MTN Nigeria Communications Plc has paid over N71.9 billion to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to renew its Unified Access Service (UAS) license and Spectrum license for wireless local loop in the 900MHz and 1800MHZ band. This was disclosed by MTN Nigeria via a statement issued and signed by its Company Secretary, Uto Ukpanah, on Wednesday. According to the company, the licenses, which expired on August 31, 2021, have now been renewed for a further ten-year period, starting on September 1, 2021. The regulator (NCC) acknowledged the receipt of the sum of N71.6 billion for the spectrum licence, and N374.6…
Author: Temitope Nlewemchi
The demand for industrially processed food has also seen a similar hike, with 2021 half-year import standing at N541 billion, contributing 3.57% to the total imports. The import expense surpassed the N393 billion spent in 2019. Meanwhile, Nigeria imported N767 billion worth of industrially processed food in 2020 while 2021 is still poised to maintain this upward trend. Nigeria exported total products worth N7.99 trillion during the review period, while importing total merchandise worth N13.8 trillion, resulting in a trade balance of -N5.81 trillion between January and June 2021. This follows prior periods of recurring trade deficits of N2.25 trillion…
The Federal Government has set in motion the National Policy on Fifth Generation (5G) networks for Nigeria’s Digital Economy. This was approved by the Federal Executive Council following the presentation by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami. The implementation of the National Policy is set to take effect immediately. The minister explained that the benefits that accrue from employing such network include larger capacity, higher data rates among other economic, health, security, and educational opportunities. According to the Minister, the radiation from the 5G has proven to be lower than the 4G, televisions or microwaves,…
The Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has made firm that the state government would go ahead with its move to stop the Federal Government from collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) from River state. This is as the state governor had accused the Federal Government through the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) of usurping the functions of the states with the collection of VAT. This was made known by Governor Wike while speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting that includes representatives of oil companies and business owners in the state on Wednesday in Port Harcourt. The Governor at the meeting which was…
Nigeria, is already on the verge of collapse unless drastic measures are taken to reverse the negative trend. This was disclosed by former Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Dr. Obadaih Mailafia, in Akure, the Ondo State capital, during a symposium with the theme “The Role of the Church in Nation-Building,” organised by Forum for Good Governance of the Towards Revival for All Nations (TRANS 21) According to him, a new Nigeria must be built on social justice and equal representation for all nations inside the federation. Nigeria, according to the former CBN deputy governor, can no longer…
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) financial crisis has sent panic down the spine of the capital market community, with many heads in between their legs that the Commission would be compelled to cut its personnel costs and perhaps retrench workers if the situation does not improve. While testifying before the Senate Joint Committees on the 2022-2024 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy, Lamido Yuguda, the Director-General of the nation’s capital market regulator, explained that the Commission recorded an N2.9 billion deficit in 2019, N4.3 billion in 2020, and N1.7 billion at the end of June 2021, bringing the total…
Brazil has confirmed two cases of “atypical” mad cow disease in two separate domestic meat plants and has gone forward to suspend all beef exports to China, which is the country’s major importer of beef. The Brazilian Agriculture Ministry announced on Saturday that the suspension of beef exports to China would commence immediately and added that the temporary suspension was taken under an existing bilateral protocol between the two countries, although the ministry stressed there was “no risk to human or animal health.” According to the ministry, both cases were “atypical” as the disease appeared spontaneously and sporadically, unrelated to…
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, granted the request of Bamboo Systems Technology Limited and Bamboo Systems Tech. Ltd., to temporarily unfreeze their accounts. The order from the court follows the filing of an application by both firms asking for a variation of the order made by the court to allow the companies have access to its funds to pay rent and workers’ salaries. According to NAN, the counsel to the two firms, Mr Chiezohu Okpoko (SAN), told the court that his clients were also asking for an amicable resolution of the matter. However, the counsel to the Central…
The Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) has revealed that the Nigerian equities market was the best financial instrument to hedge against inflation from the periods of August 2020 to August 2021. The FDC disclosed this in its inflation vs investment return data released for August, on Sunday, in Lagos, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. The data tracks 4 main asset classes, with equities coming out as the best hedging tool against year on year inflation growth, with a return of 54.85% on inflation of 17.38%, stating that Nigerian equity investors’ return beat inflation by 37.47%. Among the four asset…
The Nigerian Government and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have disagreed with the coup d’état that took place in the Republic of Guinea Conakry on Sunday. President Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, the ECOWAS Chair, and Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, condemned the action in separate statements made on Sunday, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. ECOWAS notes with great concern the recent political developments which occurred in Conakry, Republic of Guinea. She condemns with the greatest firmness this coup attempt on Sunday, September 5, 2021. “ECOWAS demands respect for the physical integrity of the…
The revenue showed that N2.1 billion was generated in January, while February, March, April and May had N1.45 billion, N4.39 billion, N1 billion and N453.98 million respectively,” Umana said. He added that efficient services delivery on the operational side of running the free trade zones had greatly improved through dedicated leadership as well as the commitment and exceptional quality of members of staff of the Authority, and that N6.1 billion worth of investments were expected to materialise in the Liberty Oil and Gas Free Zone. “To grow investment also meant looking at the structures within our zones because as I…
The number of staff employed at the Dangote Refinery Project site is expected to increase from 40,000 personnel to 57,000 in the coming months. This is as the 650,000 barrels per day refinery project is developing the human capacity needed in the oil and gas sector, which will be of great help for future oil projects in Nigeria, especially with the expected opening up of the sector with the newly signed Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). According to a statement on Sunday, signed by the Group Head, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, this was disclosed by the President/Chief Executive, Dangote…
The immediate past Minister of Power, Sale Mamman has stated that he recorded some giant strides within the two years spent in the office. Mamman disclosed this in his appreciation statement shared on his Facebook page on Thursday. He stated, “With a deep sense of humility and submission to the will of Almighty Allah I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR for granting me the opportunity to serve in his administration and contribute my quota to our beloved Nation Nigeria, I am grateful for the confidence, belief and trust he placed in…
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has moved to grant the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) access to its database to probe fraudulent companies. The action is part of the commission’s effort aimed at collaborating with anti-corruption agencies in the fight against corruption especially in the investigation of companies with suspicious activities. This was disclosed by the Registrar-General of CAC, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, when the CCB Chairman, Prof. Muhammad Isah visited him at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja. Abubakar said the time was ripe for the commission to explore more areas of collaboration particularly in real-time. He stressed that in view of…
The Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC) has reported a surplus of N2.32 billion for the 2020 financial year, indicating a surge of about 1,632% when compared to the sum of N134.16 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2019. This is according to the recent FY 202O financial result released on the council’s website. Despite posting a relatively moderate gain of about 62.1% in its gross earnings (N3.83 billion), the agency printed a massive boost in its bottom line, largely due to its ability to manage costs and significantly reduce its expenditure during the period under review. The agency’s total…
The Nigerian Communications Commission has announced the shutdown of all telecom operations sites in Zamfara to deal with the fast increase in insecurity. The NCC disclosed this in a statement on Friday evening, signed by its CEO, Prof. Umar Danbatta, viewed by Nairametrics. What the NCC said “The pervading security situation in Zamfara State has necessitated an immediate shut down of all telecommunications services in the State from today September 03, 2021,” the statement said. They added that the shutdown is to enable relevant security agencies carry out required activities towards addressing the security challenge in the state. “In line…
The Federal Government has insisted that it cannot afford the World Health Organisation’s ratio of one doctor to 600 patients, but Nigeria however needs to deploy medical manpower proportionately and adequately, especially in rural areas. This was disclosed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, at the two-day quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum, on Friday, in Abuja, themed “Building a stronger health sector in Nigeria through collaboration and strategic partnership.” What the Minister said: Ngige said, “We’re not a United Nations’ country, we are a developing country. So, when such figures are given I…
Petrol smuggling from Nigeria to neighbouring nations can’t be stopped except certain issues are brought to the table and death with. This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Myele Kyari in a statement signed by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Garba-Deen Muhammad. According to the statement, Kyari mentioned that with a price difference of over N100 per litre between what is sold in Nigeria and in neighbouring countries, it was difficult to cage the activities of petrol smugglers. He said while the corporation was working in concert with other agencies to combat…
The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Hon. Dakuku Peterside, on Tuesday, disclosed that the total sum of N16 billion has so far been remitted into the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2019. He added that the agency also released N2.5 billion to the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State. “As of October 31, we had contributed N16bn into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. We have since increased our contribution and in that contribution, we have exceeded our budget target.” Speaking at the sideline of the budget defence, Hon Peterside affirmed that the Agency has achieved tremendous success…
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) revealed that critical infrastructure in Nigerian cutting across sectors including electricity, transportation, water, oil pipelines, telecommunications are increasingly under the threat of attacks by violent groups. This was disclosed by Mr Benito Eze, an Assistant Commandant-General in charge of Critical National Asset and Infrastructure, in a meeting with newsmen on Friday, according to NAN. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) revealed that critical infrastructure in Nigerian cutting across sectors including electricity, transportation, water, oil pipelines, telecommunications are increasingly under the threat of attacks by violent groups. This was disclosed by…