APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that the Nigerian Government on Monday asked the organised Labour to shelve its planned strike slated to commence on Tuesday (today) dominates the headlines of Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Government on Monday asked the organised Labour to shelve its planned strike slated to commence on Tuesday (today).
The government reminded the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of a restraining order issued by the National Industrial Court, Abuja, on Friday.
The TUC President, Festus Osifo, had announced at a press conference in Abuja on Monday that the labour action would commence on Tuesday (today) in protest against the alleged assault on the President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero by suspected thugs in Owerri, Imo State, on November 1.
The President of the NIC, Justice Benedict Kanyip, had restrained the labour centres and their affiliates from embarking on any form of strike.
The judge issued the order following an ex-parte application brought before the court by the Federal Government through the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Lateef Fagbemi.
Speaking at the news conference, Osifo explained that all the affiliates of the NLC and TUC had been mobilised for the strike which might paralyse economic activities across the country.
Ajaero and other labour leaders had led a protest in Owerri, the Imo State capital, over the alleged failure of the state government to pay its workers, among other grievances.
But the demonstration had hardly started when the labour leaders were allegedly physically attacked by thugs who also disrupted the protest.
A strike declared in the state also failed to gain traction as the workers boycotted it while banks and other commercial centres opened for business.
The newspaper says that the African Development Bank has said that arrangements are in the pipeline to disburse $618m for the implementation of Nigeria’s investment in digital and creative enterprise programme.
AfDB’s country Director-General for Nigeria, Lamin Barrow made the disclosure on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Marrakesh, Morocco.
According to him, the Federal government was in the process of recruiting a fund manager for the project.
Last month, the Federal Government announced the launch of a $617.7m investment through the i-DICE programme.
The i-DICE is a Federal Government programme geared towards promoting investment in information and communications technology and creative industries, as part of efforts to build better, inclusive, and sustainable jobs.
Barrow said of the $618m fund, $45m would come from Nigeria through the Bank of Industry.
The AfDB is expected to contribute $170m while Agence Francaise de Development will contribute $116m and the Islamic Development Bank will invest $70m.
Barrow said the implementation of the project was staggered because of Nigeria’s government transition.
“We were caught up by the transition of government and you have to allow the new government to settle in.
“The steering committee, chaired by the vice-president with membership from the ministries of finance, trade and investments, communication, science and technology, information and culture, met and received a briefing,” he said.
Barrow said talks were already at an advanced stage, including advanced meetings on the first disbursement.
The Guardian reports that the Federal Government has launched an investigation into the cancellation of visas for 264 passengers who were airlifted from Lagos and Kano to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
The passengers were denied entry upon arrival in Jeddah, despite having valid visas and going through the Advanced Passengers Information System (APIS) during the check-in process in Nigeria.
The passengers, who had departed from Lagos and Kano, were informed upon landing that their visas had been revoked at the airport.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Special Adviser, Al-Kasim Abdulkadir, has stated in a statement that it is now investigating the matter to determine if any consular or aviation rules were violated.
“Nigeria has just participated in the Saudi-Africa Summit, where bilateral discussions covering several sectors of the economy and mutually beneficial commitments were made,” Al-Kasim stated.
Abdulkadir noted that despite the passengers having completed the APIS process, the Saudi authorities still opted to cancel their visas.
He reported that it was only after the Nigerian embassy intervened that the Saudi authorities reduced the number of passengers who would be returned from 264 to 177.
“The Ministry will ensure such actions that impact the welfare of Nigerian citizens are mitigated in the future in line with the 4Ds strategy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” he added
The newspaper says that the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET), and the Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) of owing the company ₦190 billion for electricity supply.
NDPHC’s Managing Director, Chiedu Ugbo, made the revelation during a media briefing in Lagos on Monday, stating that the debt accumulated from 2015 had made it difficult for the company to meet its obligations, including operational expenditures and payments to gas suppliers.
Ugbo stated that the ₦190 billion debt was primarily owed by the government agencies, with NBET owing the bulk of the debt, although he did not disclose the exact amount.
“Huge indebtedness by the market to NDPHC runs into hundreds of billions—₦190 billion as of May for unpaid invoices. NDPHC is also not paid for availability but only as dispatched, thereby depriving NDPHC of hundreds of billions since 2015, when the Transitional Electricity Market was declared, and the government has so far been denied revenue as high as ₦3 trillion,” Ugbo said.
He explained that the company had been forced to cut down on its power generation capacity due to the debt and that the debt had negatively impacted NDPHC’s ability to generate power, forcing the company to reduce its generation capacity from 2,000 MW to 975 MW.
“Since we are owed, we can’t also pay our gas suppliers and they too won’t supply us gas. Gas is what we use to generate power, and if we can’t generate, we can’t sell. The nameplate capacity of our ten plants is 4000 MW. We have the capacity to generate as much as 2000 MW, but we currently generate 975 MW.”
Ugbo also noted that NDPHC had been forced to cut costs and rely on internally generated revenue, coupled with government interventions, to sustain operations and stressed the need for urgent private capital mobilisation to address the company’s financial challenges and improve its operations.
“Despite the interventions and other FGN initiatives in networks, liquidity challenges persist. It is obvious that a lot more investment is required in transmission and the government alone cannot do this.
“There is therefore a need for urgent private capital mobilisation and exploring independent transmission projects, starting with Gencos as investors. With NDPHC’s track record, this is possible within the shortest possible time,” he added.
GIK/APA