Economy

Tinubu’s government to borrow fresh N2.5tn through bonds as Sultan of Sokoto and NBA lament hardship

Published

3 months ago

February 15, 2024

The Nigerian Federal Government under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is planning to raise N2.5 trillion in its second FGN bonds auction.

The Debt Management Office made this known in circular issued on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

According to the DMO, the offerings consisted of N1.25tn with a maturity date of February 2031 and N1.25tn with a 10-year tenor.

FGN savings bonds are part of the federal government’s domestic borrowing plan.

Last year, the Federal Government raised about N7.06tn from the fixed-income market. This year, the Federal Government has projected its new borrowings to hit N7.83tn.

President Tinubu had sought approval from the National Assembly for about $8.69bn and €100m as part of the external borrowing plan for 2022 to 2024.

The latest FG bonds have a face value N1,000, with a minimum subscription requirement of N50,001,000 and subsequent increments in multiples of N1,000.

Interest payments on FGN bonds are usually semi-annually.

In January, the FG had offered a two-year FGN Savings bond due January 17, 2026, at 11.033 percent per annum and another three-year FGN Savings Bond due January 17, 2027, at 12.033 percent per annum.

It allotted N603.42bn for the two-year tenor bond and N1.394tn for the three-year bond.

Meanwhile, Northern traditional rulers and the Nigerian Bar Association on Wednesday decried the hardship in the country precipitated by the fuel subsidy removal which had resulted in higher transport costs and food inflation.

The traditional rulers and the NBA asked the Federal Government to quickly address the situation

Echoing the dire economic situation again on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar lll, decried the deteriorating socio-economic conditions and the insecurity ravaging the country.

Addressing his colleagues at the sixth executive committee meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council with the theme: ‘Enhanced Security as a panacea for stability and development of the North,’ in Kaduna on Wednesday, Abubakar declared that with the current downturn of the economy which had inflicted untold hardships on Nigerians, all was not well with Nigeria, especially the north.

He lamented that the twin monsters confronting the nation at the moment were poverty and insecurity, which if not tackled urgently, could spell doom for Nigeria.

But he was quick to exonerate President Tinubu while noting that the sorry state of the nation was the continuation of the last administration of the All Progressives Congress under ex-president Muhammadu Buhari.

“To me, this government is a continuation of the former government; it is the same party. So, what really is the problem? I think that is one of the reasons we are here to talk to ourselves,” Abubakar said.

The Sultan warned that Nigerians’ quietness in the face of these challenges must not be taken for granted.

The Sultan, who is also the leader of Nigerian Muslims said there should be no pretence that all was well with the country as Nigerians were more than ever before agitated because “they are hungry and angry.”

According to him, as a way out, the millions of unemployed youths roaming the streets and sitting idle must be engaged and taken off the streets as a way of staving off the looming calamity.

Weighing in, the NBA President, Yakubu Maikyau, SAN, called on the President to declare a state of emergency on insecurity, in addition to ensuring the right investments in the security systems in line with global trends.

Maikyau, who addressed journalists on the state of the nation in Abuja on Wednesday, said insecurity had left many Nigerians homeless and also destroyed many businesses, adding that the citizens were losing confidence in the Federal Government.