Economy
Akwa Ibom Assembly Holds Public Hearing on 2017 Budget
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr Onofiok Luke, has disclosed that the House would be guided by current economic realities in its consideration of the 2017 budget sent to the assembly by the executive.
Declaring open a one day public hearing on the 2017 Appropriation Bill titled: A bill for a law to Appropriate monies out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund and Capital Development fund to the service of Akwa Ibom State Government, the Speaker who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Mrs Felicia Bassey, said the 6th assembly which is christened the people’s assembly, will always involve the citizenry in all its legislative engagements.
“As you may already know, the 6th assembly has over the last 19 months established and sustained the culture of putting in place public hearings like this for the bills that we pass.
“I wish to emphasize that nothing passes through this house that we don’t get public input. We will look at the economic situation in the country and allow these realities guide our decisions on the components of the budget,” the Speaker said.
While commending members of the public for honouring the invitation of the House, Mr Luke explained that the essence of the public hearing was to give Akwa Ibom people an opportunity to contribute their inputs to the budget, saying the aim was to ensure that the people of the state were carried along in the budgeting process.
Addressing the gathering, Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation and Finance, Mr Usoro Akpanusoh, stated that the public hearing exercise has become a normal parliamentary practice introduced by the House in order to bring together members of the public for the purpose of collating inputs that would guide the lawmakers in the consideration of the budget.
“It has become a norm in Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly that budget hearing is held whenever we receive the state budget from the executive.”
He said the House is committed to ensuring accelerated passage of the budget to enable the state government implement its lofty programmes and projects as encapsulated in appropriation bill, 2017.
Commissioner for Finance, Mr Linus Nkan, and his counterpart in the ministry of Economic Development were on hand to brief the gathering on underlining assumptions of the 2017 budget proposal of the state government, as well as the development objectives of the Mr Udom Emmanuel led administration.
In their separate presentations, the Commissioners explained that the policy thrust of the 2017 appropriation bill is intended to improve the living standard of the people of the state.
In a good will message, State Chairman of the PDP, Mr Obong Paul Ekpo who scored the budget a hundred percent, said “PDP government means well for Akwa Ibom people”.
“I listened carefully to the details of the budget the details of the budget and I discovered that the budget encapsulates every facet of our lives”.
Memoranda were submitted by various stakeholders including the Chairman, Akwa Ibom State Council of Chiefs, Mr Owong Achianga, State NLC Chairman, Comrade Etim Ukpong, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Akwa Ibom State Council, Elder Patrick Albert, among other members of the society.
A representative of the civil society, Mr Tijah Bolton Akpan of ‘Policy Alert’ organisation, canvassed for a stronger oversight on TSA implementation in the state, and close supervision and monitoring of the implementation of the budget by MDA’s.
He stressed the need for the state to speed up the process of enacting and domesticating the fiscal responsibility and public procurement law.
Mr Joshua Eyo Asuquo of the Chartered Institute of Taxation in Nigeria (CITN), who also represented Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, advocated for an increase in monthly revenue projection from N2.3 billion as captured in the budget to N3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The United Arab Emirates has announced its decision to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to focus on national interests.
This dealt a heavy blow to the oil-exporting group at a time when the US-Israel war on Iran had caused a historic energy shock and rattled the global economy.
The move, which will take effect on May 1, 2026, reflects “the UAE’s long-term strategic and economic vision and evolving energy profile”, a statement carried by state media said on Tuesday.
“During our time in the organisation, we made significant contributions and even greater sacrifices for the benefit of all,” it added. “However, the time has come to focus our efforts on what our national interest dictates.”
The loss of the UAE, a longstanding OPEC member, could create disarray and weaken the oil cartel, which has usually sought to show a united front despite internal disagreements over a range of issues from geopolitics to production quotas.
UAE Energy Minister Suhail Mohamed al-Mazrouei said the decision was taken after a careful look at the regional power’s energy strategies.
“This is a policy decision. It has been done after a careful look at current and future policies related to the level of production,” the minister said.
OPEC’s Gulf producers have already been struggling to ship exports through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint between Iran and Oman through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies normally pass, because of threats and attacks against vessels during the war.
The UAE had been a member of OPEC first through its emirate of Abu Dhabi in 1967 and later when it became its own country in 1971.
The oil cartel, based in Vienna, has seen some of its market power wane as the US has increased its production of crude oil in recent years.
Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia have increasingly competed over economic issues and regional politics, particularly in the Red Sea area.
The two countries had joined a coalition to fight against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis in 2015. However, that coalition broke down into recriminations in late December when Saudi Arabia bombed what it described as a weapons shipment bound for Yemeni separatists backed by the UAE.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc bested four price decliners on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, April 27. The alternative stock market opened the week bullish during the session with a 0.03 per cent uptick.
According to data, the security depository company added N2.61 to its share price to close at N76.26 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N78.87 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the platform increased by N820 million to N2.425 trillion from N2.424 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 1.38 points to finish at 4,053.97 points compared with the 4,052.58 points it ended last Friday.
The four price losers were led by NASD Plc, which slumped by N3.80 to sell at N34.70 per share versus N38.50 per share. FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc fell by N1.45 to N98.10 per unit from N99.55 per unit, Food Concepts Plc slid by 27 Kobo to N2.43 per share from N2.70 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc dipped by 9 Kobo to N2.91 per unit from N3.00 per unit.
The value of securities transacted by market participants went down by 82.0 per cent to N7.4 million from N41.3 million units, the volume of securities declined by 28.5 per cent to 319,831 units from 447,403 units, and the number of deals dropped by 34.1 per cent to 29 deals from 44 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units sold for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Also, GNI Plc was the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with a turnover of 400 million units worth N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading day of the week in the currency market was bearish for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, April 27.
Yesterday, it lost N5.80 or 0.43 per cent against the United States Dollar to trade at N1,364.24/$1, in contrast to the N1,358.44/$1 it was traded last Friday.
In the same vein, the Nigerian currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N13.70 to close at N1,847.72/£1 versus the preceding session’s N1,834.02/£1, and slumped against the Euro by N11.56 to sell at N1,602.29/€1 versus N1,590.73/€1.
Also, the Nigerian Naira tumbled against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to quote at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1, and at the GTBank FX desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.
The poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to liquidity shortage at the official currency market on Monday, which came amid surging demand for international payments. At $76.50 million, interbank liquidity printed higher across 79 deals, up from the $43.572 million reported on Friday.
Nigeria’s gross external reserves declined to $48.45 billion amid a month-long decline in inflows, amid uncertainties in the global commodity market. The depletion of foreign reserves could be partly attributed to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in the FX market.
The market remains perturbed by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market, while boosters, including oil prices, continue to look rocky due to stalled discussions and unclear ceasefire negotiations between the US and Iran.
A look at the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) has been rejected near $79,000 three times in eight sessions, leaving the level as the de facto ceiling of its current trading range even as major cryptocurrencies trade lower over the past day. It lost 0.9 per cent to sell at $77,003.61.
Analysts say that upcoming US Federal Reserve policy decisions and top tech firms’ earnings this week could provide the catalyst to push bitcoin decisively above $80,000.
The market also continued to weigh Iran’s interim deal proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which failed to advance over the weekend. The White House said US officials were discussing the latest Iranian proposal but maintained “red lines” on any deal to end the eight-week war.
Solana (SOL) dropped 1.8 per cent to $84.25, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.6 per cent to $1.39, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $2,290.00, Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 0.5 per cent to $625.18, and Cardano (ADA) fell by 0.2 per cent to $0.2480.
However, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 2.0 per cent to $0.1002, and TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.2 per cent to $0.3242, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
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