The report that Nigeria is rated among the lowest in per capita consumption of cooking gas in Africa and the decision by the British High Commission to “pause making decisions” on visitor visa applications from all red list countries, which include Nigeria are some of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Monday.
The Sun reports that despite the huge demand for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) popularly called cooking gas now rising beyond the resources of average Nigerian, the country has been rated among the lowest in per capita consumption of LPG in Africa.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, stated this at the inauguration of Butane Energy 100 metric tonnes Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage and Bottling Plant in Kabukawa layout, Kastina State at the weekend.
This was even as he said despite the low consumption figure for the country a lot of opportunities exist for increasing LPG penetration and utilization in Nigeria. Butane Energy Limited, one of the gas-based business supported with equity investment by the NCDMB has opened its 100 metric tonnes Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG) Storage and Bottling Plant in Kabukawa layout, Kastina State.
The motivation of the promoters of project which was commissioned on Saturday by the Kastina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, is to help address supply constraints in the domestic LPG market in the Northern part of Nigeria through its plant operations/bulk storage, transportation/ distribution, cylinder filling and bulk retail.
The Guardian says that the British High Commission, yesterday, said it would “pause making decisions” on visitor visa applications from all red list countries, which include Nigeria.
The decision was announced in a statement issued by the commission yesterday. The development comes hours after the United Kingdom (UK) added Nigeria to its travel red list.
“To support the UK government’s aim to protect public health from COVID-19 and associated variants of concern (VOC), UK Visas & Immigration (UKVI) will pause making decisions on visitor visa applications in all red list countries, including Nigeria, until travel restrictions are lifted,” the statement said.
Visit visas cover travel to UK for tourism, visiting family and friends, undertaking short-term business activities, undertaking short-term studies (under six months), taking part in research or exchange programmes as an academic and for medical reasons.
“If you apply for a visit visa in a red list country and you meet the UK immigration rules, your application will be paused. You will not be able to request a refund of your visa fee once you have given your biometrics at a Visa Application Centre. If you already hold a valid visa and are intending to travel to England as a visitor from a red list country, you will not be allowed to enter,” the statement added.
The UK, earlier on Saturday night, announced the imposition of a travel restriction on Nigerian citizens following an increase in the number of cases of the Omicron variant across the world. This was disclosed by UK’s Secretary of State for Health, Sajid Javid, via his official Twitter account.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has put the amount spent on subsidizing petrol between January and October 2021, at N1.03tn.
The NNPC also said it would deduct its October 2021 value shortfall of N199bn from its November 2021 proceeds meant for sharing at the December 2021 Federation Accounts Allocation Committee meeting.
The oil firm disclosed this in its latest report containing the presentation made to the FAAC meeting in November 2021, which was obtained by our correspondent in Abuja on Sunday.
The presentation was also for the NNPC’s September 2021 crude oil and gas sales and proceeds received in October 2021. In the report, the oil firm referred to its subsidy spending as under-recovery, as it had repeatedly stated that it had no authorisation by the National Assembly to pay subsidy.
For about four years running, the NNPC has remained the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria. Other marketers stopped importing the commodity due to their inability to adequately access the United States dollar.
The newspaper says that the Nigerian Export Promotion Council says it is witnessing a surge in the registration of exporters in the North-East.
The North East, regional coordinator, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, John Okorie, disclosed this at a sensitisation workshop organised for exporters on the legal aspects of packaging for export.
The NEPC regional director said though there was enormous potential in the North-East for the export of some products, harnessing produces for export had been hampered by insurgency.
The council which also linked zero export from the North-East to insurgency noted that most exporters out of the region preferred to use Lagos and Kano for exporting their goods overseas.
Okorie said, “Insurgency is a key, a major factor to the lack of export from the region. People no longer go to the farms; people no longer sit at home to do what they are actually supposed to do.
“But as the insurgency is brought under control and awareness is being created, I believe we are going to export from here.”
He said with restoration of peace to the troubled region and sensitization embarked by the NEPC, the council was now witnessing a surge in registration of exporters from the North-East.
ThisDay reports that the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has warned that the federal government’s deficit financing in 2022 might exceed the projected N6.25 trillion due to low public revenue mobilisation in the economy.
The LCCI made this observation during its 133rd Annual General Meeting (AGM), where it attributed the weak component of the Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) in the first half of 2021 capital importation to foreign investors’ declining interest in bringing their FDIs to Nigeria.
The President of the LCCI, Mrs. Toki Mabogunje, said in her presentation of the chamber’s 2011 Annual Report that Nigeria might not meet the ambitious revenue target of N10. 13 trillion it set for itself in 2022.
Mabogunje said: “If we do not meet our revenue target, which looks too ambitious, the deficit financing for the will likely be higher.”
The revenue projection in the proposed 2022 budget is N10.13 trillion based on $57 per barrel crude oil price and the production of 1.88 million barrels per day at N410 per United States dollar. She also cautioned the federal government on the country’s growing debt profile, which rose to N35.5 trillion in June 2021.
The newspaper says that the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Simbi Wabote, has revealed that the oil and gas parks in Bayelsa and Cross River would be completed next year.
Speaking at the 10th Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Conference in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, which ended yesterday, Wabote stressed specifically that the projects would be commissioned by the fourth quarter of 2022.
He emphasised that the provision of reliable power generation and distribution was one of the key requirements to commence operations at the park.
The executive secretary noted that to guarantee this, the board signed an agreement at the second day of the PNC with the Gas Aggregation Company of Nigeria (GACN) and INFINI Power Limited for provision of reliable power to the two industrial parks.
He listed other plans of the board for 2022 to include the completion of the engineering design of Brass Island Shipyard and commencement of roadshows to secure investment partners. Other scheduled programmes, according to him, include the commissioning of the 2,000 barrels per day Atlantic Modular Refinery in Brass and commissioning of the 400,000 per year Rungas LPG composite cylinder manufacturing plant in Polaku, Bayelsa State.
GIK/APA