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Full List: 13 New Governors Borrowed N226.8bn In Six Months – DMO

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In the first six months after taking office, 13 new state governors collectively borrowed N226.8bn from domestic and external financiers.

This emerged as findings by The PUNCH showed that 16 state governors also increased the debt profile of their states by N509.3bn with domestic and external debt of N243.95bn and $298.5m (N265.37bn), respectively.

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The external debt was calculated based on the exchange rate of N889/$ used by the Debt Management Office in its report.

This is according to an analysis of the latest sub-national debt reports released by the DMO.

READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Debt Hit N97.34tn In Q4 2023 – DMO

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The sub-national debts are classified into domestic borrowings from local creditors and external borrowings from international creditors like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The domestic and external debts published on the DMO’s website were as of December 30 and June 30, 2023, respectively.

The states, which include Benue, Cross Rivers, Katsina, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Zamfara, and the Federal Capital Territory, got N115.57bn from domestic creditors, while governors of Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba and Zamfara states borrowed $125.1m (N111.24bn) from external sources.

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For the sub-nationals, a further breakdown of the data showed that Cross Rivers Governor, Bassey Otu, took the highest loan, with N16.2bn from domestic and $57.95m from foreign creditors between June and December 2023.

READ ALSO: CSO Raises Alarm As Akwa Ibom Debt Profile Hits N347.75bn

Katsina State followed with the debt surging by N36.93bn from N62.37bn to N99.3bn by December 2023.

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Third on the list is Niger State, with a domestic debt of N17.85bn, surging from N121.95bn in June 2023 to N139.8bn by December of the same year.

Plateau got N16.32bn; Rivers borrowed N7.07bn; Zamfara, N14.26bn; and the FCT under the leadership of Nyesom Wike borrowed N6.75bn from domestic creditors.

For foreign debt, Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State accumulated external debt of $37.54m, while Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State borrowed $17.69m from external financiers.

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READ ALSO: Kano Deputy Gov, Ganduje Differ Over N300bn Debt

Similarly, the governors of Kano borrowed $6.6m; Niger, $1.27m; Plateau, $831,008; Sokoto, $499,472; Taraba, $1.51m; and Zamfara, $655,563, from external sources.

Despite declarations by the administration of President Bola Tinubu that it would not continue with the massive borrowings of the previous government to fund its expenditures, the latest developments show that the new government is sticking to the controversial policy amidst increased revenue.

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In 2023, state governors got the most Federal Account Allocation Committee allocations in at least seven years. The rise in FAAC allocations to the three tiers of government, especially the states, followed the removal of subsidy on petrol and currency reforms by the Tinubu administration. The reforms have reportedly led to a 40 per cent boost in income.

An analysis of the 2023 FAAC monthly allocations revealed that the sub-national and local government councils got the highest allocation of N627.73bn in September, followed by N610.5bn in December, N555.75bn in August, N533bn in November, N514bn in July and N497.97bn in October.

PUNCH

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Three Dead, Several Injured As Train Derails In Germany

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Rescue forces work at the site of a derailed train near Riedlingen on July 27, 2025. (Photo by Thomas Warnack / dpa / AFP) / Germany OUT / GERMANY OUT

Three people were killed and several others injured when a regional passenger train derailed in a wooded area in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said.

About 100 passengers were aboard the train, when the accident occurred at around 6:10 pm (1610 GMT) near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state.

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Contacted by AFP, police initially said four people had been killed before correcting their statement to three victims.

Authorities declined to elaborate on the number of injured or how seriously hurt they were, though tabloid Bild cited emergency workers saying there were 50 injured.

READ ALSO:Ex-Army Chief Proposes Mandatory Military Training For Nigerians

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German rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed several deaths and numerous injured. Two train carriages had derailed “for reasons yet unknown”, it added.

Authorities were currently investigating the circumstances of the accident, the operator said, and traffic had been suspended over a 40-kilometre (25-mile) stretch of the route.

German media reported that a landslide might have caused the accident as severe storms swept through the region, according to weather services.

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The passenger train was travelling from the German town of Sigmaringen to the city of Ulm when it derailed in a forested area.

READ ALSO:Wike: Sen. Ireti Kingibe Narrates How Her Car Was Trailed From Abuja Airport

– Outdated train infrastructure –

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In a post on social media, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

He added that he was in close contact with both the interior and transport ministers, and had asked them to “provide the emergency services with all the support they need”.

Footage from the scene of the accident showed yellow-and-grey-coloured train carriages lying on their sides, as firefighters and emergency services tried to get to the passengers.

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According to local TV station SWR, helicopters arrived shortly after the accident to transport the injured to hospitals in the area, and emergency doctors from nearby hospitals were alerted.

READ ALSO:UNICAL VC Selection Thwarted As Court Halts Process, Transfers Case To Abuja

German transport is regularly criticised by passengers for its outdated infrastructure, with travellers facing frequent train delays, and various technical problems.

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The government has pledged to invest several hundred billion euros over the next few years, in particular to modernise infrastructure.

In June 2022, a train derailed near a Bavarian Alpine resort in southern Germany, killing four people and injuring dozens.

Germany’s deadliest rail accident happened in 1998 when a high-speed train operated by state-owned Deutsche Bahn derailed in Eschede in Lower Saxony, killing 101 people.

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Man Stabs 11 People At Walmart Store In US

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At least 11 people were injured in a stabbing at a Walmart store in the Midwestern state of Michigan on Saturday, with police saying it appeared to be a random attack.

A 42-year-old male suspect was in custody, Grand Traverse County Sheriff Michael Shea told a press conference.

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Based on the information that we have at this time, it appears they were random acts,” Shea said of the attack in Traverse City, Michigan.

“The victims were not predetermined,” Shea said, adding that the suspect, a Michigan resident, apparently acted alone and used a “folding knife.”

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Six victims were in critical condition late Saturday, and five were in serious condition, Munson Healthcare said in a statement.

At least three of the victims were undergoing surgery, according to Shea. The victims included six men and five women.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said she was in touch with law enforcement regarding the “horrible news.”

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“Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence,” Whitmer said in an X post.

READ ALSO:Woman Stabs 80-year-old Trader To Death In Ogun Market

Eyewitness Julia Martell told The New York Times she heard screaming and saw a man with a knife running through the store’s pharmacy section.

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Martell said she saw the man shoving and stabbing people as he moved through the store.

The 30-year-old witness described seeing three people with stab wounds and “blood everywhere.”

READ ALSO:Popular Singer Hamisu Breaker, TikToker G. Fresh Sentenced To Prison For Naira Abuse

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Shea said the stabbing spree initially started near the checkout area of the store.

“It is very uncommon for our area,” he said of the violence, adding that citizens in the Walmart “assisted” in apprehending the suspect.

Traverse City is a popular tourist destination located on the shore of Lake Michigan.

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FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said agents were providing “any necessary support to the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office in their investigation of the attacks at the Walmart.”

AFP

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Your Chats With ChatGPT Are Not Confidential, OpenAI Boss Warns

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Chief Executive Officer of OpenAI, Sam Altman, has said that conversations held with its popular AI tool, ChatGPT, are not currently protected by any legal privilege and could be used as evidence in court.

Altman disclosed this while speaking on the This Past Weekend podcast hosted by comedian Theo Von.

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He expressed concern over the level of personal and sensitive information users share with the chatbot, particularly young people who often treat it as a form of emotional support.

People talk about the most personal shit in their lives to ChatGPT.

READ ALSO:NDLEA Arrests Chinese Businessman, 80-yr-old Grandma With Colos In Moimoi Sachets

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“People use it, young people especially, use it as a therapist, a life coach; having these relationship problems and [asking] ‘what should I do?’” he said.

He noted that, unlike conversations with medical or legal professionals, ChatGPT interactions are not protected under existing confidentiality laws.

And right now, if you talk to a therapist or a lawyer or a doctor about those problems, there’s legal privilege for it.

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“There’s doctor-patient confidentiality, there’s legal confidentiality, whatever.

“And we haven’t figured that out yet for when you talk to ChatGPT,” he added.

READ ALSO:FULL LIST: ChatGTP Names 10 Nigerian Greatest Footballers Of All Time

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Altman warned that this legal grey area could have serious implications. “If you go talk to ChatGPT about the most sensitive stuff and then there’s a lawsuit or whatever, we could be required to produce that.

“If someone confides their most personal issues to ChatGPT, and that ends up in legal proceedings, we could be compelled to hand that over. And that’s a real problem,” he said.

The tech boss called for urgent action to address the privacy gap in AI conversations.

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I think that’s very screwed up. I think we should have the same concept of privacy for your conversations with AI that we do with a therapist or whatever, and no one had to think about that even a year ago,” Altman concluded.

 

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