₦airaland Forum

The non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is threatening the sovereignty and security of Nigeria, as the lifting of the country’s crude oil for export has remained in the hands of foreign companies, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed.

It was learnt that the domination of the country’s crude oil export business by foreign players has the potential to jeopardise the interest of the country and collapse her economy in the event of a diplomatic face-off with other countries.

According to investigation, the proposed PIB targets to ensure that at least 30 per cent of the country’s crude oil export is controlled by Nigerian indigenous companies, as part of the measures to ensure greater participation of Nigerians in the oil and gas sector.

However, due to the non-passage of the PIB by the sixth National Assembly, foreign companies have continued to exercise 100 per cent control of the crude oil export business, a development that could collapse the country as a sovereign nation, in the event of a diplomatic face-off, with the international community.

Confirming this fear at a recent conference in Lagos, the former Chairman of the Joint Committee of the National Assembly on the PIB, Senator Lee Maeba said it was not in the best interest of any country for 100 per cent of her crude oil export business to be controlled by foreign companies.

“What of if there is diplomatic problem and the multinationals stop work? The implication is that crude oil export will stop and the economy will collapse. But if export is in the hands of Nigerian people, no matter what happens, oil operation will continue, even if the country is fighting war; even if the country has diplomatic problem with any other country,” he said.

Maeba, who is also immediate past chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), stated that one of the critical focuses of the National Assembly Committee on PIB was to ensure that Nigerians were actively involved in lifting of crude oil for export.

According to him, the PIB has an ambitious target to ensure that within the first five years of its operation, at least 30 per cent of the crude oil export from Nigeria would be carried out by Nigerian indigenous companies.

“We believe that was the best way to go,” he added.
The PIB is an Executive Bill sent to both houses of the National Assembly in late 2008, by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, with the aim of instituting reforms of the legal and regulatory framework of the Nigerian petroleum industry.

It seeks to provide for establishment of legal and regulatory framework, institutions and regulatory authorities for the country’s oil and gas industry, and to establish guidelines for the operation of the upstream and downstream sectors.

The mandate and approach of the National Assembly joint committee were to recommend a PIB that deregulates petroleum product prices; establishes a progressive fiscal framework that encourages investment in the sector, while increasing revenue accruing to the Federal Government; creates a commercially viable National Oil Company; enhances exploration and exploitation of petroleum resources for the benefit of all Nigerians and also creates strong institutions and efficient regulatory entities, among others.


THIS-DAY NEWSPAPER

Onlytruth:
Posted by: ak47mann
LOL. I feel like that sometimes too. My local church (which I attended as kid ) is now totally strange to me. Not a single recognizable face or name. Since everybody just packed up and left, while others from elsewhere in Nigeria moved in.

But you know with development, it is either you have it or you don't.

true nnewi is always busy since i was a child but i agree with you may i ask are you from umudim?

nnewi roads used to be bad back in the days i remember people used to fix govt roads back then but now is  a lot better nnewi is changing very fast and obi have done some good roads as well,last time i went home i thought i was in another city too many banks too and more industries i think i prefer the old nnewi thou our culture values is disappearing i see less indigence these days most people in nnewi are not from nnewi 

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared that the Federal Government will henceforth blacklist contractors that are found guilty of executing shoddy jobs across the country.


Also to be affected in the blacklisting are contractors who fail to deliver projects within the time frame specified in their contracts despite being paid.


Jonathan said these on Monday while receiving a delegation of leaders of thought from the South-East led by a former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, at the State House, Abuja.


He said his administration would not tolerate a situation where contractors would deliver substandard jobs to the detriment of Nigerians.


This, he added, informed the decision of the Federal Executive Council to consider the report of the Presidential Project Assessment Committee sector by sector.


He said having considered the power sector, the council would at its next meeting consider the works sector. He added that in fulfilment of his electoral promise to the people of the region, he had already directed the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, to initiate the process of starting the construction of the second Niger Bridge.


The President assured the South-East leaders that the new bridge would be completed before he leaves office in 2015.


“The minister of finance will take it as one of our priority projects for the next three budget years or so. God willing, we should deliver the bridge before we conclude by 2015,” he said.


He also promised that his administration would tackle the issue of deplorable roads across the country headlong.


The President said the government would develop a standard for road construction, especially as it involved state governments that might want to construct federal roads and get reimbursement later.


While acknowledging that security challenges had been minimal in the South-East, Jonathan sought the cooperation of all Nigerians to surmount the challenges.


He said he was waiting for the report of the committee probing post-election violence in some parts of the North to submit its report before his administration would take a decision on compensation.


“We may not be able to replace everything, but there must be a good gesture so that the victims will know that the government cares,” he said.


Earlier, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State presented a six-point request to the president on behalf of the region.


Obi, who is also the chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum, identified the second Niger Bridge, deplorable roads, building of Enugu Coal Plant and the upgrading of the Sam Mbakwe Cargo Airport as some of the requests.



PUNCH NEWSPAPER

saintneo:
Chime, abeg pay the workers . . . my mum is yet to see the minimum wage abeg.

We know you wish to transform Enugu, but negative reports such as this is bad. And your over attachment to the musicians in Nigeria is becoming unbecoming . . . too much [b]oringo no good.[/b]

boko haraaammmmsssss

i keep telling people that boko haram will change Nigeria and cant really point out which way Nigeria is heading but it will happen

akunta:
Ozo bu echichi ana echi ndi ozo na obodo!

mana OZo du iche na OZO i ga akowalum ihe [b]again [/b]bu na igbo,

of course if he contest again we will vote him back dont no abt SW but SS/SE middle-belt will vote him in again

This one na accidental discharged

lovejo:
cos 9ja girls sleep for money outside and sleep with you for free as a person to settle with free. general trend in 9ja now girls are not what you think they are, with their BB, they move from one place to another to sleep for money.
I'm disappointed in them so still looking for the one to proof me wrong.

Na waoooo can one still find women that got good manners like our mothers still does i wonderooo

Goldieluks:
aww,you are sweetly kind.

ibu sweetly bu kind nna.

welcome

akunta:
nna, biko jiri nwayo naeto ya.

Bia biko hapu nu ya aka ka ona eto mu  eto dike na nke omere omekwa ozo

am single because girls have hurt me so much but i still believe their is good ones out there man body no be fire wood you no

poster you have to take it easy on your selective i believe that you are a lady, try and control your jealousy too because men are all the same no matter how much he loves you he still pook some were once in a while is their nature.
And the selective thing i don't no why you choose to be like that but in a way it helps you not to fall into some low life men but remember you as a woman your clock ticks tick tok tick tok so better calm down in your selection b4 you miss your Mr right not every man will be tall and handsome you no, lucky women God bless them with men their choice and they live happily 4 ever.  And some women turn many guys down cos is not their choice or level.Why cos she want to marry handsome man,plus money to live with, but is not always like that same to men looking for beautiful woman you might end up marring evil woman put for house.Their is a say that says beauty of a woman come from inside. my two cents

akunta:
Di naonweya quesiri e dinma

ezi okwu ka ikwuru, ezigbo di na ezigbo nwanyi enwero atu.

Goldieluks:

ibu good teacher nnkem.
ogini bu asu na anyi kwu gi na azu?

ANYI KWU GI NA AZU means we are behind you. any help ask me.

To arrest the worsening state of insecurity and curtail the activities of the Islamic terrorist group, Boko Haram, the Federal Government has launched a plan to reconstruct and computerise 84 border posts.


The Minister of Interior, Mr. Abba Moro, who disclosed this in Abuja on Friday, also said that government would initiate a review of the Economic Community of West African States’ protocol on movement. The protocol allows citizens of ECOWAS countries to move freely across member states.


Moro said, “Plans are at an advanced level for the Ministry of Interior and the Immigration Service to work in conjunction with the National Boundaries Commission, to identify all our boundaries.


“At the moment, we are aware of 84 border posts in Nigeria. Of course, we have numerous others that are rather irregular. People who perpetrate the acts that are inimical to national security are people who cross to Nigeria through these irregular entry points.


“So, we are trying now to confirm the borders and, as I am talking to you, we have held discussions with foreign organisations and firms who have agreed to install what they call layered surveillance along our borders.


“This layered surveillance has the capacity to detect and identify people who enter Nigeria illegally and people who carry equipment that can compromise our internal security.


“By the time we put this plan in place, it will have a central control, so that even right here in Abuja, you can know what is happening at our borders in Maiduguri, Sokoto or Lagos.”


One of the recommendations of the Federal Government Committee on Security Challenges in the North-East set up to proffer solutions to the Boko Haram menace is the mass deportation of illegal aliens. The report is yet to be made public but THE PUNCH obtained a copy last week in Abuja. The committee says its findings show that illegal aliens from Niger Republic, Chad, Benin Republic, Somalia and other neighbouring countries are swelling the rank of the violent Islamic sect.


Our correspondent learnt that members of the committee concluded that similarities in the culture of the illegal aliens and some ethnic groups in the North helped the aliens to move around the country and integrate in communities.


The minister also expressed a similar opinion. He said, “The ECOWAS protocol provides for a relaxed requirement for entering into the country, but today, we have discovered that that protocol is being abused.


“We have also discovered that most of the syndicates that perpetrate fraud and, recently, those involved in suicide bombings are nationals of these other countries that you have mentioned.


“So, what government has put in place is a stricter measure for entering Nigeria. I can tell you that we have had reasons to stop large numbers of nationals of other countries at various points of entry.


“As recent as last week, a truckload of about 150 Nigeriens heading for Nigeria was turned back at the borders. Only recently too, a joint taskforce of the Army, the Police, the State Security Service, the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, the and Immigration Service, swooped on the hideout of a syndicate in Lagos, and those that were arrested and identified as foreigners have been repatriated.”


The minister also said that the Federal Government had started addressing the challenge posed by the absence of necessary data on Nigerians and non-Nigerians. As a result, he said, plans were underway to establish “a central data for Nigerians and foreigners visiting the country for genuine business activities and even illegal aliens involved in inappropriate business.”


The minister explained that the central data base would make it easier to separate people who came to the country for genuine business from those who did not, stressing that the latter category would be blacklisted as threat to national security.


THE PUNCH

Goldieluks:
mma ra ma,nso gba duro.

nsu gbu adiro nne na asu igbo na anyi kwu gi na azu

PEOPLE LIKE DANJUMA that murderer should return those oil well back to the owners,he said he got the oil wells from abacha another killer see how this aboki people dey suck us dry mean while they wont let Jonathan rule in peace, WELL we are in ONE NIGERIA what can one say,

A former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has described the allegations contained in the posting by the whistleblower, WikiLeaks, as “fairy tales and lies.”


Specifically, el-Rufai said he neither had a joint ownership of any oil block with Senator Andy Uba nor had seven upscale property in Abuja as alleged by WikiLeaks.


He also said contrary to insinuations, he had no interest in any oil block owned by Uba, a former aide to ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.


El-Rufai argued that he “had nothing in common” and was “barely on speaking terms” with Uba when they were both in government.


A statement by the Media Advisor to el-Rufai, Mr. Muyiwa Adekeye, challenged anybody in the American Embassy to prove that the former minister possessed seven upscale properties in Abuja, by showing their locations so that he could repossess them.


He said, “Those with oil blocks like General T.Y. Danjuma happily engage in philanthropy, and el-Rufai would wish to do the same with the ownership of oil blocks, but the fact is that el-Rufai has no oil well.


“Mallam el-Rufai refutes all the falsehood about his status prior to his entry into public service, and his record as BPE DG and FCT Minister. He acquired his first house in 1988, in Kaduna where he had been in professional practice as a quantity surveyor since 1982.


“He never had any contact with any US embassy official until he applied for an American visa in 1988. There is no official, named or un-named, in the US embassy who knew El-Rufai personally eight years prior to his appointment as minister in 2003.


“He has had no need to seek any loans or to consider importing a taxi ever from anywhere, let alone from the United Kingdom, which has a different driving system.


“On Chika, one of the 49 villages along the airport road that are meant to be relocated, the FCT authorities acted to remove illegal settlements after the unauthorised settlement refused enumeration for future relocation.”


The former FCT minister also denied claims that he influenced the award of the Ministry of Finance contracts worth $50m to the brother of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.


According to Adekeye, el-Rufai was not in charge of that ministry, adding, however, that he was aware that the entire capital budget of the finance minister was not close to that amount.


As regards other reports that the said contract was for waste collection in the FCT administration, he said, “None of Okonjo-Iweala’s siblings or their company was amongst the dozen companies selected via advertised competitive bidding to handle waste collection in Abuja.”




THE PUNCH

Goldieluks:
Nna kedu  

Di siri gini?

asi mu na oga di si mma,

akunta:
mma nwanyi bu omume.

okwu ka ikwuru nne, nwanyi obu na nwere ezigbo omume ga anuta ezigbo Di

i like chime he is doing a good job

Goldieluks:
Goldieluks ona nu igbo.

Nne oga di mma

akunta:
too much aburo nke obere

Goldieluks:
erimeri ga kwusakwu maka ebe.

Nne igbo gi nkaaaa o diwka too much

Abagworo:
The most unhealthy dichotomy is brother-brother dichotomy as Orji wants to pull.While we appreciate their hospitality,it is rather wrong to single out non-indigenes who have contributed so much in the development of the State.I'm happy being from a State where things are working.Non-indigenes are even the catalyst of meaningful development in every community.Any way Owerri is beautiful and waiting for investors.We will accomodate everybody[b] including Nigeriens and Senegalese[/b] as long as you are law abiding.

BOOLDED once ur governor try and bring those terrorist in SE make sure you have state border control cos we dont need boko haram in future let them stay over their in the north and blow themselves up

dumodust:
You know Alj harem, considering the old you, I've been impressed at your recent comments and how you've freed yourself from frank ethnic comments, kudos
, but frankly let's face it, the far north has a problem with literacy. Ex-gov sheriff once boasted that criticizing him on nwespaper pages would't work, 90 something percent of his people can't read according to him