Nigeria: Press zooms in on plans by Senate to probe Buhari govt over N30tn loans, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The resolution of the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday to probe how the N30tn Ways and Means loans of the Central Bank of Nigeria was obtained and spent by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Senate on Tuesday resolved to probe how the N30tn Ways and Means loans of the Central Bank of Nigeria was obtained and spent by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Ways and Means is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the government’s budget shortfalls.
The senate stated that the reckless spending of the overdraft collected from the CBN under Godwin Emefiele largely accounted for the food and security crises the country was currently facing.
The red chamber then resolved to set up an ad hoc committee to investigate what the N30tn overdraft was spent on by the immediate past government, noting that the details of the spending were deliberately not made available to the National Assembly.
The ad-hoc committee which will be constituted on Wednesday (today) will also probe the N10tn expended on the Anchor Borrowers Scheme, the $2.4bn forex transaction out of the $7bn obligation made for that purpose as well as other intervention programmes.
The development came as biting food crisis, rising inflation, naira depreciation and worsening insecurity continue to take tolls on Nigerians.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Government is planning to raise $10bn to improve liquidity in the foreign exchange market. On Tuesday, the naira fell to an all-time low of 1,850 per dollar at the parallel market.
President Bola Tinubu, who was represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, disclosed this at the inaugural Public Wealth Management Conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Finance Incorporated organised the event with the theme “Championing Nigeria’s Economic Prosperity”.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Communications, Stanley Nkwocha explained, “The Federal Government set a goal to raise at least $10bn in order to increase foreign exchange liquidity, a key ingredient to stabilise the naira and grow the economy.
“At the core of this is ensuring optimal management of the assets and investments of the Federal Government towards unlocking their revenue potential. This includes our bold and achievable plan to double the GDP growth rate and significantly increase the GDP base over the next 8 years.”
The President further emphasised transparency and accountability as key principles, believing that improved corporate governance, innovative partnerships, and attracting alternative investment capital would significantly increase returns.
The Vanguard newspaper reports that the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, has advised the Federal Government to eschew pride and review the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of nation’s currency, the naira, warning of looming unemployment crisis, particularly with the current harsh economic situation.
NECA’s position came on a day oil marketers, under the aegis of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of pleaded with President Bola Tinubu to peg the exchange rate of the naira to the dollar at the 2024 budget benchmark of N750/dollar.
Reviewing the twin policies of fuel subsidy removal and floating of the naira by the present government, NECA, the umbrella body for employers in the country, lamented that since 2023, government has been implementing policies that do not support operations of the private sector which are the largest employers of labour in the economy.
The Director-General of NECA, Mr. Adewale- Smatt Oyerinde, who spoke on behalf of employers in the country, argued yesterday: “Some of the policies that are inimical to business include the currency redesign policy of the CBN, removal of fuel subsidy, floating of the foreign exchange, increase in various taxes, including excise duties and most recently, upward review of the foreign exchange rate for clearing of imports by the Nigeria Custom Service.
“Also included in this is the banning of alcoholic beverage in sachets and pet bottles of less than 200m. These measures are swiftly dragging most private businesses to the brink of collapse. “The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, reported a rise in unemployment rate to 5.0 per cent in the third quarter of 2023, from 4.2 per cent in the second quarter of the year.
“The figure is a product of the new methodology adopted by the bureau, which defines unemployment as the ratio of the working-age population to the total labour force. Retrospectively, using the old methodology for the last time, NBS reported unemployment at 33.3 per cent for the first quarter of 2021.
“Going by analysis done by Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler, KPMG, using the old methodology, the estimated unemployment rate for 2023 is projected to close at 40.6 per cent, a 2.9 percentage point rise over the 37.7 per cent recorded in 2022. “The rise in unemployment rate by 80 points during the quarter could be a presage of looming unemployment crisis in the country, particularly with the current harsh economic condition.
“Therefore, to circumvent such crisis, it is important to question the causes of the current spike in unemployment rate and decipher solutions to mitigate further degeneration in the index. “Since 2023, government has been implementing policies that do not support the operations of the private sector. Incidentally, they are the highest employer in the economy.’’
The newspaper says that the evacuation of cargo from Apapa port by rail will resume in next month as stakeholders engage in several meetings to finalise strategy for a smooth take off.
Vanguard gathered that a meeting of the various stakeholders comprising officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, terminal operators, the Nigerian Railway Corporation and others was held last Friday to put finishing touches to the plan.
A source at the meeting told Vanguard that the plan is to use both the standard and narrow gauge lines to move containers from Apapa to destinations that have rail connection.
When contacted, the Customs Area Controller, CAC of Apapa Area1 Command of the Customs, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, confirmed that there was a meeting of the various stakeholders last Friday regarding commencement of rail services.
A source at the meeting told Vanguard that the plan is to use both the standard and narrow gauge lines to move containers from Apapa to destinations that have rail connection.
When contacted, the Customs Area Controller, CAC of Apapa Area1 Command of the Customs, Comptroller Babajide Jaiyeoba, confirmed that there was a meeting of the various stakeholders last Friday regarding commencement of rail services.
GIK/APA