NNPC bid: We’ll ensure accountability – Baru

Dr Maikanti Baru, Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, said the bid for the sales and purchase of Nigerian crude oil grades will be transparent.
Baru said this in Abuja on Thursday when he declared the process open. ‎
According to him, the crude oil contract tenders‎ are to ensure transparency, enshrine accountability and conduct business in line with best global practices.
Baru said: “Today’s event marks yet another turning point in our quest to further enshrine transparency and accountability, two critical core values of our Corporation.
“Our focus as a national oil company is to enhance our production volumes, ensure the best value is realised through competitive marketing of our crude grades to international refineries and traders.
“In line with this aspiration, NNPC is collaborating with key stakeholders to improve on the overall security of our production sites and to ensure the safety of our environment.

Naira weakens to 470 on fresh dollar scarcity

The naira weakened to 470 on Thursday, from 465 on Wednesday, as fresh dollar scarcity hit the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.
The local currency had appreciated to around 450 after security agents carried out series of raids on Bureau De Change operators, who sold the greenback above the N400 stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Security agents have been raiding the offices of the BDC operators, ordering them to sell dollar at a lower rate in a bid to break the fall of the local currency.
However, the naira started recording losses gradually again as scarcity of the greenback weighed on the forex markets.
“The clampdown on the black market operators by security agents has negatively impacted dollar supply to the market,” one Bureau de changer operator told Reuters.
Economic and currency experts have said getting security agents after the BDC operators cannot get the

NSE ends eight-day loss, 19 stocks gain

Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange ended on a positive note on Wednesday as 19 stocks recorded gains with market capitalisation appreciating by N20bn.
The NSE All-Share Index snapped its eight-day losing streak as most key sectors traded in positive territory.
A total of 165.725 million shares valued at N1.126bn exchanged hands in 2,484 deals.
The NSE market capitalisation rose to N8.784bn from N8.764bn, while the NSE ASI closed at 25,517 basis points from 25,461.34 basis points.
The financial services sector led gains after advances in Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc by 1.19 per cent, 1.18 per cent and 0.82 per cent, respectively.
The consumer goods and industrial goods sectors also closed higher following gains across PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Glaxo Smitkline Consumer Nigeria Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Cap Plc by 4.90 per cent, 3.40

W’Bank budgets N12.2bn to clear Apapa gridlock

The World Bank is to support Nigeria’s maritime sector with N12.2bn ($40m) to help clear the traffic congestion that characterises most roads around the Nigerian Ports Authority in Apapa, Lagos, the Nigerian Shippers Council has said.
According to the NSC, the National Freight Information and Transport Hub, an arm of the World Bank, is working with the NPA on how the funds will be used to clear the trucks and tankers that cause heavy gridlock at Apapa, Orile, Tin Can Island and other areas around the Lagos port complex.
The Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr. Hassan Bello, told journalists in Abuja during a press briefing that the move was aimed at making the NPA more efficient, adding that it would also ensure that oil pipelines were used to transport petroleum products instead of tankers.
He said, “No matter how efficient the terminal is, if you don’t have the road to evacuate cargo, how will you move your goods out of the ports? So, there must be an intervention and in that regard, the NSC has

Recession: FG plans tax relief for manufacturers – Adeosun

The Federal Government, in a bid to ease the burden of the current economic recession on the manufacturing sector, is planning some form of tax relief for the sector.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, dropped the hint on Wednesday in Abuja while responding to questions from journalists at the end of the Federation Account Allocation Committee meeting.
She said the tax relief was part of measures by the Federal Government to reduce the negative impact of the foreign exchange crisis on the sector.
Based on the Gross Domestic Product report for the third quarter released by the National Bureau of Statistics, the manufacturing sector’s growth rate was recorded at -2.93 per cent year-on-year.
This is lower by 1.02 percentage points than what was recorded in the second quarter of the year.
The report had blamed the decline in manufacturing activities to the continued drop in the naira to dollar exchange rate, which has made industrial inputs more expensive.

Brazil oil giant gets bribe money back

Brazilian prosecutors leading a major corruption investigation have returned $60m (£49m) to state oil giant Petrobras.
The money was retrieved from senior politicians, civil servants and businessmen who agreed to cooperate with the investigation.
The kickback scheme cost Petrobras an estimated $1.8bn, said company boss Pedro Parente.
The scandal has rocked the country and led to mass street protests.
Dozens of politicians and some of Brazil’s wealthiest businessmen have been arrested as part of the inquiry, known as Operation Car Wash, over the past two years.
Under new legislation, they were allowed to tell what they knew and return some of the corruption money in exchange for shorter sentences.
Many in Brazil criticised the operation, saying it was politically motivated and targeted mostly members of the

Innoson delivers 1st indigenous vehicles to military

To enhance the fight against the Boko Haram terrorists in the country, Nigeria’s foremost indigenous auto plant, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM) Ltd, has designed and built IVM G12 series, a special purpose range of off-road light trucks, for use by the military and related security organisations.
The first indigenous military vehicle was officially handed over to the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri, Bornu State, last week to enhance the operations against insurgency.
Presenting the IVM G12 series to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai, at the tactical headquarters of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maimalari Barracks in the Borno State capital, the chairman, Innoson Group, Dr Innocent Chukwuma, assured that the vehicle would be at home on the challenging terrains the army is used to in its operations.
Chief Chukwuma introduced Innoson IVM G12 series as a highly mobile and tactical pick-up van, with double reinforced shock absorbers that can show strength and ability to cope with military functions, especially in the Northeastern part of the country.
Receiving the truck, General Buratai praised Innoson’s vision of manufacturing vehicles that serve the specific

Buhari demands transparency from Boards of NNPC, NCDMB, NNRA

President Buhari in a group photo with Members of Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) shortly after inaugurating Board of Parastatals in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources at the State House on 18th November 2016.Facebook/Femi Adesina

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday inaugurated the boards of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and the Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), with a call on the board members to uphold transparency in the management of ‎the organizations.
He also asked them to come up with new ways to overcome the present economic challenges.
Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, will chair the boards of the agencies under his ministry.
In a short remark, the president charged the members to ensure propriety in the management of the agencies.
The president noted that the boards came at a time when the global petroleum industry was going through a downturn in purchase which he said, had also translated into dwindling production by most producer nations.
He said Nigeria had been hit by the misfortunes of oil industry adding that several countries had been hit much harder.