22022021 - Expect N195 per litre for petrol, marketers warn

20 — Vanguard, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2021
FINANCIAL VANGUARD
Shareholders sue FG over plan to borrow
N158bn unclaimed dividend
By Nkiruka Nnorom
Aggrieved by the plan
of the Federal
Government (FG) to borrow
the over N158 billion
outstanding unclaimed
dividend, shareholders have
sued the government at
Federal High Court of
Nigeria, Abeokuta Division,
seeking to restrain the
government from going
ahead with the plan.
They said that allowing the
federal government to go
ahead with the plan would
frustrate efforts by
shareholders to recover any
outstanding unclaimed
dividend given the tedious
processes involved in
making that claim as
contained in the 2020
Finance Act.
The case with Suit No. FHC/
AB/FHR/14/2021 has the
Attorney General of the
Federation and Minister of
Justice, Minister of Finance,
Budget and National Planning
and Accountant General of the
Federation as respondents.
The shareholders under the
aegis of Palm Wealth
Shareholders Association
(PWSA) in a court notice
signed by their President,
Emokeraro Simon, are
praying the court to restrain
The
Standards
Organisation of Nigeria
(SON) has expressed its
commitment to the effective
deployment of information
and communication
technology (ICT) towards
becoming a high performing
agency.
This was one of the
outcomes of the
organisation’s strategic
management retreat held in
Calabar, Cross Rivers State
last week at which the
agency committed to giving
automation of its services
high priority.
In a communique issued at
the end of the retreat,
Director General, SON,
Mallam Farouk Salim stated
that the organisation has
also developed its strategic
plan for 2021 to 2024 to guide
its programmes and actions
geared towards achieving its
set goals and targets.
It said that the agency will
consider the adoption of an
Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) System to
fully automate and integrate
its operations nationwide in
order to achieve more
effective and efficient service
delivery.
Salim stated that SON
would institute an efficient,
open, transparent and
effective performance
measuring mechanism, as
well as a reward and
sanctions programme to
ensure accountability and
consequence management,
stressing that a staff
recognition and reward
the FG from calling for or
transferring the unclaimed
dividends of the applicants
(shareholders) in public
quoted companies to the
Unclaimed Funds Trust Fund
to be floated by the
government contrary to the
Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as
amended), and the African
Charter on Human and
People’s Rights Act, Laws of
The Association of
Securities Dealing Houses of
Nigeria ( ASHON) has
urged the Federal
Government to initiate
policies that will enable
commodities exchanges to
contribute towards Nigeria’s
economic growth and
development.
Making this call in a
statement a statement
signed by its Chairman,
Chief Onyenwechukwu
Ezeagu, the Association
said:” To enable the
operators in the
Commodities Ecosystem
operate optimally, the
Continues from page 19
Q2 and Q3-2021 relative to
the negative growth
observed in the
corresponding quarters of
2020.
“Specific to the non-oil
sector, we expect the
improved performance in
Services to be sustained as
people become more
confident to go about their
daily activities. Also, we
think the Agricultural sector
would build on the gains of
2020 as demand remains
strong, security challenges
abate, and weather
conditions improve.
“In the oil sector, we expect
improved performance in FY-
2021 considering the low
base for oil production in
2020. While the country’s
the Federation.
According to them, doing so
without proven legal and
constitutional ground is
unconstitutional and violates
the applicants right to acquire
and own moveable and
immovable personal
properties as enshrined in the
1999 Constitution. (as
amended).
In an affidavit in support of
their application, the
production continues to be
capped under the OPEC+
quota, we expect a recovery
in production as OPEC+
gradually returns production
level back to pre-pandemic
levels following recent price
gains and positive
sentiments from increased
rate of vaccinations which
could spur demand for travel
and consequently oil.
“Overall, we maintain our
base case scenario GDP
growth forecast of 1.7% for
FY-2021 with a bull case
forecast of 2.1% premised on
faster than expected
recovery in oil sector GDP.”
Afrinvest projection
Analysts at Afrinvest also
explained the rationale for
projecting 2.5 percent GDP
growth in 2021. They said:
shareholders observed that
they are “intimidated, in fact,
psychologically traumatised
and threatened by the
provisions of the Finance
Act, 2020, arguing that it
would inflict grievous harm
on the shareholders if the
provision is allowed to come
into operation and the
dividends, which the
shareholders are working
seriously to claim taken over.
ASHON advocates measures to support
commodities exchanges
By Peter Egwuatu
SON adopts ICT to enhance performance
programme will be put in
place before the end of
2021.
He said that SON will
strengthen its supervisory
role over its stakeholders, to
ensure that all certified
products deliver value for
money to consumers while
also tracking manufacturers
and importers that use fake
SON certification marks as
well as logo for prosecution.
On enforcement of
standards, the SON Chief
Executive stated that the
agency has resolved to adopt
additional approaches
government should enact
relevant policies that prevent
illegal mining by foreigners,
ensure autonomy of the
Capital Market apex
regulator, the Securities and
Exchange Commission
(SEC), protect export
proceeds, legislate laws to
enable Agricultural
Commodities to be linked
to financial markets and
fungibility and support for
Pension funds for increased
participation in the
commodities ecosystem.
“The announcement to
inject N50 billion into the
Nigeria Commodities
Exchange by CBN, is a
welcome development. Any
including data analytics,
risk-based assessment,
outcome-focused
regulation, collaborative,
coordinated and proactive
enforcement among others.
Salim expressed SON’s
commitment to the effective
implementation of the
National Quality Policy
recently approved by the
Federal Executive Council
as well as the Nigerian
National Standardization
Strategy to provide adequate
support for economic
development.
act by the Federal
Government to stimulate the
growth and development of
the commodities ecosystem
through the Commodities
Exchanges is highly
beneficial to the entire
ecosystem. Commodities
Exchanges play an
important role in the
commodities ecosystem
because they introduce
structure, transparency, and
price discovery into the
system. It is important to
note that commodity
exchanges are not
commodity traders, they are
simply a structured platform
that deals in both
commodities spots and
commodities securities in
multi-asset classes as
approved by SEC.
“Although
this
announcement is a welcome
development it is also
important to note that any
intervention into one
commodities exchange
creates an uneven playing
field that defeats the benefits
of healthy competition among
the participants in the
Ecosystem. It is also
important to note that this
injection of funds is better
served within the ecosystem
to support the farmers,
aggregators, miners,
refiners, processors and all
the other participants in the
commodities ecosystem.”
“In 2021, we project a
recovery of 2.5% in real GDP
to be driven by increased
economic activities in the
non-oil sector as activities
pick-up on the back of the
land borders reopening and
general recovery in
sentiments.
“Further, we anticipate a
moderate expansion in the
oil sector as global oil
demand is projected to
remain weak while prices
recover faster. The major
downside risks to our
forecast include weakerthan-expected
oil price and
production, worsening
insecurity and unfavourable
weather patterns in the
agriculture sector. We have
ruled out the possibilities of
lockdown despite increasing
case count from COVID-19.”
COVER
Union Bank
unveils UnionX
Innovation
Challenge 2021
Union Bank Plc has
unveiled the 2021
UnionX Innovation
Challenge, as part of efforts
to support young start-ups
and boost innovation in the
start-up ecosystem.
Tagged ‘A New
Discovery’, the Challenge
will discover, showcase, and
support eligible
entrepreneurs across
Nigeria with innovative,
technology-focused
Minimum Viable Products
(MVPs).
Speaking on the UnionX
Challenge and Union
Bank’s focus on innovation,
the Bank’s Head, Retail
Banking and Digital, Lola
Cardoso said, “The
UnionX Challenge
highlights our focus on
supporting innovation as
key driver of sustainable
development and growth of
Nigeria’s vibrant start-up
ecosystem, and the society
at large.
Union Bank has a rich
heritage as a trusted
partner to generations of
Nigerians; providing the
support they need to
achieve their goals. This
Challenge is one of the
many ways we continue to
build on this heritage.”
During the entry period
which ends on March 14,
2021, early-stage start-ups
registered in Nigeria are
invited to submit innovative
MVPs with the potential to
transform society. These
innovative MVPs should
focus on sectors including,
but not limited to Financial
Technology, E-Commerce,
Health, Education and
Agriculture. Entries will be
submitted on the Union
Bank website. The top 3
MVPs will attract cash
prizes totalling N4.5million
from Union Bank in addition
to a 2-month incubation
programme with
GreenHouse Capital.
IMF, analysts divided over growth forecast for Nigeria’s economy
Vetiva Capital projection
Expressing optimism for a
3.47 per cent GDP growth
rate in 2021, analysts at
Vetiva Capital, said:
“Following a bumpy 2020,
the economy is on course to
recover in 2021, riding on the
previous year’s low base.
Barring the return of hard
lockdown measures, we
expect higher growth
outcomes in 2021 especially
in the mid-quarters (Q2 &
Q3), which were the most hit
by the pandemic in the
previous
year.
Consequently, we expect the
economy to bounce back by
3.47% y/y in FY’21.
“However, an unfavourable
base from Q1’20 could limit
the pace of recovery in the
quarter to 0.75% y/y.”