The Federal Government of Nigeria has debunked claims that it plans to increase the Value-Added Tax rate from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.

Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, in a statement released on Monday, September 9, said that the VAT rate remains unchanged at 7.5 per cent, as stipulated in the nation’s tax laws.

The minister said, “The current VAT rate is 7.5% and this is what the government is charging on a spectrum of goods and services to which the tax is applicable.

“Therefore, neither the Federal Government nor any of its agencies will act contrary to what our laws stipulate,” Edun stated.

He also noted that the importance of maintaining a balanced tax system in Nigeria’s tax framework is key to the existing three key pillars- tax policy, tax laws, and tax administration.

“The tax system stands on a tripod, namely tax policy, tax laws, and tax administration. All the three must combine well to give us a sound system that gives vitality to the fiscal position of the government,” the minister said.

Describing the report that painted the government as trying to bring more hardship to the people as false, Edun said the FG through its policies have demonstrated that it is committed to creating a congenial environment for businesses to thrive.

“Today, VAT remains 7.5% and that is what will be charged on all the goods and services that are VAT-able,” he added.

The Federal Government has signed a $1bn iron ore steel deal project with China. This was revealed in a statement by Special Adviser to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development Minister Dr Oladele Alake, Kehinde Bamigbetan.

The deal was signed for Kogi State as a breakthrough in the Federal Government’s campaign to make local value addition the model of development in the solid minerals sector.

While addressing the promoters- Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited of Nigeria and Sinomach-He of China-on the sidelines of the visit of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to China in Beijing recently, Alake pledged the cooperation of the Federal Government with the promoters to ensure the delivery of the project as fast as possible.

He said the Federal Government has reversed the pit-to-port policy under which mining companies exported raw minerals to extraction with local value addition which is the best guarantee of jobs for the youths, skills transfer and better balance of trade between the country and her trading partners.

He noted that to promote local value addition, he has announced that applicants for licences to mine must disclose plans for processing the raw minerals as part of the conditions for approval.

“The trade balance between Nigeria and China is over one billion dollars in favour of China because the minerals imported from Nigeria are essentially in raw forms. Once Nigeria starts to export finished or semi-finished value-added mineral products to China and other trading partners, our balance of trade will be more favourable, and our foreign exchange earnings will improve. With aggressive local value addition and the revenue from it, the prospects of reducing our debt burden in the nearest future are possible,” he said.

Presenting the Memorandum of Understanding signed by both companies to the Minister, Chief Executive Officer of Chart and Capstone Integrated Limited, Chief Abel Edijala commended the Honourable Minister for putting in place an efficient licence application process that works without red tape and corruption.

“ We applied for an exploration licence for our iron ore mining project at the Mining Cadastral Office, and we did not need to see anybody before our application was approved within a reasonable period. This shows that the system you have put in place is fair and works for all. I must commend you for this.” Edijala said.

He explained that the model is that the iron ore site will feed the steel manufacturing plant, and grow to service the needs of the Nigerian economy for industrialisation.

Edijala further stated that the project will require tax waivers for the importation of equipment, and tax holidays during the take-off period to cope with the fluctuation in the macro-economic system and meet targets.

Explaining Sinomach-He’s readiness to start the project, its vice manager, Hou Encai said the state-owned company was established in 1958 to meet the needs of the Chinese economy and has over 15,000 staff including 2000 engineers on its payroll.

Encai said the company engages in mining, iron making, steel rolling, steel making, and the construction of infrastructures, and handles 80 per cent of the steel needs of the Chinese economy.

“In mining, we have the technology on how to excavate the ores from the earth. We can evaluate the iron ore potential of any site and tell you what the feasibility of mineral extraction is on a site. Secondly, we have the equipment needed, including excavators and drilling machines for mining iron ore. For transportation of iron ore from the site to the factory, my group produces the trucks,” he said.

According to the MOU, Sinomach-He shall be the master contractor and deploy its expertise in the engineering, procurement, installation, commissioning, and training of the project.

Other participants at the meeting were the Executive Secretary-General, Working Committee for Overseas Co-operation of China Association of Small and Medium Entreprises, Professor He Lixiong, chairman, Belt and Road Africa Economic Initiative, Mr. Innocent Okonkwo, Sinomach-He overseas general manager, Li Ke, and senior project manager, Deng Shiyuan.

Earlier, Nigeria’s Consul-General to China, Ambassador Gbadebo Afolabi confirmed the integrity of Sinomach-He disclosing that a team from the embassy had conducted due diligence on the company and found it suitable for the transaction.

Nigeria’s first domestic foreign currency-denominated bond recorded significant oversubscription, underlining investors’ confidence in the country’s economic outlook.

It was learnt at the weekend that the medium-term $500 million bond witnessed overwhelming subscriptions from local and foreign investors.

It closed as a landmark transaction that ushered in a new window of foreign exchange (forex) to governments and companies.

The Debt Management Office (DMO), which oversees the government’s debt issuances and management, is expected to make final allotment results this week.

Sources with knowledge of the provisional allotments said the offer book was about $1 billion.

A breakdown of the subscription pattern showed considerable appetite by individual retail investors and institutional domestic investors.

There were also appreciable subscriptions by the diaspora community and foreign investors, although the stringent requirements within the week-long offer period appeared to have moderated subscriptions by retail diaspora investors.

An investment banking source said subscriptions were more than $800 million while other sources said the success level of the bond was around $1 billion, 100 per cent above its initial offer size of $500 million.

Sources said the DMO would take advantage of the overwhelming confidence by increasing the final issuance size, thus shortening the cycle of tranches in the bond’s total programme size of $1 billion.

The Series I $500 million Domestic FGN US Dollar Bond, a five-year bond, is the first tranche of the $2 billion bond registered by the Federal Government with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The bond’s structure allows the government to absorb oversubscriptions within the limit of the programme’s total size of $2 billion.

Market sources said the success of the $500 million bond will open up a new window of capital raising for other tiers of government and companies, with the maiden sovereign bond serving as a benchmark for subsequent issuances.

They pointed to the development of the corporate Eurobonds, Sukuk, non-interest issuance market and the green bond market, which followed the huge success of the Federal Government’s pioneering offers in those markets.

Sources said the significant oversubscription of the $500 million bond, with a five-year tenor and a coupon of 9.75 per cent per annum, showed that investors were confident Nigeria’s economic reforms would stay the curve.

The Nation had reported in the wake of the opening of the application list two weeks ago that the maiden domestic dollar bond was heading for oversubscription given preliminary book building and general investor appetite.

Experts were unanimous on the historic importance and benefits of the new bond issuance.

Managing Director of Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), Mr. Bismarck Rewane, said at the weekend that the successful issuance of the bond will bring significant benefits to the naira.

“The proceeds from the bond issuance, coupled with the CBN’s reintroduction of the Retail Dutch Auction System, which is expected to hold another auction in September, will stabilise the naira.

“A sustained naira stability will ease price pressures, with inflation slowing throughout the remainder of 2024.

“The slowdown in inflation will be supported by the harvest season, base effects, and an import duty waiver,” Rewane stated.

Managing Director, Arthur Steven Asset Management, Mr. Olatunde Amolegbe, said Nigeria has a strange position of having a significant number of its citizens having huge deposits of dollars in domiciliary accounts earning nothing and not contributing significantly to economic activity.

He said the bond provides a platform for those seemingly idle funds to be invested and get good returns while still enjoying the hedging advantage of holding a reserve currency.

“This instrument also provides the Federal Government the much needed dollar liquidity for the forex market which hopefully will lead to the strengthening of the naira.

“This could ultimately have a positive knock-on effect on inflation and consequently interest rates.

“This is also a positive move for the capital markets as it increases product variety and liquidity within the market,” Amolegbe said.

Managing Director, AIICO Capital, Dr Femi Ademola, said the domestic foreign currency-denominated bond is in fulfilment of the promise by the government to attract funding from Nigerians in the diaspora.

According to him, the bond allows Nigerians to invest their foreign currency in dollars, thus removing the fear of a loss of value due to naira devaluation.

“The success of this issuance will be a confidence boost for the country and the current administration.

“It would also allow the government to channel the remittances into more profitable ventures for investors.

“In terms of impacting the financial market, the effect will be the same as the issuance of Eurobonds.

“The instruments would be tradeable in the market thus deepening the market further,” Ademola said.

Managing Director, HighCap Securities, Mr. David Adonri, explained that the domestic dollar bond will enable domiciliary account holders to earn good income on their generally non-interest yielding deposits in Nigerian banks.

He said the bond will reduce capital flight since interest payments will be retained in the local economy.

“Generally, it is an attractive investment outlet for domestic investors who have been yearning for investment in dollar-denominated assets locally. It will deepen the country’s capital market,” Adonri said.

Besides the interest rate of 9.75 per cent per annum, the $500 million bond also qualifies for tax exemption for pension funds and other investors.

It has also been granted liquid assets status by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), implying that banks can use such investments in the calculation of their liquidity ratio (LR).

Trustees and pension fund administrators can also invest in the bond. It is considered as risk-free with the sovereignty and credit of Nigeria as a guarantee.

Also, the Federal Government had entered into an irrevocable commitment that it shall on no account convert or repay the principal amount and interests on the $500 million bond in naira.

According to the Trust Deed for the $500 million bond, the Federal Government pledged an irrevocable commitment that it shall keep fidelity to the nature of the bond as a dollar-based issuance, with both the principal and the coupon to be paid in the currency of issuance.

The Trust Deed is the binding and enforceable legal agreement between the Federal Government and subscribers to the $500 million bond.

Preliminary book-building reports had indicated that there were strong possibilities of a substantial oversubscription, describing the bond as highly attractive.

Market sources had said the pricing was in alignment with the current yield of Nigeria’s Eurobond of equivalent tenor.

Nigeria’s Eurobond of between three and five years currently yield between 9.662 per cent and 10.03 per cent, thus the mid-point pricing of 9.75 per cent is considered attractive.

The bond has the potential to attract a large number of foreign investors, according to most analysts.

“For foreign investors, the price is attractive when compared to yield in the United States, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom.

“The risk premium for Nigeria’s sovereign risk is adequate,” a senior investment banker had said.

Sources had said there was notable enthusiasm for the first sovereign dollar-denominated domestic bond, with interests cutting across domestic institutional and individual investors, portfolio funds and the Diaspora community.

“I think it’s possible if you look at the universe of potential investors that will be eligible to participate. There is a report that says the dollars held in domiciliary accounts in Nigerian banks are in excess of $20 billion. This represents potential investors.

“There are also lot of very active foreign-currency-denominated mutual funds that are also potential investors.

“There are also Nigerians in the diaspora who are currently earning less than nothing on their investments that will find investing in this dollar bond quite attractive in terms of returns.

“The foreign portfolio investors are also not precluded from investing, and this should also boost patronage.

“So, the chance of an oversubscription is possible,” said a senior investment banker with a speciality in debt issuances.

Another source said the emerging macroeconomic outlook is encouraging to investors, who may seek the opportunity of the dollar issuance to lock in value.

The government had ring-fenced the bond against money laundering and illicit flows by stipulating stringent subscription rules.

Under the guidelines, all corporate or institutional investors are required to provide information on country where the entity is incorporated as well as residency classification, while such corporate application must bear the corporate body’s seal and be signed in accordance with the company’s signature mandate by duly authorised officials.

Pension or provident funds are required to ensure that applications are in line with the guidelines of the National Pension Commission (Pencom) on custody of pension assets.

Individual applicants are required to provide evidence of full payment for the amount applied, full name, Biometric Verification Number (BVN) number, residency classification and regular signature.

Application from a group of individuals should be made in the names of those individuals with no mention of the name of the group.

An application by an illiterate person should bear his or her right thumbprint on the subscription form and be witnessed by an official of the issuing house at which the application is lodged, who must first have explained the meaning and effect of the application to the illiterate person in his or her own language. The witness should indicate his or her name and signature also on the form.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, while unveiling the $500 million bond in Lagos, said it was a bold step towards economic transformation as it would further attract both local and international investors.

He explained that the bond issuance would further expand the Nigerian financial system while providing the country the opportunity to tap the huge resources of its Diaspora community.

According to him, with the bond issuance, Nigeria will be able to access foreign currency held by Nigerians abroad, as well as other international investors who believe in the macroeconomic reform initiatives spearheaded by the Tinubu Administration.

Oil marketers may begin the importation of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, following the recent declaration by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited that it would only fully offtake the product from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery if the market prices of the commodity were higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.

NNPC also declared that Dangote and other domestic refineries were free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, adding that it had no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment.

This is, however, contrary to what the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, stated last week. The owner of the $20bn refinery had stated that the refinery was waiting for NNPC, adding that the national oil company would be the only off-taker of its petrol domestically.

Reacting to the slowdown in discussions between Dangote and NNPC, oil marketers stated that they would only source the product from wherever they found it cheaper, as this could be through importation.

Commenting on the price of Dangote petrol, the National Operations Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mustapha Zarma, said, “We have not contacted Dangote for now, but we may contact the refinery’s sales department this week to find out the price.

“If the price is competitive enough for one to buy and get his return on investment and the required margin, then we wouldn’t mind purchasing directly from him to complement what NNPC is bringing in or what NNPC would buy from Dangote.”

Zarma confirmed that since the Federal Government and NNPC had said the Dangote refinery would sell its product at the market price, this implied that the government would not intervene in the pricing of the commodity from the plant through subsidy.

Based on this, he noted that other dealers now had the opportunity to source the product from any producer at a cheaper price, whether locally or internationally.

He noted that some oil marketers currently imported diesel, while others bought the product from Dangote, adding that a similar situation would play out in the purchase of petrol, going by NNPC’s recent position on Dangote petrol.

“I believe that we are going to analyse the price of Dangote petrol and see the advantages of buying from Dangote viz-a-viz importation. Whichever we feel is cheaper will automatically attract everybody, especially if importation is cheaper.

“That will bring about competition and I don’t think the government will allow price monopoly. They would want a competitive market where the laws of demand and supply would determine the local price of refined petroleum products, just like diesel is right now.

“And with that, there is going to be some kind of equilibrium in the pricing and there is going to be guaranteed sustainability of supply,” the IPMAN official stated.

Industry observers say the Federal Government seems not ready to stop fuel importation following the refusal of NNPC to be the off-taker of Dangote’s petrol.

They, however, noted that with the recent hike in the pump prices of petrol, the government was systematically stopping subsidies on the commodity, following the recent revelation by NNPC that it spent over N7.8tn subsidising petrol.

At the presentation of the audited report and accounts of NNPC for the 2023 business year in Abuja last month, NNPC’s Chief Financial Officer, Umar Ajiya, admitted that the oil firm was shouldering a heavy subsidy burden on petrol imports.

He said the government directed NNPC to sell the petrol it imported at a price that is half the landing price. According to him, at times the Federal Government paid the money and it could as well net off for it.

While the official pump price of petrol is about N600/litre, the average landing cost is about N1,200/litre. Ajiya said the company covered about N7.8tn in “shortfall” in the first seven months of this year.

“What has been happening is that we have been importing PMS, landing at a certain price, and the government is telling us to sell it at half price. So, that gap between that landed price and the half price is what we call shortfall or we call it a subsidy,” the CFO had stated.

Foreign producers

Also speaking on the development, the National Publicity Secretary of IPMAN, Ukadike Chinedu, said though marketers were ready to buy from Dangote, the revelation from NNPC showed that dealers were free to source their products from any cheaper source.

“From what is happening now, it means that the Petroleum Industry Act is being implemented, the removal of subsidies has come to stay and the price of petrol is to be determined by the economics of demand and supply.

“Now that NNPC has said they are not the sole off-taker of Dangote petrol, it then means that the price of the product would determine where we are going to buy it. If NNPC imports the product and its price is cheaper than that of Dangote, we will buy from NNPC. If Dangote’s price is cheaper than that of NNPC, then we will buy from Dangote. So, right now, competition will set in. Remember that diesel price rose as high as N1,600/litre and Dangote came in with his own at N1,200/litre, and the importers reduced their price to N1,100/litre.

“It further dropped to about N950 and now revolves between N950 and N1,100 for both the imported ones and the ones produced locally. By the time competition sets in, the product will sell cheaper,” Ukadike stated.

On whether marketers had started making plans to import if the imported product would be cheaper, he replied, “Our National President, Alhaji Abubakar Maigandi, has commenced discussions with some investors who are now in the process of securing funds going by the current trend in the business.

“So, we are talking with some foreign partners because you need to understand that independent marketers are the highest buyers of diesel from Dangote refinery because we control about 80 per cent of the filling stations nationwide. So, if Dangote PMS is cheaper we will buy it, but if importation is cheaper, we will go for it.”

President Bola Tinubu recently directed that NNPC should sell crude to Dangote and other domestic refineries in naira.

The President’s Special Adviser on Revenue, Zacch Adedeji, who also serves as Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, explained that the move would mitigate Nigeria’s heavy reliance on foreign exchange for crude oil imports, accounting for roughly 30 to 40 per cent of its forex expenditure.

The revenue chief said that by denominating crude oil transactions in naira, the government expected to significantly lighten its forex burden, with estimated annual savings of $7.3bn. It is also expected to reduce monthly forex expenditure on petroleum products to $50m from approximately $660m.

“Monthly, we spend roughly $660m in these exercises, and if you analyse that, that will give us $7.92bn savings annually,” he stated.

Earlier, the President stated that Nigeria spent N2tn monthly on fuel importation.

The PUNCH reports that while licensed individuals have been importing diesel into Nigeria, NNPC remains the sole importer of petrol under the current administration.

Despite being the largest oil producer in Africa, Nigeria depends on imported petroleum products due to low refining capacity.

In May, Dangote said Nigeria would no longer import fuel the moment his refinery commenced production of petrol.

But unless there is an intervention from the President, Dangote’s plan to end fuel importation may not be achieved anytime soon, even as the $20bn refinery unveiled its PMS last week.

The NNPC, in a statement by its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, said on Saturday that it would not buy Dangote PMS unless it was cheaper than that of the international market.

This is contrary to claims by Dangote that the refinery was waiting for the NNPC to roll out its product.

On Saturday, NNPC stated that it would only fully offtake petrol from the Dangote refinery if the market prices of PMS were higher than the pump prices in Nigeria.

The NNPC also declared that Dangote and any other domestic refineries are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, saying it had no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment.

“The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market. In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market,” Soneye stated.

Soneye added that Dangote refinery could lower its price if it felt the new prices were too high.

“We emphasise that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd will only fully off-take PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria,” the NNPC said.

This statement from the NNPC could be an indication that the NNPC was not ready to stop importation, especially as its refineries ere yet to become operational.

Since the unveiling of its PMS, the NNPC appeared to have turned its back against the Dangote refinery.

While unveiling the 650,000-capacity refinery, Dangote stated that the facility would roll out petrol whenever NNPC was ready.

Dangote disclosed that the petrol would get to the filling stations in the next 48 hours (from Tuesday) after all arrangements with NNPC were concluded, saying the queues would be over soon.

He emphasised that the NNPC would sell and distribute the product, under the current naira crude sale arrangement.

“Once the NNPC is ready, we roll,” Dangote said.

But it seems that talks between the two companies have collapsed and this means fuel importation might continue.

In the past few days, the NNPC has in different statements denied that it would fix the price for Dangote or be its sole distributor.

This was after the state-owned energy firm said it was given a September 15 timeline by the refinery to lift its petrol

‘NNPC evading responsibilities’

A reliable source close to Dangote refinery expressed concerns over the turn of events.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorised to speak on the matter, said NNPC had been the one fixing petrol prices over the years, wondering why it was trying to relinquish that duty now.

The source also denied that Dangote refinery gave NNPC a September 15 deadline to lift its fuel.

She added that those making money from fuel importation were the forces trying to stop the sale of Dangote PMS locally.

“Dangote is not a regulator, those in NNPC are just trying to be clever, they want to shift the blame to somebody else. This is something they have been doing for many years.

“Some people are embittered, this is what they have been doing over the years, embezzling money,” our source said.

On pricing, she added, “I don’t know if there is any price for now. We all know what is going on. These is propaganda from these NNPC people. They know what they have done and they want to cover up. Very soon, everybody will know the actual quantity of fuel we consume in this country.”

IPMAN awaits loading

IPMAN president Abubakar Maigandi told one of our correspondents that the independent marketers were waiting for PMS from NNPC Retail.

“We are still collaborating with NNPC. I’ve called their officials and my marketers are supposed to have started loading. They said they would start loading them. So, we are still waiting.

“According to the information from the NNPC, we learnt that there is enough supply. So, we are waiting for them if they truly have enough supply because we already paid,” Maigandi stated.

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, on Monday, debunked reports doing the rounds that the rate for Value-Added Tax (VAT) has been upwardly adjusted to 10% from 7.5%.

The Minister, in a statement signed by him, affirmed that VAT rate as contained in relevant tax laws and chargeable on goods and services remains 7.5%.

“The current VAT rate is 7.5% and this is what government is charging on a spectrum of goods and services to which the tax is applicable. Therefore, neither the Federal Government nor any of its agencies will act contrary to what our laws stipulate.

“The tax system stands on a tripod, namely tax policy, tax laws and tax administration. All the three must combine well to give us a sound system that gives vitality to the fiscal position of government.

“Our focus as a government is to use fiscal policy in a manner that promotes and enhances strong and sustainable economic growth, reduces poverty as well as makes businesses to flourish.

“The imputation in some media reports on the issue of VAT and the opinion articles that have sprouted from them seem to wrongly convey the impression that government is out to make life difficult for Nigerians. That is not correct. If anything, the Federal Government has, through its policies, demonstrated that it is committed to creating a congenial environment for businesses to thrive.

“In fact, it is on record that the Federal Government, as part of efforts to bring relief to Nigerians and businesses, recently ordered the stoppage of import duties, tariffs and taxes on rice, wheat, beans and other food items.

“For emphasis, as of today, VAT remains 7.5% and that is what will be charged on all the goods and services that are VAT-able,” Edun said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPC Ltd, has denied claims that it is undermining the Dangote Refinery, insisting that the market is open for lower prices from any domestic refinery.

This comes after the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) alleged that the recent changes to the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) will prevent the Dangote Refinery from offering lower prices.

In a statement by the Executive Director of the group, Professor Ish­aq Akintola, MURIC urged the Nigerian government to give the refinery a free hand to operate and protect it from strangulation.

MURIC also accused NNPCL of becoming the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery.

However, in a statement by Olufemi Soneye, Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPCL said the pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery, is determined by global market forces.

NNPCL said it cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake, noting that MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that has the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the organization.

“To set the records straight, NNPC Ltd. wishes to further state as follows:

“The pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery Ltd. (DRL), is determined by global market forces. The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market.

“Furthermore, we emphasize that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd. will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria. The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products.

“The NNPC Ltd. cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake,” the statement partly read.