Members of the Rivers State House of Assembly voting yesterday to approve a N10bn loan from Zenith Bank Plc for the State Governor to undertake developmental projects in the state.

The Group Managing Director (GMD), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Joseph Dawha, yesterday said the Port Harcourt Refinery might resume operation by July.
Dawha said this while addressing newsmen after a tour of some filling stations in Abuja with some top management staff of the corporation.
“When the refinery comes up stream in late June or early July we expect that it will run at least 80 per cent installed capacity.
“It will give us a contribution of about five million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) on a daily basis.”
Dawha said the ongoing Turn Around Maintenance(TAM) of the refineries was a conscious effort to ensure that they were all running.
“If the refineries were not in depth or in good state to process crude for maximum gain there was no need of sending crude to such refineries for processing.
“What we do is to fix them so that we can get the real value for products.
“We are satisfied with the level of work carried out so far at the Port Harcourt Refinery so that if we start processing crude now we will get value for the refined products.
“So there will not be distraction as it will be, if refineries were operating properly.”
The GMD also decried the spate of vandalism of the pipeline in the country, stressing that the NNPC was working hard to put in place mechanism to minimise the menace.
He described the situation as “a very serious matter”, noting that NNPC could not use the pipeline network supply because of vandalism.
“If you send products through the vandalised pipeline then you lose the product.
“We cannot live it that way; we have to repair them but as you do that, it is vandalised again. It is a very serious matter.
“We are left with the option of trucking which involves a lot of logistics to succeed.”
The Managing Director of the Pipeline Products Marketing Company (PPMC), Prince Haruna Momoh, condemned the recent vandalised system 2B pipeline of the NNPC in Lagos.
According to him, the system 2B pipeline in Ije Ododo in Lagos is the most vandalised structure.
He said that already the situation had been controlled and repair of the pipeline would soon begin.
“As at today, the NNPC imports 50 per cent of the petroleum products into the country as part of the 40 million litres daily consumption by Nigerians.
“The corporation will continue to intensify its efforts to wet the country with products from its coastal depots to inland depots.”
He said the NNPC was ready to work with all the relevant stakeholders in the downstream sector of the Oil and Gas Industry to end the lingering fuel scarcity.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said yesterday that it had 1.1 billion litres of petrol in stock to ease the current fuel scarcity nationwide.
The NNPC Group Managing Director, Dr Joseph Dawha, made the disclosure in Abuja while briefing newsmen on the petrol supply situation.
“As today, (Thursday), June 11, 2015, PPMC/PPMC has Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) stock level of 1.1 billion litres, representing 27 days sufficiency.
“This stock is excluding volumes with firmed delivery Laycans (dates) within the next couple of days.
“With this level of stock, we have intensified our vessels and trucking operations to ensure that PMS is available at our inland depots and retail outlets nationwide,” he said.
According to him, NNPC, through its subsidiary, NNPC Retail Ltd., has embarked on massive PMS lifting to its mega and affiliate stations in Abuja and across the nation.
“In the last five days, we have brought into Abuja 428 trucks of PMS, averaging 85 trucks daily to address the PMS requirement in Abuja and its immediate environs,” he said.
Dawha said that NNPC/PPMC was committed to ending the fuel queues in Abuja and across the states by the weekend in collaboration with the major marketers and other stakeholders.
“Evidence has begun to emerge in the last two days as most of our stations are wet and the severity of the queues has started to reduce,’’ the NNPC chief said.
He said that this was sequel to the Federal Government’s meeting with the oil marketers and other stakeholders on June 5.
“We have taken steps, as supplier of last resort, to improve availability of PMS in the country and ensure its effective distribution nationwide.
“The supply and distribution efforts must be sustained with the support and cooperation of our stakeholders in the downstream and government agencies, such as police, army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corp (NSCDC).
“We are optimistic that we can put this ugly experience behind us,” he said.
Dawha appealed to the public not to engage in panic buying, hoarding or patronising the black market operators.
He also urged all major and independent marketers, Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association (DAPPMA) and other stakeholders to deliver their PMS allocation as given by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.
The NNPC chief said that this would further assist in stabilising the system.
He also reminded them of the commitment made during the stakeholders’ meeting at the Ministry of Petroleum to deliver the agreed number of trucks to Abuja daily.