News
NNPC post N250b trading surplus
The Group Executive Director, Finance and Account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Isiaka Abdulrazak said the corporation recorded a trading surplus of N250 billion in 2016. Abdulrazak said this in a quarterly publication of the NNPC, a copy of which was obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja. According to him, his office inherited 65 unaudited financial statements between 2011 and 2014. He said that though, there were challenges that led to the backlog, a Project Steering Committee chaired by him was constituted to meet with auditors and all relevant stakeholders to identify and isolate key challenges and give them priority attention.
Giving an insight into how he was able to clear the corporation’s unaudited accounts from 2011 to 2016, Abdulrazak said this figure was up from a deficit of N123 billion in 2015. “In August 2015, when the present management of the Finance and Accounts Directorate took over the mantle of leadership, we inherited a total of 65 unaudited financial statements for NNPC corporate and its subsidiaries covering 2011 to 2014. The major elements consist of a review of the Group Audited Financial Statements, particularly for 2016 reveals a positive shift to a trading profit of N250 billion from a trading deficit of N123 billion in 2015, indicating a 300 per cent improvement in trading performance.
“This is despite the decline in the average price of crude oil to as low as 345 dollars per barrel in 2016, compared to 51 dollars in 2015, and 110 dollars in 2014,’’ he said. He said it was also critical to point out that the 2016 result was a reflection of management’s philosophy to enhance profitability by forcing down costs and improving revenue generation. For example, we have discontinued sub-commercial business arrangements such as offshore processing arrangements, disadvantaged crude for product exchange swap and poorly-managed strategic alliances.
“To improve revenues, there have been a number of new initiatives such as the introduction of Direct Sale Direct Purchase, a 20-25 per cent cut on all commercial contracts among others.
“Also, revenue analysis shows a 10 per cent increase from N2 trillion to N2.3 trillion between 2015 and 2016. Further analysis shows a 75 per cent increase in petroleum product sales from N820 billion to N1.4 trillion, attributable to the partial deregulation of petrol price,’’ he said. According to him, the statement of financial position has been riddled with persistent losses over time and this had eroded shareholders’ equity. You will recall that I mentioned that the Group trading performance improved to N250 billion trading surplus in 2016 compared to a trading deficit of N123 billion in 2015. However, the Group ended with a net loss position mainly due to NPDC revenues shut-in as a result of the security situation in the Niger Delta in 2016, and exchange rate losses among others.
“The Group results would have been positive without these factors,’’ he said. He said the directorate under his watch had recorded successes in areas like managing foreign exchange intervention pool for importation of petroleum products and savings on insurance premiums. This has so far led to more than 340 million dollars year-on-year savings in premiums payable over the period of 2015 to 2018 (about 45 per cent) effective reduction in year-on-year premiums. Other successes include reducing the unwieldy number of accounts managed by the corporation from more than 2,000 to a little fewer than 200. All the old accounts under commercial banks have been fully reconciled and closed.
“Another is the settlement of the cash call arrears and self-funding mechanism for joint venture operations, successfully negotiating an agreement 6.8 billion dollars to 5.1 billion dollars, a 25 per cent drop and the implementation of the self-funding mechanism for upstream joint venture operations for the federation. This has resulted in higher government take in royalties and taxes, sustained reserves development and production, restoring investors’ confidence, thereby creating windows for financing opportunities.’’ He said the outlook for the next strategic business period would be to focus on –partnering with the corporate services directorate to optimise the utilisation of enterprise resource planning, infrastructure and architecture to provide an end to integration of NNPC business processes.
“Secondly, we are also focusing on delivering on the blueprint of making the corporation initial public offer ready. This will involve principally cleansing our legacy financial data and balance sheet restructuring as well as profitability. Thirdly, we shall continue to build on successes achieved with the open publication of monthly operations and financial reporting and rendition of audited financial statements in line with the provision of the NNPC Act and other relevant laws of the land.’’ He said in recognition of the achievement, the NNPC board had further mandated management to clear the remaining outstanding reports for the period 2013 to 2016. (NAN)
Cardano (ADAUSD) climbed amidst tight trading activities in the crypto market, up by 1.05% in the past 24 hours, showing resilience near key support.
The price ticked up on Sunday amidst negative movements in the global crypto market. The gain has reduced its negative movement in the week to 1%. Cardano is showing strength with a $70 million ADA treasury push and a bullish December setup, but it faces key resistance amidst competing traders.
The token is trading at $0.4165 at the time of filing the report on Sunday, gaining more than 1% on the day as volume traded reached $359.252 million. The token is in a notable correction from its November highs. Recent trading activity reflects pronounced investor caution. Over a 30-day period, ADA has declined approximately 15%, mirroring the broader pressure on risk assets from macroeconomic uncertainties.
Sentiment trades mixed, as retail and mid-sized investors are accumulating at lows, but large holders remain sceptical. Cardano’s privacy-centric Midnight Network went live after years of development, introducing NIGHT – the first native asset on Cardano.
According to crypto analysts, Short-term speculation around NIGHT airdrops and interoperability boosted ADA demand. ADA rebounded from $0.371–$0.416 after testing an ascending trend line connecting 2023–2025 lows. Traders interpreted the bounce as a bullish divergence, but ADA remains below critical resistance of $0.5113 and its 200-day EMA of $0.68.
ADA’s minor rally reflects optimism around Midnight’s launch and oversold technicals, but scepticism about its ecosystem impact and whale selling caps upside. While the price surges, analysts stated that Cardano balances technical hope against macroeconomic headwinds, with Midnight’s adoption trajectory and $0.51 resistance serving as critical watch points.
While governance upgrades signal maturing decentralisation, crypto analysts are still querying whether ADA can leverage these developments to reverse its 2025 underperformance.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has recovered over 7.6 million pills of tramadol and a total of 76,273.4 kilograms of different strains of cannabis.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Babafemi said that the drugs, including Colorado, Loud and Skunks, had several members of drug trafficking organisations linked to the seizures arrested.
He said that out of the total opioids seized during the raids, not less than 3,874,000 pills of tramadol, 225mg and 100mg, and others, as well as 252.2litres of codeine syrup were recovered. He said that they were recovered from a warehouse at Oko market, Asaba, Delta, on Saturday. He also said that no fewer than 1.2 million tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from a suspect on December 3.
This, he said, was when NDLEA operatives on patrol at Orogwe, along the Onitsha-Owerri road, Imo, intercepted his vehicle conveying the consignment, which was loaded at Aba, Abia, and heading to Onitsha, Anambra. Meanwhile, in Adamawa, NDLEA officers on December 1 intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus marked MGU 554 XB along Maraba-Mubi, coming from Jos, Plateau state, and heading to Mubi, with a total of 1,577,112 capsules of tramadol.
“Other drugs intercepted were Exol-5 tablets, all concealed inside jumbo bags mixed with new rubber sandals and slippers. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure. Similarly, another 27-year-old suspect was nabbed along Zaria-Kano road, Kano state, with 197,000 pills of exol-5,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the SOU commands in Delta, Adamawa, Imo, Ondo, Lagos, and Kano for the arrests and seizures. Mr Marwa said that their operational successes, along with those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction, were well appreciated. NAN
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has released the 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Report, with Lagos emerging as the best-performing state, scoring 85.6 per cent.
The report released by the director-general of PEBEC, Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, has Kaduna in second position with 65.1 per cent. Oyo, FCT, and Ogun rounded up the top five with scores of 62.7 per cent, 61.0 per cent, and 59.9 per cent, respectively. Others include Enugu (56.2 per cent) in sixth position, with Plateau (56.2 per cent), Ekiti (55.8 per cent), Kano (54.8 per cent), and Nasarawa (53.4 per cent) rounding out the top 10 states.
The EoDB report is a comprehensive data-driven assessment of how Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT are shaping business competitiveness through regulation, infrastructure, and administrative efficiency.
The report assesses performance across 16 indicators and 36 sub-metrics covering electricity, infrastructure, digital connectivity, land administration, taxation, trade logistics, justice delivery, investor support and skilled labour readiness.
According to the DG, these states distinguished themselves through consistent reform momentum, improved digital processes, and more predictable regulatory environments. “The 2025 Report also highlights five priority interventions states can implement immediately. These include establishing investor aftercare systems, strengthening MSME credit enablement, harmonising interstate trade rules, upgrading commercial justice processes, and improving power reliability for industrial clusters,” she said.
According to her, PEBEC will continue to support state-led reform adoption, particularly under the $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme. She added that “the 2025 Subnational EoDB Report provides a critical foundation for policy action, investment decisions, and long-term competitiveness across Nigeria.”
The DG said the Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report is available for download at www.pebec.gov.ng/reports
PEBEC had earlier released its 2025 Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Performance Report, covering MDAs’ performance from January to October. This performance report is part of the council’s effort to track and measure the compliance of federal government MDAs with the BFA’s requirements on promoting Transparency and Efficiency of government-delivered services to the business community.
The report presents a data-driven assessment of 69 priority MDAs, drawing on monthly compliance submissions, independent mystery shopping, website audits, ReportGov analytics, and targeted process-verification exercises.
According to the report, the top five performing MDAs include the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with an impressive 90.6 per cent score, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at 89 per cent. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), ranks third with 86.6percent, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) secured the fourth and fifth positions, scoring 85.3 per cent and 84.2 per cent, respectively.
PEBEC, currently chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was established in July 2016 by the federal government to oversee Nigeria’s business environment intervention. It has a dual mandate of removing bureaucratic and legislative constraints to doing business and improving the perception of the ease of doing business in Nigeria. NAN
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