Economy

Senate Demands Probe into Sale of Afam to Transcorp

Published

5 years ago

16/11/2020

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A few days ago, the sale of Afam Power to Transcorp Plc for N105 billion was celebrated and the transaction boosted the demand for the shares of the conglomerate at the stock exchange, where it is listed.

“This investment deepens our play in the power sector and takes our overall installed generation capacity as a business to 1,936MW from 972MW installed at Transcorp Power located in Ughelli, Delta State,” Transcorp had said after its Chairman, Mr Tony Elumelu, and the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), Mr Alex Okoh, signed the deal at a ceremony held in Abuja and witnessed by the Vice President of Nigeria, Mr Yemi Osinbajo.

But the Senate wants an investigation into the deal, especially the sale of the shares of the federal government in Afam to Transcorp.

According to the Chairman, Senate Committee on Privatization and Commercialisation, Mr Theodore Orji, the reason for the probe is to ensure that the country was not short-changed in the transaction.

In a report by New Telegraph, the BPE is proposing to sell the Geregu, Omotosho and Calabar power plants next year for N434 billion.

It is no news that Nigeria is broke, forcing the federal government to offload some assets to raise funds to run the country. The main source of income for Nigeria, the sale of crude oil, has suffered a decline lately as a result of COVID-19 and it is projected that an economic recession will occur this year.

It was reported that the BPE informed the Senate during its defence for the 2021 budget that these power plants and other assets will be offloaded next year.

The Geregu power plant is to be sold for N140.7 billion, Omotosho Power Plant for N151.4 billion and Calabar Power Plant for N143.4 billion.

In addition, the National Stadium, Lagos; Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja; Jos International Stadium, Plateau State and Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium in Port Harcourt, Rivers State are expected to be offloaded at N100 million each, while the National Art Theatre in Lagos will go for N200 million, Tafawa Balewa Square for N436 million and all the River Basin Development Authorities will go for N200 million.

But the Senate wants these assets to be offloaded at a rate that is beneficial to the Nigerian people and according to Mr Orji, a former governor of Abia State, an investigation would be done.

“We also found that in Geregu Power Plant, the core investor already owned 51 per cent shares and that the transaction emanated from a request by the investor for additional 29 per cent of the federal government’s residual 49 per cent shares.

“There was no competition and only BPE and their appointed transaction advisers know how the value was determined and sold for N13 billion.

“Afam Power Plant, it was mentioned that there are actually two different power plants i.e. Afam Power Plant and Afam Fast Power (a brand new plant) built by Siemens yet to be commissioned.

“Reports have it that it cost about $1 million to build a megawatt of power plant a megawatt of power plant,” the lawmaker was quoted as saying in the report.

Recall that popular billionaire businessman, Mr Femi Otetola, sold his stake in Forte Oil in 2019 to concentrate on the Geregu Generation Company Limited located in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

The energy plant has a unique configuration of three gas turbines (Siemens V94.2 Gas Turbines) with a capacity of 506.1 MW (ISO) and 434MW (Net).

Economy

NASD Exchange Extends Bearish Run After 0.56% Drop

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its stay in the south territory with a decline of 0.56 per cent on Wednesday, April 2.

This brought down the market capitalisation by N13 billion to N2.417 trillion from N2.430 trillion, and downed the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 22.57 points to 4,062.87 points from the previous session’s 4,062.87 points.

It was observed that the NASD exchange ended with three price gainers and three price losers during the trading day.

MRS Oil Plc depreciated by N19.00 to close at N171.00 per unit compared with the previous price of N190.00 per unit, NASD Plc lost N4.14 to trade at N37.36 per share compared with Wednesday’s N41.50 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gave up N2.00 to sell at N78.00 per unit versus N80.00 per unit.

On the flip side, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by 19 Kobo to N93.00 per share from N92.81 per share, Food Concepts Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to N2.87 per unit from N2.72 per unit, and Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc improved by 2 Kobo to 52 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.

Yesterday, the volume of securities dipped by 91.8 per cent to 260.2 million units from 3.2 billion units, the value of securities went down by 98.1 per cent to N154.2 million from N8.3 billion, while the number of deals soared by 53.3 per cent to 46 deals from 30 deals.

GNI Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 56.9 million units valued at N3.9 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.5 million units traded for N1.8 billion.

The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was also GNI Plc with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.2 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

Naira Slips to N1,380/$1 at Official Market, Remains N1,405/$1 at Black Market

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira dropped N2.09 or 0.15 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, April 2, to trade at N1,380.79/$1 compared with Wednesday’s rate of N1,378.70/$1.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market by N2.77 to quote at N1,824.86/£1 versus the N1,836.57/£1 it was traded at midweek, and improved its value against the Euro by N10.54 to N1,591.92/€1 from N1,602.46/€1.

Yesterday was the last trading session of the week for the local currency in the spot market, as the market will be closed on Friday and Monday for the Easter Holiday.

At the black market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the greenback yesterday at N1,405/$1, but gained N8 at the GTBank FX counter to settle at N1,388/$1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,396/$1.

Pressure eased on the domestic currency as strong policy indicators have helped calm the majority of worries within the financial systems. Particularly in the remittance segment, the apex bank has directed all International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) to route remittance transactions through designated Naira settlement accounts in banks, a move aimed at boosting transparency and channelling more foreign exchange into the formal market.

This helps take off pressure from the foreign reserves, which have fallen below the $50 billion mark as they are gradually decreasing rather than falling sharply.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Thursday, as macro sentiment shifted against recent optimism after reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to manage traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, easing concerns about disruptions to a key global oil route.

The remarks came after U.S. President Trump on Wednesday night vowed to hit Iran “extremely hard” in the coming weeks and that the Strait of Hormuz would “open naturally” once the war ends.

Cardano (ADA) chalked up 1.9 per cent to trade at $0.2435, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 1.2 per cent to $0.0912, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 0.8 per cent to $2,066.37, Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.5 per cent to sell at $67,080.53, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.5 per cent to $79.91, and Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.31.

Conversely, Binance Coin (BNB) dipped 0.7 per cent to $586.90, and TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3147, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

Economy

Bulls, Bears Share Customs Street’s Spoils Amid Bullish Investor Sentiment

Published

2 days ago

03/04/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market was relatively flat on Friday, as the bears and the bulls shared the spoils of war, though investor sentiment turned bullish compared with the preceding session’s bearish posture.

Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was marginally down by 4.66 points as it ended at 201,698.89 points versus Wednesday’s 201,703.55 points, and the market capitalisation slightly contracted by N3 billion to N129.806 trillion from N129.809 trillion.

Customs Street was shut on Friday because of the public holidays declared by the federal government today and next Monday.

Business Post reports that John Holt declined by 9.91 per cent to N15.45, Abbey Mortgage Bank shed 9.60 per cent to trade at N8.95, International Energy Insurance slipped by 6.48 per cent to N3.32, Chams shrank by 5.30 per cent to N3.75, and Tantalizers depreciated by 5.18 per cent to N4.03.

On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N103.40, Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.82 per cent to trade at N1.23, Multiverse appreciated 9.81 per cent to N20.15, Legend Internet advanced by 9.38 per cent to N6.30, and Zichis grew by 9.02 per cent to N14.14.

The market breadth index was positive during the trading session, as there were 35 appreciating stocks and 24 depreciating stocks.

Yesterday, investors traded 560.0 million equities valued at N19.3 billion in 49,676 deals, in contrast to the 815.5 million equities worth N33.3 billion transacted in 52,641 deals in the preceding day, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 31.33 per cent, 42.04 per cent, and 5.63 per cent, respectively.

Secure Electronic Technology dominated the activity log with 59.7 million shares valued at N61.1 million, Wema Bank exchanged 52.0 million equities worth N1.4 billion, VFD Group transacted 36.0 million stocks for N410.5 million, Access Holdings sold 35.3 million shares valued at N914.8 million, and Chams traded 31.0 million equities worth N115.0 million.