The directive by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Nigeria Immigration Service to improve surveillance and control around Nigeria’s borders and the rise in crude oil prices and the challenge for Nigerian ‘managed’ downstream deregulation are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Vanguard reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, directed Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, to improve surveillance and control around the nation’s borders.
He directed the service to ensure that criminals do not find Nigeria as a safe haven to hide and perpetrate their criminality.
The president’s directive came on a day the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Ahmadu Ali (retd), told the House of Representatives that the agency was yet to contain the smuggling of arms into the country because smugglers were protected by people of border communities.
According to a statement by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, Buhari gave the directive in his speech at the virtual inauguration of NIS Technology Building.
Adesina quoted the president as instructing all security agencies to raise their performance in protecting lives and property, with a mandate that the country’s Global Security Index must be improved.
He promised them his regime would give the needed support for their operations and urged the NIS to collaborate with international security organisations, such as INTERPOL, in safeguarding the borders.
The Guardian says that what appears to be a blessing to Nigeria in terms of improved earnings owing to extended production cuts by OPEC and OPEC+, leading to rise in crude oil prices, might end up becoming a problem for the nation’s ‘managed’ downstream deregulation, which allows the price of petrol to be remote-controlled.
Oil prices soared yesterday, crossing $67.56 for the Brent Crude, following the cartel and its allies’ decision to roll over current production quotas for another month.
Oil marketers had warned that the poor implementation of downstream reforms is responsible for the present fuel price dilemma, noting that government’s inability to follow through the implementation of the petroleum sector reforms is partly responsible for the present challenges in the country, adding that government should be transitioning to a market-driven environment through policy-backed legislative and commercial frameworks.
Also, pushed by the need to improve its earnings in line with its budgetary estimates and finance its growing debts alongside the re-emergence of fuel subsidy, Nigeria faces a huge temptation of ‘cheating’ on its crude production output, at a time oil prices appear to have sustained a rally above $60 a barrel.
Nigeria’s commitment to January cuts was acknowledged at the OPEC meeting yesterday, as the conformity was described as ‘compensating its entire overproduced volumes’. With compensation achieved, the country might be tempted to increase production to take advantage of higher prices.
The Punch reports that the queues for petrol in Abuja and neighbouring Nasarawa and Niger reduced on Thursday as more retail outlets dispensed the product to motorists.
Petrol queues had dragged on in Abuja and environs since last week, a development that resulted in over 100 percent hike in transport fares.
Oil marketers had attributed the scarcity of petrol in the affected areas to the alleged moves by government to hike the price of the commodity.
They had also stated that the recent e-payment policy of the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, was disrupting the smooth flow of products’ purchase.
These concerns, according to oil marketers, had caused the scarcity witnessed in Abuja and some northern states. But on Thursday, our correspondent observed that the long queues had started disappearing in many locations after more retails outlets resumed operations.
The Sun reports that the Federal Government has inaugurated the governing board of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC, with a charge on members to boost the activities of the organisation. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Chief Adeniyi Adebayo, who inaugurated the board on Thursday in Abuja, alongside the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission Tribunal, said the two bodies are crucial in achieving the development goals of the present administration.
He said the board has the responsibilities of monitoring staff performance, and ensuring more accountability among others. While calling on the board and tribunal members to bring their wealth of experience to bear in the discharge of their newly assigned duties,
Adebayo warned against interference in the daily running of the organisations. “Let me reiterate that the board shall not be involved in the day-to-day operation which is the sole responsibility of the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of FCCPC, and chairman of the tribunal who are the accounting officers.
ThisDay says that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), wholly owned by the federal government, said that it recorded three consecutive peak system performances in the last one week.
Although, it rarely reflects in the quality of electricity supply received by Nigerians, a statement by the General Manager, Public Affairs of the company, Mrs. Ndidi Mbah, stated that the new levels achieved were due to the renewed synergy among power sector players.
The new records which were achieved on February 25, February 26, February 28 and March 1, the TCN further stressed, underlined the reinvigorated company under its acting Managing Director, Mr Sule Abdulaziz.
Mbah noted that the company recorded the enhanced energy of 116,891.14MWH first on the 26 of February, saying that it was higher than the previous value of 116,121.42MWH that occurred on 25/02/2021 by 769.72MWH.
Again, she noted that the TCN successfully transmitted an enhanced peak generation of 5,801.60MW at 9:30pm on March 1, 2021, adding that the latest peak generation was transmitted at a frequency of 50.09Hz.
GIK/APA