The Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Debt Management Office (DMO) to stay action on the government’s request for debt restructuring until the Economic and financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices ad Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and other relevant agencies conduct a forensic and thorough audit of the state’s finances from May 29, 2007 to May 28, 2015, and issue a certificate of clean financial health.
APC noted that nothing justified the state to owe after receiving over N3 trillion from the Federation Account n the last eight years.
The party stated its position yesterday in Uyo, the state capital, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Ita Awak.
It accused Governor Udom Emmanuel and his Finance Commissioner, Mr Akan Okon, of being economical with the truth on the government’s claim that the state’s debt to commercial banks was N64.5 billion.
APC alleged that the state was owing over N500 billion and not N64.5 billion, as claimed by the state government.
Plateau State government has accused former Governor Jonah Jang of lying to his successor on the state of indebtedness of the state.
Senator Jonah Jang is representing Plateau North zone in the Senate, a seat he won after completing his terms.
Jang handed over to Gov Simon Lalong, following the victory the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Governor Simon Lalong.
It was alleged that, in the handing over note the state was indebted to the tune of N103 billion.
But, a transition committee that submitted its formal reports said the former governor lied in his hand over note.
According to the report the committee headed by the deputy governor, Professor Sunni Tyoden, “the state of indebtedness of the state as at May 29, 2015 amounts to N222.3 billion.
The reports reads in parts: “The hand over notes received from the proceeding government claimed the level of of indebtedness of the government was N103.9 billion as of May, 2015. Our findings put the figure at N222.3 billion.
“What was left as credit in all the government accounts put together, was N93 million.
While the outgone government claimed to have spent N8.6 billion on the new government house at Little Rayfield, our findings put the figure at N16.4 billion and work is still ongoing”
The Nigeria International Debt Fund (NIDF) will tomorrow distribute a total of N20.76 million as interim coupon to investors in the investment scheme.
Each noteholder on the register of the fund as at June 30, this year will receive an interim coupon per note of N38.21.
Managing Director, Afrinvest Asset Management Limited, the manager of NIDF, Mr Ola Belgore, noted that the latest payment will represent the 35th coupon in the life of the Fund, which started in 1997.
He pointed out that the interim distribution was in line with the structure of the NIDF, as the NSE-listed Mutual Fund, which invests in fixed income securities of Federal and state governments, is designed to make distributions twice yearly.
“Since the restructuring of the Fund in 2010, NIDF has had an Income Return of 16 per cent and a total return of 42 per cent. As at December 31, 2014, the fund closed at N1, 978.38, and as at June 30, 2015 it closed at N2, 036.35,” Belgore said on the attractiveness of the fund.
He outlined that NIDF offers investors safety, capital preservation, steady returns and investment diversification adding that the fund is suitable for both individual and institutional investors such as Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), insurance companies, asset managers and gratuity funds.
Afrinvest Asset Management Limited is a subsidiary of Afrinvest (West Africa) Limited, a wealth advisory firm involved in investment banking, securities trading, asset management and investment research, which focuses on West Africa.
Plateau State government has accused ex-Governor Jonah Jang of lying about the state’s indebtedness.
Jang is representing Plateau North in the Senate.
A transition committee, headed by Deputy Governor Sunni Tyoden, which submitted its report yesterday at the Government House, Rayfield, Jos, said the former governor lied in his hand over note.
According to the report, “the debt of Plateau as at May 29 was N222.3 billion, contrary to Jang’s claim of N103.9billion.”
Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo had defended the bail-out fund policy of the Buhari administration for states owing salaries of civil servants.
Speaking at a ceremony in honour President Mihammadu Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Malam Garba Shehu, Osinbajo said this was not the first time the Federal Government is taking such a step.
The Vice President explained that the bail out for states was promoted by the fact that the 36 states of the federation are owing commercial banks N685 billion which he said has negatively hindered them to settle most of their commitments in respect of salaries and other entitlements.
According to him, the Buhari administration operates under zero tolerance to corruption, noting that the era where looting public fund bring politicians together is over.
He said that the Federal Government will also pursue to a logical conclusion, the implementation of social welfare policy that will alleviate poverty and ensure that democratic dividends gets to the door step of the common man.
He commended Malam Garba Shehu for being consistent and dedicated in the profession of journalism, adding that Garba’s honesty, simplicity integrity have continued to endear him to people he has met and worked with.
Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa last weekend stunned the state when he announced that his predecessor and former boss, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, left a whopping N637 billion debts in various forms.
•Okowa
Okowa told members of the Delta State House of Assembly, most of whom were part of the past 5th Assembly, that his administration inherited a debt profile of N637.22 billion.
According to Prince Victor Efeizomor, the governor’s Press Secretary, “ Giving a breakdown of the debt profile, Okowa disclosed that N98.62 billion is as a result of Revenue Bond and indebtedness to commercial banks, while outstanding contractual obligations stood at N538, 601,962,421.50.”
By that revelation, Delta state vaulted to the top ‘States in Debt’ table. From the figure, which is yet to be disputed by the former governor, the state’s debt profile is higher than that of Lagos and a few others combined.
More worrying for citizens of the state, is the disclosure by Oghenejabor Ikimi of the Centre for the Vulnerable and Underprivileged, who posited that that the state owed over N1 trillion to creditors. Ikimi cited a report by the transition committee in arriving at the figure.
He said, “Though we are not oblivious of the fact that the actual debt burden of the State is well over a trillion naira as revealed in the transition committee report submitted to the incumbent Governor, we wonder why the State Governor has settled for the above sum of N636 billion.
“We therefore call on the incumbent Governor for the avoidance of doubt to immediately publish the full extract of his transition committee report in the above regard as the above subject, such as the debt profile of the State cannot be traded for politics as same is not a PDP family affair or an Ibori Political family affair. “
Ikimi’s parting shot was pregnant and in consonance with feelings of a section of the state, particularly the opposition All Progressive Congress, that the incumbent governor cannot extricate himself from the political merry ground that plunged the state into the chasm of debt. Besides being the Secretary to the Government during Uduaghan’s first tenure, Okowa was a serial commissioner under the eight-year two tenures of Governor James Ibori and therefore a partaker by association, at least.
The ‘Debt Statement’ was also silent on how much of the debt went into the prosecution of the 2015 election both for Okowa and the state’s People’s Democratic Party candidates in the various positions. It was gathered that his Campaign Organization presented a whopping bill of N3.5billion to then Governor Uduaghan to enable it succeed at the polls. Although it could not be ascertained how the fund was sourced, a source close to the party leadership and the former governor disclosed that the budget was funded thoroughly without a review.
Our source said, “Just weeks to the governorship election, N3bn had been released to the committee and I am sure the N500m balance was also released.”.
It was against the above background that the APC in the state accused Okowa of being part of the cabal that plunged the state into that depth in the pit of debt.
APC’s Media Adviser in Delta state, Dr Martins Mukoro, in a press release slammed Okowa for shedding ‘crocodile tears’ urging the people of the state not to get carried away by the subterfuge.
Mukoro said Okowa’s lamentation was merely to prepare the minds of Deltans for another jamboree in the debt market, adding that he represented the misrule that had bedeviled the state in the hands of the PDP over the past 16 years.
•Uduaghan
“From Gov Okowa’s days as Commissioner under Gov Ibori to his days as the Secretary to the Government under Gov Uduaghan that accumulated these debts , he has no moral excuse to attempt to distance himself as if he was an on-looker or bystander while the state was being wrecked!
“Gov Okowa was not an onlooker but a key participant and a major co-conspirator in wrecking the finances and Economy of Delta State and he is in no position to rescue Delta from the mess created by him and the past PDP Administrations.”
The debt profile of Benue State currently stands at N90 billion according to preliminary investigation by government.
Governor Samuel Ortom told students and other union leaders from the Benue State University at separate meetings in Makurdi Friday that the debt includes N50 billion for ongoing contracts, N18 billion for certified ones, N12 billion for salary arrears and about N10 billion for bonds and bank loans.
Government, he said, has already received offers from some banks and would soon approach the State House of Assembly for approval to obtain a loan for the purpose of settling its financial obligations.
It will start by paying its workers one month’s salary across board and to ensure the take off of both the executive and legislative arms of government.
Ortom said the move was to demonstrate to the state work force that he was seriously concerned about their plight.
He appealed to lecturers and other workers at the university to call off their strike and give him time to look into their grievances including the issue of accreditation at the institution.
He said that the plight of the students and their parents as well as that of patients should be considered.
President of the student union government, Comrade Bobby Tavershima, lamented that the students of the University have been at home for four months but pledged that they would not do anything to undermine the new administration.
Representative of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Comrade Obande Obande appealed to the Governor to clear the arrears of bursary owed students.
Professor Julius Ashiko who spoke for the unions regretted that the institution’s medical students are into their 13th year instead of the six years they ought to have spent.
Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje defended yesterday the debt profile of N294.5billion he inherited from ex-Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.
He said the debt was not a crime.
Ganduje, who addressed reporters at the Government House, Kano, attributed the debt to the dwindling price of crude in the international market, saying it would not affect the state in the discharge of its responsibilities.
He said: “I admit that it is a huge debt. I’m part and parcel of the Kwankwaso administration and whatever may have happened, we all should take responsibility.
“On the issue of liabilities, yes, it is correct that we have a huge liability. But that does not mean it is a crime. We planned everything together with my boss (Kwankwaso). But unfortunately, what we envisaged did not work, as the price of oil fell. So, what do we do? We could not complete the projects because of lack of funds. This is not a problem.
“Now, it is a matter of re-planning and rescheduling. There is no problem. Even the contractors, we shall reschedule their payments. We shall pay them, which will be based on what we have on ground.
“Those people, who cry foul because of liabilities, are only being shortsighted, because by the time they complete their tenure, it will be the same story. I don’t want to cry because we have huge liabilities. Yes, we have huge debt and this is not a crime.
“Oil was more than $100 per barrel. Now it is $50 per barrel. It has come down by more than half. Then, we had already started projects. Do we cancel them? No, we cannot. So, we have to manage what we have—that is no problem to me.”
THE nation’s rising domestic debts presently at a staggering N11 trillion has remained a cause of concern.
This, according to Prof. Chris Onalo, Registrar/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Institute of Credit Administration (ICA), needs to be addressed for the economy to grow.
Speaking with The Nation over the weekend, Onalo, who is regarded as the doyen of credit management in Nigeria, said this suggestion becomes necessary in view of the fact that the domestic rising debts profile of the country which has been incurred by the previous administration in the course of managing the affairs of the state is becoming to take its toll on the economy as a whole.
“We stand today as a country indebted to the tune of about N8.5trillion domestic debts arising from issuance of bonds by the federal government and state governments, of course, it is speculated that the debts owed by states put together could be within the region of N1.69trillion.”
While noting that there is nothing bad about borrowing, Prof Onalo however decried a situation where borrowing is based on germane need.
“In the case of Nigeria and in particular the outgoing government, who has borrowed within the period of Jonathan’s administration up to N5trillion, in addition to what was brought forward from the previous regime, yes, the incoming government has got herculean task as to how to liquidate these debts.”
The incoming administration, he said, has got a big task on its hands. “But I think the only way the incoming government can address the issue very quickly is to see that negotiations within the various stakeholders is brought to bear. Of course, looking at the Debt Management Office, it would require critical restructuring to be able to move in, in the right direction that would stem the tide of further debts growth.”
To make fund available, the incoming administration, he said, may need to tight the noose in order to create funds necessary for the liquidation of these debts.
“I’m referring to a no-giving up effort to fight corruption because money is tied down within the domestic sphere and for those that may have in one way or the other have taken funds that is not theirs, there should be proactive steps to recover such funds so that there would be much more funds in the government kits. Obviously, the incoming administration would be looking for funds to run the economy.”
Government, he stressed, “must be ready to put in place mechanism that can enable it retrieve ill-gotten wealth, some elephant projects that are tied to financial obligations but has no immediate value as far as the economic development is concerned such projects may have to be put down.”
Expatiating, he said, “Government in Nigeria for a very long time have not been able to come to terms with is delivering the dividends of democracy without sacrificing the national interest and management of the economy which gives opportunity for everybody to create further wealth for the country. That is my major problem. There is this disconnect. There is nothing I can do about that other than saying it the way I’m saying it and then someone out there listens and some day we could have a dramatic change that could address this issue where dividends of democracy does not necessarily mean giving out some sort of handouts to people financial handouts.” “And then, we develop means and ways by which we can deal decisively with the culture of corruption, so that funds will be available to develop the infrastructural need of the country for the people to bring out the best in them. “Having said that, I think, that the state government particularly, the incoming government should develop governance character completely different from what has been the norm so far.
“There must be a conscious effort on the part of the state government to look inward and identify economic potential that are available and try to harness them and putting up laws that encourages indigenes to set up enterprises creating employment for people thus contributing to the GDP because as it stands, the GDP and the debt ratio, is too wide and there is no way any economy can survive with this. Obviously, looking at it from that springboard, the impoverish status of this country can be better argued.”
Nigeria’s bonds yields rose slightly yesterday after Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) harmonisation of the Cash Reserves Requirement (CRR) on public and private sector deposits triggered a sell-off by some investors.
At it’s rate-setting meeting on Tuesday, the (CRR), the amount the CBN requires banks to set aside, was revised to 31 per cent for both public and private sector deposits. Previously the CRR on private sector deposits was 20 per cent and 75 per cent for public sector deposits.
Some banks that held more of the private sector deposits in CRR would be required to make an additional provision of 11 per cent due by today, triggering the selling down of their investment in bonds to raise additional money.
“Some banks that have their deposits skewed to private sector are selling down their bond holdings in order to make provision for the increase in the CRR on the deposit, driving up yields at the market,” one dealer said.
The yield on the benchmark bond maturing in 2024 inched up to 13.63 per cent from 13.60 per cent the previous day, while that on the 2022 paper rose to 13.59 per cent from 13.51 per cent. Interest rates on short borrowing among banks eased, following the injection of portion of the budgetary allocations to states and local government in the banking system.
“Market liquidity increased to around N235 billion ($1 billion) on from deficit level the previous day,” a currency dealer said.
Secured Open Buy Back (OBB) eased to seven per cent, while overnight placement fell to 8 percent from 15 per cent the previous day, traders said.
