The Federal Government has warned that the total number of poor Nigerians would be about 109 million by the end of 2021

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said 11 million Nigerians were likely to fall into poverty by the end of 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

She was speaking in Abuja at the ongoing National COVID-19 Summit with the theme: 'Pushing through the Last Mile to End the Pandemic and Build Back Better.'

Represented by Director-General, Budget Office, Ben Akabueze, the minister said before the pandemic, about two million Nigerians were expected to fall into poverty by 2020 as population growth outpaced economic growth.

She said with COVID-19, the recession pushed an additional 6.6m Nigerians into poverty in 2020, jerking up the total newly poor to 8.6 million in the same year.

"This implies an increase in the total number of the poor in Nigeria from about 90m in 2020 to about 109m in 2022," she said.

She cited vulnerable employment; receiving fewer remittances and being close to the poverty line as some of the factors responsible for the rise in poverty. 

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The Federal High Court, Abuja, has refused to vacate its order restraining the federal government from deducting monies accruing to the 36 states from federation account to settle $418 million judgment debt in relation to Paris Club refund.

Trial judge, Iyang Ekwo, who declined to grant the plea by counsel for the defendants, adjourned the matter till December 13.

The judge said he preferred to hear all pending applications, including the one by the defendants challenging the order, on the next hearing date.

Inspiration FM reports that the judge had, on November 5, made the order after counsel for the 36 state governments (plaintiffs), Jibrin Okutekpa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, moved an ex-parte motion, seeking an order of interim injunction, restraining the federal government from deducting any money accruing or due to all or any of the 36 states of the federation.

The court had also ruled that the restraining order would remain  pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Inspiration FM also reports that while the 36 states Attorneys-General are the plaintiffs, some of the defendants listed in the suit include the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Accountant-General of the Federation and Ministry of Finance.

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Some protesters, today barricaded the entrance of Dowen College in Lekki area of Lagos State to protest against the death of 12-year-old Sylvester Oromoni at the school.

The late student was rumoured to have been attacked by "some of his senior colleagues" for refusing to join a cult group.

His cousin, Perrison Oromoni, had gone on social media to narrate how he had died and went as far as calling out the names of his cousin's alleged killers.

Perrison said the school called the deceased's father, telling him that his son sustained injuries while playing football at the school.

More than 100,000 persons have also signed a petition domiciled on the Change.org platform seeking the arrest of those fingered in the incident and their swift prosecution.

In a video uploaded by BBC Pidgin , some protesters were seen in front of Dowen College demanding that the school authorities be held accountable for failing to protect the deceased.

They also urged security agencies to wade into the issue promptly and bring the perpetrators to book.

However, sources said police operatives who were spotted in large numbers threatened to arrest the protesters if they fail to stop.

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