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Marketers, Labor Warn As FG Pushes Refineries Repairs To Buhari’s Successor

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2 years ago

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Subsidies will not be removed until refineries are operational under the next administration, says Sylva

President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will not be able to complete the repairs to the comatose refineries, and the next government would be expected to do so.

Timipre Sylva, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, stated this on NTA’s Good Morning Nigeria show on Tuesday.

The Trade Union Congress, on the other hand, reiterated its warning to the Federal Government not to remove fuel subsidies until domestic crude oil refining begins.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, for its part, warned that unless refineries were repaired, fuel prices would rise.

Earlier on the NTA, the minister said he was hopeful that the Buhari regime would be able to complete 60 percent of the repair of the two Port Harcourt refineries before leaving office while the ones at Warri and Kaduna would take much longer.

Sylva said, “We agreed from the very beginning that the completion date will overflow into the next administration but we agreed that there are milestones. We expect that by the end of this year, in Port Harcourt, we expect to achieve at least 60 percent of the capacity production from Port Harcourt.

“We are hoping that by the end of next year, the rehabilitation will have been completed. Of course, Warri and Kaduna started after Port Harcourt refineries and of course, it is going to progress at a slower pace.

“But I believe that at the end of the year, all the refineries – Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna – will be operating at a certain capacity. I cannot tell you what capacity it will be operating by the time we leave but they will all be at least partially functional and we expect that since governance is a continuum, the next government will take up from wherever we stop and get it to the finishing line.”

The minister maintained that subsidy removal was the best way to attract investments into the oil sector and fight petrol theft but said Buhari wanted to protect Nigerians who were already suffering.

Sylva stated, “We are still very much committed to subsidy removal. It is just the timing that we are saying ok. Let us re-jig the timing. If it was six months, let us be given a longer time. Every other aspect of the Petroleum Industry Act is moving on.”

The minister described as unfortunate the N3tn petrol subsidy budget for 2022.

He said the money could have been used to achieve more important things that would have a direct impact on the lives of Nigerians.

“Look at it. N3tn is budgeted. You can imagine if this N3tn was budgeted for something else. Do you know what that means for the country? Who is going to benefit from this?” he asked.

Sylva said in countries like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, the petrol subsidy had been scrapped.

He argued that even when the refineries are working, they will continue to operate at a loss unless subsidy payment and price regulation stops.

The minister said by the time the Dangote refinery is inaugurated and Nigeria completes the repair of the government-owned refineries, Nigeria should be producing about one million barrels of refined crude oil per day.

He, however, said the Dangote refinery would not crash the price of petrol significantly because it would be selling petrol at an international price.

“Dangote yes started his refinery under a subsidy regime. But if you notice, it was carefully planned as an export refinery and that is why it is in a free zone. It is by his port because he is not refining to sell at a loss as the other refineries were designed to do.

“He designed his to sell at a profit internationally mostly. If we are to buy from him, we will also buy at the international market (rate). The only saving that we will make is the cost of freight. So, that is Dangote’s own model. It would not function under a subsidy regime. So, it is agreed that no refinery in the world can survive in a subsidy regime,” Sylva added.

Reacting to the minister’s statement, oil marketers said it was unfortunate that the policies of the government had remained unstable, adding that stakeholders were dismayed by the minister’s comment.

Without repairing refineries, fuel price hike imminent – Marketers

“Stakeholders are frowning upon such statements and are dismayed by this because the policies of the government are not stable. Implementation is always another different thing,” the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated.

He told one of our correspondents that the statement showed that the government was not ready to push for the implementation of its policies in the oil sector.

Chinedu said, “I once told you that if care is not taken petrol will sell above N200/liter soon and people were calling me, including government officials, to ask what the basis of my claim was.

“And I told them that once our naira suffers, it will be very difficult for us to continue to subsidize petrol. And it is this same ideology and policy of the government at every point in time that we are suffering.

“When the government is not ready to push policies, they will want to implement something that is being done on the periphery, something that they are only doing on a PowerPoint display.”

Ukadike added, “After putting over N100bn on Port Harcourt refinery, up till now that plant has not produced one drop of petrol, diesel, or kerosene. And we are all depending on the importation of petroleum products.

“How will the country survive like this? So we the stakeholders are just in a state of dismay. Even on the issue of subsidy, the government is just going forward and backward on it.”

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BIG STORY

BREAKING: EFCC To Arraign Sirika, Daughter, Two Others On  Thursday Over Alleged N2.7bn Fraud

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51 mins ago

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May 8, 2024

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Former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, his daughter, Fatimah, and two other suspects, will on Thursday be arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The suspects are facing charges over alleged N2.7 billion contract fraud uncovered in the Aviation Ministry under Sirika.

The embattled former Minister would be arraigned for trial for the first time, before Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday.

Sirika is billed to appear in court with his three co-defendants, his daughter, Fatima; one Jalal Hamma, and Al-Duraq Investment Ltd, on charges of abusing their positions to launder over N2.7 billion.

 

More to come…

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BIG STORY

FG Reacts To Binance $150m Bribe Claim, Says It’s An Act Of Blackmail

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3 hours ago

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May 8, 2024

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  • Bribery Allegation Part Of Orchestrated International Campaign To Discredit Nigerian Government – FG

 

The federal government has accused Binance of blackmail after the company alleged officials demanded $150 million in cryptocurrency payments as a bribe to settle the prosecution of its executives in Nigeria.

The CEO of Binance, Richard Teng, stated on Tuesday that some unidentified individuals in Nigeria have demanded large sums in cryptocurrency in order to “go away” from their troubles in that nation.

Teng’s accusation came after the company’s head of financial crime compliance, Tigran Gambaryan, and regional manager for Africa, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were taken into custody in Nigeria on February 28.

The two executives were detained as part of a probe bordering on Binance’s illegal operations in Nigeria and foreign exchange rate manipulations.

While criminal charges have been filed against Binance and Gambaryan, Anjarwalla fled detention on March 22.

However, Anjarwalla was reportedly arrested by the Kenya Police Service in April and the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is working towards extraditing him to Nigeria.

In a statement by Rabiu Ibrahim, special assistant to the minister of information and national orientation, the government said the allegation by Binance is an attempt by the cryptocurrency exchange to launder its impaired image as an organisation that does not play by the rules and laws guiding business conduct in sovereign nations.

“In a blog post that has now been published by many international media organisations, in an apparent well-coordinated public relations effort, Binance Chief Executive Officer Richard Teng made false allegations of bribery against unidentified Nigerian government officials who he claimed demanded $150m in cryptocurrency payments to resolve the ongoing criminal investigation against the company,” the ministry said.

“This claim by Binance CEO lacks any iota of substance. It is nothing but a diversionary tactic and an attempted act of blackmail by a company desperate to obfuscate the grievous criminal charges it is facing in Nigeria.

“The facts of this matter remain that Binance is being investigated in Nigeria for allowing its platform to be used for money laundering, terrorism financing, and foreign exchange manipulation through illegal trading.

“While this lawful investigation was going on, an executive of Binance, who was in court-sanctioned protective custody, escaped from Nigeria, and he is now a fugitive from the law. Working with the security agencies in Nigeria, Interpol is currently executing an international arrest warrant on the said fugitive.”

The ministry said the bribery allegation is part of an orchestrated international campaign by Binance to undermine the Nigerian government.

The ministry said Binance is facing criminal prosecution in many countries including the United States.

“Just a week ago, the founder and former CEO of Binance, Changpeng Zhao, was sentenced to prison in the United States, after pleading guilty to charges very similar to what Binance is being investigated for in Nigeria. In addition, Zhao agreed to pay a fine of $50 million, while Binance is liable for $4.3 billion in fines and forfeitures to the US Government,” the government said.

“We would like to remind Binance that it will not clear its name in Nigeria by resorting to fictional claims and mudslinging media campaigns. The only way to resolve its issues will be by submitting itself to unobstructed investigation and judicial due process.”

The ministry said the Nigerian government will continue to act within its laws and international norms and will not succumb to any form of blackmail from any entity, local or foreign.

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BIG STORY

CBN Orders Suspension Of Charges On Cash Deposits

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6 hours ago

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May 8, 2024

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Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a circular, dated May 6, 2024, directing banks to suspend the collection of processing fees on cash deposits until September 30, 2024.

The circular, signed by the Director of Banking Supervision, Adetona Adedeji, was issued in response to concerns raised by bank customers over the collection of processing fees for cash deposits that began on May 1.

Banks were previously required to charge two percent on deposits above NN500,000 for individuals, and two percent on deposits above N3m for corporate account holders.

However, the CBN has now instructed financial and non-financial institutions to suspend these charges until the end of September 2024. This move is expected to ease the financial burden on bank customers and promote cash deposits in the country.

“Please refer to our letter dated December 11, 2023, referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/016/023 on the above subject, suspending processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for Individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates as contained in the “Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions” issued on December 20, 2019,” CBN said.

“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby extends the suspension of the processing fees of two per cent and three per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds until September 30, 2024.”

The apex bank directed financial institutions to continue to accept all cash deposits from the public without any charges till the end of the third quarter.

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