President Muhammadu Buhari has hailed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, for organising a successful Ministers’ Retreat at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Buhari, in a letter yesterday, said he was “very impressed” with the SGF’s performance at the retreat, hailing his speech on the second day.

A two-day First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and top government functionaries held on September 7 and 8, 2020 at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja.

The letter personally signed by the President read in part: “I am writing to personally recognise your competence and commend the way you organised and led the Ministers’ Retreat.

“The intellectual inputs by the panel chaired by the former SGF, Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, were remarkable.

“Your comprehensive speech at the beginning of the second day of the retreat proved your capacity and experience. For those of us who missed the first day of the retreat, the speech adequately prepared us for the second and final day of the occasion.”

RELATEDLY, Federal Government agencies in the Presidency held consultations for the 2021 budget at a Saturday virtual meeting at the Villa.

The Permanent Secretary, State House, Tijjani Umar, led the meeting between government agencies under the presidency and officials of the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Chief executives and key budget, finance and accounts staff of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) attended the event.

The Deputy Director (Information), Attah Esa, in a statement yesterday, quoted the permanent secretary as saying that “the preparation of the 2021 budget estimates takes into consideration the policies and strategies contained in the 2021-2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), which is the Federal Government’s pre-budget statement.”