Economy
N4.9trn Unsubstantiated Balances Unaccounted in 2019—Auditor-General
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Auditor-General of the Federation (AuGF), Mr Adolphus Aghughu, has disclosed that the sum of N4.9 trillion cannot be accounted for in the audited accounts of federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in 2019.
He said this followed the audit carried out by the office on the consolidated financial statement for the fiscal year.
Mr Aghughu made the disclosure when submitting the 2019 audit report to the Clerk of the National Assembly (CNA), Mr Ojo Amos Olatunde, on Wednesday.
The Auditor-General revealed that “from the audit carried out on the 2019 Federal Government Consolidated Financial Statement, unsubstantiated balances amounting to N4.973 trillion were observed.”
“The N4.973 trillion unsubstantiated balances are above the materiality level of N89.34 billion set for the audit,” he further explained.
In auditing, materiality means not just a quantified amount, but the effect that amount would have in various contexts and it is left to the auditor to decide what the level of materiality will be, taking into account, the entirety of the financial statements to be audited.
According to the AuGF, auditing of consolidated financial statements of the federal government on yearly basis would be expeditiously carried out once made available to his office.
He said: “You will recall that on March 25th this year, Audit of Consolidated Financial Statement of the federal government for 2018 was submitted to this office for the required investigation of queries raised in it by the National Assembly. Just five months after, we are here again to make submission of the 2019 Audit Report”.
Speaking further, Mr Aghughu lamented that his office was not performing optimally due to myriad factors crippling its operations and invariably giving room for all forms of financial infractions across the various MDAs.
He explained that, “One of such problems is the absence of Federal Audit Service Law, which is a big challenge as far as effective and efficient public sector auditing is concerned. This is a law that is needed as the basis of fiscal sustainability.
“Absence of it at the federal level is very worrisome going by the fact that some of the states of the federation have the required law in place.”
He also lamented that his office had been incapacitated in so many ways from functioning effectively and efficiently as far as the detection of mismanagement of public funds by the various MDAs was concerned.
“Another problem incapacitating optimal functionality of our mandate as far as thorough and appropriate auditing of financial statements of the MDAs are concerned is gross underfunding, which is telling much on our efficiency.
“For example, the office is understaffed but there is no money for recruitment. Imagine many of our state offices having just two or three staff. Auditing is done by a team not by an individual.
“Accommodation is also part of the problem as our staff in Lagos are about to be evicted from their office due to litigations. These are aside from the problem of insecurity seriously affecting our scope of coverage,” he added.
In his remarks, after receiving the audit report, Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Mr Bala Yabani, who stood in for the Clerk, said the report would be submitted to the Clerk for onward submission to both the President of the Senate, Mr Ahmad Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, for the required legislative consideration.
According to him, all the complaints made by the AuGF would be tabled before the leadership of the parliament for required actions and solutions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market appreciated by more than $1 per on Tuesday as new US sanctions against Iran sparked a recovery after previous selloffs.
During the trading day, Brent crude rose by $1.18 or 1.8 per cent to $67.44 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained $1.23 or 2 per cent to close at $64.32 per barrel.
Brent and WTI fell more than 2 per cent on Monday as the US and Iran signalled progress in talks over the latter’s nuclear programme while President Donald Trump criticised the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
However, the US issued fresh sanctions targeting an Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil shipping magnate and his corporate network.
The Treasury Department said that the new sanctions targets Iranian liquefied petroleum gas magnate Seyed Asadoollah Emamjomeh and his corporate network, amid ongoing talks with Tehran on its nuclear programme.
Mr Emamjomeh’s network is responsible for shipping hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian LPG and crude oil to foreign markets, the US Treasury said in a statement.
Both products are a major source of revenue for Iran, helping to fund its nuclear and advanced conventional weapons programs as well as regional proxy groups including Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthis and the Palestinian Hamas group.
Market analysts noted that despite progress in its talks with the US, failure to reach a deal could weigh heavily on Iran’s oil exports amid tightening US sanctions.
Iran and the US agreed on Saturday to begin drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
Still on its geopolitical issues, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said that he believes trade tensions between the US and China will de-escalate.
The US beef with China and tariffs on virtually all US trading partners, have weighed heavily on oil prices in recent weeks as investors expressed concerns of a potential global economic slowdown that would severely erode oil demand.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday slashed its economic outlook for this year to 2.8 per cent from 3.3 per cent.
Also, global finance chiefs swarmed Washington seeking deals with President Trump’s team to lower tariffs.
On the supply front, US crude oil inventories fell by nearly 4.6 million barrels last week, market sources said on Tuesday citing American Petroleum Institute (API) data.
Official data from the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) on stockpiles is due later on Wednesday.
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading day after the 2025 Easter break ended on a positive note on Tuesday with a 0.49 per cent rise, influenced by the demand for beer stocks, which put the bears in check for the bulls to take control of the bourse.
During the session, the energy sector was down by 0.11 per cent due to profit-taking, but the other sectors closed higher, leaving Customs Street in green territory.
Data indicated that the consumer goods space was up by 2.57 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 0.71 per cent, and the industrial goods index improved by 0.09 per cent, while the commodity industry was flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 511.17 points to settle at 104,744.98 points compared with last Thursday’s 104,233.81 points and the market capitalisation increased by N322 billion to N65.821 trillion from N65.499 trillion.
International Breweries topped the gainers’ chart after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to sell for N6.05, Nigerian Breweries jumped by 9.94 per cent to N39.80, The Initiates surged by 9.89 per cent to N5.00, Japaul grew by 9.79 per cent to N2.13, and Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 9.65 per cent to N2.84.
Conversely, International Energy Insurance led the losers’ group after it gave up 9.46 per cent to quote at N1.34, Secure Electronic Technology declined by 8.93 per cent to 51 Kobo, University Press depreciated by 8.82 per cent to N3.10, FTN Cocoa lost 7.40 per cent to trade at N1.75, and Coronation Insurance slumped by 5.50 per cent to N2.06.
Business Post reports that a total of 41 equities appreciated yesterday, while 20 equities depreciated, implying a strong investor sentiment and positive market breadth index.
The most traded stock for the session was Access Holdings with 38.6 million units sold for N875.2 million, Fidelity Bank traded 34.6 million units valued at N651.9 million, Chams transacted 29.7 million units worth N63.6 million, Universal Insurance exchanged 27.8 million units valued at N14.1 million, and Zenith Bank traded 23.7 million units worth N1.1 billion.
The market participants bought and sold 353.3 million shares for N7.2 billion in 13,734 deals on Tuesday versus the 376.3 million shares valued at N7.9 billion traded in 11,204 deals in the preceding session, indicating a 22.58 per cent growth in the number of deals and a decline in the trading volume and value by 6.11 per cent and 8.86 per cent, respectively.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
An Abuja-based Internet Service Provider (ISP), Legend Internet Plc, will list its shares on the main board of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.
The listing is expected to take place on Thursday, April 24, 2025, Business Post has gathered.
To mark this, the NGX is organisation an event tagged Facts Behind the Listing for the management of the organisation to inform capital market stakeholders of its numbers and operations.
The executive management team and its issuing house, Finmal Finance Services Limited, will share valuable insights into the company’s strategic vision, growth trajectory, and the anticipated impact of this listing on its operations and market positioning.
Before this, the team will be honoured with a closing gong ceremony, an event to close trading activities at the stock exchange for the trading session.
Legend Internet is an exclusive experience of premium multimedia services built on the foundation of an ultra high speed fibre optic internet connection.
The company delivers the best in Internet, payments, voice, mail and home management, all working together to give customers instant access to the things that matter most – anywhere, anytime.
It was learned that Legend Internet is bringing to the stock exchange a total of 2 billion ordinary shares of 50 Kobo at a unit price of N5.64.
The equities of the firm will increase the market capitalisation of the bourse by N11.3 billion.
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