Business
Enugu Directs Contractors Back To Sites
The Enugu State Government has directed contractors handling projects across the 17 local government areas of the state to return to their sites, the Commissioner for Information, Dr Godwin Udeuhele, has said.
Udeuhele told newsmen in Enugu on Thursday that the directive was sequel to the review of the contract sums as requested.
The Tides source reports that the state government had, within the last quarter of 2016, started 35 projects cutting across all the local government areas.
The projects were expected to have been completed in December 2016 but the contractors could not deliver due to inflation.
The commissioner said that having considered the genuine request for an upward review of the project cost, the State Executive Council approved 10 per cent increase on the contract sum of all the projects.
He said that the approved variation amounted to N191.89 million, bringing the current cost of the entire projects to N2.11 billion.
“This gesture of the government is to ensure speedy completion of the projects started in the 2016 fiscal year.”
He said that the contractors had one month from now to deliver the projects so as to commence work on projects in the 2017 budget.
Udeuhele said that the council also approved the engagement of a competent external estate valuer to assist the state government identify and maintain its property.
He said that the person to be engaged would be responsible for the identification, documentation and evaluation of the property of the state.
“If you watch, all the parks we have in the state today are in the hands of individuals and the conditions surrounding the management are very shabby.
“Some individuals are claiming ownership because when you tell somebody to manage a park for about 50 years, he automatically claims ownership.”
The commissioner said that the prevailing circumstance had led to the loss of and in some cases misplacement of certain property of the state.
“We saw what happened to our liaison office in Lagos and other places in Enugu and beyond.
“We intend to look at the conditions of lease of our property and make up-to-date report to know the way forward.
“Without this, a lot of our property will turn to individual property in the next few years,” he said.
Udeuhele said that with the approval, the position would be advertised and that the person to be recruited, would provide asset register and database to be used in monitoring state property.
Credit to Nigeria’s private sector rose to N83.26 trillion in June 2026 from N81.04 trillion in May, signifying a positive balance of N2.22 trillion month-on-month.
Year-on-year, the figure represents a nine per cent increase compared with the N76.13 trillion recorded in June 2025. The latest figures come as the CBN continues to balance efforts to control inflation with the need to support economic growth and expand credit to businesses.
The CBN data shows that credit to Nigeria’s private sector increased by approximately 2.74 per cent month-on-month between May and June 2026. Also, the CBN data noted that credit to the government fell slightly to N40.03 trillion from N40.38 trillion. Other assets, net, dropped to N10.76 trillion from N12.63 trillion.
The credit surge signifies sustained growth in lending to businesses and other private-sector borrowers during the month. The rise in private sector credit was recorded alongside an increase in net domestic credit, despite declines in credit to government and other assets.
Further analysis of the report says that compared with June 2025, private sector credit rose by about N7.13 trillion yea-on-year but net domestic credit increased by approximately N1.87 trillion during the month.
The CBN’s relatively tight monetary policy stance notwithstanding, more banks still loaded funds to the private sector within the period. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) held its 306th meeting on July 20 and 21.
The Committee reviewed recent developments in the global and domestic economies, assessed emerging risks to the outlook and considered their implications for monetary policy and retained all rates.
The Committee decided to retain the Monetary Policy Rate at 26.5 per cent; the Standing Facilities Corridor around the MPR at +50/-450 basis points and retain the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45.00 per cent, Merchant Banks at 16.00 per cent, and non-TSA public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent.
The MPC decision means that credit extension in the private sector will likely continue to rise because of rising confidence in the sector and calls by stakeholders for banks to invest in the private scetor instead of government securities.
