Economy
Shareholders Approve Winding up of RAK Unity Petroleum
By Dipo Olowookere
The proposed voluntary winding up of RAK Unity Petroleum Company Plc has been approved by shareholders of the organisation.
The authorisation for the folding up of the company was given at its 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on Friday, June 4, 2021, at the Shell Hall, Muson Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
A notice from the energy firm said that the shareholders were unanimous in approving the proposal put forward by the board of the company at the gathering.
It was also agreed at the meeting that Mrs Chinwe Chiwete of the law firm of EPIC Legal, which is located in Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, be appointed as liquidator for the purposes of winding up of the company.
RAK Unity Petroleum is one of the companies listed on the Alternative Securities Market (ASeM) unit of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, formerly known as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
When it commenced operations in Nigeria some years ago, RAK Unity Petroleum had the vision to become one of the major marketers and distributors of petroleum products purchased from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) within Nigeria and the West Africa sub-region.
RAK Unity Petroleum has 56,624,893 issued share capital, with Toparte Nigeria Limited controlling 85 per cent, while a diverse group of Nigerians hold the remaining 15 per cent.
In 2018, during its AGM, the firm was optimistic that it would remain in business and achieve its strategic objectives by driving growth inorganically through a merger or acquisition, thereby enabling the company to respond competitively to the emerging changes and trends in the business operating environment.
Two years earlier, the company commenced the implementation of a five-year business plan aimed to boost sales through the production of branded lubricants and increase profit margins by investment in the direct importation of diesel.
“There are currently ongoing plans to lease four new retail stations and refurbish the old retail stations. These plans will be executed on the back of the merger or acquisition,” the Chairman of RAK Unity Petroleum, Mr Edo-Abasi Bassey Ukpong, had said at the gathering.
He had assured that going forward, with the anticipated improvement in the Nigerian economy facilitated by increasing oil production and revenue, growth in trade and investment, a stable and transparent FX market, the firm will position itself to take advantage of opportunities and offer value to shareholders.
“To continue to grow our business, despite the tough operating environment, RAK Unity Petroleum board has begun a strategic review process of our business to evaluate all the options open to us to significantly improve our company’s performance.
“Once the board has fully evaluated these options, we intend to return to you, our shareholders, to report on our new strategic direction,” the Chairman had said at the 15th AGM.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
