• Tuesday, April 23, 2024
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BusinessDay

Five things to know to start your Tuesday

2023 presidential election: Can we get it right?

Buhari set to launch Nigeria’s Financial Framework in New York

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will on Friday launch Nigeria’s Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) in New York, United States. This is a part of the moves the government plans to use to help address some of the financial inadequacies hindering the nation from achieving its sustainable development objectives.

Through a press release on Monday, Femi Adesina, the Media Adviser to the President, said that the INFF is expected to help Nigeria in its journey of recovery from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as help address the lack of an integrated approach to financing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Read Also: Buhari has charted right path for Ajaokuta’s future – Ex-NMS president

Nigerians won’t experience petrol scarcity in December says NNPC

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) says the country will not experience petrol scarcity in December and beyond, as it has made adequate arrangements for supply.

According to NAN, Umar Ajia, the chief financial officer of NNPC Ltd., said this in Abuja on Monday when he appeared before an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on the fuel subsidy regime in Nigeria.

Ajia said that the company has put in place adequate measures to prevent petrol scarcity in the country even after the 2023 general election.

“We have extended our Direct Sales Direct Purchase (DSDP) contract by six months to sustain supply of PMS throughout the country,” Ajija said.

“The DSDP contract, in reality, ended in August, and it is a very dangerous period to begin to retender for that because we are facing the winter. These are the difficult ’ember months’ when we normally avoid fuel scarcity.

“You know, the scarcity in Nigeria is really associated with the Christmas period, so if you tender now, the tendering process will take one or two months.

“So, what the board approved is to extend the contract for six months such that we have passed the winter and we have passed the election, otherwise we could have problems during the election,’’ he said.

VP Osinbajo wishes King Charles a successful reign

Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President of Nigeria, has expressed his belief that King Charles, who takes over from his mother, the late Queen Elizabeth II, as the leader of the Commonwealth of Nations, will perform better than his mother.

He said this on Monday when he spoke to journalists in London on the sideline of the Queen’s funeral, describing the gathering of world leaders for the event as a show of brotherhood.

Osinbajo said: “First, as you pointed out, this is a historic event, one that is unlikely to happen, perhaps in another lifetime. Just the sheer enormity of all that has happened, the gathering of leaders from everywhere, the goodwill and good wishes from practically everywhere in the world.

“I think that has been a testament to the kind of person the queen was.

“That her life and death brought people together, perhaps even more so in death.”

 

Osinbajo noted that the deceased queen’s generosity and exemplary leadership endeared her to millions of admirers all around the world.

“For countries like ours—Nigeria and the Commonwealth—this has been very strengthening and I am sure that King Charles himself felt the honour of having so many people come by, but also the reassurance that there is a brotherhood across the world and that the commonwealth remains strong,” he said.

“So this is excellent and again, one wishes King Charles very very well indeed. And we are anxious that he succeeds and that perhaps he does it better than his mother, which I believe is the hope of his mother, the Queen.”

Crisis staring at Portugal if Nigeria fails to deliver all LNG due

Duarte Cordeiro, Portugal’s minister for environment and energy, on Monday, said that the country could be steering into a crisis this winter if Nigeria does not deliver all the liquefied natural gas(LNG) due to it.

Cordeiro added that though the Nigerian government had given assurances to the Portuguese government, there were still fears that they may not meet up, especially as winter approaches. According to him, “there is a risk of it not complying”.

“From one day to another, we may have a problem, such as not being supplied with the volume of gas that is planned,” Cordeiro told a conference in Lisbon hosted by CNN Portugal.

He did not, however, say what might prevent Nigeria from supplying all of the LNG required, despite the fact that Nigeria sees this as a great opportunity to replace Russian gas in most European countries.

UK to spend at least $2.63 billion on Ukraine war effort in 2023 – FT

The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the United Kingdom is likely to match or exceed the 2.3 billion pounds ($2.63 billion) it promised Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister, is expected to address world leaders this week, letting them know of the country’s latest effort to help Ukraine win this war over Russia.

Politics in Britain is expected to take centre stage on Tuesday after the country buried its longest-serving monarch—Queen Elizabeth II.

Truss is expected to be in New York for the UN General Assembly. This meeting will be her first after she was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Britain.