The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary policy committee has raised interest rate by 50 basis points from 26.25% to 26.75%.
The Governor of the CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso announced this at the end of the apex bank’s 296th MPC meeting held in Abuja.
The MPC also pegged the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for Deposit Money Banks at 45% while that of merchant banks was put at 14%.
The liquidity ratio was pegged at 30%.
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, has said Nigeria’s fuel subsidy expenditure might cross N700 billion monthly.
The Secretary of IPMAN, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu disclosed in a statement on Monday.
He was reacting to data released last Wednesday by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, noting that the landing cost of petrol as of the preceding day was N1,117/liter.
Speaking to the MEMAN’s data, Shuaibu contended that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian government may not be telling the truth about the country’s fuel subsidy expenditure.
He warned Nigerians to be prepared for fuel pump price hikes.
“Petrol price is determined by the forces of demand and supply in the international market. When there is a global price increase, we should experience it in Nigeria.
“Therefore the N1,117/litre is not just based on our foreign exchange rate, but also the global PMS cost. The sole importer of this product is NNPC and the company is not telling us the truth.
“But data sourced by our counterparts, the major marketers, showed clearly that the landing cost of petrol is above N1,100/liter. This means that the monthly subsidy has crossed N700bn.
“That also means we should be prepared so that any time the price of petrol jumps, we should not be surprised because they have already told us,” Shuaibu stated.
However, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri on several occasions had insisted that fuel subsidies remain removed in Nigeria.
Further analysis showed that although petrol goes for between N617 per liter and N750 per liter depending on the location, dealers said the ex-depot price of the commodity by NNPC is N585/liter.
This brings the difference between the landing cost of N1,117 and an ex-depot price of N585 to N532.
According to the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources, petroleum consumption figures of 44.3 million liters in October 2023, multiplied by the estimated N532 subsidy paid on each liter of petrol, give N23.57 billion as the daily subsidy spending.
The figure of the estimated fuel subsidy thereby amounts to over N700 billion in 30 days.
This comes amid the impasse between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority over substandard petroleum products.
Meanwhile, the Lokpobiri on Monday, presided over a meeting with the heads of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
Recall that the former governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, had claimed that the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal government is paying more on fuel subsidies than before.
Similarly, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo had also hinted at the government is applying a quasi-fuel subsidy on petrol.
The naira on Monday recorded gains over the dollar across official foreign exchange (FX) markets, following dollar sales to authorised dealers and the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators.
At the official market, the naira gained N96.60 as the dollar was quoted at N1,500.32 on Monday, representing 6.44 percent higher than N1,596.92 quoted on Friday at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange Limited indicated.
The volume of transactions, known as FX turnover, increased by 7.66 percent to $269.88 million on Monday from $250.67 million recorded on Friday.
At the parallel market, popularly called black market, the naira closed at N1,570 per dollar gaining 0.64 percent or N10 compared to N1,580 closed on Friday.
The intraday high printed at N1,610 per dollar on Monday as against N1,619 traded on Friday, while the intraday low was quoted at N1,490 on Monday from N1,495 per dollar.
On Friday the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said it sold the sum of USS106.5 million to authorised dealers over a two-day period to stabilise the Naira. The transactions occurred on Thursday, July 18, and Friday, July 19, 2024.
The CBN revealed that recent fluctuations in the forex market are largely driven by increased demand from corporate entities and the expected seasonal surge during the summer.
To address these pressures, the CBN has begun regular sales of foreign exchange through authorized dealer banks and licensed Bureaux De Change (BDCs).
The initiative aligns with the CBN’s mandate to ensure price stability and maintain a liquid and well-functioning market.
Over the coming weeks, the CBN plans to continue providing liquidity support to various segments of the official markets. The sales conducted on July 18 and 19 saw a total of USS106.50 million sold to 29 authorised dealer banks at exchange rates ranging from N1,498.00/USS1 to N1,530.00/USS1.
Read also: Naira gains 0.95% on increased dollar supply
Additionally, the CBN purchased US$9.50 million from four authorized dealer banks at rates between N1,510.00/USS1 and N1,550.00/US$1. The value date for these transactions is set for July 19, 2024.
Omolara Omotunde Duke, director, financial markets department, at the CBN, emphasised that the bank will closely monitor compliance with existing trading rules and regulations to promote ethical conduct among authorized dealer banks. This effort is part of a broader strategy to achieve stability in the foreign exchange market.
The CBN advises the general public to channel their foreign exchange demands through their banks and BDC operators in accordance with prevailing market regulations.
Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, revealed over the weekend that Dangote Petroleum Refinery has continued to receive repeat orders for its products from all customers who have purchased them since production began.
So far, the refinery has exported its products to a few European countries, Singapore, and the offshore Lome.
During a tour of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals and the Dangote Fertiliser Limited complex by members of the House of Representatives, Dangote questioned why a regulatory authority, such as the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, that was supposed to protect local industries was criticizing the latter and even lying in media reports to justify the need to continue importing dirty fuel into the country.
He said: “I urge you to even set up a committee that will take samples at filling stations and take our own sample because I must tell you that all the test certificates people are flaunting around are fake certificates.
“Where are the laboratories where those tests were conducted? By doing this, you will be able to tell Nigerians the very truth that they deserve to know. De-marketing of a company by a regulator that it is supposed to protect it, is very unfortunate.
“We didn’t know that you were going to ask us to stop by the road and take samples from other filling stations. I didn’t know what you wanted to do until we got here and you requested for a test.
“It is even good that it is your members that went directly to get our samples and I am sure you were shocked by the result. With the result, you can see that we produce the best diesel in Nigeria.”
Dangote also challenged the regulator, NMDPRA, to compare the quality of refined products from his refinery with those imported, while advocating an impartial assessment to determine what best served the interests of Nigerians.
“We produce the best diesel in Nigeria. It is disheartening that instead of safeguarding the market, the regulator is undermining it. Our doors are open for the regulator to conduct tests on our products anytime, transparency is paramount to us.
“It would be beneficial for the regulator to showcase its laboratory to the world so Nigerians can compare. Our interest is Nigeria first because if Nigeria doesn’t grow, we have limited capacity for growth.
The Group Chief Commercial Officer at Dangote Industries Limited, Rabiu Umar has said the Nigerian government neglected Dangote Refinery to export crude oil to Indonesia and import finished products from the same country.
Umar disclosed this in an interview with Channels Television on Monday monitored by DAILY POST.
He stated this is coming despite the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery’s inability to get adequate crude oil supply in Nigeria.
“Whilst we are going to import cargoes abroad. Most of the cargo from Nigeria is sold to Indonesia. So the question is, does it make sense to take cargo from Nigeria to sell to Indonesia and then you are also importing the same finished product to Nigeria? It does not make sense to me”, he said.
He added, “We expect to see an improved supply of crude oil to domestic refineries”.
He, however, reiterated that Dangote Refinery will commence the domestic supply of fuel in August 2024.
The development comes amid the recent impasse between the Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority over substandard products.
Recall that last week, Farouk Ahmed, the Chief Executive Officer of NMDPRA stated that Dangote products were inferior.
Meanwhile, Rabiu clarified that Dangote Refinery products are not substandard but rather among the best in the World.
Earlier, Aliko Dangote, the owner of Dangote Refinery had also dismissed Ahmed’s statement that its products were inferior.
The 16th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, has said that Alhaji Aliko Dangote should not be blamed for buying dollars at lower rates at the time he was building his refinery because that was the actual rate the apex bank was selling to everybody at that time.
Sanusi, who commented on the issue through SOP Chat Group, initially said: “I honestly do not think it is a good idea for me to make comments on these issues, but some comments surprise me, and I just have to say something.”
The emir then went on to remark: “Aliko Dangote did not fix the price at which the CBN sold dollars. Everyone who got dollars from the CBN got dollars at the same rate if they bought on the same day. So we cannot blame him for buying dollars at a rate the CBN itself decided to sell to its customers.
“So the question for me is this. Let us forget the man Dangote. If the Central Bank were to prioritize a single enterprise for forex allocation, how many enterprises can we think of that are worthier than a refinery like this one?
“Consider the drain on our forex from importing petroleum products; the tens of billions of dollars of forex spent abroad; the huge losses due to theft in the name of subsidy.
“By the way, how much forex did Dangote buy from the CBN at this subsidized rate? How much forex did NNPC take from the federation account in the same year in the name of running and turning around its dead refineries? What are we benchmarking against?
“If any Nigerian came to me as a Central Bank Governor with a project like this refinery, I would recognize immediately its potential impact on the economy and give it all the support needed.
“Let our views on forex policies not becloud our sense of priorities. Once the CBN decided to sell dollars at the below market, it would be forced to ration the limited dollars available.”
“To my mind, giving dollars for the construction of a refinery is better than rice importers and, indeed, almost every other enterprise apart from education and health, given the impact on the macro.”
On the argument by NNPC that relying on one refinery is bad for our energy security, Muhammadu Sanusi II said: “This is most laughable. On the contrary, relying on a local refinery is far more secure than these imports.
“It is a very rich argument from an entity that had taken billions of dollars in the name of turnaround maintenance and not produced a drop of product from four refineries because it is more profitable to continue extracting rent in the name of subsidy. If NNPC activated its refineries, there would be no monopoly. Then, we can see the sulphur content of its products and compare them to Dangote’s.”
He said further: “Until then, keeping quiet is the honourable option for it, NNPC and its spinoffs have lost any right to talk until they fix the mess they have thrown us into.
“In any case, if the Dangote refinery is unable to meet local demand, the gap can be filled by imports, these people in NNPC do not want to end their lucrative subsidy scam, and I don’t think they will end it.
” But as a nation, if we do not thank Dangote for what he has done as an African to deal a hammer blow to multinationals and the rentier system and for structural change in this economy through value added in various sectors, we should not condemn him.
“Also, we tend to repeat stories without evidence. We hear about Dangote getting favourable taxation but no one has said what this tax is, if he got it alone or if it was offered to a sector or to pioneers, and if such a practice is in fact normal to encourage investment.”
The emir concluded thus: “Instead of killing Dangote, we should try and make more like him. Nigeria always kills its heroes and its best because of envy and pettiness.”
Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, has alleged some personnel of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, oil traders and terminals have opened a blending plant in Malta.
Dangote spoke at the house of representatives on Monday.
An oil blending plant has no refining capability but can be used to blend re-refined oil (a used motor oil that has been treated to remove dirt, fuel, and water) with additives to create finished lubricant products.
The billionaire said the areas of the blending plants are known.
“Some of the terminals, some of the NNPC people and some traders have opened a blending plant somewhere off Malta,” the chairman said.
“We all know these areas. We know what they are doing.”
Addressing the drop in diesel prices, the billionaire said the diesel produced locally at 650 parts per million (ppm) and 700 ppm is of better quality than imported fuel.
Dangote said many vehicle issues can be traced back to the “substandard” imported fuel.
He urged the leadership of the house of representatives to set up an independent committee to verify the quality of petrol available at filling stations.
“I want you to set up a committee that will come with every representative headed by your chosen honourable member to come and lead in taking samples from filling stations because I must tell you today that all the test certificates that people are busy floating around, where are the labs? Even if they have the labs, I can tell you they are fake certificates,” he said.
“The real one that you now know that they are right is to take from the filling station and also come and take from our production line. Now, you will be able to tell Nigerians that this is it.”
On Monday, the house of representatives joint committee on petroleum resources (downstream and midstream) launched a probe into claims that local refineries, including the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, produce inferior products.
The committee is also investigating the allegations that the international oil companies (IOCs) in Nigeria are frustrating the survival of the Dangote refinery.
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Dangote refinery have been embroiled in a dispute that began recently.
On July 18, Farouk Ahmed, the chief executive officer of NMDPRA had said local refineries, including the Dangote refinery, were producing inferior products compared to the ones imported into the country.
The oil regulator also accused Dangote of monopoly, claims which have been denied by the billionaire.
On Monday, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state petroleum resources (oil), intervened in the ‘ongoing issues’ after having a meeting with Aliko Dangote, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Dangote Group and Farouk Ahmed, CEO of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA).
Gbenga Komolafe, CEO of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), and Mele Kyari, group CEO of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited were also at the meeting.
In a phone call with CNN minutes after Biden announced his exit from the 2024 race, former President Trump responded, “He is the worst president in the history of our country. He goes down as the single worst president by far in the history of our country.” While it’s unclear who the Democratic nominee will be, Trump said he thinks VP Harris will be easier to defeat than Biden would have been.
Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was!
He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement.
All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t – And now, look what he’s done to our Country, with millions of people coming across our Border, totally unchecked and unvetted, many from prisons, mental institutions, and record numbers of terrorists.
We will suffer greatly because of his presidency, but we will remedy the damage he has done very quickly. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
The Presiding Judge, Yola Judicial Division of the National Industrial Court, Hon. Justice Agbadun Fishim has converted the dismissal of a lecturer, Mr. Jonah from service of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi to termination with effect from the date of his purported dismissal 12 December 2018, and ordered that all benefits that accrued to him as at that date be paid to him.
The Court held that the punishment of dismissal with its attendant consequential on the future of Mr. Jonah is unjustifiable and cannot stand because the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi and its Governing Council failed to establish the reason for the said dismissal.
From facts, the claimant- Mr. Felix Jonah had submitted that he was not aware that he was given two queries between 27th and 29th October 2015 but agreed that he was given a query on 16 June 2016 by his Head of Department over abscondment from place of work which he responded to.
Mr. Jonah argued that he was not given a fair hearing because the prescribed procedure for the disciplinary action prescribed in the Polytechnic Staff Manual was not followed by the Defendant before he was dismissed from service, and urged the Court to grant the reliefs sought.
In defence, the defendants- Federal Polytechnic, Mubi and the Governing Council stated that the institution submitted that they were within their competence and power to dismiss Mr. Jonah and that due process were strictly complied as required by Law.
The learned Counsel to Polytechnic averred further that the Institution gave Mr. Jonah a query for abscondment from his duty post and was issued another query over an allegation of misconduct which he refused to appear before the Committee set up to investigate the issue, and cannot complain of fair hearing and urged the Court to dismiss the case.
Delivering judgment, the presiding Judge, Justice Agbadun Fishim held that Mr. Jonah was accorded a fair hearing and that the evidence before the Court shows that he (Mr. Jonah) appeared in two different committees set up by the management of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi and the Committee set up by the Governing Council all of which Mr. Jonah was duly invited and he appeared and made out his case before, he was subsequently dismissed.
However, the presiding Judge, Justice Fishim stressed that the Law imposes on the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi and its Governing Council a duty to establish the reason for the termination of the employee’s employment to the satisfaction of the Court and the wrong-doing of the employee must be connected with International Labour standards and International best practices in Labour Employment and Industrial Relations matters which this Court has a duty to apply as empowered by the 1999 constitution as amended.
Justice Fishim stated that the reasons given for the dismissal of Mr. Jonah did not flow from the findings of the Investigative Committee and disagreed with the Federal Polytechnic Mubi and the Governing Council that the reason for the dismissal Mr. Jonah for the alleged misconduct was established.
Justice Fishim stated that the reason given for the dismissal of Mr. Jonah did not flow from the findings of the Investigative Report of misconduct against Mr. Jonah when the report did not clearly indict him.
On Mr. Jonah’s claim for reinstatement, the court stated that the conduct of Mr. Jonah regarding his attitude to work is that of neglect and constant abandonment of his duties as a Lecturer to his students and such conduct and attitude to work of Mr. Jonah cannot be tolerated by any employer.
“He indeed abandoned his duty to his employer as well as his Students. Surely his Students have all this while being deprived of his services which is unfortunate to say the least. In the circumstance, the Claimant does not deserve to remain in his employment having breached his duty to his employers.
“I hereby invoke sections 13, 14 and 15 of the National Industrial Court Act, 2006 and section 254c (1) (f) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (Third Alteration) Act 2010 and I hereby convert the Claimant’s dismissal from service to termination with effect from the date of his dismissal which is 12th December 2018. All benefits that accrued to him as at that date be paid to him. I so hold and declare. All other reliefs claimed are hereby refused” The Court ruled.
Visit the judgment portal for full details www.nicnadr.gov.ng/judgement
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atcaYPZyVkY?si=xngqy1JRhwcGa9pd
‘No Single Incentive From FG’
The billionaire business tycoon said his refinery did not enjoy any incentive from the Federal Government.“In the refinery, we did not, and I repeat, we did not collect one single incentive from the Federal Government of Nigeria or even Lagos State. Yes, the Lagos State gave us a good deal but we paid $100m for the land. It wasn’t a free land; we paid for it,” he said.
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