LCCI hails removal of fixed charges from electricity tariffs

 

Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf has hailed the removal of fixed charges from electricity tariffs. He however said the electricity companies must ensure proper metering.

Mr. Yusuf in an interview said prepaid meters are not available and there are still cases of estimated billing, which need to be removed to ensure people pay for what they consume.

He said distribution companies must ensure inefficiency in the system is curtailed to avoid burdening the consumers.

Kaduna Refinery Resumes Production

The Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company has resumed production of petrol four months after it was closed for repairs.

The Managing Director of the company, Saidu Mohammed, who disclosed this to Channels Television in Kaduna, said that the plant, which was closed in September, came back on stream last Saturday ahead of the December deadline for Nigeria’s four refineries to return to full production.

The restart of production at the Kaduna refinery should be a cheering news for Nigerians, who have endured months of scarcity of petrol.

Mohammed explained that the plant, which is getting supply of crude oil from Escravos in Warri, is currently producing at an average 1.5 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit per day.

The MD said that with the resumption of production, the Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC) is expected to commence trucking of refined products within the week. He added that at least 50 trucks are expected to be loading the substance for supply to the northern part of the nation and beyond on daily basis.

Mr Mohammed further explained that the Kaduna refinery is working in collaboration with the PPMC and Department of Petroluem Resources (DPR) to ensure that products are properly supplied across the region, to cushion the effect of the scarcity of petrol.

While appealing to the public to exercise patience, he gave the assurance that the long queues across the country would soon disappear as soon as the PPMC commences trucking.

Prior to its closure in September, Kaduna refinery had stopped working for most part of the year, except briefly in July and August, when its utilisation capacity dropped to about 2.6 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively, according the NNPC monthly operational report for October.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, had issued a 90-day ultimatum to the managements of the four refineries shortly after his appointment in August.

NERC approves new electricity tariff, abolishes fixed charges

The new electricity tariff regime approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has removed fixed charges for all classes of electricity consumers.

This is contained in a statement on the company’s website, signed by its Head, Public Affairs Department, Dr Usman Abba Arabi.

It said from the next billing period, distribution companies would no longer charge their customers monthly fixed charges.

Fixed charge is that component of the tariff that commits electricity consumers to paying an approved amount of money not minding whether electricity is consumed during the billing period.

Under the new tariff regime, electricity consumers will now only pay for what they consume from month to month.

According to the Chairman of NERC, Dr Sam Amadi: “This is good news for electricity consumers who have long asked for a more just and fair pricing of electricity.

For instance, residential customer classification (R2) in Abuja Electricity Distribution Company will no longer pay N702 fixed charge every month.

Their energy charge will increase by N9.60kwh. Also, residential customers (R2 customers) in Eko and Ikeja electricity distribution areas will no longer pay N750 fixed charges.

They will be getting N10/kwh and N8kwh increase respectively in their energy charges.

Ladder crisis: Aero indicts Bauchi airport manager

The Accountable Manager and Managing Director, Aero, Capt Russel Lee Foon, has said that the airline was assured of adequate ground handling services by the Bauchi Airport Manager before the airline embarked on a flight with B737—500 series with registration 5N-BLG.

Lee Foon, who disclosed this while briefing aviation correspondents, on Monday, on what happened at Bauchi Airport, at the weekend, added that the charter was booked by a group of young people, who were to attend a wedding party and that the groom was also on board.

The Accountable Manager explained that on December 18, 2015, the airline Head of Ground Operations, Mr. Peter Omata, confirmed the handling of the flight through the Airport Manager of Bauchi, Mr. Abubakar, and that he, also, confirmed, on many occasions, the availability of the air stairs and cost.

He further explained that prior to leaving Abuja, the Flight dispatcher contacted the Airport Manager to advise that the aircraft was taxing out and he confirmed that they were ready to receive the flight.

According to him, “At 10:42 the aircraft touched down on Runway 35 at the Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa International Airport. The controller advised the crew that due the absence of marshallers and ramp officials of any sort, that parking would be at their own discretion.”

Dollar Maintains N270 At Parallel Market

The Naira on Tuesday continued to exchange at N270 to the dollar amidst expectations that the apex bank would inject 90 million dollars to stimulate the parallel market.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Naira had on Friday rebounded after weeks of record low at the market, exchanging for N270 to the dollar at the parallel market.

At the official interbank window, the Naira exchanged for N197 to the dollar.

Traders at the market were hopeful that the Naira would experience some stability after the Central Bank of Nigeria said it had stimulated the market with 90 million dollars.

Petrol sells for N300 per litre in Jigawa

As fuel scarcity bites harder in Hadejia, Jigawa, the price of a litre of petrol has risen to N300. Many petrol stations in Hadejia had no product to sell at the time of this report. Petro is only available at black markets where it sold at N300 per litre, well above the N87 approved pump price.

The situation has led to drastic drop in the number of commercial buses on roads in the area. Malam Ibrahim Hassan, a commercial bus driver, said that he was experiencing difficulties getting petrol to buy. Hassan said that the situation was affecting his daily revenue as “I am spending much on fuel due to the lingering scarcity. “

The driver said that he had resorted to carrying more passengers to make up for the expenses on fuel. “I am overloading passengers to avoid incurring losses. “ Malam Baballe Haruna, the Treasurer, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the area, condemned the non-availability of petrol in the area.

Haruna said that the trend had exposed members of the union to hardships, adding that most of them had parked their vehicles. He appealed to the Federal Government to adopt practical measures to end scarcity of petroleum products in the country.