₦airaland Forum

At a time when most Nigerians are lamenting the trauma caused by fuel scarcity in the country, very few others however saw an opportunity presented by the scarcity which has become a recurrent decimal in recent times. When everyone else saw the scorching effects of the present fuel saga, a Nigerian developer and entrepreneur saw an opportunity and created a mobile App which can give users information about filling stations in a particular city where petrol is available.

With the app you can browse and Search Filling stations around you, Check for prices and availability of products (Petrol, Diesel, Kerosene and Gas) from the comfort of your home.

Necessity leads to innovation they say, the same is true in this development which is the hallmark of an entrepreneur. Whenever there is a problem, an entrepreneur sees opportunity. That is the fascinating fact about this mobile app.

In every aspect of our lives and in our society, we as creative minds and business oriented individuals should see opportunities and possibilities whenever there is a peculiar problem in our society.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/04/05/fuel-scarcity-necessity-led-innovation-nigerian-develop-mobile-app-check-fuel-availability/

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal Government is determined to significantly reduce the high bill for importation of food products to Nigeria.

Speaking at a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Denmark, Mr Lars Rasmussen, in Washington DC, U.S., Buhari also reaffirmed his administration's commitment to the rapid diversification of Nigerian economy.

``We developed a mono-product economy and lost opportunities to diversify in the past.

``We have great potential for agriculture and solid minerals; we are now determined to exploit them to the fullest,’’ Buhari said in a statement issued by Presidential Spokesman Femi Adesina on Saturday.

According to Buhari, addressing the past neglect of these two sectors will help to reduce unemployment and make Nigeria a more productive country.

``We will welcome more investment in our agriculture and solid minerals sectors from countries with expertise in the two sectors.

``We abandoned them for petroleum; Now, we have to go back.

``Our bill for the importation of food and dairy products is very high.

``We want to cut it as much as possible by developing our local potential," the President told Mr Rasmussen.

Buhari assured the Danish Prime Minister that the Federal Government would continue to partner other countries to further improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.

The President said that his administration was determined to stop the huge loss of revenue from crude oil theft and had received assurances of international support to curb illegal shipments of Nigeria's crude oil.

Remarking that his country was a major shipping nation, Rasmussen thanked Buhari for Nigeria's current efforts to enhance security in the Gulf of Guinea.

He assured the President that Danes would be very interested in investing in the development of Nigeria's agricultural sector if the right policies and conditions were put in place.

``We are quite experienced in agriculture; it is an area in which we can cooperate.
``If you pave the way and remove the obstacles, we will like to come in," the Prime Minister assured President Buhari. (NAN)

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/04/02/buhari-says-fg-determined-reduce-nations-food-import-bill/

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that it has again cut its growth forecast for Nigeria as the oil exporter faces “substantial challenges” from low crude prices.

In its annual review of Nigeria’s economic situation, the IMF said that gross domestic product growth would slow to 2.3 percent in 2016 from an estimated 2.7 percent in 2015. In February, after IMF officials visited the country, the Fund had forecast 3.2 percent growth for Nigeria in 2016.

“Key risks to the outlook include lower oil prices, shortfalls in non-oil revenues, a further deterioration in finances of state and local Governments, deepening disruptions in private sector activity due to constraints on access to foreign exchange, and resurgence in security concerns,” the IMF said in a statement.

It added that Nigeria’s general government deficit would grow further after doubling to 3.7 percent of GDP in 2015.

The IMF executive board said Nigeria needed to urgently implement policies to safeguard fiscal sustainability, reduce external imbalances and advance structural reforms that promote more inclusive growth.

“Directors emphasized the critical need to raise non-oil revenues to ensure fiscal sustainability while maintaining infrastructure and social spending,” the IMF said. “They urged a gradual increase in the VAT rate, further improvements in revenue administration, and a broadening of the tax base.”

Discussions between Nigeria and the World Bank are continuing on a possible loan or credit facility that is tied to policy reforms in the West African oil exporter, a spokesman for the Washington-based multilateral lender said on Thursday.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/04/01/imf-cuts-nigeria-growth-forecast-amid-oil-slump/

In an effort to end the recurrent fuel shortages, particularly of premium motor spirit, PMS (petrol) being experienced in the country, the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency for petroleum products distribution.

This comes even as private operators in the country now have the responsibility to bring in 60 percent of the scarce commodity in the second quarter, Q2 import allocations

According to Vanguard reports, for Q2, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA 44% allocation to Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA; 40% NNPC/PPMC; and the balance of 16% to Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN.

Confirming the developments, the Commercial Director, PPMC, Mr. Justin Ezeala, admitted to the drop in NNPC/PPMC new import allocation, saying that “it is meant to free NNPC to import only for itself, instead of importing for everybody as we have been doing since this year.” He also admitted that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, had “directed that everything related to petroleum distribution must be treated as an emergency.”

To this end, “beginning from tomorrow (today), we have confirmations for cargoes lined up to be received in-country. Petroleum cargoes are to be treated as essential commodities, with all the regulatory agencies – DPR, PPRA, put on the alert. “We have put in place a process to receive them in terms of logistics and cut short on all the bureaucracies, as everything will be treated with emergency in order to end the fuel crisis.

‘To this end, we have also kept trans-shipment vessels in Warri, Calabar depots for easy reach to the northern and southern parts of the country. “Today, we also held a meeting with officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to join forces with the Nigeria Police to monitor and follow products distribution from the depots to the retail outlets to cut short on sharp practices.

“We also met with the national executives of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, to alert them to the sense of the emergency, as it takes about four days to take products from Lagos to Abuja. “We are also planning to re-stream the Systems 2B Pipeline, which transports refined products from Atlas Cove reception Jetty to Mosimi, Ibadan and Ilorin.”

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/04/01/fuel-scarcity-fg-prioritizes-products-distribution/

Oil price at the international market jumped above $42 a barrel on Friday, March 18, hitting its highest in 2016 and extending a rally into a fourth week on the possibility of a production freeze by major exporters.

Brent crude’s front-month contract LCOc1 was up at $42.44 a barrel while U.S. crude CLc1 gained 84 cents to $41.04 a barrel after rising as high as $41.13.

The benchmark had soared by 4.5 per cent to close the previous session at $40.20.

Oil prices have surged by more than 50 per cent from 12-year lows reached in December.

The rise came about as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) floated the idea of a production freeze, boosting brent from about $27 and U.S. crude from around $26.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/03/19/oil-hits-time-high-2016-43-per-barrel/

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to punish those who made unauthorized alterations to the 2016 budget proposal that he presented in December, after civic groups criticized the spending plan for being riddled with errors and wasteful provisions.

“The culprits will not go unpunished,” Buhari told an audience of Nigerians in Riyadh late Tuesday, according to a statement from his office. “Our Minister of Budget and National Planning did a great job with his team. The minister became almost half his size during the time, working night and day to get the budget ready, only for some people to pad it.”

Buhari has set out a record 6.1 trillion naira ($30.6 billion) budget this year to help revive an economy reeling from the impact of the low price of oil, which was the source of about two-thirds of government revenue in 2014. Groups, such as Lagos-based pro-transparency organization BudgIT, highlighted “suspicious and wasteful” allocations in the spending plan which have sparked public outrage.

The budget controversy began last month when lawmakers alleged that the original document presented by Buhari on Dec. 22 had been substituted. The president said in a Jan. 19 letter to lawmakers that the original document contained errors. The government was the first to detect initial errors in the budget and Buhari wrote to lawmakers to correct them and welcomed further criticisms, Garba Shehu, his spokesman, said on Feb. 11.

Buhari fired the director-general of the budget office, Yahaya Gusau, on Feb. 15, replacing him with former banker Tijjani Abdullahi. Nigeria’s Parliament is set to pass the budget no later than the second week of March, Abdulmumin Jibrin, chairman of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriation, said last week in the capital, Abuja.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/24/buhari-vows-severe-sanctions-for-budget-errors/

Considering the current tough economic environment consumers are facing, MultiChoice, operator of DStv pay Tv, has made some downward adjustments in its service offerings.

It has reduced the price of DStv Explora decoder, dish and one month Compact subscription from N71,000 to N30,000. It also reduced the DStv Zapper decoder, dish and one month Compact subscription from N18,500 to N12,500.

In addition to these adjustments in favour of consumers, MultiChoice also brought its sports channels – Barclays league, Laliga and Euro 2016 to Compact Bouquet subscribers in all their HD glory, at no extra cost.

Disclosing this to DStv customers yesterday in Lagos, Martin Mabutho, general manager, sales and marketing, told Nigerians that “One of MultiChoice’s key priorities is to put our subscribers’ needs at the heart of everything we do, and since this has been tough economic times for everyone, we realised that our subscribers could have some good news.

“We are excited that we can now deliver the best football action in the world to our Compact subscribers while ensuring that this development doesn’t negatively impact them financially.”

Mabutho further said that SuperSport would launch two new sports channels, SuperSport 11 (DStv channel 231) and SuperSport 12 (DStv channel 232), which will be dedicated to showcasing the EPL and La Liga, respectively, on the DStv Compact bouquet.

This means that all Compact football fans will now be able to enjoy the biggest games of the season, including this Saturday’s match (February 28) on channel SS11 between long-time rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United.

More football excitement continues on SS12 in the Spanish league where Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suarez are leading what’s possibly the world’s most potent attack for Barcelona this football season. Subscribers will find out if Barçacan claim their 24th La Liga crown against Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid this season. They will also watch as the two-football teams test each other’s mettle on April 3, when they meet in the first El Clasico derby of 2016 at Barça’s Camp Nou.

As part of MultiChoice Africa’s ongoing efforts to improve its products and offering, DStv Compact subscribers, Mabutho said could look forward to even more exciting sport and entertainment this year. “The Euro 2016 tournament, which will kick off on 10 June until 10 July on the new SuperSport channels will keep our football loving subscribers enthralled while they wait for the next season to start in August 2016.”

He said these offers further reiterate MultiChoice’s commitment to providing Nigerians with quality entertainment they can afford.

It would be recalled that in July last year, MultiChoice revamped its DStv Compact bouquet to include over 95 world-class channels at a monthly subscription of N6,000. Some of the new channels include AfricaMagic Igbo, AfricaMagic Urban, BBC Brit, CBeebies, Eva, M-Cityand Zee World.

Only yesterday, MultiChoice reiterated its commitment to customer satisfaction.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/24/multichoice-considers-tough-times-reduces-price-of-offerings-for-subscribers/

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday dismissed the application for a stay of further proceedings filed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over the hike in electricity tariff.

NERC had asked the court for stay of proceedings until its appeal against two previous rulings by the court was heard and determined by the Court of Appeal.

Justice Mohammed Idris had in one of the rulings barred NERC from implementing any upward review in electricity tariff pending the hearing and determination of the main suit.

The other ruling was the dismissal of NERC’s preliminary objections to the suit.

Idris, who dismissed the application for stay of proceedings for lacking in merit, held that contrary to the claims of the applicant, there were no indications that the appeal had been listed for hearing at the Court of Appeal.

“It is clear that the applicant has an application before the court seeking for an extension of time to compile and transmit its record at the Appeal Court.

“There is also another motion for leave to rely on the same record of appeal in this present appeal.

“ There is no indication that the application has been listed on the cause list or that it had been heard or adjourned for hearing.

“In the circumstance, this court cannot grant a stay of proceedings on an appeal which is awaiting regularisation at the Appeal Court.

“The application lacks merit and is dismissed accordingly,’’ he ruled.



The judge also awarded a N10,000 cost in favour of the plaintiff.

After the ruling, there were arguments among parties in the case as to which application should be taken by the court.

The plaintiff, in his submissions, insisted that the ruling of the court had cleared the way for the hearing of his motion for contempt.

However, the defendants wanted the court to hear the substantive matter.

According to them, the plaintiff had not met any of the conditions prescribed by the law for his contempt charge to be heard by the court.

In a short ruling on the issue, Idris held that though contempt charge affected the integrity of the court, it would be in the interest of justice for all applications challenging the contempt proceedings to be heard first.

NERC’s counsel, Mr Anthony Idigbe(SAN), then moved his application challenging the filing of forms 48 and 49 by the plaintiff.

He urged the court to dismiss the application for not following due process.

The plaintiff, however urged the court to dismiss all objections to the contempt charge and commit the NERC Chairman and the CEOs of the Distribution Companies(Discos) to prison for desecrating the judiciary.

He said the action of the alleged contemnors should be condemned and should not go unpunished.

After listening to the arguments of parties, the judge adjourned till Feb. 29 for ruling on the application challenging the contempt charge.

In the substantive suit brought by Toluwani Adebiyi, a lawyer and human rights activist, the plaintiff sought an order restraining NERC from implementing any upward review of electricity tariff.

This, the plaintiff said, was against the backdrop that there had been no meaningful and significant improvement in power supply at least for 18 hours in a day in most communities in Nigeria.

He also sought an order restraining NERC from foisting compulsory service charge on pre-paid meters not until “the meters are designed to read charges per second of consumption and not a flat rate of service not rendered or power not used.’’

The service charge on pre-paid meters, he added, should not to be enforced until there was visible efficient and reliable power supply like those of foreign countries where the idea of service charge was borrowed.

Adebiyi further asked for an order of court mandating NERC to do the needful and generate more power to meet the electricity use of Nigerians.

The lawyer also asked the court to mandate NERC to make available to all Nigerians within a maximum of two years prepaid meters as a way to stop the indiscriminate estimated bill.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/23/tariff-hike-court-dismisses-nercs-application-for-stay-of-proceedings/

Commercial Banks in the country have intensified a downward review of the spending limits on debit cards overseas due to the scarcity of the foreign exchange (forex) in the country.

Two of the major banks, Stanbic IBTC and Ecobank, issued fresh notices to their customers, informing them of the reduction in the amount they could withdraw abroad.

The Stanbic IBTC, over the weekend, informed its customers of the new limits. Now, customers with the debit master card can only spend $350 a day online or on a Point of Sale (POS) terminal as against the previous daily limit of $1000 a day.

Cash withdrawal from ATMs outside the country has also been reduced by 50 per cent from $300 a day to $150 a day.

It also said the total amount that could be withdrawn from any ATM abroad on a Stanbic IBTC debit master card is $750, while the total amount that could be spent online and on POS in a month is now $1,750. Total cumulative monthly spending on all the two platforms is now only $2500.

The new lower limits came as the country’s dollar reserves keep dwindling, forcing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement policies aimed at slowing down the dwindling reserves. Other banks are also expected to announce similar cuts.

Also, Ecobank, in a notice issued on Friday, said the daily cash withdrawal had been reduced from $300 to $100 a day, or its equivalent in other foreign currencies when you are abroad.

Ecobank cut down all its cards limit to $100 a day. The standard card from $3000 to $100 a day (on POS/web); Gold Card from $4,000 to $100 a day (on POS/web) and Platinum card from $5,000 to $100 a day (on POS/web) with the cumulative annual spending limit for all cards to $50,000.

The scarcity of the forex shut the value of dollar last week by about 10 per cent at the parallel market. The exchange rate of the naira to the dollar was N380 a dollar in Abuja and Lagos as at last Friday.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/22/banks-cut-foreign-spending-limit-again-as-forex-scarcity-bites-harder/

Gov Ayo Fayose of Ekiti on Monday approved the immediate disbursement of N236,860,000 as motor vehicle loans to 773 workers in the state public service.

This is contained in a statement signed and released by the state Commissioner for Finance, Chief Toyin Ojo, in Ado-Ekiti.

Ojo said the loan, which ranged from N80,000 to N1.5 million would be paid in full to the beneficiaries in a matter of days.

According to him, the grade levels of the 773 beneficiaries were taken into consideration in approving what went to each of them.

The commissioner said applicants who could not meet the screening condition of 50 per cent of their net pay as set by the state government would be considered.

He advised civil servants who applied for vehicle loans to check their names on the list, which was pasted at the Accountant General’s office.

Ojo emphasised the commitment of the Fayose led-administration toward the welfare of workers in the state.

He promised that another list of beneficiaries of the workers’ car loan would be released in due course.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/22/fayose-approves-n236m-car-loan-for-ekiti-public-servants/

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a loss of N267.14 billion in its activities in 2015.

This is contained in the corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operation Report released on Wednesday in Abuja.

It said that it lost N11.86 billion in December, 2015, a loss less than N14.29 billion deficit it recorded in November.

Analysis of the figures revealed that NNPC earned gross revenue 0f N2.07 trillion while it recorded expenses of N2.31 trillion during the period.

It said that NNPC’s Headquarters recorded the highest deficit, with a loss of N162.74 billion.

According to the corporation, its Corporate Service Unit posted a deficit of N18.8 billion, while the three refineries posted a combined loss of N82.09 billion during the period.

“The Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) recorded a loss of N34.7 billion in the year under review, while Warri Refinery and Petrochemical Company(WRPC) and Port Harcourt Refining Company posted losses of N24.31billion and N23.09 billion, respectively,” he said.

The report revealed that Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), one of NNPC’s subsidiaries, lost N62.06 billion, while the National Engineering Technical Company (NETCO) lost N744 million.

It, however, stated that Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC) recorded profits of N16.91 billion and N34.9 billion, respectively.

It added that Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) and NNPC Retail recorded profits of N2.43 billion and N5.05 billion, respectively.

“For the month of December, the NNPC recorded a revenue N184.40 billion, representing an appreciation of 18.9 per cent from N155.10 billion recorded in the month of November.

“Expenses also grew by 15.9 per cent to N196.26 billion compared to N169.40 billion recorded in November,” it said.

The report further stated that NNPC paid N1.09 trillion to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) from January to December, 2015.

It disclosed that NNPC lifted 245 million barrels of crude oil on behalf of the Federal Government, out of a total of 706 million barrels of crude oil fiscalised between January and November, 2015.

According to the report, the corporation also declared that a total of 254 billion cubic feet of gas was sent to power stations across the country during the period.

This, it said, was with an average power generating capacity of 2,957 megawatts of electricity from gas-fired power plants.

In addition, it said that a total of 7.5 billion litres of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, was supplied to the country by the NNPC and the PPMC in 2015.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/02/04/nigeria-eyes-100th-position-on-ease-of-doing-business-index/

The Union of Tomato Paste Manufacturers in Nigeria has called on the federal government ease up on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s foreign exchange policy in order to avail them more time for backward integration.

The group, which spoke in Lagos through the Managing Director, Sonia Foods Industries Ltd, Nnamdi Nnodebe, said it is committed to the growth of the economy and wants to boost the country’s GDP through the production and exportation of tomato paste.

“However, we will be pleased if the government can avail us more to time to allow for backward integration just like it applies to some other sectors of the country,” he stated.

“We have begun the process of backward integration in some parts of the country but support for the process is critical to its success,” Nnodebe added.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/01/31/tomato-paste-manufacturers-urge-cbn-to-ease-up-on-forex-policy/

Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) on Sunday said 150,000 rice farmers would be engaged in dry season farming in Zamfara as part of effort to ensure food security in the country.

The Secretary of the association in the state, Alhaji Sanusi Muhammad, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau.

Muhammad said the association had begun educating people on the need to participate in local rice production to boost their economy and ensure food security.

He said the special intervention programme recently launched by the Federal Government on rice farming had boosted the moral of the farmers.

He said more than 20,000 hectares in Bakalori dam irrigation scheme and Fadama schemes in Maradun, Bakura and Talata-Mafara Local Government areas would be cultivated.

“The association is working with government agents to register active rice farmers to facilitate easy reach whenever the need arises.’’

The secretary urged the state and federal government to meet necessary standard in local rice production.

Meanwhile, a farmer in Talata-Mafara, Jamilu Abubakar, had expressed concern over poor market for locally produced rice.

Abubakar, who appealed to the government to provide modern processing machines in the area, also urged the government to expand Bakalori irrigation scheme to accommodate more farmers wishing to invest in rice production.

When contacted, the Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture in the state, Alhaji Musa Raji, said arrangement had been concluded for the distribution of fertilizer and other inputs to farmers in the state.

http://www.financialwatchngr.com/2016/01/31/150000-rice-farmers-to-be-engaged-in-dry-season-farming-rifan/

kestolove95:
Hers is just 50...mine use to b 80upward

congratulations.......u need an award for being the first female dasukigate.....share the number share ur stuff

Destined2win:
When I become the president, I will make sure I support our national teams fully, and motivate them in every possible way so that once again, we will not only rule Africa in football, we will make solid football statements in the world at all levels!


So Help Me God!

u love football Buhari don't. football is trash wrestling is more entertaining. u talk as if all your life depends on football