Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria has revealed that external reserves rose by $243.83m in 19 days.
The data on movement in reserves showed that the value rose from $39.54bn as of April 1, 2022 to $39.78bn as of April 19, 2022.
The external reserves fell by $313m in March, after starting the month at $39.86bn, before falling to $39.55bn on March 30.
The Governor, CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said at the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting that “The moderate accretion to reserves reflects the duality of Nigeria’s position as an oil exporter and importer of refined petroleum products.”
A member of the Monetary Policy Committee, Prof. Mike Obadan, said for a long time, the oil sector had contributed over 90 per cent of the nation’s foreign exchange earnings and external reserves accretion.
It has also been a significant contributor to the government’s naira revenue through crude oil and gas export receipts, he said.
Obadan said, “But for some time now, this has not been so due to two factors: a huge volume of crude oil theft which has prevented the country from meeting even the OPEC-approved production quota, and the inability of the NNPC, for many months, to make any remittance from direct oil export sales into the Federation Account and external reserves account.
“These are alarming developments which have adversely impacted government’s finances, external reserves accretion and exchange rate stability.
“The inhibiting factors are what the government can check in the short-term.”
He said it was inconceivable that all the foreign exchange earned from the export of crude oil and gas was used to import refined petroleum products or that ‘under-recovery’ / petroleum subsidy was absorbing all the foreign exchange earned from oil sales.
The professor said, “I will therefore strongly appeal to the government to appreciate the grave implications of the oil sector and NNPC’s underperformance and effectively deal with the oil thefts and non-remittance of foreign exchange/naira revenue.
“If, in the presence of the array of security forces in the oil-producing areas, monumental oil theft is taking place to the detriment of the economy, then drastic measures are called for.
“Government should check the untoward developments, through effective security and monitoring, and the positive impact on government finances, external reserves and exchange rate stability will be visible in a short period.”
[9:56 AM, 4/21/2022] +234 816 003 7616: APC’s N100m form, tactics to stop ordinary Nigerians —Afenifere
A Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere has criticised the high cost of nomination and expression of interest forms for presidential contenders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday.
The group said it is a tactics to stop ordinary Nigerians from contesting.
The APC had announced the sum of N100 million as cost for the presidential nomination and expression of interest forms for the party’s presidential aspirants.
The Secretary-General of Afenifere, Mr. Sola Ebiseni, in his reaction said it would allow corruption to flourish in the country.
“It is an insulting message to the pauperised Nigerians that they have no say in the governance of Nigeria or any part thereof. It is a direct affront to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and particularly the declaration in Section 14 (2) (b) that the participation of Nigerians in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
“How can the poor members of the party who are so blatantly discriminated against, on the basis of their situation in life, contrary to Section 42 of the constitution, participate in the governance of the country, particularly in a country where only a political party can field a candidate and no independent candidate allowed?
“Unfortunately, the two dominant parties are both guilty in this game of absurdity and conspiracy against the ordinary Nigerians in the access to their platforms for political participation,” the Afenifere spokesman stated.
He noted that for the PDP, it goes against the goals of their founding fathers, like Alex Ekwueme and Solomon Lar, adding, that the existing payment for participation is the pinnacle of political insensitivity and an open invitation to steal by anyone who could only rise to power through corruption.
The only path ahead for the country, Ebiseni claimed, was reorganization, which would bring every citizen to power.
He said only the reconstruction of the country’s political architecture, which liberalizes citizens’ access to power, can prevent the country’s inevitable decline into oligarchy and anarchy
