Daily Watch – CBN adopts ‘flexible forex rate’, Fayose wants other governors to ban grazing

25th May 2016

  • CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, has announced that the CBN will adopt a “flexible foreign exchange rate” regime in an apparent admission of policy failure and a belated response to the current economic disaster that the country is in. Following the conclusion of the CBN-MPC meeting, Emefiele explained that, “The MPC voted unanimously to adopt a flexible exchange rate policy to restore the automatic adjustment properties of the exchange rate.” He also said that the CBN will, “retain a small window for funding critical transactions” and that “details of operations of the market would be released by the central bank at the appropriate time.”
  • Labour unions in Bayelsa State have suspended their industrial action over unpaid salaries and pension arrears. Last week, workers in the state proceeded on an indefinite strike over months of salary arrears owed by the state government. At the moment, workers in the state civil service are owed four months’ salaries, employees of local government councils are battling to survive over 12 months of unpaid wages while pensioners are owed about seven months. The workers’ unions shelved the industrial action after an extensive meeting on Monday with the state government. The unions accepted the state government’s position to pay 50 percent of monthly salaries with effect from February 2016. The government, is expected to effect full payment of workers’ salaries as soon as the allocation from the Federation Accounts accruing to the state improves.
  • Eni, parent company of Agip, has declared force majeure on oil exports from the Brass Oil Export Terminal off the Bayelsa coastline. Eni said the oil firm’s production was cut following Sunday’s attack on its pipeline in Bayelsa. An earlier attack in the area on May 18 had resulted to a shutdown of some 1,000 barrels bringing a cumulative production loss to 5,200 barrels of the oil firm’s share of oil output. Eni’s spokesperson said the attack on the Ogbaimbiri – Tebidaba pipeline affected with 4,200 bop/d (Eni’s equity) of production.
  • The governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, has called on his colleagues across the country to ban cattle grazing in their states as a step to stop the incessant killings of farmers by herdsmen. Fayose had earlier banned cattle grazing in Ekiti State following the attack on Oke Ako community in Ikole Local Government Area of the state where two persons were killed and others injured by suspected herdsmen.
  • Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has said that it would cost as much as $166 billion in the next five years to provide infrastructure in energy and transport sectors of the economy. He also said that the money could rise to $3.05 trillion over 30 years. Amaechi was speaking at the opening of a public hearing by the House of Representatives on the Nigerian Railway Authority Bill and the National Transport Commission Bill. He hinted that the Lagos-Kano rail line would be commercialised in line with an arrangement with General Electric.