Economy
FG to Roll Over 60% of 2017 Capital Projects to 2018—Adeosun
By Dipo Olowookere
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, has revealed that more than 60 percent of the 2017 capital projects would be rolled over to next year.
The Minister made this disclosure on Tuesday when she appeared before the Senate Committee on Appropriation in Abuja to explain the implementation of the 2017 budget.
Mrs Adeosun, who appeared before the lawmakers alongside the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, noted that the refusal of the legislative arm of government to approve the executive’s borrowing plans for this year’s budget has made it impossible to implement most of the capital projects.
According to her, N310 billion had earlier been released to fund capital projects under the 2017 budget.
She said before the end of this week, Federal Government will release the N100 billion recently raised from the Sukuk, a non- interest diaspora bond, to the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing, for capital projects across the country.
“The N100 billion raised from the Sukuk, a non- interest diaspora bond would be released to the Ministry of Works to enable it carry out some infrastructural development of the country.
“We successfully raised a N100 billion bond to be released this week. At the end of this week, we would have released about N440.9 billion on capital budget for 2017,” the Minister told the lawmakers.
She lamented that most of the capital projects carried out this year were those rolled over from 2016.
She said it would be impossible for government to complete this year’s projects because of the N2.3 trillion deficits in the 2017 capital budget.
The Minister said the executive was working hard to return Nigeria’s budgeting system to January to December.
She said as a result of this, the executive would be required to submit next year’s budget to the National Assembly this month so as to meet up with the new system.
Mrs Adeosun appealed to the parliament to approve government’s borrowing plans so as to fast track development in the country.
“I would be throwing the question back to you, ‘when are you approving our borrowing plans’?” the Minister jokingly asked the lawmakers at the grilling yesterday.
She said government was focused on completing prioritized projects that were critical to the administration.
“We will keep the capital going to ensure that the projects are not disrupted from completion,” Mrs Adeosun said.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mr Danjuma Goje, said the Senate was worried at the slow pace of the implementation of the 2017 budget.
He warned that if not corrected and improved upon, it would be very inimical to the fate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the next election.
“You know we are politicians and there would be a lot of activities next year, preceding the 2019 general elections, electorates would ask what we have done before they make the decision to re-elect us. Our party must deliver on our promises if we wish to succeed at the polls,” the Senator said.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The federal government has been asked by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to suspend the implementation of the controversial tax laws.
In a reaction to the tax reform acts, the president of the group, Mr Afam Osigwe (SAN), the suspension of the laws would allow for a proper investigation into allegations of alterations in the gazetted and harmonised copies.
A member of the House of Representatives, Mr Abdussamad Dasuki, alleged that some parts of the laws passed by the parliament were different from the gazetted copy.
To address the issues raised, the NBA said it is “imperative that a comprehensive, open, and transparent investigation be conducted to clarify the circumstances surrounding the enactment of the laws and to restore public confidence in the legislative process.”
“Until these issues are fully examined and resolved, all plans for the implementation of the Tax Reform Acts should be immediately suspended,” the association declared.
It noted that the controversies “raise grave concerns about the integrity, transparency, and credibility of Nigeria’s legislative process.”
“These developments strike at the very heart of constitutional governance and call into question the procedural sanctity that must attend lawmaking in a democratic society,” it noted.
“Legal and policy uncertainty of this magnitude has far-reaching consequences. It unsettles the business environment, erodes investor confidence, and creates unpredictability for individuals, businesses, and institutions required to comply with the law. Such uncertainty is inimical to economic stability and should have no place in a system governed by the rule of law.
“Nigeria’s constitutional democracy demands that laws, especially those with profound economic and social implications, emerge from processes that are transparent, accountable, and beyond reproach. Anything short of this undermines public trust and weakens the foundation upon which lawful governance rests.
“We therefore call on all relevant authorities to act swiftly and responsibly in addressing this controversy, in the overriding interest of constitutional order, economic stability, and the preservation of the rule of law,” the organisation stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.
The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.
Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.
Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.
The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.
By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.
The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.
Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.
Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.
At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.
VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.
In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.
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