Buhari Urges European Nations, Others to Grant Africa Debt Relief Assures foreign investors of stable fiscal policies Deji Elumoye in Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged European nations and international financial institutions to grant debt relief to African countries.
He also gave an assurance that Public-Private Partnership (PPP) will be fully explored to ensure more precision in development, cutting down waste and reducing chances of corruption.
In addition, Buhari urged investors to further explore vast opportunities of human and natural resources in Nigeria, while assuring them that fiscal policies will be more favourable, predictable and
measurably tilted towards creating a harmonious business environment. The president, in his presentation at the Financing Africa Summit, held in Paris, with the theme: "External
Financing and Debt Treatment,'' called on European countries and global financial institutions to consider reducing the devastating effect of the Coronavirus pandemic on the African economies.
This, he said, could be done by restructuring debt portfolios, opting for complete relief, and releasing vaccines to the continent, which is still Continued on page 8
APC Governors Storm Calabar, Lobby Ayade to Defect... Page 5 Thursday 20 May, 2021 Vol 26. No 9538. Price: N250
www.thisdaylive.com TR
UT H
& RE A S O
N
Persistent Arson Threatens Future Elections, INEC Warns Two more offices set ablaze in Ebonyi Chuks Okocha in Abuja and Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, yesterday expressed concern about the spate of arson attack on its facilities, especially in the South-
Meets with security agencies May 24
east, warning that it might compromise the commission’s ability to conduct hitch-free elections in future. The commission has also
shifted a planned meeting with security agencies to brainstorm on protecting its assets, earlier scheduled for yesterday to Monday.
The number of INEC’s facilities torched in recent months rose to 23 yesterday as hoodlums set ablaze two of the commission’s offices
in Ebonyi State. Yakubu, at a meeting yesterday in Abuja with Continued on page 8
Govs Okay Full Deregulation of Petrol, N385 Pump Price Want three refineries privatised after rehabilitation Recommend purchase of buses to cushion effects of price increase Chuks Okocha in Abuja Ahead of today's Federation Accounts Allocations Committee (FAAC) meeting, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday at its virtual meeting considered the report of a committee headed by Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, and accepted its recommendation that backs full deregulation of petrol, and suggests that the pump price of the product should hover around N385 per litre. The committee also recommended that the federal government should buy 113 buses to cushion the effects of the price increase, a reliable source at the meeting told THISDAY. el-Rufai’s six-man committee was set up early this year
by the National Economic Council (NEC) headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to look into the dwindling revenues of states and make recommendations to the council. Apart from el-Rufai, Governors Godwin Obaseki of Edo State, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; and David Umahi of Ebonyi State are also members of the committee. The other members of the committee are the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mallam Mele Kyari. The four governors, who are members of the committee, Continued on page 8
China Joins CBN, Bans Cryptocurrency Transactions... Page 5
OILY TALKS IN PARIS... L-R: Chairman/CEO of Total, Mr. Patrick Pouyanne; President Muhammadu Buhari and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Malam Mele Kyari, after a meeting with Total Group in Paris…yesterday