News
Workers Protest Plan To Ban Unionism in Aviation Industry
Scores of aviation workers at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, have protested against plan by the Federal Government to ban unionism in the aviation industry.
The protesters, drawn from different unions in the industry, matched round the airport, last Monday, with placards.
Some of the placards read: ‘Minister of Aviation, Stop Playing Games With Workers’, Our Right to Protest is Covered Under ILO Convention’, Banning of Workers from Unionizing is Evil’, among others.
The workers accused the Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, of working hard to cage unionisation in the industry.
They alleged that the minister had sent a bill to the National Assembly with a view to banning workers in the industry from belonging to labour unions.
They noted that the proposed law did not only breach their fundamental human rights but also negates the international labour organisation convention.
Speaking with newsmen, Chairman of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association, Comrade Rasaq Animasaun, vowed that the workers would resist every move by the Federal Government to cage them at the airport.
Animasaun said workers at the industry also have the right like their counterparts across the nation to belong to unions.
Also speaking, Chairman, Nigeria Association of Aviation Professionals, Comrade Akangha Emmanuel, urged the National Assembly to reject the bill.
He also urged President Muhammadu Buhari not to assent to the bill if it is passed by the National Assembly, saying that the bill violates the right of workers in the industry to freely associate for their common good.
On his part, Chairman, National Union of Air Transport Employees, Federal Airport Authority (FAAN), Port Harcourt, Comrade Felix Ohwoefe, said the proposed bill breached the fundamental human rights of workers to form or belong to unions.
He said the protest was the first step in the series of actions that will be taken by the workers, stressing that more actions will be taken as the days go by to ensure that the bill does not see the light of the day.
In her own contributions, a state council officer of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, Comrade Maureen Kenneth Amadi, said the union would use all legal means to resist any attempt to violate the rights of workers in the industry.
She said the bill was not in the interest of the industry, and urged President Buhari not to assent to the bill if passed by the National Assembly.
By: John Bibor
News
EFCC Arrests 33 Suspected Internet Fraudsters In PH
Operatives of the Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested 33 suspected internet fraudsters in Rivers State.
The Spokesperson for the commission, Dele Oyewale, said this in a statement in Abuja, last Wednesday.
Oyewale said they were arrested in their hideouts in Iwofe and Ogbogoro areas of Port Harcourt in a sting operation, based on credible intelligence on their suspected involvement in internet fraud.
“Items recovered from the suspects include various mobile phone devices, laptops, boxes of fake United States Dollar and fake Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) stamps.
“Others are fake Customs stamps, airport clearance stamps, DHL and FedEx stamps and two cars.
“The suspects would be charged to court upon conclusion of investigations,” he said
News
UK Plans To Reuse Old Graves, Reopen Full Graveyards
Old graves could be reused under new recommendations put forward to manage the shortage of burial space in Britain.
Under the proposed changes put forward by the Law Commission, graveyards declared “full’’ during the Victorian era could also be reopened.
The commission has warned the urban areas across England and Wales of fast running out of burial space.
There have been proposed changes to allow any burial ground to reuse graves, but only following public consultation and government approval.
Safeguards would also be in place for each individual grave, with plots only eligible for reuse when the last person was buried at least 75 years ago.
Another separate public consultation is considering the time frames around grave reuse, and what would happen if family members objected.
Prof. Nick Hopkins, commissioner for property, family and trust law, said any change would need to be tackled in consultation with the public.
“Our proposals provide a significant opportunity to reform burial and cremation law and secure burial space for future generations.
“This must be done sensitively and with wider public support,” he said.
Current legislation made it illegal to redevelop a graveyard for any reason other than to grow a place of worship.
Other publicly-run cemeteries can be redeveloped if the owner was granted an Act of Parliament.
Alex Davies-Jones, parliamentary under-secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, said the government was supportive of the Law Commission’s work.
“We await with interest the Law Commission’s recommendations, in due course, on the most appropriate framework to provide modern, consistent regulation for burial and cremation,” she said.
Public consultation on the proposed changes is open until January 2025.
News
Crude-For-Loans: NNPCL Votes 8m Barrels Monthly For $8.8bn Debt
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has pledged 272,500 barrels per day of crude oil through a series of crude-for-loan deals totalling $8.86bn.
By pledging 272,500 barrels daily, it means that about 8.17 million barrels of crude will be used for different loan deals by the national oil firm on a monthly basis.
This is according to an analysis of a report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and the NNPC’s financial statements.
Under these deals, notable projects include Project Panther, Project Bison, Project Eagle Export Funding (Original, Subsequent, and Subsequent 2 Debts), Project Yield, and Project Gazelle.
According to The Tide’s source, NNPC has already fully repaid $2.61bn in loans, representing 29.4 per cent of the total credit facility, while $6.25bn or 70.6 per cent, remains outstanding.
Also, out of the $8.86bn credit facility, only about $6.97bn has been received from seven crude-for-loan deals.
One of the key projects, Project Panther, involves a joint venture between NNPC and Chevron Nigeria Limited, backed by international and local banks.
The project secured a $1.4bn loan facility, with 23,500bpd pledged to service the debt. Repayment is set to commence after a moratorium, with financing terms including an SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) plus 5.5 per cent margin and a liquidity premium.
Another significant deal is Project Bison, tied to NNPC’s attempt to acquire a 20 per cent equity stake in the Dangote refinery. However, the national oil company only acquired a 7.25 per cent stake.
The project secured a $1.04bn loan from Afrexim Bank, with 35,000 bpd pledged as collateral. NNPC fully repaid this loan in June 2024.
Project Eagle Export Funding comprises three separate loans aimed at meeting various financial obligations.
The original loan, secured in 2020 for $935m, was serviced with 30,000 bpd and was fully repaid by September 2023.
A subsequent loan of $635m was also fully repaid by the same period. The third tranche, known as Project Eagle Export Funding Subsequent 2 Debt, was secured in 2023 for $900m, with 21,000 bpd pledged. Repayment is scheduled to begin in June 2024, and the loan will mature in 2028.
Project Yield, designed to support the Port Harcourt Refining Company, involves a $950m loan, with 67,000 bpd pledged for repayment.
The repayment of the loan, secured in 2022, will begin in December. This seven-year facility is crucial to refurbishing the refinery and enhancing domestic refining capacity.
However, despite this crude-for-loan arrangement, The Tide reports that fuel production at the Port Harcourt refinery has yet to commence, despite multiple postponements as of August. Promises from the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and NNPC have repeatedly fallen through.
More recently, there was the Project Gazelle deal, which aimed to stabilise Nigeria’s foreign exchange market.
In December 2023, NNPC secured a $3bn forward sale agreement, pledging 90,000bpd from Production Sharing Contract assets to cover future tax and royalty obligations.
As of the end of 2023, $2.25bn had been drawn from this facility, with repayments scheduled to begin by mid-2024.
These crude-for-loan deals come at a time when Nigeria is struggling to boost its oil production.
The NEITI 2022-2023 report revealed a significant decline in crude oil output, reaching the lowest levels in a decade. In 2022, the country produced 490.94 million barrels of crude oil, a steep drop from the peak of 798.54 million barrels in 2014.
Although production slightly improved to 537.57 million barrels in 2023, this still represents only 67.16 per cent of the country’s peak production capacity.
One of the major challenges facing the sector is production deferment. In 2023, Nigeria deferred 110.66 million barrels of crude oil, down from 153.44 million barrels in 2022.
The deferment was primarily due to unscheduled maintenance, repair issues, and oil theft.
Despite government efforts to curb these issues, including initiatives to reduce theft and sabotage, operational inefficiencies persist.
NEITI reported that oil theft and sabotage resulted in the loss of 5.25 million barrels in 2023, exacerbating production struggles.
The House of Representatives Special Joint Committee recently directed NNPC to halt further crude-for-loan agreements.
This directive follows reports that the company is planning to borrow an additional $2bn in oil-backed loans amid efforts to settle a $6bn backlog owed to international oil traders, particularly following the removal of fuel subsidy.
The Tide’s source reported that the NNPC was in talks for another oil-backed loan to boost its finances and allow investment in its business, according to the Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC, Mele Kyari.
Kyari said the company wanted the new loan against 30,000-35,000 barrels per day of crude production, though he declined to say how much money it sought.
Nigeria’s government finances rely on oil the NNPC exports, which provides the bulk of crucial foreign exchange reserves. However, pipeline theft and years of underinvestment have sapped oil production in recent years, and the cost of fuel subsidies has further depleted cash reserves.
President Bola Tinubu has been struggling to implement reforms in Africa’s biggest oil exporter – including eliminating fuel subsidies and allowing the naira currency to trade close to market levels – without putting the country’s population at a cost-of-living breaking point.
It explained at the time that the oil company would use the loan to support the Federal Government in stabilising Nigeria’s exchange rate.
The facility, among other things, would help the Federal Government attend to some of its dollar obligations, assist the Central Bank of Nigeria in stabilising the foreign exchange market, and provide funding for NNPC.
Providing details about the deal in the document titled, “Everything you need to know about the NNPC Limited’s $3.3bn loan, also known as Project Gazelle,” NNPC said, “This is a financing agreement secured by NNPC Limited to prepay future royalties and taxes to the Federal Government.”
The company also stated that it adopted a lower price benchmark for the $3.3bn crude-for-cash loan to reduce the risk of default and ensure financial stability.
Giving details on the benchmark oil price, the company said the facility used a conservative crude price of $65/barrel to calculate the allocated crude to be produced and sold.
NNPC also said repayments were strategically planned and tied to future oil sales, with conservative pricing in oil sales contracts mitigating the risks associated with oil price volatility.
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