Poverty alleviation: Court orders Buhari’s ministry to explain N729 billion disbursement
The brewing business is currently suffering considerable cost pressure as the prices of local raw materials skyrocket, hurting its backward integration approach. Industry players predicted that cost pressures from sorghum, wheat, and other crops would continue high, driven by rising inflation, insecurity across the country’s agricultural belts, and other macroeconomic difficulties.
The brewers had used a backward integration technique to save money on imports due to exchange rate instability.
However, the strategy has now begun to fail, with local raw material expenses by leading brewers increasing 113.6 per cent to N188.0 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2024, Q1’24, from N88.0 billion a year earlier, Q1’23, and industry interim reports indicating further increases in Q2’24, with no respite expected this year.
Industry analysts are increasingly concerned that enormous raw material imports will resume if the initiative fails, despite the implications for foreign exchange. This event, they feel, is another setback to Nigeria’s industrialization and job creation.
2027: Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso, and Amaechi must work together to remove Tinubu. — Lucman
Salihu Lukman, former National Vice Chairman, North-West, of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), has decried the growing wave of despair in the country, encouraging some political figures to unite and chase President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Political leaders in Nigeria, including Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Mr Peter Obi, Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Sen. Ibikunle Amosun, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, and others, must decide whether they want to allow their narrow political ambitions to obstruct Nigeria’s democratic development.
Or, why shouldn’t they aspire to be registered as political leaders who were able to rise to the occasion in Nigeria’s hour of national need by coming together to forge a united political front, which could transform Nigeria’s democracy and reverse the phenomenon of state capture’ that produced small corrupt groups’ of used ‘government officials’ who are appropriating ‘government decision-making to strengthen their economic positions’?” he asked.
Fuel scarcity looms as depots boost petrol prices to N720 per litre
Fuel scarcity is progressively emerging in Lagos and other parts of the country, as private depot owners raise the ex-depot price of petrol from N630 to N720 per litre.
This happened as petrol scarcity worsened in Abuja and surrounding states on Sunday, with some filling stations charging as much as N900/litre. Our correspondents claim that several filling stations in Lagos, Ogun, and other states have run out of petrol because they refused to purchase high-priced fuel from private depots.
In a conversation with one of our journalists on Sunday, the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, stated several filling stations did not open for business because they had no fuel in them.
He stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, which is now the sole importer of petrol, should inform Nigerians about the situation with the commodity.
Poverty alleviation: Court orders Buhari’s ministry to explain N729 billion disbursement
Justice Dehinde Dipeolu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered Sadia Umar-Farouk, the former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, to explain how N729 billion was reportedly given to 24.3 million underprivileged Nigerians.
The court determined that the ex-minister must give a list of all beneficiaries, including bank account information, who got the N5,000 disbursed over six months. The orders were issued by the judge when delivering judgment in a claim filed by the Social Economic Rights and Accountability Project, with case number FHC/L/CS/853/2021. According to SERAP, the judgement was rendered in June, and the certified accurate copy was issued by the court on Friday.
Budget: FG provides N1.2 trillion for capital projects
The Federal Government has released a total of N1.23 trillion to 17 ministries for the implementation of capital projects aimed at furthering development and infrastructure initiatives as of September 30, 2023, according to The PUNCH. The Budget Office presented a study of the Budget Implementation Report for the third quarter of 2023 on Sunday, which indicated this.
In the context of budgeting, capital projects are often large investments in physical infrastructure or assets that are projected to yield long-term returns. These projects typically include the construction, acquisition, or renovation of tangible assets such as buildings, roads, bridges, dams, schools, hospitals, and other structures.
According to the data, the amount distributed was 75.4% less than the N5 trillion earmarked for capital spending in the 2023 budget, resulting in a deficit of N3.8 trillion.
Varsities boil anew as FG, ASUU meet and workers protest on Tuesday
The Academic Staff Union of Universities announced that it will meet with the Federal Government on July 25, 2024, to discuss unmet demands. This came as non-academic university personnel announced on Sunday that they would stage a one-day protest on campus on Tuesday over their withheld four-month salary. The one-day protest would serve as a prelude to a nationwide protest scheduled for July 18. Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU’s National President, confirmed this in a phone call with our correspondent on Sunday.
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Written By: Ifeanyi Ogbu, (Obinwannem News correspondent Enugwu State)
Date: July 08, 2024
Ubochi Nkwo Ikuku
Published by Ugwu Okechukwu (CEO Obinwannem Foundation)
