Economy
Investors Confused Over NSE Lifting, Reversal of Oando Technical Suspension
By Dipo Olowookere
Less than 24 hours after lifting the six-month old technical suspension it placed on the shares of leading energy company, Oando Plc, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday contradicted itself by reversing the earlier announcement lifting the suspension.
The NSE had disclosed in a notice, Tuesday, that the decision to lift the technical suspension was based on a request by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The notice signed by Director, Regulation, NSE, Ms Tinuade Awe, read: “We refer to all prior communication regarding the technical suspension of trading in the shares of Oando Plc (Oando) implemented on the directive of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Commission) on 23 October 2017.
“Please be informed that further to a 9 April 2018 directive of the Commission, The Exchange lifted the technical suspension placed on Oando’s shares after the close of trading today, 10 April 2018.
“Consequently, there will be no impediment to price movement in the shares of Oando”
Curiously, less than 24 hours later, the NSE rescinded its decision, stating that the shares of the company listed on both the Nigerian and Johannesburg Exchanges, remained on technical suspension.
For the less than eight hours it traded following the lifting of the technical suspension, shares of Oando gained 10 points on the NSE, trading at ₦6.60 as against N5.99k before the lifting of the suspension.
It will be recalled that the NSE on 18th October 2017 announced that it had placed the shares of Oando Plc, on ‘full suspension for 48 hours.’
Thereafter on 23rd October 2017, the NSE further announced that it had placed the shares of the company on ‘Technical Suspension’. The NSE by a letter dated 18th October 2017 informed management of Oando Plc that the suspension of the company’s shares by the NSE was done in compliance with a directive issued to it by the SEC.
Only on Tuesday, a group of Concerned Shareholders of Oando Plc had called on President Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Senate President Bukola Saraki; Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and other well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the NSE and SEC to lift the technical suspension placed on the company’s shares.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lagos, the shareholders said the continued suspension of Oando shares was sending wrong signals to the global community about the seriousness of the Federal Government in attracting foreign direct investments to bolster the economy.
Head of the Concerned Shareholders of Oando, Mr. Patrick Ajudua, while advancing reasons for the immediate lifting of the Technical Suspension, noted that the continued suspension of Oando shares could also send wrong signals about the prevailing harsh operating environment in the country.
He also stressed that the Federal Government must protect a prosperous company like Oando from going down if it wanted to demonstrate to the investing world about its seriousness to attract investors to the country.
According to him: “the continued suspension of Oando Plc is a wrong signal to the global market about the prevailing harsh operating environment in Nigeria, and this is at variance with the Federal Government’s initiatives to diversify the economy through increased Foreign Direct Investment. We appeal to the Federal Government to intervene in our travails because the International investment community is keenly watching. The value of the investment we as shareholders of Oando have made is being eroded because of this continued suspension of trading. We appeal that this suspension order must be lifted now!”
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, GCFR; Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, CON; Speaker, House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and other well-meaning Nigerians to as a matter of urgency prevail on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and Securities & Exchange Commission to review their position on the technical suspension in light of the fact that the continued suspension of Oando PLC stock price is not in the best interest of the shareholders of the Company and investors in the Capital Market,” Ajudua said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
