The report that the People’s Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M) has requested information on N3 trillion fuel subsidy demanded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for 2022 is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Guardian reports that the People’s Alternative Political Movement (TPAP-M) has requested information on the N3 trillion fuel subsidy demanded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited for 2022.
The demand was contained in a letter to the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, issued by the movement’s Comrades Jaye Gaskia and Omotoye Olorode.
It noted: “As this request is anchored on the Freedom of Information Act 2011, you are required to accede to our request within seven days of the receipt of this letter.
“Take notice that if you fail or refuse to furnish us with the requested information, we shall not hesitate to pray the Federal High Court to compel you to furnish us with the requested information.”
Similarly, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has sued President Muhammadu Buhari and two others at the Federal High Court, Lagos for failure to probe allegations that over N3.1 billion of public funds are missing from the finance ministry.
Joined in the suit, as respondents, are the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Hajia Ahmed.
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.
The Punch says that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has said it spent N100bn on refineries’ rehabilitation in 2021 and that funds were pumped into revamping the facilities on a monthly basis last year.
It disclosed this in a report on the funding performance of the oil firm from January to December 2021, which was seen in Abuja on Sunday.
Although no refinery was mentioned in the report, Nigeria’s refineries had been under the management of NNPC, as the rehabilitation of one of the facilities, Port Harcourt Refining Company, had been ongoing. The other refineries under the NNPC’s management include the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company, as well as the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company. In the NNPC’s latest funding performance report, the firm stated that N8.33bn was spent monthly for a period of 12 months beginning from January to December 2021 on refinery rehabilitation.
The Federal Government has been making moves to get the country’s refineries back on stream, as Nigeria currently imports bulk of its refined petroleum products.
This has resulted in humongous subsidy spendings by the NNPC, the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for more than four years and counting. It was exclusively reported in Sunday PUNCH that the Federal Government had processed $98m and N17.2bn as part payments for the ongoing rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refining Company.
The newspaper reports that the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria has said the likelihood of interference between the aviation industry and 5G network frequency is very low.
According to the association, there is no greater risk of interference with 5G networks than there is with any of the existing transmissions taking place in the frequencies adjacent to those used by radio-altimeters.
It said in a statement, “The context in Nigeria is different. The guard band that exists between the spectrum frequencies allocated by the NCC for 5G services and those allocated to the aviation industry remains in the region of 400MHz, in line with the guidelines instituted by the National Frequency Management Council, the government agency responsible for sectoral allocation of spectrum and the NCC.
“This means that there is no greater risk of interference with 5G networks than there is with any of the existing transmissions taking place in the frequencies adjacent to those used by radio-altimeters.”
ALTON said it understood the concerns industry stakeholders and customers had been expressing in relation to the ongoing debate in the United States of America over the risk of interference between 5G networks and aviation equipment.
It noted that mobile networks, just like radio, TV and other broadcast services, operate using bands of spectrum (frequency ranges) that are allocated by the government to allow the transmission of different services.
The Sun says that except urgent steps are taken to plug leakages, Nigeria’s low revenue profile may take a turn for the worse as the country is projected to lose about $6 billion to oil theft in 2022.
Socio-political analyst and commentator, Dr. Ugoji Egbujo, in an article, The Petrol Subsidy Quandary: The Devil or the Deep Blue Sea?, saying our parlous state is complicated by our leaky purse and lousy revenue gathering. In 2021,
He noted that the country lost about $3 billion to crude oil thieves in 2021 which translates to N1.4 trillion, adding that, this year, that figure, on the back of rising crude prices, could be six billion dollars (about N3 trillion).
‘‘In other words, the very humongous sum we must borrow to keep the frayed tempers of the poor from flaming is the money we will inevitably lose to crude oil thieves in our midst. Inevitable, because that criminality has almost been normalised,’’.
He said between 2009 and 2019, Nigeria Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) reported that the country lost $41.9 billion to crude oil thieves, insisting that if we had been sufficiently alarmed, we would have laid down our lives to stop the theft. ‘‘But the thieves don’t feel guilty.
The newspaper reports that China Africa Business Council (CABC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Lagos.
Vice Chairman of CABC Chief Diana Chen said the partnership would position members of the chamber as primary benefactors of trade and investment alliance offered by the Forum of China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA} including in the auto industry and other sectors.
Chief Chen herself is the power behind the success story of the GAC brand of cars which is made available in the Nigerian market by her company, CIG Motors.
The MoU, she explained, would drive the economic advancement and Industrialisation of the nation through deliberate strategic partnerships and collaboration fostered by this agreement.
According to her, CABC is committed to helping Chinese enterprises contribute, effectively to Africa’s development.
She said: “With over 2000 members across China and Africa, creating more than 1.5 million jobs with a Volume of $9.05 billion in investments, it is dedicated to the Economic Development of Africa which is led by the principle of “Respecting Culture and Combining Generosity with Profit. “China will encourage its businesses to invest no less than $10 billion in Africa in the next three years, and will establish a platform for China-Africa private investment promotion.
The Nation says that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disbursed N75.9 billion loan to farmers between November and December 2021, under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
The fund was to support the cultivation of over 383,000 hectares of maize, rice and wheat during the 2022 dry season, bringing the cumulative disbursements under the Programme to N927.94 billion to over 4.5 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities across the country.
In a CBN report, the apex bank said all excess output aggregated from the financed farmers will be released to the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX) to help moderate the prices of food in the market.
The bank also released N1.76 billion to finance two large-scale agricultural projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS).
In addition, the apex bank disbursed N151.23 billion under the Real Sector Facility to 15 additional projects in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and services. The funds were utilised for both greenfield and brownfield (expansion) projects under the Covid-19 Intervention for the Manufacturing Sector (CIMS) and the Real Sector Support Facility from Differentiated Cash Reserve Requirement (RSSF-DCRR).
GIK/APA