- FG offers free CNG conversion for commercial vehicles
- Kenya’s Ruto sacks ministers after deadly protests
- Nigerians pay N721bn cash bribes to govt officials, NBS survey
We have highlighted the five most important developments in the news today, Friday, July 12, and present them below.
5 issues in the news that should matter to you today
1. FG offers free CNG conversion for commercial vehicles: The Federal Government has declared that the conversion of petrol and diesel-powered commercial vehicles to run on Compressed Natural Gas is going to be free of charge. It declared this in Abuja after signing agreements with various companies involved in the conversion of petrol and diesel-powered vehicles to operate on CNG.
It said commercial transporters under their different unions, including the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, National Union of Road Transport Workers, and Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, among others, would benefit from this.
2. Kenya’s Ruto sacks ministers after deadly protests: Kenyan President William Ruto announced on July 11 the dismissal of almost his entire cabinet and consultations to form a “broad-based government” following widespread anti-government protests. He said the move affects all ministers including the attorney-general but excluded prime cabinet secretary and foreign minister Musalia Mudavadi and Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua.
Ruto said he decided on the dismissals “upon reflection, listening keenly to what the people of Kenya have said and after a holistic appraisal of the performance of my cabinet and its achievements and challenges”.
The action follows largely peaceful protests led by young Gen-Z Kenyans that have widened into a broader campaign against Ruto and his government, with some demonstrations degenerating into deadly violence.
Ruto also said he would “immediately engage in extensive consultations across different sectors and political formations, with the aim of setting up a broad-based government”.
3. Nigerians pay N721bn cash bribes to govt officials, NBS survey: A National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, survey report has shown that Nigerians paid N721 billion in cash bribes to public officials in 2023. The Survey report titled: “Corruption in Nigeria: Patterns and trends,” released on July 11, indicated that more than 95 per cent of all bribes Nigerians paid in 2023 were in monetary form.
The report stated: “Overall, it is estimated that a total of roughly N721 billion ($1.26 billion) was paid in cash bribes to public officials in Nigeria in 2023, corresponding to 0.35 per cent of the entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria.
“In 2023, bribes paid in a public official’s office and the street accounted for around 35 and 36 per cent of all paid bribes, respectively. 11 per cent of bribes were paid in the respondents’ own homes, while 7 per cent were paid in public buildings such as restaurants, malls, or stations," it stated.
Meanwhile, the report also showed that Nigerians’ confidence in the government’s anti-corruption effort declined during the review period.
4. Governors lose financial control over local govt: Proponents of local government autonomy scored a major victory on July 11, as the Supreme Court stripped governors of financial control over councils. The Supreme court effectively freed the third tier from the control of the state governments by restraining governors from further managing or utilising allocations meant for it. It held in a judgment that it was wrong for a state government to retain and utilise local governments’ statutory allocations paid through them.
The Supreme Court, in the lead judgment by Justice Emmanuel Agim, held that the suit had merit. It issued an order of injunction restraining the defendants by themselves, their privies, agents, officials or however called, from receiving, spending or tampering with funds released from the Federation Account for the benefit of local government councils when no democratically elected local government system is in place.
5. Sokoto gets law stripping Sultan of power to make appointments: Governor Ahmed Aliyu of Sokoto State, on July 11, assented to six new laws, including the amended Sokoto Local Government and Chieftaincy Law, which generated controversy across the country. The new law stripped the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, of the power to appoint district and village heads in the state. Speaking at the signing ceremony, the governor insisted that the new laws were not for the witch-hunt of any individual or group but to strengthen good governance in the state.