Economy
Senate Extends Capital Component of 2024 Budget to December 2025
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The capital component of the 2024 budget has again been extended by the Senate to December 31, 2025, from June 30, 2025.
This action was taken by the upper chamber of the National Assembly at its plenary on Tuesday, meaning the country is running two appropriation acts at the same time, as the 2025 budget is currently effective.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Mr Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, while presenting a bill titled A Bill for an Act to Amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the Capital Components of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025″ (SB. 854) today, asked his colleagues to extend the implementation of the previous year’s budget to allow sufficient time for procurement processes, disbursements, and actual project execution.
In his contribution, the Senate Chief Whip, Mr Mohammed Tahir Monguno, backed the extension but called for a review of the Finance Ministry’s “bottom-to-top” disbursement policy, arguing that it had introduced bureaucratic bottlenecks and red tape that stall effective budget execution.
On his part, Mr Abdul Ningi decried the repetitive nature of the problem, calling for a formal investigation by the Appropriations Committee to explain continued implementation failures.
A former Senate Leader, Mr Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, accused the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Accountant-General of bottlenecking payments and stalling project execution even for contractors who had completed work.
“The credibility of this Government is getting very very down. Workers whose salaries have been increased, say we have given them 35 thousand Naira additional money and we have created a new minimum wage of N70,000 but nobody has seen anything.
“I think for the purpose of its own credibility this Government has to come and explain to Nigerians what is happening because now we are being taken for a ride,” he said, cautioning that continued mismanagement not only risks government credibility but also raises doubts over the federal government’s ability to fulfil its budgetary promises.
“The credibility of this government is getting down, he lamented. This budget should have been implemented and done by December 31, 2024, but right now, the activities of the Government are stalled. The system adopted for payment has woefully failed,” he said.
The Deputy Senate President, Mr Barau Jibrin, who presided over the plenary, confirmed that the Committees on Finance and Appropriations had engaged the Finance Minister and other stakeholders but hinted that the matter may now warrant direct engagement with President Bola Tinubu.
He, however, informed his colleagues that, “If the budget is not extended, projects will be abandoned. But we’re nearing the point where we may have to escalate this to the President himself.”
The bill passed through first, second, and third readings in a single session today under a suspended rule procedure. The lawmakers passed it unanimously by voice vote after clause-by-clause consideration.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) 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 traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
-
Feature/OPED6 years agoDavos was Different this year
-
Travel/Tourism10 years ago
Lagos Seals Western Lodge Hotel In Ikorodu
-
Showbiz3 years agoEstranged Lover Releases Videos of Empress Njamah Bathing
-
Banking8 years agoSort Codes of GTBank Branches in Nigeria
-
Economy3 years agoSubsidy Removal: CNG at N130 Per Litre Cheaper Than Petrol—IPMAN
-
Banking3 years agoSort Codes of UBA Branches in Nigeria
-
Banking3 years agoFirst Bank Announces Planned Downtime
-
Sports3 years agoHighest Paid Nigerian Footballer – How Much Do Nigerian Footballers Earn
