Business
PH Residents Lambast Senate Over Petrol Tax
Residents of Port Harcourt City and its environs have condemned the N5.00 tax per litre of imported fuel being advocated by the Senate.
Some of the residents who spoke to our correspondent said such idea was an expression of insensitivity to the current economic reality in Nigeria .
A petroleum Products dealer, Chief Johnson Udo, said “the N5.00 tax in its totality is wrong if you consider what the common man is facing in the country at the moment.
Adding N5.00 tax per litre of imported product would lead to increase in the product since the importers who are in business to make profit will equally increase the cost of a litre to cover up the tax”.
Another respondent, Mr Clement Emem, wondered why the senate should depend on petroleum to solve all Nigeria’s problems even at the present period when emphasis has been on diversification.
Emem, who noted that he was not against the idea of sourcing fund to fix the poor roads across the nation, rather suggested that one per cent tax should be levied on the income of every rich Nigerian, especially politicians.
“Let those senators and other rich Nigerians pay extra one per cent of their income to raise the fund to fix the roads because they are responsible for the economic challenges affecting the nation”, he said.
For Mr Bon Obilo, a public analysist, the senators’ idea does not amount to anything giving that the economy of the nation is too bad as a result of recession and any idea that will in any way add extra burden on the purse of the common man must be rejected..
“Adding N5.00 tax per litre of imported petroleum product will mean adding more to the cost of a litre sold and this will be unfair.
“The timing is wrong, the idea in itself does not portray the senators as those living in the present time with other Nigerians.
A teacher, Mrs Jane Okolo, expressed disappointment with the senators’ idea and called on Nigerians to stand against any such more that will increase economic hardship on Nigerians .
“The senators should rather find out how all the budgetary allocations for repair of roads was spent and deal with those who stole those fund meant for road maintenance instead of increasing pains on Nigerians.
“They are there in the upper chambers to find out how our money has been stolen to big politicians and their friends in business.
The other day the news was that several hundreds of billions of naira were fraudulently stolen in Niger Delta Ministry and the money was meant for roads and other development projects.
Senators should think of how to recover those monies from those holding them. Good number of them in the senate are therefore two or three terms, they should know their jobs better and leave Nigerians alone,” she said.
A transporter, Usoro Mike, said the senate should look beyond oil and gas in sourcing for fund to fix the roads but to rather investigate where the budget for road rehabilitations has been going.
“Each year, huge budget is allocated for road maintenance but yet in every part of the country, especially in south south and south east geo-political zones, the situation of roads is worse.
Who and who have been stealing this fund. There was a period a former contractor and big politician was said to have stolen hundreds of billions of naira meant for road projects.
Let the senators find out what happened to those allocations and retrieve them from those holding them and leave oil alone. It is their job to help the executive arm recover our stolen wealth and use it to fix the roads”, Mike said.
Chris Oluoh
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh said this at the 8th annual induction and conference of the Chartered Institute of Project Managers of Nigeria (CIPMN).
He explained that abandoned projects continue to lock up public funds that could have been used for infrastructure development, industrial growth, job creation and essential social services.
Represented by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Chris Osa Isokpunwu, he said the impact goes beyond financial losses, as incomplete projects affect communities and limit access to important public services
He cited examples of that remain unopened, schools that cannot accommodate students, roads that fail to connect communities and electricity projects that have not delivered their intended benefits.
The Registrar-General and Chief Executive Officer of CIPMN, Henry Ifeanyi Mbadiwe, also identified poor project management as a major challenge affecting development in Nigeria.
He revealed that the institute had developed a project management curriculum for Nigerian universities, which has received approval from the National Universities Commission (NUC). The programme is expected to enable universities to offer project management as a bachelor’s degree.
Mbadiwe further referenced findings by the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee, which identified 11,886 ongoing federal capital projects in 2011, with an estimated financial commitment of ?7.78 trillion.
He noted that inadequate planning, supervision, accountability and implementation were among the factors contributing to the abandonment of projects across the country.
The minister called for stronger project management structures across ministries, departments and agencies to improve planning, monitoring and evaluation.
He added that the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment had introduced a 90-day implementation reporting cycle to strengthen transparency and monitor the progress of government programmes.
Ikenga said the company remained committed to Nigeria’s power sector and would continue investing in its operations despite the challenging business environment.
He spoke in Lagos at the third edition of the Shell Power Conference, themed “Powering Nigeria’s Progress: Turning Ambition and Action into Sustainable Impact”.
The Transcorp Power chief said the company would sustain electricity generation, invest in its facilities and deliver value to shareholders.
“Transcorp Power is a long-term player, not a short-term player. This year has been challenging, but what is important is getting power to schools, hospitals and businesses to power progress,” he said.
Ikenga said the company’s focus on operational efficiency and investment had strengthened its contribution to Nigeria’s electricity supply.
He disclosed that since acquiring the Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State in 2013, Transcorp Power had quadrupled its available generation capacity.
He also said the company became the first privatised power generation firm to receive a post-privatisation discharge certificate after fulfilling all its privatisation obligations.
The company’s unaudited results for the nine months ended September 30, 2026, showed a profit before tax of N83.1 billion, while its profit-before-tax margin rose to 31.2 per cent from 29.6 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Its total assets rose to 11.7 per cent amounting to N629.5 billion, while shareholders’ funds grew 8.9 per cent to N199.8 billion. Cash and cash equivalents also rose to N10.3 billion, supported by improved collections.
On the company’s contribution to grid stability, Ikenga said Transcorp Power’s black-start capability enabled it to restart operations without relying on electricity from the national grid.
He explained that the capability allowed the company to support power restoration following grid disturbances, helping to restore electricity supply to homes, businesses and industries.
Ikenga noted that Nigeria had an installed electricity generation capacity of about 13,000 megawatts, with an estimated potential of 50 gigawatts, adding that realising the potential would require effective coordination across the entire value chain.
“Everything in the value chain has to work,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration among federal and state governments, regulators and private-sector operators, alongside increased private investment, to build a sustainable electricity market.
This was contained in a statement issued on Thursday by his Senior Special Assistant on Communications and Press Secretary, Maryann Duke.
The statement said Oyedele pointed to “improved digital systems, including electronic invoicing, as a key driver behind a record of N33tn in government revenue collected between January and October 2026.”
The minister said the performance demonstrated the potential of technology to improve revenue administration, strengthen compliance and increase efficiency across government institutions.
Speaking on the theme, ‘Digital Sovereignty and Ethics: Guarding the Economy for the Next Generation,’ Oyedele warned that Nigeria risked losing substantial economic opportunities if it continued to depend heavily on foreign digital infrastructure.
Citing Nigerian Communications Commission figures, he disclosed that the country recorded more than 157 million active internet subscriptions as of May 2026.
He explained that these connections generated significant volumes of information through financial transactions, healthcare, education and taxation.
However, citing estimates from the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Oyedele said as much as 90 per cent of the country’s data was hosted abroad.
According to him, the situation has implications for foreign exchange expenditure, employment opportunities, technological skills and Nigeria’s control over information generated by its citizens.
He compared the country’s reliance on foreign digital infrastructure with its historical dependence on imported refined petroleum products, warning against a situation where Nigerian data would be processed abroad and the resulting services sold back to domestic users.
The minister consequently advocated greater investment in local data infrastructure, technical expertise, cybersecurity and predictable regulations to enable Nigerian businesses to capture more value from the digital economy.
He clarified that digital sovereignty should not translate into technological isolation but should strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to participate competitively in international markets.
Addressing graduating students, Oyedele urged young Nigerians to become developers of technological solutions rather than remain primarily consumers of products created elsewhere.
He identified artificial intelligence as both a disruptive force and an opportunity for innovation, advising graduates to acquire relevant digital skills alongside critical thinking, creativity, sound judgement and integrity.
The minister also cautioned against irresponsible online behaviour, explaining that digital footprints increasingly influence employment prospects, commercial relationships and professional credibility.
Oyedele outlined five priorities for graduates, including continuous learning, value creation, integrity, responsible digital citizenship and active participation in national development.
“Your degree is evidence of what you have learned. Your competence will demonstrate what you can do. Your character will reveal who you truly are,” he told the graduating students.
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