Economy
$1b Eurobond: APC Wants to Kill Us, Totally Destroy Our Economy—Fayose
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has asked the Federal Government to explain how it plans to repay the recent $1 billion Eurobond sale.
Mr Fayose, who doubles as Chairman of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Governors’ Forum, challenged the FG to make clarification as regards the repayment of the Eurobond “because deductions from what should accrue to the federation account on a bond to be taken by the federal government for its own use only.”
The Governor, in a statement issued on Friday, by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Idowu Adelusi, described the development as act like that of the Biblical prodigal son, expressing the fear that the loan may plunge the nation into pro-longed economic misery.
“What I’m even worried about and which they must explain to us is that you cannot get a bond without committing it to the source.
“Is the repayment going to be made by direct deductions from Nigeria’s crude oil sales or from federal government share from the federation account?
“If it is going to be made directly from proceeds of crude oil accruing to Nigeria as a country, then the bond belongs to the federal, state and local governments and not federal government alone.
“The federal government is just one of the federating units making up Nigeria and revenue accruing to the country cannot be used to repay bond taken by the federal government for its own use alone.
“The federal government must therefore tell Nigerians how it intends to repay the facility from now till 2032. If it is going to be through direct deductions from revenue accruing to Nigeria, such that money would be taken from source which would not be part of the accruals to the central body, it means the $1 billion bond belongs to Nigerians and it must be shared among the federating units.
“So, we have to find out and take steps. It is either they bring the money and we share it; or we take our percentage and they take theirs.
“The federal government cannot take that money and take it from source and tell us that the money, which belongs to all of us federating units, is its,” he was quoted as saying in the statement.
Speaking further, Governor Fayose said; “Fiscal federalism is not manifesting in the agenda of this government. The way they are running the affairs of this country is shrouded in secrecy. We will definitely go to court and ask questions.”
Expressing the fear that the $1 billion Eurobond may plunge the nation into more serious economic woes as its repayment was scheduled to last till 2032.
Mr Fayose said: “the APC government is behaving like the prodigal son who asked for his inheritance and spend it lavishly.
“It is a prodigal government who wants to destroy this country. The rate at which they are taking loans which would keep this country indebted till 2032 is quite unfortunate.
“Currently our currency has been badly devalued to N500 to a Dollar. So, how do we pay back the Dollar? They went to tie the money to the source; the accruers outside the country where crude oil revenue goes.
“Apparently, they don’t care what happens tomorrow. They said they want to use the money to fund 2016, 2017, 2018 budgets which means after they are gone, the country can go into blazes and our children’s children can wallow in indebtedness. How can you appreciate that?
“This rate of borrowing would lead this country into serious challenge. At this same time, they are saying we should save for the raining day.
“I just want our people to know that the APC government is taking us to another side of life, one is to destroy our economy, the other is death.”
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.95 per cent on Friday, erasing N41.17 billion from the bourse, which had its market capitalisation at N2.567 trillion compared with the previous session’s N2.618 trillion.
In the same vein, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased at the close of business by 85.28 points to 4,277.07 points from 4,362.32 points.
The price decliners were led by 11 Plc, which gave up N20.50 to sell at N200.50 per share compared with the preceding day’s N221.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N16.94 to close at N155.20 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N172.14 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N2.11 to N84.68 per share from N86.79 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 11 Kobo to end at N16.74 per unit, in contrast to the N16.85 per unit it closed a day earlier.
During the trading day, the value of transactions jumped by 172.1 per cent to N29.9 million from the preceding session’s N10.9 million, and the volume of trades soared by 136.5 per cent to 955,096 units from the previous 403,901 units, while the number of deals went down by 11.4 per cent to 31 deals from 35 deals.
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 68.6 million units sold for N4.7 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed 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.
By Dipo Olowookere
The last trading session of this week on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a negative note, with a 0.66 per cent loss on Friday.
This was influenced by sustained selling pressure and cautious trading, which forced investors into profit-taking.
Data obtained by Business Post showed that the energy sector fell by 4.66 per cent, the insurance counter dipped by 2.23 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.96 per cent, and the banking segment shed 0.28 per cent, while the industrial goods space remained unchanged.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of Nigeria’s stock exchange went down by 1,531.81 points to 232,049.02 points from 233,580.83 points, and the market capitalisation dropped N983 billion to settle at N148.905 trillion compared with Thursday’s N149.888 trillion.
Aradel was the worst-performing equity after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1,417.50. International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.95 per cent to N5.79, Trans-Nationwide Express depreciated by 9.89 per cent to N3.28, eTranzact crashed by 9.79 per cent to N14.75, and UPDC slumped by 9.72 per cent to N28.12.
The best-performing equity for the day was Universal Insurance, which gained 6.32 per cent to close at N1.01, McNichols grew by 5.52 per cent to N8.60, Linkage Assurance expanded by 4.67 per cent to N1.57, NGX Group appreciated by 4.35 per cent to N120.00, and Transcorp increased by 3.62 per cent to N41.50.
As look at the activity level indicated that investors traded 388.7 million stocks worth N18.4 billion in 44,631 deals compared with the 393.7 million stocks valued at N19.2 billion executed in 45,813 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 1.27 per cent, 4.17 per cent, and 2.58 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira recorded a loss of 82 Kobo or 0.06 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, June 26, exchanging at N1,380.93/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,380.11/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency further weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N6.06 to settle at N1,824.90/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,818.84/£1, and lost N10.74 on the Euro to sell at N1,577 .58/€1 versus N1,566.84/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the greenback during the session by N4 to close at N1,387/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s value of N1,383/$1, and at the parallel market, it was unchanged at N1,395/$1.
Interbank FX activity among financial institutions has fluctuated amid a sharp slowdown in forex market interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as it allows demand and supply to move the market.
Also, a stronger greenback has generally put significant pressure on emerging-market currencies.
Nigeria has accessed the first tranche of a proposed $5 billion derivatives financing arrangement with First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, the largest lender in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The $5 billion facility, approved by the National Assembly earlier this year, is part of the federal government’s plan to diversify external financing sources and reduce borrowing costs. Structured as a Total Return Swap with First Abu Dhabi Bank, proceeds are earmarked for refinancing debt and supporting infrastructure financing.
If the proceeds are brought into the country through the official FX market, the transaction will increase the currency reserves or Dollar liquidity.
At the cryptocurrency market, Solana (SOL) grew by 2.2 per cent to $71.92, Cardano (ADA) gained 1.1 per cent to trade at $0.1474, Ripple (XRP) also appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $1.05, Dogecoin (DOGE) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $0.0755, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,578.84.
On the flip side, TRON (TRX) slid 0.6 per cent to $0.3203, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.3 per cent to $564.33, and Bitcoin fell by 0.2 per cent to $60,219.37, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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