Business

Naira Notes: Why Talks With CBN, Banks’ CEOs Failed To Hold — Reps

Published

3 years ago

January 26, 2023

The ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives constituted to interface with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and bank chief executive officers on the January 31 deadline for withdrawal of old naira notes said yesterday that late delivery of invitation letters to invitees stalled the meeting.

Chairman of the committee and majority leader of the House, Ado Doguwa, told his colleagues an hour after they had gathered for the meeting.

Recall that the time for the meeting was 3 pm but Doguwa did not enter room 301 of the new building in the House of Representatives, the venue of the meeting, until 4 pm.

By 4:05, a member of the House, Uyem Idem, was asked to say the opening prayers.

Thereafter, Doguwa told the members of the committee that they had scheduled to meet with the CBN officials yesterday (Wednesday) and subsequently take the bank CEOs today (Thursday).

He, however, said a communication received from the CBN liaison officer stated that due to late arrival of the letter, the bureaucracy could not work on it.

Doguwa said the meeting with the apex bank had been rescheduled for today by 1 pm, while that with bank CEOs would come up later.

He said: “This is the House ad-hoc committee to interface with the CBN and bank operators with regards to resolving the issue of the phasing out the strategy of the old naira notes and to bring into circulation the new naira notes, among other reasons.

“We also have other factors we have discussed on the floor of the House yesterday and ultimately, the House mandated this ad-hoc committee to come up with a strategy to engage the officials of the CBN and CEOs of the commercial banks.

‘’It is, therefore, my pleasure to, at this point inform members of the committee, first of all, that we scheduled today’s (yesterday) meeting based on the letter we have signed out only with officials of the CBN and we have scheduled bank operators to come up tomorrow (Friday).

“So, it is like we, ab initio, invited them separately based on the nature of the engagement. It is a fact-finding thing and like I always say, this is not something to witch-hunt anyone. It is a simple fact-finding mission by the parliament, which obviously holds the proxy of the Nigerian people. So, we decided to take them separately.

“We have scheduled today for the officials of the CBN and tomorrow for bank operators and CEOs of commercial banks and on that note, I would like to communicate with members of the public that based on communication I just received from CBN, it is that our letter of invitation got to the bank very late yesterday.

“You can all agree with me that the resolution was taken at the end of our sitting yesterday, January 24, 2023, and before we could finish the necessary procedures, the letters were sent to the CBN late.

‘’So, the liaison officer of the bank spoke to us this evening (yesterday) that they were not able to really act on the letter to allow for their engagement today.

“On this note, I would like to convey to this committee and members of the public and the press here with us that we have conceded to allow the CBN officials to come tomorrow (today) by 1pm, so we could engage them and immediately after the engagement with them, we would engage the bank operators.”

Banks warned against boycotting meetings Doguwa also warned the banks against boycotting the meeting, emphasizing that the summons of the House must be taken very seriously.

The chairman added that no unpopular policies hampering the economy of the country and affecting the people negatively would be allowed to sail through.

“For the purposes of clarification, I want to say without any fear of contradiction that the parliament is always an institution that represents the Nigerian people.

‘’When there is any need it calls for an invitation to any government employee like it is the case here with the CBN, the governor of the CBN, his directors, deputy directors, all departmental heads, I believe our own employees of the Nigerian people, and when there is a kind of summon from the institution of the parliament like this, we expect every up and doing employee to only respect that invitation.

“On this note, I want to say on behalf of the House of Representatives that we have taken this from the point of perhaps, giving them the leverage or benefit of the doubt that yes, the letter got to them late yesterday and on no account, I repeat, would we have a repeat of this failure tomorrow (today).

‘’None of us here is acting in his personal capacity. None of us here is acting for any personal reasons, especially on a matter like this where Nigerian people and economy are threatened by a lot of dangers by the policy of a government department.

“Those of here who are working for the Nigerian people, we cannot sit down here and watch policies of the government that are not unpopular, threaten the survival of our economy to continue.

‘’I hear some of them saying it is a matter they have decided. It is a matter that no one goes back about it. This is the supreme institution of Nigeria’s democracy and I want to say without any fear of contradiction that for whatever policy the government is undertaking, especially at a critical period like this, Nigerians must know and whoever is involved must know that definitely, the interest of the Nigerian people holds sway.

‘’So, there is no policy whatsoever that cannot be reversed, good or bad, as long as that policy or the reversal of that policy is going to be in the overall interest of Nigerians.

“We would not endanger our economy. We would also not allow anybody to endanger our economy. CBN must appear before this committee of the House of Representatives tomorrow (today) by 1 pm to discuss this very critical matter.

‘’It borders on the survival of our economy and our people, the businesses are shut down all over; agriculture is suffering. petty businesses in the villages are also suffering. I understand that in some places, even dowry, bride price is not being accepted. So, this is a serious issue,” Doguwa said.

Business

Naira Continues To Appreciate Against Dollar On Official Market

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The naira continued its appreciation against the dollar at the foreign exchange market on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the naira strengthened further to N1,533.18 against the dollar on Tuesday, from N1,534.21 traded the previous day.

This represents a gain of N1.03 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis and marks the second consecutive day of appreciation at the official FX market.

Meanwhile, on the black market, the naira depreciated further to N1,545 per dollar on Tuesday from N1,537 traded on Monday.

Recall that the naira had similarly closed Monday’s trading session with mixed sentiments, recording gains at the official market but depreciating at the parallel market.

Business

Dangote Refinery Gets New CEO

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has appointed David Bird, the former head of Oman’s Duqm Refinery, as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A report by S&P global on Friday said, Bird heads the refinery’s petroleum and petrochemicals division in a strategic move to overcome production challenges and advance its next wave of expansion.

Effective from July 2025, the former Shell head of operations at its Balau Pokom refinery stepped in as CEO of the Dangote Group’s fuels and petrochemicals business, which commissioned the world’s largest single-train refinery last year.

Our correspondent also observed that the CEO participated at the just concluded Dangote Leadership Development Program Graduation Ceremony.

The appointment signals the company’s renewed focus on scaling production, streamlining operations, and positioning itself as a dominant force in Africa’s refining and petrochemical landscape.

The report read, “Nigeria’s Dangote Group has appointed the former head of Oman’s Duqm refinery as CEO of its petroleum and petrochemicals business as it strives to overcome production challenges and advance its next wave of expansion.”

It, however, noted that the Dangote Group founder Aliko Dangote, will remain as chairman of the refining business and CEO of the wider conglomerate, which is also active in cement, fertilizers and sugar refining.

The business is expected to tap Bird’s experience expanding the Duqm refinery and diversifying its crude slate as CEO of OQ8, a role he adopted months before the Omani complex began its first test runs in 2023.

Commenting on his appointment, Bird said his focus at Dangote will involve advancing the group’s footprint beyond the Nigerian market and across the African continent.

As CEO of the refining business, he will be responsible for ensuring maximum output and efficiency for the refinery, and aims to make the group a leader in the global market, a LinkedIn update noted.

The appointment comes after a string of unit upsets and “design issues” that have stalled the ramp-up process of the 650,000-b/d refinery, while its leadership has called out a hostile business environment for challenging its operations.

Since it was commissioned in January 2024, Dangote has quickly grown its market share in the Nigerian fuel sector, displacing large volumes of gasoline imports that the country once relied on.

However, Aliko Dangote has railed against “rent-seeking” trade partners and substandard fuel imports for putting strain on the business.

In a previous interview with Platts, Bird emphasised a trading-led approach to achieve a competitive edge in the refining sector, with a focus on high utilisation rates, efficiency and feedstock flexibility.

His approach aligns with a recent shift from the Dangote complex to process a wider range of crude grades, partially spurred by limited availability of the Nigerian oil it was designed to process.

However, the Nigerian refinery is still obliged to sell fixed volumes of its oil products into the domestic crude market under a naira-based trade agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, a 7.2 per cent stakeholder in the business.

As the Dangote Group eyes its next wave of growth, it plans to expand the capacity of the Lagos refinery to 700,000 barrels per day, build out port infrastructure and establish foreign storage assets in Namibia and other countries.

In August, it is set to roll out its own distribution business with a fleet of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks.

Dangote Group officials have also shared ambitions to list the refining business on the London and Lagos stock exchanges, and Aliko Dangote reiterated plans to take the business public.

After years of setbacks and budget challenges, the speed of the refinery’s ramp-up in 2024 caught many analysts by surprise, and the complex quickly began exerting pressure on global oil benchmarks as it began exporting its products.

Yet despite beginning test runs on its main gasoline outlet, the residue fluid catalytic cracker, in Q3 2024, the company has since suffered repeated outages on the unit in 2025, forcing it to rely on its lower-yield reformer and sacrifice output over extended periods.

Speaking to Platts earlier in July, a Dangote executive said the RFCC was running at 85 per cent. He denied reports that the company will undergo a planned turnaround on the unit in December.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, Nigeria exported some 220,000 b/d of petroleum products in July 2025, when outages at NNPC facilities made Dangote the country’s only active refiner.

The complex exported 30,000 b/d of residual fuel, a refining byproduct which would normally be kept on site for further processing in the RFCC under normal operations.

Exports continue to be dominated by jet fuel, which accounted for 45 per cent of total shipments, and gasoil with a 24 per cent share.

Business

Petrol Tankers To Stop Loading Beyond 45,000 Litres By October 1 – IPMAN

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The Western Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has said tankers will no longer load more than 45,000 litres of the product from October 1.

The Chairman of the zone, Chief Oyewole Akanni, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan on Friday.

Akanni stated that the measure was adopted in a joint meeting involving IPMAN, the government and other stakeholders, held to reduce the cases of petroleum tanker accidents.

The stakeholders, he said, are the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and oil marketers.

He said, “Before now, some tankers carried up to 90,000 or 60,000 litres, which was dangerous.

“Those big tankers damage our roads, as the trucks are made to carry far more than they were designed for.

“And when overloaded, they become unstable and fall, causing accidents.”

Akanni stated that the government had also mandated all tankers to install safety covers that prevent spillage in the event of a crash.

“With these covers, even if a tanker falls, fuel won’t spill, except if the tank is punctured,” he said.

He, however, lamented the activities of vandals, who deliberately puncture fallen tankers to steal fuel, describing it as a major challenge.

The IPMAN chairman also said that PTD discovered that most accidents occurred at night due to fatigue.

“We have, therefore, instructed drivers not to drive at night.

“Once it is 7.00 p.m., they must park and continue their journey by 7.00 a.m. the next day, but some still disobey this directive,” he said.

Akanni assured that IPMAN would continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that tanker-related accidents were minimised.

He said that the spate of fatalities had triggered federal interventions, calling for stricter regulations, mass education, and enforced safety reforms.

According to Akanni, the incidents form part of a broader wave of tanker disasters across Nigeria.

“These are marked by systemic failures, including overloading, poor infrastructure, inadequate enforcement, alongside dangerous public practices like fuel scooping,” he said.

NAN