The disclosure by Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development that the Federal Government was spending N1bn monthly to power the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has disclosed that the Federal Government was spending N1bn monthly to power the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.
He stated this Monday during the ministerial press briefing in Abuja to mark President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office.
According to Keyamo, the ministry is planning to reduce the heavy cost by investing in solar power systems.
Keyamo explained that the ministry was bypassing the power distribution companies to buy electricity directly from the generating companies, saying that method would save the Federal Government about N300m.
“We want to run our airports with solar and that will save us so much every month. Lagos airport alone, I was told we do N1bn every month, and I asked why.
“The first thing I said they should do is bypass the Discos and go to the Gencos because we are eligible customers. Why do you pay a Disco that will add profit when you are an eligible customer? Cut them off and go to the Gencos straight. We are doing that and they are protesting up and down to go and meet the president. By doing that, we are saving 30 per cent. When we are supposed to pay N1bn, we will pay N600m,” the minister stated.
The newspaper says that in 2023, digital banking channels brought in roughly N438bn for 10 financial institutions, an analysis of their annual reports has shown.
Compared to the previous year, the banking groups’ earnings from electronic transactions rose by 37.54 per cent from N318.64bn.
E-business income includes revenue from electronic channels, card products, and related services.
These channels include mobile applications, USSD channels, automated teller machines, agency banking, internet banking, point of sales payments, as well as credit and debit card transactions.
The growth in the electronic business income was driven by the increasing popularity of mobile and online banking in Nigeria.
Some of the banks’ annual reports that The PUNCH analysed were FBN Holdings, Access Holdings, Guaranty Trust Holding Company, United Bank for Africa, Zenith Bank, Wema Bank, Fidelity Bank, FCMB Group, Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Sterling Financial Holdings Company.
Leading other banks in terms of revenue from electronic banking was UBA, which raked in N125.58bn compared to N78.94bn in 2022.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that the Secretariat of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF has declined comment on the present issue where the Federal government has dragged the Governors of the 36 States of the Federation to the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas, LGAs.
When contacted to speak on the matter, the Director- General, NGF, Dr. Abdulateef Shittu, who noted that the Secretariat read the report, said that since the issue was already in Court, the Supreme Court in particular, it would amount to subjudice to speak on it.
”The NGF Secretariat is aware that the Federal Government has instituted a legal action against the Governors of the 36 States of the Federation at the apex court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas, LGAs. Since the matter is in Court, it will be subjudice to comment on it, “ he said.
Recall that the Federal Government had instituted a legal action against the Governors of the 36 States of the Federation at the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas, LGAs.
The Federal Government in the suit marked: SC/CV/343/2024, which was filed by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, is seeking full autonomy for all LGAs in the country as the third tier of government.
It specifically prayed the apex court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders.
As well as for an order permitting the funds standing in the credits of local governments to be directly channeled to them from the Federation Account in line with the provisions of the Constitution as against the alleged unlawful joint accounts created by governors.
The newspaper says that following continuous fluctuations in the exchange rate and depreciation of the nation’s currency, economy experts have called for bold pro-business reforms to enhance dollar supply and build huge external reserves as the keys to achieving stability of the Naira and halt the rising trend in inflation.
Last week the naira recorded mixed performance in the foreign exchange market. While the Naira depreciated in the parallel market by N45 to N1,520 per dollar on Friday from N1,475 per dollar the previous week, the Naira however appreciated in the official market, Nigeria Foreign Exchange Market, NAFEM, by N14.52 in NAFEM to N1,482.81 per dollar on Friday from N1,497.33 per dollar.
Furthermore, the volume of dollars traded in NAFEM last week rose by 42 percent to $1.27 billion from $895.69 million the previous week, indicating increased dollar supply in the market.
But the mixed performance of the Naira, fluctuations in the exchange rate, and persistent significant margin between the official and parallel markets exchange rates elicited concerns from economy experts who averred that the key to addressing these anomalies is to introduce bold pro-business reforms that will enhance dollar inflows and building of huge external reserves.
The experts who spoke at the 2024 edition of the Vanguard Economic Discourse held in Lagos last week include Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, the President of the Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, NACCIMA, Mr. Dele Oye, the President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Comrade Joe Ajaero, the President of the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria, ABCON, Aminu Gwadebe, and the Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company, Mr. Bismarck Rewane. The sessions were chaired by Nigeria’s eminent economist, Dr. Ayo Teriba.
While Cardoso defended the decision of the CBN to float the Naira, insisting that this was needed to achieve transparency in the forex market, create market-driven exchange rate, and long-term stability of the nation’s currency,
GIK/APA