News
Buhari to Royal Fathers: Put Your Advice In Writing
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked traditional rulers in Nigeria to put their advice in writing so that he can relate it to the problems facing the country.
The president spoke at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday while meeting behind closed doors with the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III.
The Alaafin later told State House correspondents that he advised President Buhari on “multi-dimensional problems” facing Nigeria such as the Niger Delta crisis and the Boko Haram insurgency, among others. DailyTrust
Niger Delta Monarchs List Conditions for Peace
Traditional rulers and stakeholders from the Niger Delta region yesterday listed six things the federal government should do in order to stop further destruction of the country’s oil assets by militants and restore peace in the region.
King Jaja of Opobo, Douglas Jaja, was among prominent rulers in the region who met with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, in Abuja yesterday to present their demands.
Niger Delta Coastal States’ monarchs and stakeholders in the region called on the federal government to urgently constitute a dialogue team to negotiate on its behalf with stakeholders in the region. DailyTrust
Niger Delta Crisis: Soyinka Tells Buhari to Engage Militants
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka, on Thursday urged the federal government to engage the Niger Delta militants and respond positively to their demands in order to engender lasting peace in the region.
The Nobel Laureate, who said he had been contacted to intervene in the Niger Delta crisis, spoke as the Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachikwu, met in Abuja with traditional rulers from the coastal communities of the region and agreed to recommit to a peaceful resolution of all the issues in the oil rich region.
Although Soyinka was not forthcoming with details of the intervention in the crisis that had injured the nation’s economy decisively, he lashed out at the Nigerian media, accusing them of extreme invention and distortion of facts that had escalated the dispute. Thisday
FAAC: FG, States, LGs Share N443.6bn as Revenue
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, on Thursday in Abuja said that N443.6 billion was shared among the federal, states and local governments as revenue realised in July.
Adeosun, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, announced this while addressing newsmen on the outcome of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.
The amount is 11 per cent less than the N559 billion that was distributed in July. Independent
CAN Accuses US of Bias over Kerry’s Meeting with Sultan, Northern Governors
The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has accused the United States government of stoking ethnic and religious divisions in Nigeria, after the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, visited the Sultan of Sokoto and northern governors.
The group said Christians were excluded from Kerry’s visit between last Monday and Tuesday.
Kerry travelled to Sokoto where he met the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, who is the head of Nigeria’s Muslim community. He later met President Muhammadu Buhari, before meeting governors of northern states. Thisday
How Four World Bank consultants died in Ekiti boat accident
Four World Bank consultants have drowned in Egbe River in Egbe community of Gbonyin Local Government Area of Ekiti State.
The four were said to be workers on a World Bank assessment mission to the river and had commenced work on Tuesday night.
They were said to have come from the Development Dams and Irrigation Schemes, Kaduna State and had died when the boat carrying seven of them and their equipment capsized. Punch
Business News
Forex Shortage: Naira Hits All-Time Low Of 409/Dollar
The naira hit an all-time low of 409 against the dollar at the parallel market on Thursday, two days after the Central Bank of Nigeria banned nine Deposit Money Banks from the interbank foreign exchange market over their failure to remit $2.334bn to the Federal Government’s Treasury Single Account.
The naira, which closed at 402/dollar on Wednesday, was sold for 397 against the greenback on Tuesday.
Foreign exchange dealers said the demand pressure on the dollar, mounted by summer travelers and parents paying schools fees of their children studying overseas, had been exacerbated by the ban on the nine lenders. Punch
Lagos to Wait for Crude Export to Enjoy 13% Derivation
In spite of the commencement of production from its newly discovered oil wells, Lagos State may have to wait until crude oil export commences before it joins the league of states benefitting from the 13 per cent derivation principle.
This clarification was made yesterday at Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting.
This emerged just as allocation available for sharing by three tiers of government for the month of July dipped by N115.369 billion to N443.663 billion as against June’s allocation of N559.032 billion. Thisday
Osinbajo: We Have Saved N1.4tn by Not Paying Fuel Subsidy
The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that the federal government has so far saved the sum of N1.4 trillion for not paying oil subsidy.
He also assured Nigerians that very soon, the foreign exchange market would stabilise going by some radical policies already introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The vice president who spoke in Kano yesterday during the third day of the 15th Joint Planning Board and National Council on Development meeting, urged Nigerians to restore confidence in President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, insisting that soonest, the current economic problems would become a thing of the past. Thisday
Banks’ CEOs Intervene on Ban of Nine Banks from Forex Trading
The Body of Banks’ Chief Executive Officers on Thursday met in Lagos to review the current developments in the industry, especially issues around the ban imposed on nine commercial banks by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), barring them from participating in the foreign exchange market.
At the end of the meeting, which was presided over by the chairman of the body and CEO of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Herbert Wigwe, the body agreed to work closely with the CBN to address the issue that led to the ban in a manner that would protect the stability of the industry, as well as to ensure proper conduct in the optimization of the foreign exchange market. Thisday
UBA Declares N7.26b Interim Dividend for First Half
The board of directors has recommended payment of N7.26 billion as interim dividends for the first half of this year as the bank sustained stable top-line and bottom-line.
Shareholders will receive a dividend per share of 20 kobo as interim dividends based on the first half results. The audited report for the period ended June 30, 2016 showed that profit before tax improved from N39.05 billion in first half 2015 to N40.27 billion in first half 2016. Profit after tax inched up from N32 billion to N32.62 billion. Gross earnings stood at N165.58 billion in first half 2016 as against N165.74 billion in first half 2015. Earnings per share was flat at 94 kobo. The Nation
Nigeria Loses N11bn Daily As Oil Exports Suffer
As four of the nation’s crude oil grades remain under force majeure and the schedule for two other grades face delay, the country is losing at least N10.7bn in revenue daily.
Following the declaration of force majeure on the grades, more than 700,000 barrels per day of production have been affected, denying the country a huge revenue, according to a report by Reuters on Thursday.
Nigeria relies heavily on earning from oil exports, and the recent production disruptions caused by militant attacks came as an additional headache for an economy that already suffers from the sharp drop in oil prices since 2014. Punch