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 Adedapo Adesanya
NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange remained in the negative territory after it further depreciated by 0.64 per cent on Friday, July 24, despite recording four price gainers.
The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 27.4 points at the close of business to settle at 4,294.75 points versus the previous day’s 4,383.48 points, while the market capitalisation gave up N16.49 billion to end at N2.577 trillion, in contrast to the N2.594 trillion it ended a day earlier.
The bourse was down during the session amid heavy sell-offs, with the volume of transactions skyrocketing by 693.9 per cent to 2.99 million units from Thursday’s 377,635 units.
Equally, the value of trades went up by 71.6 per cent to N69.4 million from N40.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 41.0 per cent to 55 deals from the preceding day’s 39 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.6 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
The market ended the session with four price gainers and two price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which lost N7.44 to trade at N136.19 per share compared with the previous day’s N143.63 per share, and CSCS Plc, which declined by N1.64 to N93.63 per unit from N95.27 per unit.
But MRS Oil gained N13.50 to sell at N148.50 per share versus N135.00 per share, Afriland Properties Plc advanced by 56 Kobo to N17.41 per unit from N16.85 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 18 Kobo to N1.93 per share from N1.75 per share, and Food Concepts Plc climbed by 1 Kobo to N2.50 per unit from N2.49 per unit.
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock exchange succumbed to profit-taking on Friday, losing 0.19 per cent when the closing gong was hit at 4 pm.
Shares in the banking and energy sectors influenced the decline suffered by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited during the session, as they respectively closed lower by 0.40 per cent and 0.04 per cent.
The industrial goods index was flat yesterday, while the insurance counter gained 0.68 per cent and the consumer goods space chalked up 0.25 per cent. The gains by these two segments could not keep Customs Street in the green territory at the close of business.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 474.00 points to 247,357.40 points from 247,831.40 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N306 billion to N159.588 trillion from N159.894 trillion.
Presco dropped 10.00 per cent during the trading day to close at N2,070.00, Thomas Wyatt crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N3.63, Trans-Nationwide Express plunged by 8.44 per cent to N2.82, Royal Exchange slipped by 7.86 per cent to N1.29, and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shrank by 7.32 per cent to N3.80.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing improved by 9.48 per cent to N6.35, Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.09 per cent to N6.00, RT Briscoe jumped by 8.61 per cent to N13.25, Honeywell Flour expanded by 7.38 per cent to N17.45, and Africa Prudential increased by 6.98 per cent to N13.80.
Despite the poor performance, the local bourse recorded a positive market breadth index after finishing with 35 price gainers and 25 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.
It was a relatively quiet market on Friday, as the activity level dropped, with the trading volume down by 27.72 per cent to 565.5 million units from 782.4 million units, and the trading value contracted by 46.89 per cent to N29.9 billion from N56.3 billion, while the number of deals executed by investors soared by 16.03 per cent to 53,688 deals from 46,273 deals.
Access Holdings was the busiest stock for the session, with a turnover of 128.0 million units sold for N3.8 billion, First Holdco transacted 35.4 million units worth N4.3 billion, Chams exchanged 34.8 million units valued at N154.3 million, Zenith Bank traded 30.4 million units for N3.9 billion, and UBA sold 30.4 million units worth N1.5 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marked a whole week of appreciation against the United States Dollar on Friday, July 24, further gaining N5.67 or 0.41 per cent to close at N1,362.09/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) compared with N1,367.76/$1 it ended on Thursday.
Equally, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market yesterday by N10.83 to trade at N1,813.62/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,824.45/£1, and improved against the Euro by N7.68 to settle at N1,549.10/€1, in contrast to the N1,556.78/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
However, at the parallel market and GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency remained unchanged against the greenback during the session at N1,400/$1 and N1,379/$1, respectively.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) buffer has been strengthened with sustained foreign portfolio inflows and robust foreign reserves, which stand above $52 billion.
The apex bank’s policy signals that the Naira will be stronger in the near term, with Nigeria clearing hurdles with FX reforms and settlement of all backlogs.
However, some traders expect that pressure may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers as they make Dollar purchases to build inventories.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC), in the digital currency landscape, trimmed recent gains as it fell by 2.3 per cent to $63,787.73.
The weak action in the AI momentum trade is feeding through to crypto as well.
Further, Cardano (ADA) dropped 3.7 per cent to close at $0.1615, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.8 per cent to $73.71, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.3 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 1.9 per cent to $1,851.58, Dogecoin (DOGE) retreated by 0.8 per cent to $0.0694, Binance Coin (BNB) contracted by 0.7 per cent to $564.18, and TRON (TRX) lost 0.5 per cent to trade at $0.3292, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
