The report that Nigeria’s budget deficit has risen to at least N30.58tn in the last seven years and the fears expressed by lawmakers over the worsening insecurity in the country, particularly the recent attacks on the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by terrorists are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that Nigeria’s budget deficit has risen to at least N30.58tn in the last seven years.
This is according to data from budget implementation reports for the third and fourth quarters of 2015; the four quarters of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020; the first three quarters of 2021; and the first four months of 2022.
According to Investopedia, a budget deficit occurs when expenses exceed revenue.
An analysis of the reports on the Budget Office of Nigeria’s website revealed that Buhari’s administration had spent at least N54.98tn on budget implementation since its inception but has only financed this spending with N24.39tn, leaving a deficit of N30.58tn.
A breakdown of some of the expenses revealed that the present administration had spent at least N23.66tn on personnel costs, pensions, overhead costs, presidential amnesty programme, other service-wide votes, and special interventions.
A minimum of N14.13tn has been spent servicing domestic and foreign debts, and at least N10.47tn has been spent on capital expenditure.
According to the reports, this deficit financing has been largely financed by government borrowing. The budget implementation report for Q4, 2015 said, “The FGN has arranged to raise short-term credit from the CBN through the mechanism of Ways and Means subject to a ceiling of 12.5 per cent of FGN’s revenue.
“This amount will be retired and therefore not considered as new borrowing outside the borrowing approved to finance the budget deficit. However, due to current fiscal challenges, the CBN had agreed to increase the Ways and Means advances threshold hence the FGN’s ability to raise N615.96bn from this source.”
The newspaper says that the National Assembly has expressed fears over the worsening insecurity in the country, particularly the recent attacks on the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, by terrorists.
Following the worsening insecurity, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, on Wednesday, summoned the security chiefs to a marathon meeting where he described the situation as the “most frightening.”
Also at the meeting, the senators advised the security chiefs on how better to protect the FCT and the country in general.
The various House of Representatives Committees on Security had similarly met with the security chiefs last Friday over the developments in the country.
Also, the House said the terrorists were daring to have attacked the seat of power, warning the security agencies to go after the militants.
In the last few weeks, the FCT had faced grave security threats with terrorists launching separate attacks on troops and the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre.
Last Thursday, suspected terrorists launched a vicious attack on soldiers at a checkpoint at Zuma rock, a few kilometres from the nation’s capital.
A memo from the NSCDC had also suggested that Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists were amassing dangerous weapons for massive attacks on Katsina, Lagos, the Federal Capital Territory, Kaduna, and Zamfara States.
Speaking before the security meeting went into a closed-door session, the Senate President said the upper chambers had hoped the security situation would have been better by now.
Lawan admonished the law enforcement agencies to perform better and protect the rural populace.
The Guardian reports that National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has imposed a fine of N5 million on Trust Television Network (Trust TV) over the broadcast of a documentary, titled: ‘Nigeria’s Banditry: The Inside Story,’ aired by the station on March 5, 2022.
Also fined N5 million were NTA-StarTimes Limited, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited, owners of DStv and TelCom Satellite Limited (TStv) for broadcasting a documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Africa Eye, titled, ‘Bandits Warlords of Zamfara.’
The NBC, in a letter dated August 3, 2022, signed by its Director General, Balarabe Shehu Illela, said the fine was imposed because the documentaries contravened the provisions of the Broadcasting Code.
Illela quoted a section of the code as saying: “No broadcast shall encourage or incite to crime, lead to public disorder or hate, be repugnant to public feelings or contain offensive reference to any person or organisation, alive or dead or generally be disrespectful to human dignity.”
In a statement, yesterday, Ahmed I. Shekarau, Executive Director, Business Development Media Trust Group, said: “While we are currently studying the commission’s action and weighing our options, we wish to state unequivocally that as a television station, we believe we were acting in the public interest by shedding light on the thorny issue of banditry and how it is affecting millions of citizens of our country.
“The documentary traces the root of the communal tensions and systemic inadequacies, which led to the armed conflict that is setting the stage for another grand humanitarian crisis in Nigeria.”
The newspaper says that the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has reiterated the agency’s neutrality as the 2023 general elections approach, stating that it had no preferred candidate or political party.
He made the submission yesterday at the fourth Abubakar Momoh Memorial Lecture on “Electoral Act 2022: Imperatives for Political Parties and the 2023 General Elections.”
The programme was organised in honour of erstwhile Director-General of The Electoral Institute (TEI), the late Prof. Abubakar Momoh, who died on May 29, 2017.
Yakubu assured Nigerians that their votes would co determine outcomes of next year’s general elections and future polls in the country, adding that INEC would apply the laws without fear of favour for free, fair, credible, inclusive and transparent elections.
The INEC boss stressed the need for stakeholders, especially political parties, to note the major features introduced by the 2022 Electoral Act and possible implications of the changes on the upcoming polls.
Yakubu said: “Let me draw your attention to the fact that the use of electronic devices such as Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS), INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED), INEC Results Viewing Portal (IRev) and other technological devices is now legally allowed in the accreditation process for voters, collation of results and in the general conduct of elections. Rest assured these innovations are intended to deepen the electoral process in our country and their optimal performance in the just-concluded gubernatorial elections in Ekiti and Osun states is an eloquent testimony to their electoral value.”
The Sun reports that following the high level of corruption associated with the issuance and renewal of passport in Nigeria, the Federal Government, yesterday, pledged to sanitise he process to eliminate corruption associated with it.
Speaking when a delegation of the executive members of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) visited him in his office, the Minister of Interior, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, vowed that the Federal Government would bring sanity to the system with a view to eliminating corruption.
To this end, he explained, the government has opened an Immigration Service Portal for the issuance of passports. This, according to him, would eliminate a face-face contact.
The minister said that the process is not only seamless, but also geared towards enhancing transparency and eliminating corruption.
He warned members of the public to stop patronising touts or uniformed officers in processing their passports because their actions are illegal, unwarranted as they are only interested in making money out of the people.
GIK/APA