BREAKING: Presidency confirms imminent cabinet reshuffle

The Presidency has confirmed that a cabinet reshuffle to be undertaken by President Bola Tinubu was imminent any moment from now.

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, revealed this to State House correspondents on Wednesday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Onanuga, however, stated that he was uncertain whether the cabinet reshuffle would occur before October 1 or not, but emphasised that it was expected to happen anytime soon.

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It will be recalled that President Tinubu appointed his ministers in August of last year, and there have been clamour for cabinet reshuffle by some members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Nigerians at large over poor performance by some Ministers.

Newstrends also reports that the President a few weeks ago confirmed his plan to rejig his cabinet while playing host to some Northern leaders at the State House in Abuja.

BREAKING: Presidency confirms imminent cabinet reshuffle

Exports of APM Terminals Apapa rise, 2nd exporters forum beckons

APM Terminals Apapa has said its half-year (H1’24) export figures for non-oil cargo stood at 51,000 Twenty Equivalent Units, TEUs, a rise of 7.8% Year-on-Year (YoY) when compared with 47,000 TEUs recorded in the corresponding year of 2023, H1 2023.

APM Terminals Apapa Terminal Manager, Steen Knudsen, described non-oil export cargo as an integral part of the terminal’s business.

He stated: “Over the last four years, we have witnessed a steady growth in non-oil export cargo. In 2020, export volumes stood at 53,000 TEUs. In 2021, it rose to 63,000 TEUs and in 2022, 71,000 TEUs. The greatest rise in exports was recorded in 2023, when volumes rose to 94,000 TEUs, an increase of 32%.”

To continue to drive this growth in non-oil exports, Knudsen added that the terminal would be hosting its second exporters’ forum this September.

He said, “The exporters’ forum is our way of supporting the Federal Government’s non-oil export drive. The forum is basically a brainstorming session where we rub minds with the various exporting associations in the country on how best to resolve their challenges to facilitate more efficient movement of exports into the ports.

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“More exports out of Nigeria translate to lower shipping costs since the vessels don’t go back empty. We will continue to partner with our customers and all relevant government agencies in the port to encourage Nigerian exporters in their business.”

Launched mid-2024, the APM Terminals Apapa exporters’ forum provides a safe place for the terminal, its export customers and shipping lines to discuss issues that impede the flow of export cargo into the port.

APM Terminals Apapa, Head of Commercial, Kayode Daniels, said: “The maiden forum launched in June was a huge success. We got so much feedback from the exporters on how we could collaborate to streamline our processes to improve export volumes. With agro-export produce, time is of the essence as prolonged storage in containers could ruin the quality of the cargo before it gets to its destination.

“The feedback we receive in the forum will be used to improve our operations and other associated processes concerned with the export of non-oil exports. I believe we can all work together to further strengthen the port’s export process.”

Exports of APM Terminals Apapa rise, 2nd exporters forum beckons

Cooking gas price rises by 69% in one year 

The price of 12.5kg of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), better known as cooking gas, increased by 69.15 per cent in one year.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) disclosed this in its latest LPG price watch report for August 2024.

It  specifically said Nigerians paid an average price of N15,552.56 for a 12.5kg cylinder of cooking gas in the month under review — compared to the N9,194.41 in August 2023.
According to the report, the average price for refilling a 12.5kg of cooking gas increased from N14,261.57 in July to N15,552.56 in August — representing a 9.05 per cent month-on-month uptick.
“On a year-on-year basis, this rose by 69.15% from N9,194.41 in August 2023,” the bureau said.
Thr data body said Rivers State recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cooking gas cylinder at N17,086.36, followed by Cross River (N17,050) and Abia (N17,012.52).

“Conversely, the lowest average price was recorded in Bauchi with N13,425.00, followed by Nasarawa and Adamawa with N13,640.94 and N13,725.00 respectively,” NBS added.
It also said, “Analysis by zone showed that the South-South recorded the highest average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N16,524.00, followed by the South-East with N16,495.78 while the North-Central recorded the lowest price with N14,767.41.”
Average retail price 

The NBS also said the average retail price of a 5kg cylinder of LPG rose by 7.62 per cent on a month-on-month basis — up from N5,974.55 recorded in July 2024 to N6,430.02 in August.

“On a year-on-year basis, this increased by 56.25% from N4,115.32 in August 2023. On state profile analysis, Benue and Sokoto recorded the highest average price for refilling a 5kg Cylinder of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Cooking Gas) with N7,000.00, followed by Rivers with N6,954.55, and Borno with N6,914.29,” the NBS added.

On the other hand, the bureau said the lowest price of N5,600.67 was seen in Taraba, followed by Abuja and Kogi recording N5,825 and N5,857.56 respectively.