Economy
Decision to Move Accounts to CBN Won’t Hinder Operations—NNPC
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has said the latest decision to move a substantial part of its accounts to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) won’t create any hindrances to its operations.
Speaking when the CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso visited him in his office, the NNPC’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr Mele Kyari, said contrary to beliefs, the national oil company was not compelled by political actors to take the decision.
Many Nigerians, including former Vice President, Mr Atiku Abubakar, had recently raised issues as to the propriety of ‘compelling’ the NNPC to compulsorily move its accounts to the CBN by the Bola Tinubu-led administration.
Mr Kyari stated that part of the reason was to maintain a “safe obligor limit” with the commercial banks.
The NNPC is the largest company in Nigeria and Mr Kyari said that since the firm maintains very high liquidity and transaction levels, it was important to work closely with the apex bank.
He lauded the CBN for creating a special department solely to ensure that the newfound relationship is seamless, explaining that it is ultimately in the interest of the NNPC and the nation at large.
“We made that decision in line with the directives of our board of directors to maintain safe obligor limits with commercial banks.
“For us to do this, we do need additional support from the central bank to achieve this. We are a very huge company and our transactions and liquidity levels are very high and perhaps, we are the largest business in this country.
“We are also happy that the CBN has created a very robust digital platform for our transactions and also, created a department that will deal with NNPC issues, and thus this will create no hindrance to our operations.
“We will continue to collaborate with the CBN to ensure that further improvements are recorded and to ensure that this relationship will serve the best interest of our company and our country in general,” he stated.
On his part, Mr Cardoso confirmed that to ensure seamless operations, a new platform has been created, expressing confidence that the new collaboration will work in the interest of the country.
“We have come to this particular stage where the NNPC has decided to move a respectable part of its business to the Central Bank of Nigeria. I also want to say that we have restructured and strengthened internal processes such that we are very capable of taking on this enormous responsibility that will be placed on the central bank.
“We are looking forward to further collaboration with the NNPC. And I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this effective collaboration will work in the best interests of NNPC and Nigeria in general,” he said.
According to a joint statement by the spokespersons of the NNPC, Mr Olufemi Soneye, and the CBN, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali, the duo noted that there now exists an improved platform for managing NNPC’s cash holding obligor limits in commercial banks set by the board of directors.
“The GCEO NNPC Ltd., Mallam Mele Kyari, and the Governor of the CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, have reviewed the decision of the NNPC Ltd. to domicile a significant portion of its revenues and other banking services with the CBN.
“Following their meeting in Abuja on Thursday, February 8, 2024, the NNPC Ltd. and CBN chiefs noted the value created by the decision for all parties, especially in providing the NNPC Ltd. with an improved platform for managing its cash holding obligor limits in commercial banks set by the board of directors.
“The CBN has provided enhanced digital platforms for all transactions and has established specific limits to manage NNPC Ltd. transactions.
“Both parties have also committed to further strengthening the collaboration to ensure seamless operations of the commercial NNPC Limited and noted that NNPC Ltd. continues to have banking transactions with commercial banks as required,” the statement seen by Business Post added.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government, the 36 states of the federation and the 774 local government areas have received N1.727 trillion from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) for December 2024.
The funds were disbursed to the three tiers of government from the revenue generated by the nation in November 2024.
At the December meeting of FAAC held in Abuja, it was stated that the amount distributed comprised distributable statutory revenue of N455.354 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N585.700 billion, Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N15.046 billion and Exchange Difference revenue of N671.392 billion.
According to a statement signed on Friday by the Director of Press and Public Relations for FAAC, Mr Bawa Mokwa, the money generated last month was about N3.143 trillion, with N103.307 billion used for cost of collection and N1.312 trillion for transfers, interventions and refunds.
It was disclosed that gross statutory revenue of N1.827 trillion was received compared with the N1.336 trillion recorded a month earlier.
The statement said gross revenue of N628.972 billion was available from VAT versus N668.291 billion in the preceding month.
The organisation stated that last month, oil and gas royalty and CET levies recorded significant increases, while excise duty, VAT, import duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT) and EMTL decreased considerably.
As for the sharing, FAAC disclosed that from the N1.727 trillion, the central government got N581.856 billion, the states received N549.792 billion, the councils took N402.553 billion, while the benefiting states got N193.291 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
From the N585.700 billion VAT earnings, the national government got N87.855 billion, the states received N292.850 billion and the local councils were given N204.995 billion.
Also, from the N455.354 billion distributable statutory revenue, the federal government was given N175.690 billion, the states got N89.113 billion, the local governments had N68.702 billion, and the benefiting states received N121.849 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
In addition, from the N15.046 billion EMTL revenue, FAAC shared N2.257 billion to the federal government, disbursed N7.523 billion to the states and transferred N5.266 billion to the local councils.
Further, from the N671.392 billion Exchange Difference earnings, it gave central government N316.054 billion, the states N160.306 billion, the local government areas N123.590 billion, and the oil-producing states N71.442 billion as 13 per cent derivation revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED5 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism8 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz2 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking6 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy2 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking2 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports2 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
-
Technology4 years agoHow To Link Your MTN, Airtel, Glo, 9mobile Lines to NIN