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House Invites Kyari, Emefiele, Ahmed, Sylva, Others over State of Refineries
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Fix refineries with current oil windfall, Adeyemi tells FG
The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee investigating the state of refineries in the country has invited the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mr. Mele Kyari; the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; and the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr. Timipre Sylva, to appear before the lawmakers on Thursday, March 31, to give account of the true state of refineries and what was needed to be done to function at maximum refining capacity.
The Committee also extended the invitation to other relevant key government stakeholders including the Accountant-General of the Federation, the Auditor-General of the Federation, the Director General, Budget Office of the Federation, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority, the Port Harcourt Refining Company Limited (PHRC), the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (KRPC), the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Limited (WRPC), National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).
The Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila had on January, 2022, constituted the adhoc Committee to determine the state of refineries in the country and what was needed to bring them back to maximum refining capacity.
The Committee was mandated to work with the NNPC, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, and other relevant stakeholders to obtain the needed information in order to carry out the assignment.
The Committee therefore, on February 24, 2022, requested the GMD of the NNPC for a status report on the nation’s refineries. The lawmakers specifically requested the GMD to provide, “Appraisal of the current state of refineries in the country, from year 2012 to date, copies of annual budgets on rehabilitation by the refineries from year 2012 to date, list of approvals/fund releases for rehabilitation of refineries from year 2012 to date, the list of all contracts awarded for rehabilitation of refineries and award letters issued to service providers and contractors from year 2012 to date, the actual cost of projects (contracts) and review (if any) stated in naira, work completion certificates issued on rehabilitation projects carried out on refineries from year 2012 to date, evidence of payments made for all such contracts awarded from year 2012 to date, list of service providers and contractors that handled the rehabilitation of refineries from year 2012 to date and any other relevant information to assist the Committee in the course of this assignment.”
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The lawmakers, while appreciating the response of the NNPC to their request and acknowledged receipt of their submissions and information so far provided, however pointed out that the submission made by the NNPC did not adequately provide answers to most of the request made to them by the letter.
However, at the hearing yesterday, the Chairman of the adhoc Committee, Hon. Johnson Ganiyu said the summon became necessary following the failure of the ministers and the other invited government officials to honour earlier invitation.
He said Nigerians were pained and not happy with the current state of affairs regarding the oil sector of the economy, hence subsidy was no longer sustainable.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Smart Adeyemi has advised the federal government to spend the current gains being made from crude oil sales with price above $100 per barrel to fix the nation’s comatose oil refineries or build new ones.
The nation’s 2022 budget was predicated on a benchmark of $62 per barrel of crude oil and the price of the commodity was $120 per barrel as of yesterday.
As a result of this, Adeyemi said, “proceeds from the oil windfall arising from the ongoing Russia/Ukraine war should be channeled into fixing the nation’s comatose refineries or to out rightly build new ones.”
Adeyemi said this yesterday in Abuja, while addressing journalists about the public hearing on his rent bill slated for March 30.
The Senator added: “To me, it is inexplicable and shameful for a nation that is producing crude oil in large volumes on daily basis to be importing refined ones.
“It is like somebody who has a functional borehole in his or her compound, and yet buying water from other sources.
“The serious bleeding the shameful arrangement is causing the nation’s economy must be stopped. Refineries must be made functional or new ones put in place to prevent huge capital flight bleeding the nation’s economy from refined oil importation,” he said.
Adeyemi lamented the federal government’s inability to fast track the completion of the Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Project which he described as a catalyst for full industrialisation of the nation’s economy.
He noted with concern that the abandoned Ajaokuta Steel Complex had the potential of providing gainful employment to over 50,000 Nigerians if resuscitated.
He added: “It is saddening that a potential game changer for the nation’s monolithic economy which started in 1980s is still at the stage of abandonment.
“If the federal government is not ready to see to its completion and functionality, it should be handed over to Kogi State which I believe will do the needful the way the Kaduna State government built an iron ore firm recently with potential for thousands of jobs creation for the youth and quantum wealth generation for the state.
“The President Muhammadu Buhari led government is no doubt, trying, as far as building of infrastructure are concerned but such legacies without completion of Ajaokuta and provision of functions refineries will not make much impacts economically.”
THISDAY
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200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that about 200,000 repentant terrorists have so far dropped their arms and surrendered to troops in the North East, noting that the twin strategy of kinetic and non-kinetic operations was responsible for this achievement.
The CDS made this known at the Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the British High Commission, which began at the National Counterterrorism Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the theme of the symposium, ”Securing Peace, Ensuring Justice, Protection, Conduct, and Accountability,” speaks volumes about the deluge of security challenges the armed forces and security agencies are facing.
His words, “All the challenges we are facing today have to do with fairness, equity, justice, and accountability.
“There will not be peace without justice, equity, fairness, and accountability. In our operations, we are conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, which have to a large extent yielded significant successes, and we want to particularly thank the National Security Adviser for his great support in this regard.
“Nigeria is going through so many challenges, and we feel we’re able to address this, and everybody has a sense of belonging. A lot of the security challenges we are having, we are sure, will go down. I want to thank the National Security Advisor for all the support he’s given us, both the kinetic and the non-kinetic.
“We have said it; the kinetic aspect is just less than 30%. The non-kinetic has a lot to play. The non-kinetic, because when you have democracy, people must have the evidence of democracy. As long as it tells people to sleep well and be peaceful, and they are hungry, their children cannot eat, and all this creates more problems.
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“The issue of informants. We have to look at how we tackle this issue of informants. Because these are the people who have created the issue.
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
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Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
The spokesperson for the police in Delta State, SP Bright Edafe, has confirmed the death of two robbery suspects in the state.
Mr Edafe, who disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Warri, said that the deceased were killed from the bullets shot by their gang members.
According to him, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Edafe explained that the deceased were leading the police surveillance team attached to the Ekpan Division to their hideout when they were caught during a shoot-out.
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“The suspects were arrested at Effurun roundabout with a bag containing 57 live cartridges and other items. They were leading the surveillance team to their hideout at Warri/Sapele road when their gang members, on sighting the vehicle of the police team, engaged them in a shootout.During the gun duel, the arrested suspects that were leading the police team were fatally wounded by the gun shot of their colleagues. The two injured suspects were taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Edafe said that items recovered from the hoodlums hideout included: one English pump action gun, one locally made cut-to-size gun and eight live cartridges.
Others were: six iPhones, Smart phones and a Rolex wrist watch.
He said that the command had intensified manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang.
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
(NAN)
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