The Presidency on Sunday pushed back on claims that Nigeria is going through the worst economic crisis in a generation caused by the policies of President Bola Tinubu, pointing out that the administration inherited the problems. In a rejoinder to a New York Times article entitled ‘Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation’, published on June 11, the presidency highlighted the causes of the economic woes and the efforts by the present administration to stem the tide. According to the rejoinder written by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Information and Strategy and made available to correspondents on Sunday, fuel subsidy regime had gulped $84.39 billion between 2005 and 2022 while the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) amassed trillions of naira in debts for absorbing the unsustainable subsidy payments. The rejoinder asserted that last the administration had spent the sum of $1.5 billion monthly to defend the naira. It said with the past administration servicing debts with up to 97 percent of its revenues amid serious infrastructure deficit, it resorted to massive borrowing to cover costs. The presidency stated the New York Times reflected the typical predetermined, reductionist, derogatory, and denigrating way foreign media establishments had reported African countries for several decades. According to it, most significant about the report is that it painted the dire experiences of some Nigerians amid the inflationary spiral of the last year and blamed it all on the policies of the new administration. It said the report, based on several interviews, is at best jaundiced, all gloom and doom, as it never mentioned the positive aspects in the same economy as well as the ameliorative policies being implemented by the central and state governments. It added: “To be sure, President Tinubu did not create the economic problems Nigeria faces today. He inherited them. “As a respected economist in our country once put it, Tinubu inherited a dead economy. The economy was bleeding and needed quick surgery to avoid being plunged into the abyss, as happened in Zimbabwe and Venezuela. “This was the background to the policy direction taken by the government in May/June 2023: the abrogation of the fuel subsidy regime and the unification of the multiple exchange rates. “For decades, Nigeria had maintained a fuel subsidy regime that gulped $84.39 billion between 2005 and 2022 from the public treasury in a country with huge infrastructural deficits and in high need of better social services for its citizens. “The state oil firm, NNPC, the sole importer, had amassed trillions of naira in debts for absorbing the unsustainable subsidy payments in its books. “By the time President Tinubu took over the leadership of the country, there was no provision made for fuel subsidy payments in the national budget beyond June 2023. “The budget itself had a striking feature: it planned to spend 97 percent of revenue servicing debt, with little left for recurrent or capital expenditure. “The previous government had resorted to massive borrowing to cover such costs. Like oil, the exchange rate was also being subsidized by the government, with an estimated $1.5 billion spent monthly by the CBN to ‘defend’ the currency against the unquenchable demand for the dollar by the country’s import-dependent economy. “By keeping the rate low, arbitrage grew as a gulf existed between the official rate and the rate being used by over 5000 BDCs that were previously licensed by the Central Bank. “What was more, the country was failing to fulfil its remittance obligations to airlines and other foreign businesses, such that FDIs and investment in the oil sector dried up, and notably Emirate Airlines cut off the Nigerian route. “President Tinubu had to deal with the cancer of public finance on the first day by rolling back the subsidy regime and the generosity that spread to neighbouring countries. Then, his administration floated the naira. “After some months of the storm, with the naira sliding as low as N1,900 to the US dollar, some stability is being restored, though there remain some challenges. The exchange rate is now below N1500 to the dollar, and there are prospects that the naira could regain its muscle and appreciate to between N1000 and N1200 before the end of the year. “The economy recorded a trade surplus of N6.52 trillion in Q1, as against a deficit of N1.4 trillion in Q4 of 2023. Portfolio investors have streamed in as long-term investors. When Diageo wanted to sell its stake in Guinness Nigeria, it had the Singaporean conglomerate, Tolaram, ready for the uptake. “With the World Bank extending a $2.25 billion loan and other loans by the AfDB and Afreximbank coming in, Nigeria has become bankable again. This is all because the reforms being implemented have restored some confidence. “The inflationary rate is slowing down, as shown in the figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics for April. Food inflation remains the biggest challenge, and the government is working very hard to rein it in with increased agricultural production. “The Tinubu administration and the 36 states are working assiduously to produce food in abundance to reduce the cost. Some state governments, such as Lagos and Akwa Ibom, have set up retail shops to sell raw food items to residents at a lower price than the market price. “The Tinubu government, in November last year, in consonance with its food emergency declaration, invested heavily in dry-season farming, giving farmers incentives to produce wheat, maize, and rice. “The CBN has donated N100 billion worth of fertiliser to farmers, and numerous incentives are being implemented. In the western part of Nigeria, the six governors have announced plans to invest massively in agriculture. “With all the plans being executed, inflation, especially food inflation, will soon be tamed.” The presidency said Nigeria is not the only country in the world facing a rising cost of living crisis. “The USA, too, is contending with a similar crisis, with families finding it hard to make ends meet. US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised this

  Commissioner of Police, Delta State Police Command, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, has ordered a manhunt for a fleeing father who allegedly killed her daughter. The suspect, Stanley Overmureye, allegedly killed her six-year-old daughter, Abigail, on Saturday June 16, 2024 before taking cover. His misdemeanor was reported to the police by his brother who said the incident occurred at Uviama New Layout, Agbarho Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State. SP Bright Edafe, the Command’s image-maker, in a statement on Sunday, said police operatives recovered the corpse of the little girl “whose head was smashed several times on the wall.” “The Command is aware of the gruesome murder of one Abigail Stanley ‘f’ aged 6 years, allegedly by the father one Mr. Stanley Ovemureye. ALSO READ:Direct AGF to discontinue Nnamdi Kanu’s prosecution, Clark tells Tinubu “The sad and painful incident which occurred on 15/6/2024 was reported by the brother to the fleeing suspect. “The DPO on receipt of the complaint detailed operatives who went to the scene at Uviama New Layout, Agbarho Ughelli North LGA, and recovered the corpse of the little child whose head was smashed several times on the wall. “The corpse was recovered and deposited at the mortuary. The father who is the principal suspect is currently at large. “The Commissioner of Police CP Olufemi Abaniwonda saddened by this barbaric act, has ordered a serious manhunt for the fleeing suspect and assures members of the public that the suspect will be arrested and justice will be served. “He urged anyone with useful information that can lead to the arrest of the suspect to call the control room number on 0803684974 or report at the nearest police station,” the statement read in part.

  The apex socio-cultural body of the Niger Delta people, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), has questioned the removal of Solomon Arase as Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC). On June 10, 2024, President Bola Tinubu appointed retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Hashimu Argungu, as the new PSC chair. Argungu replaced Arase. In a statement on Sunday, PANDEF National Chairman, Emmanuel Essien, described the removal of Arase, a former Inspector General of Police, as unjust. “PANDEF views Arase’s removal as unwarranted, and an unnecessary provocation that reflects negatively on Tinubu’s administration, indicating a lack of regard for the nation’s laws that Mr. President swore to uphold and protect. “This singular act further portrays this administration as one that does not prioritize competence, integrity, and efficiency; sacrificing merit on the altar of favoritism,” PANDEF said. Arase, a native of Edo State in the South-South region of Nigeria, was appointed in January 2023 by former President Muhammadu Buhari but his tenure as PSC chair lasted about 16 months of the four-year term. “According to Section 3, subsection (1)a of the Police Service Commission Act 2002, subject to the provisions of Section 4 of the Act, a member of the Commission, other than ex-officio members, shall each hold office for a term of four years and no more.” PANDEF urged Tinubu to tell Nigerians, and the world, at large, the reason or reasons for Arase’s removal. “We stand against injustice, oppression, and likewise, misconduct.” The group said any attempt to marginalise the people of the Niger Delta region and the South-South geopolitical zones would not be taken lightly.

  The leader of the Ijaw nation, Edwin Clark, has called on President Bola Tinubu, to direct the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi, to file a nolle prosequi for the release of the leader of the Independent People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu. Clark urged Tinubu to ask the Attorney General of the Federation to file a nolle prosequi to release the detained IPOB leader, noting that his (Kanu’s) freedom on political grounds was long overdue. This was contained in a second letter to the President on Sunday, following a first in which the elder statesman urged the President not to tow the path of his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari, who marginalised and subjugated the Igbos, by exempting them from certain appointments. “The release of Nnamdi Kanu by Mr President on political grounds is overdue as earlier explained. Mr President should direct the Attorney General to enter a nolle prosequi to free Nnamdi Kanu who has shown his intention to work with the Federal Government, to bring peace and stability in the South-East and to Nigerians as a whole, as it has been recently done in similar cases of treasonable felony as in the case of Miyetti Allah president, Abdullahi Bello Bodejo of Nasarawa state.”, he said. The PUNCH however reports that Kanu was denied bail in April by Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, who granted an accelerated hearing instead. https://punchng.com/breaking-court-denies-nnamdi-kanu-bail/ In his letter, Clark said the move would complete the reconciliation of Nigeria and end the sit-at-home order in the Southeast. He said the IPOB had “fashioned a place for itself” in the hearts and minds of young people, because of the short-changing of Igbos from the South East over the years while urging the use of the “carrot and stick approach”, rather than military force, in addressing the agitations in the region. “Apart from demanding the restructuring of Nigeria, the political freedom of Nnamdi Kanu will no doubt complete the reconciliation of Nigeria and bring an end to the needless Monday sit-at-home order, which has disturbed businesses and civil activities in the South-East.   “The short-changing of the Igbos of the South East over the years is the reason why IPOB has fashioned a place for itself in the hearts and minds of the young people in the Southeast with its demand for self-determination. I have physically seen these IPOB boys in action, at the Ekwueme Square in Awka, Anambra State, when I attended a meeting of the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum there. “None of these youths witnessed the civil war and are, definitely, not abreast with the history of the war and its full ramifications. I advise, therefore, that rather than the use of military force which has already proved counter-productive, they should be carefully treated with the “carrot and stick approach”, in the interest of the peace, stability, and progress of Nigeria as a whole and the Southeast zone in particular.” Clark further emphasised the importance of reintegrating the Igbos into the mainstream of Nigeria, in which their region would be equal with other regions in the country, noting that anything short of that would not be in the interest of the country. “Let me re-emphasize the importance and urgency of reintegrating the Igbos into the mainstream of Nigeria where their region will be equal with other regions in all ramifications, meaning that they should be fully and unconditionally united or be admitted into the Union of Nigeria as it was before the civil war. “Anything short of that is not in the interest of a united Nigeria and there may be no end to the insecurity in Nigeria.” He also called for the restructuring of Nigeria, of which he said the President had also been a principal advocate before becoming Senator and the Governor of Lagos state, adding that restructuring the country “will be one of your most enduring legacies when you leave office”. “Mr President you have always been the principal advocate of restructuring even before you became Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governor of Lagos State. “During your time, you passionately advocated for a Sovereign National Conference, which was even more inclusive than the current restructuring we are demanding, in Nigeria. Undoubtedly, this pursuit of restructuring will be one of your most enduring legacies when you leave office,” he added.

  A 45-year-old woman, identified as Abiodun, has set her 86-year-old mother ablaze after pouring petrol on her in Ondo City, Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Abiodun, popularly called ‘Iya Sunday’, said she set her mother ablaze because she was allegedly behind her predicament. An eyewitness, Sola Oladele, explained that the suspect came to her mother’s house on Friday around 5 am and called out her before pouring petrol on her and setting her on fire. “I went to my mother’s house around 4 am and sat outside. When it was 5 am, I called out my mother from the house. Immediately after she came out, not knowing what was happening, I poured petrol on her body and set her on fire. “It all started when I went to one pastor for prayers, and he told me that my mother was behind what was happening to me. I did not believe it at first. My mother also took me somewhere to see a woman. After my mother left, the woman also said the same thing. I burnt my mother because of what I heard from the pastor and the woman, that I can only be free from bondage when my mother is dead,” the witness said. Confirming the incident, the spokesperson of Ondo State Police Command, SP Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, informed that the victim died on Saturday. She disclosed that since the woman died while receiving treatment at the hospital, the suspect would be charged with murder.