RSB

The UK has bowed to EU demands on the Brexit divorce bill in a move that could result in the UK paying £50bn to Brussels, in an attempt to get France and Germany to agree to move negotiations to trade. Non-stop behind-the-scenes negotiations have led to a broad agreement by the UK to a gross financial settlement of £89bn on leaving the bloc, although the British expect the final net bill to be half as much. A senior EU official told the Guardian that the UK appeared ready to honour its share of the EU’s unpaid bills, loans, pension and other liabilities accrued over 44 years of membership. “We have heard the UK wants to come along with the money,” the official said. “We have understood it covers the liabilities and what we consider the real commitments. But we have to see the fine print.” The bill could total £53bn to £58bn (€60bn to €65bn), although EU officials are not discussing numbers and the British government will fight hard to bring the total down. While EU sources hav

A row broke out yesterday over the President’s directive to governors on workers’ salaries. Governors said President Muhammadu Buhari did not say they should pay all arrears of salaries before Christmas. But workers threatened to vote out governors who may fail to pay. After a meeting at the Presidential Villa on Monday, President Buhari directed Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele to release the balance of the Paris/London Club refund to states to enable them pay salaries. Governors Rochas Okorocha (Imo) and Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna) briefed reporters on the outcome of the meeting. Yesterday, the governors denied that the President said they should pay all arrears of workers’ salaries before Christmas. Besides, a statement by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum secretariat said given the delay in the past between when the President gave a directive and the actual release of funds, the money might not get to the states before Christm