Tinubu Swore in his New Cabinet & more –24th Aug 2023

Sannu from BA! This is the Rorshok Nigeria Update from the 24th of August twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Nigeria.

On Monday the 21st, President Tinubu swore in his new cabinet of forty-five ministers at the presidential villa in Abuja. Recall that three minister nominees were not confirmed as the senate had not received security clearance in the confirmation hearing last week. Tinubu said that the country is currently battling severe challenges and asked the ministers to meet the expectations of Nigerians and implement long-overdue reforms.

After assuming office on Tuesday the 22nd, Atiku Bagudu, the new minister of budget and economic planning, said that the economy under his watch will achieve double-digit growth. Bagudu said that he would attain his goals by prioritizing medium-term development plans. He also said that he would adopt an open-door policy which means that other ministries, agencies, and experts could contribute to his administration.

On his part, Nyesom Wike, the new minister of the federal capital territory (best known as FCT), said that he will focus on improving the security and sanitation in Abuja in his first six months in office. The minister said that he would work to ensure there are functional street lights in the nation’s capital as well as eradicate illegal motor parks across the city and that his administration would not allow any ongoing projects to be abandoned in the FCT.

In addition, Betta Edu, the new minister of humanitarian affairs and poverty alleviation, said that her administration is committed to lifting 133 million Nigerians out of poverty.

Meanwhile, shortly after Edu’s announcement, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation said that UNICEF has donated 270 million dollars to support the ministry’s efforts. The ministry said that the funds would be used to build a national humanitarian situation room or an emergency operation center for crisis management.

In other news, on Tuesday the 22nd, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (best known as NERC) asked prepaid meter users to update their meters before November next year. NERC said that those who do not make the required update before the deadline might face difficulties in recharging their meters. The commission also assured that the update is free of charge and advised users to get in touch with their respective electricity distribution companies for more information.

Also on Tuesday the 22nd, Tinubu ordered Aliyu Abubakar Aziz, the director-general and CEO of the National Identity Management Commission (best known as NIMC), to begin a ninety-day leave which would lead to his retirement from service on the 24th of November. The leave is supposed to take effect from Thursday the 24th and marks the end of the Aziz’ four-year tenure as CEO of NIMC. Tinubu also approved the appointment of Bisoye Coker-Odusote, current general manager and CEO of the Lagos State Infrastructure Maintenance and Regulatory Agency, to serve as the acting director-general and CEO of the commission, adding that his tenure would begin when Aziz officially retires.

Let’s look at the business sector. The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (or NUPRC) announced, on Tuesday the 22nd, that Nigeria’s oil output fell to less than a million barrels per day on July twenty twenty-three. According to NUPRC data, this is the third decline since April. Recall that earlier this month, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said that Nigeria’s oil production decline made the country lose its spot as the largest producer in Africa. Now it ranks third.

In more economic news, on Tuesday the 22nd the Central Bank of Nigeria (or CBN), released its audited financial twenty twenty-two statement. It said that printing, processing, and distribution of the new naira notes cost about ninety-six billion naira (about 126 million dollars). The figure is about thirty-two percent higher than what was spent in twenty twenty-one. Despite the huge expenses, many Nigerians have still complained of a lack of access to the new notes. Recall how the pressure sparked protests and inflation last year. However, the Supreme Court revoked the naira redesign policy and asked the CBN to re-distribute the old notes. This way the new notes and the old ones will coexist until the old ones gradually phase out.

Still on the CBN, on Friday the 18th, the bank announced that it has lifted the ban on the buying and selling of dollars by Bureau De Change (best known as BDCs) operators within the country. Nearly two years ago, Godwin Emefiele, the suspended CBN governor, banned BDCs from making transactions with foreign exchanges saying that they had become an avenue for money laundry. However, the CBN’s new administration said that the ban had been lifted and that it would help to stabilize the naira— especially as Tinubu announced the unification of rates across all exchange markets.

A lot of things seem to have happened on Tuesday the 22nd. Speaking of cash, the UK government said that it has charged Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s former minister of petroleum resources, with taking a bribe of 100,000 pounds (about 126 thousand dollars). The UK’s National Crime Agency said that they suspected Diezani had accepted the bribe in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties, in return for awarding multi-million-pound oil and gas contracts. Diezani has been in a lot of problems with the law. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (or EFCC) alleged that the former minister stole nearly three billion dollars from the Nigerian government while she was a minister and has since started a process to extradite her back to the country for prosecution after she fled in twenty fifteen. The federal government also seized eighteen of her flats and six penthouses located on Lagos’ Banana Island. Also, in twenty seventeen, the US government filed a suit to recover 144 million dollars in assets from the minister after she allegedly got them through a shady scheme regarding Nigeria’s oil industry. The UK said Diezani will appear in court on the 2nd of October.

Moving on. The acting inspector-general of police (best known as IGP) has asked Nigerians to stop complaining about police officers on social media. Speaking on Tuesday the 22nd, the IGP said that since social media has been filled with a lot of mischief and false claims, it has become difficult to distinguish the truth-sayers from attention seekers. Instead, he asked Nigerians to make their complaints to the commissioners of the police or any other senior officer that would ensure justice is carried out.

Anambra state has become the latest to introduce measures that will help workers deal with the effects that came with the removal of petrol subsidy. On Monday the 21st, Chukwuma Soludo, governor of the state, said that the state government will distribute bags of rice to over 300,000 households in the coming weeks across the 326 wards in the state. Soludo also said that artisans and other categories of traders will be exempted from all forms of taxation and levies. The governor also introduced measures such as free antenatal services and delivery services to pregnant mothers in state primary health centers and general hospitals, grants of 50,000 naira (about sixty-five dollars) to at least thirteen hundred businesses across all local governments, and the approval to repair all serviceable public servants’ staff buses and existing boats to ease the movement of state workers and residents in riverine areas.

So far, eighteen states in the country have implemented measures to ease the petrol subsidy removal while the other seventeen states have not.

While we’re on the subject of relief from petrol subsidy, the governor of Kaduna state has warned all state government officials involved in the palliative distribution against diverting the items. Those who get caught will be punished.

He said that over one million vulnerable individuals in the state have been targeted to benefit from the first phase of palliative funds that will be spent on food items, transport stipends, and other forms of support.

Recall that the federal government had recently announced that each state of the federation and the FCT would get five billion naira (about six million dollars) to ease the impact of the removal of petrol subsidy on Nigerians.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Sai gobe!