Close Menu
Français   English
Ecomondo2024
Français   English
Ecomondo2024

Press focuses on rejection of planned hike in prices of petrol, electricity tariff, others

News APAAPA



The report that a Labour and socialist movement, The People’s Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M), has rejected the planned hike in the prices of gas and petrol as well as electricity tariff is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.


The Guardian reports that a Labour and socialist movement, The People’s Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M), has rejected the planned hike in the prices of gas and petrol as well as electricity tariff.

It also demanded the reversal of the power sector privatisation done by the previous administration.

TPAP-M, a coalition of individuals and organisations committed to the emergence and building of a Mass Workers’ Party, and the Socialist Transformation of Nigeria, stated this during a press conference organised at Abope Chamber, Ibadan the Oyo State capital.

Oyo State Chairman of TPAP-M, Ibrahim Mohammed, and Rasheedat Adesina, disclosed that it would hold Occupy Nigeria Phase II to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the first phase and to demand the reversal of the current obnoxious policies of the government.

The activists said: “We reject, in its totality, the hike in the price of gas and the impending hike in the price of petrol and electricity tariff. We insist that Nigerians cannot and must not be punished for the failures and incompetence of the ruling class and this regime in ensuring access to affordable energy and adequate security.

“We demand that past and present managements of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) and the four moribund refineries be prosecuted for their crass incompetence that has resulted in the failure, since 2012, at least, to turn around the fortunes of the refineries and make them work at optimum capacity, thus contributing significantly to Nigeria’s inability to acquire adequate domestic refining capacity.”

The newspaper says that notwithstanding insecurity concerns limiting access to raw materials locally, as well as foreign exchange challenges, local manufacturers have expressed commitment towards intensifying utilization of local alternatives.

Though the manufacturers decried the prevalent scarcity of foreign exchange, exchange rate depreciation and high inflationary pressures, which posed severe impediment to their businesses in 2021, they noted that backward integration will be intensified.

According to data shared by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), local raw materials utilisation in the sector declined year-on-year by 5.4 percentage points in the first half of 2020 and by 3.5 percentage points in H1 2021.

In addition to these, manufacturers also noted that the crisis at the ports, high cost of diesel, skyrocketing gas prices, and insecurity were other challenges faced by their businesses in the outgoing year.

However, they also acknowledged that the tempo of economic activities increased in 2021 following the progressive relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions which had dampened activities in some sectors of the economy.

MAN said the impact of the naira exchange rate depreci­ation and forex liquidity chal­lenges on manufacturers was also very devastating as it drove up produc­tion and operating costs while profit margins were eroded, sales also declined sharply and business sustainability was at risk.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government exceeded its debt service allocation by N1.15tn for the period between January and November, 2021, documents have shown.

A copy of the public presentation of the 2022 approved budget by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, showed that the Federal Government allocated N3.32tn for debt servicing in 2021.

Further breakdown showed that from the total of N3.33tn, domestic debt was expected to gulp 2.18tn, foreign debt N940.98bn, and sinking fund N200bn.

Based on the allocation, the document further showed that the Federal Government hoped to have spent a total of N3.05tn on debt servicing from January to November 2021.

Further breakdown showed that it hoped to have spent about N2tn on domestic debt servicing, N862.48bn on foreign debt servicing, and N183.33bn on sinking fund.

However, the minister’s presentation document showed that a total of N4.2tn was spent on debt servicing in 11 months, indicating a difference of N1.15tn or 37.9 per cent of the money allocated for debt servicing for the period.

Further breakdown showed that the government spent about N2.2tn on domestic debt servicing, N885.01bn on foreign debt servicing, and N600m on sinking fund.

The newspaper says that the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has advised the Federal Government to widen its tax net in order to increase its revenue and ease the burden on the country’s predominantly oil-based economy.

The President, LCCI, Asiwaju Michael Olawale-Cole said this in Lagos on Tuesday during the LCCI quarterly press conference on the state of the Nigerian economy.

He said, “Beyond the technicalities around the assessment, rates, and computation of taxes, we urge the government at all levels to ensure the creation of an enabling tax environment where the tax system is fair, equitable, and efficient to make tax payment easy.

“At different media opportunities, the chamber has advocated for the widening of the tax net to capture more qualified taxpayers who hitherto are not paying their taxes.

In addition, the World Bank’s recently published Nigeria Development Update recommended that we impose higher taxes on ‘sin’ products or luxury patronised by the rich.” Commenting on Nigeria’s debt stock, the chamber noted that a chunk of the Federal Government revenue in 2021 was spent on debt servicing.

Olawale-Cole said, “The Federal Government spent N2.89tn on debt servicing between January and August 2021. This figure represents 74 per cent of the total revenue of N3.93tn generated by the Federal Government within the same period.



The Sun reports that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said the country’s internet subscribers rose to 140.41 million in November 2021.

The Commission which stated this in a recent update of industry statistics posted on its website, explained that of the total figure, mobile (GSM) accounted for 140.06 million subscribers while Fixed Wire and VoIP made up for the remaining subscribers.

According to the data, the total number of active mobile (GSM) internet subscribers increased to 140.06 million at the end of November 2021 — after recording the lowest in June 2021 at 139.81 million.

In December 2020, the Federal Government directed telecommunications companies to suspend sales and reactivation of new SIM cards.

The policy denied new entrants into the country access to mobile lines while existing users who want to retrieve their lost lines were not permitted.

The government had premised its decision on the audit of the subscriber registration database in the country at the height of security challenges – banditry and kidnapping rocking the country in recent times.

GIK/APA

Share.

Related Posts