Daily Watch – FG clocks 97% debt service mark in 2020, Abiy’s party wins landslide election victory

BudgIT, a civic-tech non-profit organisation, says the FG spent ₦3.34 trillion of its 2020 revenue of ₦3.42 trillion on debt servicing. This means that for every ₦100 earned as revenue, ₦97 was spent on debt servicing during the period under review. The Cable reported that Abuja spent 97 percent of its revenue on debt servicing in the first five months down to May in 2021. BudgIT, in its budget implementation analysis report for 2020, said the federal government spent ₦10 trillion on expenditures in 2020. It further noted that nearly all the federal government’s salaries, overhead, and capital expenditure were funded with loans and support from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The analysis showed that out of the total expenditure, ₦4.65 trillion was spent on non-debt recurrent expenditure. “In 2020, FG projected total revenue of ₦5.37 trillion; however, the actual total revenue eventually stood at ₦3.42 trillion. This represents a 63.71% revenue performance,” BudgIT said. “The cost of servicing FG’s debt is drowning Nigeria as the cost continues to grow, gulping a total of ₦3.34 trillion (97%) from the total revenue. The non-profit said the FG’s total expenditure (₦10.01 trillion), represents 93 percent performance when compared with the budgeted amount of ₦10.81 trillion. It added that there was no implementation report for the ₦428.03 billion in statutory transfers disbursed in 2020.

The World Bank says Nigeria’s GDP may decline by $139 billion in 2030 on the back of a collapse in ecosystem services. The Washington-based institution in its latest report, “Economic Case for Nature”, said that the loss in GDP could cause a permanent reduction of the country’s potential productive economy, adding that it may affect Nigeria’s income and unemployment rate. The report highlighted that Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia would suffer the most relative contraction of real GDP due to a collapse of ecosystem services by 2030, 9.7 percent annually and 6.5 percent respectively. The World  Bank also added that Nigeria is one of the worst affected countries including China, India, Brazil, and Indonesia. “The worst affected country is China, which sees its GDP drop by $943 billion in 2030, followed by India (-$193 billion), Brazil (-$150 billion), Indonesia (-$144 billion) and Nigeria (-$139 billion),” the report reads. “The projected loss in GDP signifies a permanent reduction of the productive potential of the economy, with potentially long-lasting effects on incomes and employment. “As countries seek to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important that economic development improves outcomes for nature.”

The Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, Dr Chikwe Iheakweazu, on Saturday, said, six states reported 1,786 suspected cases of cholera between June 20 and June 26. While giving a list and a breakdown of the affected states, the NCDC DG, who spoke in Abuja, on Saturday said the states included Bauchi, 1,239 cases; Kano, 362 cases; Niger, 62 cases; Zamfara, 55 cases; Kaduna, 59 cases, and Plateau, nine cases. He said in the preceding week of June 13 to June 19, five states– Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, and Zamfara–reported 1,757 suspected cases. Bauchi State reported 900 cases, Kano State reported 575 cases, Kaduna State reported 70 cases, Plateau reported 98 cases, while Zamfara reported 114 cases. Ihekweazu said between January 2021, and June 27, a total of 14,343 suspected cases of cholera were reported from 15 states and the FCT. This, he added, included 325 deaths. The affected states are Benue, Delta, Zamfara, Gombe, Bayelsa, Kogi, Sokoto, Bauchi, Kano, Kaduna, Plateau, Kebbi, Cross-River, Nasarawa, Niger, and the FCT. NCDC’s Situation Report on cholera indicates that 27.6 percent of victims across the country are those in the five years to 14 years bracket. The report also indicated that 51 percent of the suspected cases were male, while 49 percent were female. Ihekweazu said that the NCDC would continue to support states to intensify their cholera outbreak responses, noting that the risk of death from cholera was higher when treatment was delayed. He advised Nigerians to boil and store water in clean and safe containers before drinking. And to wash their hands frequently with soap under clean running water to prevent infectious diseases like cholera.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party won the most seats in Ethiopia’s parliamentary election, the election board said on Saturday, a victory that assures him another term in office. Abiy hailed the 21 June vote as the country’s first free and fair election after decades of repressive rule. However, an opposition boycott, the war in the northern region of Tigray, ethnic violence, and logistical challenges in some areas overshadowed the election. Voting did not take place in three of Ethiopia’s 10 regions. Abiy’s party won 410 of 436 parliamentary seats, election board deputy chairperson Woubshet Ayele announced in the capital Addis Ababa. Chairperson Birtukan Mideksa said the board had delivered a credible election. Opposition leader Berhanu Nega said his Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice party (Ezema) had filed 207 complaints after local officials and militiamen blocked observers in both Amhara and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ regions. The election was the first test of voter support for Abiy, who promised political and economic reforms when he was appointed prime minister by the governing coalition in 2018. Within months of taking office, Abiy lifted a ban on opposition parties, released tens of thousands of political prisoners, and took steps to open up one of Africa’s last untapped markets. He now faces international pressure over the war in Tigray and accusations from rights groups that his government is rolling back some new freedoms, which it denies. Abiy’s newly formed Prosperity Party faced a fragmented opposition of dozens of mostly ethnically-based parties. The opposition parties Ezema and the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA) each won less than 10 seats. Voting in the Harari and Somali regions was delayed until September over security concerns and problems with ballot papers.