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Tag: Fed Govt

  • ‘Fed Govt should punish marketers diverting fuel’

    ‘Fed Govt should punish marketers diverting fuel’

    The Vice President of Industrial Global Union, Comrade Issa Aremu, has urged the Federal Government to ensure marketers diverting fuel are punished.

    Aremu spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at a special lecture to mark his 57th birthday.

    The labour leader said the nation was grappling with multitude of problems because it has been enmeshed in governance crisis and not fuel crisis as being insinuated.

    He identified the crisis in the petroleum as fundamental, saying it requires sustainable domestic supply with availability of refineries in the country.

    He called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rein in on cabals in the oil industry, who he alleged, were all out to inflict hardship on the entire populace.

    Aremu said: “Better late than never. I commend the two stakeholders meetings recently convened by President Buhari and the Senate leadership on the petroleum crisis. I follow the deliberations keenly.

    “Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu listed the problems facing the downstream petroleum sector, as lack of sufficient reserve, low clearance speed of petrol at the ports, diversion of products as some of the reasons for the ongoing fuel crisis being experienced in the country.

    “All the identified problems show that Nigeria does not have fuel crisis but governance crisis. It is government through the NNPC that must have enough product reserve. It is the government that must clear products timely at the port. It is the government that must fix refineries at home. It’s the government that must put an end to criminal corruption ridden products imports for which Nigeria spends as much as $12 billion annually.

    “The Federal Government should not only make marketers responsible for every tank of fuel up until point of delivery, but there must also be severe consequences for product diversions. Diversion of critical inelastic indispensable product like petrol must be treated as an act of terrorism.

    “The current fuel crisis shows that there is no substitute for good governance. As we can see near deregulation over the years means nothing but fuel price increases for the masses, trillions Naira reaps off for the cabals.

    “The point cannot be overstated; President Buhari should know that market dogma in terms of deregulation, is no substitute for governance. There is the need for national as well corporate governance in both the upstream and downstream petroleum sector. There should be prompt sanctions for non-compliance and rewards for those who play by the rules. The National Assembly must make oversight function routine. Legislators must be more proactive. Notwithstanding their latest commendable efforts, their action is still reactive not proactive. Never again should government at all levels be off duty. Marketers are in business to make profit, which they would do through padded fuel price template or blatant products diversions as revealed not long ago by Minister of State, Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu.

    “However the government is there to ensure the prosperity of the nation and the welfare of the citizens. It is wrong for government officials to privilege marketers who are just interested in profit making with special exchange rate with utter disregard for the real sector of the economy and welfare of all.

    “The challenge facing the petroleum downstream sector goes beyond pricing. The fundamental issue is sustainable domestic supply, which can only be made possible through reinvention of the existing domestic refineries and building of more.

    “Nigerians want to see the President and Vice President commissioning new refineries in line with the promise of Economic Recovery and Growth Plan that Nigeria will refine 80 percent in 2018. We don’t want to see Executive petroleum fuel attendant but Executive service and product delivery.

    “Unfortunately Nigerians have not seen much activism on the part of the government in this direction.”

  • Fed Govt to stem job losses, says Ngige

    Fed Govt to stem job losses, says Ngige

    Minister of Labour and Employment Senator Chris Ngige has assured Nigerians of a brighter year, adding that the Federal Government has moved to stem job losses and create new ones.

    The Minister, in a New Year message, urged Nigerians not to tremble over the statistics on job losses released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

    He said the development was  modulated by a similar release by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which indicated more than seven million job growth in the agricultural sector.

    Ngige said: “I wish to assure Nigerians that 2018 will not be as bleak as 2017 in terms of job losses as the Federal Government has put enough checks to forestall a repeat of what was encountered in 2017.

    “As a matter of fact, the figure released by the NBC must be placed

    alongside statistics by the CBN, which showed that over seven million jobs have been created in the agricultural sector. This is the only way to arrive at a balanced job situation in the country.”

    He further noted that the Federal Government will work harder in the New Year to create more jobs and sustain the current efforts at protecting the existing ones.

    The minister said: “We shall continue to maintain our principled stand against retrenchment and encourage the state governments to do same.”

  • Fed Govt urged to overhaul security outfits in Rivers

    Fed Govt urged to overhaul security outfits in Rivers

    An ex-Deputy Speaker of Rivers State House of Assembly, Leyii Kwanee, has decried the killing of residents of Omoku in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area (ONELGA), on New Year Day by yet-to-be-identified gunmen.

    Seventeen persons were reportedly murdered in cold blood on Monday morning while returning from new year service.

    The actual figure was yet to be ascertained. The police claimed that 16 bodies were recovered when they visited the scene on Monday, but the local government Chairman, Osi Olisa, put the number at 17.

    Kwanee condemned incessant killings of innocent people and urged the Federal Government to intervene.

    He sympathised with Governor Nyesom Wike, saying he lacked the ability to handle the situation, which, according to him, had gone out of hand.

    The Deputy Speaker of Rivers 7th Assembly said if the Federal Government does not step in, the state will be wiped out.

    He said:  ”I am saddened and moved to tears by the killing of innocent people in Omoku. This kind of killing has become rampant. The New Year Day killing in Omoku is sad, it is not acceptable, it is condemnable.

    “I am not here in my capacity as a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), but as a concerned Rivers indigene. I’m here as somebody who is touched, pained by this recurring negative event. I am speaking out because I believe I am the conscience of this state and if nobody wants to speak out, I will speak.

    “There seems to be a failure of governance. I have in my earlier media chat said Rivers State is a few steps away from the war-torn Syria. What is happening in this state looks as if there is no government in place.

    “To compound the situation, in the midst of these, the news everywhere is that the governor has been named as Silver Bird Man of the Year. What a contradiction! When we know that there is governmental failure. That the streets of Port Harcourt have been taken over by dustbin, among others.

    “The fundamental duty of every government is to secure life and property. But this is not in place in this state.

    “Governor Wike has failed to secure life and property. We cannot say we have a government.

    “I am not against Wike, I have always been his fan from the time he was the chairman of Obio/Akpor Council. But it appears insecurity has overwhelmed him.  It is time the Federal Government took a critical look at the security situation before residents are eliminated.”

    The governor had promised to give anyone that could provide information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators N200 million.

    He spoke after visiting Alaigu community where the crime was committed and the woman whose husband and three children were killed.

    Wike, who condemned the killing, pledged that the government would not allow a recurrence.

  • IPMAN urges Fed Govt to invest more in modular refineries to end fuel scarcity

    IPMAN urges Fed Govt to invest more in modular refineries to end fuel scarcity

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) yesterday urged the Federal Government to invest more in modular refineries as a way to end fuel scarcity.

    Its Chairman, South-west zone, Alhaji Debo Ahmed, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo only two days ago in Lagos, confirmed that 10 modular refineries were at advanced stages of development in the Niger Delta.

    The 10 modular refineries are located in five out of the nine states in the Niger Delta.

    The states include Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Imo states.

    Osinbajo said two of the refineries, Amakpe Refinery (Akwa Ibom), and OPAC Refinery (Delta State), have had their mini-refinery modules already fabricated, assembled and containerized overseas and ready for shipment to Nigeria for installation.

    The total proposed refining capacities of the 10 licensed refineries stands at 300,000 barrels.

    Ahmed said the modular refineries could help address any shortfall in fuel supply pending when additional refineries would be built.

    “It will also boost the country’s revenue generation and address frequent fuel capacity experienced during the yuletide seasons.

    “Our expectation in 2018 is for the government to invest more on modular refineries to be able to have more petrol locally to address scarcity,’’ he said.

    Ahmed said government had performed credibility well in the downstream sector in 2017, adding that it should crown it by building more modular refineries.

    According to him, a modular refinery is cheaper to build and it can move from one place to another.

    “A modular refinery is capable of refining between 10,000 and 35,000 barrels of crude oil per day,’’he said.

    He also urged the government to provide incentives that would attract investors to the oil and gas sector.

  • Fed Govt’s renewable energy projects: An overview

    President Muhammadu Buhari told the National Assembly that the Federal Government would launch the first African Sovereign Green Bond in December 2017 to finance renewable energy projects.

    The President, while presenting the 2018 Budget proposal, said: “I am pleased to inform this distinguished assembly that the Federal Government will be launching the first African Sovereign Green Bond in December 2017.

    “The bond will be used to finance renewable energy projects. We are very excited about this development, as it will go a long way in solving many of our energy challenges, especially in the hinterland.’’

    As a follow-up, the Debt Management Office (DMO) and the Federal Ministry of Environment, in collaboration with Green Bond Advisory Group, on December 14, organised the Nigeria Green Bond Investors Forum in Abuja and Lagos.

    Stakeholders at the forum include: Pension Funds Administrators (PFAs), the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Inter-ministerial Committee on Climate Change and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

    Others are: DMO, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the World Bank and Chapel Hill Denham Group as well as representatives of private sector organisations.

    The DMO Director-General, Ms. Patience Oniha, said  the forum was organised to educate prospective investors in the Green Bond programme to know the benefits of investing in green bond projects.

    Ms. Oniha said that the Federal Government would soon issue N10.6 billion green bonds to finance renewable energy projects in efforts to protect the environment.

    The director-general said the Federal Government acted to borrow the N10.6 billion, in line with its borrowing agenda contained in the 2017 budget.

    According to her, more funds will be allocated to finance green bond projects in the subsequent budgets.

    Oniha said that the bonds would be used to finance three renewable energy projects, which were Renewable Energy Micro-Utilities Programme, Re-energising Education Programme and Afforestation Programme.

    Also speaking, Mrs. Halimat Bwari, the Deputy Director, Department of Climate Change, Federal Ministry of the Environment, said that N142 billion was required to finance renewable energy projects in the country.

    She said that the ministry decided to issue the green bonds as an alternative source of funding because of the huge capital outlay which was required to finance the nation’s renewable energy projects.

    According to her, the Green Bond programme would boost the nation’s economy and protect the environment.

    Besides, Mrs. Bwari said that the ministry had inaugurated five low-carbon growth projects.

    She listed the projects as the Rural Energy Access, the Great Green Wall Programme, the National Clean Stoves Scheme, the Clean Energy Transportation Scheme and the Nigerian Erosion and Watershed Management Project.

    Mrs. said that the projects would go a long way to reduce carbon emissions in Nigeria, while facilitating the country’s efforts to meet its commitments in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

    As part of efforts to promote renewable projects in the country, the Federal Government has called for public-private sector collaboration in efforts to promote the use of clean cook stoves.

    The Minister of State for the Environment, Ibrahim Jibril, while speaking at the 2017 Nigeria Clean Cooking Forum in Abuja, solicited the partnership to develop domestic market for made-in-Nigeria clean cook stoves.

    The minister, who underscored the need to develop and expand the market, emphasised that the government and the private sector ought to work together in growing the market for made-in-Nigeria clean cook stoves.

    According to him, clean cooking techniques constitute a priority area in efforts to achieve the goals of Nigeria’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), which aims at reducing carbon emissions in the country.

    “It also aims to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases; clean cooking energy for all is not only possible but a right for our citizens,’’ he said.

    Senate President Bukola Saraki stressed the need to step up activities and actions  aimed at increasing the use of clean energy by households in the country.

    He said that the citizens’ consumption of over 500 million kilogrammes of firewood every day was an enormous strain on the nation’s forest resources.

    Besides, Saraki said that nearly 65,000 people died every year in Nigeria due to household air pollution, while more than four million people died because of household air pollution globally annually.

    According to him, more than 50 per cent of these fatalities are children and women.

    The senate president, who underscored the need to increase the usage of clean cooking stoves by households, said that the stoves would save lives and help to create additional jobs for people in the country.

    A stove manufacturer, Mr Biodun Olaore, who is the Country Director, Envirofit Nigeria, urged the government to create public awareness on the menace of indoor air pollution and deforestation to enable Nigerians to embrace the clean cooking technology.

  • Fed Govt urged to review rebranding campaign

    The Lead Consultant, Above Media, has advised the Federal Government to review its rebranding campaign.

    Yusuf, author of Appraisal of the Rebranding campaign of the Federal Government of Nigeria stated this ahead of the launch of his book.

    The book examines the image crisis in Nigeria and the attempts at branding and rebranding the nation. Also analysed are the kind of reactions that the rebranding elicited and a prognosis on what could be done.

    According to Yusuf, a doctoral student of Public Affairs and Administration, Walden University, the image crisis between 1993 and 1999 was attributed to the country’s lack of democratic progress.

    While arguing that the rebranding campaign seemed to be more of a cosmetic remedy, the author recommends, among other panaceas, that beyond sloganeering, the government should address the issues that led to the image crisis.

    In the 123-page book,  Yusuf, traces back the crisis of the country to after independence.

    The book will be launched in Lagos next January.

  • Fed Govt approves LPG extraction plant for Green Energy

    Fed Govt approves LPG extraction plant for Green Energy

    The Federal Government has approved  the establishment of a liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG ) extraction plant at Ikuru Town, Rivers state for  Green Energy International Limited, the Operator of the Otakikpo marginal field in OML 11.

    The license to Establish ( LTE)  of the 12MMSCFD  capacity plant, was issued to the company by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) as the company moves to fulfill its obligations  as  a pilot project approved by government  for zero gas flares operation in the Niger Delta.

    Director Legal & Corporate Matters, Olusegun Ilori made this known in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday.

    According to the statement, the company which began production in February 2017 said  it was determined to ensure full utilization of the gas produced from the field for LPG  and power generation.

    It stated that the approval has made it possible for the company to make final investment decision (FID) by awarding the Engineering, Procurement, Construction & Installation of the LPG Extraction Plant to PCC-LAMBDA Consortium, formed between Nigeria Indigenous companies and a Chinese  company -Peiyang Chemical Equipment Co. Ltd (PCC), who is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and will be responsible for manufacturing and design activities associated with this project. The LPG Extraction plant has the following design  output capacities

    Ilori  said  the gas utilization programme involve the use of the lean  gas  to power the 12MW gas generator at Otakikpo field out of which 5MW would be dedicated to the host  communities in line with its  MOU with the government  while the LPG & propane would be bottled and sold. Part of the LPG shall be for domestic use within Otakikpo communities in order to support small scale industries.

    He said the  LPG plant  which is expected to be completed within 12 months would be a booster for Nigeria’s drive toward utilization of gas resources for domestic gas is expected to be completed within 12 months .

  • Fuel scarcity: Falana advises Fed Govt to deploy police to monitor supply of fuel

    Fuel scarcity: Falana advises Fed Govt to deploy police to monitor supply of fuel

    Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has advised the Federal Government to mobilise the police to monitor the supply of petroleum product throughout the country and ensure that all saboteurs are arrested and prosecuted forthwith.

    He said in a statement issued yesterday titled, “Unending Fuel Scarcity”, that this has become necessary since government claimed to have  enough fuel to cater for all consumers in the country.

    Falana blamed the situation in the country on independent marketers which he alleged, illegally increased the pump price of the petrol despite assurances by the federal government that there is no plan to increase the price of petrol.

    He noted: “The independent marketers have said that they can no longer import refined fuel and sell at N145 per litre. Convinced that the government lacks the political will to deal with them the marketers have illegally increased the pump price of the product to N300 per litre in several parts of the country.

    “The cheap blackmail of the importers ought to be rejected because they were importing the product, selling at N145 per litre and smiling to the banks when a dollar exchanged for over N500 last year.”

    The senior lawyer said the minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu and the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru, should apologise to Nigerians over the perennial scarcity of fuel being experienced across the country.

    Falana said: “Given the shortage of petrol throughout the country it is indubitably clear that Messrs Kachukwu and Baru deliberately set out to deceive the Nigerian people when they gave the misleading impression that there was enough fuel to cater for all consumers.

    “Both highly placed officials have not tendered a public apology for engaging in public deceit.”

     

     

  • Fed Govt allays fears over currency risk on dollar loans

    •$3b Eurobond, $300m Diaspora bonds listed on NSE, FMDQ

    The Federal Government has allayed fears that its increasing recourse to foreign-currency denominated bonds may pose considerable currency risk and debt crisis as government has taken measures to ensure that it maintains a prudent and sustainable debt strategy.

    Debt Management Office (DMO) Director-General, Ms Patience Oniha, who spoke at the listing of Federal Government’s Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos, said Nigeria would not be subjected to any considerable foreign currency risk given foreign exchange earnings from its crude oil and ongoing efforts to diversify the economy.

    According to her, besides the foreign exchange earnings from crude oil, the country stands to gain increased foreign exchange earnings from the ongoing economic diversification programme.

    The NSE admitted the FGN 30 year $1.5 billion Eurobond, FGN 10 year $1.5 billion Eurobond, FGN 5 Year $300 million Diaspora Bond on its daily official list.

    She said government would continue to implement a prudent fiscal and debt management strategy to reduce the cost of debt, rebalance its debt and attain a portfolio of 60:40 foreign/domestic debt structure over the coming years.

    Oniha assured that the DMO would sustain its innovative and diverse fund raising plans to ensure optimal funding structure for Nigeria to address key infrastructural challenges.

    She said the continuing listing of government’s domestic and foreign debt issues on the stock market underscored the commitment of the government to the capital market and recognition of the importance of the market in national economic development.

    She noted that amid uncertainties, the government has so far this year accessed the international capital markets four times in 2017 and at every issue, it had achieved overwhelming success.

    Oniha explained that funding the budget deficit and refinancing the government’s inherited debt portfolio have been the key drivers behind the capital raising plans so far, adding that these will lead to significant benefits, particularly in reduction of cost of funds.

    She noted that the Diaspora bond provided opportunity for Nigerians in Diaspora to contribute to the development of the nation.

    Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said the Exchange would continue to collaborate with the government in the development of Nigerian debt market.

    “We would be coming up with other types of products that will give the investors a good menu of options in terms on how to diversify portfolio,” Onyema said.

    At the listing of the Eurobonds and Diaspora Bond at the FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange, Oniha said the listings would increase the number and range of securities in the domestic capital markets, thereby deepening the market and promoting financial inclusion.

  • Fed Govt to go tough on highway vandals

    The Federal Government may have concluded plans to arrest  criminals terrorising users of the  road, The Nation has learnt.

    Sources close said the government was not happy with the artificial portholes and gullies  on the roads created by vandals with intent to rob.

    One of the sources, a Manager with the Federal Emergency Roads Management Authority (FERMA), said as part of the plan, the government summoned the authority’s chief executive officer.

    The manager, who declined to be mentioned, said the government was worried at the rate highway vandals were destroying street lights and bridges that the government spent huge amount on their repairs.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, at a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos, directed that that people who illegally occupy the federal roads and highways should vacate them

    He said the government would arrest those destroying public assets, especially roads.

    The minister said the Federal Government was concerned with the deplorable state of its roads  sometimes caused by the activities of vandals.

    Fashola said: “The government has come up with a law to stop vandalism of equipment and other unwholesome practices on the highways. Very soon, the government will enforce the law with a view to arresting some culprits and also deter others.”

    He said government, for now, is leveraging Information and  Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, such as android phones, digital cameras to deal with the situation.

    “Recently, we informed government officials to capture the faces of anybody found damaging federal roads with the aid of their phones and report the matter to designated agencies or departments under the Federal Ministry of Works. When the issues are reported to us, we will prosecute the offenders,” Fashola added.

    According to him, the government has set up what he described as “Right of Way Public Committee,” stressing that the committee has started work.