E-call-up  system By Godwin Oritse  IN a bid to reduce the Apapa gridlock and strengthen the E-call up traffic management system, Marine and Blue Economy minister, Adegboyega Oyetola, has set up a committee to review the system and come up with measures to ensure the current abuse of the system becomes a thing of the past. This was disclosed in a statement issued by the minister’s spokesman, Ismail Omipidan, yesterday. The committee is to review the Standard Operating Procedures for Truck Traffic Management along the Lagos port corridor. Ismail who noted that the committee was e ..read more

By Mariam Eko THE Chairman of Independent Petroleum Producers Group (IPPG), Mr. Abdulrazaq Isa, has said that attracting the level of investment required to fully optimise the country’s production base will require focus on some key priorities in the short to medium term. Speaking at the 2023 Annual Dinner held recently in Lagos, Isa stated “The key priority areas include amending critical aspects of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) to strengthen the regulatory framework and competitiveness of the fiscal regime; enhancing security across the Niger Delta; expediting the conclusion of ongoi ..read more

By Rosemary Iwunze There are indications that policy holders are now extracting claims payments from their insurance firms, a development which may have caused aggregate claims paid by the firms to rise by 50.7 per cent to N365.5 billion Year-on-Year, YoY, in the third quarter of 2023, Q3’23. According to data from the National Insurance Commission, NAICOM, the growth is against N242.6 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2022, Q3’22. Meanwhile on quarter-on-quarter basis, QoQ, claims payment went up by 112.4 per cent in Q3’23 from N172.1 billion recorded in Q2’23. According to N ..read more

By Godfrey Bivbere The management of Truck Transit Parks, TTP, operators of the e-call up system has described as false, accusation of remittance of 10 per cent of its monthly earnings to the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA. They also claimed that the e-call up system has contributed to operational efficiency at the ports. The company noted that it has played a vital role and collaborated with the NPA in the development, review, and update of standard operating procedures that has improved the process and turnaround time for cargo evacuation at the port, truck routing, and mapping of truck ..read more

By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief  The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has entered into a deal with the Cooperative Mortgage Bank (CMB) to build 1, 009 housing units for Officers and men of the organization. The Comptroller-General (C-G) of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, revealed this at the Pacesetter Garden Estate, Ajoda Ibadan, Oyo State, Abdullahi Maiwada, NCS spokesman said in a statement. According to the statement, Adeniyi assured that the scheme would positively impact on officers and their families, especially in boosting their work morale and efficiency. It stated: “The Servic ..read more

By Victor AhiumaYoung The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions, ASSBIFI, has blamed panic withdrawals by bank customers, and activities of ignorant and unscrupulous persons hoarding the Naira notes for unethical gains for the unending cash crunch across the country. In a statement titled, “Scarcity of Naira notes”, President of ASSBIFI, Olusoji Oluwo, advised those hoarding the Naira notes to desist forthwith as their actions are adding to the surging inflation bedeviling the nation’s economy and inflicting pains and hardship on innocent and vulnerabl ..read more

•Pipeline maintenance threatens DISCOs, Egbin generation, others •As blackout persists despite 4,212.86 MW generations By Ediri Ejoh Power supply across the country would likely remain subdued as the maintenance action embarked upon by Nigeria Gas Company, NGC, early this week appears inconclusive. A nationwide load shading had engulfed the electricity sector as the company, on Monday, began a 3-days maintenance on a linking gas pipeline supplying gas to electricity Generation companies, GENCOs. However, Africa’s biggest power thermal station, Egbin Power, was forced to shut operatio ..read more

By Rosemary Iwunze Leadway Health, a health management organisation in Nigeria, has entered into partnership with the Petroleum Tankers Drivers (PTD) of the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) to introduce a comprehensive health insurance plan for over 5,000 petroleum tanker drivers across Nigeria. According to Leadway Health, the partnership which was launched in Lagos is aligned with the visionary priorities of the newly elected leaders of the Petroleum Tankers Drivers. These leaders have underscored their commitment to the overall wellbeing of drivers through p ..read more

*Says banks now responsible for loan recovery By Elizabeth Adegbesan There are indications that banks are relying more on Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for liquidity as their borrowing from the apex bank’s Standing Lending Facility, SLF,  increased month-on-month (MoM) by 559 percent to N376.64 billion in November from N57.14 billion in October 2023. Details from the CBN Financial data for November 2023 showed that bank deposits in the apex bank’s Standing Deposit Facility, SDF, also declined MoM  by 18 percent to N2.4 trillion in November from N2.94 trillion in October. Th ..read more

By Ediri Ejor POLYFILM Packaging Nigeria Limited, a manufacturer of flexible packaging focused on the food and consumer sectors, has recorded over 25 per cent savings in energy costs after switching from diesel to gas, at a time when rising diesel pricesare forcing businesses to adopt gas as an alternative fuel. Vikram Gursahaney, co-founder and executive director at the Ibadan-based firm, said the company was spending nearly half its operating costs on buying diesel and maintaining equipment, which proved unsustainable as diesel prices hit the roof. Manufacturing includes addressing dail ..read more