Economy
Lagos Airport Road: Fashola Fires Back at Ambode
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Some hours ago, Lagos State Government, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, accused the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing headed by his predecessor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, of frustrating efforts of his administration to carry out a “total reconstruction of the International Airport Road from Oshodi.
Miffed by remarks of his successor, who is also a member of his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the Minister released a statement, replying the Governor’s allegations.
In the statement signed by Special Adviser to the Minister on Communications, Mr Hakeem Bello, Mr Fashola said the allegations were false.
He said the allegations of lack of cooperation from the Ministry and frustration of Lagos State Government development initiatives were also simply not true.
According to him, in 2016, he approved the use of the Federal Ministry of works yard at Oworonsoki for Lagos State Government to create a lay-by to ease traffic.
The Minister further said he also approved that Lagos State be granted the rights to manage the street lighting on the 3rd Mainland Bridge to support the security initiatives of the state, a request he said the previous Federal Government administration had denied Lagos State for years.
During the same year, the Minister said he supported the approval of the World Bank Loan of $200 million to Lagos State, again a request he disclosed that the previous administration had denied the state.
“As far as International Airport Road which is currently the ground for alleged ‘frustration’ is concerned, the correct position is that the Lagos State government presented a request for four roads that it would wish to take over,” he said.
The statement noted that, “This is consistent with the position being canvassed by the Minister for states who are interested to apply to take over roads that are within their states.”
Mr Fashola said the Ministry has presented the memorandum conveying the request of the Lagos State government to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) as was done with a similar request by the Kaduna State Government in 2016.
“Due to the fact that two of the roads also connect Ogun State, the FEC could not reach an immediate decision on them because it requested the input of the other state government affected.
“The Kaduna State government requested the Federal Government to transfer two roads within Kaduna Metropolis to the state in November 2015. Due process was followed and the request of the state government was approved in August 2016, a period of 10 months.
“Federal Executive Council Memorandum are debated and commented upon by all members and in cases of roads, surveys, maps and other material have to be provided to assist members understand the location and connectivity of the roads, (in this case Four roads), in order to assist how they vote on the Memorandum.
“As far as the Presidential Lodge is concerned, it is under the management of the Presidency and not the Ministry.
“After the approval by Mr President that the Presidential Lodge can be handed over to the state government, there was a directive to the Ministry to work out the modalities for handing over.
“The Ministry has prepared a vesting instrument to convey the transfer and all that is needed is a survey plan.
“The Presidential Lodge is a high security location and officials of the Ministry also require security clearance to enter in order to do any works.
“Access to the lodge is not under the control of the Ministry,” Mr Fashola said in the statement.
The statement said, “The motive behind this public accusations must therefore be scrutinized coming barely a week after the Governor spoke with the Minister on the outstanding requests of the state for several minutes and the Minister took time to explain the situation of things to the Governor. (The first telephone conversation the Governor has had with the Minister since May 29, 2015).
“If there is any lack of co-operation it is on the part of the state government that has refused to acknowledge let alone approving the Ministry’s request for land of the National Housing Programme in Lagos.
“The Ministry is not frustrated by this lack of response and remains optimistic that a response will come from Lagos State.”
“The Ministry remains committed to serving the Government and Good People of Lagos and will treat all their requests on Merit and in accordance with necessary due process as will be done to other States,” the Minister assured.
“As far as the refund of N51 billion is concerned this is not a new item. Almost all if not all states have these claims and the Federal Ministry of Power Works and Housing has verified these claims. What is left is the process of raising the finance to pay the Debt owed to the States.
“Those who are familiar with the workings of Government will attest to the fact that it is an intricate sequence of processes, consultation and collaboration.
“Equating processes to a lack of co-operation is therefore akin to creating a storm in a tea cup,” the statement concluded.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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 valued at N415.7 million.
