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2022 Budget: FG Allocates ₦100 Billion For 2023 Elections; Seeks Loans To Fund Deficit

2022 Budget

In readiness for the 2023 general elections in the country, the Federal Government has earmarked the sum of N100 billion in the 2022 budget to cater for the nationwide exercise. This was revealed as President Muhammadu Buhari prepares to present the 2022 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly tomorrow, Thursday, October 7, 2021.

In some reports from the House of Representatives where the revised 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) was submitted for approval, the budget for the 2022 fiscal year was reviewed upwards from N13.98 trillion to N16.45 trillion – indicating an additional N2.47 trillion.

The Green Chamber, it should be recalled, had already approved the initial MTEF which had an expenditure sum of N13.98 trillion for the 2022 fiscal year. However, following a letter from Mr President to the Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, a fresh approval was needed.

In the letter dated Saturday, October 2, 2021, the president explained the reason for seeking a fresh approval as there had been an upward review of the MTEF to reflect the new fiscal terms in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, as well as other critical expenditures in the 2022 Budget.

2022 Budget

To put it in perspective, the MTEF is an annual, rolling three-year-expenditure planning that sets out the medium-term expenditure priorities and hard budget constraints against which sector plans can be developed and refined. It also contains outcome criteria for the purpose of performance monitoring.

Also, the federal government, through the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has revealed that the budget deficit in the proposed 2022 Appropriation Bill will be financed through loans. She indicated this at the end of the weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting earlier today while interacting with newsmen.

Mrs. Ahmed said while the FEC had approved the proposed 2022 Budget of N16.39 trillion, part of the budget will be funded through local and eternal loans as most of the administration’s legacy projects captured in the budget can not be achieved with just proceeds from exports and Internally Generated Revenues (IGRs).

She said:

“If we just depend on the revenues that we get, even though our revenues have increased, the operational expenditure of government, including salaries and other overheads, is barely covered or swallowed up by the revenue.

“So, we need to borrow to be able to build these projects that will ensure that we’re able to develop on a sustainable basis. Nigeria’s borrowing has been of great concern and has elicited a lot of discussions, but if you look at the total size of the borrowing, it is still within healthy and sustainable limits. As of July 2021, the total borrowing is 23% of GDP.”

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Asake’s ‘Mr Money With the Vibe’ Is Charting Top 50 On Spotify

Three years after its release, Asake’s Mr Money With the Vibe is still doing numbers. At the time of press, the track ‘Nzaza’ currently ranks 23rd on Spotify Nigeria’s Top 50 songs, that’s 148 weeks and counting, nearly three years of nonstop streaming for a debut project.

For most artists, a first album fades after its moment. For Asake, it’s really that moment that refuses to fade.

Released September 8, 2022, through YBNL Nation and Empire, Mr Money With the Vibe arrived when the streets already knew Asake’s name. He had already spent months turning singles like Sungba into hits. This 12-track debut built on that momentum, and he managed to do even more.

The project blends Afrobeats, Amapiano, and Fuji influences, creating a sound that can be global yet deeply Nigerian. Songs like Joha, Terminator, and Organise became instant hits, setting the tone for Asake’s larger-than-life run that would define Afrobeats in the mid-2020s.

From its first day out, Mr Money With the Vibe shattered expectations and redefined what a Nigerian debut could do.

Apple Music Africa: The album broke records for the most first-day and most opening three-day streams ever by an African project.Apple Music Nigeria Top 100: For a brief, almost unbelievable stretch, every single track on the album occupied the first 12 spots on the chart. Global Reach: The project reached #1 on Apple Music Album Charts in 26 countries, including six across Europe.

Albums fade, trends change, and new stars rise every quarter. Yet Mr Money With the Vibe remains glued to the top. That consistency says something about both Asake and his audience. For one, the project captured a moment in time, the rise of a new street-pop generation that blurred the lines between amapiano and Yoruba-rooted rhythm. Every track carried Asake’s trademark vocals and a hypnotic tempo that became instantly recognizable across countries.

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Wizkid’s Son Enters the Spotlight with Debut EP ‘Champion’s Arrival’

Boluwatife Balogun, the 14-year-old son of Afrobeats titan Wizkid, has finally launched his own music career. Now known by the stage name “Champz”, the young star has just unveiled his first-ever project. The much-anticipated five-track EP, titled Champion’s Arrival, dropped on Tuesday, November 11, instantly sparking fresh buzz on the internet.

Champz himself took to his social media channels to confirm the news via a post that read: “11/11: The Champion has arrived. My debut EP ‘Champion’s Arrival’ is Out Now on all streaming platforms!”

The debut project serves nothing near his father’s iconic Afropop sound as Bolu’s sound is strictly a heavy dose of Rap, Afroswing, and Trap. Early snippets, which went viral weeks ago, showcased a lyrical flow and a smooth, polished composure that belies his tender age.

Fans can now stream the full project across all major digital platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Audiomack. Champz is signalling his readiness to step into the fiercely competitive Nigerian music scene. The game has a new player.

This is not merely a son following his father; it is a destiny playing out in real time.

Wizkid also began his journey at a tender age, starting in a church choir and later releasing his first collaborative album at just 11 years old under the name ‘Lil Prinz

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Incumbent Anambra Governor Charles Soludo Wins Anambra Election

Charles Soludo

Governor Chukwuma Soludo has secured a return to office after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared him the winner of the November 8, 2025, Anambra State governorship election. The results announced by the electoral umpire showed that the incumbent governor recorded a landslide victory, sweeping all the 21 local government areas of the South-East State. In the early hours of Sunday, November 9, the State Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the University of Benin, Professor Omoregie Edoba, declared Soludo the winner of the exercise after collating results from the state’s local government areas.

“I hereby declare that Soludo Chukwuma Charles of the APGA, having satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” Edoba said.

The final tally showed that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate garnered 422,664 votes, pulverising his closest challenger, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag-bearer, Nicholas Ukachukwu, who polled 99,445 votes.

Paul Chukwuma of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) came a distant third with 37,753 votes, while John Nwosu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) scored 8,208 votes.

Labour Party’s George Moghalu and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Jude Ezenwafor, scored 10,576 votes and 1,401 votes, respectively. Peter Obi, a former Governor of the State and Labour Party’s presidential candidate in 2023, couldn’t bring his popularity to bear in the election.

Obi, who had spearheaded Moghalu’s campaign, not only failed to secure a victory for his preferred candidate at his polling unit, but the Labour Party’s total votes of 10,576 also fell way short of expectations.

Results from Polling Unit 019, Umudimakasi, Amatutu village, where Obi voted, showed that the APC recorded 73 votes, defeating the Labour Party, which polled 57 votes.

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