Economy
Afe Babalola Donates N13.2m to Revamp Agriculture in Ekiti
By Adedapo Adesanya
Legal luminary and educator, Mr Afe Babalola, has donated N13.2 million to outstanding farmers in Ekiti State as part of efforts to encourage farming and lift farmers financially.
Mr Babalola, who is also the founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), is reputed to be the largest farmer and highest taxpayer in Ekiti State.
The gifting of money to farmers took place on Sunday at the grand finale of this year’s edition of the Annual Afe Babalola Agricultural Expo and The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Youth Empowerment, held at the university’s sports pavilion.
According to a statement, Mr Aribasoye Emmanuel, from Ado Local Government Area, got the star prize of N2 million as the overall best farmer in the state for the year.
The five best farmers in each of the 16 Local Government Areas in the state got N250,000, N150,000, N100,000, N75,000 and N50,000 respectively.
Mr Babalola said distributing money to hardworking farmers on annual basis was a fulfilment of his dream.
“This is in the realisation of my dream. It all started like a dream which translated into reality in 2015.
“The dream was my burning desire to make people realise that farming is a divine vocation.
“It is also part of my individual contributions to ongoing efforts at revitalising farming as well as reducing unemployment in the country.
“Another reason why I started this Expo was that I found it utmost painful that many Nigerians have abandoned farming for white-collar or menial jobs and also for no jobs.
“There was a time in this country when whatever one’s profession was, such a person would still have a small garden at the back of his house, if only for vegetables, tomatoes, pepper and garden eggs, among others,” he said.
He also used the opportunity to appeal to the federal government to establish a special Agriculture Bank, which will be completely different from those before it
He said the establishment of the structure would help farmers obtain loans at low-interest rates with their cooperative societies serving as guarantors.
He, however, expressed regret that farming in Nigeria has suddenly become abandoned and unattractive.
“Farming has been abandoned in Nigeria today and Nigeria is the worse for it.
“For instance, there was a time when Ekiti State alone was producing 52 per cent of the Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) of the defunct Western Region.
“Today, Ekiti State is the poorest state in Nigeria. In fact, there was no beggar in Ekiti State at that time as everyone was gainfully employed, but today beggars are found everywhere.
“Regretfully, Ekiti State has become the poverty capital of Nigeria,” Mr Babalola bemoaned.
“Also, no thanks to the spate of insecurity ranging from kidnapping, robbery and invasion by herdsmen ravaging the country, life is no longer safe at home, on the farm, on the road or even in classrooms.
“The combination of these ills has led many farms to be destroyed with many farmers having to abandon their farms.
“Despite all these, Ekiti State farmers have been able to forge ahead. I believe in farming because I grew up on the farm and I am still a farmer as many of you know,” he said.
He added that he included the study of agriculture in the curriculum of his university, with a 50 per cent slash in tuition fee for the course.
“In my university, we provide seed money for graduates of agriculture to start their own businesses.
“That was why in addition to all of these, in 2015, I thought of how to improve the lot of our farmers.
“That is why I started this programme. I started with a prize of N5 million, but it has risen over the years, thus this year, we are giving out N13.2 million,” he said.
The Local Organising Committee Chairman and UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship Education for Sustainable Development, Mr Abiodun Ojo, also made a donation of 48 spraying machines to select farmers.
He said that partnering with ABUAD was to commend the good work which Aare Afe Babalola was doing to return agriculture to its old days of glory.
Mr Olugbenga Odesanmi, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Ekiti State commended Babalola’s efforts and promised the government’s enabling environment at all times.
On her part, the Acting Vice-Chancellor of ABUAD, Professor Smaranda Olarinde, appreciated the founder’s gesture to farmers.
She said that the best way the beneficiaries could show gratitude to him was to invest wisely, the monies received so they would be able to fend for themselves and also provide employment for others.
By Adedapo Adesanya
TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.
Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.
The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.
Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.
The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
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