Cloned Nigerian Anchor

Author: Chike Ozohili

Foreign Reserves Drop By $841m In 3 Months -Report

Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $841.75 million between July and September, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revealed.

The apex revealed in its report on the movement of external reserves that the reserves, which stood at $34.07bn as of July 7, 2023, fell to $33.23bn as of October 5, 2023.

External reserves fell by $2.85 billion in the first half of 2023 due to external debt finance among other challenges, figures obtained from the CBN showed.

The CBN had earlier revealed that the reserves which commenced January 3, 2023, at $37.07 billion fell to $34.22 billion as of the end of June 26, 2023.

According to personal statements released by the CBN by Monetary Policy Committee members, as of July, accretion to external reserves remained weak while foreign exchange demand pressures persisted.

Former acting Governor, CBN, Folashodun Shonubi, had stated that, “Eventual stability of the foreign exchange market over the medium-term, will further help to achieve price stability.

“Besides, the recent removal of subsidy could have a favourable effect on price stability as increased crude oil receipts by the government will bolster reserves, engender exchange rate stability, and help to moderate inflation.”

10/10/2023
Court Disqualifies Timipre Sylva From Contesting Bayelsa Guber Poll

A Federal High Court, Abuja has disqualified the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Timipre Sylva, from contesting the November 11 election in Bayelsa.

Justice Donatus Okorowo, in a judgment delivered Monday night, held that Sylva, having been sworn in twice and ruled for five years as governor of the state, would breach the 1999 Constitution (as amended) if allowed to contest again.

Justice Okorowo, who agreed with the plaintiff’s argument, further held that if Sylva was allowed to contest and won the poll, he would have spent more than eight years in office as governor of the state in contravention with the constitution.

While citing the case of Marwa vs Nyako at the Supreme Court, Okorowo maintained that the drafters of the country’s constitution stated that nobody should be voted for as governor for more than two times.

According to the judge, the Supreme Court has also ruled in the case of Marwa vs Nyako that nobody can expand the constitution or its scope.

He held that if Sylva was allowed to contest the next election, it meant a person could contest as many times as he wanted.

Chief Deme Kolomo, a member of the APC, had prayed the court to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delete Sylva’s name from list of candidates contesting the Nov. 11 governorship poll.

In the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/821/2023 dated and filed June 13, Kolomo had sued Sylva, the immediate-past Minister of State for Petroleum; APC and INEC as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively.

Kolomo had asked the court to determine whether Sylva is qualified to contest in the election, having occupied the office of governor of Bayelsa May 29, 2007 to April 15, 2008 and May 27, 2008 to Jan. 27, 2012.

In the affidavit attached, Kolomo deposed that besides being an APC member, he was also a registered voter in the state.

He said INEC recently published the names of governorship candidates for the state, including Sylva’s name.

The plaintiff said he was motivated by the need to vindicate Sections 180 (2)(a) and 182(1)b) of the1999 Constitution, the rule of law and to know the applicability of same as it relates to Sylva based on the above facts.

Kolomo also averred that the question raised by the instant suit was a constitutional one and of grave importance to him as a voter and other voters in the sate so that they would not vote for someone who was not qualified to contest in the poll and had their votes wasted at the end of the day.

But Sylva, who was the immediate-past Minister of Petroleum, in a counter affidavit, asked the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit.

The ex-minister, through his lawyer, Babayemi Olaniyan, said that he was never elected as the state’s governor on two occasions.

He argued that the Appeal Court in its judgement held that the election that brought Sylva as Bayelsa governor in 2007 was null and void, while directing INEC to conduct a fresh election within 90 days.

The lawyer though admitted he was a former governor of Bayelsa, he stressed that he had only been elected once as the state’s governor. He asked the court to dismiss the suit.

Corroborating Olaniyan’s argument, Dr Dennis Otiotio, who appeared for APC, urged the court to dismiss the suit with substantial cost.

In the preliminary objection argued, Otiotio said that Kolomo lacked locus standi to institute the suit as he was never an aspirant in the primary election that produce Sylva.

While arguing his case, Prof. Abiodun Amuda-Kannike, who appeared for Kolomo, said contrary to the argument of the counsel, his client had locus, in accordance with the law, to file the suit whether as a pre-election matter or not.

He argued that all the sections and cases cited by the defence were unrelated with the instant suit.

He said contrary to their argument, the suit was not statute barred, as the final day which the list of candidates was published was also part of their case.

The senior lawyer prayed the court to uphold their argument and dismiss the preliminary objection of the defence.

Justice Inyang Ekwo had, on September 26 in another suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/575/2023 and filed by an APC aspirant, Mrs Ogbomade Johnson, against Sylva, dismissed the case for failure to prove the case with evidence as required by law.

10/09/2023
Nigeria’s Equity Market Gains N355bn

Transactions on the floor of Nigerian Exchange on Monday opened the week in positive note, gaining N355 billion following gains recorded by BuaCement, Nigerian Breweries, NGX group among others.

Market capitalisation of listed equities increased higher by 0.97 per cent to N36.865 trillion from N36.510 trillion reported the previous day.

The NGX All Share Index also appreciated by 646.76 basis points to 67101.33 points from 66454.57 points reported on Friday.

A review of the trading activities showed that BuaCement led gainers table in percentage terms, gaining 10 per cent to close at N103.40 per unit, Chi Plc followed with a gain of 9.80 per cent to close at N1.12 per unit, Nigerian Breweries added 9.09 per cent to close at N42.00, John Holt increased by 8.11 per cent to close at N1.60 per unit, SUNU Assurance added 7.22 per cent to close at N1.04 per share.

On the contrary, Prestige insurance topped losers chart, dropping by 10 per cent to close at N0.45 per unit, FTNCocoa trailed with a loss of 8.33 per cent to close at N1.65 per unit, Neimeth international Pharmaceutical down by 7.74 per cent to close at N1.55 per unit, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 5.0 per cent to close at N0.38 per unit, ETranzact down by 4.26 per cent to close at N9.00.

Volume of transactions declined by 105.43 million, representing 28.18 per cent as investors traded 268.663 million shares valued at N3.463 billion in 6911 deals against 374.093 million shares costing N8.933 billion in 6882 deals.

The result further showed that ABC Transport was the toast of investors due Ng the day accounting for 29.269 million shares valued at N19.908 million, AccessCorp followed with account of 29.171 million shares valued at N465.977 million, Oando Plc traded 27.090 million shares valued at N252.976 million, United Bank for Africa exchanged 23.751 million shares cost N407.671 million, TransCorp traded 23.735 million shares valued at N149.510 million.

10/09/2023
FG Determined To Uplift 70 Million Citizens From Poverty – Minister

The Federal Government is rapidly retooling its numerous Social Investment Schemes to enable it to immediately lift an initial 70 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next twelve months.

Speaking on a television programme monitored by NIGERIAN ANCHOR on Sunday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betty Edu listed the programmes and their targeted intervention figures to include the N-Power programme that is aimed at removing five million people out of poverty in five years and the GEEP that is supposed to provide funds to 1.5 million Nigerian small business owners and the Home-Grown School Feeding for 10million children amongst others.

She disclosed that a presidential approval shall be obtained on October 17, 2023 for the roll out of the repackaged Conditional Cash Transfer which shall be targeted at benefitting a total of 15 million households.

To achieve this, she said, critical stakeholders partnering with the ministry were already on the field working round the clock to revalidate the data and to clean up the register.

“As we speak, we are having a verification exercise. Every state can bear us witness that we have put boots on the ground – persons who are working with the state cash transfer office as well as the governors who are the heads of the steering committee and then several other persons,” she disclosed.

She disclosed that altogether, about 62million individuals shall benefit from the N25,000 that shall be disbursed to 15million households per month for an initial period of three months.

Regarding the other flagship scheme of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), she said, the Federal Government will restart the Tradermoni scheme simultaneously in the 109 senatorial districts in the country in November with each beneficiary getting N50,000 to support their businesses.To achieve this, a large market shall be selected from each senatorial zone where the traders shall be processed and selected for the intervention, Dr. Edu disclosed.

Even though she did not disclose how many traders shall be captured at this phase of the programme, Edu emphasized that, “Now, for the first set, which we are starting in November, we are selecting one big market per senatorial district. That is 109 markets and we are going into the markets, capturing the traders in their shops in the markets.”

Towards the end of last year, the National Bureau of Statistics released the report on its national poverty survey in which it disclosed that a total of 133 million Nigerians were multidimensionally poor. Out of this number, about 71million Nigerians have been classified as extremely poor.

Speaking to these grim statistics, Mrs. Edu explained that the immediate objective of the Federal Government was to pull the extremely poor out of poverty while erecting safety nets to prevent the multidimensionally poor from falling into extreme poverty.

Earlier, the minister had announced the suspension of the N-Power programme which had been enmeshed in controversies. She threatened that those found guilty of any form of malfeasance shall be made to face the due process of the law.

10/09/2023
Multiple Taxations Discouraging Investments In Telecoms Industry, Operators Lament

Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) Engr. Gbenga Adebayo has said that the challenge of multiple taxation is one of the major factors discouraging further investments in the industry.

This is coming on the heels of the Capital Importation data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which shows a plunge in Foreign Direct Investments in Nigeria’s telecommunications sector in the second quarter of 2023, attracting only $25.81 million as against $153.50 million recorded in the same period last year, representing a 494 per cent decline year on year.

The NBS data also revealed that the telecom sector accounted for 2.51 per cent of the total capital inflow into the economy in the second quarter of 2023, which stood at $1.03 billion.

Reacting to the report, Adebayo said telecom operators are currently paying a total of 39 taxes and levies, and governments at different levels in the country keep coming up with different charges.

He said the undefined tax regime in the industry has made planning and projections very difficult for players in the industry, adding that potential investors are also on the lookout for these factors and are still watching.

Expressing a similar view, the immediate past President of the Association of Telecommunications Company of Nigeria (ATCON) another umbrella body of players in the telecom industry, Engr. Ikechukwu Nnamani also observed that instability in the country’s forex market has been a major discouragement for many foreign investors who are interested in the country’s telecoms.

“It has been estimated that the country would require $100 billion in investments in the next 10 years to bridge the existing infrastructure gap in the telecom sector, but where is the money going to come from? The exchange rate situation in Nigeria is of serious concern for foreign investors; they are not sure of what the situation will be by the time they want to repatriate their returns. Their returns on investments could be halved due to the fluctuations in the exchange rate. If we want to see the investors, we have to first address the foreign exchange situation,” he said.

While there has been a general downtrend in FDI in the country’s economy since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, the telecoms sector has been recording a consistent decline in investments over the last 5 years.

10/08/2023
CBN Earns N912bn Income From W&Ms Loans To FG

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has earned a total of N912.32 billion from interest payments in the first quarter of 2023 on the Ways and Means (W&Ms) advances to the Federal Government, according to the Budget Office report.

This substantial figure was reported in the first quarter’s 2023 Budget Implementation Report, released by the Budget Office of the Federation.

The interest payment amount marks a substantial increase of 161.47 percent when compared to the N348.92 billion spent during the same quarter in 2022.

Nigeria had initially allocated N1.2 trillion to service the CBN Ways and Means Advances in this year’s budget, translating to approximately N300 billion per quarter. However, the government had already expended about 76.03 percent of its budgeted amount for interest payments on these loans during the first quarter.

Ways and Means Advances serve as a loan facility extended by the Central Bank to support the government during periods of temporary budget deficits, subject to legal limits.

According to Section 38 of the CBN Act, 2007, the central bank can provide temporary advances to the federal government to address temporary budget shortfalls at interest rates set by the bank.

The Act stipulates that the total outstanding advances should not exceed five percent of the previous year’s actual revenue of the Federal Government.

Furthermore, all advances must be repaid as soon as possible, and in any case, no later than the end of the Federal Government’s financial year in which they were granted.

Failure to repay these advances by year-end would limit the central bank’s ability to grant further advances in subsequent years unless outstanding advances are settled.

10/08/2023
IPMAN Blames NMDPRA For Substandard Petrol In Nigeria

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has placed blame on the Nigerian Midstream and Upstream Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for the sale of substandard petrol at filling stations throughout Nigeria.

John Okwocha, the National Vice President of IPMAN, made this assertion during his address at the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) in Abuja. He also acknowledged that the lack of local refining capacity contributes to this situation.

According to Okwocha, some of the products currently available evaporate easily, unlike the product that the country used to refine. He urged the federal government to ensure that the promise of refinery operation starting in December is fulfilled. He emphasized that only local refining can eliminate the importation of low-quality fuel.

“The prayer of this assembly is that the government must look inward to ensure our refineries are operational, thereby creating the opportunity to reduce the high importation of petroleum products, as we are witnessing today,” Okwocha stated.

He also pointed out the challenges faced by consumers who find that their fuel seems to vanish rapidly, leaving them puzzled. Okwocha emphasized the need to investigate whether the type of product currently available differs from the original product that consumers were accustomed to.

Okwocha explained, “This is because competition has made it convenient for importers to bring in very light and various types of products into the country, and we accept them due to a lack of alternatives.”

However, he highlighted the potential benefits of local production, stating, “But if we produce it in this country, we will have a choice. If we produce it in this country, we will select. If we produce it in this country, it will make it even more competitive and cheaper.”

In conclusion, Okwocha urged the government to take action by ensuring the proper functioning of refineries, which would ultimately make life easier for the people by providing access to high-quality fuel.

10/07/2023
Nigeria’s Q2 Capital Importation Decreases By 32.9% – NBS

In the second quarter of 2023, total capital importation into Nigeria stood at $1,030.21 billion, lower than $1,535.35 billion recorded in the second quarter, indicating a decrease of 32.90 per cent, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has said.

The bureau noted in its Nigeria Capital Importation Q2 2023, when compared to the preceding quarter, capital importation fell by 9.04 per cent from $1,132.65 billion in Q1 2023.

The statistics agency stated that Other Investment ranked top accounting for 81.28 per cent ($837.34 million) of total capital importation in Q2 2023, followed by Portfolio Investment with 10.37 per cent ($106.85 million) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with 8.35 per cent ($86.03 million).

“The production sector recorded the highest inflow with $605.04 million, representing 58.73 per cent of total capital imported in Q2 2023, followed by the banking sector, valued at $194.58 million (18.89%), and Shares with $68.63 million (6.66%).

“Capital importation during the reference period originated largely from the United States with $271.92 million, accounting for 26.39 per cent, followed by Singapore and the Republic of South Africa with $177.44 million (17.22%) and $136.95 million (13.29%) respectively.

“Lagos state remained the top destination in Q2 2023 with $778.06 million, accounting for 75.52 per cent of total capital, followed by Abuja (FCT), with $194.28 million (18.86%).

“First Bank of Nigeria Limited received the highest capital into Nigeria in Q2 2023 with $323.13 million (18.23%), followed by Citibank Nigeria Limited with $187.77 million (12.23%) and Rand Merchant Bank with $126.03 (6.47%), the bureau said.

10/07/2023
IMF Assures Of Stronger Collaboration With Members To Tackle Global Headwinds

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said it is collaborating with 190 countries across the world to facilitate international trade, contribute to high levels of employment and real income, promote exchange stability, and help member countries address payments imbalances.

In spite of uncertainty of global outlook, the IMF noted, the world economy has shown resilience, but in most countries near- and medium-term growth outlooks remain subdued and downside risks are elevated.

In its 2023 report, the IMF stated that tightening monetary policy stances to bring down inflation continues to weigh on most economies.

The Bretton Woods Institute noted that the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war has impacted on macro-financial stability, including financial sector stress, adding that though inflation has moderated somewhat, underlying price pressures remain sticky.

“Debt vulnerabilities are elevated, with 60 percent of low-income countries and 25 percent of emerging market economies in or at risk of debt distress. Debt-restructuring processes have been sluggish. Meanwhile, inequality persists within and across countries, and a record 350 million people in 79 countries face acute food insecurity.

“Rising geoeconomic fragmentation risks are making it more difficult to respond to shared challenges, which calls for decisive steps to rebuild trust. The global peace dividend is shrinking, and with it, the resources available to support the vulnerable. Protectionism is on the rise, hampering global trade and eroding hard-won gains from integration. Confronting shared challenges, such as the climate crisis and digitalization, will require overcoming differences and boosting international cooperation,” it said.

The lender said it is committed to collaborating with its members to find pragmatic solutions to move the global economy onto a sustainable upward trajectory.

“Ensuring sound domestic policies, bolstering global trade, and strengthening institutions will counter uncertainty and fortify macroeconomic resilience. Stepped-up international assistance and solutions to address high debt burdens will support vulnerable countries. Investing in digital technologies will help build a more prosperous and inclusive future. And jointly tackling climate change will sustain our planet,” the report stated.

10/07/2023
Active Internet Subscribers Hit 159.03m – NCC

The Executive Vice Chairman of Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta says the number of active mobile subscriptions reached 220,715,961 million as at August 2023.

Danbatta also said the number of active Internet subscribers was 159,034,717 million with broadband penetration at 45.57 per cent as at August, 2023.

Danbatta stated this at the ‘NCC Day’ during the 18th Abuja International Trade fair organised by the Abuja chamber of commerce and industry on Thursday in Abuja.

Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Mr Umar Alkasim, the EVC said growth in the telecom sector has been remarkable.

“The steady growth of the telecoms sector over the years with its pervasive positive impact on all other sectors of the economy in terms of increased automation of processes and digital transformation in service delivery has been remarkable.

“This, however, would not have been possible without you, telecoms consumers who are using the services daily. “

He said in order to sustain the growth, “the NCC has over the years created a conducive environment that stimulates deployment of robust telecoms and broadband infrastructure for improving the quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) for telecoms consumers, be it individuals or corporates.

“This is because, as a country, we need robust telecoms infrastructure that will help our industries transit to becoming Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-driven if we hope to be digitally competitive on the global stage. “

The NCC boss said the Commission is working assiduously with various stakeholders including the consumers, to see how more businesses can embrace digital platforms for delivering their services to the consumer.

“As a regulator, we also ensure we constantly inform you, the consumers on how to be protected to prevent cases of online fraud or avoid consumers falling victim to cybercrime antics while in their legitimate use of the Internet,” he said.

He said the NCC will continue to provide a level-playing ground for operators to thrive, promote investment and delivery of innovative services to individual consumers and business owners by ensuring enhanced consumer quality of experience.

10/06/2023