Economy
Tinubu Raises NNPC Contract Approval Threshold to $10m
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has raised the contract approval threshold for the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to a minimum of $10 million or its equivalent in Naira.
In an executive order issued in Abuja, the President also directed that the approval period for every of the contract stages should not exceed 15 days.
The order also directed that the duration for third-party contracts awarded under the production sharing contract (PSC) or Joint Operating Agreement (JOA) be increased to five years from three years, with the option of an additional two years renewal, thereafter.
President Tinubu lamented that a comparative analysis of global oil and gas sector operations showed that the contracting cycle within Nigeria’s petroleum sector exceeds global industry standards by four to six times and was adversely affecting the country’s ability to attract potential investors.
He added that the federal government was committed to improving the investment climate and positioning Nigeria as the preferred investment destination for the petroleum sector in Africa.
Mr Tinubu explained that the directives were aimed at shortening the procedure for getting approval for contracts, facilitating businesses, enhancing the ease of doing business and reforming the contracting process in the Nigerian petroleum industry.
He stated that the directives would simplify and compress the contracting cycle to a period of not more than six months, in alignment with global industry practice; and raise the contract approval thresholds to account for the rate of inflation among others.
“The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) and the Ministry of Petroleum Incorporated (MOPI) shall ensure that this threshold will be reviewed and adjusted in line with the rate of consumer inflation as disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics every year.
“NNPCL and Nigerian Upstream Investment Management Services Limited (NUIMS) shall, in collaboration with the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and industry stakeholders, simplify the contract approval process and adopt a single level of approval by NUIMS and NCDMB at each contract stage including prequalification, technical, commercial and final approval stages.
“The NNPCL and NUIMS shall ensure that all approvals or consents required to be given by it for contracts and procurement for each contract stage under the terms of PSCs or JOAs are issued within 15 days from the date of submission of application by the relevant party to the PSC or JOA.
“The NNPCL and NUIMS shall communicate its decision to the applicant within the time-frame stipulated under subparagraph (2) of this paragraph.
“Where the NNPCL and NUIMS fail to communicate its decision within the aforementioned timeline, the approval or consent shall be deemed granted,” he said according to the directive.
The president also directed the NCDMB to ensure it reviews any Nigerian Content Plan (NCP) submitted to it within the 10 days stipulated in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act, adding that where no response is communicated to the applying company, the NCP shall be deemed approved.
He also stated that any application for expatriate quota in the petroleum industry shall be directed by the NCDMB to the Ministry of Interior or any other relevant Ministry, Department or Agency (MDA) within 10 working days, provided all supporting documents are in place.
“Where any matter requires the approval, satisfaction or consent of the NCDMB and no timeline is provided under the NOGICD Act, the NCDMB shall communicate its decision on such matter within 15 days of receiving a request to that effect, failing which the NCDMB shall be deemed to have approved, satisfied or consented to such matter,” he added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 0.24 per cent on Friday, April 25 after the duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Afriland Properties Plc landed on the losers’ table.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N2.58 to sell at N35.37 per unit compared with the previous day’s N37.95 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 2 Kobo to close at N17.78 per share versus Thursday’s closing value of N17.80 per share.
However, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 10 Kobo during the trading day to sell for N1.80 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.70 per unit. The rise in the price of the stock could not prevent the fall of the bourse yesterday.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N4.64 billion to N1.914 trillion from N1.918 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 7.92 points to 3,269.06 points from 3,276.98 points.
The final trading session of the week ended with a surge of 1,695.8 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 3.7 billion units from the 206.2 milion units transacted in the previous trading day.
Equally, the value of transactions jumped by 2,592.6 per cent to N9.5 billion from N354.1 million on Thursday, and the number of deals decreased by 47.4 per cent to 20 deals from the 38 deals recorded a day earlier.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 259.3 million units worth N456.1 million, and Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion.
Also, Okitipupa Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million units valued at N4.9 billion, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 15.6 million units worth N598.5 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units sold for N520.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
A 0.30 per cent fall was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday as a result of profit-taking in the industrial goods sector.
This was mainly caused by sell-offs in Dangote Cement Plc, which released its financial statements for the first quarter of 2025 yesterday.
The cement maker lost 10.00 per cent during the session to trade at N432.00, Regency Alliance lost 8.06 per cent to close at 57 Kobo, VFD Group depreciated by 7.57 per cent to N17.10, Chams declined by 7.27 per cent to N2.04, and Sovereign Trust Insurance crashed by 6.12 per cent to 92 Kobo.
Conversely, International Breweries, Legend Internet, and Ikeja Hotel gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N7.70, N6.82, and N12.10 apiece, Vitafoam Nigeria surged by 9.93 per cent to N44.85, and Eterna rose by 9.92 per cent to N39.90.
The industrial goods index was down by 4.73 per cent on Friday, as the others finished in green territory.
The consumer goods space rose by 2.21 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 1.55 per cent, the insurance counter expanded by 1.50 per cent, the energy sector increased by 0.07 per cent, and the commodity industry went up by 0.04 per cent.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 321.21 points to 105,753.05 points from 106,074.26 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N202 billion to N66.465 trillion from N66.667 trillion.
The level of activity increased yesterday as the trading volume, value, and number of deals grew by 30.40 per cent, 94.23 per cent, and 17.64 per cent, respectively.
This was because investors transacted 428.1 million shares worth N20.2 billion in 14,284 deals compared with the 328.3 million shares valued at N10.4 billion in traded in 12,142 deals a day earlier.
GTCO led the activity chart with 60.7 million equities sold for N3.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 41.4 million stocks worth N829.3 million, Access Holdings exchanged 40.6 million shares valued at N968.3 million, MTN Nigeria sold 33.0 million equities for N8.2 billion, and Zenith Bank transacted 22.9 million stocks worth N1.1 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira extended its gains against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, April 25 by 0.22 per cent or N3.59 to sell for N1,599.42/$1 compared with the N1,603.01/$1 it was traded in the previous session.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Euro in the official market by N1.36 to close at N1,818.53/€1 compared with Thursday’s closing price of N1,819.89/€1.
However, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment yesterday by N1.90 to wrap the session at N2,130.44/£1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N2,128.50/£1.
At the black market segment, the Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N2 to quote at N1,605/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s value of N1,607/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, a possible regulatory progress about digital assets in the US spurred buying interest among investors during the trading session.
The chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Paul Atkins, was at a crypto roundtable on Friday and he devoted his inaugural speech to assuring the industry that he will continue to remake securities policy to favor digital assets innovation.
Litecoin (LTC) rose by 3.0 per cent to $87.24, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 2.7 per cent to $0.1862, Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 1.3 per cent to $94,687.84, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $1,797.51, Cardano (ADA) improved by 0.9 per cent to $0.7235, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.6 per cent to close at $2.20.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $151.64, and Binance Coin (BNB) lost 0.8 per cent to sell for $602.89, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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