APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government on Wednesday announced 50 per cent reduction in transportation costs along 22 interstate routes during the Yuletide season and the reaction of the Organized Labour dominate the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Thursday.
The Punch reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria on Wednesday announced 50 per cent reduction in transportation costs along 22 interstate routes during the Yuletide season.
The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, who chairs the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Presidential Intervention, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Also, the spokesperson for the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Segun Falade, said the union would commence the implementation of the fare subsidy on Thursday (today).
Giving further explanation, Alake said the 50 per cent reduction in the fares was arrived at in conjunction with companies operating luxury buses.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had directed that commuters on all train services would get free rides from Thursday (today) to January 4, 2024.
But the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress faulted the initiative, describing the Federal Government as confused.
The Nigeria Union of Teachers, however, lauded the package as a welcome development.
Alake, flanked by his counterparts in the Ministry of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, while briefing the State House correspondent, explained that the President okayed the directives in the spirit of the season given the economic realities facing Nigerians.
The newspaper says that the military has in the last five months uncovered and busted 636 illegal refining sites and intercepted 21.7 million litres of crude oil valued at N54bn.
The figures were collated from press releases by the military on the activities of troops against oil thieves between August 3 and December 1.
The PUNCH reports that President Bola Tinubu met with service chiefs in June and gave them a marching order to end oil theft in the country, in order to shore up the country’s revenues.
Since then, there has been a heightened military onslaught against oil thieves, particularly in the South-South.
The data analysis by The PUNCH showed that no fewer than 610 suspected oil thieves were nabbed within the five months under review. Also, a total of 670 boats used to convey stolen crude oil and its products were impounded by the military.
According to the military, on August 3, 36 illegal refining sites, 310,700 litres of stolen crude oil and seven suspected oil theft were arrested along with 32 wooden boats.
On August 11, 39 illegal refining sites were discovered; 1,247,700 litres of stolen crude oil valued at N607,346,75 were recovered and 17 suspected oil thieves were arrested.
The Guardian reports that Nigeria’s public debt hit N87.91 trillion at the end of the third quarter of 2023, following a marginal increase from the N87.38 trillion it was in the second quarter.
The Debt Management Office (DMO) disclosed this in its third quarter 2023 public debt report published yesterday. The office also informed that the total external debt stock declined by $1.57 billion during the period from $43.16 billion to $41.59 billion.
The drop, though, could not make up for the rise in the domestic component of the sovereign debts. DMO, in the statement, said the reason for the decline is due to the redemption of Nigeria’s $500 million Eurobonds and the first principal payment of $413.859 million from the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) $3.4 billion loan obtained during the COVID-19 period.
A statement by DMO said: “External debt decreased due to redemption of $500 million Eurobond and the payment of $413.859 as first principal repayment of the $4.3 billion obtained from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020 during COVID-19.”
It, however, noted that Nigeria’s total public debt increased marginally from N87.38 trillion at the end of the second quarter to N87.91 trillion ($114.35 billion) as of September 30, 2023, following the increase in domestic debt stock of the country, which went up by N1.8 trillion to N50.196 trillion in the three months.
“The amount represents the domestic and external debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the 36 state governments and the Federal Capital Territory,” DMO said.
It added: “The servicing of these debts in addition to other debts are clear demonstrations of the FGN’s commitment to honouring its debt obligations.”
Nigerians have continued to raise eyebrows over the spate of borrowings by the federal government which has led to the astronomical rise in the debt profile.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian capital market sustained its Santa Claus’ rally yesterday with the market capitalisation of listed equities crossing the N40 trillion mark.
At the close of transactions, market capitalisation soared significantly by N599 billion or 1.51 per cent to N40.164 trillion from N39.656 trillion reported the previous day.
All-share index (ASI) also appreciated by 927.61 basis points to 73397.71 points from 72470.1 points reported on Tuesday. The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks among which are Airtel Africa, Presco, Stanbic IBTC, Transcorp Hotel, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills, Cadbury, United Capital and Multiverse.
On what will shape the market in the next trading sessions, analysts at Vetiva Dealing and Brokerage said: “We expect a similar mixed session tomorrow, as investors continue to cherry-pick attractive names across the board while taking profit on recent gainers.”
On the price movement chart, 37 stocks appreciated while 23 constituted the losers’ chart. Multiverse, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria led the gainers’ table in percentage terms, appreciating 10 per cent each to close at N11.55 kobo and N7.70 kobo respectively.
Infinity Savings followed with 9.97 per cent to close at N3.75 per unit, eTranzact gained 9.73 per cent to close at N6.75 per unit, Caverton Business Solutions added 9.66 per cent to close at N1.93 per share.
However, Tantalizer topped the losers’ chart, declining by 10 per cent to close at 45 kobo while Thomas Way trailed with a loss of 9.86 per cent to close at 45 kobo. TIP Plc dipped by 9.32 per cent to close at N1.07 kobo. Thomas Wyatts fell by 9.86 per cent to close at N1.07 kobo. Juli Pharmaceutical was down by 9.23 per cent to close at 59 kobo. Chams Plc also dipped by 9.05 per cent to close at N1.81 kobo.
The volume of transactions also grew by 143.431 million shares, representing 34.88 per cent as investors traded 554.644 million shares valued at N12.829 billion in 7910 deals against 411.213 million shares at N6.948 billion exchanged hands the previous day in 6870 deals.
GIK/APA