Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 33.20 percent in Mach 2024 — up from 31.70 percent in February.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its consumer price index (CPI) report, which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and services, on Monday.

According to the bureau, food inflation also surged to 40.01 percent in the month under review.

NBS said the March headline inflation rate showed an increase of “1.50% points when compared to the February 2024 headline inflation rate”.

“On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.16% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023, which was 22.04%,” he said.

“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in the month of March 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.e., March 2023).

“Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.02%, which was 0.10% lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.12%).

“This means that in the month of March 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than
the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2024.”

FOOD PRICES IS MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO INFLATION RATE

The NBS report further showed that the food inflation rate in March 2024 was 40.01 percent on a year-on-year basis – an increase of 15.56 percent points higher compared to the 24.45 percent rate recorded in March 2023.

NBS said the rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was caused by an increase in prices of garri, millet, bread and cereal, yam, dried fish, meat, and fruits.

“On a month-on-month basis, the Food inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.62% which shows a 0.17% decrease compared to the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.79%),” the bureau said.

“The fall in food inflation on a month-on-month basis was caused by a fall in the rate of increase
in the average prices of Guinea corn flour, Plantain Flour, etc (under Bread and Cereals
class), Yam, Irish Potatoe, Coco Yam (under Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers class), Titus
fish, Mudfish Dried (under Fish class), Lipton, Bournvita, Ovaltine (under Coffee, Tea, and Cocoa class).

“The average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2024 over
the previous twelve-month average was 31.40%, which was 8.69% points increase from
the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2023 (22.72%).”

The report also said Kogi, Kwara, and Akwa Ibom states spent more on food in March.

“In March 2024, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi (48.46%), Kwara (46.18%), and Akwa Ibom (45.18%), while on a month-on-month basis, however, March 2024 food inflation was highest in Abia (5.17%), Cross River (5.14%), and Bayelsa (4.75%),” NBS added.

On the other hand, states with the slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis are Nasarawa (33.76 percent), Borno (34.28 percent), and Bauchi (34.38 percent).

Also, Borno (1.59 percent), Yobe (2.08 percent) and Adamawa (2.12 percent) recorded the slowest rise in food inflation on a month-on-month basis.

A federal capital territory high court has dismissed an application from Olu Agunloye, a former minister of power and steel, seeking to invite “amici curiae” to intervene in the criminal charge filed against him.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is prosecuting Agunloye over a $6 billion Mambilla hydropower contract.

The anti-graft agency said it traced some suspicious payments by Sunrise Power and Transmission Ltd to Agunloye’s bank accounts.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had also challenged Agunloye to tell Nigerians where he derived the authority to award a $6 billion contract to Sunrise for the Mambilla hydropower project in 2003.

Agunloye was arraigned on a seven-count charge bordering on fraudulent award of a contract and official corruption.

In a preliminary objection dated February 6, Agunloye said the EFCC lacks the powers to prosecute him because the offences levelled against him do not border on financial crimes.

Among other things, the former minister said it is the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) that has the power to prosecute him over the allegations contained in the charge.

Agunloye through his lawyer, Adeola Adedipe, added that contrary to constitutional provisions, the AGF did not give EFCC the fiat to investigate and institute proceedings in the case against his client.

In the motion for an amicus, the senior advocate of Nigeria said he would want the friends of the court to be present during the hearing of the preliminary objection.

An amicus curiae (friend of the court) is an individual who is not a party to a litigation, but volunteers or is invited to advise on a pending matter.

Agunloye sought the intervention of Lateef Fagbemi, the attorney-general of the federation (AGF); Yakubu Maikyau, president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA); Joseph Daudu, former NBA president; and Kanu Agabi, former minister of justice.

Ruling on the application on Monday, Jude Onwuegbuzie, the presiding judge, dismissed the request.

Onwuegbuzie said he believed the defendant had a competent team of lawyers to handle the case.

He added that “the court is not confused or in doubt to warrant the intervention of amici curiae”.

He said an amicus “is not supposed to be invited by parties in the suit” but that it is the responsibility of the court to do so if it so desires.

Consequently, the application was dismissed.

The court has fixed April 22 to hear the defendant’s preliminary objection.

Dowen College and its accused students have been cleared of complicity in the death of Sylvester Oromoni.

Mikhail Kadiri, the coroner who presided over the matter, gave this verdict on Monday during a seven-hour magistrate court sitting in Ogba Lagos.

The judgement, which comes after a two-year inquiry, affirmed that Oromoni died of sepsis emanating from an infection of the lungs and kidney caused by an ankle injury.

It attributed the death of the deceased to an avoidable case of parental and medical negligence.

Sylvester Oromoni Junior controversially died on November 30, 2021, while still a student at Dowen College in Lekki Lagos.

His parents alleged that the boy, who was aged 12, got bullied, beaten up, and fed a chemical substance by five of his male colleagues.

Dowen College had dismissed the claim, alleging that Oromoni Junior only sustained injuries while playing football with his friends.

The Oromoni family had countered Dowen’s claim, arguing that their son had no pre-existing health challenges before the incident.

In January 2022, an initial autopsy declared that Oromoni Junior died of “acute lung injury due to chemical intoxication”.

This post-mortem was discredited due to its methods and some dissatisfactions surrounding the parties who witnessed the procedure.

The Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) in Lagos conducted a second autopsy which ruled that Oromoni died “naturally”.

The case has been under inquiry in a coroner’s court since 2022, with the bereaved vowed to pursue the case to a logical end.

Among the defendants of the case are the five accused teenage schoolboys of Dowen College, including Favour Benjamin, Micheal Kashamu, Edward Begue, Ansel Temile, and Kenneth Inyang, all of whom were cleared and released from juvenile home in 2022.

Several witnesses testified during the two-year pendency of the case, including doctors, students, Dowen staff, and the principal.

The father of the deceased Sylvester Oromoni (Snr) and the mother Roselin Oromoni also took to the witness box on several occasions.

Some of the Dowen employees involved in the case include Celina Uduak, Valentine Igboekweze, Hammed Ayomo Bariyu, Adesanya Olusesan Olusegun, and one Adeyemi, all of whom were initially accused of “negligent act causing harm” in the alleged bullying case.

Sylvester Oromoni Junior was buried on January 27, 2024, as the court declared April 12 and, later, April 15 to disclose its findings.