Economy
It’s Illegal to Sell Seeds, Planting Materials without Seedcodex Tag by NASC—Bankole
By Dipo Olowookere
Those who sell seeds or planting materials to farmers without a Seedcodex authentication tag risk being punished for violating the law if they do not desist from such an act.
According to the chief agricultural officer at the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), Mr Osho Bankole, it is an offence not to subject seeds to a quality assurance process in Nigeria.
The Seedcodex label is a mark of quality assurance technology designed to eliminate adulterated seeds from the market in order to make farmers have productive yields.
The system is backed by law through the National Agricultural Seeds Act No 21 of 2019.
Speaking on April 26, 2022, at a webinar themed The Seedcodex: Improved Seed Quality Assurance Providing Farmers Value for Money, Mr Bankole admitted that though the initiative has a few challenges, its implementation has improved food production of the nation as farmers have quality seeds to plant.
“All seeds, after meeting the certification standards, must have a Seedcodex tag before it is traded in the market,” the expert said during his keynote presentation titled Implementation of Seedcodex in Nigeria: Current Status and Ambitions.
He further said, “It is an offence punishable by law as contained in the National Agricultural Seeds Act No 21 of 2019 to market seeds/planting materials without the affixation of the Seedcodex tag issued by NASC after going through the prescribed quality assurance processes.”
Corroborating his point, the country manager for Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Dr Kehinde Makinde, who was represented by the programme officer for AGRA Nigeria, Dr Esther Ibrahim, emphasised that a viable seed system is required to increase the productivity of farmers.
She noted that there is a need for strategic collaboration to ensure compliance as the Seedcodex technology is a quality assurance tool capable of ridding the market of adulterated seeds.
While describing his on-field experience of using Seedcodex, the managing director of Premier Seeds, Mr Ibitoye Oyewale, described the technology as an instant evidence-based instrument.
“Once the farmers scratch off the code and send it to 1393, the authenticity of the seeds purchased is confirmed. The technology gives the farmers assurance and enhances the credibility of the seeds which discourages counterfeiting of seeds,” he stated.
Business Post gathered that the event, which was anchored by a food security expert, Mr Ekum Ojogu, was attended by several stakeholders in the industry, including the director-general of NASC, Dr Philip Ojo; the senior seed advisor at Wageningen University and Research, Dr Marja Thijssen; the seed inspector at Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS), Mrs Caroline Kavu; and the Market Lead Strategist at mPedigree Limited Kenya, Mr Timothy Maina, amongst others.
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented a budget proposal of N58.47 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year titled Budget of Consolidation, Renewed Resilience and Shared Prosperity to a joint session of the National Assembly, with capital recurrent (non‑debt) expenditure standing at 15.25 trillion, and the capital expenditure at N26.08 trillion, while the crude oil benchmark was pegged at $64.85 per barrel.
Business Post reports that the Brent crude grade currently trades around $60 per barrel. It is also expected to trade at that level or lower next year over worries about oil glut.
At the budget presentation today, Mr Tinubu said the expected total revenue for the year is N34.33 trillion, and the proposal is anchored on a crude oil production of 1.84 million barrels per day, and an exchange rate of N1,400 to the US Dollar.
In terms of sectoral allocation, defence and security took the lion’s share with N5.41 trillion, followed by infrastructure at N3.56 trillion, education received N3.52 trillion, while health received N2.48 trillion.
Addressing the lawmakers, the President described the budget proposal as not “just accounting lines”.
“They are a statement of national priorities,” the president told the gathering. “We remain firmly committed to fiscal sustainability, debt transparency, and value‑for‑money spending.”
The presentation came at a time of heightened insecurity in parts of the country, with mass abductions and other crimes making headlines.
Outlining his government’s plan to address the challenge, President Tinubu reminded the gathering that security “remains the foundation of development”.
He said some of the measures in place to tame insecurity include the modernisation of the Armed Forces, intelligence‑driven policing and joint operations, border security, and technology‑enabled surveillance and community‑based peacebuilding and conflict prevention.
“We will invest in security with clear accountability for outcomes—because security spending must deliver security results,” the president said.
“To secure our country, our priority will remain on increasing the fighting capability of our armed forces and other security agencies by boosting personnel and procuring cutting-edge platforms and other hardware,” he added.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The deadline for the recapitalisation of the Nigerian pension industry has been extended by six months to June 2027 from December 2026.
This extension was approved by the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the agency, which regulates the sector in the country.
Addressing newsmen on Thursday in Lagos, the Director-General of PenCom, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, explained that the shift in deadline was to give operators more time to boost the capital base, dismissing speculations that the exercise had been suspended.
“The recapitalisation has not been suspended. We have communicated the requirements to the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs), and we expect every operator to be compliant by June 2027. Anyone who is not compliant by then will lose their licence,” Ms Oloworaran told journalists.
She added that, “From a regulatory standpoint, our major challenge is ensuring compliance. We are working with ICPC, labour and the TUC to ensure employers remit pension contributions for their employees.”
The DG noted that engagements with industry operators indicated broad acceptance of the policy, with many PFAs already taking steps to raise additional capital or explore mergers and acquisitions.
“You may see some mergers and acquisitions in the industry, but what is clear is that the recapitalisation exercise is on track and the industry agrees with us,” she stated.
PenCom wants the PFAs to increase their capital base and has created three categories, with the first consists operators with Assets Under Management of N500 billion and above. They are expected to have a minimum capital of N20 billion and one per cent of AUM above N500 billion.
The second category has PFAs with AUM below N500 billion, which must have at least N20 billion as capital base.
The last segment comprises special-purpose PFAs such as NPF Pensions Limited, whose minimum capital was pegged at N30 billion, and the Nigerian University Pension Management Company Limited, whose minimum capital was fixed at N20 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.68 per cent on Thursday, December 18.
According to data, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc led the losers’ group after it slipped by N2.87 to N36.78 per share from N39.65 per share, Golden Capital Plc depreciated by 77 Kobo to end at N6.98 per unit versus the previous day’s N7.77 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped 19 Kobo to sell at N60.00 per share versus Wednesday’s closing price of N60.19 per share.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation lost N16.81 billion to finish at N2.147 billion compared with the preceding session’s N2.164 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) declined by 24.76 points to 3,589.88 points from 3,614.64 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities bought and sold increased by 49.3 per cent to 30.5 million units from 20.4 million units, the value of securities surged by 211.8 per cent to N225.1 million from N72.2 million, and the number of deals jumped by 33.3 per cent to 28 deals from 21 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.
Similarly, InfraCredit Plc ended as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units exchanged for N524.9 million.
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