Economy
NUPENG, PENGASSAN Throw Weight Behind Baru
By Dipo Olowookere
Two key unions in the petroleum industry in Nigeria; the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), have pledged unalloyed support for the transformation stride of the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru.
The two bodies, at a solidarity visit to the GMD yesterday, expressed support for Mr Baru, saying they have confidence in his leadership style.
The unions’ visit came on the heels of the recent controversies over a letter the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, forwarded to the President alleging non-adherence to due process by the Management of NNPC in some contract administration.
National President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Francis Johnson, said the unions and their members considered it appropriate to rally round the GMD and the NNPC Management to pledge their support.
Comrade Johnson said the unions’ support for the GMD was based on his ability to walk his talk since assuming office last year.
“The National body of PENGASSAN and all the NNPC in-house unions are here today to show our support for you. You have brought stability to the NNPC and we are happy today that staff morale is high.
“You were Chairman of NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee for over five years and that was what informed your appointment as GMD of NNPC.
“Today, all the bullets you are taking are on behalf of members of staff. We will continue to pray for you, God will continue to guide and shield you,” Comrade Johnson assured.
The PENGASSAN President called on Nigerians to be cautious of their comments on the controversy, adding that any wrong information was capable of discouraging investors from the oil and gas industry which is the highest foreign exchange earner.
The NNPC Group Chairman of PENGASSAN, Comrade Sale Abdullahi, who also spoke during the visit to the GMD, stated that their concern had to do with the need to protect not only the GMD but the NNPC as an institution.
He noted that Dr Baru had streamlined the processes and procedures in the Corporation leading to the full restructuring which was beginning to yield positive results.
“Today, the GMD and NNPC Management receive inputs from staff and this gesture by Dr. Baru has given members of staff a sense of belonging. Today, our inputs are being implemented and we are highly motivated,” Comrade Abdullahi stated.
Supporting these positions, the Group Chairman of NNPC NUPENG, Comrade Udofia Odudu Benjamin, said the unions would continue to pray for divine guidance for Dr Baru and the entire NNPC management.
Earlier, the Chairman of NNPC Corporate Headquarters Chapter of PENGASSAN, Comrade Mathew Duru, reiterated the continued support of the unions for the Dr Baru-led management.
“We just want to tell the GMD from the bottom of our hearts that we are with him and the Top Management; that we are behind the GMD who has done very well in turning the fortunes of the corporation around,” the union leader stated.
He said since Dr Baru assumed office, he had succeeded in clearing the air of uncertainty that prevailed in the corporation because of visionless reforms that left NNPC on the brink of collapse.
He also said the GMD succeeded in resolving the NNPC Pension challenge that had led to disenchantment among staff.
“We are with you. We want to let you know that you are not an orphan”, Mr Matthew emphasized.
Responding, Dr Baru dismissed the allegations of award of contracts without regard to due process as unfounded and unfortunate.
He explained that as a former chairman of the NNPC Anti-Corruption Committee, he would be the last person to breach the procurement process by disregarding extant laws and rules.
The GMD said both the NNPC Act and Public Procurement Act vested procurement powers on the NNPC Tenders Board, the President and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) depending on the cost threshold, stressing that the NNPC Board had no role whatsoever in the process.
“I know for those of you who are following what we are doing here, you know that there’s no money lost and no process has been breached. Our contracting process is perfect and we will continue to follow the process. The NNPC Board has no role, I repeat, has no role as far as the contracting process is concerned,” Dr Baru emphasized, adding that the NNPC Tenders Board was made up of the GMD as Chairman and the Group Executive Directors as members.
On the crude term contract and the DSDP agreements, he explained: “These are not contract as such, they are essentially pre-qualification of off-takers of crude oil and in the case of DSDP, of those that will take crude and give us products in return. So there is no value to them. But humongous figures have been put forward mainly to incite the public, it is most unfortunate”.
On the allegation of lop-sided promotions, the GMD asked the union leaders if their members felt disenchanted to which the unionists chorused a resounding “no”.
He urged the union leaders to enlighten their members on the facts and encourage them to go about their duties without distraction.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Friday, closing higher by 0.10 per cent after investor sentiment turned bullish.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 29 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities.
Linkage Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.43, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N8.41, Mutual Benefits jumped by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, UBA soared by 5.75 per cent to N36.80, and Oando grew by 5.59 per cent to N51.00.
Conversely, Red Star Express lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N4.82, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N3.02, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.43 per cent to N4.80, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.39 per cent to N2.22, and Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.35 per cent to N9.70.
Customs Street grew yesterday as a result of buying interest in banking equities, which dominated the activity chart, according to data from the bourse.
Fidelity Bank transacted 62.3 million shares for N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 38.3 million equities worth N843.7 million, Tantalizers sold 32.0 million stocks valued at N99.2 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 31.4 million shares worth N38.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.7 million equities valued at N1.1 billion.
At the close of trades, a total of 397.2 million stocks worth N14.2 billion exchanged hands in 10,099 deals compared with the 310.5 million stocks valued at N6.3 billion traded in 10,182 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 0.82 per cent, and the growth in the trading volume and value by 27.92 per cent and 125.40 per cent, respectively.
The industrial goods and commodity sectors remained unchanged during the session, the insurance and consumer goods indices tumbled by 0.49 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece, while the energy and banking counters went up by 0.50 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.
The bargain-hunting activities of the market participants lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday by 104.19 points to 104,962.96 points from 104,858.77 points and the market capitalisation increased by N66 billion to N65.820 trillion from N65.754 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The last trading session this week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note with a 0.44 per cent decline on Friday, March 21.
The market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange went down by N8.67 billion to N1.939 trillion from N1.948 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the session at 3,358.61 points after dropping 15.01 points from the preceding day’s 3,373.62 points.
Trading data showed an increase of 50.7 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 304,188 units from the 201,873 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions surged by 1,214.8 per cent to N10.2 million from N776,509.51, and the number of deals rose by 88.2 per cent to 32 deals from 17 deals.
Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.84 to trade at N37.17 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N39.01 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N1.01 to sell at N22.84 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N213.85 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc declined by 2 Kobo to close the day at N19.50 per share versus the previous session’s N19.52 per share.
At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units valued at N23.7 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.
Similarly, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.2 million units valued at N511.8 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 21 by N2.72 or 0.18 per cent to settle at N1,537.05/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.33/1$.
In the same official FX market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira and the Pound Sterling and the Euro remained unchanged at N1,972.89/£1 and N1,657.81/€1, respectively.
At the parallel market segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the trading session by N5 to trade at N1,590/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,585/$1.
The pressure on the market continued as the Dollar strengthened in the international market, making currencies like the Naira weaker.
The continuous downward trend of the Naira has raised concerns about the effectiveness of recent injections into the market even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) channeled more than $55 million into the banks during the week.
In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens as prices inversed with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings.
On the regulatory front, the US government is moving towards a market structure bill that has been touted as historic.
Solana (SOL) appreciated by 1.2 per cent to sell at $129.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.1692, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.9 per cent to $1,988.34, and Ripple (XRP) added 0.8 per cent to close at $2.40.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $84,293.76, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.4 per cent to $631.94, and Cardano jumped by 0.3 per cent to end at $0.7134.
On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to $91.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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