News
FG’s Inaction Threatens $37bn LNG Projects
The Federal Government has been accused of undermining the take-off of the $12 billion Nigeria LNG’s Train 7, $10 billion Olokola LNG and the $15 billion Brass LNG projects.
A business intelligent firm, Oxford Business Group, had in a recent report estimated the total cost of the three LNG projects at $37 billion, and experts had expressed worry that continuous political interference from the Federal Government would further jeopardise these projects.
Though the $12 billion NLNG Train 7 project is considered as the most economical of all the three LNG investments, sources identified government interest in Brass NLNG located in Bayelsa State as the factor delaying the entire $37 billion LNG projects.
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, owns 49 per cent each in NLNG and Brass LNG, and experts have said the President Goodluck Jonathan-administration might be more disposed to having Brass LNG take off before NLNG’s seventh train.
The Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director, NLNG, Mr. Babs Omotowa, had recently said $10 billion had been lost to the delay in reaching a final investment decision for the train seven project.
When completed, he said the seventh train would enable the company to add some eight million metric tonnes to its current production capacity and increase annual output to 30 million metric tonnes.
He said, “The Train 7 is potentially capable of mopping up and exporting some more of the currently flared gas, and yielding an estimated $2.5 billion in revenues.
“On balance, it is clear to us at NLNG that Train 7 is an enterprise which all shareholders and stakeholders should support and pursue with vigour, for the simple reason that its outcome will be good for Nigeria and for our business,” he said.
The NLNG boss, however, did not give specific details as to when the FID for the seventh NLNG train would be taken.
NLNG is jointly owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49 per cent), Shell (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Ltd (15 per cent) and Eni (10.4 per cent).
Backed by NNPC (49 per cent), Agip/ENI (17 per cent), Total (17 per cent) and ConocoPhillips (17 per cent), the $15 billion Brass LNG facility was planned to consist two trains with a capacity of 5.5m tonnes per year (with an additional two-train option).
The FID on the Brass LNG project suffered major setbacks when ConocoPhillips, in 2013, announced the intention to divest its Nigerian assets.
“As a result, Brass LNG is now seeking third-party investors to take on the remaining 17 per cent stake” OBG said.
The source said, “With the exit of ConocoPhillips from the Brass LNG project, it has been challenging finding who will replace ConocoPhillips and take over its shareholding. The shareholding of ConocoPhillips has been marketed globally and no company has shown an interest.”
Before ConocoPhillips’ exit, the Chairman, Board of Brass Liquefied Natural Gas, Dr. Jackson Gaius-Obaseki, had expressed the hope that the project would take off on or before the end of the first quarter of 2013.
It was, however, not to be as the exit of ConocoPhillips created a vacuum that must be filled before the project could take off.
The FID on the Brass LNG project had suffered several postponements as it should have been taken in December 2006 and later in December 2008. It was also postponed to the first quarter of 2011 with construction expected to start by mid-2011. It was later postponed in 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, in 2006, facilitated the $10 billion Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas project overlapping the states of Ondo and Ogun and adjacent to the OK-Free Trade Zone under development.
The 12.6m-tonnes-per-annum facility, consists of four trains backed by the NNPC (49 per cent), Chevron (19 per cent), Shell (19 per cent) and the United Kingdom’s BG Group (13 per cent).
A Final Investment Decision was delayed after BG pulled out of the project in May 2012.
OKLNG’s fate was further put on hold when Chevron Nigeria Limited and Shell withdrew from the project.
Chevron had blamed its exit on the lack of progress on the project, eight years after its inception.
The General Manager, Policy, Government & Public Affairs, CNL, Mr. Deji Haastrup, confirmed in a statement that the company effectively pulled out of the project on July 31, 2013. The statement also confirmed that Shell pulled out of the OKLNG project on July 31, 2013.
The source, who reiterated that political interference was one of the major challenges facing the projects, said that OKLNG projects were on the front burner during the Obasanjo administration, but argued that attention shifted to Brass LNG since the former president left office.
Obasanjo, who seemed to have lent credence to this in his recent open letter to Jonathan, said, “some of our development partners were politically frustrated to withdraw from the Olokola LNG project, which happily was not yet the same with the Brass. I initiated them both. They were viable and would have taken us close to Qatar as LNG producing country.
Nigeria, which is the Saudi of Africa in oil and gas terms, is being overtaken by Angola only because necessary decisions are not made timely and appropriately.”
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two long trailers heading for Kano as it intensified efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to cannabis shipments from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and other suspects in coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.
According to the statement, the latest intelligence-led operation came barely one week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol concealed in the false-bottom compartment of a truck that entered Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said, “Ongoing efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo, through Benin Republic into Nigeria have yielded another success with the interception of two long trailers used to move One Million Six Hundred and Thirty (1,630,000) pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in fabricated compartments of the trucks across multiple borders into Lagos.”
He added that one of the two trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor.
Babafemi said, “One of the two trucks already heading to Kano was tracked and located on 2nd July 2026 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway where NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver Jabir Kabiru.”
He further disclosed that another trailer was intercepted two days later on the same route.
“Two days later, 4th July, NDLEA operatives acting on processed intelligence successfully tracked and recovered the second trailer from the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway while heading to Kano. A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver Muhammed Nuhu arrested,” the statement read.
According to Babafemi, investigations established a link between the three intercepted consignments.
He said, “Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on 21st June, 2nd July and 4th July belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.”
The agency also intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Babafemi said, “Two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, with a combined weight of 4.70 kilograms have been intercepted at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos. The cargoes, which arrived the Lagos airport from Canada in cartons with ‘Odugwu’ boldly written on them, came aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on 24th June and 3rd July respectively.”
He said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after arriving at a logistics company to take delivery of the consignments.
The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has denied claims that it has commenced registration for a purported ?50,000 National Support Allowance.
The ministry, in a public notice posted on its official X handle, yesterday, described messages, links and websites advertising the alleged programme as fraudulent.
It urged Nigerians to disregard such claims and verify information only through official government channels.
“The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction has NOT commenced registration for any ?50,000 National Support Allowance,” the ministry said.
It added, “Disregard fraudulent messages, links and websites claiming otherwise. Verify any info only through official govt channels.”
The alert is in response to a circulating scam flyer that falsely claims the program is ongoing under President Bola Tinubu’s directives.
The fake advertisement, which includes text in Hausa and English, directs victims to a suspicious website (kluspz.com) for applications.
The ministry’s warning comes amid heightened concerns over digital fraud targeting vulnerable populations seeking social support.
Similar scams have previously surfaced around programs like N-Power, prompting questions from citizens in replies to the official post.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has expressed its preparedness for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, hinted at this while making his remarks at the commissioning of the Comrade Godwin Abumisi Pensioners Legacy House and Multipurpose Hall in Abuja.
Ajaero said it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
He advised workers and pensioners to get prepared for the ideological and economic battles that lie ahead.
According to the NLC president, “The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) is one of the proud affiliates of the Nigeria Labour Congress. Therefore, your struggle is our struggle, and your welfare remains a priority for the organised labour movement.
“We are currently in the preparatory stages for a major national struggle for a comprehensive review of the national minimum wage.
“However, let me state unequivocally that it is no longer acceptable to discuss the welfare of workers without also discussing the welfare of those who have completed their active years of service.
“Accordingly, the Nigeria Labour Congress will not only push for a new national minimum wage but will also demand the establishment of a national minimum pension. It is a historical injustice that men and women who devoted their youth, strength and productive years to the service of this nation should be condemned to live below the poverty line after retirement.”
Ajaero noted that the cost of living has risen astronomically as food, healthcare and transportation have become increasingly unaffordable.
“We cannot continue to allow our senior citizens to survive on pensions that have become poverty wages. Every retiree deserves to live with dignity after decades of faithful service to the nation,” he said.
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He urged pensioners across the country to remain united and prepared as the process begins, adding: “This Legacy House should not merely be seen as a physical structure; it should become a centre for mobilisation, strategic engagement and solidarity as we prepare for the struggles ahead.”
The NLC president pointed out that the working class has always understood that “those who exploit workers are united in advancing their interests. We too must remain united in defending our collective interests and ensuring that government fulfils its obligations to both serving workers and retirees.”
He said the completion of the project should serve as a clarion call to all workers and lovers of the masses.
“We must not only build physical structures but also build a strong movement capable of compelling government to honour its commitments,” he said.
Ajaero further stated: “We will continue to demand the immediate payment of all outstanding pension arrears and the implementation of a pension regime that guarantees every retiree a life of dignity and security.
“Together, we shall continue to fight until every Nigerian worker and pensioner receives the justice, respect and welfare they deserve.”
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