Aso Villa Reads for 23/7/2019
Every day, we bring you the best stories that the Media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria
New Telegraph reports that the Federal Government of Nigeria and German-based Siemens yesterday signed an Electricity Road Map agreement that would increase power supply in the country to 25,000 megawatts by 2025. The Letter of Agreement was signed on behalf of the Federal Government by the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Alex Okoh, and the Global Chief Executive Officer of Siemens, Joe Kaeser at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Speaking during the signing of the agreement with the company, President Buhari said the increase would be achieved in a three-phase programme. Buhari challenged Siemens, electricity distribution and transmission companies in Nigeria too hard to achieve 7,000 megawatts by 2021, additional 11,000 megawatts by 2023 and overall grid capacity to 25,000 megawatts. The power generation in Nigeria currently is around 4,029 megawatts. The arrangement between the Federal Government and Siemens is a fallout of a meeting between President Buhari and the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel on August 31, 2018. According to Buhari, government is also committed to development of the Mambilla hydroelectric and various solar projects in order to boost general power infrastructure. Buhari said: “Our goal is simply to deliver electricity to Nigerian businesses and homes. My challenge to Siemens, our partner investors in the Distribution Companies (DISCOs), the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and the electricity regulator, is to work hard to achieve 7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023 — in phases one and two respectively.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a trading surplus of N6.33 billon for the month of May 2019, a figure which is 13 per cent higher than the N5.60 billion surplus posted in the preceding month of April 2019. Details of the report contained in the May 2019 edition of the NNPC Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) released today, attributed the modest rise to the increase in gas and power output which contrasts with the figure for the preceding month. According to People’s Daily, the report made public by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Corporation, Ndu Ughamadu, also attributed the result to the surplus recorded by the corporation’s downstream entities like NNPC Retail, PPMC, NPSC and Duke Oil. The report further indicated that within the period, the NNPC recorded a total of $580.32 million in export sale of crude oil and gas which is 23.39 per cent higher than the previous month’s figure. Out of this number, crude oil export sales contributed $458.59 million which translates to 79.02 per cent of the entire dollar transactions compared with $342.11 million contributed in the previous month. The report also showed that between May 2018 and May 2019, crude oil and gas worth $5.97 billion was exported. In the downstream, to ensure uninterrupted supply and effective distribution of petrol across the country, a total of 2.06bn litres of petrol translating to 66.49mn liters/day were supplied for the month of May 2019. It was noted that beyond supply, the corporation continued to diligently monitor the daily stock of petrol to achieve smooth distribution of petroleum products and zero fuel queue across the nation.
The federal government yesterday in Abuja affirmed its readiness to deploy biogas for electricity generation in the country. The Head of Department of Environmental Biotechnology and Bio- conservation Department, National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), Dr. Gloria Obioh, stated this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). According to her, the government fabricated bio-digesters adapted to local conditions to generate 20,000MW through conversion of organic wastes. Obioh expressed optimism that the bio-digesters produced by NABDA for electricity generation, would also create jobs and raise the country’s GDP. “The key areas are design and fabrication of bio- digesters to local condition, local patenting of products, and contribution to organic wastes management which accounts to a minimum of 50 per cent municipal solid wastes.” According to her, apart from enhancing food security through the utilisation of bio-fertilizer to boost soil fertility, it will also create jobs across all value chains including digester fabrication, energy generation, waste management, bio-fertilizer production among others. “There will be several spin-off industries which would contribute greatly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), “she said. Obioha said the bio-digesters would be unveiled today while a train-the –trainer bio-entrepreneurship workshop will take place on Wednesday (tomorrow). This Day reported.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has disclosed that its management of transactions involving Nigeria’s equity share of crude oil produced in the country has been automated to up to 98 per cent. It said with the development, information on how much of Nigeria’s crude oil share was sold, the price, who bought it and where it went, could be accessed at a click of a button by its Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD). The corporation also disclosed it would work with Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to checkmate possibilities of sleaze in its operations. Its Group Managing Director, Mallam Mele Kyari, stated this recently at the 3rd African Anti-Corruption Day and Round Table Discussion on Asset Recovery and Return. According to This Day, a statement from NNPC’s Group General Manager Public Affairs, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu, quoted Kyari to have explained that the NNPC was committed to a robust relationship with the EFCC. He said the corporation would assist the anti-graft agency in its work against corrupt practices. According to the statement, it was in the interest of the NNPC to support the EFCC and entrench accountability and transparency in its system. Kyari, also stated that President Muhammadu Buhari, has never interfered in the operations of the corporations or compromised any of its processes, and as such, it was imperative for NNPC to embrace openness and accountability in all its activities. He explained the process of automating its crude oil sales processes started earlier, and was initiated to eliminate the use of discretion in such transaction, adding that it was susceptible to corruption.
According to This Day, the Managing Director of Greenville LNG Limited, Ritu Sahajwalia, has declared that the company was set to be a catalyst to Nigeria’s economic growth, by making liquefied natural gas available to all in the country. Speaking at the inauguration of Greenville LNG Customer Location at Dufil Prima Foods Plc, Port Harcourt, Sahajwalia said the company was also set to supply LNG to fire the Kaduna Power Plant in the northern part of the country. She said: “We brought this LNG concept in 2014 and now it has materialised. We have 2,250 tonnes of LNG. That is our capacity and with the view to expand more. We will be supplying energy to Kaduna Power Plant in the North. Up till now, it is not connected with the grid. “There are other requests from the north. Industries are growing and they need LNG. It is better to supply to power plant than individuals in the north. “LNG is catalyst to the growth of the country. Nigeria’s economy is very resilient. At this time, Nigeria needs to go more into industrialisation. “Nigeria has so much potential in terms of the people and resources to reach the next level and my belief is that Nigeria can reach that level in no time. What we need is more industrialisation, more jobs and more skills. “LNG is like mobile phones because it can be taken to every nook and cranny there is a requirement for power. Power will not be the issue to start a company because one truck can produce 5 mw of power.” A Director at Greenville LNG, Oyadoyin Joseph, also corroborated Sahajwalia’s claims on the impact of the plant.
This Day reports that Oil production joint venture partners comprising the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Star Deepwater Petroleum Limited (a Chevron Company), Famfa Oil Limited, Equinor, and Petroleo Brasileiro Nigeria Limited, spent N2.7 billion in the last 11 years supporting efforts to cure and eradicate tuberculosis in Nigeria, THISDAY has learnt. The partners were involved in the Agbami field joint venture oil production, and Medical Director, Chevron Nigeria Limited, Dr. Paul Areyenka, who represented them recently at the National Tuberculosis Conference which held in Abuja, explained that they have supported governments in Nigeria to strengthen their health systems targeting the triad of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), malaria and tuberculosis. Areyenka, in his presentation on how the private sector could support improvement in health system in Nigeria, with the experience of the Agbami partners on tuberculosis treatment and prevention, stated that they deployed a social health investment program targeting tuberculosis disease. The system, he noted covered building of infrastructures such as chest clinics, conducting awareness and advocacy campaigns and assisting in protecting tuberculosis health care workers to contribute to the realisation of the goals of Nigeria’s national tuberculosis program. “Through the construction and equipping of 28 chest clinics across the country, we have contributed to strengthening health systems and supporting the treatment and care of tuberculosis patients in Nigeria. “The chest clinics were built in close collaboration with the National Tuberculosis and Leprosy Control Program (NTLCP) of the ministry of health, in existing government hospitals and handed over to the states in which they are located for management, and the facilities are fully-equipped with standard x- ray machines, male and female wards, treatment rooms, laboratories and gene-xpert machines,” said Areyenka.
Nigeria’s vice president Yemi Osinbajo said the government is engaging traditional rulers on modalities to employ in improving security in the country. The ongoing consultations with the traditional leaders was disclosed in a statement by the Nigerian government. “Determined to develop an reinforce effective strategies towards addressing security concerns around the country, FG has begun a series of consultations with a number of leading traditional rulers with the aim of securing the peace and effective maintenance of law and order,” the government said in a statement. The vice president, in conjunction, with the state governments is expected to “work to significantly improve security in local communities while rearranging the security architecture nationwide.” Osinbajo has had separate meetings with the Akarigbo of Remoland, the Awujale of Ijebuland and Ogun State governor Dapo Abiodun. Speaking with journalists after the meeting with Awujale, the Vice President noted that the consultations would be done with traditional rulers across the country to ensure peace and security in their communities. “As you know, there are many significant concerns all over the country; and of course there are concerns also in the S/West,” Osinbajo said, “of course, you know that the Kabiyesi is not just the traditional ruler, but also a very important part of the government.” The Guardian reported.
