Petrol Tanker Accident Kills 60 People in Benue State
A petrol tanker owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) with 45,000 litres of petrol caught fire, on Tuesday, while discharging the product at a filling station along Abdulsalami Abukakar Way, Apo, Abuja. There was no loss of life but the tanker was completely razed, while the filling station was partly affected.
The Branch Manager of NNPC Mega Station, Mr Jeremiah Abimaje, said that the cause of the fire was unknown, “the tanker was only offloading when it caught fire all of a sudden.”He said.
He said that prompt arrival of men of the Fire Service prevented the fire from engulfing the filling station and other properties in the neighborhood.
An eye witness, said that men of the fire service were able to contain the fire because the station was not selling fuel when the incident occurred.”If it was a normal day when there are many cars around this road, many people would have lost their lives,” he said.
Mr Jaji Abdulganiyu, Operations Commander, Federal Fire Service, who led his men to the scene, said the service was committed to putting fire outbreaks under control in the FCT.
The National Assembly yesterday exposed speculations that the 2016 budget was missing, and assured that the Senate and the House of Representatives are in the process of making copies of the money Bill available for the 109 senators and 360 members of the House.
The lawmakers added that they are determined to pass the bill as soon as possible.
Describing the speculations of a missing budget as laughable, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Senator Abdullahi Sabi, said that the contents of the 2016 budget were carefully drafted to enhance and drive the change agenda of the present administration.
He added that the senators were eager to pass the budget so that implementation would commence immediately so as to deliver the dividends of democracy to the electorate.
There is a possibility that deliberations on the 2016 budget would kick-start next Tuesday and that this week would be used to make copies available to lawmakers.
The Senate spokesman said, “There is no such thing; it is laughable for anybody to insinuate that the 2016 budget is missing; it is the figment of the imagination of those carrying such rumour.
“We, as a Senate, are presently concentrating on making copies of the budget available to every senator. We are getting ready to commence deliberations on the budget and we are enthusiastic and looking forward to a quick passage so that the president would commence implementation in such a way that the electorate would begin to reap the dividends and benefits of democracy.
“So it is not true that the budget is missing; it is a rumour. We deal with facts here and the fact is that no budget is missing,” Senator Sabi declared.
The Governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, has called for the revival of job centres, which will provide reliable data on the number of unemployed youths and ensure appropriate job placement for them across the country.
He urged the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, to ensure that each local government area had a job centre for vocational skills training to improve the competence of skilled and semi-skilled workers.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the governor made this call during a courtesy visit recently.
He stated that the purpose of the visit was to reflect on salient issues that were germane to the welfare of the citizens of the country.
Oshiomhole affirmed that the administration of President Muhmmadu Buhari had made it clear that the primary purpose of governance was the welfare of the people and the only way to deliver public welfare was to pay attention to job creation.
The federal government has said that gas projects that will improve power supply in the country will be completed in the second quarter of this year.
This is coming as power firms in the country have agreed to explore broader funding sources in order to improve their infrastructure across the country.
The government, in a communiqué issued at the end of the first monthly meeting of operators in the power sector, stated that the country’s gas sector was still facing some challenges in the aspects of payment and security, but expressed optimism that the supply of gas for electricity generation would improve from the second quarter of this year.
The meeting, which was chaired by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, was held in Abuja on Monday.
The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has announced that it will develop a framework for insuring deposit liabilities of non-interest financial institutions in the country.
The NDIC, in a statement on Tuesday, noted that the successful take-off of the non-interest banking was being undertaken by Ja’iz Bank, Stanbic IBTC and Sterling Bank.
The corporation, however, said their deposit liabilities were hitherto not covered under its Deposit Insurance Scheme.
According to the statement, the public policy objectives of the framework are based on public interest, which seeks to provide corresponding protection to holders of non-interest financial products similar to that of conventional banks.
The objectives are given as depositor protection against loss in the event of failure of any non-interest bank; to engender public confidence and enhance resilience of non-interest financial institutions; to encourage competitiveness of non-interest financial institutions; to help to contain the cost of resolving failed non-interest banks and provide an orderly failure resolution mechanism; and to promote and contribute to the stability of Nigeria’s financial system.
The International Air Transport Association, IATA, operational audit, has rated RwandAir Express among the world’s safest airlines for 2015 after passing operational audit.
IATA Vice-President, Raphael Kuuchi, said on Tuesday, January 12, in Kigali that the recognition came into effect at the weekend during the handing over of the certificate of recognition at the Kigali International Airport.
Kuuchi said in addition, the carrier was recognised by IATA for the strength of its recently commenced route between Kigali and several African cities, giving RwandAir a green light to fly to any part of the world.
He said IATA also allowed RwandAir to enter into code share deals with five-star airlines without any restrictions.
The Rwandan airline which officially became IATA member in May 2015, currently flies to 13 destinations which includes Nairobi (Kenya), Entebbe (Uganda), Mombasa (Kenya), Bujumbura (Burundi), Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro (Tanzania).
Others are Johannesburg (South Africa), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Lagos (Nigeria), Accra (Ghana), Jubba (South Sudan), Libreville (Gabon) and Brazzaville (Congo).
Rwandan officials said the certificate was expected not only to bring commercial benefits but also serve as an advantage in promoting the airline’s brand.
The officials added that it would also open avenues for joint ventures with other airlines.(PANA/NAN)
Justice Idris Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Tuesday, January 12, rejected an application from the federal government seeking to stop MTN Nigeria Communications Limited from transferring it funds out of the country.
The application, by way of a mareva injunction, was targeted at barring MTN from emptying its accounts in 21 commercial banks in the country and preventing the telecoms giant from boycotting the payment of the N1.04 trillion fine imposed on it by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) for its failure to deactivate its unregistered subscribers.
The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), who filed the application yesterday, expressed concern that MTN could move all of its funds out of the country before the fine is enforced.
He therefore sought an order directing all the 21 banks to open a special interest-yielding account in the name of the Chief Registrar of the Federal High Court and move N1.04 trillion out of whatever funds that is standing to MTN’s credit in their possession.
Counsel to the AGF, Mr. Dipo Okpeseyi (SAN), in a 14-paragraph affidavit deposed to by his junior, Steve Nwabueze, argued that MTN was in the habit of repatriating its funds out of Nigeria.
He revealed that between October 2007 and May 2009, a period of 19 months, MTN moved repatriated $7.7 billion made in Nigeria to a foreign account.
He further drew the court’s attention to an instance when in one day, specifically on February 8, 2008, MTN transferred over $936 million out of Nigeria to accounts in Mauritius, Cayman Island and the British Virgin Islands.
“Unless this honourable court urgently entertains this application, the plaintiff/respondent would move its funds out of Nigeria, being the jurisdiction of this honourable court, and thereby frustrate the enforcement of the fine in the likely event that this honourable court sanctions the imposition of the fine,” the AGF’s counsel said.
Okpeseyi maintained that MTN was under obligation to pay the fine, because it was NCC’s administrative decision that remained final unless it was reviewed by the commission or nullified by the court.
He said though NCC had given MTN a concession on the fine and reduced it to N780 billion but MTN had neglected or failed to pay on or before the December 31, 2015 deadline, the fine remained N1.04 trillion.
The federal government on Tuesday, January 12 earmarked the sum of N140 million as funds to tackle the Lassa fever ravaging some areas in the country.
This came as the total number of deaths has now risen to 41. In a joint press briefing in Abuja, Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole and his Information and Culture counterpart, Lai Mohammed, assured that efforts are being made by government to arrest further spread of the disease, which is now present in 10 states of the federation.
Adewole said: “With respect to the cost, we are currently handling it within our in-house resources, using drugs that we had in stock. But we are trying to replenish our stocks; we estimate that we will spend 56 million naira to replenish the drugs. And in order to mount the response; we are looking at 140 million naira.
“So everything is manageable within the budget of the Federal Ministry of Health, we need not panic for now. When we set up an inter-ministerial committee to ensure that we finally declare Lassa fever dead, buried completely, we will come up with the budget,” he maintained.
The minister explained that government will be discreet and transparent with any funds geared towards fighting the disease, adding: “We will also be very realistic in line with the posture of the present administration. We are not going to declare a bazaar, so no one should expect to feast on Lassa fever.”
Freight rates for container shipping are expected to plunge deeper in 2016 as the supply-demand imbalance continues widening resulting in more losses for boxship owners, according to shipping consultancy, Drewry.
Many stakeholders point to the fact that bunker prices of for example $140 per tonne in Rotterdam are clearly contributing to lower overall container freight rates, but Drewry believes that a new and worrying trend has become apparent for ocean carriers.
“Our most recent data suggests that carriers are no longer able to cut costs faster than the prevailing declines seen in the freight rate market.
Drewry is of the opinion that oil prices have probably hit the market bottom right now and costs for the positioning of empty containers and vessel lay ups will increase this year. Our latest calculation is that a 10,000 TEUs (containers) vessel would incur a minimum of $450,000 in reactivation costs if laid up in Asia for three months or more.
It should also not be forgotten that many lines no longer even quote a BAF on some trade lanes,” Drewry said.
The nation’s private sector ended 2015 on a positive note with business conditions improving to the highest level since July.
According to statistics from Stanbic IBTC Bank Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for December 2015, a key factor behind growth of the sector as a whole was higher new orders – the latest rise was the fastest in six months.
Output soared more quickly as a result, while employment increased at a solid pace. On the price front, cost pressures intensified in December.
Higher purchase prices had little impact on charges, as they fell for the second time in three months.
The seasonally adjusted Stanbic PMI posted 54.5 in December, thereby signalling a solid improvement in operating conditions at companies in the country up from 53.9 in November. The latest reading was the highest in five months.
Commenting on December’s survey findings, Ayomide Mejabi, Economist at Stanbic IBTC Bank said:
“The December Nigeria PMI reading (at 54.4) suggests that the recent recovery in private sector activity was sustained through the end of the year. The brisk pace of increased output and new orders appears to have carried on from November, after some clarity around the new government’s economic team as well as its policy leanings.
Trading activities in the equity segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, plummeted on Tuesday on Tuesday, January 12 when investors flooded market with supply as stocks tumbled further.
Market capitalization which opened at N9.062 trillion slid by N108 billion to close at N8.954 trillion.
The NSE All Share Index depreciated by 1.20 per cent to close at 26,034.93 basis points, compared with the 2.51 per cent depreciation recorded previously.
Market breadth closed negative as May & Baker led 9 gainers against 31 losers topped by FBN Holdings at the end of the trading session which was an improved performance when compared with previous outlook.
Market turnover closed positive as volume moved up 74.87 per cent against 48.80 per cent decline recorded in the previous session. Guaranty Trust Bank, FBN Holdings and UBA were the most active to boost market turnover.
7-Up Bottling Company and Guaranty Trust Bank top market value list. Top on gainers’ log was Portland Paints Plc with a gain of N0.19 kobo to close at N4.13 kobo, followed by Eterna Plc with N0.08 kobo to close at N1.69 kobo, Access Bank Plc with N0.05 kobo to close at N4.60 kobo per share, and May & Baker Plc with a gain of N0.05 kobo to close at N1.05 kobo per share. On the other hand P. Z. Plc topped losers chart with N1.08 kobo to close at N21.13 kobo, Ashaka Cement Plc with N0.96 kobo to close at N24.24 kobo per share, Cadbury Nigeria Plc with N0.81 kobo to close at N15.49 kobo and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc with N0.65 kobo loss to close at N17.25 kobo per share.
The current Oil price has dropped below the $8 a barrel benchmark going by the 2016 budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari based on $38/barrel.
President Buhari pegged the oil benchmark at $38/ barrel but the gap currently is about 21 per cent of the amount proposed.
Crude oil prices lost more than 2 per cent on Tuesday,January 11 extending a relentless selloff to trade within cents of $30 a barrel for the first time in 12 years on concerns about fragile Chinese demand and the absence of restraint in global production.
Analysts from some major banks have cut their 2016 oil forecasts to as low as $10 per barrel.
Benchmark Brent crude fell to a low of $30.43 per barrel, a level not traded at since April 2004. It was at $30.65, down 90 cents, at 11:43 a.m. EDT (1643 GMT).
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude(WTI) fell to a low of $30.10, which was last seen in December 2003, and last fetched $30.26, down $1.15.
Crude firmed in early trade after a deadly suicide bombing rocked central Istanbul. Traders said support also came after Nigeria’s oil minister commented that a “couple” of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) members had requested an emergency meeting.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, has announced its plan to divest its shareholding in the Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, PAN Limited.
A notice signed by the management of AMCON showed that it owns 79.31 per cent of the shares of PAN Nigeria Limited.
The audited financial statements of PAN by December 31, 2014 showed that the company’s total assets stood at N24.96 billion, while its total equity stood at N11.98bn. As part of the process of selling its stake in the company, AMCON has invited interested bidders to express their interest in bidding for the acquisition of its entire shareholding in PAN.
Read more at http://www.dailytrust.com.ng/news/business/amcon-to-sell-stake-in-pan/128617.html#z94LQiceSh5Oqiy2.99
The Nigeria Customs Service , NCS, Federal Operations Unit (FOU) Zone ‘C’, Owerri has recorded a total of 467 seizures of illegally imported items with an overall Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N2,709,807,358 billion in the year 2015.
The Customs Area Controller of the Unit, Comptroller Dimka, Victor David who gave details of the seizures recorded said that 316 suspects were arrested in connection with the smuggling, one convicted, and 23 cases pending in court for the same purpose of which 7 cases were won by the Unit.
He added that underpayment recovered for some items stood at N130,144,103.00 million.
In addition, Dimka said that 1,561 cartons of medicaments (fake drugs) along with 7,493 bales of second-hand clothing and 5,642 cartons of other contraband items were equally impounded by the unit during the year under review.
A comparative analysis of the above seizure report and duty recovered with same reports of year 2014 shows a geometric growth in result of suppressing smuggling within the zone.
The current seizure report with duty paid value are 29% and 50% in increase respectively when compared to seizure report of year 2014 that recorded 363 seizures with Duty Paid Value DPV of N1,805,843,064.00.
Transactions on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, continued its journey south on Tuesday, January 12, with the market capitalization shedding N8 trillion mark due to massive profit taking by investors.
The All-Share Index lost 315.25 points or 1.19 per cent to close lower at 26,034.93 compared with 26,350.18 achieved on Monday following price loses.
Market capitalization shed N109 billion to close at N8.953 trillion against N9.062 trillion recorded on Monday, January 11.
An analysis of the price movement table indicated that Nigerian Breweries led the losers’ pack with a loss of N4.22 to close at N102.02 per share.
PZ Industries trailed with a loss of N1.08 to close at N21.13, while Ashaka Cement dropped 96k to close at N24.24 per share.
Cadbury declined by 81k to close at N15.49, while GTBank dipped by 65k to close at N17.25 per share.
Conversely, Portland Paints and Products led the gainers’ table, increasing by 19k to close at N4.13 per share.
Champion Breweries gained 16k to close at N3.38, while Eterna Oil increased by 8k to close at N1.05 per share.
May & Baker grew by 5k to close at N1.05, while Trans Express went up by 4k to close at N1.15 per share.
The volume of shares traded increased by 74.96 per cent as a total of 223.39 million shares worth N2.51 billion were traded in 2,776 deals on Tuesday.
The naira weakened on Tuesday, January 12 by 2.51 per cent to exchange at N285 to the dollar at the Bureau De Change (BDCs) segment of the foreign exchange market.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the naira was traded to the dollar at N278 on Monday Jan. 11
A currency trader,Harrison Owoh, said the further depreciation of the Naira was as a result of the apex bank’s announcement to stop the sale of foreign exchange to BDCs.
Owoh, the Managing Director of HJ Trust Investment Ltd., said that CBN was yet to issue circular informing BDCs on the latest development, adding that they got the information from the pages of newspapers.
He said by CBN allowing dollar deposits into domiciliary accounts by Nigerians means the banks would now have more foreign exchange at their disposal.
An official of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, on Tuesday, January 12, revealed that the listing of Transcorp Hotels’ N10 billion bond may take place on Jan. 18 barring unforeseen circumstances.
NSE Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, Ade Bajomo, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the listing was to spur activities at the exchange.
A NAN investigation, however, revealed that the N10 billion was the first tranche of N30 billion bond approved by the exchange for the company.
Bajomo said the bond was one of the efforts by the company to finance long-term projects, adding that the NSE was delighted with the listing.
Bajomo urged more corporate companies to float corporate bonds this year with the current economic challenges to finance long-term projects.
According to him, firms require funding to pursue more capital projects and the capital market offers the best funding for long-term development projects.
The Federal Government, on Tuesday, January 12 charged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to reduce the lending rate to farmers in the country to five per cent.
Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh who spoke in Idofian, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State during the launch of the second phase of agricultural equipment hiring enterprise, said: “We thank the CBN for the efforts it has made so far to lend money to farmers at nine per cent interest rate. But we are like Oliver Twist, nine per cent is very good but it is not good enough for agriculture. Nine per cent is the highest for agriculture anywhere on planet earth.
“We want five per cent and we are going to plead with banks if they want this country to feed well- agriculture to grow and Nigeria to become a major exporter of food, interest rate has to reduce to the barest minimum. Five per cent will give them more returns as more farmers will borrow and pay back.
“Beginning from this year, Nigeria will embark on agro-forestry. We are looking at cashew at least two million trees a year, cocoa three million per year, because there should be no reason why Nigeria should be number 10 on the line of cocoa producers when just 50 years ago, we were number one. We are now miserably behind Ivory Coast and Ghana. We shall plant more castor seeds. Nigeria spends $350 million yearly importing castor oil.”
He said the programme on rice and wheat will increase, adding that another programme on cattle breed improvement is underway. He said 200 farmers in the country will start the programme which he said will be private sector driven but supported by the treasury.
The hard and soft copies of the 2016 budget documents presented to the National Assembly on December 22 by President Muhammadu Buhari have reportedly gone missing.
The Nigerian Senate was scheduled to commence deliberation on the proposed budget Tuesday (today).
However, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, shocked lawmakers at a closed-door session, when he told them the budget documents had been stolen.
Sources say that Mr. Ndume explained that deliberation on the budget could therefore not begin until fresh copies of the documents were obtained from the presidency, the Ministry of Finance or that of national planning.
The Chairman, Senate Committee of Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was subsequently mandated to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.
The Senators also resolved that the matter be kept under wraps, saying making it public could embarrass the presidency, the National Assembly and the country.
Gilead Pharmaceutical Limited, is recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:
Job Title: Trainee Store Keeper
Location: Lagos
Job Description
Reporting to the Assistant General Manager, this role will manage movement of stocks to and from the warehouse ensuring the right inventory controls are put in place.
Key Responsibilities
Receive all materials into the store and ensure proper storage
Maintain accuracy between actual stock balance and records in the system
Develop, implement and enhance the stores structures and procedures.
Responsible for safety and security of the stores and stock items
Conducting and preparation of monthly stock taking, stock reports and reconciliation thereof
Ensuring that the proper stores documents for receipt, maintenance and release of stocks are properly maintained like Bin cards and Issue notes
Communicate with and dispense products as per requirements by the customers.
Ensure proper stores arrangement
Ensure all orders are properly documented and released for pick-up on time.
Education and Relevant Skills
Minimum OND/HND/B.Sc
Keen attention to detail
Good planning and organizational skills
Good communication skills both written and spoken
Application Closing Date
25th February, 2016.
How to Apply
Interested and qualified candidates should forward their CV’s to:gileadpharm@gmail.com
Note:Only shortlisted applicants will be contacted
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