States and Local Government councils reduced their bank borrowings by about N547.52bn in one year, as Federation Account inflows surge, according to findings by Saturday PUNCH.

Figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin reveal that the banking sector’s “claims on state and Local Governments” fell from N2.68tn in June 2024 to N2.13tn in June 2025.

This means sub-national governments collectively cut their indebtedness to commercial and merchant banks by 20.4 per cent year-on-year.

Further analysis shows that in January 2024, banks’ exposure to states and councils stood at N2.73tn. One year later, in January 2025, the figure had dropped to N2.44tn, indicating that about N292bn was cleared during that period.

The outstanding balance then ticked up slightly in February 2025 to N2.59tn and eased again to N2.55tn in March 2025. By April and May 2025, exposure steadied around N2.44tn–N2.45tn, before a sharp decline to N2.13tn in June 2025, representing the largest single-month adjustment during the year.

Year-on-year, June provided the clearest shift. The banks were owed N2.68tn in June 2024, but the balance had fallen by more than half a trillion naira a year later.

Month-on-month, the drop from May 2025’s N2.45tn to June 2025’s N2.13tn amounted to about N313bn, signalling an aggressive push to unwind bank obligations at the end of the second quarter amid high interest rates and rising FAAC allocations.

It was observed that throughout 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee aggressively tightened policy, lifting the Monetary Policy Rate from 18.75 per cent at the start of the year to about 27.50 per cent by November, through multiple successive hikes to rein in inflation and stabilise the exchange rate.

In 2025, the MPC largely held rates steady at 27.50 per cent for much of the year, signalling a cautious pause after the earlier tightening cycle as inflation began to moderate. However, in September 2025, the committee delivered its first rate cut in five years, trimming the MPR to 27.00 per cent, reflecting slowing price pressures and a gradual shift toward supporting broader economic activity.

By November 2025, the CBN reaffirmed the 27.00 per cent benchmark, balancing the need to sustain disinflation with financial stability concerns as borrowing costs remained high but gradually more accommodative.

The high interest rate likely pushed sub-nationals to reduce borrowing as FAAC allocations rise. Further analysis of FAAC records shows a jump in what state governments and local government councils jointly received in 2025 compared with 2024, reflecting the scale of the revenue windfall now flowing through the federation account.

Data from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation show that states and local governments jointly received N12.67tn in 2025, up from N8.96tn in 2024. These figures exclude the 13 per cent derivation fund for oil-producing states. The difference of N3.71tn represents a 41.4 per cent surge in year-on-year statutory inflows to the two tiers of government.

When the 13 per cent derivation fund is added, the gap remains just as stark. States and councils together received N14.28tn in 2025, compared with N10.31tn in 2024, meaning an extra N3.98tn, or about 38.6 per cent more than the previous year.

The derivation component alone rose from N1.35tn in 2024 to N1.62tn in 2025. A closer look at the breakdown shows that states were the biggest beneficiaries in absolute terms.

State governments’ FAAC share rose from N5.19tn in 2024 to N7.31tn in 2025, an increase of N2.13tn, equivalent to a 41 per cent rise year-on-year. Local government councils followed the same pattern, with allocations rising from N3.77tn in 2024 to N5.35tn in 2025 — a jump of N1.58tn, or 41.8 per cent.

The trend was visible month after month. In January 2024, states received N396.69bn, but by January 2025, this had risen to N498.50bn. The figures continued to climb through the year, peaking at N727.17bn for states in October 2025, before closing the year at N601.73bn in December 2025, still well above the N549.79bn recorded in December 2024.

Local governments recorded the same step-change. Councils received N288.93bn in January 2024, compared with N361.75bn in January 2025. Allocations crossed the N500bn mark in the final quarter of 2025, reaching N529.95bn in October, the highest for the year, before ending at N445.27bn in December 2025, higher than the N402.55bn shared in December 2024.

The 2024 figures show that allocations to councils typically sat in the N267bn–N294bn band for much of the first half of that year, while state allocations hovered around N366bn–N403bn.

In contrast, the 2025 data show that councils rarely received below N387bn and states seldom below N498bn in any month. Overall, total FAAC allocations to all three tiers of government rose from N13.91tn in 2024 to N20.28tn in 2025, while the total distributable revenue, including derivation, climbed from N15.26tn to N21.89tn. States and councils together accounted for the bulk of that increase.

The surge in inflows also seems to drive the decrease in the bank debt of states and councils. In a recent statement by the acting Director of Communication and Stakeholders Management at the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Mrs Obiageli Onuorah, the agency noted that the report highlighted the financial strain on states due to debt repayments, despite record-high disbursements from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee.

According to the statement, a report by NEITI showed that several states with high debt burdens also ranked lower in FAAC allocations, raising concerns about their fiscal sustainability and ability to fund critical projects.

“The report noted that many states with high debt ratios were in the lower half of the FAAC allocation rankings but ranked higher for debt deductions, raising concerns about their debt-to-revenue ratios and overall fiscal health,” the statement read.

The Director-General of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office, Ms Patience Oniha, recently called on state governments to adopt Public-Private Partnerships and prioritise tax revenue generation over borrowing to fund infrastructure projects.

She made these remarks during a one-day workshop in Lagos, organised under the States Action on Business Enabling Reforms Programme with World Bank support. Oniha said, “Borrowing should not be the major way to source funds.  You must increase your revenues by increasing your tax revenues.

“Public-private partnerships can help improve Nigeria’s economy by attracting private sector investment and expertise to develop infrastructure and deliver public services. This reduces the financial burden on the government, accelerates project delivery, and often results in higher quality outcomes. PPPs can also create jobs, stimulate local businesses, and foster innovation.”

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has warned that the country cannot industrialise or expand manufacturing without solving its electricity challenges. It called on the Federal Government to refocus Nigeria’s development strategy on engineering, technical skills and a reliable power supply.

The President of the LCCI, Leye Kupoluyi, said Nigeria’s failure to prioritise engineering capacity and technical competence continues to weaken the manufacturing sector and slow industrial growth.

In an interview with The PUNCH, Kupoluyi stated that countries classified as developed earned that status through their engineering strength, manufacturing capacity and skilled human capital, despite mineral resources.

He said, “When an economy is an industrial economy, we say this country is a developed country. For a country to qualify as a developed country, it must have strength in engineering and technical knowledge. That is basic.”

Kupoluyi, an engineer, said nations that dominate global trade built their influence on manufacturing and technical skills, stressing that no country can become developed by relying on imports.

“You can’t take over the world without having that skill, without having that technical edge, without having engineering capacity. It’s not just possible,” he said.

The LCCI president noted that excessive dependence on imports prevents any country from being regarded as developed, regardless of its natural resource endowment.

“When you have to import everything that makes your economy tick, nobody will ever refer to that country as a developed country. Mineral resources would not qualify any country to be a so-called developed country,” Kupoluyi said.

He added that global examples show that countries with limited mineral resources but strong manufacturing bases are consistently ranked as developed economies.

“It is human resources, it is technical, it is engineering, it is skill, it is manufacturing. We don’t need to contest that at all,” he said.

Kupoluyi also linked engineering development to youth empowerment, citing Nigeria’s success in technology-driven sectors such as financial technology.

He said, “Take FinTech in Nigeria. That has been 100 per cent taken over by our youth. We have more than five unicorns in FinTech.”

He added that young Nigerians are driving innovation and wealth creation through technology-based enterprises, highlighting digital platforms transforming services such as food delivery and logistics.

“That is the power of technology. That is the power of knowledge. That is what we just need to focus on,” Kupoluyi said.

On power supply, the LCCI president said electricity remains a major constraint to manufacturing and engineering businesses but noted that the decentralisation of power is a positive step.

He said, “What the government has done to decentralise power is a good step in the right direction. Sub-nationals should take advantage of it, being able to provide power in their own environment.”

Kupoluyi urged the government to encourage off-grid and renewable energy solutions, arguing that leaving the national grid is not necessarily a sign of failure but an economic decision.

“You can go off the grid for economic reasons. When you can produce power cheaper than what you are getting from the grid, what do you do? You move out,” he said.

He disclosed that his organisation operates off-grid using solar energy, with significant installed capacity, stating, “We are off the grid here. Everything is here. I have close to 100 kVA solar power.”

Kupoluyi called for incentives to support the adoption of renewable energy, including tax reliefs, import incentives for batteries and possible cashback schemes.

“There might be an incentive to go green. There might be an incentive for bringing those batteries to Nigeria. In some cases, they will give you a cashback incentive,” he said.

He argued that widespread adoption of decentralised power solutions would boost production and support industrialisation.

“That is where they need this power. Tomorrow, at your apartment, you will put it on solar. I think that is the way to go,” Kupoluyi added.

Meanwhile, power sector challenges undermined industrial growth, according to a policy brief by the Director of the Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf.

Yusuf said Nigeria’s power sector remains one of the most difficult areas of economic reform, despite several interventions.

“Nigeria’s power sector remains one of the most challenging areas of the country’s economic reform agenda,” he said.

He noted that the sector faces “deep structural, financial, and governance challenges,” including tariff distortions, weak investor capacity, transmission bottlenecks, and a persistent liquidity crisis.

Yusuf said the failure to implement cost-reflective tariffs has entrenched subsidy dependence and widened the sector’s financing gap, pushing sector debt to about N4tn.

“The current trajectory, characterised by rising sector debt, is fiscally unsustainable without deeper structural corrections,” he warned.

He added that weaknesses across the power value chain, from gas supply to distribution, continue to limit electricity supply and reliability.

Yusuf called for phased tariff reforms, stronger governance, recapitalisation of distribution companies, transmission reforms and greater support for decentralised and renewable power.

He said, “Power sector reform remains central to Nigeria’s economic competitiveness, industrial growth and social welfare.”

International Money Transfer Operator inflows into Nigeria fell by 11.78 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period of last year, according to new figures from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest Quarterly Statistical Bulletin.

An analysis of the data showed that IMTO receipts totalled $2.07bn between January and June 2025, down from $2.34bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024. This represents a decline of about $275.93m year-on-year, showing pressure in an important non-oil foreign exchange source at a time the monetary authorities are banking on remittances to support market liquidity.

A monthly breakdown of the figures seen by our correspondent showed that the decline was uneven over the period, with only one month recording growth. In January 2025, IMTO inflows dropped to $281.97m from $390.86m in January 2024, a 27.86 per cent decline.

February receipts also weakened, declining by 11.65 per cent to $288.82m from $326.91m a year earlier. The downward trend continued in March, when inflows fell to $317.60m compared with $363.76m in March 2024, representing a 12.69 per cent decline.

However, April bucked the trend. Inflows through IMTOs rose sharply to $597.44m in April 2025 from $466.11m in April 2024, indicating a 28.18 per cent year-on-year increase. This was the strongest month in the six-month period and the only month to record positive growth.

The rebound did not last. In May 2025, inflows fell back to $288.17m from $404.75m recorded in the same month of the previous year, a 28.80 per cent drop. June also posted a decline of 25.02 per cent, with receipts slipping to $292.25m from $389.79m in June 2024.

The April spike helped to moderate the scale of the half-year fall but was not enough to offset weaker inflows across the other five months. International money transfers from Nigerians in the diaspora form a key plank of the country’s external receipts.

Remittances support household consumption, savings, investment, and foreign exchange supply. They have also become more important in recent years as the economy sought to diversify away from volatile oil earnings.

Fluctuations in the FX market, global economic conditions, and domestic purchasing power may all be playing a role in shaping remittance behaviour. While the bulletin did not provide reasons for the decline, the pattern suggests that inflows remained sensitive to both domestic and international economic headwinds.

The dip in IMTO receipts comes despite wider policy reforms aimed at stabilising the foreign exchange market and rebuilding confidence. In January 2024, the central bank removed the cap on exchange rates quoted by IMTOs, which had previously limited rates to within ±2.5 per cent of the previous day’s closing rate.

The CBN also increased the IMTO licence application fee from N500,000 in 2014 to N10m in the updated guidelines, representing a nearly 1,900 per cent increase over 10 years. Also, a minimum operating capital requirement of $1m was set for both foreign and local IMTOs.

While IMTOs were initially barred from purchasing foreign exchange from the domestic market, recent circulars indicate that this restriction has been lifted, allowing them to trade on the official market.

The CBN established a Collaborative Task Force reporting directly to CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, aiming to double remittance inflows by increasing competition, engaging diaspora communities, and improving transparency in FX transactions.

Also, the CBN recently granted 14 new Approval-in-Principle licences to IMTOs, as confirmed by the Bank’s Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mrs Hakama Sidi Ali. The reforms have streamlined regulatory procedures, onboarded more IMTOs, and enhanced measures to increase the supply of foreign currencies.

However, while these steps likely contributed to the significant growth in remittance inflows in 2024, the increase has not been sustained in 2025. Although the CBN has repeatedly emphasised its commitment to attracting non-oil FX, the latest figures indicate that the remittance pipeline remains uneven.

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria has renewed its call for the privatisation of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, urging the Federal Government to transparently conclude the process by the first quarter of 2026.

The association said the timely privatisation of the refineries operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited would eliminate the recurring fiscal burden on the government, improve operational efficiency, attract private capital and technical expertise, and align Nigeria’s refining sector with global best practices.

In a statement, the PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said sustained public funding of the refineries has failed to deliver optimal results over the years, making private sector-led management inevitable if the country is to achieve energy security and stability in the downstream petroleum sector.

Gillis-Harry stressed that privatisation, if properly executed, would encourage competition, ensure sustainable refinery operations, reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imported petroleum products, conserve foreign exchange, and support job creation across the value chain.

PETROAN also linked refinery reform to broader sectoral growth, noting that increased domestic refining capacity would complement ongoing investments in upstream production and strengthen the country’s overall energy outlook.

“PETROAN renewed its call for the privatisation of Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries, advocating that the process be transparently concluded by the first quarter of 2026. The association noted that timely privatisation will improve efficiency, encourage competition in the sector, eliminate recurrent fiscal burdens on government, attract private capital and technical expertise, and ensure sustainable refinery operations in line with global best practices,” the statement said.

The association expressed confidence that the 2026 Budget, which is based on a crude oil production target of 1.84 million barrels per day and an oil price benchmark of $64–65 per barrel, provides a strong framework for implementing key reforms, including refinery privatisation.

It maintained that decisive action on refineries, alongside improved security for oil and gas infrastructure, effective host community engagement under the Petroleum Industry Act, and adequately funded regulators, would significantly enhance investor confidence and sector performance.

PETROAN further argued that the successful privatisation of the refineries would free government resources for critical areas such as security and infrastructure, while allowing the private sector to drive efficiency and innovation in refining and petrochemical development.

The association concluded that refinery privatisation remains central to achieving a stable downstream sector and maximising the benefits of Nigeria’s oil and gas resources under the 2026 budget framework.

“PETROAN expressed confidence that a well-implemented Nigeria 2026 Budget, anchored on security, host community inclusion, regulatory efficiency, private sector participation, and decisive refinery sector reforms, will strengthen the oil and gas sector, enhance national energy security, boost government revenue, and support sustainable economic development,” the statement concluded.

Calls for the privatisation of the refineries intensified following the shutdown of the 60,000-barrel-per-day Port Harcourt refinery in May this year, six months after it was declared operational.

The Warri refinery was also shut down one month after the former Group Chief Executive Officer of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, declared it open in December 2024. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria said the refineries were a drain on the country’s economy, calling on the Federal Government to sell them off.

The PUNCH reports that the Federal Government has consistently expended resources on the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries, which became moribund many years ago. It was gathered that $1.4bn was approved for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery in 2021, $897m was earmarked for Warri, and $586m for the Kaduna refinery.

N100bn was reportedly spent on refinery rehabilitation in 2021, with N8.33bn monthly expenditure. A total of $396.33m was allegedly spent on turnaround maintenance between 2013 and 2017. Despite all the financial allocations, the refineries remain unproductive as of the time of this report.

The new GCEO of NNPC, Bayo Ojulari, rejected calls for the sale of the refineries, expressing confidence that the three plants would be revamped. When the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, said the government refineries might never work again, Ojulari said the plants would come back to life.

Ojulari recently said the company was assessing the operational and commercial viability of its three refineries to determine whether to overhaul or repurpose them for enhanced efficiency and profitability.

According to him, the ongoing technical and commercial review is part of a broader plan to reposition the refineries as sustainable, revenue-generating assets that can meet Nigeria’s fuel demand and align with international operational standards.

He stated that the review marks the beginning of a new era in Nigeria’s refining sector. According to Ojulari, NNPC Limited is currently in the “Technical and Commercial Review” phase, aimed at assessing the operational state of all three refineries and determining whether to upgrade or repurpose the facilities for optimal performance and long-term sustainability.

In November, the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority said the NNPC imported a significant quantity of petrol. Marketers said this was largely due to the dormancy of the government refineries.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has reshuffled critical directors in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, following rumours of serious corrupt practices by key officers of the aviation regulatory agency.

The reshuffle of the senior officers may not be unconnected with allegations of inefficiency and compromised oversight in the agency’s Directorate of Airworthiness Standards.

This comes as the Nigeria Safety Investigation Board, on December 14, 2025, and December 16, 2025, respectively, issued reports indicating major aircraft incidents involving unscheduled aircraft.

According to the reports, a Hawker 800XP with eight persons on board crash-landed at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, while a Cessna 172 aircraft also crashed on approach at the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri. However, none of the four persons on board the latter aircraft was hurt.

In a report by ThisDay newspaper barely a week ago, the minister confirmed awareness of the rumour against the agency and also confirmed receipt of documents in that regard. Keyamo vowed to launch an investigation into the allegations and said he would make the results of the investigation public.

Speaking with the newspaper, the minister expressed worry that since the documents had been in the public space, concerned authorities had not reacted to the allegations. He said his ministry was conducting a comprehensive investigation into the matter, insisting that, as Minister of Aviation, he could not allow anything that would threaten air safety under his watch.

Less than seven days later, the reshuffle was effected under the directive of the minister. The Directorate of Airworthiness Standards in the NCAA is a powerhouse through which the agency ensures civil aircraft are safe and meet high standards.

It oversees certification, maintenance, and ongoing compliance with International Civil Aviation Organisation rules, handles aircraft registration, issues Certificates of Airworthiness, approves Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul, develops technical standards to keep aircraft airworthy throughout their life cycle, and ensures reliability for flight operations.

However, the directorate has been in the eye of the storm, with different fingers pointing at the section over alleged irregularities. The allegations gained urgency following a series of aircraft incidents investigated by the Nigeria Safety Investigation Board.

On December 14, 2025, a Hawker 800XP aircraft, registered as 5N-ISB, crash-landed at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with eight persons on board after experiencing a landing gear anomaly.

Two days later, a Cessna 172 aircraft, registered as 5N-ASR, crashed on approach to the Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport in Owerri. No fatalities were recorded in either incident.

Earlier accidents included the August 1, 2023, crash of a Jabiru J430 aircraft, registered as 5N-CCQ, which reportedly occurred shortly after the aircraft was issued a Special Certificate of Airworthiness. This certification was among several approvals issued without exhaustive technical scrutiny, it was learnt.

With the reshuffle, Godwin Balang, formerly Director of Aerodromes and Airspace Standards, has been redeployed to head the Directorate of Airworthiness Standards, while Alhaji Ahmad Abba, the former Director of Special Duties in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, was redeployed to the Directorate of Aerodromes and Airspace Standards to replace Balang.

Balang formally assumed office at his new department on Tuesday at the headquarters of the NCAA in Abuja. It was learnt that the move was an intervention measure aimed at tightening control over a department accused by insiders of regulatory laxity and procedural compromise.

Sources at the ministry, who did not want their names in print for fear of reprimand, told The PUNCH that Balang formally assumed office at his new department on Tuesday at the headquarters of the NCAA in Abuja.

A ministry source said, “The airworthiness department is where safety either stands or collapses. When leadership is changed at that level, it is rarely accidental.”

When contacted, the media aide to the minister, Tunde Moshood, said the reshuffle was for administrative effectiveness, adding that the investigation opened by the minister was still ongoing.

He said, “It has nothing to do with the complaints; sometimes you just must do some things. The investigation is still ongoing.”

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and 12 other ministries, departments, and agencies of the Federal Government recorded zero in the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.

According to a publication by the ICPC on Wednesday, of the 357 MDAs screened, the NNPC ranks last, scoring zero across all four key pillar indicators.

However, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission was the highest-rated agency, scoring 91.83. The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission was 278 on the list with a score of 38.25.

According to the ICPC, the Ethics and Integrity Compliance Scorecard was conceived as a diagnostic and accountability tool to strengthen transparency, ethical conduct, and institutional resilience within Nigeria’s public sector.

The scorecard, it said, has evolved into a vital benchmark for measuring compliance across four key pillar indicators of Management Culture and Structure, Financial Management Systems, Administrative Systems, and the Anti-corruption and Transparency Unit, which collectively capture the critical dimensions of ethics and governance within the public service.

For the 2025 assessment year, it was said that the EICS was deployed across 360 target MDAs of the Federal Government. Out of this number, three MDAs were exempted from the exercise, leaving a total of 357 MDAs effectively assessed.

Earlier, while presenting the scorecard on Tuesday, the ICPC Chairman, Dr Aliyu Musa, who was represented by the Director of the Systems Study and Review Department, Mr Olusegun Adigun, said the assessment exposed widespread weaknesses in ethical standards and institutional integrity across government agencies.

According to him, of the MDAs assessed, only 48 (13.95 per cent) recorded substantial compliance, 132 MDAs (38.37 per cent) achieved partial compliance, while 141 MDAs (40.99 per cent) showed poor compliance. 23 MDAs (6.69 per cent) were classified as non-compliant.

“No MDA achieved full compliance,” Adigun said, adding that 13 MDAs out of the 357 deployed for assessment were non-responsive and consequently classified as high-risk institutions.

The Wednesday advertorial showed that the NNPC tops the list of those 13 MDAs classified as high-risk.

Others are the Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos; the Federal Civil Service Commission, Abuja; the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, Abuja; the Federal Medical Centre, Hong, Adamawa State; the University of Calabar; the Cross River Basin Development Authority, Calabar; and the Federal College of Education, Obudu, Cross River.

It further listed the Federal College of Medical Laboratory Science and Technology, Benue; the National Metallurgical Development Centre, Jos, Plateau State; the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Abia State; the Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, Kwara State; and the Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State.

The top-compliant MDAs are NUPRC, the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Commission, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, the Bank of Industry, and others.

The ICPC stated that it will continue administering EICS to MDAs. It also threatened to profile MDAs with consistently low scores of non-compliance.

“This is to ensure and encourage MDAs’ compliance with government statutes, policies, and directives to promote integrity, accountability, efficiency, and productivity in government business. However, MDAs with consistently low scores of non-compliance and no responsive status will be subjected to profiling through system studies and appropriate enforcement actions,” the ICPC stated.

The NNPC spokesman, Andy Odeh, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report. Odeh did not answer calls to his phone, nor did he reply to messages sent to him.

Fidelity Bank Plc has donated essential firefighting and preventive equipment, including hoses and gasoline water pumps, to the Ikoyi Fire Service Station in Lagos.

In a statement on Monday, it was revealed that the donation was made under the Fidelity Helping Hands Programme by the True Serve team, reaffirming the bank’s commitment to the environment and community safety.

Through the FHHP, members of staff identify areas of critical community needs, raise funds, and then receive matching monetary support from the bank to execute the projects.

Commenting on the reason behind the donation, Divisional Head, Brand and Communications Division, Fidelity Bank Plc, Dr Meksley Nwagboh, emphasised that the donation reflected the bank’s dedication to strengthening emergency response capabilities and promoting public safety within the communities it serves.

“Fidelity Bank remains committed to supporting initiatives that contribute to the protection of our environment, lives and property. We see community safety as a shared responsibility and continuously extend support to both corporate bodies and individuals.

“We believe that preventive measures are far more effective than reactionary responses. This donation is part of our efforts to drive sustainable practices by providing the necessary tools. Our goal is to ensure that people live meaningful, safe, and empowered lives,” he said.

In her comments, Lagos State Controller, Federal Fire Service and Controller of Fire, Funke Adebayo, commended Fidelity Bank for the timely support, while cautioning residents to exercise heightened vigilance during the festive period, especially with the dry weather conditions.

“We appreciate Fidelity Bank for this timely donation. We are in a harsh weather period where fire incidents can escalate quickly. Parents must educate and caution children against the use of fireworks during celebrations. Fire should never be treated carelessly,” Adebayo said.

She noted that the Fire Service has embarked on sensitisation visits to various corporate organisations, warning against unsafe practices that could lead to preventable fire outbreaks.

On his part, Area Commander of the Onikan Fire Station and Chief Superintendent of Fire, Michael Oswere, expressed appreciation to Fidelity Bank for supporting their operations. He encouraged families, business owners, and community members to prioritise fire safety at all times.

“Everyone has a role to play in preventing fire incidents at home and in the workplace. This support from Fidelity Bank will go a long way in enhancing our capacity to protect the community,” CSF Oswere added.

Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged commercial deposit money bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and its United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.