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National Assembly Blackmailing Minister of Finance to Siphon Funds—Report

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By Dipo Olowookere

A report by Premium Times has disclosed that the leadership of the National Assembly is using a ‘secret’ it has about the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, to get her approve funds for the second arm of government.

According to the report, some Senators provided insights into why Mrs Adeosun has remained exceptionally generous in funnelling billions of Naira to parliament, sometimes even against the wishes of her bosses at the presidency.

The newspaper had in a series of reports revealed how the Minister repeatedly enriched lawmakers, including by funding unapproved projects and making unappropriated cash payments to the legislative arm of government.

In April, it reported details of the controversial release of N10 billion to the National Assembly by Mrs Adeosun.

The lawmaking arm then wasted the money on exotic cars and dubious contracts. Some of the companies to which the contracts were awarded were not even registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

In June, Premium Times reported how the Minister spent about N12 billion to finance projects the presidency wanted removed from the 2017 budget.

The Minister’s action generated uproar nationwide, especially among civil society activists who wondered the motive of such curious financial relationship with federal lawmakers reputed for being self-centred, greedy and corrupt.

Two months of asking questions is beginning to provide some insights into the real reason the Minister has maintained such cosy relationship with the lawmakers.

At least five senators who spoke to the newspaper said the abnormal actions of the Minister were activated by the top echelon of the legislature.

“We have never had a Finance Minister so generous to the National Assembly,” one senator said. “But it is not for nothing. The truth is we were able to dig up something unsavoury about her and our leaders are holding her by the jugular

One ranking Senator simply said, “The Minister is being gagged by our people”.

He however said he was not sure what his colleagues were using to “gag” the Minister.

Yet another Senator said, “What I am aware of is some of our people said they have an ammunition they can use to silence her. That has given way for the leadership (of the National Assembly) to intimidate her, knowing that they could get her out of her job if she doesn’t cooperate.”

Another ranking Senator, who also asked not to be named, said Mrs Adeosun was indeed being blackmailed by lawmakers.

“Not everything is out in the public because every single one of us are beneficiaries of this situation,” he said. “But I can tell you the woman is being harassed and blackmailed into doing many things she would ordinarily not so. She is helpless in the hands of our people.”

The Minister is said to be afraid of being exposed or investigated by the legislative body, which may lead to her losing her position.

Premium Times learnt that the real “ammunition” is known only by a few high profile leaders of the National Assembly who have turned it into what an official called “a secret tool for extortion.”

But when contacted, Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, said the Finance Minister was not being blackmailed in any way.

“There is nothing like that and I am very sure of that,” Mr Yusuph Olaniyonu, spokesman to Mr Saraki, informed Premium Times. “If there is anything like that, I would know. Oga (boss) will hint or she will tell me. There is absolutely nothing like that. It is not true.”

Mr Olaniyonu described Mrs Adeosun as the “most cooperating minister” who answers lawmakers’ summons at all times. But he insisted that her conduct was not because of fear of any blackmail.

Spokesperson to Mrs Adeosun, Mr Oluyinka Akintunde, also denied his boss was being blackmailed by lawmakers.

“I wish to state that there is no such thing,” Mr Akintunde said. “The Honourable Minister has always operated within the ambit of the law in the discharge of her responsibilities.”

However, the newspaper said it was working hard to uncover what the real “ammunition” being used against the Minister is, promising to provide updates as information becomes available.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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Economy

Naira Falls to N1,500/$1 at Official Market, Appreciates to N1,570/$1 at Black Market

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paying remittances in Naira

By Adedapo Adesanya

For the fourth consecutive trading session, the value of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday by 0.06 per cent or N89 Kobo to trade at N1,500.65/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,499.76/$1.

However, the Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N8.19 to sell for N1,859.98/£1 compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N1,868.17/£1, but against the Euro, the local currency depreciated by N1.77 to settle at N1,555.18/€1, in contrast to midweek’s value of nN1,553.41/€1.

At the black market, the local currency gained N20 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,570/$1 versus the N1,590/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was majorly red on Thursday due to profit-taking as the US Securities and Exchange Commission took the first step toward allowing new crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the price of assets like Litecoin and Solana, as well as new ways of redeeming funds from existing crypto ETFs.

Meanwhile, companies took another step toward launching Ripple (XRP) ETFs in a further sign of the new crypto-friendlier administration at the agency.

Data indicated that Cardano (ADA) went down by 5.1 per cent to trade at $0.7169, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.8 per cent to finish at $192.63, and Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to sell at $0.2509.

In addition, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 4.3 per cent to close at $2,713.47, Ripple (XRP) weakened by 3.6 per cent to end at $2.36, Litecoin (LTC) retreated by 1.9 per cent to close at $103.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) dipped by 0.5 per cent to sell for $97,344.70.

However, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.4 per cent to trade at $579.91, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

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Economy

Buying Pressure Buoys NGX All-Share Index by 0.10%

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All-Share Index NGX

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed continued buying interest from offshore and domestic investors on Thursday, strengthening the market further by 0.10 per cent at the close of transactions.

Data revealed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 105.26 points yesterday to 105,430.15 points from the preceding day’s 105,324.89 points, and the market capitalisation expanded by N65 billion to close at N65.287 trillion compared with the previous session’s N65.222 trillion.

Business Post observed that the market participants showed interest in equities across the key sectors of the exchange because of their prospects to yield better value later.

The insurance counter gained 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.18 per cent, the energy index improved by 0.13 per cent, the banking space jumped by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods industry grew by 0.04 per cent.

Eterna chalked up 9.88 per cent to trade at N33.35, Cadbury Nigeria also gained 9.88 per cent to finish at N26.70, Fidson increased its value by 9.77 per cent to N19.10, UPDC rose by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, and Deap Capital soared by 9.38 per cent to N1.05.

On the flip side, Tripple G lost 9.72 per cent to end at N2.23, Golden Breweries receded by 8.91 per cent to N7.87, Veritas Kapital slumped by 7.81 per cent to N1.18, Caverton dipped by 5.53 per cent to N2.05, and Regency Alliance slipped by 4.05 per cent to 71 Kobo.

When the bourse closed for the session, there were 33 price advancers and 23 price decliners, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Yesterday, investors bought and sold 537.2 million shares valued at N23.0 billion in 15,450 deals versus the 1.1 billion shares worth N28.8 billion traded in 15,080 deals on Wednesday, representing a rise in the number of deals by 2.45 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 49.19 per cent and 20.14 per cent, respectively.

Access Holdings led the activity log with 61.6 million stocks valued at N1.7 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 50.2 million equities for N296.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.5 million shares worth N2.0 billion, FBN Holdings sold 38.8 million equities valued at N1.3 billion, and UPDC transacted 23.6 million stocks worth N54.4 million.

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Economy

Crude Oil Market Dips as Trump Reiterates US Plans to Boost Production

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crude oil market

By Adedapo Adesanya

The crude oil market continued its downward movement on Thursday after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, repeated a pledge to raise his country’s oil production.

Consequently, the price of Brent crude futures fell by 32 cents or 0.4 per cent to $74.29 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined by 42 cents or 0.6 per cent to $70.61 per barrel.

President Trump repeated a pledge to boost US production in a bid to lower oil prices and ease consumer inflation. The US is already the biggest crude producer in the world.

This move unnerved traders a day after the country reported a much bigger-than-anticipated jump in crude stockpiles.

Market analysts have questioned whether US oil producers will be willing to pump more barrels in the current market especially with Trump’s tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports looming.

US government data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed domestic crude stockpiles rose by 8.7 million barrels last week on Wednesday.

Prices also drew support from new US sanctions against individuals and entities for facilitating shipments of Iranian oil to China.

This is as President Trump reimposed a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, but also said he was open to a deal with the oil producing country.

The US said the tankers onboarded Iranian crude from storage in China as part of a scheme involving Iran’s military, which stands to profit from the sale of the oil.

The sanctions block access of the individuals and entities to any of their assets in the US and prohibit US foreign assistance.

China is also not sitting on its oars, it responded to the US blanket tariff of 10 per cent on all Chinese imports with several measured retaliatory tariffs, including a 15 per cent levy on LNG and 10 per cent on crude oil imports from the US.

US crude exports could slide to 3.6 million barrels per day this year, especially if the Trump Administration enacts the tariffs on Mexico and Canada – currently on pause until March 4.

Amid these developments, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco has sharply raised prices for buyers in Asia.

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