Headline
30 Govs Spent N968.64bn On Refreshments, Others In Three Months – Report

No fewer than 30 state governments of the federation spent N986.64bn on recurrent expenditures, including refreshments, sitting allowances, travelling, utilities, etc., in the first three months of 2024, according to The PUNCH.
The states’ budget implementation reports, which were obtained from Open Nigerian States, a website supported by BudgIT that acts as a repository for public budget data, were analysed.
For the first three quarters of the year, our correspondent examined budget implementation data from thirty states; data for six states was not available.
Benue, Imo, Niger, Rivers, Sokoto and Yobe States were the ones without Q 1, 2024 data.
A breakdown showed that the 30-state government spent N5.1bn on refreshments for guests, N4.67bn on sitting allowances to government officials, N34.63bn on local and foreign travel expenses, and N5.64bn on utility bills, amounting to N50.02bn in the first three months of 2024.
The general utilities include electricity, internet, telephone charges, water rates, and sewerage charges, among others.
The sub-nationals also paid N405.77bn as salaries to their workers.
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Other recurrent spending items covered in the report included the amount spent on foreign and domestic travel, Internet access fees, entertainment, foodstuff, honorarium/sitting allowance, wardrobe allowances, telephone bills, electricity charges, stationery, anniversaries/special days, welfare, aircraft maintenance, and more.
In the first three months of 2024, Abia State spent N10.92bn on its recurrent expenditures, including N165.38m on refreshments and feeding, N39.26m on utilities, N214.57m on sitting allowances, N127.1m on local and foreign travels, among miscellaneous expenses.
During this period, Adamawa State expended N23.7bn on recurrent expenditures with N287.61m spent on refreshments and feeding, N109.62m on utilities, N79.57m on sitting allowances, N768.77m on local and foreign travels.
For Akwa Ibom State, recurrent expenditure gulped N46.85bn, which included N4.46m on refreshments and feeding, N223.32m on utilities, N6m on sitting allowances, N214.61m on local and foreign travel.
Anambra State disbursed N9.91bn for recurring expenses with N78.18m on refreshments and feeding, N32.52m on utilities, N42.09m on sitting allowances, N188.39m on local and foreign travel.
Also, recurrent expenditures cost Bauchi State Government N35.75bn with N397.58m going to utilities, N50.8m on refreshments, N287.11m on allowances, and N413.56m on trips.
Bayelsa State spent N35.1bn on recurrent expenditures, comprising N28.4m on utilities, N156.14m on refreshments and N279.99m on trips.
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Similarly, Lagos State disbursed N189.62bn for recurrent expenditures, including N1.21m for refreshments, N383.12m for utilities, sitting allowances costing N52.79m and N633.37m on travels.
Borno spent N18.79bn, Cross Rivers (N17.44bn), Delta (N68.68bn), Ebonyi (N14.95bn), Edo (N32.32bn), Ekiti (N32.8bn), Enugu (N7.51bn) and Gombe with N20.89bn.
Within the same period, Jigawa State spent N15.52bn on the recurrent expenditures, Kaduna expended N34.69bn, Kano (N34.41bn), Katsina (N21.87bn), Kebbi (N11.67bn), Kogi (N37.4bn), Kwara (N24.34bn), Nasarawa (N18.61bn), Ogun (N47.12bn), Ondo (N31.12bn), Osun (N24.39bn), Oyo (N40.12bn), Plateau (N24.70bn), Zamfara (N13.46bn), and Taraba (N20.93bn).
Government spending has come under increased scrutiny in recent times, particularly in light of the country’s worsening economic challenges.
At different fora, financial experts have also raised concerns about states’ spending on recurrent expenditure, highlighting the need to embrace financial innovations.
A development economist, Aliyu Ilias, said many states had yet to fully develop themselves as industrialised and marketable to attract investors.
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Ilias urged governors to develop an area of strength they could leverage to attract foreign investments.
He said, “Going forward, what they could do is identify one area of strength. For instance, Bayelsa has oil and should be able to attract investments. I think it is about policy. They should give the policy a chance that would allow people to come and invest. They should also create an attraction and develop an economic summit that will make sure they showcase and attract investors.”
An economist and former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Uyo, Prof. Akpan Ekpo, urged the states to increase their revenue by improving service delivery.
On his part, a Professor of Economics at Babcock University, Segun Ajibola, stated that the enduring problem of high governance expenses had persisted at the state level, with inadequate oversight and accountability resulting in minimal economic benefits for grassroots citizens.
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The former president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers lamented that state assemblies had also abandoned their oversight duties, leaving the state governors to operate with no iota of transparency and accountability.
He said, “The first issue is the perennial complaint about the high cost of governance in Nigeria and at all levels. When you look at these issues, attention is often concentrated on the Federal Government, so the searchlight is always more on the central government. Most often, nobody cares about what is happening in the states and local government, and that is where the problem is.
“There are so many institutional frameworks in place to look at what is happening at the federal level but who cares about the states? The cost of governance in relative terms is even much higher in states than the federal and that is why you hardly feel the impact of governance in most states.
“Only a few states can boost a significant presence in the lives of their people in our states. The state assemblies are expected to conduct oversight functions on the activities of the executives in their respective states, but in reality, how many states are doing that, leaving the executives to be all in all in incurring high costs.”
PUNCH
Headline
US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.
The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.
“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”
Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.
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Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.
“The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.
“This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”
These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.
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The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.
In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.
“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”
Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.
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Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.
“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.
“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”
Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.
“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.
“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”
Headline
UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.
In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.
Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.
Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.
“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.
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“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.
Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.
Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.
“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.
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“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.
“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”
The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.
She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.
Headline
Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.
The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.
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A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.
“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.
AFP
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