Economy
Panel Submits Report on Minimum Wage
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The panel set up by the Federal Government to look into the issue of minimum wage in the country has submitted its report.
Chairman of the Technical Committee on Minimum Wage and Palliatives, Mr Chris Ngige, who doubles as the Minister of Labour and Employment, stated that his team came up with an all-encompassing recommendations in the areas of salaries, allowances, promotions and pensions both at the state and federal levels; affordable housing and transport to help out suffering workers of Nigeria.
While presenting the report to the main Committee on Minimum Wage and Palliatives headed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir David Lawal, the Minister said the welfare of Nigerian workers was paramount to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
He noted that the minimum wage was last reviewed in 2010 and signed into law in 2011 under the previous administration of President Jonathan, adding that the current exercise was in compliance to a five –year constitutional provision on minimum wage review.
Mr Ngige said further that the submissions of his committee were in two volumes comprising the Minimum Wage and the Palliatives.
“We have no problem in tackling the issue of the minimum wage. We recommended a 29-man Minimum Wage Committee to be chaired by a reputable Nigerian, who will be neutral and non-partisan, with labour and civil service experience so that the person would be on a familiar turf,” the Minister recommended in his report.
He also said there would be a secretary with the secretariat of the committee to be domiciled at the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission.
Eight persons are expected to represent each of the following; the Federal Government, the organized labour, organized private sector and three members representing the state government to be drawn from the Governors Forum, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Governors Forum and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Governors Forum.
On palliatives, the Minister said the committee identified dwindling economic fortunes of the Federal Government as the major problem having taken submissions from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Budget and Planning as well as the Ministry of Finance.
“We also looked at the mass transit scheme. And in housing, we recommended that government through its ministries and agencies should give more support for mass housing for civil servants by invigorating the Federal Mortgage Bank, as well as assisting the housing schemes being undertaken by the labour unions and further support workers to venture into agriculture,” Mr Ngige said.
In his remark, the SFG thanked the technical committee especially the organized labour for their cooperation and input into the report and restated the commitment of the Federal Government to study and take it to fruition.
“We have to work hard and diligently too, to conclude our report and make a submission to government because I know that this government is favourably disposed to the improved welfare of Nigerians as a whole.
“We should take the opportunity of this disposition to conclude our report and send it to the President for consideration,” he said.
In May 2016, the Federal Government effected an upward review of the pump price of premium motor spirit to between N143 to N145 and on May 17, set up a committee comprising labour and government to seek out palliatives to cushion the effects of the pump price increase as well as look into the review of the minimum wage which is a constitutional matter.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited almost succumbed to profit-taking on Thursday, but for Seplat, which pulled its string to salvage the situation.
Seplat triggered a buying interest in its shares after informing the investing public of its intention to release its full-year results for 2025 on February 26, 2026.
It almost singlehandedly lifted the energy index by 4.64 per cent yesterday. This sector was the only one of the five with green at the close of business.
The others were in red, with the insurance space down by 1.47 per cent, the industrial goods segment went down by 1.09 per cent, the banking index closed lower by 0.13 per cent, and the consumer goods sector shrank 0.04 per cent.
Analysis showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) soared on Thursday by 441.28 points to 178,625.63 points from 178,184.35 points, and the market capitalisation grew by N283 billion to N114.660 trillion from N114.377 trillion.
Business Post reports that 46 equities were in green during the session and 35 equities ended in red, implying a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
The trio of Deap Capital, RT Briscoe, and Seplat gained 10.00 per cent each to settle at N8.69, N15.84, and N8,107.00 apiece, while Zichis rose by 9.97 per cent to N9.82, with ABC Transport surging by 9.91 per cent to N7.43.
On the flip side, NAHCO lost 9.98 per cent to trade at N148.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank depressed by 9.68 per cent to N11.20, Eterna gave up 9.50 per cent to close at N30.00, May and Baker depreciated by 9.19 per cent to N40.50, and Ecobank weakened by 8.72 per cent to N45.00.
Access Holdings was the most active stock yesterday with 52.1 million units sold for N1.3 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 42.5 million units worth N3.3 billion, Tantalizers transacted 42.1 million units valued at N253.9 million, GTCO traded 40.8 million units worth N4.3 billion, and Deap Capital transacted 34.4 million units valued at N298.1 million.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm to signify the end of trading activity, investors had bought and sold 698.3 million shares worth N28.4 billion in 50,886 deals compared with 939.2 million shares valued at N34.0 billion exchanged in 61,279 deals a day earlier.
This showed that yesterday, the trading volume, value, and number of deals decreased by 25.65 per cent, 16.47 per cent, and 16.96 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated against the United States Dollar by N4.71 or 0.35 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, February 12, to N1,353.66/$1 from the N1,348.95/$1 it was traded on Wednesday.
Similarly, it weakened against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.53 to settle at N1,849.64/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,840.11/£1 and lost N8.55 against the Euro to close at N1,608.68/€1 compared with the N1,600.13/€1 it was exchanged at midweek.
Also, at the GTBank FX section, the Nigerian Naira suffered a N1 loss against the US Dollar yesterday to quote at N1,359/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s price of N1,358/$1, but closed flat in the parallel market at N1,430/$1.
The pullback witnessed by the Nigerian currency at the currency market on Thursday came as the market corrected from recent gains, with a further boost coming as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said all duly licensed Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators are permitted to purchase foreign exchange from the Nigerian FX market through any authorised dealer bank of their choice at prevailing market rates.
The move follows the apex bank confirmation in September 2025 that 82 BDC operators had been fully licensed under its revised regulatory framework, with operations commencing on November 27, 2025, as part of reforms aimed at formalising retail foreign exchange supply.
According to Mr Aminu Gwadabe, president of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), there are expectations that the CBN’s move will help the Naira-US Dollar exchange value.
He noted that BDC operators have started approaching their banks to understand the operational modalities and framework for accessing dollars.
“We expect before the close of the week a comprehensive take-off of operations,” he added.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin has mostly erased its bounce from last week’s crypto crash, returning to the $66,000 area. It tumbled by 1.9 per cent to $66,161.78 yesterday.
The sell-off in digital assets tracked a broader pullback in the tech sector, particularly in the software names with which Bitcoin has been so strongly correlated.
Solana (SOL) dropped 2.4 per cent to sell for $77.68, Ripple (XRP) dipped 0.7 per cent to $1.36, and Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.6 per cent to $1,938.96.
However, Cardano (ADA) added 1.7 per cent to trade at $0.2612, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.4 per cent to $0.0923, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $52.69, and Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.2 per cent to $610.55, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The crude oil market dropped on Thursday due to falling demand, retreating fears of renewed Middle East conflict and expected increases in supply.
Brent crude traded at $67.52 a barrel after going down by $1.88 or 2.71 per cent, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude finished at $62.84 a barrel, down $1.79 or 2.77 per cent.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) cut its demand growth outlook, a revision that landed in a market already uneasy about how quickly supply is said to be rising.
Selling accelerated after the Paris-based agency trimmed its 2026 global demand growth forecast to 850,000 barrels per day. A month ago, it was expecting 930,000 barrels per day.
The agency still sees global supply expanding by about 2.4 million barrels per day this year. The balance between supply and demand looks heavy, especially once winter disruptions unwind.
January tightened the market for a moment. Storms shut in more than 1 million barrels per day in North America. Kazakhstan, Russia, and Venezuela were dealing with outages of their own. Global supply fell by roughly 1.2 million barrels per day, but it appears that those barrels are now starting to return.
On its part, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is projecting much stronger demand growth, above 1.4 million barrels per day.
Crude oil production from the OPEC+ alliance slumped by as much as 439,000 barrels per day in January compared to December as a major supply disruption in Kazakhstan added to lower output from Iran and Venezuela, OPEC data showed in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR).
The unplanned outages and lower production could ease to some extent the fears of oversupply that have been weighing on oil prices.
On the geopolitical front, Prime Minister of Israel, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, said as he was departing the US, noting that President Donald Trump appeared to be framing a resolution to the conflict with Iran over nuclear weapons.
On Wednesday, the American President said after talks with PM Netanyahu that they had yet to reach a definitive agreement on how to move forward with Iran, but that negotiations with Tehran would continue.
Earlier this week, President Trump said on Tuesday that he was considering sending a second aircraft carrier to the Middle East if a deal is not reached with Iran. The date and venue of the next round of talks have yet to be announced.
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