Business

Why POS Agents Are Needed In CBN’s Cashless Policy – Emefiele

Published

3 years ago

December 23, 2022

Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, Thursday, underscored the importance of Point of Sale (PoS) agents in the cashless policy of the apex bank.

Speaking when he appeared before the House of Representatives to brief the lawmakers on the recent monetary policies of the bank especially the cash withdrawal limit, Emefiele said that it was important to ensure that the people at the hinterlands where there may not be financial institutions are given access to financial services.

Represented by the deputy governor, Financial System Stability, Aisha Ahmed, the Governor said the quickest financial service would be the POS at the rural communities.

According to him, there were 6,500 bank locations, 900,000 POS terminals, 14,000 Automatic Teller Machines, ATMs, across the country, and 1.4 million agents nationwide.

He said every local government in Nigeria has an agent represented, adding that there were N6 trillion in POS transactions as against N48 billion in 2012 when the policy was started.

“Today, we have a very robust payment system that includes bank branches, branches of micro-finance banks, POS machines, ATM machines, agent banking, E-Naira, and many other options. To be specific, between the bank and the micro-finance banks, we have 6,500 locations, 900,000 POS terminals, 14,000 ATMs across the country, and 1.4 million agents nationwide and every single local government in Nigeria has agent represented. We also have a proliferation of electronic transactions. Just by way of quick example, in 2012, we had N48 billion in POS transactions. Today, we have N6 trillion in POS transactions.

“Going to the cash withdrawal limit that was issued in response to the feedback from Nigerians in response to the comments made by this revered chamber, we took those feedbacks on board. CBN mentioned that we will be flexible in the implementation of this policy in response to the stakeholders’ sentiments. We have since reviewed the limit significantly from N100,000 that we had per week to N500,000 per week for individuals; from N500,000 per week for corporate to N5 million per week for corporate.

“We have also amended the processing from 5 and 10 percent downward to 3 and 5 percent. We have clarified the strategic importance of agents as important participants in the financial system because they play a key role in certain underserved segments in the rural areas and in certain markets areas and they as well would be covered by this newly revised rule.

“I have seen some misconceptions about the fees that we are charging the fees on the entire amount that wants to be withdrawn. No. The fees are to be charged on any withdrawal above the limit. For example, if you are withdrawing N550,000, the fee will be on the N50,000. We also looked at transactions for agents.

“So, transactions by Nigerians that go to the agent’s location and transactions by the agents themselves, the average cash transactions of agents is N2,184,000 which is clearly within the current limit. The average transaction per individual that walks up to an agent is about N18,000.

“What the policy is trying to do is to encourage more people to come into the formal payment system because of the numerous benefits that accrue. It means opening up our rural areas, the underserved areas to economic opportunity, to payment opportunities, and connecting them to the formal system.

“During the COVID-19 period, we saw the negative impact of physical cash. No one could go anywhere. We couldn’t go to the banks. People couldn’t leave their homes. It was the electronic banking system that protected and served those below the poverty lines that had their livelihood at risk”, Emefiele said.

Business

Fuel Scarcity Looms As PENGASSAN Stops Gas, Crude Supply To Dangote Refinery

Published

8 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The industrial dispute between the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria took a dramatic turn on Saturday as the union ordered seven branches to cut off crude oil and gas supplies to the $20bn facility.

In a letter dated September 26 and signed by its General Secretary, Lumumba Okugbawa, the union accused the refinery’s management of sacking its members in retaliation for exercising their constitutional right to join the union.

The union’s move marks an escalation in the standoff, with PENGASSAN accusing the refinery of anti-labour practices and the unlawful sack of its members.

In the directive issued to its branch chairmen, PENGASSAN instructed its branch chairmen in key upstream and midstream oil companies, including TotalEnergies, Chevron, Seplat, Shell Nigeria Gas, Oando, and Nigerian Gas Infrastructure Company, to immediately cut off all crude oil and gas supplies to the refinery.

The directive comes after PENGASSAN alleged that Nigerian workers were sacked by Dangote Refinery after joining the union, claiming that management also withdrew staff buses and denied entry to locals while allowing expatriates access.

The union threatened to picket the refinery if the situation was not addressed.

In a statement on Friday, the refinery clarified that only a small number of workers were affected by what it described as a reorganisation aimed at preventing acts of sabotage within the facility. It said over 3,000 Nigerians remain in employment, rejecting claims of mass layoffs.

Dangote maintained that the restructuring was necessary after what it described as recurring acts of sabotage in different units of the refinery, which posed serious risks to human lives and operations.

As a result, PENGASSAN instructed its branches in TotalEnergies, Seplat, Chevron, Oando, Shell Nigeria Gas, Renaissance, and NGIC to cut gas supply to the refinery immediately.

The union described the move as “illegitimate” and accused the refinery of spreading misinformation instead of addressing the matter through dialogue.

“As you are aware, the Management of Dangote Petroleum Refinery has disengaged our members in reaction to the exercise of their constitutional right to being unionized.

“They have gone further on a mission of misinformation and propaganda to justify this illegitimacy rather than engaging meaningfully with us to right the wrong.

“Consequent to these, you are hereby directed to cut off gas supply to NGIC effective immediately. All crude oil supply valves to the Refinery should be shut. The loading operation for vessel headed there should be halted immediately,” the directive read.

The union further mandated the NGIC Chairman to ensure strict compliance with the order and told all branch chairmen to give regular updates on the action taken.

“NGIC Chairman, ensure that gas supply to the Refinery is cut off effective immediately. All chairmen on this summons are to report promptly the progress of the directive. Kindly accept the assurances of our highest esteem. Thank you,” the statement read.

Reaffirming its solidarity, PENGASSAN ended the directive with its slogan: “Injury to one! Injury to all!”

On Thursday, the company announced it would suspend petrol sales in naira from September 28 following the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocations.

Business

Fuel Price Hike Looms As Dangote Refinery Stops Petrol Sales In Naira

Published

16 hours ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery has announced the suspension of petrol sales in naira, unsettling marketers and raising fresh concerns over fuel pricing and foreign exchange pressure.

In an email sent to customers at 6:42 p.m. on Friday, the refinery said the decision would take effect from Sunday, September 28, 2025, citing the exhaustion of its crude-for-naira allocation as the reason.

The notice, titled “Suspension of DPRP PMS Naira Sales – Effective 28th September 2025” and signed by the Group Commercial Operations of Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals, also asked customers with ongoing naira-based transactions to formally request refunds.

“We write to inform you that Dangote Petroleum Refinery & Petrochemicals has been selling petroleum products in excess of our Naira-Crude allocations and, consequently, we are unable to sustain PMS sales in Naira going forward,” the statement read.

“Kindly note that this suspension of Naira sales for PMS will be effective from Sunday, 28th of September, 2025. We will provide further updates regarding the resumption of supply once the situation has been resolved.

“All customers with PMS transactions in Naira who would like a refund of their current payments should formally request the processing of their refund.”

The move comes amid a raging dispute between the refinery and labour unions over the alleged mass sack of more than 800 Nigerian workers. This controversy has drawn public outrage and calls for government intervention.

This is the second time the refinery has halted local currency transactions. In March 2025, it briefly suspended sales of refined products in naira, blaming inadequate allocations under the crude-for-naira programme.

Business

Naira Appreciates Massively Against US Dollar In The Black Market, Highest In 15 Months

Published

2 days ago

September 25, 2025

Editor

The naira appreciated massively against the United States dollar at the parallel foreign exchange market.

Abubakar Alhasan, a Bureau De Change operator in Wuse Zone, Abuja, told DAILY POST that the Naira strengthened significantly to N1,490 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,520 on Tuesday.

“We buy at N1480 and sell at N1490 on Wednesday due to lower FX demand,” Alhasan confirmed to newsmen.

This means that the Naira gained N30 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

The last time they were exchanged at this level in the black market was in June 2024.

Meanwhile, at the official market, it dropped marginally by N1.19 to N1,488.56 per dollar on Wednesday, down from N1,487.37, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Analysing the trend at both markets, the difference between official and parallel markets has shrunk to 1.44.

Recall that on Tuesday, the Naira appreciated across official and parallel foreign exchange markets upon an interest rate cut by the apex bank by 50 basis points to 27 per cent.