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Anti-Corruption: ‘NAPIMS Saves FG $5bn’

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The Group General Manager of National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), Mr Dafe Sejebor, has said that his organisation had saved the country beween  $3 billion and $5 billion.
Sejebor said this at a news briefing immediately after inaugurating a seven-member anti-corruption committee at the NAPIMS headquarters in Lagos, Wednesday.
He said that NAPIMS had recorded a number of achievements since he assumed duty in the organisation two years ago.
“Our achievements are simple. It’s a huge estimate. We were able to bring down the cost of production from $78 per barrel to $23 per barrel and we are charged to further drop it to 17 dollars per barrel for 2018.
“We’ve to been able save about $3billion to $5 billion U.S. dollars since we came in,” he said.
Sejebor said another achievement was that international partners, who were reluctant to invest in the upstream oil and gas, had agreed to a payoff deal that would not tamper with the nation’s income.
“The implication of them not investing is that production continues to drop and facilities decay. That was scary because if you allow that to continue, operations could die in five years.
“We sat down with them and they said we owed in cash call arrears and then we negotiated a way to pay back without tampering with the cash flow coming into the federation account to forestall drop in revenue.
“Also, we turned around our contracting circle from between two and three years to six months,’’ the Group General Manager said.
Commenting on how he had curtailed corruption, Sejebor said the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had policy guidelines, procedures and processes on how to discipline erring staff.
“Such erring staff will be referred to a disciplinary committee. If found wanting, we have our various penalties.
“If it is a financial crime it goes to EFCC, but if it’s a corruption against NNPC itself, it goes to ICPC.”
He said that as at 2015, there were five years accounts that were not prepared and normal governance meetings did not hold.
“But we have been able to clear the backlog. 2016 accounts would be ready by December.
“NAPIMS was able to achieve all these in a short period because all we did was to change our attitude towards work and in the way we carry out operations.
“We worked tirelessly round the clock to clear all backlog of legacy contracts in order to close our books and balance our accounts to show that NNPC has nothing to hide”.
Sejebor urged the media to always double-check negative reports before going to press.
“While trying to drive this change and run an upright establishment, we are bound to make mistakes, please cross-check with us before publishing.
“When a change is being made, you will meet with resistance who will fight you every step of the way.
“When you are dealing with contractors that are not used to losing they will go all out to smear your name, please when the media encounters this please cross-check with us.”
He urged media practitioners to educate themselves on the petroleum policy, which he said, was “straight forward, written in simple, easy to understand language,” to deter unwarranted allegations.
Earlier, while inaugurating the anti-corruption committee, Sejebor said: “it’s a milestone to bring corruption to zero level in NAPIMS because we have a zero-tolerance for corruption.
“We came in August 2015 at a time when oil prices crashed and investments came to zero, but today we’ve been able to sit down with our partners, operators to arrest the situation, re-negotiate interest, exit cash-call and the strategy worked.
“Production also dropped to less than a million barrels a day as at that time due to militancy and other issues but as we speak today we’ve been able to resolve issues and as we speak now production is at 2.3 million barrels a day.
“Accountability, transparency should be our watchword. We don’t want to end up like the old NEPA or the old Nitel, we must fight corruption so we don’t eat away our future.
“No matter how many years you have left, one day we will all exit NNPC so my appeal is that we emulate the GMD and support his drive by having zero-tolerance for corruption
“Let us all therefore work together to creatively drive positive initiatives that would help in improving our efficiency as we grapple with turning around our industry while also ensuring that our business remains profitable.”
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr Maikanti Baru, had directed all NNPC affiliates and strategic business units to inaugurate anti corruption committees.
NAPIMS is the investment management arm of the NNPC that manages upstream operations and is charged with operations of International and indigenous companies among various other responsibilities.
The committee members are the Chairman, Baffaji Tahir, who is also NAPIMS Manager Tax Administration Finance and Accounts.
Other members of the committee, who are also management staff of NAPIMS are, Mrs Evelyn Agwuncha, Mrs Oyebanji Olaniyan, Yusuf Mamman, Mrs Ayodele-Oni Ronke, Aghelegin Joseph, and Udoh Effiong.
In his response, the committee chairman, Baffaji, said the “success of the committee is basically observing laid-down rules and regulations of the Agency.
“A lot is given to NAPIMS and a lot is expected from NAPIMS. NAPIMS management has done tremendously well too, but with the cooperation of staff and management, the work can be done.
“We are ready to liaise with NAPIMS corporate management and other staff”.

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Kenyan Runners Dominate Berlin Marathons

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Kenya made it a clean sweep at the Berlin Marathon with Sabastian Sawe winning the men’s race and Rosemary Wanjiru triumphing in the women’s.

Sawe finished in two hours, two minutes and 16 seconds to make it three wins in his first three marathons.

The 30-year-old, who was victorious at this year’s London Marathon, set a sizzling pace as he left the field behind and ran much of the race surrounded only by his pacesetters.

Japan’s Akasaki Akira came second after a powerful latter half of the race, finishing almost four minutes behind Sawe, while Ethiopia’s Chimdessa Debele followed in third.

“I did my best and I am happy for this performance,” said Sawe.

“I am so happy for this year. I felt well but you cannot change the weather. Next year will be better.”

Sawe had Kelvin Kiptum’s 2023 world record of 2:00:35 in his sights when he reached halfway in 1:00:12, but faded towards the end.

In the women’s race, Wanjiru sped away from the lead pack after 25 kilometers before finishing in 2:21:05.

Ethiopia’s Dera Dida followed three seconds behind Wanjiru, with Azmera Gebru, also of Ethiopia, coming third in 2:21:29.

Wanjiru’s time was 12 minutes slower than compatriot Ruth Chepng’etich’s world record of 2:09:56, which she set in Chicago in 2024.

 

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NIS Ends Decentralised Passport Production After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the disclosure during an inspection of the Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja, last Thursday.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
According to him, the centralised production system aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for improved service delivery.
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FG To Roll Out Digital Public Infrastructure, Data Exchange, Next Year 

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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced plans to roll out Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) and the Nigerian Data Exchange (NGDX) platforms across key sectors of the economy, starting in early 2026.
Director of E-Government and Digital Economy at NITDA, Dr. Salisu Kaka, made the disclosure in Abuja during a stakeholder review session of the DPI and NGDX drafts at the Digital Public Infrastructure Live Event.
The forum, themed “Advancing Nigeria’s Digital Public Infrastructure through Standards, Data Exchange and e-Government Transformation,” brought together regulators, state governments, and private sector stakeholders to harmonise inputs for building inclusive, secure, and interoperable systems for governance and service delivery.
According to Kaka, Nigeria already has several foundational elements in place, including national identity systems and digital payment platforms.
What remains is the establishment of the data exchange framework, which he said would be finalised by the end of 2025.
“Before the end of this year and by next year we will be fully ready with the foundational element, and we start dropping the use cases across sectors,” Kaka explained.
He stressed that the federal government recognises the autonomy of states urging them to align with national standards.
“If the states can model and reflect what happens at the national level, then we can have a 360-degree view of the whole data exchange across the country and drive all-of-government processes,” he added.
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