The report of the Consumer Price Index that rose to 16.82 per cent in April from 15.92 per cent in March, according to the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics, dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that Consumer Price Index rose to 16.82 per cent in April from 15.92 per cent in March, latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics have revealed.
The NBS disclosed this in its ‘Consumer Price Index April 2022’ report on Monday.
The report read in part, “In April 2022, the consumer price index, which measures inflation increased to 16.82 per cent on a year-on-year basis.”
The International Monetary Fund had recently projected that Nigeria’s Consumer Price Index would hit 16.1 per cent in 2022.
This projection was presented in a tabular illustration in the IMF’s ‘Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa’, which was published on its website.
The latest inflation rate in April is the highest in the country since August 2021 when it was 17.01 per cent.
The rise in the inflation rate in April shows that Nigeria is not left out in the global inflation surge.
But it is also an indication that citizens are becoming poorer, especially given the weakening state of the currency.
The National Union of Air Transport Employees and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria have raised the alarm over an alleged plot by some groups to take over Aero Contractors and Arik.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the nation’s bad debt manager created by the Federal Government, owns majority shares in both Arik Air and Aero Contractors.
The newspaper says that the General Secretary, NUATE, Ocheme Aba; and Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, Francis Akinjole, said the unions had accused the management of Aero Contractors of planning to reduce 40 per cent of its workforce.
The union leaders also alleged that the management of Aero had refused to address the company’s failure to complete the redundancy payment for those it asked to stay at home since 2016.
As a result, the unions in a joint statement appealed to the National Assembly, ministers of Aviation, and Labour & Employment, to initiate an intervention that could save both Aero and Arik.
In a joint statement, NUATE and ATSSSAN, said, “We would have been silent on Arik Air for now, but for the fact that the House of 5A’s lease arrangement that was chased out of Aero has found its way into Arik Air. Disturbingly, there is evidence of a case of collusion between the management of Aero and Arik Air. As we understand, the new lease arrangement was to come into operation last Friday but got shelved.
“Though we are yet to be furnished with Arik’s share of the spoils under this arranged contraption called a lease, we can say authoritatively that, like in Aero, the House of 5A’s aircraft have been gifted Arik’s juicy routes of Lagos/Abuja/Lagos, Abuja/Port Harcourt/Abuja, and Abuja/Kano/Abuja based on the released schedule.”
The Guardian reports that about two months after the attack on the Abuja Kaduna train service resulting in the death of nine passengers and the abduction of 62 persons, the Federal Ministry of Transportation has directed that the train service resume on Monday, May 23.
The families of the victims had lamented the lackadaisical attitude of the government in the rescue of their loved ones.
However, the Deputy Director of Public Relations in the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) Yakubu Mohammed, said security agents are making concerted efforts are being made to rescue the abducted passengers, noting that the details are kept out of the public domain for strategic security reasons.
Mohammed assured the passengers that the safe rescue of the passengers remains the top priority of the government, and urged them not to misconstrue the resumption of train services as abandonment or a nonchalant attitude of the government towards their plight.
“The federal government will never abdicate its responsibility in rescuing these valuable citizens, however, the government assures of its resolve not to succumb to threats by any faceless group,” Mohammed said in the statement.
Meanwhile, the Board and management of the NRC have assured that additional security measures are being put in place at both the train stations and track to ensure the safety of the passengers on board.
It maintained that the measures are not only for the Abuja-Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) but also for all the passenger train services, especially on the standard gauge railway lines
The NRC urged passengers to patiently comply with additional measures introduced to improve service delivery, ensuring their safety and comfort.
The newspaper says that the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, has said despite the Federal Government’s efforts to leverage the benefits of tax exemptions and concessions, the incentive has rather led to huge revenue loss to the government.According to her, though the government is committed to reducing tax expenditure, the nation’s current revenue to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio of about seven per cent was poor and unsatisfactory.
The minister stated this on Monday in Abuja, at the workshop on tax expenditure organised by the ECOWAS Commission under the Context of the Implementation of the Support Programme for Tax Transition in West Africa (PATF).
The PATF is aimed at improving the management of domestic taxation and ensuring better coordination of taxation in the ECOWAS and West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) regions.
The minister, represented by the Director, Technical Services in the Ministry, Fatima Hayatu, observed that Nigeria’s low revenue generation capabilities has been an enduring challenge to past and present governments.
She said though Nigeria is celebrated as the country in Africa with the largest economy, translating the wealth into revenue generation had remained a challenge.
According to Ahmed, Nigeria is faced with challenges in mobilising domestic funds necessary for human capital development and infrastructure that are both drivers of sustainable economic growth and development.The Guardian also reports that the operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested serving Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, in connection with diversion of funds and money laundering activities to the tune of N80 billion. He was arrested yesterday in Kano State and was immediately moved to Abuja last night. EFCC spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest in a statement. He said the funds were allegedly laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.
“The Commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF raked off the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members and close associates,” Uwujaren said.
According to sources, after progress was made in the investigation, Idris was summoned repeatedly by EFCC for interrogation but he failed to honour the invitations.
“We kept inviting him but he kept dodging us. We were left with no choice than to keep him under watch and arrest him,” the source said.
President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Idris as AGF on June 25, 2015. The position became vacant at the time after the former Accountant General, Jonah Otunla, left office on June 12, 2015.
President Buhari reappointed Idris for a second four-year term in June 2019, amid criticisms from labour groups, who said the accountant-general should retire after turning 60.
The Nation says that the federal government has approved disbursement of N375 billion as Export Expansion Grant (EEG) for Nigerian exporters.
The Chief Executive Officer, Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Dr. Ezra Yakusak said this during the ‘Export for Survival Walk’ in Abuja.
He explained that the grant is aimed at boosting the capacity of exporters in the country.
He added that the grant is for all exporters that had applied in the past, the fund will clear the backlog from 2016 to date.
According to him, NEPC has started to reap from sensitisation programmes targeted at improving the country’s export.
“There has been an increase in the number of people who come to register as an exporter with the council, in fact, there is an influx of people coming to register, so we are getting the desired results from our sensitization programmes,” Yakusak said.
GIK/APA