Economy
PENGASSAN Tasks FG to Increase Equity in Dangote Refinery to 45%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has urged the federal government to ensure that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited increases its stake in Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals from the current 7 per cent to at least 45 per cent.
Nigeria formerly had a 20 per cent stake, but recently, the majority share owner in the company, Mr Aliko Dangote, said it has dropped to 7 per cent.
PENGASSAN, however, called on the Nigerian government to hold more equity in the 650,000 barrels per day structure, stating that this will ensure further energy assurance and security for the citizens.
It also urged the federal government to create strategic petroleum product reserves, advising the government to partner with players in the private sector to maintain the already available petroleum product storage in the six geopolitical zones in the country.
According to it, when operational, petroleum products will be stored there and only made available when there is a shortage in supply.
It opined that this will help in eliminating the bad roads and severe erosion-imposed perennial shortages that often lead to queues at petrol stations across the country.
The President of PENGASSAN, Mr Festus Osifo, stated these during a media briefing in Lagos on Tuesday, which presented the association’s communique and recommendations from the 3rd edition of PENGASSAN’s Energy and Labour Summit (PEARLS 2024).
“The communique was jointly signed by Mr Osifo and Secretary-General, PENGASSAN, Mr Lumumba Okugbawa.
Mr Osifo called for the Intensification of local production of petroleum products. He also argued that the floating of the naira which led to the devaluation of the naira contributed substantially to the high cost of fuel pump price because of the dollar to the naira conversion and not necessarily the removal of fuel subsidy by President Bola Tinubu on May 29, 2023.
He also argued that it caused a high amount of revenue to the Federation Allocation Accounts Committee and high revenue generation by government agencies and parastatals.
“Ramping up efforts to make the nation’s four refineries work; once operational, the government should divest majority shareholdings and own at most 49 per cent of the shareholding in the four refineries. Core investors will be brought in to take the 51 per cent as applicable in NLNG.
“Expansion of pipelines that could be used in the delivery of refined petroleum products across the length and breadth of the country as this will reduce the pressure put on our roads by trucks carrying these products.”
He also called for more provision of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) infrastructures across the country.
He stated that CNG has been adjudged to be the most affordable and cleaner form of energy that is required to propel a car in the country today.
“Sadly the infrastructure for this product is sparsely distributed across the country. The government through its partners should deepen the reach of these infrastructures across every city in Nigeria.
“To achieve energy security, energy must be affordable. To ensure affordability, the government must do all it can to stabilize the exchange rate as the continuous slide of the Naira will greatly hamper the affordability of energy in Nigeria.”
He also said the government should give more incentives to attract the International Oil and Gas Companies and the Indigenous Oil and Gas Producers to invest in more crude oil production in the next five years.
“50 per cent of the accruable revenue should be dedicated to investing in renewable energy like solar, batteries, wind, hydrogen, hydro, etc.
“Most IOCs are currently involved in developing Greener Energy strategies and businesses across the globe.
“Nigeria’s government must partner with them to accelerate and deepen this in the Nigerian market,” the communique added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shares of First Holdco Plc worth N45.0 billion issued through a private placement have been listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
A circular issued by the Head of Issuer Regulation Department of the NGX Regulation Limited, Mr Godstime Iwenekhai, disclosed that the equities were admitted for trading at the stock market on Monday.
According to the notice, the additional shares brought for listing to rank pari passu with existing shares of the organisation were 1,021,334,544 units.
These stocks were sold to one of the company’s major shareholders at a unit price of N44.06, amounting to N45.0 billion.
The total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco, as a result of this listing, are now 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
“Trading licence holders are hereby notified that an additional 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of First Holdco Plc were on Monday, June 22, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange Limited.
“The additional shares listed on NGX arose from the company’s private placement of 1,021,334,544 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N44.06 per share.
“With the listing of the additional shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First Holdco Plc have now increased to 45,475,027,677 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each from 44,453,693,133 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each,” the disclosure stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has approved fresh import licences for petrol and diesel for the third quarter of 2026 (July – September) to prevent potential supply shortages in the domestic market.
According to a report by global energy intelligence firm, Argus Media, the latest approvals were issued to major downstream operators amid declining fuel stock levels and concerns over reduced petrol production at the 700,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.
The move comes as Nigeria continues to balance increasing local refining capacity with the need to guarantee adequate supplies of petroleum products across the country.
According to the Argus report, domestic firms, including AA Rano, AYM Shafa, Bono Energy, Nipco, Matrix Energy and Pinnacle Oil, received permits to import Premium Motor Spirit, popularly known as petrol, during the July-September period.
The publication further reported that the same companies, with the exception of Nipco, were granted approvals to import Automotive Gas Oil, commonly known as diesel. The fresh approvals follow an earlier batch of petrol import permits issued by the regulator in May, covering about 720,000 metric tonnes.
Quoting a regulatory source, Argus noted that many of the companies granted the latest approvals were among those that had received permits in previous rounds. “These are some of the same ones that previously received the PMS permits,” the source was quoted as saying.
It was also claimed that AA Rano and Matrix Energy each received approvals to import 180,000 metric tonnes of petrol. AYM Shafa received approval for 120,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle Oil received a permit covering 150,000 metric tonnes.
For diesel imports, Argus reported that AYM Shafa obtained a permit for 60,000 metric tonnes, while Pinnacle secured approval for 45,000 metric tonnes. The report stated that the import approvals were issued only recently, after being delayed from an initial target date of June 15.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.01 per cent on Tuesday, June 23, dragging the market capitalisation down by N25.91 billion to N2.544 trillion from Monday’s N2.570 trillion. Also, the NASD Security Index (NSI) decreased by 43.17 points to 4,239.34 points from 4,282.51 points.
The triplet price losers were Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gave up N4.82 to trade at N75.00 per unit versus Monday’s closing price of N79.82 per unit. NASD Plc depreciated by N3.70 to close at N33.30 per share compared with the preceding day’s N37.00 per share, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc marginally lost 1 Kobo to sell at N21.41 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N21.42 per unit.
Tuesday’s trading data showed that the volume of securities traded by investors retreated by 35.9 per cent to 211,671 units from 330,034 units, and the value of securities fell by 82.9 per cent to N5.6 million from N32.7 million, while the number of deals doubled to 38 deals from 19 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.1 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
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