Economy
Adamawa Cuts Taxes, Rents, Overhead Cost by 50%, Budget by 20%
By Dipo Olowookere
Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State has announced the decision of his administration to reduce the cost of rents for houses, commercial shops and business premises by 50 percent.
The Governor made this announcement on Monday during a state-wide broadcast on measures being taken by the his government to address the global coronavirus pandemic, which has infected 36 persons in Nigeria and has claimed a single life so far in the country.
Mr Fintiri said though Adamawa State was yet to record any case of COVID-19, efforts are being made to rev up the attention that is necessary to contain or prevent the spread of the pandemic by preparing an isolation ward, equipped with monitors, at the Yola Specialist Hospital.
He said in order to make the state’s economy remain strong, his administration has resolved to implement cost saving measures such as a review of the current budget by 20 percent, coupled with a reduction in overhead cost by 50 percent across board.
“To cushion the effect of the alarming economic challenge of COVID-19, (the state) government has agreed on a 50 percent reduction in the cost of house rent, commercial shops and business premises,” the Governor also announced during the broadcast.
Continuing, Mr Fintiri said, “Government is aware of the impact of the economic implication of the current meltdown on informal businesses where majority of citizens are involved and has graciously approved another 50 percent reduction in the taxes affecting this category.”
“However, government is mindful of the need to shore-up its earnings and will therefore, intensify effort on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in areas where there will be minimal effect on the public wellbeing,” he stressed.
“Fellow citizens, we all know that these measures are not going to be easy but they are necessary. Political correctness should not be the criteria for political expedience.
“There is no doubt that going by what is happening now, the financial inflow of the state government has been affected, but while adjusting to the prevailing reality, government will do its best to implement the agenda it has set out to achieve,” Governor Fintiri stated.
He used the occasion to announce the setting up of the Adamawa State COVID-19 Containment Committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Bashiru Ahmad. He said the team will have as members the Commissioner Health, Professor Abdullahi Isa; the Medical Director, Yola Specialist Hospital; Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre Yola; the Commissioners for Local Government; Environment; Information and Strategy; Livestock and Aquaculture Development; while the Director Public Health, Ministry of Health will serve as the Secretary.
“Its terms of reference include but not limited to coordinating the overall Medico-social response to COVID-19 pandemic paying attention to public sensitization and implementation of containment measures.
“The committee shall be responsible for regular briefings and updates on containment measures,” the Governor said.
He urged residents of the state to “pay attention to regular briefings by the state Commissioner for Health, to keep abreast with unfolding developments,” saying government realised that “ignorance and lack of information often aggravate cases of serious public health crisis like the case at hand.”
Mr Fintiri also appealed to religious leaders and traditional rulers in the state to help sensitise the people on ways to stop the spread of the coronavirus, especially by moderating their congregation to a maximum of 50 people, until further notice.
“All conventions, congresses, seminars and workshops that will warrant a gathering of more than 50 people at a time, are hereby banned till further notice.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all forms of social, religious, and cultural gatherings, that will attract more than 50 people, are also hereby banned,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The domestic supply of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol, from the Dangote Refinery increased by 64.4 percent in December 2025, contributing to an enhancement in Nigeria’s overall petrol availability.
This is according to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in its December 2025 Factsheet Report released on Thursday.
The downstream regulatory agency revealed that the private refinery raised its domestic petrol supply from 19.47 million litres per day in November 2025 to an average of 32.012 million litres per day in December, as it quelled any probable fuel scarcity associated with the festive month.
The report attributed the improvement to more substantial capacity utilisation at the Lagos-based oil facility, which reached a peak of 71 per cent in December.
The increased output from Dangote Refinery contributed to a rise in Nigeria’s total daily domestic PMS supply to 74.2 million litres in December, up from 71.5 million litres per day recorded in November.
The authority also reported a sharp increase in petrol consumption, rising to 63.7 million litres per day in December 2025, up from 52.9 million litres per day in the previous month.
In contrast, the domestic supply of Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) known as diesel declined to 17.9 million litres per day in December from 20.4 million litres per day in November, even as daily diesel consumption increased to 16.4 million litres per day from 15.4 million litres per day.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) supply recorded modest growth during the period, rising to 5.2 metric tonnes per day in December from 5.0 metric tonnes per day in November.
Despite the gains recorded by Dangote Refinery and modular refineries, the NMDPRA disclosed that Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries recorded zero production in December.
It said the Port Harcourt Refinery remained shut down, though evacuation of diesel produced before May 24, 2025, averaged 0.247 million litres per day. The Warri and Kaduna refineries also remained shut down throughout the period.
On modular refineries, the report said Waltersmith Refinery (Train 2 with 5,000 barrels per day) completed pre-commissioning in December, with hydrocarbon introduction expected in January 2026. The refinery recorded an average capacity utilisation of 63.24 per cent and an average AGO supply of 0.051 million litres per day
Edo Refinery posted an average capacity utilisation of 85.43 per cent with AGO supply of 0.052 million litres per day, while Aradel recorded 53.89 per cent utilisation and supplied an average of 0.289 million litres per day of AGO.
Total AGO supply from the three modular refineries averaged 0.392 million litres per day, with other products including naphtha, heavy hydrocarbon kerosene (HHK), fuel oil, and marine diesel oil (MDO).
The report listed Nigeria’s 2025 daily consumption benchmarks as 50 million litres per day for petrol, 14 million litres per day for diesel, 3 million litres per day for aviation fuel (ATK), and 3,900 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
Actual daily truck-out consumption in December stood at 63.7 million litres per day for petrol, 16.4 million litres per day for diesel, 2.7 million litres per day for ATK and 4,380 metric tonnes per day for cooking gas.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has introduced a comprehensive revision of minimum capital requirements for nearly all capital market operators, marking the most significant overhaul since 2015.
The changes, outlined in a circular issued on January 16, 2026, obtained from its website on Friday, replace the previous regime. Operators have been given until June 30, 2027, to comply.
The SEC stated that the reforms aim to strengthen market resilience, enhance investor protection, discourage undercapitalised operators, and align capital adequacy with the evolving risk profile of market activities.
According to the circular, “The revised framework applies to brokers, dealers, fund managers, issuing houses, fintech firms, digital asset operators, and market infrastructure providers.”
Some of the key highlights of the new reforms include increment of minimum capital for brokers from N200 million to N600 million while for dealers, it was raised to N1 billion from N100 million.
For broker-dealers, they are to get N2 billion instead of the previous N300 million, reflecting multi-role exposure across trading, execution, and margin lending.
The agency said fund and portfolio managers with assets above N20 billion must hold N5 billion, while mid-tier managers must maintain N2 billion with private equity and venture capital firms to have N500 million and N200 million, respectively.
There was also dynamic rule as firms managing assets above N100 billion must hold at least 10 per cent of assets under management as capital.
“Digital asset firms, previously in a regulatory grey area, are now fully covered: digital exchanges and custodians must maintain N2 billion each, while tokenisation platforms and intermediaries face thresholds of N500 million to N1 billion. Robo-advisers must hold N100 million.
“Other segments are also affected: issuing houses offering full underwriting services must hold N7 billion, advisory-only firms N2 billion, registrars N2.5 billion, trustees N2 billion, underwriters N5 billion, and individual investment advisers N10 million. Market infrastructure providers carry some of the highest obligations, with composite exchanges and central counterparties required to maintain N10 billion each, and clearinghouses N5 billion,” the SEC added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The founder and chief executive of Austin Laz and Company Plc, Mr Asimonye Austin Lazarus Azubuike, has sold off about 52.24 million shares of the organisation.
The stocks were offloaded in 11 tranches at an average price of N4.36 per unit, amounting to about N227.8 million.
The transactions occurred between December 2025 and January 2026, according to a notice filed by the company to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday.
Business Post reports that Austin Laz is known for producing ice block machines, aluminium roofing, thermoplastics coolers, PVC windows and doors, ice cream machines, and disposable plates.
The firm evolved from refrigeration sales to diverse manufacturing since its incorporation in 1982 in Benin City, Edo State, though facing recent operational halts.
According to the statement signed by company secretary, Ifeanyi Offor & Associates, Mr Azubuike first sold 1.5 million units of the equities at N2.42, and then offloaded 2.4 million units at N2.65, and 2.0 million units at N2.65.
In another tranche, he sold another 2.0 million units at a unit price of N2.91, and then 5.0 million units at N3.52, as well as about 4.5 million at N3.87 per share.
It was further disclosed that the owner of the company also sold 9.0 million shares at N4.25, and offloaded another 368,411 units at N4.66, then in another transaction sold about 6.9 million units at N4.67.
In the last two transactions he carried out, Mr Azubuike first traded 10.0 million units equities at N5.13, with the last being 8.5 million stocks sold at N5.64 per unit.
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