Economy
Lagos Assembly Orders Arrest of Touts Harassing Logistics Operators
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Lagos State House of Assembly has directed the Commissioner of Police, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, to ensure the arrest of all local council officials and touts harassing logistics operators in the state.
This decision was reached at the plenary on Monday when the lawmaker representing Kosofe 1 at the state parliament, Mr Ganiu Sanni Okanlawon, moved a motion, calling on the Lagos State Government to direct the Commissioner for Transportation and other relevant agencies to ensure that operators of courier services and logistics are not harassed by the local governments.
He argued that the laws and restriction orders on the ban of motorcycles in some areas in the state exempted the movement of motorcycles of courier and logistics services.
While contributing to the motion, another lawmaker, Mr Bisi Yusuff, frowned at the use of local government task force to deal with operators of courier services, saying it was an embarrassment to the state government, saying some operators took some local governments to the court on the issue in the past and won.
On his part, the Leader of the House, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, said that courier and logistics services help people in different areas to interact with their customers, adding that the operation had a way of boosting the economy of the state and empowering the people through employment.
“The motion did not say they should not be regulated. A courier service should not pay from one local government to the other or else it would defeat the purpose of their business.
“The revenue should be centralized among the local governments. The House once passed a law to regulate the collection of fees by local governments. The law stated that whoever is collecting levies for the local governments must be identified,” he suggested.
In his contribution, Mr Lukman Olumoh accused some of the local government officials of issuing out fake documents, suggesting that consultants should be employed for such activities, while Mr Fatai Mojeed stated that some of the riders of the bikes are graduates who have no other jobs and that there have been many cries concerning the harassment of courier and logistics operators by local government officials.
On his part, Mr Abiodun Tobun lamented that some of the courier services organisations do not live up to expectations, saying, “Some local governments use consultants and we cannot stop them because of their excesses. We must not throw the local governments out totally as they have a role to play as an arm of government.”
Also speaking, Mr Lanre Afinni suggested that the collection of revenue for the local governments could be centralized and shared among them, adding that multiple taxations affect the profit of courier services companies.
In his view, Mr Moshood Oshun said that most of the local governments and LCDAs have traffic sections and that they charge exorbitant fines, urging that the traffic sections of these councils be looked into because they sometimes go to the extreme of arresting and harassing people.
For Mr Setonji David, courier operators play major roles in the state but that the local governments do not see it from this angle.
“Most of the receipts issued by the local governments are fake. We must ensure that the local governments limit themselves to what they ought to do.
“We have to find a way to stop the local governments from bothering the courier services since they are recognized by law. They also help transportation in the state as they help in distributing items,” he said.
On the part of the Speaker of the House, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, he emphasised that local government councils and LCDAs do not have the power to tax logistics and courier services, stressing that they are only limited to registration of bicycles as dictated by the constitution of the country.
Mr Obasa said it was lamentable, especially as such acts affect the ease of doing business “and it is very important that we do something about it.”
“We have to make them understand that going out to disturb well-planned and organized businesses that stand to create employment for our youth especially with the rate at which students graduate with nothing much to do is not good at all.
“The services of courier operators reduce poverty in the state and how much do they even charge?
“Local governments have nothing to do with the registration of motorcycles and tricycles. Operators of courier and logistics services should not be made to pay in all the local governments considering what they charge for their services,” he added.
At the end of the debate, the House resolved that local government councils should be aware of their limitations in this regard as well as stop using alleged touts and street urchins to collect revenues in other areas where they are legally empowered.
By Adedapo Adesanya
About 143 companies that successfully passed the technical and prequalification stages of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission’s (NUPRC) 2025 Licensing Round will, today, compete for 50 oil and gas blocks at the commercial bid conference in Abuja, the final stage in the allocation process for the assets.
The commission said only the prequalified companies have been invited to attend the event, which will hold at the Conference Centre of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, stressing that participation is strictly by invitation.
The commercial bid conference will determine the successful bidders for oil and gas assets located across Nigeria’s producing and frontier basins.
The 50 blocks comprise 16 onshore blocks and 18 shallow water blocks in the Niger Delta, one deep offshore block, three onshore blocks in the Benin Basin, four in the Anambra Basin, four in the Chad Basin, and four in the Benue Trough.
According to the commission, the winning bids will be determined through a transparent evaluation process based on clearly defined commercial parameters. These include the signature bonus offered by bidders, the proposed work programme commitment and the level of performance security provided. The final selection will be based on a weighted technical and commercial score.
The licensing round is being conducted under the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, which requires a transparent and competitive process for the award of petroleum assets.
NUPRC had announced the commencement of the 2025 Licensing Round on November 11, 2025, before opening the online bid portal on December 1, 2025, to enable interested companies to register and participate in the exercise.
To ensure prospective investors fully understood the requirements, the commission organised a pre-bid conference on January 14, 2026, at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos. The event provided detailed explanations on the licensing guidelines and bidding procedures to registered participants and other stakeholders.
Registration and submission of prequalification documents closed on February 27, 2026, while the prequalification evaluation was completed on March 16, 2026.
NUPRC disclosed that 286 companies initially submitted applications for prequalification.
Following the evaluation process, 196 companies were cleared to participate in the technical and commercial bid stages.
The prequalified 143 companies eventually submitted a total of 200 bids for the available oil and gas blocks. These companies are now set to compete at the commercial bid conference, where the financial offers will be opened and evaluated to determine the eventual winners.
The licensing round is expected to attract fresh investment into Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector, boost exploration activities across both producing and frontier basins, increase crude oil and gas reserves, and support the country’s drive to grow production and government revenue.
It also underscores the regulator’s commitment to implementing a transparent, competitive and investor-friendly licensing regime under the Petroleum Industry Act.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has retained all key monetary policy parameters following the conclusion of its two-day meeting on July 21, 2026, on Tuesday, maintaining its tight monetary policy stance to curb inflation and support macroeconomic stability.
According to the Governor of the apex bank, Mr Yemi Cardoso, who chaired the committee, the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), which serves as the benchmark interest rate, remains at 26.50 per cent. The MPC also retained the asymmetric corridor around the MPR at +50 basis points and -450 basis points.
In addition, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for commercial banks was left unchanged at 45.00 per cent, while the CRR for merchant banks remains at 16.00 per cent. The committee also retained the CRR on non-Treasury Single Account (Non-TSA) public sector deposits at 75.00 per cent, with the liquidity ratio at 30.00 per cent.
The decision reflects the apex bank’s continued commitment to containing inflationary pressures through a restrictive monetary policy while safeguarding the resilience of Nigeria’s financial system amid ongoing macroeconomic adjustments.
By keeping all policy tools unchanged, the MPC signalled its intention to continue managing excess liquidity in the banking sector and maintain stability in financial markets.
The move is also expected to provide greater policy certainty for investors and businesses monitoring the country’s monetary policy direction.
The latest decision also means borrowing costs are likely to remain elevated in the near term as the central bank continues to prioritise price stability over monetary easing.
Analysts had expected the CBN committee to retain the rate after Nigeria’s headline inflation came in at 15.91 per cent as of June 2026, marking a slight decline from 15.93 per cent in May.
However, even as overall price growth has moderated significantly compared to previous periods, food inflation remains a persistent challenge, accelerating to 17.52 per cent in June.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Shareholders of Unilever Nigeria Plc will receive an interim dividend of N2 per share, the board of the organisation has said.
The cash reward was announced after the company released its financial statements for the first half of the year ended June 30, 2026.
The payment will be made on Friday, August 14, 2026, only to investors whose names appear on the Register of Members at the close of business on Friday, July 31, 2026.
A quick look at the financial performance of the firm in the first six months of this year showed that revenue improved by 22.22 per cent to N119.9 billion from the N98.1 billion achieved in the corresponding period of last year.
A rise in earnings also resulted in a 16.43 per cent surge in cost of sales, though this did not shrink the gross profit, which rose by 29.93 per cent to N54.7 billion from N42.1 billion. The operating profit stood at N24.4 billion in the period under review, higher than N18.8 billion in the same period of 2025, while the net finance income contracted by 9.43 per cent to N4.8 billion from N5.3 billion due to elevated borrowing costs.
Business Post reports that despite higher taxes paid in the first six months of 2026, the net profit grew by 8.33 per cent to N15.6 billion from N14.4 billion, enabling the board to pass on value to shareholders for their faith in the firm.
