Nigeria Property

Monday, May 25, 2015

ABUJA – To show his determination to rid Nigeria of corruption, the president elect, General Mohammadu Buhari, after his inauguration on Friday, will unveil his anti-corruption strategy, Vanguard learnt yesterday. The Strategy will be such that will put Nigerians with corruption baggages on their toes and make them to return their loots back to the federal government coffers even less persuasion.

To realize this objective, Vanguard investigations indicated that there is likely to be an establishment of a high powered anti-corruption panel with a mandate to investigate corrupt government officials and private individuals who had swindled the country. The panel shall also have the responsibility of tasking the corrupt individuals on making valuable returns in the form of plea bargain.

A timeline, Vanguard learnt will be given for the returns and once it expires, there will be full probes of the persons who had returned their ill gotten wealth and also of others who refused to return theirs. This, Vanguard learnt is to ascertain whether such returns were commensurate with history of looted money. The investigations would also touch on all other government properties which included buildings.

It was not however known if the probe would be restricted to the outgoing government of President Goodluck Jonathan which would cease to exist on Friday.

A dependable source who is a close ally of Buhari both in military and civil politics confided in Vanguard that the president-elect is likely to shock most Nigerians immediately after he is sworn in. According to him, Buhari is committed to stamping out corruption in Nigeria and would not relent. The source who didn’t want his name in print said that though talks were ongoing on how best to approach the issue of corruption, the methodology was yet to be fully discussed. He however stated that the conventional anti-corruption agencies like the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission, ICPC, would be reorganized and reactivated to play the lead role in the fight against graft.

He said: “We have not discussed with the president-elect on how he wants to treat his anti-corruption policy. I know he has said he has zero tolerance for corruption. He is a structured man. He is a man of the system. So, to begin to go round the idea may not be correct.

“I believe he will used the structures that are available to fight corruption. That I know. And the modalities it will take, that will be determined by the time he is in office. He will look at the entire thing and then based on the inputs he will get from the experts, he will determine the methodology to go about fighting corruption.”

“Certainly, I know that that is one of the things on the table which he must face squarely. Corruption is everywhere in the country. It has eaten so deep in our psyche. So, it needs to be fought head on. There has to be an assault on it from every angle.”

Asked if the president-elect will quickly swing into action immediately after he is sworn in on Friday, the source who also has a rich military background said Buhari has since fathomed how best to make Nigeria work again.

“You don’t want him to start that day? This is a man who has been trying to be president for the last 14 years. So, if he has not made up his mind on how to govern this country all these years, then there is problem. So, he knows what to do and he knows how to do it. Just give him the chance”, he said.

Vanguard investigations also showed that the incoming government would reorganize the nation’s security apparatus including the paramilitary especially those whose offices are not tenured starting with the Nigerian Army down to the EFCC.

But whether the reorganization would include relieving the current Heads of the institutions and agencies their present appointments we don’t known.

“I don’t know about that but I am sure he is going to take decision and whatever decision he takes, I am sure it is in the interest of the nation and the interest of greater proportion of Nigeria. So, let’s wait and see whatever decisions and pronouncements he will make. May 29th is just knocking by the door”, the source told Vanguard.

One may think that Buhari may be selective in his anti-corruption fight judging from public perception of many of Buhari’s political allies who may have soiled their hands in the past.

But here, the source said that the fight against corruption would be total and complete cutting across all strata of the society and in the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He added that no one would stop the wind of change either in or outside the APC.

“Are you alleging that someone people around him are corrupt? If you are not alleging that, then what will stop him from fighting corruption? You must understand one thing. General Buhari’s government is going to be far from the PDP government because if you have been following his comments, his pronouncements since the campaigns, there are three items he has selected and said these are the areas he will concentrate.

“He talked about corruption. He talked about insecurity. He talked about economy and by implication job creation. These are cardinal. Not that there are no other things but these are key things to getting this country turned around. These are things that can not be compromised by him. He has only identified and made up his mind that he is going tackle them.

“So, the question of people insinuating that there are people around him who are corruption, that is their business. If people are alleging that, I don’t know of any but if there is any, that is their business because that will not stop the wind of change when it comes to fighting corruption.

“So, the issue of saying he would be handicapped because he is surrounded by anybody, I don’t think that will stop him from forging ahead. There is going to be no sacred cow in this fight because if you want to make a change, it has to be total. And fighting corrupt in all ramifications is the way to go and I am sure the government will face it because the level at which corruption has gone in this country, if you don’t face corruption and fight it squarely, then whatever thing you put on the ground is a waste.

“So, that is our bane and we must face it. Any government that must make a change and bring succour to the people of Nigeria must fight corruption. There are people who will resist it but government is mightier than anybody. As far as the president-elect is concerned, I can tell you that there is no going back when it comes to fighting corruption. There is no second thought about it”, he said.

Source

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'I don’t know what fuel subsidy means' - Buhari

In another meeting with Daily Trust, President-elect, Buhari expressed reservations over cases by the legislature of subsidizing the petroleum sector.

He talked on how during his time as Military leader, they were able to make fuel accessible at all times. The following are excerpts of what he said in the meeting.

One burning issue is fuel subsidy. I believe you are aware of the queues in major cities like Lagos and Abuja. The fuel importers say they are unsure of the direction of the new government in this area. Have you considered maintaining or withdrawing this subsidy or are you questioning whether it didn’t exist at all?

One of the problems I have, other than the military, is the petroleum industry where I served for three and a half years under General Obasanjo. When people start talking about this subsidy I honestly get confused. I will tell you this, and I hope it will answer what you want to know. Back then we had a refinery in Port Harcourt, which was refining 30,000 barrels a day of Nigerian crude. Later, it was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels a day.

Another refinery was built in Port Harcourt to refine 150,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude. So, Port Harcourt alone had the capacity to refine 250,000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude. But when I found myself as the Minister of Petroleum I set up another refinery in Warri for 100, 000 barrels per day of Nigerian crude and the Kaduna refinery a 100, 000 barrels per day. So Nigeria built capacity to refine 450,000 a day. Four Hundred thousands of which is purely Nigerian crude, but 50,000 was imported. The type of crude could be Venezuelan, which could be a bit heavier. But the lighter ones – kerosene, aviation fuel, diesel, PMS of different grades could be produced from our crude because Nigerian crude is about the best in the world. If you could recall, after finishing as Minister of Petroleum, I subsequently became Head of State.

You remember, I appointed Professor Tam David West as the Minister of Petroleum. When we rounded up bunkers, collected their illegal jetties and allowed jetties for only big firms which were doing production and development in the country, we were shocked that we had too much fuel. We had to begin to export 100,000 barrels per day. Don’t forget that we didn’t stop at building refineries, we built more than 20 depots during my time, from Port Harcourt to Ilorin, Makurdi, Suleija, Maiduguri and Kano. More than 3,000 pipelines were laid to connect them. A number of stations were also built to take the trailers off the road, save lives and the infrastructure on the road. It is more economical because each trailer uses fuel.

We did all that in this country and we didn’t borrow any money as far as I know. It’s Nigerian money. From each Nigerian crude, whether Akwa Ibom, Bonny Light or whatever it is, you can work out how much products it will give you; how much petrol it will give you; how much diesel it will give you if you want to produce diesel. We could tell how much Nigerian crude cost, the cost of transportation from there to the refinery, the cost of refining, the cost of transportation to the pump stations and maybe 5 per cent go for overhead. I can understand if Nigerians pay for those cost but somebody is saying he is subsidizing Nigerians. Who is subsidizing who?

But they argue that the price should not be the same in Lagos and Daura, for example?

It has to be the same because it is the Nigerian crude.

But they consider the cost of transportation?

Why didn’t it make any difference when we were around? Why did we build the network of pipelines? Why did we build the network of depots? What can Nigerians benefit from the God-given gift of petroleum? No refinery is built unless there is an in-depth research that there is enough reserve of up to six layers to be produced.

The argument I have heard is that refineries are aged. Mostly, they are performing at less than half of their capacity…?

You can’t defend these corrupt and incompetent people. You can’t defend them. There used to be what they call turn-around-maintenance. You close the refinery in order to overhaul and clean it. What we did: we asked our producers, we need various refined products of this type at this time when the refineries are being cleaned. Take this type of Nigerian crude and bring us the refined products. What we don’t need, we will calculate and pay you as fees for refining and transportation. If it is more than what the crude can handle, then we take it from the treasury. But you are trying to justify all these frauds by saying the refineries are aged.

Of course, they are actually aged?

They said the refineries are aged. The pipelines are leaking. There is vandalisation. Who ordered the vandalisation?

Does it suggest that you don’t believe in the subsidy? So, you are not going to agree to its continuation in anyway?

I would like to be on ground and find out what really has been going wrong. Why is it that people are doing round-tripping with the Nigerian products and take money from the treasury? Some people are still in court. You know about it. So, I’m not taking anything for granted. But I will try and find out what went wrong.

Read the rest of the interview on Daily Trust

Sunday, May 24, 2015

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Ifeanyi Ubah’s Capital Oil to release 13 million litres fuel tonight

Ifeanyi Ubah’s Capital Oil and Gas released an announcement tonight saying it is releasing 13 million liters this night, which is around 400 trucks of petroleum products to facilitate the fuel shortage that Nigeria is as of now facing.
Ifeanyi_Ubah

They said they will discharge an extra 53 million liters in a couple of days.

Read the statement below…

On Saturday 16th May 2015, we received an SMS ordering the suspension of loading activities in all depots from Monday 18th May 2015. We later realized that this directive was as a result of unpaid funds owed to transporters by oil marketers who in turn are owed by the Federal Government.

This development has resulted in immense hardship to our fellow country men and women. We believe that a better solution can be pursued towards solving this problem in a way that does not adversely affect our dear citizens. Capital Oil and Gas has watched with so much pain, the suffering and hardship our citizens have been subjected to as a result of scarcity of petrol, diesel, aviation fuel and house hold kerosene.

We are deeply pained to hear that hospitals cannot perform surgeries, laboratories are unable to carry out much needed tests especially for emergency patients leaving such patients at risk of dying, radio stations are shutting down, communication is being affected as MTN and other telecommunications company have announced an impending shut down while homes, offices and key facilities nationwide are experiencing blackouts. In some parts of the country, petrol is already selling at an all-time high of N1,000 per litre.

Our citizens have left their homes and are now sleeping in fuel stations,facing the risk of robbery attacks and other attendant risk. In a few days’ time, a new government headed by General Muhamadu Buhari will be sworn in. Apart from our citizens being unable to watch the handover on television and unavailability of transportation for attendees of this historic handover, the resulting chaos from this scarcity may shutdown the Nation and sabotage the efforts Nigeria has made to attain greater heights.

We are constrained at this point and have decided that two wrongs cannot make a right. We will not be part of this sabotage against our fatherland. Therefore from this minute, we shall take the risk of opening our facilities and commence swift loading and distribution of products Nationwide. Our facility has the capacity to load over 13 million litres of product before dawn.

This comes to approximately 400 trucks of petroleum products. With this act, it is our belief that once again our citizens will begin to smile, return to normal family and work life. We call on other petroleum marketers to follow suit and save our Nation from this impending economic and social crisis. This is a period that requires patriotism and service to fatherland. Let’s join hands to help our fellow citizens and save Nigeria. We also call on striking bodies to call off the strike action. Let us work together for the betterment of our people. As we brief you this moment, our truck park, port reception facilities and our depot complex have been ordered opened.

We are ordering and resuming discharge of products from vessels at our berths. We have ordered our trucks to commence loading of products and move overnight to every state of the Federation. Most importantly, we wish to use this medium to thank NNPC and PPMC for their steadfastness in ensuring the availability of petroleum products. Current PPMC stock level in our storage tanks and buffer stock on vessels awaiting discharge at our jetty is capable of meeting the Nation’s need for 15 days. Furthermore, we wish to emphasis that we have a total solution to the traffic menace on the oshodi apapaexpressway.

In the coming weeks, we hope to engage the Federal Government (Federal Ministry of Transport), Lagos State Government and other stakeholders in the affected area, to optimally utilize our truck park facilities which has the capacity to accommodate over 1,100 trucks per time and 5,000 on a shift basis. Capital Oil and Gas continues to appeal to Nigerians to accept and support deregulation as this will curb corruption, enhance competition, lead to reduction of pump price for petroleum products and ensure constant supply to meet Nigeria’s demand. Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah

Managing Director/CEO Capital Oil and Gas Industries Limited Lagos,

Sunday 24th May 2015.

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Highest level of unemployment in addition to massive corruption, History'll not favour GEJ— Junaid Mohammed

Convener of the Coalition of Northern Politicians, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, in this interview with TOBI AWORINDE, evaluates the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.

What do you think are the highlights of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration?

I believe, for most Nigerians, the highlight of Jonathan’s administration is the heightened terrorist activities in the country. Another is the enormous corruption, which, even by the standard of Nigeria, is unprecedented. There has never been any government in this country as corrupt, indolent and irresponsible as this government. Also, for a nation which has so many ethnic groups, religious differences, and identities, one was expecting a measure of inclusiveness. Unfortunately, Jonathan and his cabal are the most divisive set of people to have been at the top of an administration in this country.

Frankly speaking, I can’t think of anything I would regard as a positive highlight. Everything that I can think of, which I consciously or otherwise associate with this President, is terribly negative. I hope I am not disappointing you, but I have nothing positive to say about the government.

Why is corruption believed to have thrived under Jonathan’s administration, despite the checks and balances that the constitution provides?

Checks and balances only work if they are being applied to control political will. It requires a measure of sincerity for him to use the checks and balances in order to tackle corruption. Clearly, the institutions are there. Clearly, most of the checks and balances are there. But as we see, the tragedy of Jonathan and his administration is that they have nothing but contempt for Nigerians and the institutions that make up Nigeria. So, he feels he can play with everybody’s intelligence. If you are caught involved in some malpractice and you happen to be one of his favoured people, he would say, ‘No, you are not corrupt; maybe you did a little bit of stealing.’

As you mentioned, there have been several allegations of marginalisation under Jonathan, especially by the South-West and the North. What is responsible for this?

There have been deliberate efforts to marginalise certain sections of the country. The background that somebody comes from, his culture and certain things that make him tick clearly influence whatever he does: good or bad. For example, I lived in Port Harcourt for four years as a federal commissioner. I noticed that within the same broad South-South zone, there are some people you can regard as conceited. They believe that apart from their village, settlement or creeks, there are no other people who live elsewhere. I suspect that is the same attitude Jonathan has; that apart from the Ijaws, there are no other human beings and that what is uppermost in his mind is that Ijaws must be gratified or favoured in everything. Where he cannot get Ijaws, he looks for other people from the South-South, or preferably from the Igbo. Therefore, if you come from that background, it is always safe. If you have no consideration for other people other than your own, it shows. I believe that it was a tragic mistake that we had to end up with this kind of character as a president because he is so unilateral in everything he does. I don’t see how that kind of person can successfully govern a country of almost 300 ethnic groups and do justice to all. He hasn’t done that; he has failed woefully and I am not surprised that he has. Don’t forget that he worked directly under me when I was at the Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission. Therefore, I know a little bit about him even before he became the acting president.

Are you saying the South-South ganged up with the South-East to marginalise other regions in the country?

If you compare man for man, the South-West has more people that are better educated with university degrees than the entire South-South. But when you look at the protocol list of the top 20 officials in the country, from the President downwards, there is only one Yoruba man. I am not trying to incite any unnecessary fears, but if all the appointees were chosen based on merit and there was no qualified Yoruba person who could be in that group of 20, I am prepared to concede. But the fact of the matter is that for every one out of those 20, there are thousands of Yorubas who are qualified but were not appointed. If you don’t call that marginalisation, then I don’t know what it is. You can make an excuse that maybe northerners like me are not educated. That was what Edwin Clark said until he had to admit at the National Conference that he was mistaken and he had become aware that the governors were also educated.

The reality is that there was a deliberate machinery set in motion to alienate certain sections of the country; the entire North and the South-West were particularly singled out for marginalisation and, to a large extent, that succeeded. Look at the economy, for instance; it is headed by a woman who started her career as a geographer that was bundled up and shipped to Nigeria to be made Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy. The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria is an Igbo man. Within the CBN, there is an agency called the Assets Management Company of Nigeria. For the most part, it has been headed by Igbo men. The Nigeria Economic Summit Group is also headed by an Igbo man. The Securities and Exchange Commission, until two months ago, was headed by an Igbo woman. The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has been headed by an Igbo man.

If you look carefully, you will notice that the movers and shakers of the national economy are Igbos, and not because they are the best or the brightest, but simply because they could not find Ijaw people. Now that this so-called Coordinating Minister of the Economy has driven the economy into a ditch, we are being confronted with economic disaster for which every Nigerian, whether Igbo or non-Igbo will pay a price. We now have the highest level of unemployment in the history of this country, in addition to corruption.

Economic experts have repeatedly called for a diversification of the country’s economy. Do you think Jonathan’s government has done enough in the agricultural sector to reduce the country’s reliance on crude oil?

In all fairness, it takes a while to diversify the economy. Any talk of diversification of the national economy will have to focus on royalties or tangibles, as they say. How many people are employed in the oil sector today, compared to the number of people who are employed in the agricultural sector? Yes, oil contributes substantially to our earnings in foreign exchange. But in terms of gross domestic product, agriculture is still ahead of oil and it is the mainstay of the economy. I don’t know the latest, but when I was involved in the industry up to five years ago, I knew that the total number of people employed in the oil sector was not more than two to three million. And till now, over 60 per cent of employment in the makings of the national economy is based on agriculture. Whether we like it or not, it is agriculture that will have to be diversified for our economy to be called a diversified and balanced economy.

Secondly, it takes time to diversify any economy and when you look at oil on one hand and agriculture on the other, the two are miles apart. There is no connection between oil and agriculture. If anything, wherever you have oil exploration activity, it has the effect of destroying our soil and you cannot engage in agriculture without an enabling environment, in terms of land and water. For anyone to talk about diversification of a nation’s economy, he has to have a long-term view. It is not something a politician can do easily because if he gives himself a timeline, it would be a serious mistake. The process of diversification has many linkages and unless those linkages are understood, explored and are sincerely connected, there can be no diversification. This government has made a lot of noise about diversification of economy, but you don’t develop agriculture by making a noise about it.

What should Jonathan have done differently in tackling insecurity?

There is one word for it: merit. Since he came to office, every single key appointment in the Nigerian Armed Forces and the Nigerian security establishments like the State Security Service and the Police has been made on the basis of nepotism and corruption. For example, if you appoint an Inspector-General of Police for the purpose of manipulating elections, that is corruption. If you appoint Brigade Commanders, Battalion Commanders and General Officers Commanding, not on the basis of competence or professionalism, but on the basis of their ability to do their bidding and you then post them to areas where they will make money and perhaps, allow terrorists sponsored by the government to go scot-free, that is also corruption. If we had had the service chiefs we deserved, particularly in the Army, the situation of Boko Haram could have happened but certainly, it would not have risen to the ugly levels that we are witnessing. And I believe that if anybody is going to do anything about the security challenge, he is going to have to go back to the root of the problem.

How will Jonathan be remembered?

I don’t see him being favourably considered by history. But as far as I am concerned, he is already history. He will be remembered as the man who messed up security, the first president to be defeated in a reasonably free and fair election, and one whose government is the worst in terms of corruption.

Nigeria Property

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Monday, May 25, 2015

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