The report that the Nigerian Senate has upturned its position against electronic transmission of election results and readiness of the Zambian Government to assist Nigeria in tackling terrorism and banditry are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Guardian reports that the Senate, yesterday, bowed to outrage and outright rejection of the 2021 Amended Electoral Act by Nigerians earlier in July as they upturned their position against electronic transmission of election results.
In a majority decision, they have now given the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) full powers, like voting, under the bill, shall now be in accordance with the procedure determined by INEC.
The Senators had earlier denied the Commission the power to transmit results of elections electronically but rather empowered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the National Assembly to determine the use of electronic transmission for elections; though the lower chamber was more circumspect in dealing with clause 52(3), leaving electronic transmission of results in the hands of INEC.
Thereafter, the Senate President instituted a conference committee, which shall meet to harmonise the various reports of both chambers on electronic transmission.
The Senators during the consideration of what they referred to as recommittal of amended clauses for an act to repeal the Electoral Bill 2021, No. 6, and enact the Electoral Act 2021, yesterday, adopted the position of the lower chamber.
The newspaper says that the Zambian High Commissioner in Nigeria, Dr. Solomon Samuel, has expressed concern over the security situation in the country.The envoy, who spoke ahead of the International Peace Concert billed for Saturday in Abuja, expressed the readiness of his home country to assist Nigeria in tackling terrorism and banditry.
Recalling the role Nigeria played in the liberation of Zambia and other southern African countries from the apartheid regime, Samuel disclosed that Zambia was willing to partner with Nigeria in the training of security personnel to tackle insecurity in the country.
The concert themed ‘Hope in troubled times,’ according to him, will have singing groups from Nigeria and Ghana perform to seek divine intervention in addressing security challenges.
He added: “The Seventh Day Adventist Church has come up with a brilliant method of enhancing peace. To this effect, Zambia would want to identify with the Adventist Church. Because our brothers and sisters in Nigeria, who are grappling with insecurity, Zambia cannot stand idle and watch them face acts of terrorism.”
The Sun reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted Nigeria’s economy would shrink by 0.5 percentage point in fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022.
The IMF put Nigeria’s economic outlook for Q4 of 2021 at 2.4 per cent while it projected 1.9 per cent for Q4 of 2022, representing a decline of 0.5 percentage point. The global financial body equally lowered its global growth projection for 2021 to 5.9 per cent while retaining 2022 figures at 4.9 per cent.
The 5.9 per cent figure is 0.1 percentage point lower for 2021 than in the July forecast. The latest growth figures are contained in the IMF World Economic Outlook released yesterday which finds that, “although global recovery continues, momentum has weakened, therefore, there is a slight downward revision for global growth this year and an unchanged projection for next year (4.9 percent).”
IMF explained that the downward revision for 2021 reflects a downgrade for advanced economies—in part due to supply disruptions—and for low-income developing countries, largely due to worsening pandemic dynamics. This, it said, is partially offset by stronger near-term prospects among some commodity-exporting emerging market and developing economies.
The newspaper says that the United Nations (UN) has promised that it is committed to supporting Nigeria’s industrialisation bid as the country progresses towards achieving sustainable development goals (SDG).
The Deputy Secretary General of the UN, Ms. Amina Mohammed, who made the remark at a Conversation on industrialisation and Sustainable Development, organised by the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), stated that the UN had put in place a global compact special initiative dedicated to promoting sustainable businesses.
Emphasising that inclusive and sustainable industrial development is a key role in achieving SDGs, she disclosed that no fewer than 124 million people worldwide were pushed back into poverty last year amid the COVID-19 challenges, calling for a persistent recovery model plan to be established that must be guided by the SDGs.
“The global compact has a local network in Nigeria, which will grow in the coming years. Additionally, as part of the global compact, new African strategy, I hope, will be established in Abuja to support business across the continent in our joint efforts to achieve the SDGs.”
She encouraged MAN to engage with the global compact in the context of the new African strategy so businesses can effectively help in the system recovery for Nigeria and the continent.
The Punch reports that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Tuesday said recalcitrant debtors had exploited the lack of prioritisation of credit recovery matters by the Nigerian judicial system to frustrate debt recovery efforts of financial institutions in the country.
The governor said this known in Abuja at a workshop for judicial officers on recent reforms of the banking financial services sectors in Nigeria: Banks and other Financial Institutions Act, 2020 in Focus.
Emefiele who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Aisha Ahmad, emphasised the importance of the judiciary in upholding CBN’s mandate and ensuring orderly operation of the financial system.
Speaking on the significance of the BOFIA 2020, he said the act was expected to reinvigorate the Nigerian banking sector as it would engender a sound and stable financial system that would support sustainable growth and development of the Nigerian economy.
He said the BOFIA 2020 also strengthened the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Financing of Terrorism Framework by mandating regulated entities to comply with AML/CFT and cybersecurity regulations.
This Day says that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello has made a case for a special revenue status to be accorded the FCT to enable it to meet up with its burgeoning infrastructure need.
He stated this yesterday in Abuja, at an advocacy and sensitisation meeting on the review of the existing revenue sharing formula.
The minister, who was represented by the Director of Human Resources Management, Dr. Bashir Mohammed, called for a new revenue sharing formula that is fair and equitable, taken into consideration the role the territory was playing in national development.
He said the FCT administration would be in a position to execute projects that are of the highest quality if there is a corresponding increase in revenue sharing formula.
The minister said the FCT needs a special revenue package to do more projects that would have a direct impact on the residents. He said an additional budget was required to execute the ongoing projects in the territory that are capital intensive.
GIK/APA