The report that the Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd., Malam Mele Kyari, has reiterated the commitment to sustain the strategic energy partnership between Nigeria and Spain is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Guardian reports that Malam Mele Kyari, Group Managing Director, NNPC Ltd., has reiterated the commitment to sustain the strategic energy partnership between Nigeria and Spain.
Kyari made this known while addressing Nigerian and Spanish business leaders on investment opportunities in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry in Madrid, Spain.
A statement by Mr Garba Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC Ltd. said Kyari stated this on the side-lines of President Muhammadu Buhari’s state visit to Spain.
Buhari had earlier met with the Spanish President, Pedro Sanchez, King of Spain, King Filipe VI, and gave a speech at the headquarters of the World Tourism Organisation (WTO), in Madrid.
During the visit, President Buhari said Nigeria looked forward to increasing bilateral relations with Spain, even as he signed bilateral agreements and Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with the Spanish.
The MoUs cover areas of prisoner transfer, sports and culture as well as the economy.
The newspaper says that Nigeria has started ‘reaping’ the rewards of its decision to pull out of international competitions for two years. Yesterday, the world basketball ruling body, FIBA, named Mali as a replacement for the country’s women’s national team, D’Tigress, in the list of teams billed to participate in the Australia 2022 World Cup.
D’Tigress had qualified as the only African team to play in the World Cup slated for Sydney, Australia later in the year. But following Nigeria’s decision to withdraw from all international competitions, FIBA said in a statement that it has picked Mali, as the next ranked team from Group B of the qualifying tournament earlier held in Belgrade, Serbia.
Sports Minister, Sunday Dare, last month, announced that President Muhammadu Buhari had agreed to withdraw Nigeria from competing in any international basketball competition for the next two years.
He added that the ban is part of efforts by the government to revamp the sport from the grassroots.
The withdrawal is seen by stakeholders as a ploy to address the lingering leadership crisis in the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF).
In the statement, FIBA said the NBBF “is unable to confirm its participation in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup 2022.”
The Punch reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, on Thursday in Madrid, said the Federal Government would aggressively protect and defend the interests of law-abiding citizens in the diaspora.
Buhari gave the assurance when he met with Nigerians living in Spain on the sidelines of his three-day state visit.
According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the diaspora team which met with Buhari included President of the association, John Bosco, his deputy, Richard Omoregbe, Super Eagles player who plies his trade with Leganes FC, Madrid, Kenneth Omeruo, a football agent, Obinna Okafor, a student of Aviation, Mohammed Bashir, a student of Global Affairs, Segun Adedoyin, and businessman, Bright Omorodion.
The statement was titled ‘We’ll continue to defend interests of all our law-abiding citizens abroad, president Buhari assures Nigerians living in Spain.’
President Buhari told the Nigerians, whom he described as ambassadors of the country in Spain, “Many of you are here for different reasons, some for a fulfilling career in sports, especially in football from where you earn respectable incomes to sustain yourselves as well as maintain your extended families in Nigeria including investments back home.
“Some of you are engaged in other businesses that have enhanced your socio-economic status, both here and at home. More importantly, through your commitment to your various callings, you have enhanced the name and image of our country, thereby earning Nigeria’s respect in Spain.
“I have also been informed of how law-abiding you are here in Spain. I wish to encourage you to continue to be role models for our youth back home as well as sustain the image of being excellent Ambassadors of Nigeria in Spain and live peacefully in the various communities in which you reside here.”
Explaining why he established the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, the President said: “As I have always done whenever I am abroad, I wish to reassure all of you in Spain of the determination of the Federal Government of Nigeria to continue to remain engaged with our compatriots in the diaspora, for more purposeful partnerships that impact our country and people.”
The newspaper says that findings have shown that electricity tariffs increased by 58 per cent after the Federal Government yanked off a yearly subsidy of N500bn to the power sector.
Documents obtained by The PUNCH showed that the subsidy was removed in 2020, leading the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission to equally increase tariffs from N31/kWh to N49/kWh starting from last year.
The document titled, ‘Analysis of the Commercial KPIs for ANED ́s Members/2021’, which is the latest report by the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors, said with the effective implementation of the Service Based Tariff in November 2020, the Federal Government removed electricity subsidies of over N500bn and “allowed tariff increase from 31 N/kWh up to 49 N/kWh in 12 months.”
Hence, electricity tariffs have increased by N18/kWh since the subsidy removal.
ANED said the new tariffs “for better service” were for customer categories under the class A, B and C.
“This fact, together with the DisCos ́ ATC&C losses recovery in 2021, disproves the paradigm that an increase in tariffs leads to an increase in losses,” the report added.
Although the DisCos and NERC have consistently denied tariff increment, findings corroborated a statement by the Minister of Finance, Budgets and National Planning, Zanaib Ahmed in March that FG had removed all subsidies in the power sector.
Electricity consumers with prepaid metres have also lamented reduction in electricity units received from DisCos. The DisCos had, earlier in the year, sent out migration links to customers. Once clicked, the application link took customers to an online form where meter numbers and other information were inputted to migrate from the old tariffs to the increased tariff plans.
The Nation reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) has called on stakeholders to intensify efforts to address abject energy poverty in Africa.
The GMD/CEO of NNPC, Malam Mele Kyari, made the call during an Oil and Gas summit held in Abuja recently.
At a panel session on Energy Transition at the summit organised by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) with the theme: Africa’s Energy Conundrum: A Pragmatic Approach to Net Zero, Kyari joined other energy experts to advocate for a concrete approach to energy transition to guarantee cheap access to energy in Africa.
According to him, there should be a slow but proper energy transition process in Africa with emphasis on access rather than net zero status.
He called on developing countries to form a common front to address the irrational expectations of transiting to net zero, adding that African leaders must insist that there must be energy justice.
He said NNPC was at the forefront of efforts by Nigeria to rally the needed support and cooperation among African countries to promote gas sufficiency in order to eliminate energy poverty. The GMD also drummed up support for the integration of Africa’s infrastructure in the region.
GIK/APA