The Nation Newspaper

Tag: fixed

  • 2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: Eagles defence has been fixed, says coach Yusuf

    2018 WORLD CUP QUALIFIER: Eagles defence has been fixed, says coach Yusuf

    Super Eagles chief coach, Salisu Yusuf has said the team have fixed some of their defensive frailties in their last three matches.

    The back four has been widely regarded as the Eagles Achilles Heel, but Yusuf said they have worked hard to make that department a lot more solid recently.

    “The defence was a worry, but in the last three matches we have played we have only conceded a goal,” he stated on a live television programme Friday.

    “We are playing with a lot more discipline back in the defence with players who are playing regularly at their clubs.”

    The central defence partnership of Leon Balogun and William Troost-Ekong will be dislodged for the upcoming World Cup qualifier in Zambia following injury to Balogun.

    However, Yusuf said recalled Kenneth Omeruo and Jamiu Alimi will now battle to partner Troost-Ekong in the heart of the defence with last-minute replacement, Uche Agbo from Granada CF expected to come around for the experience.

    He also revealed that both he and head coach Gernot Rohr have adopted a 4-2-3-1 formation for the Eagles because that is what suits the team with the talent at their disposal now.

  • DisCos battle to recover unpaid fixed charge

    Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) are battling to recover huge unpaid fixed charge from defaulting customers.

    The Nation learnt that the DisCos are insisting on payment of the charge before customers recharge their meters.

    The customers were said to have  defaulted in fixed charge payment before its abolition last February 1.

    The DisCos’ managements have warned their officials not to recharge debtor-customers’meters  until they have paid.

    Most of the business units in Ikeja Electric (IK) visited by The Nation, showed that such customers have been barred from recharging their meters.

    A manager in Ponle Business  Unit of Ikeja Electric at Egbeda, Lagos, said power firms would ensure that the debts are paid before customers are allowed to recharge their meters.

    He said: “From the available information at our disposal, it is clear that a lot of customers were indebted to the power distribution companies. Of note is debt arising from non-payment of fixed charges.  There are two approaches of recovering fixed charges owed by customers. First, DisCos have factored the fixed charges into monthly bills they are issuing to customers every month. Secondly, firms are compelling customers to clear arrears of fixed charges they owe before they are allowed to recharge their meters.”

    He said power firms have ruled out the issue of concessions for customers that owe fixed charges, stressing that customers are under obligations to pay their debts.

    “Many customers have approached us for concessions on the issue of payment of fixed charges they owe before it was abolished by the government. However, we told them point blank that we cannot give them concessions. Energy business is different from trading in pepper and onion, in which you can go to the market and pile up your debts. The only way for the DisCos to grow is to collect all their debts,” he added.

  • Electricity fixed charge: Where is the change?

    Sir: The affable minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has explained to Nigerians why it is necessary to jerk up the tariff for electricity. But he didn’t talk about the fixed charge which all Nigerians have been  kicking against since the privatization took place. The fixed charge is now seen as Federal Government-regulated fraud. It makes the DISCOs not to be serious with the business of improving power supply, as cheap money enters their pockets on a monthly basis. I give an example : If 50 million Nigerians are using pre-paid meters, they pay N750 to the DISCOs monthly, that is N750 x 50,000 000.

    A consumer who wants to recharge his or her prepaid meter with N4,000  gets  units worth N3,250 as N750 is forcefully deducted from the amount presented for the recharge. If there is equipment failure such as a broken down transformer for six months, whenever the affected consumers want to recharge  after restoring power, the fixed charge must be paid for the six months that power was not supplied. Is this not fraud? If not that many Nigerians don’t know their rights, this can be argued in the court. Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that consumers should not pay fixed charge if they didn’t have light for 14 days in a month. How do consumers prove to the cashier in the bank that light was not supplied for 14 days?  It is now very obvious that Nigerians are paying for staying in darkness!

    The  fixed charge was imposed on Nigerians by the PDP-led government in favour of its cronies who acquired the DISCOs. The regulatory body, NERC, was appointed by the former regime to be in an unholy alliance with the largely ineffectual DISCOs to perpetrate the fraud. It is strange that the APC -led government is still maintaining the status quo. Then where is the CHANGE? The fixed charge should please be abolished or embedded in the tariff to propel the DISCOs to be serious.    Some of the DISCOs have formed the habit of switching off power so that they pay less to the GENCOs at the detriment of consumers who pay outrageous estimated bills and unholy fixed charge. It is imperative that the honourable minister looks into these issues dispassionately before approving the new tariff.

     

    • Terry Andrews Odisu,

    Warri, Delta State.     

  • Trial of Ali’s son, others fixed for Nov 26

    Lagos State High Court, Ikeja, yesterday fixed November 26 for the re-arraignment of Mamman Ali, son of former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chairman, Ahmadu Ali and three others for alleged N4.4 billion fuel subsidy fraud.

    The defendants were scheduled to be re-arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo yesterday but the court failed to sit. No reason was given.

    Mamman Ali was arraigned on July 26 with Christian Taylor and Nasaman Oil Services for an alleged N2.2 billion fuel subsidy fraud.

    At the last sitting on October 30, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) informed the court of its intention to re-arraign the defendants on an amended charge.

    EFCC counsel Francis Usani said the amended charge would enable them to join another oil marketer, Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, as a co-defendant in the matter.

    In the amended charge now before the court, the defendants would be facing a 13-count of fuel subsidy fraud.

    The EFCC, in the new charge, alleged that the defendants were involved in subsidy fraud amounting to about N4.4 billion.

    The commission alleged that the defendants had conspired to obtain the money from the Federal Government for the purported importation of 30.5million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

    The EFCC said the alleged offences contravened Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act of 2006

     

  • Glo connects Lekki Estate to its fixed network

    National Carrier, Globacom, has begun the connection of residential estates in Lagos and other cities to its fixed line network, riding on the Glo Broadaccess infrastructure.

    As part of this roll out drive, the company has connected NICON Town, one of the newest residential estates on the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos.

    The Head of Glo Broadaccess, Mr. Karuna Menon, said the telecommunications company is delivering high quality voice service, data transmission, high speed Internet services and video streaming to the 433 plots in the estate.

    He said Globacom’s fibre optic cable laid earlier on the Lekki-Epe axis makes it easier for the estate to connect to Glo’s fibre optic infrastructure.

    Menon added that from the fibre cable on the expressway, the infrastructure is stepped down in a central hub in the estate and redistributed to homes to connect end users.

    A visit to NICON Estate showed that Globacom’s network installation in the estate has the capacity for 1568 connections, though the estate currently has about 433 houses. Residents have the privilege of choosing whatever bandwidth bundle they wish, based on their Internet usage requirements and this is made available by the wireless multiple cable points or both.

    “The infrastructure is robust and unique, not seen anywhere in Africa,” Menon said.

    The management of the estate attested to the speed and capacity of the Glo Broadaccess network.

    According to the General Manager of the NICON Town Management Company, Mr. Jimmy Osho, residents are capable of downloading or uploading films, videos and heavy data files with incredible Internet speed.

    On the cost of the facility to residents, Osho said last mile connections to the homes are affordable and the tariff is based on the individual monthly usage.

    Besides the NICON Estate, several high-end customers have been connected to the Glo Broadaccess network and are enjoying the services.

    Menon noted that more estates in the country have shown enthusiasm in the service “and we hope to spread the coverage in a very short time.”