Business
IPMAN Lauds FG On NNPC Depots
The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Western Zone has commended the Federal Government for the ongoing resuscitation of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) depots in the zone.
Chairman, IPMAN, Western zone, Alhaji Debo Ahmed, gave the commendation in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
The Tide source reports that the GMD of the NNPC, Alhaji Maikanti Baru, had on Oct. 4, re-opened the Apata depot in Ibadan which had been shut for over two years following vandalism of pipelines.
Baru said that President Muhammadu Buhari was concerned about ease of fuel distribution and supply to every part of the company, which informed his commitment to upgrading of storage facilities across Nigeria.
“With the turnaround of the depots in Aba, Ejigbo, Lagos, Mosimi, Kano and now Ibadan, the government has set the pace for steady supply of oil across the country,” the GMD said.
Commenting on challenges faced by marketers in loading products at private depots in Apapa, Ahmed said that the revival of the depots was a welcome development.
The chairman said that the rehabilitation of all the moribund depots became necessary to address loading challenges encountered by western zone marketers in Lagos private depots in Apapa.
According to him, the development is a huge boost to petroleum distribution in the region.
“It is one of the key mandates of the present administration to revamp these abandoned assets and put them back to work for the overall security and improvement of petroleum products supply and distribution for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“We commend government’s effort under the leadership of Dr Maikanti Baru, the GMD NNPC, towards rehabilitating Ejigbo, Mosinmi and Ibadan depots.
“We are very happy because Ibadan depot, which is the biggest depot in the southwest region, had been moribund in past two years,’’ he said.
The IPMAN boss assured that his members would partner with NNPC officials to ensure the protection and surveillance of the petroleum product pipelines to curb incessant vandalism.
He appealed to Baru to expedite action in rehabilitating the Ore and Ilorin depots to ease distribution and loading activities within the axis.
Ahmed, however, appealed to the management of NNPC to revisit the introduction of renewal of bulk purchasing agreement for marketers loading at NNPC depots.
“We appeal to government to reconsider the bulk purchases agreement on marketers.
“We are told that all marketers should come and renew their bulk purchase agreement for four years again, having paid and signed during registration with the depots initially.
“We want government to know what it is doing because it is another form of exploiting the marketers. We are not sure the money is going to Federal Government’s account,’’ he said.
Ahmed said that agreement renewal had hindered majority of the marketers from loading at NNPC depots in the South-West, adding that IPMAN members were asked to pay N125,000 before loading.
On imminent labour strike over pending N800 billion debt owed marketers, Ahmed appealed to both government and marketers to dialogue properly to avert the strike.(NAN)
Business
Food Vendors, Others Relocate To New Site At PH Airport
The raging controversy between the Port Harcourt International Airport Management and restaurants/canteen operators and theirallies over relocation has been brought under control, as the operators have commenced relocation to their structures at the new site.
Recall that there had been serious feud over a directive by the Manager of the airport, Mr. Michael Area, for food vendors and their allies to relocate to the new site.
They insisted that the new site was too distant and hence, would negatively affect patronage from customers, with possible loss.
They further also insisted that it wouldcost them much money to put up another structure, given the economic situation in the country, since the airport management did not build any structure for them, apart from providing the empty land they have to also pay for.
The situation had led to flexing of muscles, which made the Airport Manager to order for sealing of all shops, resulting in scarcity of food, as airport users could not find a place to eat, apart from the only Genesis fast food spot available.
As at last Friday, The Tide observed that most of the food vendors had transferred their structures to the new place, and had started doing business there already.
Meanwhile, customers have started settling down at the new location as they were seen patronising shops for foods and drinks, in spite of the distance.
Few of the remaining structures at the old site, The Tide further gathered, will also be removed as quickly as possible, and the owners are making efforts to get funds for the job to be done.
One of them, Mrs Aka Love explained that she was going to relocate to the new place before the end of March.
Currently, business activities at the old site have come to null, as the place which was usually a beehive of food, drinks and relaxation, has completely winded down.
By: Corlins Walter
Business
MOWCA Strengthens Maritime Crime Prevention
Secretary General of the Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, has stepped up interaction with the United States Government to lift restrictions placed on some member countries allegedly implicated in illicit shipping activities.
Adalikwu, who led a delegation from the MOWCA Secretariat to the US Embassy in Abidjan for a first leg of the strategic consultation aimed at promoting seamless participation of MOWCA countries in international trade within the global maritime space, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to the best ethical and lawful maritime practices.
Addressing the U.S Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, H.E Mrs Jessica Davis Ba, the MOWCA SG stated the organisation’s interest in promoting the International Ship and Port facility Security (ISPS) code which aims at enhancing security of vessels and their ports of call.
He expressed the commitment of MOWCA in promoting environmentally friendly, safe and cost effective shipping without any encumbrance that may limit the economic potential of member countries.
Dr Adalikwu recalled that at the instance of the U.S. Department of State invitation, MOWCA participated in the 2023 Registry Information Sharing Compact (RISC) Conference in Larnaca, Cyprus, on February 28–March 1, 2023, and a virtual meeting held on June 6 2023, with Mrs Jennifer Chalmers, Officer in change of Counterproliferation Initiative.
He recalled The U.S. DOS willingness to support MOWCA’s effort for preventive maritime security through the establishment of the Center for Information and Communication (CINFOCOM) with the aim to ensure a maritime situational awareness domain within MOWCA’s member states’ waters.
He added that MOWCA under his watch is committed to training and retraining of maritime practitioners and experts to enhance the human capital capabilities of member states.
The CINFOCOM will help prevent transnational crimes committed at sea like sanctions evasion by North Korea and other state actors, who exploit poor enforcement due diligence by ship open registries to circumvent United Nations and U.S. trade restrictions.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
Business
Nigeria’s Public Debt Hits N97.3trn – DMO
The Debt Management Office (DMO) has hinted that Nigeria’s public debt increased by 10.7 per cent from N87.87 trillion in the third quarter of last year, to N97.34 trillion as at December 31, 2023.
DMO, in an update data released last Friday, said the increase in the debt stock was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the Federal Government to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
The office noted that the N97.3 trillion public debt comprises of domestic debt of N59.12 trillion and external debt of N38.22 trillion. The sum of $3.5 billion was used to service external debt during the review period.
“Nigeria’s Public Debt Stock as at December 31, 2023 was N97.34trillion or $108.229 billion. This amount comprises the domestic and external debt stocks of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the 36 States Governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“There was an increase of N9.43 trillion over the comparative figure for September, 2023, which was largely due to new domestic borrowing by the FGN to part finance the deficit in the 2024 Appropriation Act and disbursements by multilateral and bilateral lenders.
“At N59.12 trillion, total domestic debt accounted for 61 percent of the total public debt stock, while external debt at N38.22 trillion accounted for the balance of 39 percent.
“Consistent with the debt management strategy, Nigeria’s external debt stock was skewed in favour of loans from multilateral (49.77 percent) and bilateral lenders (14.02 percent) or total of 63.79 percent which are mostly concessional and semi-concessional.
“Whilst the DMO continues to employ best practice in public debt management, the recent and on-going efforts of the fiscal authorities to shore up revenue will support debt sustainability”, DMO stated.
By: Corlins Walter
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