The assurance by President Muhammadu Buhari that the planned 2023 population and housing census would give better structure to the government’s fight against poverty and insecurity is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday said the planned 2023 population and housing census would give better structure to the government’s fight against poverty and insecurity.
This was as he lamented the dearth of up-to-date information since the 2006 census which, he argued, has impeded the country’s national planning.
The President said this in a statement titled, ‘How we can have more accuracy in 2023 census – President Buhari.’ signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, during his keynote address at the National Stakeholders’ Summit on the 2023 Census, held at the State House Conference Center, Abuja.
Buhari who acknowledged that Nigeria could rank third largest country in terms of population by 2050, after China and India, said “reliable, credible, acceptable and successful census’’ will enable government to plan for development, especially in bolstering the social security programme that targets more vulnerable Nigerians.
The President said the deployment of digital technology in the 2023 National Population and Housing Census will ensure effectiveness and more accuracy in the figures that will come out of the exercise.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s crude oil production plunged by 2.3 million barrels in July 2022 when compared to what the country produced in the preceding month of June, data from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries showed on Thursday.
In its latest Monthly Oil Market Report for August 2022, OPEC stated that crude oil production figures based on direct communication indicated that Nigeria’s output dropped by an average of 74,000 barrels per day in July.
This implies that for the 31 days in July, the country lost about 2.3 million barrels of crude oil. The organisation further stated that the average cost of Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, during the month under review was $105.12/barrel.
By losing 2.3 million barrels in July this year, it means Nigeria’s oil earnings fell by about $241.1m or N101.13bn (at the official exchange rate of N419.37/$) in the month under review.
Data from OPEC showed that Nigeria’s oil production in June 2022 was 1.158 million barrels per day, but this dropped to 1.084 million barrels per day in July.
The country had produced 1.024 million barrels per day in May this year, according to figures released by OPEC on Thursday.
The Guardian reports that Rivers State governor Nyesom Wike has asked a court to declare him the winner of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primary election and sack Atiku Abubakar from being the presidential candidate.
Wike and a PDP chieftain, Newgent Ekamon sued Sokoto State Governor, Aminu Tambuwal; and the PDP over the conduct of the presidential primary of the party that was held was in Abuja on May 28 and May 29, 2022.
Atiku was declared winner of the primary election with 371 votes ahead of his closest challenger, Wike, who polled 237 votes. Former Senate President Bukola Saraki got 70 votes. Tambuwal withdrew from the contest and endorsed the former vice president before voting commenced.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/782/2022, Wike and Ekamon are listed as the plaintiffs with the PDP listed as the first respondent while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the 2nd respondent. Tambuwal and Atiku are listed as the 3rd and 4th respondents respectively.
In the originating summons, Wike and his co-applicant asked the court to determine eight issues, including whether the purported transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku by the PDP was illegal and void.
Wike and Ekamon argued that should these issues be determined in their favour, the court should grant nine reliefs including a declaration that the purported transfer of Tambuwal’s votes to Atiku be declared null and void.
The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that the PDP acted negligently and in bad faith by assigning the Sokoto governor’s votes to Atiku at the primary.
Wike and Ekamon asked the court to order INEC to reject or remove Atiku from “its list of candidates in the 2023 presidential election.”
The newspaper says that the Port Standing Task Team (PSTT) has announced that it would commence a night operation on the roads leading to the Lagos ports to eradicate illegal checkpoints and all forms of corrupt practices militating against the free flow of cargo and vehicular movement on the axis.
The Coordinator-General, PSTT, Moses Fadipe, during an inspection tour of the port roads, said the team has commenced data collation of activities along the routes linking the two seaports, adding that some target points would be dealt with at night.
According to him, the sting operation would commence in no distant time to nab those extorting users, saying the illegalities would fizzle out with their removal.
Fadipe also vowed that the PSTT would bring both states and non-state actors involved in the illegalities at the port corridors to book at the appropriate time to send strong warnings to operators of the maritime industry.
Fadipe pointed out that the team has made tremendous progress in restoring order on the port access roads, as the illegal structures have been removed through enforcement of presidential directives.
He bemoaned the actions of government agencies and their agents as well as the confusion caused by the non-state actors such as touts, which he said posed obstacles to the effective operations of the PSTT
“We have been attacked physically on several occasions by non-state actors who are bent on having a place along the port corridor. One of our members has been seriously injured and hospitalised for weeks, but he is recovering. We need the cooperation and support of all maritime stakeholders to succeed in our work to restore order and efficiency in the ports,” Fadipe said.
The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Emmanuel Jime, said the review of the task team operations followed the need to increase port efficiency and ensure the free flow of traffic on the roads within and around Apapa.
The Nation reports that the Nigerian Government has vowed to go ahead with the planned implementation of a five percent hike in call and data tariff.
A statement from the Federal Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning maintained the tariff hike will go on despite resistance from Minister of Communication and Digital Economy Prof. Isa Ali Pantami.
It insisted the government would begin “the implementation of five percent excise duty tax on all voice calls, SMS and data services, in addition to the existing 7.5 percent Value Added Tax (VAT), paid for goods and services across all sectors of the economy.”
Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning Mrs Zainab Ahmed made the disclosure at a stakeholders’ meeting organised by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the telecoms industry regulator.
Ahmed, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Tax Policy, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Musa Umar, said: “Henceforth, the five percent excise duty will be collected by telecom operators and payment made to the federal government on a monthly basis, on or before 21st of every month.”
Reacting to Patanmi’s resolve to resist the tariff hike, Ahmed noted: “The five percent excise duty has been in the Finance Act 2020, but has never been implemented.
GIK/APA