Economy
2018 Budget Contains No Suspicious Items—FG
By Dipo Olowookere
Federal Government has rubbished claims by some commentators in the country that the 2018 appropriation bill contains suspicious items embedded in it.
According to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, items in the budget were well conceived and provided for by the respective MDAs.
It was alleged that some line items and projects in the budget are suspicious, but a statement issued by Mr Akpandem James, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, said such claims are not true.
He pointed to some of the items like N10 billion for settlement of liabilities to contractors; N22.6 billion for Research and Development; N308.42 billion for procurement of riot control equipment for police formations; N2.21 billion for Social Media Mining Suite by the Department of State Security Services and N338 million for computer software acquisition in the Federal Ministry of Finance, which were termed as suspicious by BudgIT, a civil society organization (CSO) active in the budget space, and said they are genuine provisions which have been explained by the relevant MDAs.
The statement said for instance, it is a common knowledge that the Federal Government owes many contractors for certified works dating back as far as 10 years. Thus, provisions are made in the annual budgets to offset some of these contractor liabilities.
A good portion of these debts, the Minister said, is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, and so the Ministry made a provision of N10 billion in the 2018 Budget Proposal for settlement of liabilities.
The statement said in the Government Integrated Finance & Management Information System (GIFMIS), Research and Development is a programme description that encapsulates various projects. In this case, a check of the budget of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment will show that this includes the N19.3 billion for the Export Expansion Grant (EEG).
For several years the EEG scheme was suspended on account of its dubious outcomes. However in its bid to incentivise non-oil exports, the FG reformed and reinstated the scheme with effect from 2017, the statement explained.
It noted that the budgetary provision for this scheme will therefore be recurrent, year after year. Indeed, as the non-oil sector picks up, the amount of provision is expected to increase.
On the issue of N308 million for procurement of riot control equipment for police formations and the Force Head Quarters, the Ministry explained that there are 37 State Police Commands (FCT inclusive) and the Force Headquarters. This amount is less than N10 million per state police HQ.
“Nigeria is yet to attain the UN ratio requirement of one police officer to 400 citizens of a country, thus this sort of provision is to help the already stretched force to keep up with the expectation of keeping law and order during protests or matches which are the basic tenets of the freedoms allowed in a democracy.
“It is acknowledged the world over that matters of national security are treated with some degree of confidentiality.
“The project code-name, ‘Cleaning and fumigation services’ was adopted by the office of the National Security Adviser based on the available drop-down menu on the Budget Preparation Subsystem of the GIFMIS.
“However, the office of the National Security Adviser during the budget bilateral discussion provided information on the specific items of expenditure covered by the code name,” it said.
On the N2.21 billion for Social Media Mining suite by the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the Ministry explained that the agency plans to implement some security protocols to curtail spread of information capable of threatening national security.
This is it said by no means to hinder freedom of speech or expression as these will not be tampered with in as much as it is within the ambit of the law.
It explained that the N338 million in the budget for computer software acquisition in the Federal Ministry of Finance is basically to fund some ICT solutions/initiatives for improving financial management within the Federal Ministry of Finance.
For the N4.9 billion for annual maintenance of mechanical/electrical equipment in the Villa, the Minister said it must be noted that the Villa is quite an expansive complex comprising several offices, residences and other relevant support facilities.
“This provision is made to ensure that the equipment is maintained in top form at all times, and for several of these there are standard maintenance contracts,” he said.
The Ministry therefore explained that there is nothing suspicious about any of the provisions in the 2018 budget.
“It is however not unusual for some items in the Budget to require further clarifications or explanations.
That is why the Ministry made provision for a Citizens’ Portal on the website of the Budget Office for interaction and feedback purposes.
“Commentators are therefore advised to make use of the facility for clarifications on budget matters,” the statement said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.
Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.
Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.
The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.
At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.
“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.
“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.
Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.
The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.
FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).
On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.
Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.
Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.
During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.
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