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.
Business
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
No fewer than 200 trucks are set to load petroleum products at the government-owned Port Harcourt Refinery, the presidency has said.
A presidential spokesperson, Sunday Dare, made this known in a statement through his official X handle on Tuesday.
Newstrends had reported that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company on Tuesday announced that Port Harcourt Refinery has resumed operations and crude oil processing after years of inactivity.
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Reacting, Dare said, “200 trucks are expected to load products daily from the refinery, Renewing the Hopes of Nigeria.”
He added that “the Port Harcourt refinery has two wings.
“The Old Refinery comes on stream today with an installed production capacity of 60, 000 barrels per day of crude oil.”
PH refinery: 200 trucks will load petroleum products daily, says Presidency
Business
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
Breaking: CBN increases interest rate to 27.50%
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the lending interest to 27.50 per cent from 27.25 per cent.
This latest increase in the Monetary Policy Rate came after a meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday and concluded Tuesday.
The Monetary Policy Rate measures the benchmark interest rate.
The CBN Governor, Yemi Cardoso, announced this in Abuja on Tuesday after the MPC meeting, last for the year, held at the apex bank’s headquarters.
He said the MPC voted unanimously to raise the MPR by 25 basis points from 27.25% to 27.50%; and retain the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) at 50% for Deposit Money Banks and 16% for Merchant Banks.
The CBN governor also said the MPC retained the Liquidity Ratio (LR) at 30% and Asymmetric Corridor at +500/-100 basis points around the MPR.
Business
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.3% in Q2 – NBS
Nigeria’s unemployment rate stood at 4.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said in its latest report.
The report released on Monday said the unemployment rate decreased compared to the 5.3 per cent recorded in the Q1 of 2024.
The NBS defined the unemployment rate as the share of the labour force (the combination of unemployed and employed people) who are not employed but actively searching and are available for work.
“The unemployment rate for Q2 2024 was 4.3%, showing an increase of 0.1 percentage point compared to the same period last year,” the report stated.
“The unemployment rate among males was 3.4% and 5.1% among females.
“By place of residence, the unemployment rate was 5.2% in urban areas and 2.8% in rural areas. Youth unemployment rate was 6.5% in Q2 2024, showing a decrease from 8.4% in Q1 2024.”
Report also said the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 4.8 per cent; 8.5 per cent among those with upper secondary education, 5.8 per cent for those with lower secondary education, and 2.8 per cent among those with primary education in Q2 2024.
Employment rate – 76%
The report showed that the employment-to-population ratio, which measures the number of employed workers against the total working-age population, increased to 76.1 per cent in Q2 2024.
“In Q2 2024, 76.1% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed, up from 73.1% in Q1 2024,” the report stated.
Self-employment – 85.6%
The report further showed that Nigeria’s labour market saw a notable shift as the proportion of self-employed individuals increased in Q2 2024.
It stated, “The proportion of persons in self-employment in Q2 2024 was 85.6%.”
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