Business News
Purported EFCC raid on MTN Nigeria head office might be false
There were wild media reports, late Friday night, purporting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (@officialEFCC) raided the head office of @MTNNG. This might be wrong.
There were media reports, late Friday night, purporting that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) raided the head office of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc.
The reports said that the anti-graft agency shut down all business activities at the Falomo, Lagos Island office of the leading telecoms company.
The purported reports went further to speculate that the reason for the “raid” was due to complaints emanating from the alleged manipulation of MTN Nigeria‘s shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
A source close to the situation was even quoted as saying “I believe the EFCC was informed that MTN was manipulating figures and also, maybe because of fraud pertaining to the company’s listing.”
Not a Raid after all: A preliminary investigation by Nairametrics suggests that the development is not as it had been reported. While the EFCC did visit MTN‘s head office yesterday, the visit did not constitute a raid. Moreover, there was no shutting down of the office complex, contrary to reports.
A source at MTN Nigeria informed Nairametrics that the telco has been compliant with all regulatory requirements; including the EFCC‘s anti-fraud requirements.
So why the EFCC visit? We also understand that the visit by the EFCC to MTN Nigeria‘s head office might have been a routine one. After all, no arrest was made.
In the meantime, neither MTN Nigeria nor the EFCC has officially reacted to this development. Nairametrics will keep you posted as more details emerge.
The Backstory: Controversy began to trail MTN Nigeria‘s listing by introduction on the Nigerian Stock Exchange after many investors realised they cannot easily buy it due to liquidity issues. As you may already know, the leading telco has yet to conduct an initial public offering, because the company is not looking to raise funds in the meantime. As a result, this has made it impossible for many investors to buy the stock.
In the meantime, however, some of MTN‘s core investors have been engaging in off-market sales in a bid to take advantage of the growing demand for the stock. Note that the high demand for MTN Nigeria shares had pushed up the price from the initial listing price of N90 to around N140 on Friday.
MTN’s First loss: Meanwhile, the telecom company’s stock recorded a loss on Friday. This is the first it was losing since its listing on the NSE about a week ago. As Nairametrics earlier reported, MTN‘s bull run on the Nigerian bourse was interrupted, yesterday, when it lost by 6.04% to close at a price of N140. Prior to this time, it had been making the NSE top gainers’ list since Thursday, May 16th.
In light of the purported raid by the EFCC, it is easy to assume that the stock’s Friday decline could be connected to the EFCC development. However, it is best not to assume anything at this point until we hear from both the company and the anti-graft agency.
Coronavirus
COVID-19 Update in Nigeria
On the 7th of March 2021, 269 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria
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 158,506 confirmed cases.
On the 7th of March 2021, 269 new confirmed cases and 5 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.
To date, 158,506 cases have been confirmed, 137,875 cases have been discharged and 1,969 deaths have been recorded in 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
A total of 1.54 million tests have been carried out as of March 7th, 2021 compared to 1.49 million tests a day earlier.
COVID-19 Case Updates- 7th March 2021,
- Total Number of Cases – 158,506
- Total Number Discharged – 137,890
- Total Deaths – 1,969
- Total Tests Carried out – 1,544,008
According to the NCDC, the 269 new cases are reported from 19 states- Enugu (78), Bauchi (37), Rivers (22), Imo (18), Ogun (16), FCT (15), Akwa Ibom (13), Kaduna (13), Kebbi (11), Kwara (9), Edo(7), Ekiti (6), Borno (5), Yobe(5), Kano (4) Nasarawa (3), Osun (3), Anambra (2) and Plateau (2).
Meanwhile, the latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 56,444, followed by Abuja (19,350), Plateau (8,944), Kaduna (8,658), Oyo (6,766), Rivers (6,680), Edo (4,670), Ogun (4,437), Kano (3,844), Ondo (3,066), Kwara (2,962), Delta (2,582), Osun (2,457), Nasarawa (2,251), Enugu (2,156), Katsina (2,060), Gombe (2,010), Ebonyi (1,951), Anambra (1,813), Akwa Ibom (1,610), and Abia (1,588).
Imo State has recorded 1,569 cases, Borno (1,308), Bauchi (1,274), Benue (1,188), Adamawa (942), Niger (919), Taraba (863), Ekiti (834), Bayelsa (779), Sokoto (769), Jigawa (496), Kebbi (412), Cross River (334), Yobe (293), Zamfara (222), while Kogi state has recorded 5 cases only.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government
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.
On 28th February 2021, the federal government confirmed that the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines will arrive in Nigeria on Tuesday, March 2nd, 2021.
On Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, the National Primary health Care Development Agency announced the arrival of the expected COVX Astrazeneca/Oxford covid-19 vaccines.
On Saturday, 6th March 2021, President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo received vaccination against the covid-19 as the State House in Abuja.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous
Tech News
Twitter CEO auctions his first-ever tweet on Twitter, bidding at $2.5 million
Jack Dorsey is auctioning his first-ever tweet on a website that sells tweets as non-fungible tokens.
