Nigeria to Split Long-Delayed Petroleum Bill to Speed Passage

Nigeria’s government plans to split an oil-industry bill stuck in parliament for seven years and resubmit it to lawmakers after it held up reforms and deterred investment in Africa’s largest crude producer, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said.

Breaking up the Petroleum Industry Bill, or PIB, into smaller laws focused on fiscal and regulatory measures in Nigeria’s energy industry would make it easier to pass through parliament, he said. The bill, first presented to parliament in 2008, will be resent to lawmakers in the first quarter of 2016.

“Separating the PIB, breaking it up, obviously is the way I would think that we’ll proceed,” Osinbajo, 58, said in an interview on Tuesday in the Aso Rock Villa presidential residence in the capital, Abuja. “That’s really what the market has been waiting for.”

The proposed law has been held up largely by political wrangling and objections by international oil companies, which say the government is demanding too big an increase in its share of revenue. The delays have caused uncertainty and is costing $15 billion a year in lost investments, Emmanuel Kachikwu, head of the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., told the nation’s senate last week.

Nigeria depends on crude exports for about two-thirds of state revenue and more than 90 percent of export earnings. A drop in crude prices in the past year has put pressure on public finances, while the naira has declined 7.9 percent against the dollar this year.

Private Refineries

While the government isn’t planning to sell its four refineries, which are running at a fraction of their capacity because of poor maintenance and aging equipment, Osinbajo said his administration wants to encourage private plants to cut Nigeria’s dependence on imports.

More than 30 licenses for refineries have been granted and private refineries will be allowed to build near the state-run units so they can “benefit from the available infrastructure,” he said.

The country of about 180 million people subsidizes fuel and relies on imports for more than 70 percent of its supply. Of the four state-owned oil refineries, two units in the southern oil hub of Port Harcourt with a combined capacity of 210,000 barrels a day are currently producing at 67 percent of capacity, while others in Warri and Kaduna have been shut, Kachikwu said.

“In the medium term we will be able to get cheaper pump-price oil because we will be importing far less refined petroleum,” Osinbajo said.

Osinbajo was a lawyer in the commercial capital, Lagos, until his inclusion as the running mate of former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress party.

After taking office in May by defeating former incumbent Goodluck Jonathan and his Peoples Democratic Party in Nigeria’s first electoral transfer of power from one party to another, Buhari fired the board and management of the NNPC, which has been dogged by allegations of losing billions of dollars of revenue since the 1970s.

More Efficient

The NNPC has started publishing monthly accounts and is reviewing contracts with joint venture partners to improve transparency at the national oil company, which had the worst disclosure record of 44 energy companies analyzed in a 2011 report by anti-corruption nonprofit organizations Transparency International and the Revenue Watch Institute.

The NNPC’s divisions will be “unbundled” to make them more efficient and the corporation will become a more regulatory body “as the private sector takes most of the downstream,” Osinbajo said. However, the government isn’t considering selling its stakes in ventures with oil companies.

Set up to look after Nigeria’s interests with foreign oil companies, the NNPC controls an aggregate 55 percent share in joint ventures with companies including Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp.

“We think that we are able to resolve some of the cash-call difficulties that we have experienced,” Osinbajo said. The partners may be allowed to “borrow even on behalf of the federal government and will be able to introduce their own capital.”

Power Ministry announces new agreement with WAPCo

The Ministry of Power has announced a new agreement under which the Nigerian Gas Company and the West African Gas Pipeline Company (WAPCo) will continue with the supply of Gas to the Volta River Authority (VRA).

The new agreement brokered amongst all parties in Accra on Tuesday, was the outcome of high level negotiations which involved the Nigerian Minister of State-designate and Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Emmanuel Kachikwu Ibemenam, the Minister of Power, Dr Kwabena Donkor, the Minister of Finance, Mr Seth Terkper and the Chief Executive of VRA, Mr Kirk Koffi.

A statement signed by Mr Kweku Sersah-Johnson Head of Public Affairs at the Ministry and copied to the Ghana News Agency, said the agreement came on the heels of a courtesy call on President John Dramani Mahama, by a delegation led by the Nigerian Minister-designate and Group Managing Director of the NNPC in Kumasi on Monday.

“A similar delegation led by Dr Kwabena Donkor, visited Nigeria last week in the wake of a threat by WAPCo to curtail gas supply to VRA if it failed to settle its outstanding debts by Friday October 16, 2015,” it said.

According to the statement, the N-Gas and WAPCo currently supply around 100 Million Standard Cubic feet of gas daily to Ghana.

IMF FORCING NIGERIA TO DEVALUE NAIRA CURRENCY

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- The IMF is pressing Nigeria to further devalue its naira currency amid uncertainty over the political and economic outlook for Africa's biggest oil producer and economy.

Analysts said there's disappointment that President Muhammadu Buhari's long-awaited Cabinet list - five months in the making and still not finalized - includes no economic stars to guide much-needed reform.

"There's no economist on the (Cabinet) list that can suggest to the government ways to improve revenue generation and how to run the economy," said Garba Kurfi, managing director of APT Securities and Funds.

The naira has lost 25 percent of its value in the past year and the stock market plummeted by 20 percent last year and 14 percent this year because of political uncertainty and halved prices for oil that provides most government revenue.

Nigeria's Central Bank devalued the naira by 8 percent in November and then fixed the official exchange rate at an even lower 198 to the dollar, though it sells at 222 at exchange bureaus.

Unable to stem the slide, the Central Bank has defended the naira by restricting access to foreign currency and banning a long list of imports.

"It's like digging a hole to fill up another hole," said an editorial in Nigeria's huhuonline news website.

The restrictions are "quite detrimental," said the International Monetary Fund's Africa director, Antoinette Sayeh.

They "are already making it harder for the average person to buy milk," she said at the IMF annual meeting that ended in Peru this week, according to the organization's website.

She called for a review of the restrictions and for officials to "permit the exchange rate to continue to adjust."

Yes, The President can go slow!

The video of Nigeria’s first Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa on official visit to the United States of America in July 1961 started trending on social media recently. While some said the video nearly move them to tears, others felt sorry for the state we found ourselves after 55 years of freedom and self-governance. Reason? The video showed a Prime Minister dressed in simplicity of inexpensive local fabric; a gentleman that moved about with Nigeria in his heart and a rousing reception accorded the Nigerian leader at the time.

In the 60s, countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and others who were in third world category with Nigeria have deployed home grown technology and good governance to move their fate forward in the ladder of global progress.

In the recent visit of Muhammadu Buhari to the United States of America, I saw a replica of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa given the respect and rousing welcome similar to that of Balewa in the 60s, plus Buhari’s simplicity as well. In the light of truth, that moment signified another period and season of rejuvenation for our country. Honestly, the body language of respected leaders of developed nations to Muhammadu Buhari has shown us where we now stand in the committee of nations.

In spite of the change in government and Buhari coming to power, the fear and worry of otherwise had not departed me. If anyone remembers, the fear of Buhari losing was not as threatening as Jonathan winning again. People have forgotten where we were and look forward to a magic from Buhari. I see members of the amateur opposition wanting to act as one but forgetting that opposition starts with ideology, not just being a political party. Before APC there was an ideology of CHANGE. For now, the PDP needs to go and get ideology they want to sell to Nigerians to justify change away from CHANGE. The opposition has tagged Mr President as slow mover and quarried why it would take 4 months for the President to select a working team.

“People are always looking for the single magic bullet that will totally change everything. There is no single magic bullet”

The above were the words of Temple Grandin.

When the renowned Prime Minister of Singapore Mr Lee Kuan Yew set to transform his country, a nation that got her independence from Great Britain, and was in a merger with Malaysia, he went into isolation for six weeks (one and a half months) unreachable by phone, on a Singapore island to reflect on the future of his country before commencing his reforms. In his memoirs, Lee said that he was unable to sleep. Upon learning of Lee’s condition from the British High Commissioner to Singapore, John Robb, the British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, expressed concern, in response to which Lee replied:

“Do not worry about Singapore. My colleagues and I are sane, rational people even in our moments of anguish. We will weigh all possible consequences before we make any move on the political chessboard. Lee began his work by seeking international recognition of Singapore’s independence.

If you consider Buhari a slow mover, you must consider several other factors along. You must consider a country handed down with insurgency thriving and no clue to stopping it; a country with so much leakages that some Ministers were competing with the richest men in Africa considering the financial resources at their disposals; a country existing on the verge of ethnic and religious collapse; a country with confusing policy on foreign investments and local productivity in virtually all sectors. Above all, you must consider a country handed down on paper just 4 days to the exit of previous government.

Those who condemned Buhari’s administration as Military leader are urging him to do sharp turn-around of the country forgetting the degree of damages already done to our nation. To them, why will he wait for so long to select Ministers? Well, Buhari is wise; he is adopting same reform mechanism Lee Kuan Yew deployed to change Singapore for good – taking time to select most honest men to join the reform. Today, Nigerians are already seeing quality pictures of the men and women that will be in Mr President’s team to turn the country around for better.

If you do not tie the loose end of your sack, pouring grains continuously will do no good. Yes Mr President can be slow and nothing is bad in being slow as long as it is steady and productive.

The silent moves of Buhari are most desired. If in four months, President Buhari has achieved strong diplomatic ties with the West towards making money laundering and depositing of stolen funds into foreign accounts difficult and unattractive, we will be saving enough money capable of turning our economy round soon. And if he has been able to sanitise most areas of leakages alone without a Minister, one can imagine how far the country will go when credible men join him in the cabinet. The Military is receiving desired motivation at fighting insurgents and the era of illegal arms deal and racketing is gone for good; we will not be doing illegal arms purchases with dollars loaded in a private jet en-route South Africa any more. The insurgents have been utterly shattered and what we see is just the relics of their dislodgement that will soon fizzle completely.

We can’t help but to allow Mr President do a thorough job on the nation. Tonny Robbins once said “for changes to be of any true value, they’ve got to be lasting and consistent”.

The good news is that our nation is not lacking economic potentials and we don’t have to start from the scratch. All we need are men who see visions and not easily tempted to loot by the glittering financial resources deposited around them for public good.

According to Kayode Fayemi, poverty is not our problem, it is inequity. In real sense, a nation where less than 1% of the citizens control over 80% of the nationa’s entire resources is unthinkable; a situation where the few mindlessly rich are thriving at the expense of vast hopelessly poor. We need a nation of justice, fairness and conducive atmosphere for everyone to feel and share in the ownership of our dear country.

Source: THE NATION

The PDP Are Buhari's Enemies - Rev. Moses Iloh

Rev. Moses Iloh is an elder statesman. He’s the founder of Soul winning church in Lagos. He is one man that believes so much in quick transformation of Nigeria to a better country. In this in­terview he talked with passion on the current happenings in the country, especially the ministerial nominees and the senate. Being an ace sport­man, he also talked about football. Except.

What is your take about hap­penings in Nigeria, especially the ministerial nominees?

As far as I know now, Nigeria has moved to a level where there should be no more question of tribe. You know what I mean? Tribalism. You are Igbo, you are Hausa. What has happened to Nigeria is that Nigeria now has two dis­tinct tribes. You are either in the tribe of the corrupt or the tribe of the morally decent. No other one. That is where Nigeria has gotten herself to. Because corruption has become so powerful. Don’t forget as I keep on saying, Mus­lims and Christians the top ones came together and formed this new religion called corruption, which is very strong. Anybody telling you that because they say I’m Igbo or I’m Yoruba, I’m Hausa it’s all hypocrisy. Its either you are on the corrupt side, which is very power­ful and profitable side or you are on the righteous side. I don’t capitalize on the word righteous as if it’s Christianity, I mean morally sound. Now, we’ve got to that kind of level. People must try to take a stand. If something is right, it does not matter who is there, support him because you are right and he be­lieves in what is right. If something is wrong, say its wrong and try to amend it or condemn it. Now, what is hap­pening in the senate with the ministers is ridiculous. Asking them to go and declare assets. is too childish. I want one senator who has no terrible record about corruption to lift his hand up, to point his hand at anybody. Remember in the bible, the woman who commit­ted adultery and they brought her to Jesus. Jesus said to them, is there any of you who is righteous? Cast the first stone. What the senators are trying to do is cause confusion in this country. My attitude to a minister is that if we Nigerians through our president find that you are useful, we are begging you to come and help and somebody has to ask you, declare your assets. Time to do that will come, there’s time to investigate everybody. Tell me one senator, who is clean, let him come out and let us give him half of Nigeria if he likes. Where are they? Senate for me is a place when you are a governor; you have stolen enough you run into the senate, hoping that you can get immu­nity that you enjoyed as a governor, so you can continue to enjoy the immu­nity. Distinguished what? It hurts me when I hear people describe a senator as distinguished. Distinguished what? Oh my God, except I don’t know the word ‘Distinguish’. I feel that when you go and get a man, Iike Buhari now, I look at Buhari as a captain of a team, you want to play a football match, your greatest interest is to pick a team that you understand will work with you and you will win the game. But don’t forget, when you start the match, if in the first 15 minutes somebody is in­jured or faulty, what do you do? You change the fellow. The law allows it. He looks for people he thinks can work with him to achieve his goal. His main target is to change this country. Why don’t we allow them? If I am one of the ones who want to be minister, I kick it out. I don’t need to go there. I have no skeleton. It’s becoming humil­iating. One thing in my cupboard that you must look at, the word politician today in Nigeria is related to stealing. Politics is not meant for crooks. Politics is the proper management of the affairs of men preferably by the morally up­right. That is politics. But when you hear now in the television, everybody talking about politics everywhere, they talk about politics as corruption. It’s a shame. The Change that we require to­day is to see that only the right people come into political office. Right now, it is known that you are appointed into a political position to go and steal, to go and make money. That is very bad. It’s so sad.

That is very bad. It’s sad. What I am saying is, look at people who want to be ministers, look at what their ante­cedents is, you can call for declaring assessts anytime you like to do it. But you use it now, you try to humiliate them, they even said the assessment of the interview will be broadcast live. Damn it all. If I was any of those fel­lows with any integrity and conscience, I’ll say hang it, I don’t want it. Hold it, I don’t want it. You are looking for peo­ple to come and serve not to humiliate them. You want me to come and help change my country; I have records to show that I can do it from what I have done before. Take a man like Fashola. He’s done a terrific work in Lagos. Can you close your eyes and forget what he has done in Lagos? Just because you want to make him a minister, then you humiliate him, because everybody believes you are going into politics to steal? The way the senate is approach­ing these things to me is very unfair to the dignity of man. None of them bribed to be nominated. Did every­body in the senate declare his assessts? Do you realize that the present Sen­ate is corrupt? You saw the trick they played. How can that kind of body be­gin to ask somebody to declare assets? I feel sorry for the president because he doesn’t understand Nigerian politics as we know it. What I am saying is, he should be very careful, don’t try to hu­miliate a good person just because you want him to give service, otherwise in future, good people will refuse to serve.

What Buhari should know

The other one is that the president must know that within PDP and APC are people who don’t want him to survive. He should not just think that the opposition is PDP; in APC there are people who cannot stand the fight against corruption. I feel sorry for him. The situation is dangerous, the situ­ation is very dicey. Its like saying lets run and somebody behind you has a gun, as you run forward they shoot you from the back. He’s got a very difficult situation but let’s hope that good people in Nigeria who are not even in politics should begin to speak up, garner sup­port for the president. That is why I say to you Nigeria is divided into two tribes. Tribe of the corrupt and tribe of the morally decent. So those who are on the right side, it doesn’t matter where you come from, come out now, especially the elders and speak, and or­ganize yourself into a particular support force to make sure that the president stands firm because when this fight of corruption comes so much the corrupt will be fighting and don’t forget that all the big, big businesses that are suc­ceeding in Nigeria, their foundation is corruption. These guys have money, they can fight but the only thing that can fight them is, if the good ones can begin to talk, you don’t have to be a po­litical party to say this is bad and good but everybody is just calm and wait­ing. No, that is hypocrisy, this is Hausa man, and this is Ibo man. That is a lie now. Nigeria is either you are on the corrupt side or you are on the righteous side. Those who believe Nigeria is on the path of righteousness or morality should now constitute themselves to a real power that will give the presi­dent full support for what he wants to achieve not for who he is if you like. If you don’t want to achieve a fair, hon­est, dignified Nigeria you are trying to achieve the corrupt Nigeria. What did the bible say? The lord himself says if you are not for me you are against me. There is no in-between.

Concerning this ministerial stuff, elderly people and women are not well represented too, what’s your take on that?

When you say somebody in their 30s, find out how he was brought up. Today, if you want to be cheated hard fall into the trap of a young man. Most of the young people today are smart crooks because that is how they are brought up. Look at all those who are born since the military regime started in this country they are so smart. Are they trickish, are they crooked? You can’t trust a young man with your money or business and relax. Be very careful, he will outwit you. That is why we need to change our educational system. Take teaching of moral impact to school. A young boy, he has got his masters de­gree, go and check very well, maybe his parents have bribed the lecturer to get it because he wants to get job, be­cause Nigeria believes in certificates not what you can do. So how many of them are fair, free, neat and just? How many youths? You wait until Nigerian youth tricks you, oh boy, you won’t forget it. I don’t think this is the time for it. Let these ones that they nomi­nated go there and do what they can do. Concentrate on our education system, make sure salaries of teachers and civil servants are paid. Let them take four years to hurry up and do what is pos­sible so that any youth being brought up in Nigeria will be somebody who is morally upright. How many youths to­day respect elders? How many youths will find their way to steal money and give somebody and jettison it, they will go for it. If you talk about young peo­ple into politics now, I will say no. Let these ones take their time, sit down and see that the foundation on which we raise our youth is sanctified, purified and put life in schools to teach moral­ity. You know we have the reputation of examination cheating, what are you talking about getting the youths into the system? People go to England with masters degree from here, but they get there they have to retake another ex­ams, because a lot of things about the youth is fake. I am not saying there are no good ones. There could be very good ones but they may not be living in Nigeria. There may be good ones who because they don’t like what is hap­pening in Nigeria, they are in Nigeria but they are doing their things quietly. They are not noisy, showy but they are good. This is why I am so angry about what you call the visible church in Ni­geria. The visible church in Nigeria has failed. It’s more than a business organi­zation than organism that brings up life. The education system in Nigeria is also in trouble. What do Christian schools and Christian churches and Sunday school should be doing is to raise up children learning leadership from day one. As you are training them, you are training them to be leaders, to learn to take responsilities, to show integrity. There are three things which are so important in life and they are free of charge, you don’t pay for it. Honesty, humility, integrity. It doesn’t cost you one kobo. The poor people in the vil­lage have them. These are what we should inculcate in our children right from the Sunday school, right from the school, to teach them the respon­sibility of leadership. A child is going to night club. I hear they take pack of dollars showing it off. Is that the youth you want to appoint t a minister? So we should stop destroying our youths if we want them to go into government. Let this government be allowed to sanitize our education system, inculcate in the youth as they are growing the responsi­bility of leadership, humility, integrity, honesty. Let it be something that you virtually inoculate them with.

What about the low repre­sentation of women in govern­ment?

Then what do we say about women not getting into government? Women should go into politics and not wait for a man to propose to you. The population of women supersedes that of men. Al­most two million of them are educated. They should go into politics and show what they can do but they are waiting for the man to take them. Don’t forget that can be expensive to the woman. They have to be careful. I don’t think we should worry about women and youths now. They will come in future. Let this particular season be a season of sanitizing the polity of Nigeria, and let our children be honest, humble and to have integrity. Look at what we read in papers about girls in the university? Go to Dubai, most undergraduates are going there to prostitute. Not that they want to prostitute but the country has become so bad and difficult. I heard some of the prostitutes in Dubai are saying they are already building houses for their parents and if they were in Nigeria they couldn’t do that. They are not prostitutes because they want to be prostitutes but it is circumstantial. So, let us change our country that they can come back here. Today, if you are a youth or a woman and you don’t know anybody of influence you cannot get nothing. No matter how brilliant.

If you don’t know people who have money and they can virtually abuse your body you can’t get anything. A lot of women are teachers, lecturers in our universities, running private schools, let them inculcate in our children the desire to grow up as leaders who have integrity, Honesty and humility

Nigerian Army Chief Addresses Troops Ahead Of Boko - Haram Shown-down

Nigeria prepares for Boko Haram battle

Following the continuous attacks by Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram in the northeast Nigeria, Chief of Army Staff, Lt General Tukur Yusuf Buratai has called on troops operating in the hot zone of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to brace up for a crucial battle in the next few days to ensure a total defeat of the insurgents, who are also said to be preparing and training their fighters for more attacks.

In a massage to the troops signed by the Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Kukasheka Usman and made available to our Correspondent on Friday, hours after Boko Haram attacked a mosque in Molai area of Maiduguri, killing worshipers as well as those who came to help the victims, General Buratai said, the next few days will be crucial to ‘Operation Lafiya Dole.’

According to the Army Chief, the situation on ground is also crucial for the country. ” Our sovereignty is threatened. The Nigerian Army and indeed the military as the symbol of our nationhood is being challenged. Our ability to stand firm in the next few days and defeat Boko Haram terrorists in the next few weeks will determine the future of our country.”

He said, the Army cannot afford to lose the fight it is preparing to engage with the Boko Haram militants and as such, urged troops to be trained and well equipped for the task ahead.

While encouraging the military, General Buratai said the entire country was behind them and Mr. President will always stand by them.

“Let us remain steadfast in this noble cause. Be courageous. We must degrade and defeat the Boko Haram terrorists. This job must be done and we must make our country men and women proud,’ he said.

Nigerian Army Destroys The Notorious Terrorist Camp, Kills Terrorists & Civilians Rescued

Army Destroys  The Notorious Terrorist Camp

As part of efforts to rid Nigeria of Boko Haram terrorists, troops of 21 Brigade and personnel of Nigerian Army Engineers on Wednesday cleared a notorious terrorists camp at Chuogori and Shantumari areas of Borno State, the spokesperson for the army, Sani Usman, has said.

In a statement Thursday, Mr. Sani, a colonel, said during the offensive operations, the fleeing terrorists left underground silos.

Mr. Sani added, “In addition, troops of 151 Task Force Battalion conducted operations on Kashingeri, Wale and Kushingari Boko Haram terrorists camps today.

“During the raids, quite a number of the terrorists were killed, a Landrover vehicle and a Tipper were recovered.

“The troops also rescued 59 civilians that were held captive by the terrorists and cleared the camps.”

See More Pictures Below: