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Group To Buhari: Direct Marketers To Revert To Normal Petrol Price Or Face Nationwide Protest

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A group, Citizens For Righteousness and Social Justice, Imo State chapter, on Sunday threatened to lead Nigerians in a nationwide protest if President Muhammadu Buhari led government refuses to use its relevant agencies to get the petroleum marketers to revert petroleum products to the old and approved pump prices in 14 days.

The Chairman, Bishop Kenneth Obi, who stated this in a release made available to newsmen in Owerri, Imo State capital, said, unfortunately, the increase in the products has consequently affected adversely the prices of goods and services in the nation.

“The disheartening aspect of it is not that bad leadership has negatively affected the country’s economy but that nobody is speaking out either for the fear of being killed or intimidated by those who are behind our woes in the society.

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“It is no longer news that factors including high exchange rate have caused inflation in Nigeria, the sudden increase in the prices of petroleum products has worsened the whole situation; stemming from the fact that almost all sectors of the economy depend on the use of petroleum products to produce goods or render meaningful services to the society.

READ  ALSO: Petrol Import Jumps By 88% In 12 Months, Hits N3.97tn –Report

“For instance, fuel has risen to N240 per litre against the government approved pump price of #1I65. Diesel now costs more than #550 per litre, same as kerosene and Liquefied Petroleum Gas which are three times higher than what they used to be a few years ago.

“A bag of rice which was once sold below N800 is now N38,000. The transportation sector is also affected as people now pay through their nose, to embark on journeys.

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“Sadly enough, the hardest hit by this ugly development are the people considered as ordinary Nigerians; whose wages or salaries have not experienced the necessary upgrade.

“Of course, financially well to do individuals and highly placed government officials can afford petroleum products at whatever prices they are pegged which is why they rarely come out to speak for the masses.

“Recently the Federal Government imported bad fuel into the country which created an avenue for marketers to hoard the product; thereby creating an artificial scarcity which consequently skyrocketed the price even above N800. The situation which occurred in February last month has lingered with the price of fuel seemed not to be going down below N220 per litre.

” And it is crystal clear that the Federal Government has regulatory agencies like Petroleum Products Price Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) bestowed with the authority to ensure that petroleum marketers sell the products at the approved price.

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“The question now is ‘does the failure of the government to get the marketers to sell at their approved price of N165 per litre entails that they have used the importation of bad fuel as a way to further increase the price of the product?

“If the answer is in the affirmative, then the Federal Government should open up to us (citizens) and provide palliative measures to cushion the effect of the accompanying hardship.

READ ALSO: We Don’t Know Exact Daily Fuel Consumption – FG

“But if the answer is ‘No’ the government should urgently prevail on the marketers to come down to the normal and approved price since the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has made persistent claims that they have enough product to serve Nigerians.”

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Stock Market Review: FBN Holdings Leads 41 Others As Investors Gain N811bn

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FBN Holdings Plc has topped 41 other advanced equities to pull the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX) market indices up by 1.46 per cent, week-on-week, making investors gain N811 billion.

The market, having opened for four days in the week, following the May Day holiday, had FBN Holdings leading the gainers’ table by 32.68 per cent to close at N27 per share.

Sterling Financial Holdings followed by 27.75 per cent to close at N4.88, while UACN gained 24.60 per cent to close at N15.45 per share.

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Julius Berger added 23.76 to close at N72.40, while Flour Mills rose by 20.66 per cent to close at N36.80 per share.

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Conversely, Nascon Allied Industries Plc led the losers’ table by 17.03 per cent to close at N43.60, University Press trailed by 16.67 per cent to close N2.05 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals shed 14.14 per cent to close at N1.70, Berger Paints Plc declined by 9.87 per cent to close at N13.70 and Vitafoam Nigeria lost 9.81 per cent to close at N17 per share.

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Meanwhile, 42 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 27 equities in the previous week.

Thirty-six equities depreciated in price, lower than 43 in the previous week, while 76 equities remained unchanged, lower than 84 recorded in the previous week.

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Consequently, the All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 1.46 per cent to close the week at 99,587.25 and N56.323 trillion, respectively, in contrast to 98,152.91 and N55.512 trillion posted last week.

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Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.26, 0.68 and 0.36 per cent, respectively, while NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.

Meanwhile, a total turnover of 1.941 billion shares worth N32.644 billion in 35,807 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.839 billion shares, valued at N34.258 billion, that exchanged hands last week in 37,528 deals.

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The financial services industry measured by volume led the activity chart with 1.496 billion shares valued at N22.453 billion traded in 19,225 deals, thus contributing 77.08 and 68.78 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

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The consumer goods industry followed with 144.722 million shares worth N5.063 billion in 4,966 deals.

In the third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 109.978 million shares worth N1.539 billion in 2,064 deals.

Trading in the top three equities, namely Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holdings Company Plc and Access Holdings Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 898.940 million shares worth N14.314 billion in 5,518 deals.

These contributed 46.31 and 43.85 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

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BREAKIN: NDIC Increases Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage

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The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) on Thursday increased the maximum deposit insurance coverage levels for Deposit Money Banks from N500,000 to N5 million.

The Managing Director of NDIC, Bello Hassan, announced this in Abuja at a press conference, stating that it takes effect immediately.

He said, “For Deposit Money Banks, the increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N5,000,000, would provide full coverage of 98.98% of the total depositors compared with the current cover of 89.20%.

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“In terms of the value of deposit covered, the revised coverage would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 25.37% compared with the current cover of 6.31% of total value of deposits.

“The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N200,000 to N2,000,000, would provide full coverage of 99.27% of the total depositors compared with the current level of 98.76% and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 34.43% compared with 14.38% of total value of deposit, currently covered.

“The increase of the maximum deposit insurance coverage from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage of 99.34% of the total depositors compared with the current 97.98% and would increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 21.04% compared with 10.77% of total value of deposit, currently covered.”

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READ ALSO: Mother Of Four Hacked To Death By Neighbour, Son In Edo

Hassan also stated that raising the maximum deposit insurance coverage for primary mortgage banks from N500,000 to N2,000,000 would provide full coverage for 99.99% of total depositors and increase the value of deposits covered by deposit insurance to 43.10% of the total deposit value, up from the current 40.60% cover.

The Corporation has also raised the maximum pass-through deposit insurance coverage for subscribers of Mobile Money Operators from N500,000 to N5,000,000 per subscriber.

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Dangote Speaks On Devaluation Of Naira

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Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited, Aliko Dangote has said that the devaluation of Naira created the biggest mess for the company in 2023.

Speaking at the annual general meeting of Dangote Sugar Refinery, Dangote said this affected lots of companies in the country.

He said: “We are doing whatever it takes to make sure that at the end of the day, we will be paying dividends because if you look at our dividends last year, it was almost 50 percent more so we will try and get out of the mess.

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“The biggest mess created was actually the devaluation of the naira from N460 to N1,400. You can see almost 97 percent of the companies, especially in food and beverages businesses, none of them will pay dividends this year for sure but, we will try and get out of it as soon as possible.

“We want to see that at the end of the day, no matter how small, we will be able to pay some dividends, especially if there is a rebound of the naira.”

 

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