Members of the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs yesterday fumed when an ambassadorial nominee from Edo State, Yamah Mohammed Musa, told the panel his contribution to All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

At the commencement of screening of the 41 non-career and one career ambassadorial nominees, the committee chairman, Senator Adamu Muhammad Bulkachuwa (APC, Bauchi North) had asked the Edo nominee to explain his contribution to APC in his state.

Musa ran into trouble when he told the committee that; “I was in the forefront of party members who conducted primary elections for all our House of Representatives candidates in the South West, one of whom is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

“I also led the committee that conducted the APC primaries in Akwa Ibom aside other national assignment which contributed to the success of the party at the polls,” he said. His submission did not go down well with the committee members.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun (APC, Ogun Central), told the nominee that what he described as achievement was sham. “Please such exercise is not something you should be referring to as achievement because as party members, we knew what happened then and those behind it.

“We don’t want you to carry this type of mind set to foreign post if eventually confirmed, so the earlier you erased such unbecoming assignments as personal achievements, the better”, he said .

Senator Rochas Okorocha (APC, Imo West), shouted on the nominee to sit properly and warned him not to make such submissions anywhere again as achievements.

The Chairman of the committee, however, rescued the nominee, appealing to his colleagues to allow him take a bow and go.

The Federal Government spent N1.25 trillion between January and May 2020 on debt servicing, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed has said. Nigeria’s current debt stock is over N33trn.

She gave the figures on Friday during virtual consultative session with CSO’s, the organised private sector and the general public on the draft 2021 – 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Sustainability Paper (MTEF/FSP).

Giving an update on the initial 2020 budget performance between January and May, she said on the expenditure side, N9.97 trillion was appropriated (excluding Government-owned enterprises and Project tied loans), while N3.52 trillion (representing 84.8% of the prorata N4.16 trillion) was spent.

Of the expenditure, she said N1.25 trillion was for debt service, and N1.32 trillion for personnel cost, including pensions. Thus as at the end of May 2020, only N253.33 billion had been released for capital expenditure, a situation she attributes largely to the budget revision exercise.

On revenues performance she said as at end of May 2020, FGN’s retained revenue was N1.48 trillion, 56% of target while non-oil tax revenues totalled N439.32bn (65% of revised target).

According to Mrs. Ahmed, other revenues amounted to N339.51 billion, of which independent revenues was N80.22 billion (21% of target).

Recoveries and Stamp duty collected during the period are yet to be booked in the fiscal accounts. On the MTEF projections, she said the projected FG net revenue is N6.71trn in 2021, N7.8trn in 2022 and N8.6trn in 2023.

She however said a fiscal deficit of N5.16trn in 2021 is anticipated. On key assumptions, she said from 2021-2024 the oil benchmark price is projected at $40, and exchange rate at $360/$1.

She also said the production is projected at 1.8m barrels per day in 2021, 2.09m in 2022 and 2.38m in 2023.

On GDP projections, she said “oil GDP is expected to contract by 12.96% in 2020, year on year, causing an economy-wide drag resulting in slower growth in non-oil GDP by -3.6%, year on year. “Based on this, real GDP is expected to decline by 4. 2% in 2020.

“The nominal GDP is expected to increase from N130,836.1 billion in 2020 to N132,125.4 billion in 2021 and then up to N138,415.8 billion in 2023.

“Similarly, consumption expenditure is projected to stay flat at N118,735.2 billion in 2020 and N118,468.7 billion in 2021 and grow to N124,358.5 billion by 2023, reflecting a gradual steadiness in the recovery.

“Inflation, however, is expected to remain above single digit” she stated.

The Federal Government says it can no longer bear the burden of petrol subsidy. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said this in a statement on Thursday.

He said the government had realised that it was unrealistic to continue with the burden of subsidising petrol to the tune of trillions of naira annually. The minister said the subsidy was largely benefiting the rich. He also said the government did not promise to keep the pump price of petrol permanently low.

“After a thorough examination of the economics of subsidising PMS for domestic consumption, the Federal Government concluded that it was unrealistic to continue with the burden of subsidising PMS to the tune of trillions of naira every year, more so when this subsidy was benefiting in large part the rich, rather than the poor and ordinary Nigerians,” the minister said.

He said deregulation meant that the government would no longer continue to be the main supplier of petroleum products, but would encourage the private sector to take over the role of supplying the products across the country.

According to him, market forces will henceforth determine the prices at the pump. This, he said, is in line with global best practices where the government will continue to play its traditional role of regulation to ensure that the commodity is not priced arbitrarily by private sector suppliers.

He explained that the regulatory function in the oil sector is like the role played by the Central Bank of Nigeria in the banking sector, “ensuring that commercial banks do not charge arbitrary interest rates”.

The minister said petroleum products were refined from crude oil and therefore the price of crude (the feedstock) for the refining process would affect the price of the refined product.

“When crude oil prices were down, government, through its regulatory functions, ensured that the benefits of lower crude oil prices were enjoyed by Nigerians by ensuring that PMS was lowered. At that time, we indicated that an increase in crude oil prices will also reflect at the pump”, he added.

He said one of the reasons the country had been unable to attract the level of investments desired into the refining sector had been the burden of fuel subsidy.

After about four months of suspension of domestic and international flights because of COVID-19 pandemic, operations commenced yesterday with low turnout and strict protocols.

No fewer than four airlines started operations flying from the Murtala Mohammed Airport to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. They included Arik Air, Air Peace, Max Air and Ibom Air. Other airlines are expected to start today and in the coming days.

The first flight from Lagos operated by Arik Air departed the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) popularly called MMA1 by 7:15 am with 78 passengers.

The passengers boarded under the supervision of officials of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). Air Peace flight PA47120 departed at 11:50 am with 103 passengers on board.

Max Air and Ibom Air on their parts departed from MMA2 private terminal operated by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL). The federal government had announced the reopening of the airports today starting with the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA) Lagos and the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Abuja.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had also approved many airlines for the recommencement of operations after fulfilling all the protocols and guidelines for the post-COVID-19 shutdown operations. Daily Trust observed passengers checking in and boarding in strict observance of social distancing as they stood on the clearly marked floors in and outside the terminal.

One of the passengers scheduled to travel on Max Air, Aishat Khalid said she was excited with the flight’s resumption, adding that she had patiently looked forward to the reopening of the airports. “I left home at 6: 00 am for this flight, that is to tell you how excited I am for the flight resumption,” she said.

Daily Trust reports that similar protocols were strictly observed in Abuja even as travellers were scanty on the first day of flight operations.

Our correspondent also reports that passengers conducted themselves in an orderly manner obeying all safety protocols. Sniffer dogs were also deployed to screen bags for contrabands and explosives ahead of the bags disinfection protocol.

A cross section of the passengers who spoke to our correspondent commended FAAN and the NCAA for the efforts to keep the terminals safe for travellers amidst the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic.

Toyin Adetunji, a passenger on an Air Peace flight to Lagos, told our correspondent that the experience was pleasing and commended the authorities for effective crowd control. “Before now, we would have found this entire waiting lounge so jam packed and crowded. But the initiative not to have so many airlines fly about the same time has helped to minimise crowd. If we had a crowd, it could create an environment for COVID-19 spread” he said.

Also commenting, a controller with the Nigerian Correctional Service, Mr. Ahmed Abu, said he feels safe at the airport. “We had to be here at least three hours before the scheduled time of the flight. We underwent strenuous protective measures to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during the check-in processes.