Business
Hold me accountable for every dollar in $1.5bn refinery repair, Sylva tells Nigerians
Minister of State for Petroleum, Timipre Sylva, has asked Nigerians to hold him accountable “for every dollar, every cent” spent on the Port Harcourt refinery.
He said President Muhammadu Buhari was determined to leave behind a legacy of functional refineries for Nigerians.
On Wednesday, the Federal Executive Council at its weekly meeting approved $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery.
The approval elicited critical reactions, including prominent Nigerians such as Atedo Peterside, Peter Obi, and Atiku Abubakar.
Nigeria’s four refineries — two in Port Harcourt and one each in Kaduna and Warri — has a combined capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. None is currently functioning, having been shut down in 2020.
But the minister, who spoke on Sunday during a Channels Television programme, said the Buhari administration means well.
“They (Nigerians) can hold me accountable and hold this government accountable for every dollar, every cent on this refinery and ensure that we deliver a refinery that works,” he said.
“What President Muhammadu Buhari wants to leave as a legacy are refineries that are functional.
“That is really where we are looking at because what is going to happen to those refineries will be decided by Nigerians and future administration.”
The minister said the rehabilitation would take 18 months and the first phase take the refinery to 90 per cent operational capacity.
“We’re not lying to Nigerians. We’ve told you that this is going to be in three phases and the first phase is definitely going to be within the tenure of this administration,” he said.
“You should hold us. It is 18 months and we are going to take the refinery to 90 percent of its main capacity and that is what you should hold us to.”
Sylva gave a breakdown of how the government intended to source the $1.5 billion required to repair the refinery.
“Let me tell you how this rehabilitation is going to be funded; it is not going to be all debts, we are not going to borrow all the monies that are going into the rehabilitation,” he said.
“NNPC is going to spend about $200 million from its internally generated revenue sources, while the federal appropriation will put in about $800 million and it is already broken down into three parts.
“The 2020 appropriation will give $350 million, 2021 appropriation will give another $350 million, and 2022 appropriation will give another $100 million, making it all $800 million from appropriation, and then the rest of it will now come from Afrexim Bank.”
Sylva said the rehabilitation of the refinery was “one way the government can generate revenue to invest in other sectors of the economy”.
He said it would benefit Nigerians and be commercially-viable “to produce profits for the government”.
The minister said, “This rehabilitation will bring a lot of gains for Nigerians. First, we are gaining from savings in the foreign exchange end, savings from importation of premium motor spirit (PMS); and we will gain from the operations of the refineries itself.”
He also said, “This refinery plus Dangote’s refinery, Kaduna refinery and Warri refinery will more than satisfy Nigeria’s requirements.”
He added, “We are headed to a point where Nigeria will become a net exporter of refined petroleum products. So we will be able to satisfy Nigerians and also have excess in exporting these products.”
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.
READ ALSO:
- BREAKING: FEC proposes N47.9 trillion budget for 2025 fiscal year
- EFCC arrests ex-NCMB boss over $35m energy project fraud
- FG gets fresh $134m loan from AfDB for agric projects
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.
READ ALSO:
- Court adjourns Yahaya Bello’s trial till Nov 27
- We are understaffed, ICPC boss laments
- Edo Gov Okpebholo freezes govt accounts, reverses ministry’s name
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)
-
International3 days agoBelgium University offers scholarship up to €12,000 for Master’s students
-
Sports7 hours agoBREAKING: Super Eagles qualify for AFCON 2025
-
Railway2 days agoNigerian railway adds extra train to Friday, Saturday trips on Lagos-Ibadan route
-
International2 days agoUK announces 45,000 seasonal worker visas for 2025
-
Aviation8 hours agoDisaster averted as bird strike hits Abuja-Lagos Air Peace flight
-
Education1 day ago12-year-old Nigerian girl Eniola Shokunbi invents air filter to reduce spread of diseases in US schools
-
International3 days agoSaudi crown prince says Israel committing ‘genocide’ in Gaza
-
Business2 days agoTop 5 crypto apps that work with Nigerian Bank accounts