About 39 years after it was creted as autonomous state, Benue state has just been connected to the National Grid to start enjoying electricity. According to Vice President Mohammed Namadi Sambo who commissioned the the National Integrated Power Projects 220/132//33KV Sub Station in Makurdi today on behalf of President Goodluck Jonathan, it is a historic moment for the state. The sub station was constructed by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company at Apir, Makurdi, Benue State. Namadi Sambo said that the NIPP Makurdi 330/132/33kV Sub Station is one of a series of power projects completed by the NDPHC under the NIPP, adding that the NDPHC has effectively pursued its mandate of implementing robust power projects across the country under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP). Vice President Sambo explained that the Makurdi Substation is scoped with appropriate busbars, bays, switchgear and control equipment at 330kV, 132kV as well as 33kV levels complete with an initial 150MVA 330/132kV Transformer and a 60MVA 132/33kV Transformer. “These two will ensure effective supply at both 132kV as well as 33kV levels to all of Benue and parts of Taraba as well as Kogi states while being equipped with a 75MVAR shunt reactor for effective voltage control. He said that the NIPP Makurdi 330/132/33kV location will also serve as a future hub to connect the 3,050mw Mambilla Hydro power plant on completion and its evacuation network to the national grid.” The Vice President said that under the First Phase of its project mandate, the company has completed several power projects, namely, the Geregu II, 434mw capacity in Kogi state, Omotosho II, 500 MW capacity in Ondo state, 750MW capacity Olorunsogo II power plant in Ogun state and Phase One 504MW Alaoji thermal power station in Abia state while Benin Generation Company and Ogorode both of 450MW capacity each in Edo and Delta states respectively, are awaiting official commissioning’. Vice President Sambo stated that, ‘this brings to a total completion of 265 out of 296 distribution injection substations nationwide and several other power projects across the country. According to him, the nation’s power generation level currently stands at 5,500MW of which NIPP contributes about 2,600mw, a record that stands out in the annals of the power sector history in Nigeria’. Vice President Sambo is the Chairman, NDPHC. Earlier, the Minister of State Power, Mohammed Wakil acknowledged the Level of political will exhibited by the present administration in driving the Power Sector privatization vision to a successful conclusion. James Olotu stated that he NIPP was conceived in 2004 as a fast track government funded initiative to add significant generation, transmission and distribution capacity to Nigeria’s electricity supply system.
Information reaching us has indicated that some leading banks, including First bank, Ecobank Plc and no fewer than four others companies are now jostling for the possession of at N1.8 Billion being the subsidy accruals to the First Deep Water Discovery Ltd, following its indebtedness to them. It was gathered that there are several suits presently at the Federal High Court involving First Deep Water Discovery and other creditors, including Ecobank Nigeria Limited, who have approached the Court to recover their monies from the First Deep Water. So also other interested parties, such as First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Stallionaire Energy Limited, Olive Energy Limited, Bargamo Shipping Limited, Sulphur Stream Limited, Faiceck Petroleum Limited have a court judgment demanding the Debt Management Office (DMO) to pay the same money to them. According to the findings by our correspondent, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has filed a response to the committal proceeding in the Ecobank suit and that the court has adjourned for hearing on May 13, 2015. “This matter is complicated since there are many claimants for the same monies, as such, any suggestions and inferences in the same respect is subjudice.” From the above, it appears that the DMO is being blackmailed to favour Ecobank at the expense of the other parties who also have in their favour, obtained judgements and court orders. But DMO has refused to be intimidated or blackmailed and it will follow the due process legally,” said a source. It would be recalled that Ecobank Nigeria Limited had accused the Director General of the Debt Management Office, Mr. Abraham Nwankwo, of frustrating its move to recover a huge debt allegedly owed it by an oil marketing firm, First Deepwater Discovery Limited. The bank through its lawyer, Mr. Kunle Ogunba (SAN), appeared on Tuesday before a Federal High Court in Lagos asking the court to imprison Nwankwo over alleged disobedience and contempt of court. The DMO’s officer directly in charge of processing fuel subsidy claims by oil marketers, Mr. Umaru Abubakar, has also been sued for contempt of court. The DMO is the agency of the Federal Government which processes fuel subsidy claims by oil marketers or issuing them with what is called sovereign debt notes. Ecobank said that it had secured an interim order of Justice Mohammed Yunusa on February 25, 2015, directing DMO to transfer the outstanding fuel subsidy sum due to Deepwater Discovery Limited into the company’s account with Ecobank. The bank had claimed that Deepwater Discovery Limited had a cumulative fuel subsidy claim of about N1.8bn with DMO, out of which it claimed that N845m plus was due for payment. In the affidavit filed in support of Forms 48 and 49, which Ogunba said were already served on Nwankwo and Abubakar, the deponent, one Ajibola Ajiboye, alleged that in spite of serving the alleged contemnors with the papers for contempt proceedings they had refused to budge. But Nwankwo and Abubakar have, through their counsel, S.E. Omoraghon, urged the court to refuse the bank’s prayer for committal order against them. In a counter-affidavit filed in opposition to Ecobank’s committal proceedings, the Principal Operations Officer of DMO, Sandra Ipigansi, maintained that the alleged contemnors were never served with the papers for contempt proceedings in personal capacities. Besides, Ipigansi said the issue of disobedience to court order did not arise, because DMO could not have transferred the fund as directed by the court as the agency was never in custody of any subsidy claims by marketers. According to Ipigansi, the role of DMO in subsidy claims is more or less administrative, while the money is usually kept and claimed from the Central Bank of Nigeria by the concerned oil marketers. She claimed, “Physical custody of the funds used for the payment of subsidy claims by oil marketers are, at all material times, kept and domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria. “The 2nd defendant and its officers, by their mandate, do not keep custody of funds and do not directly touch funds meant for the subsidy claims payment and therefore lack the capacity to transfer funds to any account as directed by the court, as they do not have custody of the said funds. “The duty of the 2nd defendant is more or less administrative and limited to the issuance of sovereign debt notes to oil marketers on the advice of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency, after due diligence and other necessary payment procedure.” Ipigansi added that it was strange that a court would order DMO to remit the subsidy sum due to an oil marketer into the bank account of a judgment creditor. Yunusa has adjourned to May 13 to entertain the commital proceedings and to make a decision.
An Abuja-based media consultant and former newspaper editor, Mr. Simon Imobo-Tswam, has dragged the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, before a Federal Capital Territory High Court, claiming N1 Billion as “general and compensatory damages,” for libel, mischief and the unauthorized use of his name, phone number and platform for image-laundering. In the suit No: No. CV/1679/15, the Plaintiff alleged that the minister and her secret media agents use of his name, his phone number and the letter-head of his platform, Network of Progressive Activists (NPA), to engage in a media attack against ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo as well as defend the minister’s alleged expenditure of public funds to the tune of N10 Billion on chartered jets. Joined in the suit, which is before Court 26, presided over by Justice M.M. Kolo are: Messrs. Michael Mukwuzi (2nd Defendant); Timothy Ademola (3rd Defendant); THISDAY Newspapers (4th Defendant); Tokumbo Adedoja (5th Defendant); Vanguard Newspapers (6th Defendant); Chioma Gabriel (7th Defendant) and Anozie Egole (8th Defendant). While the 1st Defendant (Mukwuzi) is a staff of the NNPC in the Media Relations Department, the 3rd Defendant (Timothy Ademola), is the Executive Assistant to the Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Student Matters, as well as the National Coordinator of NPA. In the Writ of Summons filed by counsel to the plaintiff, Chris Alashi Esq. of Fair-Fields Solicitors and Advocates, besides the N1billion claim for “general and compensatory damages,” the Plaintiff is also praying the court for “interest on damages awarded at the rate of 18 per cent per annum on the judgment sum awarded from the date of judgment until the judgment sum is finally liquidated.” The plaintiff is also asking the court for an order, compelling the Defendants to tender to him “an unreserved and unambiguous apology,” to be published in the Vanguard and THISDAY newspapers over the publications the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Defendants “maliciously, malevolently, mischievously and wickedly ascribed/attributed to the Plaintiff which embarrassed, injured and devastatingly damaged the Plaintiff, and cast him in bad light before well-meaning members of the public and most particularly patriotic Nigerians.” According to the particulars of the Suit, No. CV/1679/15 and filed on 27th April, 2015, after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo published his letter to Goodluck Jonathan last in December 2013, entitled: “Before It Is Too Late”, Michael Mukwuzi (2nd Defendant), a staff of the NNPC, but acting as the secret/private agent of the minister, approached the Plaintiff to appear on AIT to castigate the ex-President and follow the AIT appearance with a pre-written response (Press release) in the plaintiff’s name/platform, which would be released to newspapers. The Plaintiff said that although he refused these, “despite the attractive financial inducement offered, the 2nd Defendant (Mukwuzi), acting as the secret agent of the 1st Defendant (Diezani Alison-Madueke), authored/wrote the said Press Release, and, in conjunction with the 3rd Defendant (Timothy Ademola), caused same to be published by the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Defendants as well as so many other media outfits deliberately purporting that the Plaintiff issued the Press Release in conjunction the 3rd Defendant; whereas the Plaintiff never subscribed to, signed nor issued the said release.” The press release, entitled: “Our opinion on the Venomous Open Letter of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan and President Jonathan’s Necessary Reply The Plaintiff is averring further that following public outcry of corruption, profligacy and financial recklessness against the 1st Defendant (Diezani Alison-Madueke) over her expenditure of over N10 Billion of public funds on her chartered jets, her agent (2nd Defendant) once again contacted the Plaintiff to use his name and platform (Network of Progressive Activists: NPA) to defend the minister on Channels and AIT as well as write articles in the newspapers in defence of her actions. According to the writ, “The Plaintiff told the 2nd Defendant point-blank in the presence of the 3rd Defendant that neither himself nor the NPA, the platform over which he superintends as National Secretary, would defend such brazen acts of corruption, fraud, profligacy, financial recklessness and economic sabotage allegedly perpetrated by the 1st Defendant. “The 3rd Defendant persuaded the Plaintiff to accept the proposal in view of the financial offer/inducement made the 1st Defendant as presented by the 2nd Defendant (her secret media agent), but the Plaintiff vehemently refused that neither can he allow the platform nor himself to be used to defend the weighty allegations bothering on corruption, fraud, profligacy, financial recklessness and economic sabotage levelled against the minister, since the facts were not within his knowledge and comprehension.” The foregoing notwithstanding, the Plaintiff is alleging that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Defendants went ahead to write the advertorial, The Unveiling of Operation Destroy Diezani, and sponsored the publication of same in newspapers, including THISDAY and VANGUARD newspapers of 26th March, 2014, using his platform’s letter-head, its e-mail address as well as his personal Gsm Number. The Plaintiff avers that since the publications of the stories and advertorials, with his platform, name and telephone number, he has suffered untold continued to receive calls from family members, professional colleagues and church-members, accusing him of compromise, supporting corruption, economic sabotage and being bought over by the presidency and the ministry of Petroleum Affairs; a development that forced him to go into hiding for some time. No date has been fixed for hearing.
The chairman of Lee Engineering and Construction Company, Chief Leemon Ikpea
The chairman of Lee Engineering and Construction Company, Chief Leemon Ikpea, has called on the Nigeria Government to further strengthen the local content law to enable more indigenous companies, especially those in the oil and gas sector, participate in the development of the Nigeria economy. Speaking to a group of senior editors in Houston, Texas, on the sideline of the ongoing Oil Technology Conference, (OTC), Chief Ikpea said the step if enforced will help to further boost the economic powers of Nigeria and help tackle the nagging problem of unemployment in the country. According to him, the jobs and other allied services, which are before now handled by foreign companies, will be handled by competent Nigerian companies thus creating opportunities for them to become big players in the oil and gas sector as well as other sectors of the economy. “My view on the local content issue is that when you give indigenous companies the opportunity to play in the oil and gas sector, as well as in other sectors of the economy, Nigeria will be better for it, because the indigenous companies would be able to support the government in tackling the problem of unemployment. “The nation will also be saved capital flight as well as help boost our foreign reserve. The monies that would have been entering the hands of foreign companies will now be domiciled in Nigeria.” The Esan born businessman, who was recently conferred with an honorary doctorate degree in business administration by the Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma said: “I am able to be where I am today because the nation gave me the opportunity to participate in business. I fully support the local content law and urged the administration of our new president to do more to empower Nigerians who are willing and qualified to work in the oil and gas sector as well as other sectors of the economy. On the long run, Nigeria and the Nigerian people are going to be the ultimate beneficiaries.” He thanked President Goodluck Jonathan for passing the bill into law, even as he asked Nigerians to support the administration of President-Elect, General Mohammadu Buhari to enable him bring the dividends of democracy to the Nigerian people.
Ogun State governor, Ibikunle Amosun has said that the incessant vandalism being witnessed on petroleum pipelines across the country is a reflection of the state of the nation, however, accused the management of the NNPC of dereliction of duty which he said accounted for the incessant rise of the menace.
The governor, who lamented the inaction of the NNPC management when he visited the scene of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s pipeline that traversed the Iperu- Ogere road in Ikenne Local Government Area of the state which was vandalised last Tuesday, made it clear vandalism would continue unless drastic action is taken by the government.
He expressed disgust that neither the Federal Government nor the management of the NNPC as the agency directly responsible for the management and maintenance of the pipelines, has deemed it fit to take action towards finding a permanent solution to the menace despite the fact that President Goodluck Jonathan, in 2012, gave him an audience over the matter.
“Vandalism is a daily occurrence which shows the way we are as a nation. I still maintain that the NNPC is part of the problem, being the agency assigned to ensure that things like this do not happen. This is either dereliction of duty or neglect on the part of the agency of government.
“I don’t know why it is difficult for us as a nation to prevent the recurrence of this ugly incidence. I offered some solutions in 2012 when I visited Arepo and when President Jonathan invited me to his office over it, but nothing has been done about it till now.”
He also lamented that despite the advancement which modern day technology has provided in the areas of security, access to the multi-billion naira investments over the years by criminals remains unhindered.
The governor alleged complicity of highly influential people in the wholesale vandalism. [myad]
Once upon a time, there was this woman who had been separated from her husband. Before the divorce, the couple had a male child. Because of the tenderliness of the baby, the burden of taking care of him fell on the estranged wife. As the child was growing up, the woman seized the opportunity that he was always with her to continue to concoct all sort of stories about his father to the boy. As a matter of fact, there was nothing else the woman fed her son with than how wicked, dangerous and uncaring his father was in her life. The boy grew up to the point of getting into a university, still with her mother trying to perfect the spirit of hatred in the boy towards his father: she would not be tired of narrating the same old story, like in chorus, to her son about his supposedly bad father. One day, just as the boy, now a grown up man, was about to graduate from the university, the mother, as usual, jumped on a little opportunity, in the course of conversation, to chip in the dangerous character of his father. She had hardly finished the story when the son began to pack all his belongings in the room. He looked so angry. He did not utter a word for the period he was angrily packing his belongings despite the pleading by his mother to let her know the source of his anger and action. When he was done, he turned to his mother, with his eyes dangerously red and said: “I want to go in search of my father who you have always abused before me. I really want to confirm how bad he has been and I think I need such knowledge. And do you know what?” He asked his mother: “I think I am beginning to long for and love my father even though I have not seen him. You are such a bore!!!” If one remove the whole of the above scenario and place it on General Muhammadu Buhari’s situation before the March 28 Presidential election, it either would perfectly fit-in or the difference would be insignificant. Here was a man who had contested the same Presidential election in 2003, 2007 and 2011 under what one would describe as fairly friendly environment. Here was a man who obviously had been cheated by the marauding Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) all these years: the party was made up of Nigerians who had mastered the art of electoral robbery, so much cleverly done that even the 2007, 2011 elections were adjudged by local and international monitors to be “free and fair.” And then came the campaigns for the 2015 election with General Buhari again flying the flag of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC). This time around, almost all those in PDP who used to do dangerous mathematics on the nation’s election in the past had either left the party or gone silent because of the later day leadership. And coupled with the introduction of some kind of technology in the electoral process by the electoral umpire, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the later day leaders of what remained of PDP resorted to all manners of subterfuge to stop Buhari because they knew their games were up. Abuses upon abuses were the order of the day. All of a sudden, the later day leadership of what remained of PDP discovered that Buhari was seriously sick and they were the ones who told us even when Buhari said he was not sick. All of a sudden, the later day leaders of what remained of PDP told us that Buhari had no secondary school certificate even though he himself said that he had one from one of the oldest and best secondary schools in the old Northern Nigeria. All of a sudden, the later day leaders of what remained of PDP told us that Buhari stole PTF funds even though, not only Buhari but Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, former Nigeria President, told Nigerians that he (Buhari) came out of headship of PTF clean. All of a sudden, Buhari became a different thing to the later day leaders of what remained of PDP, from what he was in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. Not only that, the later day leaders of what remained of PDP turned to the people from where Buhari emerged, insulting a hell out of them: that they were illiterates, leprosious, over-populated with beggars (al-majiris) and so on. The insults on the people of the whole North, made up of 19 states out of the nation’s 36 states were so reverberating that it was almost as if they did not need any vote for their candidate (Jonathan) from anyone in this region.
Dame Patience Jonathan insulted the whole North One wondered what type of campaign the later day leaders of what remained of PDP would have wanted people like Adamu Mu’azu, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, Sule Lamido, Babangida Aliyu, Ambassador Aminu Bashir Wali and other Northerners to conduct for President Jonathan in the same North they have so derided and insulted. This was exactly what the PDP chairman, Adamu Mu’azu, governor Babangida Aliyu and even PDP national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh admitted as the cause of the failure of President Jonathan to win re-election. As a matter of fact, the abuses on, and attempts made to disgrace Buhari out of the race, by a few later day leaders of what remain of PDP, who did not know the dynamics of the Northern politics, attracted a lot of sympathy votes for the General. This should be a lesson to all that the person you malign most, just so that you would make others to hate him, may be the person that would eventually triumph, because, it is obvious that God Himself abhors man inhumanity to man.
PIX: Fayose, Fani-Kayode, Okupe – Vanguards in the electoral failure of their master: President Jonathan. [myad]
Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has confirmed that the Federal Government has borrowed about N473billion to pay salaries and fund the 2015 budget, blaming the situation on the decline in oil revenue in late 2014.
The Minister, who swpoke in Abuja on the details of the N4.493trillion appropriation already passed by the National Assembly, said the federal government had to raise its borrowing level from N570 billion to N882 billion to enable it meet its financial obligations to workers and contractors.
The minister said that the decline in oil revenue in late 2014 accounted for 50 per cent cut in the total federally collectible revenue as well as the low revenue receipts from non-oil sources.
Despite past efforts to reduce government borrowing level, she said the acute cash flow problems forced government to take the decision to curb the negative impact of revenue crunch.
The Minister said about N380billion came from external sources, while the balance is for domestic borrowing.
“We have tried to work within the budget,” she said. “Last year, the borrowing came down to about N570 billion. But, this year, because of the very difficult cash flow situation, we have provided N882billion in borrowing.
“About N380billion of that is external borrowing and the balance of N502 billion is for domestic borrowing. All we have borrowed so far is N473billion, which is within the budget.”
Okonjo-Iweala said the lawmakers actually made a provision in the budget for about N100 billion for petrol and another N45.52 billion for household kerosene fuel subsidy even though President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to sign the 2015 Appropriation Bill into law.
She said that the expenditure so far made was legal, as the constitution authorises the government to incur such expenses within the first six months of a fiscal year.
She said the final budget of N4.493tillion approved by the National Assembly was higher by N51billion than the N4.425trillion draft Appropriation submitted by the President last year.
The minister added that gross federally collectible revenue increased by N169.84bn, from N9.61tn to N9.78tn as a direct result of raising the benchmark price.
Meanwhile, the Minister has denied that Federal workers were owed salaries, saying that workers’ salaries have been up to date till April.
The spokesperson to the Minister, Paul Nwabuikwu, said the difficulty in salary payment was being orchestrated by some governors, who are trying to blame the Federal for their predicament.
“The 50 per cent drop in revenues, which affects allocations through the Federation Accounts, simply means that salaries should be prioritize.” [myad]
Pep Guardiola suffered a nightmare return to Camp Nou as the Messi’s double and a late Neymar strike condemned Bayern Munich to a 3-0 defeat
Two moments of magic from Lionel Messi and a late finish from Neymar gave Barcelona a 3-0 win over Bayern Munich today, in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final.
Two senior officials of the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory, Muhammed Yau Gital and Sani Abba, have been accused of conspiring and defrauding one Chief Duru Mike Ejiogu, managing director of Visioni and Strauss Nigeria Limited of N60 Million on the pretext that the said sum would be used to facilitate the change of Land Use in respect of Plot No: 523, Cadastral Zone BOO Kukwaba District from Passive Recreation to Residential.
Yau Gital was the former Chief of Staff to the Federal Capital Territory Minister, Bala Mohammed while Sani Abba is the Deputy Director, Mass Housing at the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA.
The two are expected to be charged to High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Jabi tomorrow by the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) for land scam. [myad]
In what appears to be an unusual step to demonstrate his leadership style, the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, has directed police and military security personnel attached to him to always respect traffic regulations during his movements. General Buhari was quoted to have said he would be guided by and abide with the laws as part of the philosophy of his administration. “Without leadership by example, ordinary citizens would become copycats of the lawlessness of their leaders. The arrogance of power, lawlessness and disregard for the rights and convenience of fellow citizens would have no place in my government.” According to Buhari in a statement from his media office, signed by Garba Shehu, for leaders to inspire respect, they must obey the laws of country. General Buhari said that when leaders treat the country’s laws with contempt, they might send the wrong message to the citizens even as he lamented over a situation where fellow citizens are punished at traffic points and public roads because of the “arrogant lawlessness of the leaders.” He said that in a democracy, leaders should not inflict inconveniences and other unbearable ordeals on the citizens for their own comfort. The President-elect advised his military and police security personnel to be in tune with his philosophy of “bringing the rule of law in the conduct of leaders during their movements on public roads.”
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