Business

Investors lost a whopping N5.7 billion as trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange ended on bearish note with share price declining by 10 per cent at the end of trading activities Monday. Some of those who lost the most are the core investors in Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc —Austin Avuru and A.B.C Orjiako. Seplat Plc was among the worst-performing stocks at the end of trading session. As a matter of fact, the company was atop the loser’s list after declining by 10 per cent, alongside other losers such as Forte Oil Plc, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, etc. Oil firm’s share price fell from N490 on Friday to N441 on Monday; thereby shedding N49. It is currently unclear what exactly influenced the decline in the share price. Austin Avuru and A.B.C Orjiako are two of the biggest shareholders in Seplat Petroleum which is one of Nigeria’s biggest upstream oil companies. Avuru, who is the company’s Chief Executive Officer, owns a total of 70,823,189 units of shares according to the company’s 2018 full-year financial report. Similarly, Orjiako owns 45,951,325 units of shares thanks to his status as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company. At N490 on Friday, Austin Avuru’s total direct and indirect shareholding in the company translated to some N34.7 billion. Similarly, A.B.C Orjiako’s total shareholding stood at N22.5 billion on Friday.

… Enugu, Abuja, Benin DisCos lead The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has given power distribution companies (DisCos) up till the end of this year to pay up the N34.05 billion loan disbursed disbursed under the Central Bank of Nigeria-Nigeria Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility programme (CBN-NEMSF). This was disclosed in the NERC’s 2016-2018 Minor Review of Multi-Year Tariff Order 2015 and Minimum Remittance Order for the Year 2019 for the Discos. It would be recalled that in November 2014, the CBN, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Ministry of Power and NERC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the CBN-NEMSF to address the shortfalls in the revenue of the power sector. With N213 billion earmarked for disbursement through Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), billions of naira has been disbursed under the programme to the power firms, including generation companies. Following the exit of the core investor as a result of the insecurity in the North-East region of the country, the Federal Government, in July 2015, took over Yola Electricity Distribution Company after it declared a force majeure. The power sector regulator said it had confirmed N1.15 trillion as the tariff shortfall suffered by the 11 DisCos from 2015 to 2018. Breakdown of the debt shows that Enugu Electricity Distribution Company is expected to repay N5.57 billion to the CBN this year while Abuja DisCo is expected to pay N4.95 billion; Benin DisCo, N4.89 billion; Ibadan DisCo, N4.58 billion; and Port Harcourt DisCo, N3.38 billion. Similarly, Kaduna DisCo is expected to repay N3.34 billion; Jos DisCo, N2.68 billion; Kano DisCo, N1.76 billion; Ikeja DisCo, N1.75 billion; and Eko Disco, N1.03 billion.

Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has said that the economic programme of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is not only succeeding, but it is also reliable. Dakuku stated this at the seventh edition of the Pan African International Recognition Awards/Annual Discourse held in Accra, Ghana. The Director-General’s remarks followed the recognition of NIMASA as the “Most Reliable Government Organisation of the Year” at the occasion. Organisers of the annual awards, Pan African International magazine, said NIMASA was recognised for “its giant achievements in the maritime sector, locally and globally.” The theme of this year’s event was, “Driving Growth and Sustainable Economic Development through Good Governance – Improving Structures and Policies in Africa.” It was a forum to showcase and honour leaders, organisations, and individuals who had shown commitment to the development of the continent. Dakuku said at the award ceremony, “This honour is a testament to the success and dependability of President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic agenda. We keyed in a long time ago, and we have been running with the vision of the President to restore Nigeria to greatness. “At NIMASA, we are also pursuing a transformational agenda, and this award is testimony to the effectiveness of our strategy. “We are doing our bit as a strategic economic pillar in the collective task of delivering progress to majority of Nigerians.” The Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, who represented the Director-General, received the award on behalf of the Agency. The event had Director of the Kenya School of Law, Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba, as Keynote Speaker.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is working in concert with commercial banks in the country to foreshorten huge cases of loan repayment default by customers. The new measure was …

The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) has fully restored electricity supply to Nsukka axis and its environs after a week-long black-out. The Head of Communications of EEDC, Mr Emeka Ezeh, made …

An electronic waste expert  and founder, E-waste Relief Foundation, Dr Ifeanyi Ochonogor, has cautioned Nigerians on usage and disposal of energy conserving bulbs, saying they contain several carcinogenic chemicals which are …

 Stakeholders in the power sector have called on the Federal Government to fulfill its 40 per cent funding to electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) to enable them function effectively. The stakeholders …

Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company has urged its customers across the four franchise states to pay their bills especially debts incurred and allow them concentrate on repair of transformers and other …

The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) recently graduated 200 youths on skills acquisition. The youth were sponsored by the memeber representing Lafia/Obj Federal Constituency, Sariki Dahomey Abubakar in commemoration of this …

Chigozie Anuchie 26, who is a nail technician at Garki market would prefer to trade the path of honour by working hard no matter how humble the starting point was …

Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo has said surcharges of data obtained from the Nigerian Shipper’s Council’s confirmation for reasonableness of demurrage charges for Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that …

The Central Bank of Nigeria CBN in collaboration with Bankers Committee has come up with new measures to support banks lending to creative industry. Deputy Governor Financial Systems Stability, Aishah …

The Irish firm, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) that recently got a British Court judgement over a failed gas project against Nigeria has initiated moves to identify the Nigerian …

Total exposure of the power sector to the banking system which is in excess of N1.20 trillion will be helped by proposed upward review of existing Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO), …

Anambra state government has said that the ban placed on prayers in the market were to stop frustrating customers coming to trade in the various markets from travelling to markets …

Anti-Corruption and Research-Based Data Initiative (ARDI) has said the strategic plans unveiled by the new Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, would tame corruption in …