Press zooms in on IMF’s forecast of 3% economic growth for Nigeria in 2024, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the International Monetary Fund has predicted that Nigeria’s economic growth will fall from 3.2 per cent in 2023 to 3.0 per cent in 2024 is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the International Monetary Fund has predicted that Nigeria’s economic growth will fall from 3.2 per cent in 2023 to 3.0 per cent in 2024.
This is as it retained Nigeria’s 3.2 per cent economic growth projection for 2023 in its recent world economic outlook update.
In its ‘World Economic Outlook: A Rocky Recovery (2023 Apr),’ report released on Tuesday, the IMF improved the country’s 2024 economic growth projection to 3.0 per cent from the 2.9 per cent it stated in its January update.
It stated in a table that Nigeria’s economy grew by 3.3 per cent in 2022. According to the Washington-based lender, global economic growth is expected to fall from 3.4 per cent in 2022 to 2,8 per cent in 2023.
It said, “The baseline forecast is for growth to fall from 3.4 per cent in 2022 to 2.8 per cent in 2023, before settling at 3.0 percent in 2024.
“Advanced economies are expected to see an especially pronounced growth slowdown, from 2.7 per cent in 2022 to 1.3 per cent in 2023. In a plausible alternative scenario with further financial sector stress, global growth declines to about 2.5 per cent in 2023 with advanced economy growth falling below 1 per cent.
“Global headline inflation in the baseline is set to fall from 8.7 per cent in 2022 to 7.0 per cent in 2023 on the back of lower commodity prices but underlying (core) inflation is likely to decline more slowly. Inflation’s return to target is unlikely before 2025 in most cases.”
The newspaper says that the Independent National Electoral Commission has asked the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja to dismiss all the petitions challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the February 25 presidential election.
INEC had declared that Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to win the election.
The commission declared that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 6,984,520 votes, while it announced Labour Party’s Peter Obi as the second runner-up with 6,101,533 votes.
But Atiku, Obi and some other parties rejected the results announced by INEC and heeded for the tribunal with prayers that the election should be nullified.
All the opposition parties challenging Tinubu’s victory joined INEC as a co-defendant.
In its defence to the various petitions, filed through its team of lawyers led by A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), INEC described Atiku’s petition as “grossly incompetent, vague and academic, saying it was an abuse of the court process.”
INEC affirmed that having scored at least one-quarter of the valid votes cast in 29 states, which is over and above the 24 states threshold required by the constitution in addition to scoring the highest number of the lawful votes cast at the election, Tinubu was properly declared winner and returned as the President-elect.
On the issue of Tinubu not winning the FCT, INEC argued that going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, “the FCT has the status of a state and ought to be recognised as one of the states of the federation.”
The Guardian reports that the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll, Atiku Abubakar, has said the allegations of massive irregularities trailing the exercise have put the judiciary on trial.
He noted that apprehensions and misgivings expressed in parts of the country on what is required of the judiciary in addressing the concerns showed unique nature of the issues.
The former Vice President, who spoke through Director, Research, Strategy and Documentation of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council, Don Pedro Obaseki, at a meeting with journalists in Abuja, disclosed that he deliberately decided to pursue his election case quietly to avoid violence and anarchy.
He said it has become imperative that “we put the Nigerian judiciary on notice; that justices of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, who are primary and final arbiters in this election imbroglio, are made to know that the onus lies on them to look at both the spirit and letters of the law and the very marginalised feelings of every Nigerian, and do what is right and correct in the public domain, so as to save this country and sanctity of our commonwealth.”
According to him, “they must understand that the 2023 presidential election tribunal proceeding is not just the petitioner and the respondent that are on trial. It is the Nigerian judiciary that is on trial.”
Atiku continued: “It is time for us to come out and speak the truth as it is; to state clearly without fear or favour that Bola Tinubu is the beneficiary of a wrong process. He is the beneficiary of a stolen mandate.
“He is like the captain-in-chief of Ali Baba and the 40 thieves. It is time that we made it clear that Nigerians must ask our umpire, INEC (Independent National Electoral Commission), to give us the results that Nigerians went to cast and not their skewed cancelled results, which have become all over the place. This is key! To add to it, it is imperative for the Nigerian judiciary – all the justices of the Court of Appeal that will constitute the Presidential Election Tribunal – to know that the future of this country is hinged on them doing the right thing.
The newspaper says that the House of Representatives Ad hoc Committee investigating alleged loss of over $2.4 billion in revenue from illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil in 2015 has summoned Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami.
The panel is also probing all oil exports and sales from 2014 till date, with the invitees expected to provide details of remittances into the Federation Account and come up with recommendations for legislative work on the Whistle Blower Protection Bill current before the lower legislative chamber.
The summons issued yesterday at an investigative hearing on the subject matter, which also affects Oriental Energy Limited, that has one week to provide details regarding its involvement in crude oil lifting and sales within the period under review.
Chairman of the committee, Mark Gbillah, said their focus was on the alleged sale of crude in China, which was reportedly not remitted and other matters contained in the panel’s terms of reference.
He clarified: “We are looking at the issues that have to do with allegations of 48 million of crude oil barrels sold in China. We are looking at the issue of crude oil export in general from Nigeria for the period under review. We are also looking at the whistleblower revelations and recoveries, which the Federal Government publicly attested to.
“It’s unfortunate that the Minister of Finance and the Attorney General of the Federation are not here.
“This is a formal request from the committee that they should appear before us, as they have received formal invitations. And a lot of what we have to investigate regarding the whistleblower policy is saddled within the Ministry of Finance and the Attorney General of the Federation (Office).
“There are responses received from the Accountant General’s Office, which show that the Minister of Finance has been approving payments to whistleblowers in percentages at variance with what the policy says they should be paid.”
GIK/APA