APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The assertion by the immediate past President of the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, Ike Chioke, that the ongoing currency reforms of the Central Bank of Nigeria have presented both challenges and opportunities for the investment banking industry is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that the immediate past President of the Association of Issuing Houses of Nigeria, Ike Chioke, says the ongoing currency reforms of the Central Bank of Nigeria have presented both challenges and opportunities for the investment banking industry.
In a statement on Monday, Chioke said this during the Investment Banking Awards Night held in Lagos recently.
He also said the free-floating of the naira and removal of fuel subsidies had impacted key sectors of the economy.
“Nigeria is bracing up to the impacts of the new government and they are already making changes to what I will call non-unorthodox policies. These policies had also introduced pain and hardship with the free-floating of the naira and removal of fuel subsidy forcing their weaknesses on various sectors of the economy,” he said.
Chioke added that despite the hiccups in the implementation of these reforms, they have thrown up major opportunities for investment banking.
He urged members to apply their best skills and expertise to make the best of the opportunities.
The newspaper says that the Federal Government, on Thursday, said it had raised N585m towards the settlement of fines for inmates in a bid to decongest correctional centres across the country.
The Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, represented by an Assistant Director in the ministry, Dr Anayo Romanus-Nzekwe, disclosed this on Thursday in Kano, during the release of 150 inmates, whose fines were settled by the Federal Government.
The PUNCH reports that the interior minister had repeatedly lamented that no fewer than 4,000 inmates were languishing in detention over their inability to pay fines.
Tunji-Ojo had promised that the Federal Government would clear the fines, estimated at about N500m, and free the inmates.
On Thursday, 150 inmates were freed from the Maximum Security Custodial Centre, Janguza in Kano State.
The minister, speaking through Romanus-Nzekwe, said the 150 inmates were among the 4,068 nationwide that the government intended to free in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
“The Federal Government wants to decongest custodial centres and make them humane for proper reformation and rehabilitation of offenders to take place.
Speaking on Thursday after three days of working visit to custodial facilities in the state, Justice Mohammed, said, “A total of 141 inmates were released from the Gombe Minimum Custodial Centre.
At the Billiri Custodial Centre, 10 inmates were released, 20 were released on bail, and 11 others were released because they were found to be of good behaviour. Making a total of 41 inmates to be released from Billiri Custodial Centre. At the end of the exercise, across five custodial centres in the state, a total of 182 inmates were released through the Criminal Justice Reform Committee.”
She, urged the ex-inmates to be of good character, in order to benefit from the good gesture of the criminal justice reform committee, calling those awaiting trial to be patient and be of good behaviour while waiting for their sentencing by the courts.
The Guardian reports that the Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Dr Chinyere Almona, has urged the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, improve its budget performance in terms of capital expenditure in 2024.
Speaking in Lagos, Almona said the performance of the capital expenditure has been very low relative to the recurrent expenditure, with serious implications for the country’s infrastructure sector. Describing the situation as worrisome, the DG said it demands urgent solutions.
She added that the proposed 2024 budget of N27.5 trillion ($33.4 billion) is the biggest in the country’s history, representing a 21.4 per cent increase compared to 2023’s N22.65 trillion.
She said it is commendable to note that the strategic objective of the expenditure policy is to tackle macro-economic stability, investment environment optimisation, human capital development, poverty reduction and social security.
“A review of the proposed budget revealed an oil price benchmark of $77.96 per barrel and a daily production estimate of 1.78 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N750/$ was adopted. Further breakdown, indicates that non-recurrent expenditure is N9.92 trillion, which is N1.59 trillion or 19.1 per cent higher than the 2023 budget, while debt service is projected to be N8.25 trillion (N1.94 trillion or 30.7 per cent more than the 2023 budget) and capital expenditure is N8.75 trillion.”
The DG noted that the assumptions are very conservative, particularly in terms of oil prices and exchange rates.
The newspaper says that following Wednesday’s presentation of the 2024 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly by President Bola Tinubu, lawmakers, yesterday, began debate on general principles of the N27.5 trillion proposal.
At the floor of the upper legislative chamber, Senator Binos Yaroe (PDP-Adamawa) faulted the fire brigade approach deployed by Bola Tinubu to ensure the budget is passed within a month.
Yaroe, who said Tinubu was not fair to the National Assembly, lamented that the President brought the budget to the Assembly late and, yet, expects lawmakers to do a thorough job within a few weeks.
According to him, the executive took months to put the budget together but expects the National Assembly to consider and pass it in a matter of weeks, just to maintain the January-December budgetary circle.
On his part, Senate Leader, Bamidele Opeyemi, described the N9.9trillion recurrent expenditure as too high because it constitutes 43 per cent of the budget.
He said total fiscal operations of the Federal Government would result in a N9.8 trillion deficit, representing 3.88 per cent of estimated GDP. He said this was above the three per cent threshold set by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
Opeyemi noted that highlights of the budget include oil price benchmark of $77.96 per barrel and daily oil production estimate of 1.78 million barrels of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day and exchange rate of N750 to dollar.
GIK/APA