Power Tariff Reversal Will Threaten Sector Reforms – NERC Boss



The Head/Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Tony Akah, says the recent court order directing reversal of electricity tariff constitutes serious threat to power reforms in the country.

Acting Chief Executive Officer of the agency said if the court verdict is implemented, it will alter the commercial foundation upon which contracts for gas, hydro, coal and solar resources for the production of electricity have been predicated.

Akah explained that ultimate destination of a commercialized electricity market is to achieve stability and adequacy in the supply of electricity to satisfy the yearnings of Nigerians for adequate, safe and reliable electricity supply.

The court judgment, he added, is a setback to the gains made so far in the nation’s electricity sector.

He said: “We are a responsible commission and we respect the judgement of His Lordship. However, we are also entitled to explore other legal avenues allowed within the ambits of the law to challenge that decision. So, for clarity of the position of the commission, we are aware of the judgment delivered on Wednesday, July 13, 2016 at the Federal High Court in Lagos by His Lordship Mohammed Idris. In his judgment, His Lordship declared the electricity tariff regime, which became operational February 1, 2016, as illegal.

“The commission respects the decision of the court, but we are dissatisfied because it represents, in our view, the reversal of the commercial foundation upon which contracts for gas, hydro, coal and solar resources for the production of electricity have been predicated.”

Akah argued that it also extends to other service improvement contracts that were entered into by operators in the sector for the development of the electricity industry, as well as for the ultimate improvement in the quality of service delivery to consumers.

He said: “We have instructed our lawyer to appeal; consequently, the commission has filed for stay of execution and the notice of appeal of the judgement. We believe that ultimately everybody and all institutions will come to a better understanding of the value of the choice we have made as a nation to privatise the power sector.

“Therefore, we ask the investors in the sector, as well as customers in the electricity market, not to panic as we seek a resolution within the ambit of the established law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The commission remains committed to continuously provide the right regulatory framework that will promote private sector investment in the electricity supply industry and also protect the interest of the electricity customers as enshrined in the Electric Power Sector Reform Act of 2005.”




Saudi Arabia’s oil price cut Threatens Nigeria’s Oil


Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, has cut all official selling prices for its crude sales to the United States and Asian clients in August, signalling mounting competition for Nigeria and others.

The country’s state-owned oil company, Saudi Aramco, lowered the pricing terms for Arab Light sold to Asia by the most in 10 months as refineries grapple with falling margins and oversupply.

The company said on Sunday that it would sell cargoes of Arab Light in September at $1.10 a barrel below Asia’s regional benchmark. That is a pricing cut of $1.30 from August, the biggest drop since November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

All other official selling prices for Asian clients were reduced. The biggest cut was by $1.60 for Extra Light crude. Pricing for Light and Extra Light grades for the US clients was cut by 20 cents and 40 cents, respectively, while the Medium and Heavy grades were unchanged. Aramco raised the pricing of all grades except Extra Light to northwest Europe and the Mediterranean.

The Head of Energy Research, Ecobank Capital, Mr. Dolapo Oni, said, in a telephone interview with our correspondent that Nigeria would have to offer discounts to be able to secure its market share, meaning lower revenue for the government.

He said, “Saudi Arabia is only reducing prices in places where it is still fighting for market share, because they are seeing higher production from Iran. There is no market share fight in Europe, whereas there is market share fight is Asia and the US.

“Lower prices just mean that Nigeria too will have to sell at a discount because the bulk of our oil is going to Asia and Europe. So, it means for us to be able to sell our crude oil, we have to offer massive discounts in Asia especially. It is not a good thing for Nigeria.”

Oni said whenever Saudi Arabia cut prices in the market, it would affect every crude globally.




Disarm Fulani herdsmen now – Anglican Church tells Buhari



The Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) has asked the Federal Government to urgently “disarm all Fulani herdsmen ravaging the country.”

The church said the call became imperative following wave of attacks and killings of harmless farmers in the country recently.

It also enjoined the Christian Association of Nigeria to map out strategies on how to curb the killings of Christians in the country.

The remark was contained in a communiqué issued on Sunday by Bishop Rev. Duke Akamisoko after the second session of the third synod held at St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral, Kubwa in Abuja.

The church expressed displeasure with the widespread attacks on farming communities by the herdsmen in different parts of the country, stressing that the situation was contrary to Nigeria’s desire to promote agriculture.

Akamisoko said, “The Synod notes with dismay the prevalent attacks on farming communities by Fulani herdsmen in different parts of the country and demand that more decisive actions should be taken by the government to disarm the herdsmen to stem the rising wave of attacks and killings of harmless farmers as this is inimical to its desire to diversify our economy through agriculture.”

The Bishop also called on the three arms of government to guard the constitutional provisions of freedom of worship and association.




UNICEF resumes aid to NE Nigeria after convoy attack


UNICEF will continue to provide assistance to millions of conflict-affected children in northeast Nigeria, despite an attack on its convoy by Boko Haram Islamists, the UN children’s agency has said.

The jihadists ambushed a humanitarian convoy that included workers from UNICEF, UNFPA, and IOM while returning from Bama in northeast Borno state on Thursday, injuring several people, including two soldiers, and prompting UNICEF to temporarily suspend relief assistance to review the situation.

“We are working at full strength in the Borno state capital Maiduguri,” UNICEF Nigeria Representative Jean Gough said in a statement late Friday.

“We continue to call for increased efforts to reach people in desperate need across the state. We cannot let this heartless attack divert any of us from reaching the more than two million people who are in dire need of immediate humanitarian assistance.”

The agency urged donors and humanitarian organisations to scale-up the response to the emerging disaster in Borno state, the epicentre of Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency.

“The violence has disrupted farming and markets, destroyed food stocks, and damaged or destroyed health and water facilities. We absolutely have to reach more of these communities,” he said.

UNICEF estimates that 244,000 children will suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year in Borno state alone.

And if they are not reached with treatment, one in five of them will die.

The agency has provided two million people with health services and treated 56,000 children for malnutrition in the three conflict-affected states of northeast Nigeria.

Thursday’s attack was the first such attack on aid workers in the volatile region.

Nigerian military said the attack left two soldiers and three civilians injured, including UN aid workers.

Some cities in the northeast, including Bama, had gone for up to 18 months without any humanitarian deliveries before aid agencies and the UN arrived in June.

Many areas can only be accessed under escort from the Nigerian army.

In May, the UN said 9.2 million people living around Lake Chad, which forms the border of Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon and Niger, were in desperate need of food. Seven million of them are in Nigeria.

Boko Haram, which seeks to impose strict Islamic law in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for some 20,000 deaths and displacing more than 2.6 million people since 2009.





Ex-militants to Start Receiving Stipends from August 1- FG



The Federal Government through the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd), has disclosed that former Niger Delta militants will start receiving their stipends on Monday, August 1.

He made this known via a statement issued on Sunday by the Head of the Media and Communication Department of the office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Abuja, Mr. Piriye Keyaramo.

The statement further called on the ex-militants in the region to stop the planned protests scheduled to hold on Monday.

According to the statement, “President Buhari attaches so much importance to the Amnesty Programme, which explains why the President in his inaugural address to the nation specifically promised to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place for the ex-agitators in the region.”

Boroh added that the Federal Government planned to improve the amnesty programme for the benefit of the 30,000 ex-militants and other youths in the region.

“President Muhammandu Buhari, is already putting together a youth development and empowerment package that would directly impact the ex-agitators and other youths in the region,” he said.

The Federal Government through the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-Gen. Paul Boroh (retd), has disclosed that former Niger Delta militants will start receiving their stipends on Monday, August 1.

He made this known via a statement issued on Sunday by the Head of the Media and Communication Department of the office of the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Abuja, Mr. Piriye Keyaramo.

The statement further called on the ex-militants in the region to stop the planned protests scheduled to hold on Monday.

According to the statement, “President Buhari attaches so much importance to the Amnesty Programme, which explains why the President in his inaugural address to the nation specifically promised to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place for the ex-agitators in the region.”

Boroh added that the Federal Government planned to improve the amnesty programme for the benefit of the 30,000 ex-militants and other youths in the region.

“President Muhammandu Buhari, is already putting together a youth development and empowerment package that would directly impact the ex-agitators and other youths in the region,” he said.





Central bank pumps 100b Naira into Skye bank after sacking top management



Nigeria’s central bank has injected more than 100 billion naira ($315 million) into Skye bank after sacking the lender’s top management this month for failing to meet minimum capital requirements, its new managing director said on Friday.

Adetokunbo Abiru also said Skye, Nigeria’s eighth-largest bank, made a pre-tax loss last year, due to oil-related bad loans and withdrawals of public sector deposits amid a government anti-corruption drive, but he did not give a figure for the loss.

That makes Skye the only Nigerian bank to make a loss in 2015, according to Reuters calculations. The central bank stepped in after depositors withdrew assets and to avert wider troubles within the banking sector as Africa’s biggest economy struggles with its worst crises for decades.

The central bank installed a new management team on July 4 with Abiru as managing director. Central bank staff had been working for two weeks inside Skye headquarters in Lagos to support the lender, Abiru told a news conference on Friday.

The bank would conduct an audit to see “what we inherited” and establish how much liquidity was needed, he said.

He hoped to have an overview by December after which Skye could focus on being a “frontline retail” bank. Some branches would be closed to bring down costs, pending approval from the central bank.

Skye’s non-performing loans amounted to 13 percent of total loans at the end of last year, well above the central bank target of less than 5 percent, Abiru said.

The losses “largely arose from issues relating to the cost-income ratio” which was “above the industry standard”, plus “the liquidity challenge as well and asset quality issues, and the resulting effect of all that”, he said.

“There was a very high dependence on public sector debt deposits,” said Abiru, referring to a government order last year to have all official bodies move funds from lenders to a central bank account as part of an anti-graft drive.

“The bank was severely hit by that,” he said, declining to give an outlook for this year.

In addition, half of Skye’s loan book was in foreign currency from the oil industry which has been hit by low crude prices.

The bank’s capital adequacy ratio was 10.4 percent last year, compared with an industry standard of 16 percent, and its cost to income ratio was “close to” 103 percent, rather than the standard of about 65 percent, he said.

Nigeria’s central bank governor Godwin Emefiele is urging people not to panic about the banking system, saying he is on top of any trouble resulting from the economic crisis.




Nigeria prepares troops for Niger Delta crackdown if peace talks fail



Nigeria is deploying troops into strategic positions in the Niger Delta to prepare to use force against militants if peace talks fail, defense chiefs said on Friday.

Last week the government said it was talking to militants who have attacked oil and gas facilities in the main oil producing region in recent months, cutting crude production by 700,000 barrels a day, pushing Nigeria behind Angola to now make it Africa’s second producer.

“We have allowed the ongoing dialogue between the federal government and the militants. Our troops are in position. My message to the militants is to ensure they go to the negotiation table,” the chief of defense staff, General Gabriel Olonisakin, told reporters during a visit to the state governor.

On the possibility of using force if talks between the government and militants break down, Minister of Defence Mansur Dan-Ali, said: “It cannot be ruled out.”

Crude sales make up about 70 percent of government revenue and the attacks have deepened an economic crisis brought on by low global oil prices. The militants say they want a greater share of Nigeria’s oil wealth to go to the impoverished region.

Dan-Ali said local people would work alongside troops as part of a grassroots community security force, along the lines of an approach used to fight the Islamist group Boko Haram in the northeast.

“We will fuse them into the new security infrastructure for the region,” he said.

In June, government officials said a one-month ceasefire had been reached. But Niger Delta Avengers, the group that has claimed responsibility for the majority of attacks dating back to January, said it had not agreed a truce.

Since then the group has said it would not take part in talks unless international mediators were involv