Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has said 10 of the 32 states in Nigeria have bigger gross domestic capital (GDP) than some African countries. He said this on Sunday when he was visited by a group of Harvard Business School students at the presidential villa, Abuja. The vice-president said Nigeria should not be compared with smaller African countries in terms of economic prosperity. “First, there is a need to appreciate the size of the country, which is...

ABUJA — Nigeria spends N18.39 billion on petrol subsidy petrol payments per day, according to the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed. The minister said this on Thursday during an inquiry by the house of representatives committee investigating petroleum products for subsidy regime from 2013 to 2022. Subsidy or under-recovery is the shortfall for the underpriced sales of premium motor spirit (PMS), also known as petrol. “For 2023, the projection is that...

The state governors, in consultations with the national economic council (NEC), are aware of withdrawals from the excess crude account (ECA), according to the minister of finance, budget, and national planning, Zainab Ahmed. The minister disclosed this on Wednesday at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari. She said the governors, who are joint owners of the accounts, were aware of the withdrawals. The minister explained that...

AWKA — Anambra State House of Assembly has during the plenary today, approved Governor Soludo’s N100 billion loan request. This is coming after the House Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Hon. Somto Udeze had interfaced with Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning and Commissioner for Finance, demanding explanations as to where the loan would be invested, among other things. Ifeatu Onejeme and Chiamaka Nnake, Finance Commissioner and Budget and Economic Planning Commissioner spent several...

AWKA — Anambra State lawmakers are now set to interrogate Governor Soludo’s loan request, in which the governor is seeking the nod of the House to borrow N100 billion, to help with funding the 2022 revised budget which has just been approved for the governor by the House. The Commissioner for Budget and other relevant government agencies and officials will be meeting with the House Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Hon. Somto Udeze, to...