By Adedapo Adesanya

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the review of deductions and revenue retention by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and other major revenue-generating agencies in the country.

The move is to boost public savings, improve spending efficiency, and unlock resources for growth, according to resolutions reached at Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

The directive applied to NNPC, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).

Mr Tinubu specifically called for a reassessment of NNPC’s 30 per cent management fee and 30 per cent frontier exploration deduction under the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).

He tasked the Economic Management Team, led by the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, to present actionable recommendations to FEC on the best way forward.

President Tinubu said the directive was part of efforts to sustain reforms that had dismantled economic distortions, restored policy credibility, enhanced resilience, and bolstered investors’ confidence.

The reforms have created a transparent and competitive business environment attractive to local and foreign investors in critical sectors, such as infrastructure, oil and gas, health, and manufacturing.

Also, President Tinubu noted that Nigeria’s goal of $1 trillion economy by 2030 required growth of at least seven per cent annually from 2027, describing the target as “not just economic, but a moral imperative” as higher growth was the surest way to tackle poverty.

He cited the July 2025 International Monetary Fund (IMF) Article IV report, which he said endorsed Nigeria’s economic trajectory and the need for investment-led growth.

The President also said Nigeria’s goal of $1 trillion economy by 2030 required growth of at least seven per cent annually from 2027.

Mr Tinubu, according to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, described it as “not just economic, but a moral imperative”, as higher growth is the surest path to tackling poverty.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

President Bola Tinubu will today, Thursday, August 14, 2005, leave Nigeria for a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil, though he is expected to have a stop-over in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before proceeding to Japan.

A statement issued on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that the President would be spending about two weeks outside the country.

According to the statement, in Japan, President Tinubu will attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in the City of Yokohama from August 20 to 22.

With the theme Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa, TICAD9 will focus on Africa’s economic transformation and improvements in the business environment and institutions through private investment and innovation. It will also promote a resilient and sustainable African society for human security, peace, and stability.

In addition to attending plenary sessions on themes linked to the conference, the Nigerian President will hold bilateral meetings and meet the chief executive officers of some Japanese companies with investments in Nigeria.

Initiated in 1993 by the Japanese government and co-hosted by the United Nations, UNDP, the African Union Commission, and the World Bank, TICAD is a triennial conference held alternately in Japan and Africa. The last one took place in August 2022 in Tunisia.

 The forum fosters high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.

At the end of the TICAD9, Mr Tinubu will leave for Brasilia in Brazil for a two-day state visit from Sunday, August 24, to Monday, August 25, following an invitation by the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

While in Brazil, he will hold a bilateral meeting with his host and attend a business forum with Brazilian investors.

His delegation—comprising key ministers and senior officials—will explore opportunities to strengthen cooperation and sign agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Brazilian government.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja mandating the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to pay its former board chairman, Mr Ifeanyi Ararume, the sum of N5 billion as damages has been upturned by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

The former lawmaker secured the judgment against the state-owned oil agency at the lower court in April 2023, but this was challenged at the appellate court.

Ruling on the matter on August 8, 2025, according to a statement from the NNPC on Wednesday, August 13, the court upheld the appeal of the energy firm against the Federal High Court’s judgement that annulled Mr Ararume’s removal from the board.

According to the Appeal Court, the Federal High Court’s earlier decision was delivered in error, noting amongst others, that the claim was statute-barred.

In the statement, NNPC said this decision of the appellate court “sets a corporate governance precedent in Nigerian law, and upholds the validity of board resolutions critical to the oil and gas industry’s investment and policy direction.”

It also stated that the judgement spares it of “a massive financial payout and removes a legal risk that could have invalidated all decisions of the board since 2021.”

Recall that in 2023, the late former President Muhammadu Buhari removed Mr Ararume as the chairman of NNPC but he approached the court to challenge this, arguing it was illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and a total breach of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), asking N100 billion as damages.

Though his prayers were granted by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the compensation awarded was N5 billion and it was for the disruption of his appointment because it was unlawful and illegal.