Economy
N15b Bond: Bauchi Meets Investors to Renegotiate Terms
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Bauchi State government has held a meeting with holders of its N15 billion 7-year bond with a view to renegotiating the terms.
In 2014, the state government, under the previous administration, launched its N15 billion 15.5 percent series 1 fixed rate bonds due 2021 under the N30 Billion medium term note program.
The bond was launched to raise funds to complete a specialist hospital and ATB international airport in the state.
But the administration of Mr Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar explained that it was renegotiating the terms as a result of the dwindling state allocations.
Mr Abubakar noted that his government wants to look for innovative ways to reduce spending while increasing revenue.
It was also to seek the support of the bondholders to restructure the terms of the bond by increasing the tenor to 5 years and adjusting the coupon to a competitive current market rate.
Recall that the drop in crude oil prices from $95 per barrel in September 2014 to circa $59 per barrel currently and decline in Nigeria’s oil production, Federal allocation to all tiers of Government has declined by as much as 62.2 percent.
The statement government said considering the fact that this allocation makes up the bulk of the revenue of most states, the drastic reduction has put a significant strain on the finances and cash flow of many Nigerian states, Bauchi State inclusive.
Accordingly, as part of the strategy towards ensuring that government delivers the much needed services residents of the state and continually meet its financing obligations, the cooperation of the bondholders was sought to support the State’s intention to restructure the Bond for better cash flow management.
During the meeting, the state government proposed to amend certain provisions of the Terms of the Trust Deed, especially the tenor of the Bonds. The tenor of the Bonds is to be extended by five years resulting to a modification in the maturity of the Bonds from 08 December 2021 to 08 December 2026. This amendment will have reductive implication on the monthly Debt service.
The government explained that the reduction from the cash flow will enhance the state’s ability to effectively pay workers’ salaries and implementation of capital projects across the state
Apart from the Governor, also present at the meeting from the Bauchi State government were the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Finance, Hashimu Abubakar Dori; the General and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Justice Haruna Mohammed; and Director General, Debt Management Office, Bauchi, Nura Danmadami.
Professional parties present were; Planet Capital Ltd., United Capital Plc, Boston Advisory Ltd., ARM Trustees Ltd., FBN Trustees Ltd., STL Trustees Ltd., United Capital Trustees Ltd., UTL Trustees Management Services Ltd., PAC Registrars Ltd., George Ikoli & Okagbue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
