Economy
Amosun Wants Insurance Sector Rebranded
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State has challenged insurance operators in the country to rebrand the industry so as to maximise the untapped potential in the economy.
Mr Amosun made this call while declaring open the Insurance Professionals’ Forum organised by the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN) in Abeokuta, the state capital.
The Governor, represented at the occasion by his Deputy, Mrs Yetunde Onanuga, said insurance firms should make maximum use of the investment opportunities available to them to strengthen their liquidity position to enable them meet the claims of policyholders, companies whenever the need arises.
He said the theme of this year’s forum: The insurance industry, national economic shift & new business realities, could not have been more apt, as there were more than ever before in the history of the nation, the need for diversification of the economy.
Mr Amosun stressed that such effort would help restore public confidence in the ability of the industry to deliver and redeem its obligations to clients.
He observed that many Nigerians were yet to embrace the culture of patronising insurance firms, hence, the need for the Institute to engage in public education and enlightenments programmes that would enlist the interest of the people in the business.
He called on the operators to extend some of their programmes to the rural areas, to enable them tap the potentials at the grassroots.
“There is the need too for insurance companies to redesign their products and services in such a way that would meet the need in the ever changing behavioural pattern of our people. In doing so, concerted efforts should be made to ensure that the economic environment and social behaviour of our people are integrated into the policy formulation and marketing strategy objective of the insurance companies.
“Another area which the insurance industry is yet to fully explore is the life policy and pension insurance scheme. This can really make long term funds available for profitable investment in the insurance sector. It seemed to me that lack of insurance life portfolio has made our insurance companies to be caught in the web of low investments and needless competitions with other actors in the money market,” he Governor said.
Speaking on diversification, Mr Amosun said it had dawned on everybody of the need to diversify the economy to the non-oil sector and as major players, insurance professionals must come up with robust ideas and policies that could help cushion the fall in revenue in the economic process.
“Undoubtedly, as the call for the diversification of the economy is on the increase, and investors are being wooed to invest in agriculture, mining, export promotion, among others, this gathering through robust deliberations, must come up with possible template that would not only assure investors of the safety of their investment, but that would ensure them of insurance driven environment which will bring high yields on their investments.
“Without doubt, the prevailing social economic situation in our economy requires that the Institute should attempt a critical reappraisal of some of the contemporary issues in the professional practice of insurance business in order to promote the industry,” he said.
Commissioner for Insurance, Mohammed Kari, urged insurance professionals to act professionally, adding that failure to observe this tenet in the past caused the industry so much injury.
“The time has indeed come for us to speak professionally and act like the true insurance professionals we claim to be in the course of performing or conducting our business. Our failure to observe this tenet in the past has caused the industry so much reputational injury. I am glad to say the current efforts of the underwriters to change the perception of the public about insurance are timely and laudable. All other sectors should join in with their widow’s might to ensure the success of the project,” he said.
CIIN President, Lady Isioma Chukwu, urged insurance professionals to key into the vision of the government’s economic diversification activities and position the industry appropriately.
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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