The report that Nigeria loses about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil daily due to shut in by producers across various oil wells in the Niger Delta and incessant oil theft in the industry is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian Government on Monday revealed that its latest findings showed that about 1.2 million barrels of crude oil was consistently shut in by producers across various oil wells in the Niger Delta due to the incessant oil theft in the industry.
It also stated that current statistics showed that the volume of oil lost to theft in Nigeria was about 100,000 barrels per day, translating to an estimated three million barrels every month.
The government disclosed through its Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission at the press briefing in Abuja, as it further stated that the country’s gas reserves had risen to 208 trillion standard cubic feet.
He added, “So what we have done is that we are engaging with all operators and the target is for us to have clarity around their operations, whereby we try to drill down on their work programmes and visibility, based on what we are expecting from them.
“In that regard, we had to set up an operations committee with the aim of identifying shut-in wells. The essence is for us to be able to have feasibility around the wells that are shut-in.
“That exercise was done and we found out that we have about 1.2 million barrels of oil that is shut in consistently as a result of the impact of crude oil theft. So, our engagement is aimed at identifying the wells that could be re-streamed in a manner that we could have some barrels added to our existing production.”
“One of the negative and side effects of crude oil theft is that it has incentivised well shut-ins by producers, in the sense that it is not part of their investment model to produce and hand over to thieves,” the Chief Executive, NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, stated.
The newspaper says that Nigeria’s total external debt has risen from $10.32bn on June 30, 2015, to $40.06bn as at June 30, 2022, The PUNCH has learnt.
This shows that there has been an increase of 288.18 per cent in seven years, according to the external debt stock reports by the Debt Management Office.
A breakdown shows that in 2015, 36 states had $3.27bn external debt while the Federal Government had $7.05bn.
By 2022, states’ external debt rose to $4.56bn, while the Federal Government’s external debt increased to $35.5bn.
The debts included loans from multilateral sources such as the World Bank, the African Development bank and the International Monetary Fund.
They also included bilateral loans from China, France, Japan, Germany and India, as well as commercial sources including Eurobonds and Diaspora bonds.
Nigeria’s external debt ballooned as the naira lost value, increasing Nigeria’s debt service burden and worsening its ability to service debt. The International Monetary Fund recently said that the long-term rate of the depreciation of the naira equated to a loss of 10.6 per cent of its value annually since 1973.
According to the IMF, this rate was 1.5 times higher than the long-term rate of the currencies of other emerging markets and developing economies at 7.2 per cent and sub-Saharan Africa at seven per cent over the same time period.
The Guardian reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has invited interested international organisations across the world to come and observe Nigeria’s 2023 general elections.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the call when he received the delegation of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) Pre-Election Fact Finding Mission to Nigeria.
The group was led by Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, former Chairman, of the Electoral Commission of Ghana, at the commission headquarters on Monday in Abuja.
The INEC chairman disclosed that it was a demonstration of the commission’s openness and ritual to receive international observers.
“Election Observation is an important part of ensuring transparency and credibility in elections. We have always benefited from the insight of election observation missions.
“Let me restate the commitment of INEC Nigeria to free, fair and credible elections driven by technology.
“The 2023 general election in Nigeria will be driven by technology not only as a matter of legal requirement but also as a matter of course, for us in the commission.
The newspaper says that the coffers of the Federal Government is expected to be $547 million richer following plans by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to auction two more Fifth-Generation (5G) network licences in the country.
In the Information Memorandum (IM) on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction revealed at the weekend, which NCC used to announce the planned auction, the commission set the reserve price for the new 5G spectrums at $273.60 million. NCC, in the IM, said it would issue two more 5G licences to operators in Nigeria.
In the 64-page IM, NCC revealed that “The reserve price is the minimum price for one Lot of 100MHz TDD for a 10-year licence tenure fixed at $273.60 million or its equivalent in Naira at the prevailing Central Bank of Nigeria rates at the time of the auction.”
According to the NCC, it is offering the remaining lots of 2 x 100MHz in the 3.5GHz spectrum band to support 5G deployment in the nation. It disclosed this in its ‘Information Memorandum on 3.5 GHz Spectrum Auction.’
The remaining two Lots of 100 MHz TDD Spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band ranging from 3400 – 3500 MHz and 3600 – 3700 MHz, totalling 200 MHz for auction, according to NCC, will be awarded to winning bidders in the 100 MHz Lot.
Recall that on December 13, 2021, the first 3.5GHz spectrum auction, which was held in Abuja, by NCC produced both MTN Nigeria and Mafab Communications.
They coughed out $273.6 million each by February 24, 2022.
The Guardian also reports that amid resounding debate on the single faith ticket and resort to ethnicity by parties, which has defined the campaigns so far, a coalition of over 500 women organisations under the aegis of Womanifesto movement, yesterday, provoked a fresh controversy over the 2023 elections, when it stated that none of the presidential candidates has told them his concrete plans for women and girls in the country.
Though they refused to declare support for any candidate, the women’s group disclosed that plans have been concluded to meet all presidential candidates today to table home their demands.
Among presidential candidates expected at the meeting are Chief Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) and 15 others.
The Womanifesto leaders spoke at the national women’s dialogue with the theme, ‘Electoral Integrity and Accountability: Towards Corruption-free Elections’ in Abuja, funded by MacArthur Foundation and Women’s Rights Advancement & Protection Alternative (WRAPA Nigeria), in partnership with Affirmative Action Initiative for Women.
They emphasised that 2023 elections won’t be business as usual, noting that women would demand for the best and hold those vying for public offices accountable.
Members of the coalition include Women Advocate Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC), Education as a Vaccine (EVA), Enough is Enough (EiE), Emerge Women (EW), Empowerment and Action Research Centre (EARC), Equality Through Education Foundation (ETEF), Equity Advocates/The Woman, FAME Foundation, Federation of Informal Workers of Nigeria (FIWON), Federation of Muslim Women Association in Nigeria (FOMWAN) and Federation of Paralegal Network (FEDPAN), among others.
Speaking, co-convener, Womanifesto Dialogue, Dr. Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, said it was high time the political class stopped treating women as second-class citizens in the country, adding, “our identity and dignity as women matter.”
She said among issues of top priority to women is the declaration of state of emergency on violence against women and girls. Others include increased women political participation, empowerment, sexual and reproductive health rights for women, constitutional reform to stop marginalisation of women and security.
GIK/APA