Economy

Polaris Bank, Mojec Sign Deal on Prepaid Meter

Published

7 years ago

02/05/2019

Polaris Bank has reiterated its commitment to the success of the Meter Acquisition Partners (MAP) Project, which ensures that acquisition of pre-paid meters is seamless.

The bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Tokunbo Abiru, gave the indication at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the bank and Mojec, a leading Meter Manufacturing Company at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos.

Mr Abiru, represented by the Executive Director, Technology and Services, Innocent Ike, said: “Polaris Bank is pleased to be partnering with Mojec International to support consumers on the meter acquisition scheme. Our bank will be facilitating the acquisition of these meters by granting loans to eligible customers under the Programme.”

Mr Abiru applauded the commitment of the regulators and partners in the public electricity value chain towards ensuring that the pre-paid meters are made available and affordable.

He explained: “Some of the advantages of using prepaid electricity meter is that it enables consumers determine their level of consumption, manage their cash flow and allocate costs appropriately.”

Polaris Bank CEO noted that the initiative, particularly, affords the bank the opportunity to facilitate easy, convenient and acquisition of pre-paid meters for consumers who before now are used to the highly discredited and estimated electricity billing system with its attendant social and economic burden.

Also, the bank’s Executive Director, Abuja and Northern Region, Mr Abdullahi Mohammed assured of the readiness of Polaris Bank to “leverage our wide branch network in Abuja and the whole of the Northern region to enable the roll out of the pre-paid meters”

Earlier, the Mojec Chairperson and Managing Director, Mrs Mojisola Abdul and Chantelle Abdul noted the bank’s support to Mojec in over a decade.

Mrs Abdul said with the MoU, both institutions were confident that the bank would support Mojec to meet the expectations of Nigerians under its bank’s Consumer & Retail Financing Scheme for MAP meter acquisition.

“We value our years of business relationship with Polaris and believe with the signing of the MAP MoU, we would be able to meet the expectations of Nigerians by making available pre-paid meters, which they would acquire and subsequently pay for the actual energy consumption cost in a stress-free manner,”Mrs Abdul said.

Following the failure of the Advance Payment for Metering Implementation (CAPMI) project, executed by the DisCos, to bridge the metering gap in the country, the Federal Ministry for Power through Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) unveiled MAP to enable consumers buy from accredited accredited agents.

Economy

NGX RegCo Revokes Trading Licence of Monument Securities

Published

1 hour ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.

Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.

The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.

“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.

Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.

However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.

Economy

NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months

Published

2 hours ago

14/01/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.

In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.

According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.

The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.

The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.

The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.

“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.

“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.

NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.

It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.

This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.

Economy

World Bank Upwardly Reviews Nigeria’s 2026 Growth Forecast to 4.4%

Published

2 hours ago

14/01/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Nigeria has been projected to record an economic growth rate of 4.4 per cent in 2026 by the World Bank Group, higher than the 3.7 per cent earlier predicted in June 2025.

In its 2026 Global Economic Prospects report released on Tuesday, the global lender also said the growth for next year for Nigeria is 4.4 per cent rather than the 3.8 per cent earlier projected.

As for the sub-Saharan African region, the economy is forecast to move up to 4.3 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent next year.

It stressed that growth in developing economies should slow to 4 per cent from 4.2 per cent in 2025 before rising to 4.1 per cent in 2027 as trade tensions ease, commodity prices stabilise, financial conditions improve, and investment flows strengthen.

In the report, it also noted that growth is expected to jump in low-income countries by 5.6 per cent due to stronger domestic demand, recovering exports, and moderating inflation.

As for the world economy, the bank said it is now 2.6 per cent and not 2.4 per cent due to growing resilience despite persistent trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

“The resilience reflects better-than-expected growth — especially in the United States, which accounts for about two-thirds of the upward revision to the forecast in 2026,” a part of the report stated.

“But economic dynamism and resilience cannot diverge for long without fracturing public finance and credit markets,” it noted.

World Bank also said, “Over the coming years, the world economy is set to grow slower than it did in the troubled 1990s — while carrying record levels of public and private debt.

“To avert stagnation and joblessness, governments in emerging and advanced economies must aggressively liberalise private investment and trade, rein in public consumption, and invest in new technologies and education.”