Business
Senate shifts public hearing for NNPC, Dangote
The Senate has postponed the public hearing for the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry.
The Senate explained that the hearing was postponed for wider consultations with stakeholders whose input and participation would add value to the conclusion of the investigative hearing.
Some key stakeholders summoned to appear before the committee at a public hearing scheduled for September 10 to 12, 2024, include the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and the Nigeria Ports Authority.
Other entities summoned are the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Navy, International Oil Companies, Dangote Group, Capital Oil, and modular refineries.
The upper chamber also cited legislative exigencies aimed at further deepening due diligence in conducting the investigative hearing as another reason for postponing it.
The Leader of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti Central), gave these reasons in a statement on Sunday.
The Senate had set up the ad hoc committee to investigate billions spent on maintaining the nation’s refineries, shine a spotlighton regulatory agencies’ overpayment to transporters, and unravel the alleged importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.
The ad-hoc committee had concluded its pre-investigation undertakings and held an interactive session with the heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies as well as some private interests in the downstream and midstream petroleum sector.
After the exhaustive engagement with select MDAs and private oil firms, the ad-hoc committee subsequently scheduled its investigative hearing for Tuesday, 10th to Thursday, 12th September 2024.
However, in his statement on Sunday, Bamidele explained the decision of the ad-hoc committee to postpone the investigative hearing after due consultation with all its members and key actors in the petroleum industry.
He, further, noted that the ad-hoc committee would communicate a new date for the conduct of the investigative hearing to all the stakeholders in due course.
Explaining the compelling reasons for the deferment, Bamidele noted that the decision for the postponement was taken in the best interest of the federation and its teeming population.
He further explained that the postponement became imperative considering the compelling need “to consult more widely with expanded stakeholders within and without the petroleum industry and legislative exigencies to further deepen due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing.
Business
Government Can’t Run Business Effectively – Dele Oye
We all know the failed history of government being involved in business. Ajaokuta… they have blown $8 billion and have not produced one steel; they blew $3 billion on refineries rehabilitation… and nothing happened. We are not having any fuel from them
Barr Dele Oye, the former president of NACCIMA, at the Vanguard Economic Discourse 2026 edition in Lagos on Wednesday, advised the federal government to limit its role to policy support and facilitation rather than involvement in commercial business activities.
Oye, now the Chairman of Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE) , cited past failures such as the Ajaokuta Steel Company and refineries rehabilitation projects.
He said: ” We all know the failed history of government being involved in business. Ajaokuta… they have blown $8 billion and have not produced one steel; they blew $3 billion on refineries rehabilitation… and nothing happened. We are not having any fuel from them.”
Oye maintained that government lacks the capacity to run businesses effectively.
” You have no track record in running any business… you cannot be government and also be private sector,” he said.
Business
John Ternus is Apple’s incoming CEO
John Ternus, Apple’s longtime hardware boss, is taking over as CEO, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer.
• John Ternus / CNBC / Getty Images
Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure as Apple CEO comes to an end on Sept. 1, the company announced on Monday.
John Ternus, Apple’s longtime hardware boss, is taking over as CEO, becoming just the second leader since Steve Jobs departed in 2011, less than two months before he died from cancer.
CNBC reports that as Cook exits, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an intricate supply chain that’s complicated by geopolitical tensions and soaring prices for memory due to unprecedented demand from the AI buildout.
But for Ternus, perhaps the most critical aspect of his new job will be pushing the company deeper into AI, where it’s lagged many of its megacap peers.
It said that so far, Apple’s AI strategy has involved avoiding hefty capital expenditures while Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Metacommit to hundreds of billions of dollars a year in combined capex to fund new data centers and fill them with pricey AI chips.
Business
NCC, CBN launch telecom industry portal to track fraudulent phone lines
“This means banks and other financial institutions can determine whether a line is active, swapped, disconnected, or reassigned to another subscriber.”
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN), have launched a portal that enables financial institutions to track fraudulent and suspicious phone lines across the country.
It is called the Telecoms Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS) portal , aimed at providing financial institutions with real-time visibility into the status of phone numbers used for transactions.
“The portal aggregates data on churned or recycled lines and numbers flagged for suspicious activities.
“This means banks and other financial institutions can determine whether a line is active, swapped, disconnected, or reassigned to another subscriber,” said the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Dr. Aminu Maida.
Speaking during the MoU signing event, Maida said that the agreement provides a structured framework for cooperation in critical areas, including payment system integrity, fraud mitigation, digital inclusion, and consumer protection.
On his part, Governor of CBN, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, said the MoU would strengthen coordination on regulatory approvals, technical standards, and innovation initiatives, including sandbox testing.
He noted that the partnership aligns with the apex bank’s commitment to promoting a secure, resilient, and inclusive financial system.
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