Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy says President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved an emergency economic plan that would be implemented within the next six months.

Edun made this known on Tuesday in Abuja during the sectoral report of President Bola Tinubu’s first year in office.

He stated that the president gave the approval to further stabilise the economy.

“A fresh intervention approval from Mr. President today is the economic emergency plan for stabilising the economy and to be implemented over the next six months,” Edun said.

“This was put together by the president’s economic team, by the private sector representatives, by the sub-national or the state governments.

“We have all sat together in recent weeks and we had a package from the President’s desk this afternoon for his approval.

“Why it was afternoon was because it was this morning that we got the final clearance from a state governor who had said he wanted the final chance to review  the inputs.

”With that clearance, we’re now good to go in terms of the major economic plan for mr. president to approve.”

Speaking further, the minister said the government now has enough to clear debts.

According to Edun, unlike when the administration came into power, the government did not have enough to pay its way.

He said through the implementation of technological change and procedures, the revenue of the country has been totally revamped and increased substantially.

“What that means is that the government can now pay its way. The government is paying its debt service without resulting in Ways and Means, particularly international debt service,” the minister said.

“That process that has been put in place, is one that we have mandated not just by Mr. President, but even the national assembly in passing the 2024 budget, insisted that Nigeria’s money that was in the hands of parastatals, agencies, or other enterprises needed to be brought in.

“That has been done by the government, not in as comfortable a situation as we would like to be, but onwards where we’ve paid our way domestically, internationally.”

Edun also said outstanding payments of $200 million have been made with the Islamic Development Bank in shareholding.

“Things that do not allow confidence to be built and do not allow Nigerians to have that vital place when they sit at a table and they are pulling money. All those are a thing of the past. They have all been paid out,” he added.

On economic growth, Edun said Nigeria’s economy is experiencing a positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 2.98 percent  compared to the 2.3 percent growth seen in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023.

He said the agricultural sector, which is critical to the economy, is now showing marginal growth.

“This growth in agriculture provides the monetary authority with the leverage needed to stabilise foreign exchange (FX) rates,” he said.

“By continuing on this path and intensifying our efforts, we are on track to lift many Nigerians out of poverty.

“This sector’s progress is expected to play a significant role in combating inflation, especially through a favourable wet season harvest that should stabilise food prices.”

Edun said the ministry is, therefore, looking at a situation where inflation comes down.

He said when the inflation rate comes down, it would give the monetary authorities a chance to stabilise the exchange rate, as well as an opportunity for interest rates to come down and investments to come in.

This, Edun said, would in turn increase productivity, create more jobs, and reduce poverty.

Credit: The Cable.

Two separate statements issued by Bayo Onanuga and Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokespersons, about President Bola Tinubu’s activities commemorating his one year in office has sparked confusion.

Magaji Tambuwal, clerk of the national assembly, on Tuesday morning, said Tinubu would deliver an address on the “state of the nation” at the joint sitting of the senate and house of representatives.

He also added that the president will also inaugurate the national assembly library.

Hours later, Onanuga, presidential special adviser on information and strategy, corroborated Tambuwal’s statement, noting that Tinubu’s address at the parliament is part of the activities to mark his one year in office.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will not make a broadcast to the nation on Wednesday to celebrate his first anniversary as the leader of Nigeria,” Onanuga said in a statement.

“Instead, the President will address a joint session of the National Assembly, which has lined up a programme to commemorate 25 years of the nation’s democratic journey at both the executive and legislative levels.

“President Tinubu’s speech will dwell on the achievements of his administration and Nigeria’s democracy since the military ceded power in 1999.

“Former Senate President, Senator David Mark, former speaker of the House of Representatives and now President Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, are all lined up to address the parliament.

“Also lined up to speak is the former military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, who handed over power to civilian administration in 1999.

“At the end of the speeches, President Tinubu will commission the National Assembly Library and Resource Center, now to be known as the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Building. Bayo Onanuga Special Adviser on Information & Strategy, May 28, 2024”.

However, in a separate statement, Ngelale, special adviser to the president on media and publicity, said Tinubu will not address the national assembly, describing Tambuwal and Onanuga’s statements as “false”.

“In view of public commentary concerning the President delivering a speech before a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly tomorrow, May 29, 2024, it is important to state that this information is false and unauthorized as the Office of the President was not involved in the planning of the event,” Ajuri said in a statement.

Godwin Emefiele, the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is on trial. Ahmed Umar, a former director of operations at the apex bank, on Tuesday, told the court that Emefiele’s late 2022 naira redesign was not approved by the Committee of Governors.

Recall that Emefiele was charged by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on May 15 before Federal Capital Territory High Court Judge Maryanne Anenih with offences related to purportedly illegal redesign and printing of the new naira notes.

In the charge marked CR/264/2024, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele carried out the naira redesign policy without the approval of the  CBN Board and President, Buhari.

The anti-graft agency said without the approval of the CBN Board and the President Muhammadu Buhari, Emefiele spent N18.96bn for the printing and swapping of new naira notes worth N684.5m.

It alleged that Emefiele, “knowingly disobeying the direction of Section 19 of the CBN Act, 2007”  approved “the printing of N375,520,000.00 pieces of colour swapped N1,000 notes, at the total cost of N11,052, 068,062 without the recommendation of the Board of Central Bank and the strict approval of the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, among other things.”

The EFCC, at the trial opening on Tuesday, fielded ex-CBN Director of Operations,  Umar, as its first witness.

Led in evidence by the EFCC prosecutor,  Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), Umar told the court that his department in 2022 was directed to come up with the new design for the naira.

“The management of CBN directed my department to come up with a memo on the design of the naira note sometime in August 2022.

“We prepared the bill with the Committee of Governors and passed it through the line Deputy Governor Operations, which he forwarded to the Governor and it was listed for consideration by the Committee of Governors.”

The ex-director, who told the court that he joined CBN 35 years ago and retired in July 2023, explained that the Committee of Governors comprised five members, including the CBN Governor as chairman.

The witness told the court that the naira redesign memo was presented to the Committee of Governors for their consideration/ review on October 26, 2022, but the committee did not approve it.

Umar said, “We humbly requested the implementation of the amendment. (But) the extract from the COG did not approve item one and item three. While item two was modified to include N200 denomination, the proposal for the exercise in 2023 wasn’t approved by the COG.

“The procedure requires the Board of Directors to recommend to the President for design and form.

“The design shall be contained in the currency after the approval of the President then the production of the currency will commence.”

Justice Anenih, admitted in evidence, the Certified True Copy of the memorandum filed by the Operations Department and marked it as Exhibit A.

The EFCC, in the charges, accused Emefiele of spending N4.4bn to print “coloured swapped N500 notes.”

According to the EFCC, Emefiele spent N3.4bn to print “137,070 pieces of coloured N200 notes.”

The EFCC said Emefiele carried out the alleged actions between October 2022 and March 2023 in Abuja in clear violation of Section 19 of the CBN Act.

The EFCC alleged that Emefiele disobeyed the direction of the law with the intent to cause injury to the public with the manner in which he implemented the naira swap policy.

Emefiele was also accused of unlawfully approving the withdrawal of N124.8bn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

The ex-apex bank chief, however, denied all the allegations, pleading not guilty.