DELAY OF 2011 APPROPRIATION BILL CAN'T STOP FG, SAYS MINISTER

By NBF News
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•Aganga
Minister of Finance, Mr. Olusegun Aganga yesterday stated that controversial 2011 Appropriation Bill is still awaiting passage in the National Assembly, insisting that the delay cannot stall government's programmes.

He stated this in Abuja, during a pre-press-briefing on Presidential Job creation Summit, which will hold on Tuesday next week.

He disclosed that the 2011 Appropriation Bill had not been passed on to President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and was still being awaited.

Notwithstanding, however, Aganga said that government business was still going on as the constitution permit's the government to operate with the 2010 budget.

He said the objective of the summit on Job Creation was to convene all stakeholders, captains of industries, leaders of civil society and key policy makers in Nigeria to address the issues of job creation.

He noted that the government had already benefited from consultations with the private sector, adding that it was government conviction that with the public and private sectors working together, the enabling environment could rapidly be created.

He said the Presidential summit on job creation was based on the premise of creating an enabling environment in which the private sector is empowered to work hand-in-hand with government and create an enabling environment in which the private sector is empowered to work hand-in-hand with government and create opportunities for job creation and inclusive growth for Nigeria's formal and informal sectors.

According to the Minister, the Nigerian economy needed to generate enough jobs to guarantee workers dependable income to secure basic human rights to food, shelter and clothing and access to affordable capital for small and growing businesses which have the potential to employ young graduates and generate economic growth from the bottom up.

The Minister noted that the summit would bring to the fore government's initiatives that foster improved partnership between private sector, civil society and policymakers towards rapid industrial development and job creation in Nigeria, adding that the Summit covers small and growing businesses, vocational education and job centres, graduate employment and business process outsourcing, agriculture and agro processing local content development and innovation.