The new report by Financial Derivatives Company Limited has indicated that Nigeria’s oil and gas industry loses as much as $15 billion in investments annually due to the delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
ThisDay reports that a new report by Financial Derivatives Company Limited (FDC) has indicated that Nigeria’s oil and gas industry loses as much as $15 billion in investments annually due to the delayed passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), currently before the National Assembly.
The bill, which seeks to overhaul the oil and gas industry and offer new fiscal incentives to investors, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, and Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, is set to be passed this month.
However, FDC in its latest bi-monthly publication stated that even if the PIB is passed today, the country has already lost investment opportunities due to the lack of urgency attached to the passage of the legislation which was first transmitted to the lawmakers over 14 years ago.
“Its delay has sparked a great deal of uncertainty and led to an estimated loss of over $15 billion annually in lost investments to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry. With the global shift from fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy picking up pace, the passage of the PIB may just be too little, too late,” the FDC report added.
It said it was unlikely that Nigeria would be able to make up for either the lost time or the lost investment, adding that information available to it suggests that the bill is currently undergoing last-minute modifications in three key areas to enhance its effectiveness.
The Guardian says that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives has berated the executive arm of government for its inability to secure the lives and property of Nigerians.
The caucus bemoaned the rising level of poverty caused by the Muhammadu Buhari administration’s ineptitude in resuscitating the economy and creating jobs for the teeming unemployed, especially the youth, in the country.
In a statement signed by its leader, Kingsley Chinda, yesterday, the caucus made a three-point demand from the government to help Nigeria embrace peace.
“Improve on our democratic practice by respecting the rule of law and press freedom, immediately reverse the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria and set aside the draconian regulation of the media in our country.”
According to Chinda, if the sacrifices of our people make the celebration of our nascent democracy worthwhile, it is because our people have come to cherish the blood, tears and toil of those whose sacrifices make the enjoyment of their rights and freedoms essential to democracy.
The Guardian reports that following the persistent killing of innocent souls in Zuru Emirate, the Kebbi State Government has engaged a local vigilance group to support other security operatives in the area.
The newspaper reports that Nigeria-Born New Zealand-based Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, Israel Adesanya, yesterday, retained his middleweight belt after defeating Italian challenger, Marvin Vettori, at the Gila River Arena in Arizona, United States.
The Nigerian won via a unanimous decision – 50-45, 50-45, 50-45. The win is Adesanya’s third title defence after losing to Jan Blachowicz in a bid to add the light heavyweight title to his laurels. Adesanya showed improvements on his groundwork as he expertly untangled himself from all of Vettori’s takedowns.
Renowned as one of the best strikers in the division, the 31-year-old landed several leg shots and jabs as he dimmed Vettori’s dream of becoming the first Italian UFC champion.
It is the second time both fighters faced themselves in the UFC with Adesanya running out victorious via split decision in their first meeting in April 2018, which was the Nigerian’s second outing in the UFC franchise.
The Vanguard says that President Muhammadu Buhari’s Democracy Day speech, television interviews, and claims that he has made the country better than he met it in 2015 are still raising dust in the polity.
The Pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, said the President’s comments and positions were short of expectations, and exposed his administration as one bent on taking steps that are not in the best interests of most Nigerians.
Afenifere was reacting to the speech made by the President to mark the June 12 Democracy Day and the interviews he granted on Thursday and Friday on Arise Television and the NTA respectively.
Also, the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, asked President Buhari to apologize to Nigerians for ruining Nigeria’s economy and plunging the people into hardship due to his bad policies, even as the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, said it is focused on assessing realities on the ground concerning the living conditions of citizens across the country, rather than whether President’s Democracy Day speech was good or bad.
However, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and former Commissioner for Information in Edo State, Chief Charles Idahosa, gave President Buhari plaudits in his Democracy day speech and dismissed the June 12 protests in many parts of the country as sponsored and uncalled for.
In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Jare Ajayi, Afenifere said Nigerians were better of in terms of living conditions in 2015 than now, and expressed its disappointment at the President’s disclosure that he had directed the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation to recover and re-open grazing routes throughout the country.
The Punch says that at least 936 students of secondary and tertiary institutions were abducted by suspected bandits and Boko Haram members across the country between December 2020 and June 5, 2021.
Findings by our correspondents showed that abductions were carried out across the country.
During the period under review, abductions were recorded in Ohordua, Edo State; Effurun, Delta State; Kankara, Kaduna State; and Mahuta village, Katsina State.
Other places where cases of abduction were recorded are Kagara, Niger State; Jangebe, Zamfara State; and Afaka, Kaduna State, among others.
Some parents who spoke to our correspondents said they would not allow their children return to school.
The newspaper says that the Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, has identified inequality and extreme poverty as the bane of Nigeria’s underdevelopment.
According to him, for Nigeria to attain any meaningful progress, inequality and extreme poverty must first be addressed.
He stated these while delivering the 49th Convocation Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, on Saturday.
The minister regretted that in spite of different poverty alleviation programmes, Nigerians were still bogged down by crippling poverty.
Amaechi said many people were homeless and jobless, which was among issues that gave rise to insecurity in the form of insurgency and agitations like #EndSARS and self-determination being canvassed in some sections of Nigeria.
GIK/APA