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Only three states can survive without FG’s support – Report

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BudgIT’s report

 

Only three states in Nigeria can survive without support from the Federal Government.

This was disclosed in BudgIT’s report ‘State of States, 2021 edition: Fiscal Options for Building Back Better’ released on Tuesday.

According to BudgIT, these three states are Lagos, Rivers, and Anambra.

The report said, “Only three states in the country can meet their operating expenses obligations with a combination of their IGR and Value Added Tax as measured in our ‘Index A’ ranking; these states are Lagos, Rivers, and Anambra and they appear at the top of the ‘Index A’ ranking.”

According to the organisation, states that rank high on its index A have comparatively limited dependence on federally distributed revenue for their operations and are more viable with the capacity to exist as independent entities.

While Lagos, Rivers, and Anambra occupy the top three spots, Benue, Taraba, and Bayelsa states are the bottom three states.

BudgIT said, “These states at the bottom of ‘Index A’ ranking include Jigawa, Delta, Benue, Taraba and Bayelsa.

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“Nevertheless, all Nigerian states still need to work hard to build economic prosperity and create more jobs in their states to ensure that there is more money in circulation and economic activities that can be taxed to improve their IGR.”

The organisation added that all 36 states saw a 3.43 per cent decline in their 2020 IGRs (N1.21tn) from (N1.26tn) in 2019.

It said that 18 states saw a decline in their year-on-year revenues, while the remaining 18 states grew their revenues – in some cases by as high as 87.02 per cent.

According to BudgIT, the total debt burden of the states increased by N472.63bn (or 8.78 per cent) from N5.39tn in 2019 to N5.86tn in 2020.
IT said the increase in total subnational debt was as a result of exchange rate volatility, with the value of the naira jumping from 305.9/$1 in 2019 to 380/$1 as of December 31, 2020.

The organisation said that the states with the highest foreign debt were Lagos, Kaduna, Edo, Cross River and Bauchi.

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It added that Lagos, Kaduna, Anambra, Benue and Zamfara accounted for more than half (63.63 per cent or N300.7bn) of the net year-on-year subnational debt increase of N472.63bn.

According to BudgIT, only seven states in Nigeria have functioning Treasury Single Accounts, and about 24 states and 27 states respectively have introduced ‘biometric use in payroll management’ and ‘bank verification number use in payroll management’.

It added that only 16 states published details of their contracts online for public scrutiny, while 20 states do not.

According to the organisation, only five states (Ebonyi, Rivers, Anambra, Cross River, and Kaduna) prioritised investment in infrastructure by spending more on capital expenditure than operating expenses.

On the other hand, Benue, Kogi, and Taraba have higher operating expenses than their respective investments in capital expenditure.

 

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UPDATED: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the slash in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff regime will take effect from May 6, 2024.

 

“Please be informed of the downward tariff review of our Band A feeders from N225/kwh to N206.80/kwh effective 6th May 2024 with guaranteed availability of 20-24hrs supply daily,” the circular reads.

 

However, the DisCo said the tariff for bands B,C,D and E are unchanged.

 

On April 4, NERC said the approved tariff increase is expected to reduce subsidy for the 2024 fiscal year by about N1.14 trillion.

“With the newly approved tariffs, subsidies for the 2024 fiscal year are expected to reduce by about NGN1.14 trillion in furtherance of the federal government’s realignment of the subsidy regime,” NERC said.

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Musliu Oseni, vice-chairman of the commission, said the new tariff will bolster the nation’s economy.

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JUST IN: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the cut in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff rate will be effective from May 6, 2024.

 

Details later…

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80% of buildings in Lekki have no government approval, says commissioner

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The commissioner for physical planning and urban development in Lagos, Oluyinka Olumide, says 80 percent of buildings in the Ibeju Lekki-Epe corridor have no government approval.

The Lagos government has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.

Tokunbo Wahab, commissioner for environment in Lagos, has repeatedly said the demolished structures were erected in contravention of the city’s masterplan, were never approved by the relevant agencies, and occluded drainage channels.

In an interview with journalists, Olumide said despite the rigorous procedures involved in securing government approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.

 

“Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked,” he said.

“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.

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“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land.

 

“Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expanse of land.

“So, you can see all these layers. But people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.

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“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”

 

On Sunday, Wahab said owners of recently demolished property in Maryland had been served notices since 2021.

 

“We are not just doing demolitions. The law allows us to remove encumbrances on the right of way of the drainage channels,” Wahab said.

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