FG Fights Poverty With N2.38trn in 5 years
Photo Credit:The Sun Newspapers
The federal government of Nigeria has made budgetary allocations of N2.38trillion to fight poverty in the country within the past five years, and has also spent trillions of naira to tackle the menace.
Despite the huge spending, there is a disconnect between government’s spending on social investment programmes and the pervasive poverty in the country.
While the federal government has estimated that 63 per cent of the country’s population, which is about 133 million now live in poverty, financial experts believe the figure is more.
A financial expert that spoke with Saturday Sun noted that according to the World Bank and other multilateral agencies, over 153 million people in the country live in poverty.
Saturday Sun gathered that in recent times, escalating prices of essentials and rising cost of living occasioned by high inflation have eroded the purchasing powers of Nigerians.
As a result of the country’s rising poverty level, the government is facing mounting pressure to re-evaluate its strategies and ensure that the trillions of naira allocated for poverty alleviation are utilised effectively such that the palliatives can reach the people that are in need.
The total budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Poverty Alleviation from 2020 to 2024, which is a period of five years, is N2.38 trillion.
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Igbo Women Beg Tinubu To Free Kanu
Photo Credit:The Sun Newspapers
Women in the seven Igbo speaking states, under the auspices of Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in Diaspora, have reiterated their appeal to President Bola Tinubu, to free the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu.
Their renewed call comes on the heels of increasing demand from different quarters including the South East Governors’ Forum (SEGF), National Assembly Caucus from the zone, Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), other groups as well as eminent Nigerians.
Igbo women said Kanu’s unconditional release will restore peace and security as well as social and economic activities in the five South East States.
In a statement in Enugu on Friday by their President General/Founder, Lolo Kate Ezeofor, the women lamented that the continued incarceration of the self-determination agitator had brought good neither to the federal government nor the state governments and people of the region.
“Umuada Igbo Nigeria and in Diaspora of seven Igbo Speaking States: Abia, Anambra, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, and Rivers, Umuada Igbo in other States of Nigeria and in Diaspora with special consultative status with Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the United Nations, New York, USA and Geneva, Switzerland, on behalf of the entire Igbo women, mothers, sisters, and wives, hereby with deep respect pray Your Excellency, Bola Tinubu, President Federal Republic of Nigeria, to use your good office to release Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from DSS custody.
“We strongly believe that his release will bring lasting peace in South East in particular and Nigeria in general,” Ezeofor stated.
It’s Shameful We’re Still Generating 4.5GW Of Electricity—Tinubu
Photo Credit:Vanguard Newspapers
President Bola Tinubu has described as shameful, the fact that Nigeria despite its size was still generating 4.5GW of electricity.
President Tinubu who expressed his displeasure when he inaugurated a 31-member Presidential Economic Coordination Council at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa Abuja underscored the need for innovative solutions to the country’s economic challenges, noting the importance of public-private partnerships in driving economic reforms.
According to him, ‘’We have the challenge of energy security in Nigeria. We need to work together to improve our oil and gas sector, and we must also increase electricity generation and distribution throughout the country. ‘We are determined to do that with your cooperation, collaboration, and recommendations. As a nation, it is so shameful that we are still generating 4.5GW of electricity.
‘’We must increase our oil production to two (2) million barrels per day within the next few months and we are determined to remove all entry barriers to investments in the energy sector while enhancing competitiveness,’’ the President stated.
President Tinubu announced measures, which will run concurrently with the National Construction and Household Support Programme, to stabilize the economy, enhance job creation, and foster economic security. The measures under the Economic Stabilization Programme are energy security initiative which includes power, oil and gas.
APC National Chairmanship Seat: Court Fixes Sept 18 To Decide Ganduje’s Fate
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ABUJA— The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, slated September 18 to deliver its judgement on a suit that is seeking to remove the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Abdullahi Ganduje, from office. The court, presided by Justice Inyang Ekwo, fixed the date after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.
The suit, marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/599/2024, was brought before the court by aggrieved members of the party under the platform of North Central APC Forum. The plaintiffs, led by one Saleh Zazzaga, are querying the propriety of Ganduje’s appointment as the Chairman of the APC.
They, among other things, want the court to restrain Ganduje from further parading himself as the chairman of the party.
More so, they prayed the court to issue an order, directing the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, not to accord recognition to all actions taken by the APC, including congresses, primaries and nominations, since Ganduje became APC Chairman on August 3, 2023.
The plaintiffs told the court that Ganduje is occupying the office of the APC chairman illegally, not being from a state in the North Central geo-political zone.