Business
Nigeria’s inflation eases to 15.91% in June amid rising food prices — NBS
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.91 per cent in June, down from 15.93 per cent recorded in May, offering a modest sign of slowing price pressures even as food prices continued to rise.
The bureau disclosed this in its latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday.
According to the report, the headline inflation rate was significantly lower than the 25.29 per cent recorded in June 2025, representing a year-on-year decline. Compared with May, the inflation rate fell by 0.02 percentage points.
Similarly, on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation slowed to 1.66 per cent in June from 1.75 per cent in May, indicating that the average price level increased at a slower pace during the month.
“This means that in June 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in May 2026,” the NBS said.
The report also showed that the Consumer Price Index rose to 143.0 in June from 140.7 in May, reflecting a 2.3-point increase in the average price level.
Food prices
While overall inflation moderated slightly, food prices continued to exert pressure on household budgets.
The NBS said food inflation stood at 17.52 per cent on a year-on-year basis in June, compared with 25.41 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.
However, on a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 3.75 per cent in June from 2.98 per cent recorded in May.
According to the bureau, the increase was driven by higher prices of several staple food items, including fresh pepper, tomatoes, crayfish, beef, garri, yam tubers, yam flour, cassava flour, cowpea, bananas and Irish potatoes.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to headline inflation, accounting for 6.37 percentage points.
Other major contributors included restaurants and accommodation services (2.06 percentage points), transport (1.70 percentage points), housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.34 percentage points), education (0.99 percentage points) and health (0.96 percentage points).
Core inflation moderates
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 15.92 per cent year-on-year in June, down from 25.41 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year.
On a month-on-month basis, core inflation also moderated to 1.66 per cent, compared with 1.94 per cent in May.
The report further showed that the average headline inflation rate for the 12 months ending June 2026 stood at 17.63 per cent, lower than 29.82 per cent recorded in June 2025.
Likewise, the average annual food inflation rate declined to 16.42 per cent from 31.93 per cent in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The NBS said urban inflation stood at 16.08 per cent year-on-year, while rural inflation was 15.48 per cent.
On a month-on-month basis, urban inflation increased to 2.13 per cent from 1.99 per cent in May, whereas rural inflation slowed to 0.52 per cent from 1.17 per cent.
Inflation varies across states
The report also highlighted wide disparities in inflation across the country.
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s inflation up 15.93% amid high food prices – NBS
Niger State recorded the highest annual all-items inflation rate at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi (41.59 per cent) and the Federal Capital Territory (39.91 per cent).
By contrast, Imo State posted the lowest annual inflation rate at 19.47 per cent, followed by Ebonyi (20.79 per cent) and Katsina (21.87 per cent).
For food inflation, Kogi State recorded the highest year-on-year rate at 53.02 per cent, followed by Niger (43.83 per cent) and Benue (40.83 per cent).
The lowest food inflation rates were recorded in Katsina (19.15 per cent), Rivers (23.81 per cent) and Imo (24.60 per cent).
The June inflation figures come as Nigeria continues to navigate the effects of ongoing economic reforms, including exchange rate adjustments and higher energy and transportation costs, which have contributed to elevated consumer prices over the past two years.
Nigeria’s crude oil and condensate production rose by 0.4 per cent to 1,677,777 barrels per day (bpd) in August 2026.
The Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) disclosed this in its crude oil and condensate statistics report released on Sunday.
The commission said crude oil production, excluding condensate, averaged 1,500,190 bpd during the month under review.
It added that Nigeria met its Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) crude oil quota for the fourth consecutive month.
According to the report, combined crude oil and condensate production fluctuated between a daily low of 1.64 million barrels and a high of 1.71 million barrels.
The report showed that Bonny Terminal recorded the highest average production at 320.04 thousand barrels per day (kbpd).
Forcados Terminal followed closely, recording an average daily production of 317.40 kbpd during the month.
“Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 171.72kbpd of crude oil and condensates,” the report said.
It added that Escravos Oil Terminal recorded a daily average production of 131.71 kbpd during the period.
Bonga ranked fifth among the highest-producing terminals, with an average output of 92.50 kbpd of crude oil.
Factors behind the increase in production
The NUPRC attributed the modest increase in August production largely to the resolution of operational challenges involving the Single Buoy Mooring (SBM) at the Erha field.
The commission said the challenges had adversely affected production performance in the preceding month.
It explained that restoring normal evacuation and production operations at the Erha field contributed positively to overall production volumes in August.
“Production activities across most other producing assets remained relatively stable,” the report said.
It said operators continued implementing measures to optimise production efficiency, maintain asset integrity and minimise operational disruptions.
The commission added that routine production and crude evacuation operations were generally sustained across the industry during the period.
“These supported the observed improvement in output,” it said.
The report described the August increase as modest but said it reflected continuing industry efforts to address operational bottlenecks.
It said stakeholders were also working to restore affected production capacity and support sustained growth in the coming months.
The commission said operators remained focused on improving asset reliability and operational resilience across Nigeria’s upstream petroleum sector.
READ ALSO: Akwa Ibom communities demand action on abandoned oil wells
It added that intervention programmes were being advanced to strengthen production performance and reduce disruptions.
The August performance, according to the NUPRC, underscored the importance of resolving operational constraints promptly.
It also highlighted the need for effective asset management and continued collaboration among industry stakeholders.
Such measures, the commission said, remained critical to safeguarding and improving Nigeria’s crude oil production capacity.
(NAN)
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Business
Cornerstone Insurance Unveils “Cornerstone 3.0” Transformation Agenda at 2026 Brokers’ Business Lunch
Cornerstone Insurance PLC has unveiled key elements of its transformation agenda, “Cornerstone 3.0,” aimed at strengthening its operations, enhancing customer experience and positioning the company for sustainable growth.
The agenda was a major focus at the company’s 2026 Brokers’ Business Lunch, recently held at the Metropolitan Club, Lagos, with brokers, stakeholders and members of Cornerstone’s management team.
The gathering provided an opportunity to share the company’s broader strategic direction with the market, backed by the support of its majority shareholder, Chapel Hill Denham. The partnership with Chapel Hill Denham forms part of Cornerstone’s broader growth and transformation journey, as the company strengthens its business, enhances its market position and prepares for its next phase of growth.
The event was led by Stephen Alangbo, Managing Director/CEO, Cornerstone Insurance PLC; Kola Adekoya, Acting Managing Director, FIN Insurance Company LTD and Abdur Rasheed Babalola, Managing Director, Hilal Takaful Insurance.
Speaking at the event, Mr. Alangbo, outlined Cornerstone’s vision for its next phase of growth, highlighting the significant changes taking place across the business. At the heart of this journey is Cornerstone 3.0, a transformation programme focused on building a more agile, technology-driven and customer-centric insurance business. A key component of the transformation is the planned restructuring into Cornerstone Life and Cornerstone General, alongside the continued development of Hilal Takaful Insurance to expand the company’s Takaful offerings, subject to final approval by NAICOM.
Technology also remains a key component of the agenda, with the evolution of CiCi, Cornerstone’s AI-powered customer service platform, including its voicebot capability, aimed at making services such as enquiries, complaints, claims, policy renewals and insurance purchases more accessible.
Mr. Alangbo further reaffirmed their commitment to fast and efficient claims processing, recognising responsive claims service as central to delivering value and building customer trust.
The Brokers’ Lunch also provided an opportunity for Cornerstone to engage directly with the brokers, receive feedback and identify areas for improved collaboration. Stephen Alangbo acknowledged brokers as key drivers of the business and encouraged them to continue to consider Cornerstone as a first-choice partner for their clients’ corporate, individual and Takaful insurance needs.
The engagement reflects Cornerstone’s commitment to working closely with its broker network, as it advances its transformation agenda and builds a more agile, innovative and customer-focused insurance business.
The post Cornerstone Insurance Unveils “Cornerstone 3.0” Transformation Agenda at 2026 Brokers’ Business Lunch appeared first on Business Today NG.
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