reiterated the resolve of the National Assembly to grant financial autonomy to the 774 l o ca l government councils in the country. Dogara lamented that lack of elections at the local government level were crippling democracy and d e n y i n g t h e m u c h n e e d e d development at the third tier of government.
Dogara said the House under his leadership, was in the process of granting financial autonomy to 36 State Houses of Assembly. He described as “evil”, a situation where governors constitute themselves as middlemen and continuously hijacking funds meant for the councils in the name of joint account.
Non-Remittance of Revenue: Senate probes revenue generating agencies
Senate Approves FG's N213 Billion Virement
Senate Moves to Support Air Force for Made-In-Nigeria Technology
Reps Want Financial Autonomy for LGAs, State Assemblies
STATE ASSEMBLY
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 9
he Governor Lagos S ta te , TAkinwunmi Ambode has presented an estimated N812.99 billion to the State's House of Assembly as 2017 Appropriation Bill.
In the budget tagged: “Golden Jubilee Budget”, presented to the Assembly, road infrastructure got the highest allocation with N138.249 billion, followed by education, which got N92.400bn and health, N57.290bn.
Also, Transportation got N51.376bn in the budget, while housing received N50.290bn. Others are: Water, N18.181bn; Tourism, N20.247bn;
Agriculture and Food Security, N4.795bn; Environment, N38.129bn; Sports Development, N9.457bn; Commerce and Industry, N6.177bn; Wealth and Employment Creation, N6.250 billion; Women Affairs, N2.193bn; and Social Development, N2.698bn; Governance, N11.098bn; Science and Technology, N11.006bn and Security, Law and Order, N31.246bn.
Commenting on the Appropriation Bill, the State's Commissioner, Ministry of Finance/ Economic Planning and Budget Akinyemi Ashade, said in the preparation of the 2017 budget, recent
Ambode Presents N812.99b Appropriation Bill for 2017
he Ebonyi State Governor, David TUmahi has presented to the state House of Assembly a budget proposal of N127.2 billion for 2017.
The Appropriation Bill, entitled “Budget of Inclusive Growth and Poverty Reduction in Economic Recession”, sets aside N87.1 billion for capital expenditure and N40.171 billion for recurrent spending.
The economic sector got N57.1 billion as the largest allocation from the capital
he Kaduna State House of TAssembly has passed into law, the state's budget of N214.9 billion for 2017 fiscal year.
The Speaker of the Assembly, Aminu Shagali, who read the content of the budget clause by clause, said N83.46 billion was approved for recurrent and N131.45 for capital expenditure, adding that the budget would cover from now till December 31, 2017.
spending. The governor said the money would go into providing roads, water, electricity, agriculture, education, commerce and industries. The social sector got N14.1 billion, while administration received N9.9 billion.
The governor said the state would borrow N40 billion to accelerate growth. He explained that the money would enable the government complete ongoing road, agricultural, and infrastructural projects.
The Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Ahmed Mohammed, revealed that the N1 billion cut from the original proposal was from the expected revenue of two agencies.
He said that revenue projection of the state Geographic Information System and Internal Revenue Service was reduced by N500 million for each of the agencies, in view of current economic realities.
he Kano State House of Assembly Thas raised alarm over the low
number of beneficiaries of the Federal
G o v e r n m e n t ' s E m p o w e r m e n t
Programme, N-power, selected from
the state.
The Speaker of the House, Kabiru
Rurum, stated this while briefing
journalists on the issue in Kano.
He said: “Despite the fact that
Kano is the most populous state in the
country, available data has shown
that over 20,000 youths from the state
applied for the scheme, yet only 4,966
were selected. Such selection process
is against the spirit of federal
character, and we are not satisfied
with the selection method.”
He cited examples of other states
that were not as densely populated as
Kano but were allocated more
chances than the state, adding that
the Assembly would not relent in its
efforts to ensure that fair play
prevailed in the selection process.
The Speaker revealed that the
House had written a letter to
President Muhammadu Buhari, the
Senate President and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives,
appealing to them to look into the
selection process again.
N-power Jobs: Kano Assembly wants slots increased
he Akwa Ibom House of Assembly Thas confirmed 18 Commissioner nominees and two Special Advisers as requested by State's Governor, Udom Emmanuel.
The confirmation of the nominees followed their screening by the Committee of the Whole.
The mot ion leading to the confirmation was moved by House Leader, Mr. Udo Akpan and seconded by Mr. Aniekan Bassey.
The new commissioners are Mr. Paul Udofia, Mr. Ime Ekpo, Dr Nse Essien, Prof. Eno Ikpe, Mr. Idoroenyin Udo and Mr. Nsikan Nkan, Mr. Uduak Udoinyang, Mr. Charles Udo, Mr. Orman Esin, Dr. Iniobong Essien, Dr. Dominic Ukpong, Mr. Uwemidimo
Nwoko and Mr. Victor Antai, Mr. Monday Uko, Dr. Glory Edet, Mr. Udoh Ekpenyong, Mr. Akan Okon as well as Mr. Ephraim Inyang.
The new Special Advisers are Mr. Ekong Sampson and Mrs Ekemini Umoh.
The Speaker of the House, Mr. Onofiok Luke, said that the nominees during the screening exhibited high level of intelligence and responsibility, urging them to help the governor in his endeavour to build a strong state.
It would be recalled that the governor forwarded the list of 18 nominees and two special advisers to the Assembly on November 25 for confirmation.
Akwa Ibom State Assembly Confirms 18 Nominees as Commissioners
Ebonyi Governor Presents N127.2B Appropriation Bill for 2017
Kaduna Assembly Approves N214.9 Billion 2017 Budget
developments around the world had been put into consideration, especially in the global and national economy spheres.
“We have maintained a conservative approach in estimating our Federal Allocation due to falling oil prices that was about $41.98 per barrel at the time we finalized the budget; the State expects an increase in Federal allocation through 13% derivation from Oil and Gas in 2017, however, the budget would largely be driven by Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) made up of taxes, rates, levies and so on.
“The 2017 budget will continue to promote massive investments in s e c u r i t y , I n f r a s t r u c t u r e , transport/traffic management, physical and social infrastructural development, environment, health, housing, tourism, power, e- governance, education, agriculture and skill acquisition,” he said.
ADVERTORIAL
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201610
Request for Proposal
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
(CISLAC), by this medium is requesting for proposals
from a competent individual consultant to undertake a
mapping of the level of reportage of cases of Internal
Displacement in Nigeria. The focus is to enable
stakeholders have a baseline analysis of media
reportage of displacement issues as it relates to
causes, trends and citizens' perception across the
media.
This Call falls under the framework of the project
“Engaging State and Non-State Actors towards a
National Internally Displaced Persons Policy and Act
in Nigeria” and is supported by the Swiss Government
in Nigeria through the Human Security Division (HSD).
Background to the Project
The upsurge in the number of persons affected by
internal displacement in Nigeria has resulted in a high
number of individuals and families being made to
abandon their original abode and ancestral homes.
Fleeing violence and environmentally induced internal
displacement, activities of insurgent groups like the
Boko Haram has also led to the displacement of over 2
million Nigerians in the north eastern region of the
country alone, while other regions such as the north
central, south east and south-south continue to play
host to displaced persons occasioned by a multiplicity
of factors.
With a growing desire to improve welfare, provide
assistance and durable solutions for the surging
number of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
requiring a broad range of stakeholder engagement
and multiplicity of proven strategies in the country,
there remains an ever present and incessant need for
scaling up intervention in this area especially as it
relates to novel ideas and initiatives that will contribute
durable solutions and broaden approaches needed
for addressing challenges of internal displacement in
Nigeria.
CISLAC has since prior to the insurgency in the
country been engaging in advocacy for the
introduction of institutional frameworks as a proactive
measure in nipping in the bud the menace of internal
displacement. CISLAC is currently at the
Media Mapping of Reportage of Internal Displacement Issues in Nigeria: Causes, Trends, Scope and Citizens' Perception Analysis
implementation stage of the project “Engaging State
and Non-State Actors towards a National Internally
Displaced Persons Policy and Act in Nigeria”. The
project aims at supporting the introduction of
institutional frameworks that include legislation and a
national policy that will in the main be the overarching
state driven mechanism guiding intervention of both
State and Non State Actors (NSAs) wherever and
whenever displacement issues occur.
Objective of the Consultancy
The objective of this call is to recruit one individual
media consultant to undertake a mapping/baseline
study of media reportage across the traditional media
in the country as part of its project implementation.
This is towards contributing to improved factual
reports of cases of displacement across the country.
The outcomes of the mapping will also contribute to
cultivating the media and creating a conducive and
favourable environment for improved and increased
media coverage of displacement issues with a view
towards establishing citizens' perception in the
context of displacement.
In light of the forgoing and in contributing to available
information on the subject matter, CISLAC under the
framework of the aforementioned project is seeking to
recruit one individual consultant to carry out a media
mapping/baseline study on the level of available
reportage in the media on the issue of internal
displacement in the country.
Activity
The activity in this call entails establishment of a
baseline media reportage of internal displacement
issues in the country in the last one year and the
mapping of media reportage in the next one year. The
need for this arises from the very critical role of the
media in such human endeavour and hence important
to show the media houses actively reporting on issues
of Internal displacement, type of reportage (whether
factual or not) and challenges deterring the quality of
reports produced on the issue. The outcome of this
activity will serve as a baseline that will be used to
measure reportage during and at the end of the
implementation of this project through the Media/Civil
Society forum.
ADVERTORIAL
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 11
Scope of work
The relevance of this project is aligned with the very
crucial role the media plays, especially in the
formation of public opinion, dissemination of
information, and sensitization of the general public.
While the current realities of the insurgency in the
country, coupled with other environmentally induced
displacements, have drastically escalated IDPs
figures. There appears to be very little being done in
mapping and tracking the level of reportage and the
contribution of the media so far in contributing to
understanding the phenomena.
The study aims at contributing to the above, focusing
on a systemic approach in the manner in which the
media reports internal displacement either across
traditional or new media.
Methodology
Based on an agreed Project Implementation Schedule
(PIS), the consultant to be engaged for the study will
be expected to develop and submit a concept note
which details the methodology and timetable
proposed for the study. This will be reviewed and
approved by CISLAC prior to the commencement of
the study.
The baseline study will entail the submission of an
inception report to CISLAC to ascertain the level of
reportage currently available across the media on the
causes, trends, scope and citizens' perception in
relation to displacement in the country. With focus on
the north east and north central regions of the country,
the media analysis will also spotlight reportage of
displacement in the south-eastern and south-south
states that have been affected by both environmental
and conflict induced displacement.
Expected Output
A Consultancy Report detailing the various media
outfits mapped and the extent of their reportage on
internal displacement in the country. The report should
also show the level of reports at inception of
consultancy, level of improvement and/or otherwise at
close, the role and impact of the media in providing
factual reports and contributing to remedying internal
displacement whenever they occur.
Responsibilities/Tasks
The successful Media Consultant shall amongst other
things:
1. Track and monitor emerging issues around internal
displacement in the Nigerian media space.
2. Ensure that a response mechanism is in place to
evaluate and respond to relevant media reports
and cultivate citizens' perception for promoting
IDPs/Host community relations in Nigeria.
3. Develop a media monitoring system of internal
displacement stories in the newspapers and
through electronic alert systems like Google
alerts.
4. Contribute to CISLAC's efforts in providing
adequate publicity of issue of internal
displacement within the media space with a view
towards approaching remedies through
institutional methods and frameworks such as
policy and legislation.
Selection Criteria
The successful Consultant shall amongst other things
possess the under-listed credentials
1. Have a minimum of a Bachelor's degree in
Journalism, Mass Communication, Public Health,
the Humanities/Management Sciences or related
fields of study. An advanced degree will be an
added advantage.
2. Have a minimum of 5years experience of working
in a development and/or media related outfit.
3. Show evidence of completion of similar task in the
past that he/she has conducted.
The successful applicant must have knowledge of the
African Union Convention for the Protection and
Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons and the
national level frameworks for addressing internal
displacement in Nigeria.
Method of Application
A l l a p p l i c a t i o n s s h o u l d b e s e n t t o
[email protected] on or before midnight of
Monday 12th of December 2016 with the subject line:
“MAPPING OF MEDIA REPORTAGE ON IDPs in
NIGERIA”.
All applications received will be reviewed by a
Committee with a final selection being based on
principles of objectivity, impartiality and neutrality.
Female candidates are strongly advised to apply.
The project is supported by the Embassy of
Switzerland in Nigeria in collaboration with the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UHNCR)
PHOTOSPEAK
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201612
Participants in group photo at two-day workshop on “Post-conflict Reintegration and Reconstruction” organized by CISLAC in Abuja.
Participants in a group
photo after a Two-day
Summit for State Policy
Makers on “Financing
Nutrition in Northern
Nigeria” organized by
Federal Ministry of Budget
and National Planning in
partnership with CISLAC
and UNICEF in Kano state
Acting Chairman, Economic
and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim
Magu, flanked to the left by
the Commission's Directors
and right by CISLAC's team,
during advocacy visit to the
Commission by latter.
GENDER AND MATERNAL HEALTH
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 13
provide care. Free maternal and
child health services are provided in
all the 34 health facilities belonging
to the State government and 116
LGA-owned Primary Health Care
facilities.
Health indices are poor as can be
seen in the maternal mortality ratio
of 1025/10000 live births, infant
mortality and child mortality rates
are 114 and 269/ 1000 live births
respectively.
Political commitment to health
development, especially at the Local
Government level is poor. While the
State government has articulated a
number of policies and laws aimed at
reforming the health services, some
crucial ones are yet to be operational
with a whole lot suffering from
implementation problems.
There is poor coordination and
lack of effective health leadership,
especially at the LGA level. Health
funding is low, unpredictable and not
timely. Out-of pocket expenditure
remains the dominant method of
financing health care in the State.
There is gross inequity in the
distribution of health facilities and
health personnel.
Shortages of drugs remain a
problem as well as dearth of
equipment, especially at the PHC
level. There are gaps in the quantity,
quality and mix of health care
personne l . Serv i ces r emain
fragmented, not integrated and
essentially limited to clinic-based
interventions, and referral systems
are poorly developed. The health
management information system is
poorly developed and it excludes the
p r i v a t e s e c t o r . C o m m u n i t y
participation is poor and the state
public private partnership policy is
yet to become fully operational.
According to the report, Kaduna
State has an Essential Services and
Systems Package that has defined
the essential services to be provided,
Examining Maternal Health Policies in Kaduna, Katsina States
By Chioma Kanu
Kaduna State has an Essential Services and
Systems Package that has defined the essential
services to be provided.
iger ia has numerous
e x i s t i n g p o l i c i e s , Nframeworks and related
guidelines to improve Maternal
New-born and Child Health.
Nevertheless, it has failed to
deliver adequate healthcare to the
majority of its women and children,
largely due to inadequate funding
a n d r e s o u r c e s , i n e q u i t a b l e
implementation and lack of
transparency and accountability.
In order to gain comprehensive
study of the existing maternal health
policies and programs towards
addressing the high burden of
maternal and child morbidities and
mortalities across Kano, Kaduna,
Katsina and Jigawa states, the Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
(CISLAC) in collaboration with
MacArthur Foundation recently
published a study entitled, “Audit
report of health programs and
policies in Kano, Kaduna, Katsina &
Jigawa states”.
Kaduna State is the third most
populous State in Nigeria with an
estimated population of 6.4 million
people (2009) spread across 23 Local
Government Areas and 255 wards.
Subsistence agriculture is the
dominant occupation of the people.
Health care services in the State are
provided from a total of 1,692 health
care facilities; and 40.2% of these
health facilities belong to the private
sector. 96.5% of all the health
facilities are primary health care,
3.2% secondary health care and 0.3%
tertiary health care facilities.
In addition, there is a rich
network of traditional healers and
patent medicine vendors that
KADUNA STATE
GENDER AND MATERNAL HEALTH
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201614
the infrastructure, staffing and
drugs required for each level of the
public health care system. What is
left is to revise it to include all
integrated maternal, newborn and
child health components.
The main components of the
KESSP include integrated maternal
newborn and child health that
includes childhood immunizations,
provision of child spacing, antenatal,
delivery, basic emergency and
comprehensive emergency services
and newborn resuscitation services;
growth monitoring promotion of
exc lusive breast feeding and
micronutrient supplementation;
malaria prevention and control
t h r o u g h p r o v i s i o n o f A C T ,
intermittent preventive therapy to
pregnant women, long lasting
insecticide treated nets to pregnant
women and children aged less than 5
years.
As part of the key milestones on
Free Maternal and Child Health
(FMCH) by the State Government, in
2011, the Government committed to
scaling up provision of FMCH
services from 115 to 255 facilities.
The Government has implemented
the Primary Health Care and Drug
Management Agencies by appointing
of management and staff, allocating
of office space, and specifying
budgets in the 2013 Appropriation
Law.
The Government has transferred
m a n a g e m e n t o f t h e F M C H
programme from the Governor's
office to the Ministry of Health,
under the supervision of the
Permanent Secretary; and approved
additional 500 million naira to
enhance the provision of free
healthcare services to pregnant
women and children under-five –
having already increased the health
budget for three successive years.
While a board chairman has been
appointed for state primary health
care development agency following
ascension of its establishment law in
the state, in 2015, Memorandum of
Understanding was signed between
Health services provision in
Katsina is organized like in other
parts of the country- into three levels
of tertiary, secondary and primary
levels. The federal government is
responsible for the provision of
tertiary services in Federal Medical
centre, Katsina, while the state runs
the secondary health care centers
through the hospital services
management board, and the State
Primary Health Care Development
A g e n c y , w h i c h h e l p s w i t h
coordination and technical support
of PHC activities and partners'
activities.
In Katsina State, patients
attending a local government facility
pay for basic ANC services, malaria
t reatment and prophylaxis ,
ultrasound scan, basic lab tests,
delivery, blood transfusion services
and card/registration. They also pay
f o r d e l i v e r y s e r v i c e s ,
gloves/supplies, investigations,
drugs and do buy razors, pad, soap,
dettol, wrapper, towel and slippers
when coming for delivery.
As such, majority of populace still
do not consider the maternal health
services as free as they have to pay
for drip set and extra gloves with
some user charges.
C u r r e n t l y t h e s t a t e i s
characterized by lack of effective
stewardship role of government,
fragmented health service delivery,
i n a d e q u a t e a n d i n e f f i c i e n t
f i n a n c i n g , w e a k h e a l t h
infrastructure, inadequate and mal-
distribution of health workforce and
weak coordination amongst key
players.
The total population is about 6 million, of which
4% are infants, 20% under 5s, and 22% are
women between the ages of 15 to 49. The state has
one of the highest Maternal Mortality Rate in the
country and efforts are directed at addressing
this problem.
Kaduna state government, Dangote
Foundation and Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation towards polio
eradication initiative and routine
immunization services.
The Katsina State Ministry of
Health has three important arms:
State Pr imary Health Care
Development Agency (bridging the
gap between PHC and secondary
level), the Hospital services
management board responsible for
hospitals, and State College of
Health Sciences which is responsible
for training of Mid-level Health
cadre.
The policy and regulatory
functions are done by the State
Ministry of Health, while the LGAs
have the mandate of providing PHC
services to the communities the state
PHC Development Agency co-
ord inates , c o l laborates and
supervises the Local Governments.
The total population is about 6
million, of which 4% are infants, 20%
under 5s, and 22% are women
between the ages of 15 to 49. The
state has one of the highest Maternal
Mortality Rate in the country and
efforts are directed at addressing
this problem. It has 1,427 health
facilities, 21 general hospitals and 22
CHC.
ANC attendance is about 55% but
delivery in health facilities by skilled
attendants is about 10%. There are
480 midwives and 981 nurses in the
state with one each in some LGAs.
KATSINA STATE
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 15
only be achieved by deliberate
investment in nutritional needs of
her citizens through both preventive
and curative means of eradicating
malnutrition at all levels. This can
only be made possible if the
government at all levels make food
security a priority over a long term.
“There are 2.5 million children in
Nigeria who are 9 times more likely
to die because they are severely
malnourished. If treatment is not
provided about half a million of them
will die in 2017 alone. Majority of
these children, about 2 million, are in
There are 2.5 million children in
Nigeria who are 9 times more “likely to die because they are
severely malnourished; and if
treatment is not provided about half
a million of them will die in 2017
alone,” Executive Director, CISLAC,
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)
has said.
This was made known by the
Director while giving a welcome
address at a “Two Day Summit for
the State Policy Makers on
Financing Nutrition in Northern
Nigeria” organized by Federal
Ministry of Budget and National
Planning in partnership with Civil
Society Legislative Advocacy Centre
(CISLAC) and United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kano
state.
The CISLAC's boss, who was
represented by Mallam Nura Maaji,
Program Offcer, CISLAC Kano
Regional Office, said no nation could
develop without substantial and
consistent investment in nutrition,
w h i c h p r o m o t e s i n c r e a s e d
opportunity for her citizen to
creatively engage in productive,
income generation and wealth
creating activities.
He said: “Productive citizens can
Northern Nigeria.
“The other consequences of
malnutrition such as stunting,
causes lower IQ resulting in poor
performance in formal wall, reduced
productivity in adulthood and
consequently intensify child
morbidity and mortality.”
The Executive Director added:
“There are national policies and
strategies developed to address
malnutrition. These are National
Food and Nutrition Policy and the
National Strategic Plan of Action for
Nutrition. The operationalization of
these policy documents, including
funding is a major driver towards
reducing the high burden of
malnutrition and prevention of
n e e d l e s s d e a t h s i n o u r
communities.”
While admitting that states
across the North bear the severity of
malnutrition in Nigeria, he
encouraged the Northern states'
governments to access internal and
external opportunities to leverage
required resources and partnership
to address malnutrition.
There are 2.5 million children in
Nigeria who are 9 times more likely to die
because they are severely malnourished.
GENDER AND MATERNAL HEALTH
'Majority of severely malnourished children are in Northern Nigeria' – CISLAC
By Chioma Kanu
Dr. Kabiru I. Getso, Kano State Honourable Commissioner for Health (left) and Dr. Arjan De Wagt, Chief of Nutrition, UNICEF Country Office Abuja
OPINION
16
egislative Approval is the
consideration by the two LChambers of the National
Assembly of the proposed Budget for
the next financial year termed
“Appropriation Bill” which will
result in “Appropriation Act” to be
implemented by the executive arm.
After the budget derived from
the medium term expenditure
frame work by the executive arm,
the President should present the
Appropriation Bill, which consists
proposed Budget revenue and
expenditure to the joint sitting of
National Assembly demanding
legislative Approval as required by
section 8 (a) of the constitution. As
soon as the President presents the
budget estimate to the National
Assembly, the National Assembly
has the capacity to amend or reject
the budget proposal of the executive,
and to substitute (part of) a budget.
Very few parliaments fall into this
category.
The United States Congress,
which has power to determine the
budget policy, is good example of his
category. After presenting an
Appropriation Bill before the
National Assembly, the proposed
budged is accompanied by copy of
projected revenues and expenditure
profile for the next 2 year's report of
revenue and expenditure and budget
for the one and a half year up to June
of the last financial year.
Each house of the National
Assembly, under the leadership of
Senate President or Speaker of the
House of Representatives introduces
the Appropriation Bill to the House
for the First Reading, the Bill is
published in the Gazette. But If the
Bill was not published in the
Gazette, the Senate President or
S p e a k e r o f H o u s e o f
Representatives should raise a
motion for leave to introduce the Bill
put forward to the House. The
Appropriation Bill is then referred
to Appropriation committee while
the public hearing will be allowed
through public announcement to the
stakeholders who have the Interest
in the Bill such as civil society,
pressure groups, Associations,
professional bodies experts and so on.
The Appropriation committee
group assign the various functional
budget to the respective committee
where MDAs Involved will appear
for defense. That is, a functional
budget of health sector, which
consist Ministries, Department and
Agencies under the Ministry of
Health should be assigned to the
Senate or House Standing Committee
on Health matters for defense. After
necessary defense by various MDAs,
relevant committees of the Assembly
present their reports to the Senate or
House Appropriation Committee as
the case may be . Then the
Appropriation committee of each
Chamber gather resolutions by the
Committees, so as to make a master
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016
Budgetary Process: Understanding the Role of Legislature (2)
By Usman A. Aliyu
budget which will be a single
budget for the Federal Government.
The Appropriation Committee of
Senate and the House gather under a
l a r g e r J o i n t A p p r o p r i a t i o n
Commit tee t o reconc i l e the
differences of the two houses. It is at
this stage, “budget padding” could
arise.
If the Joint Appropriation
Committee finally comes up with
the report which should be
considered as an Appropriation for
the year then each Appropriation
committee of the two houses will
take reconciled report and laid it
before the plenary where the
chairman of the committee will
ask for consideration. As soon as the
report is considered the budget
becomes Appropriation Act for the
year.
Thereafter, an Appropriation Act
should be forwarded to the President
for his assent. If the president fail
to assent the Bill within thirty
days, then the budget will be brought
back to legislative arm, and if both
Continued on page 20
DECLARATION
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 17
ivil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) with support from Global Affairs Canada and Transparency International held a One Day Focus Group Discussion on citizens' role towards Strengthening C
Accountability in the Nigeria Defence Sector (SANDS). The Focus Group Discussion was attended by Anti-corruption focused NGOs from Enugu, Anambra, Abia, Imo and Ebonyi states. Community influence and opinion Leaders, Council Officials, Youth Groups, Women Associations, Students and Community Based Organizations. After exhaustive deliberations on the aim of the Focus Group Discussion which is to elicit citizens participation in strengthening accountability in the defence sector. We, the participants:
Recognize that the scale of abuse of Security Votes at State level and Defence Budget at National Level is best left to the imagination when extrapolated from the brazen corruption to which non-discretionary spending is usually subjected to in our country. For instance, revelations from how security funds were allegedly disbursed by the South Eastern Sates suggests that: Enugu spends 600m monthly and 7.2billion per annum while Anambra spends 850m/monthly and 10.2billion per annum, and so on are indication of the abuse to which such discretionary spending is subjected in Nigeria.
Also Recognize that there are no specific projects attached to the provision called security votes and because it is not tagged to any project, and because it is not usually audited or accounted for, their Excellencies spend it on anything but security. They use it to expand their harems, acquire choice properties, or simply deplore it to simply run their perceived or real enemies out of town. This way, “security votes” have become synonymous to kalokalo gaming machine. It gulps billions of naira, every month, without yielding anything to Nigerian taxpayers from whose sweat the budget is drawn. Another name for security vote is slush fund. The freebie is part of the reasons Presidents, Governors and Local Government Chairmen in this democracy have been living like mythical kings over a thousand thrones
Express our Deep Concern over the spread of abuse and corruption at all levels of government; it has been extended to virtually all public agencies, including academic institutions. More than ever before, Nigeria is in dire need of accountable and public-spirited leadership. The governors, many of whom are now seeking public sympathy on their inability to pay the wages of their workers, should urgently remedy their profligate ways.
Note that that the National and State Assemblies should as a matter of urgency begin the publication of defence and security revenue and expenditure to encourage transparency, drill down accountability, stimulate citizens' participation and openness in governance. This will largely demonstrate to the citizens that government is committed to its commitment at the Anti-Corruption Summit in London earlier in the year.
Also Note that not all security expenditure (properly understood as such) can stand public scrutiny without jeopardising its overarching purpose of maintenance of law and order. But nothing can justify the current situation where the executive at all levels allocate to themselves jumbo sums of money that is spent without any accountability on issues that have nothing to do with the security or welfare of the people. Invariably, security votes have become a clever way by which political office holders, in implicit collusion with, or exploitation by, security agencies, defraud the public.
Further Note that the National and State Assemblies should legislate over security vote that will clearly define how monies will be spent or appropriated for. The law will essentially provide strong accountability framework as well as clear departure from the traditional methods of taking monies without any audit process. Civil society Organizations will organize and mobilize through
sustained networks and partnerships.
We Commit to advocate for budget credibility in the defence budget as it remains an important aspect for citizens to engage, it has also become a difficult area to investigate, particularly because of the lack of detailed data availability. Overtime in Nigeria, plans or policies approved in the paper, bear little resemblance to the actual pattern of public financial activity that took place by the end of the budget period.
We Affirm that civil society actors will continue to influence horizontal accountability in two main ways: directly, by encouraging the creation and empowerment of institutional checks and balances, and indirectly, by strengthening the institutions of vertical accountability that underpin them, such as inclusiveness in the development of defence and security policies and strengthening civil military relations. The causal arrow also points in the other direction, however. Weak institutions of horizontal accountability can also undermine vertical accountability, which in turn weakens civil society actors.
We Endorse an improvement in the existing structure of Ministry of Defence as well as strengthening of the audit unit of the Defence Headquarters to ensure some levels of independence for proper accountability. This is important because sound fiscal policy and its attendant fiscal responsibility can have important long-run effects on the security of a nation through its desired impact on growth of productivity, reduction of insecurity and inequality and increased national saving.
Will ensure that awareness are raised continuously in the media as a network of organizations working to strengthen active citizenship towards amplifying the need to move beyond transparency to accountability in the Nigeria Defence budget, spending and reconciliations.
Shall Effectively engage defence budget comprehensively with orderly provision of public resources to public purposes and covering the field, budget transparency refers to the extent and ease with which citizens can access information on the budget and provide feedback to government on revenues, allocations, and expenditures. Comprehensive budgets will be expected to increase accountability and transparency and enable policymakers' and public scrutiny over the spending of public funds.
Will Support the review of the Public Procurement Act to remove the clause that provides complete exemption for military procurement. The immediate inauguration of the National Procurement Council should be given priority as a demonstration of this administration's commitment to fight corruption.
Agreed that there is already some failure in governance, Civil Society Organizations and the media therefore must work effectively to promote community governance as a panacea for increasing awareness amongst stakeholders on the need to strengthen accountability in the defence sector. A social media platform will be launched to drive this process.
Signed:
Auwal Ibrahim Musa (Rafsanjani)Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Abuja
Comerade Jaye GaskiaExecutive Director, Praxis Centre, Abuja
Olu OmotayoState Coordinator ,Civil Rights Realization and Advancement Network, Enugu
Okanya ChinagoromCoordinator , Justice Development Peace Caritas , Enugu
DECLARATION OF ACTION AFTER A ONE DAY SOUTH EAST FOCUS GROUP DISCUSSION TOWARDS STRENGTHENING ACCOUNTABILITY IN THE NIGERIA DEFENCE SECTOR ORGANIZED BY THE CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) WITH SUPPORT FROM GLOBAL AFFAIRS CANADA AND TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL HELD IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM OF BAYVIEW RESORTS & HOTELS, ENUGU, ENUGU STATE ON THE 17th DAY OF NOVEMBER, 2016
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201618
COMMUNIQUE
PREAMBLE:
Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) organized a One-day Legislative and Executive Dialogue on Action for Effective Implementation of Policies on Maternal Health. The Dialogue aims at bringing Katsina State's legislators, executive and civil society arms under one roof to brainstorm on necessary action for effective implementation and oversight of the existing policies and law on maternal and child health in the state. The meeting drew 20 participants representing Katsina State House of Assembly, Ministries of Health, Education and Women Affairs, Civil Society Organizations, and the Media. After exhaustive deliberations on various thematic issues, the following observations and recommendations were made:
Observations:
1. As part of the strategy to create accessible, affordable and improved health care system, especially in the grassroots, Katsina State House of Assembly has taken a step to harmonize the State's Primary Health Care through a Bill presently receiving legislative inputs.
2. While the State's ante-natal care attendance is about 55% with only 10% delivery occurring at health care facilities by skilled birth attendants, vaccine preventable diseases remain major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality in the State.
3. Adequate budgetary allocation to the health sector in the State is impeded by the ongoing widespread dwindling revenue allocation from Federation Account to the states and low State Internally Generated Revenue.
4. The existing abuse of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) in the State hampers both local and international efforts at addressing childhood malnutrition and mortality.
5. Lopsidedness in salary structure and systemic ghost workers shorten resource allocation and discourage effective performance among the State's health care providers.
6. The State in recent times has taken drastic step towards mitigating high patient-to-doctor ratio through persistent recruitment of additional health care personnel and introduction of health care education across higher institutions.
7. For the past one year, supply of essential drugs to the Primary Health Care facilities across the State has been halted.
Recommendations:
1. Availability of the State policy document on Free Maternal Health Services among health care providers and hospital administrators for greater awareness, working knowledge and effective implementation.
2. Concerted effort towards translating existing health care policies into legislation to promote accountability and sustainability in the health care system.
3. Reviewing the viability of the current free scheme to accommodate more innovative and sustainable approaches in the health care intervention, financing and management system.
4. Establishing State Task Force system to ensure appropriate supervision and management of the distribution of RUTF in the State.
5. Adequate remuneration structure and incentives for the health workers to encourage effective performance and address human resource related challenges in the health facilities.
6. Public-private partnership to drive additional financial support to enhance fund provision to the State's health sector.
7. Defining the holistic modality for the implementation of the National Health Act in the State to ensure suitability to local context.
Call to immediate action:
1. Debriefing report to the relevant stakeholders like Honourable Commissioners for Health, Education, and Women Affairs
2. Sponsoring for domestication and passage, the National Health Act by the State House of Assembly.
3. Constructive advocacy by civil society to both legislative and executive arms for the domestication and effective implementation of the National Health Act.
4. Appropriate sensitization and awareness of the pro-poor provisions as contain in the National Health Act by the media to the relevant stakeholders.
Signed:
1. Dahir AncheKatsina State House of Assembly
2. Munir MadahaKatsina State Ministry of Health
3. Hauwa Ibrahim Katsina State Television
4. Halimah OthmanKatsina State Ministry of Education
5. Armaya'u Abdulahamid Coalition of CSOs
COMMUNIQUÉ ISSUED AT THE END OF A ONE-DAY LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE DIALOGUE ON ACTION FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICIES ON MATERNAL HEALTH ORGANIZED BY CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) WITH SUPPORT FROM THE MACARTHUR FOUNDATION, HELD AT MAKERA MOTEL, KATSINA STATE ON 10TH NOVEMBER, 2016.
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 19
COMMUNIQUE
PREAMBLE
The Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning in partnership with Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) organized a two-day Summit for State Policy Makers on Financing Nutrition in Northern Nigeria. The Summit aimed at bringing the States legislators and high level policy makers from various states under one roof to: understand the complexity and multi-sectoral nature of nutrition; identify opportunities for financing nutrition in the 2017 budget in their respective states, understand existing efforts by the States towards sustainably increasing nutrition investment including nutrition emergency in Northern Nigeria. The meeting drew over 70 leaders from State Houses of Assembly, States Ministries of Health, Budget and Economic Planning, State Executive Secretaries, Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Health, civil society groups and the media.
The Summit was attended by Members of the State Houses of Assembly such as Gombe State Chairman House Committee on Health, Hon. Bature G. Usman; Gombe State Chairman House Committee on Finance, Hon. Adamu J. Saidu; Chairman Katsina State House Committee on Health, Hon. Abubakar Mohammed; Yobe State Chairman House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Bukar Mustapha; Chairman Yobe State House Committee on Health, Hon. Ya'u Usman Dachia; Chairman Kaduna State House Committee on Health, Hon. Dr. Baal Z. Auta; Chairman Kaduna State House Committee on Appropriation and Implementation, Hon. Ahmed Mohammed; Chairman Kano State House Committee on Budget, Rt. Hon. Abdul G. Azeez; Deputy Chairman Bauchi State House Committee on Health, Hon. Sale A. Umar; Deputy Chairman Bauchi State House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Abdullahi S. Abdulkadir; Chairman Sokoto State House Committee on Finance and Appropriation, Hon. Malami Ahmed Mohammed, Sokoto State Chairman House Committee on Health, Hon. Bature B. Muhammad.
The Summit was also attended by members of the States' Executives; Kano State Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Kabiru I. Getso; Jigawa State Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abba Z. Umar; Kebbi State Honourable Commissioner for Health, Umar Usman Kambaza; Yobe State Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr. Idi Barde Gubana; Yobe State Honourable Commisioner for Health, Dr. M.B. Kawuwa; Economic Adviser to the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Murtala M. Dabo; Special Adviser to the Bauchi State Governor on Donors and NGOs, Alhaji Mansur Manu Soro; Special Adviser on Budget and Planning to the Bauchi State Governor, Mr. Bello Gidado; Special Adviser on Finance and Budget to the Adamawa State Government, Mr. Umar Bakari; Permanent Secretary, Jigawa State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Mr. Adamu Muhammad Garun Gabas; Permanent Secretary Borno State Ministry of Budget and Planning, Alhaji Mustapha T. Abba; Permanent Secretary Bauchi State Planning Commission, Mr. Yahuza Adamu; Special Adviser on Health to the Jigawa State Governor, Hon. Bello Umar; Acting Permanent Secretary, Sokoto State Ministry of Budget, Usman Arzika Bodinga.
After exhaustive deliberations on various thematic issues, the following observations and recommendations were made:
OBSERVATIONS:
1. Malnutrition impacts negatively on the socio-economic development of a
nation, and sustainable growth in Northern Nigeria cannot be achieved without prioritised attention to nutrition investment at all levels.
2. Undernutrition remains high in Northern Nigeria with about 2.2 million out of the 2.5 million severely acute malnourished children being from Northern Nigeria. Majority of children do not receive minimum acceptable diet. While 50% child mortality in the country has malnutrition as underlining cause, no fewer than 1200, out of 2600 estimated daily deaths are caused by malnutrition.
3. Delay in domestication and implementation of the existing national policy guidelines on nutrition such as the National Policy on Food and Nutrition and the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition by the States, hampers efforts to addressing nutrition through a multi-sectoral approach by the relevant sectors including health, education, agriculture, water and sanitation, social protection, among others.
4. Inadequate budgetary allocation to nutrition and delay or non-release of nutrition appropriated funds by the state governments are inherent systemic challenges in complementing donors' efforts in scaling up interventions in nutrition.
5. Having visited treatment site for children with severe acute malnutrition to observe the severity of undernutrition in Northern Nigeria, we are deeply touched and worried that inadequate Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) across the States is a threat to saving lives of children with conditions of severe acute malnutrition, thus defeating the efforts in addressing childhood malnutrition and mortality.
6. Lack of legal framework on nutrition budget appropriation and oversight.
7. Food insecurity, inappropriate feeding habits, poor awareness on acceptable adequate diet, insufficient health facilities and services are contributory factors to maternal and child malnutrition across the North.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Prioritize malnutrition as a major health crisis in Northern Nigeria.
2. We commit working towards ensuring government provides funding for procurement of RUTF for CMAM continuation and scale-up in 2017 as well as encourage government to explore opportunities for local production of RUTF.
3. Consider nutrition as a multi-sectoral issue; develop and adopt multi-sectoral policies and implementable costed plans to address the high rates of malnutrition in Northern Nigeria.
4. Immediate release of funds for 2016 nutrition budget and put adequate funds in the 2017 states' budgets to scale up nutrition interventions, giving consideration to adequate fund provision to maximize and leverage donor resources for treatment of severe acute malnourished children, scale up of infant and young child feeding practices and micronutrients deficiency.
5. Development of legal framework by the State Houses of Assembly to create ownership and institutionalize dedicated nutrition budget lines.
6. Prompt domestication and effective implementation of the National Policy for Food and Nutrition with functional support system and costed Nutrition Plan of Action by the States to provide guidelines and enhance
COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A TWO-DAY SUMMIT FOR STATE POLICY MAKERS ON FINANCING NUTRITION IN NORTHERN NIGERIA ORGANIZED BY THE FEDERAL MINISTRY OF BUDGET AND NATIONAL PLANNING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CIVIL SOCIETY LEGISLATIVE ADVOCACY CENTRE (CISLAC) AND UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF) WITH SUPPORT FROM UKAID AND CHILDREN'S INVESTMENT FUND FOUNDATION OF UK HELD AT TAHIR GUEST PALACE, G.R.A KANO STATE ON 24TH AND 25TH NOVEMBER, 2016.
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201620
COMMUNIQUE
planning for policy formulation towards maternal and child nutrition intervention and financing.
7. Encouraging appropriate and exclusive breastfeeding system through individual re-orientation, community participation and ownership, to address childhood malnutrition and combat childhood killer diseases at all levels.
8. Embracing local capacity in addressing malnutrition through diversification into agricultural sector to boost local remedies, enhanced financial support for Small-Scale farming and Small Scale Enterprises; and appropriate community mobilization, sensitization and awareness.
9. Mainstreaming well-funded nutrition components in the State Primary Health Care systems to ensure that minimum package of nutrition is institutionalized through policy transformation and service delivery.
10. Organize and arrange visits to CMAM sites for our respective colleagues (SHOA, Commissioners and Executives) to better understand the severity and complexity of the malnutrition crisis in our states.
11. Build synergy between the state legislative and executive arms on nutrition interventions
Signed:
1. Umar BakariSpecial Adviser on Finance and Budget to Adamawa State Governor
2. Adamu Muhammad Garun GabasPermanent Secretary, Jigawa State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning
3. Hon. Musa Sule DutseMember of Jigawa State House of Assembly
4. Bello Gidado Special Adviser on Budget and Planning to the Bauchi State Governor
5. Yahuza AdamuPermanent Secretary, Bauchi State Planning Commission
6. Hon. Abdullahi Sa'ad AbdulkadirDeputy Majority Leader, Bauchi State House of Assembly
Chambers reapproved the Bill by two
third majority then it becomes Act
without president assent. Therefore
the executive arm must implement it
otherwise it will be an impeachable
offence against the President.
The President after Federal
Executive Council will send the
budget to the ministry of finance for
disbursement schedule.
Budget Implementation is the
process whereby executive arm will
exercise their power o f
Implementation while legislative
arm oversight the Implementation
of executive activities through its
various standing committees so as to
stimulate the executive arm to
properly implement an Appropriation
Act for a particular year.
We have seen from the above that
Nigerian Constitution and other
fiscal laws specify that the executive
prepares and submits a budget and
that no funds may be taken from the
government ' s c o f f e r s un less
authorized by an act of the legislature
i.e. the National Assembly. Thus, the
constitutional power expressly given
to the Nigerian Legislatures is that of
consideration and approval of the
M e d i u m - T e r m E x p e n d i t u r e
Framework and the Appropriation
Bill respectively, as well as the
authorization of any spending from
the Government's coffers.
Beyond these fundamentals, the
constitution range from vague to
relatively specific regarding the role
of the legislature in budget process.
Where specific responsibilities are
assigned to the executive or withheld
from the legislature, the line is
distinct. Where there is ambiguity,
prerogatives are up for grabs and the
more assertive, determined, or
politically powerful branch can boost
its influence if conditions are right.
The primacy of the executive in preparing and presenting the budget has been generally accepted. In 1986, the Inter-Parliamentary Union wrote, “In all countries, there is an unusual measure of agreement that the government alone has the right to draw up and present the budget to the legislature for approval”.
7. Hon. Rabiu MusaMember, Katsina State House Committee on Appropriation
8. Hon. Nuhu Musa TamaMember of Bauchi State House of Assembly
9. Zayyanu SayyadiSecretary, Zamfara House Appropriation Committee
10. Abubakar WakiliDirector, Gombe State Ministry of Economic and Planning
11. Idi Barde Gubana Yobe State Honourable Commissioner for Budget and Planning
12. Alhaji Mansur Manu Soro Special Adviser to the Bauchi State Governor on Donors and NGOs,
13. Salisu U. MarajiDirector Admin & Finance, Kaduna State Ministry of Budget
14. Hon. Ahmed Mohammed Chairman, Kaduna State House Committee on Appropriation and Implementation
15. Hon. Dr. Isaac Z. AutaMember of Kaduna State House Committee on Health
16. Murtala M. DaboSpecial Adviser on Economic to the Kaduna State Governor
17. Umar Usman KambazaKebbi State Commissioner for Health
18. Hon. Bature G. Usman Chairman Gombe State House Committee on Health & Human Service
19. Mohammed M. KatangaSecretary Jigawa State House Committee on Health
20. Faruk NamalamDirector, Sokoto State Primary Health Care Development Agency
21. Kubura Ahmad BichiDirector of Planning and Research, Kano State Planning Commission
22. Hon. Sule A.UMember of Bauchi State House Committee on Health
Continued from page 16
Understanding the Role of Legislature (2)
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 21
REPORT
will maximally improve the living
conditions of people, especially at
the grassroots.
The conversation arose from
public outcry on a petition
submitted to the Honourable
Speaker, Kano State House of
Assembly, Rt . Hon. Kabiru
Alhassan Rurum, by a Kano based
Voice of Progressive Youth calling
for the retraction of the said law.
Also, speaking during the
session, Majority Leader of Kano
State House of Assembly, Hon.
Yusuf Atta of Fagge, cautioned that
the law should rather be amended to
eliminate outrageous benefits as
appropriate in acceptable manners
to people and the economy. He
assured that the law would be
recalled and subjected to public
h e a r i n g f o r p e o p l e s ' c r o s s
examination with a view to have a
more acceptable Pension Law in the
state.
“It is unfortunate that some
retired Governors and their
Deputies, having sacrificed their
lives to serve people, are struggling
to feed their families and cannot
afford their medical bills,” he
advised.
Commenting on the rationale
behind submission of the said
pet i t ion to the KSHA, the
representative of the Voice of
Progressive Youth, Muhammad
Hamisu Sharifai, explained that by
virtue of the provisions of Kano
Governors Pension Right Law,
2007, it would deplete the lean
treasury of the state and make
Governors and their Deputies
political landlords rather than
servants of the people, hence the
need for it to be repealed in the
interest of justice, equity, fairness,
public decency and morality.
It is grossly unjustifiable to
have such outrageous law as “Kano Governors Pension Right
Act, 2007 in view of the current
economic reality, and it is only a
despotic minded system that can
tolerate such needles and irrational
law,” the CISLAC's Kano State
Regional Program Officer, Nura
Maaji has said.
The Program Officer, who
expressed serious concern over
implementation of the Act in the
face of the current dwindling
revenue hampering effort by the
State Governments at fulfilling
their constitutional responsibilities
to the citizens, said it was only a
despotic minded system that could
tolerate such needles and irrational
“nationally motivated” law.
While reacting to the questions
during a live interview on the
famous Freedom Radio program
“Duniyar Mu a Yau” in Kano State,
l a m e n t e d t h a t , t h e m o s t
beneficiaries of the said law were
serving Senators and Members of
Federal executive council currently
serving as ministers of one ministry
or the other, regardless of their
indictment in corruption related
cases by anti-graft agencies.
Maaji recommended immediate
repealing of the law and called for
the enactment of pro-poor laws that
'Kano Governor Pension Right Act, Outrageous' – CSOs By Nura Maaji
…it was only a despotic minded system
that could tolerate such needles and
irrational nationally motivated law.
REPORT
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 201622
trengthening and strategic
r e f o c u s i n g o f A f r i c a ' s Spartnerships to respond
effectively to continental priorities
for sustainable development is a
critical priority for the African
Union.
Ensuring that Africa has the
right strategies to finance its own
development and reducing aid
dependency are centrepieces in
driving structural transformation.
Gripped with these important
questions not the least in driving its
health agenda the continent is
strengthening the coordination of
p a r t n e r s h i p s t o w a r d s
implementation of harmonised
policy frameworks.
In alignment with Agenda 2063
and the Global Agenda 2030, the
African Union revised its health
strategy and further defined a clear
strategic direction to end AIDS, TB
and Malaria as public health threats
by 2030.
The African Union meeting with
i t s s t r a t e g i c r e g i o n a l a n d
continental partners held recently
in Johannesburg mapped out key
actions and priorities for joint action
to implement the Catalytic
Framework to end AIDS, TB and
Eliminate Malaria by 2030.
”It will take great partnerships
to mobilise the resources that are
needed to strengthen human
resources for health, ensure access
to affordable and quality assured
medicines and to further strengthen
leadership, governance and
accountability. We need more
health for the money,” said
Ambassador Olawale Maiyegun,
Director for Social Affairs at the
African Union Commission while
officially launching the Africa
Partnership and Coordination
Forum.
The Forum will harmonise all
coordination efforts to support
countries by AU organs, Regional
E c o n o m i c C o m m u n i t i e s ,
development partners and non-
s t a t e a c t o r s t o w a r d s t h e
implementation of the AU Catalytic
Framework and related AU policy
frameworks.
With bold and ambitious targets,
the Catalytic Framework seeks to
eliminate malaria incidence and
mortality, prevent its transmission
and re-establishment in all
countries by 2030. It further seeks
to end the AIDS as a public health
threat by 2030 and end TB deaths
and cases by 2030.
The strategy enunciates key
policy issues, strategic priorities
and accountability mechanisms.
The strategy specifically advances a
business case for investing for
impact on AIDS, TB and Malaria
consisting of health systems
strengthening, generation and use
o f evidence for pol icy and
programme interventions and
advocacy and capacity building.
Its addresses broad ranging
issues including leadership, country
ownership , governance and
accountability, universal and
equitable access to prevention,
diagnosis, treatment, care and
support.
It further looks at issues of
access to affordable and quality
assured medicines, commodities
and technologies, health financing,
community participation and
invo lvement , r esearch and
development and innovation,
promotion of human rights and
Eradicating AIDS, TB and Malaria by 2030
REPORT
Legislative Digest Vol. 10 No. 11, November, 2016 23
he Confédération Africaine
de Football (CAF) in Tpartnership with the
United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF) in Cameroon, the
African Union (AU), Powerplay
and the Cameroon Football
Federation (FECAFOOT) have
jointly launched the “Together
against the marriage of young
girls” campaign with the view to
eradicate child marriages on the
continent.
After the launching of the
campaign by the Cameroonian
Government on 18 November 2016
in the sidelines of the ongoing
women AFCON hosted by the
Republic of Cameroon, the female
football champions have been used
to raise awareness and sensitize
the population on the need to stop
the ill practices of marrying girls
below the ages of 18 years and
rather invest in their education so
that they can become the leaders of
tomorrow.
A delegation representing the
various partners and stakeholders
on the end child marriage
campaign visited a renowned
primary school in Yaoundé on 28
N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 6 , t o r a i s e
awareness and engage the youth in
the fight against such social bad
practices.
AFCON 2016: Together Against The Marriage Of Young Girls
Union Commission to create a
better place for all in the
continent…the “Africa We Want”.
The representatives of the
CAF, Mr Leodegard Tenga, the
UNICEF country representative
for Cameroon, Mrs. Felicite
T c h i b i n d a t a n d t h e A U
Commission representative, Mrs.
Esther Azaa Tankou, Head of
Information Division, all partici-
pated in the various school events
organized to pass on various
messages to the youths. Notably,
the use of sports as a way to fight
child marriage and to ensure the
emancipation of young girls.
Some AFCON female champions
f r o m t h e G h a n a i a n a n d
Cameroonian teams joined the
campaign trail on “End Child
Marriage” during today's field visit
at the Ndjoungolo Primary School,
Yaounde.
As part of the campaign, a quiz
was organized for the young school
children and promotional materials
carrying slogans on the AFCON
theme: “Together against the
Marriage of the Young Girls”, were
distributed to the winner of the quiz.
The school children were also
briefed about the Africa Agenda
2063 and efforts of the African
gender equality; multi-sectoral
collaboration and coordination and
strategic information.
During the meeting, partners
working at the regional level
committed to priority actions to
support the implementation for the
Catalytic Framework. The African
Union Commission will accelerate
advocacy efforts for increased
investments in health; further
s t r e n g t h e n l e a d e r s h i p a n d
governance for the three diseases
a n d s t r e n g t h e n s t r a t e g i c
information for evidence informed
policies and programmes.
Regional intergovernmental
o r g a n i s a t i o n s w i l l s u p p o r t
information sharing among Member
States, engage leadership for the
three disease areas at the
appropriate level, advocate for
increased domestic financing for the
three diseases, support availability
of strategic information and
alignment of continental with
national level strategic plans.
Development partners through
advocacy, strategic information,
resource mobilisation and technical
support will support these African
intergovernmental processes. They
will further facilitate integrated
management of the three diseases
at national level.
Non-state actors will popularize
and support the domestication of
the Catalytic Framework, support
information sharing and support
the reporting mechanisms on the
implementation of the Catalytic
Framework.
BILLS UPDATE
BILLS UPDATE (NOVEMBER, 2016) Compiled by CISLAC
S/N BILL NO BILL NAME YEAR STAGE
1. SB 357 Trade marks Acts CAP T13 LFN (Repeal Re -enactment)
2016 First Reading
2. HB. 825 A Bill for an Act to make Provision for Freedom from Hunger and the Right to Adequate Food of Acceptable Quality, the Right of Every Child to Basic Nutrition, and for Other Related Matters.
2016 Second Reading
3.
SB 361
Credit Bureau Reporting Bill
2016
First Reading
4.
SB 261
Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Bill
2016
First Reading
5.
SB 208
Consumer Protection Council Act (Repeal &Re-enactment) Bill
First Reading
6.
4 SB 33
Tax Incentives Management & Transparency Bill
First Reading
7.
5 SB 365
Local Government (Repeal )Bill
2016
First Reading
8.
6
SB 375
TETFUND Act (Amendment) Bill
First Reading
9.
7
SB 376
Proceeds of Crimes Bill
First Reading
10.
8
SB 370
Child Rights Act 2003 (Amendment) Bill
First Reading
11.
9
SB 366
Nigerian Bank of Industry (Establishment etc )Bill
First Reading
12.
1 SB 340
Facilities Managers (Establishment etc) Bill
First Reading
13.
1 SB 334
City University of Technology Yaba Bill
First Reading
14.
1 SB 371
Social Safety Nets Service Bill
First Reading
15.
1 SB360
City University of Technology Kaduna Bill
First Reading
16.
1
SB 336
Constituency Development Fund Bill
First Reading
17.
1
SB 341
Armed Forces (Restriction on use on certain internal security operations, etc)Bill
First Reading
18.
HB 774
Nigeria Social Responsibility Agency (Establishment )Bill
2016
First Reading
19.
HB 775
Local Value Addition Bill,
2016
First Reading
20.
HB 41
A Bill for an Act to Establish the Forest Research Institute of Nigeria; and for Other Relation Matters
2016
Third Reading
21.
HB. 606
A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment of the Nigerian Gas Processing and Marketing Regulatory Board, and for Other Related Matters.
2016
Second Reading
22.
HB. 804
A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Emergency Management Agency (Establishment, etc.) Act, Cap. N34, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and for Other Related Matters.
2016
Second Reading