MTN ‘expects’ CBN to devalue the naira

MTN group says it expects the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to devalue the naira within the 230 to 240 band. According to Reuters is reporting, Brett Goschen, speaking through MTN’s chief financial officer, said the company expects a 22-percent devaluation at some point this year. With the naira currently trading at 197 against the dollar, the Nigerian government has insisted it would not devalue the naira despite depletion of the nation’s foreign reserves.

 MTN is not the first corporate entity to forecast the devaluation of the naira, as Diamond Bank did the same in its 2016 business outlook. “With lower oil prices to persist and its implications on foreign reserves, further naira devaluation of 15 percent minimum is anticipated in 2016 at the official market,” the bank said.

WHAT DEVALUATION MEANS FOR NCC FINE Africa’s biggest wireless operator has been in talks with Nigerian government and the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) to reduce the N780 billion ($3.9 billion) fine imposed in October 2015.

A devaluation of the naira would mean a reduction in the value of MTN’s N780 billion fine, if the company pays in dollars. At N200 per dollar, MTN’s fine is $3.9 billion, but a devaluation of the naira to 240, would automatically reduce MTN’s fine to $3.25 billion. On the flip side, if MTN is compelled to pay in Naira, at N200 per dollar, it would be paying N780 billion, while at the devalued rate of N240 per dollar, MTN would have to pay N936 billion. FINE

CLARIFICATION IN 2015 FY RESULTS MTN, in its fiscal year final results for 2015, made it clear that the R9.287 billion (N120 billion) set aside for MTN fine is in accordance with its principle of prudence. “The Management of MTN Nigeria has clarified that the R9287 million set aside in the recently released MTN Group Financial results is in accordance with the Principle of Prudence in generally accepted accounting standards,” MTN Nigeria said. “This requires that reasonable provisions be made for contingent liabilities.

Discussions with the Nigerian authorities are still ongoing and stakeholders will be advised accordingly when a settlement is reached.” Also, Amina Oyagbola, MTN executive, said: “MTN’s auditors have required that the company make a provision in line with the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).”

Nigerian banks delay loan repayments due to dollar shortage

Nigeria's central bank has tightened restrictions on the flow of dollars to domestic lenders, forcing them to delay hard currency loan and trade repayments to foreign banks and increasing the risk of default, bankers say.

Reeling from the slump in oil prices, the central bank began last year to impose ever stricter dollar curbs to conserve its reserves, which stood at $27.82 billion on March 1, their lowest level in more than 11 years.

Now, banks seeking dollars to repay letters of credit (LCs) to foreign banks have to submit bids to the central bank, imposing extra barriers to hard currency access - to the consternation of foreign institutions.

Previously, the delays have only been for a day or two, and have not been a cause for alarm for the international lenders.

But now, repayment delays have swelled to over a week in some cases, bankers say.

"We have had delays for almost a year," one senior Nigerian banker, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. "But we have capacity to pay what we owe. The delays are understood by both parties to be due to exchange controls."

Banking sources estimate outstanding LCs at $500 million.

The central bank has rationed dollars since oil prices began to fall, selling around $250 million a week, according to bankers. This is half what it used to sell when oil prices were high, making sourcing dollars to repay matured LCs a headache.

Ministers, CBN Meet NASS Over 2016 Budget

The Ministers of Finance and Budget as well as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have met with the National Assembly Committees on Appropriation over the 2016 budget.

Speaking during an interactive session with the lawmakers, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, explained the Federal Government’s borrowing plan and also the present status of the Treasury Single Account (TSA).

She gave account that the total volume of what had passed through the TSA was presently at about 2.9 trillion Naira, saying that the ministry was more concerned about the balance.

“When I say ‘passed through’, money comes in (and) money goes out. So it will be wrong for us to say we have 2.7 trillion which is available to spend because some of that money (for example) belong to NNPC [Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation],” she said.

The legislators raised concern that the government Ministries, Departments Agencies, during the budget defence sessions, complained that the funds appropriated would not cover the cost of salaries and overhead.

However, the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, said that although the government had cut overheads by nine per cent, there were no plans to retrench workers.2016 budget

“We cannot raise the borrowing any more than we have in our view. So it was more of an appeal not to increase the budget size. It is just an appeal that I am making because of the very tight situation we have in terms of being able to finance the budget,” he said.

The Minister also stressed that the Federal government would follow a budget timetable in 2017 and have an extensive engagement with civil society organisations and stakeholders in preparation of the 2017 budget.

CBN Uncovers $20Bn Lying Idle In Domiciliary Accounts Of Nigerians

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has blamed some privileged Nigerians for the spiraling fall of the Naira as it has uncovered about $20 billion which is being kept idle in some domiciliary accounts in the country.

This is contained in a statement issued by the Apex Bank’s deputy governor, financial system surveillance, Joseph Nnana on Thursday.

Speaking at the meeting of the joint appropriation committees of the national assembly, Nanna assured Nigerians that these speculators would surely get their fingers burnt, adding that the Naira would also pick up after the passage of the 2016 budget.

 The statement read: “Distinguished chairman sir, we have $20bn lying idle in various domiciliary accounts of many customers at the various banks across the country.”

“This is part of the reasons why the naira has continued to slide against the US dollar. The CBN will embark on aggressive liquidity mop-up to enable the naira regain confidence.

  “The CBN will not sit down and watch the consistent fall of the naira. After the passage of the 2016 budget, the naira will begin to bounce back. Those who speculate on dollars will have their fingers burnt.”

President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier rejected the idea of devaluing the country’s currency.

Consequently, a devaluation of the Naira would mean a big pay day for the speculators keeping billions of dollars in their domiciliary accounts.

FG to split NNPC into 30 firms next week

The Federal Government will next week announce a major overhaul of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as well as the firm’s unbundling into 30 different companies, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said.

According to him, the government has started resolving the governance issues in the oil and gas sector, adding that an overhaul had not happened at the corporation in the past 20 years.

Kachikwu, who disclosed this at the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Oloibiri Lecture Series in Abuja on Thursday, also stated that the latest financial report of the NNPC for the month of January showed that the corporation’s losses had reduced from the over N160bn of some six months ago to about N3bn.

Explaining the restructuring by the Federal Government in the oil sector, the minister said, “We are starting first with simple governance issues; those that are not contentious, that are very rapid and that deal a lot with the transformation of the national oil company.

“For the national oil company, a lot of work is going on; I am sure some of you have seen the effects; but within the next one week, we are going to be announcing some real major overhaul of the system, one that hasn’t been done in over 20 years.”

Kachikwu added, “The effect of that will be to quite frankly unbundle the huge company into four to five main operational zones – the upstream, downstream, midstream, refining, and of course, every other company that is trending to the venture group.”

“But what is more important is that at the same time, we are also unbundling the subsets of these companies to close to about 30 independent companies with their own managing directors; and so, titles like the group executive directors, which you have been used to in the last 30 years, will disappear; and in place of those, you are going to have chief executive officers.”

This, he said, would make people take responsibility for their titles, as the positions must mean something and not administrative roles.

The minister said, “So, at the end of the day, a CEO of an upstream company must deliver upstream results, and we are very focused on that and along those chains. We are doing very dramatic things within the sector to bring the change and I am happy that we are gaining the cooperation of people within the industry; that is the only way we can guarantee sustainable career path for those in the industry.

“We are potentially moving in a direction where quite frankly for the first time in about 15 years, this company will be profitable; but that is a tip of the iceberg, because by the time these 30 companies are unbundled with their managing directors setting programmes, you are going to meet us in the active work space, we are going to be competing and we are going to make these things work.”

On the slump in global crude oil prices, Kachikwu said the government had been meeting with other oil exporting countries, and expressed the hope that the price of the commodity would soon rise to around $50 per barrel.

He said, “I don’t need to tell you about the price of oil, despite the shuttle diplomacy here and there. It is still very challenging but at least we are inching up, and for the first time, we are beginning to have both the Saudis and the Russians come back on the table.

“Hopefully, if the meeting that we are scheduling to happen in Russia between the OPEC and non-OPEC members happen around the 20th of March, we should see some dramatic movements. We are not likely going to see the prices of many years ago, but I think we are very humble today to accept that if we hit the price of $50, we will be celebrating and that is the target that we have.”

The minister further stated that focusing on gas policies was a key element for him, adding, “The target that I am setting for myself is a 12-month type agenda to try and arrive at some of these conclusions: some working with the (National) Assembly, and some working with policymakers and the industry.”

Kachikwu said he had been involved in so many conversations with oil companies and that the essence was to define stipulated contractual terms in the industry.

FG ‘may review’ $38 oil benchmark for budget

Udo Udoma, minister for budget and national planning, says Nigeria may review the $38 oil price benchmark if crude oil prices fail to recover to $38 and above.

The minister, who defended his plans for the budget before a joint committee of the national assembly on Thursday, also said his team may review the budget as quickly as June – less than three months after expected date of passage. “The benchmark of $38 per barrel of price of oil is not sacrosanct because of the subsisting global environment,” he said. “If at mid-year there is no improvement, we will come back to you for mid-term review.

The review may come as quickly as June this year.” With Nigeria’s bonny light trading at $34.76 per barrel as at Wednesday, the country is about $3 short of budgetary allocation on every of the 2.2 million barrels expected to be pumped per day. At the budget defence, Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, also told the national assembly that a passage of the 2016 budget would translate into a stimulation of the country’s economy. “The economy is slow right now and by the time we start paying contractors and others, the economy will pick up.

We expect that from next year, our debt will reduce,” she was quoted by Reuters to have said. “We have secured debts with Chinese Nexim Bank and the World Bank at very low interest rates. We are borrowing to finance critical sectors of the economy.” The 2016 budget had a record deficit of N2.2 trillion as at the time of it presentation in December 2015, rising to a projected N3 trillion before passage, based on the price of crude on the global market. Brent futures, the global benchmark for crude, were trading around $37 a barrel on Thursday, while the OPEC basket stood at $31.61.

FUEL SCARCITY: NLC threatens to order workers to down tools if…

* Wants FG to restore sanity to supply of PMS across Nigeria

Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday expressed concerns over the recurring scarcity of petroleum products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, known as petrol across the country, threatening to ask workers to stay at home should the scarcity persists.

Congress in a statement insisted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, must immediately intervene in the current hardship imposed by the scarcity of products as this might hinder the ability of workers to get to their work stations, calling on government to restore sanity to the supply chain to save the citizens from unnecessary suffering and hardship.

NLC protest electricity tariff hike in Abuja NLC NLC in a statement by its factional President, Ayuba Wabba, said: “Nigerians are yet to be told what the cause of the current scarcity is; we however believe government will not allow any individual or corporate organisations sabotage efforts to restore sanity and good governance in all facets of our society as it is obvious the ongoing scarcity is calculated sabotage by petroleum marketers to sell the products at high prices for more profits. “Petroleum products, especially petrol is key to our economy as it is what powers commuters, including workers, offices and businesses. The delays motorists contend with in long queues at petrol stations have led to loss of unimaginable man hours which have impacted negatively on our economy.

We therefore call on government to strongly intervene by sending out appropriate agencies, especially the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce the sale of the products as some marketers have been reported to be hoarding the products.

According to the statement: “We restate our call for the speedy reactivation of local production of petroleum products as the country will continue to be held hostage by global economic manipulations if we remain tied to importation of petroleum products even when we have the resources to produce for local consumption and export. “While it is regrettable that bad governance, misplaced priorities and corruption has almost killed the petroleum industry, we believe a serious government can revamp the industry within one year.

There are examples of countries, especially neighbouring Republic of Niger, where one of the best refineries were built within a year.

Nothing stops this government from doing same.” “In any case, despite their perilous states, we have it on authority that our four refineries are still one of the best in the world and can be turned around and even have its capacity upgraded; all that is required is to have effective Turn Around Maintenance conducted on them.

The refineries are not beyond repairs. They have been abandoned to ensure Nigerians are ambushed by proponents of privatisation who believe every sector must be privatised. Those advocating for the sale of the refineries are waiting to buy them because they know the refineries are still one of the best. “Indeed, we believe the recurrent scarcity of petroleum products is part of the roadmap designed by forces who wish to hoodwink us into accepting privatisation of the refineries.

We will not accept a situation where major oil companies operating in Nigeria will have refineries in other countries where they ship our crude for refining and sell what they refined from our crude through importers of petroleum products to our country.

Why have they not built their own refineries in Nigeria?” NLC added: “It makes no common sense that this situation continues. While our resources are enriching other countries and creating jobs for citizens of other countries, our country and citizens are groaning under high currency exchange rates, deepening unemployment and infrastructural collapse.

Government must demonstrate seriousness in our collective affairs through decisive interventions in revamping the petroleum industry and stamping out corruption. “We can’t continue to be import dependent and expect our economy to grow.

When ordinary citizens lament over the excruciating hardship unleashed on us by bad governance, what we expect is for our government to rescue us by rebuilding all infrastructures that have hindered our growth as a result of past neglect or deliberate damages done to them in the past.”

FUEL SCARCITY: NLC threatens to order workers to down tools if… On March 4, 20163:30 amIn News0 Comments 113 Shares 771 * Wants FG to restore sanity to supply of PMS across Nigeria By Victor Ahiuma-Young LAGOS—NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday expressed concerns over the recurring scarcity of petroleum products, especially the Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, known as petrol across the country, threatening to ask workers to stay at home should the scarcity persists. Congress in a statement insisted that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, must immediately intervene in the current hardship imposed by the scarcity of products as this might hinder the ability of workers to get to their work stations, calling on government to restore sanity to the supply chain to save the citizens from unnecessary suffering and hardship. NLC protest electricity tariff hike in Abuja NLC NLC in a statement by its factional President, Ayuba Wabba, said: “Nigerians are yet to be told what the cause of the current scarcity is; we however believe government will not allow any individual or corporate organisations sabotage efforts to restore sanity and good governance in all facets of our society as it is obvious the ongoing scarcity is calculated sabotage by petroleum marketers to sell the products at high prices for more profits. “Petroleum products, especially petrol is key to our economy as it is what powers commuters, including workers, offices and businesses. The delays motorists contend with in long queues at petrol stations have led to loss of unimaginable man hours which have impacted negatively on our economy. We therefore call on government to strongly intervene by sending out appropriate agencies, especially the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to enforce the sale of the products as some marketers have been reported to be hoarding the products. According to the statement: “We restate our call for the speedy reactivation of local production of petroleum products as the country will continue to be held hostage by global economic manipulations if we remain tied to importation of petroleum products even when we have the resources to produce for local consumption and export. “While it is regrettable that bad governance, misplaced priorities and corruption has almost killed the petroleum industry, we believe a serious government can revamp the industry within one year. There are examples of countries, especially neighbouring Republic of Niger, where one of the best refineries were built within a year. Nothing stops this government from doing same.” “In any case, despite their perilous states, we have it on authority that our four refineries are still one of the best in the world and can be turned around and even have its capacity upgraded; all that is required is to have effective Turn Around Maintenance conducted on them. The refineries are not beyond repairs. They have been abandoned to ensure Nigerians are ambushed by proponents of privatisation who believe every sector must be privatised. Those advocating for the sale of the refineries are waiting to buy them because they know the refineries are still one of the best. “Indeed, we believe the recurrent scarcity of petroleum products is part of the roadmap designed by forces who wish to hoodwink us into accepting privatisation of the refineries. We will not accept a situation where major oil companies operating in Nigeria will have refineries in other countries where they ship our crude for refining and sell what they refined from our crude through importers of petroleum products to our country. Why have they not built their own refineries in Nigeria?” NLC added: “It makes no common sense that this situation continues. While our resources are enriching other countries and creating jobs for citizens of other countries, our country and citizens are groaning under high currency exchange rates, deepening unemployment and infrastructural collapse. Government must demonstrate seriousness in our collective affairs through decisive interventions in revamping the petroleum industry and stamping out corruption. “We can’t continue to be import dependent and expect our economy to grow. When ordinary citizens lament over the excruciating hardship unleashed on us by bad governance, what we expect is for our government to rescue us by rebuilding all infrastructures that have hindered our growth as a result of past neglect or deliberate damages done to them in the past.”

Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/fuel-scarcity-nlc-threatens-to-order-workers-to-down-tools-if/

Naira strengthens against dollar on parallel market again

There are strong indications that the Nigerian currency may have gained more strength against the dollar on the parallel market again.

As at this morning on the ‘black’ foreign exchange market, the dollar was sold for between N320 and N315, but this afternoon impeccable sources as the Bureau De Change (BDC) revealed that the Nigerian currency is fast growing against the American dollar.

The source who pleaded anonymity stated that as at 1.05pm, the naira stood at N310 against the American currency on the black market.

He noted that despite the fact that the Nigerian currency had been unstable against the dollar in recent days, it seems to be garnering more strength amid unchanged oil prices on the global market. Another BDC operator informed that it now sells for N310 at his end, a situation which he claims “may still improve before the end of the day.” This rise and fall of naira against the dollar in recent weeks has also led to inflation of goods and wares in the market, with every Nigerian particularly groaning under its hardship.

This may have also totally shut speculators up after initial suggestions that the naira (up to N400/dollar about two weeks ago) will soon be exchanged for about N450-N500 on the black market following the trend in the economic situation of the country. Meanwhile, interested buyers and sellers of the foreign exchange may

FG will overhaul NNPC operations next week, says Kachikwu

The Federal Government will carry out a major overhaul of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation next week, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said.

According to him, the government has started resolving the governance issues in the oil and gas sector as well as at the NNPC, adding that the planned overhaul in the national oil firm had never happened at the corporation in the past 20 years.

Kachikwu disclosed this at the Shell Production and Exploration Oloibiri Lecture Series that was held in Abuja on today.

Explaining the restructuring exercise by the Federal Government in the oil sector, the minister said, “We are starting first with simple governance issues, those that are not contentious…, that are very rapid and that deals a lot with the transformation of the national oil company.

“For the national oil company, a lot of work is going on, I am sure some of you have seen the effects but within the next one week, we are going to be announcing some really major overhaul of the system, one that hasn’t been done in over 20 years.

“The effect of that would be to quite frankly unbundle the huge company into four to five main operational zones; the upstream, downstream, midstream, refining and, of course, every other company that is trending to the venture group.”

Nigeria’s total debts stand at $60bn

Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Local Debts, Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central), has declared that Nigeria’s total debts stands at $60 billion.

This is even as the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) said Nigeria spent 80 percent of her revenue on debt servicing.

Speaking while hosting the resident representative of IDB in Nigeria, Abdallah Kiliaki, Sani said: “Available records have clearly shown that Nigeria’s total debts profile stands at $60 billion out of which $10.6 billion is from foreign loans.”

Also, Kiliaki said though Nigeria’s debts GDP ratio was low at 17 percent, resources being used to pay the debts were enormous going by percentages taken on yearly basis.

According to Kiliaki, for Nigeria not to get herself suffocated by such huge debt servicing with limited resources, there is the urgent need for her to expand the scope of its resources through diversification of her economy into other critical areas, especially agriculture, on the template of value addiction from production to processing and to export, which would earn her required foreign incomes.

He said the recent visit of the 19 Northern states governors to the head office of the bank in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for rehabilitation assistance for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in North Eastern states, had no financing envelope agreement yet, being a sensitisation move.

His words: “My visit is very crucial because we need to look at the debt profile of a country before we give it new contractual sort of financing. We also work closely with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to ensure that our financing has the required threshold of grant financing which is normally 35 percent but at the same time there were financing that is not a burden to a country to the extent that the debt may not be sustainable.
“When talking about unsustainable debt, it means that a country or a borrower is unable to pay. So we take very serious note of that. When you look at the debt GDP ratio of Nigeria is very low, it is very low. It is 17 percent compared to Italy and other countries, which is about 150 percent, while that of the United States is about 100 percent.
“But there is a caveat, it is true that debt to GDP ratio is low but when you look at the amount, the revenue, to debt servicing ratio, the amount of money that the government is collecting, the revenue of the government vis a vis the ratio to the total debt, I think Nigeria pays about 75 to 80 percent of its revenue to service debt, so this is very high compared to other countries where they use just 10 percent.
“What this means is that one, the government of Nigeria needs to expand or mobilise additional resources through taxation by broadening the tax base but at the same time, we as lenders, financiers,  we need to reconsider our conditions of financing meaning that we should try as much as we can, to extend to Nigeria, financing that will not make it difficult for the country to pay its debt.
“In a nutshell, as clearly shown by available financial records, Nigeria still has considerable leverage of taking loans from multilateral financial institutions for development or investments purposes going by her very encouraging low ratio of debts servicing to GDP, but the factor of dwindling revenues being used to service the debts must be urgently looked into, by way of possible expansion.”
According to him, even if the Northern states governors had approached the bank for definite financial assistance, there was no way the Federal Government of Nigeria would not be carried along.
In his remarks, Sani urged the bank and other multilateral financial institutions to stop propping the country into taking more loans on account of its low ratio of debts servicing to GDP, saying “what is 17 percent today may if needed control measures are not applied, go up to 77 percent and invariably returning the country back to where it was before 2006, when London and Paris Club wrote off substantial part of her foreign debts then.”

He specifically told IDB through its representative to be practically involved in the country’s effort at diversification of her economy and not just presenting her guided loan offer, warning that “henceforth, his committee would monitor every cent, every dollar and even kobo any government in Nigeria borrows.
“Borrowing should simply be a last option for any serious minded government and not just first option of way out of problems at hand because we don’t need to overburden our next generations for repayment of needless loans taking before their time”.

SEC laments negative impact of TSA on capital market operations

The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, on Tuesday, said the inclusion of the commission in the implementation of the Treasury Single Account is affecting its capital market operation.

Gwarzo said this when the House of Representatives Committee on capital market visited the commission in Abuja.

He said apart from the TSA, the downturn in the capital market is a huge challenge to the commission as the income currently being generated cannot cover 50 per cent of its operating.

For instance, he said in the 2015 budget, the commission had projected to generate an income of N6.9bn adding that this could not be realized as it could only generate N4.9bn.

He said, “What we generate from the market cannot cover more than 50 per cent of our cost. So more often we have to dip into that fund (funds saved by past SEC administrations).

“But now with the TSA and other things, that flexibility is being cut off because some of the interest income that we derive from those investment, we don’t enjoy them any longer.”

“SEC is now running a very tight budget, given that the market has gone down and given that there are aspirations to move the market up we have to set aside some amount of money.”

Gwarzo said the commission is putting in place strategies to attract more retail investors into the Nigerian capital market in its determination to deepen and develop the market.

He said unlike countries such as South Africa and Malaysia, Nigeria has a low rate of retail investors penetration.

He said “We have pursued a lot of initiatives in the last year and we are pursuing more this year.

“We are taking it from a perspective that this market has never witnessed and the perspective is to address some of the lingering complaints of the investor.

“We believe that the retail investors are the owners of this market so our strategy should focus on them.

“As a country we have only less than two per cent participation of retail investors in our market. Malaysia has nine per cent,South Africa 19 per cent,United State and United Kingdom 13 per cent.”

The SEC DG disclosed that the commission was addressing the issue of dematerialization, where share certificates have not been fully dematerialized in the market.

The Chairman of the Committee, Dr. Tajudeen Yusuf said the committee would assist the commission in increasing the number of quoted companies on the stock exchange.

He said, “We are all aware that the market is not doing well presently and SEC generates to own revenue from the market.

Power drops below 2,800mw – NERC

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that power supply through the national grid which peaked to 5000mw in past two weeks had dropped below 2,800mw due to vandalism.

Dr. Anthony Akah, the Acting Chief Executive Officer of the commission disclosed this while signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Consumer Protection Council (CPC).

A statement issued on the ceremony by Dr. Usman Abba- Arabi, Head, Public Affairs Department of NERC was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.

In the statement, Akah expressed dissatisfaction and worries over the spate of vandalism in the power sector.

It stated that the NERC boss enjoined the public and the CPC to collaborate with Distribution Companies (DISCOs) and security agencies to safeguard electrical installations.

The statement also said that the NERC would soon compel the DISCOs to publish their meter deployment schedules.

It added that the publication would ensure adherence to the meter roll out plan contained in the performance agreement signed with government by the utility firms.

“Such publication will make unmetered customers to be aware of the estimated period they have to wait before they can be metered,’’ it stated.

It stated that NERC had issued warning to the DISCOs against wrongful estimated billings and the acts of compelling customers to buy, install and repair transformers and poles.

The statement said the MoU between, NERC and CPC was part of concerted efforts to reduce the incidence of estimated billing completely.

According to the statement, the Director General of CPC, Mrs. Modupe Atoki, commended NERC for the long standing relationship between the two agencies.

Atoki, according to the statement, expressed CPC’s cooperation and renewed effort to protect electricity consumers from abuse of their rights.

Nigeria’s crude oil production to decline by 70,000bpd

The International Energy Administration (IEA) expected Nigeria’s oil production to decline by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2021 to 1.85 million bpd due to reduction in investment in the country’s deepwater projects and oil theft and pipeline sabotage in the Niger Delta continues unabated.

The IEA, which made this disclosure in its energy outlook released recently, stated that African crude oil exports will fall by 600,000 bpd over the next six years as production from its biggest producers slips and rising regional refinery activity absorbs more domestic output.

Besides, crude oil prices have continued to rise as Brent increased by 2.42 per cent from the $35.1 to $35.97 per barrel during early trading hour yesterday.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also gained $0.97 per barrel to $33.75 a barrel.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange, Nigeria’s light sweet crude futures for delivery in April traded at $34.23 a barrel, up by $0.48 a barrel.

The report said that West Africa oil producers like Nigeria and Angola may be forced to cut prices to sell barrels, with low prices, oversupply and high stocks projected to prevail until at least early-2017.
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Europe is expected to remain the main demand outlet for WAF crude, but imports of African crude to Europe are set to decline by 500,000 bpd accounting for 2.2 million bpd in 2021.

According to IEA, oil price collapse was causing “particular pain” for Africa’s two largest oil producers Nigeria and Angola, as oil output is expected to slow down along with declining state revenues.
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The report also said that by 2021, the Dangote refinery project in Nigeria is expected to start-up, which will process Nigerian crudes and thus reduce the volumes for export.

Africa will observe the steepest absolute decline by a major crude exporting region, with regional crude production set to decline by 400,000 bpd mainly due to fall in output in Nigeria, Algeria and Angola, it said.

The IEA also said that West African oil producers are likely to have problems marketing their crudes over the next couple of years due to the existing global glut of sweet crude, which has made this region a new “swing producer.”

Crude runs are expected to reach 300,000 bpd in 2021 with the full 500,000 bpd nameplate capacity reached in subsequent years, the report said.

IEA said that Algeria’s oil production will fall by 170,000 bpd to 990,000 bpd in 2021 as a lack of investment pushes aging oil fields into decline.

Africa’s second largest producer Angola will see its crude production fall to 1.8 million bpd in 2021, a fall of 20,000 bpd over the six-year forecast period, according to the IEA.

The IEA said that Angola’s official two million bpd target looked unachievable even before the fall in oil prices due to technical problems besetting its deep water projects.

“The country’s aging offshore oil fields need continuous support from new and costly projects to offset steep declines and since output peaked in 2008, Luanda has struggled to stem the drop,” the report added.

Judge renews order barring electricity tariff hike

Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos on Monday renewed the order barring the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) from increasing electricity tariff.
He said the order that parties maintain status quo ante bellum subsists.

“The order that the parties in this suit should maintain the status quo ante bellum remains valid and binding until it is set aside by a court of competent jurisdiction,” Justice Idris held.

He spoke while delivering ruling on a contempt proceedings initiated by activist-lawyer, Toluwani Adebiyi, against NERC chairman and Chief Executives of Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

Justice Idris first made the order last May, but while the suit was pending, NERC announced the tariff hike.
NERC’s lawyer, Chief Anthony Idigbe (SAN), and others said they were not personally served with the Form 48 (notice of consequence of disobedience of court order).

Ruling, Justice Idris agreed with the respondents and held that Adebiyi issued Form 49 (a formal application for committal to prison of a person who refuses to obey an order) without properly serving the alleged contemnors with the Form 48.

He said: “It is clear, in this case, that the purported issuance of the Form 49 on the defendants by the plaintiff without prior and proper service of the Form 48 is premature.
“The issuance of Form 49 when the court is yet to hear and determine the application of the plaintiff for leave to serve Form 48 is also inappropriate.

“In the circumstances, I hold that the defendants’ objections have merit. The Form 49 and the motion for order for committal issued by the plaintiff against the defendants are hereby set aside. The court has set aside the contempt application due to fundamental procedural irregularities.”

Justice Idris, however, said NERC and the DISCOs are still liable to be held in contempt should they continue to violate the order.

Forex Crisis: Importers Resort To Groupage For Survival

Some importers have resorted to groupage for survival in view of increasing exchange rate, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

The importers at Balogun wing of the Lagos International Trade Fair Complex, spoke on this in separate interviews with NAN on Monday in Lagos..

A cosmetics dealer, Mr Chidi Okeke, said that it had become difficult for an individual to bear the cost of shipping cargoes to Nigeria.

“The foreign exchange restriction is also affecting commerce and our income. Many of us just come into the market to sit and no transaction is taking place,” Okeke said.

A Freight Forwarder and Business Support Consultant, Mr Gab Nwankere, told NAN that with the foreign exchange rate and import restriction, traders had to devise other means of survival.

Nwankere said that business support consultants had created new avenues for traders to cope with the situation.

“We informed the traders about the window in an interactive session in November and today they are reaping the fruits,” he said.

According to him, my organisation links traders in the market with others willing to combine in shipping goods from China and other countries.

Mrs Grace Nwaoha, who sells toiletries, said that there were five traders that imported a 40 ft. container full of different items.

NNPC takes delivery of four fuel cargoes

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has assured of sufficient supply of premium motor spirit (petrol) as it has taken delivery of four more cargoes of the product over the weekend to keep the country wet.

The deliveries which amount to about 180 million litres is part of a new arrangement by the corporation to have a cargo of PMS delivered daily as from March.

The corporation which made the announcement in a statement made available to the journalists stated that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, has warned depot owners against selling petrol above the approved ex-depot price of N77 per litre.

The warning comes against the background of repeated complaints by marketers of sharp practices at the depots.

The statement quotes the minister as warning that depot owners found to be involved in selling products above the approved ex-depot prices would be severely sanctioned.

Nigerians protest high bank charges

Nigerians are planning to boycott banking activities on Tuesday, to protest exorbitant deductions by banks, activities on social media are indicating.
Consumer Advocacy Foundation of Nigeria, a not-for-profit group dedicated to advocacy for consumer rights and protection in Africa’s largest consumer market is leading the protest.
According to a petition posted on CAFON’s website by the organisation’s president, Sola Salako, the #NoBankingDay is aimed at pressuring Nigerian banks to review their charges downwards. The group is also calling for a review of bank forms and contracts to include more protection for consumers and for consumer complaints to be resolved promptly and satisfactorily.
Other demands are that banks must clear fees with consumers before debiting their accounts and that CBN must review the new Stamp Duty Charge, Account Maintenance Charge and Debit Card Maintenance Fees.
“March 1 is “No Banking Day” Protest against excessive bank charges Dear Nigerian Banks Consumers For many years now, consumers of banking services have been subject to series of poor and unsatisfactory transaction and relationship terms,” Salako said in the post.
“We have endured excessive charges, illegal fees and unfair contracts that only protect the bank but do not protect the consumers.
“Banks debit our accounts at will for charges we never agreed to or were not aware of; they charge us for every little service; we pay for getting our statements; introduction letters; and now, some banks are charging N200 for the use of deposit and transfer forms!”
Salako noted that under the current CBN management, abolished fees are being reintroduced.
“ATM withdrawals that were free now cost N65 on 3rd withdrawals,” she said.
“ We pay N1000 for debit card issuance and renewals; we pay N105 for every online transfer; and they still charge N105 as Annual Debit Card Maintenance and now, a new Stamp Duty charge of N50 on every credit of over N1000 has just been introduced.”
“COT that was supposed to end finally in 2016 is now being reintroduced as 1% of every withdrawal purportedly as Monthly Current Account Maintenance Fees!”
She said the exploitation has become unbearable and has necessitated speaking out by consumers.
“That is why CAFON, a consumer rights NGO is calling consumers to join us in protest against banking exploitation by declaring Tuesday, March 1 2016 as NO BANKING DAY!” Salako said.