By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian bourse showed no signs of slowing its bull run as it further appreciated by 1.65 per cent on Tuesday, its highest daily gain in 2026.

This was influenced by continued interest in shares in the energy, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited revealed that the energy space increased by 2.97 per cent, the industrial goods counter appreciated by 2.93 per cent, the banking index expanded by 1.83 per cent, the consumer goods sector improved by 0.16 per cent, and the insurance segment rose by 0.01 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) added 2,863.20 points to close at 176,809.42 points compared with the previous day’s 173,946.22 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N1.838 trillion to N113.497 trillion from N111.659 trillion.

The growth recorded by Customs Street yesterday was mainly due to buying pressure on some bellwether stocks like MTN, GTCO, BUA Cement, Lafarge Africa and others.

Sixty-six equities ended on the gainers’ chart during the session, while 22 equities finished on the losers’ chart, indicating a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

The quartet of Omatek, Deap Capital, eTranzact, and John Holt chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N3.19, N8.25, N20.35, and N8.80 apiece, while Vitafoam Nigeria gained 9.98 per cent to settle at N105.80.

Conversely, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.82 per cent to trade at N12.40, SAHCO declined by 9.06 per cent to N150.00, Guinea Insurance slipped by 6.67 per cent to N1.54, Consolidated Hallmark shrank by 6.64 per cent to N4.50, and Livestock Feeds depleted by 6.34 per cent to N6.65.

A total of 1.3 billion stocks valued at N50.4 billion exchanged hands in 58,965 deals on Tuesday compared with the 775.2 million stocks worth N27.9 billion transacted in 65,960 deals on Monday, implying a fall in the number of deals by 10.61 per cent, and a growth in the trading volume and value by 67.70 per cent and 80.65 per cent, respectively.

Deap Capital was the most active stock for the day with a turnover of 283.1 million units valued at N2.0 billion, Access Holdings traded 135.5 million units worth N3.2 billion, Veritas Kapital transacted 67.3 million units for N149.7 million, Tantalizers exchanged 54.7 million units valued at N289.8 million, and Zenith Bank sold 52.1 million units worth N4.0 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), formerly known as the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has fixed a collection target of N40.7 trillion for the 2026 fiscal year.

This is hinged on its last year’s record revenue collection of N28.3 trillion, which the Executive Director overseeing Government and Large Taxpayers, Mrs Amina Kurawa, said represents an increase of more than 30 per cent when compared to the N25.5 trillion recorded in 2024.

Mrs Kurawa, while speaking at a staff retreat organised by the service, explained that a bulk of the revenue collected during the period was driven by the non-oil sector.

According to her, the ambitious target for this year will be supported by stronger non-oil revenue contributions and improved collections from royalty-based income streams.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the agency, Mr Zacch Adedeji, urged staff to raise their performance in the coming year, emphasising that transparency and accountability remain central to the agency’s operations.

The organisation also projected growth in non-oil tax receipts in 2026, with Company Income Tax (CIT), Value Added Tax (VAT), and the Development Levy expected to play leading roles in boosting government revenue.

On June 26, 2025, President Bola Tinubu signed into law a historic package of tax reform legislation, marking the most comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s fiscal architecture in decades. The four Acts: The Nigeria Tax Act, Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, Nigeria Tax Administration Act, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, seek to streamline revenue administration, enhance compliance, strengthen intergovernmental coordination, and reposition the tax system to support inclusive growth.

By consolidating over a dozen outdated statutes and introducing modern mechanisms for enforcement, digitalisation, and dispute resolution, these reforms are expected to significantly reshape Nigeria’s fiscal future, which will translate to more Nigerians entering the tax base.

For instance, the Nigeria Tax Act, 2025, repeals and consolidates over a dozen federal tax laws into a single unified statute. It replaces legacy laws such as the Companies Income Tax Act (CITA), Personal Income Tax Act (PITA), Capital Gains Tax Act (CGTA), Value Added Tax Act, and the Stamp Duties Act, among others. This consolidation aims to reduce fragmentation, promote consistency, and modernise Nigeria’s tax framework for a digital and globally integrated economy.

Business Post reports that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2007, was repealed and formally established the NRS as the central authority for the assessment, collection, accounting, and enforcement of federally collectable taxes and other designated revenues.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) says it has issued the Nigerian Content Equipment Certificate (NCEC) guidance notes to speed up oil and gas industry contracting processes, weed out firms lacking technical capacity to perform, and to reduce Nigeria’s cost of oil production.

The document forms part of concerted efforts to operationalize the Presidential Directives (PDs) on Local Content Requirements, which mandates NCDMB to take further steps to eliminate intermediaries in the contracting process, lacking demonstrable capacity.

Emphasising that one of the key requirements for participating in the Nigerian oil and gas industry contracting process is the possession of NCECs issued by the NCDMB, the document states that “Unmerited possession and/or misapplication of the NCECs during tendering/bid evaluations contribute to contracting delays and admittance of unqualified intermediaries into the contracting process”.

According to NCDMB, the goal of the new document is to “tackle cases of single and multiple NCEC applications not matched to capacities on ground, submission of fake/forged documents, under declaration of personnel, non-existent offices/equipment, and many other dubious applications.”

It will also enhance timely review and approval of applications from genuine service companies as the document provides all the requirements needed to complete credible application at first attempt.

The eight NCEC categories cover Manufacturing & Related Services (MS); Fabrication & Construction (FC); Construction & Moveable Equipment (EC); Services & Support (SS); Quality Control Inspection and Testing (QS); Non-Moveable Assets (DA); Procurement & Supplies (PS); and Consultancy Services (CS).

The document advised service companies to provide details of their specific service offering with sufficient supporting evidence while applying for any of the NCEC categories via the application portal. Providing further explanation, NCDMB stressed that it does not solicit or require any payment for the application, processing, or approval of NCEC or any of its certifications.

It added that “in line with the Presidential directive on Local Content compliance, NCDMB prohibits the use of agents/middlemen/third parties in raising/submission of NCEC application on behalf of service companies. Service Companies registered on the NOGIC-JQS are liable for any claims/documentations submitted in support of application for NCEC or any other NCDMB certifications using their assigned login in details.”

The document also indicated that companies and their subsidiaries or local partners cannot apply for or obtain NCEC as separate companies using the same facilities, equipment, assets, or documentation and NCEC is not transferable for use by another company.”

Continuing, the guidance notes enjoined service companies to only apply for NCECs based on their core service area, noting that spurious applications contribute to delays in the processing of genuine applications, warning that cases determined to constitute abuse of NCEC applications shall attract applicable sanctions.

The NCEC notes also indicated that companies applying for multiple NCECs must have the capacities in terms of assets, facilities, equipment and personnel to execute the scope of activities under the target NCEC categories, adding that NCDMB will carry out facility visits to ascertain the capacities and capabilities claimed by the company in all the multiple NCEC applications.

It stated further that NCECs are not granted in anticipation of establishment of local capacities but are approved based on functional equipment/assets with dedicated resources/utilities in place to operate or perform the services, hence applicants must be ready to demonstrate operability and availability of owned assets/equipment as may be required during facility visit by NCDMB team.

The document also listed services which do not require NCECs. They include GSM service providers, commercial airlines, educational institutes, legal advisory services, public relations and events management, government agencies, and CSR projects with community vendors.

Speaking on the guidance notes, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, Mr Felix Ogbe enjoined oil and gas stakeholders to study the guidance notes while applying for NCECs, warning that submission of forged, altered, or falsified documents constitutes a criminal offence and will attract legal consequences as well as board’s administrative punishments.

He noted that NCDMB had set target timelines for the review and processing of NCEC applications, with the portal providing timestamp of all activities/interactions undertaken from the point of submission of application and all reviews by the board.