Nigerian press spotlights Russia’s pledge for closer ties with Nigeria, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Thursday pledged closer ties with Nigeria and other African countries, assuring leaders in the continent that the European country was ready to partner African states to develop their energy, Information Communication, education and health sectors is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that President Vladimir Putin of Russia on Thursday pledged closer ties with Nigeria and other African countries, assuring leaders in the continent that the European country was ready to partner African states to develop their energy, Information Communication, education and health sectors, among others.
This came as Vice President Kashim Shettima said Nigeria would partner with Russia to revive the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria, particularly by engaging with key stakeholders in the industry.
They both spoke at the ongoing Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum held at ongoing Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The summit is being attended by several African heads of states including Shettima who represented President Bola Tinubu, and President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe.
Shettima is attending the summit with a team of Nigerian delegation.
“The sooner we get this plant back to production, the better for everyone. We need to walk the talk; the Nigerian people deserve better,” Shettima said at a meeting with the management of Russian Aluminium Company, UC RUSAL, and other stakeholders in the project on the sideline of the summit.
Meanwhile, Putin noted in his opening remarks that the potential for trade and economic cooperation between Russia and African countries was much higher than the trade turnover of $18bn seen in 2022.⁣
The newspaper says that the World Bank Group has urged Nigeria to reduce government’s borrowing from the Central Bank if it wants to reduce the inflationary pressure on the economy.
World Bank’s Lead Economist for Nigeria, Alex Sienaert, stated this on Thursday during an economic review session at the Lagos Business School.
In his keynote presentation, Sienaert commended the government over its recent economic reforms, but noted that these reforms would have to be sustained for the economy to recover from present shocks and record considerable growth in the near future.
He said, “The whole agenda of tackling inflation is obviously a huge one. Some ideas include reducing subsidised CBN lending to medium and large firms and the government borrowing from CBN.
“All of these things increase the money supply and reducing that will be helpful to reduce inflation, and then replacing imports with FX restrictions with tariffs.”
According to him, the fact that petrol price had significantly increased created pressure on the economy.
He added that a variety of solutions would have to be devised in order to mobilise more revenue a way that spending would be increased to tackle the real priorities in the country
He also stated that the Federal Government’s planned to disburse N8,000 as palliatives following the removal of fuel subsidy will increase the available earnings and income of about 50 per cent of Nigerians by 10 per cent.
Seinart, said many Nigerians would benefit from the extra cash from the government, since it would ensure that they did not have to skip a meal, pull a child out of school, or not go to the hospital.
He said, “The other thing we often hear is that N5,000 or N8,000 is a trivial amount of money. I think people will be shocked to know that for a huge number of Nigerian households, it is a very significant amount of money.
The Guardian reports that Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has threatened to delist over 100,000 inactive companies on its database, on account of failure to comply with the commission’s obligations.
Registrar General, Garba Abubakar, gave the warning in Kano during a workshop, organised by the commission to sensitise civil society members, the media, and security agencies on use of the Beneficial Ownership Register.
He said names of the companies will be published on CAC’s website, and the offenders given a four-week ultimatum to comply, failing which they will be “struck off from the register”.
According to him, “the law is clear. Any company that has not been filing its returns or obligations, that is considered inactive or not in operation; that company is liable to be struck off, if it continues doing so for 10 years.
“We have compiled the first list of 100,000 companies, and they will be published on our website before the end of this week. They will be giving four weeks.
“Any company that is struck off will forfeit its properties to the government. But they are at liberty to apply and be relisted in the register. If they are not relisted in the next 10 years, whatever assets they have will be forfeited to the government.”
The registrar further warned that provision of incorrect information at point of registration attracts a two-year jail term.
The newspaper says that Vice President of the United States (US), Kamala Harris said she spoke with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu about defending democracy in West Africa and other issues.
Harris disclosed this in the early hours of Friday while she also tweeted that she and Tinubu discussed about the ties between Nigeria and the US.
“Today, I spoke with President Tinubu of Nigeria about the strong ties between the Nigerian and American people and our shared work on global and regional issues,”
She tweeted. “These issues are ranging from defending democracy in West Africa and the Sahel to promoting digital inclusion and economic growth.”
Recall that Tinubu, who is the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), condemned the recent unfolding developments in Niger Republic.
He vowed not to tolerate any actions against the West African country’s democratically-elected government.
Niger Republic President, Mohamed Bazoum, was detained by members of the Presidential Guard, who have been given an “ultimatum” by the army.
GIK/APA