PPPRA Denies Fuel Price Hike After Uproar from Nigerians

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu has been charged by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) to investigate the allegations that over $15 billion of oil revenues and N200 billion budgeted to repair the refineries are missing and unaccounted for between 2020 and 2021, as documented by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI). In the letter dated September 23 and signed by SERAP deputy director, Mr Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation urged him to “name and shame anyone suspected to be responsible for the missing and unaccounted for public funds and to ensure their effective prosecution as well as

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria has repaid a total of $12.56 billion in external debt as of 2022, data from Intelpoint showed. According to the latest debt figures, Nigeria’s total public debt rose by 75.3 per cent to N87.38 trillion at the end of the second quarter of 2023 against N49.85 trillion recorded in the first quarter of the year. The rise came as the country securitised the N22.71 trillion Ways and Means Advances of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the federal government. The overdraft is a loan facility through which the CBN finances the shortfalls in the government’s

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira closed mixed at the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, depreciating against the US Dollar in the Investors and Exporters (I&E) and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) segments and appreciating in the parallel market amid a new leadership at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). On Friday, the CBN announced the resumption of Mr Olayemi Cardoso as the next head of the apex bank, in an acting capacity pending his confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. He is taking over the role amid a worrying FX market, high inflation, and increased call to halt interest rate hikes which currently

By Adedapo Adesanya The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has called on the newly appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, to clear the backlog of foreign exchange as well as guarantee another recapitalisation in the banking sector. “The clearance of the backlog of forex obligations should be accorded high priority to restore the confidence of domestic and foreign investors,” the Managing Director of CPPE, Mr Muda Yusuf said in a press statement titled Ten Point Agenda For The CBN Governor, released over the weekend. Mr Cardoso and four new deputies on

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The Cage Culture System of Catfish Farming introduced by Lagos State government to empower 60 youths at Agbowa-Ikosi Beach has yielded over 50tons of harvested fish for sale in Ikosi-Ejinrin Local Government Development Area. The project is a new fish farming technology introduced by the state government to increase fish production and create more jobs through training and empowerment of youths in the State. Speaking on the project, Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Oluwatoyin Suarau expressed great delight at witnessing the success of the programme, while encouraging the youths to be focussed on building a future for themselves

By Modupe Gbadeyanka President of Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), Mr Aminu Gwadabe, has disclosed that a meeting brokered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) between Travelex and ABCON has led to the commencement of sale of Forex to Bureau De Change operators in the north. Mr Gwadabe, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos, said this has brought ease to liquidity challenges for people living in Abuja, Kano as well as Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Travelex and First Bank of Nigeria are the only two firms approved

By Adedapo Adesanya The price of Brent crude plunged by 12.79 per cent or $16.37 to $111.6 per barrel on Wednesday amid indications of possible progress by the world’s largest producer, the United States, in encouraging more oil production from other sources. Also, the price of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) went down at the midweek session by 11.84 per cent or $14.65 to trade at $109.0 per barrel. Last week, the International Energy Agency released 60 million barrels of oil reserves to compensate for supply disruptions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Now, the US is encouraging more oil

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday presented the 2019 budget proposal to a joint session of the National Assembly. However, the presentation was greeted with boos and cheers from lawmakers, especially from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) present at the event. While presenting the 2019 Appropriation Bill, Mr Buhari told the lawmakers that the executive plans to spend the sum of N8.83 trillion in the 2019 fiscal year. The President explained that the budget proposal, which he christened Budget of Continuity, was prepared based on assumptions that oil price will average $60 per barrel during the financial

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Nigerian Breweries Plc has proposed the payment of a final dividend of N1.51 each to shareholders of the company. This cash reward is for the financial year ended December 31, 2019 and would be paid only to those whose names appeared on the register of members as at the close of business on March 4, 2020. In a disclosure, the brewery giant said this register of members will be closed from March 5 to 11, 2020, with both dates inclusive, while the payment would be done on April 23, 2020, electronically only to qualified

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude returned to the $100 mark on Tuesday after it rose by $3.74 or 3.9 per cent to sell at $100.22 per barrel as Saudi Arabia floated the idea of output cuts to support prices in the case of returning Iranian crude. Also, the price of the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude closed higher by $3.38 or 3.7 per cent to trade at $93.74 a barrel. This showed that the Brent settled at its highest price since August 2 and WTI logged its strongest settlement since August 11. The Saudi energy minister, Prince Abdulazziz

By Modupe Gbadeyanka In order to make its customers have seamless online transactions through a safe and secure way, Ecobank has introduced a virtual card. The digital payment solution has been integrated into the digital banking channel of the financial institution known as Ecobank Mobile App. A statement issued by the lender at the weekend said all Ecobank current, savings and Xpress account holders who are onboarded on the Ecobank Mobile app can now access a virtual card for their online payment needs. “The Ecobank Virtual Card is a safe and secure way to make online payments without having to

By Dipo Olowookere Nigerians may continue to suffer poor electricity distribution if urgent steps are not taken to curtail the twin problems of energy theft and vandalism. This was the submission of the Executive Director in charge of Research and Advocacy of the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), Mr Sunday Oduntan. He said during an interaction session with electricity consumers within the network coverage of Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) on Thursday, September 15, 2022, that until these issues are tackled, Distribution Companies (DisCos) will continue to serve their customers poorly. “The amount of energy that is stolen in