The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru yesterday said the corporation was paid N4.9trillion for subsidy on petrol. Speaking when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) investigating subsidy regime, he said the amount was part of the subsidy incurred by the corporation between December 2006 and 2015.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Federal Operation Unit in Charge of Zone B on Friday says it intercepted 714 jerry cans of vegetable oil with the duty paid value of over nine million Naira three days ago. Comptroller Usman Dakingari who displayed the intercepted items before newsmen at the Sokoto Zonal Command disclosed that the items were seized along Sokoto-Illela road three days ago, following intelligence report.

Etihad Airways has reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria, with the announcement of two additional weekly flights on the popular Abu Dhabi-Lagos route, taking it to a daily service.

The new Tuesday and Thursday services will start on May 1, 2018. The route will continue to be operated by a two-class Airbus A330, with 22 Business Class seats and 240 in Economy.

Mohammad Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways' executive vice president of Commercial, said: "Nigeria is an important market for Etihad and our home of Abu Dhabi. The airline is committed to offering attractive schedules and choice to our guests travelling between Lagos and the UAE capital as well as convenient connections to destinations including the GCC, India and Asia. Since launching the Lagos route in July 2012, Etihad has carried almost 600,000 passengers between our hub at Abu Dhabi International Airport and the commercial heart of Nigeria. It is pleased to be able to support the high demand for our service by soon operating the route on a daily basis."

It Is Disgraceful That We Don't Have A Refinery - BuhariXPresident Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said it was disgraceful that all the nation's refineries are performing below 50 percent, lamenting that during his days as the Military Head of State, all the refineries were working optimally. According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President of Media and Publicity, Femi Adeshina, the President stated this on Friday when he received a delegation from Eni, led by the Chief Upstream Officer, Mr. Antonio Vella, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

President Muhammadu Buhari has called for the establishment of a single market in Africa to increase trade, create jobs and empower Africans.

Buhari stated this while presenting Nigeria’s position in favour of the Report on the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and related issues presented by President Mahamadou Issoufou of Niger Republic.

The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, said the president made the presentation during the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), one of the main standard-setting bodies for Islamic finance, has named Bello Lawal Danbatta as its new secretary general, the Malaysia-based body said on Friday.

Reuters news agency reports that Danbatta takes over from Jaseem Ahmed, who retired last year after six years at the helm of the IFSB, which has more than 180 members, including 75 regulatory and supervisory authorities.

The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has threatened to withdraw all its members from all the seaports, the economic gateway of the nation, if the federal government does not carry out emergency fixes on all access roads to ports, especially the Apapa port. The union also issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to remove all trucks abandoned on the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway and make access roads to the country’s seaports motorable by Monday, February 5.

The price of Brent crude oil broke the $71 per barrel level today for the first time since 2014 after US crude inventories fell for the 10th week in a row and the US dollar weakened.

Brent crude, the international benchmark, was trading up 0.47 per cent at $70.86 a barrel at the time of writing after hitting $71.05 earlier today.

The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, rose as high as $66.35 a barrel after breaking the $65 a barrel mark yesterday afternoon for the first time in three years.

The Federal Government said two senior tax officials in Delta and Benue states have been suspended following the commencement of investigation into over 200 whistle blowing tips on alleged under declaration of taxes as well as demand of gratifications from Nigerians and captains industries.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has said it plans to increase its loans to Nigeria by over $8 billion next year with investments in energy, infrastructure and agriculture.

AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina said it will grow its loan portfolio to Nigeria by more than $2 billion over the next one year.

Adeshina in an interview with Bloomberg published said the loan would be geared towards investments in energy, infrastructure and agriculture. “The total portfolio we have in Nigeria is $6 billion. We expect that by the year 2019, we will grow that into a little bit over $8 billion” he said.