Business
Stakeholder Criticises Benue’s 2017 Budget Proposal
Former Lagos Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has criticised Benue’s budgetary proposals for 2017, specifically declaring that the N4.5 billion voted for “Government House Administration” was to “service politicians”.
Abubakar told newsmen in Makurdi, recently, that voting such a huge amount for government house administration was “outrageous”.
“I have gone through the proposals. The budget has failed to address the core issues affecting the Benue people.
“The budget shows that government is more interested in addressing issues that have no direct bearing to the lives of the poor people,” he said.
He expressed surprise that a government that had not paid salaries, even after collecting bailout funds, loans and Paris Club Refund, could seek to “waste so much” on government house administration.
“`From the budget details, there is no capital project that will be executed in the government house. It means that the whole money will go into entertainment,” he said.
Tsav advised government to rather pay more attention to the welfare of civil servants, pensioners and teachers, and alleged that most Benue residents were living in hunger and want because of a general lull in activities.
The Tide source reports that of the N4.5 billion proposed for the government house administration, N3.3 billion was for the governor’s office, while N1.2 billion was proposed for the deputy’s office.
The figure is more than two times the N1.6 billion voted for the same purpose in the 2016 budget.
Our source also reports that an item referred to as “biological assets” had a provision of N100 million, two times its N50 million provision in the 2016.
Efforts to ascertain the category of assets termed “biological”, however proved abortive as government officials also claimed to be ignorant of what was meant.
Contacted, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr Lawrence Onoja, justified the budget estimates, saying that they were proposed with the “best intentions”.
“The amount proposed for the government house administration and office of the deputy governor is not outrageous. It is a proposal subject to the approval of the state house of assembly,” he explained.
He said that the figure went up compared to last year’s because of government’s intention to construct a new office for the deputy governor and renovate some guest houses in the government house.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
