Economy
Friction as DPR Reopens Filling Stations Shut by LASBCA
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Thursday reopened five filling stations shut by the Lagos State Building Control Agency (LASBCA) in Ajah and Ibeju Lekki axis of the state.
The petrol stations, operated by members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), members were sealed by the state’s building control agency but the country’s petroleum regulatory agency, being the organisation legally allowed to carry out such an action, said the stations were sealed without consultation.
Speaking at the reopening of the fuel stations, Mr Ayorinde Cardoso, Zonal Operations Controller, DPR, Lagos Zone, argued that LASBCA lacked the constitutional power to shut petroleum products retail outlets because the industry was clearly under the Exclusive List.
He advised state and local government agencies to desist from arbitrary sealing of businesses in the oil and gas sector as it could lead to disruption in the supply of petroleum products.
Mr Cardoso said: “We got information yesterday that LASBCA has shut down about 10 filling stations. We also learnt that a local government council shut down another petrol station in the Magodo area.
“We were not consulted and we need to put the record straight. The oil and gas business is a regulated environment and we know from the 1999 Constitution that oil and gas are matters within the Exclusive Legislative List.
“The Federal Government of Nigeria through the National Assembly is endowed with exclusive power to execute on any item on the exclusive list.”
He explained that “arising from that constitutional powers, the National Assembly enacted the Petroleum Act of 1969.
“This act regulates all matters relating to petroleum such as importation, handling, storage, distribution of petroleum and petroleum products and other flammable oils.
“This act also provides granting of licences to import, handle, store, sell, distribute any petroleum product in Nigeria.”
He said as a result of this, all persons that engaged in the business were licensed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources through the DPR.
According to him, the DPR collaborates with other relevant federal and state government agencies for requisite permits and approvals before the issuance of the licences.
Mr Cardoso said there were prerequisite processes that must be completed before a licence to operate is issued to any operator.
He said these included certificates of incorporation, Memorandum and Articles of Association, Tax Clearance Certificate, Police Report, Fire Report, Approved Building Plan and a Letter from Lands and Survey.
The Zonal Head added that it also carries out an Environmental Impact Assessment Report, Site Layout Plan, Evidence of Land Ownership and Survey Plan.
“Once we have done this and we issue licences to operate, it becomes a federal government property for business and our licence gives the owner the permission to do business in that area.
“So, any issue arising from the licensee, you need to call on the licensor who is the federal government; then we will look at the issue and see how we can resolve it,” he said.
Mr Cardoso said the DPR was interacting with the Lagos State Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to ensure that agencies of the state government did not disrupt the smooth supply of petroleum products in Lagos.
On its part, Mr Gbadeyan Abdulraheem, Public Relations Officer, LASBCA, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), noted that some of the sealed facilities did not have the agency’s approval or had deviated from the approved plan.
“The DPR can give you the approval to run a filling station but the building itself has to be approved by LASBCA and there are conditions to be met which they didn’t.
“Some of them didn’t follow the radius which is a minimum of 300 meters before siting another one while others were constructed between residential buildings.
“Lagos State government is not interested in victimising or creating problems for anybody. What we are saying is that they should follow the best practices,” Mr Abdulrasheed said.
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.
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