The Nation Newspaper

Tag: GMD

  • $9.8m fraud: Witness’ absence stalls ex-NNPC GMD’s trial

    $9.8m fraud: Witness’ absence stalls ex-NNPC GMD’s trial

    The trial of former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Mr. Andrew Yakubu was yesterday stalled at the Federal High Court, Abuja, due to the absence of prosecution witnesses.

    When the matter was called up, the prosecuting counsel, Mr. Ben Ikani, told the court that the matter was for continuation of trial, but that unfortunately, his witnesses were not present in court.

    Yakubu’s counsel Mr. Ahmed Raji (SAN) also told the court that in the circumstance, he had filed an application seeking the leave of court for his client to attend to his health.

    Raji told the court that the prosecution had not opposed the application.

    The trial judge, Justice Ahmed Mohammed, granted the application, as the prosecution raised no objection and adjourned the matter until May 10.

    On the last adjourned date, Mr. Waziri Nitte, the second prosecution witness, told the court how he and his colleagues raided a house in Kaduna and recovered a huge sum of money in foreign currency.

    Nitte, who was led in evidence by Ikani, told the court that he was a detective with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The witness, who said they acted based on an intelligence report that the house in question was stashed with money, added that the money recovered was taken to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

    “We searched the house and found a safe which was locked, we engaged the services of a locksmith who unlocked the safe and upon counting the money, it amounted to $9,772, 800 and £74,000.”

    Yakubu was arraigned by the EFCC on a six-count charge, bordering on non-disclosure of assets and fraud, charges to which he pleaded not guilty.

    Yakubu was alleged to have, as “Group Managing Director of NNPC between 2012 and 2014, within the jurisdiction of the court, with intent to avoid lawful transaction, transported to Kaduna $9.8 million and £74,000.

    He was also accused of failure to disclose $9.8 million and £74,000 in his asset declaration form, a crime which contravened Section 27 (3) of the EFCC Act.

  • NNPC GMD: Azikel Refinery’ll address local needs

    NNPC GMD: Azikel Refinery’ll address local needs

    The Group Managing Director, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Maikanti Baru has commended the managment of Azikel Refinery. He said  the refinery will help tackle perennial fuel scarcity in the country.

    He  lauded the President of Azikel Group, Dr Azibapu Eruani for achieving 65 per cent completion of the phase I, II and III stages, of the project stressing that investors such as Eruani deserve encouragement.

    Represented by Managing Director, Port Harcourt Refining Company, Shehu Malami, the NNPC GMD expressed optimism that the refinery construction would be completed soon to begin onward dispensing of refined petroleum product to the public.

    Azikel Refinery foundation laying was performed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Yenagoa.

    Baru said works on the perimeter fencing, loading gantry, security unit and the administrative building have attained appreciable level of completion while the core refining modules of the ISBL fabricated in Houston, US would be freight on skid and coupled at the refinery site.

    He said the 12,000 barrel per stream day (bpsd) hydro-skimming refinery would produce petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, liquified petroleum gas (LPG) and heavy fuel oil.

    Baru lauded the signing of the certificate of occupancy of the land for Azikel Refinery and Azikel Power Project issued by Governor Seriake Dickson and witnessed by  Obasanjo.

    Baru pledged the suport of NNPC  towards the completion of the project and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the policy that is improving production domestic refining and ensuring availability in all parts of the country.

    ‘’I am optimistic that the combine effort of the NNPC and output from private refineries would impact positively on capacity and improved production of petroleum product in the country,” Baru said, adding that the refinery will increase local refining capacity.

  • NNPC seeks $51b investment in gas sector, says GMD

    NNPC seeks $51b investment in gas sector, says GMD

    There is a $51 billion investment available in Nigeria’s Gas sector, Group Managing Director of Nigeria Nation Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, said yesterday.

    Also, Minister of State for Petroleum Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said the Federal Government would give more attention to the development of gas as a major revenue earner.

    The officials spoke in Abuja at the 10th Nigerian Gas Association International Conference. They said that the country was determined to reverse its over-dependence on oil as benchmark for the economy.

    The theme of the conference is “Nigerian Gas Roadmap and Its Potential for Regional and Global Influence: Its Implementation, Challenges, Opportunities and New Way Forward”.

    The minister said: “I must say that over the years there has been a blatant neglect of this sector. We really haven’t focused on gas; all had been on oil production.

    “With regard to the recession today, it is clear to us that if we develop a two window of economic earnings, a lot of emphasis will move to gas.

    “We are going to be introducing new technical resources, restructuring existing departments and assigning new managers to the existing departments. These reforms are clearly articulated in the proposed national gas policy.”

    He said that the draft on Gas Policy would be released later and that the policy would promote a competitive business environment for both current and new investors.

    Kachikwu said the government’s vision was to make Nigeria an attractive gas-based industrial nation, give primary attention to meeting local gas demands and develop significant presence in the international market.

    He said the government’s priority was utilisation of natural gas for domestic needs with the power sector as key priority end-user.

    The government processing a draft legislation on reforms in the petroleum industry.

    “The new fiscal policy we are working on will make gas a stand-alone, separate from oil and not consolidated on oil taxation.

    “Our intention is to retain the current pricing framework for a limited period. It will end when sufficient gas volumes are built up to a level that will underpin a competitive gas market.

    “Under such condition, wholesale gas price will be market-led,” Kachikwu said.

    He said that gas flaring was still a prevalent practice in the petroleum industry, adding however, that government was clear protection of the environment was a more important objective than oil and gas production.

    “Government is determined to see flare out in the earliest shortest time. We are seeking to exit gas flaring by 2020, 10 years before the 2030 deadline the UN gave.

    “To achieve this, a number of measures will be introduced; gas utilisation will be a priority consideration over every other consideration for handling of associated gas.

    “We will be increasing the gas flaring penalties to an appropriate level sufficient to de-incentivise the practice of gas flaring.

    “Our focus really will not be on penalisation; we will seek quite frankly to simply stop it and not you throwing money at us,” the minister said.

    Baru said that there were huge investment opportunities in the sector.

    According to Baru, there is a 51billion dollar-investment opportunities existing in gas processing and transmission and general infrastructure development.

    He said that 35.4 billion dollars existed in the power plants, gas exploration and production, fertilizer plants, virtual pipeline and flare gas commercialisation.

    Baru also said that 16 billion dollars existed in gas transmission pipelines, port infrastructure, real estate development, central processing facilities, pipe milling and fabrication yards and FTZ infrastructure development and concessioning.

    He said that the proposed Gas Policy defined the boundaries between Upstream, Midstream and Downstream, processing facilities, pipelines, pricing, host communities engagement and conducive environment, among others.

    He also said that there was a pragmatic road map to grow power generation capacity by at least, three folds within the next four years.

    “The gas supply has been highlighted as the weak link in the development of the power sector.

    “While we would not debate how we got here, we will rise up to the challenge of ensuring that gas is made readily available for the development of the electricity supply industry.

    “It is clear that with a focused development, domestic gas can be harnessed to fuel the entire power demands of the country and beyond,’’ Baru said.

    He added that the regulators and other government agencies, including Bulk Trader and Ministries of Finance, Power and Petroleum, would synergise on the imperatives of the sector “so that we begin to solve the problem”

  • NNPC loses 560,000 barrels of crude to vandals, says GMD

    NNPC loses 560,000 barrels of crude to vandals, says GMD

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) lost 560,000 barrels of crude oil meant as feed stock to the refineries due to pipeline vandalism between January and May, Group Managing Director Dr Maikanti Baru?,said yesterday in Abuja.

    He spoke during a visit to the Commandant-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Muhammadu.

    Baru said the visit was to strengthen collaboration between the NNPC and the NSCDC to better protect its oil installations/pipelines in the country.

    “Under my watch? as GMD, NNPC is committed to collaborating with the NSCDC and other government security agencies to finding lasting solution to eliminate losses and energy security threats,” he said.

    He said the activities of vandals on NNPC’s pipelines in the Niger Delta region had become unbearable, and had led to substantial decline in the country’s crude oil production.

    “The 2016 budget plan was based on 2.2 million bpd of crude production.

    “The fiscal plan is now affected due to renewed militancy with about 700,000 bpd of oil production curtailed due to pipeline vandalism,” he said.

    Baru said that over 3,000 vandalism incidents were recorded every year from 2010 to 2015, while in 2015 alone, pipeline losses? of products were over 643 million litres amounting to N51.28 billion.

    He said the domestic natural gas supply to power had also been badly affected with an estimated drop of about 50 per cent from 1,400mmscfd to below 700mmscfd.

    The NNPC boss called on the NSCDC and other security agencies to step up security and surveillance in the affected areas in the interest of the nation.

    The NSCDC boss pledged the readiness of the Corps to step up security surveillance and protection of oil installations in the country.

    He said the NSCDC personnel had been undergoing re-training to? deal with the challenge.

  • Over 75% of African reinsurance market lost to capital flight, says Africa Re GMD

    Over 75% of African reinsurance market lost to capital flight, says Africa Re GMD

    More than 75 percent of African reinsurance market share is placed outside the continent, Group Managing Director, Africa Reinsurance Corporation, Cornellie Karekezi, has said.

    He, however, listed lack of skills and capacity, low capital base and unhealthy competition as the problems hindering the growth of the African reinsurance market.

    He made this known at a briefing on the corporation’s new logo.

    He said stopping capital flight of insurance premium in the continent was tough.

    He noted that the mission of Africa Re is to foster insurance development by supporting, assisting and working with national insurance markets in the African Continent.

    He said: “When Africa Re was created as an initiative of the African Development Bank, following an agreement with member-states of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the idea was to bring together all states on the continent, provide capacity which was very rare at that time, bring capital and start doing what was being done by foreigners only.

    “At present, as an organisation, we have 10 per cent of the total reinsurance market share in Africa and if you combine capacities of all the other reinsurance companies, we may not do up to 25 per cent. We have tried our best, but we still have a long way to go,’’ he said, adding that there is lack of capacity to cover large risks like oil and energy, lack of capacity to cover mega projects and even special risks like airlines and aviation.

    The Africa Re boss pointed out that the continent is competing on not only capacities, but also ratings, adding that African solidarity had not grown much to support the continent’s development.

    “For us at Africa Re, we go through rigorous risk management initiatives so that we can be compared with other European companies. Sometimes you are refused to lead a treaty even though you might have the competence and the capacity because of some kinds of ratings. That explains why we have not retained the entire businesses emanating from the continent.

    He said most markets in the continent have very low capital base, and that this is undermining capacity to undertake big ticket risks. ‘’Except for eountries like Nigeria that has reasonably large capital, many of the other countries have very low capital requirement and this accounts for why a lot of the businesses emanating from the continent go offshore, he added.

    “Retention is largely driven by capital base, succession is high. Another major challenge is unhealthy competition, which is also affecting growth in most of the market. But Africa Re has continued to engage the market and the chief executive officers across the African market by organising trainings in all areas of the business for skills development as well as setting standard,’’ he said.

  • NNPC targets 250,000 bpd, says GMD

    NNPC targets 250,000 bpd, says GMD

    The Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is targeting the production cut of 250,000 barrels per day, its Group Managing Director Dr. Joseph Dawha said at the weekend.

    The GMD said under his watch, the oil giant would in the short term concentrate on three key areas of ramping up production by its upstream subsidiary, the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) to 250,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

    He said the corporation would also focus on boosting gas supply and expanding gas infrastructure to enhance availability of gas for power generation and feedstock for gas-based industries; and driving performance management and improving core processes to instill a culture of performance and boost productivity.

    Dawha urged Information Technology Division on Innovative Strategies to Support Three-Point Agenda

    He challenged the Information Technology Division of the Corporation to evolve innovative ideas and strategies to support management’s three-point agenda.

    Dawha gave the charge at the 2014 NNPC IT Knowledge Sharing and Direction Setting Workshop in Abuja, according to the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Ohi  Alegbe  in a statement yesterday.

    The GMD who was represented by the Group Executive Director, Business Development, Dr. Attahiru Yussuf, urged the Division to be strategic and proactive in generating ideas and deploying cutting-edge technologies that could promote the efficient and speedy achievement of the three key short-term objectives of Management.

    “I urge you to re-equip yourselves in order to play a leading role in accelerating change across the entire Corporation. To lead this transformation, our IT Executives must re-imagine their roles by seeing themselves – and encouraging others to see them – as Chief Executives of an Information Business.

    “Like any chief executive, our IT leadership should bring vision, direction, and organization to NNPC’s big data investment priorities. That means engaging internal customers on their biggest challenges while attracting the best talents and suppliers; most importantly, it means being accountable for execution and results,” the GMD stated.

    Speaking on his expectation from the workshop, Dr. Dawha said he anticipates “firm decisions on five levers that are required to step up the impact of IT in NNPC to enable us achieve the above corporate aspirations”.

    The listed the five levers to include: effective IT governance; availability and stability of connectivity; supportive technology adoption programme; pace of technology assimilation capacity; and consistent use of proven methodology.

    Group Executive Director in charge of the Engineering & Technology Directorate, Engr. Adebayo Ibirogba, said the main objective of the workshop was to get NNPC to “compare notes with the best in Nigeria on how they think, plan, and organize their IT businesses”.

    “Today, we are at the eve of an even faster acceleration in the scope, scale and economic impact of technology as it ushers in a new age of artificial intelligence, consumer gadgetry, instant communication, and boundless information. NNPC simply cannot afford to miss the boat”, Engr. Ibirogba stated.

    He called on participants to use the workshop as a platform for developing a new mindset to recognize Information Technology not just as a primary tool for cutting costs and boosting productivity but as a big business in itself.

    The workshop was attended by other members of NNPC Top Management including the Group Executive Director, Refining & Petrochemicals, Engr. Ian Gregory Udoh; Group Executive Director, Corporate Services, Dr. Dan Efebo; Group Executive Director Commercial & Investment, Hajia Mata Abdurrahman; and Company Secretary  and Legal Adviser, Mr. Ikechukwu Oguine.

  • Culture, pomp at opening of Nigeria’s largest shopping malls

    Culture, pomp at opening of Nigeria’s largest shopping malls

    All roads led to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, last week Thursday.

    It was the opening of the N3 billion Heritage Mall and Cocoa Mall built by the Yoruba business flagship, Odu’a Investments Company Limited.

    The event served, in a way, as a reunion for various classes of Yoruba elite, including politicians, traditional rulers, technocrats, industrialists and other professionals. It was also an occasion for the celebration of the creative ingenuity and business acumen of the founding fathers of the conglomerate.

    Not only were guests excited at another opportunity to reconnect with Odu’a, many relished the idea as a great addition to what was inherited from the founding fathers.

    The inauguration was not just a celebration of a new project, the rich culture of the Yoruba was on display including the use of Yoruba Language in conducting part of the programme by culture ambassadors and other leaders.

    As early as 9:00 am, the Cocoa Building complex, which houses the malls and the famous high rise Cocoa House, had been filled with vehicles. It was under the close watch of teams of policemen, men of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) and men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence.

    Despite of the arrangement, there was still traffic around the building due to its location in the city’s central business district.

    The sprawling canopies under which the programme held wore gold and white colour with a splash of green. It stood beside a cluster of entertainers who displayed at the various stands of official partners and other known brands such as Maggi, Milo and Airtel. Music blared from the stands while professional dancers rolled their bodies to the sweet tunes.

    When the programme commenced at 1:00 0’ clock, the Awise of Osogbo, Chief Yemi Elebu’bon, was ushered to the microphone for the opening prayer by the trio of Messrs Yanju Adegbite, Laolu Olatubosun and Wale Rufai who served as compere for the occasion.  Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu led in Christian prayer.

    The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the conglomerate, Mr Adebayo Jimoh, was a happy celebrator, having capped his achievements as the helms man with the building of the malls. Jimoh’s leadership has seen many old properties of Odu’a redeveloped to modern estates and shopping complexes. Under his leadership, the real estate portfolio of the conglomerate has risen to over N 65 billion.

    An elated Jimoh expressed satisfaction with the project, saying the huge malls have been attracting an enormous number of shoppers, giving store owners real value for their investments as well as changing the lifestyle of residents of the city.

    He praised Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi for his “strong support on the project since the beginning”.

    He gleefully reminded his audience that while Heritage Mall is sitting on the former Kingsway Store and the premises of the rested Sketch newspaper, Cocoa Mall is occupying the same building used by the defunct UTC Store but which was redesigned to meet modern needs.

    For him, the malls are succeeding in keeping shoppers in Ibadan, thereby rejuvenating the economy of the city while also creating opportunities for locals in the area of business and jobs.

    “We are adding to what we inherited.” Jimoh declared with glee.

    He added: “we believe that the success of the Heritage Mall and Cocoa Mall in Ibadan will definitely encourage the opening of new malls in the Odu’a states of Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Ekiti.”

    Jimoh said Ajimobi should be commended for making investors come to Oyo State through enthronement of peace and security, disclosing that over 2000 jobs have already been created by the two malls.

    The Chairman of the firm, Alhaji Sarafadeen Alli, also lauded the project and thanked all stakeholders for supporting the project.

    In his speech, Ajimobi commended Jimoh and his team and pointed out that the project was in line with his administration’s transformation agenda.

    He said: “From the eye of commerce, the vision of the Board was to redirect home the footsteps and the foreign currencies of high net-worth individuals who spent time and money travelling far distances of Europe and America for shopping. Today, that vision has become a reality. It has given birth to one of the most attractive shopping malls in this part of the country and a place that anyone with an eye for shopping would not be at their shopping peril.

    “Let me confirm to you that this vision by Odu’a Investment Company Limited in constructing these malls rhymes with our transformation agenda as an administration. Indeed, the zeal behind the vision is a replica of the can-do spirit with which we have broken the barriers of developmental impossibilities in Oyo State.

    “You will recall that during my inauguration on May 29, 2011, I promised the good people of Oyo State that our administration would vigorously pursue the vision of peace and order, as against the chaos that we inherited. We also promised to run an efficient and result-oriented government that has an eye on making our state welcoming, business-friendly, leisure-friendly and an attraction to investors.

    “Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to report to you that, after successfully maintaining peace and order in the last two years or thereabout, after embarking on an aggressive environmental clean-up and provision of infrastructure, investors are now making Oyo State their Mecca.”

    The governor, however, charged the company to replicate the mall in other owner states.

    Tokunbo Omisore, an architect, who designed and partnered with Odu’a for the construction of Cocoa Mall, said he was satisfied for building an affordable and sustainable mall. He thanked WEMA Bank for providing the loan at a time other banks rejected the idea because the location is outside Lagos and Abuja.

    Dignitaries at the event include a former military governor of the old Oyo State, Gen. Oludayo Popoola and representatives of the four other governors.

    Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Dr Ganiyu Owolabi.

    Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun was also represented by the state’s SSG, Taiwo Adeoluwa. While Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko, was represented by the Director of Commerce, Mr Robert Adewole, Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola was represented by his Senior Special Assistant on Legal Matters.

    Traditional rulers at the event include the  Ewi of Ado-Ekiti, Oba Adeyemo Aladesanmi; Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle and  Onitaji of Itaji, Oba Idowu Adamo.

    The Ooni of Ife was represented by Oba Toyosi Akindoyin, who is the Jagunosin of Ife and Oba Adebowale Olafare of Erefe. The Olubadan of Ibadan was represented by the Otun Olubadan, High Chief Omowale Kuye while the Ataoja of Osogbo was also represented by his chiefs.

    Others include the Chairman, WEMABOD Estates Ltd, Dr Ismail Adewusi;  a former Chairman of Odu’a, Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi; Proprietor, Lead City University, Prof Jide Owoeye;  Chief Lekan Alabi; Chief Mrs Alaba Lawson; Senator Olabiyi Durojaye; Senator Iyabo Anisulowo;  Otunba Olajumoke Ogunkeyede, Tokunbo Omisore; Bashorun Dehinde Adegbofa; Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Sir Olaninun Ajayi and Baale Taye Ayorinde.

    Others are Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu; President, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) Chief Bayo Oyero;  Chief Bode Amoo; Alhaji Gboyega Arulogun; Apostle Sunday Popoola and Pastor Olubi Johnson.

    Others include  Chief Kola Bajomo; Head of Service, Oyo State, Alh. Tajudeen Aremu;

    directors of subsidiaries, associate companies and partners of the conglomerate as well as

    representatives of New Nigerian Development Company Ltd from Kaduna. They were led by Alj Alli Gombe.

    Others are the Oyo State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Chief Akin Oke; Dr Lekan Are; Hon. Abiodun Awoleye; Hon. Saheed Fijabi and the Director-General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Mr Dipo Famakinwa.