By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the last trading session of the week in the southern territory after further losing 0.59 per cent on Friday, April 10.

This happened as three price decliners weakened the NASD market due to continued sell-offs. The bourse did not finish in green this week.

11 Plc lost N24.70 to close at N222.30 per share compared with the previous day’s N247.00 per share, MRS Oil dropped N1 to settle at N164.00 per unit versus Thursday’s N165.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 25 Kobo to N3.00 per share from N3.25 per share.

As a result, the market capitalisation shrank by N13.79 billion to N2.315 trillion from N2.329 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 23.05 points to 3,870.45 points from 3,893.50 points.

Yesterday, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which chalked up N1.07 to sell at N64.21 per unit versus N63.50 per share, and Impresit Bakalori Plc appreciated by 22 Kobo to N2.42 per share from N2.20 per share.

The volume of securities fell by 81.9 per cent to 188,593 units from 1.04 million units, the value of securities decreased by 36.3 per cent to N25.7 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals remained unchanged at 26 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 57.6 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.6 million units worth N1.8 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units s0ld for N415.7 million and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded at N1.2 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil futures settled lower on Friday ahead of talks between Iran and the United States aimed at securing a ‌permanent ceasefire.

Brent futures lost 72 cents or 0.8 per cent to trade at $95.20 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by $1.30 or 1.3 per cent to $96.57 ​a barrel. As a result, these benchmarks posted their biggest weekly decline since 2022.

Despite the ceasefire announced earlier this week, traffic through the critical oil chokepoint remains severely restricted and under supervision and approval by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

Crude futures hovered near $100 a barrel as attacks continued and the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz remained heavily restricted, and concerns lingered over potential supply disruptions in Saudi Arabia. Prices in the physical market were at record highs.

Market analysts noted that the key issue for the oil ⁠market is whether ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz will resume. However, there are no signs of this happening. If oil supplies from the Persian Gulf remain blocked, ​oil prices are likely to rise again.

According to Reuters, traffic through the strait remained less than 10 per cent of normal volumes as Iran warned ships to keep to ​its territorial waters. Most ships that have sailed through the Strait in the past day were linked to Iran.

Iran also wants to charge fees for ships to pass through the Strait under a peace deal.

Oil prices could spike and hit again their peak Iran-war levels at nearly $120 per barrel if a full recovery of vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz takes until July, according to JP Morgan.

Attacks on Saudi energy facilities have cut the kingdom’s oil production capacity by about 600,000 barrels per day ​and reduced its East-West Pipeline throughput by about 700,000 barrels per day.

Meanwhile, Lebanon said it intends to take part in a meeting with ​the US and Israeli representatives in ⁠Washington next week to discuss and announce a ceasefire.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Minister of State for Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, has finally admitted that the new controversial tax laws have some errors, which he said the federal government was working to correct.

Before becoming a Minister a few weeks ago, Mr Oyedele headed the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee set up by President Bola Tinubu to formulate new tax laws for Nigeria.

In a post on X by the team on Friday, it was disclosed that the former employee of PwC noted that the discrepancies occurred due to manual processes and multiple stages of review, but steps were underway to correct identified issues through a proposed finance bill.

“What we need is a more transparent and reliable legislative process where every version of a law is publicly available,” he stated at the 2026 Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice.

At the event themed, From Policy to Practice: Making Sense of Nigeria’s New Tax Reforms, Mr Oyedele underscored the critical role of legal practitioners in shaping economic outcomes through tax advisory and compliance.

“The decisions lawyers help businesses make will determine investment, job creation, and revenue generation,” he said, calling for greater impact and efficiency, as Nigeria still lags behind countries like South Africa in tax collection.

“If we improve collection, we can significantly increase funding for infrastructure, education, and healthcare,” he added, urging lawyers to focus on effective implementation, stressing that the success of the reforms ultimately depends on how well they are applied in practice.

The Minister declared that enforcing Nigeria’s new tax laws would not be arbitrary, emphasising that reforms are rooted in clear policy intent, transparency, and fairness.

He stressed the importance of understanding the rationale behind tax laws rather than focusing solely on their provisions, pointing out that many professionals often overlook the underlying purpose of tax legislation, noting that policy intent should guide both interpretation and implementation.

According to him, the reform process prioritised creating incentives for businesses to formalise, while ensuring policy consistency and reducing discretion in tax administration.

On inclusivity, Mr Oyedele said the new tax framework deliberately protects low-income earners and small businesses.

He revealed that individuals earning around N1 million annually and a large portion of small businesses, estimated at 30 to 40 million, have limited capacity to pay taxes and are therefore shielded under the reforms.

 “Nearly half of working Nigerians earn less than N70,000 monthly. Taxing them aggressively would be unjust,” he said, adding that the reforms also eliminate practices such as minimum tax payments on loss-making businesses, which he described as effectively taxing capital rather than profit.

The Minister noted that essential goods and services, including food, education, and healthcare, have been exempted from Value Added Tax (VAT), making the system more progressive.

He further explained that the reforms consolidated multiple tax laws into four major pieces of legislation, including the Nigeria Tax Act and the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, aimed at simplifying compliance and improving coordination among tax authorities.