Oil
NNPC selects 26 firms to lift Nigeria’s crude oil
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has picked 26 foreign and local companies as well as 12 countries to lift the country’s crude oil for the next two years. The crude term contracts, expected to run from 2021 through 2023, would see the firms and the selected nations, which would operate on a Government-to-Government (G2G) basis to purchase the commodity from the national oil company. The deal is coming less than a week after the corporation chose 16 oil and gas consortia for its new crude-for-fuel swap contracts for one year starting in August. The contracts, known as Direct Sale, Direct Purchase (DSDP) are high-stakes agreements used to supply nearly all of Nigeria’s petrol needs as well as cover some of its diesel and jet fuel consumption. However, in the fresh crude oil...
President Buhari arrives Paris for Financing Africa Summit
President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in Paris for the Financing Africa Summit. The president left Abuja Sunday for the summit which is being hosted by President Emmanuel Macron of France. According to Buhari’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, the summit will draw major stakeholders in the global finance institutions and some Heads of Government, who will, collectively, discuss external funding and debt treatment for Africa, and private sector reforms. “During the visit, President Buhari will meet with the French President to discuss growing security threats in Sahel and Lake Chad region, political relations, economic ties, climate change and partnership in buoying the health sector, particularly in checking spread of Covid-19, with more research and vaccines. “Before returning to Nigeria, Pres...
Lagos recovers N50 million over fraudulent real estate activities
The Lagos State Government on Tuesday said it had recovered more than N50 million from parties involved in illegal real estate transaction activities. Mrs Toke Benson-Awoyinka, Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Housing, made the disclosure during a news conference in Ikeja. It was to give account of activities in the housing sector for the 2nd year anniversary of the Sanwo-Olu-led administration of the Governor. Benson-Awoyinka said that the agency had successfully mediated in about 55 out of 150 petitions/complaints between property developers, landlords, potential tenants and tenants. She said that 50 cases were adjourned for further mediation while 40 were referred to appropriate agencies, with five cases in courts in Ketu, Ajah, Ikorodu, Gbagada and Yaba. The special advise...
NNPC assures will continue to meet financial obligations to FAAC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has clarified that the revenue projection contained in the letter to the Accountant General of the Federation being cited in the media pertains only to the Federation revenue stream being managed by the Corporation and not a reflection of the overall financial performance of the Corporation. A press release by the Corporation’s spokesman, Dr. Kennie Obateru, stated that the clarification became necessary in the light of media reports insinuating that the Corporation was in financial straits. NNPC maintains that it is conscious of its role and was doing everything possible to shore up revenues and support the Federation at all times. “The shortfall will be remedied by the Corporation as it relates only to the Federation revenue stream being...
Nigerian government tasks universities on best practices for impact as panel visits FUPRE
Nigerian universities have been charged to always comply with global best practices in terms of corporate governance, operations, benchmark, quality assurance and judicious application of resources for impact. The Chairman of the federal government Visitation panel to the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun, Prof. Ikenna Onyido, stated this yesterday at the institution. Onyido argued that it was important for the federal government to at interval check the books of the various universities owned by it to ascertain compliance to the various regulations and assess their development in line with available regulations overtime. The Emeritus Professor and former Vice-Chancellor of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, who led a seven-member team to FUPRE, stre...
NCDMB sets up $20 million loan support for women in business
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has announced the setting up of a $20million loan scheme to support women in business especially in the oil and gas sector. Executive Secretary of the Board, Engr. Simbi Wabote, stated this at a virtual roundtable by the Diversity Sectoral Working Group (SWG) of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF). In his remarks, Wabote stated that the mandate of the Board has always been the need to promote local content in every sphere of the oil and gas sector. Quoting Section 57 of the NCDMB Act, he said the role of the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum is to provide a platform for information sharing and support in order to chart way for local content development in Nigeria. According to Wabote, “The basic aim of the NCCF is t...
Women lament high cost of food items, consumables in Makurdi
Residents, particularly housewives in Makurdi, the Benue state capital, have lamented the increase in prices of food items. A survey conducted by NAN on Tuesday in Makurdi showed that prices of food items have been increasing on a daily basis. Many housewives interviewed by newsmen said that feeding their families has now become very difficult as the prices of essential food items have multiplied in the past few months. Mrs Rose Onazi, a housewife, said that the sharp rise in prices of various goods, especially food and household items, has made nonsense of the amount she receives as a monthly housekeeping allowance from her husband. Onazi said that many of the items she bought a week before had increased either by 50 per cent, 100 per cent or even more. She said that the development had s...
DPR: We’ve accurate record of crude production
File Photo The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) on Friday debunked claims that the exact volume of crude oil produced in the country was not known. Mr Paul Osu, Head, Public Affairs, DPR, in a statement issued in Lagos, said every litre of crude produced in the country was adequately captured during the process of extraction. Osu said it was the responsibility of the DPR to monitor and account for crude oil production as basis for determining government’s revenue through royalty payments by operators for sustainable development. He said: “As a further step to boosting crude accounting process from production to export, DPR recently launched the National Production Monitoring System (NPMS). “NPMS is an online platform for direct and independent acquisition of production data from oil...
Analysts: Printing currency could hurt economy
Analysts have expressed concerns over a recent claim that the federal government resorted to printing money to augment the monthly allocation to the three tiers of government, warning that it could heighten inflationary pressure with dire consequences for the country’s exchange rate and economy. The analysts, in separate interviews with newsmen, warned that a sustained policy of printing the currency, if not well managed, would hurt the economy. The concern came on the heels of recent revelation by Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, that due to the dwindling revenue in the face of declining oil revenue arising from the growing sources of alternative sustainable energy, the federal government had to print money to augment the amount available for sharing by the federal, state and lo...
Ondo governor dissolves OSOPADEC board
Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu has approved the dissolution of Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (OSOPADEC) board. This is contained in a statement by the state Acting Governor, Mr Lucky Aiyedatiwa, on Monday in Akure. He directed the most senior officer to take charge of the commission with effect from April 12, pending the reconstitution of the board. “The erstwhile members of the board are hereby directed to hand over all government property in their possession to the secretary of the commission who is the most senior officer,” he said. The governor while appreciating the board members for their services and contributions to the development of the oil producing areas and the state at large, wished them well in their future endeavours. Get more stories like this on Twitter You ...
Bayelsa: We won’t retrench workforce amid dwindling revenues – official
The Bayelsa state government has assured civil servants in the state that it had no plans to downsize the workforce, amidst dwindling revenue. The government said on Thursday that although it was contending with an unwieldy wage bill, it would seek alternative sources of revenue to shore up its finances. The Commissioner for Finance, Maxwell Ebibai, gave the assurance at the transparency briefing for the months of January and February 2021, in Yenagoa, the state capital. Newsmen report that under the state’s Bayelsa Transparency Law, it had become mandatory for the government to make public its income and expenditures on a monthly basis. Ebibai, said the state government received N6.8 billion for February, 2021, as net receipts from the Federation Account, after first line deductions, as a...
Understanding the strength of small businesses
The number of small businesses keeps growing in the formal and informal sectors of the Nigerian economy, due to the role of small businesses as the live-wire of any economy and the backbone of major developed economies the world over. Though Nigeria rely majorly on oil and revenues derived from it, from context observation the economy is largely supported by small businesses covering almost all spheres of activities within the country, ranging from Nano, kiosk, and Micro businesses most importantly. A visible reference usually includes the vulcanizers, corner shop owners, single retail marketers, repairers, painters, business center operators, restaurants, market women, and men in the various open markets, among others. and the formal operations such as the law firms, accounting firms, con...