The appeal by Nigerian President to EOWAS leaders not to elongate their tenures and the reactions to the President Buhari’s warning of dire consequences if the country failed to end subsidy and fixing of the price for petrol are the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
ThisDay reports that President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged ECOWAS leaders to adhere strictly to the tenure prescribed in the constitution of their countries, saying given the prevailing economic crises in the sub-region, they could not afford escalation of political disputes.
He also criticised the decision of the Francophone West African bloc of ECOWAS to unilaterally adopt the proposed ECO currency, describing it as premature.
Buhari, in a speech at the 57th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Heads of State and Government in Niamey, Niger Republic capital, said Nigeria remained committed to the implementation of a single currency plan.
He urged ECOWAS leaders not to elongate their stay in office beyond constitutional limits, saying they should respect constitutional provisions and ensure free and fair elections.
The president said: “It is important that as leaders of our individual member-states of ECOWAS, we need to adhere to the constitutional provisions of our countries, particularly on term limits. This is one area that generates crisis and political tension in our sub-region.
The newspaper reports that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has issued directives to deepen the utilisation of domestic Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) commonly known as cooking gas, Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and Autogas as alternative fuels for Nigerians.
The Director of DPR, Mr. Sarki Auwalu, stated this in his interaction with stakeholders in Lagos recently, saying that the directives were in furtherance of the federal government’s aspirations to provide affordable fuels and ensure domestic gas penetration and expansion in Nigeria while entrenching price freedom for Nigerians.
The director in a statement by the agency’s Head of Public Affairs, Mr. Paul Osu, further said that DPR had carried out nationwide audit of all retail outlets and categorized them into three categories – 1, 2 and 3 – with a view to ascertain readiness for deployment of Add-On facilities for gas products.
Auwalu stated that about 9,000 retail outlets which represent 27 per cent of total number of retail outlets in Nigeria are in Category 1 and have been identified as suitable for immediate integration of Add-On facilities based on robust safety assessment and technical considerations by DPR.
The Guardian says that varied reactions, yesterday, greeted President Muhammadu Buhari’s warning of dire consequences if the country failed to end subsidy and fixing of the price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), also known as petrol.
Reactions to the President’s statement came as two power outages temporarily disrupted a joint press conference by three cabinet ministers, who sought to explain reasons why the Federal Government had to remove subsidy and adjust upward the price of electricity.
The President gave the warning while addressing the First Year Ministerial Performance Review Retreat for Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and
top government functionaries at the State House Conference Centre in Aso Villa.
He said: “There are several negative consequences if the government should resume the business of fixing or subsidizing PMS prices. First of all, it would mean a return to the costly subsidy regime. Today we have 60 percent fewer revenues, we just cannot afford the cost.’’
According to him, other negative consequences will be the return of fuel queues, and diverting funds for health, education, and other social services to fund subsidy.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government on Monday said the German firm, Siemens AG, was chosen to expand Nigeria’s power grid because the company was best qualified to rehabilitate the dilapidated electricity infrastructure in Nigeria. Minister of Power, Sale Mamman, who disclosed this in series of tweets via his official Twitter handle, explained that the Siemens deal would expand Nigeria’s power grid capacity to 25,000 megawatts.
Nigeria’s power generation on the grid currently hovers between 4,000MW and 5,000MW. Mamman noted that not all Nigerians had access to power, while those who had suffer irregular power supply.
“So the Siemens project is here to upgrade the national dilapidated infrastructure. The deal is monumental for this sector because the early phases of delivery will improve the grid’s operational capacity,” he stated.
The minister added, “It will open up corridors for evacuation that will greatly reduce the burden of delivered capacity, which is costing the sector so much. “Investors will be more confident to participate in the sector as the grid achieves more functional operational capacity.
This will also reduce financing cost in the evacuation process.” Speaking on the timeline to complete the project, Mamman said it would be for five years, as implementation would take place in three phases, which, according to him, had already commenced.
The Sun says that as food shortage looms, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has given approval to four Nigerian firms to import 262,000 tons of maize.
The firms comprise Crown Flour Mills Limited, Premier Feeds Company Limited, Chi Farms Limited and Wacot Limited. A memo by Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and signed by Deputy Comptroller General, T.M Isa, revealed that the firms have been issued emergency approval by the bank to import maize into the country.
The memo reads: “In line with the government’s policy on food security, sufficiency and striking a balance between food imports and local production capacities to meet the anticipated shortfall; the CBN has granted approval for the underlisted companies to import maize in the quantities stated below.”
The decision by the CBN comes in the wake of a policy shift; barring the importation of maize in a move aimed at self-sufficiency and also conservation of the foreign exchange; spent annually in bringing the commodity into the country.
GIK/APA