The Nation Newspaper

Tag: spends

  • Agip spends $5.4b on Nigerian content

    Agip spends $5.4b on Nigerian content

    The Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) has spent $5.4 billion to grow and develop Nigerian content.

    Speaking during a two-day workshop for NAOC SMEs Vendors yesterday, in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital,  its Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Mr. Massimo Insulla, said the oil major spent the money over the last six years adding that the multinational is in the forefront of the marine initiative.

    He said during the petriod, the company embarked on a number of activities including, but not limited to internship arrangement with Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to provide mandatory practical sea time experience for cadets.

    He said the two-day succession planning workshop, was the second for the year hosted by Eni, Agip’s parent company.

    Insulla said the workshop was designed to equip proprietors and management of SMEs with skills and best practices in planning for continuity and sustainability of their businesses in case of incapacitation, retirement or old age.

    He said: ‘’This programme is significant because it aligns with the new vision of Eni which recognises that diversity across all aspects of our operations and organisation is something to be cherished. We believe in the value of long term partnerships with the countries and communities where we operate.

    ‘’As a demonstration of Eni’s commitment to expand our operations and grow Nigerian content, we are implementing a number of projects in the Nigerian oil and gas as well as energy sector including our Zabazaba deep offshore project, ongoing feasibility for the construction of a brand new 150,00 barrel of oil per day (bpd) refinery, support for refurbishment of Port Harcourt refinery, efficiency of the national grid, alternative energy mix.

    ‘’We are engaged in consolidating our relationship with recognised trainers for the training of 280 seafarers at Maritime Academy, Oron and Joemarine Nautical Company, Warri.

    ‘’We are engaged in training of 10 subsea engineers in collaboration with the NCDMB as well as various project-based training which has so far benefitted 204 trainees nominated from NCDMB as well as impacted host communities.

    ‘’Our vendor finance scheme which started in 2014 in collaboration with Stanbic IBTC and Zenith banks has provided opportunities for our contractors to access funds at favourable terms in order to continue to provide services to our companies.’’

    Also speaking on the occasion, Bayelsa State Governor, Mr. Seriake Dickson, urged businessmen and women in the state to take advantage of the opportunities provided by the NCDMB to grow and sustain their businesses.

    While identifying the development of SMEs as critical to any economy, the governor said access to capital remained the major constraint in business development and sustainability.

    He urged the people of the state to get actively involved in the oil and gas industry to enable them take charge of their local economy.

  • Ahmed spends N7b on road projects

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed said yesterday his administration had spent over seven billion Naira on road projects.

    He said they were executed under the state Infrastructure Development Fund (IF-K).

    Ahmed, who spoke at the inauguration of Federal Road Safety Corps RS8, Kwara State office complex in Ilorin, said the I-FK’s success demonstrated the benefits of partnering private sector to fund key infrastructure projects.

    “Among road projects embarked on by this government”, the governor said, “are dualisation of Kulende-UITH-Oke Ose Road, Geri-Alimi Split Diamond Interchange, Share-Oke-Ode Road, Egbejila-Airport Road and Megida Arobadi Road.”

    He urged the private sector to synergise with governments under Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to establish and fund infrastructure projects on a sustainable basis.

    “While I remain an advocate of stronger federal/state synergy in the funding and provision of infrastructure, it is time we leveraged on the private sector to provide key infrastructure, which as we know is a major driver of social and economic development,” Ahmed said.

    He said the PPP approaches ensured efficiency, guaranteed funding for projects and insulated infrastructure from the challenges associated with government financing of projects.

    The governor added that the second phase of the Light-Up Kwara project had begun, as streetlights had been installed on major streets.

  • Fed Govt spends N12.4b on pipeline security, repairs

    Fed Govt spends N12.4b on pipeline security, repairs

    The Pipeline and Products Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said it spent over N12.4 billion on repairs of vandalised pipelines and in securing them between 2008 and last year.

    The PPMC Managing Director, Prince Haruna Momoh, who made this known on sidelines of the Nigeria Oil and Gas conference in Abuja, said between 2008 and 2010, the company recorded over N377 billion losses due to crude theft.

    He also noted that activities at the Port Harcourt refinery were almost grounded last year as the plant was starved of crude.

    He said last year, the refinery did not run for 82 days because it couldn’t get crude from Bonny as a result of pipeline breakage, adding that they recorded 3567 line breaks, a drop from the 5518 line breaks recorded in the past.

    He explained that it was not that the refinery was not technically in order, but no crude to feed it. But another source at the refinery told The Nation that there is another alternative option the management is exploring to get feedstock to the plant. The source said there is plan to supply crude to the plant with vessels through coastal marine from where it would be taken to the plant for refining and noted, specifically that by June, this arrangement would be operational and whatever quantity that comes through the pipe would only be complementary.

    Momoh said: “The spate of vandalism had risen in recent times far above what obtained in past. We have recorded 5518 lines breaks but as at last year, it dropped to 3567. The impact of this in monetary terms is that between 2008 and last year, we have spent over N12.4 billion on repairs and securing our pipeline.

    “In terms of crude oil and product losses, between 2008 and 2010, we are talking of over N377 billion. Now we have adopted the Horizontal Directional Drilling (HDD), another kind of technology to protect the pipeline from thieves accessing them. We are already implementing it Arepo, Ogun State and Ije-Ododo in Lagos.

    ”But this is at enormous cost. Imagine laying a pipeline of about seven metres below sea level, and you take it up 40 to 50 kilometres, and  we are talking about an average of $4.5 million per kilometre, multiply this by the 5,106 kilometres of pipeline that we operate in the country, we will be talking of $23 billion. Where do we get the $23 billion from?

    “As we have started, in a couple of years, we will be able to achieve a reasonable number of points that are HDD compliant.”

    He explained that the challenges of security in Nigeria is well known to everybody, wondering if at the end of the day, the government would not bring the Japanese Red Army to help us police these pipelines.

  • Govt spends N634b on kerosene subsidy

    Govt spends N634b on kerosene subsidy

    The Federal Government spent about N634billion to subsidise kerosene in the last three years, the Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum, Downstream,Dakuku Peterside, has said.

    Speaking during a seminar organised by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), in Lagos yesterday, Peterside said the figure is equivalent of one- third of the nation’s yearly expenditure on capital projects.

    Giving the breakdown of the amount which he said was spent over three years, he disclosed that about N110 billion spent in 2010; N324 billion in 2011 and N200 billion was expended in 2012, arguing that the subsidy has never benefited the masses who have been suffering to get the product at the regulated price.

    He said the nation will continue to experience scarcity of kerosene due to the existence of non-functional refineries, vandalism of crude pipelines, corruption and the multi-purpose usage of the product.

    He said the many usage to which Kerosine is put, has often led to its diversion and hoarding by opeartors and dealers.

    Peterside said kerosene that was supposed to sell for N40.90k per liter, is presently selling for between N110 and N150 per liter, urging that consumers should switch over to the usage of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), which he said is clean energy that reduces environmental cost and degradation.

    He therefore enjoined governments at all levels to promote the usage of LPG as cooking gas, proving that the subsidy spent of kerosene over the years has not helped matters.

    He said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) supplied about 2.92 billion liters of kerosene from September 2012 to August 2013, but the product was not available in the markets.

    “So something is wrong somewhere. How can we be spending on what does not benefit the masses? he queried, saying that we need to be forward looking and encourage gas usage, so that what is spent on subsidy can be used for some other developmental programmes,” he said.

    Peterside, said reliance on kerosene has retarded the expected growth of the country to carbon free economy, compared to other developing countries.

  • Privatisation: Govt spends N609.4b on labour

    Privatisation: Govt spends N609.4b on labour

    The Federal Government has spent about N609.398billion between 2000 and 2013 in settlement of labour liabilities in privatised public enterprises, the Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Benjamin Dikki, has revealed.

    BPE’s Director, Public Communication, Chigbo Anichebe, in a statement yesterday, said Dikki made this known after a meeting with the Energy Working Group of the Nigeria-Germany Bi-National Commission, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

    He explained that the sector break down showed that a chunk of the money was spent on the settlement of labour liabilities in the power sector, which has gulped over N384.062 billion, representing 63 per cent of the entire N609 billion payout.

    He pointed out that the power sector was closely followed by the telecommunications sector, with the settlement of labour issues in NITEL/M-tel, taking N126, 716,111,589.

    He said a further N67, 780,039,618.52, was expended in the settlement of labour liabilities in the transport and aviation sector, with bulk of it spent on the settlement of liabilities of the workers of Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA).

    Dikki said the steel sector consumed N10, 733,347,712.53, while about N8, 950,510,491, went into the settlement of labor issues in privatised enterprises in the agro-allied sector.

    He listed other sectors and their corresponding liabilities to include, Insurance N4,700,000,000; Sugar companies, N3,527,095,184,; Paper mills N417,447,000; Hospitality N1,262,708,633; Cement companies, N636,324,705, Media enterprises, N505,874,001.23, and Petrochemicals, N106,615,529.87

    On Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) successor companies, the BPE boss said government has shown tremendous goodwill and commitment to resolving all the labour issues in the power transaction, adding that it was the only singular transaction that all the proceeds realised from the sale of power assets were committed to settling labour liabilities.

    “Payment of all the workers entitlements is on-going, and money has been set aside to pay all those that have been duly cleared,” he added.

  • NAHCO spends $70m on equipment, infrastructure

    NAHCO spends $70m on equipment, infrastructure

    The Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) PLc said yesterday that it has invested over $70 million on equipment, infrastructure and training of its personnel in the last two years.

    The equipment were installed at the Murtala Mugammed Airport, Lagos and other airports were NAHCO carries out its operations .

    The investments, NAHCO Chairman, Mallam Sule Yahaya said, has helped the company to raise the bar in its services.

    He said this was made to reposition the firm as the leading provider of ground handling services in Africa.

    Speaking in an interview after the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal  Alex Badeh inaugurated the training and learning centre at the airport, he said NAHCO will continue to collaborate with the Air Force on safety.

    He spoke of plans  by the firm to strengthen the partnership with the Air Force, which he said, led to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

    Yahaya said NAHCO will consolidate on its partnership with stakeholders to bring about facilitation of cargo and passenger movement.

    He explained that the recent closure of its import warehouse at the Lagos airport by Nigeria Customs  Service has offered a window for the firm to clean up its operations.

    He described the partnership as fruitful as the new regime in the terminal now removed tardiness in the processing, documentation, and release of cargo.

    He said NAHCO will continue to strengthen its collaboration with other players to raise the level of safety and security around the airport.

    Air Marshal Badeh said the Air Force is excited over its partnership with NAHCO, that will bring about the training of its personnel, who he said, constitutes a strong link in the aviation chain.

    He said the Air Force will strengthen its operations around airports to ensure that dangerous goods and weapons are not brought into the country undeclared.

    Such oversight duties, he said, has become necessary because of recent threats to national security.

    He spoke of plans to secure the airports, assuring that anytime stakeholders need the assistance of the Air Force, the personnel on ground would respond appropriately.

    Badeh urged domestic airlines to use the aircraft maintenance hangar of the Force at the airport for the repairs of their airplanes, assuring that it has adequate capacity to undertake such tasks.

    He said it is cheaper and convenient to repair aircraft at home rather than sending them abroad to enrich other countries.

  • Council spends N100m on boreholes

    The Chairman of Wurno Local Government in Sokoto State, Alhaji Shehu Chacho, has said that N100 million was spent to construct 10 motorised boreholes in the council in 2012.

    Chacho told journalists in Wurno that the projects were sited in 10 wards in the council area to ensure provision of adequate potable water to the people.

    He said that the boreholes, which cost the local government N10 million each to sink, had since been inaugurated.

    Chacho called on the beneficiary communities to protect government’s properties from vandals, warning that the council would not condone any act of negligence by any community.

    “The communities should safeguard government’s infrastructure, there should be collective efforts to ensure the safety as well as maintenance of government’s facilities,” he said.

    The chairman said that the local administration was determined to continue with policies and programmes that would enhance the well being of the people.

    “We will continue to identify with the yearnings and aspirations of our people, irrespective of their political leaning in ensuring good governance,” he said.

    He also called on the people to reciprocate the council’s gesture by living in peace with one another for the overall development of the area.

  • Fed Govt spends N1.37b in three years to fight insecurity

    Fed Govt spends N1.37b in three years to fight insecurity

    President Goodluck Jonathan, at the weekend, said the Federal Government spent over N1.37 billion to tackle insecurity in the last three years.

    The Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Ita Ekpeyomg, has said the Department of State Security (DSS), the Army and other security outfits have successfully tamed the Boko Haram challenge.

    Jonathan gave the figure when he addressed guests at the passing-out parade and commissioning of 385 members of the Cadet Officers Basic Course 27 (COBC 27) at the State Services Academy, Lagos State.

    The President, who was represented by the Acting Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, noted that though security challenges had increased in the country, the Federal Government was doing its best to tackle them.

    He said the Federal Government provided N237 million in 2011; N300 million in 2012 and N800 million this year.

    The minister said it was also because of the Federal Government’s determination to tackle insecurity and terrorism that it enacted the anti-terrorism law.

    Wike said: “To tackle terrorism, the Federal Government enacted the anti-terrorism law and came up with equipment to fight terrorism.”

    The minister told the cadet officers that they were expected to be skillful in handling modern technological equipment and have good people-relation.

    He said: “All the equipment bought to tackle terrorism will go to waste, if you don’t how to handle the equipment. And people should be able to trust you with information. An informant should not be punished. Also, remember that a man is not guilty until he is proven to be guilty. Carry your duty with all fairness and uphold the rule of law. The era of using brutality to elicit confessions should stop! Innocent people have died through that way.”

  • Niger spends N10.7billion on fertiliser

    The Niger State Government spent N10.7 billion on the implementation of some of its agricultural programmes in the past four years, Governor Babangida Aliyu has said.

    Aliyu, represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Alhaji Ahmed Matane, at the opening of a stakeholders meeting of staple crops processing zones in Minna, the state capital, said his administration spent N7.5 billion on the procurement and sale of fertiliser at subsidised rates.

    He said the government had ensured a hitch-free sale of fertiliser, adding, that had helped to boost farmers’ productivity.

    He said the government also procured 241 tractors at the cost of N1.5 billion for sale to cooperative groups and large-scale farmers to enhance mechanised farming.

    Aliyu said his administration expended N1 billion on the implementation of commercial agriculture scheme in the state.

    He said the Ministry of Agriculture had procured and sold to the public, grains valued at N757 million, adding that grains were also distributed free-of-charge to indigent members of the society.

    Aliyu said the state government had resuscitated the agricultural extension services to enable farmers adopt and improve on their productivity.

  • CBN spends N250b on naira

    CBN spends N250b on naira

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) spent N250 billion to on the nation’s currency in 2012, the Deputy Governor, Operations, at the apex bank, Tunde Lemo, has said.

    Lemo, who spoke at the Marble Arch Hotels in Awka, the Anambra State’s capital on the proposed implementation of the cashlite policy, said the money went into processing, transportation,  storage and destruction of old naira notes.

    He said the cost which stood at N114.5 billion in 2009, has continued to rise until last year when the cashless policy was introduced by the CBN in Lagos, adding that the cost of producing and managing the naira has become too huge for the country to bear.

    The Deputy Governor, who was represented by a Deputy Manager, BabatundeAjioye, spoke at a forum to sensitize stakeholders in Anambra State on the proposed implementation of the cashlite policy of the CBN scheduled to start in Anambra and five other states by October, 2013.

    He listed reduction in crimes, like armed robbery, kidnappings targeted at cash, reduction in election rigging which is perpetrated with the use of cash; elimination of cash shortages; inefficient revenue management and cut in corruption levels, as some of the benefits of the cashless regime.

    He said since the cashless policy was introduced in Lagos State , the state’s revenue projections has increased tremendously, while the state’s cost of generating revenue had also dropped significantly.

    Earlier, the Branch Controller of the apex bank in Awka, Azubuike Okoro, said the choice of Anambra as one of the first set of states to commence the cashless policy, was based on its high cash transactions, arguing that introducing the policy would not pose much problem because of the high literacy and innumeracy level in the state.

    He said: ”Anambra people have over the years been operating cashless schemes in doing their businesses, that is why there is no longer news of highway bus robberies anymore because the traders no longer carry cash to markets outside the state for their transactions.”

    ”We are targeting Onitsha ,Nnewi, Ekwulobia and Umunze for market mobilization because of the heavy use of cash in those cities and towns,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria will take delivery of new naira notes before the end of September for circulation, the Deputy Director, Operations, Dr Tunde Lemo, has said.

    The apex bank had earlier said that new naira notes would be in circulation by June, and that the smaller denomination notes (N5, N10, N20, and N50) would be reprinted on paper.

    Lemo, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja, said: “We are going to take delivery of the new notes from this month of August,” adding that the process will be completed before the end of September.

    He said the public will get a large quantity of the new notes to replace the old and mutilated ones, “particularly the higher denomination notes in the first instance, then later, the lower denominations.’’

    On the scarcity of the lower denomination notes, Lemo blamed commercial banks for what he called “poor circulation.’’

    “For the lower denomination; I think the banks are really the ones that are really not allowing the lower denomination in circulation, largely, because of the carrying cost.

    “Most people don’t require small denomination. But for buying things in the market, if you look at the veracity, you find out that the N50 circulate more than the smaller ones,’’ he said.

    Meanwhile, Lemo has urged law enforcement agencies to arrest all illegal hawkers of new naira notes.

    He also called on commercial banks to keep watchful eyes on their staff to avoid being used as conduit for illegal transfer of new notes to unauthorised hands.

    Lemo said this should be done to ensure effective protection of the currency from abuse.

    “We have done all we can do in the sense that we have criminalised this in the 2007 Act. It is clear that if you hawk notes, if you abuse the currency, it is a criminal offence and it is punishable.

    “We expect law enforcement agencies to do the arrest. We don’t have power to arrest. We know it is going on,’’ he said.

    Lemo said commercial banks should “dispense and pay their customers with new notes’’.

    He said the apex bank had carried out sensitisation campaigns to inform the public and warn them about the dangers of patronising hawkers.

    “I think that is the limit the central bank can go,’’ the deputy governor said.

    NAN reports that new naira notes are sold at Dei Dei along Kubwa Express Road, Abuja, as well as other locations across the country.