Economy
When PwC Lavished N2.35m On Business Reporters
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
October 7, 2016, will not erase in the memory of business reporters in Nigeria. This is because it was a day they were celebrated by a leading professional services firm, PwC Nigeria.
According to PwC Nigeria, it came up with the idea in a bid to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting in Nigeria.
At a gala night held in Lagos, business journalists went home with a total N2.35 million at the maiden edition of PwC Media Excellence Award.
It was gathered that a total of 55 entries were submitted by journalists in four categories, namely, Tax Reporting, Capital Market Reporting, SME Reporting and Business & Economy Reporting. Winners in each of the categories went home with N500,000 each while consolation prizes of N50,000 each went to the other nominees that made top three.
Of the 55 entries received, 29 were for Business & Economy Reporting; 16 for SME Reporting; eight for Capital Market Reporting and two for Tax Reporting.
Mr Taiwo Oyedele, the PwC’s Tax Partner and Head, Tax & Regulatory Services, PwC West Africa, decried the low reportage of tax issues by Nigerian journalists saying it largely accounts for the poor awareness about tax in the country.
“It is disturbing that only two entries were received in the Tax Reporting category. This goes to show the low awareness level of tax issues in Nigeria. If the journalists who are supposed to inform and stimulate discussions on tax issues in the country are not doing so, probably because of their lack of understanding of the issues, then, the awareness level on tax would be very low among the populace.
“On our part as a corporate organisation, we are set to help resolve this problem by organising various capacity enhancement workshops for Nigeria business journalists,” Mr Oyedele said.
Mrs Simplice Gladys Olajumoke, the Deputy Vice President, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), on her part, also pledged her organisation’s support to ensure that the issue of tax dominates the Nigerian media space.
Mr Tola Ogundipe, the Deputy Senior Country Partner, PwC Nigeria, in his opening remark, said journalists have important role to play in the society as information carriers. According to him, good governance and economic independence can be achieved if the journalists ensure excellence reportage of issues that are well researched.
He urged the Nigerian journalists to always leverage on technology adding that the award was instituted to celebrate and reward excellence in business reporting.
Stanley Opara of Punch Newspapers, Collins Nwaeze of The Nation Newspapers and Abiodun Eromosele of THISDAY Newspapers were the finalists in the Capital Market Category. Eromosele won the first prize with his article titled: ‘Of The Exchange Rate and Devaluation.”
Eromo Egbejule of the Ventures Africa won the first prize in the SME Reporting Category with his article titled: ‘Walk in these shoes: Aba’s very own leather manufacturing plant’. Hannah Ojo of the Nation Newspapers and Oluwamayowa Tijani of The CableNG made top three.
Fisayo Soyombo of The CableNG; Emmanuel Ogunsola of Techpoint NG and Isaac Anyaogu of BusinessDay Newspaper were the finalists in the Business & Economy Category of which Soyombo’s article, ‘Undercover Investigation: Nigeria’s Customs of Corruption, Bribery and Forgery’, came tops.
The two entries in the tax category were from Anthony Matuluko of Tax Matters on TV and Oluwamayowa Tijani of the CableNG. Matuluko won the first prize with interview of secondary school students at the SWIT seminar
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) has unveiled a unified Taxpayer Identification (Tax ID) system for all taxable persons across the country as part of efforts to strengthen tax administration and improve transparency.
The agency announced the development in a public notice issued jointly with the Joint Revenue Board (JRB) on Monday.
According to the notice, the initiative is backed by Sections 6, 7, and 8 of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025, which mandate every taxable person in Nigeria to obtain a Tax ID, in a wider move to expand the country’s tax base.
The NRS said the new framework is designed to create a centralised and harmonised taxpayer database that would enhance interactions between taxpayers and revenue authorities at both federal and sub-national levels.
“The Tax ID will serve as a single, unified identity for all taxpayers, enabling seamless interaction with tax authorities at both federal and sub-national levels. It is designed to consolidate taxpayer records, eliminate duplication, and ensure more efficient management of tax-related information,” the agency stated.
The revenue agency explained that the new system would simplify tax compliance procedures, including taxpayer registration, filing of returns, and payment processes.
According to the NRS, the framework is also expected to improve accountability and reduce leakages in tax collection by creating better visibility and tracking of taxpayer information nationwide.
“The initiative will simplify tax compliance processes, including registration, tax filing, and payment procedures. The system will improve transparency by enabling better visibility and tracking of taxpayer records while reducing leakages and improving accountability in tax collection. The framework will also harmonise taxpayer information across all levels of government,” the notice added.
The agency further disclosed that the new Tax ID system would replace the existing Tax Identification Number (TIN) Validation API currently used by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), financial institutions, and other organisations for taxpayer verification.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.
This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.
Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.
The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.
During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.
In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.
Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.
The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.
Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.
Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.
The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.
On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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