Economy
Ishaku Vows to Revive Dead Industries in Taraba
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku of Taraba State has promised to do all within his power to ensure dead and ailing industries in the state get back on their feet.
Mr Ishaku made this pledge on Wednesday when a Presidential Sub Committee on Economic Development of Northeast Initiative (PCEDNI) visited him at the Government House in Jalingo to intimate him on the reason of their visit to the state and to the entire Northeast region.
Governor Ishaku reiterated his determination to reactivate the broken down industries, saying that he has already started fixing some and assured that he is determined to turn around the fortunes of the State for the better.
He said he has successfully revitalised the tea company at Kakara in Sardauna Local Government Area and is working assiduously to ensure that the rice farm in Gassol, which is the largest in Northern Nigeria commences production.
He also promised to reactivate the broken-down Lau Tomatoes as well as the sugar companies, saying it will only be feasible if the existing peace could be sustained, which involves engaging the minds actively in life transforming ventures.
The Governor expressed optimism that if people of the region were engaged in meaningful activities that will keep them busy, all forms negative vices would be a thing of the past.
Mr Ishaku lamented that when he took over as the Governor, the state was enmeshed in one conflict or the other leading to huge loss of lives and property, explaining that, the first one year was spent trying to fix peace in all the crises affected areas.
He revealed that he resorted to the use of a slogan ‘give me peace and I will give you development,’ which became an anthem at every given opportunity, adding that development is only possible if there is peace and at the moment the state is relatively calm as efforts are being made to sustain the peace currently being enjoyed.
Mr Ishaku, who described the human mind as difficult and the devil’s workshop, said he was working very hard to keep all Tarabans busy with activities so that everyone would be preoccupied with things that are positive to help better the lives of the people of the state as a whole.
Speaking on health institutions in the state, the Governor said his major concern at the moment is to address the lack of viable health centres across the state, saying that at the moment; only the state Specialist Hospital was operational.
He however stressed that even at that, he had do a lot of renovation and purchase of equipment to be able to attend to health needs of the people, revealing that the hospitals in Bambur, Gembu and Wukari would soon be renovated and equipped with modern facilities.
Similarly, he informed the committee that lack of adequate manpower in the health sector is a major problem, most especially, in the areas of nurses and other health workers, adding that retired nurses were re-engaged to complement the efforts of the few ones pending when the state’s School of Nursing will start graduating fresh nurses, which is expected to take about three years.
Earlier in his speech, the Chairman of the Sub Committee on Economic Development of the Northeast, Mr Yusuf Buba Yakub said they were in the State to ascertain the level of destructions as a result of communal and religious conflicts, insurgency and clashes between farmers and grazers with a view to assisting State.
Mr Yakub said when the committee was inaugurated on October 26, 2016, by President Muhammadu Buhari, it was mandated to work on security stabilisation and peace building, urgently look into humanitarian crisis and to rehabilitate.
He also said they are to equally resettle affected communities, reorganise the educational sector which covers infrastructure and enrolment of pupils and work out modalities that will improve the economic development of the Northeast which has been backward even before the advent of insurgency.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is seeking review of the controversial Capital Gains Tax increase, fearing it will chase away foreign investors from the country’s capital market.
Nigeria’s new tax regime, which takes effect from January 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s tax system in recent years.
Under the new rules, the flat 10 per cent Capital Gains Tax rate has been replaced by progressive income tax rates ranging from zero to 30 per cent, depending on an investor’s overall income or profit level while large corporate investors will see the top rate reduced to 25 per cent as part of a wider corporate tax reform.
The chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, said in a Bloomberg interview in Kigali, Rwanda that there should be a “removal of the capital gains tax completely, or perhaps deferring it for five years.”
According to him, Nigeria, having a higher Capital Gains Tax, will make investors redirect asset allocation to frontier markets and “countries that have less tax.”
“From a capital flow perspective, we should be concerned because all these international portfolio managers that invest across frontier markets will certainly go to where the cost of investing is not so burdensome,” the CEO said, as per Bloomberg. “That is really the angle one will look at it from.”
Meanwhile, the policy has been defended by the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who noted that the new tax will make investing in the capital market more attractive by reducing risks, promoting fairness, and simplifying compliance.
He noted that the framework allows investors to deduct legitimate costs such as brokerage fees, regulatory charges, realised capital losses, margin interest, and foreign exchange losses directly tied to investments, thereby ensuring that they are not taxed when operating at a loss.
Mr Oyedele also said the reforms introduced a more inclusive approach to taxation by exempting several categories of investors and transactions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
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