The Debt Management Office says Nigeria’s total public debt as of September 2019 stood at N26.215 trillion.
The Director-General of DMO, Ms Patience Oniha, made this known during a presentation of Public Debt Data as of September 30, 2019, in Abuja on Friday.
Oniha explained that the debt comprised those of the Federal Government, 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory’s debts within the period.
She said the comparative figure for June 2019 was N25.701 trillion, which implied that in the quarter of July to September 2019, the total public debt grew by 2.0 per cent.
She said the total public debt as of September 2019 included promissory notes in the tune of N821.651 billion, which she said, were issued to settle the Federal Government’s arrears to oil marketing companies and state governments.
The director-general said the 2019 Appropriation Act provided for a total new borrowing of N1.605 trillion split equally between domestic and external, adding that only the domestic component of N802.82 billion was raised due to the late passage of the 2019 budget.
“Among the highlights of the DMO’s achievements for 2019 was the issuance of a 30-year bond for the first time.
“The introduction of the 30-year bond was to meet the investment needs of long-term investors such as insurance companies and support the development of domestic financial markets in areas such as mortgages,” she said.
According to her, from the Federal Government’s perspective, the 30-year bond also contributed to reducing the refinancing risks of the public debt stock.
Oniha stated that the borrowing was to finance specific projects and activities of the government as well as to finance deficit budget.
She further explained that due process, which involved the executive and legislature, was followed.
The DMO, however, expressed regret that the discussion around the debt was politically motivated.
Catholic church priest, Revd. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, performed spiritual cleansing of the Imo State governor’s office, as Senator Hope Uzodinma assumed office on Wednesday.
Security men and civil servants at the State Government House in Owerri, the state capital, told our correspondent on Friday that the priest, who had predicted the victory of the new governor in his prophecies on new year’s eve, was at the Government House for over three hours on Wednesday when the governor was sworn-in.
It was gathered that Mbaka, who came in company with another priest, his aides, and church members, also prayed for the staff at the Government House including the security operatives attached there.
One of our sources in the government house said, “Fr. Mbaka was here (Government House) on Wednesday. He was the one who dedicated the governor’s office. He was here for over three hours. He came with another priest, Fr Otimbodombo, and his church workers.
“He was in one of the cars for a long time before he came down and dedicated the governor’s office. We later besieged him and he started blessing us and blessed our sacramentals and chaplets.
“Fr Mbaka personally prayed for me and I was happy. He blessed my chaplet which I will be using for prayers. They left after staying for, at least, three hours. ”
Our correspondent learnt that the priest, who did not go to Heroes Square Arena where the new governor was sworn-in, left for Enugu, his base, after the spiritual exercise at the government house.
The Ondo State Police Command, on Friday, confirmed the arrest of a man identified as Elike Chubuzor, suspected to be the abductor of a one-year-old boy, Gold Kolawole.
Little Kolawole went missing on the premises of a popular church, Sotitobire Praising Chapel, at Oshinle area of Akure, the Ondo state capital.
The boy was abducted during the church service by unknown person(s) at the children section of the church, in November 2019.
Thereafter, the founder of the church, Prophet Alfa Babatunde, was arrested by the men of the Department of State Services and currently standing trial at a magistrates’ court.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Femi Joseph, while confirming the arrest, said the 39-year-old suspect, who adopted ‘Adamu’ as his name, claimed to have the baby in his custody in Akure.
Also confirming the development, the counsel for Babatunde, Mr Sola Oke, said the suspect was arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he fled to.
Oke alleged that the suspect committed the offence to implicate Babatunde in the matter.
He called on the police command to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter
The High Court of the Federal Capital Territory in Kubwa, Abuja, on Friday, reaffirmed its earlier order sacking Ifeanyi Ubah of the Young Peoples Party as the senator representing Anambra South.
The judge, Justice Bello Kawu, in a ruling, declined Ubah’s request to set aside the earlier order issued in a judgment delivered by the court on April 11, 2019.
The judge had, in the said earlier judgment, sacked Ubah for allegedly submitting a forged National Examination Council certificate to contest the February 23, 2019, senatorial election.
The judge had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to withdraw the certificate of return issued to Ubah.
He directed that a fresh one be issued to Dr Obinna Uzoh of the Peoples Democratic Party, who came second at the election.
But Ubah had subsequently filed an application before the court praying for an order setting aside the judgment on the grounds that occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against him.
He said he was not served with the court processes or the hearing notice throughout the proceedings leading to the judgment.
On December 4, Justice Kawu granted an order of stay of execution restraining the Senate President from swearing-in Uzoh, pending the hearing and determination of Ubah’s application.
The judge also ordered all parties to the suit including the INEC to maintain status quo in the meantime.
But ruling on Friday, the judge dismissed the application for lacking in merit.
It also dismissed a motion another claimant to the PDP senatorial ticket, Chief Chris Uba, filed to be joined as an interested party in the substantive suit.
The substantive suit marked CV/3044/2018 was filed before the court by a registered voter in Anambra State, Mr Anani Chuka.
Governor of Imo state, Senator Hope Uzodinma, on Thursday announced his first appointments as he takes over the State Government House.
Uzodinma was declared the authentic winner of the 2019 governorship election in Imo State by the Supreme Court during the week.
He was handed his Certificate of Return by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC on Wednesday .
He was then sworn-in barely 24 hours after the court sacked Emeka Ihedioha of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Yesterday, he named the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Attorney, General, Chief of Staff and Chief press Secretary.
Chief Cosmas Iwu was appointed as the SSG of the State while Barrister COC Akaolisa steps in as the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice.
Others are Chief Nnamdi Anyaehie who was appointed as Chief of Staff and Oguike Nwachukwu who takes the position of the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, CPS.
The Minority Leader of the Senate, Enyinnaya Abaribe, has urged the Peoples Democratic Party not to despair over the Supreme Court ruling that removed the erstwhile governor of Imo State, Emeka Ihedioha.
He said, “This is not the time for blame game as this dark hour will surely pass away.”
Abaribe stated this in a statement by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Awom, in Abuja on Friday.
He said, “These are times that make hearts and will falter. But as the Holy book says …this too shall pass away.
“For our friend and brother Emeka Ihedioha, courage is the name. This will also pass away.
“Your valedictory speech is heartwarming. It shows that there will be a rosy tomorrow from today’s despondency.
“For all of us in the PDP, this is not a time for blames. When men are bent on evil, they will not stop, but ultimately the will of the people shall prevail,” he said.
He urged PDP leaders and members to take the judgement in good faith in deference to the protection of the sanctity of institutions of governance.
He, however, warned of an imminent weakening of some critical agencies of democracy with the verdict.
He said the Independent National Electoral Commission could become lame duck when certified results of units are taken from sources other than INEC, without calling the units’ witnesses as already established by the same Supreme Court in a similar case involving former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, recently.
He said, “What it means is that results from security agencies like Civil defence, Army, Navy and even community ones like Hisba, JTF, among others, would be more sacrosanct and acceptable than the official INEC tabulation.”
He said the painful outcome of the legal process has again raised poignant questions that should ignite serious calls for total reforms of the electoral and governance structures in Nigeria.
He said, “The stark reality in the circumstance is that the Apex Court is the final arbiter and its decisions must be respected at all times.
“Nonetheless, the contradictions in the final analysis, especially when the statistics of who-got-what in the State Assembly among the various political parties are put side by side in the result that was recorded same day with the governorship election.
“How many Houses of Assembly members in Imo State did APC produce in the Election that was held on the same day as this governorship election in question?
“PDP won 13 seats, AA won eight, APGA won six while the APC won none of the 27 seats in the state assembly.
“And now by this Judgement, the APC that did not win any seat in the House of Assembly in the election that was held and collated the same day won the Imo State Governorship Election at the Supreme Court. APC should not gloat.”
Serve With Skirts Movement, an advocacy group was on Wednesday, stage a peaceful protest at the Unity Fountain in Abuja to demand inclusion of skirts as part of the uniform for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Members of the group, comprising of young boys and girls, held banners with inscriptions like “there is a difference between the world and the daughters of God”, “We cannot dress like the world”, “our sisters cannot dress like men. They should be decently covered”, among others, with some of the female members dressed in Khaki skirts.
According to them, year after year, female corps members are harassed at orientation camps for refusing to wear skirts. This, they said, is a breach of their fundamental human rights under Section 38(1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
A leader of the group, Udochi Emmanuel, said the use of trousers is evoking immorality in the camps. In the 1970s and 1980s, she said, “we had our mothers wearing skirts and we want to go back to that.”
“We have asked for exemption (sic) severally. NYSC has not given that as an option, they have made it a compulsory one-year service for everyone below the age of 30 and they are mandated to wear those clothes.
“We have already started negotiations (with the government) and we hope that from this dialogue we will get a favourable response,” she said.
When asked if don’t they get what they are seeking for Ms Emmanuel said they “may need to ask for redress in the court.”
We Want Skirts Included In NYSC Uniform – Serve With Skirts Movement Protests
A corps member, Patience Noble, who was part of the protest, told journalists that she was posted to Ebonyi State for service and when she insisted on wearing a skirt, she was asked to leave camp.
“As a citizen of my country, I have the right to serve the nation just like every other graduate has. They insisted that I wear this trouser or leave the camp. During the camp there were lots of insults and humiliation – one of military tore the skirts I was wearing on my body.”
The protest comes barely two months after two members of the 2019 NYSC Stream C in Ebonyi State, were sent home from camp for refusing to wear trousers.
The NYSC spokesperson in the state, Ngozi Ukwuoma, explained that when the duo was accosted and interrogated, they disclosed that they could not wear the white shorts and the trousers given to them by the NYSC since it was against their faith.
Efforts were, however, made by the office of the Camp Director to make them see the reason why they must obey the rules and regulations guiding the orientation and NYSC, but all efforts to do that were futile, she said.
This act generated controversy among Nigerians as many were torn between allowing skirt as part of the NYSC uniform or not.
Although the NYSC act does not clearly state what the uniform should be, it only said the corps members should accept and wear whatever is given to them.
Section 3(1)(ix) of the NYSC bye-laws states that every corps member shall “wear the various uniforms provided for the activities.”
It also says “any member who refuses, fails or neglects to comply with this rule shall be tried by the Camp Court and, if found guilty, be liable to be decamped and sent out of the orientation camp.”
The Senate had in March 2018, rejected a bill to amend the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Act.
The bill was rejected following concerns that such amendment requires altering the constitution which requires a longer process.
Officials of the NYSC have, however, continued to admonish corps members to adhere to the laws of the Corps.
In a bid to seek more means of engagement with youths in the country, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has strengthened its existing synergy with the National Youth Service Corps in combating crimes in the country.
The Acting Chairman of the Commission, Mr Ibrahim Magu, made this known when he visited the Director-General of NYSC, Brig.-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim.
This was contained in a statement signed and made available to newsmen by Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, Director, Press and Public Relations of the scheme in Abuja on Thursday.
Magu said that youths are at the centre of the development of every nation, while the NYSC scheme has been the leading agency of youth development since its inception.
According to him, there is the need to harness the multiple potentials of Nigerian youths for national development and increase the fight against corruption.
“If the EFCC has achieved anything at all, the NYSC has been a critical partner in EFCC’s achievement and we can only build on what we have achieved.
“We want to further explore other areas of engagement of the Nigerian youths. The only recognised agency that can help us in harnessing the energy of the Nigerian youths is the NYSC,” Magu said.
Responding, the NYSC DG assured EFCC of boosting the existing relationship between the two agencies.
He told Magu that Nigerians appreciate the efforts of the commission and its crusade against corrupt practices in the country.
Ibrahim said the NYSC mobilises more than 350,000 corps members annually, adding that the scheme was ready to assist the commission through enlightenment and effective sensitisation on the dangers of corruption.
“We are always available and we are going to support you in sensitizing Nigerians on the dangers of corruption,” he said.
