A destroyed refinery By Favour Ifeoluwa & Akinola Ajibade The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited( NNPCL) says it has destroyed 134 illegal refineries in the last few weeks. Also, the company said 63 illegal pipeline connections were uncovered during the the weeks . The corporation, In a visual report, stated that at about 2 am on Sunday, a joint team of security agents discovered a large wooden boat illicitly loading stolen crude oil from Barge AGS01 within the OML 18 operating area, noted intelligence report a large wooden wooden boat was caught receiving crude oil from the barge. According to the state-owned oil firm, while the barge was towed away with a tugboat in custody, five speedboats used in towing the large wooden boat to the illegal loading site were also detained and the particulars of the tugboats and barge used for the operation were reportedly seized for further investigation. It further said that two large boats, which involve
By Akinola Ajibade
The management of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) will commence probling on Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Company ( NBET) $33million monthly power generation deal with Azura soon.
NDPHC's decision to conduct investigation into the contract, follows the outrage expressed on the issue by the House of Representatives Committee on Finance last Friday.
The committee was said to have been shocked that NBET was dragging the country into Power Purchase Aggregments that were detrimental to it and as a result, demanded that NBET should be investigated in order to avoid a much bigger problems to the sector.
According to the committee, immediate review of the Gas Purchase Aggrement ( GPA) between the Federal Government and a certain company for the supply of gas to its Calabar power plant is needed in order to know how the contract was executed.
The reason being that the said company was discovered to have been using the same to supply gas to other companies, when the country is still paying $10 million monthly commitment as contained in the initial agreement.
Speaking on the issue, the Chairman House committee on Finance, Hon. James Falake said that the issue requires urgent attention in order to save the sector for growth.
“The situation we find ourselves and the earlier we, the operators of government agencies, get to know this, the better for this country. People complain that Nigeria is borrowing money but those of us that are responsible for revenue management and cost management are just playing to the gallery in a way that satisfies our personal interests. Pure impunity! If an investor comes and says he wants to invest in power, for that investor to invest in power, he must have carried out his own survey to be sure that consumers are available to consume his power.
Adding that: “It is purely business, what is our responsibility in buying the power from him? Let him sell the power to the people. Nigerians initially felt we needed to intervene in the power sector and provided support. But we are still where we are today. We have millions of Nigerians out of job – out of school but no job because we have no power to provide industries.
“NDPHC, can you please affirm to us, that by Monday, you will review, all I want to hear from you is to review that agreement because that company now has new customers. Please come back here and tell us, that the $10 million has now dropped to $3 million. Nigeria can manage that”, Faleke told Mr Chiedu Ugbo of the company, which he agreed to act on.
The committee was dissatisfied that in about 12 of the Power Purchase Agreement entered into by NBET under the ‘Take or Pay’ arrangement, Nigeria’s monthly commitment in one of them alone was about $30 million, whether the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) was able to evacuate for onward delivery to the DISCOs or not.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Company, NBET, Dr. Nnaemeka Eweluka, confirmed that the said agreements were all entered into without recourse to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as he argued that they were not like normal procurement processes that may require such based on the recommendation of the BPP, saying they only relied on the advise of Attorney General of the Federation, while the Minister of Finance signs on behalf of the Nigerian government.
Reacting to the discoveries, Hon. Falake asked the NBET Managing Director if he has been behind every agreement Nigeria has signed, and how many power agreement he has signed, the amount involved, and if Azura was part of it.
“What is your responsibility in buying the power from him. Let him; the investor sell the power to the people” Falake asked.
In his response, Managing Director NBET Eweluka, said “Azura became operational from 2018, agreement was initially signed in 2013, then there was an addendum of 2014, 2015.
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