Headline

10 Poorest States Owe Over N1tn, Provide Govs Jumbo Package

Published

11 months ago

June 8, 2023

Editor

The 10 poorest states in Nigeria owe local and foreign creditors about N1.18tn, according to findings by The PUNCH.

While the data for the poorest state was acquired from the National Bureau of Statistics, the debt data was obtained from the Debt Management Office.

The NBS, in its National Multidimensional Poverty Index report, disclosed that 133 million Nigerians are multi-dimensionally poor.

The NBS said 63 per cent of Nigerians were poor due to a lack of access to health, education, living standards, employment, and security.

The Multidimensional Poverty Index offered a multivariate form of poverty assessment, identifying deprivations across health, education, living standards, work, and shocks.

The report presented the level of poverty in each state of the country.

The NBS report showed Sokoto, Bayelsa, Gombe, Jigawa, and Plateau were the top five poorest states in 2022.

These states were followed by Yobe, Kebbi, Taraba. Ebonyi, and Zamfara.

It was observed that the top 10 poorest states had a total of 43.99 million poor people, which was 33.08 per cent of the total population of poor people in Nigeria.

Sokoto led the poorest, with 90.5 per cent of people in the state poor. It is followed by Bayelsa with 88.5 per cent poor people, Gombe with 86.2 per cent, Jigawa with 84.3 per cent, and Plateau with 84 per cent.

Yobe had 83.5 per cent of its population as poor, Kebbi had 82.2 per cent and Taraba had 79.4 per cent.

Both Ebonyi and Zamfara states each had 78 per cent of their total population poor.

The NBS report noted that 65 per cent of poor Nigerians (86 million) were in the North, while 35 per cent (nearly 47 million) were in the South.

The report noted, “Overall, 65 per cent of poor people – 86 million people live in the North, while 35 per cent – nearly 47 million – live in the South. In general, a disparity between North and South is evident in both incidence and intensity of multidimensional poverty, with the North being poorer.

“However, the level and number of poor people needs to be addressed in all zones – each of which are home to between 11 and 20 million poor people except North-West, which has 45 million poor people due to its larger population and higher level of poverty.”

It also noted that 72 per cent of people in rural areas were poor. It was the same for 42 per cent of people in urban areas.

Aside from struggling with a high poverty rate, the 10 poorest states also struggled with local and foreign debts.

Data from the subnational debt report as of December 2022 showed that the states had N998bn domestic debt and $386.16m foreign debt (about N178.28bn, using the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria of N461.68 to a dollar as of Tuesday).

From the debt data, Plateau had the highest local debt of N149.01bn, then Bayelsa (N146.37bn) and Gombe (N139.32bn).

Zamfara had local debt of N112.2bn, Yobe had N90.76bn, Sokoto had N90.6bn, Taraba had N87.96bn, and Ebonyi had N76.5bn.

The least owing states on the list for subnational domestic debt were Jigawa (N43.95bn) and Kebbi (N61.31bn).

It was further observed that Bayelsa had the highest foreign debt of $60.39m.

It was followed by Ebonyi ($58.57m), Taraba ($46.47m), Kebbi ($40.93m), Sokoto ($36.56m), Gombe ($32.48m) and Plateau ($32.4m).

The least debtor owing foreign creditors were Yobe ($22.51m), Jigawa ($26.99m), and Zamfara ($28.86m).

The PUNCH further observed that despite the high poverty and debt, some of the states released huge pension benefits to their past governors.

The Jigawa State ‘Former Public Officers Pension and other Benefits Law No. 15 of 2015’ stipulates that a governor who successfully completes his term without impeachment will be entitled to a monthly pension equivalent to the current salary of the current governor, two brand new vehicles to be provided by the state government and to be replaced after every four year, six-bedroom fully furnished house, two personal assistants not below grade level 10, two drivers selected by the governor and to be paid by the state, a fully furnished office in any location of choice and fully paid medical treatment within Nigeria and abroad.

The deputy governor is also to get a monthly pension equivalent to the incumbent’s salary, one assistant not below level eight, one brand new vehicle, a four-bedroom flat, and an office in a location of his choice.

In Sokoto, each former governor, under the Sokoto State Pension Law, gets N200m every four years, while the deputy is entitled to perks amounting to N180m, being monetisation for other entitlements, including domestic aides, residences, and vehicles that can be renewed after every four years.

Section 2 (2) of the Sokoto State Grant of Pension (Governor and Deputy Governor) Law, 2013 states, “The total annual pension to be paid to the governor and deputy governor shall be at a rate equivalent to the annual total salary of the incumbent governor or deputy governor of the state, respectively.”

The Ebonyi State Political Office Holders Amendment Law, 2011, makes provision for the payment of pension to Governor Umahi, who is set to move to the Red Chamber of the National Assembly. The law also made provisions for vehicles and personal aides, among others, for the governor and his deputy.

Yobe State, in its pension law, provides that former governors be given a severance gratuity of N200m, two vehicles to be replaced every four years, free medical care and a house in the state or the Federal Capital Territory, among others provisions.

Also, Plateau State has a pension law that supports the payment of N600,000 to its ex-governor as monthly take-home; Gombe State has a law supporting the provision of N300m as pension benefits for the ex-governors.

Zamfara State repealed its pension law that allowed for the payment of pensions and other allowances to the state’s former governors and their deputies shortly after the immediate past Governor, Abdul’aziz Yari, in a leaked letter to the State Government, requested his N10m monthly upkeep. The letter evoked outrage across the country, with many people calling for the abolition of the law in states that had them.

The PUNCH reported that some of these states also owed salaries and pension of their workers amid the high poverty rate.

It was reported that in Plateau State, the new Governor, Caleb Muftwang of the PDP, would have to settle outstanding salaries owed by his predecessor, Simon Lalong of the APC.

In Taraba State, almost all categories of workers were owed, from lecturers in the state-owned university to teachers. The Taraba State NLC had during the 2023 Labour Day celebration, urged the governor to settle the six months’ salaries of local government employees and five months for primary school teachers before handing over to the incoming administration.

In Zamfara State, it was reported that the former Governor, Bello Matawalle, owed workers at least two months’ salaries.

A professor of economics, Prof. Ode Ojowu, earlier urged the government and key stakeholders to come up with policies, programmes and projects that would tackle rising poverty.

Also, the former Minister of State for Finance, Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, earlier said that it was concerning that despite the Social Investment Programme designed to tackle poverty, with more than five million persons impacted, poverty still persisted in the country.
PUNCH

Headline

B-I-Z-A-R-R-E! Man Missing For 26 Years Found Alive In Neighbour’s House

Published

4 hours ago

May 17, 2024

Editor

An Algerian man, Omar Bin Omran, who went missing at the age of 17, 26 years ago following an alleged kidnapping, has been found alive in his neighbour’s house.

According to Daily Mail on Wednesday, Omar was discovered in a hole in the ground within a sheep pen, concealed under stacks of hay.

Omar, one of nine children, disappeared in the city of Djelfa, Algeria, 26 years ago. His family believed he had been killed during the civil war that ravaged the nation in the 1990s and early 2000s.

According to reports, Omar was found less than 200 meters from his family’s home. A 61-year-old neighbour is now in police custody after Omar, now 45, was rescued on May 12.

Footage was shared on social media and broadcast on Algerian television networks of the moment that he was found in what appeared to be a hole in the ground, described by authorities as a sheep pen, within the home of his alleged captor.

The blurry video shows torchlights shining into a pit surrounded by hay as Omar furtively looks up, seemingly in shock at the search party surrounding him, with stray pieces of straw in his hair.

Other images have since been circulated of the bearded man emerging from the hole, thought to be a sheep pen, and of him as a teenager, sitting with a dog and with young children before he disappeared.

According to the Algerian newspaper El Khabar, his dog recognized his scent and stayed near where Omar was held. It was alleged that the captor poisoned the dog to ward the family off.

Omar went missing in 1998 while heading to a vocational school. He was found after the captor’s brother aired grievances on social media, reportedly over an inheritance dispute.

This led Omar’s family to search the neighbour’s house, where they found him. The captor attempted to flee but was restrained and arrested.

Tragically, Omar’s mother died in 2013 without knowing the fate of her son. Reports suggest Omar was informed of his mother’s death while in captivity.

A relative said on Facebook: ‘Thank god my cousin was found. Bin Imran Omar is in good health after 26 years of disappearance. Awaiting details of the case and investigations.’

Public prosecutors in Djelfa, a mountain city of around 500,000 people around 140 miles south of coastal capital Algiers, say Omar will receive psychological care after being rescued as they vowed to get him justice.

‘The Djelfa Attorney General’s Office informs the public that on May 12 at 8 pm local time, it found victim Omar B, aged 45, in the case of his neighbour, B.A., aged 61,’ they said in a statement.

A court official in Djelfa was quoted as saying: “Two days ago, on 12 May 2024, the Public Prosecutor’s Office received, through the regional department of the National Gendarmerie in El Jadid, a complaint against an anonymous person claiming that the complainant’s brother, Omar bin Omran, who has been missing for about 30 years, is in the house of one of his neighbours, inside a sheepfold.”

Following this report, the General Prosecutor of the Court of Idrisiya in the province of Djelfa ordered the National Gendarmerie to open an in-depth investigation and officers went to the house in question.

He added: “The Public Prosecutor’s Office ordered that the victim receive medical and psychological treatment, and the suspect will be presented to the Public Prosecutor’s Office immediately after the completion of the investigation.”

Officials have promised the ‘perpetrator of this heinous crime’ will be tried with ‘severity.’

The suspect, a civil servant, lived alone but was often seen buying enough food for two people. A neighbour recounted to Algerian TV station Bilad that Omar’s mother died without knowing her son was so close by.

Questions have arisen about why Omar did not call for help during his captivity. Some reports claim Omar said he was unable to call out because of a spell cast by his captor, while others suggest his psychological state may have prevented him from seeking help.

The case may be among the world’s longest-running kidnapping cases. Eleven-year-old Jaycee Dugard was kidnapped in Meyers, California in 1991 and remained missing for over 18 years after she was captured by Phillip and Nancy Garrido.

Dugard was kept in depraved conditions and was subjected to extreme sexual abuse, having two children by Phillip Garrido, and later said she adapted to sympathising with her captors to survive.

Headline

FG, States, LGs Share N1.2tn In May

Published

5 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

The Federation Allocation Allocation Committee has disclosed that during the May 2024 meeting of the FAAC held in Abuja, N1.2tn from the April 2024 Federation Account Revenue was shared by the federal, states, and local governments.

The Director of Press and Public Relations, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr Bawa Mokwa, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.

The document revealed that N1.2tn total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N284.71bn, distributable Value Added Tax revenue of N466.45bn, Electronic Money Transfer Levy revenue of N18.02bn, and Exchange Difference Revenue of N438.88bn.

Total revenue of N2.19tn was available in April 2024.

The total deduction for the cost of collection was N80.51bn; the total transfers, interventions, and refunds were N903.47bn.

Gross statutory revenue of N1.23tn was received for April 2024.

This was higher than the sum of N1.01bn received in March 2024 by N216.28bn.

The gross revenue available from the value-added tax in April 2024 was N500.92bn. This was lower than the N549.69bn available in March 2024 by N48.77bn.

From the N1.2tn in total distributable revenue, the Federal Government received a total sum of N390.41bn, the state governments received N403.40bn, and the local government councils received N293.81bn.

A total sum of N120.450bn (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting states as derivation revenue.

On the N284.716bn distributable statutory revenue, the communiqué stated that the Federal Government received N112.14bn, the state governments received N56.88bn, and the local governments received N43.855bn. The sum of N71.83bn (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting states as derivation revenue.

The Federal Government received N69.96bn, the state governments received N233.22bn, and the local governments received N163.26bn from the N466.45bn distributable value-added tax revenue.

A total sum of N2.704bn was received by the FG from the N18.024bn Electronic Money Transfer Levy. The state governments received N9.012bn, and the local governments received N6.30bn.

The Federal Government received N205.59bn from the N438.88bn Exchange Difference revenue. The state governments received N104.27bn, and the local governments received N80.39bn. The sum of N48.62bn (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared with the benefiting states as derivation revenue.

According to the communiqué, in April 2024, oil and gas royalties, company income tax, excise duty, petroleum profit tax, electronic money transfer levies, and CET levies increased significantly, while import duty and value-added tax recorded considerable decreases.

The FAAC noted that the balance in the Excess Crude Account remained at $473,754.57.

Headline

Harry & Meghan: Outrage As UK Journalist Says Nigerians Are Nazis

Published

6 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Editor

A British journalist, Christopher Wilson, sparked outrage among many Nigerians with a now-deleted tweet.

In the tweet, Wilson compared Nigerians to Nazis for welcoming the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to Nigeria, igniting widespread condemnation.

The three-day visit of Prince Harry and Meghan to Nigeria attracted significant attention and reactions worldwide.

“Desperate to show his wife they were still ‘royal’ in the eyes of the world, the Duke of Windsor took Wallis on a tour of Germany in 1937. Nigeria’s human rights record is not far short of Nazi Germany’s,” Wilson posted on Tuesday.

Wilson, author of ‘A Greater Love: Charles and Camilla,’ was referring to Wallis Simpson, an American socialite who became the wife of King Edward VIII.

Edward VIII, Queen Elizabeth II’s uncle, abdicated the throne in 1936 to marry Simpson.

The monarch’s decision to marry Simpson, a divorcée, triggered a constitutional crisis, leading to Edward’s abdication from the throne in December 1936.

After their marriage, they became known as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

The couple travelled extensively, and notably, they visited Adolf Hitler at his Berghof retreat in Bavaria, Nazi Germany, in October 1937.

Markle, an American divorcee, married Prince Harry in 2018.

However, the couple announced their decision to step back from their royal duties in 2020 and relocated to California, United States. Despite their move, they retained their titles as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

When confronted for comparing Nigeria to Nazi Germany, Wilson referenced a 2023 report from the United States Department of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour.

The report he cited highlights human rights abuses in Nigeria, including extrajudicial killings, torture, harsh prison conditions and arbitrary arrests, among others.

The post sparked criticism and backlash from Nigerians and netizens.

On X.com, @wukster2, who tweets anonymously, wrote, “How did we become Nazis @TheWislon? You are so triggered by Harry and Meghan that you have resorted to comparing Nigeria to Nazi Germany. Meghan Markle’s power over mediocre white men and women needs to be studied. We need a global conference.”

A tweep, Faith Harvest, who identifies as @harvest_fa77000 on X, wrote, “Desperate? Nah, there is no comparison. Try as they may to liken Meghan to Wallis Simpson, Meghan is no Wallis and Harry is certainly not an abdicated king with sympathies to Hitler, and as far as human rights records, Christopher Wilson needs to read up on his own history!”

On Arise TV’s The Morning Show, journalist, Rufai Oseni, also voiced his criticism.

“These people are racist. This is the height of racism. He’s just so jealous because Harry and Megan came to Nigeria and they got relevance and it’s in your face it’s going to hurt you to the very end. I hope that this racism eats your bile up and it continues to eat you because we can’t continue this way. How would you relate them to what happened in Nazi Germany?

“The scenarios are different very different. These people came for a worthy cause in Nigeria which is the Invictus game, to be able to support veterans. Harry has built a brand with this Invictus game that goes around the world and has supported a lot of veterans and that’s something worth celebrating but because of the hatred and the bile that you have against this guy just let him be,” Oseni said.

Glow Lee, who tweets as @GlowanneLee, said, “Christopher Wilson is a royalist journalist critical of Meghan from the beginning and has just compared Nigeria to Nazi Germany. This is the mentality of the hard-core royalist. If they can say these things on Twitter, what would they say off it?”

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in the capital city of Abuja last Friday and were pictured at a range of engagements over the weekend.

The official purpose of the trip was to celebrate the Invictus Games, Harry’s tournament for wounded soldiers in Nigeria.