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
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained 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 sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
