The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that if the Nigerian government extends the petrol subsidy bill by 18 months, it will be forced to rely on overdrafts from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The “Nigeria: Selected Issues Paper” report was prepared by an IMF staff team as background documentation for the Fund’s periodic consultation with Nigeria.

It was noted that the fuel subsidy has a negative impact on the country’s fiscal position, resulting in an increase in the fiscal deficit.
According to the Washington-based lender, “Implicit fuel subsidies have a significant negative impact on Nigeria’s fiscal position, which is estimated to increase the overall fiscal deficit by around one percentage point of the Gross Domestic Product in 2021.”

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It added that despite much higher oil prices, the general government fiscal deficit is projected to be significantly worse at 6.3 per cent of the GDP, compared to 4.7 per cent of GDP in the 2020 Article IV staff report.

It said it is mainly reflecting the reemergence of implicit fuel subsidies and higher spending in the supplementary budget for security and vaccine costs.

The report opined that the government would likely depend hugely on domestic financing sources, which include borrowing from the CBN, saying that fuel subsidy has been a substantial burden on the country.

It assumed that implicit fuel subsidies exist only until mid-2022, as stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Act and assumed in the draft 2022 budget, pointing out that fiscal vulnerabilities remain elevated with public debt continuously increasing from 35 per cent of the GDP in 2020 to over 42 per cent in 2026.

With limited IFI funding, the report stated that fiscal financing for large implicit subsidy costs is likely to depend heavily on domestic sources, including overdrafts from the CBN.

It stated that the recent re-emergence of implicit fuel subsidies has levied a considerable burden on Nigeria’s fiscal position, that could have been spent more effectively on pro-poor interventions.

The World Bank had, however, warned the Federal Government against financing its deficits by borrowing from the CBN through the Ways and Means Advances, saying that it puts fiscal pressures on the country’s expenditures.

It observed that central bank financing and fuel subsidy regime tend to adversely affect investments in human and physical capital.

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The report said that the Federal Government’s total borrowing from the CBN through Ways and Means Advances had ballooned by 2,286 per cent to N15.51tn in six years, according to the central bank data, stressing that N15.51tn owed by the Federal Government to the central bank is not part of the country’s total public debt stock, which stood at N38tn as of September 2021.

A landmine explosion rocked an operational vehicle of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger state, killing four people instantly and seriously injuring the driver.

Mohammed Ibrahim, an Assistant Superintendent of Corps 1, Cheche Ahmed, an Assistant Superintendent of Corps 11, Yunusa Mahmam, an Inspector of Corps, and BALA Abdullahi, a Corps Assistant 1, were among the dead personnel.

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Inspector Bala Adamu was identified as the vehicle’s driver.

The corps spokesman, DCC Odumosu Olusola, said in a statement released Monday in Abuja that the injured driver had been rushed to the hospital and is currently receiving
treatment.
Olusola said: “The explosion occured along Galadiman kogo axis in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger state at the early hours of Monday morning involving some officers and men of NSCDC Niger command attached to Shiroro HYDRO Power Station, Shiroro, Niger state on a routine patrol in the early hours of Monday morning when their patrol vehicle stepped on a buried land mine which exploded immediately killing all occupants except the driver who is currently in a very critical condition.

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“The Commandant-General, NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, PhD, has commiserated with families of the deceased officers and men who paid the supreme price in service to the Nation and reassured residents of Niger of the Corp’s resolve and commitment to the security of lives and property of Nigerians without deterrence.”

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged all nations, institutions, and bodies, both private and public, to return any Nigerian artifacts they may have.

Buhari’s request came after the return of two important Nigerian artefacts from Britain, according to Garba Shehu, the president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity.

The Benin monarch, Oba Ewuare II, received two of the artifacts looted from Benin Kingdom during the 1897 British military expedition – Okpa (Cockerel) and Uhunwun Elao (Oba head) – on Saturday, according to Reports.

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The returned cockerel, valued at £2million and the Oba’s head, valued and insured for £500,000 pounds, were presented on to the Oba by the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Sarafa Isola.

They were repatriated from the University of Cambridge and University of Aberdeen, respectively, in the United Kingdom, after 125 years of their leaving the territory of present day Nigeria.

Urging other countries to take a cue from the institutions, President Buhari vowed that the federal government will pursue the repatriation of Nigerian artefacts vigorously.

He pledged that government would ensure that they are put to good and proper use on their return in museums and other facilities in conjunction with the royal families and kingdoms that lost these artifacts.

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The president noted that in line with international law and practice, export, import and control over antiquities are matters within the purview of national governments to be exercised on behalf of sub-national authorities, institutions and bodies.

He thanked the government of the United Kingdom that facilitated the return of these artefacts by issuing the prerequisite Export Permits to Nigeria at no cost, as well as the University of Cambridge and the University of Aberdeen who agreed to return these artifacts to Nigeria.

”These are unprecedented moves worth emulating by others,” he said, adding that the federal government hopes to work hand in hand in the future to encourage the return of more Nigerian artefacts from the United Kingdom.

”I also want to appreciate the Federal Republic of Germany which is planning the process of repatriating 1,130 Benin Bronzes to Nigeria from many of Germany’s public museums. These returns are scheduled for this year,” he said.

President Buhari also commended the High Commissioner of Nigeria to the United Kingdom, Sarafa Ishola, and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) for their collaborative works that led to the repatriation of these artefacts.

He said it is noteworthy that several others are currently in the process of being returned while discussions are ongoing to repatriate many more.

President Buhari recounted that the artefacts now returned to the Oba of Benin were taken away by British soldiers in 1897 when they attacked the ancient Benin Kingdom and took thousands of artefacts away.

”These artifacts are part of the records of the history of the Benin people.

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”My directive to return these artefacts to the Oba of Benin marks the beginning of another aspect in the highly valued relationship between the federal government of Nigeria and our traditional institutions who are indeed the true custodians of our history, customs and traditions.

”This directive is also significant because it will introduce a working relationship between the federal government as represented by the NCMM and the traditional institutions whereby this commission negotiates the release of antiquities from foreign museums and institutions on behalf of Nigeria and the traditional institutions that lost the antiquities and jointly they all take steps to ensure the valourisation of Nigerian and Nigerian people through these great arts and cultural emblems,” the president explained.

The number of new registrants in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) has reached 6,082,639, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a CVR Quarter 3, Week 7 update released on Monday in Abuja, the commission also revealed that 3,329,204 Nigerians had completed their registration at the time of the update.

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It stated that 1,373,240 people registered online, while 1,955,964 people registered in person, with 28,711 people with disabilities (PWDs).

According to INEC, males made up 1,675,318 of those who completed their registration, while females made up 1,653,886, with 2,310,554 being youth between the ages of 18 and 24.
It also stated that 10,329,413 million registered voters applied for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and update of voter information records.

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The commission noted that 5,506,557 million of the applications were from male voters and 4,822,856 million from female voters, while 100,610 were from PWDS.

The family and lawyer of detained Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu have expressed concern about his safety, claiming that they have reason to believe he is still alive.

Prince Emmanuel Kanu, Kanu’s younger brother, said in a statement that he visited the Department of State Services (DSS) headquarters in Abuja, where the IPOB leader is currently detained, but was not allowed to see him.
Prince, who claimed he was at the DSS headquarters on Thursday last week to see his brother as ordered by the Court but was denied access, expressed concern about the DSS’s decision.

He said he was no longer convinced that his brother was in good shape or even alive, hence, the DSS denied family access to him.

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“I have been denied access to see Mazi Nnamdi Kanu (IPOB Leader) on two separate occasions at the Department of State Security Services Abuja.

“It goes to show that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s life is in grave danger. It remains the order of the court that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu must be seen twice weekly, Mondays and Thursdays.

“Why can’t I see him? Has he been killed or poisoned? There must be proof of life. We demand proof of life,” he said.
Similarly, Kanu’s Special Counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, took to his Twitter handle to demand explanations for the action of the DSS which he said was suspicious.

“Last Thursday, we were not allowed visitation with Onyendu because, according to DSS, the “special squad” in charge of visitations went on outside assignment.

“They asked us to come on Monday, and today, we were at DSS. They are telling us the same thing. We disagree!”

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Kanu’s lawyer, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), had during Kanu’s last court appearance on Wednesday, February 16, informed the presiding judge, Justice Binta Nyako that DSS had not allowed Kanu a change of clothes despite the court’s earlier order.

The DSS claimed that the clothes brought to him by the family had an “Isiagu” insignia that should not be tolerated.