Victor Ezeja
Here are the top 10 stories from Nigerian daily newspapers for today, 31st March 2023 on Politics, business, entertainment and economy.
1. Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits ₦42.25trn, DMO Insists Figure Within Threshold
The Debt Management Office, on Thursday, revealed that Nigeria’s total public debt stock increased to N46.25 trillion or $103.11 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelIt stated that the new figure consists of domestic and external total debt stocks of both the federal government and the sub-national governments (36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory). Read more
2. PDP NWC Reverses Fayose, Anyim, Others Suspension
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has reversed the suspension of the former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, and ex-Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, among other chieftains of the party.
The main opposition party also canceled its referral of the Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, to the disciplinary committee over alleged anti-party activities. Read more
3. Donald Trump Indicted, May Face Over 30 Counts Of Business-related Fraud
Immediate past United States president, Donald Trump has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury. This is the first time in American history that an ex-president has faced criminal charges.
In response, Trump, however, claimed it was “Political Persecution and Election
Interference at the highest level in history,” apparently pointing an accusing finger at the incumbent president, Joe Biden.
4. No Constitutional Provision For Interim Government – Agbakoba
A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Chief Olisa Agbakoba, on Friday, declared that there was no constitutional provision for an interim government in Nigeria, and therefore dismissed the idea as a hoax.
5. Interim Govt: Timi Frank Counters DSS, Says Report Fake
Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Timi Frank, has described the alarm raised by the DSS as fake and an attempt to arrest the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar and his Labour Party (LP) counterpart, Peter Obi, before the May 29.
6. UBA Announces N201bn Profit, Pays 90 kobo Final Dividend
Africa’s Global Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, has released its audited financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2022, showing impressive performance across major indices.
The 2022 financials, filed by the Bank at Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGx) on Thursday, showed that gross earnings rose significantly to N853.2billion from N660.2billion recorded at the end of the 2021 financial year, representing a strong 29.2 percent growth. Read more
7. MTN Team Visits Abia Governor-elect Alex Otti, Plans Investments
A team of senior management staff of telecommunications giant, MTN Nigeria, on Wednesday visited the Abia State Governor-Elect, Dr. Alex Otti, to discuss investment opportunities and areas of cooperation.
The Chief Enterprise e-Business Officer, Lynda Saint Nwafor, who led the team said MTN will be looking at collaborating with the incoming Abia State government in different sectors, including empowering the small and medium enterprises (SMEs), education, security, E-Governance among others. Read more
8. Edo Refinery Targets $125m Per Annum Haul from Export
The Edo Refinery and Petrochemical Company (ERPC) Limited, operators of the 6000bpd Modular Refinery in Ologbo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, is on course to make about $125m per annum from the export of naphtha, one of the products from its plant.
The refinery has doubled down on production since it started processing crude oil sourced from Oza Oil Field, as it recently placed an order for 150,000 barrels of crude from operators of the marginal field, Decklar Resources Inc. and Millennium Oil and Gas Company Limited.
9. Nigeria Loses $1bn Annually to Non-certification of Agri-produce for Export
Nigeria has failed to benefit from multibillion-dollar agricultural items exported from West Africa due to non-certification of its farm produce such as yam, mangoes, shrimps, garlic, ginger and others.
10. PwC Tasks Incoming Administration on Increasing Tax to GDP Ratio to 18%
The PwC’s Fiscal Policy Partner and West Africa Tax Leader, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, has asked the regime that would come into power on May 29 to find creative means of increasing Nigeria’s tax to-GDP ratio to at least between 15 per cent and 18 per cent
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
