Business

MPC Nominees Promise To End Forex, Food Crises

Published

2 years ago

February 21, 2024

The Senate on Wednesday grilled nominees for membership of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee over the forex crisis and unending food crisis.

President Bola Tinubu had, last week, forwarded to the Senate for confirmation, the names of nominees for the committee of the CBN.

In giving the request expeditious consideration ahead of the MPC meeting slated for next Monday, February 26, the Senate, through its Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions, grilled six out of the nominees with questions on required urgent solutions to forex volatility and food crisis.

The first to be grilled was the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Lamido Yuguda, who informed the committee that his nomination into MPC would give the SEC the needed voice in monetary policy.

Yuguda lamented that the value of the Naira as it is today, is not real, having lost its intrinsic value but that the MPC, when inaugurated on Monday, would join other stakeholders to stabilise the national currency.

He said, “The value of any currency is measured by the goods and services that it can buy. The Naira, as it is today, does not possess that value sufficiently which is being critically looked into.”

In his submission, the nominee from Lagos State, Dr. Mustapha Akinkunmi, said the way out now is to target the exchange rate and not inflation as currently being tackled which hasn’t yielded so much result.

He saod, “A more proactive way of addressing the Naira volatility problem at hand is for the CBN to target the exchange rate itself and not inflation.

“The inflation the country is facing now is largely that of food inflation, which is beyond CBN but for the entire country.

“Production and distribution of food commodities across the country would help to reduce the food inflation, while the aggressive target of the exchange rate, would help to stabilise the Naira with the required increase in productivity.”

In a similar submission, the nominee from Imo State, Mrs Aku Odinkemelu, said productivity is the key to arresting the volatility of the Naira and food inflation.

Other nominees grilled at the session by the committee were Prof. Murtala Sagagi, Kano State; Bamidele Amoo, Kwara State; and Aloysius Ordu, who worked with the World Bank and the African Development Bank for 30 years at different times.

In his closing remarks, the committee’s chairman, Senator Tokunbo Abiru (APC, Lagos East), told the nominees that their screening was done ahead of the MPC meeting slated for next Monday by the CBN.

Abiru said what Nigerians expect to come after the meeting are solutions to the rising inflation rate, worsening Naira volatility in the forex market and the general rejuvenation of the economy.

Business

Report Any MRS Filling Stations Selling Fuel Above N739 Per Liter — Dangote Refinery To Nigerians

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

Dangote Refinery has urged Nigerians to report any MRS filling station outlets nationwide selling fuel above the N739 per liter announced price.

The company disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

The refinery insisted that its petrol being at retail outlets remain N739 per liter while the gantry price is N699.

It further called on other filling station owners to patronize its refined petroleum products at the N699 rate.

“We also call on other petrol station operators to patronize our products so that the benefits of this price reduction can be passed on to Nigerians across all outlets, ensuring broad-based relief and a more stable downstream market.”

Recall that Aliko Dangote, the president of Dangote Refinery, had pegged the retail price of his petrol at a maximum of N740.

DAILY POST reports that MRS filling and other filling stations had reduced fuel prices to between N739 and N912 per liter in Abuja.

However, reports emerged that some MRS filling stations were selling above the N739 per liter announced price benchmark.

Business

Naira Records Significant Appreciation Against US Dollar

Published

3 days ago

December 23, 2025

Editor

The Naira recorded significant appreciation against the United States dollar on Monday at the official foreign exchange market to begin the week ahead of Yuletide on a good note.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s data showed that the Naira strengthened to N1,456.56 per dollar on Monday, up from N1,464.49 traded on Friday last week, 19th December 2025.

This means that the Naira gained N7.93 against the dollar when compared with the N1,464.49 was exchanged as of Friday, December 19, 2025. DAILY POST reports that Monday’s gain at the official FX market is the first since December 15th.

Business

CBN Revokes Licences Of Aso Savings, Union Homes As NDIC Begins Deposit Payments

Published

1 week ago

December 16, 2025

Editor

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has revoked the operating licences of Aso Savings and Loans Plc and Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, citing persistent regulatory infractions and deepening financial distress in the two primary mortgage banks.

The revocation, which took effect on December 15, 2025, was carried out under Section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 and Section 7.3 of the Revised Guidelines for Mortgage Banks in Nigeria, the CBN said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

According to the apex bank, the affected institutions failed to meet minimum paid-up share capital requirements, had insufficient assets to cover their liabilities, recorded capital adequacy ratios below prudential thresholds, and consistently breached regulatory directives.

“The CBN remains committed to its core mandate of ensuring financial system stability,” a statement, signed by the apex bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali said.

Following the licence revocation, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) was appointed liquidator of the defunct banks in line with the law.

The Corporation said it has commenced the liquidation process and begun verification and payment of insured deposits to customers.

Under the deposit insurance framework, depositors are entitled to receive up to two million naira per depositor, with payments made through BVN-linked alternate bank accounts.

Depositors with balances above the insured limit will receive the initial two million naira while the remaining sums will be paid as liquidation dividends after the realisation of the banks’ assets and recovery of outstanding loans.

The NDIC said depositors may submit claims either online or physically at designated branches of the closed banks, while creditors will be paid after all depositors have been fully settled, in accordance with statutory provisions.

The two mortgage banks have faced prolonged operational challenges, including depositor complaints, governance concerns, and delisting from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) in 2024 for failure to submit audited financial statements for more than six years.

The CBN assured the public that the action was taken to strengthen the mortgage banking sub-sector and protect depositors, adding that banks whose licences have not been revoked remain safe and sound.

This means the two financial institutions can no longer operate as licensed financial institutions.