Ajaokuta Steel Will Function To Capacity Soonest - Minister

Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Olamilekan Adegbite, says Ajaokuta Steel Company Ltd. will function to capacity before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration. He further stated that the federal government had made effort to ensure that the Russian company that built the steel industry would come to Nigeria to conduct a technical audit of the company. 

Oil Demand Surges Amidst Rapid COVID-19 Vaccination

Oil demand has continued to surge as more people are being vaccinated against the COVID-19 pandemic and this has opened up more economic activity around the world. With these positives, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has reported that OPEC+ nations have tightened production i.e they are pumping less than needed, and prices are set to be volatile until it reaches a deal to raise output. The IEA on Tuesday stated that oil prices would be volatile until differences were resolved among members of OPEC+, which groups the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia, and other oil producers.

Lifting 100m Nigerians Out Of Poverty Is Achievable – President Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said the vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of the poverty cycle within 10 years is achievable. President Buhari stated the above after commissioning the first National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) Integrated Farm Estate in Suduje-Daura, Katsina State. The president, in a statement yesterday by his spokesman, Mallam Garba Shehu, said that Nigeria was blessed with both human and natural resources it could deploy to achieve the target. He also solicited more synergy between government and the people, and diligence in diversifying the economy, with agriculture as the backbone to realise the goal. He said: “The country is robustly blessed with good weather conditions, good soil, human and material capacity, and resilience to make a difference by all the hardworking youths. “We can do it, and we will do it. No excuse will be good enough to remain a mono-economy with all the challenges in oil production and fluctuating global prices when we have vast opportunities in crop and livestock production.” Mr. President also noted that over-dependence on oil has become a drawback on the economy over the years, with unpredictable and fluctuating global prices that made it more difficult to effectively plan budgets, implement, and measure outcomes. According to him, the mainstay of the nation’s economy remains agriculture, where the country already commands a competitive advantage, with effective weather conditions for crop and livestock farming, available manpower, and willingness to learn new skills and good soil types for all-season farming.

Dangote Cement Moves To Boost Distribution Of Products, Acquires 2,000 New Trucks

Dangote Cement Plc in a bid to boost the distribution of the company’s products across the country has acquired 2,000 new trucks including trucks, trailers, bulk tankers, tippers, cargo trucks, and bulk cement tankers, worth $150 million. The company made this public in a statement issued by the Group Head, Corporate Communications of Dangote Industries, Tony Chiejine. According to Mr. Chiejine, the assets would meet the expected increase in demand for transportation of cement to every part of the country and create employment for over 4,000 people in Nigeria. “We have acquired the new trucks in line with our new expansion capacity in Obajana, Ibese, Gboko, and the new cement plant coming up on stream at Okpella, Edo state in a few week's time,” he said.

Nigeria’s Inflation Rate Drops By 0.81%

The ‘Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report for June’ released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday indicates that Nigeria’s inflation rate has dropped by 0.81%, moving from 17.93% recorded in May 2021 to 17.75% in June 2021 which represents the third consecutive decline in Headline Index. According to the NBS “The CPI measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living. The construction of the CPI combines economic theory, sampling and other statistical techniques using data from other surveys to produce a weighted measure of average price changes in the Nigerian economy.”

PIB: National Assembly Sets Up Harmonization Committee

The Nigeria Senate has announced a seven-member committee to harmonize different versions of the Petroleum Industry Bill passed by both chambers of the National Assembly last week. The Senate President Ahmed Lawan announced the composition of the committee at the plenary session on Tuesday, which will be chaired by Senate majority leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), other members of the committee include Mohammed Sabo (Jigawa North East), Albert Bassey Akpan (Akwa Ibom), Danjuma Goje, Opeyemi Bamidele(Ekiti Central), Stella Oduah (Anambra North), and Gabriel Suswam (Benue North East).

EFCC Launches ‘Eagle Eye’ App For Crime Fighting

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has on Wednesday launched a crime-fighting mobile app named “Eagle Eye” which eases the process of reporting economic crimes to the commission. While unveiling the mobile app, EFCC Chairman, Abdulrasheed Bawa said the app was designed as an alternative channel of reporting crimes to the commission, noting his determination to run a technology-driven agency. Bawa added that anyone reporting a suspected economic crime will have complete anonymity statement issued by the commission’s Media and Publicity, while those who report false information to mislead the agency will face the law.

FIRS: Tax Returns Filing Extended To July 31

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced a 1-month extension for the filing of Company Income Tax returns by taxpayers which was initially due by June 30, 2021. This was disclosed in a statement signed by the FIRS Chairman, Muhammad Nami titled, “FIRS Extends Filing Time For 2021 Income Tax Returns.”

FG To Commence Kaduna-Kano Railway Project Thursday

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari will be in flagging off the Kaduna-Kano railway project on Thursday, in a communiqué released in the nation's capital. The 1.2 billion dollars Kaduna-Kano standard gauge rail line ground-breaking ceremony will take place at Zawaciki Dawaki LGA's in Kano state in a bid to enhance economic growth and improve transport infrastructure.

NASS Pass Petroleum Industry Bill

The arms of the National Assembly, the Senate and the House of Representatives has individually passed the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) after lawmakers considered the report of the Ad hoc Committee on Petroleum (Upstream and Downstream) and Gas Resources on Thursday 1st July 2021. The report was initially presented to the House of Representatives on Wednesday by the Chairman of the Ad hoc Committee, Mohammed Monguno (APC, Borno) before the 318 clauses in the bill was passed.