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Economy

We Don’t Sell Crude Oil from Hotel Rooms—NNPC

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Few days after raising a red flag on the fraudulent activities of crude oil scammers, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has provided further insights into the modus operandi of the conmen who dupe unsuspecting would-be crude oil buyers.

Speaking on the unwholesome activities of the scammers, NNPC’s Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Division (COMD), Mr Mele Kyari, said the corporation “doesn’t sell crude oil from hotel rooms as done by scammers”.

Shedding more light on the scammers’ modus operandi, Mr Kyari said they usually lured their unsuspecting victims with higher discount offers on cargoes, offers of non-OPEC crude specification, crude allocation, presentation of crude oil sale letters as well as conducting business from hotels.

“Some of them even go to the extent of luring their victims to hotels to transact these fraudulent crude oil contracts. The entire public should know that NNPC doesn’t do business of crude oil marketing from hotel rooms,” Mr Kyari stated.

He reiterated that there was only one way of buying crude oil from the NNPC which was through advertisement for the selection of customers who were screened for compliance with the corporation’s expectations and standards.

“There are very high standards we have set and if you don’t meet them, you cannot be our customer. And once you become our customer, we sign a single annual contract with you”, Mr Kyari added.

He observed that the crude contracts were typically 30,000 to 32,000 bpd which accumulated into a standard cargo size of 950,000bpd monthly and not 2 to 3 million bpd contracts as peddled by the scammers.

Mr Kyari observed that for the crude oil sale processes to be completed, the customer had to show that he had the capability to sell the cargo to the market and that the Corporation could get its money back.

According to him, today, the entire process of crude oil marketing had become seamless and real-time with electronic platforms such as Platts and Argus acting as reporting agencies for global crude trading programmes.

“The beauty of selling crude oil is that the moment we sell the crude oil cargo to you, the entire world knows that cargo X is with Mr. Y. So you see, you don’t have to scavenge for who buys your crude.” he said.

He informed would-be buyers not to be gullible as the scammers always cashed in on would-be buyers gullibility to swindle them, adding that those who fall for the scammers were  either not in the business or were themselves fraudulent.

While explaining that the good thing in all these unwholesome development was the fact that NNPC documents had not leaked, Kyari stressed that nearly 98% of all the documents involved were fake documents produced by the scammers.

He said in line with FG’s anti-corruption crusade and NNPC Management’s commitment towards promoting transparency and accountability, COMD of NNPC had been collaborating with relevant security agencies such as the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to checkmate these fraudsters.

“Already, this massive collaboration with security agencies is paying up. Some arrests have been made while on our part, we assist the security agencies by providing evidence in the course of their prosecution,” he noted.

He called on the general public to always alert the Corporation on suspected crude oil scammers by reporting them via the e-mail: [email protected].

He later reiterated the success of the Corporation’s flagship crude oil for product exchange scheme also known as Direct Sale Direct Purchase Programme (DSDP) which not only ensured transparency, but has also led to the stability of products supply across the country.

Modupe Gbadeyanka is a fast-rising journalist with Business Post Nigeria. Her passion for journalism is amazing. She is willing to learn more with a view to becoming one of the best pen-pushers in Nigeria. Her role models are the duo of CNN's Richard Quest and Christiane Amanpour.

Economy

New Deadline for Filing Annual Income Tax Now April 21—LIRS

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company Income Tax

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The deadline for filing individual annual income tax returns for residents of Lagos State has again been extended to April 21, 2026.

This information was revealed via a statement signed by the Head of Corporate Communications of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Mrs Monsurat Amasa-Oyelude, on Saturday.

The agency thanked some taxpayers for their continued compliance and commitment to the filing of their individual annual income tax returns, but charged those who have yet to file theirs to do so before the new deadline.

LIRS had earlier moved the deadline from its statutory period of March 31, 2026, to April 14, 2026, but due to “the overwhelming response and to enhance taxpayer convenience, while maintaining the integrity and accuracy of submissions,” the date was moved forward to April 26.

The tax-collecting organisation said it “observed a significant increase in traffic on its eTax platform as more taxpayers endeavour to meet the filing deadline.”

“In view of this development, and to ensure that all taxpayers are provided with adequate opportunity to successfully complete their filings, LIRS hereby announces a further extension of the deadline, now set for April 21, 2026,” it stated.

The agency reiterated that all filings must be completed electronically via the LIRS eTax platform: https://etax.lirs.net, which remains the only approved channel for submission.

Taxpayers were reminded that the filing of annual income tax returns remains a statutory obligation and were encouraged to take advantage of this final extension to fulfil their civic responsibility.

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Economy

Nigerian Stock Investors Gain N707bn on Renewed Bargain-Hunting

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Attract Stock Investors

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was in green on Friday after it closed higher by 0.30 per cent as a result of sustained bargain hunting.

Customs Street was up yesterday after three of the five major sectors came under buying pressure, with the consumer goods index up by 1.64 per cent, the industrial goods space up by 1.12 per cent, and the banking counter up by 0.64 per cent.

Business Post observed that profit-taking brought down the insurance by 2.61 per cent, and weakened the energy sector by 0.01 per cent.

At the close of business, the market capitalisation increased by N707 billion to N131.166 trillion from N130.459 trillion, and the All-Share Index (ASI) expanded by 1,097.86 points to 203,770.42 from 202,672.56 points.

Transactions by Nigerian stock investors shrank during the session, as 548.6 million shares worth N31.5 billion exchanged hands in 48,538 deals compared with the 652.9 million shares valued at N39.8 billion transacted in 51,101 deals a day earlier.

This implied that the trading volume went down by 15.98 per cent, the trading value depreciated by 20.85 per cent, and the number of deals crashed by 5.02 per cent.

Access Holdings finished the day as the busiest equity after selling 52.7 million units valued at N1.4 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 47.8 million units worth N5.4 billion, UBA traded 38.9 million units for N1.8 billion, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.7 million units worth N35.5 million, and GTCO sold 34.9 million units valued at N4.6 billion.

The market breadth index was negative during the session with 20 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating weak investor sentiment.

Trans Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.91 per cent to N3.77, International Breweries grew by 9.88 per cent to N13.35, Chams rose by 9.84 per cent to N3.35, Guinea Insurance improved by 9.38 per cent to N462.90, and Lafarge Africa gained 8.52 per cent to close at N233.20.

On the flip side, Omatek lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.07, Austin Laz declined by 9.93 per cent to N3.99, Coronation Insurance dipped by 9.88 per cent to N2.92, Zichis crashed by 9.58 per cent to N12.55, and Cornerstone Insurance retreated by 8.77 per cent to N5.20.

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Economy

NASD Market Ends Week Lower Amid Continued Sell-Offs

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NASD OTC market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed the last trading session of the week in the southern territory after further losing 0.59 per cent on Friday, April 10.

This happened as three price decliners weakened the NASD market due to continued sell-offs. The bourse did not finish in green this week.

11 Plc lost N24.70 to close at N222.30 per share compared with the previous day’s N247.00 per share, MRS Oil dropped N1 to settle at N164.00 per unit versus Thursday’s N165.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 25 Kobo to N3.00 per share from N3.25 per share.

As a result, the market capitalisation shrank by N13.79 billion to N2.315 trillion from N2.329 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 23.05 points to 3,870.45 points from 3,893.50 points.

Yesterday, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which chalked up N1.07 to sell at N64.21 per unit versus N63.50 per share, and Impresit Bakalori Plc appreciated by 22 Kobo to N2.42 per share from N2.20 per share.

The volume of securities fell by 81.9 per cent to 188,593 units from 1.04 million units, the value of securities decreased by 36.3 per cent to N25.7 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals remained unchanged at 26 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 57.6 million units exchanged for N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.6 million units worth N1.8 billion.

GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units s0ld for N415.7 million and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded at N1.2 billion.

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