Economy
PETROAN Begs FG to Establish Modular Refineries to Tackle Soot
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) has charged the federal government to ensure massive establishment of modular refineries across the country in order to put operators of illegal refineries out of business.
Chairman of PETROAN in Rivers State, Mr Francis Chile-Dimpka, explained that the establishment of modular refineries will stamp out adulterated products and also the issue of soot in Rivers State and its environs.
Mr Chile-Dimpka lamented that the issue of adulterated petroleum products and soot in the state was becoming overwhelming and the association will fight it to stand still.
He assured that the group will leave no stone unturned in ensuring that activities of kpofire were stamped out in the state.
“We are asking the federal government to ensure the massive establishment of modular refineries as this will put the kpo fire operators out of business.
“A lot of our children are professionals in this field already, if licenses are issued to this people, the modular refineries will work and soot will stop in the state.
“The 3P compliance team is still on surveillance and we will not relent, I repeat, we will not relent until operators of illegal refineries are totally smoked out. Because we can no longer continue to suffer this lingering issue of soot in Rivers state,” he said.
PETROAN also announced that measures were in place to ensure availability and even distribution of petroleum products in petrol outlets accross the State, during the yuletide season.
Mr Chile-Dimpka, however, said there may be a slight increase in cost of petroleum products as dealers are already experiencing an increase in depot prices.
‘’Our major assignment is to ensure availability and effective distribution of petroleum product and we are resolute in doing that.
“Our only worry is that prices of petroleum product have become unstable again. We are not even too sure of the procurement price. But so long as we are able to procure at the right price, we will sell at the right price.
“We are not expecting fuel scarcity, but there may be a slight price modulation of these products, because now the landing price has actually increased.
“Members of PETROAN are now selling at a very cut-throat edge to survive in the business. But if it goes beyond this, we will have no other option than to adjust our pump price so that we will remain in this business,” he disclosed.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
