Economy

Budget Delay Dangerous to Economy—Expert

Published

8 years ago

11/06/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr Muda Yusuf, has urged both the executive and the legislative arms of government to work together in harmony in passing the nation’s budget promptly so as not to slowdown economic recovery process.

Mr Yusuf, in a statement issued at the weekend, warned that the late passage of the appropriation bill was very dangerous to the economy because it also affects the private sector, which depends on the budget to plan their activities for each fiscal year.

According to him, it would be very difficult for Nigeria to meet its target of being one of the top 20 economies in the world by 2020 with the recent delays in the passage of the budgets, which he said has now become the new norm.

“It is crucial that both arms work on improving the schedule of the country’s budget process. Going forward, the executive order of May 2017 by the Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, which placed emphasis on the timely submission of the annual budget estimates of MDA’s, needs to be strictly adhered to.

“The executive order directs all federal government MDAs to submit their schedule of revenue and expenditure estimates for the next three years to the Minister of Finance and that of Budget and National Planning on or before the end of May of every year. It also directs the MDAs to forward their annual budget estimates to the two Ministers on or before the end of July every year,” he said.

Mr Yusuf explained that, “If funds for critical projects are not disbursed on time, the tempo of economic activities will be reduced, dragging the economy into a state of inertia and economic decline.”

“The late passage of the budget is therefore a threat to achieving the ERGP targets and to Nigeria’s goal of becoming one of the top 20 economies by 2020,” the economic expert said in the statement.

He said further that, “Capital expenditure such as infrastructural development, construction work and payment of contractors will also be affected. This is especially of concern when these funds are meant to be channeled towards sectors that improve the ease of doing business, such as transportation and electricity.”

“Delay in passing the budget therefore slows down their activities, with negative economic consequences, in addition to adversely affecting the economy, slow provision of critical infrastructure needed to boost industrial activity negatively affects the country’s ability to export locally made products, and therefore reduces its revenue and foreign exchange from non-oil exports; and, there is also the issue of inadequate absorptive capacity as the country may not be able to spend so much money in such little time. This may result in dislocations in the macroeconomy,” Mr Yusuf said.

Economy

TotalEnergies Sells 10% Stake in Renaissance JV to Vaaris

Published

6 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

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.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

15 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

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

Published

16 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

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.