All Posts in "Day: July 10, 2024"

West African Energy Summit Announces Farouk, Abdallah As Keynote Speakers

Mohammed Shosanya

Dr Omar Farouk, Secretary General of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), and Mr Rashid Abdallah, Executive Director of the African Energy Commission (AFREC), African Union,have been announced as keynote speakers atinaugural West African Energy Summit (WAES)2024.

The Summit is organised by OGV Group in partnership with the Ministry of Energy for Ghana

With decades of experience in the energy sector, Dr Omar Farouk and Mr Rashid Abdallah will address how natural gas can serve as a cornerstone for economic transformation in Africa.

They will explore the potential of natural gas to fuel power generation, support manufacturing industries, and create jobs, while also discussing the challenges and opportunities presented by the global push for decarbonization.

Their session will provide insights on attracting investment, enhancing infrastructure, and implementing policies that promote sustainable and equitable growth through the monetisation of natural gas resources.

According to a statement,the summit will also be honoured by the presence of His Excellency Birame Souleye Diop, Minister of Energy, Petroleum and Mines of Senegal.

Senegal’s significant advancements in the upstream sector, particularly around the SNE field—estimated at approximately 1,746 million barrels of oil and 862 billion cubic meters of natural gas—demonstrate the country’s potential.

The Grand Tortue/Ahmeyin (GTA) deposit, located at the maritime border between Senegal and Mauritania, with 566 billion cubic meters of natural gas, further highlights the strong political will behind Senegal’s hydrocarbon development.

Dan Hyland, Operations Director of OGV Group, emphasised the importance of this session, stating,

“This session highlights the critical role natural gas plays in Africa’s economic diversification and industrial growth while addressing environmental concerns. The insights shared by Dr Farouk and Mr Abdallah will be invaluable for stakeholders looking to harness Africa’s energy potential.”

admin by — July 10, 2024 in Oil&Gas 0
Reps Warn Dangote Cement Over Price Hike

Babatunde Solanke

The House of Representatives Joint Committee investigating the arbitrary increase in cement prices has issued warning to Dangote Cement’s management.

The committee threatened to arrest company officials if they fail to appear at the next scheduled hearing.

This move was due to the absence of officials from the cement company during a hearing on Tuesday, concerns were raised about the rising cost of cement in the country.

The special panel, advocating for a reduction in cement prices, expressed alarm over the increasing prices and the significant hardships this has imposed on many Nigerians.

The House directed the Cement Manufacturers Association of Nigeria and the Central Bank of Nigeria to cause appearances before the committee in the next two weeks.

This, it said, is to deliberate on measures necessary to address the situation for the benefits of the people.

“They want to over profit without any sense of empathy for the citizens that have given it this platform. I think it calls for a rethink of the position of the government.

“On the issue concerning Dangote, our approach is straightforward. While the law grants us necessary powers, we also have a duty of care. We will provide a deadline and communicate it accordingly.

“If the deadline is not met, we will issue a subpoena and authorize a warrant of arrest to ensure appearance before the National Assembly. No individual, regardless of stature, is above the parliament of their country. No Nigerian is superior to the National Assembly.”

admin by — July 10, 2024 in News 0
Oil Workers Seek Probe Of Alleged IOCs Sabotage Against Dangote Refinery

Mohammed Shosanya

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers and Petroleum and Natural and Senior Staff Association have demanded an investigation into the alleged sabotage by International Oil Companies to undermine and destabilise the operations of Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals.

The two associations conveyed this in a letter dated July 1, 2024 and addressed to President BolaTinubu.

NUPENG’s General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale, and his PENGASSAN counterpart, Lumumba Okungbowa,signed the letter which was made available to Premium News on Tuesday.

They demanded among others that the findings of such investigation must be made public to ensure transparency and maintain public trust.

The letter, written via the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila,read:

“The leadership and members of our great Union and Association profoundly appreciate your commitment and dedication to restoring the economic growth and prosperity of our dear Nation and we are also fully mobilized and committed to supporting all your laudable thoughts and hard decisions towards these lofty goals.

“Unfortunately, we are deeply concerned and shocked by the recent unusual allegations by the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company of a deliberate plot by some International Oil Companies (IOCs) to frustrate their business efforts and continued existence.

“These sabotaging actions reportedly include denying the Refinery crude oil supply and artificially inflating market prices of the crude oil to the Company, thereby forcing Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals Company to source crude oil from other countries, even as far as the United States of America with attendant high operating costs and logistics.

“The Dangote Refinery is not only a critical National asset but also a beacon of hope for our energy security, economic growth, and employment opportunities.

“The economic benefits of a Local Refinery with such capacity as the Dangote’s to Nigeria, can never be overstated.

“This is why for several decades now, NUPENG and PENGASSAN have campaigned vigorously that Nigeria should make it a prerequisite condition that Companies that want to benefit from JVC arrangements with Nigeria, to set up a Refinery/Petrochemical Company in Nigeria.

“Unfortunately, no successive Governments summoned enough political and patriotic courage to take that logical and pragmatic policy direction.

“The survival of companies that have braved it up and invested hugely in refining crude in Nigeria thus saving our Nation from wasteful product importations that profit other countries and cost us forex, should be of great interest to us as a Nation because of the enormous economic benefits involved.

“Our demands are as follows: Immediate Investigation: The Federal Government should set up an independent panel to investigate the claims of sabotage by some International Oil Companies. This investigation should be comprehensive and transparent, ensuring that all parties involved are held accountable.

“Public Disclosure: The findings of this investigation must be made public to ensure transparency and maintain public trust. Nigerians deserve to know the truth about the actions of these International Oil Companies and the impact on our National interests.

“Legal Action: Should the allegations be substantiated, we expect the Government to take decisive legal action against the entities involved. This must include sanctions, penalties, and any other measures necessary to deter future acts of economic sabotage.

“Support for Dangote Refinery: The Government should provide all necessary support to ensure the uninterrupted commencement and operation of the Dangote Refinery. This includes ensuring security and stability around the refinery’s operations.

“Your Excellency Sir, we trust your courage and unwavering commitment to the Nigerian project and we believe that the Presidency will take decisive action to safeguard the Dangote Refinery and ensure its successful operation for the benefit of our nation.

“Protecting our National assets is our collective responsibility. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

admin by — July 10, 2024 in Oil&Gas 0
House Probes Return Of Fuel Scarcity

Mohammed Shosanya

The House of Representatives has directed its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) to conduct an investigation into the resurgence of fuel queues at service stations nationwide.

This initiative aims to identify and address the underlying challenges facing the oil sector, ensuring sustainable solutions are proposed.

Its decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance during Tuesday’s plenary, introduced by Mr. Bill Osawaru, the representative of Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency in Edo State.

The motion titled ‘Urgent Need for Legislative Forensic Investigation into Challenges in Nigeria’s Downstream and Midstream Petroleum Sectors and Related Matters’ was overwhelmingly endorsed during plenary. Lawmakers supported the motion to address ongoing sector challenges and enhance efficiency and productivity.

In his lead debate, Osawaru highlighted a concerning resurgence of fuel queues at petrol stations. He pointed out allegations of skyrocketing petrol prices and shortages in stock for domestic refineries, which have disrupted distribution across Nigeria.

The House mandated the Committees Mandate to “Carry out a legislative forensic investigation into the resurgence of fuel queues in petrol stations, allegations of high cost of PMS, unavailability of fuel stock for downstream domestic refineries, disruption of distribution of PMS products, unfair subsidization of PMS and other petroleum products racketeering and favouritism in the Pro Forma Invoice System (PFI) regime.”

The committees are also mandated to investigate several critical issues, including the indiscriminate issuance of licenses and importation of refined petroleum products, allegations regarding the return of PMS price intervention, complaints about product unavailability to marketers from NNPC Retail, continuous delays in refinery rehabilitation timelines, and concerning activities at petrol depots.

The committee will also conduct a legislative forensic investigation into several issues: the involvement of middlemen in trading, indiscriminate issuance of licenses, the lack of laboratories to check adulterated products, the influx of contaminated products into the country, allegations of non-domestication of profits from crude marketing sales in local banks, abuse of the PFI regime, importation of products already manufactured in Nigeria, and the use of international trading companies to resell fuel stocks to local refineries.

The two committees were also “Tasked with conducting a thorough legislative forensic investigation into several issues: the alleged importation of substandard products and high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, the sale of petroleum products below fair market value, and their impact on downstream and local refineries. Additionally, they were to examine the sources of funding for such imports, the failures of regulators like NMDPRA and NUPRC in enforcing compliance with standards, the lack of support for local crude refiners, and the issuance of import licenses despite domestic production. They are expected to submit their findings to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.

Justifying the relevance of the motion, Osawru noted that “There is an allegation of unfair subsidisation of the Petroleum Motor Spirit and other petroleum products which negatively affects competitiveness in the sector. There are also allegations of racketeering and favouritism in the Pro Forma Invoice System regime, indiscriminate issuance of licenses and importation of refined petroleum products.

“The House has been informed about the alleged return of the PMS price intervention and its impact on the domestic market. Additionally, there are allegations of product unavailability to marketers from NNPCL Retail. This is compounded by the continuous delays in refinery rehabilitation and the illicit activities at petrol depots, which have disrupted product distribution and caused scarcity. Furthermore, the involvement of middlemen in trading has adversely affected the supply of domestic crude.

According to the lawmaker, there are claims that subsidy has returned on petrol, including lack of clarity about the exact landing cost of PMS, reduction in retail price and its impact on downstream operations, allegation of importation of substandard products and high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, among others.

Osawaru criticized the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, as well as the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, for their regulatory failures. He attributed the current scarcity in part to their ineffectiveness in fulfilling their responsibilities.

admin by — July 10, 2024 in News 0
National Minimum Wage Struggle Alive-TUC

Mohammed Shosanya

President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo,says the struggle for a new national minimum wage in the country is still alive.

Osifo,who disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday,said the Federal Government is still discussing with all relevant stakeholders imcluding the Nigerian Governors Forum, Local Government Administrators as well as the Organised Private Sector and Labour Unions.

He noted that both unions still insists on the N250,000 demand it made to government which was part of the recommendations submitted to the President by the Presidential Tripartite Committee on new national minimum wage.

Osifo,who referred to the existing minimum wage of N30,000 which took two years to be negotiated,assured that the Tripartite Committee has made appreciable progress since January 2024 when negotiations started.

He added:”Minimum wage negotiations cannot be dead, you know when we started this conversation you asked us that in 2017 if you remember we started the minimum wage that was signed in 2019, it took about two years to see the light of day. We promised you when we started in January that we will ensure this one is fast tracked for us not to be in the conundrum that we were as at 2019 which took two years.

“So where we are today, we submitted the divergent position in June, when we did that you know clearly that Mr President came out to say that he wanted to consult across board which is the governors, local government chairmen, organised private sector and labour, so we are doing some level of reachout and conversations.

“So that let what will be submitted to the National Assembly will actually be a minimum wage that will cater for the poorest of the poor, so for the fact that in the media we are not shouting, we are doing some level of internal work so that this bill will be submitted in earnest soon. Ofcourse we still insist on the N250,000 benchmark as idea minimum wage”.

admin by — July 10, 2024 in Labour/Human Resources 0
Reps Direct RMAFC To Withhold Allocations Of Unelected LG Officials

Mohammed Shosanya

TFederal House of Representatives on Tuesday, July 9, directed the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to suspend allocations from the Federation Account to local government areas across Nigeria governed by unelected officials.

This was sequel to a motion of urgent public importance brought to the House by Hon. Ademorin Kuye (APC, Lagos) and Jonathan Gaza Gbewfi on the need to address the refusal of state government across the country to uphold democratic principles in local government and financial impropriety in local government.

The House called on the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to establish a dedicated account for the allocation funds destined for local governments governed by unelected officials.

These funds will be held until elected representatives are installed by their respective state governments.

Besides,the House has directed the Attorney-General of the Federation to initiate legal proceedings against any state government that prematurely terminates the tenure of a local government council.”

Moving the motion, Hon. Kuye said Section 7 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, guarantees the system of local government run by democratically elected officials while state governments are to ensure their existence.

According to him, the same section mandates every State House of Assembly to enact laws governing the establishment, tenure, structure, composition, finance, and functions of local councils.

He emphasized that local government, as envisioned by the constitution, is the most crucial tier of government because it is closest to the people and serves as the foundation for both state and federal governance.

He said, “In December 2023, the Senate passed a resolution to cease allocations to certain states following debates prompted by a motion from Senate Minority Leader Senator Abba Moro. The motion emphasized the critical necessity of halting the erosion of democracy within local governments.

Several Senators advocated government sanctions against states that have undermined democratic processes by installing unelected caretaker committees.”

They said:”The dissolution of democratically elected councils blatantly violates Section 7 of the Nigerian Constitution, established Supreme Court rulings on such matters, and represents a direct assault on democratic principles.”

“The prevalence of states acting with impunity and disregarding the constitution is on the rise, with reports indicating that at least 21 state governors are currently overseeing local government councils through caretaker committees.

“The flagrant impunity and blatant disregard for the constitution are deliberate attempts to undermine democracy, hinder accountability and transparency at the local government level, and stifle their developmental potential.”

admin by — July 10, 2024 in News 0
NCAA Vows Sanction On Airlines Over False Departure Times

Babatunde Solanke

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA),will sanction any airline found to be involved in deceitful departure time scheduling of flights when they know they would not be flying at that time.

The Director,Consumer Protection and Public Affairs of NCAA, Michael Achimugu said the agency has engaged airlines repeatedly in this aspect.

He further noted that the acting director general of the NCAA, Capt. Chris Najomo has directed that henceforth, the authority will monitor the activities of these airlines and sanction anyone found going against aviation roles.

He said:”Recall that when the current NCAA acting director general assumed office, he made sure that there was ease of doing business. Right now, the time of getting AOC is quite shorter and easier compared to years ago. Therefore, the NCAA expects reciprocity from operators, chief of them been to provide world-class services to passengers.

” If the NCAA is making it easier for operators to work, it is expected that passengers must be satisfied. Lately, it has been observed that there are some infractions. Some airlines are been reported to be advertising deceitful departure times.

By the NCAA regulations, especially part 19 states that “no airline shall display deceitful time on counter or its website.”

“We want to make it very clear that the DG CAA has instructed officers and other inspectors to begin to monitor the activities of airlines in this regard and defaulters are going to face serious sanctions. Let it be clear that Capt. Chris Najomo believes in discipline, safety and economic regulations. This is evident in the recent suspension of ten PFC holders for failure to comply with recertification of their licenses.”.

He also warned that the NCAA will go after airlines who refuses to refund passengers after cancellations of flights.

He explained that the standard role of airline operations is that payments made in cash are refunded over the counter immediately while payments made through transfers or other online transactions are refunded within two weeks and noted that anything outside of these, will not longer be acceptable.

According to him, “Another issue we want to address today is the issue of time frame for refunds and compensations. The regulation states that if a passenger has made payment during securing tickets by cash, the passenger must be refunded by cash immediately at the terminal. We have stated this over time. Some airlines comply, while others don’t.

“The regulations also said that if a passenger has made payment for tickets online or via transfer, the airline has 14 working days to make refund.

There is a lot of default in this regard and the consumer protection department has made a lot of progress in educating the airlines and passengers and even ensure refunds which has attracted the commendation of the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo. However, we have more work to do here to ensure full compliance by airlines.”

On the suspended private jets licences, the NCAA maintained that the ten airlines were suspended for failing to come for recertification and discussions are ongoing to address their challenges, while urging the public to be patient and wait for outcome of the process.

He also said the NCAA recently scored about 98 per cent in recent presidential enabling business Environment Council (PEBEC) ratings and 71.04 per cent in ICAO security audit report.

“Captain Najomo and the NCAA wishes to restart that ease of doing business is an area we will continue to improve on. ot is evident in our highest score with regard to PBEC.

” Recently, our sister agency scored 96 points and we commend them. however, the NCAA scored higher; 98.5 points. This is building on thr commendable score of 71.04 we scored for the security audit by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

“So, the numbers are improving and we will continue to do everything we can to make the industry safer and secure the passengers and all stakeholder” he said.

admin by — July 10, 2024 in Aviation 0
Fuel Scarcity Won’t Stop Now-PENGASSAN

Mohammed Shosanya

President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) Comrade Festus Osifo has attributed fuel scarcity being experienced in some part of the country to logistic challenges which the government have treated have treated with kid gloves for years.

Osifo spoke as Chief Host of the PENGASSAN Women Annual Convention in Abuja on Tuesday,where he also said that the bad road networks and heightened rains were at the root of the prevailing hiccups

Osifo,who is also President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), said many truck drivers commuting fuel products from depots find it difficult to convey their products because of the bad roads.

He said fuel products are conveyed in rail lines with ease in a more civilized countries.

He warned that the problem will persist unless the Federal Government address these perennial problems associated with the oil and gas value chain in Nigeria.

He said:”We will continuously have perennial scarcity of fuel until we do what is right, which is to say there is no silver bullet today that is going to the scarcity of fuel that will come periodically.

“About a week ago, if you are driving between Aviele and Auchi you will realise that some people sleep on that road for days, the road is completely cut off, so if you are bringing fuel from Portharcourt and coming to Abuja, you need to pass through that road depending on where you are bringing the products from.

“So the roads as at today are very bad, if you check different part of the world, how many countries are using tankers to supply PMS or AGO, it is not done, naturally what is done is the use of pipelines and some cases they use rails and if you go to some western world, you see rails that are having over 2000 tanks, railway lines whether it is rainy or dry season, it is okay.

“So until we imbibe technology and fix our pipelines and oil depots because that is also key, if the depots that we have in the nooks and crannies of Nigeria are all working we could have had reserve stocks in these depots, so that when our roads are bad, we can use those depots that are closer to the cities for supplies, then when the roads are good, you can restock them and go back to business as usual.

“We must be able to deepen the facilities of the oil and gas logistics because if we don’t do that, perennially we would have these challenges. Last year we had the whole of Lokoja cut off, so for tanks coming from Lagos, Calabar, Abeokuta, Portharcourt where are they going to pass, it will be difficult so we must be able to sit down and define our distribution value chain in the oil and gas sector”.

admin by — July 10, 2024 in Oil&Gas 0