Ambassadorial Nominees Discrepancies: Senate Summon Foreign Affairs Minister, SGF

The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday resolved to sommon the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Babachir Lawal to appear before its Committee on Foreign Affairs following an alledge irregularities and discrepancies in the Ambassadorial Nominees submited to the upper legislative chamber for screenig and cconfirmations

According to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki,; "Following reported discrepancies and the lack of state representational spread in the names of Ambassadorial nominees submitted to the Senate for consideration, today, the Senate resolved to summon the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to appear before it to explain the purported irregularities in the list."

"It is important that we address the issues surrounding this list before the screening of Ambassadors commences."

Ex Education Minister, Shekarau In EFCC custody - Investigation Reveals How N950m was Shared

Details of how ex-Minister of Education, Ibrahim Shekarau, shared N950million campaign funds to candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have emerged after Economic and Financial Crimes Commission began investigation into the matter.

Security and party sources have revealed how the former minister appropriated and shared campaign funds in his residence on the eve of the election. Today NG reports

Mr. Shekarau, who is currently in EFCC custody, had earlier denied knowledge of how the money was shared, admitting that the funds were only shared in his house.

Chinese Loan: Nigeria Offered $6bn, Agrees Currency Swap to Shore up Naira

China has offered Nigeria a $6 billion loan to fund infrastructure projects, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyema, said yesterday in Beijing the Chinese capital.

“It is a credit that is on the table as soon as we identify the projects,” he told reporters travelling with President Muhammadu Buhari to China.

President Buhari meets Xi Jinping of China

“It won’t need an agreement to be signed; it is just to identify the projects and we access it,” he said.

The confirmation by Onyema coincided with an agreement reached between Nigeria and China yesterday on a currency swap deal, as it looks for ways to shore up the naira and fund a record budget deficit, possibly by issuing yuan-denominated bonds in China, reported Reuters.

Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades as sinking oil prices eat into its foreign reserves and the naira weakens against other currencies.

Nigeria has been for months looking for sources to help plug a projected 2016 deficit of N2.2 trillion ($11.1 billion) as Buhari plans to triple capital spending in the 2016 fiscal year.

According to Reuters, during Buhari’s visit to Beijing, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world’s biggest lender, and Nigeria’s central bank signed a deal on yuan transactions.
“It means that the renminbi (yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria, and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria,” Lin Songtian, Director General of the African Affairs Department of China’s foreign ministry, told reporters.