No one knows what the borrowed money is for
Notice:
APC is holding a “mega campaign rally today from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and they’ve blocked various roads in Surulere for the event. “Alhaji Masha road to Akerele/Shitta junction and Funsho Williams from Olumegbon junction to Alaka would be totally restricted for safety”.
Also, if you haven’t noticed, there is fuel scarcity in Kwara, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti, Lagos, Abuja and several other states.
In this edition
New Naira notes
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs has no clue why N206 billion is allocated to the ministry
New oil projects
Student loans
Terrorists surrender while others terrorise
Money
Old money ≠ New money
CBN has unveiled the anticipated 200, 500 and 1,000 Naira notes, and they are basic.
The sentiment around the new notes, which has not changed, is that the deadline for everyone to get rid of their old notes — the 31st of January — is too soon.
When discussing the redesign a few weeks ago, CBN’s governor said one of the goals was to control the amount of cash in circulation.
Though the apex bank has not disclosed the cost of printing these new bills, supporters say perhaps one of the benefits of the redesign is a reduction in the cost of printing bills
For context, CBN spent N75. 52 billion on printing new naira notes in 2019; and N58. 07 billion in 2020 respectively.
While unveiling the new notes, Buhari said one of the goals is to increase the security of bank notes, and that these new notes are difficult to counterfeit.
Recall that the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, was vocal about her reservations about this redesign.
Speaking of money crimes
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, has disowned a ‘suspicious’ insertion of N206 billion into the ministry’s 2023 budget by the Finance Ministry.
Umar-Farouq, who appeared before the Senate Panel on Special Duties to defend the 2023 budget, claimed that the ministry requested money for some projects but the finance ministry never sent the money.
She said she’s surprised that the funds found their way into the 2023 budget. Particularly shocking, she said, is that what is in the budget is “10 times than the original request”.
“We are going to clarify from the Ministry of Finance to know why this increase despite the fact that the previous year, the money was not even released for the project”, Umar-Farouq said.
I too would like to know.
Her remarks were in response to a request by a member of the committee, Senator Elisha Abbo, for an explanation of the N206 billion inserted in the budget.
Following the chat with Umar-Farouq’s, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, has summoned the Minister of Finance to come and explain the money.
While the FG tries to figure out what exactly all the borrowed money is being used for, they’re also fighting corruption. According to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Buhari’s administration has recovered over $1 billion in stolen funds and convicted over 3,000 offenders.
Despite all this loot, guys still need money. The Katsina government revealed that they will source more than N48 billion in foreign and domestic loans to fund their 2023 budget.
Oil money
Bayelsa Governor, Douye Diri confirmed that the state has been receiving 13% of oil derivation proceeds as refunds from the federal government.
The confirmation came after Rivers Gov. Nyesom Wike's revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari had authorised payments of oil money that had been owed to states in the Niger Delta region since 1999.
Wike said that Niger Delta states had been receiving the funds since 2019 and challenged governors in the region to account for the windfall.
Diri did not disclose exactly how much he has gotten, but said the state has been using the money to fund “some capital projects”
More oil money
Buhari approved the Kolmani Integrated Development Project (KIPRO) situated in the boundary of Bauchi and Gombe states.
The KIPRO is an oil prospecting licence (OPL) at the Kolmani field site in the Gongola Basin of the Upper Benue Trough.
The first phase of the project is expected to entail an oil refinery with a capacity of up to 120, 000 barrels per day, a gas processing plant of up to 500 million standard cubic feet per day, a power plant of up to 300MW capacity, and a fertiliser plant of 2,500 tons per day.
Security
Borno: Terrorists surrender
Two Notorious Commanders of Boko Haram, Ba'a Usman and Alhaji Ari have surrendered to troops of Operation Hadin Kai.
The military group reported that the commanders surrendered with 47 other members of the terrorist group after coming out of Sambisa Forest, Borno State, following intensive attacks from the military group.
So far, the army has reported that over 90,000 insurgents and their families have so far surrendered to the Nigerian Troops.
Zamfara Mass abduction
A day before the surrender in Borno, terrorists attacked Zamfara State.
Over 100 people were abducted from 4 villages in Zamfara on Sunday, according to the information commissioner and residents said.
About 40 people were abducted from Kanwa village in Zurmi Council. Another 37, mostly women and children, were abducted in Kwabre community.
In Yankaba and Gidan Goga, at least 38 people were kidnapped while working on their farms, residents said.
Kaduna Military attack
Several terrorists were killed in Kaduna State over the weekend following a raid by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) that destroyed their camps- Guardian ng
In the process, NAF apparently also foiled terrorist plans to kidnap people in Giwa community in Kaduna.
Nigeria is ready to give student loans
The Nigerian Parliament has passed a bill that will give Nigerian students access to interest-free loans.
The bill seeks the establishment of a Nigerian Education Bank, which will supervise, coordinate, administer, and monitor the management of student loans in Nigeria.
The bill says students can apply through their school and applicants will be to ensure that they meet all the pre-requisites.
No word yet on how soon students can start applying.
Politics
COSEYL vs Anambra State Governor
The Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has intensified lobbying to ensure that Anambra State Governor, Charles Soludo, is removed from office.
The call for the governor's impeachment is believed to be the group's way of registering its dissatisfaction over a letter Soludo wrote against the presidential candidate of Labour Party, Peter Obi. In the letter, Soludo said Obi's investments while he was governor of the state are "worth next to nothing".
After a meeting of its members over the development, COYSEL noted that the Anambra governor was out of line, and they decided the only acceptable consequence is impeachment.
Obi was impeached seven months after taking office in 2006. In 2018, Garba Shehu, the Special Assistant to President Muhamadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, admitted that Obi suffered an injustice when he was impeached.
According to Shehu(and Obi) Obi was impeached for refusing to inflate the Anambra state's budget.
APC Rivers State Governorship candidate disqualified
A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has disqualified the Rivers State Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Tonye Cole, over dual citizenship.
The state PDP had approached the court to direct the INEC not to recognise Cole as the governorship candidate.
The trial judge, Justice, Emmanuel Obile, agreed with the PDP that Cole's citizenships make him ineligible to contest for governor and that the APC primary that brought him in was not monitored by INEC.
Contrary to the preliminary objection of the APC and the governorship candidate that no court had the right to interfere in another party's affairs, Justice Obile in the judgment held that the court had jurisdiction to hear the matter.
He, therefore, directed INEC to delist Cole from the electoral list for the 2023 general elections.
Other news
Farmers warn that due to the floods, food will be scarce and expensive - Leadership
INEC is not resuming voter registration - ThisDay
The Nasarawa State Police Command has uncovered a suspected baby factory in the Karu Local Government Area of the state - Punch
A bill seeking to establish National Commission for Almajiri education & out-of-school children has passed for second reading in the House of Reps - Vanguard
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the Commission is not going back on its decision to upload the results of the 2023 general elections on its portal - Vanguard
Nigerian car manufacturer, Innoson, exports $4.7m made-in-Nigeria vehicles to Sierra Leone - Vanguard
Some women in Jos metropolis, seeking alternatives to high prices of staple food and vegetables, have taken to backyard farming for the daily food needs of their families - Guardian Ng
The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority has set up a seven-man panel to investigate the cases of extortion of motorists allegedly by the officials of the agency- Punch