Index to Nigerian Newspapers

The Economic Community of West African States Bank for Investment and Development has approved 100 million dollars in funding for a 47.7-kilometer stretch of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. This funding, announced during the bank's ninety-second ordinary session alongside other major infrastructure investments across West Africa, will support the Nigerian federal government's goal to complete the entire 700-kilometer highway by 2028. Executed by Hitech Construction Company Limited since March 2024, this initial phase starts from Ahmadu Bello Way in Lagos. The highway project aims to link nine Nigerian states, improve access to seaports and remote agricultural zones, and create a regional value chain to uplift coastal communities. President Bola Tinubu previously commissioned the first completed section of the highway in May 2025. The Minister of Works, David Umahi, revealed that the government has procured contracts worth over 3 trillion Naira for multiple sections across Lagos, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states. Beyond Nigeria, the bank approved projects totaling millions of Euros and Dollars for technical schools in Togo, agricultural and hydroelectric facilities in Guinea, and cement production support in Côte d’Ivoire. These investments align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and push the bank's total regional commitments past 5 billion dollars. Attempts to get comments from the media aide to the Minister of Works, Orji Uchenna, were unsuccessful before publication.

Oil marketers, including representatives from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Association of Nigeria, have criticized the monopoly given to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited as the sole off-taker of Premium Motor Spirit from the Dangote Refinery. Although the market was previously expected to operate on a willing-buyer and willing-seller basis, the Federal Government confirmed that all initial petrol distributions from the facility would go through the national oil firm starting September 15, 2024, before being resold to other distributors. Marketers expressed concern over the lack of transparency in pricing structures and warned against creating a dangerous domestic monopoly, even as the national oil firm mobilized hundreds of trucks and vessels to transport the product. Reports indicate that the refinery will sell its fuel to the national oil firm at approximately 766 naira per liter under a crude-for-naira deal, which petroleum retailers anticipate could potentially lower retail pump prices across the country once transportation costs and operational margins are added.

The Dangote Refinery has resumed selling refined petroleum products in the local currency after suspending the sale of petroleum products in naira for 22 days. The facility has also reduced its ex-gantry price to N865 per litre, a reduction of N15 from N880 per litre sold on Wednesday. The refinery informed marketers and customers in a notice sent out on Thursday morning. The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, reassured the public of the price drop while commenting on the Federal Executive Council's directive regarding the naira-for-crude agreement. The policy is aimed at strengthening Nigeria's economic sovereignty, enhancing local refining capacity, and stabilizing the foreign exchange market by reducing the demand for dollars in domestic petroleum transactions.Filling stations with special agreements with Dangote Refinery are expected to reduce their pump price to N910, reflecting a marginal reduction in the ex-depot price of premium commodity. This decision has drawn mixed reactions from petroleum marketers, with some claiming it puts them at a disadvantage. The move has sparked fresh competition in the downstream segment, with experts predicting a drop in fuel prices. However, retail outlets need to be regulated not to overprice for abnormal profits.