Puzzle over Fed. Govt N3bn grant to Nollywood

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By Benjamin Njoku

Jubilation has continued to greet the decision of the federal government to create  a N3bn grant for the entertainment industry sub-sector, despite expression of fear by some stakeholders over the accessibility of the grant.

Last Saturday,  President Goodluck Jonathan announced a N3 bn grant to support the nation’s motion picture  industry. He also launched a programme known as “Project Nollywood,”  which he said will help  to support the key components of the industry’s value chain through a dedicated grant.

45,000 ghost workers on payroll, says Fed Govt

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Fourty-five thousand ghost workers have been uncovered in 215 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government under the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS), the Federal Government said yesterday.

Briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja, the Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama said the IPPIS was introduced to enhance efficiency in personnel cost, planning and budgeting on actual verified number and not estimates.

According to him, the government has audited 215 MDAs and 153,019 workers as of January this year.

The minister said that 321 MDAs have not been captured in the IPPIS, adding that government has also established the Treasury Single Account (TSA) as a unified structure of government bank account, which gives a consolidated view of the cash position.