Buratai: Buhari's anti-corruption war on trial(News Sunday 10th Jul

Punch Editorial Board PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari's fledgling war on corruption has reached a critical juncture. In a case that has generated outrage, the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, has been accused of buying two houses in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, at a cost of $1.5 million. Curiously, the Nigerian Army has admitted that Buratai, []The post Buratai: Buhari's anti-corruption war on trial appeared first on Punch Newspaper.

As the strike embarked by the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) entered its third day on Saturday, marketers have stopped loading of fuel at Apapa, Lagos, to northern and south-eastern parts of the Nigeria,SUNDAY PUNCH gathered.

The refusal to load petroleum products to those places stemmed from the absence of the workers of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund board to certify marketers’ trucks to enable them get bridging fund for fuel transported to very distant parts of the country.

PEF is charged with the primary responsibility of reimbursing petroleum marketing companies for any loss suffered by them, solely and exclusive, as a result of sale of petroleum products at uniform prices throughout the nation.

FG, states, others borrow N224bn from bond market                     Everest Amaefule The Federal Government, the state governments and corporate organisations raised a total of N224.3bn through the domestic bond market in 2015, the Debt Management Office has said. The DMO said this in its annual report and statement of accounts for 2015, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Friday. It also []The post FG, states, others borrow N224bn from bond market appeared first on Punch Newspapers. 

The report said, “The equities market was largely bearish during the year, which was attributable to factors including falling oil prices, investors’ apathy and volatile socio-economic and political climate.

“In contrast, the bond market capitalisation increased by 32.7 per cent to N7.14tn by end of December, 2015, from N5.38tn as at end of December, 2014, as the corporates, federal and state governments accessed the debt market in 2015, to raise a total of N112bn, N76.5bn and N35.8bn, respectively.

“The size of the Nigerian domestic bonds market, in terms of face value was N6.52bn as of the end of December, 2015, compared to N5.68tn as of end of December 2014, which represented an increase of N832.16bn or 14.64 per cent.

“The increase was broken down as follows: FGN bonds – N5.81tn, state government bonds – N457.24bn and corporate bonds – N226.15bn. There was no issuance by supra-nationals during the year.”

The DMO also reported strong activities in the secondary bond market, putting total transactions in the market in 2015 at N9.49tn.

The report said, “The secondary market activities for the FGN Bonds were relatively stronger in 2015 compared with the previous year.

“Data from the Financial Markets Dealers Quotation Market and Central Securities Clearing System in 2015 showed that the total face value of transactions, consideration and number of deals was N9.49tn, N9.58tn and 46,992, higher than the corresponding figures of N7.39tn, N8.07tn and 46,090 in 2014, respectively.

“Trading activities were boosted in 2015, as most of the challenges that had arisen from the introduction of Scripless Securities Settlement System by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2013, were addressed.

“Secondary market activities also got a boost, with the introduction of the FMDQ OTC E-Bond platform, which enabled the dealers to trade more professionally, with enhanced price discovery and transparency.”

It added that as in the previous year, over-subscriptions were recorded in all the monthly auctions of the FGN Bonds in 2015, which presented a clear indication of diverse and strong investor interest, resulting from an active secondary market and sustained efforts by the stakeholders to develop and strengthen the domestic debt market.

The average yield on the FGN securities of about 10 per cent in 2015 was relatively lower than their corresponding yield of 15 per cent in 2014, it added.

FG spends N6.24bn on pensions monthly

Nike Popoola The Federal Government pays a total of N6.24bn every month as pensions under the management of the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate, a report sent to the National Pension Commission by the PTAD has shown. 'An Analysis of the returns revealed that the PTAD has a total of 217,619 pensioners on its payroll with []The post FG spends N6.24bn on pensions monthly