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Presidency Replies New York Times Article, Says Tinubu Didn’t Create Current Economic Problems

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Nigeria’s current economic issues, according to the presidency, are not President Bola Tinubu’s fault.

Bayo Onanuga, the president’s special adviser on information and strategy, claimed that Tinubu inherited the country’s economic woes in a statement released on Sunday in response to a New York Times article titled “Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation.”

According to Onanuga, the report mirrored “the conventional predetermined, reductionist, disparaging, and dehumanising way foreign media establishments covered African countries for a number of decades.”

The spokesperson claimed that the publication only highlighted the negative experiences of some Nigerians during the previous year’s inflationary spiral and placed all the blame on Tinubu’s administration’s policies. The publication made no mention of the economy’s positive aspects.

“The report, based on several interviews, is at best jaundiced, all gloom and doom, as it never mentioned the positive aspects of the same economy as well as the ameliorative policies being implemented by the central and state governments,” Onanuga said.

“To be sure, President Tinubu did not create the economic problems Nigeria faces today. He inherited them. As a respected economist in our country once put it, Tinubu inherited a dead economy.

“The economy was bleeding and needed quick surgery to avoid being plunged into the abyss, as happened in Zimbabwe and Venezuela. This was the background to the policy direction taken by the government in May/June 2023: the abrogation of the fuel subsidy regime and the unification of the multiple exchange rates.”

Defending the decision to remove the petrol subsidy, Onanuga said it gulped $84.39 billion between 2005 and 2022 from the public treasury in a country with huge infrastructural deficits and in high need of better social services for its citizens.

He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, the sole importer of petrol, had “amassed trillions of naira in debts for absorbing the unsustainable subsidy payments” in its books.

“By the time President Tinubu took over the leadership of the country, there was no provision made for fuel subsidy payments in the national budget beyond June 2023,” the spokesperson said.

“The budget itself had a striking feature: it planned to spend 97 percent of revenue servicing debt, with little left for recurrent or capital expenditure. The previous government had resorted to massive borrowing to cover such costs.”

According to Onanuga, to deal with the cancer of public finance on the first day, Tinubu had to end the subsidy regime and the “generosity that spread to neighbouring countries”.

Onanuga also added that the government was also subsidising the exchange rate as it was with oil in a bid to defend the naira against the “unquenchable demand” for the dollar.

The spokesperson said the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spent an estimated $1.5 billion monthly to defend the local currency against the American greenback.

He said subsidising the exchange rate encouraged arbitrage as the gap between the official and parallel markets’ rates widened, and at the same time, the country was unable to fulfil its remittance obligations to airlines and other foreign businesses.

“Like oil, the exchange rate was also being subsidised by the government, with an estimated $1.5 billion spent monthly by the CBN to ‘defend’ the currency against the unquenchable demand for the dollar by the country’s import-dependent economy,” he said.

“By keeping the rate low, arbitrage grew as a gulf existed between the official rate and the rate being used by over 5000 BDCs that were previously licensed by the Central Bank. What was more, the country was failing to fulfil its remittance obligations to airlines and other foreign businesses, such that FDIs and investment in the oil sector dried up, and notably Emirate Airlines cut off the Nigerian route.”

He said the president’s administration also floated the naira to deal with the cancer of public finance.

However, Onanuga said stability is being restored in the foreign exchange markets since the naira depreciated to an all-time low of N1,900/$, although he acknowledged there are still challenges.

“The exchange rate is now below N1500 to the dollar, and there are prospects that the naira could regain its muscle and appreciate to between N1000 and N1200 before the end of the year,” added.

He also said the economy recorded a trade surplus of N6.52 trillion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2024, against a deficit of N1.4 trillion in Q4 of 2023.

Highlighting other positives from the reforms within Tinubu’s first year, Onanuga said portfolio investors have streamed in as long-term investors.

“When Diageo wanted to sell its stake in Guinness Nigeria, it had the Singaporean conglomerate, Tolaram, ready for the uptake,” the spokesperson said.

“With the World Bank extending a $2.25 billion loan and other loans by the AfDB and Afreximbank coming in, Nigeria has become bankable again. This is all because the reforms being implemented have restored some confidence.”

Onanuga said the inflationary rate is slowing down according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data for April.

“Food inflation remains the biggest challenge, and the government is working very hard to rein it in with increased agricultural production. The Tinubu administration and the 36 states are working assiduously to produce food in abundance to reduce the cost,” he said.

“Some state governments, such as Lagos and Akwa Ibom, have set up retail shops to sell raw food items to residents at a lower price than the market price. The Tinubu government, in November last year, in consonance with its food emergency declaration, invested heavily in dry-season farming, giving farmers incentives to produce wheat, maize, and rice.

“The CBN has donated N100 billion worth of fertiliser to farmers, and numerous incentives are being implemented. In the western part of Nigeria, the six governors have announced plans to invest massively in agriculture.”

According to the special adviser, with all the plans being executed, inflation, especially food inflation, will soon be tamed.

Onanuga said Nigeria is not the only country in the world facing a rising cost of living crisis, adding that the United States is also experiencing a similar situation, “with families finding it hard to make ends meet.”.

“US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised this concern recently. Europe is similarly in the throes of a cost-of-living crisis. As those countries are trying to confront the problem, the Tinubu administration is also working hard to overturn the economic problems in Nigeria,” he said.

Onanuga said Nigeria faced economic difficulties in the past, and just as the country overcame them, the present difficulties will soon be quelled.

BIG STORY

BREAKING: Nigeria’s National Grid Collapses Again, 10th Time In 2024

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Nigeria’s national grid has collapsed again for the 10th time in 2024.

This was revealed by the National grid’s X handle.

This revelation was made after several Nigerians complained of a sudden disappearance of power supply in their houses.

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

Oil Marketers Counter Dangote Refinery On Substandard Products Claim, Say “It’s False”

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Oil marketers, under the umbrella of the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), have rejected claims by the Dangote refinery suggesting that cheaper petrol sold by other marketers is substandard.

On November 3, the Dangote refinery stated that any oil marketer offering petrol below its price is likely importing inferior products.

The refinery emphasized that its prices are aligned with international benchmarks and the rates at which the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited sells to local marketers after deregulation.

In response, DAPPMAN’s executive secretary, Olufemi Adewole, issued a statement on Tuesday, asserting that none of the association’s members are involved in the importation of low-quality products into Nigeria.

“We have said this for the umpteenth time, and it bears repeating, those in the downstream sector business of petroleum products trade are patriotic Nigerians who will not shortchange Nigerian citizens for filthy lucre,” Adewole said.

“Our members are in this business to add value to the businesses of their fellow Nigerians and not to defraud them.

“Prices of products in the international market are dynamic as they are dictated by prevailing circumstances at every given situation. We calculate our landing costs based on the dynamics of market forces, and the templates are always in the public domain.

“To claim that if the landing cost of imported product happens to be lower than that of the refinery indicates importation of low quality product is not only preposterous, but also fallacious. In any case, the management of the refinery has, until now, kept its cost and prices close to its chest and put it away from public scrutiny.”

Adewole said the refinery’s comment is targeted at projecting DAPPMAN’s members negatively before the public.

He also said such claims cannot help the company’s desire to have oil marketers patronise its products.

“What will ensure such patronage is transparency, fairplay, and readiness to compete with others, including foreign refineries, on an even keel and on a level playing field,” he added.

The DAPPMAN executive secretary said the company’s claim that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) does not have a modern laboratory to test imported fuel is false.

“A regulator must have access to modern, state of the art laboratory at every point in time, whether owned by it or others. Such laboratories must be of world standard,” he said.

“The regulator, and indeed, the marketers, have access to such world-class laboratories, which include: SGS, Inspectorate, and Interterk, among others.

“If fuel marketers were bringing in off-spec fuel, this wouldn’t have been difficult to detect. How many vehicles in the last one year have reported engine problems resulting from bad fuel? Where are the reports about environmental pollution occasioned by the usage of low quality fuel?

“It is a false statement to claim that any product brought in with a landing price lower than the price offered by the Dangote Refinery is a substandard product.

“It is the management of the refinery that will need to tweak its template to reflect the crude for naira sales and other incentives which the federal government has graciously extended to the refinery.”

Adewole also said the members were surprised to know that the refinery has a 500 million litres fuel reserve.

“We were surprised because we believe that if the Refinery has such huge stock, it is the marketers that should be put in the know first,” the executive secretary said.

“Secondly, it was even more surprising given that the news came about the time the refinery was working on rationing what each marketer could pick from the refinery. If they had such huge stock, how is it then that they are rationing what marketers could buy.”

Adewole said the association will continue to play by the rules and will not be tired of advocating for a level playing field, and a competitive and transparent sector.

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BIG STORY

Doyin Okupe Reacts To Peter Obi’s Viral Video, Says I Cannot Support Him Again

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Doyin Okupe, the former director-general of the Labour Party (LP) presidential campaign in 2023, says he “cannot support” Peter Obi again.

Okupe spoke on Monday during an interview with Seun Okinbaloye on Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He was reacting to a viral clip of Obi commenting on how the country’s economic situation offers little relief to people in the south-west, despite President Bola Tinubu being from the zone.

“Let us talk about what is happening today. Rice is about N100,000. We are not even sure where we are going to be. ‘It’s our turn’, ‘he is a Yoruba man’ — ask the people in Ogun, here is there any place you people buy bread cheaper?” Obi said in the viral clip.

The video generated mixed reactions on social media, with some supporting Obi’s comments while others criticised him.

Adding his voice to the criticism, Okupe described the former LP presidential candidate’s remark as an “insult” to people in the south-west.

He said Obi’s statement publicly demeaned the south-west, even though “eminent Yoruba people” had supported him during his presidential campaign in 2023.

“When Obi made that statement, it insulted us. I am a Yoruba man; I left everything and followed Obi.

“For the first time, Obasanjo left his circle of influence and deviated to support Obi,” Okupe said.

“I do not regret supporting Peter Obi. But now I cannot do it again. The reason why I did it was because we agreed that a southern president must emerge.

“I was approached that if a southern president must emerge, which zone must it come to? I said the south-east.

“If all these eminent Yoruba people supported you, why now bring us down publicly? It is wrong.”

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