The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Oil

  • What new found for oil and gas stocks?

    What new found for oil and gas stocks?

    Oil and gas stocks are the fastest-rising and most profitable stocks at the stock market. With the oil and gas sectoral return nearly a triple of average return at the stock market, oil and gas stocks have found new momentum in the latest scrambling for Oando. Capital Market Editor, Taofik Salako, reports that a mix of new and prospective businesses and improving fundamentals is the impetus driving the rush for oil

    Oil and gas stocks were the major toasts of investors last year. From the previous scrambles for Forte Oil and Conoil to subsisting rush for Oando, oil and gas stocks had ridden on the back of significant buy-side pressures to build substantial gains for shareholders in 2013. Several oil and gas stocks closed the year with substantial points ahead of the average return at the stock market. The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), closed 2013 full-year average return of 47.19 per cent. With inflation rate at 7.9 per cent and Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12 per cent, the average return underlines the attractiveness of the equity market. On the average, equities have sustained as the best-return asset class in recent years. While the weight of each sector, determined by the capitalisation of the stocks in the sector, plays important role in the overall market situation, return analysis underscored the positive influence of the oil and gas stocks on the overall market situation. NSE Oil and Gas Index recorded the largest return by any tracked sector on the NSE with a year-to-date return of 112.79 per cent for the week ended December 27, 2013. NSE Industrial Goods Index followed with a return of 78.20 per cent. All other indices were below the average. The NSE 30 Index placed third with 38.35 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index, NSE Banking Index and NSE Consumer Goods Index recorded 26.50 per cent, 24.29 per cent and 29.51 per cent.

    For investors in oil and gas stocks generally, 2013 was a year to remember for good. Full-year return analysis showed that most oil majors closed with exciting returns, far ahead of the market. Forte Oil led the entire stock market with a full-year return of 1,164.55 per cent. Conoil ranked within the top-10 stocks, in terms of returns, with a return of 231.37 per cent. MRS more than doubled the average return with 129.12 per cent. Oando turned around from negative return in October to close the year with 96.36 per cent. Eterna more than doubled the average with a return of 126.per cent. Total Nigeria Plc carried a return of 41 per cent while Mobil Oil Nigeria recorded a return of 8.56 per cent, the worst performance among the majors.

     

    The rush for oil and gas

    There appears to be no let down in the bullish rally yet. As investors ponder on the outlook for the market, oil and gas stocks appear to be decisive in the market dynamics. The bullish momentum at the stock market last week was driven, to some extent, by gains in the oil and gas sector. Average return in the oil and gas sector more than doubled the size of overall market’s return. As against the weekly average return of 3.03 per cent by the NSE’s ASI, the NSE Oil and Gas Index rallied 6.84 per cent within four days to consolidate its position as the best-performing sector. NSE built its NSE Oil and Gas Index on the price movements of the five major oil and gas companies, including Total Nigeria Plc, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, MRS Oil and Gas, Conoil and Oando Plc. The NSE Insurance Index, which serves as barometer for the insurance sector, recorded a gain of 6.51 per cent.

    Also, the NSE 30 Index-which tracks the 30 most capitalised stocks on the NSE, recorded a return of 3.39 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index also recorded a modest weekly return of 0.40 per cent. The NSE Banking Index posted the highest weekly sectoral gain with 7.14 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index rallied 2.11 per cent.

    Sprint start analysis for the first two days of 2014 showed that oil and gas stocks started with stronger momentum than other tracked sectors, with the exception of the insurance sector. ASI alternated between negative start and a recovery to close the first two trading days of 2014 with a commendable year-to-date return of 0.29 per cent. The NSE Insurance Index recorded a two-day gain of 4.44 per cent. The NSE 30 Index was below average at 0.21 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index recorded a return of 0.84 per cent. The NSE Banking Index posted two-day gain of 0.98 per cent while the NSE Industrial Goods Index was on the average at 0.29 per cent. The NSE Oil and Gas Index rallied a two-day gain of 2.29 per cent.

    Oando has been catalytic to the oil and gas stocks’ rally and overall market trend. The only oil and gas stock on the top-10 gainers’ list in the past two weeks, Oando led the market two weeks ago with a weekly gain of 21.62 per cent. It consolidated this last week with a gain of 33.50 per cent, the third highest gain in the overall market and the highest by any large-cap stock. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals and UBA Capital had placed first and second with 37.14 per cent and 33.72 per cent.

     

    Earnings effect

    As the companies prepare their full-year audited reports, investors appear to be focused on earnings yield- a forward-looking indicator that relates fundamental earnings to share price. While the year-to-date return and latest operational fundamentals illustrate the historic returns by a stock, earnings yield underlines the potential return and intrinsic value in a stock. Earnings yield is calculated by finding the percentage of current net earnings per share of a stock to the current share price at the stock market, to determine the probable underlying yield for the stock. Besides its importance as a measure of intrinsic returns, earnings yield also denotes probable cash dividend range given its unique feature as a ratio of basic earnings per share. Earnings per share represents net profit earned by every outstanding share of a company within a period. The board, subject to approval of the shareholders at a general meeting, will then decide on the amount of dividend to be paid from the earnings per share. For companies with long-established dividend payment policy, probable dividend could be deduced on the basis of current earnings per share.

    Already, third quarter reports in the sector indicated improved performance. Conoil had shown the strongest improvement in profitability. Nine-month report of Conoil for the period ended September 30, 2013 showed that pre and post tax profits rose by 341 per cent and 329 per cent. While sales growth was modest at 6.0 per cent, the company had leveraged on increasingly efficient cost management and financing structure. Turnover rose to N121.80 billion in 2013 as against N114.77 billion in comparable period of 2012. Profit before tax jumped from N699.42 million to N3.08 billion while profit after tax leapt to N2.09 billion as against N487.22 million recorded in corresponding period of 2012. With these, earnings per share stood at N3.01 by September 2013 as against 70 kobo by September 2012.

    There is a strong expectation that Conoil will consolidate its performance during the fourth quarter. According to the directors of the oil-marketing company, full year profit could rise to about N4 billion by the end of this year. On the basis of this management guidance, earnings per share could rise to N5.76 by the year ended December 31, 2013.

    Also, interim report and accounts of Forte Oil for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2013 showed that net profit after tax quadrupled by 317 per cent from N656.4 million to N2.74 billion. This indicated earnings per share of N2.54 in the first nine months of this year compared with 61 kobo recorded in comparable period of 2012. Profit before tax had increased by 258.4 per cent from N898.3 million to N3.22 billion. Turnover rose by 28.97 per cent to N92.13 billion in 2013 as against N71.43 billion in 2012.

    Mobil Oil also showed appreciable improvement in profitability as net profit rose by 53 per cent. Nine-month report indicated marginal decline of 4.0 per cent in sales from N61.31 billion to N58.74 billion. However, profit before tax rose by 53 per cent to N3.77 billion by the third quarter ended September 30, 2013 compared with N2.46 billion in comparable period of 2012. After taxes, net profit rose by similar margin from N1.66 billion to N2.55 billion. Earnings per share thus improved from N4.61 to N7.07.

    However, third quarter report for Total Nigeria indicated total sales of N174.33 billion in 2013 as against N166.39 billion in comparable period of 2012. Profit before tax however dropped from N5.67 billion to N5.15 billion while profit after tax declined by 12 per cent from N3.72 billion to N3.26 billion. On per share basis, net basic earnings per share dropped to N9.60 by September 2013 compared with N10.96 recorded in comparable period of 2012. Total Nigeria has already declared an interim dividend of N2 per share on the basis of the third quarter report. Oando recorded total sales of N386.25 billion by September 2013 as against N487.77 billion in comparable period of 2012. Profit before tax also dropped from N17.41 billion to N9.76 billion while profit after tax stood at N6.09 billion as against N9.27 billion in corresponding period of 2012. For Oando and Total Nigeria, the focus appears more on the prospective yields in the medium terms, given their recent investments.

    Oando’s sustained rally is driven by increasing market confidence that the Nigeria’s largest energy group will be able to complete its ongoing $1.6 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian assets. Two weeks ago, Oando successfully raised N30.7 billion new capital through a special private placement. Oando had offered 2.5 billion ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N15 per share in a special placement. The offer recorded full subscription. With the investors’ funds in the designated account of the energy group, the stock market’s consideration picked up strongly.

     

    Diversified income streams

    Oando has indicated that N19.3 billion of the N30.7 billion new capital would be allocated to reducing the outstanding balance of Oando’s ongoing $1.6 billion acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian assets, which has a scheduled completion date of January 31, 2014.

    Group Chief Executive, Oando Plc, Mr. Wale Tinubu, said the success of the special placement brings the energy group one step closer to completion of the ConocoPhillips’ acquisition. According to him, the success of the special placement represents another key milestone in the achievement of the group’s overall strategic re-focus.

    “A significant portion of the proceeds will be used to finance the closure of our upstream asset acquisition process; a transaction we believe will transform us into a major indigenous producer of oil in Nigeria. The inherent value to our esteemed shareholders is evident, as we look to grow our asset base and income streams, whilst at the same time enlarging the portion of revenue we are able to declare as profits, through the increased margins the upstream business offers us,” Tinubu said.

    He noted that the new capital issue indicated Oando’s short term corporate and operational strategy to vastly increase its equity portfolio through a three-pronged approach to reduce debt, improve diversification in upstream, and focus on higher margins.

  • How oil firms can help war against theft, by JTF chief

    How oil firms can help war against theft, by JTF chief

    The Commander, Joint Task Force (JTF) Operation Pulo Shield, Major-General Bata Debiro, spoke on the operations of the JTF since he took over the command. He spoke at the headquarters of the military outfit in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. MIKE ODIEGWU was there.

    JTF’s mandate in the Niger Delta

    The mandate of the Joint Task Force (JTF)) is to stop oil bunkering activities in the upstream sector, protect the oil and gas facilities and installations and ensure a secure environment for lawful activities.

    To achieve this mandate, the JTF within the period, has conducted series of operations on land, waterways and air against illegal activities of oil thieves bedeviling the oil and gas industry.

    Consequently, the general security situation within JTF’s area of responsibility has been relatively calm. Although operating in an extremely challenging terrain, the JTF has remained determined and committed to achieving its mandate.

    JTF’s operations

    The JTF successfully conducted several land, maritime and air operations against oil bunkering and refining activities, pipeline vandalism, armed banditry and sea robbery. The Task Force has also conducted anti-kidnapping operations, cordon and search and destruction of re-emerging militant camps. It equally provided security to oil and gas facilities in the region to sustain their production.

     

     

    War against oil bunkering and illegal refineries

     

     

    JTF anti- oil bunkering/refining operations led to the arrest of numerous suspects, the impounding of several barges, vessels, trucks and other tools used to perpetrate the crime and the outright destruction of illegal refineries. These operations, like many others, were achieved through constant patrols based on credible intelligence obtained from various sources particularly higher headquarters, other components of the JTF, informants and other good citizens.

    From January to date, the JTF has conducted a total of 1,025 anti- oil bunkering patrols, while over 1,951 illegal refineries have been destroyed.  Also scuttled were 81 barges, 1,117 Cotonou boats, 82 tanker trucks, 1,873 surface tanks and 1,857 suspects were arrested.

    Additionally, 39,760 drums of illegally refined products, 570 pumping machines and 75 outboard motor engines used as apparatus to facilitate oil theft were seized and destroyed.  Vessels of various sizes and capacities numbering 46 were also arrested during the period under review.

     

    Pipeline vandalism

     

    Although limited incidents of pipeline vandalism still occur in the region, the JTF operations have drastically reduced their occurrence. Those that still occur are mostly in remote areas of the creeks which are carried out by criminal gangs who take advantage of the JTF’s limited accessibility of the difficult terrain between 11:00 in the night and 3: 00 in the morning.

    The JTF provides full security on Port Harcourt–Aba pipeline which has succeeded in reducing the incidents of vandalism on that axis. The JTF operations therefore enabled the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) to re-open the Port Harcourt -Aba pipeline which had been closed for years.

    Similarly, the presence of the JTF had encouraged the PPMC to consider the re-opening of the Aba-Enugu pipeline to be extended later from Enugu to Makurdi. The JTF has, in addition to physical protection of oil facilities, intensified patrols of the pipelines in order to forestall acts of pipeline vandalism.

    The JTF provides physical security to oil facilities. Critical oil platforms have troops deployed to them to ensure their protection round the clock.  These efforts have assisted in sustaining the operations of these companies and lowering of total deferred production of crude oil.

    However, the situation can be improved upon if oil companies are encouraged to adopt international best practices by installing Information Communication Technology (ICT)-based sensors within their pipelines to provide early warning of acts of sabotage.

    We also conduct ground trotting patrols (GTP). Ground trotting is an inch-by-inch foot patrol along the pipelines in the creeks and swamps. This was used to check the activities of vandals on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) pipeline.

    Hitherto, the inaccessibility of this trunk line due to difficult terrain was being exploited by oil thieves who are conversant with the terrain; thereby making it one of the most vandalised pipelines in Bayelsa and Rivers states.

    Ground trotting patrols were therefore conducted jointly between Task Force personnel and representatives from the affected oil companies tracking the pipelines all through the terrain. The exercise has been very helpful in checking criminal activities and identifying breached points which need to be clamped by oil companies.

     

    Kidnapping

    and piracy

     

    The JTF operations against armed robbery, piracy and other forms of organised crimes had also yielded positive results.  Over 42 armed robbers were killed and 183 were arrested from January to date while over 40 sea pirates were also killed and 41 others arrested. Assorted arms and ammunition were also recovered from them.

    Although kidnapping seems to be on the rise recently in the region and the country, perhaps due to the pecuniary gains from its ransom, the JTF has been recording successes in its operations against the menace. The successes recorded were as a result of co-ordinated efforts between the JTF and other security agencies. Overall, over 23 kidnappers were killed, 236 arrested and assorted arms and ammunition recovered from them within the period under review.

     

    On militancy in

    the region

     

    The introduction of amnesty programme by the Federal Government formally ended militancy in the Niger Delta; hence the JTF maintains zero-tolerance for militancy in any form.

    In this drive, the JTF consistently haunts for militants throughout the area of responsibility. Operations were conducted against militant activities as necessary while their camps and hideouts are constantly being haunted for destruction.

    We conducted Operation Clean Slate. This operation was conducted from April 22 to 23, last year in Azuzuama and its environs in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. The operation was designed to stamp out the emergence of militant activities in the area.

    The ex-militant activities in this area came to a head on April 5, last year when some ex-militants led by renegade commander Mr. Jackson ‘Jasper’ Feuztobobai, attacked a police escort boat and killed 11 policemen. Operation Clean Slate was conducted to flush out the perpetrators of that attack, other militants and criminals from the area.

    The operation led to the destruction of their hideouts and assets; including speed boats, assorted ammunition and communication gadgets. It is pleasing to note that the mastermind of the attack on the police, Mr. Jackson ‘Jasper’ was later arrested and handed over to the police for prosecution.

    The JTF does not tolerate the existence of any militant camps in the region and as such suspected areas are constantly checked and those identified are immediately destroyed.

    In that regard, a militant camp discovered at Adagbarasa/Itagbene in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State was destroyed on 27 April, last year after 12-hour gun battle with the militants who were well fortified.

    Similarly, on November 8, last year, a robust patrol team from Sector three dispatched to a suspected militant camp in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State uncovered and dismantled an Efut Esighi Militant Camp.

    Challenges of the JTF

    In spite of the difficult environment it operates, the JTF has recorded modest successes even though it is still confronted with a handful of challenges and constraints.

    These challenges include inadequate maritime platforms, insufficient operational vehicles, lack of some essential kits and insufficient manpower, among others.

    The Task Force is, however, optimistic that most of these challenges will soon be addressed through the efforts of the Chief of Defence Staff, Defence Headquarters and the National Economic Council (NEC) Intervention Plan initiated by the President.

    While the Task Force remains highly committed to achieving its mandate, its ability to operate optimally will, no doubt, be enhanced if some of the challenges confronting it are addressed.

     

  • Man must not live by oil alone

    This is not one of those New Year resolutions. Many of us make them and break them the next day. These are just my wishes for the people of the Southsouth, the goose that lays the golden egg.

    Until oil was discovered in the Niger Delta, the people had a life, a life built around water. The people ate a lot of fresh fishes caught from waters free of pollution. The youth and the old swam like fishes. They knew how to dodge the sharks and the crocodiles, which competed for rooms in the waters with tilapias, catfish, shrimps and so on.

    Those who chose to farm also did so without any inhibition. Life was good. No hassles. No worries. At least as it related to daily existence.

    Then the black gold was discovered. That marked the beginning of the end for the people. It also marked the era of good foreign exchange for the federal authorities.

    Attention was not placed on the environmental hazards that came with oil drilling. The men in power at the time were too excited to care about small details like that. In no time, however, the oil drillers took away the people’s peace, their waterways and farms. The fresh fishes also became afraid and sought fresh waters outside of the Southsouth. No thanks to the oil poured everywhere by the drillers all in the name of exploiting for oil. They exploited the people under the guise of exploiting oil.

    Their exploits turned the farms to bad lands for the crops; the fishes bailed out from the polluted waters, not a few died with hydrocarbon in their bellies; and the cash from the oil were used to develop other places.

    A once-prosperous land and people became paupers. The Niger Delta became a place where you see hell and heaven side by side. Hell was where the people reside and heaven is the residential quatres of the oil majors.

    The situation has not changed over the years. Rather it has gotten worse, with the people helping themselves through illegal activities, such as bunkering, pipeline vandalisation and oil theft, which has seriously hemorrhaged the economy.

    Thanks to journalism, I have been to every part of the Niger Delta. I have been to Akwa Ibom; I have been to Cross River; I have been to Delta; I have been to Edo; and my path has crossed with both Bayelsa and Rivers states. The creeks and the swamps are littered with a people who want a better life, a life devoid of oil pollution, a life where they can farm and fish and a life where the basic amenities of life are provided by those who govern them.

    The creeks are filled with young ones who are disappointed in their leaders and will seize any chance to take their pound of flesh. There are loads of children whose playing grounds have been violated and thus robbed of their childhood. Many youth in the region will waste no opportunity to ‘port’ out of the country forever.

    Much of the Southsouth are difficult terrain. In places, such as Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers, many people can only access their towns and villages through the waterways. Bonny Island, which is reputed as one of the richest Islands around on account of hosting the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited and some oil majors, is only accessible by water and air (helicopter). There are many places like that in the Southsouth. It is not that roads cannot be made to get to these places. It is just that fortune is needed to get these roads done and they are not seen as priorities now. So, the people continue to suffer hours of turbulence on water to get to their homes. I am sure they will be happy to see someone end the misery of having to risk their lives on water to visit townships, such as Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    That life is brutish and largely short in the Southsouth is an understatement. There are many young men there who know no other way to make money than the fast lane, which ultimately lead to perdition. The region is home to many who cannot afford to go to school. Some who even go to school go without shoes. How many of them will have the good luck of becoming deputy governor, governor, Vice-President and President?

    The New Year is here. By the end of today, it will be three days old. Expectations are high and Rivers will be a place to watch. Rivers has been in the news for some time now. No thanks to the rift between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan. The battle may become worse as 2015 draws closer and the two gladiators continue to flex muscles. But my wish is that may the people win at the end of the day. May the people be the one to decide who replaces Amaechi, who is completing his second term of office.

    It is my wish also that the kids in the Southsouth should see waters where they can swim without fear of being harmed, not by crocodiles, but crude oil that has seeped in. I wish fishermen can use trawlers to get bounty harvest from the waters. They can do with plenty of shrimps and other sea foods also. And I wish, conducive environments will be provided to really re-orientate and absorb the youth and make them use their brains for positive stuffs. I wish those in power in the region will see themselves as representing the people. I wish they will realise that power is transient. I wish they will know that the sirens will not forever announce their arrivals and departures at events. I wish they can look back and ask what has happened to the men who were in power between 1999 and 2007. I wish they will fear God and spend the resources on the people.

    I wish this year those who have power to turn around things in the Niger Delta will truly realise that it is time the region looked beyond oil. There was life before oil, there will be life after oil and even with oil, there must be a conscious effort to downplay the importance of oil. Man must not live by oil alone.

    Generally, I just wish the people a Happy New Year. It is not too much to ask. Is it?

     

  • The other side of Imo oil tale

    The other side of Imo oil tale

    Mineral deposits, especially oil, can be a source of stupendous wealth, affluence and power for the region where it is found. The people of the region automatically become the proverbial geese that lay the golden eggs. They also expect to be the primary beneficiaries of accrualls from their God-given resources.

    But this is not the situation in some communities in Imo State where oil is found in commercial quantity. The rate of poverty in these communities makes one ask whether inhabitants of Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas are part of humanity.

    In the past 48 years, oil exploration in Imo State has left tales of anguish, death, tears, impoverishment and anger among the people of these oil-producing communities in Imo State.

    The people of Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas where the oil deposits in the state are located, have nothing but pains, death, neglect, deprivation and environmental abuse to show for the 48 years of oil exploration in the areas.

    No thanks to the activities of major oil companies operating in the area, that have capitalised on the rather peaceful nature of the host communities to exploit them, without giving back to the society in terms of corporate social responsibilities as obtained in other places.

    Recently, the patience of the youth and elderly women in Umudike, Etekwuru and other adjoining villages in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area, was exhausted as they resisted what they described as deliberate abuse of their environment and hazardous practices by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    The youth, who turned out in a very large number and accompanied by their aged mothers who were equally in high number, took over the Umudike-Assa-Etekwuru delivery pipeline and disrupted the activities of a maintenance team sent by Shell to clean up a crude oil spill along the pipeline.

    Their anger could be felt from a distance, their pains and disappointments boldly written on their faces as they defied the stern-looking and heavily-armed soldiers and the scorching heat of the sun to press home their demands before a rather indifferent company that was only interested in getting the business going.

    The angry protesters who displayed placards with various inscriptions like; ‘SHELL stop killing our people’, ‘compensate the victims of the 2001 pipeline explosion’, ‘SHELL activities have destroyed our environment’, “we demand an end to SPDC marginalisation’ and “SPDC has turned our oil into a cause’, among others, refused all entreaties by the SPDC team to allow them clean up the spill.

    The cause of the outburst, according to the youth leader, Mr. Reginald Egini, was the recent massive oil spill that has covered about one acre of farmland, which he said the SPDC had, as usual, sneaked in to quickly clean up.

    “This is not the first time we are suffering as a result of oil spill. In 2001, there was a pipeline explosion that killed about 13 people with several others severely burnt and eventually incapacitated and Shell promised to pay compensation but nothing has been done up till today,” he said.

    The youth leader, who vowed that they will not allow any hurried repair of the pipeline or minor clean up of the spill, said that there should be proper negotiation with the host communities to know the loss they have suffered as a result of the spill.

    “There should be first an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to ascertain the level of damage on the environment. This is because we are farmers and any damage on the soil will drastically affect our means of livelihood,” he said.

    Reeling off their grievances against Shell, Egini noted that: “Since 1964 when SPDC began exploration in the community, there was nothing to show that the community is an oil-producing area like other places in the Niger Delta region. “There is no single hospital, school; market built by SPDC in the community neither has it given our youths any employment or scholarships. But it has kept making promises they never cared to fulfill,” he added.

    Listing their demands to include, removal of the old pipelines and replacing them with new ones to avoid continuous oil spills, payment of all outstanding compensations, including the N4 billion awarded the community against SPDC by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and provision of employment for graduates and artisans from the community, among others, the youth, who displayed the photographs of the victims of the 2001 pipeline fire, rejected the monetary offer suggested by the SPDC team.

    The look of a 99-year-old woman, who leaned on a walking stick as she rained abuses on SPDC for what she described in Igbo dialect as igbuisi anyi ntakiri ntakiri (‘systematic elimination’) of their people by the company, was rather pathetic.

    She lamented that aged women and men in other communities that are blessed with oil were taken care of by their children who were gainfully employed by the oil companies.

    Mama Felicia, as she was simply addressed, told our correspondent that “I decided to join the protest because the community is no longer safe and the land is no more fertile for agriculture.

    “If we don’t join the youth, it will be taken for youthful exuberance but seeing me at my age (99 years), you will know that our pain is heavy and we are ready to die demanding our rights,” she said.

    Also speaking, another community leader who preferred anonymity, blamed the state government for the woes suffered by the people in the hands of the oil companies, alleging that, “even our state government has not done anything to provide basic amenities in the oil-producing communities. All they are interested in is the royalties and contracts they collect from the companies.”

    The source further stated that, “the Imo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) has not done anything with the money voted for the development of the communities. In fact, it has become a conduit pipe for draining the resources meant for the development of the communities, while the people languish in poverty and deprivation.”

    However, when contacted, the traditional ruler of Umudike community, Ezeali James Nwanro, said the protest was premature.

    “When the spill occurred, I was informed and I know that SPDC will first embark on preliminary investigation to know if the spill was an act of sabotage, in which case no compensation will be made or equipment failure, where the communities will be paid for any damage as a result of the spill. It is only after the investigation that we can know what to do as a community.

    The monarch, who is also a contractor with one of the oil companies said: “The youth are not in any position to speak for the community. We have leaders and me as the traditional ruler and we will do everything possible to ensure that Shell does the right thing. So, preventing the team from carrying out the inspection is not in the best interest of both parties.”

    Meanwhile efforts to speak with the management of SPDC were unsuccessful as the team that was on the scene of the spill when our reporter visited, declined comments on the issue.

    Our investigations revealed that most of the communities in the two council areas (Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas) where oil are produced in the state, are confronted with massive youth unemployment, infrastructure decay and poverty.

    In the face of these daunting challenges, the state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, recently released the sum of N500 million to be shared among the youth from the area as empowerment package.

    But instead of ameliorating the suffering of the people as intended, the largesse further threw the communities into turmoil as the youth took up arms against each other over how the money would be shared.

    At the last count, over 20 houses have been burnt, including the palace of one of the kings, while several people were severely wounded in the crisis that engulfed the oil-producing communities.

    Although most of the armed youths from the area are currently benefiting from the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government after they laid down their weapons, fears are that if effective measures are not quickly taken to address the issue of youth unemployment and poverty, the area may slide back into the dark era of militancy.

  • Sudan fears South Sudan fighting could affect oil flows

    T Sudan expressed fears Friday over the fate of vital oil flows as fighting between rival army factions spread in neighbouring South Sudan.

    Sudan’s cash-starved economy is to receive an estimated $1.5 billion (1.1 billion euros) in fees from South Sudan next year for moving crude through northern pipelines for export.

    Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman expressed concern that the South’s oil fields will become victims of the fighting between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those of his former vice president, Riek Machar.

    “Definitely one of the targets of the two powers, will try to take over the oil fields,” perhaps as a way to improve their bargaining position, he said.

    “It’s a struggle for wealth and power.” At least five South Sudanese workers were killed late on Wednesday after unidentified attackers stormed their compound, operated by the Greater Nile Petroleum Operating Co (GNPOC), a senior executive with the firm said.

    But Osman said “so far, there is no effect” on oil flows into Sudan.

    “We are very anxious about what is going on in the South. This will affect all the neighbouring countries. In Sudan we are going to suffer even more than the others.” He also expressed fears about an influx of refugees and weapons.

    The South became independent from Sudan less than three years ago under a 2005 peace deal that ended 23 years of civil war.

    Sudan itself is grappling with tribal and rebel violence in its Darfur region, as well as insurgencies in the Kordofan region and Blue Nile state.

    On Monday, the United Nations said that almost two million people are displaced in Darfur while, countrywide, 6.1 million need humanitarian assistance.

    “We have already some problems in our own country,” Osman said, and the Southern violence threatens to make things worse.

    “We’ll have refugees,” Osman said, although there has not yet been any major influx over the 2,000-kilometre (1,240-mile) frontier.

    “The availability of weapons will be more,” he added.

    The UN said incidents of fighting or civil unrest, which began a week ago in the South’s capital Juba, had now spread to 14 separate areas in South Sudan.

    Late Wednesday troops loyal to the fugitive Machar seized the town of Bor, about 400 kilometres (250 miles) from the disputed border with Sudan.

    “The worst scenario for us is this war flares in other areas and extends to the whole of the South, and this will have an impact on Sudan,” Osman said.

    After intermittent border fighting last year, and allegations that the South was supporting rebels in Sudan, relations improved after a September summit between Kiir and Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir.

    Culled from AFP

  • Furore over missing $49.8bn oil proceeds

    Furore over missing $49.8bn oil proceeds

    Nduka Chiejina and Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report give insight into the controversy generated by the alleged missing $49.8 billion crude oil proceeds

    It was meant to be a simple letter, the content of which was to call attention to an error of omission or commission but it achieved a lot more, in terms of unintended consequences.

    The making of a controversial letter

    A letter written by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to President Goodluck Jonathan to alert the government on perceived gaps in revenue to the federation account thus initiate an investigation has generated a lot of furore in the public space.

    In the letter, the CBN had raised the alarm that $49.8 billion expected to have been paid into the Federation Account between January 2012 and July 2013 could not be accounted for.

    But a supposed harmless letter had quickly snowballed into a political episode which threatened to further heat up the polity. But as common sense prevailed all parties involved (the Ministries of Finance and Petroleum Resources, the CBN, the Accountant General of the Federation, the Federal Inland Revenue Service FIRS and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation NNPC all huddled together for two days and resolved that “the actual proceeds from crude oil exports over the period amounted to USD67.12 billion, and was thus about USD1.79 billion higher than the revenues reported by the CBN (possibly due to timing differences and NPDC liftings which were not included in the CBN report).”

    According to the NNPC’s records, the total revenues of USD67.12 billion, was comprised of revenues which directly accrued to NNPC (for the Federation Account) of USD14 billion; and additional revenues lifted by NNPC on behalf of other parties as follows: for FIRS (USD15 billion), for DPR (USD2 billion), for NPDC (USD6 billion) and for other third party financing (USD 2 billion). In addition, domestic crude lifted by the NNPC amounted to about USD28 billion.

    This domestic crude component, it was revealed, was not reflected in the CBN’s foreign accounts, but rather paid directly in Naira into the Federation Account. Taking account of these various exports conducted on behalf of the non-NNPC parties, all the parties agreed that the total of USD67 billion was mostly accounted for. This substantially addresses the issues raised by the CBN.

    The Federation Account indicates that over the period January 2012 to July 2013, a shortfall of USD10.8 billion was recorded from the domestic crude oil receipts. This shortfall has been acknowledged by NNPC, but the magnitude of the shortfall is still disputed by NNPC. The shortfall is explained to be the result of subsidy claims, unrecovered crude/product losses, and cost of strategic petroleum storage (which is currently not captured in the PPPRA template for refunds). This figure is also well-known to all stakeholders at the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), and is reported and updated on a monthly basis. However, all parties concerned are working assiduously through the ongoing reconciliation efforts to resolve this.

    How CBN stoked the controversy

    In the controversial letter, the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, had written that in the bank’s “analysis of the value of crude oil export proceeds based on the documentation received from pre-shipment inspectors shows that between January 2012 and July 2013, NNPC lifted 594,024,107 barrels of crude valued at $65,332,350,514.57. Out of this amount, NNPC repatriated only $15,528,410,098.77, representing 24 per cent of the value. This means the NNPC is yet to account for, and repatriate to the Federation Account, an amount in excess of $49.804bn of the value of oil lifted in the same period.”

    The CBN was compelled to write the letter because of its concern about shortfalls in remittances to the Federation Account in spite of the strong recovery in the price of oil, Sanusi demanded that the NNPC should account fully for all proceeds that were diverted from its accounts with the CBN and the Federation Account. The CBN warned also that the issues raised should not be politicised.

    According to a statement by the CBN’s Director of Corporate Communications, Ugochukwu Okoroafor, “the Central Bank of Nigeria will neither confirm nor deny the existence of such a letter and considers any discussion by it on the allegation to be inappropriate. However, to the extent that the matter is gathering momentum in the public space, and seems to be assuming a highly politicised dimension, the bank wishes to issue the following clarifications:

    “The bank’s clarifications were that the CBN is statutorily mandated to establish price stability, protect the external value of our national currency, manage the external reserve of the Federation and ensure the smooth functioning of our financial system as well as adviser to the President on economic matters.”

    Okoroafor said that in the performance of this role, “it is natural for the CBN to be concerned at the low level of accretion to reserves and the Excess Crude Account, in spite of strong international oil prices, especially as Nigeria’s performance is compared with other oil producing economies.”

    NNPC’s response

    However, the NNPC quickly responded by alleging that the CBN is actually the one playing politics with the issue. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Andrew Yakubu, at a press briefing in Abuja stated that he was forced to believe that the CBN may have decided to add to Nigeria’s already heated political atmosphere with the letter.

    Yakubu said “the allegation is unfounded, baseless and has become a political instrument in the current politically- charged environment.” Yakubu said the NNPC was taken aback by the CBN letter because the issue came up about four months ago.

    The NNPC boss noted that, “considering the high level of publicity that the recent letter from the CBN to the president has generated, and the erroneous impression it has created among Nigerians. It has become necessary to set the records straight. The statement credited to the CBN governor that NNPC has failed to remit the sum of $49.8bn representing 76% of total national oil receipts is borne out of lack of understanding of how revenues from crude oil sales are remitted into the Federation Account.”

    On the issue of US$49.8 billion or 76% of total national liftings and the alleged unremitted funds, the NNPC clarified that “this represents the proceeds from Royalty and Petroleum Profit Tax liftings. These, are remitted to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) which are statutorily empowered to collect and remit same into the Federation Account.”

    Yakubu explained that CBN’s decision to come up with the issue, four months after it was allegedly discovered was suspicious, adding that it would be appropriate for the Nigerian media to thoroughly investigate the underlying intentions of the CBN with regards to the issue.

    The NNPC boss further questioned CBN’s knowledge of the crude oil revenue processes, by stating that: “all the documents are there and the data was collated from them. I will not say that the CBN is not aware of all these because they are always at the documentation and reconciliation meetings; they also signed off on the documents.”

    On the audit exercise being undertaken by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) on the operations of NNPC, Yakubu said: “It was ordered by the Minister of Petroleum Resources some months ago and they are about rounding off the audit exercise; it is normal. Last year, we had a similar one and we are supposed to go through an audit on regular basis, that is ongoing and will soon be concluded and handed over to the honourable minister.

    Yakubu noted that the CBN letter had claimed that for the period 1st Jan 2012 to 31st July 2013, total national crude oil liftings was 1.287 billion barrels. But the corporation’s records, he said, show that the total national crude lifting for the same period was actually higher at 1.330 billion barrels. Furthermore, total NNPC liftings during the same period was again higher at 618.552 million barrels as against the 594.024 million barrels stated by CBN.

    On the allegation that NNPC owes the Federal Government another N22bn in unpaid levies to the National Export Supervisory Scheme (NESS), the GMD noted that the levies under the NESS are paid to third party inspectors based on services rendered to the Federal Government and payment to the NESS is updated as per value of work done.

    He revealed that the current position is that NNPC has paid a total of $114.78 million from inception of NESS in 2009 up to October 2013 as against the total budget of $117.08 million for the same period. These payments have been reconciled with the CBN, who are again the custodians of the NESS account that is operated on a draw-down basis by the CBN.

    Also shedding more light on the impasse, General Manager, Media Relations Department of the NNPC, Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, maintained that the figure given by the CBN governor “does not represent the correct picture of crude oil liftings for the period.” Ibrahim said the corporation found it necessary to speak on the issue because of the CBN’s misunderstanding of the workings of the oil and gas industry and the modality for remitting crude oil sales revenue into the Federation Account.

    According to Dr Ibrahim, “the 24 per cent of total crude oil revenue receipts which the CBN governor is reported to have acknowledged that NNPC remitted represents the proceeds from the equity lifting which NNPC is directly responsible for. The alleged unremitted 76 per cent was paid to the agencies that are statutorily empowered to receive them for onward remittance into the Federation Account.”

    NNPC exports Nigeria’s share of around two, to 2.5 million barrels per day of oil the country produces, mostly in joint ventures with oil majors like Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil, Italy’s Eni and Chevron. Crude exports and taxes earned from these oil majors account for around 80 percent of government revenues in Africa’s second largest economy and top oil producer.

    As a result of the changing structure of the business arrangements – from joint ventures to production sharing contracts, alternative financing arrangements, and the impact of the fiscal regime on gas development – the government is taking in recent years have been declining. In this regard, a quick passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) will help to reverse this trend.

    Is NNPC guilty as charged?

    This seems to be the submission of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

    EITI is a global coalition of governments, companies and civil society groups working together to improve openness and accountable management of revenues from natural resources.

    Speaking on the sidelines of a civil society forum last week, the representative of EITI and board member of the coalition, Ms. Faith Nwadishi, said the audit reports of the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative had often times revealed the shortcomings of oil firms in the sector, “especially the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.”

    She said the recent revelation by the Central Bank of Nigeria that the corporation failed to remit $49.8bn to the Federation Account should, therefore, provoke the demand for public probe of the accounts and records of the NNPC, stressing that over $400bn was generated from the oil and gas sector in the country between 1999 and 2011.

    “But will you say this fund was adequately used? People should ask questions,” Nwadishi said.

    Nwadishi, who doubles as the Chairperson, National Stakeholders’ Working Group Civil Society Committee, said the campaign against corruption in the system had been made successful by the provision of data, but noted that the usage of the data was vital to stemming fraud.

    She added, “For instance, the letter by the CBN and the 2012 protests on oil subsidy were captured by the NEITI report for Nigeria. And because of the fact that citizens, especially civil societies, are not using this information, or getting it out to the public in order to hold people accountable, we may not get the desired outcome.

    “You say you have data but it is just there and people are not using it. So, it is important that citizens, maybe facilitated by the civil societies, get hold of this information, analyse it and put it in the public space in such a way that the citizens can understand it and use it to hold these agencies accountable.”

    A consensus or afterthought?

    In the of midst of the controversy surrounding the vexed issue of the missing funds, a breather has come from the Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who in her characteristic manner said the hoopla was all but unnecessary.

    According to her, “There are some misconceptions and misunderstandings that led to this number,” Okonjo-Iweala told reporters in the capital, Abuja at a joint press briefing with CBN governor Lamido Sanusi and Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke present.

    “We have been able to come to the conclusion that we can account for this amount.”

    Sanusi confirmed he had written to President Goodluck Jonathan to ask for an investigation of the country’s oil accounts as reported in newspaper leaks last week. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest oil producer and crude exports account for about 80 percent of all government revenue.

    Out of the funds the Central Bank thought were withheld by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., or NNPC, $24 billion represented taxes and royalties already paid by oil companies, Sanusi said.

    “That explains half of the $50 billion,” he said “There’s a shortfall of $12 billion, and we’re told that the shortfall has always been part of an ongoing discussion with the finance and petroleum ministries.”

    While the NNPC acknowledged a shortfall, it disputes the size and explains them as “subsidy claims, unrecovered crude, product losses and the cost of strategic petroleum storage,” according to a statement handed reporters by the Finance Ministry.

    na and Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf in this report give insight into the controversy generated by the alleged missing $49.8 billion crude oil proceeds

  • Oil spill pitches Bayelsa communities against Agip

    Oil spill pitches Bayelsa communities against Agip

    Communities in Bayelsa State, such as Twon Brass, Okpoama and Odioma, are suffering dire consequences of an oil spill, whose devastation has been likened to the Bonga spill, writes Mike Odiegwu.

    Some environmental activists compared it to Shell Bonga spill of December 2011. Others claim that the quantity of oil that recently spewed from a terminal belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) was more devastating than the Bonga oil spill.

    The spill was found during loading operations on November 27, confirming reports that the spill was caused by operational failure during the loading of crude oil at the terminal in the sea.

    Twon Brass, Okpoama and Odioma were some of the communities affected by the recent oil spill which spread to the Atlantic Ocean. The incident disrupted fishing and pitted the communities against the oil giant. The aggrieved fishermen protested and called on Agip to immediately arrest the situation. Youths rose up in unison to condemn the spill.

    A socio-political group, the Okpoama Vanguard in Bayelsa State, even vowed to seize the Brass Oil Export Terminal operated by the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC). The group threatened to shut down the terminal if the company failed to quickly stop the massive oil spilling into the Atlantic Ocean from its facility.

    The group, in a statement signed by its Secretary, Tariyo Akono, said the recent incident of oil spillage had destroyed fishing in the area. According to him, fishermen could no longer carry out their traditional occupation.

    “The incident has hampered economic activities of the coastal communities, saying it would mobilise the people of the area to disrupt activities at the terminal,” he said.

    Akono, who is also the chairman, Bayelsa State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), said the incident had brought untold hardship to the people of the area.

    He said: “All the fishermen from Ewoama, Mbikiri, Okpoama-abadianga, Laijakiri, Bubelebarakiri, Akabeleu, Odioma and Shellkiri have lost their nets to the spill as they could not retrieve their nets and have since stopped fishing since Saturday, November 29, 2013.

     

  • ‘Local oil firms’ll account for 30% production’

    ‘Local oil firms’ll account for 30% production’

    Indigenous oil companies will account for over 30 per cent of oil and gas production in Nigeria in the next five years, the Chief Executive officer, Atlantic Energy Company Limited, Kola Aluko, has said.

    Aluko, in a paper titled: Onshore Niger Delta- A changing landscape, delivered at the African Oil Week Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, said the local companies have the capacity to execute 30 per cent of the businesses in the industry.

    He said: ‘’There are hundreds of underdeveloped discoveries onshore Nigeria, and with the recent divestments of onshore assets by International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria, this would increase the opportunities and access of Nigerian indigenous oil and gas companies to eight billion barrels of crude oil and 46 trillion cubic feet of natural Gas Gross Reserves.

    “Nigerian companies, like Atlantic Energy, have pushed for increased local participation in the upstream sector. As recent as five-years ago, six to seven international oil companies were producing over 97 percent of Nigeria’s oil and gas, now Nigerian companies are producing close to 10 per cent, and I believe we can have 30 per cent ofNigeria’s oil and gas production being produced by Nigerian companies within five years. The time is now for companies like Atlantic Energy and other indigenous companies to step up to the plate.”

    Aluko said ageing infrastructure is one of the problems facing the sector, adding that it has affected the growth of the operators.

    He said the company has formed a strategic alliance with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC)through which it has provided funding, technical and project management assistance to (NPDC).

    He said the firm has invested over $500 million in the project, adding that the initiative has helped in strengthening the alliance with NPDC. He added that NPDC and its Joint Venture partners produce 60,000 barrel of crude oil per day.

  • ‘Local oil firms’ll account for 30% production’

    Indigenous oil companies will account for over 30 per cent of oil and gas production in Nigeria in the next five years, the Chief Executive officer, Atlantic Energy Company Limited, Kola Aluko, has said.

    Aluko, in a paper titled: Onshore Niger Delta- A changing landscape, delivered at the African Oil Week Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, said the local companies have the capacity to execute 30 per cent of the businesses in the industry.

    He said: ‘’There are hundreds of underdeveloped discoveries onshore Nigeria, and with the recent divestments of onshore assets by International Oil Companies operating in Nigeria, this would increase the opportunities and access of Nigerian indigenous oil and gas companies to eight billion barrels of crude oil and 46 trillion cubic feet of natural Gas Gross Reserves.

    “Nigerian companies, like Atlantic Energy, have pushed for increased local participation in the upstream sector. As recent as five-years ago, six to seven international oil companies were producing over 97 percent of Nigeria’s oil and gas, now Nigerian companies are producing close to 10 per cent, and I believe we can have 30 per cent ofNigeria’s oil and gas production being produced by Nigerian companies within five years. The time is now for companies like Atlantic Energy and other indigenous companies to step up to the plate.”

    Aluko said ageing infrastructure is one of the problems facing the sector, adding that it has affected the growth of the operators.

    He said the company has formed a strategic alliance with the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC)through which it has provided funding, technical and project management assistance to (NPDC).

    He said the firm has invested over $500 million in the project, adding that the initiative has helped in strengthening the alliance with NPDC. He added that NPDC and its Joint Venture partners produce 60,000 barrel of crude oil per day.

  • Oil sector seeks prepared pupils

    Oil sector seeks prepared pupils

    Despite high unemployment rates, senior secondary school pupils have been told that job opportunities abound in the energy sector. However, to benefit from them, they were told they must have the right qualifications, in addition to good character and attitudes that are valued in the multi-billion dollar industry.

    The pupils, drawn from secondary schools in Abuja, learnt this during the 17th edition of the Vision 20:2020 Career Counselling, Industry Awareness and Youth Empowerment workshop held at the National Centre for Women Development, Abuja.

    Various speakers representing government and private entities addressed the pupils on the value of preparing themselves for the future by setting goals, being focused on their education, and being determined.

    In her speech, Vision 20: 2020 initiator and Project Consultant, Dr Lola Amao said the pupils must begin preparing now to take advantage of the Nigerian Local Content policy which stipulates that more Nigerians must benefit from the oil and gas industry.

    She said: “The Nigerian Oil and Gas Content Development Act is in the third year of its implementation. Huge opportunities abound for Nigerians who are prepared to take advantage of them. To enjoy its benefits, we all must have a continuous improvement of aptitude, positive change of attitude and focus on developing capable and competent Nigerians which is the reason we are here today. With Nigeria now being on the watch list for frequent act(s) of terrorism, militancy, hooliganism and fraudulent activities it is now imperative that we guide our youths to make the right decisions and choices. If we teach our youths aright, they will develop the ability to turn the bad image that Nigeria currently suffers to one which is lofty and admirable.”

    Two other speakers, Mrs Seyi Afolabi of ExxonMobil and Mr Soji Oyawoye, Chief Eexcutive Officer, Resourcery Intermediaries challenged the pupils to adopt lives of excellence.

    Mrs Afolabi, who spoke on: The Potential Nigerian oil and gas employee, told the pupils that with other countries increasingly finding huge oil reserves, Nigeria must harness its resources to compete better.

    “Nigeria is not the only country that has oil now, so we have competition. Ghana, Tanzania, Mozambique have found huge oil and gas reserves. The challenge for you is to think of how we can retain the investments (multinationals) so they don’t go elsewhere. We need to raise people ready to take over. It takes a lot of money to develop oil and gas. ExxonMobil spends close to N4 billion. That money needs to be well managed,” she said.

    On his part, Oyawoye gave the pupils an assignment that would assist them in mapping their future.

    “Write down separately on these topics: ‘Who am I; Who do I want to become? How do I get there? In life more important than speed is knowing where you are headed,” he said.

    The innovativeness of the participants was also put to test during the event as many of the schools displayed science projects targeted at addressing various challenges in the society.

    The projects included bio gas generator, security alert system; sawdust briquette; solar ovens among others.

    However, at the end of judging it was the Simple Manual Electrical Generator of the Government Secondary School, Jabi that won the Science and Technology award of the workshop with 75 marks.

    The Solar Water Heater produced by Army Day Secondary School, Maitama, won second place with 67marks while the Government Science Secondary School, Tunga Maje came third for its Audio Amplifier project which garnered 62marks. The winning schools were rewarded with cash prizes and plaques. GSS Jabi got N50,000; Army Day got N30,000, while GSSS, Tunga Maje got N20,000.