Business
FG still subsidising electricity tariff, says NERC
The Federal Government is still subsiding electricity tariff being paid by cosumers, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission has said.
Chairman of the commission, Sanusi Garba, stated this despite the complaints by consumers about high tariif.
He spoke on Monday during a session with the House of Representatives committee on finance on the 2023-2025 medium-term expenditure frame and fiscal strategy paper (MTEF/FSP).
Garba however did not give details of the subsidy, adding that the revenue would go up in the nect three years to reduce the tariff burden.
He said, “In 2024, revenues should go up slightly to N23.5 billion and the operating surplus would go down to N1.1 billion and the reason is simply that we are motivated as much as we can to reduce the tariff burden of consumers because of affordability issues.”
“In 2025, revenues go up to N24.7 and the operating surplus goes up to N1.4 billion. I repeat the surpluses are going down because we want to reduce the tariff burden of consumers. Right now, the Federal Government is subsidising the tariff to some extent. In the last few years, subsidies were in the region of N5 billion. So, we don’t want to contribute additional burden and that’s why the surpluses are declining as we go forward.”
For 2020, Garba said the auditor’s report revealed that the commission’s operating surplus was N3.8 billion and that reconciliation was ongoing with the office of the accountant-general of the federation, after which remittances would be made.
Garba also disclosed that NERC would be investing heavily in technology for enhanced service delivery to consumers, adding that the commission planned to spend N2.5bn on computers including software next year.
He in utility regulation, information technology is very important as it is not proper to rely on information given by licensees alone.
“So we are investing heavily in technology so we have credible information about quality of service. Without technology, we cannot know that a feeder in an area is out for 48 hours and people are in darkness,” he said.
He also said, “So, over the next few years, we will be investing heavily on technology for data aggregation.
“In 2021, the budget for computers, not just hardware but the software that drives the machine is N1.5 billion. And we are spending N2.5 billion in 2023 and N1 billion in 2025 and we will do this.”
Garba added that NERC “would want to be in a position to see what is happening in all the feeders directly from the commission, not relying on the Disco telling you we supplied this and that in so, so location; So, investing N5 billion on technology today is nothing,” he said.
He said the commission had engaged auditors to look into its account for the 2021 financial year and should be completed in October.
Speaking earlier, Stanley Olajide, a committee member, observed that N3.5 billion was earmarked for computer equipment and training in the 2023 budget proposal.
“Looking at your projections for 2023, you have about N2 billion to spend on computer equipment. In 2022, what do you have for computer equipment? Also, in 2021, what do you have because we are going to be lending money to fund this budget or if you are not going to spend this money, it could be revenue for the government,” Olajide asked.
“What part of this can you suspend: N2billion for computer equipment and about one point something billion for training, what is the value money in spending this N3 billion in 2023? If you did something like that in 2022, why 2023 again?”
In his remarks, Abdullahi Saidu, deputy chairman, house of representatives committee on finance, directed the office of the accountant-general (OAGF) and Fiscal Regulatory Commission (FRC) to sit with NERC and reconcile its 2021 account.
He said the country was in need of funds, frowning at the delay in reconciliation which was impeding funds from going into the federation account.
Aviation
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
Disaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
An Abuja-Lagos flight was on Thursday aborted following a bird strike on the airplane belonging to Air Peace, forcing the authorities to ground the aircraft.
The bird strike experienced in the early hours reportedly prompted a ramp return to ensure the safety of passengers onboard.
All the passengers quickly disembarked and were calmed down before they were moved into another plane for the one-hour journey.
A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft, or other airborne animal, while the aircraft is in flight, taking off, or landing. And it can be a significant threat to aircraft safety.
Air Peace in a statement by its Head of Corporate Communications, Ejike Ndiulo, said the bird strike occurred at 6:30am, and all passengers disembarked normally.
The statement read, “We wish to inform our esteemed passengers that our Abuja- Lagos 06:30 flight experienced a bird strike before take-off, prompting a ramp return as a safety measure. All passengers disembarked normally.
“We have deployed a replacement aircraft for the affected flight in order to minimize disruptions, thus ensuring that passengers continue their journeys promptly.
“We appeal for the understanding of our valued passengers impacted by this development, as well as those on other flights that may experience delays.
“At Air Peace, we are committed to providing safe, comfortable, and reliable air travel for all our passengers.”
Business
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) and its partners have revved up crude oil and gas production to 1.8million barrels per day (mbpd) and 7.4standard cubic feet per day (scfd).
The company which announced this at a press briefing said the feat was achieved in compliance with the mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking on the development, the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mele Kyari, congratulated the Production War Room Team that anchored the production recovery process.
“The team has done a great job in driving this project of not just production recovery but also escalating production to expected levels that are in the short and long terms acceptable to our shareholders based on the mandates that we
have from the President, the Honourable Minister, and the Board,” Kyari explained.
Giving details of the efforts of the Production War Room, the Chief War Room Coordinator and Senior Business Adviser to the Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Lawal Musa, disclosed that the feat was achieved through the collaborative efforts of Joint Venture and Production Sharing Contract partners, the Office of the National Security Adviser, as well as government and private security agencies.
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He said the interventions that led to the recovery of production cut across every segment of the production chain with security agencies closely monitoring the pipelines.
He stressed that when the Production War Room team was inaugurated on 25th June 2024, production was at 1.430mbpd, but the team swung into action, culminating into sustaining the production recovery to 1.7mbpd in August and hitting the current 1.808mbpd in November.
“We are confident that with this same momentum and with the active collaboration of all stakeholders, especially on the security front, we can see the possibility of getting to 2mbpd by the end of the year,” he stated.
Also speaking on the development, Chairman of the NNPC Ltd Board of Directors, Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also congratulated the team, said he was happy to be part of the production recovery process, adding: “today, I will leave this place with my heart full of joy”.
He charged the Company’s Management to come up with a cashflow projection based on the new production figures to facilitate planning, stressing that he was looking forward to further production increase to 3mbpd.
On his part, the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, expressed satisfaction with the performance of the team and pledged the Federal Government’s support for the company to do more.
NNPC achieves 1.8mbpd crude oil production
Business
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
The Federal Government has secured a loan facility of $134million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to help farmers boost seeds and grain production in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by Anthonia Eremah, Chief Information Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, on Thursday, in Abuja.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, made his know at the unveiling of the 2024/2025 National Dry Season Farming in Calabar, Cross River State capital.
Kyari explained that with the re-introduction of the national dry season farming to boost year-round agricultural production, the loan would be handy and guarantee national food security in the country.
The minister said the initiative is under the National Agricultural Growth Support Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project.
He said the federal government had declared an emergency on food production to enable all Nigerians to get easy access to quality and nutritional food at affordable rates.
Kyari also said government wants to use the agricultural sector for national economic revival through increase in production of some staple food crops such as wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava during both dry and wet season farming.
He added that 107,429 wheat farmers were supported under phase 1 of the 2023/2024 dry season, and 43,997 rice farmers under the second phase of the 2023/2024 dry season.
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The minister said recently, government supported 192,095 rice, maize, sorghum/millet, soyabean and cassava farmers under the 2024 wet season across the 37 States including the FCT.
He said Cross River was leading 16 other states in wheat production, adding that over 3000 wheat farmers have been listed to benefit from the support to grow the grain.
Kyari noted the Cross River government’s commitment to wheat production.
He said it informed why the federal government is partnering with the state to kick start the maiden wheat production and enlisting them among states commencing the current 2024/2025 dry season farming.
“The 2024/2025 dry season farming, the project is targeted to support 250,000 wheat farmers across the wheat-producing states with subsidised agricultural inputs.
“This is to cultivate about 250,000 hectares with an expected output of about 750,000 metric tonnes of wheat to be added to the food reserve to reduce dependence on importation of the product and also increase domestic consumption.
“Equally the programme will provide support to 150,000 rice farmers under the second phase to cover all the 37 states, including FCT, with an expected output of about 450,000 metric tonnes,” he said.
FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
(NAN)
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