Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

the total volume of crude oil produced in Nigeria has been reducing since January this year, leading to a cumulative loss of about N131.8bn, an analysis of various reports from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has shown.

After increasing to 1.84 million barrels per day in January this year, from 1.58mb/d that was recorded in December 2016, the country’s crude production commenced a descent and closed at 1.82mb/d and 1.59mb/d in February and March 2017, respectively.

Figures in four financial and operations monthly reports of the NNPC from January to April 2017 showed that Nigeria’s total volume of crude and condensate lifting and utilisation dropped by 3.55 million barrels between January and March this year.

The corporation put the value of this drop at $431m or N131.8bn, using the official exchange rate of N305.85 to a dollar.

It stated that in January 2017, crude oil production in Nigeria increased to 1.84mb/d, which was 16.51 per cent increase relative to the December 2016 production, although it lagged behind the January 2016 performance by 14.52 per cent.

This increase was not sustained, as confirmed in the NNPC’s March 2017 report, which read in part, “In February 2017, crude oil production in Nigeria decreased to 1.82mb/d, which represents 1.05 per cent decrease relative to the January 2017 production and lagged behind the February 2016 performance by 10.97 per cent.”

In its latest report for April, which was released last week in Abuja, the national oil firm said, “In March 2017, crude oil production in Nigeria decreased to 1.6mb/d, which represents 12.04 per cent decrease relative to the February 2017 production and lagged behind the March 2016 performance by 18.32 per cent.”

The NNPC, however, insisted that the discussions between the Federal Government and militants in the Niger Delta had positively impacted on crude production, despite the successive decline in production within three months.

It said, “The continuous engagement of the Federal Government with the militants has continued to enhance production. Issues that still dragged production during the period include incessant deferred production due to leakages in Trans Niger Pipeline and Nembe Creek Trunk Line and leakages/low well head pressure at Qua-Iboe Terminal.

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The trade volume between Nigeria and Mexico has grown by 360 per cent from 166.5 million dollars in 2012 to 600 million dollars in 2016.

The Mexican Embassy, Deputy Head of Mission, Rodrigo Tenorio, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja on Monday (today).

He spoke on the sideline of a round-table for working business discussion on trade mission to Mexico organised by the Nigerian-Mexican Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mexican Embassy.

“Though the figure may be small but in reality it is a huge transaction that we have in the last 15 years, which was then 45 million dollars.

“What that means is that it has grown more than 500 times in 15 years and our aim and goal is to ensure it grows more.

“There are some similarity between Nigeria and Mexico, we are predominantly largest and young population and we can be referred to as the power house of our region just as Nigeria in Africa,” he said.

According to him, Mexico sees Nigeria as a natural spring board to stand for the entire Africa and main goal is to make sure that Nigeria is known as number one economy in Africa.

He said that the major challenge in the relationship between the two countries was that they did not know each other well.

“We do not know each other, Mexico is known for drugs while Nigeria is known for Boko Haram and other social vices.

“But there is much more than that, what is most important in building the relationship is to know each other better.

“Once we know that Mexico is more than drug cartel and baron, Nigeria is much more than a small group in the north causing trouble,” he said.

According to him, if we know ourselves better the business people could sit down and start discussing potential businesses for the future.

NAN

‘Femi Asu

A Germany-based global solar developer, Soventix, and Gentec EPC have formed a joint venture called Soventix Hybrid Limited to develop solar projects across Nigeria.

With the agreement and respective capabilities, both companies have secured a strong market position in the Nigerian solar market, according to a statement from the firms.

The Founder, Gentec EPC, Deepak Khilnani, said, “We are very excited about this partnership with Soventix. Gentec is continually seeking to bring innovative and diversified energy offerings to the Nigerian market and we believe solar energy meets the customer requirements: reliable, affordable and emission-free power.

“The credibility, expertise and proven track record of the Soventix management team gave us a lot of confidence that Soventix is the correct solar partner.”

According to the statement, Soventix Hybrid will initially focus on industrial rooftop solar applications that synchronise with the existing generators or grid power systems.

It said this model would enable industries to have an additional source of power generation at a lower price than diesel power, while also significantly reducing emissions.

The companies said the second phase of the joint venture would also aim to develop national solar parks that would feed clean energy into the Nigerian grid.

“The beauty of solar energy is that the tariffs are fixed over a 20-year period, given there is no fuel input and hence, industries can effectively plan their long-term energy costs. Moreover, solar energy is already more competitive against fossil fuels with regard to pricing per kWh,” they said.

The Chief Executive Officer, Soventix, Thorsten Preugschas, noted that a reliable energy supply from renewable energy sources was becoming more and more important for African countries, particularly Nigeria.

He said, “Since Africa in particular suffers deeply from the effects of climate change, ecological energy solutions gain importance. Combining cost savings with the ecological advantage, we see great potential for solar energy in Nigeria.

“We believe this will be a successful partnership combining Gentec’s established market presence and strong local service team in Nigeria with Soventix’s comprehensive solar capabilities.”

According to the statement, Soventix has developed a wide spectrum of solar projects ranging from a 33-megawatts grid-connected solar park in the Dominican Republic (phase I), the largest solar project in the Caribbean, to rooftop installations catering to industrial sites.

The German solar company builds and operates PV solar systems around the globe, with operational solar plants and branches in 12 countries and four continents. It has developed large-scale Greenfield solar projects in South Africa, where one of its biggest branches is located.

Given the significant shortfall of reliable power across Nigeria, at a residential, industrial and national grid level, solar energy is said to be well positioned to play a major role in the country’s energy mix.

The United States Agency for International Development estimates that 95 million Nigerians, approximately 55 per cent of the population, do not have access to electricity and those that are connected to the grid suffer from extensive power outages.

The statement said Khilnani had been an advocate of cleaner sources of energy in Nigeria since the late 1990s, particularly promoting the utilisation of domestic natural gas and moving away from diesel and heavy fuel oil.

It said Gentec installed the first gas generators in Nigeria in 2001 and the first waste heat recovery system for customers to get better fuel efficiency from their generators and further minimise carbon emissions.

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Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

About 25 million barrels of crude oil were shut-in at four production terminals within one month as a result of various challenges at the terminals.

Specifically, the Forcados, Qua Iboe, Bonny and Bonga oil production terminals shut-in millions of crude in March 2017 due to challenges like force majeure, poor pipeline integrity, leaks or turn around maintenance.

Officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation told our correspondent in Abuja on Monday that the challenges were the key inhibiting factors that dragged crude oil production performance in March and other months.

The PUNCH had reported exclusively that the total volume of crude oil produced in Nigeria had been reducing since January this year, leading to a cumulative loss of about N131.8bn in less than three months.

The latest industry data from the national oil firm showed that the force majeure declared at the Forcados terminal since February 21, 2016 was still in place up till March this year, while about 314,687 barrels per day of crude was shut-in in March 2017 due to the continuous shutdown of the 48-inch crude export line.

This implies that about 9,755,297 barrels of crude was shut-in at the Forcados terminal in March 2017 alone as a result of the force majeure at the terminal.

A force majeure is a standard clause that exempts the parties to a contract from fulfilling their contractual obligations for causes that cannot be anticipated and/or are beyond their control.

At the Oua Iboe terminal, the NNPC said, “Some production wells remained shut-in since February 2017 at Ubit 131J for gas curtailment and Usari FC wells for QIT Tank top management due to some pipeline integrity issues.”

It stated that an average of 220,000bpd was shut-in throughout the month of March 2017 at the terminal. This means that an average of about 6,820,000 barrels was shut-in at the terminal in the month.

For the Bonny terminal, the corporation stated that the Trans Niger Pipeline was shut down on March 15, 2017 as a result of a leak at the Oloma axis, adding that this resulted in a shut-in of about 129,255bpd for seven days.

Production began ramping up on March 21, 2017 after repair works were completed at the terminal.

Calculations showed that the estimated total volume of crude that was shut-in during the seven-day period at the terminal was about 904,785 barrels.

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Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja

The Nigeria Customs Service generated a total sum of N239.4bn in the first three months of this year, figures obtained from the Federal Ministry of Finance have revealed.

The amount is contained in a document showing the activities of the ministry in the last two years, which was sighted by our correspondent in Abuja.

The NCS, according to the document, stated that its revenue performance for the first quarter of this year exceeded its target of N193.2bn by N46.2bn.

This, the service added, was achieved through a reform programmed aimed at restructuring it, re-orientating its officers, removing defects and adopting simplified procedures in its activities.

It stated, “The NCS collected N904.07bn in 2015 against a target of N944.4bn; the total collection in 2016 was N898.67bn against the target amount of N973.3bn.

“Between January and March 2017, the NCS was able to generate N239.4b, thereby exceeding the target of N193.22bn set for the period.”

The service also said it had complied with a presidential directive to deliver all seized perishable goods to the Internally Displaced Persons affected by the insurgency who are in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Edo camps.

It said the reforms embarked upon by the government had started yielding results as there was now  strict compliance with rules governing the operations of the NCS, adding that a standard operational procedure had been developed to ensure transparency and accountability.

The NCS also said it had strengthened international engagements with the World Customs Organisation and the World Trade Organisation for trade facilitation and optimum revenue collection.

It added that a compliance team had been set up to ensure conformity with trade regulations, adding that this would help to block all illegal routes for smuggling.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, had last week said during the public presentation of the 2017 budget that although certain developments affected the realisation of projected government revenue last year, this administration was working hard to ensure increase in revenues to fund the budget.

“In terms of implementation of the budget, we are making strenuous efforts to find the resources required. We are challenging our revenue generating agencies, particularly the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Customs to improve their efficiencies and broaden their reach so as to achieve the targets set for them in the 2017 budget,” Udoma had stated.

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Anna Okon

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Ibadan, has stressed the importance of innovation in agriculture, as it is one way of attracting youths to the sector.

The IITA acknowledged that agriculture was a wealth creator, but added that the wealth would not be created by treating agriculture the way it was treated in the past.

A statement by the institute quoted the Deputy Director-General, Partnership for Delivery, Dr. Kenton Dashiell, as making these remarks in a message to journalists to mark the institute’s 2017 Media Day.

At the event, which was part of activities designed to celebrate the institute’s 50th anniversary, Dashiell was quoted as saying that developing creative message methods that would attract young people to agriculture could help Africa to attract youths to the sector and end the rising unemployment in the continent.

According to him, addressing the food insecurity question in Africa requires collective efforts from the different institutions operating in the continent, stressing that “IITA cannot succeed in isolation.”

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Everest Amaefule, Abuja

The Federal Government is seeking a loan of $5bn from the World Bank Group to boost power availability in Nigeria, investigation has shown.

The World Bank had in April stated that a powerful delegation from Nigeria was in Washington DC to discuss assistance for the nation’s power sector, but did not disclose the details of the talks.

However, investigation by our correspondent showed that the Federal Government was actually seeking a loan of $5bn to be channelled into the power sector in order to boost electricity availability in the country.

Present at the April 25, 2017 meeting in Washington DC were the Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Steel and Metallurgy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe; and Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Power, Mr. Dan Asuquo.

At the end of the meeting, the World Bank Group had said that it would deploy a full range of instruments to mobilise investments to resolve Nigeria’s energy crisis.

READ: Don’t take foreign loans

The Director of Operations at the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency, an arm of the World Bank Group, Sarvesh Suri, said a full range of instruments would be deployed to help the government mobilise investments directly from the private sector and through private sector guarantees.

According to the Debt Management Office, out of Nigeria’s external debt of $13.81bn as of March 31, 2017, the World Bank Group had a portfolio of $6.93bn.

This means that the World Bank holds more than 50 per cent of the country’s external debt portfolio.

Should the loan being sought by the Federal Government be approved, Nigeria’s indebtedness to the World Bank would rise to about $11bn, excluding other smaller loans that have been approved after the March 31 accounting date.

The bank had in 2014 announced $1.19bn guarantees meant to lift the nation’s electricity sector.

The Board of Executive Directors of three arms of the World Bank approved the package of loans and guarantees supporting a series of energy projects to help boost independent power generation and ease crippling energy shortages in Nigeria.

It said the projects were critical elements of the World Bank Group Energy Business Plan for Nigeria.

The World Bank, International Finance Corporation and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency’s World Bank partial risk guarantees approved included $245m for the 459 Megawatt Azura Edo Power Plant near Benin City, Edo State; and $150m for the 533MW Qua Iboe plant in Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State. Both plants are gas-fired.

The Boards of the IFC and MIGA approved loans and hedging instruments worth $135m and guarantees of up to $659m for the Azura Edo project.

The IBRD guarantees included forward-looking mitigation and risk-sharing arrangements designed to augment the country’s power sector reforms, while building market confidence and setting industry benchmarks.

The IFC investment and MIGA’s guarantee for the Azura Edo power plant were to support a trailblazing project at the centre of Nigeria’s power sector programme, while setting a replicable model for future power projects.

The bank said addressing energy needs in Nigeria required investment from the public and private sectors, adding that working with the World Bank Group could help catalyse significant private investment in an environment that best assured successful delivery of increased power supply.

READ ALSO: Fast-track $1.49bn loans for 10 states, Osinbajo writes Reps

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… says legislators more interested in boreholes than building highways

•‘No concession agreements on Lagos-Ibadan road, Niger bridge’

Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Monday hit back at members of the National Assembly, as he argued that the lawmakers had “stark and worrisome knowledge” about the budget of his ministry before altering several of its allocations in the 2017 Appropriation Act.

Fashola, who expressed deep concern over the recourse of the National Assembly’s spokespersons to name-calling regarding his observations on the 2017 budget, also stated that there was no concession agreement for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Second Niger Bridge, as well as other road projects across the country.

In a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Mr. Hakeem Bello, the minister said he was worried that the National Assembly failed to address the fundamental points about development-hindering cuts in the allocations to several vital projects of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, as well as those of other ministries.

Fashola had while acknowledging that the legislators could contribute to budget-making in a recent interview, disagreed with the practice where the legislative arm of government unilaterally alters the budget after putting members of the executive through budget defence sessions and committee hearings to the extent that some of the projects proposed would have become materially altered.

READ: 2017 budget: NASS under attack for slashing, Lagos-Ibadan road, others’ votes

The minister had observed that it amounted to a waste of taxpayers’ money and an unnecessary distortion of orderly planning and development for lawmakers to unilaterally insert items not under the exclusive or concurrent lists of the constitution like boreholes and streetlights after putting government Ministries, Departments and Agencies through the process of budget defence.

With specific regard to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Fashola listed the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Bodo-Bonny road, the Kano-Maiduguri road, the Second Niger Bridge and the long-drawn Mambilla hydropower project, among others, as projects that the National Assembly materially altered their allocations in favour of boreholes and primary health care centres, which were never discussed during the ministerial budget defence.

In their responses, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Abdullahi Usman; and the House of Representatives spokesperson, Abdulrazak Namdas, accused the minister of spreading half-truths and making fallacious statements.

They argued that Fashola should have known that the National Assembly only interfered with projects that had concession agreements and private sector funding components.

They also accused the minister of wanting to hold on to such projects in order that he would continue to award contracts.

However, while dismissing the allegations, Fashola said it was sad that the lawmakers would resort to name-calling without understanding the facts of what they were getting into.

Taking the projects, which the lawmakers chose to focus individually, the minister insisted that there was no subsisting concession agreement on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

He noted that what the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission had as a financing agreement from a consortium of banks was like a loan that would have to be paid back through budgetary provisions.

According to him, there was no fallacy or half-truth in the allegation that the allocation to the road was reduced, adding that the lawmakers admitted this and sought to rationalise it by a concession or financing arrangement that had failed to build the road since 2006.

The biggest momentum seen on the road was in 2016, the minister said.

In the case of the Second Niger Bridge, where one of the spokespersons of the National Assembly alleged that the fund provided in the 2016 budget was not spent and had to be returned, Fashola explained that this showed very stark and worrisome gaps in the knowledge of the spokesperson about the budget process he was addressing.

According to him, a budget is not cash, but an approval of estimates of expenditure to be financed by cash by the Ministry of Finance.

“The Ministry of Finance has not yet released any cash for the Second Niger Bridge, so no money was returned,” he stated.

He added that three phases of early works of piling and foundation were approved and financed by the previous government in the hope that a concession would finally be made, but this had yet to happen because the concessionaires had not been able to raise finance.

READ ALSO: Fashola blackmailing us over Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, say lawmakers

Fashola’s statement read in part, “The continuation of early works IV could not start in May 2016 when the budget was passed because of high water level in the River Niger in the rainy season. The contract was only approved by the Federal Executive Council in the first quarter of 2017 and the contractor is awaiting payment.”

Dismissing the allegation that his ministry was holding on to projects that could be funded through Public Private Partnership so that he could award contracts, Fashola said from day one of his assumption of office, he made it clear that his priority would be to finish as many of the several hundreds of projects that the ministry inherited, which had not been funded for close to three years.

He said if the spokesperson was in tune with the Public Procurement Law, he would realise that the minister had no unilateral power to award such contracts whose values run into billions of naira.

He observed that all the new projects presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval were either federal roads requested by state governments or those put in the budget by the legislators to service their constituencies.

Fashola said the focus on contracts by the spokesperson was probably a Freudian slip that revealed his mind-set and interests, when indeed he should be focused on developmental projects that would strengthen the economy.

Also responding to the issues that the budget for the Mambilla Power Project was slashed because it contained N17bn for Environmental Impact Assessment, the minister said there was indeed a wrong description of that particular expenditure head, which could have happened during the classification of so many thousands of heads in the budget estimates.

According to him, what was described as a budget head for the EIA was actually the nation’s counterpart funding to the China EXIM Bank loan to fund the building of the Mambilla power plant.

He added that this was brought to his attention only after it had been slashed and that if the intention was not to slash arbitrarily, it should have been brought to his attention earlier in order for him to offer explanation.

“At a joint meeting convened at the instance of the budget minister when I complained that the budget was slashed, the issue of the EIA was brought to my attention and I explained what it was meant for,” Fashola said.

On the N20bn provision in the ministry’s budget, which the lawmakers alleged that the minister failed to provide the details, Fashola said the spokesperson was hiding behind a finger.

He said it was a very basic principle of good planning to make provisions for unforeseen contingencies, adding that in the 2016 budget, a similar provision enabled the ministry to respond to the failures of the Tamburawa Bridge in Sokoto, the Ijora Bridge in Lagos and the Gada Hudu Bridge in Koto Karfe along the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway.

He added, “Similarly, the ministry was able to pay N1bn to the contractor handling the Suleja to Minna road. The recent failures caused by flooding along the Tegina-Mokwa-Jebba road and Tatabu in Niger State could not have been provided because they were not foreseen and there may be more. This is what good planning is about,” Fashola said.

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Anna Okon

The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, has stated that there can be no maritime sector without seafarers.

He stated this as NIMASA joined the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day of Seafarers.

Peterside stated this during a joint visit to the Apapa Port in Lagos with members of the National Seafarers Welfare Board.

A statement from the agency quoted Peterside, who was represented by the Head, Corporate Communications of NIMASA, Mr. Isichei Osamgbi, as saying that seafarers were indispensable in realising a virile maritime sector globally.

He said, “Let me assure you of our commitment to a better condition of living for seafarers and our resolve to continue to engage in human capacity development, so that you can also compete favourably with your counterparts internationally.

“Your challenges are our challenges, just as your successes are our successes; we are together in the voyage of steering the ship of the Nigerian maritime sector to greater heights in line with global best practices.

Peterside urged stakeholders and maritime labour employers to ensure that the welfare of seafarers was topmost on their priority list, while advising them to implement all instruments relating to the welfare of seafarers in line with global best practices.

 “This year’s event with its theme: ‘Seafarers Matter’, is aimed at demonstrating the importance of the seafaring profession to the growth and development of the maritime sector globally,” the statement read in part.

It added that as part of the activities marking the day, NIMASA visited seafarers on-board some vessels.

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Nike Popoola

Three years after the Pension Reform Act, 2014 mandated public and private sector organisations to increase the minimum pension contribution of both employers and employees to the Retirements Savings Account of workers from 15 per cent of the total monthly emolument to 18 per cent; the Federal Government has yet to comply with the law.

The PRA, 2014 states that employers should increase their contributions to the workers’ RSAs to 10 per cent, while the employees’ contribution should rise to eight per cent, from the former 7.5 per cent each.

Some operators, who spoke to our correspondent on the development, attributed the non-compliance of the Federal Government to the recession, which had taken its toll on the economy.

They, however, stated that the under payment was to the detriment of the workers because they would have less funds in their RSAs and this would affect the amounts they would be receiving as returns on investment on their accounts with their respective Pension Fund Administrators.

The President, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Bobboi Kaigama, said that the labour union had always been on the board of the National Pension Commission and that it was concerned about the under payment into the workers’ RSAs.

He, however, expressed worry that the board of PenCom had not been constituted for a long time, a development he noted was dragging back many decisions that should have been taken.

Kaigama attributed the failure of the government to fulfil its obligation to the workers to the inability of PenCom to play its role due to the failure to constitute its board.

“The board of PenCom should be put constituted as the delay is creating a lot of administrative bottleneck. The moment we get in there, we will find out why those things are not,” he said.

The TUC president also said the union was urging the government to make gratuity compulsory for all retirees in the public sector in order to augment the lump sum they were entitled to at retirement.

He observed that many workers were retiring and getting little amounts as gratuity and monthly pensions under the Contributory Pension Scheme, a situation he noted was not encouraging.

According to him, the government must provide extra funds as gratuity to augment the lump sum that the retirees were getting.

Investigation also revealed that many private sector employers were had to comply with the 18 per cent minimum pension savings for workers.

The Chairman, Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria, Mr. Eguarehide Longe, said employers must be encouraged to comply with the provisions of the law.

He observed that many people were currently grappling with serious economic challenges in the country, and therefore should not be forced into making extra commitments.

“Paying the 15 per cent or pension at all is a real challenge for many employers. If we insist on the 18 per cent, we just want to make it more difficult for people who are trying,” he said.

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Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The French government has announced that it has set aside about €1bn to be invested in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, and that Nigeria remains its first economic trading partner in Africa.

The France Ambassador to Nigeria, Denys Gauer, announced this when the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, led a delegation to his office in Abuja.

Gauer said the French Development Agency had put in place about €1bn to encourage investors from his country to invest in the Nigeria oil and gas sector, adding that the French government was also cooperating with the Federal Government in the fight against Boko Haram insurgency.

He commended the Federal Government for stemming the insecurity situation in the Niger Delta, noting that Total, a French multinational oil and gas company, had significant investment equity in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited and the Egina Project.

Gauer, however, expressed concern that some other French companies were having challenges with the unclear fiscal policies in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

He revealed that some French investors were currently developing wind and solar energy in Katsina State.

Earlier in his address, Ughamadu said the NNPC was well positioned and opened to investment opportunities from the French government and investors.

He noted that with the significant scale down in pipeline vandalism and insecurity, which had boosted oil production, global investors such as the French government could now invest in renewable energy, gas and power infrastructure development, pipeline construction, storage facility and the direct sales and direct purchase of Nigeria’s crude oil grades.

Ughamadu said the NNPC, as the state owned oil and gas corporation, had global operations and called for closer collaboration between the French government and the corporation, especially in the area of consular services in order to enable the NNPC top executives and staff meet their global engagements.

He thanked the ambassador for the warm reception accorded the NNPC delegation and assured him that the corporation was determined to develop a robust business atmosphere for investors.

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The European Union antitrust regulators on Tuesday hit Alphabet unit of Google with a record €2.42bn ($2.7bn) fine, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The commission took a tough line in the first of three investigations into the company’s dominance in searches and smartphones.

It is the biggest fine the EU has ever imposed on a single company in an antitrust case, exceeding a €1.06bn sanction handed down to United States chipmaker, Intel, in 2009.

The European Commission said the world’s most popular Internet search engine had 90 days to stop favouring its own shopping service or face a further penalty per day.

The penalty it said would be up to five per cent of Alphabet’s average daily global turnover.

The fine, equivalent to three per cent of Alphabet’s turnover, is the biggest regulatory setback for Google, which settled with US enforcers in 2013 without a penalty after agreeing to change some of its search practices.

The EU competition enforcer has also charged Google with using its Android mobile operating system to crush rivals.

The case could potentially be the most damaging for the company, with the system used in most smartphones.

The company has also been accused of blocking rivals in online search advertising.

The commission found that Google had a market share in searches of over 90 per cent in most European countries.

The EU discovered that Google had systematically given prominent placement in searches to its own comparison shopping service and demoted those of rivals in search results.

European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said in a statement, “What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on the merits and to innovate.

“And, most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation.”

Google said its data showed people preferred links taking them directly to products they want and not to websites where they have to repeat their search.

It stated that it would review the commission’s decision and consider appeal.

“We respectfully disagree with the conclusions announced today. We will review the commission’s decision in detail as we consider an appeal. We look forward to continuing to make our case,” Kent Walker, Google’s general counsel, said in a statement.

The action follows a seven-year investigation prompted by scores of complaints from rivals such as US consumer review website Yelp, TripAdvisor, UK price comparison site Foundem, News Corp  and lobbying group FairSearch.

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Maureen Ihua-Maduenyi

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has called on Global System for Mobile Communications operators and landing facilities owners to obtain aviation height clearance permits and licences before constructing high rise structures.

The NCAA said the aviation height clearance permits and licences were to be obtained before the construction of towers, telecommunication masts, high rise buildings and structures as well as landing facilities, including helipads and helidecks for civil use, and heliports.

The regulatory body said in a statement by its General Manager, Public Relations, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, on Tuesday, that the directive was in line with the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 Part IX (30) (L), which empowered the NCAA to prohibit, regulate and remove any structure which, by virtue of its height or position, was considered to endanger the safety of aircraft operations.

According to Adurogboye, the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 Part IX (30) (K) also stipulates that the NCAA should grant and certify licences for the construction of helipads, helidecks and heliports.

“It is, therefore, an exercise in illegality to operate into a heliport either surface level, elevated or helideck without the approval of the NCAA. On the other hand, for those who want to renew their heliport certificates, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CARs) Part 12.10.6 highlights that heliport operators are required to commence the process of renewal of heliport certificates not less than 90 days to the date of expiration of the certificates,” he said.

He added that the NCAA was compelled to issue the warning as part of its oversight responsibility, which was principally safety and security of flight operations in and out of the Nigerian airspace.

“The NCAA will, therefore, view very seriously and run the rule over any violation of these safety measures. All stakeholders should be guided,” he said.

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Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja

The Auditor-General for the Federation, Mr. Anthony Ayine, has called for the speedy passage of the Audit Bill by the National Assembly in order to strengthen the government’s anti-corruption campaign.

Ayine, according to a statement issued on Tuesday by his office, stated this when the Conference of Auditors-General for Local Governments in the Federation led by its Chairman, Reuben Nwosu, visited him in Abuja.

Nigeria is currently using the Audit Ordinance Act of 1956 and there have been attempts in the past to repeal the law through the proposed Audit Bill, 2014.

Despite assurances that the bill, which was submitted to the seventh National Assembly during the last administration, would be passed, it has yet to see the light of the day.

Ayine called on auditors-general at the state and local government levels to work in synergy, saying their close collaboration would greatly enhance President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s war against corruption.

He said for auditors to make the desired impact at all levels of government, there must be independence in their operations.

The statement read in part, “The auditor-general commended the move by the National Assembly on the proposed amendment for the independence of the Office of the Auditor-General for the Federation and the states.

“Ayine said he strongly supports the position that the National Assembly should also effect an amendment to specifically include the Office of Auditors-General for Local Governments in the Constitution.

“In his view, this will not only guarantee the independence of the office of the AGLG, but will give confidence and hence enhance job performance at that critical level of auditing for public accountability.”

In his comments, Nwosu expressed confidence that the AGF would promote transparency, accountability and integrity in the conduct of government expenditures.

The chairman also urged Ayine to promote uniformity in practice, transparency, accountability and peer review mechanisms in the audit institutions.

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Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

At least 524 megawatts of electricity will be added to the quantum being generated in the country before the end of this year, the Federal Government has said.

It stated that four power plants would produce the 524MW, adding that more electricity would be generated by two other plants in the first and second quarters of 2018.

The total quantum of electricity generated across the country hovers around 3,500MW to 4,000MW.

Outlining what the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing was doing to achieve incremental power, the Special Adviser on Communications to the Minister, Mr. Hakeem Bello, said the Dadin Kowa hydro plant in Gombe, a diesel/gas fired plant in Kaduna, an emergency project in Rivers State, and the Kashambila hydro plant in Taraba State would add more power to the grid this year.

He said, “With the provision of funds and determination to fulfil the promises made at the media briefing on incremental power, the resuscitation of the 29MW Dadin Kowa hydro power plant in Gombe State should be completed in November going by the assurance given to the minister in March this year by the project manager. The 132KV lines to evacuate the power are in place.

“The diesel and gas dual fired 215MW power plant in Kaduna is also expected to finish this year. There is also another power emergency project that President Muhammadu Buhari approved for General Electric to give 240MW of power in Afam, Rivers State. It is also expected to be completed this year.

“The 40MW Kashimbilla Hydro power plant in Taraba State has been revived and now 99 per cent completed. The work on the evacuation of power including transmission lines, switchyards and substations from the power plant to Takum, Wukari and the existing substation in Yandev is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018, subject to availability of funds.”

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Okechukwu Nnodim, Abuja

The commencement of yam export from Nigeria will not result in the depletion of the commodity domestically, the Federal Government has said.

Last week, the government announced that a consignment of 72 metric tonnes of yam would leave Nigeria for Europe and the United States of America on Thursday, June 29, 2017.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had stated that the export programme would set the stage for the country’s return to the global yam value chain as a dominant player.

Reacting to concerns that the move might affect the availability of yam locally, Ogbeh stated on Thursday that there was no reason to be anxious by the populace.

The minister, who disclosed this in a statement issued by his Media and Communications Adviser, Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, stated that those who were apprehensive about the possible non-availability of yams for local consumption as a result of the export programme needed not be.

According to him, Nigeria has consistently been reckoned with globally as the largest producer of yam at various times, accounting for anything between 65 and 76 per cent of the total world production.

The statement noted that the Food and Agriculture Organisation reported in 1985 that Nigeria produced 18.3 million tonnes of yam from 1.5 million hectares, representing 73.8 per cent of the total yam production in Africa.

It stated that yam was being grown in vast areas of the country, covering many agro-ecological zones, from the coastal region in rain forests, wood savannah to southern savannah habitats, spreading over 27 out of the 36 states, in addition to the Federal Capital Territory.

“There are therefore more reasons to be optimistic about the prospects,” it added.

The government listed the yam-producing states to include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kogi, Kwara and Lagos.

Others are Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba states.

According to the government, all the states have responsibilities to support production and post-production activities of yam, including trade and generation of on-field and off-field data.

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Ifeanyi Onuba and Olaleye Aluko

The Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, has faulted the demand by the Nigeria Labour Congress for an increase in the minimum wage from the current N18,000 to N56,000 monthly.

Umahi faulted the NLC demand in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja on the sidelines of a meeting with the Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mr. Kayode Pitan.

The governor explained that with the current economic realities in the country, which had made it difficult for many states to the N18,000 minimum wage, increasing the amount to N56,000 would put the states under immense financial burden.

Umahi, who admitted that government workers were poorly paid, however, lamented that the level of productivity of civil servants was lower than what they currently earned.

He argued that if the level of productivity of civil servants was at the optimum level, most state governments would not have allocated about 80 per cent of their annual budgets to the payment of salaries.

The governor stated, “Let me use this opportunity to say that the civil servants in our nation, their salaries are very poor but their output is also terribly very poor.

“When 80 per cent of the budget of a state and sometimes 100 per cent is used to pay workers’ salaries, then the questions we should ask is what are the workers doing? Because you must have some money for capital projects; that is the essence of the workers in the first place.

“The point is that no state can pay that N56,000 minimum wage amount. Probably, only Lagos can pay and so what is the need of talking about a new minimum wage when states, as it is today, cannot pay salaries. So that’s my position.”

He said rather than increasing workers’ salaries to a level where it would be difficult for the states to meet up with the payment, the government should implement an empowerment scheme for workers with emphasis on small-scale businesses.

According to him, the scheme, which should be funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry at a single digit interest rate, will help to promote industrialisation and job creation.

“What I will advocate is to look into the affairs of workers by allowing them to key into entrepreneurship programmes of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Bank of Industry, and then be trained in small-scale industries and businesses, and this will make them earn more and be happier,” he added.

The Federal Government had last month constituted a 29-member tripartite committee on a new minimum wage of N56,000 being clamoured for by the workers.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, had said the approval came after an extensive deliberation of the report of a technical committee on the issue, which he chaired.

Meanwhile, the NLC has asked the Ebonyi State governor to put his house in order if there was no productivity from his workers.

The General Secretary, NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said that while the governor was entitled to his opinion, the body was in support of the decision by the Federal Government to review the national minimum wage.

He said, “The governor is entitled to his opinion, but we are not deterred by that statement. We agree that the tripartite committee should go on and bring out its recommendations. We agree with the steps the Federal Government has taken.

“The governor should first put his house in order. A disgruntled workforce cannot be productive. So, if there is a problem with productivity in his state, he should look within.”

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Ifeanyi Onuba, Abuja

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, on Wednesday explained why Nigeria and other African countries could not achieve the targets set in the Millennium Development Goals, blaming the development on the continent’s over reliance on foreign aids.

Udoma stated this in Abuja at the high level policy dialogue on development planning in Africa, which was organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Fatima Nana, the minister noted that though Nigeria made some progress in achieving some of the MDGs, it could not meet the expectation because of lack of political will to implement policies.

He said, “We have not made as much progress as we had hoped for partly because of poor implementation mechanisms and excessive reliance on development aid.

“Another factor is the failure of many African countries to mainstream the MDGs into their national economic plans, policies and budgets. Added to these is the fact that many African countries lack relevant data and mechanisms to monitor progress.”

To avoid failures in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the minister said that the Federal Government had concluded plans to ensure that the SDGs were mainstreamed into the annual budgets at the federal and state levels.

“Let me also inform you that concerted efforts are being made to ensure that the SDGs are mainstreamed into the annual budgets at the federal and state levels. Other actions we have taken in ensuring effective mainstreaming the SDGs in our national plans include raising public awareness and applying multi-stakeholder approaches,” Udoma added.

The minister also said another major issue that had hampered sectoral development in Nigeria was data management, adding that the lack of proper data collation and management had impeded economic planning not only in the country, but in other African nations.

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Akinpelu Dada

For the African continent to attract the required investment into key sectors and achieve economic integration, the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has urged leaders to review their visa procedures and tariff regimes.

The review, according to him, will remove unnecessary barriers to intra-African trade and guarantee real growth and foreign direct investment to the respective countries.

Discussing with some international business leaders and Nigerian business owners from the Lagos Business School at his multi-billion-dollar refinery site in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos recently, Dangote said African leaders must make a conscious effort to break down the barriers and borders between countries so as to allow free flow of goods, services and people.

Describing the refinery as the largest single-train petrochemical facility in the world, Dangote stated that it was designed to refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily, adding that the facility was designed for Nigerian crude oil, with flexibility to process products from other countries.

Dangote stated that he was building Africa’s largest urea plant to produce three million tonnes of fertilizer yearly.

“Everything we are doing here is basically to transform the Nigerian economy. And it is not only to transform, but to also diversify our economy from a single commodity market. We are taking a bold step through this petrochemical project to create values that will help us to achieve this aim,” he said.

Noting that his business had grown from a commodity trading to a diversified global conglomerate in the last two decades, Dangote said he was pumping huge resources into energy production and agriculture across West Africa to close the deficit in food production and export.

Revealing his greatest challenge so far despite his huge investment across Africa, he said, the high scourge of unemployed youths was a source of concern to him.

Dangote also harped on diversification as the major solution to the unemployment challenge the nation was facing, adding that successive governments had always paid lip service to job creation and diversification.

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Everest Amaefule, Abuja

The Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency has raised the alarm over possible virus attacks on computer and mobile phones across the country.

In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, the Director-General, NITDA, Dr. Isa Ibrahim, said the virus attack had already been recorded in Ukraine, Denmark, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the United States.

According to Ibrahim, the virus known as ‘Petya’ ransomware or ‘GoldenEye’, not only encrypts files, but also encrypts hard drives, rendering entire computer systems inaccessible.

He said the ‘GoldenEye’ was similar to the recent ‘WannaCry’ cyber virus that demanded the payment of ransom before it could allow system owners access to their files.

The NITDA boss said, “The attack has paralysed businesses across the world and is spreading quickly with reports indicating that countries affected so far include Ukraine, Denmark, Russia, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and the US.

“The malware is spreading using a vulnerability in Microsoft Windows that was patched in March 2017; the same bug that was exploited by the WannaCry ransomware.

“While our CERRT team is working round the clock along with other stakeholders to come up with effective defence mechanism for the Nigerian cyberspace, we are calling on network administrators in the public and private sectors as well as individuals to take the following measures recommended during the recent WannaCry attack: isolate the system from your network to prevent the threat from further spreading; remove the system from the network; and do not use flash/pen drive, external drives on the system to copy files to other systems.”

Ibrahim stated that as a general precautionary measure, individuals and organisations should regularly update their operating systems with the latest patches; regularly update their software applications with latest patches; and turn off unnecessary/unneeded features.

Other necessary precautionary measures include avoiding downloading and opening of unsolicited files and attachments; adjusting security software to scan compressed or archived files; and avoiding indiscriminate use of wireless connections such as Bluetooth or infrared ports.

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