Economy
Ngige Confirms FG Borrows from World Bank, Others to Pay Salaries
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of Labour and Employment, Mr Chris Ngige, has confirmed that the federal government under President Muhammadu Buhari borrows funds from international sources to pay salaries of workers because of a shortfall in the country’s revenue.
Mr Ngige, while speaking on Sunday night on a programme monitored by Business Post on Channels TV, stated that the government takes borrowed funds from foreign institutions like the World Bank to offset some recurrent expenditures.
Last week, after the Senate resumed plenary, a letter from President Buhari requesting approval for fresh offshore loans of $4 billion and €710 million was read to the lawmakers by their head, Mr Ahmad Lawan.
This generated different reactions from various quarters. The government defended the borrowings, arguing that they were being used to develop the country, especially in the area of infrastructure.
In the midst of these, the Debt Management Office (DMO) said the nation’s total debt at the second quarter of this year stood at N35.5 trillion.
Some Nigerians had argued that the penchant for this government for borrowing was becoming unbearable, especially when the country was using about 98 per cent of generated revenue to service the debts.
But the government has maintained that the loans being taken by the federal government were not above the limit and that the projects being executed with the funds, including rails, were capable of generating revenue to repay them.
Next month, Nigeria will borrow between $3 billion and $6.2 billion from local and international investors through the sale of Eurobonds, adding to the debts already on ground.
While speaking on Sunday Politics anchored by Mr Seun Okinbaloye, Mr Ngige admitted that the central government truly takes funds from international lenders to pay workers.
“Talk in terms of something like the residency training funds; that money was appropriated in 2021. It was delayed because the President signed the supplementary budget [late] but because the resident doctors did not want to listen, they wanted the money to go into their accounts immediately, according to them.
“I told them, no, when the budget office explained [that] we don’t have this cash, the borrowing agencies [like the] World Bank and the rest will give us this money through the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Dollars and we change it to give to you, to pay you and others that are involved because we are funding the budget through some deficits.
“So, I will tell the budget office, expedite action, do this in one week because this is an emergency, these people are not accountants, they don’t understand and we put it down and the budget office rises up to the occasion, works day and night and put it out, Minister of Finance approves, AIE (Authority to Incur Expenditure) and the N4.8 billion is there, waiting to be disbursed.
“Give us the names of those to be paid and they bring (sic) their names through the post-graduate medical college and when the names come (sic), their parent body, which is the Ministry of Health discovered that there were names that were no resident doctors. So, how do you pay?
“Okay, they submitted 8,000 names, they have cleaned them down to 5,800, which means about 2,000+ are not resident doctors. How do you pay them?
“Further investigation, according to the Minister of Health, revealed that some of them are medical officers, senior medical officers, principal medical officers, who hold full appointments, some of them are not resident doctors but because they have been captured in resident doctors association, they want them to be paid; that’s wrong.
“We tell (sic) resident doctors, ‘give them more time to clean up’. They are cleaning it (the list) up, the money is there. So, I expected the resident doctors to go and help them clean up and submit the authentic list,” Mr Ngige said on the programme.
On Monday, while speaking on Politics Today with the same anchor, the spokesman of the President, Mr Femi Adesina, while asked if the government borrows for consumption, answered that the larger part of the borrowed funds is used for critical projects capable of boosting the economy.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday despite weak investor sentiment, as the bourse ended with 18 price gainers and 38 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
The growth recorded yesterday by Customs Street was influenced by the 2.11 per cent rise posted by the energy index, and the 1.79 per cent jump achieved by the banking sector.
The other sectors experienced profit-taking, with the consumer goods losing 1.07 per cent, the insurance counter down by 0.36 per cent, and the industrial goods space down by 0.19 per cent.
Universal Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.21, Omatek improved by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, VFD Group expanded by 9.71 per cent to N11.30, CWG appreciated by 9.64 per cent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds gained 9.56 per cent to close at N7.45.
On the flip side, UPDC REIT lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.75, Fortis Global Insurance shed 9.92 per cent to quote at N1.18, Deap Capital depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N5.40, Chams went down by 9.47 per cent to N3.06, and Japaul declined by 8.82 per cent to N3.10.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 562.43 points to 202,585.53 points from 202,023.10 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N389 billion to N130.404 trillion from N130.015 trillion.
During the session, 1.0 billion stocks worth N40.6 billion exchanged hands in 52,723 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N40.3 billion executed in 78,006 deals a day earlier, indicating an uptick in the trading value by 0.74 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 9.09 per cent and 32.41 per cent apiece.
The activity chart was led by Access Holdings, which sold 233.0 million units valued at N6.1 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 113.1 million units worth N2.2 billion, Wema Bank recorded a turnover of 103.3 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 60.6 million units for N6.5 billion, and Chams traded 47.5 million units worth N154.6 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil plummeted on Wednesday on hopes of the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz after US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran.
Brent crude futures moderated to $94.75 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude eased to $94.41 a barrel.
President Trump said on Wednesday that the US will work closely with Iran and will be talking about tariff and sanctions relief with Iran.
However, analysts cautioned that the ceasefire is a temporary two-week reprieve rather than a permanent resolution, and the global energy system remains fragile due to structural damage to regional infrastructure.
Reuters reported that Iran could open the strait in a limited and controlled way on Thursday or Friday ahead of a meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials in Pakistan.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that two ships appeared to have transited the Strait of Hormuz since the US-Iran ceasefire deal. A Greek-owned bulk carrier and a Liberia-flagged vessel both transited the waterway early on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Israel carried out its heaviest strikes on Lebanon since the conflict with Hezbollah broke out last month, even as the Iran-aligned group paused attacks on northern Israel and Israeli troops in Lebanon under the ceasefire.
Also, Saudi Arabia’s East-West Pipeline, a critical artery bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was reportedly hit in an Iranian drone attack. Prior to the attack, the pipeline was pumping at its emergency capacity of 7 million barrels per day to bypass the shuttered strait.
The strikes occurred just hours after a US-Iran ceasefire announcement, which has so far failed to halt regional hostilities. Other facilities in the kingdom were also targeted in the wave of strikes, which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed included oil facilities owned by American companies in Yanbu.
US crude stocks rose by 3.1 million barrels to 464.7 million barrels during the week ended April 3, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Insurance Commission has issued new guidelines for the collection, management, and administration of the Insurance Policyholders’ Protection Fund.
In a circular issued to all insurance institutions on Tuesday, the regulator also set May 31, 2026, as the deadline for insurers to submit their assessment returns for the 2025 financial year.
Recall that on August 5, 2025, President Bola Tinubu signed into law the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act ( NIIRA 2025).
This landmark legislation repeals the Insurance Act 2003, and consolidates related provisions, ushering in a modern regulatory framework. It lays a strong foundation for sustainable growth and increased investment in the country’s insurance sector.
The commission said the guidelines were issued in exercise of its powers under the 2025 Act and other existing insurance laws and regulations to provide regulatory clarity, improve guidance, and ensure ease of compliance across the industry.
According to NAICOM, the guidelines establish a comprehensive structure for the operation of the IPPF, which serves as a statutory safety net to protect insurance policyholders in the event of distress or insolvency of a licensed insurer or reinsurer. The framework also provides direction on the reimbursement of loans by insurers and reinsurers.
NAICOM stated, “The guidelines ensure regulatory clarity, guidance and ease of compliance, as it provides a comprehensive regulatory framework for the collection, management, and administration of the Fund, which serves as a statutory safety net designed to protect insurance policyholders against distress and insolvency of a licensed insurer or reinsurer, including guidance for the reimbursement of loans by an insurer or reinsurer.
“Please be informed that the IPPF Assessment Returns in respect of the year 2025 shall be submitted to the Commission not later than 31st May 2026, while subsequent submissions shall be in line with Section 4.3 of the Guideline on Insurance Policyholders Protection Fund.”
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