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Tag: CNG

  • What we will do differently to remove fuel subsidy finally in 2022 – FG

    What we will do differently to remove fuel subsidy finally in 2022 – FG

    The federal government (FG) will provide Nigerians with palliatives in the form of transport allowance after removing fuel subsidy from July 2022.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance made this known on Thursday, saying that this is to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

    Ahmed also stated that as part of efforts to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal in 2022, the FG was planning to do things differently in order to succeed in finally removing fuel subsidy.

    Speaking during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, which was monitored by TNG, the Minister said fuel subsidy is costing the country resources that should be used for education and health.

    She explained how the payment of fuel subsidy is not beneficial to the common man, and described it as a “major drain and waste” on the country’s economy, adding that it is crucial that the country exit from the fuel subsidy regime.

    The Finance Minister said the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) provides that petroleum products should be deregulated, adding that deregulation will take effect from July 2022.

    “While the act was passed. The president said there would be a one-year timeframe within which implementation will be made, moving from the status quo to the provisions of PIA.

    “In making our plans at least in the 2022 budget, we assumed that this deregulation will take effect from July 2022.

    “We assume that by June we will be able to exit the fuel subsidy, and we have made provision only up till June in the budget for fuel subsidy.

    “And it is important that we exit this subsidy. It is costing us a significant amount of resources that we could have applied for education, health and critical infrastructure. It is a major waste and a major drain on the economy,” Ahmed said.

    Asked if the FG is prepared for a scenario in which labour unions will reject fuel subsidy removal, the Minister said the FG is planning the deployment of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as an alternative to petrol-aided vehicles.

    Ahmed said the federal government is considering the payment of transport allowance to Nigerians for six or 12 months to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

    She said the transport allowance will be transferred directly to the bank accounts of the right people through the help of a bank verification number and national identity number.

    “What we are doing now is — we’ve been negotiating with labour. We are planning and deploying CNG — which is an alternative to mass transit to PMS.

    “But we are also looking at providing some palliatives for a large number of the population in terms of maybe a transport subsidy for a short period like six months or if it is long, maybe nine months or maximum 12 months.

    “Transport subsidy that would be given directly to individuals. What is constraining us is the issue of registration. The national identity registration process is ongoing and we want to make sure that this subsidy goes into the hands of the right people.

    “That we can make transfers to people using their BVNs, account number and national identity number, and we know that it has gone to the right people.

    “That is part of the things we are negotiating and working on. We are also engaging with the World Bank in designing a programme that will help us to provide succour for at least a minimum of 6 months, maximum of 12 months to enable us to make that transition,” the Minister said.

    Asked when the fuel subsidy regime would end, she said, “If you look at what I said earlier, as from July 2022, there is no provision for fuel subsidy.

    Asked if Nigerians should forget fuel subsidy in July 2022, she said, “Yes. We are trying to see if we can make it earlier. If we are able to get the funding to provide this alternative transport allowance, then we will be able to make it earlier.”

    Minister explains reasons for rising cost of rice; defends Buhari’s constant local, foreign borrowings

    The Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, on Thursday also said smuggling is responsible for the rising cost of rice in the country.

    The minister who spoke on Thursday on a monitored Channels Television programme said smuggling is affecting the market and hurting the citizens.

    “Unfortunately there is a lot of distortion and the distortion is arising from smuggling of goods into the country,” the Minister said.

    “We have unpatriotic Nigerians that will bring rice that is poor quality, some of it not even fit for human consumption and come and dump it in the market.”

    She also reiterated the Federal Government’s efforts in fighting smuggling, noting that there is a combined team of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Police, the Department of Security Services (DSS) among others to rid the nation of economic saboteurs.

    The Minister also reacted to the fresh borrowing request by the Federal Government which was recently approved by the National Assembly.

    According to her, the Federal Government has created a Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy, noting that the borrowings are not being done by fiat.

    The borrowing that was approved by the lawmakers, the Minister noted, has been in the National Assembly since early this year.

    “It is encapsulated in a plan, we are guided by the Fiscal Responsibility Act that sets the limit of how much you can borrow at any particular time.

    “We have also structured the borrowing to make sure that we have the balance between domestic borrowing as well as external financial borrowings,” she added.

    President Muhammadu Buhari had in May, asked the Senate to approve the loan request.

    The 2018-2020 External Borrowing (Rolling) Plan contained a request for approval in the sum of $36.8 billion, €910 million, and a grant component of $10 million.

    Lawmakers of the upper chamber have since then been making approvals in bits.

    They approved $8.3 billion and €490 million in July. They also approved $6.1 billion in the same month.

  • 2023 presidency: We cannot be intimidated to give up our rights to South, Northern groups reject ‘unconstitutional’ zoning arrangements

    2023 presidency: We cannot be intimidated to give up our rights to South, Northern groups reject ‘unconstitutional’ zoning arrangements

    The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has opposed the zoning arrangement by political parties, describing it as unconstitutional and a plot to intimidate the north from contesting for the presidency in 2023.

    Speaking at a press conference in Abuja on Monday, CNG spokesperson, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman said the group aligns with the position of the Northern Governors’ Forum, asking the political parties to jettison the idea of zoning the post to the southern region of Nigeria.

    According to him, the north will not be obliged to any zoning arrangement for elective positions in the forthcoming general election.

    “We find the renewed desperation by the south to threaten [the] northern people’s right to franchise a deliberate attempt to bastardise democracy, cause greater instability in the guise of contentious undemocratic power shift arrangement and therefore unacceptable,” he said.

    “The CNG after due consultation with stakeholders, leaders and elders has categorically resolved to firmly and solidly align completely with the position taken by the Northern Elders Forum as expressed by Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and that of the Northern Governors’ Forum that zoning of elective positions is unconstitutional, undemocratic and must be jettisoned.”

    The CNG spokesman further explained that the northern region is a major stakeholder in Nigeria, especially with respect to elections.

    The group’s comment came eight days after the governors of the 19 northern states opposed the call by their southern counterparts that the Presidency should be zoned to the south in 2023.

    After an emergency meeting with traditional rulers in the region at the Government House in Kaduna State on September 27, the Chairman of the Forum and Governor of Plateau State, Simon Lalong, read out the communique containing the resolutions on behalf of his colleagues.

    According to the governors, zoning the office of the president as being agitated by southern governors is against the provisions of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    They stated that any president elected must meet the constitutional requirements which include scoring the majority votes, and polling at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in two-thirds of the 36 states of the federation.

    Governor Lalong noted that although some northern governors had endorsed the power shift to the south, the regional governors collectively fault such calls.

     

  • Why bandits kidnap students in Northern Nigeria – CNG

    Why bandits kidnap students in Northern Nigeria – CNG

    The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) has said the recent spate of kidnapping of students in the Northern part of Nigeria is a ploy designed to cripple education in the region.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports CNG made this known in a statement signed and released on Sunday by its spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman.

    “We call on northern leaders to interrogate the extent of levity of the federal authorities in not being able to anticipate and checkmate the manoeuvres of marauding bands of criminals that roam northern communities and operate at will targeting such soft spots as schools.

    “We see the recent escalation of kidnaps of school children as a grand design to cripple the educational viability of the northern region after having messed up its economy and mutual cohesion,” Suleiman stated.

    While saying it is excited over the return of staff and students of Government Science College Kagara, Niger State, the group warned that it is not yet celebration time, stating that President Muhammadu Buhari owes it a duty to explain why there is a high level of insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria.

    It noted that the past few days would have been difficult for the kidnap victims, their families and the people of Niger State.

    “The situation is also difficult for absolutely everyone as we wonder about the future and worry about each other, our neighbours, our friends, our families and ourselves,” the statement added.

    “The CNG, which has been on the ground in Minna and addressed a press conference Friday afternoon calling for urgent action to rescue the captives, feels proud today that it has once again played a major role in getting authorities to act. While we’re still on the ground waiting to verify the release and the condition of the captives, we share in the joy of the parents and the Kagara community and Niger State generally.”

  • Deregulation: NNPC to setup CNG plants across Nigeria

    Deregulation: NNPC to setup CNG plants across Nigeria

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has said it will soon begin activation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) refill stations for motorists across the country.

    The corporation disclosed this in a statement by the Group General Manager Public Affairs Division, Dr Kennie Obateru, in Abuja, on Sunday.

    The CNG (methane stored at high pressure) is a fuel that can be used in place of gasoline, diesel fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and its combustion produces fewer undesirable gases than the aforementioned fuels.

    The deregulation of the oil downstream had triggered increase in the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS)also known as petrol in the country.

    Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva had announced that the Federal Government will in the next couple of weeks inaugurate CNG Plants in all NNPC petroleum stations across the country.

    This, he said would serve as alternative to petrol for motorists in the country.

    He said the idea was to support the ongoing initiatives by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to provide alternate energy sources for Nigerians.

    He quoted the Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Malam Mele Kyari, as saying that the National Oil Company had already keyed into the gas penetration agenda championed by Sylva.

    Kyari noted that as an energy company with focus on cleaner and cheaper sources of fuel, the Corporation would continue to work with other stakeholders in the industry to provide viable alternatives to petrol.

    This, he said would ultimately lead to reduction in demand for the product and eventual reduction in price.

    He reiterated the commitment of the corporation towards openness and greater transparency in its operations.

    Kyari said that in the months ahead NNPC would make public its 2019 Audited Financial Statements as a sequel to the 2018 AFS released in June.

    On the state of the refineries, he said that the plants were deliberately shut down to allow for a robust diagnosis of the issues which have overtime made it impossible for the facilities to operate up to their ultimate capacities.

    He added that the shutdown also became inevitable due to difficulties in feeding them with crude oil via the pipelines that had been completely compromised by vandals.

    He said the Corporation was moving rapidly to execute complete rehabilitation of the refineries under an exercise that would guarantee restoration of the facilities to at least 90 per cent capacity utilisation.