Business
Delta Gets N10bn Paris Club Fund
Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, has confirmed that the state government received the N10 billion from Federal Government, as part of its share from the second tranche of Paris Club refund of over-deductions on Paris Club, London Club loans and Multilateral debts on the accounts of States and local governments (1995-2002).
Ukah’s clarification on behalf of Delta State Government, has however put paid to earlier claims by some government officials who erroneously claimed that the state has only received half of the funds from the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, a total of N652.229 billion has also been distributed as federal allocation for the month of June 2017 to the Federal Government, state governments and local government councils.
A communiqué issued by the sub-committee of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee, FAAC of the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, at the end of the meeting held last Tuesday, July 25, 2017 in Abuja, indicated that the Gross Statutory Revenue received for the month is N570.584 billion and is higher than the N317.562 billion received in the previous month by N253.022 billion.
Responding to questions during a post Executive Council (Exco) press briefing on Wednesday, July 26, 2017, Mr. Patrick Ukah said he has not heard anything contrary to what was announced by the federal government.
“I don’t know who would have given you that information about what was received and what was not received. I know you would not act on speculations.
“On the Paris Club fund, if you go to the state website, you will get a full explanation on how the money received in the past was channeled. Please let us endeavour to go there and if you have any issue, revert back to me and I can clear with the Commissioner for Economic Planning and the Accountant, General.
“When we spend, we post. Its also submitted to ICPC. So there is a procedure and those facts are not hidden.
“On the current one, I have not heard anything contrary to what was announced, which is to say that I don’t know who told you about being half or not being full. But I’m aware that in the Paris Fund released, the local government has a share of that amount and we have backlog of salaries and when I mean salaries, I don’t mean the net pay. I mean backlog in terms of check-off systems, union dues and the likes and you also have substantially, Pension backlog and when you look at that and you see what the local government would be taking, then you will have an idea but I will not be able to give you the rato of sharing until the Economic Planning, Finance and Accountant General comes out with their records.
Some Commercial drivers in Port Harcourt have said that the Federal Government’s N1,350 fuel discount is yet to reduce their daily operating cost.
A cross session of commercial drivers who spoke to The Tide correspondents in Port Harcourt said they are yet to feel the impact of the government discount, adding that most filling stations in the city are even selling above the pump price
A driver Jude Ogbo who operates the mile 1 Rumuokoro axis of Port Harcourt said plies the discount has not reflected in his daily fuel expenses.
“Since the discount was announced, many filling stations still sell at the old price. When you go there, you discover they sell you two litres at the price of one. For now, we have not seen any reduction,”_ he said.
Another commercial driver, Comrade Ishmael Uzeho who operates within the Port Harcourt metropolis, said the discount is not being implemented across the country.
“How has the discount affected us? I will say it has not. Many stations are not working. Only NNPC is working and that is just one person in the whole country. If government really wants to help, let the fuel price go down properly,”_ he said.
Uzeho added that if the price of fuel goes down, transport fares will also go down. He noted that his route fare has remained at N500.
On his part, Mr. Moses Dapa, Supervisor at Sam Jaja Foundation Transport Company, said the company has not increased its fares despite the high cost of fuel.
“We are still running normal price. We charge N2,000 and N5,000 depending on the destination. We will not increase our price. I don’t know about other parks, but for Sam Jaja, we are maintaining normal price,”_ Dapa said.
He appealed to passengers to understand that drivers are not using high fuel price as an excuse to charge excessive fares.
Other drivers who spoke said the federal government should monitor the NNPCL retail stations to ensure that the directive is implemented.
Recalled that The Federal Government in abid to reduce transportation cost in the country had announced a 30-day margin discount at NNPC Retail stations across the country from October 1 to 31,
However investigation revealed that the policy is yet to affect transportation cost in the country.
By; Stephens Sopakriba and Saint Davies
In a press statement released to The Tide’s source on Friday in Abuja, the group said Nigeria had a significant resource advantage due to its vast natural gas reserves.
“At a time when global energy markets face unprecedented volatility and rising operational costs, Nigeria stands on a massive resource advantage with its vast natural gas reserves,” the group said.
Highlighting this potential, Alfa Designs urged the nation to move past complaints over energy costs and aggressively embrace Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) as a sustainable engine for economic growth.
While federal policy adjustments have sought to cushion the impact of global energy shocks, industry experts emphasised that long-term relief hinges on a rapid, nationwide transition to gas.
“Transitioning away from expensive traditional petroleum products promises to ease the financial burden on ordinary citizens.
“It will also reposition Nigeria as an attractive industrial hub capable of drawing foreign direct investment and driving job creation,” it said.
To demonstrate the practical feasibility of this transition, the group said it recently partnered with a global Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to lower the entry barriers for commercial drivers.
“By negotiating directly with the manufacturer, we reduced the total cost of acquiring and installing a CNG conversion kit for commercial tricycles (commonly known as Keke NAPEP) from up to N700,000 down to under N450,000.”
The group said this shift offers dramatic immediate financial benefits for local operators, with petrol currently selling at roughly N1,390 per liter.
It said that, in comparison, at a CNG equivalent price of about N98 per liter, a daily commercial driver using 10 liters of fuel reduces its daily energy expenditure from N13,900 to N3,980.
“This represents a daily net savings of N9,920, or more than 71 per cent.
“Over a standard 26-day working month, drivers save over N257,000, allowing them to fully recover the cost of the CNG conversion in less than 46 operational days.”
The company further stated that when scaled nationally, the economic implications are monumental.
“Nigeria consumes approximately 50 million liters of gasoline daily, costing roughly N69.5 billion per day.
“A nationwide 71 per cent reduction in fuel expenditure would generate daily national energy savings of N49.6 billion.
“On an annualised basis, this shift equates to approximately N18.1 trillion, or $13.5 billion, kept within the domestic economy.”
The group added that those recurring national savings would offer a vital mechanism to help address Nigeria’s estimated $2.3 trillion infrastructure deficit.
It said reinvesting those funds into the economy helps eliminate the 30 to 40 per cent operational overhead currently consumed by imported fossil fuels.
“The resulting boost to corporate margins expands the national tax base, generates reliable user-fee revenues to make major transit projects bankable, and creates a self-sustaining financial cycle,” it said.
