Interest rates at the interbank market Thursday dropped slightly by 2.58 percent following the repayment of treasury bills worth N206.61 billion by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Consequently, the Nigerian Interbank Offered Rates (NIBOR) decelerated for all tenor buckets to 11.69 percent from 12.00 percent the previous day. Data from the Financial Markets Dealers Association (FMDA) show that overnight call tenor dropped to 10.50 percent from 10.54 percent the previous day. Similarly, 7 days, 30 days and 60 days tenors went down from 11.00 percent, 11.83 percent, and 12.20 percent, respectively the previous day to 10.87 percent, 11.37 percent and 11.75 percent, respectively.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has directed the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST) to simplify the processes involved in filing a case before the tribunal by aggrieved investors in order to promote confidence in the capital market. The minister, who made this call in Abuja, yesterday, noted that the current filing processes of the IST were too cumbersome and made it difficult for small investors and those in remote areas to be able to access the tribunal to seek redress when necessary.
Updated 6 Years ago

THE Director General of the Debt Management Office, DMO, Dr Abraham Nwankwo, yesterday, in Benin City, declared that it was illegal, unconstitutional for any state government to borrow funds externally without approval of the Federal Government. He urged state governments to key into transformation agenda of the Federal Government by focusing on other areas to generate funds outside oil to help in the rapid growth of the economy. Dr Nwankwo spoke at a three-day retreat organised by the DMO for the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, led by its chairman, Senator Ehigie Uzamere.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone recorded additional investment of $200m in 2013, the Federal Government disclosed on Thursday. The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, said the $200m investment was in addition to about $4bn capital investment recorded, so far, by the OGFZ, adding that the development was a positive development for the Nigerian economy in the face of global economic challenges. He spoke during the second edition of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Investment Forum, in Onne, Rivers State with the theme, “Investment Opportunities in the Upstream and Downstream Sectors of the Oil and Gas Industry.”
Updated 6 Years ago

As the menace of oil theft continues to bedevil the Nigerian economy, government agencies connivance has been fingered in the act by experts. The experts, who are master mariners with long-standing experience in ship navigation and crude oil cargo operation, said it was baffling to hear of oil theft without any link to relevant agencies of government, as such agencies were always at every crude oil loading terminal. They queried the possibility of the ability of certain criminal-minded persons to load crude oil unto a vessel at any other place other than the terminals.
Updated 6 Years ago

Northern leaders under the aegis of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) have condemned the introduction of national conference as proposed by Goodluck Jonathan, insisting that the conference will not address the problems of the country as it is a strategy devised for the actualisation of the president’s 2015 ambition. Speaking to selected journalists yesterday in Bauchi, the spokesman of the forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, stated that several conferences held in the country in the past years to surmount the political problems had failed woefully. He added that, for the nation to correct its numerous mistakes and lapses, it should revive the parliamentary system of government as practised in the defunct First Republic
Updated 6 Years ago

Less than three weeks after suspending the operations of Dana Air to pave the way for a safety audit of the carrier’s operations, the aviation industry regulator, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, has grounded the operations of IRS Airlines and Chanchangi Airlines, according to investigations by our correspondent. It was gathered that the suspension followed a memo signed by the Director-General of the NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, ordering all scheduled airline operators whose fleet size had been reduced to only one operational aircraft to immediately stop flight operations. The memo, which was addressed to all scheduled airline operators and dated October 14, 2013, has as its reference number, NCAA/DG/GEN/Vol.II/2013/80.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has fined 21 listed companies a total of N28.6m for default filings made between January and this month, investigations by our correspondent have revealed. According to the NSE, the sanctions were imposed on the companies because they filed their financial statements for 2011 and 2012 this year after the regulatory due date. It added in the NSE’s latest X-Compliance report that the sanctions were in accordance with the provisions of its listing rules.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Director-General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, Dr. Paul Orhii, has said that Nigerians consume bottled and sachet water worth N8bn daily. According to him, this accounts for the high number of people getting into the business of packaged water production, and underline the need for the agency to regulate activities within the sector. Orhii spoke at a stakeholders’ forum organised by the Small and Medium Scale Enterprise Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos on Wednesday.
Updated 6 Years ago

The Federal Government has invested $870m in airport infrastructure upgrade as part of efforts to improve services in all the nation’s airports. The Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Mr. George Uriesi, made this known on Tuesday while presenting a paper entitled: ‘Airport regulation from the Africa perspective’, at the Airport Council International Conference and Exhibition in Lome, Togo. A statement made available to our correspondent on Wednesday by the agency stated that Uriesi said Nigeria was one of the six nations in Africa currently infusing funds into infrastructure development and improving the lot of airports in order to make them to be at par with their counterparts worldwide.
Updated 6 Years ago