The country’s external reserves fell by $520.22 in five weeks, figures obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria revealed.

According to CBN’s data on movement in reserves, the figures which stood at $33.396bn as of October 31, 2023 fell to $33.004bn as of December 7, 2023.

The CBN had earlier revealed that the reserves which commenced January 3, 2023, at $37.07bn fell to $33.237bn as of September 29, 2023.

Speaking recently at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria’s 58th Annual Bankers’ Dinner and Grand Finale of the Institute’s 60th anniversary in Lagos, the Governor, CBN, Olayemi Cardoso, said, in recent years, the continuous decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production had further weakened the already inadequate economic diversification.

He said, “This has led to a decline in government revenue and foreign exchange inflows, while simultaneously witnessing a growth in public expenditures and a deterioration in macroeconomic indicators, which has constrained our policy options. Consequently, we have seen the fiscal deficit and public debt increase, placing additional strain on external reserves and contributing to exchange rate instability.”

A thorough assessment of the economy revealed significant challenges, including high and rising inflation, inadequate foreign exchange supply, depreciation of the exchange rate, limited external reserves, weakened output, and high unemployment, he said.

CBN says counterfeit notes in circulation as naira scarcity persists
These challenges, he added, had led to increased interest rates, discouraging investments in productive activities.

Within the banking system, he said, high inflation had affected asset quality and solvency ratios.

Additionally, the persistent depreciation of the naira poses a significant risk for domestic banks with foreign exchange exposures, Cardoso said.

However, he added, “The removal of petrol subsidy and the adoption of a floating exchange rate, among other government policies, are anticipated to have positive effects on the economy in the medium-term.

“These measures are expected to enhance investor confidence, attract capital inflows, stimulate domestic investment, and ultimately improve the level of external reserves.”

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday told multinationals operating in Nigeria on Thursday that his administration was determined to remove all bottlenecks to the smooth running of their businesses.

This was as he said no obstacle was too big to be removed to make Nigeria a safe-haven for large-scale investments.

“We are very focused on resolving all investment-related issues. There is no bottleneck that is too difficult for us to remove in our determined march toward making Nigeria the African haven for large-scale investment in all key sectors.

“We need each other,” the President told a visiting delegation of the management of Shell Group led by its Global Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, Ms. Zoe Yujnovich, at the State House, Abuja.


The President’s remarks followed the recent exodus of several multinational companies from the country in the past months.

A PUNCH analysis of separate notices filed by several companies show that at least five multinationals have wound down operations in Nigeria in the last 10 months.

But in a statement signed Friday by the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, Tinubu expressed confidence in the potential for increased investment from Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria.


Emphasising Nigeria’s longstanding ties with Shell, which date back to the discovery of the country’s first commercial oil field in 1956, the President assured the Shell delegation of his administration’s commitment to securing and fostering both existing and new investments.

“We have made progress since our last meeting. I will continue to support and encourage you on this path.

“There is no doubt that there is a significant focus on investment in and around the continent. I am spearheading Nigeria’s global march for new investments at home.

“In view of our long-term relationship that has been established over the years, we want you to do more, and we are ready to encourage you in every way possible,” he added.

Shell’s Global Integrated Gas and Upstream Director, Ms. Zoe Yujnovich, on behalf of the Shell Group, affirmed the company’s intent to sustain its investment legacy in Nigeria.

This includes a particular focus on deepwater and gas sector opportunities, with a pledged investment of $1bn over the next decade to enhance the domestic gas value chain and support the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas project.

She announced an upcoming $5bn investment in the Bonga North project, located off Nigeria’s coast, saying it underscores Shell’s commitment to the country’s energy sector.

Ms. Yujnovich expressed eagerness to proceed with this significant venture and noted the series of prospective investments Shell is considering in Nigeria.

Accelerating inflation and the foreign exchange shortage in the country have been having adverse impacts on the businesses of oil marketers, OPEOLUWANI AKINTAYO writes

The country’s high inflation trend and scarcity of foreign exchange are beginning to take a serious toll on the businesses of oil marketers. They claimed that the cost of a truck of Premium Motor Spirit or petrol had risen by 268 per cent, since the government ended the subsidy regime on May 29.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, of Satellite Depot, Akin Akinrinade told The PUNCH that inflation that resulted from the badly managed foreign exchange had pushed one truck of petrol from N7m in May to N25m currently.

“The forex has been badly managed and this has impacted on the landing cost of PMS, and by extension the pump price. The cost of doing business has also gone up astronomically. A truck of petrol that was N7m in May this year is now N25m,” he said.

According to Akinrinade, the downstream business has been unstable as a result of the high cost of products.

“Business is really unpredictable now. Bank lending rate is also very high, contributing to the high cost,” he said.

The PUNCH reported earlier this month that oil marketers were beginning to sell off their filling stations over scarcity of petrol, and their inability to afford products from private depots due to high cost.

Findings showed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had cut down on product supply to IPMAN members due to scarcity, forcing many to sell off their stations to bigger downstream companies.

“If our members say they need about 100 trucks of petrol, what we get from NNPC would be five trucks, and it does not go round. Since NNPC is still the only one importing, they sell at an official price of N556 per litre to DAPPMAN while DAPPMAN sells to us at N616 per litre. When we add transportation and charges, the pump price would be around N630 per litre.

“Who would buy such from us at N630 per litre? And remember that our members have major marketers to contend with. MOMAN sells at lower prices because they get products directly from NNPC. But our members have to buy from DAPPMAN at N616 per litre,” a source close to the matter told The PUNCH.

According to the source, IPMAN members are closing shop because they are running at a loss and cannot afford to buy products from DAPPMAN due to the high cost and lower patronage.

“The product is scarce to get, and even banks are unwilling to give us loans because they do not want their money to be tied down,” the source added.

The National Controller Operations of IPMAN told The PUNCH that members of the association were being sidelined and frustrated out of business.

“Your findings are true because our members are not getting products, and we are beginning to sell our stations because we can’t meet up with high prices of products at private depots. They are frustrating our businesses.

“For instance, the challenge that the satellite depot has was due to vandalism of the pipeline that brings product here. NNPC told us the pipeline had been repaired and that we would get the product but up till today we are yet to get the supply.

“But maybe things will be fine when the refineries finally begin production in December. But as we speak, we are not getting supply from NNPC and we can’t even afford products from DAPPMAN. And once this depot doesn’t get the product, you can be rest assured that the whole of Lagos and South-West will be affected,” he told The PUNCH.

A former Chairman of MOMAN and Chief Executive Officer, 11 Plc, during an interview, told The PUNCH that the removal of fuel subsidies by President Tinubu in May had caused an increase in prices of petrol, and would result in major downstream companies buying over smaller ones.

“Since there is no longer a subsidy, smaller companies would not be able to sustain their businesses, and would be bought over by bigger companies like ours,” he said.

The removal of the petrol subsidy by President Tinubu in May spurred the prices of petrol to skyrocket from N185 per litre to between N585 and N620 in Lagos State and its environs, and N700 and above in the North.

A source in the NNPCL, who anonymously, because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, told The PUNCH that the company was not under any obligation to supply products to other marketers since the downstream sector was deregulated.

“Whatever NNPC is doing now is to relieve the sector. The company is not under compulsion to supply the market. Petrol is now deregulated and marketers have been issued with import licences. So, let them go ahead and import. Our own stations have products and we are selling to the public,” the source asserted.

Independent marketers have been unable to import products due to the significant depreciation of the local currency against the dollar and the increase in crude oil prices in the international market.

Brent price started the year at $76.93 per barrel and went up to $96.16 in September, before dipping to $74.29 on Thursday.

The naira has weakened from 460/$ in May to 887.16/$ on Thursday, following the unification of the country’s exchange by the Central Bank of Nigeria in June.

The development comes on the heels of a recent call by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and other stakeholders in the oil and gas sector for the development of new energy sources as part of efforts towards the realisation of the United Nation’s zero emission targets by 2050.

The Managing Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, during an oil and gas conference in Lagos, pushed for a reduction in costs of renewable energy production in Nigeria, stating that current high cost might hamper adopting it as the country journeys towards energy transition.

According to Kyari, high production costs would impede the adoption of clean energy in Nigeria.

In his words, “Cost is, therefore, another limitation of renewable energy and the financial barrier. If not addressed, it would impede the adoption of clean energy, especially in this part of the world with very limited economic resources.”

Acknowledging the role of renewables in helping to mitigate the adverse effect of climate change and reduce dependency on finite resources, Kyari added that the technologies of renewables were still struggling with many limitations that were yet to be addressed.

He listed some of the challenges to include the challenge of intermittency, reliability and predictability due to geological constraints and limited control of man and nature.

Kyari added: “While battery storage technology has addressed some of the intermittency challenges of renewable energy, the storage technology itself has challenges.”

He stated that the petroleum industry which had fuelled the progress of mankind for over a century was also confronted with its own inherent challenges and constraints associated with its continued production and usage.

According to Kyari, fossil fuel continues to be a finite resource of energy which means that the world’s reliance on it is unsustainable, bemoaning that the process of extraction and consumption of fossil fuels continue to leave a significant adverse carbon footprint on the environment especially if not done responsibly.

“As explorationists, we play a vital role in shaping the future of the oil industry. It is through your dedication, expertise and relentless pursuit of knowledge that will continue to unlock new frontiers, discover reserves and push the boundaries of what is technologically and economically feasible,” he averred.

While adding his voice to the need for new energy sources, the former Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, Simbi Wabote, pointed out that the world stands as a key point where adequate considerations must be made to address the energy dilemma which is achieving an appropriate balance between energy security, sustainability and affordability.

He stated that the role of petroleum explorationists was quite important, pointing out that their discoveries and evaluation were essential in establishing reliability and sustainability of the size of oil and gas reserves as a key component of the energy mix.

He noted, “The oil and gas industry has been a key pillar of global energy as it has powered and continued to power industrial and economic development across the world. I understand that we have about 208 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves and about 600 TCF of unproven reserves. I hope we will put some effort into firming up the recoverable volumes on these unproven reserves.”

He stated the need to develop the proven reserves considering that gas was no longer a transition fuel, but a destination fuel.

He stated the call by stakeholders for other forms of energy must ensure that there is sustainable thinking behind any of such energy sources deployed.

On his part, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AMNI, said for Nigeria to grow its economy and to lift millions out of poverty, there must be renewed and intentional focus on repositioning its oil and gas industry to take advantage of the future demand.

He added that Nigeria must strategically diversify its energy portfolio mix to address the challenge of carbon emission while also providing sustainable and affordable energy to grow its economy, advising that investing in gas development projects and renewable sources would pave the way for a more sustainable and resilient energy future

The Managing Director of SNEPCO, Elohor Aiboni, said Nigeria as a country was vulnerable because of its dependency on fossil fuel for economic growth and low oil resource resilience.

She said 50 per cent of projected oil production was at risk in the event of Nigeria’s rapidly growing demography.

“With our population projected to double by 2050, it means that we are going to be creating more demand for the already lean resources we have if we do not do something about it,” she warned.

She stated that Nigeria had a huge energy gap despite its huge reserves, urging the urgent need to close the gap.

The Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria, has raised the exchange rate for cargo clearance from N783/$ to N952/$.

This is coming barely three weeks after the rate was increased from N757/$ to N783/$.

The PUNCH reported in November, that the exchange rate for cargo clearance was raised from N757 per dollar to N783 per dollar, representing a 3.4 per cent increase.

However, our correspondent observed on Thursday that the new rate has reflected on the portal of the Nigeria Customs Service.

post=127347033:

Can you even read at all ?
Education no be scam ooo....

Pandemonium ensued on Tuesday when hoodlums attacked officials of a task team belonging to the Lagos State Government during the road clearance exercise to open up the clogged Tincan Port access roads.

Our correspondent learnt that the task team which comprised the Lagos State Truck and Cargo Operators Committee, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Nigeria Ports Authority, and the Nigeria Police, witnessed the brutal attack on the members.

The task team had on Monday embarked on the exercise to open up the inbound section of the Tincan Port access road as part of efforts to ensure free flow of traffic, enhance trade facilitation, and seamless evacuation of cargoes from the port. The team continued the exercise on Tuesday to create and implement a single-lane policy for truck movement to allow access for other road users.

However, our correspondent gathered that five minutes into the commencement of the exercise from Tincan’s second gate, thugs disrupted the operation.

During the incident, a LASTMA official sustained injury and also lost his phone, one of the thugs was arrested and taken to the task force office at Oshodi.

The road clearance team tactically withdrew from the Tincan Port Gate to prevent a total breakdown of law and order and high casualties.

PUNCH Metro gathered that efforts to clear the roads of indiscriminate parking of trucks, tankers, and checkpoints to promote ease of doing business, trade facilitation, and seamless evacuation of cargoes from the Tincan Port corridor had continued to be sabotaged.

Reacting to this, a source close to the team condemned the attack. “The act was unfortunate and I highly condemn it. Because the people who came out to disrupt this exercise are supposed to join hands with us to promote the ease of doing business. But unfortunately, they ended up attacking us. They are supposed to join hands to sanitise the road,” the source said.

Meanwhile, several attempts to get the reaction of the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Benjamin Hundeyin, or the Director of Publicity, LATSMA, Mr. Adedayo Taofiq, were not fruitful as they didn’t pick up the calls sent to them.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has raised the alarm over online drug sales, describing it as a new dimension in the drug abuse problem in the country.

Delivering a keynote address, titled, ‘Uprise in Drug Abuse, Role of Parents’, at the FIDA Week 2023 celebrations, organised by the International Federation of Women Lawyers in Ilorin on Tuesday, the state commander of the NDLEA, Mohammed Ibrahim, said the menace is a global phenomenon, common among the youth.

He said, “We call it the darknet where drugs are being sold online without the seller and the buyer knowing each other. All they need is contact and they make the call and the substance is delivered. It’s very common here now. What we’ve been doing is to see how to intercept them.

“Especially, the waybill coming from neighbouring states through some commercial vehicles. We’ve intensified our patrol system around the state. We’re gathering intelligence and we’re making very good use of it. We’ve intercepted quite a number of them through control delivery.



“We know as the yuletide period is approaching, a lot of such would be happening. Thank God, the state governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, is being proactive as he has supported us with the provision of infrastructure to tackle the menace”.

The NDLEA boss, who said that the prevalence of drug use, drug abuse and drug addiction had led to an increasing crime rate in society, added that there is no crime without a drug undertone.

He, thus, suggested some protective factors against the menace such as family harmony and bonding, affection and love for family members, and proactive and positive parenting, while he advised that parents should not be judgemental but ensure effective monitoring of their children, among others.


Also speaking, the state chairperson of FIDA, Gloria Okoduwa, said that phones have taken children away from many parents, adding that family discussion had now been neglected.

She announced plans by the FIDA to take a campaign against drug abuse and its effects to major markets and other public places in the state to drive down the message, saying that many parents have failed the generation with their poor parenting attitude.

“I think this generation is wiser than us. They go all out to explore and parents are rather too busy with careers and businesses. We need to come together and fight the monster that wants to take our children away from us. There are so many youths languishing in rehabilitation centres because of this monster called drugs”.


She encouraged close monitoring of parents on their children, saying that present socioeconomic situations had made parents not have time for their children any longer.

Chairperson of the FIDA Week 2023 committee, Hajia Muinat Adeleye, who is also the zonal legal officer of the NDLEA, Zone I, Oyo state, lamented that drug abuse is rampant in the country.

“Almost every home is affected. Right from primary, and secondary schools and university, drug abuse is the trend. So, as mothers and as lawyers, we have to lend our voices. There’s a campaign against drug abuse all around, but it’s like society is yet to come to terms with how grievous the problem is to society. You hear of alarming rates of kidnapping, armed robbery, rape, terrorism, disrespecting parents, truancy. All are because of the influence of drugs.

“Parents should pay more attention to their children rather than putting all their concentration on their careers and businesses. All parents should come back home because if our future is gone, we may no longer have a future to hold on to”, she said.


She advised parents not to buy phones for under-age children.

Meanwhile, the Kwara State Government, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said that it is set to begin sensitisation in every part of the state to curb drugs and substance abuse.

The Supervising Commissioner of the Ministry of Youths Development, Hon Usman Yunusa-Lade disclosed on Tuesday in his office during a meeting with officers of the NDLEA in the State.

Lade noted that the collaborative initiative was aimed at kickstarting a comprehensive and far-reaching campaign with robust sensitization programmes designed to tackle the root causes of drug abuse and raise awareness about its detrimental effects in society.

According to him, the strategic meeting between the Kwara State Ministry of Youths Development and the NDLEA is a significant milestone in the concerted effort to combat drug abuse in the State.

“What makes this endeavour particularly commendable is the staunch backing it has received from the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq”, he said.

iwaeda:


APC yaff stolen people's destinies. Expecting Segun, Temitope, Bayo, Woye, Ajuri and other noise makers to deny it.

Tinubu Government Procures ‘Used’ Mass Transit Buses For Nigerians Despite N100billion Budget, Hires Painters, Panel Beaters To Work On Them

A cross section of “used” high capacity buses for mass transit have been purchased by the President Bola Tinubu-led government to ease transportation challenges of Nigerians occasioned by the fuel subsidy removal, SaharaReporters has learnt.

The buses were sighted by SaharaReporters at the Federal Secretariat car park in Abuja, with a group of panel beaters, technicians and painters battling to fix and rebrand the dilapidated buses.

The panel beaters were seen carrying out body work on the buses while the painters painted the dented parts of the buses to give them a face-lift. Also oil was seen dripping from the engines of some of the buses.

Findings by SaharaReporters revealed that the high capacity buses belonged to the Federal Ministry of Transport as part of a palliative programme designed to reduce the cost of transportation.

A peep into the 14 vehicles also showed that the interior had worn-out seats, smashed windscreens and old tyres.

Meanwhile the Press officer, Ministry of Transport, Mr. Olujimi denied that the vehicles belonged to the Ministry of Transport when SaharaReporters reached out to him for reaction.

Olujimi who had initially refused to answer repeated calls put across to his mobile phone to confirm the ownership responded through a text message sent to him.

He said “They are not, to my knowledge. Thanks for asking”

The 33-passenger capacity vehicles were among the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered buses which is part of fulfillment of an agreement resulting from the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the government with the organised labour on October 15, 2023.

The government had said that the CNG-powered mass transit buses would help Nigerians save two-thirds of transportation costs and also promote the use of CNG as an alternative to petrol. This, in turn, will cut down on the cost of transportation across the country.

But many Nigerians have expressed concerns over the safety of the refurbished vehicles instead of new buses considering the deplorable condition of the roads in the country.

They faulted the Tinubu led government for putting their lives in danger by purchasing “used” mass transit buses, thereby reneging on the agreement with the labour.

It would be recalled that due to the hardship brought by the removal of the fuel subsidy, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) announced in September that they would begin an indefinite strike on October 3.

The nationwide strike that was set to begin on October 3 was, however, halted on October 2 by the two labour unions and a coalition of other union leaders.

In the agreement the government accepted to vote N100 billion for the provision of high capacity CNG buses for mass transit in Nigeria. The government said provisions are also being made for initial 55,000 CNG conversion kits to kick start an auto gas conversion programme, whilst work is ongoing on state-of-the-art CNG stations nationwide. The rollout aims to commence by November with pilots across 10 campuses nationwide.

Three traditional rulers from Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have been confirmed dead in an auto crash in the state on Friday.

Nine other persons were also said to have been injured in a separate accident on the same day.

Eyewitnesses told PUNCH Online that the affected monarchs lost their lives in a road accident involving Benz E230 with number plate OLODOGBO and a commercial Scania Truck with registration number 301 XF at Aje Iye in the local government area.

Investigation further revealed that two of the affected monarchs died on the spot, while the third person died a few hours later at the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, where he was rushed.

One of the eyewitnesses, Olawoyin Adekunle, said, “Six passengers were involved in the crash, but the three survivors are undergoing treatment at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital. The affected passengers were going for a social function at the nearby community when the accident occurred.

“The affected monarchs are Olodogbo of Odogbo, Onibowula of Bowula and Alayetoro of Ayetoro in Oriire Local Government.”

When contacted, the state Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, Joshua Adekanye, confirmed the incident and said, “It was a head on collision involving a private and commercial vehicles on Ogbomoso-Oyo Wxpressway. The survivors are undergoing treatment at LAUTECH Teaching Hospital while the corpses of the victims have been deposited at the morgue of the same hospital.”

In a related development, Adekanye also confirmed that nine out of the 13 persons suffered varying degrees of burnt when a truck caught fire on Ogbomoso-Oyo Expressway on the same day

He added that no life was lost but the injured ones are receiving treatment in the hospital.

iwaeda:


Goal post will still change by April, APC is loaded with conmen. No increment WILL happen. You are under policed state.

The Federal Government on Thursday said a new minimum wage regime would come into effect on April 1, 2024.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, who disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH in Abuja, said the current N30,000 minimum wage would expire at the end of March 2024.

Mohammed said this on Thursday as an analysis of the 2024 –2026 Fiscal Framework budgets by our correspondents indicated that the Federal Government would spend N24.66tn on salaries in 2024, 2025, and 2026.

Following the removal of the fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023, the Federal Government agreed to pay N35,000 to each of its workers to cushion the effect of the subsidy removal.


But the organised Labour insisted that the N35,000 wage award was a temporary measure, adding that the minimum wage should be reviewed in 2024.

The Federal Government’s team and the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council on October 18, 2019, agreed on the implementation of the N30,00 minimum wage after months of negotiations.

However, Labour unions on Thursday confirmed that they had started a negotiation process with the Federal Government, adding that based on the country’s labour law, the minimum wage should be reviewed every five years.

The Nigeria Labour Congress National President, Joe Ajaero, recently said, “It is open knowledge that the review of the national minimum wage is a matter of the law which is expected to happen in 2024.”

On his part, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed, told The PUNCH that the improved take-home pay was meant to replace the temporary palliative measure put in place by the government to ameliorate the hardship caused by the fuel subsidy removal.

New wage regime

He said, “Certainly, there is a new wage regime that will come in on April 1, 2024. That is why these palliatives were targeted so they would cushion economic hardship before then. In our negotiation with Labour, we said that the wage issue was not something one could just fix. A committee that will also involve Labour itself will work on it.

“The committee is being constituted and we are talking to Labour about it. And by the time this current wage regime expires by the end of March, we will expect that a new wage will begin by April. It is in this wage regime that we will now have a proper salary structure for workers across the length and breadth of Nigeria. We expect that the private sector and state governors will also do the same.”

A top official of the NLC, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the organised Labour had initiated talks with the government

He said, “By April 1, 2024, the current minimum wage will expire. We have all agreed to set up a national wage negotiation committee, and that the committee should comprise all parties.’’

Also, the Head of Information of the NLC, Benson Upah, in an interview with The PUNCH said, “The new minimum wage is to come into effect next year.”

N24.66tn for salaries

As the organised Labour demands a new minimum wage, an analysis of the 2024 –2026 Fiscal Framework shows that the Federal Government intends to spend 29.18 per cent of its total budgets for 2024, 2025, and 2026 on salaries, overheads, and pensions.

The total amount budgeted for these three items amounts to N24.66tn; 29.18 per cent of the N84.50tn budgeted for the three years.

With anticipated salary increases from 2024 amid worsening economic conditions, personnel costs, and the two others are expected to jump by 8.51 per cent from the amount (N7.36tn) budget in 2023 to N7.99tn in 2024.

It is then expected to rise by 2.41 per cent to N8.18tn in 2025, and then by 3.77 per cent to N8.49tn in 2026. The amount pales when compared to the N23.37tn (27.65 per cent of its total budget) the government intends to spend on capital expenditure in the period under review.

This signifies the continuation of a culture of high overheads at the expense of high fiscal deficits. As of the end of September 2023, the Federal Government had devoted 29.76 per cent (N3.78tn) of its total spending (N12.7tn) on salaries.

The amount spent on salaries is 157.14 per cent more than the N1.47tn that has been spent on capital allocations for the year.

The government said, “The actual spending was N12.7tn. Of this amount, N5.79tn was for debt service, and N3.78tn for personnel costs, including pensions.

“Only about N1.47tn (25 per cent of the pro-rata budget) has been released for MDAs’ capital expenditure as of September 2023.”

The Federal Government has about N1.5 million workers and it will review minimum wage by 2024. There are concerns that the government is operating a bloated civil service with many agencies with overlapping functions. This has led to calls for agency mergers and scrapping, where they might apply.

With salaries weighing heavily on its spending, the government, in its 2024 – 2026 fiscal framework, said, “The budget deficit is projected to be N9.18tn in 2024, i.e., N4.6tn down from N11.60tn budgeted in 2023.

“The proposed deficit represents about 50 per cent of total Federal Government’s revenues and 3.88 per cent of the estimated GDP (Gross Domestic Product ). The high projected level of fiscal deficit in 2024 is partly attributable to the proposed salary review of Federal workers across board, increased pension obligations, and higher debt service cost.

“At 3.88 per cent, the projected level of deficit is higher than the three per cent threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA), 2007, but significantly lower than the 2023 level of 6.11 per cent; FRA 2007, however, allows the government to exceed the 3 per cent threshold if justified by threats to national security.”

The fiscal deficit for the three years under review is expected to total N30.89tn. In June 2023, the World Bank disclosed that the Federal Government’s spending on personnel costs and debt servicing exceeded total revenues in 2022.

According to the Washington-based bank, this was the first time the Federal Government’s personnel costs and debt servicing surpassed its total revenue. It noted that the government is spending a lot on these costs, leaving little room for capital expenditure.

It declared, “Overall, the rigidity of expenditure has increased, squeezing fiscal space for the discretionary spending needed to meet development objectives.

Personnel costs and interest payments comprise a growing share of total general government expenditures (59 per cent in 2022) and for the first time in 2022 exceeded total government revenues (102 percent).”

Rising personnel cost is leaving little room for investments in infrastructure and in his budget presentation speech, President Bola Tinubu disclosed that the government would leverage the private sector to plug its capital expenditure spending holes.

He said, “In view of the limited resources available through the federal budget, we are also exploring Public Private Partnership arrangements to finance critical infrastructure.

“We, therefore, invite the private sector to partner with us to ensure that our fiscal, trade, and monetary policies, as well as our developmental programmes and projects, succeed in unlocking the latent potential of our people and other natural endowments, in line with our national aspirations.”

Recently, the Minister of Budget and National Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, declared that the government was only managing to pay salaries considering its dwindling revenue sources.


Enoh unveils six-point sports development agenda
The minister represented by the Director (International Cooperation), Dr Sampson Ebimaro at an event said, “Government faces enormous challenge especially now, the government is facing revenue deficit. There’s no money anywhere in the country, the government is just managing to pay salaries.

“The growth rate is very slow, and the population growth is fast pacing and increasing. unemployment is surging amid high inflation. These are issues which non-governmental organisations must take on board in helping the government to cover the space government could not cover.”

Over-bloated salaries

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, on Thursday, condemned what it described as an over-bloated personnel cost in the 2024 budget.

The House therefore urged the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to summon ministries, departments, and agencies over the alleged over-bloated cost.

A member of the House, Sada Soli, drew the attention of his colleagues to what he described as the ‘over-bloated personnel cost’ of ministries, departments, and agencies in the budget cycles.

At the debate on the general principles of the 2024 budget on the floor of the House on Thursday, Soli, a member of the House of Representatives from Katsina State, described the budget as ‘unique’ in a number of ways.

Most importantly, he called on the House to take a close look at the excessive personnel cost of MDAs, saying, “Let the committees’ chairmen look at the issue of personnel cost because they are over-bloated.

“I know that the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission used to summon agencies to come for audits on their personnel cost because it is over-bloated. This is very important and we need to look at it.”

He also spoke about the states and the Federal Government collaboration saying, “For the first time, I am hearing in the budget speech that the President is mentioning collaboration with subnationals.”

He added that such collaboration would encourage states to make adjustments to their budget peculiarities.

He further stressed that the National Assembly should pay attention to the procurement process, describing it as “too cumbersome” even as he urged the Federal Government to “clean up” the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

The House commenced the debate on the N27.5tn 2024 budget on Thursday, preparatory to passage for second reading.

Leading the debate on the general principles of the budget, House Leader, Julius Ihonvbere, commended the President for putting together what he called a holistic budget that was meant to cater for Nigerians of all walks of life.

He said, “In considering the budget of any nation or organisation, you must first consider a few principles. The first is what you have or what are you going to earn. The second is what are you going to spend?

“The third is how your budget did in the previous years. The fourth is what is the difference in this particular budget that you are presenting? And finally, there is the global, domestic, and sub-national context in which your budget is supposed to function.

“The budget drew our attention to the Renewed Hope Agenda so that we have a holistic understanding of where the President was coming from and where he intended to take Nigeria. The budget focused on fiscal challenges in the economy, and the need to tackle insecurity and expand the economic space.

“Special attention was given to education, which particularly made me very happy. The budget tends to look at strategic areas into which the budget will deploy resources.”

Speaking on the security mileage of the 2024 proposed budget, the House Leader said, “I cannot go to my constituency because of the dreaded Auchi-Benin expressway. There is no other way to get there (his village) because of security issues.

“And I am sure, we have moved motion upon motion on insecurity. And I believe that when security is properly tackled in this country, among other things, there will be an increase in the production of goods and services.

“Many businesses today close by 6pm because they are afraid that they will be raided. Many farmers do not go to their farms because of bandits, kidnappers, and assassins.

“Transporters have reduced their fleets to safe areas, similarly, because of insecurity. Even parents have withdrawn their kids from certain schools and are paying double the fees in certain areas that they consider to be safe. The focus of this budget on security as a prime area is a very positive move, for which we must give support.”

The House of Representatives Committee on Health on Tuesday raised concerns over the decline in the country’s health manpower.

The committee disclosed that due to the relocation of doctors and nurses from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) to various parts of the world, five wards comprising 150 beds have been shut down. LUTH is Nigeria’s premier health training institution.

Chairman of the committee, Dr Amos Magaji, described the situation as worrisome saying the legislative arm is working toward nipping the increasing rate of Nigerians going abroad for medical tourism in the bud.

He said the Nigeria health workers migration overseas has taken a huge toll on the country’s heath system affirming that “the japa syndrome will be curtailed by building state-of-the-art infrastructure and making the sector attractive and rewarding to workers irrespective of their fields.”

Speaking during an oversight visit to LUTH, Idi-Araba, the health committee chairman reiterated that “Nigeria as a nation has found itself in a precarious moment, especially in the healthcare system where japa has taken centre stage. We used to have japa only for nurses, and doctors, but now it has even gone to many departments in the health sector.

“We saw significant problems here. Right now, there are about five wards in LUTH, totalling about 150 beds that have been shut down because there are no nurses and doctors to work in those wards. And these are a result of the ‘japa’ syndrome we are having.

“As a committee, we will work together with the Federal Government and also with the teaching hospital to find a way out of these national embarrassments that have befallen this country.

“It’s not something that can be fixed in one day, but nevertheless, we are going to be approaching it piecemeal. We are going to do what we can do immediately and what we can do long-term approach to it.

“So, by the grace of God, some of the issues of the ‘japa’, we are actually looking at how to solve this problem, starting even from the enrollment in universities, and then how house officers are employed, and then of course, the residency programme.”

“They have sacrificed so much for Nigerians to be healthy, for us to get proper health care. Our hands are on deck, and then that was the reason why if you were here earlier, you discovered that some of the key questions and some of the key things we attended here were things that have to do with delivering affordable and accessible health care to Nigerians.”

Meanwhile, Chief Medical Director of LUTH, Professor Wasiu Adeyemo told the lawmakers that the cancer centre of the university teaching hospital has treated over 9,600 patients since it was commissioned by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2019.