Local News - Media Coverage

Airport concessionaire, Maevis Nigeria Limited, yesterday won its suit against  Societe International Telecommunication Aeronautiques (SITA) at a Federal High Court in Lagos.

Russian oil company Lukoil has acquired a 65 percent stake in the exploration, development and production project on block CI-504 offshore the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire in the Gulf of Guinea.

As a demonstration of its commitment to the Nigerian and African market, Deloitte, one of the leading professional services firms in the world, has announced the formation of an integrated practice across Africa with Nigeria playing a strategic role in the new growth process.

Two members of the Supreme Court panel hearing an appeal filed by Governor Rochas Okorocha on his electoral victory, have been removed from the panel by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Viola Onwuliri, has said officials of Dana Air are yet to contact her or any member of the Onwuliri family for compensation since the crash that claimed her husband’s life on June 3, 2012.

A group, the United Niger Delta Energy Development Security Strategy (UNDEDSS), on Sunday, issued a three-month ultimatum to cause a blockade of oil exploration in the Niger Delta if the National Assembly does not pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

The Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are firming up plans to institute a mechanism which will be aimed at limiting the risk that the failure of a large systemically important Nigerian lender will have on the economy.

A Federal High Court, Lagos, yesterday, ordered the law firm of Festus Keyamo, to file, within three days, a written address stating his chambers competence to prosecute the alleged money laundering case against former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode.

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) on Thursday issued a 14-day strike notice to the federal government over unresolved disputes with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Chevron Nigeria Limited and Agip Oil Company.

Unity Bank Plc recorded over 50 percent increase in deposits and capital base during the first season of its ‘save and win promo’  which had over 1,000 customers rewarded with various prizes, Ado Yakubu Wanka, the bank’s managing director said on Monday.

Almost a year after the crash of Dana Airline in Iju, a Lagos suburb, killing about 153 persons on board the aircraft, the Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, yesterday stated that legal tussles resulting from squabbles of the relatives of victims, coupled with the lack of proper documentation, have been responsible for the slow payments of claims and compensation to relatives of the victims.

Ghana has given the final go ahead for the development by Tullow Oil, of the massive offshore Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntome oil and gas complex, according to news reports.

The Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTB) yesterday announced that it was on Wednesday conferred with the 2013 ‘African Bank of the Year’ award by the African Banker magazine at an event held in Morocco.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Aloma Mukhtar, has initiated sweeping changes across the courts that will enable them conclude criminal cases on time as against the present arrangement where it takes years to conclude such cases.

The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, will not sell any of the three bridged banks, Keystone Bank, Mainstreet Bank and Enterprise Bank, to a core investor who will not preserve employment, says the Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Mustafa Chike-Obi.

The investment drive of the Kwara State Government has yielded more dividends as the President, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has pledged that his company will invest over $600 million in the production of sugar in the state as well as Kebbi and Sokoto States.

The demand for Nigerian crude is set to fall as OPEC’s spare crude oil production capacity is expected to surge 25 percent in the next two years due to U.S. shale output which will crimp demand for the group’s supplies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.

A Lagos State coroner court in Ikeja on Wednesday refused a request to compel the Accident Investigation Bureau to produce certain documents relating to the Dana Airline’s plane, which crashed in Lagos on June 3, 2012.

Deposit money banks (DMBs) currently holding the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria’s (AMCON’s) bonds are likely going to receive treasury bills in exchange for most of their AMCON bonds as the corporation moves to refinance its debts.

The suspected killer of a 55-year-old woman, Nwakpa Ego, has been released following the advice of the Director of Public Prosecution that there is insufficient evidence against him.

A Lagos State coroner court in Ikeja conducting an inquest into last year’s crash of a Dana Airline plane may cut short the testimony of the state’s Chief Medical Examiner, Prof. John Obafunwa, due to his repeated absence from court.

The Federal Government has activated a $500 million African Development Bank (AfDB) loan aimed solely for intervention in the power sector.

The  Nigerian equities market closed on a historic note Tuesday as the  market capitalisation surged to a new high of N11.842 trillion, the  value it was  exactly five years ago. Having sustained a four-day bull run last week, equities tanked on Monday as investors reverted to profit taking on the heavy weights.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has discharged the journalists from the stable of Leadership Newspapers, who were arraigned by the federal government on a six-count charge of conspiracy and forgery of an alleged presidential directive’s bromide.

United Kingdom-based oil and gas company Afren said it had completed a farm-out agreement with Lekoil, in respect of a 17.14 percent participating interest in the Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 310 located offshore Nigeria.

The value of electronic funds transfer in the country is likely to hit N160bn per day by the end of the year in the second phase of the cash-less policy, which is planned to commence in July.

Worried by the disharmony in the state of meters supply to electricity consumers in the country, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered distribution companies (DISCOs) in the country to commence immediate supply of meters to those who had previously made payments.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said the industrial sector contributes 66.9 per cent of the federal government’s non-oil earnings, which stood at $1.136 billion (N179.5billion) in the first quarter of 2013.

A Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday sentenced an Iranian, Azim Aghajani, and his Nigerian accomplice, Ali Jega, to 17 years imprisonment each for illegal importation of firearms into the country in 2010.

The Public Account Committee (PAC), of the House of Representatives, on Monday, wielded its big stick on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as it ordered the corporation to refund N236 billion to the coffers of the Federal Government within one month, as contained in the query of the Auditor-General of the Federation, which it failed to defend before the committee, despite several invitations to that effect.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monday sold a total of N133.885 billion treasury bills through its open market operations (OMO). The breakdown of the fixed income instrument showed that while the central bank offered a total of N86.709 billion in a 178-day tenor treasury bills, it also sold a total of N147.177 billion in 164-day bills.

The Managing Director of Guarantee Trust Bank Mr Segun Agbaje has said private jets in Nigeria are worth $3.75 billion. He added that there are over 150 private jets owned by high net worth individuals in the country.

Nigeria’s crude oil production is expected to hit an all-time high of 2.75 million barrels per day (mbpd) as two major deepwater projects, Mobil’s Erha North and Total’s Egina, are set to add 350,000 barrels of oil per day to current output levels.

The Nigerian equities market benchmark index closed 0.34 per cent lower yesterday to book the second consecutive decline in spite of a rally by banking stocks.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktar, on Monday, said violence, including political and religious, being experienced in the country, constitute a threat to the nation’s stability.

In a bid to build a robust transmission network in the nation, the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has completed and energised a new 2X30/40MVA, 132/33kV transmission substation in Tamburawa, Kano State.

As shareholders continue to savour the N95 billion dividend declared by First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) Holdings for the 2012 financial year, the company yesterday indicated another positive year reporting 29 per cent growth in profit for the first quarter (Q1) ended 31, 2013.

An Abuja High Court, on Thursday, said the controversial land between former First Lady, Hajia Turai Yar’Adua and wife of the President, Mrs Patience Jonathan, validly belonged to Hajia Yar’Adua.

The House of Representatives Thursday joined the Senate to investigate some “shady” oil deals involving the sale of seven oil blocks for N59 trillion by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to some firms without following due process.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Mr. Roger Gifford, Thursday described the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as the gateway to African capital markets, saying the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the City of London would  work with the NSE to enable it attain  that leading role in Africa.

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Okutepa, has faulted the 12 months suspension slammed on Justice Abubakar Talba’s by the National Judicial Council.

The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Wednesday denied the recent allegation by some oil producing communities in Delta State that the company and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, connived with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to sell some oil blocks to Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited in violation of bidding process.

Heritage Banking Company Limited, a commercial bank in Nigeria and Infosys, a universal banking solutions provider recently entered into a partnership in which Heritage Bank will deploy Finacle as its banking solution.

Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeola Rahman Ipaye, on Monday, told Justice Saliu Saidu of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, to dismiss a suit challenging the proposed collection of toll on the new Lekki-Ikoyi suspension bridge.

Midwestern Oil and Gas Company Plc, operator of the Umusadege field has resumed crude oil and gas production in the field following the completion of pipeline repairs and maintenance by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

Shares in First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Plc fell by 8.5 per cent yesterday as investors reacted to non-payment of cash dividends by the bank for the year ended December 31, 2012.