Economy
Doherty Seeks Clarification on Lagos Budgetary Allocations
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Lagos State gubernatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) at the 2023 elections, Mr Funso Doherty, has raised issues relating to certain allocations made in the 2023 budget.
Among some of the claims, published in a well-researched document shared on X on Saturday, were revelations of N571 to renovate a church, N400 million for a charter plane, N440 million for SUVs, and N7 million for diffusers, among other items recently approved for procurement.
In the open letter seen and analysed by Business Post, he highlighted some of the procurements in the second and third quarters of 2023, adding that he expects the state government to review and explain to the public the structure of the budgetary allocation.
“I have had the opportunity to go through the register of public procurement awards by LASG, its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for the second and third quarters of 2023, as reported by the Public Procurement Agency. This attached schedule highlights selected awards which, in my opinion, require greater scrutiny,” he wrote in the letter.
He listed some of the following luxuries allocated in the budget, saying “Under the office of the Chief of Staff, procurement of a brand-new Lexus LX 600 bulletproof sport utility vehicles for use in the pool of office of Chief awarded for the total sum of N440,750,000.
“Replacement of liquid fragrance in the office of Mr Governor, Lagos house Ikeja awarded for the sum of N7,475,000.
“In addition, Decorations for the venue of political delegates for the sum of N20,084,550
“Flying hours expenses for ad-hoc Charter plane by Lagos State Government awarded for the sum of N400,000,000.”
Mr Doherty, who is a chartered accountant by profession, demanded that the government accounts for how it spent the exorbitant sum of N69.9 billion to repair an existing road linking Eti Osa/Lekki Expressway.
“N69,936,201,915 allocated for rehabilitation, reconstruction and upgrade of Eti Osa/Lekki Epe Expressway (phase b) from Greensprings to Abraham Adesanya in Eti Osa and Ibeju-Lekki LGA.
“This single award for the repair and upgrade of a section of an already existing road amounts to approximately half of the entire 2023 budget for the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. A comprehensive and preferably independent value-for-money should be done for this contract,” he added.
In addition, Mr Doherty also tasked the government to explain the N70 billion allocated for the construction of Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) commuting from Mile 2 to Okokomaiko in 2008.
According to him, this project was supposed to be completed in 2011, but it was only partially completed until 2023.
He also tasked the government to evaluate the N218 billion now allocated for phase 2 of the construction.
In his words, “In 2008, N70 billion was approved for the blue line and it was expected to be completed by 2011. Phase 1 of the project, Marina to Mile 2, which is approximately half of the length of the total project, has just recently commenced limited operation in 2023. The overall cost so far has not been disclosed.
“With this award of Phase 2 by the Lagos State Government to the same contractor (China Civil Engineering Construction Company Nigeria Limited), at the cost of N218 billion, what safeguards are in place to prevent a repeated occurrence?”
Business Post found that some of the companies that were awarded these contracts were formed between six months ago and five years ago with inactive status on the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) website.
This development raises questions about the extravagant spending of Nigeria’s richest state and issues on transparency and accountability when it comes to spending taxpayers’ money.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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