Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Nigerian Communications Commission approved a fifty percent tariff increase for telecommunications operators, raising call costs to sixteen and a half naira per minute, text messages to 6 naira, and data to five hundred and twenty-five naira per gigabyte. This adjustment aims to counter rising operational costs, combat inflation, and support industry sustainability, though it falls short of the one hundred percent increase initially requested by network providers. Based on previous traffic data, the hike is projected to generate trillions of naira in revenue, with major operators like Mobile Telephone Network capturing the largest market share. While some consumer groups reluctantly accept the change provided it leads to tangible improvements in service delivery, others strongly oppose the burden, warning that it will worsen economic hardship and vowing to pursue legal action if service quality fails to improve.

The Federal Government of Nigeria spent only twenty percent of its total budget on capital projects in 2024, leaving critical infrastructure largely underfunded while recurrent costs consumed sixty-five percent of the finances. Research from Agusto and Company indicates that the nation faces a massive infrastructure deficit expected to hit 878 billion dollars by 2040. Although revenue increased, a widening 15.47 trillion naira shortfall forced the country to borrow heavily to fund operational costs, debt servicing, and growing public personnel salaries. Professor Adeola Adenikinju, President of the Nigerian Economic Society, warned that spending on debt servicing does not improve infrastructure or expand the economy, calling it a harsh consequence of past mismanagement. While President Bola Tinubu requested additional funds for infrastructure projects, parliamentary leaders like Senator Solomon Adeola and Representative Abubakar Bichi sharply criticized the slow release of capital project funding. Through communications shared by media adviser Kayode Odunaro, lawmakers urged the government to balance its spending ratio so citizens could actually benefit. To give ministries more time, the National Assembly extended the implementation of the 2024 capital budget, drawing criticism from financial experts who say managing two budgets simultaneously weakens fiscal accountability. In response to these financial constraints, Jobson Ewalefoh, the Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, invited local and international private investors to explore public-private partnerships to help bridge the country's multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure gap.

According to the June 2025 Purchasing Managers’ Index report from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s economy is showing steady growth but faces a serious risk of rising inflation. For the sixth month in a row, business activities expanded across the country, with the agriculture sector leading the growth, followed by industry and services. Out of 36 economic subsectors, 25 reported increased production and business activity. However, the report highlights a worrying trend: the cost of producing goods and running services (input costs) is rising much faster than the prices companies are charging their customers (output prices). Up until now, businesses have been absorbing these extra costs to keep prices stable, which is hurting their profit margins. This problem is most severe in the agriculture sector and lowest in the services sector. The central bank warns that businesses cannot continue to absorb these financial pressures forever. Eventually, companies will be forced to pass these higher costs onto the public, which will likely trigger a new wave of consumer price inflation.

The Federal Government is confident it will reach its thirty-six trillion, three hundred and fifty billion naira revenue target for the year 2025, driven by ongoing economic reforms under President Bola Tinubu's administration. During a National Assembly budget hearing in Abuja, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Abubakar Bagudu explained that removing fuel and foreign exchange subsidies, along with addressing electricity price distortions, has already boosted earnings for all three tiers of government since late 2023. Lessons learned from the 2024 budget implementation, combined with directives for government agencies to maximize collections and plans to increase oil production to over two million barrels per day, form the foundation of these fiscal projections. Despite a projected budget deficit of over thirteen trillion naira to support a total expenditure of nearly fifty trillion naira, the government remains optimistic that these bold structural reforms will ensure sustainable revenue growth and improved economic efficiency.

President Bola Tinubu requested approval from the National Assembly for twenty-four billion dollars in fresh foreign loans, alongside a two billion dollar local bond and a seven hundred and fifty-eight billion naira pension bond. If approved, Nigeria's national debt could exceed one hundred and eighty-two trillion naira by 2026. President Bola Tinubu explained the funds would support critical infrastructure, healthcare, and agriculture. However, financial experts and opposition leaders sharply criticized the plan. Johnson Chukwu of Cowry Assets Management Limited and Muda Yusuf of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise warned that excessive debt servicing costs would overwhelm capital spending and called for private partnerships. Financial analyst Marcel Okeke, alongside civic advocates Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, Debo Adeniran, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and Vahyala Kwaga, condemned the plan over poor transparency and risks of hitting debt thresholds. Politically, the Peoples Democratic Party, represented by Debo Ologunagba, alongside former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and his adviser Paul Ibe, slammed the request as irresponsible and called for its rejection. In contrast, economics professor Segun Ajibola supported the pension bond portion, noting that clearing outstanding liabilities for senior citizens is long overdue due to rising inflation.

Nigeria's foreign exchange reserves experienced a sharp drop of over eight hundred and thirty-two million dollars during a two-week period in January 2025, falling from nearly forty-one billion dollars to just over forty billion dollars. Official figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria indicate this is the steepest decline the country has seen since April 2024, bringing external liquidity to a two-month low and raising concerns that reserves could drop below forty billion dollars if the trend continues. Analysts attribute the steady multi-day decline primarily to mounting financial pressures, including debt servicing commitments, high demand for foreign currency to pay for imports, and potential capital flight. The rapid depletion of reserves limits the central bank's capacity to step into the foreign currency market, threatening to renew downward pressure on the naira, which had temporarily stabilized at around fifteen hundred and fifty naira per United States dollar.

Despite Nigeria securing over three billion dollars in loans from international financial institutions like the World Bank, the African Development Bank, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency over the past four years to improve its power sector, electricity generation continues to stagnate around four 4,500 megawatts for a population exceeding two hundred million people. This ongoing crisis is driven by persistent challenges such as legal delays, bureaucratic bottlenecks, frequent national grid collapses, decaying infrastructure, and concerns over accountability, leaving citizens to endure constant blackouts while experts question the justification and effective utilization of borrowing money for a privatized industry.

The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee led by Taiwo Oyedele are currently locked in a major dispute regarding who holds the constitutional power to administer and share Value Added Tax revenues. While the commission insists that it is the supreme arbiter mandated by the constitution to manage equitable revenue-sharing formulas to support less developed states, the committee argues that Value Added Tax is fundamentally a state matter that predates the constitution and does not require the commission's control. Meanwhile, financial reports indicate that the Federal Government is seeking a loan of one billion, five hundred million United States Dollars from the World Bank amid rising public debt, while total Value Added Tax collections surged significantly to reach four trillion, seven hundred and seventy billion Nigerian Naira within the first nine months of the year compared to two trillion, four hundred and forty billion Nigerian Naira during the same period previously, with quarterly figures breaking down into one trillion, four hundred and thirty billion Nigerian Naira against seven hundred and nine billion, five hundred and ninety million Nigerian Naira in the first quarter, one trillion, five hundred and sixty billion Nigerian Naira against seven hundred and eighty-one billion, three hundred and fifty million Nigerian Naira in the second quarter, and one trillion, seven hundred and eighty billion Nigerian Naira against nine hundred and forty-eight billion, seventy million Nigerian Naira in the third quarter, driven by currency devaluation and high inflation.

Information and communication technology firms, including telecommunications companies in Nigeria, owed deposit money banks over one trillion naira as of September 2024, reflecting a cautious borrowing stance driven by aggressive monetary tightening and multiple interest rate hikes implemented by the central bank to curb inflation. Although the sector faced severe macroeconomic challenges, including sharp declines in foreign capital importation during parts of the year, massive currency losses, and surging operational costs that constrained borrowing capacity and capital expenditure, the industry remained a vital economic driver contributing significantly to the nation's gross domestic product. To cope with these intense financial pressures and address multi-year infrastructural gaps, telecommunications operators continuously pushed for cost-reflective tariff adjustments, ultimately securing approval for price hikes under the condition that they significantly reinvest in network infrastructure to ensure long-term industry sustainability.