The increasing vandalism of oil pipelines, the knocks on the $34 billion national budget for 2020 and the University of Lagos sex-for-grade scandal are trending in Nigerian press on Thursday.
ThisDay reported the concern of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the rate at which oil major pipelines are sabotaged in Nigeria, stating that it rose by 115 percent in July 2019.
The Guardian said that Senators on Wednesday criticised the $34 billion 2020 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari for lacking the capacity to boost growth, declaring that they would “take over” and “redirect” the economy.
The Punch also reported that the National Assembly on Wednesday commenced the debate on the general principles of the 2019 budget with majority of the lawmakers expressing reservations in the ability of the fiscal document to tackle the nation’s socio-economic problems.
The Sun reported that the authorities of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Wednesday set up a panel to investigate two senior lecturers involved in the sex-for-admission scandal.
The panel is headed by Ayodele Atsenuwa, professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law, who is also the incumbent Dean of the faculty.
ChannelsTV said that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, has commenced dialogue with Labour Unions again in Abuja as time runs out on the deadline issued by the unions for the payment of the N30,000 minimum wage.
The Nation quoted President Muhammadu Buhari as saying that the statistics and data being used by the international finance institutions to assess the country’s economy are not dependable.
The Daily Trust said that the Murtala Muhammed Area Command (MMAC) of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) raked in N4.99 billion in the month of September.
The Tribune reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said that Nigeria’s economic recovery pace was slow with growth at just two percent, while inflation rate was declining.
MM/GIK/APA