The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MINISTER OF POWER

  • FEC okays Multilateral Agreement to check companies’ tax evasions

    FEC okays Multilateral Agreement to check companies’ tax evasions

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement to prevent tax evasions and avoidance by multinational companies, among other benefits.

    This was disclosed to State House correspondents by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, at the end of FEC meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The briefing was also attended by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi.

    Mohammed also disclosed that Nigeria has lost over N1 trillion to tax evasions by multilateral companies.

    The Council, he said, also approved the outline business case for development of Greenfield port facilities at Badagry in Lagos state.

    He said: “In respect of the first memo which is the memo for Multilateral Competent Agreement and the exchange of country by country report, the whole essence is to give the government a better grip on its tax laws and also to prevent tax evasions and avoidance by multinational companies.

    “Where multinational companies operate in more than one country, it is quite easy for them to move profit from one territory to another territory where the tax laws are very favourable to them.

    “And what has happened over the years is that the revenue companies have lost a lot of money. As at the last count over 1 trillion has been lost over a period of time and the revenue companies have found that they were losing more money in terms of tax evasion and avoidance than what they were even receiving as grants from multinational agencies.

    “So this is a law that provides that if a company like MTN or Nestle for instance, is operating in Nigeria, not only must he file returns on his activities in Nigeria, he must also file returns on his activities in every other country that they are doing business so that you can see from there whether there is any attempt to hide figures.

    “Apart from shoring up our finances, I think it is part of the fight against corruption and it also enhances transparency,” he added

    He said that the approval for Greenfield port facilities in Badagry is the first step to approving the establishment of a new sea port in the country.

    The approval, he said, showed that Nigeria is still a very preferred investment destination in Africa despite the challenges it is facing.

    Fashola said that the Multinational competence authority agreement is consistent with the macroeconomic policy of government to fund its operation and economy with more tax incomes.

    According to him, it will allow government to see how much taxable revenues are accruable to it especially from companies.

    He said: “It is for transparency and accountability on the private side of the economy because transparency and accountability has been focused perhaps a little more on the public side of our national life.

    “When you look at the profit that is coming from the private sector beaming the ray of transparency and accountability on revenues that should come into the public space and be used for national development only helps to strength the economy in the long run and bring probity across board,” he said.

    Noting that the Badagry port was long overdue, he said that the ports in Nigeria are behind in terms of technology in the maritime industry.

    He said: “There are bigger vessels now being built across the world that require larger depths and drafts berth. Now some of our competitors on the continent like Djibouti are building bigger ports, so if we don’t build this port we risk becoming uncompetitive and we risk a threat to our maritime hub status in the sense that we may become a transshipment port instead of a port of original destination.

    Stressing that the work on the port started in 2012, he said that all its financing is coming from the private sector.

    “Again that is consistent with what this government stands for in terms of allowing private capital and competency to come into the development of our infrastructure,” he added.

    He said that the Badagry port was delayed because of the refusal of the last administration to grant approval for it as the port development was under federal government control

    Ameachi said that it would take five years to construct it from the end OBC and FBC concessional agreement.

    He said that the port will bring $2.558 billion into the system.

    “And that in this period when we are looking for foreign exchange, it is going to bring a total of $2.558 billion into the system and federal and Lagos state government would not contribute financially other than the land given by the Lagos state government,” he stated.

  • Benin Disco explains improve power supply

    The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has explained that the improved power supply experienced in some of its service area in Benin City and environs was because of increased in power generation and not because of the presence of the Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola.

    Residents in some parts of Edo State took to social media to celebrate improved power supply since on Sunday morning.

    Some said BEDC used to supply power three hours a day but increased it to six hours while others said they were yet to experience power failure since Saturday night.

    They attributed the improved power supply as a decoy by management of BEDC to the Minister who was to attend the 7th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders Meeting.

    Members of the Edo State Civil Society protested to the venue of the meeting with placards calling for provision of meters and decried the services of BEDC.

    Some residents of Uteh community in Ikpoba-Okha local government stormed the meeting with placards saying they have been in darkness for the past six years.

    Managing Director of BEDC, Funke Osibodu, who dismissed claims by the protesters that power supply improved since Sunday because of the Minister’s visit said the hydro stations were working to full capacity because of rising water level.

    Osibodu stated that activities of the Niger Delta Avengers affected gas supply and the dry season led to low power generation.

    According to her, “Our ability to deliver power depends on generation and not the minister presence. We have two sources of power generation. Gas and water. During the dry season, the hydro power stations were shut down.”

    “The hydro is picking up in the absence of gas. We do not store power. When there is no generation, there would be no distribution.”

    Addressing the protesters, Fashola appealed to them to be patient with the new investors as according to him, three years was not enough to address problems in the power sector.

    The former Lagos State Governor said the situation in the power sector was not a hopeless one.

    He told the protesters that it was not the fault of BEDC that only one out of four turbines was functional at the Ihovbor Power plant.

    Fashola assured the protesters that issues of alleged excessive billing by BEDC were being resolved.

    He told stakeholders in the power sector that the signing of the solar power initiative would be beneficial to the entire value chain in the power sector.

  • Benin Disco explains improve power supply

    Benin Disco explains improve power supply

    …consumers may pay N23 per kilowatt for solar power

    The Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC) has explained that the improved power supply experienced in some of its service area in Benin City and environs was because of increased in power generation and not because of the presence of the Minister of Power, Housing and Works, Babatunde Fashola.

    Residents in some parts of Edo State took to social media to celebrate improved power supply since on Sunday morning.

    Some said BEDC used to supply power three hours a day but increased it to six hours while others said they were yet to experience power failure since Saturday night.

    They attributed the improved power supply as a decoy by management of BEDC to the Minister who was to attend the 7th Monthly Power Sector and Stakeholders Meeting.

    Members of the Edo State Civil Society protested to the venue of the meeting with placards calling for provision of meters and decried the services of BEDC.

    Some residents of Uteh community in Ikpoba-Okha local government stormed the meeting with placards saying they have been in darkness for the past six years.

    Managing Director of BEDC, Funke Osibodu, who dismissed claims by the protesters that power supply improved since Sunday because of the Minister’s visit said the hydro stations were working to full capacity because of rising water level.

    Osibodu stated that activities of the Niger Delta Avengers affected gas supply and the dry season led to low power generation.

    According to her, “Our ability to deliver power depends on generation and not the minister presence. We have two sources of power generation. Gas and water. During the dry season, the hydro power stations were shut down.”

    “The hydro is picking up in the absence of gas. We do not store power. When there is no generation, there would be no distribution.”

    Addressing the protesters, Fashola appealed to them to be patient with the new investors as according to him, three years was not enough to address problems in the power sector.

    The former Lagos State Governor said the situation in the power sector was not a hopeless one.

    He expressed optimism that power situation in the country would improved if the Azura Power project is delivered on scheduled.

    Speaking to protesters and stakeholders of the power Fashola noted that it was not the fault of BEDC that only one out of four turbines was functional at the Ihovbor Power plant.

    Fashola assured the protesters that issues of alleged excessive billing by BEDC were being resolved.

    He told stakeholders in the power sector that the signing of the solar power initiative would be beneficial to the entire value chain in the power sector.

    His words, “Let us understand that power is a product, it has to be manufactured. You need gas in some places, you need coal in some places, you need solar in some places, it has to be put together. Assuming I am trying to cook a pot of soup and you are angry and you take the pot away, can I still cook? But if you bring the water while I am getting the wood I think we will have a meal.”

    “The power plant in Ihovbor, we have four turbines there, only one is working and that is not BEDC’s fault, they don’t just have gas to power it so there are three idle plants there because they don’t have gas. I went to Azura, they are working there.”

    “Not less than 12 solar developers and promoters have come around to gives us their commitment to a more competitive price regime. I had said before now that it was difficult and impracticable to have a solar tariff at 17 cents per kilowatt power but the cheering news as a result of further interactions, innovations on the side of the developers, private sector and government, the new tariff of 11.75 cents has been reached which amounts to about N23 per kilowatt”

    “That is the first good news in terms of a major need for incremental power which we will be of benefit to the entire value chain. The Azura power project is on course it is on schedule and therefore if it stays like that, the expectation that we will get more power remains positive.”

  • Work to commence on Lagos-Ibadan express way – Fashola

    Work to commence on Lagos-Ibadan express way – Fashola

    Motorists plying the Lagos- Ibadan express way will soon begin to smile, as Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola announced that work on the road will commence next week.

    His counterpart in Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed also reassured Nigerians that the Muhammadu Buhari led administration was on track.

    The duo spoke Thursday at the Inaugural town hall meeting in Abuja they assured Nigerians that while there is still much work to be done, this Administration neither lacks the political will nor the discipline and the determination to fulfil its electoral promises and take Nigeria to greater heights.

    Other ministers at the event included Ministers of Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma; Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh and Environment, Amina Mohammed.

    Fashola also said that government is working out on formalities and standards for the smooth implementation of its mass housing plan.

    Fashola, who lamented the ongoing vandalization of the oil pipelines, expressed the determination of government to deliver on steady power supply in the country.

    He stressed that what the government was working on was to ensure gradual and steady power supply in the country.

    Information minister on his part thanked Nigerians for their perseverance and patient with the administration; adding that the Government will not shy away from its electoral promises.

    He announced that the first rollout of the 500,000 Social Intervention Scheme of the present administration will start this Saturday

    The minister said, “I believe that my only sin is talking too much before the elections and I now have to pay the price.

    “The first one was held in Lagos. Any meaningful assessment must be situated within the right context.

    “We campaigned on three broad areas, corruption, revamp the economy and security. Have we met our targets? If you ask me, I will say we are on track.

    “When we came in, many local governments in the north-east were under the control of Boko Haram. They hoisted their flags, they were even collecting taxes, but today not even a single local government is under the control of Boko Haram.

    “We have been able to liberate 16,000 captors from the enclave of Boko Haram.”

    ‘‘In order to prove that this administration neither lacks the political will nor the discipline and the determination to fulfill its electoral promises and take Nigeria to greater heights, Mohammed assured that the Change they promised is real.

    The Minister noted that the administration campaigned on three broad areas: to tackle insecurity, fight corruption and revamp the economy and boasted that the promises had been met to a great extent, insisting that the administration is on track.

    ‘‘We acknowledge that the nation is passing through a very difficult situation at this time, with the loss of over 60 per cent of our national income due to the crash in the price of crude oil.

    ‘‘Though Nigeria has faced the challenges of ethno-religious violence, armed robbery, cattle rustling, kidnapping for ransom, militancy and violent agitations, the most daunting security challenge faced by the country when we assumed office on 29 May 2015 was the Boko Haram insurgency.

    ‘‘The Administration is also tackling other security problems with the same decisiveness, whether is it cattle rustling, herdsmen/farmers’ clash, militancy and regional agitations. We are not only desirous of communicating to Nigerians, we are actually taking practical steps to address issues.’’

    The Minister of Budget and national Planning on his part, said that his ministry had put a mechanism in place to track the efficient implementation of the 2016 budget in tune with the Change agenda of the government and appealed to Nigerians for patience.

    The forum was meant to allow the government to give account of its stewardship to the citizens and also engage directly with them on burning national issues.

    It is also expected to strengthening democracy help in bridging the communication gap between the government and the people.

    The first edition of the town hall meeting under the present administration was held in Lagos on April 25th 2016, over a month to the first year anniversary of the Administration. It had since held the town hall meeting in Kaduna and Kano.

    The next edition is slated for Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital on Monday June 13th 2016 before Enugu state.

  • Fashola charges NERC on fair electricity tariff

    Fashola charges NERC on fair electricity tariff

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has charged the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to balance the concern of all stakeholders and consumers and come up with a tariff that is fair.

    Speaking at the fourth monthly meeting of the Minister with power sector participants at the Calabar Power Station in Odukpani local government area, he said the issue of tariff has become very contentious, but it is the purview of the regulator.

    Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Power, of the Ministry, Mr Louis Edozien, he said, “It is the statutory and legal responsibility of NERC to balance all the concerns and come up with a tariff that is balanced. They attempted to do that in December. They listened to power stations like this. You can see what is here. The owners of this station need to earn money to pay for all these. It is the tariff that pays for it.

    “NERC has to balance those requirements against the desire of all of us to pay as little as possible for electricity. The fact of the matter is that if we want electricity to improve, we have to habituate ourselves to pay what it cost. It is regrettable, but it is NERC’s job to listen to everybody and balance everyone’s concern and come up with a tariff that is fair. If anyone is not alright with this, there is a law that gives them the authority to petition NERC, that the tariff is not fair.

    “They are required by law to look at the complaint and balance it once more against the lines and power stations and explain how they arrived at what they arrived. If the complainant has a point they are authorized by the law that set them up to amend the tariff if it is believed they did not balance it properly.”

    A communiqué at the meeting acknowledged the need to improve on the responsiveness and awareness of the Distribution Companies’ (DisCos’) Customer Complaints Units (CCU), to ensure that all complaints from paying customers are acknowledged and resolved swiftly.

    Resolutions were made to publicize dedicated customer complaints lines in four national newspapers by each DisCo in order to support this objective in the next two weeks.

    The meeting reiterated the need for more aggressive rollout of metering for all customers. In this regard, Eko, Kano, Kaduna and Jos DisCos confirmed plans to aggressively deploy recently procured metering starting in May 2016. Abuja DisCo assured the meeting that it plans to meter 100,000 households by the end of the year, and Port Harcourt DisCo intends to install 110,000 by the end of the year.

    It read in part, “The meeting resolved that Port Harcourt DisCo and Calabar and Ibom Power Plants can proceed with their bilaterally negotiated agreement to supply currently stranded power, starting with 150MW to 250 MW. Port Harcourt DisCo will invest in infrastructure in Akwa Ibom and Cross River to receive the power and deliver it to customers at the approved tariff.

    “The meeting acknowledged the shortage of gas, limiting power output from power stations connected to the ELPS pipeline, and supported ongoing discussions between the Minister of Power Works and Housing, and Ministry of Petroleum Resources to facilitate additions in gas supply and the repair of the Forcados Oil Export Line to ameliorate the gas shortage.”

     

  • Fashola unfolds 13-point agenda to revive power sector

    Fashola unfolds 13-point agenda to revive power sector

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Monday unfolded a 13-point agenda to drive efforts towards enhancing power supply in the country.

    Fashola said in Abuja during his maiden meeting with power generation, distribution and transmission companies, and other stakeholders that the agenda was drawn up to ensure effective monitoring of the sector.

    The minister said the agenda involves continuous public engagement on tariff collection, debts, power generation, maintenance, ancillary services, dispatch orders and discipline.

    Other areas include gas requirement and constraints, transmission constraints, 33KV load off take, imbalances-locations of excess, overload safety, service quality, new captive and embedded generation, franchising and other issues relevant to the growth of the sector.

    According to Fashola, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved that all stakeholders in the sector should hold monthly meetings on issues concerning the industry.

    He said that the meeting would be rotated among the various GENCOs, DISCOs, TCN and other stakeholders across the country.

    Fashola said that all decisions reached in such meetings would be binding on all the stakeholders.

    In this respect, the minister stated that the various companies and stakeholders would each be represented by a management member with authority to take decision on behalf of their companies.

    He explained that in order to minimise the cost of hosting the meetings, the companies were advised to jointly pull up resources required to hold the meetings.

    The minister further said the meetings would also involve lawyers, engineers, planners and other stakeholders, adding that the ministry would issue a communiqué at the end of each meeting on steps taken to address challenges in the sector.

     

  • MINISTER OF POWER Give us light in Idiroko

    MINISTER OF POWER Give us light in Idiroko

    It is strange to note that contrary to the claim by the Federal Government about improvement in electricity supply, the Idiroko community in the Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State has been thrown into darkness for about two years now.

    The only time we get light for a few minutes is when electricity bills are to be distributed to consumers.

    We are, therefore, calling on the electricity company in charge of Idiroko to save us from perpetual darkness by restoring regular electricity supply in the community.

     

    Aderemi Olabiyi