The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Unending

  • The unending crisis in Jos

    Sir: The recent resurgence of violence in some parts of Plateau State has brought to the fore many questions begging for answers. Despite the peace efforts, this year the state has been on the news again not for something positive.  The pall of doom and gloom descended the state mid this year following retaliatory attacks by alleged herdsmen on Razat, Ruku, Nyarr, Kura and Gana-Ropp communities of Gashish district in Barikin Ladi Local Government Area. What brought the attack to limelight was not how it spread to Riyom and Jos South local government areas but number of commuters that were hacked to death by the Berom residents of these areas.

    In the aftermath of these attacks, hardly a week passes without recording news of attacks or reprisals in at least two local government areas. Cattle rustling, attacks and reprisals have continued unabated despite the trivial presence of security operatives.

    On September 3, the family of a retired military General declared him missing. Investigation by the Nigerian Army traced the footprints of Major General Idris Alkali who retired two weeks before going missing to a pond in Dura-Du District of Jos South. Days after, a search team led by the armed soldiers from the Operation Safe Haven and Maxwell Khobe Barracks, Jos that comprised of men of the fire service and local divers announced the recovery of his car, a black Toyota Corolla alongside other cars from the pond.

    Following the discovery by the men of the Nigerian Army, the atmosphere in the state had been tense. Amidst this atmosphere, September 27, there was a reprisal attack on the Kabong community of Jos North. Reports have it that about 14 people lost their lives to this reprisal attack, nine of whom are from one family.

    In the wee hours of Friday, aggrieved residents of the Kabong-Rukuba road took to the street to fault security operatives over their failure to protect their lives and properties. A police station was razed down and a military Hilux van destroyed. The irate protesters went on to attack commuters whom they believe share the same faith with the herdsmen, dislodging them from their vehicles. The news triggered violence a fresh violence within the Jos metropolis.

    It shouldn’t be a rocket science for one to understand the current crises in Jos. For peace to reign in the state, the government at both national and state levels need to redouble their peace efforts by revisiting the recommendations of the Fibressima, Oputa, Niki Tobi and the Bola Ajibola judicial commissions of inquiry that were set up to investigate the remote and immediate causes to the Jos crises at various times and proffer solutions to avert further occurrence.

    An institution that will monitor provocative speeches especially by politicians, religious leaders and opinion makers, especially on social media should be in place. It is a common knowledge that hate speech and fake news have aided in fanning the flames of ethno-religious animosity in Plateau State. Initiating such institutions would help in nipping the menace of unending bloodletting in the bud.

    The federal government should brainstorm on creating another route for innocent commuters from the Northeast going to Abuja plying the Jos, for that would help in reducing the death toll whenever mayhem erupts.

    Finally, due to lack of trust in security operatives in state, weapons have continued to proliferate in the hands of civilians. To ebb this development, the government whose failure to protect its people made them to resort to local and sophisticated weapons should re-jig the security structure in a way that the protection of the people lives and properties will become their priority.

     

    • Mahdi Garba, Jos.
  • Unending Presidential jokes

    Unending Presidential jokes

    Arising common phenomenon at the Presidential Villa, Abuja is the series of jokes now being thrown by the leaders at public functions.

    The number one and number two citizens, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, have continued to seize every available opportunity to make their guests and staff laugh.

    They have continued to loosen up a bit and not make every occasion strictly business.

    Through their jokes, they have been able to engage the attention of their audiences and easily drive home their points.

    Jokes have been found to play a very important role towards easing individuals’ lives and working as a good medicine to relief their stress.

    They can also help people in bad mood or in a problem feel better.

    Many benefits of laughing and sharing funny jokes include boosting up the human immune system by increasing infection fighting antibodies, impacts blood circulation and help with heart and other cardiovascular problems, stimulates most of the organs of the body and increases endrophins released by brain, which helps in reducing pain.

    Other benefits, according to experts, include relieving stress and soothing tension, which go a long way to reduce anger and depression, increases heart rate and blood pressure, while also helping to sharpen sensibilities.

    Buhari exhibited the special trait during the 2017 Christmas homage paid on him last week Monday by the residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) led by the FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello.

    After the FCT Minister and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) FCT chapter, Jonah Samson, had made their remarks, it was the turn of the President to speak to the visitors.

    He started his remarks by cracking jokes.

    He said: “I have to digress right from the word ‘go’ to thank those who drafted the Nigerian constitution with respect to the number of senators which puts states on equal terms and excluding the FCT. (While all the states have three Senators in the Senate, only FCT has one Senator).

    Pointing to the only FCT representative in the Senate, Senator Phillip Aduda (PDP), who was sitting on his immediate left in his sitting room, Buhari added: “Because he is from the other party.”

    The Presidential sitting room, which was filled to the brim, immediately erupted in laughter.

    The President added when the laughter subsided: “I think you will know clearly when you know that Bayelsa State has 8 local governments, Kano State has 44 local governments, but in the Senate they are all equal as they produce three senators each. I think this is very fair.”

    Not done with the jokes, the President again cracked another one while observing protocol of the government officials and guests in the sitting room.

    He said: “The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, members of the Federal Executive Council, I do not expect to see the Ministers here, I thought they will be busy in their constituencies.”

    He then added the joke: “But I think it is good excuse they are here as they will spend less.”

    The guests again burst out laughing with heads turning in the direction of the Minister of Science and Technology,  Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, who were seated in the hall.

    A week to the Christmas homage, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also almost burst the ribs of journalists covering the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The occasion was the end-of-year seminar of the State House Press Corps (SHPC) at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa.

    Osinbajo was to declare open the seminar with the theme: ‘Journalists and Retirement Plans’.

    Already seated at the high-table before Osinbajo made his remarks were the Permanent Secretary of the State House, Jalil Arabi, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the Chairman of the occasion, Nasarawa State Commissioner of Information, Mohammed Kwara representing the governor, the guest lecturer and Chairman of Elumelu Foundation, Tony Elumelu and the SHPC Chairman, Ubale Musa.

    Jokes after jokes, Osinbajo succeeded in lightening up the hall and making the seminar a memorable one for the State House Press Corps.

    He jokingly recounted his ugly business experiences when he ventured into journalism in the past.

    He said: “I have always been a media person by default sometimes and by the nature of my other engagements. I served on the advisory board of the News and the Tempo for many years. It was then I realised how difficult it is to do business with journalists because I was never paid any legal fees for my efforts.”

    The journalists and other guests in the hall could not help but laugh.

    He went on: “We sat at various meetings. There was no sitting allowance, nothing. In fact, I always wonder that I always see you people selling, how come there is no reward at all?”

    The hall again erupted in laughter.

    “So, I could understand that there could be need for very serious debate about this issue of remuneration.”

    He was again interrupted by the journalists with laughter and clapping.

    Osinbajo then continued: “My other engagement as a ‘media person’ was when I co-founded an anti-corruption organisation, called ‘Integrity’ in 1994.

    “And we had a publication called ‘Scrutiny’. One afternoon the SSS came to ask for the Professor from my editor, the editor of the publication, Kunle Oshadipe, initially a journalist with The Tempo,

    “He had on a pair of round eyeglasses. I was not there when they came. As soon as they asked for the Professor, he told them ‘I’m not the Professor’. They told him ‘It’s a lie.’ And they carried him away.”

    The hall erupted in laughter again.

    “To cut a long story short, Kunle’s wife called me and said ‘They were looking for the Professor and they have carried my husband. My husband is not the Professor’.

    Laughter again followed the Vice President’s remark.

    “Everybody deserted the office; all of us who were strong advocates of the anti-corruption fight deserted the office.”

    Another round of laughter ensued.

    “But I felt that I had no choice, as the only Professor in the whole setting. So I went to the SSS office where I was held for over 24 hours. Nobody said anything to me. They just sat me there and I was hearing screams of people who were obviously being beaten. They didn’t say a word to me.

    “But late that night, one guy came to me and said ‘I hope you heard the screaming.”

    Another laughter in the hall.

    “He then brought out a lot of the pamphlets that we have published and said ‘Do you think it is worth it to lose your life for these?’

    “By the grace of God, an elderly woman came in and said that somebody I taught in the university asked me to be released. So, she said I should pick my things and go.  I immediately disappeared from the office,” he said

    Another laughter followed.

  • Unending layoffs

    Unending layoffs

    •It amounts to sabotage for banks to sack workers while declaring huge profits

    Nigeria’s banking sector lost about 8,663 jobs in the first half of this year, an average of about 360 workers sacked per week. A report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed, without consolation, that the figures were higher in the first quarter than in the second. The report entitled: ‘Selected Banking Sector Data: Sectorial Breakdown of Credit, ePayment Channels and Staff Strength’ noted that more contract staff were employed during the period and that the rash of job losses was in two phases.

    This is frightening but not new or unexpected. Last year, many banks retrenched a lot of their staff such that being a bank worker, which used to be a thing of joy and pride, suddenly became a source of apprehension as bank workers became an endangered species.

    Indeed, the matter was so serious that the Federal Government directed the banks to suspend the mass sack in June, last year. Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said: “Following the high spate of petitions and complaints from stakeholders in the banking, insurance and financial institutions, I hereby direct the suspension of the ongoing retrenchment in the sector pending the outcome of the conciliatory meetings in the industry.” He added that this was “as a result of the apprehension by my office of the various disputes in the sector in accordance with and in compliance with the provisions of the labour laws of Nigeria.” Many of the banks still fired some members of their staff even after the government’s directive.

    Budget and planning minister, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, followed the appeal with yet another, saying the banks would still need the sacked workers when the economy improved. Indeed, he reeled out a long list of what the Federal Government planned to do to bring about economic recovery.

    Unfortunately, we do not share his optimism because many banks have been using contract staff for a long time, even before the economy ran into stormy waters. They have been exploiting the laxity on the part of the regulatory agencies to make excessive profits at the expense of their staff.

    Yet, the junior members of the staff who are usually the first to go whenever banks run into trouble are the least of their problems. The real problem is the banks’ directors, some of them richer than their banks. They earn fat emoluments that constitute a drain pipe on the banks. So, the place to begin sack in banks, when inevitable, is at the very top; those in executive positions must be ready to shed some of their weight.

    Admittedly, the economy is in crisis and the banking sector cannot be immune to its vagaries. But that alone does not explain the crisis in the banking sector. The fact is; our banks no longer do traditional banking. Banks, by their very nature, are supposed to bring up ideas or facilitate the ones brought by their customers and fund same. Because of the long period of gestation of most of these businesses, the banks prefer lending to traders on short-term basis, and they are satisfied because they make a kill from such transactions. But it is the larger economy that suffers the consequence of not funding adequately long-term projects or funding them at cut-throat interest rates.

    What is required is an overhaul of the banking system. It amounts to economic sabotage for banks to declare billions of profits annually and still embark on mass layoffs. Nigerian banks must be ready to return to their core duty instead of relying on round-tripping or sale of forex for their survival. The regulatory agencies have a lot of work to do in this regard.

  • Real sector’s unending woes

    Real sector’s unending woes

    The real sector is acknowledged as the economy’s driver. However, for the sector to be vibrant and drive diversification,  experts say there must be demand. But, sadly, the purchasing power of the naira and, by extension, Nigerians has drastically reduced-no thanks to the authorities’ failure to harmonise fiscal and monetary policies to curtail rising inflation, interest and exchange rates, which have compounded the sector’s woes. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    The real sector is under tremendous pressure. Already clobbered by the dearth of supportive infrastructure, particularly power supply, rising inflation, interest and exchange rates may have added a more disturbing dimension to its woes.

    For instance, inflation rate is 18.55 per cent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Interest rate hovers between 14 and 20 per cent. The exchange rate of the naira to the dollar is at a record low of N306 and N497 at the official and parallel markets. Unemployment has risen to 13.3 per cent.

    These indices or parameters, which measure the health of the economy particularly the real sector, have been rising, indicating more turbulence for real sector operators. The high inflation, interest and exchange rates are manifesting in the form of declining consumer purchasing power, declining corporate sales and profitability, increasing delinquency in meeting obligations, and high morbidity and mortality of businesses, among others.

    The NBS recently released the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation, with the index rising to 18.55 per cent in December last year. The Bureau said the 18.55 per cent was an increase of 0.07 percentage points over the 18.48 per cent recorded in November 2016. It attributed the increase to a rise in the price of electricity, housing, water, clothing, footwear and education.

    Economic and finance analysts, however, said there were other factors driving the high inflationary rate and other microeconomic indicators. For instance, the Managing Consultant, Nesbet Consulting, a Lagos-based firm of finance and management consultancy, Dr. Alaba Olusemore, said insurgency in the Northeast part of the country was also a factor.

    According to the loan management expert and Fellow, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), the activities of Boko Haram insurgents have created a lot of production problems, which drastically reduced food supply and resulted to increase in food prices. This, in turn, drove inflation up.

    He also told The Nation that the higher exchange rate of the dollar to the naira was also another factor pushing up inflation. He explained that the upward swing in the naira/dollar exchange rate and the fact that most goods and services consumed in the country are imported meant higher prices for the imported food items as well as other necessary inputs used by manufacturers to produce most local staples.

    Olusemore, however, traced the current pressure faced by the naira against the dollar to the persistent fall in crude oil prices at the international market. He said the slump in oil prices, which started mid-June 2014, unleashed negative consequences, part of which was less accretion to the nation’s foreign reserves.

    Nigeria depends on oil for 70 per cent and 95 per cent of her revenue and foreign exchange earnings. But global oil prices have been tumbling since June 2014, putting the finances of Africa’s largest economy/oil producer under severe pressure. From over $115 per barrel in June 2014, oil price nose-dived to around $28 per barrel by January 2016.

    Although of late there has been gradual rebound in oil prices, it has not been substantial enough to offer succour to an economy already badly hit by recession. The dwindling foreign exchange earnings have continued to exert tremendous pressure on the naira, forcing it to lose its value over the years. The naira has been buying fewer and fewer goods and services each succeeding year.

    The Director-General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, noted that a major factor driving the current inflationary trend is the exchange rate depreciation, which has pushed up costs across all sectors of the economy.

    He also said uncertainty around the foreign exchange policy negatively impacted investors’ confidence, which consequently affected output. Besides, CBN’s restrictive import policy, Yusuf, said, is a major contributing factor to the new wave of inflationary pressures.

     

    How the situation hurts

    It is easy to see why real sector operators are losing sleep over the rising inflation, interest and exchange rates.  For most of them, the fear of decline in consumer purchasing power is the beginning of wisdom.

    For instance, with the drastic reduction in the purchasing power of the naira and, by extension, Nigerians, real sector operators, particularly manufacturers, are agonising over low or no patronage of locally-produced goods and services.

    The former President/CEO, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc and Managing Consultant, Starteam Consult, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, observed that market contraption, manifesting in decline in consumer purchasing power, had forced not a few consumers to prioritise their expenditures.

    Ohuabunwa, who spoke at a recent Annual General Meeting (AGM) of  Ikeja branch of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), said consumers now focused more on needs than wants, as they struggle to make ends meet. This has resulted in decline in corporate sales and profitability.

    Indeed, inflation erodes consumers’ purchasing power by persistently reducing the quantity of goods and services that their income can buy, making peoples’ income increasingly worthless. This situation, according to experts, brings about a fall in the standard of living of the people and creates severe problems for the growth and development of the economy.

    Also, with interest rate or cost of funds well over 20 per cent, real sector operators find it extremely difficult to sustain their businesses at that level. If the cost of funds goes up, local production suffers. Most local operators regard 20 per cent corporate funding as killing. This is so considering that they face competition from cheap products coming from Asian countries, particularly China.

    According to Yusuf, high cost of funds is responsible for the high mortality rate of manufacturing firms, especially at the medium and the small-scale level. He said it was also responsible for why return on manufacturers’ investment is slow and turn-around fewer.

    Indeed, the situation is worse for Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs). High interest rate is acknowledged as one of the constraints to SMEs’ growth. While big companies may survive in a regime of high interest rate, it would pose a serious challenge to small enterprises because of their low capital base.

    With the rise in interest rate, cost of borrowing has gone up, especially for SMEs. In the short-term, businesses find it difficult to cope, forcing many of them to lay off workers, resulting in rising unemployment and, by implication, increase in crime wave.

    Inflation also hurts the real sector by discouraging real investments and limiting export because of its effect on the value of the local currency. Investors know that during inflation, they receive lesser value (that is, weak naira) than they invested in projects, this discourages investments.

    There are also fears that the inflationary trend may have compounded the sector’s competiveness. The thinking is that the situation has created more problems for the country in its transactions with the rest of the world by making its exports more expensive than before.

    By reducing Nigeria’s share of the global market, experts say the hope of earning more foreign exchange to meet financial obligations is under threat. Apart from putting the country in deficit in its balance of payments, efforts at encouraging the non-oil sector to reduce the over-dependence on oil proceeds are also undermined.

    MAN President Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs lamented that manufacturers, government and consumers are feeling the pain of the rising inflation. He said, for instance, that if manufacturers are not making profit, they would be unable to pay tax to government.

    He also said because of inflation, manufacturers, who, unfortunately, do not have the luxury of increasing their prices, even in the face of rising costs and reduced consumer purchasing power, have had to pile up their unsold inventory.

    According to him, this has a cyclical effect as, “with high unsold inventory, production would be constrained and eventually reduced, productivity would decline, competitiveness would be affected and could, as a final unfortunate consequence, lead to down-sizing or, right-sizing of employees.”

    He pointed out that manufacturers’ challenges have been compounded by the scarcity of forex, which further constrained the sector, especially those products with high imported inputs. “High inflation has led to higher cost of production, at a time that there is scarcity of forex and in the face of dwindling working capital and has, consequently, led to declining capacity utilisation,” he said.

     

    Experts proffer solutions

    To curb the rising inflation and save the real sector and Nigerians the agony of rise in price levels, Olusemore said the CBN, in line with its core mandate of maintaining price and exchange rate stability, should adjust downwards banks’ Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) to make more funds available to them to lend to the real sector to produce.

    He also said investing more in public works would boost liquidity in the system while also creating jobs. He, however, said mitigating the effects of inflation required a combination of sound and robust monetary and fiscal policy framework.

    The economist noted that apart from the right monetary policy that pays attention to controlling inflation, interest and exchange rates, fiscal policies such as tariff structure or import duty should be looked into.

    “Some of the fiscal policies are not well thought-out,” Olusemore told The Nation, pointing out  that the recent ban on importation of vehicles through land borders has compounded the unemployment problem in the country.

    For industrialist and economist Mr. Henry Boyo, the pillar of any economy is monetary policy and the pillar of monetary policy is interest rate, inflation, and exchange rate. “When you get those ones right, like in other countries, you will fix the economy,” he said.

    Pointing out that high interest rate makes it impossible for the real sector to grow, he said high inflation was the main driver of poverty. He said in most advanced economies in the world, interest rate was below two per cent, while exchange rate remained stable for many years, even as cost of funds is also below two per cent.

    According to Boyo, forcing these rates down is not rocket science; what is required is a robust monetary policy to address the challenge of excess liquidity in the system. He argued that excess supply of money into the system was responsible for the unacceptably high inflation rate, high cost of funds and high interest rates.

    Ohuabunwa could not agree less. “Exchange rate, interest rate and inflation rate can all be moderated by sensible and co-ordinated policies. Investment flows preferentially to macroeconomic stable environments that actually seek, welcome and reward investors,” he said.

    But Boyo insisted that this could not be achieved until and unless the CBN stopped its conscious, deliberate and misguided payment arrangement that unilaterally substitutes naira allocations for dollar-derived revenue. He said such payment arrangement results in market imbalance, which ultimately weakens the naira exchange rate.

    The industrialist also said that CBN’s monetary policies aggravate the level of inflation in the country. According to him, by substituting naira allocations for dollar-derived revenues, CBN unleashes hundreds of billions of fresh naira inflow into the coffers of commercial banks. And the humongous cash surplus in the system is pitted against less goods and services.

    The expert explained that the resultant market imbalance drives higher prices and fuel inflation. He said that with rising inflation, incomes buy less and less goods and services. Even higher incomes buy less because of the rising general price level.

    Boyo, therefore, insisted that CBN must stop the obnoxious payment policy and instead adopt the use of dollar certificates or coupons (strictly not cash) for payment of monthly allocations to the three tiers of government.

    He said instead of CBN getting dollar from the government and substituting it with naira, the apex bank should give the certificates to beneficiaries who would go to banks to change the certificate into naira. He reasoned that using the dollar certificate will bring down interest rate, inflation and exchange rates.

  • The unending metering crisis

    The unending metering crisis

    Metering customers remains a challenge for distribution companies (Dis Cos). Will this be addressed in 2017? AKINOLA AJIBADE asks.

    When in November 2013 the Federal Government privatised the Power Holding Company (PHCN), the buyers did not envisage problems.

    The problems include gas shortage, low power generation, irregular supply and metering.

    The 11 distribution companies (Dis Cos) are struggling to meet the metering deadline of five years, as contained in their Purchasing Agreements (PAs) with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    The Dis Cos, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), local manufacturers of meters and others have been trading words over metering.

    Penultimate week, NERC absolved itself of blame, saying it has done all it could to make the power firms supply their customers enough meters.

    Its Acting Chief Executive Officer, Dr Anthony Akan, said NERC should not be blamed for the problem since it has directed the DisCos to provide their customers meters.

    In a statement, Akan advised DisCos to invest more in metering, by partnering institutions, which can either produce or provide meters.

    Akan said: ‘’NERC, in line with the provisions of the constitution, made the power firms understand the necessity of reducing the burdens of paying estimated bills on consumers, by providing meters as at when due. The Commission has directed DisCos to issue meters to customers, and also threaten to sanction firms, which fail obey its directives on the issue.

    ‘’NERC introduced and implemented a scheme known as Credit Advanced Metering Implementation Initiative (CAPMI) to hasten the process of providing meters to consumers by the DisCos. We, at NERC, believed that CAPMI would assist in providing meters to consumers, who cannot wait for long to get meters from the power firms.”

    According to Akan, many customers got their meters easily through this means, while others went through the hog of waiting for  their service providers.

    Also, NERC’s Head of Consumer Unit Mr Blue Jack said the commission never shirked its responsibilities of ensuring that consumers get meters.

    He attributed the success recorded in metering to NERC’s oversight functions, adding that the agency has been monitoring the firms approved to distribute electricity.

    NERC, he said, visited the distribution firms in Port Harcourt, Benin, Ibadan, Eko and Ikeja, adding that the commission is satisfied with their performance, especially in meters provision.

    Jack said: ‘’To protect the interest of customers, NERC has started compiling the list of subscribers of the outlawed scheme known as Credit Advance Metering Implementation Initiative. We know that many subscribers were unable to get meters before the idea was scrapped by the Federal Government on November 1, 2015, for not being well implemented by the DisCos.”

    But, the Discos cited weak capital as the major reason for not metering their customers. They said illiquidity, caused by banks’ failure  to provide them credits and customers to pay their bills, are affecting their operation.

    The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) Executive Director, Mr Sunday Oduntan, said the liquidity gap of over N900 billion and the N100 billion debt of the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were inhibiting the  sector’s growth.

    He said the government should also be blamed for the low output recorded in the sector.

    Oduntan said: “If the DisCos are unable to meter their customers and, in return, generate revenue through them, Whose fault is that? The answer is simple: It is the fault of the consumers, who refused to pay their bills, and others. I’m telling you, once the firms are able to recover their debts, they would, without doubt, have enough money for their operation. When this happens, the issue of shortage of meters would no longer be there.”

    He said the metering gap would be closed, when power firms get funds to improve their operation.

    Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) Chief Executive Officer Ademola Amoda said the DisCos were doing their best to procure meters for their customers, despite financial constraints.

    He said the liquidity gap was widening, arguing that it is affecting the firms’ capacity  to meet their obligations to customers.

    ‘’If consumers are paying their bills and banks  are providing loans to the DisCos, it would be easier to provide meters to consumers. By so doing, power firms would be able to recoup money on investment. Estimated billing does not pay. The DisCos made more money from metering their customers, because they are able to monitor their consumption and also charge them accordingly,” he added.

    But the Electricity Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (EMMAN) blamed the metering problems on the power firms.

    The umbrella body for manufacturers of meters in the country said the DisCos were not procuring enough meters.

    Its Secretary, Muhideen Ibrahim, said meters were in short supply because the DisCos were not buying the product from local manufacturers.

    He said the firms would meet the metering needs of their customers, if they were buying meters from the indigenous manufacturers.

    Ibrahim said: “There is no way the DisCos can absolve themselves of the blame on shortage of meters. The meters, which the DisCos are importing into the country, cannot meet the needs of their customers, yet they refused to patronise the local producers of the product.’’

    The DisCos, Muhideen said, know that when they buy meters from local manufacturers, they would have enough to supply. This, he added, will end.

    According to him, the Federal Government approved five firms to produce meters, adding that they have the capacity to produce enough meters.

    He said the firms would help close the metering gap by supplying an average of 50,000 meters monthly.

    MEMCOL Nigeria Limited Chairman Mr Kola Balogun said each firm could manufacture 50,000 meters, while some can produce more.

    MEMCOL, he said, could produce 200,000 meters, arguing that the Dis Cos’ allegation that local meter’manufacturers do not have enough stocks is unfounded.

    “Local companies are producing smart meters and pre-paid meters, which in all ramifications, are comparable to those that are  produced abroad. The allegation by the DisCos that local firms are producing sub-standard meters, the DisCos is not plausible. It is just a way of giving a dog a bad name to hang it,’’ he said.

    In a related development, the Technical Adviser to South African Revenue Protection Association (SARPA), Rene Bindeman, urged  the DisCos to find a way of providing their customers meters.

    He said lack of meters was affecting revenues in the market.

    Speaking at a workshop on data management and revenue recovery, organised by Abuja ElectricityDistribution Company (AEDC), Bindeman urged the DisCos to  install and protect their meters, because it is the only way they could boost their revenue.

    Explaining that meters are expensive to procure and install, he called for the manufacturing of meters in the country in order to make it cheaper for the Discos. He said: “If you do not have the money, there is no way you can meter customers because what will happen is that you need to be able to have meters in the field but meters cost a lot of money.’’

  • Unending battle for the soul of Cross River PDP

    Unending battle for the soul of Cross River PDP

    The exit of ex-Governor Liyel Imoke from office has thrown up a new twist in the battle for the soul of Cross River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), reports Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo

    Still reeling from the shock of the recent mass defection of some of its key members to the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Cross River State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is silently contending with a fresh crisis, impeccable sources have revealed.

    The state governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, and the Senator representing the Central Senatorial District in the National Assembly, John Owan Enoh, are alleged to be at daggers drawn over the soul of the party in the state, with the personality clash said to have polarised the party’s executive council and the state cabinet.

    This is happening on the heels of the defection of former Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), who led over 1,000 PDP chieftains, including a former governor of the state, Chief Clement Ebri, a former Senator, Bassey Etu, former representative of Cross River State on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Mr. Paul Adah, an ex-PDP state chairman, Ambassador Soni Abang, a former governorship aspirant of the PDP, Mr. Goddy Jedy-Agba, a former Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate, Mr. Fidelis Ugbo, a PDP governorship aspirant in the last election, amongst several others to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    They were received by the National Chairman of the ruling party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, at a well attended event which literally shut down Calabar, the Cross River State capital.

    The defection, which took place on February 13, was just a mere formality as the former PDP chieftains had broken ranks with the former ruling party, following the acrimony that trailed the party’s primaries for governorship and National Assembly seats.

    While the then governor, Liyel Imoke, had favoured Ayade to succeed him to the displeasure of other notable aspirants, including Jeddy Agba and Ugbo, he also opted for John Enoh as replacement for Ndoma Egba, who wanted a fourth term ticket to the Senate.

    Incessant complaints by the aggrieved parties, coupled with the several interventions by the Presidency, former Senate President, David Mark and the national leadership of the PDP failed to sway Imoke to shift ground. Eventually, the former governor had his way. From that point, the PDP in the state became badly fractured. The climax of the disaffection by those disenchanted led to their defection to the APC about two weeks ago.

    The new twist

    With Ndoma Egba, Ebri and others out of PDP, a fresh battle for the soul of the party in the state has ensued, this time between the incumbent governor, Ben Ayade and Senator John Enoh.

    The governor, according to sources, is allegedly peeved that the lawmaker is surreptitiously plotting to take control of the state PDP in order to undermine his administration and scuttle his alleged second term ambition in 2019. Enoh, it was alleged, has his eyes on the governorship in the next three years and is already putting necessary structures in place to actualise his plan.

    A source said: “In the last few months, not a few PDP members in the state, comprising of exco members and members of the House of Assembly have been accusing the governor of underfunding the party. Commissioners are also not left out. They are not happy with their salaries put at N250, 000. These commissioners are leaders in their respective constituencies and need funds to oil the machinery of the party, otherwise they may find it hard to remain loyal to the governor, who is likely to run for a second term come 2019.”

    Enoh steps in

    Sources disclosed that it was this seeming lacuna that Enoh decided to fill by quietly funding the party, while also reaching out to some commissioners and other key chieftains of the party in the state who are allegedly broke and are desperately looking for financial bailout.

    Enoh, it is believed, has deep pocket to fund the party without breaking sweat. Until his election into the Senate where he is currently the Chairman, Committee on Finance, he was an influential member, three term member of the House of Representatives and the Chairman, Committee on Appropriation for two terms.

    Ayade plots counter move

    Relying on intelligence report that his control of the state PDP is being seriously challenged by Enoh, the governor is alleged to be plotting his counter moves to cut the senator to size. One of such moves, sources say, is the likely sack of commissioners in the cabinet, whose loyalty to Enoh has been established.

    However, sources say the governor is not willing to bow to the demands of aggrieved party members for more funding, arguing that the “current financial position of the state cannot accommodate such luxury at this period.”

    Imoke remains neutral

    As Ayade and Enoh allegedly make moves and counter-moves to outwit each other, The Nation gathered that the immediate past governor, Liyel Imoke, has refused to take sides, preferring to stay neutral, because according to a source, the two warring parties are his close political associates.

    The former governor has also rebuffed entreaties from concerned party members to initiate reconciliatory moves, since according to him, what is playing out between Ayade and Enoh is a “mere disagreement” that has been blown out of proportion by “external forces.”

    As this battle for the soul of the state PDP intensifies, it remains to be seen who between the governor and the senator would emerge victorious.

  • Unending echoes of horror

    Very few Nigerians are actually surprised at the horrendous revelations from the Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Abuja. Those who followed the mass media from the build-up to the elections proper and the so-called announcement of results which followed after would actually not be shocked at the awful disclosures from witnesses at the tribunal.

    Apart from the endless complaints by members of other political parties aside the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP before the election and after, the over 80 election observers as a matter of fact, sounded the alarm bells with their reports, especially with regard to widespread violence, killings, intimidation, harassment,  ballot-snatching and stuffing, subversion of the will of Rivers people and other forms of impunity.

    What may have come as a surprise to many Nigerians are the revelations by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, army officers, the police, agents of the Department of State Security, DSS members of the All Progressives Congress, APC and those of other political parties.

    To those who perpetrated these horrifying violence and crisis that

    marred the governorship election in Rivers State, a day of reckoning was definitely not in their calculations. Like before, they had unleashed terror on people with the hope that the familiar path of impunity and lawlessness that had become common place feature in our state, particularly during the last administration would go on  unchecked.

    For me, the revelations at Rivers State Election Petitions Tribunal are not only absurd but also unprecedented. This is the first time in  Nigeria’s history that we are witnessing this level of violence, bloodbath and subversion in one single election in one state. Nothing would have been more telling than the disclosures of serving security operatives on election duty in the state. They captured in very  graphic details, the violence, the intimidation, deaths and ballot-snatching and stuffing that characterised the exercise in almost all parts of the state.

    I was particularly jolted by the testimonies of two soldiers, Captain Ahmed Al-Makura and Captain Jeremiah Salisu who were posted to Ikwerre and Gokana Local Government Areas respectively. The soldiers were emphatic with their submissions which they hinged on the fact that an election could not have taken place in a state of war.

    Indeed, what happened in Rivers State during the elections, especially on April 11 is only comparable to war. The tragic part however is that many innocent sons and daughters of Rivers State suffered great harm, for aligning ‘wrongly’, politically. That is apart from those who lost their lives.

    There is also the heartbreaking account by Godwin Mba, an officer of the Department of State Security Service, DSS who revealed how cult groups and thugs worked for the PDP in Andoni Local Government Area.

    Benson Chukwuma, a representative of the Director-General, also in a similar account in Ogo Bolo, also told the tribunal about the anticipated violence which was all too evident because of the tension  and security reports. Mr. Tafa Michael, a Superintendent of Police who was posted to Tai Local Government Area said he actually caught agents of PDP thumb-printing at a house opposite the PDP secretariat at Tai.

    He said he arrested over 70 people on that day alone which included PDP members, INEC Staff, youth corpers and others.

    Another oddity in the horrifying revelations came from Mr. Yusuf Buba of Police Mobile Squadron, Ogoni who revealed how an Assistant Commissioner of Police, Kenneth Akabue supervised the rigging of the April 11 election in Khana Local Government Area. These are in addition to other accounts of compromise and complicity by the electoral umpire, a position that Charles Okoye, who heads INEC’s Department of Elections and Party Monitoring, a body established by the electoral body to monitor elections emphasised in his presentation. In fact, Okoye described the April 11 election as a mockery of democracy. What a verdict!

    At some point during cross examination, Mr. Ebikoru Tebekaemi, INEC’s Electoral Office for Obio/Akpor told the tribunal that he was not aware if card readers were used in the April 11 election. This left many wondering how an electoral officer would be so ignorant of INEC’s policy on card readers which was a well known decision even among politically naive voters.

    When asked to comment on the damning report of Elections Operations Support Centre, another body INEC established to monitor elections, Tebekaemi said after prolonged hesitation that the body only worked partially.

    These are indeed terrible times, a reminder that our march to nationhood is still a long journey ahead. For all these to have happened, not in the North-East where there is insurgency shows that there is serious work for this present administration.

    But when justice eventually comes to candidates who took part in that sham of an election, what happens to the wounded and the dead? I must state here, and unequivocally too, that those who visited violence and mayhem on people and homes for their political beliefs must as a matter of fairness, be brought to book. That, for me, is the only the way the souls of those who were killed can rest.

    • Daminabo, an economist and public affairs analyst, lives in Abuja.

  • Unending mess

    Both the government and fuel marketers are to blame for the current scarcity  

    With the truce brokered by the Senate Monday last week, under which fuel marketers and transporters agreed to resume lifting of products, the nation would appear to have taken a breather from the crippling shortages that nearly brought Africa’s largest economy to its knees. At this time, the question is how long the truce would hold in the event that the main issues at the heart of the crisis have merely been passed over.

    Today, if the activities in the terribly opaque, fraud-ridden fuel import-distribution chain under which Africa’s largest oil producer is fleeced in multiples of hundreds of billions of naira annually are any revealing, it is the increasingly unchallengeable power of a cabal that only needs to cough for the entire economy to catch cold. Ordinarily, it would seem unimaginable that a dispute over N200 billion bill, which the oil marketers insisted must be paid – and which the government claims legitimate basis to query– could throw the country into fortnight-long spasm with reverberations across the broad spectrum of the economy.

    For once, Nigerians must worry that a tiny segment of economic players like the oil marketers not only continue to hold the country by the jugular but are ever so ready to enforce a total shut-down without minding the costs to the national economy. It must also be seen as worrisome that the national security implications of the act appears to have been lost to the feuding parties.

    Of course, the crisis merely presents the familiar symptom of the age-long disease afflicting the nation’s downstream petroleum sector – the failure by Nigeria to meet its domestic requirement in refined petroleum products locally. Every other thing – from marketers’ intransigence to the latest revelation of the astounding knowledge gap of those only too eager to be cited as authorities in our public finance, including the failure to have a firm handle on the book-keeping and accounting practices of the petroleum downstream sector after several years – are merely its derivatives. Needless to state that the riddle of how much fuel the nation consumes and how much is imported to qualify for the so-called subsidy lies in-between.

    Unlike the erstwhile finance minister that would rather demonise the marketers, the position of these actors, most of whom trade with borrowed funds obviously deserves some understanding. Dismissing their fears as baseless as the government did is certainly unhelpful to the extent that the government itself has not acted with utmost faith and responsibility towards them.

    Having said that, we must say that we find their latest action as one too many. Hyping their fears only to turn round to prey on the crisis they created is not only wrong, it is irresponsible and immoral. Immoral because the marketers have done little else than profiteer from the agonies of fellow citizens, selling fuel at cut-throat prices while at the same time pressing for their subsidy claims.

    But then, just as culpable was the Jonathan administration that opted to do nothing even when the marketers started to make good their threat. Was the administration lulled into sleep on the basis of the so-called 28 days strategic stock? Couldn’t the government have seen the grave national security challenge thrown up by the paralysis enough to have put measures in place to get the stock to the pumps?

    Going forward, the lessons would seem clear enough: while the current cycle of import-dependence continues, the country would continue to experience cyclic disruptions from the activities of disparate players in the fuel supply chain. And just as we have always said, boosting the nation’s refining capacity by getting more refineries on board would seem the surest bet to remove potential hiccups and the countless parasites along the value chain.

  • Fasehun, Gani Adams and unending Southwest conspiracies

    Fasehun, Gani Adams and unending Southwest conspiracies

    Both Frederick Fasehun and Gani Adams, co-leaders of the two factions of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), had in the early years of the founding of their ethnic militia tried to paint themselves as gallant defenders of the Yoruba cause. Their common cause was the oppressive tendencies and policies of the late head of state, Sani Abacha. Once the strongman died, however, the OPC was in a quandary, unsure what its raison d’etre should be. They sauntered from one private security job to another, and in one private residence, public building, entire neighbourhood or another. Finally, inspired by Niger Delta militants, they seized upon the idea of multi-billion naira pipelines protection jobs, a payday and payout far beyond their earthly dreams.

    Sometime last year, factional leaders of the OPC were embroiled in a war of attrition over the said pipelines contract that was yet to be awarded to the Yoruba militia. Dr Fasehun had struggled for a larger percentage of the awaited contract, and Otunba Adams had suggested that because he commanded more OPC militants, he deserved a larger part of the pie. In the end, the pie turned out to be so big, so unimaginably huge, that the two factional leaders have sheathed their swords. Instead, they have now reserved their swords and malignant hatred for the main faction of the Yoruba power elite led by the progressives in the All Progressives Congress (APC). The OPC seems thereby to underscore the stereotype that for a private end, and maybe for money, aggrieved Yoruba politicians, militia leaders and militiamen could be trusted to instigate or lead a rebellion against their own people.

    Until Dr Fasehun openly admitted the role he played in the postponement of the February 14 presidential election, few knew the actual beginnings of that infamous decision. The Goodluck Jonathan government had given the impression that the election date postponement was at the instance of the security agencies which argued that insecurity in the Northeast made the conduct of the elections impracticable in those troubled regions. Mercifully, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), was also anxious to let the world know that the postponement was not at its instance. Though the President told an embarrassing untruth that he knew nothing about the security reports that foreshadowed the postponement, it was obvious the plan was orchestrated by his presidency in a desperate effort to hold on to power.

    According to the OPC factional leader, Dr Fasehun, at one of the conspiratorial summits organised by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) through Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, he boasted that fearing that Dr Jonathan would lose the election if it was held on February 14, he made phone calls and contacts to inspire and instigate a postponement. Amidst resounding applause, he said he was glad his counsel was heeded, and a postponement arranged. Though the world railed against the shift, few knew at the time from whence the idea came. Now, it is possible Dr Fasehun was making an empty boast, but once a criminal voluntarily admits to a crime, there is little a judge can do other than to find him guilty in the absence of any objections. Dr Fasehun hung himself by his own admissions; and it must be accepted that even if he was not the only one who precipitated the postponement, he was one of the major instigators. He stands condemned in the estimation of the public. But for a man lacking in moderation and leadership ethics, and one to whom age has brought nothing but inurement to frugality and noble deeds and virtue, what does he care?

    Perhaps leaders of the Yoruba political organisation, Afenifere, will sometime later find the honesty and decency to admit that they have become sucked into the vortex of partisan politics, thereby becoming either advertently or inadvertently members of the PDP, and have enlisted into the Jonathan column either as foot soldiers or officers. Meanwhile, another honest admission came from the other half of the OPC conundrum. According to Otunba Adams, perhaps also anxious to publicise his contributions to the Jonathan reelection project and justify his disruptive protest along Ikorodu Road in Lagos last week, he was eager to sign up to the pipeline contracts because it showed the magnanimity of the Jonathan presidency, contrary to the niggardliness of the wealthy Lagos government which refused to patronise the militia. In other words, the OPC politics and the opposition of the militia to the APC leadership is all about money and financial power. Who knows, maybe Afenifere’s opposition to the APC is also underscored by financial reasons.

    The OPC factional leaders are at liberty to legitimately disagree with the APC, though the unanimous hatred they exhibit towards the APC is both telling and instructive, and they can quarrel with anyone they like. But both Dr Fasehun and Otunba Adams will, however, find it difficult justifying their pretentious promotion of Yoruba interests when what they are promoting is in fact their private interests. They will find it difficult pretending to altruism when their partisan objectives are gingered by wholly private financial calculations. The two OPC leaders have confessed their infamous roles in the politics of Dr Jonathan’s reelection; the country and, in particular, the Southwest await the confessions of Afenifere leaders who continue to mask their private ambitions under Yoruba nationalism.

    Dr Jonathan has a knack for seeking out disaffected people and politicians to co-opt into his conspiracies. Dr Fasehun, whose inexplicable embrace of Major Hamza al-Mustapha (rtd) perplexed many Nigerians a few years back, will always be available for hire. So, too, will Otunba Adams be available to the highest bidder. Together with the freelancing Afenifere and the rambunctious Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose pushing and pulling in different nefarious directions, the ongoing political trading in the Southwest points to the urgent realignments certain to take place both in the Yoruba country and in Nigeria as a whole after the elections.

  • Behind Nigeria’s unending fuel crisis

    Behind Nigeria’s unending fuel crisis

    The nation has had series of fuel scarcity two months in a row this year fueling fears that this may yet linger due to lack of political will by the federal government to address the challenges headlong. In this report Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf examines the issues

    Massively long queues at filling stations hitherto considered a thing of the past, have now become a spectacle to behold these days, especially in the last few weeks across the country as oil marketers square up with the federal government in subtle protest over delayed payments of subsidy claims among other legion of reasons.

    Signs that the country would probably face a hard time were visible at the twilight of last year, no thanks with the plummeting price of crude oil in the international market.

    The drop in the international crude oil price from $115 per barrel in June 2014 to less than $60 per barrel, the expected market price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) or petrol also dropped from  N141 per litre to N97.90, prompting the federal government to reduce the official pump price from N97 per litre to N87.

    Crux of the matter

    Although the news media was abuzz with speculations from members of the political class that the probable cause of the current fuel crisis was the handiwork of so-called opposition political parties, investigation by The Nation revealed that the major cause of the current fuel scarcity was due in part to the capital expenditure differentials, lack of subsidy payments and the fact that banks refused to open letters of credit to oil majors involved in the importation of oil into the country.

    Corroborating The Nation, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr. Obafemi Olawore, one man who should know better gave a bird’s eye view of what led to the present crisis in the oil sector.

    Speaking in a monitored television magazine programme in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Olawore, attributed the current fuel scarcity to a constellation of factors, chief among which include problem of nonpayment of subsidy claims, devaluation of the naira, etc.

    Dispelling reports of sabotage in some quarters, Olawore said: “We don’t sabotage anybody. We’re private companies and our job is just to bring in products and sell. We’re not interested in anybody, we’re not politicians.  The word sabotage we want to beg anybody that wants to use it to forget about it. We’re private individuals. We sell at a price approved by government and in the process, there is a subsidy. The subsidy comes up because we’re not selling at the price we buy the products. So, we need to get compensated and at the right time.”

    Remote cause of fuel crisis

    The Nation gathered that the situation was made worse by the agitation of independent marketers that the federal government needs to pay them the difference occasioned by the sudden reduction from N97 to N87 per litre. The marketers had claimed to have imported fuel earlier based on the N97 price and had expected to be reimbursed.

    To make good their threat, they have resorted to hoarding the product, thereby creating artificial scarcity.

    Investigation by The Nation revealed that most filling stations now open at night and sell at N100 per litre. Techno, Oando and MRS filling stations on Ojodu-Abiodun Road, by Ojodu Berger area of Lagos. Vehicles were parked along the road hoping to get the product, while the attendants refused to comment on the situation.

    Speaking at another occasion, Olawore said the marketers had no hand in creating the suffering caused by the non-availability of petroleum products.

    Apparently rising in the defence of the marketers, he argued that: “The unfortunate situation in which we find ourselves is that as the price of crude oil was dropping – as the international price of diesel was dropping, we devalued the Naira.”

    He said the lingering scarcity was caused by the inability of marketers to import petrol into the country since February due to the non-payment of arrears of subsidy claims amidst rising costs.

    He said the federal government had yet to fulfil its promise to pay the first batch of marketers, adding that the marketers were not importing the product again because they had not money, and the banks were not ready to give additional loans when the ones earlier collected had not been repaid.

    Reality bite

    The fuel crisis across the country is growing worse, as most of the petrol stations were shut down leaving motorists stranded.

    While the pump price of the product had risen to N120 per litre in most filling stations in the Federal Capital Territory, the few stations that had petrol in Lagos sold for between N100 per litre above the official price while some sold the official pump price with some of the attendants in those locations charging extra N100 or more to sell to prospective motorists, especially at wee hours.

    Like Lagos, motorists in southwestern states of Ogun, Oyo, suffered untold hardship as most filling stations were closed for business thereby causing a stampede in the few stations opened for business.

    The queues worsened the traffic situation in most parts of the states, with large number of commuters waiting for buses at various bus-stops.

    Petrol stations in Abuja and Port Harcourt, The Nation gathered, sold the product at N120 per litre last Wednesday as the scarcity of the product worsened in the two cities, leaving hundreds of motorists stranded.

    This was in spite of claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, that it is injecting about 688 million of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, into the market. Motorists had to resort to the black market, where roadside petrol sellers now sell the commodity for as high as N250 per litre.

    Living in denial

    Obviously playing to the gallery, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was reported to have said that the current fuel scarcity plaguing the country is not the fault of the federal government.

    Okonjo-Iweala added that pipeline vandalism and logistics were to blame for the long queues being witnessed in petrol stations around the country.

    The minister stated this last Tuesday, during a meeting with journalists in Abuja.

    Okonjo-Iweala also denied reports that a delay in paying claims to marketers was responsible for the scarcity.

    “Government is very concerned about the fuel queues which have appeared in Lagos, Abuja and other parts of the country,” the minister said.

    “As Nigerians can attest, the Petroleum Ministry and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, have worked very hard to give out the message that there is no need for panic buying and that it is trying to reduce the queues to the barest minimum,” she added.

    “I want to emphasise that contrary to some unfounded speculations, the queues are not caused by payment issues. As you know, we paid the marketers a total of N320.8 billion from the Excess Crude account in two installments in December last year,” the minister said.

    “This underscores the fact that we are taking payment of marketers very seriously indeed. We’ve been in constant touch and talking with the marketers and a week ago we reached an agreement with them on their core concerns which we have addressed,” she added.

    Cushioning effect of current fuel crisis

    Speaking with newsmen at the weekend, spokesperson for the NNPC, Mr. Ohi Alegbe, said the Corporation did assured that within the next 48 hours distribution would have reached most parts of the country, thus bringing the fuel scarcity to a halt.

    “We will wet the market with 688 million litres of petrol. Distribution of products is by trucking. You will agree that it is some distance from the depots and tank farms in the south to the depots and retail outlets in the hinterland. Expectedly, the queues should disappear before long.”

    Alegbe had actually blamed the scarcity on panic buying by motorists and sharp practices by some retail outlets who are hoarding the commodity across the country, thereby frustrating efforts to stem the scarcity.

    He said the NNPC had informed the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, of these sharp practices by some petrol stations’ owners for adequate sanctions against them.

    “Panic buying has persisted in spite of our appeal to motorists. Secondly, some retail outlets are hoarding the product by dispensing from only one pump head. We have reported some of them to the DPR and we believe appropriate sanctions will be meted out to them appropriately.”

    Echoing similar sentiments, the Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Joseph Dawha, described the rush for fuel by motorists as panic buying, adding that the federal government had put all that was necessary in place to ensure seamless supply of petrol.

    The GMD, alongside the heads of the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company, Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the Department of Petroleum Resources, said although there was enough stock to keep the country wet till April, the major challenge of non-payment of subsidy claims to the marketers and the differentials in foreign exchange rates had been addressed.

    A breather

    In what appeared a breather, the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) had last Tuesday directed its members to commence importation of refined petroleum products as the Federal Government had pledged to pay outstanding subsidy.

    The National President of IPMAN, Chinedu Okoronkwo, disclosed the directive said the directive followed assurances from government and to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians from the ongoing national scarcity of petrol.

    According to him, we have had series of meeting with government agencies that are saddled with the payment of subsidy claims and we have been assured of prompt payment.

    “IPMAN members have been instructed to commence importation of petrol into the country to avert the lingering fuel scarcity.

    “The Ministers of Petroleum and Finance have assured us of prompt payment of the marketer’s money; we urge Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of petrol as adequate petrol will be in circulation soon,” he said.

    The IPMAN boss, however, warned its members to desist from hoarding petroleum products, adding that the association’s surveillance teams would monitor compliance nationwide.

    “With the quantity of petrol pumped into the country and distributed to stations by the NNPC, the corporation has indicated serious commitment to ensure effective product supply.”

    The current scarcity of petrol in most parts of the country is expected to continue till this week, The Nation learnt at the weekend.

    Although there are assurances that the fuel scarcity may end this week, not a few have argued that what can contain the perennial fuel crisis in the country is concrete but not cosmetic measures.

    Pray, hope someone is listening?