seunmsg: The right decision considering the current circumstances. Like i have always said, the federal public service is not the private sector where the CEO can do as they like. The public service is governed by laws, rules, regulations and over one thousand extant circulars. People without public service knowledge who gets appointed as ministers and heads of agencies must be extremely careful and very cooperative with the civil servants they meet on ground or else, they will run into trouble quickly.
I like Betta Edu and really wished this did not happen to her but the serious violations observed from those approvals and the fraudulent intention behind the diversion of over N500m to a private account are too much to be ignored. I hope other newly appointed political office holders would learn from her mistake. Learn the rules before approving anything. When in doubt, seek and take the advice of the more experienced civil servants. If Betty had listened to the wise counsel of the Accountant General, she won't be in this mess.
martin123: Breaking: President Tinubu suspends the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, from office with immediate effect.
President directs the EFCC to conduct a thorough investigation into all aspects of the financial transactions involving the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, as well as one or more agencies thereunder.
Full Statement:
PRESIDENT TINUBU SUSPENDS MINISTER OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS AND POVERTY ALLEVIATION FROM OFFICE
This one is not too familiar with the way things are done in the government.
Biglittlelois: Well I don't see anything wrong with stating the tribe of a person who did wrong, the only issue is insulting and demeaning a whole tribe because of an individual's offence, so pls be specific.
Also, we are yet to see your stance on Anti female, insultive, degrading comments and threads, because if you notice, most male tend to term women generally for the offence of one, and as a result of that, most of us rarely comment like before, pls look into it.
so that's the reason I don't see much of the females comment. Please be commenting.
mrrandomguy: [color=#550600]I am here to tell you that your destiny is in danger if your wife or girlfriend wears waist beads (ìlẹ̀kẹ̀ ìdí) [b]and she doesn't cook for you, [/b]especially those who have their hairs dyed and are[b] on lowcut.
Jesus loves you![/color] [/b]
so if she cooks for you and are not on low cut, no problem right?
So women learn to do what? Maintain territory! God's servant told us that story many many years ago. Was at the Kenyan Wildlife park and then suddenly they went with a tour guide and then the lion just started roaring unprovoked and so he asked why is the lion just roaring unprovoked? He says he's roaring to maintain territory.
Maintain territory once in a while just stroll into your husband's office looking very Jealous. Hello husband, I just came to serve you lunch, you drop the lunch box and you go so that every eye there will know that there is somebody in his house.
Is anybody listening to what I'm saying? Dress up, follow him out, be around him, don't neglect him, be highly irresistible and unavoidable. Be highly cooperative. It's not only the cooperative in your office.
MikeofKd: This period is the worst period be a Nigerian youth ,the government has completely crippled and humiliated us. The economy is very bad and even worse, things are getting out of hand every blessed day.
My problem with Nigerians are our spirit of adaptation , I can promise you dat if fuel sells for 5k per litre people would still buy after complaining heavily , cause thats all we do ,complain bitterly but everyone would at d end of the day find ways to adapt.
For how long are we going to continue this way for christ sake? Almost all the youth are into one fraudulent activity or the other these days and the most decent looking ladies have a very troublesome amount of body count these days as well.
How I wish we can all in our frustrations pay Tinubu a visit at Aso rock , atleast make we protest heavily reach him side cus im fed up honestly.
I'm a bachelor but im still managing like a student , bills upon bills and worst you dont even get to enjoy for these services you pay for at all.
You cant even find an understanding girlfriend anymore in this country. Omo make I stop here before I go craze , Nigeria matter fit make man craze .
make enough money and you will get a understanding gf.
Hadeylex: The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and fuel marketers under the aegis of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, on Tuesday, clashed again over the removal of subsidy on petrol.
This came against the backdrop of the depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar at both the official Investors & Exporters Window and the parallel market.
On Tuesday, the local currency closed at 998/dollar at the official market, while it traded at 1,225/dollar at the black market.
On the back of the falling naira rate, economists and oil marketers said PMS subsidy was increasing in recent times, but the NNPC quickly countered these positions and declared that it was recovering its full cost on the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, countering the positions of
The Chief Executive Officer, Financial Derivatives Company, Bismarck Rewane, had during a live television programme on ChannelsTV on Sunday, explained that fuel subsidy was not removed but reduced.
Similarly, oil marketers told our correspondent on Tuesday that subsidy on petrol was increasing considering the crash of the naira against the United States dollar and the cost of crude oil, stressing that PMS should sell for N1,200/litre in a free market.
Petrol, which is solely imported into Nigeria by the NNPCL, currently sells for between N617/litre to N660/litre, depending on the location of purchase in Nigeria.
Also speaking on the matter, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said there was partial subsidy on petrol, but noted that the commodity was subsidised by the government for political, social and economic reasons.
Full cost recovery
But when contacted, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, described the positions of economists and marketers as assumptions, and insisted that the Federal Government had stopped subsidy on petrol.
President Bola Tinubu had during his inaugural speech on May 29, 2023, declared that subsidy on petrol was gone, a declaration that was effectively implemented the next day by NNPCL.
Before Tinubu’s declaration, the pump price of petrol was below N190/litre, but it jumped to over N500/litre after the President’s statement, and moved up again to over N600/litre a few weeks later.
Asked to state if the NNPCL, being Nigeria’s sole importer of petrol, subsidising the commodity as posited by dealers and experts, the oil firm’s CCCO replied, “We prioritise our time on substantive matters rather than responding to assumptions.
“At NNPC Ltd, we prioritise national development through energy security and sustainable growth. We reiterate that the Nigerian government does not pay subsidy on fuel; we recover full costs from our imported products.
“As a global energy company, our focus remains on fostering a vibrant and energy-secure Nigeria.”
‘Subsidy reduced’
Rewane had earlier explained that subsidy on petrol was reduced and not removed, while featuring on a live television programme on Sunday evening, as he further highlighted the effects of the reduction in fuel subsidy and how it was affecting salary earners in Nigeria.
He said, “At the inauguration, it was said that (fuel) subsidy was gone but subsidy was actually reduced.”
Buttressing his position, he explained, “There is the convergence of exchange rates and reducing the windows into one. The consequence of that is that money has been transferred from consumers to the government.
“Subsidies are reversed taxes; if you reduce them, you increase the people’s taxes and reduce their income. What has happened is that government revenue has increased by 44 per cent between May and June (2023). Money has been transferred to the government but what is the government doing with it?
“The consumers, on the other hand, had a minimum wage, which in dollar terms was $40 in 2002. In 2019, it was about $70, but it has now been reduced to $24.”
Marketers project N1,200/litre
The National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated that subsidy on petrol was rising and that the cost of the commodity should be around N1,200/litre in a free market.
“To be pragmatic in this analysis let’s consider the cost of petrol today in the United States. For premium petrol, it is $2.99, while super petrol sells for $3.15 or $3.10 depending on the part of that country where you are making the purchase.
“Now, $3 in Nigeria is over N3,000, because a dollar in the parallel market is over N1,000. You can also see the cost of diesel, that is over N1,000/litre, and it is important to state that petrol is usually higher in price than diesel in a free market.
“So if you consider the cost of diesel, dollar and other international factors, the price of petrol in Nigeria should be around N1,200/litre, but the government is subsidising it, which to an extent is understandable,” he stated.
Ukadike noted that he had earlier explained that the government was implementing quasi-subsidy, and by this it means that “the Federal Government, instead of taking out the subsidy by 100 per cent, decides to take out about 50 per cent.”
The IPMAN official, however, expressed optimism again that the cost of refined petroleum products would reduce as soon as the Port Harcourt and Dangote refineries start producing the commodities.
“I also believe that there will be a reduction in the prices of petroleum products this year when you consider what the government is currently doing. The coming onboard of the Port Harcourt refinery and the supply of crude to Dangote refinery are good developments in the sector.
“Their operations will help stabilise the price of PMS and other petroleum products in Nigeria, because it will definitely cut down the importation of products,” Ukadike stated.
Social, economic reasons
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise CEO said subsidy was being retained partially because of its economic, social and political implications.
Yusuf said, “To protect the citizens from further hardship is the reason why the government seems to have applied the brakes on subsidy removal. We are all witnesses to the pain and hardship that citizens are going through.
“So when you are adopting some of these policies, especially these liberal economic policies, it comes to a point where you have to moderate your position for social reasons.
“Just as the World Bank said, if we want to leave the price fully to market forces and the liberal economic policies, the fuel price will be above N800/litre. Can any government that is sensitive to the feelings of its citizens allow that to happen?
“Even if economically that is the way to go, there must always be a human face to economics. So what the government has done is to moderate the reform, and that is why I think the government has insisted that the NNPC should still hold the price at the current level.”
Yusuf noted that the government must balance the gains and side effects of subsidy, stressing that economic hardship may worsen should subsidy be removed 100 per cent.
“All of us who were saying that they should remove the subsidy, we can see that they have partially removed it now, but look at the consequences. Economically it will sound good, but socially and politically it is very costly.
“So those in government need to balance all those considerations. They need to balance economic, political and social considerations. That is why we find ourselves in a situation where we have partial subsidies, both in petrol and electricity,” he stated.
The World Bank had stated in December that subsidy on petrol was still being implemented by the Federal Government, as it insisted that the cost of PMS should not be less than N750/litre if there was no subsidy.
Naira at N988/$
The naira closed at N988.46/$ on the first day of official trading on the Investors and Exporters Window on Tuesday.
This is an 8.97 per cent decline from the N907.11/$ it closed trading on Friday (the last day of official trading for 2023) according to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange. This continues a worrying trend for the naira which was one of the worst performing currencies of 2023.
According to Bloomberg, the naira had one of its worst years in 2023, a title that 2024 might usurp. It noted that the national currency lost about 55 per cent of its value as of Thursday 28, 2023.
Based on Kyle Chapman, FX markets analyst at London-based Ballinger & Co, the naira was the third worst-performing global currency in 2023 due to a backlog of unsettled forwards, undelivered promises of dollar inflows, and a two-decade peak in inflation.
Chapman said, “The naira’s downward momentum is likely to continue through much of 2024, and its ultimate trajectory will depend on whether the CBN’s rhetoric transforms into concrete policy moves that drive up the flow of US dollars into Nigeria and shore up trust in the official market.
“If the CBN’s promised measures materialise and Tinubu’s government enacts structural changes to increase oil production or to drive foreign investment, there is plenty of opportunity for the naira to lift from its record lows. But a quick fix is unlikely, and further depreciation will come to counteract supply and demand imbalances.”
In its December Nigeria Development Update, the World Bank noted that naira had depreciated against the US dollar by 41 per cent in the official market and by 30 per cent in the parallel market. It noted that the naira needs increased volume to stabilise in the official market.
It said, “Further monetary policy tightening is expected to help underpin the value of the naira. However, there is also a need to increase FX supply in the market. Facilitating FX flows, especially from all exports, through the NAFEM can help provide additional volumes in the official window that can help provide stability.
“In addition, clarity on the CBN’s net reserve position, and on the CBN’s continued progress in clearing the FX backlog, would also strengthen market confidence.”...
Politics › Re: President Tinubu Suspends Betta Edu, Minister Of Humanitarian Affairs by Tonytonex(m): 9:14pm On Jan 08, 2024
