Nigeria News
$10.9 billion Lost to Crude Oil Theft in 2 Years – NEITI
By Chineme Okafor
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) Monday painted a worrisome picture of the effects of oil theft on Nigerian economy, saying the nation has lost over 136 million barrels of crude oil estimated at $ 10.9 billion through pilfering and sabotage from 2009 to 2011.
According to the organisation, in addition to the total amount of products and revenue lost to crude oil theft by the country in the upstream sector, about 10 million barrels of products, valued at $ 894 million, were also lost to pipeline vandalism in the downstream sector within the period under consideration.
It stated that the figure of losses in crude oil theft by the country represents about 7.7 per cent of the total revenue accrued to the federation within the period. NEITI reeled out the figures from its 2009 to 2011 audit report of operations in Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, which it presented in Abuja.
NEITI has for the first time in its audit of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, delved into identifying the impacts of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism on the country’s petroleum sector following a rise in the trend.
It however explained that it considered the figures to be very significant with respect to its needs by the Nigerian economy.
Chairman of the National Stakeholder Working Group (NSWG) of NEITI, Mr. Ledum Mitee, who presented the comprehensive report Monday, stated that the document also made salient findings on reasons for the decline in government crude oil production, crude lifting and revenues accruable to the federation.
One of such reasons identified in the report for the decline in crude oil production is the issue of inadequate funding of Joint Venture (JV) operations.
Mitee said NEITI had within its limits of mandate examined the level of transparency over the actual value of the controversial Oil Prospecting Licence (OPL) 245 and other transactions that might have occurred but could not get adequate information on the transaction from the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).
The transaction between Shell and Malabu Oil and Gas over OPL 245 has been controversial and has attracted both national and international attention.
According to the report, over 136 million barrels of oil, which are estimated at $ 10.9 billion, were either stolen or sabotaged within the period under review.
Giving a breakdown of crude oil production figures, Mitee said: “Nigeria recorded a total crude oil production of over 2.5 billion barrels, an increase of 4.8 per cent over 2006-2008 period. This is made up of 780.9 million barrels in 2009.
“This figure rose to 894.5 million barrels in 2010 and slightly declined to 866.2 million barrels in 2011. From this production, the federation earned a total revenue of $ 143.5 billion from equity crude sales, royalty, signature bonuses and taxes.
“The report also disclosed that Nigeria made total subsidy payments of N3 trillion to importers of refined petroleum products. This is made up of N1.4 trillion fuel subsidy claims by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for the period 2009-2011 and a total of N1.60 trillion paid to other marketers during the same period.”
The report observed that the disparity between subsidy claims paid from the Federation Account and that done by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) was N175.9 billion during the same period.
On its analysis of depot balances for imported petroleum products, Mitee said: “Other key findings made by the audit include poor inventory management, which accounted for the difficulty in determining depot balances for imported products.”
The report noted that the amount of N4.423 billion being over-recovery collected from some marketers is yet to be remitted to the Federation Account, while the NNPC and two other companies are yet to refund N3.715 billion being over-recovery for the period under review.
NEITI also discovered a lingering worrisome situation where there is no agreed pricing methodology between NNPC and the companies for the determination of fiscal values for royalty and PPT computations.
“In addition, the MoU for joint venture partners, which expired in 2008, is yet to be renewed, yet the companies covered by JV are still using the expired MoU in their transactions with Nigeria, resulting in a difference between NNPC and covered entity positions of over $ 1.7 billion between 2009-2011, which were reported by the auditors as revenue losses to the federation. It is pertinent to note that both parties are in discussion to resolve the matter,” the report added.
On OPL 245, Mitee said: “The goal was to place the whole transaction, as far as possible, on the scale of transparency, accountability and due process. This includes examination of the bid process; signature bonus paid (if any) and established what was paid and credited to government and amount swept to the Federation Account.
“The report established that Shell made a payment of $ 207 million which the company (Shell) claimed was a balance of payment as signature bonus on the said oil block (OPL 245). From the report earlier published, the company had earlier made an initial payment of USD $ 2.004 million. SPDC also provided evidence of payment.”
The report equally observed that all of the country’s refineries are currently operating below capacity resulting in a situation where 80 per cent of crude oil allocated to local refineries is exported for offshore processing, and product exchange.
Meanwhile, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has invited the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Mr. Andrew Yakubu, to explain the corporation’s alleged refusal to remit a total of $ 8.476 billion as pointed out by previous NEITI audit reports.
The NNPC is said to have received $ 4.84 billion as dividends and repayment from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), which it was yet to remit to the Federation Account, the report also revealed that the corporation received another $ 3.99 billion without remitting it to the Federation Account.
Okonjo-Iweala said Monday at the presentation of the report that she would discuss the issue with Yakubu, adding that a robust discussion with the NNPC boss would be initiated.
She said: “GMD, you are welcome back. I missed you because I was citing some of the words from NEITI and I said some of us are assembled here (the right people) because they pointed out some remittances from NLNG, amounting to over $ 8 billion for a period of time -2006-2009 – which we need to discuss.
“As the Minister of Finance, I don’t want it on the floor here. We need a very robust conversation about this money because I can depend on it as a Minister of Finance; that is additional revenue.”
Also speaking at the presentation of the report, Yakubu reiterated the corporation’s commitment to work with NEITI in the pursuit of its mandate in ensuring transparency and accountability in the oil and gas industry in particular and the extractive industry in general.
He said as a public entity, the corporation was committed to the cardinal objective of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda, which is anchored on reforms, transparency and accountability.
He added that the NNPC is excited to partner NEITI because the agency’s concept is based on best practices that the extractive industry requires to carry out its functions.
A statement from the acting General Manager, Public Affairs of NNPC, Tumini Green, Monday in Abuja quoted Yakubu to have commented on some of the issues raised at the presentation of the audit report.
Yakubu assured industry stakeholders that all the questions highlighted in the report, including the NLNG dividend payments, would be studied by the corporation and appropriate response provided.
He explained that the corporation has “renewed vigour” to support anything that would add value to the Nigerian economy.
“I am glad that the chairman in his remark clearly stated that there is a remarkable improvement between the past and today.
“So we will get there. There are some issues that are not within our jurisdiction; we will look at the report and those issues that are within our jurisdiction shall be looked into and adequate explanation given,” Yakubu added.
He also expressed delight that the audit has gone beyond just figures to look into the hostile environment in which NNPC operates.
According to him, “The report talks about tracing the hydrocarbon molecule in the value chain to derive premium value for Nigeria.
“We are happy to note that the chairman took cognisance of the hostile environment we operate in, including the persistent pipeline vandalism.”
Thisday
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: Citizens Platform
DisNaija.Com publishes regular posts on Nigeria News, Nigerian Newspapers, Online Nigeria Gist.
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
Nigeria News
Follow @Dis_Naija
Your Opinion Counts. Be sure To Leave A Comment, If You Have Any.
Please Like, Share or Tweet. Your Support Is Appreciated.
The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune
%22%20transform%3D%22translate(.6%20.6)%20scale(1.17188)%22%20fill-opacity%3D%22.5%22%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%23fff%22%20cx%3D%2249%22%20cy%3D%2290%22%20rx%3D%2269%22%20ry%3D%22101%22%2F%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%233e4b5a%22%20rx%3D%221%22%20ry%3D%221%22%20transform%3D%22matrix(18.18098%20254.35104%20-65.5502%204.68552%20198.3%20212)%22%2F%3E%3Cpath%20fill%3D%22%233e98e1%22%20d%3D%22M207.7-5.3l55.5-7.8%2023%20164.4-55.4%207.8z%22%2F%3E%3Cellipse%20fill%3D%22%2353aeed%22%20rx%3D%221%22%20ry%3D%221%22%20transform%3D%22matrix(-2.12327%20-30.36412%20119.36714%20-8.34696%2035.4%20194.8)%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fg%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
UFC: Usman gets N584m after beating Masvidal
Insecurity: Lagos bans occupation of abandoned buildings
Buhari Will Win In 2019: US Institute
The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) has predicted that President Muhammadu Buhari will win the 2019 election. The organisation...
Why Buhari Deserves Second Term – Lai Mohammed
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said that President Muhammadu Buhari deserved second term election because,...
Atiku Presidential Campaign Council: PDP Releases List of Members
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday released the list of party members to handle the campaign team of the...
Obasanjo Forgives Atiku, Endorses Him For President
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday said he has reviewed his stance on not backing his former deputy for the...
Buhari, Atiku In Battle Of Integrity Over 2019 Poll
THE brickbats continued yesterday between President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. The All Progressives Congress (APC) and...