₦airaland Forum

zero8zero:
Do you know how much is the debt of your state is owing because public debt also includes states but illiterates do not know this.

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has lost his elder brother, Sunday Makinde.

In a statement on Friday in Ibadan, the state capital, the Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, said the deceased died on Friday at the age of 65.

Olanrewaju said a brother of the deceased, who is also the Bada Olubadan of Ibadanland and Head of the Aigbofa Family of Oja’ba, Ibadan, Olumuyiwa Makinde, announced the death in a message.


“With a heavy heart, I announce the passage of my older brother, Engr Sunday Makinde, to eternal glory today, Friday 24th of January 2025.

“His sudden death occurred in his Ibadan residence at 3.20am today, Friday 24th January 2025.

“He is survived by siblings, among whom is the Executive Governor of Oyo state, His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, children and grandchildren,” the statement quoted Makinde as saying.

Nigeria’s total public debt rose to N142.3 trillion as of September 30, 2024, representing an increase of 5.97% (N8.02 trillion) compared to N134.3 trillion in June 2024.

This is according to the latest data released by the Debt Management Office (DMO) on Tuesday.

Nairametrics observed that this increase reflects the combined effects of rising domestic borrowing and the impact of exchange rate depreciation on external debt when converted to naira terms.

External debt surge driven by currency depreciation
Data from the DMO showed that Nigeria’s external debt in dollar terms grew marginally by 0.29%, from $42.90 billion in June to $43.03 billion in September.

However, the naira equivalent of external debt surged significantly by 9.22%, rising from N63.07 trillion to N68.89 trillion during the same period.

The increase was largely driven by the naira’s depreciation against the US dollar, as the exchange rate weakened from N1,470.19/$ in June to N1,601.03/$ by the end of September.

Rising domestic debt
Domestic debt recorded mixed performance, declining by 5.34% in dollar terms from $48.45 billion in June to $45.87 billion in September. In naira terms, however, domestic debt increased by 3.10%, from N71.22 trillion to N73.43 trillion.

The Federal Government accounted for the bulk of domestic debt, which rose from N66.96 trillion in June to N69.22 trillion by September. In contrast, domestic debt owed by states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) declined slightly, from N4.27 trillion to N4.21 trillion.

Nairametrics further observed that Federal Government bonds remained the largest component of domestic debt, increasing by 4.47% to N54.65 trillion in September, up from N52.32 trillion in June. This represents 78.95% of the total domestic debt stock, an increase from 78.13% in the previous quarter.

The issuance of bonds in naira terms accounted for the majority of this growth. Also, Nigeria introduced its first domestic dollar-denominated bond, adding N1.47 trillion to the debt stock.

Other domestic debt components
Nigerian Treasury Bills: The second-largest domestic debt component, Treasury Bills, declined marginally by 0.66% to N11.73 trillion, from N11.81 trillion in the previous quarter. This reduction aligns with efforts to moderate short-term debt and mitigate rollover risks.

Promissory notes: Promissory notes, used to settle government obligations, grew by 5.80%, increasing from N1.67 trillion in June to N1.77 trillion in September.

FGN Sukuk: Federal Government Sukuk, an infrastructure funding instrument, declined by 9.14% to N992.56 billion, down from N1.09 trillion.
FGN Savings Bonds: Savings bonds increased by 16.11% to N64.09 billion, reflecting growing retail investor participation.

Green Bonds: Green bonds remained unchanged at N15 billion, maintaining their minimal contribution of 0.02% to the domestic debt stock.

External debt components
Analysis of Nigeria’s external debt stock of $43.03 billion in September 2024 revealed a largely stable profile, with only minor adjustments in multilateral and bilateral obligations.

Multilateral debt: Multilateral obligations increased by 0.67% to $21.77 billion, maintaining their dominance at 50.60% of the total external debt. The increase was driven by additional disbursements from institutions like the World Bank, which added $513.06 million to its International Development Association portfolio, now at $16.84 billion.
Bilateral loans: Bilateral debt decreased slightly by 1.33%, falling from $5.89 billion to $5.81 billion. Loans from China, Nigeria’s largest bilateral lender, declined by $99.98 million, while obligations to France and Germany remained stable.
Commercial loans: Commercial loans, primarily Eurobonds, were unchanged at $15.12 billion, representing 35.14% of total external debt.

What you should know
Nigeria raised $2.2 billion in December 2024 through its Eurobond auction, marking its return to the international capital markets. The funds were raised through two bonds: a 6.5-year $700 million bond at 9.625% and a 10-year $1.5 billion bond at 10.375%.

While total subscriptions exceeded $9 billion, only $2.2 billion was allotted. These funds are expected to support the 2024 budget amid revenue shortfalls and mounting public spending pressures.
The addition of Eurobond proceeds in Q4 2024 is expected to further increase the country’s external debt.

The rising debt profile, coupled with naira depreciation and increasing reliance on domestic borrowing, raises questions about Nigeria’s debt sustainability.

Olamideayomide:
RIP to the dead..
God grant them aljanah fridaus.
It's so sad.
This terrorist have caused a lot of havoc in the country, they deserve to die by shooting or electrocuted whenever they are apprehended.

Mother, Child, Others Killed In Chibok After Vehicle Drives Over Bomb Planted By Boko Haram Terrorists

A yet-to-be confirmed number of persons including a mother and her child have been killed after a vehicle ran into an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, also known as Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Many others sustained various degrees of injury while the vehicle conveying the passengers and surrounding buildings were badly damaged and burnt.

SaharaReporters gathered that the incident happened on Monday in Sikarkur village, Chibok Local Government Area of Borno State.

The IED was said to have been planted by the terrorists for military patrol vehicles conveying troops around the area.

Improvised explosive devices and ambushes have continued to pose a major threat to soldiers fighting Boko Haram and ISWAP in Northern Nigeria.


“Yesterday, Boko Haram set a trap bomb on a road in Sikarkur village for soldiers, sadly a civilian vehicle ran over it and killed many people including a mother and her baby.

“The sister who was with her and others are currently receiving treatment at Chibok General Hospital. This and more are happening her daily and not being reported,” a villager told SaharaReporters.

This comes a few days after the terror group launched a brutal attack on two communities in same Chibok Local Government Area.

The assault resulted in significant loss of life, with the militants also setting fire to a church and several homes.

Chibok gained international attention in April 2014, after insurgents launched a daring raid on the Government Girls Secondary School, abducting 276 students in a notorious incident that shocked the world.

Since the death of JAS leader, Abubakar Shekau, ISWAP has been consolidating its grip in locations around Lake Chad.

The sect’s membership has swollen with the defection of hundreds of Boko Haram fighters formerly under Shekau.

The terror group has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions of individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno, and Yobe states.

ABUJA-THE Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani cried out to the National Assembly for help, lamenting that persistent poor funding of the ministry was frustrating his service delivery, stressing that the chronic financial constraints have stifled its ability to meet its mandate effectively.

According to the minister’s note, the ministry has struggled to achieve its goals with the current funding structure, often relying on external sources to supplement its operations, adding that Key activities, such as international engagements to secure opportunities for the sector, have largely been financed through non-governmental means due to insufficient allocations.

Speaking yesterday in Abuja while defending the ministry’s budget before the Joint Committee on Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Cybersecurity chaired by Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, APC, Ogun Central and Rep. Adedeji Stanley Olajide (PDP, Oyo), Tijani said, “This is a ministry that is extremely underfunded, and this is our collective responsibility, not just as a ministry, but also as a committee responsible for oversight of the work that we do.

“This ministry is unable to deliver its mandate if we continue to fund it in the way it is funded. To achieve what we’ve achieved so far, we’ve had to look for money outside of the government to get work done. A lot of the international trips that we’ve made to secure opportunities for this sector and the nation were funded from outside of government funds. We must emphasise the fact that this is a ministry that is poorly funded.

“So the budget we’re about to discuss today is not a significant worth of the time of all of us in this room, because these budgets cannot deliver on the mandate that we should be working for our nation.”

Reviewing the 2024 budget performance, he revealed that only ₦1.2 billion of the ₦2.9 billion capital budget had been released, representing a mere 39% of the total allocation, explaining that this shortfall had significantly hampered the ministry’s ability to implement its plans.

The Minister said, “Capital budget release was N2.9bn and as you can see, the amount released till date is less than half of this budget, which came to 1.2bn which has been fully spent, thus representing 39% of the total budget. “

Despite the challenges, Tijani reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to contributing to the country’s economic growth. He aligned the ministry’s efforts with the government’s GDP growth targets of 4.6% in 2025, 4.4% in 2026, and 5.5% in 2027. However, he stressed that these targets would remain unattainable without adequate investment in the ICT sector.

“However, if you look at the appropriation bill, you will find that one of the things that we’ve done is travelling all over the world and engaging with the World Bank is to believe that we should create opportunities for our sector, that we must create opportunities for stakeholders in this sector by ensuring that Nigeria can significantly invest in the strong backbone to drive the growth that we need to see.”

Drawing from a World Bank report, the Minister pointed out that improving connectivity quality by 10% could result in a 2.5% increase in GDP growth. He emphasized that the ICT sector holds the potential to surpass the government’s growth targets if properly funded, said, “If you look at the numbers from the World Bank, they say if you can improve the quality of connectivity by 10%, you will be having about a 2.5% growth rate in the economy.

“There’s no other significant investment that is known today in any country that can lead to 2.5% increase which means if you take the current growth rate of our GDP, if our sector can contribute 2.5% to the GDP of Nigeria, Nigeria will be doing much more than 4.6% that we’re talking about today because this sector is extremely critical and this is why we’ve made very spirited arguments to fund us.”

Tijani also attributed the recent 50% increase in telecommunications tariffs to global inflation and rising operational costs, adding that the decision aligns with broader economic patterns, where tariffs can lead to higher consumer prices due to the added costs on imported goods.

Speaking to journalists moments after defending his Ministry’s budget of N12 billion for 2025 Tijani stated that 50% adjustment aligns with broader economic trends, just as he said that historically, tariffs act as a sales tax, causing a one-off price increase rather than sustained inflation.

He further explained that the Federal Government is planning to invest six billion naira to deploy ninety thousand kilometres of fibre optic cable, expanding the country’s capacity from 35,000 kilometres to 125,000 kilometers. This according to him is an initiative aimed at fostering growth in critical communication sectors.

Earlier during the budget defence session, the Chairman of the Joint Committee on ICT, Shuaib Afolabi, underscored the critical importance of the ICT sector to Nigeria’s economy, even as he emphasized that ICT was not just a standalone sector, but an enabler for other key areas, including education, health, and agriculture.

The Chairman who highlighted the need to maximise the sector’s potential, pointing out inefficiencies in the implementation of ICT projects across ministries and agencies, raised concerns about the lack of coordination in ICT initiatives, which he noted has led to suboptimal outcomes despite significant investments.

He said, “We want to take good advantage of the potential of ICT. In the last few days, we have seen ministries and agencies come here with ICT projects. People doing ICT projects that are not coordinated, leading to investments that did not give us the optimal result as a country. This is the time to harmonise some of these silos and initiatives that are being carried out.

“How do we explain the situation where in a particular ministerial and its agency, you have a digital library project at the ministry headquarters and you have a digital library project in one of the agencies, what happens if we harmonise.

In A letter dated January 9, 2025 and addressed to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s plan to ensure each state in the federation has one federal polytechnic.

The Nigerian Government has approved the establishment of Bola Ahmed Tinubu Federal Polytechnic in Gwarinpa, Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as part of its national policy to promote technological, vocational, and entrepreneurial training.

A letter dated January 9, 2025 and addressed to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, by the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, stated that the initiative aligns with the Federal Government’s plan to ensure each state in the federation has one federal polytechnic.


The letter was received by the office of the FCT minister on January 16, 2025.

“In view of the above, your Excellency is kindly requested to suggest the proposed locations for the Temporary and Permanent sites in Gwarinpa for take-off,” the letter read.

Alausa further said, “The Technical Team from Federal Ministry of Education (FME) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) would be visiting the sites to review and inspect the recommended locations, and based on the Report presented by the Team, the approval will be given.”


He added, “Perhaps, I should add that the Ministry, at this point, encourages takeover of existing Tertiary institutions if the Minister wishes.”

According to the memo, the new polytechnic aims to promote technological, vocational, and entrepreneurial training.

The Association of Telephone, Cable TV, and Internet Subscribers of Nigeria has rejected the proposed telecom tariff hike of 30 to 60 percent, put forward by the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani.

The advocacy group, representing over 220 million subscribers nationwide, argued that the minister’s statement contradicted an agreement reached with the Nigerian Communications Commission and other key stakeholders during a meeting held on January 9, 2025.

In a press release issued on Sunday, ATCIS-Nigeria’s National President, ‘Sina Bilesanmi, expressed concerns that the minister’s proposal went against the consensus reached in Abuja.

According to him, it was agreed that no telecom tariff hike would occur until all stakeholders, particularly subscribers, were adequately consulted and sensitised.


He explained, “Telecom operators need to respect the telecom subscriber advocacy body and the NCC Act.

“The NCC should direct telecom operators to engage with ATCIS first for consultation, involvement, enlightenment, and engagement.

“Once we reach an agreement, we can call for public input on the percentage rate and communicate this to the NCC for approval. “Any deviation from this process is unacceptable, as subscribers are the ones paying for the services.”


Bilesanmi noted that at the January meeting, stakeholders resolved that there would be no tariff hike until further deliberations were concluded with mobile network operators and subscriber representatives.

He added, “The MNOs, through their representatives at ATCON and ALTON, were tasked with organizing enlightenment programs to address these issues. They were also expected to discuss potential percentage increases with subscriber representatives before taking it to the NCC for final approval.”

During an interview with Arise TV, Tijani revealed that MNOs were pushing for a 100% tariff increase to stabilize the telecom sector.


However, the government would not approve such a drastic hike and was instead considering a moderate increase of 30 to 60 percent. The minister emphasised that any adjustment must not harm the Nigerian people.

ATCIS-Nigeria, however, insisted that pricing decisions should not be unilaterally made by the minister but should follow proper regulatory channels.

“We strongly disagree with the minister’s proposal.
“It is not the minister’s role to set telecom prices in a liberalised market,” Bilesanmi said.

The NCC, in partnership with subscriber advocacy bodies like ATCIS, must lead to any discussions on tariff changes based on data-driven analysis.


The group further warned that a tariff increase would disproportionately affect Nigerians, particularly small business owners who rely on affordable telecom services to run their operations.

It stressed that such a hike would worsen the economic strain on citizens already grappling with the effects of other financial reforms.

“The government’s push for a digital economy cannot succeed if we burden Nigerians with higher telecom costs.

“This will have a devastating impact on businesses that depend on affordable communication services to thrive and will ultimately slow down progress in digital transformation across the country,” Bilesanmi said.

ATCIS-Nigeria urged the government to prioritise consultation with stakeholders and ensure that any tariff adjustment aligns with the needs and interests of subscribers.

Sirianese:
Love your chains slave

Sirianese:
You lot deserve your chains

Generations of slaves and fools

kedeojo:
I don't think he understand royalty. If you want to be a politician then he should be. Let him come to Benin kingdom and study what royalty entails. This are the reason governors in Kano state will keep tossing him around. I am proud of Benin kingdom when it comes to tradition even when I am from the north part of the state. We Edolite regardless of your tribe, hold the Benin palace in high esteem. Even when we have our own kings but still reference the great Oba. I honestly loved sanusi for his accomplishments and his deep knowledge. I have followed him, since his days at first bank and he was the reason I became a consumer and first bank is still my major bank even when I have other bank accounts. Traditionally he don't poses it. He was made the emir of Kano because of the humiliation Jonathan gave him and wanted to even jail him for exposing the corruption that took place in NNPC then. Anyday and anytime, I still have huge regard for him. Very brilliant man. Him or Soludo should have be made minister of finance. Different calling took them. Soludo still have the chance but sanusi is already a king.

Sirianese:
Yeah he died for nothing

He thought he was smart he was willing to spend an entire career robbing and killing unarmed civilians whilst hid ing under the authority of an organization that does not even value him enough to take out insurance on his life (to secure the welfare of his kids should he get killed in the line of duty)

Dangote Petroleum Refinery has increased the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, citing rising global crude oil prices.

In a statement released on Friday, the refinery announced that the new bulk purchase rate for customers buying between 2 million and 4.99 million litres is now N955 per litre. Bulk buyers purchasing 5 million litres or more will pay N950 per litre.


The adjustment represents a 6.17% increase, equivalent to N55.5 per litre, compared to the discounted rate of N899.50 per litre offered during December 2024’s holiday period.

The new pricing structure will take effect at 5:30 PM today, impacting all unsold stock and pending orders, according to the statement.

In a notice titled “Communication on PMS Price Review”, the refinery attributed the price hike to escalating global oil prices.