Daily Watch – CBN and NNPC make adjustments, SA opens door for Putin to attend BRICS summit

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has adjusted the pump prices of petrol across its retail outlets, the company said in a release. According to the statement signed by Garba Deen Muhammad, chief corporate communications officer of NNPC Ltd, this was done in line with current market realities. There have been reports of long fuel queues across the country since the announcement of subsidy removal by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during his inaugural speech on Monday, 29 May 2023. However, the state-owned company and oil marketers have said that the scarcity is artificial and the public should desist from panic buying. “As we strive to provide you with the quality service for which we are known, it is pertinent to note that prices will continue to fluctuate to reflect market dynamics,” NNPC said. “We assure you that NNPC Limited is committed to ensuring a ceaseless supply of products,” the statement read. “The company sincerely regrets any inconvenience this development may have caused.” The NNPC said it appreciates the continued patronage of the people and called for their support and understanding during this time of change and growth.

The Daily Trust is reporting that on Wednesday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has devalued the Naira to ₦631 to the dollar from ₦461.6 it sold at the Importers and Exporters (I&E) window the previous day. This action is on the heels of President Tinubu’s announcement that the exchange rate would be unified. On Tuesday, the President Tinubu met with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, at Aso Rock. At the end of the meeting, neither the presidency nor the CBN disclosed the outcome of the briefing, but it was gathered that the issue of the exchange rate was discussed. There had been a wide margin between the I&E window and the parallel market, a situation that experts say encouraged round-tripping with Bureau de Change operators. At the resumption of the weekly bidding for foreign exchange, the regualtor sold the spot rate to banks on behalf of their customers at ₦631 to a dollar and most bidders got the full amount they requested. The move has also seen prices at the parallel market trend downwards. Prices dropped from ₦750 to a dollar in the early hours of yesterday to ₦745 by yesterday evening in Abuja and Kano respectively.

About 11 million active Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) cards that are yet to be re-registered with the Ghana Card risk disconnection and deletion today, 1 June as the deadline for the exercise expired yesterday, 31 May. Following this development, hundreds of people, majority of whom are trying to register their SIMs for the first time, have thronged some National Identification Authority (NIA) centres in a desperate attempt to secure their Ghana Card. The national card is the only prerequisite identification document admissible for the completion of the re-registration of SIM cards. When the Daily Graphic visited some of the NIA centres, including the Premium Centre of the authority at its head office at Shiashie, Accra and other premium centres in some regions, there were long queues of last-minute card acquirers dashing to complete the process. Many of the subscribers had come to link their Ghana Card with their SIM cards to satisfy the NCA requirement before the 31 May deadline. While the centre with the capacity to process 650 applications sees no crowds, the long queues at the place has compelled the NIA to erect canopies outside its halls to accommodate the increasing numbers.

South Africa has issued blanket diplomatic immunity to all leaders attending August summit, meaning Russia’s Vladimir Putin will be able to travel to Johannesburg and not fear the country acting on an International Criminal Court (ICC) warrant for his arrest. As an ICC member, South Africa would be under pressure, and possibly under a legal requirement, to arrest Putin. The court issued a warrant for his arrest in March over the alleged forcible deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia. South Africa is hosting a summit of the BRICS group, comprising Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa, in August. The Department of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the immunities are for the conference and not for specific individuals and are meant to protect the conference and its attendees from the jurisdiction of the host country for the duration of the conference. In April, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, appointed an inter-ministerial committee to look into how the law applied to a visit by the Russian president. The government is looking into the wording of the Rome Statute, the charter that established the ICC, for a loophole that would enable Putin to attend without South Africa having to arrest him.