Connect with us

Headline

13 States To Borrow Fresh N380bn In 2025 [SEE LIST]

Published

on

No fewer than 13 state governments have projected an Internally Generated Revenue of N613bn for 2025.

The states also planned to secure fresh loans totaling N380bn in the upcoming year, The PUNCH’s investigation has revealed.

Advertisement

This comes despite a 40 per cent increase in the states’ statutory allocations from the Federation Account.

In the first half of 2024, about 22 states collectively borrowed N446bn, with debt servicing consuming a significant portion of their IGR.

These loans have pushed the total debt stock of Nigerian states to N11.47tn as of June 30, 2024.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: 13-year-old Boy Sues UK Parents For ‘Deportation’ To Africa Over ‘Gang Involvement’

An analysis of public debt reports from the Debt Management Office (DMO) shows a 14.57 per cent increase from the N10.01tn recorded in December 2023.

The increase was primarily driven by a sharp rise in external debt, and exacerbated by the naira’s devaluation.

Advertisement

External debt for the states and the Federal Capital Territory climbed from $4.61bn to $4.89bn, reflecting a 6.14 per cent increase, while domestic debt saw a significant decline of 27.12 per cent, dropping from N5.86tn to N4.27tn.

In naira terms, however, foreign debt surged by a staggering 73.46 per cent, rising from N4.15tn to N7.2tn, following the devaluation of the naira from N899.39/$1 in December 2023 to N1,470.19/$1 by June 2024.

READ ALSO: UK Net Migration Falls By 20% Amid Visa Restrictions

Advertisement

States and the FCT accounted for 8.54 per cent of Nigeria’s total public debt of N134.3tn as of June 2024, down from 10.29 per cent in December 2023, despite an increase in their nominal debt levels.

According to their 2025-2027 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Papers, 13 states plan to borrow a combined total of N380bn to finance budget deficits in 2025.

These states include Adamawa, Kano, Anambra, Bauchi, Borno, Ebonyi, Gombe, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kaduna, Akwa Ibom, Niger, and Oyo.

Advertisement

Adamawa, which did not take any loans this year, plans to borrow N31.5bn next year while projecting an IGR of N22.7bn.

READ ALSO: Peter Obi Speaks As Port Harcourt Refinery Begins Production

This was as Kano, which borrowed N6.4bn in the first half of 2024, projects fresh borrowings of N11bn and an IGR of N47.5bn for 2025.

Advertisement

Anambra targets a financing estimate of N18.5bn, including loans sourced through fundraising activities.

Despite taking loans of N19.2bn this year, Bauchi States also plans to take fresh loans of N71bn, with an IGR target of N47.2bn.

Borno borrowed N20bn this year but plans to raise N53bn through loans next year, targeting N30bn in IGR.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: 17 People Missing As Tourist Boat Sinks In Red Sea

Similarly, Niger State borrowed N34bn in 2024 and projects N31bn in loans next year, with an IGR target of N74bn.

Other loan projections include N35bn for Kebbi, N11.6bn for Kaduna, N8.5bn for Akwa Ibom, N13bn for Ebonyi, N8bn for Jigawa, N76.8bn for Oyo, and N11.7bn for Gombe. Their respective IGR targets for 2025 are N25.5bn, N68bn, N62bn, N26.5bn, N65.9bn, N67bn, and N6.8bn.

Advertisement

An economic expert, Paul Alaje, recently warned that debt servicing and accumulating loans could stifle economic development at the sub-national level.

He emphasised that the significant debts inherited from previous administrations have hindered growth and stressed the need for thorough scrutiny of state borrowing practices and the projects financed with these loans.

 

Advertisement

Headline

Ghana’s President Sacks Chief Justice Over Corruption Allegations

Published

on

President John Dramani Mahama has dismissed the Chief Justice of Ghana following the outcome of a high-level investigation into allegations of falsifying judicial records and misusing public funds.

A five-member commission, chaired by a Supreme Court judge and set up by Mahama, concluded that the allegations against the country’s top judicial officer were substantiated and recommended her removal.

Advertisement

After considering the petition and the evidence, the Committee found that the grounds of stated misbehaviour under Article 146(1) had been established and recommended her removal from office,” said the spokesperson to the President, Felix Ofosu, in a statement on Monday.

READ ALSO:Police Bust Lagos-Ghana Sex Trafficking Ring

President John Dramani Mahama has accordingly removed the Chief Justice from office with immediate effect.”

Advertisement

The dismissal marks the first time a sitting Chief Justice in Ghana has been investigated and dismissed from office.

While Mahama, who took office in January, has repeatedly pledged to intensify the fight against corruption, it remains unclear whether the embattled Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkonoo, will face criminal prosecution.

 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Headline

Danish Court Sentences Ex-minister To Prison For Child Abuse Material

Published

on

A former Danish government minister was jailed for four months on Monday for possession of thousands of images of child sexual abuse.

Henrik Sass Larsen, once a senior Social Democrat who served as industry minister, admitted to having more than 6,000 photographs and 2,000 videos on his computer depicting sexual abuse of children.

Advertisement

He had denied the charges, saying he had the material because he was trying to find out who had abused him as a child.

Prosecutor Maria Cingari said she was “satisfied” with the verdict but added that it was sad that someone “who managed to make the most out of their life despite a bad start finds himself in such a situation.”

READ ALSO:JUST IN: Finnish Court Jails Simon Ekpa Six Years For Terrorism Offences

Advertisement

You should never be in possession of child pornography, no matter the reason,” Cingari added.

During his trial, the 59-year-old told the court he had received a link in 2018 to a 50-year-old video showing him being sexually abused when he was three years old.

He testified that he received another video clip in 2020, in which a three-year-old girl was raped in his presence when he was around the same age.

Advertisement

The two videos disappeared after he viewed them, he said.

READ ALSO:South African Court Affirms 18-year Jail Term For Nigerian Over Human Trafficking

He told the court he regretted not having contacted the police when he received the videos.

Advertisement

Sass Larsen was also accused of being in possession of a child sex doll, but the court did not find him guilty on that charge.

His lawyer, Berit Ernst, told reporters that “we’ll see if it is a definitive end or if we will appeal.”

The scandal came to light last March and led to his expulsion from the Social Democratic Party.

Advertisement

At the time, Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen expressed her shock over the case.

AFP

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Nigerian Man Pleads Guilty In US To $405,000 Romance Scam Against American Women

Published

on

A40-year-old Nigerian man, Daniel Chima Inweregbu, has pleaded guilty in the United States to charges of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as money laundering, in connection with a romance scam that defrauded American women of more than $405,000.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in a statement on Thursday, said Inweregbu and his co-conspirators ran the scheme between July 2017 and December 2018, using a fake online persona named “Larry Pham” to lure victims on dating sites and social media targeting US citizens.

Advertisement

Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson said that Inweregbu, described as a citizen of Lagos, Nigeria, pleaded guilty on August 21, 2025 before United States District Judge Nanette Jolivette Brown to two of the counts pending against him.

The counts which include conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and using an assumed name to commit a mail fraud scheme, Attorney Simpson said were in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1341, 1342, 1343 and 1349 (Count 1), and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(a)(1)(B)(i), 1957, and 1956(h) (Count 12). INWEREGBU’s plea stemmed from his role in a lengthy romance scam targeting American citizens.

READ ALSO:My Wife Sleeps In Leggings, Denies Me Sex —Husband

Advertisement

According to court documents, a “romance scam” was a confidence scheme in which the perpetrator feigned romantic intentions towards a victim, gained their affection, and used the victim’s goodwill to commit fraud.

These fraudulent acts might involve such acts as obtaining access to the victim’s money, bank accounts, credit cards, passports, e-mail accounts, or national identification numbers; convincing the victim to transmit things of value to the perpetrator or his witting or unwitting co-conspirators; or inducing the victim to, unintentionally, commit or participate in the commission of financial fraud against third parties on behalf of the perpetrator,” the statement read.

It added, “Between at least July 1, 2017, and December 16, 2018, Inweregbu, and his co-conspirators, devised and operated a “romance scam” whereby they sought to obtain money and property from multiple American women, including 4 victims, by means of false and fraudulent representations and promises.

Advertisement

“Specifically, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators created profiles on social media and online dating sites using the alias “Larry Pham,” purportedly a middle-aged male, to attract middle-aged female victims.

READ ALSO:US Court Jails Nigerian For Large-scale Hacking, Identify Theft

The co-conspirators, including Inweregbu, used online messaging platforms and email, to contact victims, introduce themselves, and appeal to victims’ longing for companionship. If the victim responded favorably, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators began to cultivate a romantic relationship that emotionally attached the victims to “Larry Pham.”

Advertisement

“Once the relationship was established, the defendant and his co-conspirators, posing as Larry Pham, requested victims send them money under various scams and ruses to domestic bank accounts they opened and managed. Inweregbu’s scheme resulted in actual and intended losses to the victims of over $405,000.

“Thereafter, Inweregbu and his co-conspirators laundered the funds, by conducting financial transactions using the proceeds of their wire and mail fraud scheme, designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the proceeds, by directing the victims’ funds through intermediaries.

READ ALSO:US Court Sentences American To 40 Years For Beheading Gokada Nigeria Founder

Advertisement

Inweregbu faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $250,000 as to Count 1. He faces up to twenty years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a fine of $500,000 as to Count 12. He also faces payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee per count. Sentencing before Judge Brown has been scheduled for December 4, 2025,” the partly read.

Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson, according to the statement praised the work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in investigating this matter and expressed appreciation for the great support provided by United States Department of Justice Office of International Affairs and the United States Department of State.

Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit, is in charge of the prosecution,” the statement noted.

Advertisement

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending