Economy
FG Sets Up Task Force on Food Prices Regulation
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The President Muhammadu Buhari led administration has constituted a task force to ensure prices of food items in the market are reduced.
Inaugurating the panel on Wednesday in Abuja, the Acting President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, pointed out that the move was borne out of the need to enhance affordability of food prices across country.
He said the Presidential Task Force will urgently consider measures that would ensure a steady flow of produce to the market and reverse recent price increases.
Giving the directive at the Federal Executive Council meeting, Mr Osinbajo expressed concern at some of the inflationary rates of food prices, noting that the Task Force will explore options to promote availability and affordability of food items to Nigerians.
According to him, the Task Force, which has seven days from to report back to the Council, will consider how to remove some of the cost-raising factors that come into play between the farms and the markets and therefore “bring relief to our people.”
While there have been reports of bumper harvests in parts of the country, the prices of food stuff still end up rather high, while some of the produce even end up wasted due to a number of reasons preventing effective transportation delivery to the markets.
One of the focus areas of the Task Force, the Acting President noted, would be to review the transportation and preservation processes, and see how government can intervene in those aspects to bring down food prices.
The Task Force, which would be meeting with Me Osinbajo in the discharge of its urgent assignment, will therefore draw out a practical plan and present same to the Council next week.
Members of the Task Force include the following Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh; Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun; Minister of Industry, Trade & Development, Dr Okey Enelamah; Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi; Minister for Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu; and Minister of Labour & Employment, Mr Chris Ngige.
Also, the Offices of the Chief of Staff to the President and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) would also be on the Task Force.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Thirty-one companies on Tuesday emerged as winners of the 2025 licensing round of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The energy firms competed to take control of 50 oil and gas blocks put on offer by the Nigerian government.
They were among the 143 companies that submitted 200 bids for the oil facilities drawn from diverse terrains, including the Niger Delta Onshore, Niger Delta Shallow Water, Niger Delta Deep Offshore, Benin Basin Onshore, Anambra Basin Onshore, Chad Basin Onshore and Benue Trough.
Business Post gathered that investors, however, were only interested in 37 out of the 50 oil blocks put up for sale by the NUPRC. This is the first time in Nigeria’s energy history that frontier basins would attract such a level of investor interest.
The organisations that won the bids include SSonic Petroleum Limited (PPL 2A29), CFP Pipeline and Flowlines (2A30), Dutchford E&P Limited (2A32), Attabanson Global Company Limited (2A33 and PPL 901), Rosem Energy Limited (2A38), Pivot-GIS Limited (2A39), Network E&P (2A40), Asharami (2A41), LexOil (2A42), BVOF (2A43), GupscoEnergy Limited (2A44 and 2A51), Saratoga (2A45), Volante (2A46), Concept-Reel Petroleum Services Limited (2A47 and 2A55), Clinton Oil Field (2A48 and 2A62) and Nuway Oaklane Limited (2A49).
Others are Ramec (2A50), Italia (2A53), Blueridge E&P (2A54), Up Energies Limited (2A56), AYM Shafa (2A57), Blackrock Holdings Limited (2A58), Funtay Integrated Business Limited (2A59), Riparian Development and Production Limited (2A60), Nikstallis (2A61 and PPL 900), Stardeep Petroleum (PPL 2010), Dakoda & U Limited (PPL308 and PPL 800), Southborne Oil and Gas Limited (PPL 902), Lanaka Petroleum (PPL 903) HighbanResources Limited (PPL 700), Eyre Energy Limited (PPL 801).
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices rose roughly 2 per cent on Tuesday as investors reacted to mounting concerns that escalating hostilities between the United States and Iran and threats by Yemen’s Houthis to blockade Saudi Arabia could disrupt global energy supplies.
Brent futures rose $1.79 or 2.0 per cent to $91.01 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.68 or 2.0 per cent to settle at $84.91 per barrel.
US forces bombed targets in the south and west of Iran while Iran targeted American sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan and at least one tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
Supply concerns resurfaced with the Strait essentially closed again and tanker traffic at multi-month lows, to the level from before the ceasefire between the US and Iran, which appears to be over at the moment.
Prices could go much higher if the renewed conflict drags on for a few more months, as the world has now drained a lot of the buffers that had kept oil surges in check between March and May.
Drained strategic and commercial inventories in many key oil-consuming economies, including the US, are setting the stage for further oil price rallies during the busiest oil demand season.
The just-declared Houthi blockade on Saudi maritime shipping has already begun to witness ill-effects, as reports emerge of two oil tankers having made U-turns while initially en route toward the Suez Canal. It was reported that their crews received threats from Houthi militants in Yemen.
The two oil tankers, which loaded Saudi crude for China and India, made U-turns in the Red Sea and headed toward the Suez following the warning from the militia.
Meanwhile, Kuwait’s power and desalination plants caught fire for a second straight day as US and Iran traded strikes for a tenth day.
As Russia’s war with Ukraine expands beyond Ukraine’s borders, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) has stopped receiving oil from Kazakhstan after suspending loadings on Monday due to attacks on oil tankers at its Black Sea terminal.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Senate has passed a bill to repeal and re-enact the law establishing the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), paving the way for the regulatory agency to be renamed the Insurance Regulatory Commission (IRC).
The legislation, titled the Insurance Regulatory Commission (Establishment) Bill, 2026, was passed after the Senate considered and adopted the report of its committee on banking, insurance and other financial institutions.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr Adetokunbo Abiru, the senator representing Lagos East, who presented the report, stated that the proposed legislation was necessary because the existing National Insurance Commission Act of 1997 had become outdated and no longer reflected the realities of Nigeria’s evolving insurance industry or global regulatory standards.
According to the Senate, the decision to change the Commission’s name was informed by the need to eliminate confusion associated with the existing designation and to better reflect the institution’s regulatory mandate within Nigeria’s insurance industry.
The bill also provides legal protection for the commission and its officers against adverse claims arising from the lawful execution of their statutory duties.
However, he noted that the commission’s enabling law had become obsolete, exposing significant regulatory gaps that required urgent legislative intervention.
‘The current National Insurance Commission Act 1997 is outdated and does not adequately address the emerging economic growth, needs and development of the insurance business,” the lawmaker said.
He explained that the new legislation seeks to strengthen the independence of the commission by empowering it to make regulatory decisions without undue influence in the country’s insurance sector.
According to him, the bill also enhances the commission’s authority to exchange information and collaborate with domestic and international regulatory bodies, issue regulations, guidelines, standards and directives on insurance-related matters, and intervene more effectively in financially distressed insurance companies to protect policyholders and preserve financial stability.
This marks yet another move to strengthen the country’s insurance sector following the enactment of the Nigerian Insurance Industry Reform Act (NIIRA) of 2025 and the industry-wide recapitalisation exercise, which will wrap up by July 31.
