Dangote accuses oil marketers of demanding N1.5trn subsidy to match price - ITREALMS

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Dangote Petroleum Refinery has accused the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) of demanding an annual subsidy of about N1.505 trillion in order to enable its members to match the refinery’s gantry prices at their depots.

In a statement made available to ITREALMS, the refinery alleged that while it offers petroleum products directly to marketers at its gantry, DAPPMAN insists on taking delivery via coastal logistics—an arrangement that would add an extra N75 per litre in costs. 

Subsidy removal: Makinde unveils economic recovery plans - ITREALMS

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The Oyo State governor, 'Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, has unveiled a short-term plan of his administration to mitigate the effects of the fuel subsidy removal on residents of the state, saying that his administration will continue to put the interest of the people first.

The governor, who gave this indication in a state-wide broadcast, maintained that food security, transportation and the sectors are among the immediate areas being targeted by the government to alleviate the economic difficulties facing residents of the state.


This was as the governor directed civil servants to resume to their duty posts on Monday, as his government will pay the two months deductions owed the workers with their August salary, while it will also explore further options on dialogue.


He noted that the government remained open to parleying with labour to ensure that the rights of the workers of Oyo State are protected.


He encouraged the union leaders to return to the negotiating table to discuss any increases in salary or possible harmonisation of pension payments.


Governor Makinde had, earlier in June 2023, announced measures to cushion the hardship faced by the people following the removal of fuel subsidy, including increasing the number of Omituntun Buses on various routes in Ibadan, the state capital and reduction of fares for all residents, including senior citizens and students, who were to pay half prices.


The governor, on Saturday, however, stated that in line with his promise to do more, the administration has arrived at decisions, which will benefit a majority of the people in the state, while it continues to explore other measures.


He said: "I am addressing you today to share our short-term plans, which will play a huge role in alleviating the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies and the resultant economic difficulties being faced by our people. You will recall that on June 9, 2023, following the removal of fuel subsidy, we announced measures to be taken to cushion the effect of the removal.


"We gave directives that the number of Omituntun Buses on various routes in Ibadan should be increased and that commuters must pay a reduced fare on these buses. Additionally, our senior citizens and students should board the buses at half price. We have received feedback that this immediate action has benefited our people.


"We promised that more will be done. Our plan has always been to roll out sustainable actions in keeping with our promise of sustainable development under Omituntun 2.0. Having been in government for the first four years, we know it is easier to make promises than to keep them.


"After wide consultations, we have arrived at decisions that we believe will be of the most benefit to the good people of Oyo State. In reaching these decisions, we considered the importance of using these economic packages to stimulate our economy and bring about sustainable development."


The governor, who maintained that the short-term plans tagged the Sustainable Actions for Economic Recovery (SAfER) will target the poorest of the poor and the vulnerable and ensure a softer landing for them, said the action plans would also ease the burden of transportation for all residents and the civil servants and also address the challenges of food security.


He stated that under the SAfEr package, agropreneurs trained under the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP), who have established agribusinesses will receive enterprise support of five hundred million naira (N500,000,000), while small businesses will benefit from low-interest-rate loans with the provision of five hundred million naira (N500,000,000) facility.


He added that the state government is already updating its social register to capture 200,000 of the poorest of the poor, who will be provided with food relief packages and that 100,000 health insurance packages will be rolled out for the vulnerable in the society.


According to the governor, the services of the Omituntun Mass Transit Buses will be extended to cover inter-city routes across all the five zones of the state and that more Buses will be provided for the transportation of civil servants in the state.


"Let me now share details of our SAfER package. Following the pattern of our actions during the COVID-19 pandemic,we are updating our social register to include two hundred thousand (200,000) of the poorest of the poor. These will be provided with immediate food relief packages. As usual, we will ensure transparency in the registration process so that only those who qualify will get this immediate relief.


"We will be providing health insurance for 100,000 of our most vulnerable citizens. We will be paying their one-year health insurance premium under the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA) scheme so that they have access to quality healthcare without paying out of pocket.


"The Omituntun Busservice will be extended to cover inter-city routes from Ibadan to all other zones of Oyo State. Details of their routes will be released in the coming weeks. So, we will have buses going from Ibadan to Ibarapa, Ibadan to Ogbomoso, Ibadan to Oke-Ogun and Ibadan to Oyo. The fares will be kept at low rates, while our senior citizens and students will board the buses at half price.


"Our farmers have not been left out. To ensure food security, we will be distributing additional inputs to 10,000 farmers. This is in addition to the input support being provided under the World Bank assisted OYS-CARES programme. Further details will be released through the relevant agencies in the coming weeks.

"Our youth agropreneurs who were trained under the Youth Entrepreneurship in Agribusiness Project (YEAP) and have established businesses will also have an opportunity to contribute to food security and sustainable development as they will receive enterprise support of five hundred million naira (N500,000,000) under the SAfER package. They will get further directives on how they will benefit from the relevant agencies.

"We have also resolved to assist small businesses to stay afloat through low-interest-rate loans with the provision of a five hundred million naira (N500,000,000) facility. Our traders, artisans and other small business operators can apply for these loans through designated micro-finance banks. Details of how they may enroll for and access these loans will be announced by the relevant agencies.

"Tertiary institution students in Oyo State will board the Omituntun Buses at half price upon showing their school identity card. We will also be meeting with the student leaders of tertiary institutions in Oyo State to agree on further measures which will be added to the SAfER package for students," he added.

Addressing the protest and blockage of entry points into the Secretariat, the governor stated that his government has been one of the states that are favourably committed to workers' welfare since he assumed office in 2019, saying: "We have paid all civil servants’ salaries and pensions on or before the 25th of every month without fail. And since January 2020, we have paid the minimum wage and consequential adjustments to all cadres of civil servants every month without fail.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Oyo State Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju in a press statement available to ITREALMS, also quoted Gov. Makinde as saying, "Presently, the civil servants’ wage bill stands at N7.2 billion monthly. We have continued to pay this despite having a state revenue of just below N10 billion monthly. It is, therefore, clear to understand why any increase in salaries or pensions may not be possible at this time.


He, however, announced that apart from the payment of the cooperatives deduction to be effected and paid with August salaries, the government will increase the number of buses made available for civil servants to commute to and from work from 9 to 12, so that more routes are covered to lessen the transportation burden of workers.


He further stated that the government will pay the health insurance premium for all pensioners under the Oyo State Health Insurance Agency (OYSHIA) scheme and that any pensioner who already made payment will be refunded.

He equally stated that the government will resume the monthly payment of gratuities to pensioners so as to continue to clear the backlog of gratuity payments inherited by our administration.

PRI supports Tinubu, commends fuel subsidy removal - ITREALMS

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A nongovernmental organisation, Patriotism Renaissance Initiative (PRI), has pledged support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Administration as well as lauded the removal of fuel subsidies, reports ITREALMS.

National Coordinator, PRI, Sulayman Dawodu, in a press statement, commended the suspension of the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele as well as the  assent to Electricity, Student Loan and Data Protection Bills, deregulation of forex, prompt appointment of Chief of Staff, Secretary to Government of Nigeria and Special Advisers among other decisions.

STOP STRIKE! FG obtains court order to restrain NLC - ITREALMS

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The National Industrial Court (NIC) has stopped the organised labour under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) from engaging on any planned strike over the recent removal of fuel subsidy, reports ITREALMS.

The Federal Government (FG), ITREALMS gathered, had on Monday, June 5, 2023, obtained an order to stop NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) from engaging on any form of strike.

FoI: CBN must disclose Forex subsidy information says court - ITREALMS

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The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled in favor of the Incorporated Trustees of Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre) in a case against the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), reports ITREALMS.

The court's decision, based on suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1622/2020, comes after the CBN denied HEDA Resource Centre's Freedom of Information (FoI) request.

Ex-Maggi queen, Kemi, advocates subsidy for baking industry - ITREALMS

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Former Maggi Queen reputed for gravity-defying cakes and Chief Executive Officer, El-Royalithos Catering Institute, Mrs. Kemi Oluboro shares deep knowledge of cake industry and catering in Nigeria with ITREALMS’ GBEMI OMOTOSO. She tracks her driving-force to passion, focus and determination, while advocating subsidy for baking industry.

Excerpts:

How did you coined your brand name "EL-Royalithos"?

"EL" signify God, "Lithos" is a Greek word that means "stones" while the "Royal" means Royalty;(as the Maggi Queen & King which dated to 1994 where I was crowned the best Cook of the year in Nigeria at the "Maggi National Cooking competition" organised by Nestle. Coincidentally in 2019 my late husband who was a Pharmacist won the same cooking competition and was crowned best cook of the year. So "EL-Royalithos" means God’s Royal Stones.

Nigerian media gone atrophy, deserves subsidy – ITREALMS

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The Nigerian media in this time of current crisis before the nation has gone atrophy and deserves every support especially from the federal government of the day to help fix it, just as the Australian government has blazed the trail in salvaging the industry, reports ITREALMS.

*Dapo Olorunyomi, Publisher, Premium Times

These were some projections by the publisher, Premium Times, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi in his keynote remarks to the 17th Annual Nigerian Guild of Editors Conference (ANEC) held Thursday at the NAF Conference Centre, Abuja, on "Media in Times of Crisis: Resolving Conflict, Achieving Consensus."

Kyari: NNPC to stop running refineries, removal of subsidy to benefit ordinary Nigerians - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will soon stop its involvement in the management of the nation’s refineries after their rehabilitation, according to the Group Managing Director (GMD) of NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, reports ITREALMS.

He made this disclosure Wednesday during an interview on Arise TV breakfast programme, The Morning Show, saying that upon completion of the ongoing rehabilitation exercise, the services of a company world be procured to manage the plants on an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) basis.

“We are going to get an O&M contract, NNPC won’t run it. We are going to get a firm that will guarantee that this plant would run for some time. We want to try a different model of getting this refinery to run. And we are going to apply this process for the running of the other two refineries”, he stated.

He explained that the plan, ultimately, is to get private partners to invest in the refineries and get them to run on the NLNG model where the shareholders would be free to decide the fate of the refineries going forward.

Mallam Kyari was quoted in a press statement made available to ITREALMS by the NNPC Group Public Affairs Division, Group General Manager, Dr. Kennie Obateru, as saying that this model, which is totally different from previous approach, would guarantee the desired outcome for the refineries.

Equally speaking on a Channels TV breakfast talk show, Sunrise Daily, earlier in the day, the NNPC’s helmsman said the decision to finally end the fuel subsidy regime is in the interest of ordinary Nigerians as it would free up funds for the various tiers of government to develop basic infrastructure in the education, health, transport, and other sectors for their benefit.

"Subsidy is elitist because it is the elites that benefit from it. They are the ones that have SUVs, four, five cars in their garages. The masses should be the ones to benefit. There are many things wrong with the under-recovery because it makes us to supply more than is needed. This makes the under-recovery to be bloated because we unwittingly subsidize fuel for the whole of West Africa. That has to stop," the NNPC boss submitted.

He explained that the removal of subsidy would automatically correct the distortions it created in the market such as products arbitrage and smuggling, stressing that it would also provide the needed impetus for the NNPC to establish retail outlets in neighbouring countries.

On the agitation in some quarters for a reduction in the price of kerosene, he said the corporation’s focus was rather on how to migrate all those who were still using kerosene for domestic cooking to the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) which is popularly referred to as cooking gas.

According to him, apart from LPG being a cheaper fuel than kerosene, it is also safer and more environment-friendly.

He said the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, was championing policies to deepen the adoption of LPG for domestic consumption, adding that widespread adoption of LPG usage was the best solution to kerosene supply challenges in the long term.

On the situation with global crude oil price and supply, the GMD said things were shaping up.

"Crude oil price is improving by the day. Last week, it was $15 per barrel. Today, it is $32.79 per barrel. We believe the ongoing engagements between global oil producers will bring back demand and once that happens, the market will balance and fully recover by year-end”, he said optimistically.

On the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, Mallam Kyari who put the current total donations by players in the Oil and Gas Industry at N21billion said the sector was obliged to support the Federal Government in its efforts to bring relief to Nigerians.

He maintained that the donations were in kind and were designed to address three key areas of: provision of hospital consumables (face masks, test kits, etc.); provision of support services and facilities for patients (beds, ventilators, etc.); and provision and upgrade of health infrastructure that will outlive the Covid-19 pandemic.

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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Its official, petrol now sales for N145 per litre - FG

ITRealms:

The Federal Government today, Wednesday removed subsidy from sale the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol or fuel, which will henceforth sale for N145 per litre, reports ITRealms.

Announcing this after a meeting in Abuja today, monitored through the African Independent Television (AIT), ITRealms gathered that the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe-Kachikwu made this disclosure.

According to him, the Federal Government at the same time opens the space for independent marketers to import petrol into the country.

He explained that marketers are now free to bring in cargoes and sell, subject to meeting standard quality control.

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