Headlines
Domestic Debts Hit N22.57tn As Buhari Seeks Fresh N819bn Loan
Nigeria’s domestic debt rose to N22.57tn as the Federal Government on Wednesday proposed a last-minute supplementary budget for the 2022 fiscal year.
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is seeking the approval of the National Assembly for N819.54bn supplementary budget, which it planned to finance through domestic borrowing.
Buhari on Wednesday forwarded to the National Assembly for approval, N819.5bn supplementary budget for the 2022 fiscal year to fix various infrastructure destroyed by floods across the various states in the country a few months ago.
The supplementary budget as explained by the President in a letter read in plenary by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, is meant for the capital expenditure component of the 2022 budget with an attendant increase of deficit to N8.17tn.
The letter read, “The year 2022 has witnessed the worse flood incident in recent history which has caused massive destruction of farmlands at a point already closed to harvest season.
“This may compound the situation of food security and nutrition in the country. The flood has also devastated road infrastructure across the 36 states and the FCT (Federal Capital Territory) as well as bridges nationwide that are critical for the movement of goods and services.
“The water sector was equally affected by the flood and there is a need to complete some ongoing critical projects that have already achieved about 85 percentage completion. The nine critical projects proposed in the sector cut across water supply, dam projects, and irrigation projects nationwide.
“I have approved a supplementary budget of 2022 appropriation of N819.536bn, all of which are capital expenditures. The supplementary will be financed through additional domestic borrowings which will raise the budget deficit for 2022 to N8.17tn and deficit to GDP ratio to 4.43 per cent.”
Being a proposal coming 10 to the New Year, the President of the Senate hurriedly forwarded it to the Senate Committees on Appropriation, Finance, Works, Water Resources and Agriculture for expeditious consideration.
The Federal Government’s initial plan was to borrow N5.01tn (with domestic debt put at N2.51tn) to finance part of the N6.26tn budget deficit.
With the newly proposed N819.54bn domestic debt, the Federal Government’s domestic borrowing is expected to hit N3.33tn for 2022.
Data from the Debt Management Office showed that the Federal Government’s domestic debt stock was N19.24tn as of December 2021.
By September 2022, the domestic debt stock had risen to N21.55tn, which means that the Federal Government had borrowed N2.31tn so far.
With the additional N819.54bn borrowing, the Federal Government can still accommodate N1.02tn more domestic debt in line with its plan.
The Federal Government’s domestic debt rose from N8.4tn as of June 2015 to N21.55tn as of September 2022, according to The Punch.
This showed an increase of N13.15tn or 156.55 per cent under Buhari.
The Federal Government proposed to spend N4.5tn on interest charges for domestic debt by 2023, according to the proposed 2023 budget.
This is an increase of 243.51 per cent from the N1.31tn proposed allocation for interest charges on domestic debt in 2016.
In its latest Africa’s Pulse report, the World Bank said that public debt in Nigeria was concerning due to the rising debt service-to-revenue ratio.
According to the bank, the debt service to revenue ratio could stand at 102.3 per cent by the end of 2022.
While presenting the 2023 appropriation bill to a joint session of the National Assembly recently, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), noted that despite the revenue challenges in the country, the country still consistently met its debt service obligation.
“Despite our revenue challenges, we have consistently met our debt service commitments. Staff salaries and statutory transfers have also been paid as and when due,” Buhari added.
However, speaking at the launch of the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update titled, ‘The urgency for business unusual,’ held recently in Abuja, the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, had admitted that Nigeria was struggling to service its debt.
She said, “Already, we are struggling with being able to service debt because even though revenue is increasing, the expenditure has been increasing at a much higher rate, so it is a very difficult situation.”
The Punch
Adebayo Adelabu, one of the aspirants for the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket in Oyo State, has alleged irregularities in the party’s governorship primary election held on Thursday.
Adelabu, who expressed dissatisfaction over the conduct of the exercise, stated that the primary was characterized by misconduct ranging from disenfranchisement of his supporters in some wards and the commencement of election process earlier than scheduled.
Speaking after the conclusion of the primary election at IMG School, Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government Area, the immediate past Minister of Power alleged that the process was neither free, fair nor credible.
He said: “Before our people started getting to their various wards, they have already conducted the election and they wrote the figures they want as results.
“In some wards, our people were prevented from voting. They were intimidated. They were chased away violently. And in some wards, voting did not take place at all.
“All this kind of misconduct is not good at this stage of our democracy in Nigeria, and something has to be done about it.”
Adelabu, therefore, vowed to come up with serious petitions against all the irregularities not just in Ibadan, but across all the five geopolitical zones in Oyo State.
“Also, conduct of many party executives is uncalled for, a lot of people bought forms and they were cleared. And they decided to conduct affirmation of a particular candidate in some wards.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination. The instruction we got from Abuja was that we should all carry out free, fair, and transparent direct primary election where every aspirant will be given a level playing ground and the election will be conducted peacefully.
“Where did they get the idea of consensus candidates? And this is what happened in a lot of the wards. And it didn’t go down well with us. “We don’t want that. We are going to assess the gravity of this gross misconduct and the potential impact on the overall result of this election.
“I will put a petition forward to the appropriate authorities so that it can be deeply investigated and there must be consequences to this. The people who perpetrated this misconduct must be identified and punished. And the aspirants involved also need to be suspended because this is not good for us.
“Democracy is the government of the people by the people and for the people where nobody should be disenfranchised. Once you are a party member, you should have that freedom, that authority to pick an aspirant of your choice as the flag bearer of the party.
“This is Ibadan, this is Oyo State and this the centre of politics in the southwest. And we should be able to lay good examples and the process should produce a candidate that won transparently, freely and fairly,” he said.
Meanwhile, at Ward 9, Ibadan South-East Local Government, Adelabu, polled 430 to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sharafadeen Alli, who had 3 votes.
Al Nassr captain, Cristiano Ronaldo, has finally won the Saudi Pro League title.
They were confirmed champions on Thursday, thanks to a 4-2 drubbing of relegation battlers, Damac.
The title race had gone down to the final day after Al-Nassr dramatically dropped points against Al-Hilal the previous week.
Jorge Jesus’ side knew there could be no mistakes against a Damac side fighting for survival at the other end of the table.
Ronaldo was on the scoresheet, as his brace helped Al Nassr secure the title ahead of rivals Al Hilal.
Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has announced his withdrawal from the All Progressives Congress governorship primary election in the state.
Fubara made this known in a statement personally signed on Wednesday, saying he would support whoever emerges as the party’s candidate, The Nations reported.
The governor said his decision followed extensive consultations with his family, friends, and political associates.
“After deep reflection and extensive consultations with my family, friends, and associates, I have taken the difficult but necessary decision to withdraw from the APC governorship primaries. I do so with a full heart and with a firm commitment to support whoever emerges as the candidate of our great party,” Fubara said.
Fubara said although the decision was difficult, he remained committed to supporting whoever would emerge as the APC governorship candidate.
According to him, leadership demands sacrifice and personal ambition must sometimes give way to the collective interest of the people.
Meanwhile, the embattled governor expressed appreciation to his supporters for their loyalty, prayers and sacrifices throughout the political process, acknowledging that many would feel disappointed by his withdrawal.
He said his silence in recent weeks was “deliberate and strategic,” adding that it was guided by the higher interest of the state.
Tone Cole, APC chieftain and 2027 governorship aspirant in Rivers State, also announced his withdrawal from the race, saying his decision was, among other reasons, in the interest of the party’s unity.
