Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE closed in the Green Zone on Thursday, February 25, as the All Share Index (NSE ASI) appreciated by 0.67% to close at 24,042.73 points.
Likewise, the Market Capitalization appreciated by 0.67% to close at N8.27trn, compared with the depreciation of 0.83% recorded yesterday to close at N8.22trn.
The appreciation recorded in the share prices of Dangote Cement, ETI, Stanbic IBTC, Seplat, and Zenith Bank were mainly responsible for the gain recorded in the Index.
The total value of stocks traded on the floors of The NSE today was N1.54bn, up by 26.40% from N1.22bn traded yesterday. The total volume of stocks traded was 271.61mn in 3,360 deals.
The three most actively traded stocks were: FCMB (79.95mn), FBN Holdings (42.84mn) and Zenith Bank (29.86mn). The most actively traded sectors were: Financial Services (226.71mn), Conglomerates (15.52mn) and Consumer Goods (14.45mn).
The federal government loses about N200 billion annually to diversion of automobile imports to the Port of Cotonou in Republic of Benin, Managing Director of Grimaldi Agency Nigeria Limited,Ascanio Russo has said.
Russo, who gave further insight into why vehicles are diverted to the port in Republic of Benin by Nigerian importers, Russo sighted manipulations of tariff rates by relevant agency of government, as there are no publication of cost of vehicles imported anywhere in the world.
Grimaldi manages the PTML Terminal in Tin Can Island Port, Lagos and is one of Nigeria’s struggling automobile ports, suffering from the effect of the country’s automotive policy.
Speaking at a stakeholder’s forum in Lagos, where the minister of Transport was present, the PTML boss said Nigerians pay lower rates at Cotonou, maintaining that “there is clearly a problem of trade policy.”
He told the minister that while importers pay a fixed amount for vehicles, the percentage benchmark tariff collected at Nigerian ports was a huge source of problem for the importers, becoming a major reason for jettisoning Nigerian ports.
“In June 2015 when the duty increased as a result of auto policy, we saw immediately the effect. I think that the 35 per cent tariff for used vehicles is too high and is a source of problem because the prices of vehicles are not published anywhere and it is left to the Customs to determine the rates,” he added.
Nigerian independent oil companies have been affected the most by the lingering plunge in oil prices, the Managing Director of Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, Austin Avuru has said.
Avuru spoke on Thursday, February 25, at the 13th Aret Adams Annual Lecture Series held in Lagos.
Speaking on this year’s lecture themed: ‘Low Oil Prices: Challenges and Opportunities,’ he said independent oil companies in the country were heavily impacted as they all borrowed to fund acquisitions and capital expenditure (capex) growth.
He said many independents are now cash negative and yet need more investments for production increase in order to survive, adding that the average price of $60 per barrel was required for most companies to survive this year.
“We need to embrace effective domestic utilisation of fossil fuels to survive, and because Nigeria is heavily dependent on oil to balance the economy, the drop in oil price was a huge blow to the country’s revenue,” Avuru said.
The Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Clay Neff said Nigeria had the opportunity to improve its competitive position in the global oil and gas industry.
He noted that in this current situation, the country should restore investors confidence by providing competition in the oil market, adding that the security of lives and properties, and control stability and speedy approval processes should also be institutionalised.
The Chevron chief said the country should address its Joint Venture (JV) funding challenges and pay the arrears, adding that Nigeria had an attractive resource base.
While Nigeria’s crude remains in ample supply, languishing as it waits buyers, as Asian traders mop up Angola’s crude oil,
Nigeria’s Erha programme surfaced after weeks of delays that traders said related to a disagreement between state oil firm Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the field operator, Exxon-Mobil, Reuters reports.
Programmes for Erha were issued after several weeks of delay. Four cargoes will be loading in March and three in April, the programmes showed. NNPC also issued its official selling price for Erha in March at nine cents above dated Brent, up from a 17 cent discount in February. About 15 March-loading Nigerian crude cargoes are still available, traders said, and a force majeure on Forcados exports was doing little to boost differentials for most grades.
Bonny Light for April loading was offered at dated Brent plus $1.50 per barrel and Bonga at a $1 premium.
“NNPC is in discussions over long-term agreements to exchange crude oil for imported oil products, but fresh deals are unlikely to be finalised this week. The delays have put the country at risk of gasoline shortages,” it added.
According to the report, Sonangol only had an end-month Dalia for sale having already sold five spot cargoes including Sangos, Gimboa, Palanca and Dalia, while China’s Sinochem took six term cargoes under term agreements while Unipec took four.
It also revealed that Asian buyers snapped up spot cargoes but traders said US firm Phillips66 had also taken at least two April cargoes, including a Plutonio and a Hungo.
Total sold a spot cargo of Pazflor to Asia though the buyer was not immediately clear. Offers for other April loading cargoes were firming with Sonangol offering Dalia at dated Brent minus $3.20.
The Chairman of Nigerian Aviation Handling Company,NAHCO, Suleiman Yahyah, has stated affirmatively that the company will continue to pay dividends to shareholders.
Yahyah, who spoke at the Closing Gong Sounding ceremony on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, in Lagos, said since the company was privatized and listed on the exchange in 2006, it has remained consistent with dividend payment.
He said: “I want to assure shareholders that this year will not be different. We will continue to declare healthy dividend in line with our consistent dividend strategy.”
According to him, since its privatization, the company has embarked on business diversification programme that cuts across industries and geography.
He said the company has developed strategic global alliances through its membership of aviance, the global alliance of 10 reputable airport service providers operating from 112 stations in 17 countries, and The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA), which exists to promote the air cargo industry and world trade.
Yahyah noted that from a single business company, NAHCO has grown into a diversified group that is not only in cargo and passengers handling, but is also into agriculture, free trade zone and energy.
He said:“We are ready to go on the investment in the free trade zone. The licence has been secured, the partnership with International Development Ireland,had been signed, management is in place and market is looking good.”
“We are also investing in our agric zone development ,which is part of free trade zone, a sub element of using our platforms in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt. Already 10 per cent of our earnings is coming from export.”
So we want to deepen it in view of the difficulty now in the forex market. So we will fast track that investment and hopefully, that should begin show in our performance by the end of 2016. Besides, we are also are moving to other African countries. We are licensed in Senegal and Cote d I’voire. Now is the time to make those investment decisions active.”
He disclosed that NAHCO invested over N10 billion in equipment, saying these equipment made the company to be about 150 per cent self-sufficiency.
He said the company has enough equipment and is ready for the new terminals that are coming Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Abuja terminals.
“Our future remains to deepen our market presence, deepen our corporate governance culture and strengthen the board, which is stable and experienced and management to face the challenges in the economy. We also believe that our agric zone and free trade zone will provide continuous sustainability to the investors,” he said.
The federal government on Thursday, February 25, tasked the management of Stallion Group, manufacturers and assemblers of different brands of vehicles on the 17 per cent local content capacity in its assembly plants.
The Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, while receiving the group led by its Business Development Manager,John Abah, in Abuja, said government’s patronage of locally assembled vehicles would depend largely on its local content component.
Onu added that the ministry has over 17 research institutes that can assist company’s increase their local content component.
He added that the ministry has over 17 research institutes that can assist company’s increase their local content component.
According to Onu, Nigeria has a lot to offer car manufacturers and assemblers because of the abundant local raw materials and parts that can help investors increase output.
He added that there was need for redirection in the sector in order to diversify the economy, adding that manufacturing one car requires over 1,000 different components.
“Government wants you to manufacture locally because if you do this, you will create more job and double the 20, 000 jobs that you have now as there are about 1,000 parts in a vehicle and each parts can be manufactured in a small or a medium size economy.
“In that way, you will be growing the economy and also generate more revenue. We also want a situation where you will do research because of you have presence in so many countries, you ought to do research in Nigeria, and it is these Nigerians that will do the research. That is how government will come in and protect our interest as it wants you to move in this direction.
Big capitalized stocks of Dangote Cement, Nestle Nigeria, Seplat Petroleum Development Company and several others, on Thursday, February 25, drove market capitalization of equities listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, up by N55 billion.
Market capitalization had lost N186 billion between Monday and Wednesday this week before the N55 billion gained recorded yesterday.
Market breadth closed positive as Nestle Nigeria led 21 gainers against 19 losers topped by MRS Oil 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 by 0.79 per cent against 33.60 per cent uptick recorded in the previous session. FCMB Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and FBN Holdings Plc were the most active to boost market turnover. Zenith Bank Plc topped market value list.
In line with its commitment to contributing to a comprehensive national database, MTN will continue to operate special mega centres across the country for revalidating and updating customers’ SIM card registration details.
Guided by the national interest objectives of the exercise, MTN continues to make concerted efforts to ensure that customers’ details meet specific requirements set by the NCC while providing additional facilities for their comfort.
For ease of access, some of the mega centres are strategically located in Lagos – Oshodi, Festac, Ikoyi, Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikeja, Ipaja and Alimosho. Others are located in Abeokuta, Ibadan, Ilorin, Enugu, Aba, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Warri, Calabar, Kano, Kastina, Jos, Bauchi, Abuja and Kaduna.
The mega centres are designed to reduce the queues and the amount of time needed to facilitate a seamless registration process.
Speaking on the relentless effort of the company, the General Manager, Consumer Marketing, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, said that setting up the mega registration centres nationwide was part of the measures and steps taken by MTN to streamline the registration exercise, in order to ensure smooth data capturing for all customers.
The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, has announced that a total 1,589,175 candidates that applied for the 2016 the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME, will start exams tomorrow.
JAMB Registrar Dibu Ojerinde made the remarks in a statement, on Thursday, February 25.
He said the examination which will hold simultaneously in 521 centres in Nigeria and 8 foreign centres.
The foreign centres are: Accra in Ghana; Buea in Republic of Cameroun; Cotonou in Republic of Benin; London in United Kingdom; Jeddah in Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia; Johannesburg in Republic of South Africa; Addis Ababa in Ethiopia and Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire is expected to last 14 days.
He said the minimum cut-off points approved by the policy committee chaired by education minister was 180 marks but “institutions are at liberty to go higher than 180 depending on their peculiarity and this does not in any way infringe on the powers of the Board.”
Strong indications have emerged that the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilize the Naira may have started yielding fruits.
Feelers from two unnamed officials of the apex bank, indicated that the deployment of a number measures by the bank may have turned the tide in the forex market and led to the suffering of currency hoarders and speculators.
It will be recalled that the apex bank had said that speculators were behind the market burble since upper week which made foolery of the Naira sending it crashing to an all-time low of N400 to the US dollar.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had accused speculators who connived with bureau de change operators to undermine the efforts of the bank at propping up the Naira and warned that such speculators would eventually be punished by the market.
On Wednesday, the Naira at the parallel market exchanged for about N295, a further improvement on the N305 to the dollar on Tuesday, garnering over N100 gain on the panic by speculators struggling to cut their losses. Some parallel market operators revealed that they bought from sellers at the rate of N272 and sold at N295.
A large number of the sellers who had suffered huge losses admitted that they had bought at the rate of N380 hoping to sell at N400 before the sudden turn in fortunes.
The nation’s power industry is about to receive a boost as one of Nigeria’s leading independent power providers, Cummins Power Generation Nigeria Limited, has rolled out an action plan leading to the building of the 300 megawatts Africa’s largest gas-fired power plant with Sapele Power Plc (SPP).
According to the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed with SPP, Cummins will invest in the construction, operation and maintenance of the plant to ensure continuous power supply and Sapele will then evacuate the power through the national grid.
The plant will operate on natural gas and utilise the cogeneration waste heat recovery technology of Cummins gas engines, one of the most efficient on the global market, designed and manufactured in the United Kingdom, making the project both economically viable and environmentally friendly.
SPP operates Nigeria’s second largest power plant with installed capacity of 1020MW, capable of meeting the energy needs of around 750,000 homes at full capacity.
The chairman, SPP, Anthony Onoh, who outlined some of the strategies to be deployed by the company to achieve the set target, explained:“We have put together a detailed business plan for the phased and sustainable actualization of this goal.
The first phase of this plan focusing on capacity recovery is billed to bring plant output to 250MW by Q2 2016, with the return to service of a third steam turbine unit.
“The second phase of the plan will triple plant output in the short-mid term through a mix of projects such as the present project with Cummins.
Sapele Power Plc, leveraging its parent company’s pedigree in the energy and oil and gas industries, is poised to facilitate the timely implementation of this project. Our growth plan is driven by strong transaction economics, a robust and expanding sector supported by favourable government, fiscal terms, and strong potential financial results.”
Starting a new business is easy. Keeping it afloat is a different story. Statistics report that less than half of the startups in OECD countries pass the five-year mark. To sail in the sea of fierce competition, economic depression, enigmatic consumer behavior and fleeting trends, one of the key factors of success is having the right marketing strategy.
First you need a cost-efficient strategy that’s viable with a limited budget — so online is the place you should go if you’re looking for high ROI and the ability to target and measure every dollar carefully. Second, you cannot expect your customers to find you – you need to go where you customers are.
Finding your way on the web
The web has leveled the playing field for businesses of all sizes — to reach millions of customers you no longer need a shop with expensive rent in the right part of the mall/shopping street. You can go online to reach these same customers for as little as a few dollars a day.
Many people are already familiar with search advertising. For example, if you’re selling weight-loss products, you can have your ad appear on the search results page when people search for terms related to diets, weight-loss, exercise, etc. But online advertising isn’t just about search.
Many of the people spending time online are simply surfing the web, skimming through news articles or browsing through their favorite football fan community sites. Think of how you spend time on the web. Do you consistently search query after query or do you mostly browse the web for content that grabs your attention? Unless you’re doing heavy duty research for your thesis, time spent browsing will outweigh that spent searching.
So what should you do to reach these people?
Step #1: Target those customers who are browsing rather than searching.
This sounds like a big challenge. It is — sort of. There are many websites out there, but how could you possible reach your thousands or millions of potential customers across thousands or millions of websites where they’re spending their time?
The answer is content advertising. The general idea behind content advertising is to show an ad next to the content people are reading on various websites. For example, your ad for muscle pumping products could appear when a young athlete is browsing a page on an amateur bodybuilding site. Think of it as a chameleon blending into the surrounding colors. The content of the ads will naturally blend in with the content of the page, creating an unobtrusive ad that many web surfers welcome because it is relevant to what they’re interested in at that moment.
Online ad networks can help you distribute your ads to these many sites cost effectively. Services like Google AdSense can automatically serve ads that are relevant to the content on the page. These systems work by analyzing the content on the page real-time, determining what the pages are about, and then finding the relevant ad in its inventory to display to the user. You as an advertiser don’t have to do any of the work to find the sites and serve the ads.
Step #2: Research who exactly you want to reach and where they tend to spend time.
Ad networks are a great help, but you can’t just randomly throw out your bait and hope that it’ll grab the attention of the right kind of fishes. You have to know a little bit more about your fishes and where your fishes like to swim. It’s a good idea to do some first-hand research.
If your target customers are white-collar working men in their mid-30s with an above-average income, find out what sort of Internet usage behaviors are particular to this group.
Do you want to initiate a buzz among users on popular online communities? You might want to first take a look at some of the sites to see whether the majority of community goers actually have the financial capacity to purchase your products.
You can easily get your hands on the latest site traffic ranking and visitor demographic information through your local research agency.
There are also free tools like Google Ad Planner (www.google.com/adplanner) available to help. You can enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience into Ad Planner and the tool will return information about sites that your audience is likely to visit. Then you can drill down into those sites to get even more detail about their particular demographics (age, income, education, gender) and what other sites those people tend to visit.
Step #3: Show up in front of your customers exactly where and when you want to.
Now that you know who you want to speak to and have an idea where you can find and talk to them, you’re ready to set up a content advertising campaign. You’ll want to choose to work with a network of sites that reaches your target customer. It’s not uncommon for businesses work with multiple networks depending on how small or big of a niche they want to reach.
Google AdSense, for example, has the world’s largest network of publishers ranging from large online news sites to small niche community sites where hundreds of millions of users of all demographics visit every month.
In closing, let’s summarize:
– Consider online advertising if you want a measurable, targeted, cost-effective way to find new customers.
– Content advertising enables you to reach potential customers with a targeted, relevant message no matter where they are on the web.
– Drill down into specific categories and characteristics of potential customers so you plan your advertising campaign wisely
– Choose an ad network(s) that will help you reach the customer segments that are right for you
The Chairman of Jaiz Bank Plc, Umaru Mutallab has stated that the on-going crisis rocking the foreign exchange market was as a result of the billions of Dollars expended to import refined fuel products to sustain the economy.
He told participants at the Daily Trust Board of Economists Breakfast Meeting held on Thursday, February 25, that in addition to that Nigeria,uses huge forex to import food items and most of the consumer goods which led to enormous pressure on the naira.
Mutallab called for the development of agriculture to help in the production of foods that can substitute for imports.
On security, he advised that all offices and residential areas should be properly marked and identified to help keep track of criminals and insurgents that may constitute a threat to the peace of the society.
Indications have emerged that Nigeria may witness another round of fuel scarcity as importers have complained about their inability to access dollars needed to import the commodity.
Also, it was learnt that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has not been able to sign agreements quickly enough to exchange crude oil for refined petrol after it canceled previous swap agreements through which refined fuel is imported into the country.
The corporation had recently announced it will begin in March a new swap process called direct-sale direct-purchase to make refined petrol available to Nigerians.
Traders and local sources told Reuters that new fuel bookings have shrunk as importers cannot get the dollars needed to import fuel.
“It has ground to a halt. Nothing is finalized … so there is literally zero discussion going on,”One trader said of new petrol fixtures.
Sources told Reuters that NNPC is trying to sign additional long-term contracts to cover well beyond the 210,000 bpd of oil that was exchanged in the past.
Trading houses and refineries are eager for these; a string of them travelled to Abuja over the past month to make their case, and several also met with NNPC in London.
The companies say they could quickly move vessels with gasoline to Nigeria. But negotiations are taking longer than expected, leaving a gap in imports.
The Senate has summoned the Minister of Industries, Trade and Investment, Mr. Emeka Enelamah; heads of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and the Consumer Protection Council over alleged unwholesome practices by Multichoice Nigeria, operators of Digital Satellite Television.
The red chamber also mandated the Committee on Information to organise a public hearing for all stakeholders including the civil society on how to protect Nigerian subscribers.
The recommendations followed a motion moved by Senator lsah Misau, titled, “Concern about unwholesome practices by Multichoice Nigeria (DSTV).”
He noted that Multichoice Nigeria, a subsidiary of South Africa- based Multichoice Africa, owners of the DSTV had been known to dominate the Nigerian satellite television market, thereby enabling it to engage in negative and unhealthy trade practices.
Misau further noted that in the past few years, the DSTV had constantly been in the news over one legal battle or the other with aggrieved subscribers who were dissatisfied with the programming service and alleged unreasonable subscription hikes across their various bouquets which had led to growing public complaints and petitions.
The lawmaker noted that the motion was of public interest, as a lot of football-loving Nigerians following the English Premier League were now at the mercy of DSTV, which is enjoying the monopoly of broadcast in the country
He noted that the complaints included arbitrary increase in the subscription charges and refusal to adopt the pay as you use model applicable in other climes where Multichoice operates.
The firm was also accused of moving major subscribers from low subscription bouquets to high subscription bouquets, poor service delivery and absence of toll-free lines for customers’ complaints amongst others .
The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said that the motion was beyond the issue of DSTV but about protecting the Nigerians’ rights in the area of services.
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) CEO in Africa, Delphine Maïdou, highlighted opportunities for the corporate and industrial insurance sector in Sub-Saharan Africa at a Risk Management Conference in London on 25 February 2016. Delphine, who is also president of the Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA), spoke about what the region needs to do to close the insurance gap as well as the role of risk management and insurance in infrastructure and economic development.
Dubbed ‘Sub-Saharan Africa: The Next Generation of Emerging Markets’, the seminar was attended by CEOs, CFOs, brokers, risk managers, regulators, policy makers and other influential role players within the risk management and insurance industry across Europe and other parts of the world.
“With growing economies, Sub-Saharan Africa presents a huge potential for business insurance. Insurers and brokers need to work very closely with risk managers, regulators and stakeholders within the region to create awareness about the purpose and value of insurance so more companies, projects and stakeholders can be adequately protected,” said Maïdou.
Below average insurance penetration
Currently, the world’s insurance industry is dominated by developed countries. The Group of Seven (G7) countries alone account for almost 65% of the world’s insurance premiums even though they cover just over 10% of the world’s population. However, the total premiums in Africa for both life and non-life insurance amounted to US$71.9 billion in 2012, which translates into a penetration rate of 3.65% well below the global average, which is 6.5%, though it is above the average for emerging markets of 2.65%_.
Despite lower commodity prices and the slowdown of the Chinese economy, as well as strains in some large emerging economies, the economy in Sub-Saharan Africa is expected to grow by 4% in 2016. Even though higher borrowing costs are weighing heavily on some of the region’s largest economies such as Angola, Nigeria, and South Africa, the zone presents significant potential for infrastructure and economic development through foreign direct investment and public-private partnerships.
“2015 was a very tough year for emerging markets and some countries will remain highly vulnerable to economic shocks and market volatility in 2016,” said Ludovic Subran, chief economist at Euler Hermes. “Sub-Saharan African countries will continue to face a trio of challenges: low commodity prices, the Chinese slowdown and the tightening of US monetary policy. These countries also suffer from their own internal pressures such as inflation, weak domestic demand and socio-political tensions.”
In spite of the challenges, the region remains the fastest growing insurance market after emerging Asia, with insurance premium growth of 4.5% to 5% predicted for 2016-17_. However, Maïdou warned that insurance needs to keep pace with investment and economic development: “Sub-Saharan Africa’s continued growth depends on closing its vast infrastructure and skills gap, which needs innovative credit and investment solutions facilitated by public private partnerships through a clear policy and legal framework. But for these solutions to work, they will require equally appropriate risk management and risk transfer solutions – which essentially means increasing insurance penetration.”
Maïdou points out that local and global brokers and insurers operating in countries that have high insurance penetration such as South Africa, Namibia and Mauritius need to work with their counterparts in other African countries to foster the use of modern insurance and risk management for businesses within those areas.
Nigeria is a case in point. Africa’s largest country by Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has a mere 0.6% insurance penetration. However the country has all the ingredients for a thriving insurance industry because of its vast population of 170 million and an active economy.
“Innovative and agile insurance solutions can help businesses in Nigeria and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa,” she asserted. “There are numerous ways to close the protection gap to mitigate business risks such as business interruption, fire and explosion, and political risks to name a few. Both traditional insurance and the new generation of alternative risk transfer solutions can be used to find the right responses to an increasingly complex risk environment. In essence, this involves educating businesses about these risks and advising them on relevant risk management and insurance solutions, while also ensuring such solutions are accessible in local markets. It is also critical for all players within the industry to do their homework about the regulatory and legal aspects of insurance within each country so they devise relevant and fully compliant solutions.”
Based in Johannesburg, AGCS works with brokers, risk managers and other stakeholders on the continent to offer them insurance and risk consultancy across the whole spectrum of specialty, alternative risk transfer and corporate business including Marine, Energy, Engineering, Financial Lines (including D&O), Liability, Mid-Corporate and Property insurance (including International Insurance Programs).
The former Commonwealth secretary-general, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, stated that the official devaluation of the naira will inevitably produce a further rise in inflation to the detriment of all Nigerians. He also called for an immediate restructuring of the country’s present governance architecture by adopting true federalism.
“An incontrovertible fact is that with the current level of the country’s dependence on imported goods resulting in a monthly import bill that is about four times the value of its main export (crude oil) that is traded in dollars, official devaluation of the naira via-a-vis the dollar will inevitably produce a further rise in inflation to the detriment of all of us, especially the masses.
“Besides, in such circumstances, devaluation will lead to an unacceptable drain in the country’s external reserves that is already worryingly depleted,” he said.
“The crux of the challenge we face with the current world price for crude oil, is to devise policies for reducing the level of the county’s dependence on imported goods while in the meantime, allowing the Naira to float in the non-official currency markets with adequate safeguards being effectively enforced by the government against round-tripping in the management of our foreign exchange.
He said that restructuring the country will go a long way in enabling the country to achieve the speedier development and political stability that would more effectively eliminate the causes of the centrifugal forces existing in Nigeria.
The Pipelines and Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, has recovered over 1,500 jerrycans of petrol siphoned by vandals at Ogere Waterworks in Ogun State.
Topline Leighton, a private security which monitors and patrols PPMC’s pipelines along the System 2B, said the discovery of the oil theft was made on Monday.
The Security Coordinator, Topline Leighton Limited, Mr. Adetona Adigun, said the private pipelines surveillance firm was engaged by the PPMC to monitor the NNPC/PPMC System 2B products pipelines from Atlas Cove Depot in Lagos to Mosimi in Ogun State and other areas in South-west region.
Adigun, who addressed journalists at Ogere Waterworks, said the firm had made a series of discoveries of fuel theft from the System 2B network, which accounts for 60 per cent of petrol supply in the country.
“We have achieved a landmark, which nobody has made, here at Ogere Waterworks in Ogun State. Over 1,500 of jerrycans full of petrol were seized from vandals, together with their equipment.
“This is our commonwealth, and with the collaboration of other security agencies – police, Navy, Civil Defence Corps, we are ready to match them in ensuring that our national assets are secured. It is not going to be business as usual.’ he said.
He said that three suspected vandals were arrested, adding that they would be handed over to the appropriate security agency for prosecution.
“All the arrests that we have been able to make have kept the vandals at bay. We have been having products pumped from Lagos to Mosimi, to Ibadan and to Ilorin. So, now our next line of action is to expand our operations.
“On December 25, 2015, we made a discovery in Ajebo, Ogun State that made the Managing Director of PPMC to come around. We also made another discovery at Ilase and at Robert Island Village, close to the Atlas Cove.
The House of Representatives has resolved to authorise the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to continue spending from its 2015 budget until May 31, 2016. President Muhammadu Buhari had requested the National Assembly to grant an extension of time up to March 31, for the implementation of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) 2015 budget.
Buhari said he was desirous of securing an extension to enhance the continuation of projects in the nation’s capital before the 2016 budget is signed into law.
Thus, in a bid to grant the presidential request expeditious passage yesterday, the House commenced debate on the general principle of the Bill, and set aside all its relevant rules to pass the Bill.
Chairman of House Committee on FCT, Hon. Herman Hembe, Benue APC, had proposed the amendment, which did not go down well with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP members.
Ruling, Speaker Yakubu Dogara, said laws were not retrospective but futuristic, saying that it was better to give up to May 31 than for the Administration to get stuck if the 2016 budget delays. He clarified that the moment the 2016 appropriation law is in place, it would automatically invalidate this approval.
By Boluwatife Oshadiya | August 30, 2026
Key Points
MoMo Payment Service Bank appoints former Flutterwave COO Bode Abifarin as managing director and chief executive officer...
