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Tag: Ibe Kachukwu

  • How militants can benefit from modular refineries

    —NNPC Group Executive Director Suleiman

    Engineer Rabiu Suleiman, NNPC Group Executive Director/Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachukwu, on Refineries and Downstream Infrastructure, in this exclusive interview, highlights ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to develop the Niger Delta region. On the sideline of a workshop organised by the Vice-President’s Office on the new vision for the Niger Delta, Suleiman tells MIKE ODIGWU how that militants in the Niger Delta region can set up business and buy equity in modular refineries. Excerpts:

    When the vice-president toured the Niger Delta region, he talked about the new vision for the region and mostly creating economic hubs in the communities through the establishment of modular refineries. What specific commitments have been made to bring modular refineries to the Niger Delta?

    In Bayelsa State, there is Azikel Refinery. There is very serious commitment ongoing. Government is determined to establish refineries in the region. Nigerians are somehow impatient. Refinery is something that you design, get the site and do environmental impact assessment, which requires two seasons. It means it takes at least one year before you can now say that a place is good enough to site a refinery. Then you go into the design, processing, manufacturing, securing the funding which is the key challenge.

    Everybody wants to do modular refinery. The assumption is that it is easy, it is cheap. But it is a very serious engineering and technology-intensive thing that requires time. The fact is that about two of these refineries will soon be commissioned is an indication that the project is winning.

    Where are these two soon-to-be-commissioned refineries located?

    One is at Kwale in Delta State. It is owned by one company called OPAC. It is a 7,000-barrel capacity refinery. As I am talking to you, it is about 90 per cent mechanically completed. Another one is in Rivers State. It belongs to the Niger Delta Petroleum Development Company (NDPDC). The company made the first conventional modular refinery of 1,000 barrels that has been running for about four and half years. The company is now building another series of two modular refineries. One is 5,000 and the second one is also 5,000. The first 5,000 is also mechanically being completed. If you go to Onne Port in Rivers State, 47 containers of refinery shipment belonging to the company is already at the port and they are undergoing clearing. At the end of December, they will collect all these materials and finish installations for the final mechanical completion of these refineries.

    We just went to Imo State where Walter Smith, a marginal field operator, is putting a5,000-barrel capacity refinery. We went for the ground-breaking ceremony about a month ago. They have already sent him the parking list of all the equipment. They are passing it through customs clearing to collect the waiver that is required so that they don’t pay customs duty as approved by the government. So, it is a reality. This is a promise fulfilled by the government.

    But each one takes its own time. The key component that is delaying it is syndicating the finance. Many people don’t have money but they feel they should assemble some drums and do a refinery. It is more than that. To do a modular refinery even if it is 1000 barrels, you are talking of some millions of dollars. Again, those who have the local resources and money are either afraid to come out to invest or they don’t believe that their investments will be guaranteed. That is why we must provide enabling environment in the Niger Delta.

    How do we provide this enabling environment?  

    By engagements. Get the boys that are attacking the facilities and show them the benefits of modular refineries. If they have some level of knowledge, engage them. If they can be employed, they can be considered as part of the team that will be employed by the project. They can set up a business there and buy equity in these refineries. They can put together their own resources and build a refinery that is legal. They will buy their crude transparently and they will be selling their products. They will not be operating in the creeks. If they do a legal business with profit margin, with transparent supply of crude and with the market available in the local community, they will sell their products. They are in business.

    But they are used to breaking pipelines, stealing the crude, not paying for it and then cooking and taking just a fraction of the crude and then push it into the market. Because the raw material is free, they care less on whatever is left and they throw it away. Who are they affecting? They are devastating the environment. They are killing all the fish. All the fresh water is being contaminated. And all the farmlands and beautiful vegetation are being destroyed.

    But if there is peace, we can see tourism coming into the region, we can see another Dubai that is emerging. We will have skyscrapers by the waterways with massive beaches. We will have money. Oil is not the only source of money. UAE used oil and gas and built a country. Today, what they realise in tourism is more than what they get out of oil and gas. Today people go in there and pay taxes and that is what runs the economy of that place. Millions of people move into Dubai every year and each spends an average of one to two dollars. It is big money. So, small businesses and restaurants are booming.

    You supervised the new Port Harcourt refinery. What was your expectation after the commissioning of that refinery in terms of Nigeria being able to add to its refining capacity? Are you disappointed?

    I am disappointed because since we did the government-owned refineries, population growth has quadrupled. But as the people are growing, the infrastructure are stagnated. We should have built another refinery two, three to five years down the line. What people don’t understand is that you can never have enough refineries.

    Today, Japan has no oil and they are hopeless. They will never get oil till the end of this world. But they have 43 working refineries and they buy crude from Nigeria. They buy from the Gulf, Arab countries, they take to Dubai and sell to Philippines, to themselves and they do all the business activities not just gasoline.

    But the parochial mindset of Nigerians is that only petrol can come out of crude oil. Petrochemical plastics everything is there embedded in this God’s blessing we call crude oil. So, there are a lot of multiplier business activities down the road that you can develop. So, if I see Nigeria with 30 refineries, so, be it. There is no refinery in Niger, and  Mali. There is only 6,000 capacity in Ghana. It all depends on Nigeria. Nigeria should be the hub of Africa. We should stop selling crude oil to anybody. Refine it here and maximise the total value chain and sell all the secondary products and develop our country. Plastic, shoes, dashboards, bottles and many others are from oil; 90 per cent of what people use in their homes is derived from hydrocarbon. So,  we have not touched even 10 per cent of what we can do with oil and gas. We have opportunities to have industries to do so many things.

    Right now, is there more conscious effort to bring back that Nigeria of your dream?

    Yes, under this Federal Government, there are many efforts. The President went to China, that is where our money is. The President has been able to syndicate a lot of interest running into billions of dollars as investments. He is now begging the communities to accept these cash flows and these businesses and guarantee the safety of the money, the people and assets. When that is done, you will see businesses growing. We don’t want to encourage government to go into business, private sector should do it.

    I will give you an example. In Rivers State, Eleme Petrochemical Plant was built by the Federal Government, Ministry of Petroleum Resources. That plant never made profit until it was privatized and we only retain 10 per cent equity. Today, we are making a lot of money from the 10 per cent because it is being run by somebody else not an employee of government, who cannot be sanctioned. They work tirelessly and they make sure they make profit. Look at the Nigerian LNG model. Because government has 49 per cent, Shell, Elf, ENI have 51 per cent majority share. It is run by experts and shareholders and today it is the most successful business in Africa. If not for LNG, Nigeria did not have money to run as a government in 2015 when the new government came in. LNG has to bring in its own dividends that they had saved and said let us give government its own dividends so that they can salvage the situation to give governors who didn’t have money to pay salaries. So, governments of third world country, this is my personal opinion, do not have the wherewithal, capacity and the moral discipline to run a business successfully. We must inject private sector.

    In this new vision, how do we make the communities the hub of oil and gas business and ensure that they own these facilities?

    One, what is missing is lack of ownership by the communities. How do we design ownership structure? The communities unfortunately are not rich but they have the oil. The communities have youths that can be trained. Why can’t we support the communities by forming organised bodies rather than anybody who is strong, who can dare bullets being a leader in the local community. That is a jungle society. What is required is a well-organised set of people that will run a business. The typical Nigerian wants to be the richest man tomorrow. What we fail to understand in our psyche in Nigeria is contentment.

    Is this government bringing back reward and sanction because you spoke about it as something missing in governance?

    It is coming back. Before this regime, the approval limit of say a managing director in NNPC was only N5m. Anything more than that he had to go and stay in Hilton waiting for approvals and he will spend another N5m. Today, he can approve $2million on his desk. It is a progress. Time is coming when our assets will be competing with the ones privately owned. Then our eyes will be opened. Dangote refineries will be running and if our own is not running we will say, sack this guy and lock him up. Put another person or sell the place. The hard reality is that we should build more refineries. We should retire those that need to be retired or transfer them to another place.

    Can we continue to import petroleum products into the country at a landing cost of near a dollar which is N360 and we sell at N145. Which economy will survive that way?

    It is impossible. But when we get things right, the price will regulate itself.

    Are you saying that soon, there will be an end to this importation of refined products?

    Of course, by the time we commission the Dangote refinery, by the time we finish the repairs of the new Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna refineries. Today as I am speaking with you the finance groups are meeting to get the money and put it into these refineries. Only recently, I rose from a meeting with Agip. Agip wants to bring 150,000 barrel capacity refineries. It is not tomorrow. People are eager and they want to see it happen. But to even do the design it takes you about two years. As far as we are on track, let it take whatever time it will take so that it will be done well.

    With what is on the table now, can you authoritatively say the Federal Government means well for the Niger Delta and that it is not just playing politics?

    I am very convinced between me and my God that the current Federal Government means well for the Niger Delta. I am fully convinced. I know from their actions, President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice-President mean well for the region. There is nothing taken to these people for approval in connection with the Niger Delta that they don’t approve. We are on the right track and we will get to that destination. We should be bothered about the succession plan we have for the good efforts. Let nobody come and abandon these trends we are doing across the country, let nobody come and abandon all these road infrastructure we are doing. Let nobody come and jettison modular refineries and waivers. This means sustainability is important.

  • $1 trillion oil money yet to be recovered by FG, says Falana

    Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has said that oil money in the region of $1 trillion is yet to be recovered by the federal government into the federation account.

    He said he blew the whistle on it but that it appeared government does not have the will to recover the money from most multinational companies who took the nation’s oil.

    He made the disclosure in a speech delivered at the 2nd year submit in the whistleblower policy of the Federal Government held at Abuja.

    Falana challenged the Federal Ministry of Finance to proceed to recover the huge funds.

    “I can assure the federal government that I do not intend to demand payment of any percentage from the fund to be recovered based on the whistle that I have blown which has been ignored”, he said.

    The activist lawyer recalled that two years ago, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari adopted the Whistleblower policy as a component of the fight against corruption sequel to the deliberate refusal of the national assembly to pass the Whistleblower Bill sponsored by some legislators in 2007.

    He noted that like the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and Bank Verification No (BVN) the Whistleblower policy is said to have assisted the federal government to recover huge public fund which had been cornered by a few corrupt individuals and corporate bodies.

    Falana remarked that apart from the success recorded so far in the implementation of the TSA, BVN and whistle blower policies, the trillions of Naira which have been saved or recovered by the federal government have not been deployed to arrest the increasing wave of poverty in the land.

    He said it was pertinent to point out, on the second anniversary of the whistle blowing policy, that what has been recovered so far is a tip of the iceberg as the Buhari administration has not acted on the information at its disposal in respect of the billions of dollars being withheld from the federation account.

    He gave a list of the billions of dollars that are still being withheld from the federation account.

    He recalled that on March 8, 2016, he requested the Minister of Finance to embark on urgent and decisive measures to recover not less than $200 billion.

    He said the only thing he got from the Finance Minister was a polite response that his request was receiving attention.

    Read Also: Ngige faults Falana’s stance on ‘no work, no pay’ rule

    He said the detailed information contained in his letter has not been processed either by the federal ministry of finance or federal ministry of justice.

    He however noted that his letter generated reactions from some quarters because the letter was widely published in the media, with particular reference to the allegation that the Central   Bank of Nigeria gave out a bail out of $7 billion to 14 commercial banks in 2006.

    He said the then Governor of CBN, Professor Charles Soludo said it was not a bail out but a deposit.

    “Since the fund was illegally removed from the nation’s foreign reserves without appropriation by the national assembly and placed as a deposit in the banks it ought to be recovered together with the accrued interests”, he stated.

    Falana also referred to information he obtained from the National Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) that the NNPC had withheld $20 billion from the federation account adding that from the 2015 audit exercise conducted by NEITI, the figure has increased to $22 billion and N376 billion.

    He also recalled that in a petition sent to the Presidential Panel on Recovery of Public Property last year, he accused Exxon Mobil of paying $600 million out of the $2.5 billion fixed by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation for the renewal of three oil blocks in 2009.

    Even though the oil company claimed to have paid the outstanding balance of $1.9 billion, he insisted that there is no evidence of such payment.

    He hoped that the Presidential Panel will pursue the matter to a logical conclusion

    The activist lawyer described as ‘most interesting’ the reaction of the Minister of State, Ministry of Petroleeum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachukwu to a letter he wrote to him.

    He said: “the minister concurred with me that the nation had lost not less than $60 billion due to the failure of some public officers to implement the provisions of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contracts Act”.

    He said Section 16 of the Act provides that the royalties paid by oil companies shall be adjusted upwards whenever the price of oil rose beyond $20 per barrel.

    He explained that this was why the Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and Rivers State governments dragged the federal government to the Supreme Court to justify why it has refused to implement the law in the last 18 years.

    He noted that in a judgment delivered by the apex court on October 18, 2018, the federal government was ordered to take urgent steps to recover all revenues lost to oil and gas exploring and exploiting companies due to wrong profit sharing formula termed as the Production Sharing Contracts since 2003.

    He expressed hoped that the federal government will proceed to recover the sum of money estimated to be in the region of $1 trillion.

    He however acknowledged that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) commencing investigation into the allegation of crude oil stolen from the country by well-known international oil and shipping companies.

    “For instance, it has been confirmed that 60.2 million barrels of crude oil stolen from Nigeria between 2011 and 2014 were discharged at Philadephia port in the United States.

    “If the investigation can be painstakingly conducted, it is estimated that not less than $300 billion could be realized as the costs and penalties for the oil stolen from Nigeria and discharged in several ports in the United States, China, India, United Kingdom, France etc.

    “Having regards to the fact that the public and private organisations that have been fingered in my letter are very powerful and vested the federal government cannot muster the political  will to recover the fund that has been withheld from the federation account. “Therefore, the Nigerian people who stand to benefit from the judicious deployment of recovered loot should be mobilised by the progressive extraction of civil society organisations to take over the fight against corruption”, he said.

  • Reconciliation: APC to harmonize Delta State exco

    As part of efforts to reconcile the warring parties in the Delta state chapter of the Party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is to harmonize the State Executive Committee in Delta state to accommodate the interest of all the contending forces in the state.

    National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole who spoke at a reconciliatory meeting between the warring parties on Tuesday night said however that Prophet Jones Ode Erue, remains the state chairman, while other positions in the state executive will be harmonized.

    The meeting was attended by the Minister of State Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachukwu, Chief Great Ogboru, Senator Ovie Omo Agege, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, Cairo Ojougbou, Victor Ochei, Olorogun Cyril Abeye Ogodo, Dr Miriam Nneamaka Ogoh Ali, Comrade Frank Kokori among others.

    Chief Press Secretary to Oshiomhole, Simon Ebegbulem quoted Oshiomhole as asking the party leaders to embrace the Prophet Erue led leadership in moving the party forward.

    He condemned what he described as unwarranted attacks on social media and newspapers on his person and the National Working Committee of the party by some party members in Delta state, admonishing them to rather make comments that will reconcile the party and not one that will further inflame the crisis.

    Oshiomhole expressed his resolve to ensure that the party win the elections in Delta State, admonished the leaders not to allow the ambitions over-ride the general interest of the party stressing that the issue of the governorship candidate of the party must not be allowed to destroy the party in the state.

    Read Also: Ortom finally dumps APC for PDP

    According to him, “I have said it before that I have interest in Delta state because Edo and Delta is one. And we must ensure that Delta join Edo state in APC through democratic means.

    “I know that we all can do it if we can reconcile our differences and confront the real enemy, which is the PDP. And whatever we are doing, I believe we should think about the interest of Delta people who have been denied of good governance by the PDP administration over the years.

    “Only one person can be governor at a time and before you know it eight years is over and another person takes over. So we must not see it as a do or die affair. We must all work together make concessions and go back to work immediately because we have no time. We are going to confront an incumbent who is desperate to return but we will mobilize Delta people to stop Dr Ifeanyi Okowa” he stated.

    Some of the leaders who spoke at the meet8 g expressed their views commended Comrade Oshiomhole for finding solution to the protracted crisis rocking the party in the state and expressed their willingness to work with the national leadership of the party to ensure victory for the party.

    Prophet Erue who appealed for calm, promised to work with all the stakeholders and appealed for cooperation to enable him succed.

    The Minister of State Petroleum, Dr Kachukwu, in his vote of thanks, urged the party leaders to abide by the decision of the National leadership of the party and ensure that peace returns to Delta State.

    “I commend you Mr Chairman for this effort and other efforts you have been making to ensure unity in our party in states where we have crisis. I want to urge our party leaders to embrace peace so we can achieve victory for the party come 2019”

  • Falana gets information on N4.6b fuel drained daily from FG

    The federal government has forwarded to Lagos lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) information on fuel importation and sundry matters.

    The requested information was forwarded to the lawyer by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) which was acting on the directive of the Minister of state, Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachukwu as requested in his letter to the minister dated April 17, 2018.

    A letter dated July 9  and signed by Kingston Chikwendo on behalf of the DPR  to Falana and titled “Re: Request for Information on Fuel Importation and Sundry Matter” stated in part: “We humbly referred to your letter dated 17th April, 2018 to the Honourable Minister of State, Petroleum (HMSP) requesting for information on fuel importation and sundry matters.

    “The HMSP has directed the DPR to provide you with the requested information.

    “Consequently, we hereby forward to you the requested information as detailed in your letter”, it stated.

    In his letter dated April 17, Falana had specifically requested the minister to provide him with copies of the documents relating to: “ Bill of laden and DPR certified cargo discharged certificates of the imported subsidized petroleum products  into the country from December 2017 to March 2018;  Offshore processing  agreements pertaining to the sale of the 445,000 barrels of crude oil per day plus any additional crude barrels approved for domestic consumption from December 2017  to March 2018;  Volumes of domestic refined products by the nations’ local refineries against gross expenditure on refinery turn around maintenance(TAM)/ expended budget in 2017”.

    Others are  “Gross  amount of forex differential or forex subsidy (gap Between CBN rate and Special rate approved for fuel importation) from December 2017 to March 2018 and   amount expended by PEF on Project Aquila from inception aimed at tracking petroleum trucks nationwide to prevent smuggling of petroleum products”.

    Read Also: Insecurity: Falana seeks removal of service chiefs

    Falana’s request followed disclosure by the management of the NNPC that the nation’s  consumption rate of fuel was 28 million litres per day and that subsidy cost was N726 million per day,  that is,  N261.4b per annum.

    He also recalled that on March 5, 2018, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru claimed that the figure had metamorphosed to 50 million litres per day and that NNPC had spent $5.8billion (N1.7 Trillion) on fuel importation in January and February 2018 and that at a public forum held in Abuja two  weeks ago, the minister stated  that the consumption rate of fuel  has skyrocketed to 60 million and that the cost of  subsidy is N1.4 trillion per month!

    On the alleged subsidy of fuel importation, Falana reminded the minister that he failed to disclose the amount realized from the sale of the 60 million liters at N145 per liter.

    “You have also conveniently failed to account for the sale of the 445,000 barrels of crude oil allocated to the NNPC daily by the federal government.

    “Honorable Minister, the convenient defense of smuggling as cheap justification for a gap of 32 million litres a day (at N145 per litre is N4.6 billion daily) is untenable given the billions of Naira continually expended on Project Aquila Software by the Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF), a Parastatal under your watch in the Petroleum Ministry, to track every litre of petroleum product evacuated from the Depots and sold at retail stations in the country”, Falana stated.

    He argued “since the Project Aquila Software has capability to identify the owners and locations of all trucks loading petroleum products in Nigeria why has your office and NNPC continue to blame smuggling for the drain of N4.6 billion daily on petroleum products? How many of the Truck owners involved in the alleged smuggling have been arrested and arraigned in court since Aquila has the data base of all Truck Owners in the country?”, he asked.

    The federal government blamed the increasing consumption rate on the smuggling of fuel from Nigeria to neighboring countries by some economic saboteurs.

    Falana had insisted that the claims of the government does not explain the difference of 32 million litres per day between the consumption rate of imported fuel in December 2017 and March 2018 when it is assumed that

    The total volume of fuel consumed by Benin, Togo, Cameroon, Niger, Chad and Ghana is said to be less than 250,000 litres per day.

  • ABU Zaria refinery project suffers lack of funding

    The Ahmadu Bello University ( ABU ), Zaria is making efforts to establish conventional and standard locally-built refineries in Niger Delta to boost the nation’s refinery capacity, but the project is stalled because of lack of funding.

    Prof. Ibrahim Mohammed-Dabo, the Team Leader, ABU Refinery Project, made the disclosure in an interview with our reporter in Zaria, Kaduna State.

    Mohamed-Dabo, a Professor of Chemical Engineering said: “Our ultimate goal is to have a conventional and standard locally built refinery that can be refining Nigerian crude.

    “We are hoping if enough funding is made available to us to perfect what we have on ground; we shall be willing to build other ones that can be stationed in the Niger Delta.

    “This is where most of the Nigerian crude oil is produced. When new ones are built, we are going to train operators that will manage them,” he said.

    He recalled that the ABU mini refinery project started in 2011 when he wrote a research proposal to the university management for onward delivery to Tertiary Education Trust Fund ( TETFUND ) for funding.

    “In monetary terms, the initial stage of the project was proposed to cost N18 million but to our surprise, only N1.8 million was approved for the project.

    “We initially wanted to abandon the project because the amount approved was so small, but being very passionate about it, we started the design and fabricated some components with that meagre amount.

    “Actually, it reached a stage that we had to use our personal money for the project. When we started installation at the site, we invited the university management to the site and they were very happy.

    “On appreciating what was done, the then Vice-Chancellor pledged that the university was going to support the project which they did by providing land, security, light and water,” Mohammed-Dabo said.

    He added that dedicated staff were employed purposely for the project, stressing that since then, the university had been very supportive.

    “As you know, refinery is made up of many units; the first unit to be put in place in any refinery are the desalting and crude distillation units.

    “These were the ones we designed, constructed, installed and operated with the support of the University.

    “The Raw Materials Research and Development Council ( RMRDC ), Abuja was approached to fund two units, which were the Naphtha Hydro-treating Unit ( NUH ) and the Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit ( FCCU ).

    “The RMRDC is therefore sponsoring these units. We have completed both the design and fabrication components, we are now at the installation stage’” he said.

    According to him, the team is equally working on other units such as the Kerosene hydro-treating unit, Catalytic reforming unit, sour water stripping unit and flared gas recovery unit.

    He said what the team has achieved was solely sponsored by the ABU management toward ensuring the success of the project.

    On present state of the refinery at ABU, Mohammed-Dabo said three units have so far been completed.

    “As I have mentioned earlier, presently the refinery has completed three units which are the desalting unit, atmospheric and vacuum distillation units.

    “We are equally working on four of five other units which we hope before the fourth quarter of this year, we will commission them, God willing.

    “Building any technology is capital intensive; talk less of oil refining technology. It involves many trials before perfection.

    “There is the need to improve upon what has already been built and this involves money. We have been making efforts in this regard but up till now no funding secured yet,” he said.

    Mohammed-Dabo said they have approached PTDF, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, TETFUND and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board ( NCDMB ) without much success.

    He, however, said the good news was when the NNPC GMD visited the refinery. The GMD, Maikanti Baru promised to support with crude supply.

    “Again, last month we participated at the just concluded Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja where we showcased our project.

    “The Minister of State Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachukwu visited our exhibition booth and he was highly impressed with our efforts.

    “In view of what he saw, he promised to support the project. We have submitted our proposal hoping to hear good news from him,” he said.

    The professor said what was interesting during that summit was that many investors were willing to partner with his team, but said the team have to improve their technology before agreeing to engage private investors.

    The team leader appealed to the federal government to support the refinery project.

    “It is truly shameful that we are an oil producing nation but rely on importation of refined products.

    “Government has a role to play to develop this technology. Anywhere in the world, developing technologies is the responsibility of government.

    “It is only when it has reached a certain stage that private investors will come and partake. Nigeria is blessed with both human and material resources,” he noted.

    He stressed the need for concerted efforts to judiciously utilise the country’s abundant resources, saying that any country that wanted to develop technologically must try and develop technologies of its manufacturing sector.

    Mohammed-Dabo observed that Nigeria would never be self-sufficient or secured as long as it relies on foreign countries for technology.

    NAN

  • Army regrets issuing false claims on rescue of oil workers attack in Borno

    Army regrets issuing false claims on rescue of oil workers attack in Borno

    …recovers more dead bodies, ammunitions

    After facts emerged on last Tuesday attacks with close to 50 people dead and a video released by Boko Haram  of three staff of University of Maiduguri captured in the ambush,  the Nigerian Army has regretted her earlier statement which claimed the rescue of all Staff of NNPC and UNIMAID involved in the ambush attack.

    The Nation recalls that a  group of geologists from the University of Maiduguri and some support staff of the institution and security operatives and some staff of   NNPC working on  oil exploration in Lake Chad region were ambushed and abducted by Boko Haram gunmen in Borno Yesu.

    The attack which was initially kept under wraps until media enquiries compelled the army to  issued a statement after 24hrs  informing  that 9 soldiers were killed in the attack. The statement also added that all the kidnapped NNPC workers were rescued. But the claim turned out to be untrue.

    The Vice Chancellor of University of Maiduguri, Prof. Abubakar Njodi had accused the army of misleading the public with claims of rescue when the Petroleum ministry and the Minister of Education paid him condolences in his office in Maiduguri.

    He informed that  none of his staff were rescued, adding that five of his staff were brought into Maiduguri dead, just as the Minister of State Petroleum Mr. Ibe Kachukwu said he could not as well verify the rescue of his staff as claimed by the army.

    It turned out that Boko Haram released a  video on Friday  in which three staff of UNIMAID appeared calling   on the federal government to secure their release from the hands of Boko Haram.

    The Army Spokesman Brig. Gen Sani Usman in a fresh Statement issued on Saturday night said the earlier misleading statement was regrettable.

    He said more corpses comprising five soldiers, 11 Civilian-JTF and five explorations workers, and some immunizations  have been  further recovered by military search and rescue operation going on in the area

    Below is the full text of the  Statement  from Brig. Sani Usman.

    “The incident of 25th July 2017 where some Boko Haram Terrorists ambushed our troops including members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) escorting some staff of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) as well as that of University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) on oil exploration in Borno Yesu District of Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno state is unfortunate and highly regrettable. Most regrettable also is my earlier release on the said incident about the rescue of all NNPC Staff.  The error in the statement was not deliberate.

    “The Nigerian Army in this present dispensation is reputed for timely dissemination of information on activities of our troops in all theatre of operations. We have strived to keep the public informed on our activities with no intention of distorting any fact. Our troops have doubled efforts in the pursuit of the Boko Haram terrorists while search and rescue is still on-going to secure the safe return of the remaining civilians.

    “So far the search and rescue team has recovered additional bodies of 5 soldiers, 11 Civilian JTF and 5 members of the exploration team.

    “Contrary to reports in some media,  6 members of exploration team out of 12 that went out are still missing, while one of the NNPC staff returned to base alive.

    “On the other hand, our pursuit team also recovered 2 of our own  Gun trucks and an additional Toyota Buffalo Gun truck from the insurgents. In addition, the team also made the following recoveries; 4 Rocket Propelled Grenade Bombs, 4 Rocket Propelled Grenade chargers, 6 AK-47 rifles, 1 Anti-Aircraft Gun, 1 General Purpose Machine Gun,1 Anti-Aircraft Gun Barrel, 1 Rocket Propelled Grenade Tube, 4 Dane Guns, 8 Tyres and 2 Tyre Rims.

    “Other items recovered include 1 Pumping Machine, 2 Tyre Jacks, 1 Super Battery, 5 Reflective Jackets, 3 Toyota Hilux, 4 Jerry cans filled with PMS, 1 Motorola Radio, 1 Geographical Positioning System (GPS), 21 empty Jerry cans, 2 Shovels and 3 Food Coolers.  Troops also recovered 122 rounds of PKM ammunition, 213 rounds of 7.62mm NATO  ammunition, 1255 Anti-Aircraft Guns ammunition, 4 boxes of API 12.7mm ammunition, 1 AK-47 Rifle Magazine, a Digger, 2 Bows and 13 Arrows, 2 LLG Bombs, assorted drugs and assorted working tools.

    “The Nigerian Army condoles with the families of all that lost their loved ones in this unfortunate incident. Search and rescue efforts are on-going. We are counting on the goodwill and support of the populace in volunteering valuable information that could help in the search and rescue operation.

    “What the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists are doing are pure criminal activities of kidnapping to gain funds. This has been noted and will be jointly addressed in conjunction with other Security Services.

    “The Nigerian Army remains resolute in the fight against terrorism and would not relent in its effort to safe guard lives of citizens, properties and the territorial integrity of the country”.

    The Nation recalls that in 2014, Brig. Gen Chris Olukolade(Rtd), the then Director of Defense Information, Nigeria Army told the whole world that over 80 of the Chibok girls abducted were rescued by troops in less than 24 hours and the statement turned out to be false.

  • Senate probes concession of Port Harcourt refinery to Agip, Oando plc

    Senate probes concession of Port Harcourt refinery to Agip, Oando plc

    …Asks petroleum ministry to suspend all transactions

     

    The Senate Tuesday resolved to investigate the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip and Oando plc by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

    The upper chamber also asked the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to stop all processes and transactions regarding the concession pending the conclusion and submission of the report of its ad-hoc committee set up to probe the deal.

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled “Non transparent transaction relating to the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip and Oando by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources,” sponsored by Senator Sabo Mohammed (Jigawa South).

    Mohammed in his lead debate expressed worry about alleged non-transparent transactions of the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip and Oando by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.

    The lawmaker said that he is aware that the Federal Government recently entered into an agreement with Nigerian Agip oil company, a subsidiary of ENI, an Italian oil giant to construct a $15 billion refinery in the Niger Delta region, a deal which also includes investment by Agip in a power plant with the Italian company assisting Nigeria in repairs of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachukwu, he said informed that the agreement was part of a broader Federal Government plan to increase capacity for local production and consumption of petroleum products with the aim of ending fuel importation in the country by 2019.

    He noted that while the resolve by the Federal Government to increase local refining capacity is laudable and should be applauded by all Nigerians, the observance of corporate governance principles and the country’s extant laws must be followed to the latter.

    Mohammed said that he is concerned that it is not yet clear if the new arrangement is a concession agreement or an agreement to build a new refinery.

    He noted that the confusion became obvious following the disclosure on May 11, 2017 by the Chief Executive Officer of Oando plc on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange that the group had received approval of the Federal Government to repair, operate and maintain the Port Harcourt Refinery with their partner Agip.

    He said that the development would have been wonderful because it would mean an end to importation of refined products by the year 2020, “but many questions are begging for answers, such as it it Agip/ENI or Oando plc that is taking over Port Harcourt Refinery?

    The lawmaker also wanted to know whether there was observance of the privatization law as regards due diligence, selection from preferred bidders before ceding the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip/Oando.

    Mohammed said that the Senate should be concerned that the planned concession of the Port Harcourt Refinery to Agip/ ENI in partnership with Oando plc without recourse to due process is illegal and a clear attempt at ridiculing Nigerians and would definitely create a big hole that would be hard to fill in the anti-corruption crusade of the present administration.

    He said that he is aware that in such transaction, “the best practice is to select partners through open and competitive bids.

    He insisted that any exclusive arrangement that does not follow due process, one hatched in the dark without the knowledge and participation of relevant stakeholders tend to lead to sub-optional outcome for the seller, in this case the Federal Government.

    He lamented that major stakeholders such as BPE that was empowered by law to conduct such exercise and labour unions are not aware of the deal that is supposed to be signed officially in July this year.

    He said that the Senate should be concerned that since Agip has no technical record/history in the Port Harcourt Refinery that was built by a Japanese firm, “one would have expected the concerned authority to look at the Warri Refinery that was built by Agip where they have technical record.

    Mohammed said that he is saddened that on assumption of office as the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Kachukwu declared that by the end of 2015, the Port Harcourt, Warrit and Kaduna refineries would be working a 90 per cent capacity, thus reducing  importation and the subsidy controversies.

    He said that it is sad that “up till now in 2017, the refineries are yet to be fixed and cannot even produce at 50 per cent not to mention 90 per cent.”

    Some senators who spoke warned that the Port Harcourt refinery must not be allowed to go the way of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and other privatized organizations in the country.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, raised a seven-man team to investigate the planned concession.

    Senator Abubakar Kyari (Borno North) is named chairman of committee. Other  members of the committee included Mathew Urhoghide, Duro Faseye, Benjamin Uwajumogu, Sabo Mohammed, Dino Melaye, Aliyu Wamakko.

     

  • Northern youths declare support for Kachikwu

    Northern youths declare support for Kachikwu

    Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, has been urged to remain resolute in his drive to sanitize the petroleum sector from the rot of the past.

    The National President, Arewa Youth Integrity Forum, Alhaji Audu Zakari with journalists in Abuja, said that the group has great confidence in the ability of Mr. Kachikwu to manage the affairs of the ministry.

    Zakari condemned the recent attempt to link the minister, who is also the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to alleged manipulation in the NNPC.

    They urged Kachikwu not to be deterred by the cabals in the sector, who he said, are not happy with new reforms introduced by the minister.

    He said: “The recent attempt to blackmail the minister by a faceless group known as South-South All Progressive Congress Youths which tried to fruitlessly link the minister to alleged manipulations in the NNPC is a typical demonstration of corruption fighting back.

    He said its investigation had revealed that Dumebi, whose name has become a tool in the hands of mischief makers, had no experience in the oil sector.

    “His major areas are Telecoms and Agriculture, especially animal husbandry,” he said.

    “It is obvious that every Nigerian is now happy that for the first time the high tower is experiencing peaceful and positive changes without the usual hardship that citizens were made to go through in the past as a result of deregulation.

    “His choice by President Muhammadu Buhari is a clear demonstration of his full understanding of the sector being a former Minister and an active player in the industry,” he added.

    According to Mr. Zakari, the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu deserves commendation over his handling of the oil sector since assuming office, warning that  it is no longer business as usual.

    It would be recalled that a group known as South-South All Progressive Congress Youths had recently accused the younger brother of the Minister of state for petroleum of interfering with the operations of the NNPC.

    “They are angry that the President has appointed somebody that has refused to share our money for them to sleep at Nicon Hilton Abuja. The same persons yesterday could sit down to allocate to themselves oil lifting licenses and are bitter that the system has changed,” he added.