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Eidel-Kabir: Subsidy removal, naira devaluation hike Ram price

Published

1 year ago

June 22, 2023

Eidel-Kabir: Subsidy removal, naira devaluation hike Ram price

With a week to this year’s Eidel-Kabir celebration, Muslim faithful across Nigeria are lamenting the high cost of ram and other animals permissible for slaughtering even as traders attribute the exponential increase to the economic realities in the country.

Market surveys by Daily Trust in Abuja, Lagos, Kwara and Kano states revealed as much as 100% increase in the cost of some of the animals, which traders have said affects the volume of trade compared to the previous years.

While many of the traders attributed the increase in the cost of the animals to the high cost of transportation occasioned by the recent removal of subsidy on Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS), others, especially those that import the animals from neighbouring countries, blamed the increase on the naira devaluation, which has weakened the purchasing power of the country’s currency.

Recall that petrol which was sold at N195 per litre before subsidy removal is now N540 or more depending on the location. Also, the US dollar was sold at N770 at the parallel market yesterday; and N757/$1 at the close of Import and Export window.

On the part of buyers, the biting effect of economic realities has also complicated their decision on whether or not they would be able to afford rams or cattle for the sacrifice. This, they said, is because they have to weigh their decision against other pressing issues demanding equal attention.

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One of Daily Trust’s correspondents who visited some markets in Abuja on wednesday observed that selling points were flooded with rams but with few buyers.

Muhammadu Sani, who sells rams along Mike Akhigbe Way, Jabi, Abuja, lamented that the prices had jacked up even in the rural areas in the far northern states.

“Last year, a ram selling at N200, 000 in the village is now N300, 000. You must also feed the ram apart from the high cost of transportation. A sack of animal feed is N8,000 even in rural areas. It was sold at half the price last year. All these costs must be factored.

“We used to pay N6,000 to N8, 000 to ferry a ram from places like Jigawa and Katsina to Abuja. Presently, each ram can cost you not less than N10,000 to be transported to Abuja,’’ he said.

According to him, the lowest price of rams range from N180,000, saying the big ones sell from N500,000 to N700,000.

At the Kubwa Abattoir, the lowest price for a medium size ram is N60, 000 while big size ones go for as high as N320,000.

At the Abattoir market in Karu, a buyer, Alhaji Yunusa Bello, lamented that he bought a small size ram for N120, 000, saying “I just bought it because there is nothing I can do.”

Another ram supplier who sells under Lake View Bridge at NEPA Quarters, Utako, Husseini Abubakar, told Daily Trust that the current high cost of living affected the price of rams and patronage as well.

A buyer, Haruna Usman, told one of our reporters that he intended to buy four rams for himself and his relatives but was startled by the high price.

Checks by Daily Trust in Lagos also indicated that some rams, which used to cost between N50, 000 and N60, 000 now go for N120, 000 and N130, 000.

At Kara market along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, an average small sized ram costs N100, 000.

A buyer, Lukman Aminu, who visited Kara yesterday to price rams ahead of Sallah also confirmed that prices have gone astronomically high.

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“Most of the rams I got are priced between N120,000; N130,000 and N140,000 at Kara Market. You can hardly get any ram of N50,000 or N60, 000 which we were used to. If you are lucky to get any, it would be too small to slaughter and fetch you any reward from Allah,” he said.

In Kano, the situation is similar to what is obtainable in the FCT and Lagos as rams and other animals flooded the markets and streets amid low patronage.

A dealer and one of the leaders of the Yan Awaki Animals Market in Kano, Dauda Sulaiman, said this year’s sales have dropped compared to last year.

He said the price of ram ranges between N30,000 and N270,000, adding that they are costly compared to the previous years.

At another market in the state, where cows are sold, traders lamented over the cost of transportation.

A dealer in Dan Agundi Cattle Market, Malam Usaini Idris, said there was poor sales compared to last year.

“This year, there is no market. The main reason is that people have no money these days. We normally sell 20 to 30 every day in periods like this, but now we hardly sell 10 to 15.

At the site where camels are sold, the marketers said the fall of the naira and costs of transportation are forcing the price to go higher this year.

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Nayaya Mai Rakumi, who sells at the Kofar Naisa Animals Market in Kano, said the average price of a camel starts from N250, 000 to N1, 200,000.

He said they normally buy the camels from Niger Republic, Cameroon, Sudan and Chad.

“People are coming, but the problem is buying. They may come and not buy as the prices are costly. The cost of transportation is the major root of all these. A camel that was normally transported at N15, 000 from the Niger Republic has now doubled to N30,000. This has to affect the whole situation.

“Also, if we go to buy the camels from our neighbouring countries, we found out that our money has fallen against theirs. We had to buy it like that. But despite this, I think in the coming few days, people will buy more,” he added.

Visits to ram markets in Oja Tuntun/Kuntun, Agbooba, Asa Dam, Irewolede and Mandate in Ilọrin, the Kwara State capital, showed that rams sold for between N55, 000 and N400,000 and above.

Some buyers expressed dissatisfaction over the high cost of the ram while hoping for a reduction in price before the celebration.

Eidel-Kabir: Subsidy removal, naira devaluation hike Ram price

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BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

Published

10 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

The federal government has unveiled a proposed budget of N47.9 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year.

Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, disclosed this to journalists on Thursday following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

Bagudu revealed that the council had approved the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2025-2027.

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According to the minister, the government has pegged the crude oil benchmark at $75 per barrel, with an oil production target of 2.06 million barrels per day (bpd).

The budget also sets the exchange rate at N1,400 per dollar and aims for a gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate of 6.4%.

BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year

metro

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

Published

10 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told FIJ that they have arrested Timber Wabote, the former executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCMB), on the grounds of a failed $35 million Bayelsa refinery project fraud.

Dele Oyewale, the EFCC’s spokesperson, confirmed this to FIJ on Thursday.

“It is true,” Oyewale responded to FIJ’s inquiries.

Wabote is accused of misappropriating public funds for a refinery project that should have improved local energy production.

Vanguard reported that the NCDMB under Wabote paid $35 million to support the development of energy infrastructure in the Brass Local Government Area of Bayelsa, yet there was nothing to show for it.

The EFCC picked Wabote up following the arrest of Akintoye Adeoye Akindele, the Managing Director of Atlantic International Refinery and Petrochemical Limited, for alleged misappropriation, money laundering and diversion of $35 million in public funds.

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“NCDMB under the watch of Wabote allegedly paid the $35 million to Akindele to build a 2,000 barrel per day (BPD), refinery, jetty, gas plant, power plant, data centre and tank farm at Brass free trade zone (FTZ), Okpoama Community in Brass LGA of Bayelsa State,” a source with the EFCC had explained.

Since December 2020 when the payments were made, Akindele abandoned the project with little or nothing to show for the huge sum he received.

Preliminary investigations showed that Wabote’s NCDMB financed 17 different projects, including the 2,000 BPD refinery in Brass LGA.

There has been a series of public fund misappropriation cases in the energy sector in recent times.

FIJ earlier reported that members of the House of Representatives summoned three ministers to defend how over $2 billion was spent on renewable energy with not much to show for it.

A recent FIJ report also recently detailed how residents of Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa, have not had power in their homes since July due to the vandalisation of the Ahoada-Yenagoa transmission towers caused by unidentified persons.

The Bayelsa state government told FIJ it was the federal government’s responsibility to provide electricity for residents. The state has no renewable energy options reliable enough to power its capital despite the multi-million-dollar NCMB energy project.

Transparency in the energy sector has become necessary at a time when Nigerians have suffered power instability due to frequent grid collapses.

EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud

metro

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

Published

11 hours ago

November 14, 2024

Trends Admin

Yahaya Bello

Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has requested an adjournment in the new case against the immediate past Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, stating that the 30-day window for the previously issued summons is still active.

The commission has granted administrative bail to his co-defendants, Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, and asked the court for an extension of time for Bello to appear.

At the resumed hearing before Justice Maryann Anenih of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja, EFCC Counsel Jamiu Agoro noted that the court’s order from October 3rd had not yet expired.

“In that wise, we feel it will not be appropriate for us to take proceedings while that 30 days is still running. So we have discussed and agreed to come back on the 27th day of November, 2024, my lord,” he told the court.

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He also mentioned that the previously set date of November 20th was not convenient for the prosecution counsels.

Counsel to the second defendant, Aliyu Saiki, SAN, confirmed that his client had been granted administrative bail by the prosecution and had no objection to the adjournment request. The third defendant’s counsel, ZE Abass, concurred.

The prosecution counsel also requested the court to allow the notice of hearing to be pasted on the last known address of the first defendant.

After hearing from all counsels, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and the issuance of the hearing notice.

“I have considered the application for adjournment by the complainant and issuance of hearing notice and the submission by the second and third defendants. The application is granted,” she said.

Justice Anenih then adjourned the case to November 27th for arraignment.

The former governor, alongside Umar Oricha and Abdulsalami Hudu, are being prosecuted as 1st to 3rd defendants, respectively, in a fresh 16-count charge instituted against them by the EFCC.