Bola Tinubu has been sworn in as Nigeria’s new president. The 71-year-old is the former governor of Lagos. He takes office as Africa's most populous country faces insecurity and slowing economic growth. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Abuja, Nigeria.
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Video - New President of Nigeria Bola Tinubu vows reset for ailing economy
Outgoing President Buhari defends economic record
Muhammadu Buhari says he's leaving the country in good hands. The 80-year-old took office in 2015 after promising to reboot the economy and end corruption and insecurity.
Ex-Oil Minister of Nigeria Seeks $215 Million in Defamation Lawsuit
A former Nigerian oil minister filed a defamation lawsuit against the country’s anti-corruption agency, demanding $215 million in damages.
Diezani Alison-Madueke sued the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on May 26, which was President Muhammadu Buhari’s last working day in office. His administration initiated multiple legal cases against the former minister since coming to power in 2015, in which it accused her of graft during five years at the helm of the West African nation’s key economic sector.
In publications on its website and elsewhere, the EFCC “falsely and maliciously” described Alison-Madueke as a “common criminal who looted public funds” by alleging it had traced hundreds of millions of dollars in cash and property to the onetime official, according to court filings seen by Bloomberg.
Alison-Madueke, who moved to London one week before Buhari took office eight years ago as her tenure came to an end, denies the allegations.
She is challenging several forfeiture orders issued by Nigerian courts and has accused the anti-graft body of blocking her efforts to defend herself in criminal proceedings. After serving as President Goodluck Jonathan’s petroleum resources minister from 2010, Alison-Madueke says she went to the UK to receive treatment for cancer.
The EFCC and Attorney General Abubakar Malami should pay Alison-Madueke 100 billion naira ($215 million) as compensation for their “defamatory” claims, according to her lawsuit registered last week at a court in the capital, Abuja. Bola Tinubu, the former governor of Lagos state, succeeded Buhari as president on Monday following elections held in February.
Spokesmen for the EFCC, Malami and the court didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
The US government said in a 2017 forfeiture lawsuit filed in Texas that a pair of Nigerian businessmen bribed Alison-Madueke by funding her “lavish” lifestyle in return for support securing lucrative oil-trading contracts.
Related stories: $21 million seized from Nigeria's former oil minister Alison Madueke
Monday, May 29, 2023
Tinubu sworn in as the new president of Nigeria
Bola Tinubu, the former Lagos governor who is credited with helping the city-state increase its revenue base, has been sworn in as Nigeria’s new president.
He took the oath of office from Chief Justice Olukayode Ariwoola in a colourful ceremony on Monday in Abuja, the capital.
Tinubu, 71, succeeds Muhammadu Buhari, who was ineligible to run again after two four-year terms that began in 2015.
The new president, the fifth since the return of democracy in 1999, will have to tackle a struggling economy and widespread insecurity in Africa’s most populous country.
Friday, May 26, 2023
President Buhari issues $1.18 bln notes to settle judgment debts
Nigeria has issued debt securities worth $1.18 billion to settle various judgment debts, outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari said in a public letter requesting parliament's approval.
Buhari, who is due on Monday to hand over power to President-elect Bola Tinubu, said his cabinet approved on March 29 the settlement of judgment and general debts owed by government by issuing promissory notes.
Courts generally issue judgment debt to award creditors or debt collectors who are seeking to settle debt disputes.
The judgment debts in the sum of $566.75 million, 98.52 million pounds sterling($124.35 million) and 226.28 billion naira ($491.92 million) were incurred by federal ministries, department and agencies, Buhari said without further details.
Nigeria has been borrowing to fund its budgets under the outgoing administration. The government will issue promissory notes to the debtors which it will pay out from its annual budget spending over time, Buhari said.
The promissory notes "will then be redeemed over time through provisions in the budgets of the Federal Government of Nigeria," Buhari wrote in a letter to Senate President Ahmad Lawan requesting approval. The letter was read in the Senate on Wednesday.
The Senate is expected to approve the measure.
Nigeria's total public debt rose to 46.25 trillion naira ($103.1 billion) in 2022, from 39.56 trillion naira a year earlier, as the government ramped up borrowing to fund its budget deficit amid high global inflation.
($1 = 460.00 naira)
($1 = 0.79 pounds)
By Camillus Eboh, Reuters
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