Five things to know to start your Wednesday

“Obidatti” set to unveil presidential campaign list Wednesday

Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, and his running mate, Yusuf Baba Ahmed, have announced plans to present their presidential campaign list on Wednesday.

Doyin Okupe, the director general of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation, disclosed this in an invitation card shared with the press.

Okupe said that the world press conference to unveil the presidential campaign list will take place at the Chelsea Hotel in the Central Area of Abuja by 12:00 noon on Wednesday with the theme: “Pre-Campaign World Press Conference”.

BusinessDay learnt that the unveiling is coming at the backdrop of the official launch of the LP presidential candidate’s official website aimed at soliciting funds from well-meaning Nigerians and also informing people about its political activities, especially campaigns and rallies.

The banker turned politician made the announcement via its official Twitter handle.

He had encouraged people to visit the official campaign website and make their monetary contributions there.

Read also:Will Peter Obi win or not?

NASS’ll pass 2023 Appropriation Bill December – Lawan

Ahmad Lawan, the president of the Senate, says the National Assembly will pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N20.5 trillion before the end of December.

According to NAN, the senate president made this known on Tuesday in Abuja at a reception organised to celebrate the national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON) bestowed on him by President Muhamadu Buhari.

President Buhari had on Friday, last week, presented the 2023 budget before a joint session of the National Assembly.

The budget, tagged “Budget of Fiscal Sustainability and Transition,” is expected to drive growth and moderation in managing the nation’s debt profile.

In a speech at the reception, Lawan said that the Senate would begin debate on the bill on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow, we will start the debate on the 2023 appropriation bill. Like we did for the three previous sessions, we are going to pass it before the end of December.

“We are purposeful and we are focused. It’s not for nothing that the presidency decided to honour 12 of us.

“They know our contribution to not only the administration of good governance, but also stability of the polity.

“I strongly believe that the national assembly of today has provided so much inputs into political stability in Nigeria. The records are there.

“People can look at what we have done and also those things that we didn’t do. I believe that our colleagues in the 9th senate worked so hard,” he said.

Nigeria reclaims 31 stolen Benin Bronze artifacts from U.S. museums

The Nigerian government on Tuesday reclaimed 31 stolen Benin Bronze models from three U.S. Museums after 125 years.

According to NAN reports that around 29 Benin Bronze artifacts were returned by the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art, one from the National Gallery of Art, and another from the Rhode Island School of Design Museum.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Prof. Abba Tijjani, Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments witnessed the transfer of the artifacts.

The representative of the Oba of Benin, his brother, Aghatise Erediauwa also witnessed the historic repatriation ceremony at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

In his remarks, Lai Mohammed said the bronze works were intrinsic to the culture that produced them and that a people ought not be denied the works of their forebears.

“It is in light of this that we are delighted with today’s repatriation of Benin Bronze,’’ he said.

The minister said the event was another testament to the success of the campaign for the return and restitution of Nigeria’s looted/smuggled artifacts from around the world, which we launched in November 2019.

UN, G7 decry Russian attack on Ukraine as possible war crime

Russian forces showered Ukraine with more missiles and munition-carrying drones Tuesday after widespread strikes killed at least 19 people in an attack the U.N. human rights office described as “particularly shocking” and amounting to potential war crimes.

The Associated Press reported that air raid warnings sounded throughout Ukraine for a second straight morning as officials advised residents to conserve energy and stock up on water.

The strikes have knocked out power across the country and pierced the relative calm that had returned to Kyiv and many other cities far from the war’s front lines.

“It brings anger, not fear,” Kyiv resident Volodymyr Vasylenko, 67, said as crews worked to restore traffic lights and clear debris from the capital’s streets. “We already got used to this. And we will keep fighting.”

The leaders of the Group of Seven industrial powers condemned the bombardment and said they would “stand firmly with Ukraine for as long as it takes.” Their pledge defied Russian warnings that Western assistance would prolong the war and the pain of Ukraine’s people.

Russia launched the widespread attacks in retaliation for a weekend explosion that damaged the Kerch Bridge between Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin alleged that Ukrainian special services masterminded the blast. The Ukrainian government has applauded it but not claimed responsibility.

“Such steps can bring peace closer,” he said. “They will encourage the terrorist state to think about peace, about the unprofitability of war.”

Ukrainian officials said the diffuse strikes on power plants and civilian areas made no “practical military sense.” However, Putin’s supporters had urged the Kremlin for weeks to take tougher action in Ukraine and criticized the Russian military for a series of embarrassing battlefield setbacks.

IMF dims outlook for 2023 global economy amid Ukraine war

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is downgrading its outlook for the world economy for 2023. The Bretton Wood organisation has cited a long list of threats that include Russia’s war against Ukraine, chronic inflation pressures, punishing interest rates and the lingering consequences of the global pandemic as reason for this downgrade.

The Associated Press (AP) reported that the 190-country lending agency forecast Tuesday that the global economy would carve out growth of just 2.7 percent next year. A figure that is down from the 2.9 percent it had estimated in July. The IMF left unchanged its forecast for international growth this year — a modest 3.2 percent, a sharp deceleration from last year’s 6 percent expansion.

“The worst is yet to come, ″ said IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas. Three major economies — the United States, China and Europe — are stalling. Countries accounting for a third of global economic output will contract next year, suggesting that 2023 “will feel like a recession″ to many people around the world, he said Tuesday.

In its latest estimates, the IMF slashed its outlook for growth in the United States to 1.6 percent this year, down from a July forecast of 2.3 percent. It expects meager 1 percent U.S. growth next year.

The fund foresees China’s economy growing just 3.2 percent this year, down drastically from 8.1 percent last year. Beijing has instituted draconian zero-COVID policy and has cracked down on excessive real estate lending, disrupting business activity. China’s growth is forecast to accelerate to 4.4 percent next year, still tepid by Chinese standards.

In the IMF’s view, the collective economy of the 19 European countries that share the euro currency, reeling from crushingly high energy prices caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine and Western sanctions against Moscow, will grow just 0.5 percent in 2023.