Economy
Customs Agents Allege Arbitrary Increase in Haulage Fare at Onne Port
By Bon Peters
There has been palpable tension at Onne Port in Rivers State over what the Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Eastern Zone, described as an alleged arbitrary increase in haulage fare by the transport unions, maritime flat and cargo and freight forwarding transport, in connivance with the Nigeria Shippers Council (NSC).
Our correspondent reports that trouble started last week following an arbitrary increase in transport fare at Onne to about 200 per cent, according to ANLCA.
In an exclusive interview with our correspondent on the sidelines of an emergency meeting at Onne, Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, the Zonal coordinator of ANLCA Eastern Zone, Mr Joshua Ahuama, said, “The recent attempt by the truckers’ association to increase transport rate by more than 200 per cent is mostly unjust, unwarranted and inhibitive to trade. Hence, the freight forwarders’ leadership’s interface with the NSC.”
Mr Ahuama regretted that after all valid arguments have been made on the matter, the South-South Zonal Director of NSC, Mr Glory Onojedo, felt compelled, and put a call across to the truckers’ association, directing them to suspend the implementation of the new rate, pending the conclusion of all necessary deliberations on the matter.
He said his association was piqued at the behaviour of the transport unions who, according to him, walked out of a meeting among ANLCA, NSC and the transport unions chatting solidarity songs, vowing to stand on their mandate.
Mr Ahuama insisted that the freight forwarders’ leadership requested that the council to put its instruction and directive to the truckers in writing to allow for concrete evidence and ease of reference.
According to him, the truckers’ union have refused to revert to the old rate but rather had gone ahead to implement the new price regime even to the extent of locking up some trucks that have refused to increase their fares.
He wondered why the increment at this time, when the roads have improved due to the various construction and rehabilitation works going on in the South-South and South East.
Recall that in May 2022, the two transport unions, maritime flat and cargo and freight forwarding transport unions clashed over what those in the Maritime industry described as an unwarranted and astronomical increase in transport fare of containers from the port to their destinations and who controls the park.
The development resulted in a free-for-all and damage beyond repair of two vehicles, a Toyota Sienna car and a Mitsubishi bus, belonging to the two unions, including their office, a 40-foot container which an eyewitness say was lifted with bare hands and turned upside down by the warring factions.
The incident resulted in the loss of billions of naira to the federal government and maritime business stakeholders until the intervention of the Nigerian Shippers council and other relevant authorities.
But in this case, the freight forwarders said they perceived an alleged unholy union between the transporters, the and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to extort the freight forwarders and the shipping companies.
“The refusal of the Nigerian Shippers Council to put their directive in writing is strong evidence and indictment against them, and only indicates that they are in cahoots with the truckers to extort agents.
“This is quite disheartening, considering that a council that should model transparency and help in facilitating trade has made itself a cheap tool for manipulation and treachery, for the shameful reason of undue financial benefit,” Mr Ahuama said.
“We are insisting that due process must be followed towards arriving at what’s fair to all concerned. All necessary parties must be consulted and considered. Only then can a fair rate be actualised,” he added, warning that “we are also putting all relevant authorities and interested parties on notice that if the shippers council fails to put their directive in writing, and ensure that status quo remains within a reasonable time, that we the agents are going to engage the services of other transport companies who are not members of their unions, and will resist any attempt of any form from them to prevent other non-union trucks/drivers to load out cargo from the port.”
He also said this group would “prevent them from having access to the port by upholding the position of the law as regards haulage in the port and may withdraw our services if the NPA does not wade in and exercise their authority on this issue.”
According to him, the ripple effects of these will geometrically hike the prices of goods in the market in an already tensed situation in the country.
As at the time of filling this report, every attempt to reach the two transport unions leaders proved abortive as their phone numbers continued to say you are not allowed to call these numbers.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Geo-Fluids Plc and Afriland Properties Plc propelled the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange up 0.13 per cent on Friday, January 10.
Investors gained N1.4 billion during the trading session after the market capitalisation of the bourse ended at N1.053 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.052 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) increased at the close of business by 4.07 points to wrap the session at 3,073.93 points compared with 3,069.86 points recorded at the previous session.
Geo-Fluids added 25 Kobo to its value to close at N4.85 per unit compared with the previous session’s N4.60 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 24 Kobo to close at N16.25 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N16.01 per share.
There was a 35.4 per cent fall in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 4.3 million units compared to 6.6 million units traded in the preceding session, the value of shares traded yesterday went down by 37.4 per cent to N17.2 million from the N27.5 million recorded a day earlier, and the number of deals decreased by 47.2 per cent to 19 deals from the 36 deals recorded in the preceding day.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units worth N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units valued at N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
IGI Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 10.6 million units sold for N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc with 1.2 million units worth N1.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira witnessed a depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 10.
According to data from the FMDQ Exchange, the local currency weakened against the greenback yesterday by 0.12 per cent or N1.80 to sell for N1,543.03/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.23/$1.
The pressure on the domestic currency came as the access granted to the Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to purchase FX from the official market through the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform prepares to end next week, precisely on January 19.
The CBN had given a 42-day window to the operators to access the platform to help stabilise the Naira in December, and this expires next week.
On Friday, the Nigerian currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N30.78 to sell for N1,889.29/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,858.51/£1, but gained N5.48 against the Euro to finish at N1,583.81/€1, in contrast to Thursday’s rate of N1,589.29/€1.
As for the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira remained stable against the US Dollar during the trading session at N1,650/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post.
In the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as the US economy added 256,000 jobs last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday, topping forecasts for 160,000 and up from 212,000 in November (revised from an originally reported 227,000).
However, the readings came after a number of recent economic reports triggered a broad-market pullback across asset classes such as crypto as investors quickly scaled back the idea of a continued series of Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to trade at $0.921, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.8 per cent to $185.93, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 1.4 per cent to $3,233.27, Litecoin (LTC) lost 1.3 per cent to finish at $103.62, Dogecoin (DOGE) shed 0.5 per cent to sell at $0.3315, Bitcoin (BTC), waned by 0.2 per cent to $94,154.43, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 0.1 per cent to $693.30.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 1.5 per cent to settle at $2.34, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Profit-takers took control of Customs Street on Friday, plunging it by 0.08 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The sell-offs were across all the key sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on last trading session of the week.
The insurance space went down by 1.53 per cent, the banking index depreciated by 0.41 per cent, the consumer goods sector weakened by 0.16 per cent, and the energy counter slumped by 0.08 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 79.68 points to 105,451.06 points from 105,530.74 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N48 billion to N64.303 trillion from N64.351 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 1.5 billion shares worth N19.4 billion in 12,877 deals compared with the 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion transacted in 13,010 deals in the preceding day, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 1.02 deals and a rise in the trading volume and value by 203.14 per cent and 48.09 per cent, respectively.
Wema Bank was the busiest stock with 976.2 million units valued at N9.8 billion, Tantalizers traded 53.0 million units worth 129.6 million, Universal Insurance sold 34.8 million units for N26.8 million, Access Holdings exchanged 33.9 million units valued at N843.8 million, and Nigerian Breweries traded 27.3 million units worth N873.3 million.
The heaviest loss was suffered by Sunu Assurances with a decline of 9.99 per cent to trade at N7.30, Eunisell shed 9.96 per cent to N17.35, SAHCO crumbled by 9.87 per cent to N30.15, DAAR Communications plunged by 9.28 per cent to 88 Kobo, and Sovereign Trust Insurance went down by 7.04 per cent to N1.32.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing gained 10.00 per cent to close at N4.51, Honeywell Flour appreciated by 9.99 per cent to N10.02, Trans Nationwide Express jumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.00, RT Briscoe rose by 9.83 per cent to N2.57, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 9.46 per cent to 81 Kobo.
Business Post reports that the bourse ended with 33 price gainers and 25 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
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