The denial by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of the plan to devalue the nation’s currency and the court case filed to stop the renovation of the National Assembly complex are the leading stories in the Nigerian press on Monday.
ThisDay reported that the CBN has ruled out the possibility of devaluing the naira next year, expressing optimism that crude oil prices will remain stable in the new year.
The Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr. Isaac Okoroafor, said while reacting to some analysts’ predictions that the central bank might devalue the naira before the end of the first quarter of 2020.
The Nation reported that 583 rights group have asked a Federal High Court, Abuja to restrain President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed from releasing US$121 million (N37 billion) allocated for the renovation of the National Assembly complex.
The Daily Trust said that despite the agreement on the payment of US$88 (N30,000) minimum wage in 2020, an analysis shows that 20 states have reduced their 2020 budgets.
The Guardian said Nigerians’ hope of a better economic outlook in 2020 may not be realised unless some lingering challenges are addressed and the anxieties about more taxes, unfavourable government policies and higher inflation are doused.
The Punch reported that construction work on many major roads in the six geopolitical zones of the country has stopped despite the Federal Government’s US$275 million (N84.54 billion) budgetary allocations to them from 2017 to 2019.
The Sun said that the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) has attributed the silence of the United Nations and other international organisations to the unending destructive activities of ISWAP and Boko Haram in Nigeria and beyond.
MM/GIK/APA