Finance
Govt Orders Foreign Miners to Leave Zamfara in 48 Hours
foreign miners: The Federal Government yesterday ordered foreign miners in Zamfara State to leave within 48 hours. It also announced the suspension of mining activities in the state to curb the activities of armed bandits.
Govt Orders Foreign Miners to Leave Zamfara in 48 Hours
Foreign Miners – The move followed an attack that killed about 50 persons in the state at the weekend.
Briefing State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu warned that foreign miners who violate the order would have their licences withdrawn.
He said investigations had established a link between the activities of the bandits and illicit miners and that security forces would be dispatched to the state.
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The IGP’s statement was entitled, ‘Security Situation In Zamfara And Neighboring States, Police, Military and DSS Intensify Joint Operations Against Bandits, FG Suspends All Mining Activities In Zamfara And Its Environs.’
It reads: “As part of sustained efforts to flush out, and permanently put an end to armed banditry and criminality in Zamfara State, in particular, and the northwest in general, the Nigeria Police Force in collaboration with the Nigerian Military and other security services has commenced ‘Operation Puff-Adder’, which is a full-scale security offensive against the bandits.
“The operation is aimed at reclaiming every public space under the control of the bandits, arrest and bring to book all perpetrators of violence in the area and their collaborators, achieve a total destruction of all criminal camps and hideouts, mop up all illicit weapons fueling the violence, and attain a full restoration of law and order in the affected communities.
“Our commitment to protecting the sanctity of life and property is irrevocable and we will not scale down the pressure on the armed bandits until they are totally flushed-out.”
The IGP also warned against “the use of social media to spread fake news, falsehood and deliberate misinformation.” He urged citizens to “exercise restraint in circulating unconfirmed information capable of doing more damage to us all.”
The press briefing was attended by Chief of Staff to the President Abba Kyari; Director General, Department of State Services (DSS) Yusuf Bichi; and Director General National Intelligence Agency (NIA) Ahmed Abubakar.
But while the Federal Government tried to rein in bandits in Zamfara, unknown gunmen invaded Birnin Gwari, a suburb of Kaduna State, Saturday evening.
For several hours, the attackers were said to have held Kakangi Village hostage, shooting indiscriminately and setting houses on fire.
“We were sitting in front of the police station. Suddenly heavily armed bandits started shooting. I jumped over the fence and escaped. As I fled, I saw thick smoke from different locations rising into the sky,” said a resident who sought refuge at Gagumi Village, about 20 kilometres from Kakangi.
Unconfirmed reports claimed many people were killed. The police however put the figure at five. Three attackers and two officers lost their lives, while seven civilians sustained injuries, said spokesman, Yakubu Sabo.
He said: “We received a distress call through DPO Randagi on 6/4/19 at about 1900hrs that armed men in large numbers entered Kakangi Village of Birnin Gwari LGA, a neighbouring community to Niger State, shooting sporadically, attacking the villagers.
“Combined teams of PMF personnel, conventional police and vigilantes were quickly mobilised to the village. They engaged the bandits in a fierce gun duel and successfully repelled the attack.
“Our gallant men gunned down three of the bandits and several others escaped into the bush with bullet wounds. However, two of our men paid the supreme sacrifice during the intense gun duel.”
Criticising the Federal Government’s handling of security, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, National Publicity Secretary of Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, warned: “Nigeria may soon be in serious trouble,” unless the current administration stopped its alleged mis-governance.
The National Chairman of African Democratic Congress (ADC) Chief Ralph Nwosu, on his part, blamed the alleged failure of the current government to explain to Nigerians what it has done with the defence budget.
But speaking during the launch of Operation Puff-Adder at the weekend, Adamu stressed that victory over bandits and other criminal elements could remain a mirage, despite the deployment of various police units.
“While we, as security agents, will provide the lead in the prevention and detection of crimes, the public should provide us with credible information. The farthest we can go in this task is to be dependent on the commitment of citizens across all communities to volunteer quality information to law enforcement agents,” he said.
According to the police boss, “we should appreciate that hoarding information on criminals, providing safe haven for criminals, or acting as accomplices in any form is tantamount to riding on the back of a hungry tiger and endangering not just oneself, as an individual but also the entire community.”
Author: Eunice Johnson, Abuja
President of the African Development bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has announced that the bank has secured 15.6bn dollars for the construction of the Lagos-Abidjan highway corridor, which would ease transportation across West Africa.
Adesina made this announcement during the 2021 Africa Investment Forum’s virtual boardroom closing session on Thursday.
The AFDB President said the 15.6bn dollar deal which is the biggest deal for the boardroom is a 46-lane highway corridor which will connect Lagos, Cotonou, Lome, Accra and Abidjan.
According to him, the project would support trade in West Africa, impacting the lives of over 500 million people, reducing transport costs and increasing intra-regional trade volume.
The bank will also be establishing a 1m dollars AFAWA women advisory facility to support women with advisory services.
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Author: Gift Wada, Abuja
THE Debt Management Office on Thursday said Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N39.56tn in 2021 from N32.92tn in 2020.
The Director-General, DMO, Patience Oniha, said this at a media briefing in Abuja.
According to her, the total debt includes new borrowings by the Federal Government and the sub-nationals.
She also said that the amount helped in financing the budget deficit, capital projects and support economic recovery.
Oniha said, “Nigeria’s total public debt as at December 31, 2021, was N39.56tn or $95.78bn. The amount represents the total external and domestic debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, 36 state governments and the federal capital territory.
“The comparable figure for December 31, 2020, was N32.92tn or $86.39bn. The public debt stock for December 31, 2021, includes new borrowings by the FGN and the sub-nationals. For the FGN, it would be recalled that the 2021 appropriation and supplementary acts, included total new borrowings (from domestic and external sources) of N5.49tn to part-finance the deficit.
“Borrowings for this purpose and disbursements by the multilateral and bilateral creditors account for a significant portion of the increase in the debt stock. Increases were also recorded in the debt stock of the states and the FCT.”
She further said that despite the debt increase, the country is still within the total public debt stock to the Gross Domestic Product limit of 55 per cent set by the World Bank and 70 per cent set by the Economic Community of West African States.
Oniha also said that the Federal Government was “mindful of the relatively high debt-to-revenue ratio” and has established certain measures to increase revenues through the strategic revenue growth initiative and the introduction of Finance Acts since 2019.
She said, “The new borrowings were raised from diverse sources, primarily through the issuances of the Eurobonds, sovereign Sukuk, and the FGN bonds. These capital raisings were utilised to finance capital projects and support economic recovery.
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“With the total public debt stock to GDP as at December 31, 2021, of 22.47 per cent, the debt-to-GDP ratio still remains within Nigeria’s self-imposed limit of 40 per cent. This ratio is prudent when compared to the 55 per cent limit advised by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for countries in Nigeria’s peer group, as well as, the ECOWAS convergence ratio of 70 per cent.”
However, findings showed that Nigeria spent N2.93tn on debt servicing payments in 2021, according to the data obtained from the DMO.
Between January and March 2021, Nigeria spent N612.71bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $1bn (N415.92bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.03tn.
From April to June 2021, the country spent N322.7bn on domestic debt servicing and $299m (N124.36bn) on external debt servicing, showing a total of N447.06bn.
From July to September 2021, Nigeria spent N808.49bn on domestic debt servicing and $520.78m (N216.6bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N1.03tn.
Between October and December 2021, Nigeria spent N310.5bn on domestic debt servicing, while it spent $286.35m (N119.1bn) on external debt servicing, giving a total of N429.6bn.
The official exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which showed $1 =N415.92 as of March 17, was used for the external debt servicing.
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Nigeria has officially raised 1.25 Billion dollars through the issuance of a seven-year Eurobonds in the International Capital Market (ICM).
The Director-General of the Debt Management Office (DMO), Patience Oniha made this known in a statement on Thursday.
Oniha said that with this feat, Nigeria has become the first African country to access the ICM in 2022.
According to her, the country’s ability to access the Eurobonds at this time was a confirmation of her established presence with the ICM and engagement with investors on a continuous basis.
She said that the proceeds of the bonds would be used to finance the budget and bridge infrastructural deficits.
“The offer was launched at an initial price thought of 8.75 per cent per annum and on the back of strong investor demand, Nigeria was able to reverse the price guidance to 8.5 per cent per annum.
“The order book continued to grow, reaching a peak of four billion dollars,” she said.
She said that the order book included many quality investors in the U.S., Europe and Asia.
“With this strong investor interest the price was tightened at 8.37 per cent per annum, the order book still remained high at 3.67 billion dollars and still retained quality investors,” she said.
She said that Nigerian investors also participated in the offer with a total subscription of 60 million dollars.
She added that the Eurobonds would also strengthen economic recovery and contribute directly and in full to the level of Nigeria’s External Reserves.
Reports Show that the DMO had earlier on Thursday revealed that Nigeria ’s ’total debt stock as at December 2021 was N39.55 trillion.
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