On Today’s numbers to ponder, we review unremitted funds, the aftermath of the novel virus and aggregate expenditures.
27.4% Trade Decline
Between the first and second quarters of 2020, the total value of trade in Nigeria fell by 27.30%. Compared to the total trade in Q2, 2019, we observe a decline of 27.46% in total trade for Q2, 2020, per the National Bureau of Statistics, foreign trade and goods report. And the reason, unbalanced trade, precisely exports which dived in the second quarter.
6,000 COVID-19 Graves
The Indonesian authorities have commenced the digging of 6,000 additional graves for COVID-19 victims. The burial site, which spreads across a two-hectare plot of land, is located at the Rorotan public cemetery in the northern part of Jakarta, capital of Indonesia. Jakarta remains the epicentre of Indonesia’s COVID-19 outbreak, while the country is the worst-hit across Southeast Asia.
₦16.6m Road Project
Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on Tuesday directed that no further payment should be made to the contractor handling Kwara State College of Education road in Ilorin. ENETSUD Deputy Coordinator Comrade Aliu Mashood (Osho) told the Governor the audit revealed a disparity between what was contained in BEME and the actual job done with regards to the BEME contents, especially the length and the breadth of the road, amounting to ₦16.6m.
₦94.3tn Unremitted
The Alliance for Surviving COVID-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), a coalition of 70 labour and civil society organisations (CSOs), reportedly discovered unremitted funds to the tune of ₦94.3 trillion. In a letter dated September 28 and addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari, Femi Falana, interim national chair of the coalition, said the unremitted money can fund the national budget for more than eight years.
₦12.66tn Aggregate
The Federal Government had proposed ₦12.66 trillion as aggregate expenditure for the 2021 fiscal year. President Muhammadu Buhari will present the 2021 budget to the National Assembly next week, the Senate president, Ahmad Lawan said. He said this in his welcome speech at the end of an executive session on Tuesday. The lawmakers resumed from their annual recess on Tuesday and proceeded into a closed-door session which lasted for over 90 minutes.