22042019 - ACUTE HUNGER: Outrage as IDP children feed on onion leaves

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 22 , 2019
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Rising national debt: Finance Minister
disagrees with IMF, World Bank
By Emeka
Anaeto, with
agency report
DESPITE
the
mounting complaints
over rising debt profile
amidst plans to borrow more,
Minister of Finance, Mrs
Zainab Ahmed, h<strong>as</strong> said
while government borrows
to deliver on its promises, it
w<strong>as</strong> also mindful of rising
debt burden.
She also said International
Monetary Fund, IMF, and
World Bank were not right
to indicate Nigeria w<strong>as</strong>
headed to a debt crisis.
Current data from Debt
Management Office, DMO,
shows Nigeria’s total public
debt at N24.4 trillion <strong>as</strong> at
December 2018, which
indicated almost a 10 per cent
rise over the 2017 figure.
The figure, which had
maintained a steady rise
since 2015 prompted the
National Assembly, while
looking into the 2019
Appropriation Bill (National
Budget) to query the
planned borrowing of about
N2.0 trillion to part-fund the
budget.
The IMF had, late l<strong>as</strong>t
year, raised alarm over the
rising debt burden, saying
the concern is about the
country’s weak revenue
stream, which gives adverse
debt-servicing-to-revenue
ration of about 70 percent,
the worst in Africa and about
the worst globally.
But speaking to the media
on the side-line of the just
concluded International
Monetary Fund, IMF/World
Bank meetings, which took
place in W<strong>as</strong>hington DC
from April 9 to 14, Ahmed
insisted that despite
warnings by IMF and World
Bank, the country w<strong>as</strong> not in
any way near a debt crisis.
She stated: “The World
Bank and IMF are
cautioning us on the rate at
which we are borrowing.
They are also cautioning us
on the need to build fiscal
buffers because the global
economy is going to be
facing some risks and we
agree with that.
“We are very mindful of the
level of our borrowings. Our
borrowing is very much
within fiscal limits right now.
What we are doing is to
incre<strong>as</strong>e our revenue
generating capacity to make
it e<strong>as</strong>ier for us to meet our
debt obligations and our
routine <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong> capital
expenditure.”
Speaking at the
presentation of the Regional
Economic Outlook for Sub-
Saharan Africa – Capital
Flows and the Future of Work
in Abuja l<strong>as</strong>t November,
Senior Resident
Representative and Mission
Chief for Nigeria, African
Department, Amine Mati,
said although Nigeria’s debt
to Gross Domestic Product
remained low at between 20
and 25 per cent, the country
spent a high proportion of its
revenue on debt servicing <strong>as</strong>
a result of low revenue
generation.
For Nigeria, he added:
“The debt servicing to
revenue ratio w<strong>as</strong> more than
50 per cent while for sub-
Saharan Africa, the rate w<strong>as</strong>
about 10 per cent,” a figure
he said w<strong>as</strong> too high and
reminiscent of what the
region went through in the
period following debt relief
at the beginning of the 21st
century.
On whether the conditions
for the loans were favourable
to the overall interest of
Nigeria, Ahmed said: “To
Speakership: Gbajabiamila’s camp
woos Dyegh for deputy speaker
•It’s an act of desperation —Bago campaign
By Levinus
Nwabughiogu
ABUJA—TO successfully
execute his ambition to
emerge <strong>as</strong> the Speaker of the
House of Representatives of
the 9th National Assembly,
Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila is now
making moves to reach out to
John Dyegh.
Recall that the ruling All
Progressives Congress, APC,
l<strong>as</strong>t Tuesday endorsed him <strong>as</strong>
its preferred choice for the
office. The lawmaker hails
from Lagos State, South West
geopolitical zone.
The endorsement is,
however, against the wishes
of other <strong>as</strong>pirants such <strong>as</strong>
Mohammed Bago and
Dyegh who hail from North
Central.
Bago, a three-time
lawmaker from Niger State is
Gbajabiamila’s main
challenger outside Dyegh.
Both men are contesting the
zoning to the South-West,
which they said w<strong>as</strong> at
variance with the principle of
equity, justice and fairness the
party preaches.
No sooner had the party
adopted Gbajabimila that
Dyegh formerly declared his
ambition to run for the same
office. He is a Christian
member-elect from Benue
State.
Outside him is Yusuf Buba
Yakub, a Christian from
Adamawa State, North E<strong>as</strong>t.
The duo are the only northern
Christians in the race for
speakership.
Vanguard gathered that the
consideration for Dyegh is to
weaken the momentum
Bago’s campaign w<strong>as</strong>
gathering among his
colleagues and to also give
the House leadership a
religious balancing in the
event that Gbajabiamila
emerges the speaker.
Gbajabimila’s endorsement
h<strong>as</strong> rather become
controversial one which may
have necessitated the need for
a Christian deputy.
It’s an act of
desperation—Bago
campaign
borrow, we go through
several processes of
<strong>as</strong>sessments <strong>as</strong> well <strong>as</strong>
negotiations.
“We make sure we get the
best possible terms and
whether we are borrowing
from financial institutions or
in Europe or China or
anywhere else, we try to get
the best rates of borrowing.
So far, the conditions we’ve
got are very good ones.”
BRIEFING: Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State (middle)
being briefed by AVM Idi Lubo, Team Leader of an investigation
team on the recent allegations by the State Council of Chiefs that
Air Force personnel hit wrong targets in the state killing innocent
people. Photo: NAN.
Bago’s camp is, however,
not perturbed by the move
to break into the North Central.
The spokesman of the campaign
organisation, Mr Victor
Ogene, who described the
move <strong>as</strong> an act of desperation,
stated that the quest for
the speakership remained
un<strong>as</strong>sailable for his principal.
He said it w<strong>as</strong> a genuine
<strong>as</strong>piration for the people of
North Central zone to address
the issues of equity, justice
and fairness.
He said: “The quest for
North Central to get the
speakership remains un<strong>as</strong>sailable.
We are no <strong>as</strong>king for
it out of pity.
“We are saying that effort,
even if not rewarded, must
be acknowledged and so far
all the issues we put out
there, none h<strong>as</strong> been controverted,
that is the need for
justice, equity and fairness in
the distribution of offices along
the six geopolitical zones.
“For us, we see it <strong>as</strong> a desperate
act to buy into the
North Central and weaken
their legitimate <strong>as</strong>piration for
the first position.”
Dispose recovered loot
transparently, BudgIT charges
Buhari
By Soni Daniel
ABUJA —AS the Federal
Government moves to
dispose recovered loot from
corrupt elements, the
administration h<strong>as</strong> been
<strong>as</strong>ked to adopt transparent
method in selling the loot.
An international agency
involved in monitoring
national expenditures,
BudgIT, which made the call
in a statement, yesterday,
said the request w<strong>as</strong> in line
with Nigeria’s Open
Government Partnership
National Action Plan.
“The news on the sale of
recovered <strong>as</strong>sets, which the
president h<strong>as</strong> directed the
Ministry of Finance to carry
out within six months w<strong>as</strong>
received with mixed feelings
due to the non-disclosure of
information on <strong>as</strong>sets
recovered,” the group said in
a statement by its
Communications Lead,
Adeniyi Soleye.
“With this development,
BudgIT wants to remind the
Federal Government on its
commitment to Open
Government partnership,
which relates to <strong>as</strong>set recovery
- to strengthen Nigeria’s <strong>as</strong>set
recovery legislation including
non-conviction b<strong>as</strong>ed
confiscation powers and the
introduction of unexplained
wealth orders.
“A favourable framework
would have been the
enactment of the Proceeds of
Crime Act, POCA, which h<strong>as</strong>
been p<strong>as</strong>sed by the Senate but
awaiting p<strong>as</strong>sage by the
House of Representatives.
“If the bill w<strong>as</strong> p<strong>as</strong>sed, it
would have provided for an
effective legal and institutional
framework for the recovery
and management of the
proceeds of crime or benefits
derived from unlawful
activities."
“We have not seen
incre<strong>as</strong>ed interest in the
Nigerian government to
institutionalise the process of
disposing of <strong>as</strong>sets recovered
<strong>as</strong> proceeds of crime."
“We also notice that the
monthly publication of reports
of the recovered <strong>as</strong>sets and
utilization, <strong>as</strong> provided by the
OGP secretariat, stated that an
audit committee set up by the
President is verifying all
recovered <strong>as</strong>sets."
FMBN disburses N58bn
By Emma Ujah,
Abuja Bureau Chief
THE Federal Mortgage
Bank of Nigeria, FMBN,
h<strong>as</strong> disbursed N58billion to
its customers.
Group Head, Corporate
Communications, Mr.
Zubaida Umar, disclosed this
in a statement in Abuja,
yesterday.
According to him, the
disbursement, which w<strong>as</strong>
recorded in the l<strong>as</strong>t years w<strong>as</strong>
due to “historic improvements
in the speed and scale of
FMBN’s mortgage loan
operations.” He added that
the sum w<strong>as</strong> disbursed to 23,
600 beneficiaries.
Umar gave details of the
disbursement: “Current
company performance
statistics reveal that between
April 2017 (when the current
management took office) and
March 2019, the FMBN
posted strong performance
and disbursed mortgage
loans totalling N58 billion.
The amount covers the
provision of National
Housing Fund, NHF,
mortgage loans to 3,171
Nigerian workers valued at
N22.3 billion.
“Home Renovation Loans
valued at N16.9 billion to
20,429 Nigerian workers.
Estate Development Loans
valued at N13.6 billion.
Cooperative Development
Loans totalling N2.7 billion
and Ministerial Pilot Housing
Scheme Project at N2.5
billion.”
The high level of loan
disbursements, averaging
N29 billion per annum, he
said, represented a
significant incre<strong>as</strong>e in
performance in comparison to
the N152 bn, which the bank
had given out over a 24-year
period at an average of N6.3
bn per annum (1992 – April
2017).
Additionally, the FMBN he
said also posted strong
performance in the
processing of applications for
refund of contributions to the
National Housing Fund
(NHF) by workers who have
retired from service.
The company processed
120,759 NHF refund c<strong>as</strong>es
and paid out a total of
N16.5bn between April 2017
and March 2019.
The amount, which the new
Management h<strong>as</strong> recorded
in terms of NHF refunds in
about 24 months, exceeded
the total of N10.8bn recorded
between 1992 and April
2017, when the current
Management took office.
Furthermore, the FMBN
within the period under
review, funded the
construction of 6,538
housing units across the
country.
FMBN Managing
Director, MD, Mr Ahmed
Dangiwa, according to
Umar, said that the results
reflected the p<strong>as</strong>sion of
Management to reposition
the FMBN on the path of
greater impact,
responsiveness, and
professionalism.