Details of the debt figures show that the domestic debt figures of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT were put at N4.19 trillion with Lagos accounting the highest.
Nigerian states and federal debt stock as of December 31, 2020 stood at N32.92 trillion, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.
The bureau, in its Nigerian domestic and foreign debt Q4 2020 report released Monday, said Nigeria’s total public debt portfolio showed that N12.71 trillion or 38.60 per cent of the debt was external while N20.21 trillion or 61.40 per cent of the debt was domestic.
The NBS gave further disaggregation of Nigeria’s foreign debt to include $17.93 billion of the debt as multilateral; $4.06 billion as bilateral from the AFD, Exim Bank of China, JICA, India, and KFW while $11.17 billion was commercial which are Eurobonds and Diaspora Bonds and $186.70 million as promissory notes.
Details of the debt figures show that the domestic debt figures of the 36 states of the federation and the FCT were put at N4.19 trillion with Lagos accounting the highest.
The report said the total states and FCT domestic debt was put at N4.19 trillion with Lagos State accounting for 12.15 per cent of the debt stock while Jigawa State has the least debt stock in this category with a contribution of 0.74 per cent, it said.
Nigeria begins development of mineral resources in geopolitical zones — Minister
The government had already commenced developing a lead/zinc processing cluster in Ebonyi.
The Nigerian Government has begun the development of mineral resources across the six geopolitical zone of the country, the Minister of State, Mines and Steel Development, Uchechukwu Ogah, said Monday.
Mr Ogah disclosed this in Enugu during the closing ceremony of the 32nd Enugu International Trade Fair.
The minister said the government had already commenced developing a lead/zinc processing cluster in Ebonyi and funding the detailed exploration and development of salt and limestone deposits in the state.
According to him, the initiative is part of the government’s regional mineral projects in the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Mr Ogah said the mineral projects were cited based on comparative advantage and were aimed at providing the necessary support for the economy.
He said the lead/zinc processing cluster was located in Ebonyi for the South East region in order to harness the abundant minerals in the area.
He said the exploration and development of salt and limestone facilities would also serve as input materials for local fertiliser production.
According to the minister, a barite processing cluster is being developed in Cross-River State to meet the needs of the oil/gas sector and for the export of Nigerian mined and processed barite.
He appealed to Nigerians to support the Federal Government’s efforts with business ideas and strategies for sustainable rapid economic growth and development.
Group files suit to stop appointment of new Appeal Court judges
The Igbo socio-cultural group alleged that the “principles of justice, fairness, equity, due process and federal character” were infringed upon at the detriment of the South-East zone in the appointment process.
An Igbo socio-cultural group has filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, seeking an order stopping the ongoing appointment of Justices of the Court of Appeal.
The group, Alaigbo Development Foundation, cited alleged lopsidedness in the appointment as its grounds for opposing the exercise.
A list of 18 candidates was recently recommended by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to President Muhammadu Buhari for appointment as judges of the Court of Appeal.
The plaintiff alleged that the “principles of justice, fairness, equity, due
