The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said that it has no plans to increase the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, in March 2021.

This was disclosed in a press release by the NNPC and signed by its Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, on Sunday, February 28, 2021.

NNPC, in the statement, warned petroleum products marketers against engaging in arbitrary price increases or hoarding petrol, so as to avoid artificial scarcity and undue hardship for Nigerians.

The statement from NNPC partly reads, “Contrary to speculations of an imminent increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has ruled out any increment in the ex-depot price of petrol in March 2021.

“The Corporation was not contemplating any raise in the price of petrol in March in order not to jeopardize ongoing engagements with organized labour and other stakeholders on an acceptable framework that will not expose the ordinary Nigerian to any hardship.

“NNPC also cautioned petroleum products, marketers, not to engage in an arbitrary price increase or hoarding of petrol in order not to create artificial scarcity and unnecessary hardship for Nigerians.”

The statement further stated that the corporation had enough stock of petrol to keep the nation well supplied for over 40 days and urged motorists to avoid panic buying.

It also called on relevant regulatory authorities to step up monitoring of the activities of marketers with a view to sanctioning those involved in products hoarding or arbitrary increase of pump price.

What you should know

• The ex-depot price is the price at which depot owners sell petroleum products to retail outlet owners and petrol marketers across the country.
• It is a major determining factor in fixing the retail pump price of petroleum products.
• Since the increase in the global price of crude oil, there has been a lot of speculation that the retail pump price of petrol would increase to between N190 and N200 per litre as against the present N162 per litre, following the removal of petrol subsidy and the announcement of full deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry.

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to record significant increases as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 155,657 confirmed cases.

On the 28th of February 2021, 240 new confirmed cases and 2 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

To date, 155,657 cases have been confirmed, 133,768 cases have been discharged and 1,907 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.

A total of 1.49 million tests have been carried out as of February 28th, 2021 compared to 1.44 million tests a day earlier.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 28th February 2021,

• Total Number of Cases – 155,657
• Total Number Discharged – 133,768
• Total Deaths – 1,907
• Total Tests Carried out – 1,489,103

According to the NCDC, the 240 new cases are reported from 13 states- Anambra (85), Lagos (82), Osun (17), Ogun (10), Kwara (9), FCT (8), Kano (7), Abia (6), Ekiti(5), Borno (4), Edo (2), Bayelsa (2) Kaduna (2) and Rivers(1).

Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 55,646, followed by Abuja (19,115), Plateau (8,854), Kaduna (8,422),  Oyo (6,708), Rivers (6,398), Edo (4,491), Ogun (4,277), Kano (3,716), Ondo (2,944), Kwara (2,875), Delta (2,539), Osun (2,326), Nasarawa (2,208), Gombe (2,031), Katsina (2,029), Enugu (1,998), Ebonyi (1,839), Anambra (1,615), and Abia (1,487).

Imo State has recorded 1,440 cases, Akwa Ibom (1,439), Borno (1,247), Bauchi (1,221), Benue (1,188), Niger (912), Ekiti (797), Sokoto (768), Bayelsa (767), Adamawa (762), Taraba (712), Jigawa (496), Kebbi (358), Yobe (268), Cross River (267), Zamfara (219), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.

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Lock Down and Curfew

In a move to combat the spread of the pandemic disease, President Muhammadu Buhari directed the cessation of all movements in Lagos and the FCT for an initial period of 14 days, which took effect from 11 pm on Monday, 30th March 2020.

The movement restriction, which was extended by another two weeks period, has been partially put on hold with some businesses commencing operations from May 4. On April 27th, 2020, Nigeria’s President, Muhammadu Buhari declared an overnight curfew from 8 pm to 6 am across the country, as part of new measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19. This comes along with the phased and gradual easing of lockdown measures in FCT, Lagos, and Ogun States, which took effect from Saturday, 2nd May 2020, at 9 am.

On Monday, 29th June 2020 the federal government extended the second phase of the eased lockdown by 4 weeks and approved interstate movement outside curfew hours with effect from July 1, 2020. Also, on Monday 27th July 2020, the federal government extended the second phase of eased lockdown by an additional one week.

On Thursday, 6th August 2020 the federal government through the secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 announced the extension of the second phase of eased lockdown by another four (4) weeks.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State announced the closed down of the Eti-Osa Isolation Centre, with effect from Friday, 31st July 2020. He also mentioned that the Agidingbi Isolation Centre would also be closed and the patients relocated to a large capacity centre.

Due to the increased number of covid-19 cases in Nigeria, the Nigerian government ordered the reopening of Isolation and treatment centres in the country on Thursday, 10th December 2020.

On 26th January 2021, the Federal Government announced the extension of the guidelines of phase 3 of the eased lockdown by one month following the rising cases of the coronavirus disease in the country and the expiration of phase 3 of the eased lockdown.

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The Nigerian Stock Exchange Consumer Goods Index (CGI), an index that tracks the performance of consumer goods companies, depreciated by 8.12% in the month of February at the back of sell-offs and building negative sentiments in the market.

A preview of the performance of the index revealed that as of the close of trading activities on Friday 26th February 2021, the index stood at 563.85 index points, from 613.69 index points at the open of trade for the month.

In line with this, the Consumer Goods Index shed a total of 49.84 index points – the highest since March 2020 (-132.53 index points)- as wary investors offload shares of top consumer goods company on NSE, leading to the decline in the share price of Nestle, Dangote Sugar, Flour Mills, NB and eight (8) others.

Source:Tradingview

What you should know

• The NSE Consumer goods Index was designed to provide an investable benchmark to capture the performance of companies in the consumer goods sector. The index comprises the most capitalized and liquid companies in food, beverage, and tobacco.
• The index is based on the market capitalization methodology, as it tracks the performance of fifteen consumer goods companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which includes, Nestle, Nigerian Breweries (NB), Dangote Sugar, and Flour Mills.
• The overall performance of the companies was bearish, as the index closed on a negative note in the month of February with 12 losers relative to 3 gainers.
• NNFM (-27.48%) led the losers’ chart, while MCNICHOLS (+56.86%) was the top gainer in the month of February, followed by GUINNESS (+21.32%).

Top gainers

• MCNICHOLS up 56.86% to close at N0.8
• GUINNESS up 21.32% to close N23.05
• UNILEVER up 0.74% to close at N13.95

Top losers

• NNFM down by 27.48% to close at N7.02
• VITAFOAM down by 22.89% to close at N7.75
• CHAMPION down by 18.97% to close at N2.52
• NB down by 17.46% to close at N52
• FLOURMILLS down by 16.86% to close at N28.85