Stocks Gain N330bn as Dividend Hunters Return to Market

By Adedapo Adesanya Equinor and Chappal Energies have entered into an agreement for the sale of Equinor Nigeria Energy Company (ENEC), which holds a 53.85 per cent ownership in oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitized 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron. Speaking on the deal, Equinor’s senior vice president for Africa Operations, Ms Nina Koch, said Nigeria has been an important part of Equinor’s international portfolio over the past 30 years, noting that, “This transaction realizes value and is in line with Equinor’s strategy to optimize its international oil and gas

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira put up a weak performance against the United States Dollar across the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday. November 30, 2023, the last trading session of the month. In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) window, which is the official market, the Nigerian currency lost 0.1 per cent or 85 Kobo against the greenback during the session to settle at N832.32/$1 compared with the preceding day’s value of N831.47/$1. A slight strain in the supply of forex into the spot market was partly responsible for the weakening of the local

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, has asked his counterpart in the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, to support his agency to achieve the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, who appointed both of them. Speaking during a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the anti-money laundering firm, Mr Adedeji said the EFCC has a role in ensuring that taxpayers’ funds are “judiciously utilised in line with the social contract with the people.” He assured that the FIRS would continue to strive to raise the revenue

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The much-awaited £4.2 million (N2.3 billion) loot recovered from the former Governor of Delta State, Mr James Ibori, by the United Kingdom government, has been received by the Nigeria government. The £4.2 million Ibori loot was received by the federal government on Tuesday morning, according to reports. Recall that recently, the Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, disclosed that the country was expecting the fund very soon as the paper works for the transfer of the money was almost concluded. Today, Leadership Newspaper claimed a senior official in the office of

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel The price of paddy rice in the open market declined week-on-week by 16.9 per cent to N17,573 last week from N21,161 per contract of the preceding week. Data on the AFEX showed that the drop in the price of the product was as a result of an increase in the supply end due to new harvest. Similarly, the exchange-traded price of the commodity dropped by 5.15 per cent to N22,000 in the period under review from N23,195 recorded in the previous week. Being an increasingly important crop in Nigeria and a major staple in many parts of

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The federal government will know its fate on the interlocutory motion it filed against the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the National Industrial Court on Wednesday, September 21, 2022. The government asked the court to direct the university lecturers to suspend their industrial action and return to the classroom and continue negotiations on the differences between them. The leadership of ASUU had ordered its members to stay away from classes since February 14, 2022, pending when the agreement signed between the union and the federal government in 2009 is honoured. The government had made efforts

By Dipo Olowookere A total of 745.049 million shares of FCMB, GTBank and Zenith Bank worth N17.507 billion were traded in 2,757 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week. This made the above equities the most traded by investors last week, contributing 46.69 percent and 67.36 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Business Post reports that at the close of transactions last week, the Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 1.360 billion shares valued at N20.378 billion traded in 11,936 deals, contributing 85.80 percent and 78.40

By Ebitonye Akpodigha Wife of President Muhammadu Buhari, Aisha, has lamented that those who did not work for her husband’s victory have taken over his government. Mrs Buhari made this statement in an interview with the BBC Hausa, which was conducted by Naziru Mikailu. It was reported yesterday that the Presidency does not the UK-based media house publish the said interview on Saturday as it could be embarrassing to the government. It was also rumoured yesterday that Mr Buhari, who is away in Germany, has directed his wife to stop granting interviews. In a report on Friday, the BBC said

By Adedapo Adesanya The value of the Naira plunged against the US Dollar in the official FX window, the Investors and Exporters (I&E), on Friday, May 26, the last trading day before a new government is sworn in on Monday (May 29). Data from FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the local currency shrank by 84 Kobo or 0.18 per cent during the session to close at N464.51/$1 versus the preceding session’s N463.67$1. It was observed that the value of forex transactions in the spot market stood at $144.72 million on Friday, $12.84 million or 8.1 per cent lower than the

By Dipo Olowookere One of the leading telecommunication services providers in Nigeria, Airtel Nigeria, on Wednesday joined others across the globe to mark the ‘World Teachers’ Day’. Every October 5 is used to celebrate teachers for their huge role in the society and Airtel was not left out of it. “As an organization, we are very passionate about education, just as we believe that teachers are the real heroes of every modern society. “At various stages in our lives, we all have been taught by teachers, and so we have utmost respect and admiration for individuals who have chosen this

By Dipo Olowookere The Irish government has announced the donation of €3 million for the severe humanitarian crisis in Somalia. This announcement was made by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney T.D, and Minister of State for the Diaspora and International Development, Mr Ciarán Cannon. It is estimated that 5.4 million people in Somalia, almost half of the population, are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 2 million Somalis are internally displaced, 1 million of whom are in protracted displacement, with many displaced for two decades. Over the past month, flooding has compounded an