Headlines
Buhari, Osinbajo to Spend N3.3bn on Trips, N149m of Foodstuffs
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo will spend a total of N3.327bn on foreign and local trips in 2020.
The figure is contained in the details of the 2020 Appropriation Bill that Buhari presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The item was tagged Travel and Transport (General) under State House (President) and State House (Vice-President).
In the 2019 Budget, a total of N1.3bn was allocated for the foreign and local trips of the President and the Vice-President. While N1bn was allocated to the President, N301.03m was allocated to the Vice-President.
A breakdown of the N3.327bn allocated to travels for the two officials in 2020 shows that Buhari will spend N2.526bn on his trips while Osinbajo will spend N801m on his trips.
A further breakdown shows that Buhari’s foreign trips will gulp N1.751bn while N775.6m will be spent on his local trips for the year.
In the case of Osinbajo, his foreign trips will cost the nation N517m while his local trips will cost N283.97m.
The figures are outside the N182.25m allocated for travels and transport in the budget of the State House Headquarters.
Foodstuffs for President, Vice-President to gulp N149m
Also in the bill, a total of N149m was allocated for foodstuffs and catering material supplies for both Buhari and Osinbajo.
While the President is expected to spend N98.3m on the item, N50.88m was budgeted for Osinbajo.
Apart from the N149m foodstuffs and catering material supplies bill, the two government officials will also spend N43.916m on refreshment and meal.
The President will spend N25.652m on the item while the Vice-President will spend N18.264m on the same item.
This is apart from the N135.668m budgeted for the same refreshment and meal in the budget of the State House Headquarters. For honorarium and sitting allowance, both of them will spend N184.438m.
While N164.176m was allocated to the President, N20.262m was allocated to the Vice-President.
N478.313m was allocated to the same honorarium and sitting allowance in the budget of State House Headquarters.
Still under the budget of the State House headquarters, a whopping N4.062bn was allocated to what was tagged “annual routine maintenance of mechanical/electrical installations of the villa.” The project is said to be an ongoing one.
N526.234m was also allocated to what is called “phased replacement of vehicles, spares and tyres in the presidential, CVU security/police escort and State House operational fleets.” The project is also described as an ongoing project.
Apart from these, N389.64m was also budgeted for “outstanding liabilities on routine maintenance and other services for 2016.”
N91.681m will also be spent on “purchase of tyres for bulletproof vehicles, plain Toyota cars, CCU vehicles, platform trucks, Land Cruiser and Prado Jeeps, Hilux, Peugeot 607, ambulances and other utility and operational vehicles.”
N32.199m is budgeted for fuel and lubricants (general); N32.5m for wildlife conservation; and N45.4m for sewage charges.
The Punch
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), on Thursday, published a list of 9, 532 alleged land title debtors in Abuja, giving them a two-week ultimatum to settle their outstanding bills.
The list, which includes prominent individuals and government agencies, was published on November 26, with defaulters expected to pay for their certificate of occupancy (C-of- O) within the stipulated timeframe.
Among those listed as defaulters is former Head of State, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB), who owes N152 million for a plot of land in Asokoro, a highbrow area in the nation’s capital. IBB, who ruled Nigeria from 1985 to 1993, is not the only high-profile individual on the list.
Other notable defaulters include Samuel Ortom, former governor of Benue, who owes N950,000 for a plot of land in Bazango, and Aminu Tambuwal, senator representing Sokoto south, who owes N18 million for a plot of land in Carraway Dallas.
The FCTA has threatened to revoke the land titles of defaulters who fail to settle their bills within the stipulated timeframe. The administration has urged defaulters to settle their bills by e-payment to the “FCT department of land administration” account.
In addition to individual defaulters, some federal agencies, including the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), the navy, and police, were also named as defaulters.
The Lagos governor’s lodge in Asokoro, the Kaduna state government, and ‘State House Abuja’ were also listed as land title debtors.
This development is not the first time the FCTA has taken steps to recover outstanding debts from landowners. In June this year, the administration set up a committee to recover over N29 billion owed by property owners.
The committee has since identified 430 individuals and organisations as defaulters, with plans to prosecute them.
The FCTA has also partnered with anti-graft agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), to check the activities of land grabbers in the territory.
The Senate has granted approval to the ₦1.77 trillion ($2.2b) loan request of President Bola Tinubu after a voice vote in favor of the request.
The Senate presided by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, approved the loan after the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts chaired by Senator Wammako Magatarkada (APC, Sokoto North) presented the report of the committee.
The request which was submitted by the President on Tuesday is part of a fresh external borrowing plan to partially finance the N9.7 trillion budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year.
Tinubu had on Tuesday written to the National Assembly, seeking approval of a fresh N1.767 trillion, the equivalent of $2.209 billion as a new external borrowing plan in the 2024 Appropriation Act.
The fresh loan is expected to stretch the amount spent on debt servicing by the Federal Government. The Central Bank of Nigeria recently said that it cost the Federal Government $3.58 billion to service foreign debt in the first nine months of 2024.
The CBN report on international payment statistics showed that the amount represents a 39.77 per cent increase from the $2.56bn spent during the same period in 2023.
According to the report, while the highest monthly debt servicing payment in 2024 occurred in May, amounting to $854.37m, the highest monthly expenditure in 2023 was $641.70m, recorded in July.
The trend in foreign debt servicing by the CBN highlights the rising cost of debt obligations by Nigeria.
Further breakdown of international debt figures showed that in January 2024, debt servicing costs surged by 398.89 per cent, rising to $560.52m from $112.35m in January 2023. February, however, saw a slight decline of 1.84 per cent, with payments reducing from $288.54m in 2023 to $283.22m in 2024.
March recorded a 31.04 per cent drop in payments, falling to $276.17m from $400.47m in the same period last year. April saw a significant rise of 131.77 per cent, with $215.20m paid in 2024 compared to $92.85m in 2023.
The highest debt servicing payment occurred in May 2024, when $854.37m was spent, reflecting a 286.52 per cent increase compared to $221.05m in May 2023. June, on the other hand, saw a 6.51 per cent decline, with $50.82m paid in 2024, down from $54.36m in 2023.
July 2024 recorded a 15.48 per cent reduction, with payments dropping to $542.50m from $641.70m in July 2023. In August, there was another decline of 9.69 per cent, as $279.95m was paid compared to $309.96m in 2023. However, September 2024 saw a 17.49 per cent increase, with payments rising to $515.81m from $439.06m in the same month last year.
Given rising exchange rates, the data raises concerns about the growing pressure of Nigeria’s foreign debt obligations.
Channels TV
Self acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Simon Ekpa, has been arrested by law enforcement in Finland.
The BBC reports that Ekpa was subsequently sent to prison by the district court of Päijät-Häme for “spreading terrorist propaganda on social media”.
Ekpa was said to have committed the crime in 2021 in Lahti municipality.
The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) also arrested four other men over alleged terrorist offences.
A citizen of Finland and Nigeria, Ekpa has described himself as leader of the separatist IPOB group since Nnamdi Kanu’s incarceration.
Finnish police say Ekpa’s activities and social media rhetoric may have fanned the flames of violence in the south-east of Nigeria.
“He carries out these activities from his social media channels, for example,” said Otto Hiltunen, detective chief inspector of the NBI.
In February 2023, Ekpa was arrested by police at his residence in Lahti but was released after hours of questioning.
Using his social media channels, Ekpa had directed Igbos not to participate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election.
In September 2021, the Biafra agitator and secessionist denounced Nigeria and vowed to return the medal he won for the country at the 2003 African Junior Athletics Championships.
