The admission by the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) that the country’s power supply has nosedived with challenges at over 14 generation plants keeping output at record low is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Guardian reports that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), yesterday, admitted that the country’s power supply has nosedived with challenges at over 14 generation plants keeping output at record low.
According to the agency, power generating profile in the last two months showed that 14 gas stations were either not generating at all or had limited generation at various times within the period.
Spokesperson for TCN, Ndidi Mba, said the development further depleted the quantum of power generation available for transmission into the grid on daily basis.
This is coming at a time consumers are expected to pay more for electricity under the Service Based Tariff (SBT). The SBT was introduced on the ground that power will improve. Instead, the situation went from bad to worse.The Guardian had reported that in what most industry players and consumer right groups already described as ‘payment for darkness’, Nigerians, in the past eight years, spent about N5.7 trillion on electricity as supply averages 4,000 megawatts, about the same level it was eight years ago.
Statistics from Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc showed that an average of N720 billion worth of electricity bill is processed yearly in the country, bringing the cost to about N5.7 trillion in the last eight years. Electricity users in Nigeria settle these bills with measurable subsidy from the Federal Government.
“Currently, the cumulative generation nationwide is low and generation companies have attributed this to several factors including poor gas supply, faults in generating units, scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, all of which have caused most power companies to limit their generation, or sometimes not generate at all.
The newspaper says that Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday opened a new vista in Nigeria’s political landscape by ordering the Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi and his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, to vacate their offices for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Justice Ekwo said the move from the PDP to the APC was illegal and unconstitutional. The judgment followed suits marked FHC/ABJ/CS/ 920/21 and FHC/ABJ/CS/ 1041/21, filed by the PDP seeking the removal of the governor and his deputy from office for abandoning the party.
Justice Ekwo said the depositions of the 3rd and 4th defendants (Umahi and Igwe) in their counter-affidavit were “evasive and insufficient” to competently challenge the plaintiff’s originating process.
It was the opinion of the court that the “Immunity Clause” in section 308 of the Constitution is not absolute.
“Section 308 is a veritable constitutional shield,” the court said, adding that it was not inserted for political reasons.
Umahi and his deputy had filed a notice of preliminary objection challenging the suit by the PDP, arguing that Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution provided immunity to them from the plaintiff’s suit and that votes cast during the said elections belonged to them and not the plaintiff, going by the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2010 and recent Supreme Court pronouncements.
The Punch reports that Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for critical policy and social reforms that put gender equality and sustainability at the centre of governance, politics, and international affairs.
This was contained in a statement signed on Tuesday by the President of the Chamber, Asiwaju Michael Olawale-Cole.
The statement said women participation at various levels of management had yielded promising results, which calls for more conversation regarding the subject matter of gender parity.
The statement read in part, “The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a gender-sensitive organisation is pleased to congratulate women all over the world on this year’s International Women’s Day celebrations today, 8th of March 2022.
The theme of this year’s edition, “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” provides us an opportunity to join voices with people around the world and shout our message for equal rights and that “Women’s rights are human rights!”
This year’s theme is all about recognizing and amplifying the important role women and girls around the world play in addressing climate change for a more sustainable future.”
The newspaper says that the rising prices of crude since the Russia-Ukraine war began, coupled with exchange rate instability in Nigeria, among others, have pushed up the prices of refined petroleum products across the country, according to findings by The PUNCH.
Industry figures seen on Tuesday showed that the cost of Brent, the crude against which Nigeria’s oil is priced, rose above $133/barrel around 6pm Nigerian time. The commodity had traded below $90/barrel before the war in Ukraine started.
Oil marketers told our correspondent that the rise in global crude oil prices had been pushing up the cost of Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel; JetA1, otherwise called aviation fuel; as well as Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol.
The position of oil marketers on the impact of crude price hike on refined petroleum products in Nigeria had also been confirmed by the Federal Government through the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari.
Findings on Tuesday showed that diesel sold for between N550 – N625/litre in the few filling stations that dispensed the commodity.
The GMD of NNPC had in June last year stated that there was nowhere in the world where the pump price of petrol was lower than the cost of diesel.
The Nation reports that the Central of Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is seeking increased private sector participation in dairy to position the industry for growth.
A representative of the apex bank, Garba Aminu, spoke during the opening of a Milk Collection Centre (MCC) in Kano, established by Outspan Nigeria Limited, the dairy business unit of Olam Food Ingredients (OFI).
He reiterated that the bank would support investors to help dairy processors meet growing demand for local milk products.
Aminu emphasised CBN’s commitment to assisting businesses and smallholder farmers to fast-track the attainment of food production self-sufficiency in the country.
Also, the Doguwa communities where the project is sited lauded Outspan Nigeria Limited, for its investment in the area, targeted at achieving large-scale development of the local dairy value chain.
Representatives of the communities under the local government area said the investment would stimulate a robust local economy, create linkages for smallholder dairy farmers and generate jobs in the area.
The newspaper says that the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano Natural Gas Pipeline Project (AKKP) has reached 73.3 per cent completion stage, the Group Executive Director, Gas and Power, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr Abdulkadir Ahmad, said yesterday.
The project was okayed by the Federal Government to ferry natural gas from Ajaokuta, Kogi State, to Kano, Kano State.
Ahmed stated this at the lecture by the Kaduna Chapter of Nigerian Society of Chemical Engineers (NSCHE) in honour of the Emir of Lere in Kaduna State, Suleiman Umaru.
Ahmad, represented by the General Manager, Commercial, Nigeria Gas Company Limited, Emmanuel Ibokwuwe, spoke on: “Nigeria gas master plan and opportunities for the Northern states.”
He said: “We have so far made tremendous progress as the project is about 73.3 percent completed, with only about 23.5 per cent remaining.
“We have split the project into two to make sure it is completed at the earliest time possible since we are working within the timeline of 2022.”
GIK/APA