The unveiling of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Ltd from a public corporation to a limited liability company is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Wednesday.
The Punch reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited on Tuesday made it clear that it would no longer remit any money to the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee for sharing to the three tiers of government monthly.
It said this was based on its latest transition from a public corporation to a limited liability company and that it currently owed no money to FAAC, as all monetary arrears to the committee were owed by the old corporation and not the new oil company.
This came as President Muhammadu Buhari officially unveiled the NNPC Limited on Tuesday and declared that the new entity was henceforth free from institutional regulations.
Buhari, who made this public at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, stated that the oil firm would from now on conduct itself under best international business practice.
Before its official unveiling as a limited company, the NNPC had failed to make any remittance to FAAC since this year. It had consistently deducted the amount it spends on fuel subsidy monthly, a development that had eroded the funds which it would have remitted to the committee.
Findings showed that between January and May this year, the oil company had spent N1.274tn on petrol subsidy, being the sole importer of the commodity into Nigeria. It, however, described its subsidy spending as under-recovery of a Premium Motor Spirit/value shortfall.
The newspaper says that the Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday again raised the Monetary Policy Rate from 13 per cent to 14 per cent.
This came barely two months after the MPC, during its bi-monthly meeting in May, raised the benchmark interest rate from 11.5 per cent to 13 per cent.
The interest rate hike came barely one week after the National Bureau of Statistics put its June inflation figure for the economy at 18.6 per cent, the highest in five years. Inflation had hit 17.71 per cent in May, 2022.
The MPC had left the MPR unchanged for over two years. However crippling inflation, worsening purchasing power and their attendant effects on the economy appear to have forced the CBN to effect policy changes.
Speaking shortly after a two-day MPC meeting that started on Monday, the Governor, CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, argued that a new rate hike was necessary to put the economy on track.
Emefiele, who spoke in Lagos, said the MPC noted with concern the continued aggressive movement in inflation, even after the rate hike at its last meeting.
He expressed the committee’s unrelenting resolve to restore price stability while providing the necessary support to strengthen the fragile recovery.
However, experts in the financial sector have said the second hike in the lending rate at the MPC meeting reflected a panic situation on the part of the banking regulator with the signal of tougher times in the economy.
The Guardian reports that President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to resolve the lingering strike by the four university-based unions without delay and report back to him within two weeks.
Sources privy to the development said Buhari gave the directive after he received briefings from the Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) concerned.
The sources revealed further that Buhari also directed Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, to be part of the team that should immediately resolve the faceoff with the unions.
Recall that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had proceeded on a one-month warning strike on February 14. Thereafter, other unions withdrew their services over the alleged inability of the Federal Government to meet their demands.
The three other unions are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
BUT in a reaction, ASUU said the Federal Government does not need two weeks to end the industrial action.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, yesterday, ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said the union is ready to call off the strike anytime there is a “strong commitment” by the government to sign and implement the renegotiated agreement is reached with the university lecturers.
The newspaper says that local airlines, yesterday, sought approval to impose a new fuel surcharge of between 25 and 40 per cent on consumers as part of measures to cope with an upswing in the price of aviation fuel.
The operators, apparently hard-hit by the surging cost of fuel and operations, said their survival is dependent on the new surcharge, though with imminent effects on the already high cost of airfares.
Similarly, the airlines, under the aegis of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), urged the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to sacrifice the five per cent it receives as fuel surcharge and adopt the new 25 to 45 per cent regime on aviation fuel consumption.
This came as the operators also flayed the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) for the alleged abrupt closure of Runway 18L at Murtala Muhammed Airport Lagos, without due notice.
The airlines, last month, raised the alarm that a number of the risk collapse without affordable aviation fuel to sustain commercial operations. They said besides the fuel scarcity disrupting scheduled operations, the prevailing market rate of N690 to N714/litre is unsustainable.
Aero Contractors has indefinitely shut down its operations, just as aviation fuel now sells for N822/litre in Lagos and much more in the North, The Guardian learnt.
Chairman of AON, Abdulmunaf Sarina, in a memo to NCAA, lamented that in addition to the crippling effect of intermittent shortages of Jet A1, the price rose from N420 per litre in February 2022 to over N780 last week.
The Nation reports that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has hailed the heroic outing of the Super Falcons at the 2022 Women’s African Cup of Nations after their semifinal loss to host Morocco just as the federation has also secured top friendly matches for the team in readiness for the 2023 FIFA World Cup.
Also, the team is scheduled to play the United States Women’s National Team in Kansas City and Washington D. C in September, and also to fly to Japan to take on the Asian team in Kobe in October.
“Of course, we would have been happy to be in the Final and chase a 10th title but I am happy with the performance of the team and the way and manner they approached the game despite all sorts of setbacks and intimidation,” President of the Nigeria Football Federation Amaju Melvin Pinnick said yesterday.“To play 50 minutes of a game with only nine players is not an easy task.
“The Super Falcons gave their all and were truly fabulous. They had the ‘Nigeria spirit’ in them and showed a sense of patriotism, were dogged and refused to give up. Penalties are forever a lottery, so it could have gone either way. I commend the team for the outing.”
The expulsion of midfielder Halimat Ayinde in the 49th minute reduced Nigeria to 10 players, before referee Maria Rivet from Mauritius handed forward Rasheedat Ajibade a red card in the 70th minute, which cut Nigeria’s playing strength by two for the remaining 50 minutes (20 minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of extra time) of the thrilling encounter.
Uchenna Kanu had a touch on Nigeria’s goal in the 62nd minute though it was recorded as an own goal by Yasmin Mrabet, and Nigeria could have put the match in the bag when substitute Gift Monday rocked the crossbar with a well-taken shot from outside the box 11 minutes into extra time.
“Our girls did a massive job on a night they were not only depleted but challenged by laser lights trained on their eyes by the crowd. I am enamoured by their resilience and tenacity,” the FIFA Council Member further noted. “ The next step now is for the Federation to do everything possible to prepare the team adequately for the FIFA World Cup finals coming up next year.”
GIK/APA