Economy
Traders Back Oyo N107b IGR Proposal
By Dipo Olowookere
Stakeholders in the informal sector in Oyo State have expressed their readiness to contribute to the realization of the benchmark of N107 billion Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) targeted by the state government in the 2017 fiscal appropriation proposal.
The stakeholders led by the Presidents of Oyo State Markets Association and Canteen Owners Association of Nigeria, Oyo State Chapter, Mr Dauda Oladapo and Mrs Amdalat Iyadunni Lawal respectively gave the assurances during an interactive session on 2017 budget of self-reliance analysis at the House of Chiefs, Agodi Ibadan at the weekend.
The state government had explained through the Commissioner for Finance, Budget and Planning, Mr Bimbo Adekanmbi to the stakeholders, which included representatives of various labour unions in the state, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), NGOs, civil societies, market men and women and the media, that the government was targeting the informal sector to boost its IGR, saying that the monthly projection valued at N5bn in the 2016 budget had been reduced to N4 billion in the face of current realities.
While speaking separately at the budget interactive session, the leaders of the stakeholders pledged their support for the actualization of the government plans and consequently urged that funds realized from the taxes collected should be channelled towards citizens’ oriented projects.
The President, Oyo State Markets Association, Mr Oladapo explained that market men and women across the 33 local governments of the state are ready to pay their dues into the government coffers, adding “All the leaders of the markets in the state have met several times and we have agreed to support the government’s revenue drive through the informal sector. Our members wanted to start paying since 2016 but the government directed that we should wait till January 2017. We are waiting for them to come for the money.”
In her own submission, Mr Iyadunni Lawal said, “We, the canteen owners, are ready to pay our taxes. We have over 8,000 members throughout the state and we are all prepared to pay our dues. However, we want the government to always specify benefits of our members in the budget.”
The duo of the Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Oyo State chapter and the Vice Chairman of Joint Negotiating Council, Comrades Kofo Ogundeji and Eniola Kolawole urged the state government to adequately equip and release funds for the revenue generating Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) for optimum performance.
The state Commissioner for Finance, Mr Adekanmbi, who was accompanied by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr Toye Arulogun and other top government functionaries explained that the informal sector is critical in the actualization of the N207,671,495,300 billion proposed self-reliance budget for the 2017 fiscal year.
Mr Adekanmbi noted that in spite of the low performance of the 2016 budget, the 2017 budget was evolved from a Zero Based Budgeting approach, which made it mandatory that every Budget item (Revenue and expenditure), was only included after strong and thorough justification, emphasizing that the priority of the Oyo state government shall be on Infrastructure, Agriculture, and its entire value chain, Commerce, Industrialisation, Education and Health while other sectors would also be given necessary attention.
The Commissioner lamented that the IGR, which was supposed to be the other mainstay of the State’s income performed at 20.69% of the total revenue performance of the 2016 budget and about 29% of the actual recurrent revenue, stressing that the state government’s efforts at improving the IGR had started with the restructuring and repositioning of the Board of Internal Revenue with the proposal of full autonomy and hoped that the effect of this (restructuring and repositioning) would be evident in the much desired enhanced IGR in the 2017 fiscal year.
According to him, “an average of N4 billion monthly is being proposed by the Board of Internal Revenue. This represents a 20 percent decrease when compared to the 2016 monthly projection of Five (5) Billion Naira. This projection is believed to be a more realistic estimate as we have married the actual monthly IGR average of N1.3 billion, to the positive expectation from the increasing understanding and positive disposition of the informal sector to payment of taxes.
“It is to be emphasized that it is not really that these categories of citizens were naturally averse to payment of taxes. The newly restructured BIR has only risen up to its responsibilities of sensitization, collection, storage and optimization of necessary tax payer database,” he stressed.
He assured that the Mr Ajimobi led administration was committed to steering the state towards the path of economic viability by driving her fiscal management towards an improved and self-sustaining IGR regime promising that there would be efficient and effective utilization of resources through rigorous monitoring of the implementation and evaluation of the impact of projects and programs on the citizenry.
Mr Adekanmbi listed Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban development as the top generating MDA, remarking that the efficiency in the processing of title documents and other new innovations by the Ministry gives the government the assurance of a higher revenue yield of about N40 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the divestment of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
The Renaissance JV, formerly known as the SPDC JV, is an unincorporated joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (55 per cent), Renaissance Africa Energy Company Ltd (30 per cent, operator), TotalEnergies EP Nigeria (10 per cent) and Agip Energy and Natural Resources Nigeria (5 per cent), which holds 18 licences in the Niger Delta.
In a statement by TotalEnergies on Wednesday, it was stated that under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil.
Production from these licences, it was said, represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in company’s share in 2025.
The agreement also stated that TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the three other licences of Renaissance JV which are producing mainly gas, namely OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77, while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licences, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply.
Business Post reports that the conclusion of the deal is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria has signed a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Vaaris for the sale of its 10 per cent non-operated interest in the Renaissance JV licences in Nigeria.
“Under the agreement signed with Vaaris, TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will sell to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest and all its rights and obligations in 15 licences of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly oil. Production from these licences represented approximately 16,000 barrels equivalent per day in the company’s share in 2025.
“TotalEnergies EP Nigeria will also transfer to Vaaris its 10 per cent participating interest in the 3 other licenses of Renaissance JV, which are producing mainly gas (OML 23, OML 28 and OML 77), while TotalEnergies will retain full economic interest in these licenses, which currently account for 50 per cent of Nigeria LNG gas supply. Closing is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals,” the statement reads in part.
The development is part of TotalEnergies’ strategies to dump more assets to lighten its books and debt.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The trading licence of Monument Securities and Finance Limited has been revoked by the regulatory arm of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc.
Known as NGX Regulations Limited (NGX Regco), the regulator said it took back the operating licence of the organisation after it shut down its operations.
The revocation of the licence was approved by Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC) at its meeting held on September 24, 2025, a notice from the signed by the Head of Market Regulations at the agency, Chinedu Akamaka, said.
“This is to formally notify all trading license holders that the board of NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo) has approved the decision of the Regulation and New Business Committee (RNBC)” in respect of Monument Securities and Finance Limited, a part of the disclosure stated.
Monument Securities and Finance Limited was earlier licensed to assist clients with the trading of stocks in the Nigerian capital market.
However, with the latest development, the firm is no longer authorised to perform this function.
Economy
NEITI Advocates Fiscal Discipline, Transparency as FG, States, LGs Get N6trn in Three Months
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has called for fiscal discipline and transparency as data showed that federal government, states, and local governments shared a whopping N6 trillion Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) disbursements in the third quarter of last year.
In its analysis of the FAAC Q3 2025 allocation, the body revealed that the federal government received N2.19 trillion, states received N1.97 trillion, and local governments received N1.45 trillion.
According to a statement by the Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at NEITI, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the allocation indicated a historic rise in federation account receipts and distributions, explaining that year-on-year quarterly FAAC allocations in 2025 grew by 55.6 per cent compared with Q3 of 2024 while it more than doubling allocations over two years.
The report contained in the agency’s Quarterly Review noted that the N6 trillion included 13 per cent payments to derivative states. It also showed that statutory revenues accounted for 62 per cent of shared receipts, while Value Added Tax (VAT) was 34 per cent, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) and augmentation from non-oil excess revenue each accounted for 2 per cent, respectively.
The distribution to the 36 states comprised revenues from statutory sources, VAT, EMTL, and ecological funds. States also received additional N100 billion as augmentation from the non-oil excess revenue account.
The Executive Secretary of NEITI, Mr Sarkin Adar, called on the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) FAAC, the National Economic Council (NEC), the National Assembly, and state governments to act on the recommendations to strengthen transparency, accountability, and long-term fiscal sustainability.
“Though the Quarter 3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, NEITI reiterates that the data presents an opportunity to the government to institutionalise prudent fiscal practices that will protect the gains that have been recorded so far in growing revenue and reduce vulnerability to commodity shocks.
“The Q3 2025 FAAC results are encouraging, but windfalls must be managed with discipline. Greater transparency, realistic budgeting, and stronger stabilisation mechanisms will ensure these resources deliver durable benefits for all Nigerians,” Mr Adar said.
NEITI urged the government at all levels to ensure the growth of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth and stabilisation capacity, by committing to regular transfers to the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund and other related stabilisation mechanisms in line with the fiscal responsibility frameworks.
It further advised governments at all levels to adopt realistic budget benchmarks by setting more conservative and achievable crude oil production and price assumptions in the budget to reduce implementation gaps, deficit, and debt metrics.
This, it said, is in addition to accelerating revenue diversification by prioritising reforms that would attract investments into the mining sector, expedite legislation to modernise the Mineral and Mining Act, support reforms in the downstream petroleum sector, as well as the full implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to expand domestic refining and value addition.
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