Economy
NEITI Lauds Passage of PIB by National Assembly
By Adedapo Adesanya
The newly passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) has drawn commendation from many parties with the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI), calling it bold, courageous and progressive.
NEITI gave the commendation in a statement signed by Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, its Head of Communications and Advocacy, in Abuja.
She quoted the Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, as describing the decision of the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass the bill as laudable as it considered the bill as a priority resulting in its eventual passage.
According to Mr Orji, NEITI as an agency set up to enthrone transparency and accountability in the management of extractive industries in Nigeria has demonstrated a genuine and legitimate interest in the PIB from the onset.
“NEITI’s interest is in view of the urgency and strategic importance of a new law to replace the existing archaic legislation that has aided huge revenue losses, impeded transparency, accountability and investment opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas industry,” he said
He recalled that as an anti-corruption agency in the sector, NEITI boldly alerted the nation through a special policy brief called The urgency of a new petroleum sector law that the current stagnation of investment opportunities in the oil and gas industry was as a result of the absence of a new law for the sector.
According to the agency, the drag in passing the bill led to huge revenue losses to the tune of over $200 billion.
NEITI argued that the revenue losses were a result of investments withheld or diverted by investors to other (more predictable) jurisdictions.
“The hedging by investors stems from the expectation that the old rules would no longer apply, but not knowing when the new ones would materialise.
“In addition, NEITI Reports in the sector had also disclosed that over 10.4billion and N378.7 billion were lost through under-remittances, inefficiencies, theft or absence of a clear governance framework for the oil and gas industry,” he added.
The NEITI Executive Secretary noted that he was optimistic that with the new governance law for the industry, these huge revenue losses to the nation as a result of process lapses and outright stealing would be strictly checked if not eliminated.
“The implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which Nigeria is a key signatory has over the years been frustrated by the absence of a dynamic law that suits modern business modules and trends in the ever-evolving oil and gas industry,” Mr Orji said.
He expressed the hope that the PIB when assented to by the President will provide a dynamic governance framework required to re-position the Petroleum industry to fully embrace competition, openness, accountability, professionalism and better profit returns on investments to both companies and government.
He added that NEITI and its multi-stakeholders are encouraged that the National Assembly in this particular instance threw politics aside and dealt with the PIB issue with the attention it deserves in the overall public interest.
The Executive Secretary also commended the media, the civil society, development partners, industry, stakeholders and experts who have followed the bill in the National Assembly for their valued contributions to what has been achieved so far.
“While NEITI awaits early harmonisation and the details of the contents of the bill as passed and hoping for early Presidential consideration and assent, the transparency agency looks forward to working with its stakeholders in the industry to ensure effective implementation under the global EITI framework,” he added.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that Nigeria’s tax to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio has been upwardly reviewed to 10.86 per cent from the 6 per cent earlier reported to reflect better data sources and improved estimation using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) manual.
The OECD manual is an improvement over the System of National Accounts (SNA 2008) classification of taxes.
Although the System of National Accounts conceptual framework and its definitions of the various sectors of the economy are reflected in the OECD’s classification of taxes, the OECD classifications provide the maximum disaggregation of statistical data on what is generally regarded as taxes by tax administrations.
In a disclosure, the statistics office said the country’s total tax revenue compared with its GDP was at that level in 2021, higher than 8.40 per cent in 2020, which was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the previous year, the ratio was 10.20 per cent, marginally lower than the 10.36 per cent recorded in 2018 but higher than the 9.02 per cent in 2017.
The NBS said the revised computation considered more comprehensive coverage of data at the federal, state, and local government levels and revenue items not previously included in the computations, particularly relevant revenue collected by other government agencies.
The review of the tax-to-GDP ratio was initiated by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which collaborated with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the NBS for better measurement of the ratio.
The data used were sourced from the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF), FIRS, NBS, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), the Joint Tax Board (JTB), and other relevant agencies of government that collect revenue.
By Adedapo Adesanya
VFD Group Plc has announced its intention to list its shares on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) after leaving the NASD Over-the-Counter Securities Exchange, where it has been trading its stocks for the past three years.
This development, according to analysts, is a strategic move that would allow the company to gain access to public equity markets, increase its visibility, and strengthen its financial position.
VFD Group Plc is a leading proprietary investment company with a proven track record of generating attractive returns for its investors through a variety of investment strategies.
The company has a diverse portfolio of investments in various sectors, including banking, technology, media, energy, and real estate. The group has been listed on the NASD OTC Securities Exchange since 2020.
Speaking on this big step, Mr Nonso Okpala, Group Managing Director of VFD Group, stated, “We are excited to take this next step in the evolution of our company.”
“Listing on a major stock exchange will give us access to a larger pool of investors, enhance our profile, and provide superior returns to our investors,” he added.
With the intention of listing on the NGX, the company will delist from the NASD and is subject to regulatory approvals and market conditions.
VFD Group noted that it would provide additional updates as the listing process progresses.
At the close of business on Tuesday, the securities of the organisation closed on the NASD OTC exchange at N244.88 per unit, the same rate they finished in the preceding trading session.
Business Post reports that the NASD was created to provide an avenue for public companies to transition smoothly into the country’s main stock exchange.
However, it has witnessed the movement of firms from the NGX to the NASD, especially due to the very strict regulatory requirements by the former.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange registered a 0.28 per cent drop on Tuesday, June 6, as the duo of Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc and FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc made losses.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.26 in value to trade at N69.74 per unit versus N71.00 per unit, as NDEP Plc depreciated by N1.06 to close at N245.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N246.21 per unit.
The duo suppressed the 1 Kobo price appreciation reported by Acorn Petroleum Plc, closing at 16 Kobo per share compared with the preceding session’s 15 Kobo per share.
This development weakened the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC bourse by N2.78 billion to wrap the day at N1.005 trillion compared with Monday’s N1.008 trillion, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) moved down by 2.00 points to 726.86 points from 728.86 points.
At the market yesterday, the trading value slumped by 75.0 per cent as a total of N35.7 million stocks were transacted in comparison to Tuesday’s N142.9 million worth of securities.
At the close of business, the trading volume slid by 93.9 per cent to 1.4 million units from the previous day’s 22.7 million, as the number of deals carried out during the session decreased by 43.8 per cent to 27 deals from the 48 deals executed in the previous session.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 832.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc has transacted 628.3 units worth N49.5 million, while UBN Property Plc has traded 395.9 million units valued at N336.6 million.
On its part, VFD Group Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 11.0 million units worth N2.5 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc has exchanged 832.1 million units worth N1.3 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc has sold 17.5 million units for N1.2 billion.
