The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised alarm over the circulation of low grade and contaminated AGO, popularly known as diesel, which is offered at discounted prices in some parts of the country. 

This was disclosed in a press release by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, on Friday June 5, 2020. 

This warning was contained in a report by the Managing Director, NNPC Retail Limited Managing Director, Dr. Billy Okoye, who also admonished motorists to be careful of the off-spec products. 

The state oil giant, in the press statement, said, “The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has raised an alarm over prevalent low grade and contaminated AGO, otherwise called diesel, offered at discounted prices in parts of the country.” 

Dr. Okoye, stated that the warning became necessary because the low grade contaminated diesel is harmful to machines and the environment. He explained that NNPC Retail Ltd is a market leader and therefore considered it incumbent upon it to alert the general public on the circulation of these low grade products. 

While urging consumers of the product to patronize the oil firm’s service stations where the quality of their products was assured, Dr. Okoye gave assurances that NNPC Retail Limited dealt only in premium high-quality products in the interest of Nigerian motorists and users. 

Unlike the premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol, which was operating a fixed price regime and had NNPC as the sole importer, the diesel products were deregulated and had other independent marketers apart from NNPC importing the products as well. 

The intense competition and unhealthy drive for profit, in addition to poor regulation, could have given rise to this.  

The spread of novel Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19) in Nigeria continues to rise as the latest statistics provided by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control reveal Nigeria now has 11,844 confirmed cases.

On the 5th of June 2020, 328 new confirmed cases and 10 deaths were recorded in Nigeria.

To date, 11844 cases have been confirmed, 3696 cases have been discharged and 333 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory having carried out 73,064 tests.

COVID-19 Case Updates- 5th June 2020

• Total Number of Cases – 11,844
• Total Number Discharged – 3,696
• Total Deaths – 333
• Total Tests Carried out – 73,064

The 328 new cases were reported from 14 states- Lagos (121), FCT (70), Bauchi (25), Rivers (18), Oyo (16), Kaduna (15), Gombe (14), Edo (13), Ogun (13), Jigawa (8), Enugu (6), Kano (5), Osun (2), Ondo (2).

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Western diplomats warn of disease explosion, poor handling by government

The latest numbers bring Lagos state total confirmed cases to 5663, followed by Kano (985), Abuja at 862, Katsina (385), Edo (364), Kaduna (335), Oyo (334), Ogun (329), Borno (322), Rivers (308), Jigawa (282),  Bauchi (281),  Gombe (184), Kwara (127).

Delta State has recorded 116  cases, Sokoto (115), Plateau (113), Nasarawa (90), Ebonyi (80), Zamfara (76),  Yobe (52), Osun (49), Imo (47), Akwa Ibom (45), Adamawa (42), Niger (41), Ondo (38),  Kebbi  (33), Bayelsa and Enugu (30), Ekiti (25), Taraba (18), Abia (15), Benue (13), Anambra (12), while Kogi state has recorded only 3 cases.

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, 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.

READ ALSO: Bill Gates says Trump’s WHO funding suspension is dangerous

Nigeria’s stock market finished the week on a poor note, extending its previous day’s loss. The ASI declined by -1.17% to 25,016.00 index points. Consequently, the Year to Date loss dipped to -6.88%. Also, investors lost N154.28 billion in value, as market capitalization dropped to N13.04 trillion.

In terms of activity levels, market activity mirrored the broad index as total volumes and values declined by -20.61% and -52.51% to 214.49 million units and 2.51 billion respectively. ZENITH BANK was the most traded stock by volume at 22.2 million units, while NB topped by value at N666 million.

READ ALSO: List of Dividends announced so far in 2020 (June)

Market sentiment, measured by market breadth, was however positive with 22 gainers led by BOCGAS (10.00%), against 18 losers topped by CABDURY (-9.47%).

Across the major indexes we cover, four out of five indexes closed negative. The Industrial goods (-3.91%) index was the worst performer, due to BUACEM (-5.44%) and DANGCEMENT (-2.04%) price decline. The Consumer Goods (-1.23%) and Energy (-0.96%) indices followed, owing to sell-offs in CADBURY (-9.47%); NB (-4.55%); GUINNESS (-3.68%) and OANDO (-2.22%).

Also, the Banking (-0.28%) index lost points, as prices of GUARANTY (-2.45%) and FBNH(-1.82%) fell. The Insurance index was the lone gainer, up +0.06% on price appreciation in CHIPLC, CUSTODIAN & AIICO Insurance.

READ MORE: GTBank, Zenith Bank, Nestle emerge Renaissance Capital’s top stock picks

Top gainers

BOCGAS up 10.00% to close at N4.4; SKYAVN up 9.64% to close at N2.73; NASCON up 1.77% to close at N11.5; CUSTODIAN up 3.42% to close at N6.05; and NEIMETH up 9.94% to close at N1.77.

Top losers

CADBURY down 9.47% to close at N7.65; BUACEMENT down 5.44% to close at N40; NB down 4.55% to close at N42; GUINNESS down 3.68% to close at N18.3; and DANGCEM down 2.04% to close at N139.

Outlook

Market dropped close to the N13 trillion market capitalization support level, as heavy selling was observed among blue-chip stocks. Nairametrics recommends caution as price swing momentum strengthens.