NOVA Bank Limited has announced the appointment of Jude Anele as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer following the approval of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

A statement from the bank on Sunday stated that the appointment comes at a significant stage in the bank’s development, shortly after its transition from a merchant bank to a commercial bank and the successful completion of its recapitalisation programme ahead of the March 31, 2026, regulatory deadline.

Anele brings more than 33 years of banking experience spanning West and Central Africa, with expertise covering retail and commercial banking, corporate banking, risk management, institutional transformation, and executive leadership. Throughout his career, he has overseen complex banking operations, strengthened governance frameworks, delivered sustainable revenue growth, and built high-performing teams.

According to the bank, the appointment underscores the Board’s strategic commitment to strengthening NOVA Bank’s commercial banking platform while accelerating growth across its Corporate, Commercial, and Retail segments, as well as key priority markets.

Speaking on his appointment, Anele said he was honoured to assume leadership of the bank at a defining stage in its growth journey.

“Nova Bank has built a strong institutional foundation defined by regulatory compliance, capital strength, disciplined governance, and a clear commercial mandate.

Our focus now is execution — deepening customer relationships, expanding responsibly across priority markets,

The Chairman of the bank, Phillips Oduoza, also expressed confidence in the new leadership.

“The Board is pleased to welcome Mr Jude Anele as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. His depth of experience, strategic clarity, and proven leadership record align strongly with NOVA Bank’s growth ambitions,” Oduoza said.

He added that with the bank’s recapitalisation completed ahead of the regulatory deadline, the institution is entering a new phase characterised by scale, stability, and structured expansion.

NOVA Bank also confirmed that it has met the recapitalisation requirements set by the Central Bank of Nigeria ahead of the regulatory deadline, reinforcing its capital adequacy and long-term financial stability. The capital raise, supported by both new and existing shareholders, has further strengthened the bank’s balance sheet and positioned it for disciplined growth.

In 2025, Global Credit Rating reaffirmed NOVA Commercial Bank’s national scale long- and short-term issuer ratings of BBB(NG) and A3(NG) respectively, while Agusto & Co. reaffirmed the bank’s “Bbb” rating with a stable outlook, reflecting its strong capital base, sound liquidity position, and resilient asset quality relative to its risk profile.

The bank currently operates in Lagos, Abuja, Owerri, and Port Harcourt, with plans to establish eight additional branches across key commercial hubs in 2026 as part of its expansion strategy.

The commissioning of the bank’s regional office in Owerri marked a major milestone in its South-East and South-South growth strategy. The event drew government officials, business leaders, and Nigerians in the diaspora and underscored NOVA Bank’s commitment to supporting enterprise development and economic growth.

The Dangote Petrochemical Refinery has raised the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit to N1,175 per litre, reversing an earlier reduction of N100 announced earlier in the week, as a fresh surge in global crude oil prices pushes up refining costs.

A senior official who spoke with our correspondent anonymously because he was not authorised to speak, confirmed on Friday that the refinery adjusted the price upward after briefly reducing the ex-depot price to N1,075 per litre on March 10, 2026, a move that had triggered increased buying activity among depot operators.

The official confirmed the latest adjustment during a telephone conversation.

“Yes, it is true,” the official said when asked about the upward price review.

Checks on Petroleumprice.ng also confirmed the development, indicating that the price revision had disrupted trading activities across several petroleum depots.

According to market sources quoted by the platform, the sudden upward adjustment prompted depot operators in multiple hubs to temporarily suspend sales as they awaited clarity on the new pricing structure.

“Depot owners across multiple hubs have temporarily halted transactions following the refinery’s upward review of the ex-depot price,” a market source familiar with the development said.

Similarly, loading operations at the refinery were also temporarily suspended to allow for stock reconciliation and alignment with the new pricing framework.

A refinery source explained that the decision was largely driven by rising global crude prices, which directly affect refining costs.

“The revision reflects the surge in global crude oil prices. Brent crude moved from around $91 per barrel to about $100 per barrel, and that increase feeds directly into the cost of refining,” the source said.

PUNCH Online reports that global oil prices have risen sharply in recent hours following escalating tensions in the Middle East involving the United States, Iran and Israel.

The geopolitical crisis has heightened fears of disruptions to global crude supply, particularly around the strategic Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes through which roughly 20 per cent of global oil shipments pass daily.

Concerns about possible disruptions in the chokepoint have pushed global oil benchmarks higher, with Brent crude trading above $100 per barrel during the week.

Nigeria’s flagship crude grade, Bonny Light, also surged above the psychological $100 per barrel threshold amid the volatility in global energy markets.

The rally reflects a growing “war premium” in global oil prices as traders factor in the risk of supply disruptions in the Middle East.

At the peak of the market rally earlier in the week, Nigerian crude prices briefly climbed to about $120 per barrel before easing to around $100 per barrel as markets entered a consolidation phase.

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has declared that the era of oil companies holding on to exploration licences for years without developing the assets is officially over, as new provisions under the Petroleum Industry Act compel operators to either develop their fields or relinquish them.

The Commission Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Oritsemeyiwa Eyesan, disclosed this while receiving a delegation from the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

Eyesan also expressed satisfaction with the level of investor interest recorded so far in Nigeria’s 2025 oil licensing round, describing the number of applicants as encouraging despite stricter bidding conditions introduced by the regulator.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday by the Head of Media and Corporate Communications at the commission, Eniola Akinkuotu.

According to Eyesan, the response from investors to the licensing round has demonstrated renewed confidence in Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector following regulatory reforms introduced by the Petroleum Industry Act.

She said the ongoing exercise involves 50 oil blocks currently on offer, adding that the strong level of participation was recorded despite a rule limiting companies to a maximum of two blocks, whether bidding individually or as part of a consortium.

“For the 2025 licensing round, we have 50 oil blocks on offer. And the outcome of the pre-qualification submission was a demonstration that there is indeed a very good appetite for the bid round,” Eyesan said.

She explained that the commission deliberately introduced restrictions on the number of blocks that companies can bid for in order to prevent asset hoarding and encourage wider participation from investors.

According to her, the policy ensures that exploration assets are allocated to companies that are genuinely ready to invest and develop them. Eyesan also disclosed that the commission had taken additional steps to strengthen transparency and investor confidence in the licensing process.

She said the regulator engaged an independent audit firm to review the digital bidding system and validate its integrity.

“In order to ensure total transparency in the licensing round, the commission added an extra layer of validation by partnering with a reputable audit firm to interrogate the system and validate that the system is foolproof. The result of that exercise will be made public just to boost investor confidence,” she stated.

The NUPRC boss said the introduction of the “drill or drop” provision under Section 94 of the Petroleum Industry Act has fundamentally changed the way exploration licences are managed in Nigeria.

She noted that the provision compels operators to either commence exploration and development activities within a specified timeframe or surrender the licence to the government.

According to her, the reform has eliminated the longstanding practice where companies held on to oil blocks for decades without developing them.

Eyesan said, “One of the beauties of the PIA is Section 94, which compels operators to either commence work or relinquish the licence, what we call the drill or drop provision.

“The PIA also opened opportunities for both small and big players because there is now a drill or drop provision in the Act. So we have cured the problem of uncertainties.”

She explained that prior to the reform, some operators retained prospecting licences for as long as 20 years without carrying out meaningful exploration work, thereby slowing down Nigeria’s efforts to expand its petroleum reserves.

“In the past, we had operators who had 20-year licences and sat on these blocks and did absolutely nothing.

“Now we have moved from that era to drill or drop. So we have more assets in the basket, which has given us the impetus to even consider holding bid rounds more frequently, possibly on an annual basis,” the CCE noted.

She added that the policy shift has helped return more dormant assets to the government’s portfolio, thereby creating new opportunities for investors in the ongoing licensing round.

According to the commission, the renewed interest in the bid round could also support Nigeria’s long-term goal of increasing its proven crude oil reserves and sustaining upstream investments.

Nigeria currently holds some of the largest hydrocarbon reserves in Africa, but exploration activity has slowed in recent years due to regulatory uncertainty, security challenges, and global energy transition pressures.

The enactment of the Petroleum Industry Act in 2021 has helped restore investor confidence by introducing clearer fiscal terms, improved regulatory frameworks, and stricter accountability requirements for operators.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone, Foday Mansaray, said his country was seeking to learn from Nigeria’s regulatory experience in developing its own hydrocarbon sector.

Mansaray explained that the delegation’s visit to the NUPRC was aimed at deepening bilateral cooperation and gaining insights into Nigeria’s petroleum governance framework.

“We are here to collaborate with the NUPRC at a bilateral level and learn from Nigeria, our big brothers in the industry,” he said. “We are a small country of just eight million people, but very ambitious, and we believe there is a lot we can learn from Nigeria’s experience in managing the petroleum sector.”

He also called for stronger energy collaboration between both countries and proposed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise cooperation in regulatory capacity building and petroleum sector development.

The 2025 oil licensing round was formally launched in December 2025 following approval by President Bola Tinubu as part of efforts to attract fresh investment into the country’s upstream petroleum sector.

The bid round offers 50 oil and gas blocks located across several sedimentary basins, including the Niger Delta, Anambra, Bida, Benue Trough, and Chad basins, with the objective of boosting exploration activity, increasing reserves, and supporting long-term crude production growth.

As of now, the process has completed the pre-qualification stage, with the submission window closing on February 27, 2026, after which qualified companies are expected to proceed to the technical and commercial bidding phase, where bids will be evaluated before final awards are announced

Overall, the licensing round is expected to run for about eiht months, from November 2025 to July 2026, when the commercial bid conference and final approvals are scheduled to conclude the process.

 

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has completed the turnaround maintenance on the Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, leading to resumption of production at Nigeria’s premier deepwater field on March 6, 2026.

 

The project was delivered 11 days ahead of schedule and without any safety incident, reinforcing SNEPCo’s longstanding commitment to operational excellence and asset integrity.

 

“Completing the turnaround safely and ahead of schedule is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our Nigerian workforce and the helpful support of our partners,” SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said. “The achievement not only secures the long‑term integrity of the Bonga FPSO but also positions us strongly for the successful delivery of the Bonga North project, which will leverage the improved reliability of the FPSO.”

 

The exercise which began on February 1, 2026, highlights SNEPCo’s leading role in advancing deep‑water expertise in Nigeria. Of the 55 companies involved in the execution, 43 were wholly Nigerian. Additionally, eight of the 12 international service providers maintain operational bases in Nigeria, contributing to knowledge transfer and increased local investments.

 

More than 1,000 personnel worked offshore during the turnaround, with over 95% being Nigerians involved in maintenance, engineering, operations, inspection and construction. Thousands more supported activities from onshore locations, reflecting the depth of Nigerian capability in offshore oil and gas operations.

 

Adams added: “We acknowledge the support of several stakeholders towards the successful execution of the exercise, including the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and our partners.”

The Nigerian stock market reversed the negative trend witnessed in the previous two trading sessions, recording a gain of N649bn on Thursday.

The All-Share Index rose by 1,010.22 points, representing an increase of 0.52 per cent to close at 196,908.76 points. Market capitalisation gained N649bn to close at N126.399tn.

The upturn was driven by gains in medium and large-cap stocks, including Transcorp Hotels, BUA Cement, Fidson Healthcare, CAP, and Guinness Nigeria.

Of the 132 traded stocks, 30 advanced, 30 declined, and 62 closed unchanged, indicating a mixed market breadth. FTN Cocoa Processors recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N6.27 per share.

Fidson Healthcare followed with a gain of 9.97 per cent to close at N105.35, while DEAP Capital Management & Trust was up by 9.89 per cent to close at N7.00 per share.

Caverton Offshore Support Group rose 9.40 per cent to close at N6.40, while Livestock Feeds appreciated 9.30 per cent to close at N7.05 per share.

On the other hand, Eterna and Omatek Ventures led the losers’ chart with a 10 per cent decline each, closing at N42.30 and N2.52, respectively. SCOA Nigeria followed with a decline of 9.94 per cent to close at N22.65 per share.

Fortis Global Insurance depreciated 9.24 per cent to close at N1.08, while Sovereign Trust Insurance declined 9.09 per cent to close at N2.10 per share.

Meanwhile, the total volume traded declined by 25.84 per cent to 549.781 million units, valued at N44.736bn across 55,465 deals. Transactions in the shares of Fortis Global Insurance topped the activity chart with 32.182 million shares valued at N34.775m.

Access Holdings followed with 28.124 million shares worth N700.986m, while First Holdco traded 27.722 million shares valued at N1.385bn.

Zenith Bank traded 27.483 million shares valued at N2.559bn, while Dangote Cement saw 26.893 million shares worth N20.671bn traded.

Regarding market performance, Imperial Asset Managers Limited stated, “Overall, the session reflects a return of investor confidence, supported by selective accumulation of fundamentally strong stocks amid a positive macroeconomic environment and above-par corporate earnings released so far for the 2025 full-year season.”

Nigerian Breweries Plc has acquired 29% stake in a recycled Polyethene Terephthalate production facility in Ogun State.

The brewers formally notified the Nigerian Exchange of its entry into a strategic partnership to establish a food-grade recycling venture, in a major move to bolster its sustainability credentials and navigate a tightening regulatory environment.

The project, which marks a significant investment in Nigeria’s circular economy, sees the brewing giant taking a 29% minority stake in the venture.

The facility will be developed and operated by global sustainable chemical leader Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, acting as the majority partner, and the Genesis Energy Group.

The announcement follows the Federal Government’s recent shift from voluntary to mandatory waste management policies.

Speaking on the strategic necessity of the deal, Nigerian Breweries highlighted the long-term operational benefits: “The partnership secures a reliable future supply of rPET for NB operations, in line with the roadmap for mandatory usage under national policy.”

By securing a 29 per cent stake, NB ensures it has priority access to high-quality recycled plastic, which is essential for meeting the National Policy on Plastic Waste Management. This policy now holds brand owners legally accountable for the entire lifecycle of their packaging.

The facility will be managed through a special purpose vehicle, Indorama Ventures Recycling Solutions Limited. While NB is a significant investor, the company clarified its role within the corporate structure:

“Nigerian Breweries will remain a minority investor in the partnership and will not participate in the control or management of the business,” according to a statement.

The venture is expected to strengthen the local recycling value chain by converting post-consumer PET bottles into food-grade resin safe for beverage packaging. The company noted that the project is a cornerstone of its broader environmental strategy: “The venture aligns with our sustainability goals, supports the growth of Nigeria’s local recycling industry, and remains subject to the necessary approvals and operational requirements.”

The timing of the partnership coincides with a period of strong financial recovery for the brewer. After a challenging 2024, the company’s FY2025 results revealed a rebound to a N161bn pre-tax profit, supported by a 35.32% surge in sales to N1.4tn.

Although NB shares saw a marginal midday dip of 1.39% following the announcement, market analysts point to the company’s year-to-date growth of over three per cent as a sign of investor confidence in its “Beyond Beer” and sustainability-led expansion plans.

OPay Digital Services Limited has dismissed reports that its offices in Lagos and Abuja were sealed by the Nigeria Revenue Service over alleged non-compliance with tax obligations, describing the claims as false and misleading.

Reports had circulated on social media and online platforms alleging that the NRS sealed OPay’s Lagos and Abuja offices over non-compliance with Value Added Tax and Company Income Tax obligations under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.

The fintech company said in a statement on Thursday that its offices across Nigeria remain open and fully operational, and that it continues to serve customers, partners and merchants without disruption.

“Our attention has been drawn to recent reports circulating on online platforms and social media claiming that our offices in Lagos and Abuja were sealed by the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) over alleged non-compliance with Value Added Tax (VAT) and Company Income Tax under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025.

“Our offices across Nigeria, including Lagos and Abuja, remain open and fully operational, and we continue to serve our customers, partners, and merchants without disruption.

“As a responsible financial technology company operating in Nigeria, we are compliant with all applicable tax obligations and regulatory requirements. We work closely and transparently with all relevant government agencies and regulatory authorities to ensure that our operations consistently meet statutory standards,” the company’s management said.

OPay said the notice at the centre of the reports arose from an industry-wide directive by the NRS requesting payment platforms to separately display certain statutory charges on their applications to aid reconciliation and transparency.

The company said the directive affected multiple operators across the payment industry and was not directed at OPay alone, adding that suggestions that the notice indicated non-payment of taxes were “factually incorrect and misleading.”

OPay also criticised what it described as the selective singling out of the company in a matter that concerned the broader industry, saying such reporting appeared calculated to damage its reputation.

“The notice referenced in the reports arose from a recent industry-wide directive by the NRS requesting payment platforms to distinctly separate certain statutory charges on their applications for easier reconciliation and transparency.

“This administrative clarification affects multiple operators across the industry, not OPay alone.

“The suggestion that the notice indicates non-payment of taxes is therefore factually incorrect and misleading. Equally troubling is the selective and deliberate singling out of OPay in a matter that concerns the wider industry.

“Such reporting not only distorts the facts but also appears calculated to undermine the reputation of a company that has consistently demonstrated strong compliance, transparency, and cooperation with regulators,” the statement read.

The company said it works closely with all relevant government agencies and regulatory authorities to ensure its operations meet statutory standards, adding that it remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s digital economy through secure and inclusive financial services.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the information currently circulating online suggesting that OPay is shutting down or our offices have been shut down should be disregarded, as it does not reflect the true situation.

“OPay remains committed to supporting Nigeria’s digital economy by providing secure, reliable, and inclusive financial services to millions of users nationwide,” the statement concluded.