Daily Watch – Buhari approves flexible exchange rate, Fayose kicks against funding of school programme

13th June 2016

  • The naira gained over the dollar following the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari of flexible exchange rate market. Naira firmed by ₦7.50k against the dollar as it closed at ₦368.50k on Friday, representing compared with ₦376/$ the previous day at the parallel market. BusinessDay reported that Buhari gave his approval for the CBN to begin the implementation of flexible exchange rate system, after receiving a memo from the monetary authorities on Wednesday. However, details of Nigeria’s flexible currency model will be ready in a “short while,” Phillips Oduoza, CEO, UBA, said on Thursday after the Bankers Committee meeting with central bank officials.
  • International oil companies operating in the Niger Delta are not thinking about pulling out from Nigeria at the moment despite the continued bombing and destruction of their facilities by militants. However, some of the IOCs plan increased production shut-ins, particularly in areas that are worst hit by the activities of the militant group, Niger Delta Avengers. The group had carried out series of bombings that had reduced Nigeria’s crude oil production by close to one million barrels per day, and had rebuffed any discussion with the Federal Government on ways to address its grievances.
  • The operational efficiency of the 10 power plants built under the National Integrated Power Projects scheme is being threatened by a debt owed the managers of the facilities. According to the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, the NIPP managers, the total worth of electricity supplied to power distribution companies by the power plants, which has not been paid for is N99 billion. The Managing Director, NDPHC, James Olotu, said that although the power distribution companies had distributed the electricity generated by the NIPPs to consumers, the NIPP managers were still owed. Olotu said that the huge debt burden was impacting negatively on the operations of the NIPPs. Some of the NIPPs being managed by the NDPHC are the Calabar Power Station, Geregu II Power Station, Ihovbov Power Station, Egbema Power Station, Olorunsogo II, Omoku II and Omotosho II.
  • Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has said that the school feeding programme of the APC-led FG must be done without the proposed 40 percent contribution from states. Fayose claimed that the FG was already looking for an excuse for the impending failure of the programme by asking states to contribute 40 percent to the scheme. Insisting that the programme was purely a contract between the APC and Nigerians, Fayose said Ekiti and other states in the country deserved to benefit from the programme without assisting the federal government with any counterpart funding.