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  • NLC Mobilises For Protest Over Planned Re-Classification Of Minimum Wage

    NLC Mobilises For Protest Over Planned Re-Classification Of Minimum Wage

    The Nigeria Labour Congress has said it will embark on a nationwide protest on March 10, 2021 over moves by the National Assembly to remove the national minimum wage from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.

     

    The Congress said the protest would be held in the 36 states Houses of Assembly in reaction to the plans by the House of Representatives to alter the present wage structure, which gave the Federal Government the power to negotiate minimum wage for workers in the country.

     

    Rising from an emergency National Executive Council meeting in Abuja on Tuesday, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, vowed that the Congress would resist “any attempt to exterminate Nigeria’s working class.’’

     

    The House of Representatives had last week debated a bill to remove the powers to negotiate wage matters from the exclusive to the concurrent list, citing the inability of state governors to pay the N30,000 minimum wage for the move.

     

    But reacting to the development, Wabba stated that the workers would not watch “hard-fought rights which are global standards bastardised by opportunistic and narrow- thinking politicians.”

     

    According to a communique jointly signed by Wabba and the acting General Secretary of the NLC, Ismail Bello, the bill is an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s working class.

     

    He said, “The NEC decided that there will be a national protest action commencing from March 10, 2021 in the Federal Capital Territory and especially to the National Assembly.

     

    “The NEC decided that should the need arise, it has empowered the National Administrative Council of the NLC to declare and enforce a national strike action,  especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.”

     

     

  • Three Million Nigerians Lose N18bn To Ponzi Schemes – SEC

    Three Million Nigerians Lose N18bn To Ponzi Schemes – SEC

    Over three million Nigerians have lost about N18bn through Ponzi schemes, the Securities and Exchange Commission stated on Tuesday.

     

    Director-General, SEC, Lamido Yuguda, made this known during a webinar organised by the commission.

     

    Ponzi schemes are fraudulent investing scams which generate returns for early investors with money taken from later investors.

     

    They are similar to pyramid schemes in that both are based on using new investors’ funds to pay the earlier backers.

     

    Speaking at the webinar, Yuguda said, “Ponzi schemes operate with unsustainable operating models that ultimately lead to huge losses for investors.

     

    “Following the collapse of the MMM Ponzi scheme, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation had estimated that over three million Nigerians lost about N18bn.”

  • Fuel Queues Return Over Looming Price Hike

    Fuel Queues Return Over Looming Price Hike

    The queues for petrol grew worse in some parts of the country on Sunday following the shutdown of many filling stations amid heightened expectations of an increase in the pump price of the product.

     

    The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, had on February 9 said Nigerians should prepare for the pain associated with the increase in crude oil price.

     

    The international oil price, Brent crude, rose by more than 14 per cent in February as it closed at $64.42 per barrel, up from $56.42 per barrel at the start of the month.

     

    Motorists besieged the few outlets that were open for business in Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger and Borno states, while some others that had dispensed petrol the previous day were locked on Sunday.

     

    Two weeks ago, queues of motorists were seen in many locations after oil marketers raised concerns about petrol pricing by depot owners and how this affected petroleum products supply.

     

    The queues resurfaced on Saturday and Sunday, as only few filling stations were dispensing petrol while others were shut.

     

    Some attendants at some of the shut outlets told one of our correspondents that they were not selling petrol because the cost of the product would be increased from March.

     

    Nipco and Gegu filling stations, along the Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, Abuja, had long queues of motorists on Sunday, while IBWAS filling station on the same road that had earlier dispensed products was shut.

     

    Similarly, Major Oil filling station, along Airport Road, Abuja, which had steadily dispensed products up till Saturday, did not sell petrol on Sunday.

     

    Shema Oil, close to Next Cash ‘N’ Carry in Abuja; NNPC outlet in Zuba, Niger State, and few other filling stations in Nyanya/Mararaba in Nasarawa State had queues.

     

    “We have not been advised of any increase in petrol price. Many filling stations are not selling petrol perhaps because they have run out of stock or they are hoarding the product in anticipation of price increase,” the National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Mike Osatuyi, said.

     

    Osatuyi, who spoke with one of our correspondents, said he observed queues in some stations in Lagos on Sunday.

     

    “The outcome of the meeting between the President and the governors is not yet known. There will certainly be an increase in petrol price but we don’t know when this will happen,” he added.

     

    In Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, motorists and other users of petrol were hit by scarcity of petrol on Sunday as fuel stations were shut down.

     

    Fuel stations located along major highways, including Kano Jos road, Shehu Laminu way and Baga road, were not dispensing petrol, while motorists queued for hours at the filling stations that were selling the product.

     

    Many commuters were stranded at bus stops in Maiduguri as motorists struggled at filling stations to get petrol.

     

    “They said there is no fuel but they sell to black marketers; they have refused to sell to us. I have been here since 6:45am because my experience yesterday (Saturday) was horrible as I couldn’t get fuel. I’ve been here for over four hours and I have not got the product,” a tricycle operator, Abubakar Shettima, told one of our correspondents.

     

    When contacted, the Chairman, IPMAN, Borno, Mohammed Ngala, denied that independent marketers were hoarding petrol, adding that Borno had been experiencing a shortage in recent days.

     

    “Right now, we sell petrol at N165-N170 per litre. But the product is not enough to serve the populace. We don’t hoard fuel,” he said.

     

    The Coalition of Nigerian Civil Society Organisations for Petroleum and Energy Security called on the Federal Government to fully deregulate the downstream oil sector to address the concerns about petroleum products’ pricing.

     

    The Convener of the CSOs coalition, Timothy Ademola, said they had decided to interface with the Federal Government and agencies in the oil sector on the need for deregulation.

     

    He said, “Let the forces of demand and supply be allowed to play out in the pricing of petroleum products. This is when we can say we have full deregulation.

     

    “We are ready to partner government, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Department of Petroleum Resources and other agencies to make this work.”

     

    The Managing Director, Realink Oil Nigeria Limited/National Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, had said in an interview with one of our correspondents last week that depot owners were hoarding products due to the concern of a possible hike in petrol price.

     

    He said petrol price would definitely rise, going by the increase in global crude oil prices.

     

    But the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency was silent on whether there would be an increase in petrol price in March as expected by marketers.

     

    PPPRA’s spokesperson, Kimchi Apollo, told one of our correspondents that he had not received any directive in that regard.

     

    The PUNCH had reported last Tuesday that going by the petrol pricing template of the PPPRA, the landing cost of petrol rose to N186.33 per litre on February 16, with the pump price of the product expected to be N209.33 per litre.

     

    Reacting to complaints by marketers that some private depots had hiked the ex-depot price of petrol and that this would definitely warrant an increase in pump price, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation said it had not raised its ex-depot price yet.

     

    Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Kennie Obateru, said the NNPC had made it clear that it was awaiting the outcome of the proposed meeting between the Federal Government and labour unions as touching the price of petrol.

     

    “We have not increased ex-depot price. It is now left for the regulatory agencies to ensure that the approved ex-depot price is what the various depots stick to,” Obateru told one of our correspondents.

     

    On how the meeting between the Federal Government and labour would affect petrol price, the NNPC spokesperson said, “We are also watching to see the outcome of that meeting before taking the next step.”

     

    Efforts to the get the Department of Petroleum Resources to speak on what it was doing to address the complaints against depot owners was not successful.

     

    The spokesperson for the agency, Paul Osu, did not answer calls to his phone and also did not reply a detailed text sent to him on the matter.

  • Food Prices Soar in January, Says NBS

    Food Prices Soar in January, Says NBS

    There was a general rise in food prices in January, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

     

    The NBS said this in its report titled ‘Selected food prices watch for January 2021’, which was released on Friday.

     

    It said, “Selected food price watch data for January 2021 reflected that the average price of one dozen of agric eggs medium size increased year-on-year by 12.48 per cent and month-on month by 2.26 per cent to N510.84 in January 2021 from N499.55 in December 2020.

     

    “The average price of piece of agric eggs medium size (price of one) increased year-on-year by 15.03 per cent and month-on-month by 1.79 per cent to N46.21 in January 2021 from N45.40 in December 2020.”

     

    The NBS added, “The average price of 1kg of tomato increased year-on-year by 22.11 per cent and decreased month-on-month by -6.59 per cent to N289.66 in January 2021 from N310.10 in December 2020.

     

    “The average price of 1kg of rice (imported high quality sold loose) increased year-on-year by 21.69 per cent and month-on-month by 0.11 per cent to N551.57 in January 2021 from N550.94 in December 2020.

     

    “Similarly, the average price of 1kg of yam tuber increased year-on-year by 21.56 per cent and month on month by 0.51 per cent to N234.67 in January 2021 from N233.48 in December 2020.”

     

    The NBS had earlier disclosed that the consumer price index, which measures inflation, increased by 16.47 per cent (year-on-year) in January.

     

    This was the highest inflation rate recorded in the country since April 2017.

     

    According to the NBS, the figure is 0.71 per cent points higher than the rate recorded in December 2020 (15.75 per cent).

  • Discos Receive 407,622 Complaints From Customers In Six Months

    Discos Receive 407,622 Complaints From Customers In Six Months

    Electricity distribution companies in the country received a total of 407,622 complaints from their customers in the first half of 2020, the latest data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission have shown.

     

    Customers of the 11 Discos lodged 204,506 complaints in the first quarter of 2020 and 203,116 complaints in Q2, indicating an average of more than 2,200 complaints per day, according to NERC.

     

    “In total, the Discos attended to 189,684 complaints, representing an increase of 1.09 percentage points from the preceding quarter,” it said in its latest quarterly report, adding that Ibadan and Benin Discos had the lowest customers’ complaints resolution rates in the period.

     

    Enugu Disco received the highest number of customer complaints during Q2, while Yola Disco got the lowest.

     

    “It is noteworthy that both Enugu and Yola have consistently recorded the highest and the least customer complaints respectively since the second quarter of 2019,” the regulator said.

     

    It said the Discos’ customer complaints centred on service interruption, poor voltage, load shedding, metering, estimated billing, disconnection, delayed connection, among others.

     

    “The number of complaints on metering and billing increased and still dominates the customer complaints during the quarter under review,” NERC added.

     

    According to the commission, metering and billing accounted for 44.51 per cent (i.e., 90,408) of the total complaints received during Q2 2020 as against 42.96 per cent (i.e., 87,854) recorded in the preceding quarter.

     

    It said, “Another issue of serious concern to customers is service interruption and disconnection which respectively account for 20.37 per cent (41,381) and 10.55 per cent (21,427) of the total customer complaints during the quarter.

     

    “To address customers’ complaints, the commission, on a continuous basis, monitors the complaint handling and resolution process adopted by Discos.”

     

    NERC said it had been implementing some of the recommendations from the review of the Discos’ compliance with service standards conducted in 2018.

     

    According to the report, the commission is strictly monitoring the Discos’ compliance to its directive on monthly submission of their customers’ complaints reports to ensure timely regulatory interventions when necessary.

     

    The commission said it had also commenced the review of its strategy of monitoring Discos’ customers’ complaint handling and resolution process with a view to further improve its regulatory oversights on Discos’ handling of customer complaints.

     

    It said, “This includes, but not limited to, the review of the operation of the commission’s Forum Offices, which are set up to redress the customers’ complaints that are not adequately resolved by the Discos.

     

    “Similar to the category of complaints received by the Discos, billing issue topped the complaints received by the Forum Offices, accounting for 41.95 per cent of the total.”

     

    NERC said this implied that billing issue was mostly the complaint not satisfactorily resolved by Discos’ customer care units.

  • Dangote Wants Only Refinery Licence Holders To Import Fuel

    Dangote Wants Only Refinery Licence Holders To Import Fuel

    Dangote Group has suggested for inclusion in the Petroleum Industry Bill a provision that the licence to import petroleum products should be assigned only to companies with active refining licences.

     

    The company, which is building a 650,000-barrels-per-day refinery in Lagos, said this would encourage investment in local refining.

     

    The Chief Strategy Officer, Dangote Group, Aliyu Suleiman, in a presentation during a visit by members of the National Assembly’s Joint committee on PIB to the project site, highlighted several recommendations by the company.

     

    He said, “Nigeria is exceptional in being a major oil producer with near zero refining capacity.

     

    “Though the Dangote Refinery will help address this, there could be periods when petroleum products may need to be imported, such as when the refinery is undergoing turnaround maintenance or if demand grows to exceed capacity.”

     

    The company recommended that the backward integration policy should be applied in the downstream petroleum sector to encourage investment in local refining.

     

    “To support this, licence to import any product shortfalls should be assigned only to companies with active refining licences. Import volume to be allocated between participants based on their respective production in the preceding quarter. Such import will be done under the DSDP scheme,” he said.

     

    According to Dangote Group, fuel imports into Nigeria are of very low quality, and this has harmful effect on health.

     

    “It also impacts performance and durability of vehicles, especially high performance cars. ECOWAS members (including Nigeria) signed a declaration in February 2020 to adopt cleaner fuels,” it said.

     

    The company suggested that to safeguard the health of Nigerians, imported petroleum products must conform to the Afri-5 specification (50 ppm sulphur) in line with the ECOWAS declaration of February 2020 on adoption of the Afri-Fuels Roadmap.

     

    The company described the provision in the PIB for third-party access to pipelines as a source of concern

     

    “Section 113(3) mandates the regulator to ensure third party access to facilities and pipelines for midstream and downstream petroleum operations. It is not clear how this would work but it means that a third party could potentially request to use any excess capacity at the refinery, fertiliser or trading facilities,” it said.

     

    The company recommended that if this must be retained, the provision should be for tariffs to be on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis, adding, “Bill currently attempts to provide a formula for calculating this.”

  • Finally, Govt Reopens Third Mainland Bridge

    Finally, Govt Reopens Third Mainland Bridge

    As the rehabilitation works on the Third Mainland Bridge have been completed, in line with the Minister of Works earlier announcement, the Lagos State Government on Saturday announced that  the bridge is  now fully open to vehicular movement on both lanes.

     

    In a statement released by the Ministry of Transportation, the Commissioner for Transportation, Dr. Frederic Oladeinde thanked Lagosians for their understanding and cooperation during the course of the construction works, adding that removal of the equipment off the bridge was done swiftly and completed earlier than the proposed period.

     

    Recall, the rehabilitation of the bridge which was mainly to allow repair works on the worn out expansion joints on the structure of the bridge, commenced on the 24th of July, 2020 with the 1st Phase (3 months) of Lagos Island bound direction, from Lagos Island to Oworonshoki Section and the 2nd Phase (3 months), Oworonshoki bound direction, from Oworonshoki to Lagos Island Section.

     

    To adequately manage traffic on all the diversion routes during the construction period, 650 Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, (LASTMA) Officers were deployed, and 250 Officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were equally deployed for the same purpose.

     

    While commending the site engineers, traffic management officials, and safety respondents who participated in the successful completion of the project, Oladeinde assured that both the Oworonshoki and Adeniji bound lanes of the bridge are now safe for motorists’ usage.

     

    The Commissioner, therefore, advised motorists to drive with caution and regard for the stipulated traffic laws of the State. He further assured that Traffic Management Personnel would continue to execute their duties at their various zones and stations.

     

    The Transport Commissioner maintained that the State Government will not relent in the actualization of its Smart City vision.

     

    He appealed to the citizenry to continue to embrace safety as it is the focal point of the various constructions and rehabilitation of road infrastructure still ongoing in the State.

  • Electricity Consumers Get 611,231 Meters Under MAP Scheme

    Electricity Consumers Get 611,231 Meters Under MAP Scheme

    A total of 611,231 meters have been deployed as at January 31, 2021 under the Meter Asset Provider initiative since its full operation despite the COVID-19 pandemic and other extraneous factors, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC has said.

    NERC disclosed this in a consultation paper on the review of the MAP Regulations.

     

    The proposed review of the MAP scheme is coming nearly four months after the Federal Government launched a new initiative called National Mass Metering Programme aimed at distributing six million meters to consumers free of charge.

     

    “The existence of a huge metering gap and the need to ensure successful implementation of the MYTO 2020 Service-Based Tariff resulted in the approval of the NMMP, a policy of the Federal Government anchored on the provision of long-term low interest financing to the Discos,” NERC said.

     

    The commission had in March 2018 approved the MAP Regulations with the aim of fast-tracking the closure of the metering gap in the sector through the engagement of third-party investors (called meter asset providers) for the financing, procurement, supply, installation and maintenance of meters.

     

    It set a target of providing meters to all customers within three years, and directed the Discos and the approved MAPs to commence the rollout of meters not later than May 1, 2019.

     

    But in February 2020, NERC said several constraints, including changes in fiscal policy and the limited availability of long-term funding, had led to limited success in meter rollout.

     

    NERC, in the consultation paper, highlighted three proposed options for metering implementation going forward.

     

    The first option is to allow the implementation of both the NMMP and MAP metering frameworks to run concurrently; the second is to continue with the current MAP framework with meters procured under the NMMP supplied only through MAPs (by being off-takers from the local manufacturers/assemblers).

     

    The third option is to wind down the MAP framework and allow the Discos to procure meters directly from local manufacturers/assemblers (or as procured by the World Bank), and enter into new contracts for the installation and maintenance of such meters.

     

    “Customers who choose not to wait to receive meters based on the deployment schedule of the NMMP shall continue to have the option of making upfront payments for meters which will be installed within a maximum period of 10 working days,” NERC said.

    The regulator said such customers would be refunded by the Discos through energy credits, adding that there would be no option for meter acquisition through the payment of a monthly meter service charge.

     

    “Where meters have already been deployed under the meter service charge option, Discos shall make one-off repayment to affected customers and associated MAPs. Such meters shall be recognised in the rate base of the Discos,” it added.

     

    NERC urged stakeholders to provide comments, objections, and representations on the proposed amendments within 21 days of the publication of the consultation paper.

  • Nigeria Loses N151.78bn Crude Oil Monthly – NNPC

    Nigeria Loses N151.78bn Crude Oil Monthly – NNPC

    Nigeria is currently losing an average of 200,000 barrels of crude oil daily, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation stated on Wednesday.

     

    Brent, the oil against which Nigeria’s crude is priced, was $66.75 per barrel on Wednesday, while the official exchange rate of the dollar stood at 379/$.

     

    From the above figures, it showed that the country was losing about N151.79bn in 30 days, going by the 200,000 barrels of crude oil being lost daily, as revealed by NNPC.

     

    Group Managing Director, NNPC, Mele Kyari, disclosed the volume of crude oil lost daily in Nigeria while speaking at a meeting with the Chief of Defence Staff, Major General Lucky Irabor.

     

    The NNPC boss was quoted in a statement issued in Abuja by the corporation’s spokesperson, Kennie Obateru, as saying, “We have two sets of losses, one coming from our products and the other coming from crude oil.

     

    “In terms of crude losses, it is still going on. On the average, we are losing 200,000 barrels of crude every day.”

     

    On his part, Irabor promised to galvanise the military to provide maximum security for the nation’s oil and gas assets.

     

    He said, “I am delighted that you made this effort, and I tell you that the Armed Forces of Nigeria will collaborate with you to protect NNPC’s assets.”

     

    Irabor acknowledged the role of the oil and gas sector to the economy and stated that there was need for collaboration between the NNPC and the Armed Forces to protect oil and gas facilities.

     

    “It is my intention to cooperate maximally with you and to give necessary instructions to all officers in the Armed Forces,” he said.

     

    In a related development, a professor of law at the University of Lagos, Dayo Ayoade, has said the Federal Government was losing huge revenue in the upstream sector through the inadequacy of the measurement infrastructure.

     

    Between 2009 and 2019, the lecturer said, the nation lost 500 million barrels of crude oil valued at $44.7bn which was not assessed for royalty and tax.

     

    Disclosing this at a virtual meeting on illicit financial flows organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission in Abuja on Wednesday, Ayoade pointed out that Nigeria currently relied on crude oil producers for determination of crude oil volumes.

     

    He said, “Nigeria currently relies on holders and producers of crude oil for determination of volumes of crude oil.

  • Lagos Govt To Shutdown Third Mainland Bridge For 24 Hours

    Lagos Govt To Shutdown Third Mainland Bridge For 24 Hours

    The Lagos State Government has announced that there would be total closure of the third mainland bridge from midnight Friday to midnight Saturday.

     

    The Commissioner for Transportation, Dr Frederic Oladeinde who made this known in a statement made available to BUSINESS BELLS in Lagos on Wednesday, said the bridge would be closed for 24 hours.

     

    Oladeinde said the closure would enable contractors move the equipment used during the rehabilitation process of the bridge completely to allow both the Oworonshoki and Adeniji bound lanes open fully to traffic.

     

    He said the closure was necessary, having completed the replacement of the 12 expansion joints and to demobilise the superstructure of the bridge.

     

    The commissioner, therefore, advised motorists from Ogudu, Alapere and Gbagada to use Ikorodu Road, Jibowu and Yaba as alternative routes.

     

    “While Iyana Oworoshoki-bound traffic from Lagos-Island, Iddo, Oyingbo, Adekunle and Yaba are enjoined to use Herbert Macaulay Way, Jibowu and Ikorodu road as alternative routes,” he said.

     

    Oladeinde assured that Traffic Management Personnel would be deployed along the affected routes to minimise and address any traffic impediments during the closure.

     

    He commended the people of Lagos for their cooperation during the prolonged repair works of the bridge, assuring that it was now safe for use by all and sundry.