Nigeria to pay $4bn extra in 2023 if lawmakers reject loan-bond swap – president
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Nigeria would be forced to pay 1.8 trillion naira ($4 billion) in extra interest in 2023 if the national assembly rejects its loan-to-bond swap request on the central bank’s overdrafts to government.
The president made this known on Tuesday after signing the 2023 budget into law.
The explanation and plea came after the Senate rejected his request in December to convert $53 billion worth of central bank overdrafts to the government into 40-year bonds.
Buhari said that his government had renegotiated the repayment to around 9 percent for the bonds, which became a necessity following the 3 percent above the 16.5 percent margin of the lending rate of the Central Bank of Nigeria it used to pay.
“Considering the imminent transition process… I decided to sign the 2023 appropriation bill into law… to enable its implementation to commence without delay,” Buhari said, referring to a general election coming up in February.
Read also: Buhari signs N21.83trn 2023 budget
2023: Atiku will change Nigeria’s political fortune – Tambuwal
Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State said on Tuesday at a party campaign rally held in Binji and Tangaza Local Government Areas of the state that Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is the only flagbearer that can change Nigeria’s political fortunes positively.
According to him, Abubakar has designed workable strategies to end banditry, fight corruption, address unemployment, address infrastructural decay, and boost the socioeconomic life of Nigerians, among other issues.
“Therefore, we should all give our votes for PDP candidates from the President to the State House of Assembly in order to benefit the best Nigeria of our dreams.
“We should safeguard our Permanent Voter Cards and avoid any person who would use money to buy our votes for the best of our country’s future,” he said.
Clark endorses Obi for 2023
Elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, has endorsed Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) as his preferred candidate for the February 25 presidential poll.
Clark made his position known on Tuesday at a news conference in Abuja, saying that Nigeria needed a leader who was transparent and well educated, and that Obi fit that description.
“Given Obi’s sound educational background, distinguished antecedents in professional life, and track record as one of the most outstanding governors Nigeria has ever produced, Obi is eminently qualified to lead this country as President,” he said.
Clark said that the vision statement shared by the LP presidential candidate at a recent meeting with the National Leadership of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) as it related to making Nigeria more productive was commendable. This is according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Weakening demand concerns puts oil price on hold
Weakening demand concerns caused by growing US recession fears and COVID-19 uncertainties in China put West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures above $77 per barrel on Wednesday after falling more than 4 percent in the previous session.
Concerns expressed by some important policymakers over the state of the US economy impacted the price of WTI. With William Dudley, the former New York Fed President, saying that a US recession is likely to take place but not be severe, and Alan Greenspan, the former Fed Chair, saying a recession is the “most likely outcome” for the US.
Apparently, the COVID-19 surge in China is also likely to have a negative impact on the world’s second-largest economy’s demand outlook as the possibility of a shutdown grows.
The global community is also weighing the negative impact of the recent Russia directive to implement retaliatory action against foreign buyers who adopt the G7 price cap and the chances of a production cut from OPEC+.
Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty in FTX fraud case
The trail of perhaps the biggest fraudster in the history of the US financial sector took place on Tuesday, with the accused culprit, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleading not guilty to criminal charges that he cheated investors in his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, a crime that caused billions of dollars in losses to investors.
According to Reuters, Bankman-Fried entered his plea in Manhattan federal court, where he faces eight criminal counts, including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
The 30-year-old crypto billionaire is accused of looting FTX customers’ deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate, and donate millions of dollars to political causes.
“Customer funds were also used and laundered through political donations, charitable donations, and a variety of venture investments,” Danielle Sassoon, a federal prosecutor, said at the hearing.
Sassoon suggested that the government has a deep well of evidence against Bankman-Fried, saying prosecutors will turn over hundreds of thousands of documents in the coming weeks to the defense.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday set an Oct. 2 date for trial.
