Politics

Today’s Headlines: Buhari Left High Debt, Rising Inflation Behind — BudgIT, Tinubu Sworn in As President

Buhari left high debt, rising inflation, and low growth behind — BudgIT

A leading civic organization, BudgIT has lamented that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of eight years had plunged Nigeria into high debt, increasing inflation and low growth.

BudgIT said this in a report titled ‘The Economic Legacy of the Buhari Administration’ issued on the eve of the inauguration of President-elect Bola Tinubu. In the detailed economic scorecard of Buhari’s government, BudgIT said, “According to the Budget Office, between 2016 and 2022, the Buhari government raised total revenues of N26.67tn and expended N60.64tn, leaving a deficit of N33.97tn.

“The gaping hole was financed with FG domestic debt, which rose from N8.84tn as of December 2015 to N44.91tn as of June 2023, while external debt rose from $7.35bn in December 2015 to $37.2bn in June 2023. “This excludes support provided by the Central Bank amounting to N25tn. Ultimately, President Buhari moved Nigeria’s debt profile from N42tn to N77tn. This has had attendant effects on debt servicing, which rose from N1.06tn in 2015 to N5.24tn as of 2022. In fact, under President Buhari’s administration, the debt-service-to-revenue ratio grew from 29% to 96%.”

Tinubu was sworn in as President

President-elect, Bola Tinubu and Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima have both been sworn in as President and Vice President of Nigeria, respectively.

The Oath of Office was administered by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Kayode Ariwoola, on Monday. Tinubu, a former Senator and governor of Lagos State was declared the winner of the February 2023 presidential election by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress polled a total of 8,794,726 votes to defeat his closest rival of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, who polled a total of 6,984,520 votes in the election while Peter Obi of the Labour Party came third in the election with a total of 6,101,533 votes and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the NNPP came fourth with 1,496,687 votes.

NGO empowers career women to re-enter the workplace

CareerLife Nigeria, a renowned NGO dedicated to fostering career success, says it conducted the second cohort of its career moms mentorship program.

In a statement, it said the initiative was specifically designed to support mothers who had taken a career break to raise children and were facing challenges reintegrating into the workforce. The Founder of CareerLife Nigeria, Yewande Jinadu, said, “Many women encounter significant difficulties when attempting to return to work after having children, and often end up leaving their jobs altogether.

“Having personally experienced these struggles after the birth of my first child, I decided to establish this program to provide women with the essential support system they needed to regain control of their careers.” She stated that in its recently held 10-week mentorship program, participants actively engaged in meaningful discussions focused on overcoming workplace barriers and stereotypes, confronting limiting beliefs, effectively navigating office politics, avoiding common job search pitfalls, and prioritizing overall well-being as women.

Dikko was sworn in as Katsina Governor

Winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Katsina State, Dr Dikko Umar Radda has been sworn in as Katsina State Governor at the Muhammadu Dikko Township Stadium, Katsina on Monday.

Dikko, 52, was a former Director General of SMEDAN, one-time Masari’s Chief of Staff, and Chairman of Charanchi Local Government Council. Dikko’s main challenger in the Katsina 2023 gubernatorial election, Senator Yakubu Lado Danmarke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had earlier threatened to go to court to challenge the result but reneged the decision, making the coast clear for Dikko to enjoy his first term reign unchallenged.

Dikko and his deputy, Faruk Lawal Jobe, took the oath of office administered by the State’s Chief Judge, Danladi Abubakar between 10:40 am – 10:45 am, before the outgoing governor, Aminu Bello Masari, his deputy, Muntari Lawal, among other dignitaries. Immediately after taking the oath of office, the outgoing governor, Aminu Masari, handed over the symbol of authority to the incoming governor, Dr. Dikko Radda, marking the end of Masari’s eight years reign as Katsina Governor.