Aso Villa Reads for 10/6/2019

Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria

Barring any last-minute change of plan, the federal government will this week, constitute a board for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to be headed by a lawyer, Mr. Olufemi Lijadu. The constitution of the board of the regulatory body for the country’s capital market is coming almost five years after the expiration of the last board, and after several calls by stakeholders on the government to do so. According to This Day, the commission has been without a board and is presently being run by an acting director general and acting executive commissioners, a situation, market watchers said had partially affected the effective regulation of the market. The commission always relies on the Federal Ministry of Finance for direction in the absence of a board. However, market sources said given the determination of the federal government in this second term of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the capital market plays its role as an economic enabler, the inauguration of a board for SEC has become expedient. While other members of the proposed board could not be ascertained, THISDAY gathered that Lijadu, who is a partner in the law firm of Ukiri Lijadu & Co has been pencilled in to chair the board. He heads the banking and finance practice of the law firm. Lijadu is a leading commercial lawyer with over 30 years’ experience in private practice and in-house. He recently worked for the federal government as chairman, Presidential Audit Committee on Recovered Public Assets.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has announced a revenue of N67.19 billion for the three months that ended March 31, 2019. This represents 24.8 per cent of the N270.56 billion earned in 12 months ending December 31, 2018. The agency’s financial profile (unaudited) showing revenue and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) obtained by THISDAY revealed that the NPA raked in the amount via operating revenue while other revenue and investment income, which form a bulk of its revenue, are yet to be available for the period under review. Also, analysis of the agency’s six years revenue and remittances to CRF between 2013 and 2018 showed a quantum leap in revenue and remittances despite the downturn in ship and cargo traffic as a result of certain federal government’s policies that are discouraging importation. The financial results showed that the NPA recorded consistent growth in revenue and remittances in the last three years compared to what was obtainable in the past. A breakdown of the six years revenue and remittances showed that the NPA recorded a revenue of N157.31 billion in 2013. Of the 2013 revenue, it made N137.9 billion through operating revenue and N15.08 billion, N1.24 billion from other revenue and investment income respectively. However, it remitted N13.17 billion. In 2014, the agency recorded a total revenue of N172.8 billion, N149.7 from operating revenue and N22.4 billion and N636.5 million from other revenue and investment income respectively. However, its remittance for the year improved by a little over N4 billion as it remitted N18.56 billion.

This Day reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it recorded N174.62 billion sales of white petroleum products in March. The corporation disclosed this in its March Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) released in Abuja. It said that March sales’ figure was higher than the N168.65 billion recorded in February. It explained that the total revenue generated from the sale of white products from the period March 2018 to March 2019 stood at N2,780.79 billion. According to the report, petrol contributed about 91.09 per cent or N2.533billion. It added that a total supply and distribution of 1.36 billion litres of petroleum products were made by NNPC’s subsidiary, the Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in March, compared with 1.33 billion litres in February. A further breakdown indicated that the March volume comprised 1.29 billion litres of petrol, 0.023 billion litres of petrol, and 0.047 billion litres for the diesel component. “Total sale of white products distributed for the period March 2018 to March 2019, stood at 21.99 billion litres, with petrol accounting for 20.63 billion litres or 93.8 per cent,’’ it added. The report further noted that 6.4 billion litres of special products were sold during the period under review. On pipelines vandalism, the report revealed that in March, 111 pipeline points were vandalised, indicating a 19 per cent drop from the 137 points recorded in February 2019.

The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Senator Olorunibe Mamora, has promised to do his best to maximise Nigeria’s inland waterways potential to support economic growth in the country. Mamora, who made this known in a statement, said the authority would attempt to bridge the infrastructure gap and provide an alternative mode of transportation for evacuation of economic goods and persons on the nation’s Inland Waterways. On the authority’s partnership with SEALINK Limited, he said the project, would establish a maritime shipping line which would provide cabotage, passenger services and goods haulage among the countries of the Joint Development Zone (JDZ). He added that the project was aimed at reducing the cost of moving cargoes among the countries of the JDZ and increasing maritime and trade activities among them. According to him, “The project, when completed will reduce the cost of moving cargo and increase maritime and trade activities by ensuring payment of duty only on goods delivered to the ports of final destination, improve frequency of maritime services as well as improve private sector initiative through the provision of efficient sea transport services by giving competitive edge to exporters and importers. “Others are to reduce transportation costs, eliminate the need for cargo trans-shipment and Increase trade volume and improve efficiency in transportation in the Sub-region and boost economic growth and development for Nigeria.” Mamora said the authority would collaborate with the organisations to harness the untapped waterways resources that would add to the nation’s GDP in no small measure. This Day reported this.

Vanguard reports that the Federal task team on the restoration of law and order as well as clean-up of Apapa environs ended it’s two weeks operation last week Friday, having achieved some level of sanity, through, truckers are still holding sway on the road. Vice-Chairman of the team, comrade Kayode Opeifa, briefing media men shortly after returning from a media tour of the Apapa ports access roads and environs to have on the spot assessment of the situation to mark the end of two weeks exercise, along with heads of other agencies and stakeholders, expressed satisfaction with the operation, even as he called on stakeholders and the public for their support and cooperation in order to engender sustainable sanity, and free flow of traffic in the axis. Recall that, following persistent traffic gridlock around Apapa axis, particularly, Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, President Muhammadu Buhari issued a 72 hour ultimatum for removal of all trucks and trailers off the roads and two weeks for restoration of law and order around Apapa Ports and environs. Opeifa, who expressed satisfaction over the performance of the team in the last two weeks, called on stakeholders and the public for their support and cooperation in order to engender sustainable sanity, and free flow of traffic in the axis. He enumerated terms of reference of the task team to include: Restoration of law and order to Apapa Ports and environs, decongestion of all impediments in the axis, elimination of extortionist tendencies among security operatives and port operators, ensure removal of trucks from bridges and road and creation of access roads for other motorists, introduction of electronic call up system for truckers, building of more capacity to serve as loading bays for Apapa Port and Tin-Can Port, among others.

Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, has said that the Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, sub-sector can create two million direct and indirect jobs in Nigeria. Osinbajo stated this over, weekend, at the commissioning of Techno Oil LPG Cylinder Manufacturing Plant in Lekki, Lagos. In a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande, the vice president said through a range of interventions and policy implementation, the federal government will significantly improve domestic and industrial utilisation of LPG in the country. He stated: “The federal government will continue to actively support every effort to promote the use of LPG in Nigeria, as well as create and maintain an effective and a catalytic regulatory environment.” Continuing, he said: “The goal is to achieve five million metric tonnes (5,000,000 MT) of domestic, commercial and industrial LPG utilisation in 10 years. Specifically, for household cooking, we are targeting a 40 per cent adoption rate (i.e. 13.8m households) in five years, and 73 per cent adoption in 10 years (33.3m households). We believe that the sub-sector can create up to two million new direct and indirect jobs in Nigeria.” The vice president noted that since the implementation of the coordination reforms, including the creation of a dedicated project management office, great progress has been recorded in the various segments of the gas sector. Vanguard reports.