APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, announced their determination to appeal the judgment and pursue ‘justice’ to the Supreme Court dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Guardian reports that Nigerians are set to be treated to another round of legal fireworks over the February 25th presidential election as former Vice President and presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, announced not only their displeasure with the ruling of the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) on Wednesday, but their determination to appeal the judgment and pursue ‘justice’ to the Supreme Court.
The tribunal on Wednesday ruled that the petition filed by Obi, Atiku and their parties had no merit and unanimously upheld the election of President Bola Tinubu. The judgment was delivered by the chairman of the tribunal, Justice Haruna Tsammani, assisted by other members of the panel, Justices Monsurat Bolaji-Yusuf, Stephen Adah, Moses Ugo and Abba Mohammed.
While Atiku slammed the PEPC ruling, saying the judgment was bereft of substantial justice as it failed to restore confidence in democracy, Obi insisted he would exhaust every legal process available to him.
Atiku, who spoke at a press conference at the national secretariat of the PDP, disclosed that he had already instructed his lawyers to file an appeal at the Supreme Court against the judgment of the PEPC.
He stated: “Our gains in ensuring transparent elections through the deployment of technology was heavily compromised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the way it managed the last presidential election, and I am afraid that the judgment of the court as rendered by the PEPC failed to restore confidence in our dreams of free and fair elections devoid of human manipulations.
“My ultimate goal in this pursuit is to ensure that democracy is further strengthened through the principles and processes of fair hearing. Though the judgment of the court on Wednesday is respected, it is a judgment that I refuse to accept because I believe that it is bereft of substantial justice. However, the disappointment in the verdict of the court can never destroy my confidence in the judiciary.”
Acting national chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Umar Damagum, who also supported the idea of appealing the judgment, said “the judgment left lovers of democracy in and outside the country, more confused with a lot of questions on whether the Nigerian Constitution, Electoral Act and other laws guiding the conduct of credible election in our country are still functional.”
The newspaper says that about $46 billion (N16.25 trillion) was lost to crude oil theft between 2009 and 2020, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, disclosed, yesterday.
According to the Speaker, the menace of crude oil theft has drastically hampered growth of Nigeria’s oil production, with the country losing between five and 30 per cent of its daily crude oil output.
Abbas made the observation while inaugurating an ad hoc committee to investigate crude oil theft and loss of revenue in the country. He also expressed shock that key agencies in the oil and gas sector, such as Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources, failed to honour invitations by lawmakers.
Abbas said heads of the agencies were not doing the nation any good by refusing to appear before parliament to answer questions on core aspects of the economy.
Represented by Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, the Speaker said unless decisive action is taken, the country could sink into a deeper fiscal crisis, given dwindling revenue from the oil and gas sector.
Quoting data from Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), the Speaker said oil production declined from 2.51 million barrels per day in 2005 to 1.77 million barrels per day in 2020.
He said: “NEITI reports also show that 619 million barrels of crude valued at $46 billion were stolen in the period 2009-2020. Nigeria has continually failed to meet its daily production quota, as set by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).”
The Punch reports that taxes paid by manufacturers in 2023 increased by 115 per cent from N192bn in the first quarter, to N414.5bn in the second quarter.
A data collated from various Company Income Tax and Value Added Tax reports published by the National Bureau of Statistics revealed.
According to findings by The PUNCH, in the first quarter of 2023, manufacturers paid N62.9bn as CIT, while of N129.2bn was paid as Value Added Tax.
In the second quarter, the VAT paid by manufacturers increased by 17 per cent to N151.7bn, while CIT increased to N262.7bn. This meant that manufacturers paid at least N607bn in CIT and VAT in the first six months of the year.
The data also showed that across the VAT and CIT remittances in 2023, the manufacturing sector was the most taxed sector in the first and second quarters of the year.
It was closely followed by the financial services sector and Information Communication Technology.
In its recently released Manufacturers CEOs Confidence Index, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria outlined 20 key macroeconomic issues militating against the performance of the manufacturing sector.
The newspaper says that the United States Government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, has facilitated $205m in debt and equity investments for Nigerian agribusinesses in the past five years.
The agency disclosed this on Tuesday in a statement announcing the USAID-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub workshop themed, ‘Leveraging Private Sector Engagement to Promote Sustainable Impact,’ that began on Wednesday.
According to the agency, the two-day event will highlight the Trade Hub’s efforts to expand trade and investment opportunities and improve livelihoods and communities in West Africa. It stated that Nigeria, with its untapped pool of labour, has vast potential for economic growth.
It continued that there is an opportunity for the country to become a dominant exporter and hub for the West Africa region and Africa.
The agency said, “Over the past five years, USAID has promoted private sector-led economic growth in Nigeria by facilitating $205m in debt and equity investments for Nigerian agribusinesses. USAID also provided partial risk guarantees that will support up to $120m in loans to agricultural, health, and renewable energy businesses.”
It further noted that the trade hub improves private sector competitiveness with a focus on increasing the agricultural productivity and profitability of smallholder farmers in Nigeria and promoting West Africa’s regional and international trade.
Using a market-based approach, the project also increases partnerships with firms in various sectors through a co-investment grant facility to improve private sector productivity, profitability, and competitiveness.
GIK/APA