Sabinews Daily Morning News Update for January 21, 2015
National News
Mistrust between Nigeria, Cameroun Stalls Fight against Boko Haram
Mistrust between Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroun as well as disagreements over how to deploy troops against Boko Haram have stalled efforts to set up a regional force to combat the Islamist militants.
Failure to launch the 2,800-strong mission as planned in November has left the insurgents in control of large swathes of Nigeria’s North-east from where they launch attacks. Read more
Rivers Quarantines Farm as Bird Flu Hits State
The Rivers State Government on Tuesday announced the outbreak of Avian flu, commonly known as bird flu, in the state, adding that it had quarantined a privately owned farm over the disease.
The state Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Emma Chinda, who spoke in Port Harcourt, said hundreds of birds had been eliminated in a privately owned farm affected by the flu in Port Harcourt. Read more
TUC, NLC Deny Plans to Mobilise for Further Reduction in Fuel Price
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have refuted some reports that they plan to join the alleged plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to mobilise Nigerian workers to demand further reduction in the price of petroleum in line with the price downfall of crude oil in the global market.
The President General of the TUC, Mr. Bobboi Kaigama in a telephone interview with THISDAY, said while the congress strongly believes that the current price of N87 per litre can be further reduced, it cannot join any political party in a protest. Read more
Two Britons Arrested over Bribe Involving Gunboats Sold to Tompolo
With the dust yet to settle over the procurement of seven gunboats by a private security firm belonging to ex-Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemuplo, aka Tompolo, purportedly for the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), it has emerged that two British businessmen have been arrested on suspicion of bribing a Norwegian official alleged to have been involved in the controversial sale of the former naval vessels. Read more
INEC Releases List of Accredited Election Observers
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has accredited 89 local and international groups to observe the 2015 general election scheduled for February 14 and 28.
INEC in a statement said the groups were accredited sequel to their compliance with the requirements and guidelines issued by the commission. Read more
Mimiko Presents N130bn Budget to Assembly
Ondo State Governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, on Tuesday presented a budget of N130 billion to the state House of Assembly for consideration for 2015.
The budget tagged: ‘Caring Heart Budget VI’, was N30 billion or 23 per cent lower than the 2014 budget of N168 billion blaming the reduction and the dwindling revenue from the Federation Account (FA) due to the decline in the price of crude oil in the international market. Read more
Boko Haram leader threatens Nigeria’s neighbours
Boko Haram has claimed a massive attack feared to be the worst in its six-year insurgency and threatened Nigeria’s neighbours, as talks began for a regional response to the militants and fears grew of further violence.
The confirmation from Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau came as no surprise after multiple eye-witness accounts of the attack on Baga, which is thought to have killed hundreds, if not more. Read more
Boko Haram ‘leader Abubakar Shekau’ claims Baga raid
A Man purporting to be the leader of the Boko Haram Islamist group has said in a video that his fighters carried out a deadly attacks on the Nigerian town of Baga earlier this month.
The man said to be Abubakar Shekau said people were killed “as our Lord instructed us”, threatening more raids. Read more
Economy
Capital market operators bemoan CBN’s fixing of Naira value
Capital market operators have criticized the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN’s fixing of the value of naira, saying that the currency should be allowed to find its value through market forces.
The operators also lamented the continuous tightening of the monetary and fiscal policies by the government authorities, stressing that these measures affect liquidity in the Nigerian capital market. Read more
CBN warns against speculative attack on naira, retains MPR at 13%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) yesterday warned that it would not tolerate speculative attack on the naira just as it retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 13 per cent and the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) on private sector deposit at 20 per cent.
It also retained the CRR on public sector deposit at 75 per cent with liquidity ratio at 20 per cent. Read more
FG targets N504bn annually from textile exports
The Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja inaugurated the National Cotton, Textile and Garment Policy with a target to achieve $3bn (N504bn) annually from textile exports.
The policy is also expected to raise seed cotton production from 200,000 metric tonnes in 2003 to about 500,000 MT by the end of this year. Read more
Operators to Mobilise N2tn Real Estate Assets to Capital Market
Operators in the Nigerian capital market have resolved to bring the over N2 trillion real estate sector assets in the country to the capital market.
This was made known during a media briefing by a coalition of market operators on Nigerian Capital Market and economy in Lagos. Read more
Pension investments in equities drop below 10% over erosion, paucity of funds
Pension Fund Managers (PFAs) have been forced to cut down their investment in equities to less than 10 percent, following volatility in the financial services market resulting in loss in equities of up to 60 percent in 2014 and further decline in share prices due to economic headwinds, caused by dwindling global oil prices, BusinessDay investigations reveal.
The development, according to analysts who attributed the fall to safety and caution so as not to further risk contributors money, is against the statutory 20 percent required by the National Pension Commission (PenCom). Read more
Oil and Gas
New Fuel Price Fallout: DPR Shuts down 10 Petrol Stations in Kwara
No fewer than 10 filling stations were shut down on Tuesday by the state Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for their alleged refusal to dispense fuel to consumers at the new pump price of N87 per litre.
The stations which were sealed off by the DPR belong to major and independent marketers located in Ilorin, the state capital. Read more
OPEC crude price steady at above $45 per barrel
The price of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) basket of 12 crudes is steady at above $40 per barrel having closed at $43.40 per barrel on Friday from $43.14 the previous day at the global market. The price of OPEC basket stabilised in the volatile market over the weekend after many days of unprecedented crash as a result of increased supply and dwindling demand. Read more
World News
French newspaper “Le Monde” says Twitter account hacked
French newspaper “Le Monde” said its twitter account and publishing tool were hacked by a group called the “Syrian Electronic Army”, an amorphous hacker collective that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“The hackers managed to infiltrate our publishing tool before launching a denial of service,” the newspaper said on its website. Read more
Toyota Remains Top in Global Vehicle Sales, Beats VW, GM
Toyota Motor Corp. stayed at the top in global vehicle sales in 2014, but is pessimistic about this year.
The Japanese automaker sold 10.23 million vehicles, beating out Volkswagen and General Motors to take that auto industry crown for the third year straight. Read more
Priests Assaulted in Guinea after Being Mistaken for Ebola Workers
Three priests from a church in Guinea were physically assaulted while visiting the village of Kabac on Tuesday, as locals suspected they were health workers who would expose inhabitants to the Ebola virus.
The villagers beat up the priests, who had planned to spray insecticide around the area, the BBC reported. They also vandalized the nearby town council building, setting fire to it after burning the priests’ car. Read more
Power
Electricity Bulk Trader Plans Major Cuts in PPA Negotiation Cycle
The Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) on Tuesday said it expects to shorten the multi-year negotiations often associated with the closure of Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with potential developers of electricity generation plants in Nigeria.
NBET is also referred to as the bulk trader, and buys bulk electricity from generation companies for resale to distribution companies in the country within the liberalised power sector. Read more
CBN Set to Disburse N213bn Electricity Market Stabilisation Fund
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has indicated it plans to commence the disbursement of the N213 billion Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) to the power distribution companies.
The fund was specifically set out to settle legacy gas debts and shortfalls in revenue for operators to boost power supply. Read more
Sports
8 Nigerians Make ITF List for AJC
Eight Nigerian starlets have been pencilled down by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) for the Africa Junior Championship (AJC) slated for March this year in Tunisia. The players who featured at the just concluded 2015 West &Central Africa Junior Circuit championship were picked for their outstanding performances at the event.
The players listed to fly Nigeria’s flag at the Mediterranean nation include Martins Abamu, Godsgift Timipre, Ayoola Michael and Michael Oshewa (all boys); while in the girls’ team, Adetayo Adetunji, Angel McCleod, Barakat Quadri and Timpre Maxwell will represent Nigeria. Read more
JUSUN Strike Stalls Suit Against Lulu, Others
The cry for justice of former eggheads of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Sani Lulu Abdullahi, Amanze Uchegbulam, Taiwo Ogunjobi and Bolaji Ojo-Oba cries over corruption charges leveled against them by the Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) was not heard yesterday following the inability of the courts to rule on the matter. Read more
Echiejile shuns birthday party for club duties
Nigeria international and Monaco of France defender, Elderson Echiejile, has opted not to celebrate his birthday to focus on today’s Coupe de France fixture between his club and Evian TG as well as Saturday’s league clash against compatriot, Vincent Enyeama.
The Super Eagles’ defence ace who clocked 27 yesterday, said winning the two games meant a lot more to him than celebrating his birthday. Read more
Nations Cup boring without Eagles – Siasia
The Chief Coach of the U-23 Eagles, Samson Siasia, has lamented the absence of the Super Eagles at the ongoing Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Nations Cup has made the tournament boring to him and many other Nigerians.
Answering questions from Daily Sun sports when he stormed the secretariat of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the World Cup Coach, maintained that the absence of the Super Eagles killed the interest of many Nigerians in the tournament, noting that many Nigerians don’t even know that AFCON had resumed. Read more
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