Officialgarri: At a particular gas station in Lagos, I got PMS at #175 per liter while Northwest in VGC, Ajah sells at normal rate (except I was debited twice and I didn't get a refund, 10k wasted)
In Abuja, I got fuel at #400 per litre but from the black market sellers
Yesterday in Lagos, I got a litre for #600 while others sell at #700.
Just for information sake, how much is fuel in your area?
Lalasticlala mynd44
Where in Lagos did you get N600 per litre! APC suffering!
Nollywood veteran, Kate Henshaw, on Wednesday lamented the worsening scarcity of petrol products in the country.
The actress shared a video on her Instagram page, where she called on Nigerians to take actions concerning the future leaders of the country.
This was as she faulted the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) for jetting out of the country amid fuel scarcity crisis.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that Buhari on Tuesday, departed Abuja for Nairobi, Kenya, where he was billed to participate in the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Environmental Programme scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
He will, thereafter, proceed to London, United Kingdom, for routine medical checks that will last for a maximum of two weeks.
The actress expressed her displeasure concerning Buhari’s travel, noting that since the president doubled as the Petroleum Minister of the country, he would have done better.
She said, “With all due respect, we have Mr President who doubles as the Petroleum Minister. He has jetted out to go and look after himself. Nobody cares.”
Some Senior Advocates of Nigeria on Monday rejected the proposed immunity clause for the Chief Justice of Nigeria, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President just as voting on the amendment to the 1999 Constitution begins on Tuesday (today).
The Joint Senate and House of Representatives Special Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, had last Wednesday laid its report and recommended 68 amendments, which were based on private members and executive bills as well as memoranda received from the public during its zonal public hearings.
Currently, only the President, Vice-President, the 36 governors and 36 deputy governors enjoy immunity.
Some SANs who spoke in separate interviews with our correspondent on Monday described the attempt to confer immunity on more public officers as unnecessary.
Adegoke Rasheed (SAN), said this was not the first attempt by the National Assembly to confer immunity on presiding officers, adding that the privileged immunity they enjoy is enough.
He described the decision to extend the same to the CJN as nothing but a bribe.
Adegoke said, “The Legislative Privileges Act of 2017 actually tried to confer immunity on presiding officers of the National Assembly which we found unconstitutional. I filed a case which is still pending at the Federal High Court challenging the constitutionality of that, it was pursuant to that they wanted to amend the constitution so that they could insert that provision into the constitution to cure the defect in the Legislative Privileges Act.
“I believe that it is an unnecessary conferment of protection on the National Assembly. Extending it to the CJN is an attempt to bribe the judiciary.
“A judicial officer is protected under the constitution so far as a judge can’t be sued by an act done by himself in his official capacity. The same thing goes for every member of the National Assembly. That has been an ancient privilege. They can’t be sued for comments made on the floor of the house. That’s enough.”
Another senior advocate, Afam Osigwe, said Nigerians should not allow the National Assembly to carry on with the amendment.
Osigwe said immunity would be abused if it is granted to more public officers.
He said, “In every part of the world, immunity is granted only to the President and even the ones granted to the executives is limited, if you commit an offence while in office it may be a ground to take away the immunity. I don’t see why we should grant immunity to the CJN. It is not done.
“We just want to abuse the immunity, is it even not bad enough that we don’t investigate or trial when they leave office and we now want to confer immunity on them while in office? That’s sad. They should not be allowed to get away with this.”
For Mr Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), the presiding officers of the National Assembly do not deserve immunity.
He queried the logic behind such a proposal, adding that those who had nothing to hide ought not to fear prosecution.
Adedipe added, “It is not right to extend immunity to this set of people. We should open the democratic space and access to the court. If you have a problem with the conducts of presiding officers in the National Assembly how are you going to bring them to justice if you confer immunity on them? I do not support it and I do not think it should be passed into law.
“Are you not aware that in some countries sitting prime ministers are being taken to court? It happened in Israel. Are they going to be committing legal infractions that would be taking them to court every now and then? They do not need immunity.”
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress has asked members of the National Assembly to massively support labour-related matters today (Tuesday) during voting on the amendment to the 1999 Constitution.
Speaking during a protest at the National Assembly on Monday, the President, NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the lawmakers should also vote for the autonomy of local governments and the judiciary.
Wabba stated, “We want an overwhelming vote. We don’t even want 99 per cent when members of the National Assembly are voting tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday. We want 100 per cent of their votes to guarantee the independence of the judiciary and to guarantee full autonomy for local governments.”
Omooba77: The Federal Government on Monday advised Nigerians to seek information on the treatment of some diseases locally before thinking of going abroad.
According to the government, the advice became necessary because many of its hospitals across the country were now treating some of the medical issues pushing some citizens outside the shores of the country.
Meanwhile, the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi in Abuja, has commenced open heart surgery with four patients already undergoing treatment in the facility.
The government insisted that lack of awareness had compelled some Nigerians to seek treatment on certain diseases abroad rather than locally.
The Minister of State for Health, Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora, gave the advice while inspecting some newly acquired facilities to improve the care of patients by the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi in Abuja.
He said government had put measures in place to address medical tourism.
Mamora said state-of-the-art equipment were being procured by the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to make treatment of surgeries less cumbersome.
The Minister stated that many public hospitals in the country were now treating some medical issues pushing Nigerians abroad.
He said, “There are other areas of medical tourism and we will be addressing them gradually. We are applying state-of-the-art equipment that would make the procedure less cumbersome.
“I can assure you that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is doing so much in terms of upgrading facilities to make them suitable for the exigencies of the moment.
“The affordability and sustainability are components of the Universal Health Coverage.
“All the medical team that carried out this surgery are Nigerians living in Nigeria. This goes to confirm the long-held view that with the conducive environment and availability of necessary equipment, we have competent Nigerians that can really carry out this procedure excellently well.”
Earlier, the Chief Medical Director of the FMC, Abuja, Prof. Saad Ahmed, explained that the open surgery was the “first of its kind in this facility.”
He said, “We were able to do it successfully and all the patients are doing quite well. The open heart surgery is quite delicate and requires a lot of skills and commitment.
“On this, the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health was able to get some infrastructure and some equipment in this regard.
“We usually send some people for training in various accreditation because open heart surgery is teamwork.
“Many people at this moment are undergoing some forms of training. The essence for this is for us to domesticate this and make it a routine procedure in the Federal Medical Centre, Abuja.
“This is for the benefit of all Nigerians but we are looking at how this could benefit our neighbouring countries and some other parts of the world.
“We are starting something small but we are looking at how we can make it big in the nearest future.”
Ahmed explained that the surgeries carried out were possible through the support of Save A Heart Foundation UK, which, he said, provided “skills transfer and also donated some equipment.”
He said, “Because of that, we were able to subsidise the cost for the patients. But in the long run, we want to call on philanthropists, some corporate organisations and societies to actually come forward, to subsidise the cost of this surgery through donations to our Medical Indigent Fund.”
“The Board chairman has been making contacts here and there, to see how he can make these philanthropists come to the aid of some of these people.
“Meanwhile, locally, we have established the Medical Indigent Fund which is being managed by some members of this hospital’s community, all with the aim of generating some funds to assist the indigents.
“With the commencement of the open heart surgery here, it means that the managers of the Medical Indigent Fund need to be up and doing to reach people in far and near to see how they can come to the aid of those that are in need.”
Bandits have attacked over 10 communities in Niger State, killed eight persons, abducted a bride and left several others injured.
The gunmen, who were said to have numbered over 100, invaded the communities in the Lavun Local Government Area of the state.
According to a resident of the Ndakogitu community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the bandits also attacked a wedding ceremony, where they abducted the bride and another girl.
The resident stated, “They (gunmen) came into our community and went to the venue of a wedding; they stole all the money realised at the ceremony and other valuables.
“The rampaging gunmen also rustled a number of cattle belonging to the villagers.”
The attack, which lasted all through Saturday night and Sunday morning, according to the resident, displayed over 5,000 persons.
Another source, who spoke to our correspondent, said the terrorists went to different communities and shot at residents, who were scampering for safety.
It was gathered that after the attack, the terrorists were unable to escape with the rustled cattle as the only bridge linking the community with Akare had collapsed, leaving them with no option but to abandon the animals and escape.
The vigilantes in the communities, however, mobilised themselves and confronted the bandits, who eventually killed six of the locals as a result of them being ill-equipped.
The attack forced the residents of the affected communities to flee their homes, while those who had earlier gone to the nearby market at Batati could not return home for fear of being attacked by the gunmen.
When contacted, the Commissioner for Local Government and Internal Security, Emmanuel Umar, confirmed the latest attack, but said he had yet to get the details of the incident.
Some of the communities attacked are Egbako, Ndaruka, Ebbo, Ndagbegi, Tshogi, Gogata and Ndakogitu, all in the Lavun Local Government Area of the state.
mrmayoh: One person has been reported dead during a clash between operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and some hoodlums in Lagos Island.
desiredhome: The box is that instead of waiting for quick money or get rich quick.....do something for yourself ...... Government cannot give jobs to all its citizens....
There are people making it in this economy that people are complaining.....
That is how you think out of the box
Government can create enabling environment. 65% of Nigerians are hardworking!
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, on Thursday, said the Federal Ministry of Justice had yet to prosecute a corruption case since 2015.
He added that the Ministry had deliberately ended many corruption cases in the court by filing an application called Nolle Prosequi, which means the government is not willing to prosecute them anymore.
He spoke at the HEDA Resource Centers anti-corruption situation room titled ‘State of Anti-corruption in Nigeria: Assessment of 2021 and Agenda for 2022’.
Falana said, “The ministry of justice has not prosecuted one corruption case since 2015. The president must be told this. On the contrary, some of the cases are deliberately destroyed by the ministry through what they call prosecution Nolle Prosequi.
“That is if somebody has stolen N20B an application would be filled in the court by the Attorney General saying we are not willing to prosecute. The use of this must stop if we want to fight corruption, let everyone be taken to court and convince the court that he has no case to answer.“
Falana also said without the passage of all pending anti-corruption bills at the national assembly the regime would not be taken seriously with its fight against corruption.
He said, “Without the passage of all pending Anti-graft bills at the national assembly, this regime cannot be taken seriously in its fight against corruption.”
Also, speaking, Former Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes, Kayode Oladele, described the arrest of the suspended Abba Kyari as a ploy to deny him from being extradited.
He said many politicians had deployed the strategy in the past.
Governor Sule, earlier on Tuesday announced that the President is expected to visit the country and urged residents in the State to turn out en-masse to receive the President
Michelle70: thats a lie. 200k could buy 25 bags of rice in 2015. 2.4m will buy 100bags of same rice today.
If I had invested 200k into a small business, I would be making probably 25k monthly and will buy 3bags of rice then but today I could buy 10bags of rice monthly, FYI I have gotten 3times richer in economic terms while logically I could be more than 10times richer
Yes that is good progression, but the generality of people are getting poorer, Congrats on your achievements!
Michelle70: I can't live anywhere in the world as I make less than 300k a month but I was able to grow from a man who had only 200k back in 2015 to a man who owns three grocery shop in 2021 without govt or private job.
Anyone who is poor decides to be poor, stop speaking for them. Life isnt easy for anyone.
Even u who is rich didn't get there by watching zeeworld and Big brother all day, most of the people who complain today doesn't have a plan for their future. No savings, no investment plan, no goals etc.
anyone who has a goal will be more concerned about achieving it than they will be about price of tomato.
They are nothing but just bet9ja and Yahoo addicts
What was your purchasing power of N200k in 2015 to N300k in 2022!
Michelle70: there are those who understand money and those who do not.
Let's even look at Nairaland Did seun complain of being broke? Is ilegendd complaining even amidst economic recessions, Iamdbull nko.
Back in 2015, my monthly allowance can't afford three bags of rice but now I pay my rent in a two bedroom apartment, I subscribe my cable, pay my bills and still send something to my family every month, I have 3 small grocery stores too, all these I achieved when Buhari was and is still the president
U go blame govt till 2066 but na still inside this Nigeria we go get future billionaires, millionaires, professors, entrepreneurs, medical doctors etc.
Ask urself what others are doing which u are not
By God's grace I dont depend on Government and I can live anywhere comfortably in the world. I dont speak for myself only, but people that surrounds me, see suffering every where!
Michelle70: The problem with Nigerians is that we expect govt to lift us out of poverty while we spend time on the screen. I have gotten approx 6times richer than I was back in 2014 without any govt funds or grants despite all the economic "wallo wallo"
Thats why politicians could promise heaven and earth cos they know the youths are lazy and greedy
You must be really lifted out of poverty, but millions of people have gone down to poverty more, Cost of living is beyond many . Few years ago, I bought $66, 670,00 with N10 Million naira. Today same N10 can buy $23, 000 . I used to buy egg N800, but today N1900. I know just like Mr. Mutairu Kadoso (Seunmsg) you will always see it your own way!
“Amongst many other things, the late sage said in that speech: “It is axiomatic that man can create nothing. But, by an intelligent and purposive application of the exertions of his body and mind, he can exploit natural resources to produce goods and services for immediate consumption and for capital outlay. Therefore, other things being equal, the healthier his body and the more educated his mind, the greater will be his morale and the more efficient and economical he becomes as a producer and consumer” — Obafemi Awolowo (Man is the Sole Dynamic in Nature, 1974).
Probably due to poor articulation of its objective, last week’s ministerial press briefing by Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Investment, Sadiya Umar Farouq, left Nigerians with nothing to cheer.
At the end of the event, which was held at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, two major soundbites emerged, none of which does any credit to the understanding of the problem at hand by the minister and possibly the government she serves.
The first major gist of her briefing is that the N5,000, which the government claims to distribute to people living in extreme poverty in Nigeria, can lift these poor people out of poverty.
In answering a question on whether she truly believes this handout can bail people out of poverty, the minister waxed proud about how much the beneficiaries appreciate the money to the extent that “when you give them this N5,000, they cry and shed tears because they’ve never seen N5,000 in their lives; so, it goes a long way, it changes their status, and by that, it lifts them from one stage to another.”
When I saw the minister utter this statement on television, my heart broke. Here is a minister of a country that has pauperised the majority of its people through leadership incompetence and policy flip-flops, glorifying the failure of governance and celebrating the dehumanisation of citizens, albeit unwittingly.
If Nigerians cry for being handed the equivalent of maybe $10 a month for a family of God knows how many people, then it is not a thing that should make any government official proud. But we can even interrogate this point further as the importance of N5,000—if any—would depend on the recipients’ location.
And please, let us get the point straight. I do not mean that N5,000 is not significant money. This argument is made in the context of the fact that money is being dispensed by the government from taxpayers’ funds, in the first instance, and for the specific purpose of lifting people from poverty.
When the minister says N5,000 changes the status of the poor, we should then ask the question: Are we mindful of the fact that Nigeria has the rural poor and the urban poor? And that the latter, in particular, are subjected to economic realities that they have no control over. Talking about the cost of fuel, electricity, water and other such elements, would N5,000 also change these people’s lives? But I digress.
The first thing that hit me was whether this lady implied that crying on the receipt of N5,000 is an indication of how it impacts on the lives of people? Does she really understand the import of poverty and the multiplier effect it has on the country? How exactly are the recipients of this money selected? Is there any difference between what the rural poor and the urban poor get from this Federal Government largesse? Is there any hint of compassion in these people who think it is elitist to suggest that N5,000 is too little to lift people out of poverty? Most importantly, I felt that the minister failed to understand the depth of the question that was thrown at her.
The issue is not so much about the sum but about the intent and structure behind its distribution. Why does the government give these families N5,000? Is it the money to feed themselves or do business? If the purpose of this transfer is subsistence, how do we equate that to lifting people out of poverty? Aside from the fact that N5,000 is insufficient to make a significant difference in Nigeria’s current economic realities, there is also the question of how it addresses poverty sustainably. For instance, any family that desires to exit the poverty club would strive to educate its children and not just the capacity to feed them in the instant. So, does this monthly stipend provide an opportunity for families to educate their children and prepare them for the future?
There is also the eternal wisdom of teaching people to fish rather than handing them fish. And in introducing this, Nigeria does not even need to reinvent the wheel. This was the idea behind the Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus intervention when he started lending village women $27 each from his personal funds. When he discovered that these women not only returned his loans but made profits, he sought a loan from a government bank and started the Grameen Bank, a place where the poorest women had access to microcredit. What the government is currently doing does not seem to have any enduring or generational value. It looks like an attempt to alleviate today’s problem and, as is becoming the character of this government, transfer the problem to future governments!
And that brings us to the other significant point the minister made last Thursday. This is to the effect that the out-of-school children is no longer a solely northern Nigerian problem. One does not know what elicited this information, which was provided at the press event by the Coordinator of the National Social Investment Programme, Dr Umar Bindr. Still, it is doubtful that anyone has ever suggested that it was an exclusive problem of northern Nigeria. Most analysts say that the North bears the greatest burden of the malaise, which is as true today as before. Even though a significant number of out-of-school children in other parts of the country are of northern parentage, the reality is that literally every state in Nigeria now deals with this dangerous issue. Madam Minister and Mr. Coordinator should be answering what the government is doing to tackle this impending explosion of evil as part of its determination to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty. So, is there a nexus between our N5,000 giveaway and dealing with this scourge of out-of-school children?
Government cannot afford to see poverty eradication as an act of generosity or an instrument of political patronage. As things stand in Nigeria, it is a soul-saving strategy, with the dichotomy between the rich and poor becoming more expansive by the day. When Yunus and the Grameen Bank won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that “lasting peace cannot be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty…across cultures and civilisations…” Yunus and Grameen Bank have shown that even the poorest of the poor can bring about their own development. Poverty is a factor in the increasing level of insecurity in Nigeria as much as it is critical to the increasingly diminished chance that democracy will prosper in Nigeria. The man with a hungry stomach has little or no choice but to follow the money in a democracy. This is why government’s initiatives must do a lot more than just give fish to the poor to avoid the chance of being seen as a vote-buying machine.
So, what can the government do?
The first thing is to take this initiative out of the hands of the government. Given the levels of official corruption and lack of data in Nigeria, accountability will continue to be a problem if this initiative remains with the government.
Going forward, providing compulsory and quality education for all Nigerian children, whether female or male, must be part of any poverty eradication programme. In addition, rather than dash money out for feeding, the government should consider micro-credit schemes that involve communities and co-operatives to which beneficiaries can be accountable. Healthcare delivery must also be on the front burner of a country that intends to eradicate poverty. As they say, the health of a nation is its wealth. Finally, Nigeria’s population swells up by the day without even so much as deliberate advocacy on population control. A country that is not very productive cannot continue to bring children into poverty the way Nigeria is and expect change. As Chief Obafemi Awolowo said in the quote above, we must rethink our strategy to have an enduring impact.
YinkaOlusesi16: obj is not among abiola boyz, tinubu is the right man of abiola, Anywhere u see abiola u see tinubu also. Dont confuse us here.
Fat lie, Tinubu was not even part of Abiola inner caucus, rather Jakande, Ebinotopson, Beko, Omojola, Dele Momodu, Ojodu, Ezeife. Tinubu ran away to London!
Following the Federal Government’s plan to extend the fuel subsidy regime by 18 months, the International Monetary Fund has said Nigeria will likely depend on overdrafts from the Central Bank of Nigeria to fund its proposed N2.55tn petrol subsidy bill.
The IMF said this in its ‘Nigeria: Selected Issues Paper’ report, which was prepared by a staff team of the Fund as background documentation for its periodic consultation with Nigeria.
According to the report, fuel subsidy negatively affects the country’s fiscal position, increasing fiscal deficit.
The Washington-based lender said, “Implicit fuel subsidies have a significant negative impact on Nigeria’s fiscal position, which is estimated to increase the overall fiscal deficit by around one percentage point of the Gross Domestic Product in 2021.
“Despite much higher oil prices, the general government fiscal deficit is projected to be significantly worse at 6.3 per cent of the GDP, compared to 4.7 per cent of GDP in the 2020 Article IV staff report, mainly reflecting the reemergence of implicit fuel subsidies and higher spending in the supplementary budget for security and vaccine costs.”
It further stressed that the government would likely depend hugely on domestic financing sources, which include borrowing from the CBN, adding fuel subsidy has been a substantial burden on the country.
“Even though we assume that implicit fuel subsidies exist only until mid-2022, as stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Act and assumed in the draft 2022 budget, fiscal vulnerabilities remain elevated with public debt continuously increasing from 35 per cent of the GDP in 2020 to over 42 per cent in 2026.
“With limited IFI funding, fiscal financing for large implicit subsidy costs is likely to depend heavily on domestic sources, including overdrafts from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Thus, the recent re-emergence of implicit fuel subsidies has levied a considerable burden on the Nigeria’s fiscal position, that could have been spent more effectively on pro-poor interventions,” the report read.
Meanwhile, the World Bank had warned the Federal Government against financing its deficits by borrowing from the CBN through the Ways and Means Advances, stressing that it puts fiscal pressures on the country’s expenditures.
According to the bank, central bank financing and fuel subsidy regime tend to adversely affect investments in human and physical capital.
The Federal Government’s total borrowing from the CBN through Ways and Means Advances had ballooned by 2,286 per cent to N15.51tn in six years, according to the central bank data.
The N15.51tn owed by the Federal Government to the central bank is not part of the country’s total public debt stock, which stood at N38tn as of September 2021.
However, the DMO said that it was working out a process of restructuring the overdrafts of the CBN for government financing to a long-term tenored debt.
Meanwhile, interest payments on Federal Government’s borrowing from the CBN through Ways and Means Advances had reportedly gulped N2.03tn in two years.
Also, in the monetary policy category of the CBN’s Frequently Asked Questions page on its website, it was disclosed that the Federal Government’s borrowing from the apex bank through its Means and Ways Advances could have adverse effects on the bank’s monetary policy to the detriment of domestic prices and exchange rates.
Removing fuel subsidy’ll reduce income inequality
Meanwhile, the IMF further encouraged the government to remove fuel subsidy, stating that it would reduce income inequality.
The report further read in part, “Analysis shows that removing fuel subsidies would reduce income inequality. A fuel price increase to cost-recovery level would reduce households’ purchasing power, which calls for a distributional analysis of the impact by income groups, especially for poor households. Richer households tend to spend a larger share of their income on PMS than poorer households, while the share of kerosene expenditure is lower in richer households (above 80th income percentile). The price of kerosene—a cooking/heating fuel used mainly by poorer households—is higher than the subsidised price of PMS, which implies that the existing implicit fuel subsidy is ‘regressive’.
“Empirical studies have also supported that fuel subsidy is inequitable, finding that it is an extremely costly approach to helping the poor, with the top income quintile typically capturing six times more in subsidies than the bottom. Not surprisingly, the removal of fuel subsidies is therefore progressive.”
The Fund pointed out that there would be adverse impact on the poor if fuel subsidy was removed, but noted that the impact could be mitigated with a fraction of the fiscal resources used spent on the fuel subsidy.
Borrowing from CBN dangerous for economy, Tella cautions
A professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Prof Sheriffdeen Tella, has cautioned the Federal Government against borrowing from the CBN.
According to him, such borrowing contributes to inflation and disrupts monetary policies in the country.
“The central bank has been borrowing money from the government for some time, and that is part of what is fuelling inflation in the country. The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics is not telling the truth because those of us who go to the market know what the market prices are saying but they are saying prices are coming down. Prices are not coming down. Maybe there is the need for some independent statistical review.
“What the IMF is saying is correct. It is dangerous for the economy when the government continues to borrow from the central bank. Two things are likely going to happen. One is that the monetary policy cannot be effective when the central bank becomes lender to the Federal Government. So far, the CBN has not been able to achieve single-digit inflation, which the inflation targeting is supposed to achieve, because the Federal Government is borrowing from them.
“The second thing is that the borrowing from the central bank will make it difficult for the central bank to intervene appropriately in the economy. The amount of money they are to use to intervene is part of what the Federal Government is borrowing. Therefore, it would be difficult to achieve the objective of that intervention. It is not proper.”
Tella further said that it appears that the Federal Government was bent on borrowing regardless of how it affects the economy.
He said, “It seems the Federal Government is just bent on borrowing. They don’t care whether money is coming from anywhere. They have made up their minds that they are going to borrow.”
NLC, TUC kick, say Nigeria must be independent
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have reacted to the IMF warning to Nigeria on fuel subsidy, saying the international organisation had misled Nigeria in the past.
According to the Deputy National President, NLC, Joe Ajaero, the IMF does not mean well for the masses and workers.
He said Nigeria must do away with IMF’s advice and loans if it must become economically independent.
He said, “The truth is that IMF does not pretend to work for the masses and the workers. The IMF is for the establishment. They give headlock to debtor countries to swallow and die.
“There is no country partnering with the IMF that has survived by its advice. The recent history of Greece and other places is a clear testimony for anybody who wants to take to the IMF advice.
“The IMF is giving Nigeria such advice because if they destroy Nigeria economy, it is as good as destroying African economy.
“This is another level of colonialism and if you look at the revolution of economic development, you would see that the continued subjugation of our economy to the dictate of these institution shows that we are not economically independent.
“We must seek the economic independence. If Nigeria wants to survive, it should do away with the IMF’s loans and advice and move ahead, looking at it own made recovery strategy.’”
Supporting this view, the first National Deputy President, Trade Union Congress, and National President of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Tommy Etim, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the socio-econmic implication of such policy on the citizens must first be considered.
He noted that the IMF once misled the country with the Structural Adjustment Programme, adding that the country was still grappling with the effect till date.
He said, “It is unfortunate that we are not looking at the economy from our cultural perspective. We are just looking at the economy from what is happening in other clime.
“In 1985, that was how they misled us to adopt Structural Adjustment Programme which eventually led to the economic calamity we are facing today. Nobody can dictate to you how to run your country. We must look inward. They have seen Nigeria as a dumping group for their economy.
“Whatever policy they have, they bring it to Nigerian economy and we have fallen prey because of what they call aid. These are things that have perpetually kept Nigeria where we are.
“It is the right time for us to do what is right for our economy. No amount of pressure from IMF can make us derail from our economic principle which would help us reduce our borrowing.”
Fuel subsidy rose by 890% in five years – Report
Meanwhile, the amount spent as subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, increased by 890 per cent between 2017 and 2021, the just released February 2022 report of SB Morgen stated.
In its February 2022 report entitled, “Growing Fuel Subsidy and Transport Costs: Which Way Forward, Nigeria?”, the research firm stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited spent N144.53bn, N730.86bn and N551.22bn in 2017, 2018 and 2019 on petrol subsidy respectively.
For 2021 and 2021 the national oil firm spent N1.192tn and N1.428tn respectively. The total subsidy for the five-year period was N4.045tn.
The report, however, noted that the rising cost of transportation was not mainly due to the increase in petrol price.
“In summary, over this five-year period, petrol prices increased by 12.1 per cent, petrol subsidy by 890 per cent and transport cost by 283 per cent,” the report stated.
It explained that the average cost of bus transportation within Nigerian cities during this period rose from N122.83 in January 2017 to N470.83 in December 2021.
It stated that in 2017, Abuja had the highest intra-city bus transport cost at N290.55, while Borno had the lowest at N50, adding that in 2021, Zamfara had the highest intra-city bus transport cost at N700.22, while Abia had the lowest at N294.44.
“The data shows that the lowest cost in 2021 is 2.4 times higher than the average cost in 2017,” it stated.
The report also showed that the average cost of bus transportation from one city to another rose from N1,430.63 in January 2017 to N2,784.92 in December 2021.
In dollar terms, it said the average price of transportation had risen from $0.37 in January 2017 to $1.14 in December 2021.
“The rise in transportation costs is not altogether surprising as it is market-driven and it has moved in tandem with global price movements, as well as other factors such as security, or the lack thereof, which explains why the cost of transportation in Zamfara has gone up so high,” it stated.
It added, “However, our petrol prices have gone in the opposite direction despite gasoline prices rising globally in the same time period.
“May 2020 was the month that saw the highest transport cost at N611.92, and also one of the months that saw the lowest fuel price at N125 over the five-year period. Hence, it is clear that fuel price is not the major determinant of transport cost in Nigeria.”
The report noted that in 2020, the cost of fuel subsidy rose to trillions of naira as against the billions it used to be in previous years, yet 2020 witnessed this much hike in transport cost.
Politics › Re: Malami Releases Statement On Abba Kyari's Extradition Process by treesun: 10:03am On Mar 03, 2022
