Business
Wealthy Nigerians smuggling Jet-A1 to W’Africa – Senate panel
The lawmaker representing Kogi West Senatorial District and the Chairman of the Senate Aviation Committee, Senator Smart Adeyemi, has said that wealthy Nigerians stealing and exporting the Jet –A-1 are responsible for the scarcity of aviation fuel in the country.
Adeyemi, who spoke to The PUNCH, said that this situation had added to the problem of lack of refineries that the country had been battling with.
He further lamented that the situation had been worsened by the increase in the number of Nigerians who could no longer travel by road due to the insecurity issues.
The senator added that there was no way the economy could thrive when some people kept stealing from the economy.
Adeyemi said, “Before now, we used to procure our oil from Europe but they no longer have that capacity, especially because of the diplomatic issue between Europe and Russia. Europe is no longer buying fuel from Russia, so they have to do with what they have. As you can see, the pump price of PMS has gone up in Europe itself.
“The consequence for us is that what we would have used as proceeds is what we are using to import back PMS to the country for local consumption. The same thing goes for aviation; the JET A-1 that is being imported is beyond what our country is consuming. Nigerians are smuggling JET A-1 to other West African countries. So, it means neighbouring countries live on what Nigeria is bringing in and that accounts for why the subsidy keeps increasing.
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“The people doing this bunker and stealing of our resources aren’t ordinary Nigerians. They are rich and powerful people who have become cabals; they do this stealing in very large quantities. How can anybody justify that 80 per cent of what we produce is stolen?”
The lawmaker further lamented that it was painful as it was further hampering the economy of the country.
He added, “But what can we do when the refineries are not working. The concern of everyone is to make the refineries work and build one or two more refineries.
“When the refineries are not working, these are the consequences and more so with the global economic recession, the recession will first manifest in the aviation industry and that is because people are now traveling more by air than before.
“Also, our own inability to make refineries work and the devaluation of the naira are making it difficult for airlines to get the Jet A-1 and once it’s not available, then there is no way people can move. And it may continue for a while. And apart from the importation business, aviation is a major driver of the economy.
“Many people cannot go by road because of the security state of the nation. And as it is today, the airlines are finding it hard to procure servicing parts because of the cost. I think again, like I said, aviation is very important to the socio-economic development of any nation. Ours is more serious because it is crude, so until we get the refineries working, we cannot think of the other solutions to the aviation industry.”
Adeyemi noted that the good news, however, was that there was rehabilitation work going on at the Port Harcourt Refinery and the Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream, will be visiting the place next week to look at the refineries.
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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