Economy & Politics
Buhari says there is no provision for fuel subsidy in revised 2020 budget
President Buhari has today reiterated the need to do away with fuel subsidy.
The Federal Government says there is no provision for fuel subsidy in the revised 2020 budget, as Nigeria cannot afford the cost.
This was disclosed by President Muhammadu Buhari in the First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat, at the State House on Monday.
Nairametrics reported in July, that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) spent over N535.9 billion on subsidy and Federation Account Allocation Committee in the first quarter of 2020.
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The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources said in July said that it was unrealistic for the government to still continue with the subsidy regime, especially with the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol, as it was of no economic value to continue doing so.
He asked Nigerians to ignore the misinformation and misguided comments that have been in the public space on the issue.
According to the Minster, ‘’It has become expedient for the Ministry of Petroleum to explain misconceptions around the issue of Petroleum Products Deregulation. After a thorough examination of the economics of subsidizing PMS for domestic consumption, the government concluded that it was unrealistic to continue with the burden of subsidizing PMS to the tune of trillions of Naira every year.’’
READ: Nigeria generates N327.2 billion VAT in Q2, as revenue plunges across critical sectors
In today’s meeting, President Buhari said there are several negative consequences if the Government should even attempt to go back to the business of fixing or subsidizing PMS prices.
“First of all, it would mean a return to the costly subsidy regime. Today we have 60% less revenues, we just cannot afford the cost. The second danger is the potential return of fuel queues – which has, thankfully, become a thing of the past under this administration”
READ: Buhari presented with gold bars mined in Zamfara as Nigerian prepares to launch PAGMI scheme.
“ Nigerians no longer have to endure long queues just to buy petrol, often at highly inflated prices. Also, as I hinted earlier, there is no provision for fuel subsidy in the revised 2020 budget, simply because we are not able to afford it, if reasonable provisions must be made for health, education and other social services. We now simply have no choice,” President Buhari said.
Economy & Politics
WTO: Okonjo-Iweala declared candidate with the largest and broadest support among members
Okonjo-Iweala has announced her excitement about being declared candidate with the largest and broadest support among members.
In an optimistic outlook, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has been declared the candidate with the largest, and broadest support among members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and most likely to attract consensus.
This was revealed by the former coordinating minister of the Economy herself, through her verified Twitter page.
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Happy for the success & continued progress of our @wto DG bid. Very humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members & most likely to attract consensus. We move on to the next step on Nov 9, despite hiccups. We're keeping the positivity going!
— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) October 29, 2020
Backstory: Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that Okonjo Iweala is close to being appointed as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organization.
This is after a rigorous selection process that has seen the former minister of Finance scale through a lot of hurdles, making it to the top two.
READ: Why Okonjo-Iweala should win the WTO DG role – Prof. Moghalu
What you should know: According to a press release by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the third and final round of the selection process of the Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was concluded on Tuesday, 27 October 2020 and the result was announced on Wednesday, 28th October 2020.
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala secured the support of the majority of the member-countries but is yet to be declared and returned the winner.
This is because apart from winning the election, all 164 member-states of WTO were expected to adopt the winner by consensus, in accordance with the rule of procedure of the WTO.
It is important to highlight that Dr. Okonjo-Iweala has secured cross-regional backing with only the United States opposing the consensus.
(READ MORE: WTO accepts nomination of Okonjo-Iweala as DG despite opposition from Egypt)
A meeting of the General Council of the WTO has been scheduled for 9th November, 2020 for the final decision on the election process.
What they are saying: Expressing her optimism in winning the race, Dr. Okono-Iweala said: “Happy for the success & continued progress of our @wto DG bid. Very humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members & most likely to attract consensus. We move on to the next step on Nov 9, despite hiccups. We’re keeping the positivity going.”
Explore some Advanced Financial Calculators on Nairametrics
Economy & Politics
Nigeria’s Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala close to being announced as new DG of WTO
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is expected to be announced as the new DG of the World Trade Organisation.
Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Dr Ngozi Okonji-Iweala, is close to being appointed as the new Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
READ: Okonjo-Iweala gets Organised private sector’s endorsement for WTO job
According to Reuters, a group of ambassadors also known as “troika” has proposed Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to lead the WTO giving her a clear path to becoming the first woman to head the WTO since it started 25 years ago. The three ambassadors are thought to wield significant powers in determining what is a very “intricate and opaque” process.
READ: Buhari assures Okonjo-Iweala that the country will push until she emerges WTO DG
Most Nigerian Media houses have already announced NOI as the winner of the process even though this is yet to be made official by the WTO.
The winner for the role of DG of WTO is expected to be announced formally by the WTO later today.
However, there appears to be a new twist, in the expected announcement of her emergence as the new Director-General of the WTO.
The United States through its representative at the WTO has insisted that the South Korean candidate is still in contention and that Washington will not recognize Okonjo-Iweala as the consensus candidate for appointment as Director-General.
As a result, the General Counsel of WTO, postponed the announcement of a new Director-General until November 9, after the US presidential election, after further consultations would have been made.
The announcement of Okonjo-Iweala, who is reported to have gotten the support of a vast majority of members states, including the EU, Japan and China, as the new boss of the World Trade Organization, would have been a huge boost for Africa
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WTO: Okonjo-Iweala declared candidate with the largest and broadest support among members
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Ologbon Doriejamu
September 7, 2020 at 7:04 pm
This is a very unfortunate decision by the government. Let the elected politicians reduce their emoluments to subsidize petrol. After all, these politicians earn far more than Professors in the universities, whereas most of them don’t have a first degree! As the Hausas will say “Allah ya yi sah”.