Good day, good citizens of Nigeria, here are headlines from Nigerian Newspapers that may interest you today, Monday, November 22, 2021.
1. 2023: Osinbajo Dares Tinubu as Support Group Opens Campaign Office in Abuja [ThisDay Newspaper]
A political slugfest seems to be in the offing between Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and his godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as an Osinbajo support group made public and formal their principal’s intention to succeed President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023 with the launch of a campaign office at the weekend in Abuja.
Curiously, after months of equivocation and outright repudiation, Osinbajo appears finally ready to emerge from the shadows of doubt and throw his hat in the ring for the country’s top job.
A major pointer to this suggestion is the opening of a campaign office by a motley coalition of his supporters.
2. Zainab Ahmed: We Do Not Have Debt Problem, What We Have is Revenue Problem [ThisDay Newspaper]
According to her; “In 2020, we exceeded three per cent, because of the national emergency. In 2021, we also exceeded it slightly, but in 2022, we have been able to come down to 3.05 per cent and in subsequent years, we are reducing.
“I say it again today, that we don’t have a debt problem, what we have is a revenue problem. At about 23 per cent of GDP, Nigeria’s debt level is one of the lowest amongst its comparators.
“It is the revenue that we have to concentrate on, working on and also we have to be vigilant as Nigerians to make sure that the borrowing is applied to important projects that would enhance the growth of the economy. And for our revenues, we have taken a lot of measures.
“The Finance Act has helped us to tighten a lot of the gaps that used to exist, especially the provision we made in the Act that limits government-owned enterprises to 50 per cent expenditure of their revenue. In the past, we had agencies that would spend 95 per cent of their revenues and either very little or nothing came to the government”.
3. Forex row threatens fuel supply, price stability [Vanguard Newspaper]
The lingering row between private depot owners and the Federal Government over dollar payment of dues and levies is set to shatter the stability of fuel supply and price across the country this week.
This dollar payment is made by depot owners to ship owners who deliver the product to their facilities
Vanguard investigations reveal that despite the resolutions of a recent stakeholders meeting, private deport owners still pay charges and levies in dollars to relevant government agencies, a development that threatens the stability of supply and price of the product.
4. Collapsing Buildings: Insurance cover uptake dismal as regulators look on [Vanguard Newspaper]
Amidst incidences of building collapses across the country, financial statements of insurance firms have shown poor patronage of Construction-All-Risk, CAR, insurance policy by property owners and developers over the years, a development about which little has been done by concerned regulators.
CAR policy caters to buildings under construction and insurance companies underwrite the risks under fire or engineering insurance policies in their financial reports.
5. NNAMDI KANU: How we brokered meeting with Buhari – Ngige [Vanguard Newspaper]
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, yesterday, disclosed how Friday’s meeting of President Muhammadu Buhari with Igbo leaders and serving ministers was brokered.
An Igbo delegation led by First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amechi met with President Buhari, on Friday where the president promised to consider their demand for the release of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, even though the demand was heavy and has implications for the separation of power.
In an exclusive chat with Vanguard, yesterday, Ngige said that First Republic Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amechi initiated the meeting and he concurred to pursue the idea.
His words: “When Honourable Mbazulike initiated it and consulted me, we agreed that it is a worthwhile journey. Mbazulike was one of the three old wise men that worked with me when I was governor in Anambra State. When he came up with this request I decided also that it was a step in the right direction”.
6. 90 ships seized by EFCC rot away in Lagos, others [Punch Newspaper]
Some of the ships seized by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have begun to sink in waters across the country, while many of those temporarily and permanently forfeited by suspected corrupt persons are being damaged due to lack of maintenance, The PUNCH has reliably learnt.
Sources in the know of the development at the House of Representatives told our correspondent that the Nigerian Navy, which was mandated to oversee the seized, recovered or forfeited assets, had no budgetary provision to maintain them, leaving them damaged and submerged eventually.
7. Experts blame 2023 elections for N4.1tn rise in recurrent expenditure
experts have said that factors such as the upcoming elections, inflation, naira devaluation and abuse of funds, among others have led to the significant increase in the budgets.
A political economist and former presidential candidate, Prof Pat Utomi, stressed the role of inflation and naira devaluation in the rise in the recurrent expenditures.
He said, “I think it is important to bear in mind that the real value of our currency has been ebbing away and inflation has been significant for the last couple of seasons”.
