News
Nigeria’s President Buhari in fresh plagiarism scandal of Obama’s speech
President Muhammadu Buhari’s ‘Change Begins with Me’ campaign suffered a setback Friday following a newspaper report that the president allegedly plagiarized President Barack Obama in the speech he delivered while launching the project.
The government says the campaign will help curb “widespread act of immorality” by Nigerians.
The report, which detailed how Mr. Buhari allegedly lifted quotes from a 2008 speech by Mr. Obama, came on the heels of another damaging allegation that the ‘Change Begins With Me’ campaign contained elements belonging to another anti-corruption effort, ‘Not in My Country’. PremiumTimes
Recession: FG releases fresh N350bn to boost economy
The Federal Government in a bid to stimulate economic activities says it is releasing additional N350bn for capital projects captured in the 2016 budget.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, gave the figure on Friday while briefing journalists on intervention measures being taken by the government to reflate the economy which is currently in recession.
She said that the release of the additional N350bn brings the total capital releases made by the government to N760bn.
She said with the economy in recession, the level of consumer demand would be reduced drastically, hence the need for government to step in by injecting liquidity. Punch
I remain Delta APC Chairman, says Erue
The embattled chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, Mr. Jones Erue, on Friday, said he remained the chairman of the party, stressing that the setting up of a caretaker committee to run the affairs of the party in the state was illegal.
Some elders and leaders of the party led by Senator Spanner Okpozo had in a meeting on Tuesday in Ozoro, Isoko North Council area of the state, dissolved the party’s working committee and constituted a caretaker committee led by Nathaniel Omo-Onyeke to run the affairs of the party.
Erue, however told our correspondent on Friday that the Senator Okpozo’s led faction had no legal standing to dissolve a committee that was elected by delegates at a congress held in Asaba, the state capital. Punch
Business News
Aviation group opposes bailout for domestic airlines
A group, the Aviation Round Table (ART), has called on the federal government to resist any pressure to offer bailout to ailing domestic airlines.
Gbenga Olowo, president of the group, made the call on Friday during an interview with NAN.
He urged the government to pay serious attention to the aviation sector.
Government should get serious with this sector of the economy; without airlines, there are no airports,” he said.The Cable
Economic crisis: Nigeria’s inflation hits 17.6%
The National Bureau of Statistics has said the Consumer Price Index which measures inflation increased year-on-year from 17.1 per cent in July to 17.6 per cent in the month of August.
Data released by the NBS late in August had showed that the CPI rose by 0.6 percentage points from 16.5 per cent in June to 17.1 per cent in July.
The bureau had in its August report attributed the increase to high energy prices which it added impacted negatively on the index. Punch
NCC Establishes Industry Working Group on Multiple Taxation
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday said the commission had established an Industry Working Group (IWG) on multiple taxation and regulations.
This information is contained in the 2nd Quarter 2016 Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement report posted on the commission’s website.
The report said: “As part of the strategy to address the issues of multiple taxations and regulations in the Nigerian telecommunications industry, the commission had facilitated the establishment of the IWG on multiple taxations and regulations.Independent
Nigeria to raise $1 billion in Eurobond market
Nigeria plans to raise $1 billion on the Eurobond market this year in a move designed to plug a budget deficit, said the country’s finance minister Friday.
Speaking at a press conference in the nation’s capital of Abuja, finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said the government had earlier this month approved the plan to issue international debt for the first time since 2013.
Adeosun said that the bonds are expected to go on sale in December, with the proceeds channeled into capital projects. Vanguard
Afrinvest Set to Launch 2016 Banking Sector Report
Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited said it has concluded plans to unveil the 2016 edition of its annual Nigerian Banking Sector Report. The event is expected to take place on September 21st in Lagos.
Managing Director of Afrinvest, Ike Chioke, revealed that this year’s report, which is the 11th edition since its inception in 2006, is titled ‘Searching for Investor Confidence.’
According to him, the report chronicles developments within the global and domestic economy in relation to monetary and fiscal policy responses to shocks while also contextualizing the impact of policy decisions on domestic macroeconomic variables. DailyTrust
News
Buhari Rallies His Team: Think Out of the Box to Pull Economy Out of Recession
President Muhammadu Buhari has charged his cabinet ministers and financial experts to think out of the box to develop the most effective strategies for pulling the nation out of its current economic recession.
“Indeed, the challenges we face in the current recession require out-of-the-box thinking, to deploy strategies that involve engaging meaningfully with the private sector, to raise the level of private sector investments in the economy as a whole,” the president said Thursday at the opening of a ministerial retreat tagged: “Building Inter-ministerial Synergy for Effective Planning and Budgeting in Nigeria.”
He charged participants at the retreat, held at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, to design how best to implement his administration’s plans to rid the country of its dependence on oil, diversify the economy and bring the country out of recession. Thisday
For Asking Buhari to Quit, FG Calls PDP Shameless Irritant
For daring to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to quit over his poor handling of the economy, the federal government has said the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a shameless irritant bent on distracting the government from its rescue mission and returning the country to “Egypt”.
Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said in a statement yesterday that the government was on a rescue mission to revive Nigeria after the PDP left it in a coma, adding that the party was out to sabotage the rescue efforts.
Mohammed said if the PDP had understood the meaning of shame, it would never have dared to even make a single comment on the same economy that it did everything to kill. Thisday
Use your PVCs to sweep out APC’s reign of poverty and suffering – Aigbogun
Former Deputy Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, Mr. Levis Aigbogun yesterday asked voters in the state to use their PVCs to reject the APC a party he said symbolizes poverty, hardship and declined economic standard.
Ize-Iyamu He spoke at a PDP governorship rally at Uhen in Ovia Northeast local government area that was also used to appreciate the 13 youths from Egbeta community now referred to as OVIA 13, who were recently detained on assorted charges by the state government.
“APC in Nigeria now symbolizes hunger, sickness, poverty, and high cost of prices for all food items like rice and garri and necessities like petrol, kerosene, and electricity. The party has so far only succeeded in bringing about negative change to Nigeria”. Vanguard
FG to use local textile for military, paramilitary uniforms
The federal government says plans are underway for Nigerian military and para-military personnel to use made in Nigeria textile for their uniforms.
The Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Hajiya A’isha Abubakar, said this, yesterday, in Benin at the 28th Annual National Education Conference of the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) and the Nigerian Textile, Garment and Tailoring Employers Association (NTGTEA).
Represented by a director in the ministry, Barnabas Jattau, Hajiya A’isha said: “The government is presently discussion with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on how to stop smuggling of textiles materials into the country through the nation’s border posts.” DailyTrust
Business News
CBN urges states to establish industry banks
The Central Bank of Nigeria has asked state governments that do not have industry banks to facilitate the establishment of such to speed up industrialization and economic development in the country.
The Assistant Director, Development Finance Department of CBN, Abuja, Mr. Babatunde Ogunleye, said this in Uyo while fielding questions from journalists.
He stated that the bank, with a mandate to finance the processing of raw materials and industrialization of the nation, was better positioned to aid small and medium-scale enterprises. Punch
NSE Index Sustains Positive Momentum, Up 0.30%
Trading on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) extended its positive run on Thursday when the overall performance measures, the All Share Index and market capitalization, both appreciated by 0.30 percent each.
The All Share Index appreciated by 83.27 basis points or 0.30 percent to close at 27,725.40 points as against 27,642.13 points recorded on Wednesday, while market capitalization appreciated by N28.602 billion to close at N9.523 trillion as against N9.495 trillion recorded at the last trading day.
Petroleum marketer, Total Nigeria, led the gainers’ table when it grabbed 892 kobo to close at N250.00 per share, followed by Seplat Petroleum Development Company which recovered 500 kobo to close trading at N325.00 per share. Unilever Nigeria gained 287 kobo to close at N45.15 per share; Conoil nicked 268 kobo to close at 28.89 per share while building materials’ Dangote Cement added 149 kobo to close at N176.00 per share, among others.Independent
Customs revenue collection hits N557b
The total revenue which the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) collected from January to August this year was N557, 083,996,324.16.
According to the summary of monthly revenue figure that The Nation obtained from the corporate headquarters in Abuja yesterday, revenue collection rose from N75.6 billion in July to N95.7billion in August.
In June, the service collected N72.7billion, May N57.3, April N57.3 billion, March 61.2billion , February N62.8 billion and N74.3billion in January. The Nation
FG borrows N183bn via short-dated TBs
The Federal Government borrowed N183.24bn via Treasury bills at an auction on Wednesday, with mixed yields on all the tenors, data from Debt Management Office showed on Thursday.
The DMO raised N48.10bn of three-month paper at 14 per cent, down from 14.38 per cent it sold at an auction on August 31.
It also sold N48.45bn worth of the six-month paper at 17.77 per cent, higher than 17.50 per cent previously. Punch
PPP scheme to mass produce fish takes off in Lagos
A Public Private Partnership to mass produce fish for local consumption and export has taken off in Lagos State.
The initiative which will fetch the federal government 30 percent returns on investment, investors 40 percent and project promoter 30 percent over the next ten years, is located at Igbo-Olomi Ibeju-Lekki area of the state.
Mr. Segun Kowontan, President, Project Fix Nigeria Limited, disclosed this during visit of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Bank of Industry and Lagos State Government, to the World Bank/ETF assisted fish/livestock farm facilities. Vanguard