The lawmaker representing Benue Northeast senatorial district in the national assembly, Senator Gabriel Suswam, has asserted that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is under a unified leadership and has no other faction elsewhere.

Naija News reports that the former governor of Benue State asserted this in reaction to recent speculations suggesting that the major opposition party has split into two factions.

Reports claimed that the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, and his followers constitute one faction, while the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and his supporters form the other faction.

Nonetheless, Suswam informed the press in Abuja over the weekend that Atiku remains the sole leader of the party.

“I don’t think there are camps in PDP. We have just one PDP and all we are saying is that let us have a strong leadership.

“Wike is the Minister of FCT and he is working with the president, I don’t think he has a camp. Atiku remains the leader of our party.

“By being the presidential candidate of PDP, Atiku is automatically the leader of the party who every member should look up to,” Daily Post quoted Suswam saying.

Manufacturers have lamented the high cost of automotive gas oil (AGO), also known as diesel, which is used in generating power for their operations, noting that product gulps about 80 percent of their profits.

Speaking on the plight of manufacturers against the backdrop of rising prices of their products, the Director General of MAN, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said manufacturers should not be blamed for inflating prices of products, considering their high cost of production.

However, a bit of relief may have come the way of the manufacturers following the recent crash of the price of diesel by 29.4 percent by Dangote Refinery.

The refinery now supplies the product at a substantially reduced price of N1,200 per litre, representing a 29.4 percent reduction from the previous market price of about N1,700 per litre.

On the high cost of energy, Ajayi-Kadir stated: “We have at different fora informed government and relevant agencies of what to do to bring down these inimical worsening high operating costs in the country. Nigerians should not blame local manufacturers for increasing the cost of goods, because they are being confronted with debilitating conditions.

“Do you know that diesel is taking 80 per cent profit of surviving manufacturing firms in Nigeria currently at the rate of about N1,700?

“Which manufacturer can cope with that astronomical price for energy to produce and you won’t expect him to increase his products in the country?

“Also, look at the new Customs exchange rate, new interest rate, scarcity of foreign exchange (FX), NAFDAC ban and others. How do you want to cope in production and make profit?”

Recall that the President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, recently confirmed that his refinery is offering diesel at N1,200, below the market rate of N1,700, adding that the significant cut in the price will have a positive effect on inflation in Nigeria.

He stated: “Quite a lot of prices have gone up. When you go to the market, for example, something that we produce locally like flour, people will charge you more. Why? Because they’re paying very high diesel prices.

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“Now, in our refinery, we started selling diesel at about N1,200 instead of N1,700 and I’m sure as we go along, things will continue to improve quite a lot.

“If you look at it now, when you are buying N1,650 or N1,700 for a litre of diesel, and that one has been cut off by almost one-third, you are now paying N1,200 for diesel,” Dangote said.

Investors have continued to backpedal on the stock market, especially in the banking sector, on the back of the proposed recapitalization of the banks announced late last month by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.

The risk-off sentiment resulted in the loss of N633 billion as investors took profits from the banks.

Consequently, the market capitalization of all the listed equities fell to N57.87 trillion at the close of the holiday-shortened week from N58.498 trillion in the previous week, representing a 1.1 per cent decrease.

Also, the benchmark All Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) declined by 1.1 per cent to 102,314.56 basis points from 103,437.67 basis points in the previous week, driven by losses in the shares of Guaranty Trust Company (GTCo) Plc (-13.75%), FBN Holdings Plc (-11.15%) and Zenith Bank Plc (-5.88%).

Month-to-Date (MtD) and Year-to-Date (YtD) returns slipped to -2.1 per cent and +36.8 per cent, respectively.

Further analysis shows that activity level was also impacted by the shortened trading week, as the total trading volume and value weakened by 69.2 per cent Week-on-Week (w/w) and 50.5 per cent w/w, to 734 04 million units and N31.58 billion respectively.

Sectoral performance was negative, reflecting the sour mood in the market.

Precisely, all the major sectoral indices declined with the banking sector, leading with 7.2 per cent depreciation, followed by the insurance sector 2.4 per cent; consumer goods sector (-1.3%); oil and gas sector (-0.3%) and the industrial goods sector which fell by 0.2 per cent.

Analysts at Cordros Capital, in their projection for the week, said: “Looking forward, we anticipate that market sentiments will remain negative, with investors continuing to react unfavourably to the potential dilution stemming from the CBN’s recapitalization initiative.”

“In the medium term, we expect investors’ sentiments to be influenced by developments in the macroeconomic landscape and corporate actions,” they added.

Analysts at Parthian Securities, however, projected that the market performance will be mixed this week, saying: “We expect investors sentiment to be mixed at this week’s trading session.”

The Nigerian Army has debunked a viral report that it recruited repented Boko Haram members.

On Thursday, one Hauwakulu Tabra was reported to have been killed by Adamu Muhammad, a soldier she was in a relationship with, at the army barracks in Enugu.

A report on Saturday said two senior military officers alleged that the soldier was a repented Boko Haram member who joined the Civilian Joint Task Force and was later enlisted into the Nigerian Army in 2021.

But in a statement on Sunday by Onyema Nwachuckwu, director of press, the army said while it is highly regrettable that the lady was killed, the incident should not be used to propagate the claim that the act was committed by a repentant Boko Haram member recruited into the Nigerian Army.

“The NA has at no point in time, either in the past or present enlisted repentant Boko Haram members to its strength. However, considerations were given to Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) who in the fight against terrorism and insurgency in the North East distinguished themselves morally and patriotically,” the statement reads.

“Such members of the CJTF must have also shown commitment, dedication and loyalty to the service and the nation.

“The sad incident of the gruesome murder of Miss Hauwakulu Tabra by Private Adamu Muhammad occurred on the night of Thursday 11 April 2024 and her corpse was discovered within the barracks on Friday 12 April 2024.

“Preliminary investigations revealed that the late Hauwakulu Tabra was actually murdered by the said soldier, who is presently in detention for further investigation to unravel the motive behind his actions.”

The army condoled with the family of the deceased and reiterated that at no time did it enlist repentant Boko Haram members into its fold “as mischievously insinuated”.

“The general public should be rest assured that justice will be served, as the NA will not condone any unprofessional conduct or indiscipline within its ranks,” the statement added.