Business

Irrigation: FG Approves $495m IDA Credit

Published

9 years ago

November 7, 2014

The Federal Government has approved the use of the $495 million (about N77 billion) credit it secured from the International Development Association (IDA) to boost irrigation nationwide.
The Minister of State for Finance, Alhaji Bashir Yuguda, stated this when he briefed State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by Vice-President Namadi Sambo.
According to him, the facility is to augment what the Federal Government is doing to improve irrigation throughout the year.
“The first memo is on the approval of an International Development Association’s credit of $495 million for the proposed irrigation management.
“The idea about this facility is to upscale what the Federal Government is doing in improving the irrigation system so that we will have year-in-year-out farming season in the country.
“Part of the fund under this IDA credit is to upscale the cultivation of the irrigable land in the country.
“Currently, we have an estimated 2.2million hectares of potentially irrigable land in the country out of which about one million hectares are situated in the Northern parts,“ he said.
Yuguda said the facility, to be managed by the Ministry of Water Resources, had four components.
He said that out of the sum, $81 million would be spent on Water Resource Management and Dam Operation Improvement just as $294 million would be used for Irrigation Development and Management.
He said that while $38 million would be used to enhance agricultural productivity and support the value chain development, $30 million would be spent on governance and institutional framework.
According to him, $52 million will be set aside as contingency funds.
Commenting on the IDA credit, the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, said the loan would be used to upscale the cultivation of the irrigable land in the country.
Ochekpe added that part of the loan would be used to rehabilitate the Bakolori Dam and the Irrigation Scheme in Zamfara.
“We are talking about the rehabilitation of the dam, which has an existing 8,000 hectares irrigation scheme, recovering the over 1,557 hectares lost due to poor drainage and converting 13,000 hectares of abandoned areas.
“The facility is on five years grace period, repayment period of 20 years and a service charge of 0.75 per cent and interest rate of 1.25 per cent per annum and commitment fee of 0.5 per cent per annum,“ she said.
Ochekpe expressed optimism that 50,000 hectares of land would be improved for cultivation over a period of seven years.
She said the project involved five irrigation schemes across the country with the major beneficiaries being the river basin stakeholders, the irrigation and drainage entities and the water users’ associations nationwide.
“In each of the irrigation schemes, we expect that 550 multiple secondary and tertiary level water user associations will be strengthened with different capacity and skills in managing water resources for improvement in their agricultural activities.
“About 140 farming families at the average of 12 persons per family would be involved in this project.
“We expect that the villages within the catchment areas of the project will also benefit from a cross range of activities that will be undertaken in the cause of implementing this project.
“We expect that over 10 million people will benefit from the flood emergency information system and flood forecasting tools that would be developed within the three hydrological basins where the projects are sited.
“One major benefit of the project that we expect is the increase in the incomes of the households that will be participating.
“We expect that their incomes will rise from N259,000 annually to N781,000.
“This would be about three times more than that of farmers operating within non-project area,“ she said.
She said the council also approved the use of a $200 million loan to address the persistent flooding in Ibadan city while another $250 million was approved to address the challenges of urban water sector in Bauchi, Ekiti, and Rivers.
“Some remedial works were carried out to avert the future occurrence of flooding in the city but we believe this credit facility of $200 million is to arrest the frequent flooding within the Ibadan city.
“The idea is to work with the Ministry of Water Resources and Ministry of Agriculture in order to arrest the situation.
“We believe with this credit facility coming, the Federal Government will be able to assess the situation,“ she stated.
She said the urban water sector project would be implemented over a period of six years to address the increasing demand on water in the affected states
According to her, the project is coming up because of the successes recorded in the first and second urban water sector reform projects executed in Lagos, Cross River, Enugu, Ogun, and Kaduna states
She said already, six projects had been completed or rehabilitated in Kaduna state, six in Ogun, two in Enugu state, one in Cross River and 10 in Lagos state.
The minister, therefore, expressed the hope that the project would improve water supply access by the urban populace and ensure healthier population because of access to potable water.
Also addressing the correspondents, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Stephen Oru, said the council approved N22.2 billion for the construction of four roads in the Niger Delta region.
He identified the roads as the Mbaise Ring Road intersecting and Owerri-Umuahia Road in Imo State (N6.17 billion) and the Calabar-Oban-Nsan-Okoroba-Ajassor Road in Cross River (N9.067 billion).
Others are the Phase 1 of Mbak Mkpeti-Itu-Okoita-Arochukwu Road in Abia, Cross River and Akwa Ibom (N3.55 billion) with a completion period of 24 months and the Mbak Atai-Ikot-Ntu-Mkpeti-Okuiboku Road in Akwa Ibom to be constructed at N3.2 billion, with a completion period of 18 months.

Business

Fuel Scarcity: IPMAN threatens shutdown over bridging claims

Published

7 hours ago

May 3, 2024

The Tide

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Depot Chairmen Forum, has exonerated its members from the current fuel scarcity in the country.

According to IPMAN, this is caused by its inability to source petroleum products.

The IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum also threatened to withdraw its services over non-payment of N200 billion bridging claims by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to its members, since 2022.

Alhaji Yahaya Alhassan, the Chairman, of the Forum said this while briefing newsmen in Abuja, yesterday.

Alhassan said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) was the sole importer of the product, but the marketers could not source products from NNPC Ltd. deport, rather from the private depots at high rate.

“We cannot buy fuel from the private depots at N950 and transport the product from Lagos to the North and other parts of the country with N2 million and still sell it at N900 or N1, 000.

“It is expedient for us to state that we are more pained by the non-availability of petroleum products in the country, which has given rise to another round of untold hardship for Nigerians.

“Contrary to claims that IPMAN members are hoarding Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) known as fuel, we would like to categorically state that PMS scarcity is wholly triggered by inability to get fuel from NNPC and not IPMAN,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the NNPC Ltd. Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said the disruption was due to logistical issues which had since been resolved.

“We currently have an availability of products exceeding 1.5 billion litres, which can last for at least 30 days. Unfortunately, we experienced a three-day disruption in distribution due to logistical issues, which has since been resolved.

“However, as you know, overcoming such disruptions typically requires double the amount of time to return to normal operations.

“Some folks are taking advantage of this situation to maximise profits. Thankfully, product scarcity has been minimal lately, but these folks might be exploiting the situation for unwarranted gain,’’ Soneye said.

He however, said the lines would clear out soon.

On the non-payment of bridging claims, the IPMAN forum said it was distressed and depressed by the laidback attitude of the NMDPRA towards the survival its member’s businesses, arising from its refusal in paying the claims.

“It is with deep frustration that we have assembled here today as the IPMAN Depot Chairmen Forum. It is also disheartening to note that some of our members have completely shut down businesses and retrenched employees.

“As businessmen and women, our members acquired bank loans to keep their fuel retail outlets running on a daily basis across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria in order to serve the teeming population of Nigerians,’’ Alhassan said.

He recalled that Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), at a stakeholders meeting in February mandated the NMDPRA management to clear the entire debt in 40 days.

“However, today, we have crossed the 40 days’ time lapse given to the NMDPRA to clear the debt, and it is shameful to state that only the paltry sum of N13 billion has been paid, ignoring minister’s directive.

“We are not happy with the indiscriminate increment in the issuance and renewal of Sales and Storage Licence, by the NMDPRA, and the subsequent delays in acquiring the licence, which our members are recently subjected to.

“We are also calling on President Bola Tinubu to look into this unwholesome figure which is highly detrimental to our business and reverse it forthwith, as it is bound to impact negatively on the masses.

“We are poised to take far reaching decisions that may cripple the supply and sales of petroleum products across Nigeria if our demands are not met within the shortest period of time.

“We are collectively prepared to withdraw our services, shut down every single outlet, and suspend lifting of products forthwith till our demands are fully met, and the consequences will be terrible.

“We call on our members to however remain resolute and law abiding, even as we draw close to the immediate ultimatum for our demands to be met by the NMDPRA,’’ the chairman said.

Reacting to the IPMAN’s claims, the Acting Head, Corporate Communications, NMDPRA, Seiyefa Osanebi said the bridging claims payment was ongoing.

“The bridging claims payment is always an ongoing process,” she said.

Maritime

Shippers’ Council Registers 160 Port Operators

Published

4 days ago

April 29, 2024

The Tide

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) says it has registered 160 Port stakeholders into its Regulated Port Service Provider and Users platform since the initiative began in 2023.
Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Pius Akutah, made the disclosure on the sideline of a sensitisation programme by the commission for port operators in Lagos, with the theme, “Regulated Port Service Provider and Users”.
Represented by the Director, Consumer Affairs, Chief Cajetan Agu, Akutah emphasised the significance of the programme for stakeholders.
He said the sensitisation programme was the second edition after its commencement during the last quarter of 2023.
The Secretary said the 160 registered port operators consist of agencies, terminal operators, shipping companies, individual port users as well as service providers.
“We invited the ports stakeholders for enlightening them on the processes for online registration of Regulated Port Service Provider and Users.
“We have demonstrated to them how to register and how to make payment and we were able to present before them the various categories of the registration.
“The rate of payment is also in the registration. The payment of each group depends on the operation. A shipper pays N30,000, terminal operators and shipping companies pay N300,000, truckers also pay N30,000, while some pay N50,000 and N100,000.
“The Council was able to intimate them on the benefits, because port users benefit more as we help to interface on reducing port charges from time to time”, Akutah said.
He said that there was a need to continue to work with port operators to stop delays and eliminate high costs to make the port efficient.
Also speaking, the Deputy Director, Stakeholders, Service, NSC, Mr Celestine Akujobi, said “the sensitisation exercise was important for the council to enable us bring all the port stakeholders together”.
According to him, this is to avoid challenges during the implementation of the council’s responsibilities.
“By the time we introduce sanctions on defaulters, no operators will complain that he or she is not aware of the registration.
“I’m happy with the turnout of this sensitisation. This shows that the operators are well informed of the statutory friction of the council as the port regulator.
“The final implementation will commence as soon as we discover that all the operators have keyed into the portal.
“We are engaging other ports across the country and we’re hopeful that before the last quater of 2024, the council will implement sanctions on defaulting operators”, Akujobi said.
Earlier, Vice Chairman, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwards (NAGAFF), Dr Ifeanyi Emoh, said port challenges were enormous, adding that they originated from some of the government agencies.

Emoh urged the council to look into regulating other government agencies, so that there could be a window through which they can collect port charges collectively instead of indiscriminately.

By: Chinedu Wosu