Press zooms in on plans for supplementary budget as govt suspends petrol subsidy removal, others

APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the National Economic Council, on Thursday, in Abuja, asked the Federal Government to put the June deadline for petroleum subsidy removal on hold, pending the review of existing plans to provide palliatives for Nigerians dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that the National Economic Council, on Thursday, in Abuja, asked the Federal Government to put the June deadline for petroleum subsidy removal on hold, pending the review of existing plans to provide palliatives for Nigerians.
While arguing that the petrol subsidy should not be removed now, the council said the Federal Government would broaden consultations with state governments and other key stakeholders such as labour unions, petroleum marketers, the Ministry of Finance, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and representatives of incoming administration.
This ‘expanded committee’ would “determine if the removal can be done by June as planned,” it said.
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, disclosed this to State House correspondents shortly after the valedictory NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
She said there might be a need to send a supplementary budget to the National Assembly if the incoming administration aligned with the decision to extend subsidy removal.
According to Ahmed, the Council has however agreed that the subsidy must be “removed now, rather than later,” as the nation cannot afford it anymore.
She said, “Council agreed that the timing of the removal of fuel subsidy should not be now; but that we should continue with all of the preparatory works that need to be done and these preparatory works have to be done in consultation with the states and other key stakeholders including representatives of the incoming administration.
“Council agreed that the fuel subsidy must be removed earlier rather than later because it is not sustainable. We cannot afford it anymore. But we have to do it in such a way that the impact of the subsidy is as much as possible, mitigated on the lives of ordinary Nigerians.
“So, this will require looking at alternatives to the fuel subsidy that needs to be planned for and subsequently put in place. But also, what needs to be done to support the people that will be most affected as a result of the removal.”
The newspaper says that Nigeria and Italy have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening criminal justice and the rule of law in combating terrorism across the globe.
This commitment was demonstrated when the two countries co-chaired the seventh Plenary Meeting of the Global Counterterrorism Forum’s Criminal Justice and Rule of Law Working Group in St Julian’s, Malta.
This is contained in a statement from the Office of the National Security Adviser on Friday in Abuja.
The Coordinator, National Counterterrorism Centre, retired Rear Adm. Yaminu Musa, said the administration of criminal justice terrorism-related cases could neither be efficient nor effective if the rights of those concerned were not protected.
Musa, who represented Nigeria at the event, said the effect of lack of protection for witnesses had resulted in the striking out of cases by the courts involving heinous crimes because witnesses often refuse to testify due to the absence of a system designed to cater to their protection.
He said that Nigeria had on May 23, 2022, signed the Witness Protection and Management Act into law to address that challenge.
According to him, Nigeria first co-chaired the CJ-ROL Working Group with Switzerland in 2018 and developed the Abuja Recommendations on Collection, Use and Sharing of Evidence for Purposes of Criminal Prosecution of Terror Suspects.
He said the recommendation was endorsed at the 2018 GCTF Ministerial Meeting on the sidelines of the 72nd United Nations General Assembly.
“It also co-organised the First Expert Meeting of the Working Group for the development of a set of recommendations on Rule of Law-Based Administrative Measures in the Counterterrorism Context held at The Hague, The Netherlands,” he said.
The Guardian reports that The National President of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Ide John Udeagbaala, has regretted the degenerating ease of doing business in the country, which he said has put a serious strain on production.
Speaking yesterday at a media briefing on the state of the nation, Udeagbaala said this, amongst other factors, has resulted in the accelerated decline in local production. He revealed that in 2019 when the Federal Government began trumpeting its programme on the ease of doing business (EoDB), it made significant progress as the country leaped forward 15 places to 131 out of 190 countries.
According to the World Bank global ranking, the country was adjudged one of the 10 most improved economies on the ease of doing business. He lamented that recent statistics on the gross domestic product (GDP) from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) show a degenerating ease of doing business across the country.
This, he said, has put a strain on the production industry, resulting in a decline in growth rate.
“For example, Nigeria’s growth rate declined from 5.01 in Q, in 2021 to 4.03 in Q; of the same year. It went down to 3.98 in Q4 of 202 1 and Q, of 2022 dropped further to 3.11. This spiral decline has continued unabated. Many of the challenges impeding the ease of doing business in Nigeria include multiple taxation, multiple exchange rates, constant government policies somersaults, poor infrastructure, high cost of power and so on.
“NACCIMA as the voice of organised private sector in Nigeria (OPSN) calls on the government to consider these impending factors affecting the EoDB and implement the various solutions we have suggested in time past for lasting solutions to these myriads of challenges.
He expressed grave worry over the recent proposal by the Minister of Finance and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, to increase the value-added tax (VAT) charges from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.
The newspaper says that Nigerians being evacuated by the Federal Government from crisis-torn Sudan have complained that they were stranded in the desert for hours as bus drivers conveying them protested poor logistics arrangement.
The Chairman of the Nigerian Community (Elders Forum) in Sudan, Dr. Hashim Na’Allah, said: “People are hungry and there is no concrete information from either the embassy or the committee in charge of the buses.”
President of the Jigawa State Students Association in Sudan, Umar Abubakar, said: “We are disappointed in everything. We have been outside under the sun, since 5:00 a.m., waiting for the buses. Not even one official from the embassy is around. Those people are just playing us along.”
He said: “Even those that left for Egypt yesterday (Wednesday) are now stranded on their way, because the drivers said they have not been paid, and that they are not moving an inch until they are paid, or else they would drop the students there and return.”
A Twitter user, Dr. Ahmad Small @dr_ahmadsmall, had posted a video of a woman and others lamenting that the buses stopped halfway in the desert for five hours.
But Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa, said, yesterday, that the buses conveying Nigerians have continued their journey after a stop.
The NiDCOM boss said she contacted the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and that the matter had been resolved.
“I have just spoken to @nemanigeriadg. He confirmed the buses have continued their journey and said whatever issues have been resolved,” she wrote. Dabiri-Erewa disclosed that 13 buses bringing back about 1,500 Nigerians from Sudan are expected to arrive soon in Aswan, Egypt.
GIK/APA