COVER
RMAFC Begins Review of Anambra N70bn Stabilization Fund Request
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
A committee of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) has received Anambra State’s request for N70 billion from the Stabilization Fund. The money would pay for priority projects and other investments in key sectors of the state’s economy.
The Indices and Disbursement Committee heard the state’s presentation at a technical session at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, 20th October 2026.
The request covers security, environmental management, infrastructure, healthcare, education, agriculture, solid minerals and tourism.The committee chairman, who is also the Commissioner representing Lagos State, Prof. Olusegun Adekunle Wright, praised the Anambra government for bringing its financial challenges before the committee. He explained that the Stabilization Fund is meant to help states in genuine need, but only within set rules.
In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Head of the Commission’s Information and Public Relations Unit, Hajia Umar Maryam Yusuf, Prof. Wright said the Fund is “an important fiscal intervention mechanism intended to provide assistance in deserving circumstances, subject to established guidelines, availability of resources and the appropriate approval processes.”
He made it clear that the session does not mean the money has been approved. The technical review, he said, “did not constitute automatic approval.” The request remains open to further checks and possible recommendations to the full Commission, known as the plenary.
Wright said the Commission’s rules require any state seeking money from the Fund to first make a formal presentation. Only after that can officials visit the state to inspect the proposed projects on the ground. The committee will check whether the state’s financial records can be trusted, whether the projects are workable and their costs reasonable, what is needed to carry them out, and what benefits ordinary people in the state will get.
Representing Anambra, the Secretary to the State Government, Chiamaka Nnake, described the state’s economy, its income, its spending pressures and its development plans.
She said Anambra has 21 local government areas and 179 communities. It has an estimated 8.9 million people, a gross domestic product of about $12.7 billion and a projected 2026 budget of ₦766 billion.
Nnake said the state has raised its internally generated revenue from about ₦2.2 billion to about ₦7.2 billion. She said its economy is driven by the commercial and industrial centres of Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi, as well as its oil-producing areas.
She named insecurity, erosion, flooding, inflation and the rising cost of public services as the main pressures on the state’s finances. Sit-at-home orders and restrictions on movement, she said, have disrupted business, reduced government income and made investors less confident.
On the erosion ravaging the state, she said Anambra has more than 1,000 erosion sites, with 146 communities affected to varying degrees. She estimated that about ₦170 billion would be needed to fix the most serious sites. That is more than twice the ₦70 billion being requested. She listed work already going on, including erosion control, flood management, road repairs, land reclamation, clearing of waterways and tree planting. The state has also restricted sand mining near vulnerable areas. She asked for more resources to protect communities and key infrastructure.
On security, Nnake said the state has passed a Homeland Security Law, set up a state security outfit and works with a joint task force. She said extra funds would buy patrol vehicles, surveillance and communication equipment, and pay for staff training and better coordination. This, she said, would protect lives and property, bring back investor confidence and revive economic activity.
On health, she said the state’s free antenatal care and delivery programme has supported more than 206,000 deliveries, including 642 Caesarean sections, at no cost to the women involved. In education, she said the state has recruited 8,415 teachers and introduced free education from nursery to Senior Secondary School Three.
She said these programmes have raised the demand for doctors and nurses, equipment, medicines, classrooms and learning materials. The state must therefore keep spending to maintain quality and reach more people.
Nnake described agriculture as a major chance for the state to earn from more than one source. She said it has given out more than 2.3 million coconut and oil-palm seedlings. She called for investment in processing, storage, irrigation, cold-chain facilities and market access, so that farmers produce more, lose less after harvest and create jobs.
She also pointed to the state’s minerals, which include kaolin, bentonite, lignite, silica sand, gypsum and laterite, along with oil-related opportunities. To attract investors, she said, the state needs geological surveys, processing plants and supporting infrastructure.
On tourism, she cited Agulu Lake and other natural and heritage sites. Better access roads, visitor facilities and supporting infrastructure, she said, would make the state a more attractive destination and bring jobs, investment and income.
Concluding, she repeated the request for ₦70 billion. The money, she said, would add to what the government is already spending, keep essential services running, protect livelihoods, improve investor confidence and help build a stronger economy that does not depend on one source of income.
In his closing remarks, the Commissioner representing Anambra State, Dr. Enefe Ekene, thanked the committee chairman for presiding. He also thanked fellow commissioners for their patience and sharp observations, and the committee secretariat for its guidance.
He said the observations made at the session would help the Anambra delegation improve its presentation before the planned visit to the state. He said he was hopeful the engagement would produce good results.
The committee said its decision would depend on the financial documents supplied, the feasibility of the projects, their costs, what is needed to carry them out and the expected benefits. It added that any recommendation would still be subject to further checks and the proper procedures.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) has launched DAWN: DBN Action for Women in Nigeria, unveiled its Impact Report and presented MSME Data Assets at the seventh edition of Annual Lecture held in Abuja.
DBN, in a statement on Thursday, said while delivering a welcome address, its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Tony Okpanachi, said the central challenge was no longer reforms themselves but ensuring benefits reach businesses at end of the chain.
He asked how to make sure benefits reach traders in Onitsha, fabricator in Aba, farmer in Kebbi and young founder in Yaba, noting that MSMEs accounted for about half of Nigeria’s GDP and more than eight in every ten jobs, adding that when reform works for MSMEs it works for most Nigerians.
He explained that reform becomes prosperity only when entrepreneurs can act on it whether through long tenor loans to buy equipment, banks willing to take risk or skills and records needed to grow.
He said working through Participating Financial Institutions DBN provides longer term funding, partial credit guarantees through subsidiary Impact Credit Guarantee Limited and capacity building including Entrepreneurship Training Programme.
He disclosed that as at December 2025 DBN had disbursed a cumulative N1.4 trillion to MSMEs through 84 Participating Financial Institutions creating about 1.6 million jobs nationwide.
Under the new five year strategy, the Bank aims to reach more than two million MSMEs with deliberate targets for women led businesses, youth led businesses and underserved states.
On DAWN, Okpanachi said finance alone had not enabled enough women-led businesses to scale.
He said initiative brings together financing, guarantees and credit support, technical assistance, outcome linked grants and market linkages delivered through banks, microfinance institutions, fintechs, aggregators, cooperatives and direct channels.
Its priority sectors are agriculture and exports, healthcare, arts and creatives, technology and green business.
He said DAWN is about moving gender focused lending beyond intention and turning access into opportunity.
On the sidelines of the lecture DBN and African Development Bank held a signing ceremony of AfDB DBN 61 million United States dollars Gender Line of Credit development that reinforces Bank commitment to women led enterprises.
Okpanachi urged Participating Financial Institutions to extend lending into sectors and states where access to finance has been limited, policymakers and regulators to measure reform by what changes for business at end of chain and MSMEs to formalise, keep good records and use support now available.
The Vice President as Special Guest of Honour was represented by Dr Fred Iklaga Senior Technical Adviser in the Office of Special Adviser to the President on Economy.
Keynote speakers were Chief Executive Officer of MTN Nigeria, Dr Karl Toriola, and Chairman of Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Dr Segun Ogunsanya.
Fireside chat featured Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank Abubakar Suleiman, manufacturing and trade entrepreneur Mrs Omoyemi Chukwurah and by video Kola Masha of Babban Gona.
The Secretary to the Government of Federation, represented by Augusta Warren Bekaredebo, said 2026 tax reforms would bring relief to many small businesses expressing optimism that a lot of businesses will be smiling by next year because they will be exempted from tax.
By Tambaya Julius, Abuja
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened possible nationwide industrial action following the failure of talks with the Federal Government over workers’ welfare, petrol prices and other outstanding labour demands.
The warning came after a meeting between the government and organised labour at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja on Thursday, October 22, ended without an agreement.
The congress has given the Federal Government until Tuesday, October 27, to make meaningful progress on the issues, warning that its relevant organs would decide the next line of action if the next meeting fails to produce concrete commitments.
The NLC has also directed its affiliates, state councils and civil society allies to begin mobilising members for possible nationwide action.
In a statement issued after the meeting, the NLC Acting General Secretary, Benson Upah, expressed disappointment over what he described as the government delegation’s lack of preparedness for the negotiations.
According to the congress, organised labour presented its demands in good faith but left the meeting without any concrete commitments from the government.
The demands include a reduction in petrol prices to 2024 levels, renegotiation of the national minimum wage, implementation of agreed tax relief measures and resolution of the terms of settlement involving the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).
The congress also called for the resolution of issues raised by the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) over peculiar allowances, wage awards and hazard allowances.
The NLC said the government delegation lacked the necessary authority to engage meaningfully on the issues presented by labour representatives.
“The meeting between the Federal Government and organised labour, convened at the Ministry of Labour in Abuja on 22nd October 2026, has ended without resolution,” the statement said.
It added that the Minister of Labour requested that the meeting be adjourned until October 27 to allow the government to prepare adequately for further discussions.
The preparations, according to the statement, would include bringing relevant ministers and heads of departments and agencies to the negotiating table.
The congress said it remained open to dialogue but would not accept continued delays in addressing workers’ concerns.
“We will report back to our organs, and if no meaningful progress is made on Tuesday, the relevant organs of the NLC will decide the next line of action,” it said.
The labour body urged workers and members of the public to remain calm while the negotiations continue, even as it directed its affiliates and allies to prepare for possible industrial action.
“However, we urge all affiliates of NLC and TUC; all state councils and our civil society allies to be alert and start mobilising for a possible action across the nation while we hope that the tenets of our demands are met by the government,” the statement added.
The October 27 meeting is expected to provide another opportunity for both sides to address the outstanding issues and prevent a possible escalation of the dispute.
However, the NLC’s decision to begin mobilisation suggests that tensions could rise if the next round of talks fails to produce meaningful progress.
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has barred its personnel from escorting politicians during campaigns for the 2027 general elections.
Zonal Commanding Officer, RS6, ACM Abimbola Owolabi, gave the directive during her maiden visit to the Cross River Command in Calabar on Wednesday.
Owolabi said patrol vehicles and sirens must not be used for political activities or private engagements, including weddings and funeral processions.
She directed officers deployed to campaign venues to focus exclusively on traffic management to prevent congestion and road crashes.
The zonal head warned personnel against leading political convoys or providing escorts for politicians, stressing that official vehicles must not be used for unauthorised purposes.
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