Economy

FG Pledges to Pay Oil Marketers N236bn on Friday

Published

4 years ago

December 9, 2018

Eric

The Federal Government on Saturday declared that it would pay oil marketers N236bn next Friday.

It said the payment was the first tranche of the outstanding N348bn subsidy claims that it owed members of the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association.

The Chief Operating Officer, Downstream, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Henry Ikem-Obih, disclosed this to journalists after a meeting with officials of petroleum product marketers in Abuja.

Ikem-Obih stated that the remaining portion of the claims would be paid in 2019.

He said, “We agreed that after the first tranche is paid, the marketers would form a committee to work on details of how the next tranche will be paid in 2019 and the last tranche in 2020.

“Government is fully committed to pay the first tranche as promised and will be paid through promissory note that would be issued by the Debt Management Office.”

Ikem-Obih said the Federal Government had insisted on making the payments through promissory notes, which was equivalent to cash and could be liquidated almost immediately.

He said the decision to pay through promissory notes was based on the need to manage cash injection into the economy, as he noted that injecting cash of such magnitude into the economy might affect the country negatively.

He said the government would fully pay the oil marketers and had directed that there would be no deductions from the marketers’ account to settle debts owed government.

“Some oil marketing companies, DAPPMA and MOMAN members are indebted to Federal Government agencies, like the Federal Inland Revenue Service. But the government has directed that the debts should not be deducted from the payments. This is because if we do, most of the marketers would be left without a dime,” he added.

On the disparity between the N800bn as claimed by the oil marketers and the N348bn that was approved by the National Assembly, Ikem-Obih said the debt position of all the marketers to the government was considered and agreed upon as of June 30, 2018.

This, he said, was presented to the National Assembly for approval, which after consideration of the debts, approved the sum of N348bn.

The Chief Executive Officer/Executive Officer, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Clement Isong, told one of our correspondents on Saturday that the government made some proposals at the meeting on Thursday on how to settle the outstanding debt and marketers requested some adjustments to the proposals by government.

He said, “We are expecting to hear from government on Monday, December 10, 2018.

“MOMAN had at no time issued an ultimatum or threat to stop operations or sales and will continue operations and sales to the public throughout the Christmas and end-of-year period while engagement with the government will continue in order to ensure that payment of what is due marketers is made as soon as possible to avoid the collapse of many stakeholders in the downstream petroleum sector.”

The NNPC also said on Saturday that discussions on the subsidy debt payment would be finalised on Monday.

The Chief Financial Officer, NNPC, Mr Isiaka Abdulrazaq, at a press briefing in Lagos, noted that an agreement was reached on Thursday that further engagement would take place on Monday around the details of what the interest rate on the promissory notes should be.

The Punch

Economy

CBN Denies Devaluating Naira, Says Trending Story Fake

Published

2 days ago

June 1, 2023

Eric

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debunked a report by a national daily that it has devalued the naira to N631 per dollar at the Importers and Exporters’ (I&E) window.

A top official of the apex bank, who told this medium that the report is completely false , warned that such reports could have serious adverse consequences for the economy.

According to the top official, the CBN has not changed its strategy of allowing a gradual convergence of the parallel and official market exchange rates.

“The report is not true. The CBN has not devalued the naira. The exchange rate of the naira on the FMDQ website as at yesterday was N464.67 per dollar. The authors of the report may have their own agenda, but the CBN’s plan is that the best approach is to allow for a gradual convergence of all the rates.”

Business

Rotary Should Continue to Inspire Women for Economic Growth- Alaba Lawson

Published

2 weeks ago

May 22, 2023

Editor

Mrs Geetika Tandon, Rtn Gabriel Otsu, Chairman, organising Committee, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, Keynote Speaker, District Governor, Rotary District 9110, Rtn Omotunde Lawson & Rtn Francis Lawson

A call has gone to Rotary International District 9110 and indeed organisations around the country to consistently inspire and promote women for economic and national growth

The appeal was made by former President, Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Chief Alaba Lawson while presenting the keynote address at the first Rotary District 9110 Women in Rotary Conference held at the Nigeria Law School Auditorium, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Rtn Francis Lawson, District Governor, Rtn Omotunde Lawson, Mrs Angela Emewa, Chairman, Punch and award recipient & Rtn Gabriel Otsu, Chairman, Organising Committee

Speaking on the topic “ The Transformational Woman: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion For Socio-Economic Change”, Chief Lawson stated that Rotary as an organization has made giant strides in the area of women empowerment and advised that the body should do more as it will ultimately lead to the nation’s growth.

Rtn Gabriel Otsu, Rtn Francis Lawson, District Governor, Rtn Omotunde Lawson, Chief (Mrs) Alaba Lawson & guest speaker

She noted that women are the key to Nigeria’s economic and political advancement, and the more women involved at the top echelon and decision-making process, the better.

According to her“When more women work, economies grow. Women’s economic empowerment boosts productivity, increases economic diversification and income equality in addition to other positive development outcomes”.

Describing women as the future, she stated that studies have shown that companies with more women on their boards outperform those without them by a significant margin, and organisations with greater gender diversity globally grew to 32% in 2022.

According to her, women often excel at soft skills required for business leadership and they represent a significant economic force and provide valuable consumer insight that any nation needs to thrive.

She further highlighted the fact that Nigeria needs traits such as ability to connect, collaborate, empathize, communicate and be prudent which are inherent in women to make progress in key sectors including economy, politics and more.

She, however, lamented that despite the fact that women are in the majority in terms of population, the opportunities for them to show their skills and contribute meaningfully have been hampered by systemic bottlenecks.

She therefore advised that to fuel its fire of progress and revolutionize its economic, political and social structure, women must be given adequate representation in government and key sectors of the economy.

Also speaking, Tax expert and management consultant, Mr Gbenga Badejo who spoke on “10 Top Financial Challenges for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises” noted that if women can overcome these challenges, they would be able build formidable businesses and play in the big league.

He gave the challenges as: limited or inconsistent cashflow, not using budgetary control mechanism, no preparation for unforeseen expenses, not raising enough capital, too much debt, neglecting necessary financial reporting and book keeping, , poor regulatory compliance, mixing business and personal finances, poor marketing tactics and poor managing of receivables and payables.

Earlier in her welcome address, Rotarian Omotunde Lawson, District Governor, Rotary International District 9110 noted that the conference, the first in the 41 -year history of the District, which covers Rotary Clubs in Lagos and Ogun States, was aimed at equipping women with the right support for personal and financial growth.

The conference was rounded off with a dinner and awards ceremony at the same venue where eminent women were honoured for their contributions to national development.

Economy

Nigeria Fast Exceeding Borrowing Limit, Budget Office Warns

Published

3 weeks ago

May 11, 2023

Eric

The Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze, has expressed concern that Nigeria is fast exceeding its limited borrowing space.

Akabueze stated this at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, during the induction of newly-elected lawmakers of the 10th National Assembly, on Wednesday.

He said: “While the size of the FG budget for 2023 created some excitement, the aggregate budgets of all governments in the country amount to about 30 trillion Naira. That is less than 15 percent in terms of ratio to GDP.

“Even on the African continent, the ratio of spending is about 20 percent. South Africa is about 30 percent, Morocco is about 40 percent and at 15 percent, that is too small for our needs.

“That is why there is a fierce competition for the limited resources. That can determine how much we can relatively borrow. We now have very limited borrowing space, not because our debt to GDP is high, but because our revenue is too small to sustain the size of our debt. That explains our high debt service ratio.

“Once a country’s debt service ratio exceeds 30 percent, that country is in trouble and we are pushing towards 100 percent and that tells you how much trouble we are in. We have limited space to borrow.

“When you take how much you can generate in terms of revenue and what you can reasonably borrow, that establishes the size of the budget. The next thing would be to pay attention to government priority regarding what project gets what.

“The budget is not a shopping list. In the end, the budget only contained expenditure,” he said.