Bad fuel: FG Vows to investigate

The Federal Government on Wednesday said it would carry out a major investigation into the adulteration of fuel in Nigeria

Timipre Sylva, the Minister of State for Petroleum, said the investigation would reveal the cause of the unsafe quantity of methanol in petrol imported into the country.

Sylva spoke while addressing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting.

The minister disclosed that those responsible for importing adulterated fuel would be revealed during the investigation.

“There will be a major investigation to unravel everything. We need to get to the bottom of it before we can come back to tell you what will happen to the culprits,” the Minister said.

He also disclosed that the Federal Government would put into consideration Nigerians whose cars were damaged after using the adulterated fuel.

“We know that some people’s vehicles must have been damaged, that is also going to be taken into consideration in dealing with the situation,” Sylvia said.

Naira will fall from N570/$1 to N400/$1 at black market if… – CBN ex-deputy gov, Moghalu

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, says the value of the naira will fall from N570/$1 to N400/$1 at the parallel market if there is a massive rush of dollars into the Nigerian market through export earnings.

Moghalu made this known in a PUNCH Live Interview on Thursday.

He said, “The reason we have the prices we have is that the official rate is perceived by the market not to be the real rate; that’s the fundamental reason why you have a huge gap of N410 at the official rate – Investors and Exporters’ Window – and then N570 in the black market. That is unbelievable.

“Normally, you will have a gap between the official rate and the parallel market but in our time, we made sure that that gap was not a lot – it wasn’t more than N10, N15, max N20.

“What is happening now shows that there is a very fundamental crisis in the Nigerian economy. And unfortunately, the economy does not respond to political commands, the economy does not respond to political statements, the economy does not respond to military orders; the market responds to its own dynamics – demand and supply.

“If you have a massive rush of dollars into the Nigerian market today, the price of the dollar would crash and the naira can come to N400 in the black market, you may be shocked.

“So, it is about going to fix what would bring in the quantity of dollars that would rebalance the equation.”

Nigeria’s inflation declines for fifth consecutive month

The Consumer Price Index which measures inflation rate fell to 17.01 per cent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday.

According to the latest CPI report, this rate is 0.37 percent points lower than the 17.38 per cent recorded in July this year.

This is the fifth consecutive month that the country’s inflation rate will be trending downward since March this year.

Inflation dropped from 18.17 per cent in March to 18.12 per cent in April before dropping further to 17.93 per cent, 17.75 per cent and 17.38 per cent in the months of May, June and July respectively.

The NBS said that on a month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.02 percent in August 2021, adding that this is 0.09 percent rate higher than the 0.93 per cent recorded in July 2021.

The report stated, “The consumer price index, which measures inflation increased by 17.01 percent (year-on-year) in August 2021.

“This is 0.37 percent points lower than the rate recorded in July 2021 (17.38) percent.

“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending August 2021 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 16.60 percent, showing 0.30 percent point from 16.30 percent recorded in July 2021.”

According to the NBS, the urban inflation rate increased by 17.59 per cent (year-on-year) in August 2021 from the 18.01 per cent recorded in July 2021, while the rural inflation rate also rose by 16.43 per cent in August 2021 from 16.75 per cent in July 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, it said that the urban index rose by 1.06 per cent in August 2021, representing 0.08 percent increase over the rate recorded in July 2021, while the rural index also rose by 0.99 per cent in August 2021.

“The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 17.19 percent in August 2021.

“This is higher than 16.89 percent reported in July 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in August 2021 is 16.03 percent compared to 15.73 percent recorded in July 2021,” the Report added.

For the composite food index, it said this rose by 20.30 percent in August 2021 compared to 21.03 percent in July 2021.

The rise in the food index, it noted, was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, milk, cheese and egg, oils and fats, potatoes, yam and other tubers, food products, meat and coffee, tea and cocoa

On a month-on-month basis, it said the food sub-index increased by 1.06 per cent in August 2021, up by 0.20 percent points from the 0.86 percent recorded in July 2021.

Desist from forex malpractices, CBN warns commercial banks

The Central Bank of Nigeria has warned Deposit Money Banks to always observe due diligence and desist from all forms of malpractices in foreign exchange transactions.

The apex bank gave the warning in a letter by Ozoemena Nnaji, Director of Trade and Exchange Department, addressed to the DMBs.

Nnaji urged the banks to ensure to know their customers and also to know their customers’ businesses.

She said the directive was necessitated by recent occurrences in the FX market.

“The CBN wishes to remind all banks that it is their responsibility to not only know their customers (KYC requirements) but also know their customers’ businesses (KYCB requirements).

“Given this responsibility, and in view of recent occurrences in the market, the CBN will like to remind banks to desist from all forms of FX malpractices.

“We wish to reiterate that FX operating licences of any bank or banks that are found culpable with ongoing investigations will be suspended for at least one year,” the director said.

She urged all the DMBs concerned to take note and ensure compliance.

Federal government moves to amend Nigerian labour laws

The Nigerian government intends to amend all labour laws in the country.

Festus Keyamo, (SAN) Minister of State for Labour and Employment, disclosed this during a working visit to Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies, MINILS, in Ilorin on Friday.

“We are trying to amend all the labour laws in the country. We are going to amend that of this institute so that all the labour centres will be represented.

“All the labour centres are not represented in the governing council of this institute,” he noted, specifically referring to MINILS.

Keyamo, explained that the labour laws which established MINILS and others in the country have become anachronistic.null

” The MINILS law, was an old one, it was a decree that was adopted later as an act of parliament,” he stated, adding that, “at that time, the Trade Union Congress, TUC, was not in existence.

” We are not unmindful of the lack of balance in the constitution of the governing council.”

The minister further noted that high level politics in the appointment of head of the institute had adversely affected MINILS.

He said,” We should not play politics with the appointment of head of the institute, as playing politics with who should head it has killed this place till now.”

Bitcoin jumps above $50,000 for first time since May

Bitcoin rose back above $50,000 on Monday for the first time in three months after supportive news from payments giant PayPal and cryptocurrency platform Coinbase.

The world’s most popular virtual unit jumped to $50,440 during Asian trade, before easing to $50,350 in early morning London deals.

“Bitcoin continues its recent recovery, moving above the $50,000 mark it last attained in May though still some way short of its $65,000 record as PayPal announces plans to launch its cryptocurrency trading platform in the UK,” said AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson.

PayPal has announced that it will this week begin to allow users in Britain to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency through the online payment platform for the first time.

The expansion into the hot digital money trend follows similar moves by the payments giant in the United States earlier this year.

The US firm said its new service would allow UK-based customers to choose from four types of cryptocurrency: bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash.

They will be available both via the PayPal app and its website, with the expansion set to start this week and be available to all eligible customers within the next few weeks.

No plan to convert customers’ foreign currency into naira, says CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it is not planning to convert the foreign exchange in domiciliary accounts of bank customers into naira.

This is according to the Acting Director in charge of Corporate Communications, Osita Nwanisobi, who pointed out that those behind the speculations are criminal elements looking to create panic in the foreign exchange market.

He gave the assurance that the CBN will ensure that the legitimate FX demands of customers are met by commercial banks, as he advised FX operators to go about their business without worries.

According to ThisDay, he said this days after the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, announced that deposit money banks will henceforth be in charge of the sale of foreign exchange to Bureaux De Change and other customers.

Addressing journalists at the end of a two-day deliberation by the Monetary Policy Committee, Emefiele stated that BDCs disregarded the CBN policies put in place to safeguard the value of the naira.

He said, ”In particular, we have noted with disappointment and great concern that our BDC operators have abandoned the original objectives of their establishment which was to serve retail end users who need $5,000 or less.

“Instead, they have become wholesale dealers dealing in forex to the tune of millions of dollars per transaction, despite the fact that Nigeria is the only country in the world today where a central bank sells dollar directly to BDC operators.”

He added, ”Whereas the bank has an understanding with BDC operators that they make small margins from the US dollar allocated to them, they have reneged and become somewhat greedy, recalcitrant with abnormal high profits while ordinary Nigerians have been left to feel the pain and therefore suffer.”

Nigerian banks notify customers on how to access forex

Some commercial banks have confirmed they are beginning to set up foreign exchange (forex) desks at every branch following a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week.

CBN had on Tuesday cancelled the sales of forex to Bureau De Change (BDC) operators and directed the banks to take charge instead.

By Thursday, bank chiefs confirmed they had a meeting with CBN and had been directed to set up desks at branches of their banks to attend to the forex needs of customers.

At the weekend, customers of some of the banks said they are getting email notices, informing them of the availability of a desk to attend to their forex needs across branches.

A customer with Guaranty Trust Bank, Comfort Oche, said she got a notice from GTCO, the new holding company of the bank stating this.

The notice said, “We have set up dedicated teller points at all our branches nationwide for your eligible foreign exchange needs.”

It said customers can buy their Personal Travel Allowance (PTA), Business Travel Allowance (BTA), pay international school fees, foreign medical bills, SME Form Q transactions and every other qualifying foreign exchange transaction.

While it noted that people can get their forex request the same day, it added that it is subject to the customer providing all the required documentation for these transactions.

It also said customers must be “18 years and above, and have a valid Bank Verification Number (BVN)”, among other requirements.

GTB also pegged the PTA request at a maximum of $4,000 per quarter per applicant among other requirements.

Another notice was seen from Sterling Bank. It said: “We just wanted to let you know that every branch of Sterling is designated, and you can visit any branch where our forex teller is ready to serve you and meet your transaction needs.”

World Bank commends Yahaya Bello for returning $4.63m

The World Bank has hailed Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, for refunding US$4.63million surplus funds under the Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management project (NEWMAP).

The letter of appreciation was signed by Regional Director, Shubham Chaudhuri.

The institution said the action has made it possible to extend similar projects to other States facing deficit funds.

Chaudhuri said the timeliness helped the bank’s decision to extend the closing date of the project from June 30, 2021 to June 30, 2022.

The returned surplus, he noted, will ensure that other States finish their civil works, while Kogi focuses on completing its approved ongoing works.

The World Bank urged the state government to bring the project to an orderly closure, while achieving its intended objective of transforming lives and alleviating poverty.

“We also take this opportunity to request that you kindly also expedite the issuance of a required Letter of Comfort”, Chaudhuri added.

FCMB Appoint Yemisi Edun As Managing Director

The Board of Directors of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Group Plc has announced the appointment of Yemisi Edun as the Managing Director (MD) of  FCMB Limited.

This announcement is subsequent to the end of service of the bank’s former Managing Director, Adam Nuru.

The Board had earlier reviewed media allegations made in late 2020 against the former MD and did not establish any contravention of its policies.Prior to this appointment, the new MD, Edun, was the Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer of the bank and previously served as the acting Managing Director.

With a work experience spanning nearly 35 years, Edun holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife and a Master’s degree in International Accounting and Finance from the University of Liverpool, United Kingdom.

She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and a Certified Financial Analyst (CFA).

She is also an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers; an Associate Member of the Institute of Taxation of Nigeria; a Member of Information Systems Audit and Control, U.S.A; and a Certified Information Systems Auditor.