Economy

National Assembly Moves to Stop Multiple Taxation

Published

9 years ago

13/07/2017

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

One issue problems giving business owners in Nigeria sleepless nights is multiple taxation and the National Assembly has promised to look into this.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, while speaking at an investigative hearing organised by the House, noted that the legislature was working on laws that will remove all impediments to harnessing the potentials of the economy so as to boost industrialisation in the country.

Mr Dogara listed some of these impediments as outrageous taxes, lack of adherence to necessary laws, wrong attitude of concessionaires towards contractual terms and conditions, absence of a work programme as well as the political will of the government.

The investigative hearing, held on Wednesday in Abuja, was organised by the House joint committees on Steel, Power, Petroleum Resources, Customs and Excise, Land Transport and Local Content.

It was organised to look into lack of patronage of Nigerian Companies in the provision of steel products and services and the outrageous taxes and duties imposed on steel product manufacturers and service providers, and call on the federal government to consider the original builders of Ajaokuta steel plant in the proposed negotiations for the completion, reactivation and operation of the project.

According to the Speaker, the hearing was aimed at eliciting necessary response and inputs from stakeholders and the public on how to address these pertinent issues that affects the well-being of the citizenry with the ultimate aim of formulating good laws for the sector.

Restating the resolve of the House of Representatives to ensure that democracy benefits the masses and also grows the nation’s economy, he said, “I have no doubt that the industrialisation of this nation is, to a large extent, dependent on our capacity to harness and utilise the enormous potentials of the steel sector.

“We must note that the steel industry is a key sector in Nigeria’s economy that should have been the bedrock of the country’s industrialisation. The sector is supposed to provide industrial items such as iron rods, barb wires and coils, as well as metal doors and windows. It ought to be a sector to provide employment and empowerment to millions of Nigerians and directly improve our economy.

“It is a general perception that the failure of this sector to deliver maximum revenue and the desired industrialization is due to several bottlenecks amongst which are; the outrageous taxes, lack of adherence to the necessary laws, wrong attitude of concessionaires towards contractual terms and conditions, absence of a work programme as well as the political will of the government.”

While noting that several efforts have been made to revive this sector, especially the Ajaokuta Steel Company (ASC) which was designed to be the largest integrated steel company in West Africa and the ever vibrant and fast growing Delta Steel Company (DSC) to no avail, he urged the stakeholders to make contributions to enrich the laws under consideration in order to extricate the sector from comatose.

Economy

CSCS, Afriland Properties, MRS Oil Weaken NASD Exchange by 1.12%

Published

55 minutes ago

09/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three stocks further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.12 per cent on Wednesday, April 8, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 44.43 points to 3,930.91 points from the previous day’s 3,975.34 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N26.59 to N2.351 trillion from N2.378 trillion.

MRS Oil lost N11.00 during the session to close at N161.00 per share compared with Tuesday’s closing price of N172.00 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc dipped by N3.74 to N67.95 per unit from N71.69 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc fell by N1.10 to sell at N15.95 per share versus N17.05 per share.

There were two gainers at the midweek trading session, led by IPWA Plc, which appreciated by 55 Kobo to N6.61 per unit from N6.06 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc improved its value by 4 Kobo to N2.32 per share from N2.28 per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities rose by 620.4 per cent to 5.7 million units from 797,264 units, the value of securities increased by 25.1 per cent to N32.7 million from N26.1 million, and the number of deals climbed by 12.1 per cent to 37 deals from the preceding session’s 33 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, trailed by CSCS Plc with 57.2 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Grows 1.07% to N1,371/$1 at Official Market as FX Pressure Eases

Published

1 hour ago

09/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Foreign Exchange (FX) demand pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday, April 8, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) after gaining N14.84 or 1.07 per cent against the greenback to quote at N1,371.82/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,386.66/$1.

Also, the local currency appreciated against the Euro in the same market window at midweek by N1.54 to close at N1,604.07/€1 versus Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,605.61/€1, but lost N6.26 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,844.83/£1 versus N1,838.57/£1.

In the parallel market, the exchange rate of the Naira to the US Dollar remained unchanged yesterday at N1,410/$1, according to data sourced by Business Post.

There were indicators that the official FX market experienced a liquidity surge, which eased worries around the dominant US Dollar on Wednesday, as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed interbank deals rose to 220 from 71 reported the previous day.

The domestic currency has been in strong demand from foreign portfolio investors seeking to purchase OMO bills and other fixed-income instruments.

Forecasts also show that the local currency will remain relatively stable during the second quarter of the year, trading within the N1,340 to N1,430 per Dollar band on improved FX liquidity, stronger oil earnings, and rising external reserves, which have climbed above 50 billion dollars.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it fell after an initial ceasefire-fueled rally, with markets retracing Wednesday’s “ceasefire euphoria” as cracks emerge in the US-Iran truce while the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.

Global risk assets face renewed pressure as geopolitical uncertainty combines with what analysts call “uncoordinated tightening” by major central banks, reinforcing higher-for-longer interest-rate expectations.

The price of Cardano (ADA) fell by 4.7 per cent to $0.2500, Ripple (XRP) slumped 3.7 per cent to $1.33, Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 3.5 per cent to $0.0915, Binance Coin (BNB) slipped 2.6 per cent to $600.02, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 2.5 per cent to $2,183.82, Solana (SOL) dipped 2.5 per cent to $82.24, and Bitcoin (BTC) depreciated by 1.1 per cent to $70,995.20.

However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3173, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Customs Street Surges 0.28% Despite Persistent Weak Sentiment

Published

2 hours ago

09/04/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 0.28 per cent on Wednesday despite weak investor sentiment, as the bourse ended with 18 price gainers and 38 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.

The growth recorded yesterday by Customs Street was influenced by the 2.11 per cent rise posted by the energy index, and the 1.79 per cent jump achieved by the banking sector.

The other sectors experienced profit-taking, with the consumer goods losing 1.07 per cent, the insurance counter down by 0.36 per cent, and the industrial goods space down by 0.19 per cent.

Universal Insurance chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.21, Omatek improved by 9.78 per cent to N2.47, VFD Group expanded by 9.71 per cent to N11.30, CWG appreciated by 9.64 per cent to N21.05, and Livestock Feeds gained 9.56 per cent to close at N7.45.

On the flip side, UPDC REIT lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N6.75, Fortis Global Insurance shed 9.92 per cent to quote at N1.18, Deap Capital depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N5.40, Chams went down by 9.47 per cent to N3.06, and Japaul declined by 8.82 per cent to N3.10.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 562.43 points to 202,585.53 points from 202,023.10 points, and the market capitalisation advanced by N389 billion to N130.404 trillion from N130.015 trillion.

During the session, 1.0 billion stocks worth N40.6 billion exchanged hands in 52,723 deals compared with the 1.1 billion stocks valued at N40.3 billion executed in 78,006 deals a day earlier, indicating an uptick in the trading value by 0.74 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and number of deals by 9.09 per cent and 32.41 per cent apiece.

The activity chart was led by Access Holdings, which sold 233.0 million units valued at N6.1 billion, Fidelity Bank exchanged 113.1 million units worth N2.2 billion, Wema Bank recorded a turnover of 103.3 million units valued at N2.7 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 60.6 million units for N6.5 billion, and Chams traded 47.5 million units worth N154.6 million.