NEWS MIRROR

By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria's ability to generate more revenus from crude oil importation has reduced, following the recent drop in the production of oil  1o 1.354 million barrels per day iMarch this year.  The   Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in its monthly report of activities of member states, said that Nigeria''s  crude oil production, on average has fallen to 1.354 million per day.  According to the report, Nigeria''s crude oil production fell by  24, 000 barrels per day when compared to the 1.378mb/d produced averagely in the month of February 2022,the cartel said in its Oil Market Report for April 2022. Quoting secondary sources, OPEC said that the crude oil production of its member' countries  averaged 28.56 mb/d in March 2022, higher by 57 tb/d month-on-month,adding that crude oil output increased mainly in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates while production in Libya, Nigeria and Congo declined. The report said th

By Akinola Ajibade With Agency Report The global energy loss would reach $2.1 trillion before the end of 2022, a research by Reynard Energy  has said.  The reasesrch said that surging oil, gas, and power prices, together with the European Union (EU)’s goals of becoming less dependent on Russian supplies, and post-Covid-19 pandemic inflation, will jerk global energy spending this year to a record $2.1 trillion. A concern in energy markets is that the ongoing war in Ukraine will derail the energy transition, but the latest data suggests that spending in green energies will grow faster than in the fossil fuel sector. The report said,without the invasion, however, there would have been less growth in investments in oil and gas and the share of green energies in global energy spending would be slightly more than today’s 31%. It said upstream oil and gas spending is currently  projected to grow 16% – or $142 billion – compared to last year as oil and gas producers around the world up their i

By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria' continues its tale of woes and despairs, as it lost $3 billion to crude oil thieves in the first quarter of 2022. The country is believed to have lost huge amount vof money from oil theft in January, February and March this year, a development, which has further affected the purse of the Federal Government and its docio- economic programmmes. The loss is likely to be higher in the subsequent months, if urgent solutions is not taken to nip it in bud.This happens, as the Federal Government continues to burrow huge amount of money to run the economy, which is  in a bad state. The executive secretary of the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) , Gbenga  Komolafe disclosed  this, while answering questions on Arise Television about the situation with crude oil theft in the country. According to an average of $1 billion was lost every month from January to March. He said the issue of crude oil theft has assumed a very horrific and tragic

Sitting at the extreme right is Mr Fatoki, Head of unit, Sustainable Energy (NESP) and other panelists at the event By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria is targeting production of Electric Vehicles (EVs), with a view to replace the fossil fuels' automobiles and further join the league of nations using similar means of transportation. The developed economies, including United' States, Canada, United Kingdom among others, are believed to have been using electric vehicles alongside the ones that were tailored to use fossil fuels.  The development aimed at complementing the global energy transition programmes, declared at the climate conference in Glasgow, United Kingdom and France few years ago. Both countries are said  in Europe. Simply puts, energy transition initiative was adopted globally to enabe countries migrate from the use of fossils, which are believed to be toxic and unfriendly to the ecosystem to zero-carbon fuels, that are considered to be hygienic, safe and technol

By Akinola Ajibade Top management staff of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) are affected in a major shake up, which rocked the nation's sea ports agency recently. The agency in a statement issued and made available to the News Mirror, said that the  shakeup at the upper echelon of the organization is a part of the goal to reposition the nation’s port system as the preferred cargo destination in Africa. In the statement, the Managing Director, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko has approved the  redeployment of Madubuike E. Ugo (Mrs.), General Manager Monitoring & Regulatory Services, as General Manager Public Private Partnerships (PPP); while Williams E. Idowu (Mrs.), General Manager Public Private Partnerships (PPP) takes over as General Manager Monitoring & Regulatory Services. Also affected are Engr. Ajibola S. Olagoke, General Manager Administration,  now General Manager Superannuation; Moltok Josephine Adar (Mrs.) General Manager Servicom, moves to Administration whilst Musa S

By Akinola Ajibade The International Monetary Fund( IMF) has passed a vote of no confidence on Nigeria and other seventy two countries, declaring that their economiees are in crisis and as a result, are at high risk of debt distress..  It further said that the counties are either at risk of debt distress or already in debt distress. Citing a new report titled: Restructuring debt of poorer nations requires more efficient coordination”.the global financial institution describes the countries as poorer and therefore require proper assessment and complete rejuvenation. The bank noted that low-income countries face fewer debt challenges today than they did twenty five years ago, due to the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative, which slashed unmanageable debt burdens across sub-Saharan Africa and other regions. The Bank said that" Although debt ratios were lower than in the mid-1990s, the debts have been creeping up for the past decade and the changing composition of creditors wou

By Akinola Ajibade A staff of Standard Chartered Bank, Nigeria Limited, Jeffrey Akhimien and others were dragged before the federal high court in Lagos for allegedly defrauding the bank of N723, 660, 867. 47 million. News Mirror  reports that the bank had in a bid to recover the money reported Jeffrey Akhimien alongside Segun Samuel Ogunjimi and a limited liability Company, Greaterheights Technologies Limited, to Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU) for Investigation and prosecution. Thereafter, PSFU dragged the defendants to court on charges bordering on fraud, illegal and unlawful funds conversion and  obtaining funds through false pretence. Jeffrey Akhimien, a staff of the bank in Aromire, Ikeja branch was accused of conspiring with Segun Samuel Ogunjimi, his company, Greaterheights Technologies Limited and one Lucky Sargin, to swindled the bank of total sum of N723, 660, 867. 47 million. The defendants were alleged to have committed the offences within one year, precisely between Janua

By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria has witnessed another outage, following the collapse of its  electricity transmission system also known as the national grid. The development, as usual, has plunged  Africa’s biggest economy into darkness. News Mirror reports that the  latest collapse,  which rocked the country on Friday night,  i s the third time within the space of one month, and the fourth collapse in 2022. Prior to this period, the country has witnessed two  collapses within twenty fours. They occurred  on March 14 and 15 respectively this year. Some power distribution companies confirmed the development in separate interviews with News Mirror. The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company( AEDC) stated  that the collapse had resulted in power outage in its area of operation, which covered about five states.  The firm in a tweet via its official Twitter handle,  said, “Please be informed that there has just been a national grid collapse causing an outage in our franchise areas.“ "We apo

By Akinola Ajibade      Electric motorcycle on display The Federal Government, European Union( EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, yesterday, unveiled an Electric Vehicle (EV) in Lagos. The government, through its Ministry of Power, developed the vehicle pilot project, while the  European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation provided the necessary financial support for the scheme.  The project is within the framework     Panelists at the event The event, which took place at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos had fognatories including states' commissioners,  top-evhelon of the nation's energy sectors among others, in attendance. Organised in order to showcase the beauty, sophistication and the immense benefits inherent in the solar energy to Nigerians, especially residents of the rural-urban and peri-urban communities in Nigeria, who presently are battling irregular supply of electri

By Akinola Ajibade Nigeria needs more skilled workers to run the electricity sector  and further provide  uninterrupted supply of the product to teeming population, the Minister of Power,  Abubakar Aliyu gave this indication recently. He spoke during the opening ceremony of a human development workshop organised for the existing and intending practitioners in the Nigerian energy sector.  The theme is: Energise the Carrer Fair for the Clean Energy Sector with the support of the Federal Government. The event is an initiative of the Nigerian Energy Support Programme (NESP), European Union( EU), the German Ministry for Economic Corporation and Development ( EMZ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft for Internationale Zuxammenatbelt (GIZ). Others are Phillips Consulting Limited( PCL) and West Africa Vocational Education ( WACE),  a social venture , which specialises in  screening, training and providing local content, with a view to grow the nation's economy.  Virtually all the bodies

To connect 2,000 communities  BY AKINOLA AJIBADE MTN Nigeria Communications has paid a total of  N757billion tax to the government and agencies in Nigeria in 2021. The tax, which is line with the  government's specification  is both direct and indirect in nature. The company's secretary, Mrs Uko Ukpanah, disclosed this recently.  Also, the company, az part of expansion programmes, is planning to connect 2,000 communication soon. In a statement titled: "‘MTN Named Best Tax Compliant Organisation in Nigeria: … recognised as one of the top 20 taxpayers by FIRS’ It said, “In 2021, she said that  MTN Nigeria  made a total tax contribution to all government agencies including the Federal Inland Revenue Service ( FIRS) amounting to  N757.6billion while FIRS collected a total of N6.4trillion fax  in the year. “Specifically, MTN Nigeria paid a total of N618.7billion in direct and indirect taxes to the FIRS in the 2021 tax year, representing approximately 13.5 per cent o

By Akinola Ajibade Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out the possibility of bringing the war to end, in the event tha Ukrainans refuse to surender.her troops He said that ehlling of the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol would continue as long as Ukrainian refuse to drop their ammunitions.  Putin made the comments during an hour long phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron recently,the Kremlin said in a statement. But French officials said the Russian leader had agreed to consider plans to evacuate civilians from the city. Russia has since proposed a one-day ceasefire for today. The defence ministry said the ceasefire would allow people to travel westwards to Zaporizhzhia vie the Russian-controlled port of Berdyansk The ministry said it wanted the Red Cross and the UN’s refugee agency to take part in the evacuation, and said it was waiting for a response to the proposal from Ukraine. Previous attempts to establish a ceasefire in Mariupol have collapsed am

 By Akinola Ajibade Thirty two electricity projects across the country are not feasible due to gaps in the implementation of the Right of Way( RoW) resolutions. The projects, which  are located in different  states are said to have been unecessarily delayed, because of poor implementation of RoW. Minister of Power Abubakar Aliyu, said this during a stakeholders' programme in Abuja. He said that the projects account for an investment of $137 million that the Nigerian public is yet to realise value from, due to the RoW issues. RoW is a legal instrument allowing operators to deploy infrastructure on federal or state roads, power transmission lines or railways at a fee. Unfortunately, these same fees are not fixed and it varies from state to state, region to region, agency to agency. The removal of the RoW barriers coudl fast-track the expansion and strengthening of the national power grid. He urged states"government to remove the RoW barriers in order to mitigate powe

By Akinola Ajibade  There appears to be rays of hopes for the nation's economy, as the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) provided N3trillion to the state. It's Governor, Godwin Emefiele, said this recently during the 32nd Conference organised for Business Editos and Senior Correspondents in Akure, Ondo state capitol. He said the bank  in conjunction with other financial institutions provided over N3tn in intervention loans to aid economic recovery and job creation. He  said the current focus of monetary policy was macroeconomic stability – “to build a strong, stable and resilient economy that is self-sustaining and able to weather unanticipated shocks.” The CBN governor, represented by the Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Edward Adamu, spoke in a lecture titled, ‘The role of central banks in managing economic downturns’ that he delivered at the 40th anniversary/convocation lecture at the Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti. He said, “Specifically, under the Anchor Borr

By Akinola Ajibade Bouyed by the remarkable improvements in the operation of Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company ( DisCo) since privatisation of the sector in 2004, Lagos state government has commended the management of the firm for impacting greatly  on the youths greatly. The government, through its Commissioner for Education, Mrs Folashsde Adefissyo, said the company has improved  the capacity of the youths,by supporting technical education in the state. In a statement made available to the News Mirror by company yesterday, the  government attibuted the developmentt of technical education in the state to the Corporate Social Responsibility ( CRS) proogrammes  of the firm. It  further praised Ikeja Electric for the achievements recorded by the Government Technical College ( GTC)in Ikorodu,  as one of the numerous achievements  in the areas of technical education in the state. Still on Ikeja Electric,  the  government said that the distribution firm has helped in improv

By Akinola Ajibade A Non-Profit Organisation( NGO) is set to present a documentary on women, with a view enable Nigerians and other nationals know the effects of extractive industries on their well being. Part of the activities of the extractive sector include production of metals, minerals, oil among others. Titled: Earth Women, the documentary aimed at bringing the problems of women living around extractive industries to awareness and further provide solutions to them. Known as Corporate Social Responsibility ( CRS-In-Action) an owned by Ford Foundation, the organisation is about to present a 30-minute drama on effects of mining, oil exploration and other activities on women, who are living close to those companies  Also included in  the documentary are issues such as Gender- Ba sed Violence (GBV), discrimination, oppression, health and safety, rape, prostitution, economic disadvantage, and other challenges faced by women in artisanal mining and exploration. Its Chi ef Executive, Be

By Akinola Ajibade  Details have emerged how N15billion worth of Petroleum Premium Spirit (PNS) otherwise known as petrol imported into the country was stolen. According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company NNPC) Limited, which is the sole importer of fuel into the  country, the product estimated to worth n18.86billon was stolen in 2021.  In the Data obtained from different reports obtained from NNPC the products were lost through four pipeline segments , including Atlas Cove Modimi, Atlas Cove Idimu, Satellite, Mosimi-Ibadan, Mosimi Ibadan and Port Harcourt. The reports further show that the multiple avenues through which the products disappeared made it difficult  to discover early enough, such the fuel regulatory authorities are unable to trace exactly where the products were diverged. ' " The products were lost through four pipeline segments including Atlas Cove-Mosimi and Atlas Cove-Idimu-Satellite, Mosimi-Ibadan, Ibadan-Ilorin and Port Harcourt-Aba. Als

By Akinola Ajibade Non-payment of N1 64 trillion debts owed the power generation companies has culminated in the poor generation generation in the country in recent times. DOCTOR JOY OGAJI The development, according to operators', who does not want to be mentioned, is having dire consequences on the activities of the firms, as they struggle to pay workers among meeting other obligations. The News Mirror investigation shows that the companies, as a result of the debts, are finding bit difficult paying for gas, which is feedstock used in generating electricity in Nigeria.  This happens as generation dwindles in the last one month. For instance, generation has dropped drastically in the last five days( Monday, (March 20th) as a mere 2, 322.5 Megawatts ( Mw) electricity was generated that day, arguably one of the lowest in recent times. Prior to this, generation fell to 1 145 Mw of electricity two weeks ago, a development, which stakeholders, including ( GenCos) believed

  By Akinola Ajibade ...Kyari Optimistic of Containment Chief Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources The Federal Government has warned oil thieves, pipeline vandals and illegal refiners against causing more problems in the nation's oil and gas sector, saying that it would no longer condone the practices.  The government further said that their days  are numbered , as iits planning to deal with perpetrators of such crimes soon. The  Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva; Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor and the Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commision (NUPRC), Engr. Gbenga Komolafe,gave the warning  during an on-the-spot- assessment of some pipelines damaged by pipeline vandals and other criminals in some areas and communities of Rivers State recently.  At Ibaa Community in Emeoha Local Government of Rivers State where the powerful FG delegation witnessed an illegal refinery burnt down

By Akinola Ajibade The House of Representatives Committee, has advised the Ministry of Power on the need to supply reliable electricity for the more than 200 million population in the country. The chairman, House Committee on Power Hon. Magaji Da’u Aliyu,gave the advice during an interactive session on the state of the sector recently. He said that the sector is in a terrible situation such that it requires immediate provision of electricity to Nigerians, not postulation of theories that would not translate into reality. According to him, the seemingly unenthusiastic and fire brigade attitude of the Ministry towards power issues each time there is a national emergency is not the best, in view of the fact that Nigerians require urgent supply of power for growth.  He said that there was nothing in the programmmes of the government that the Power Ministry was addressing the problem of irregular supply of electricity in Nigeria. Also , the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Powe