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Wednesday, 10 August 2022 06:50

Nigeria faces dire fiscal challenges as budget deficit projected to be 3 times revenue - Bloomberg

Nigeria must cut gasoline subsidies and boost revenue collection to avoid a sharp deterioration in government finances next year, the nation’s budget office said. The budget deficit may rise to 12.4 trillion naira ($29 billion) next year -- almost three times total revenue, or 5.5% of gross domestic product -- if the government continues paying fuel subsidies, according to a medium-term expenditure framework published on the office’s website. The subsidies will cost 6.72 trillion naira, it said. The budget shortfall would balloon from a projected 7.35 trillion naira in 2022 despite plans not to fund capital expenditure in 2023 if…

Wednesday, 10 August 2022 06:49

There were hot arguments among ministers at the last FEC meeting over $418m to pay Paris Club debt consultants. This is what happened

President Muhammadu Buhari has rejected fresh plans to deduct $418 million from the federation account to settle consultants over controversial Paris Club debt. According to a Premium Times report, Buhari directed Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, to suspend plans to begin the deductions during the federal executive council (FEC) meeting of August 3, where the matter was extensively discussed. Last week, the 36 state governors raised the alarm over a purported attempt to commence the deduction of $418 million from federation account. “The attention of the NGF has been drawn to yet another attempt by the Attorney General of the…

Wednesday, 10 August 2022 06:44

NRC reduces Lagos-Ibadan train daily frequency from 6 to 2 return trips over hike in diesel prices

The hike in diesel price has forced Nigeria Railway Corporation to reduce the number of trips on the Lagos-Ibadan Train Service by about 66.67 per cent, it was gathered on Tuesday. It was also learnt that the corporation had sent recommendations to Federal Ministry of Transportation for an adjustment in the transport fare on the train service. Managing Director, NRC, Fidet Okhiria, told our correspondent that though the service was still running, its trips had been reduced due to the persistent hike in diesel price. Diesel prices have risen by over 300 per cent in a few months, forcing transporters…

Wednesday, 10 August 2022 06:41

What to know after Day 168 of Russia-Ukraine war

A senior Ukrainian official suggested a series of explosions at a Russian air base in Crimea could have been the work of partisan saboteurs, as Kyiv denied any responsibility for the incident deep inside Russian-occupied territory. The adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskiy also suggested Russian incompetence as a possible cause of Tuesday's blasts. They killed one civilian and injured eight, according to the health department in Russia-annexed Crimea. Huge plumes of smoke could be seen in videos posted on social media from Crimea, a holiday destination for many Russians. Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and used…

Tuesday, 09 August 2022 06:39

National electricity grid system collapsed 222 times in 12 years - Report

Nigeria’s electricity grid suffered 222 partial and total system collapses from January 2010 to June 2022. According to Thisday, an analysis of industry data — mostly from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) — from January 2010 to September 2021 showed that the grid suffered 216 system collapses. It added that information relating to the crashes was not officially available from September 2021 to June 2022. The grid collapsed in February, May, July, and August 2021. Last month, it experienced collapse for the seventh time in 2022. TheCable had reported that the grid experienced 206 collapses between 2010 and 2019.…

Tuesday, 09 August 2022 06:38

Jailed ex-govs Dariye, Nyame released from prison 4 months after Buhari’s pardon

Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau, and Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba, have been released from the correctional facility in Kuje council area, federal capital territory (FCT). The development comes almost four months after the former governors were granted state pardon. At a council of state meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in April, Dariye and Nyame were among 159 inmates pardoned. The two former governors, who were both jailed for fraud, were granted pardon on the grounds of age and ill health. Nyame was convicted in 2018 and given 14 years imprisonment for diverting public funds, but…

Tuesday, 09 August 2022 06:37

WAEC releases 2022 WASSCE results

West African Examinations Council has released 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examination results for school and withheld the results of 365,564 candidates in connection with various reported cases of examination malpractice. Speaking on Monday at the WAEC office, Yaba, Head of Nigeria National Office, Patrick Areghan, while announcing release of the results, said students’ preparations for the examinations were poor, adding that candidates were no longer ready to learn. He explained that the 365,564 candidates represented 22.83% of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, saying the number was 11.74% higher than the 10.9% recorded in…

Tuesday, 09 August 2022 06:36

What to know after Day 167 of Russia-Ukraine war

Kyiv and Moscow traded blame on Monday for the weekend shelling of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear complex amid international alarm that their battle for control of the plant could trigger catastrophe. Calling any attack on a nuclear plant "suicidal", United Nations chief Antonio Guterres demanded U.N. nuclear inspectors be given access to Zaporizhzhia, the largest complex of its kind in Europe. Russia's invading forces seized the southern Ukrainian region containing Zaporizhzhia in March, when the site was struck without damage to its reactors. The area, including the city of Kherson, is now the target of a Ukrainian counter-offensive. Ukraine appealed for…

Monday, 08 August 2022 03:57

Nigeria’s oil production continues to decrease, dealing huge blows to revenue projections. Here’s the pattern in the last 6 months

Nigeria’s crude oil production decreased in July to an average of 1.08 million barrels per day (bpd) from 1.16 million the previous month. Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) said this in its latest crude oil and condensate production data for July 2022. The report shows a 6.42 percent decrease from June’s production figures. With the addition of condensate, oil output in July grew to a total of 1.31 million bpd from 1.40 million posted last month. Condensate is a mixture of light liquid hydrocarbons, similar to a light (high API) crude oil — usually separated out of a natural…

Monday, 08 August 2022 03:54

Debt servicing to hit N10.43tn by 2025 - FG

Federal Government has projected that debt servicing will cost N10.43tn by 2025, according to the 2023-2035 Medium Term Expenditure Framework & Fiscal Strategy Paper. This is a 182.66 per cent increase from the N3.69tn budgeted for debt service in 2022. Multilateral agencies and economists have constantly warned the Federal Government about the rising cost of debt service, which can trigger a crisis for the country. However, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, and Director General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, have insisted that the country does not have a debt problem but a revenue challenge.…

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Monday, 08 August 2022 03:53

UAE tightens visa rules for Nigerians

When a video emerged last week of some Africans causing a public disturbance in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it was clear the government of the Middle East country would react appropriately in a bid to protect the country and its citizens from any form of harm. In the video, youths were seen fighting in a Dubai community and destroying public property. An unconfirmed report claimed that a Dubai Police officer was killed by the hoodlums. The Nigerian Community in Dubai under the umbrella of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), United Arab Emirates (UAE) chapter, swiftly condemned the…

Monday, 08 August 2022 03:52

London Museum to return Benin Bronzes to Nigeria

London's Horniman Museum said on Sunday it would return 72 artefacts, including 12 brass plaques known as Benin Bronzes, looted from Benin City by British soldiers in 1897 to the Nigerian government. Created from brass and bronze in the once mighty Kingdom of Benin in what is now Southsouth Nigeria from at least the 16th century onwards, the Benin Bronzes are among Africa's most culturally significant artefacts. They were seized, along with thousands of other items, in a British military incursion, and ended up in museums in Europe and the United States. African countries have battled for years to recover…

Monday, 08 August 2022 03:51

In blow to West’s sanctions, Turkish banks are adopting Russian payments system

Five Turkish banks have adopted Russia’s Mir payments system, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on his return from talks with President Vladimir Putin in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. There are serious developments regarding the work that Turkish banks are doing on Russia’s Mir card, Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency cited Erdogan as saying on the plane. That’s a relief for both Russian tourists and Turkey, he told reporters. Payment in rubles will be a source of financial support for both Russia and Turkey, he said, adding the central bank governors of the two countries also met during the…

Monday, 08 August 2022 03:49

What to know after Day 166 of Russia-Ukraine war

Ukraine said on Sunday that renewed Russian shelling had damaged three radiation sensors and hurt a worker at the Zaporizhzhia power plant, in the second hit in consecutive days on Europe's largest nuclear facility. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called Saturday night's shelling "Russian nuclear terror" that warranted more international sanctions, this time on Moscow's nuclear sector. "There is no such nation in the world that could feel safe when a terrorist state fires at a nuclear plant," Zelenskiy said in a televised address on Sunday. However, the Russian-installed authority of the area said it was Ukraine that hit the site…

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