• 2024 budget announced, FG adopts ₦750/$ exchange rate
• Osun State Governor announces palliative for workers
• PDP calls out Tinubu for 2024 budget
• Former Minister of Defence confesses to airlifting ₦1.129 billion for Fayose’s gubernatorial election
• MTN, Dangote Cement and 22 firms generate ₦13.94 trillion in revenue

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss.

2024 budget announced, FG adopts ₦750/$ exchange rate

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has revealed his budget proposal for the year 2024 as he plans on spending ₦6.75 trillion out of the proposed ₦27.5 trillion on education, defence, security, and infrastructure in 2024.

The proposed budget was revealed by the Minister of Budget and Planning, Abubakar Bagugu, who stated that the 2024 Appropriation Bill titled “Budget of Renewed Hope” was solely to fulfil the promise of completing infrastructures that would address the economic challenges in the country.

In the announcement and breakdown of the 2024 budget, the FG mentioned that it would adopt ₦750/$ as the official dollar exchange rate.

“We have also adopted a Naira to US Dollar exchange rate of ₦750/$ for 2024. Accordingly, an aggregate expenditure of ₦27.5tn is proposed for the Federal Government in 2024, of which the non-debt recurrent expenditure is ₦9.92tn while debt service is projected to be ₦8.25tn and capital expenditure is ₦8.7tn.”

Osun State Governor announces palliative for workers

The governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke, has revealed that he would give monthly palliatives to the civil servants and pensioners within the state as a method of stifling the harsh effects of the fuel subsidy removal on the residents.

According to reports, the governor announced that he would give ₦15,000 monthly palliative to all civil servants while ₦10,000 would be given to pensioners.

The monthly palliative shared with Osun State residents is expected to last six months as it begins in December 2023.

PDP calls out Tinubu for 2024 budget

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called out President Bola Tinubu’s proposed ₦27.5 million 2024 budget as a huge disservice to Nigeria.

On Wednesday 29, the opposition political party released a statement on social platform X (formerly Twitter) claiming that if Tinubu’s proposed budget were allowed to pass, it would keep Nigerians in a chokehold and further ruin the economy.

According to the opposition party, the budget was utterly devoid of concrete methods for reviving the economy, creating job employment, and addressing the many issues that have left the nation in its current state.

“The lack of concrete and verifiable action plans to revive the manufacturing, energy, agricultural, and education sectors, which are the main drivers of any economy, is a pointer that the Tinubu-led APC government is bereft of ideas and completely disconnected from the reality of life being faced by Nigerians,” PDP said in its statement.

Former Minister of Defence confesses to airlifting ₦1.129 billion for Fayose’s gubernatorial election

On Wednesday 29, the former minister of state for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, revealed how funds were transferred to Ayo Fayose for his gubernatorial election in Ekiti State.

According to Obanikoro, Diamond Bank could not transfer a huge amount of ₦1.219 billion, so the funds had to be airlifted for Fayose’s election.

This information was shared with the Federal High Court, Abuja, as Fayose and his firm, Spotless Investment Limited, face trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for participating in a ₦6.9 billion money laundering.

Obanikoro claimed he had no idea the source of the money, but he heard from the National Security Agency, who told him the account of whom the fees had been paid.

“I handed over the ₦1.219 million cash to Agbele for onward delivery to Fayose. I did not take any money or ₦19 million, contrary to a publication by a Lagos-based online platform.”

“It was meant for our election in Ekiti. It came from Diamond Bank. ₦1.219 billion was moved from Diamond Bank out of the ₦2.2 billion.”

MTN, Dangote Cement, and 22 firms generate ₦13.94 trillion in revenue

24 firms, including Dangote Cement and MTN, are quoted on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to have generated a total of ₦13.94 trillion within the first nine months of 2023, translating to an increase of 53.1% compared to last year’s ₦9.1 trillion revenue.

Further explanation states that MTN Nigeria had the highest revenue with ₦1.77 trillion, followed by Access Bank ₦1.59 trillion.

The revenue generated from the 24 firms reveals that all companies declared a pre-tax profit of ₦3.05 trillion.