Daily Watch – NBS announces GDP growth of 3.46%, NDC accuses NPP of printing fake ballot papers

Nigeria’s annual gross domestic product (GDP) rate grew by 3.46% in Q3 2024, higher than the 3.19% recorded in Q2 2024. The growth rate was also higher than the 2.54% recorded in the third quarter of 2023. The performance of the GDP was driven mainly by the services sector, which recorded a growth rate of 5.19% and contributed 53.58% to the aggregate GDP. The nominal GDP was ₦71.13 trillion in Q3 2024. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the country recorded an average oil production of 1.47 million barrels per day (mbpd) in Q3 2024.  The real growth of the oil sector was 5.17% (year-on-year) in Q3 2024 and the non-oil sector grew by 3.37% in real terms in Q3 2024.  The NBS also announced that Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 4.3% in Q2 2024.

Kano State Internal Revenue Service took strong action on Monday, closing down three companies for failing to pay their taxes over several years. This includes the main office of Max Air Limited, which has not paid its tax liabilities from 2012 to 2017. The agency also shut down the headquarters of Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company, located on the Kano-Zaria Road. This company refused to pay ₦241.2 million in employee taxes and withholding taxes for 2021 and 2022. Additionally, they sealed Northern Rice and Oil Milling Nigeria Limited at the Gunduwawa Industrial Estate. Ibrahim Abdullahi, the agency’s Director of Debt Management and Enforcement, explained these closures happened after obtaining a court order.  Abdullahi emphasised that the decision came after multiple unsuccessful attempts to communicate with these companies. The director clarified that these companies would remain closed until they fully paid their outstanding tax debts. 

The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) of printing fake ballot papers to be used in the 7 December elections, with the intention of claiming victory. In a press statement announcing a three-day tour of the Western Region by the NDC flagbearer, John Mahama, the party claimed to have credible information about the alleged fake ballot papers. The statement further alleged that the NPP plans to intimidate voters in NDC strongholds. The NDC made it clear that it is prepared and will forcefully resist any attempts at electoral manipulation as planned by the NPP and Bawumia campaign. The party also urged the Electoral Commission, the President, and his Vice President to act with integrity to ensure a free and fair election.

The latest African Economic Outlook released by the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has detected what it describes as de-synchronisation between economic growth performance and sustainable development which suggests that Africa’s current development model is not fit for purpose. According to the document,  The  Existing  Development  Model,  which relies heavily on resource extraction without value addition,  urgently requires a complete overhaul if the continent is to catch up with other regions. “The urgency is such that,  under a business-as-usual scenario, it could take today African countries more than a century on average (108 years, for a median of  86  years)  to transition to a high-income status,” the report noted.