Breaking: Massive Shake Up in NNPC

True to its restructuring measures, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Friday announced a shake up in its organisation.

Following the NNPC Group General Manager, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu’s,announcement on Tuesday that NNPC has decided to restructure in order to put it on good footing for profitability, new appointments, redeployments and secondments into key positions have been made.

Following NNPC division into seven bodies, technocrats have been appointed as GEDs/COOs to man the new divisions.

The new unit heads are expected to resume fully by April 1st 2016.

They include: Bello Rabiu, Upstream; Henry Ikem Obih, Downstream; Anibor Kragha, Refineries; Saidu Mohammed, Gas and Power; Babatunde Adeniran, Ventures; Isiaka Abdulrazaq, Finance & Accounts while the Corporate Services division will be headed by Isa Inuwa.

Those affected by the reorganisation include former GED Exploration and Production Dr. Maikanti Badru who is now on secondement to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources as Technical Adviser Gas while Engr Nnamdi Ajulu former GED Refining and Technology is now Consultant Refinery and Infrastructure in the petroleum ministry.

In the new structure, the Group General Managers, Strategy and Execution, who will support the GEDs and COOs include: Surajdeen Afolabi, Downstream; Ugochukwu Afamefuna Vitalis, Refineries ;Yusuf Matashi, Gas and Power ; Ladipo Fagbola, Ventures; Ahmadu Sambo, Finance and Accounts; and Modupe Bammake, Corporate Services.

The Strategic Business Unit Heads are: Upstream: Roland Ewubare-MD IDSL; Downstream: Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue-MD Retail, Ahmed Farouk-MD Nigeria Petroleum Marketing and Dalhatu Makama-GGM Marine Logistics.

Refineries: Bafred Enjugu-MD PHRC, Adewale Ladenegan- MD WRPC and Idi Mukhtar-MD KRPC.
Others are: Gas & Power: Samuel Ndukwe- MD Gas & Power Investments, Mazadu Bako- MD NGMC and Babatunde Bakare-MD NGPTC.

Ventures: Danny Sokari George-GMD Properties, Saidu Abdulkadir-MD Shipping, Aliyu Sikiru- MD NETCO, Lawrencia Ndupu- MD NOFS, Rabiu Suleiman-GGM RED/Frontier Exploration Services and GGM Medicals is now Oyetunde Olubunmi Oyekan.

The former GGM Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ohi Alegbe was redeployed to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) unit which will be under the GMD’s office.

President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mallam Mohammed Deen Garba is now the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division.

Sad as Naira ‘stuck’ at 320/$1 despite permutations

The Nigerian currency, naira, has remain uninspiring at 320 to the dollar, neither rising nor falling significantly, through the week.

The naira, which was trading between 301 and 310 at about the same time last week, depreciated at the open of business on Monday to trade at 318 to 320.

Over the past month, the naira had numerous dramatic turns, falling to 390 against the dollar, with Capital Oil chairman, Ifeanyi Ubah, saying he could recover the naira to 200 against the greenback.

The naira inspiringly rose from 390 to 310, with some trading erratically at 280 against the dollar at the parallel market.

The interbank rate however stood close to its interbank peg, trading at 197.5 to the international dollar standard.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that the naira would recover as soon as the 2016 budget is passed and implementation begins.

Joseph Nnana, the deputy governor, financial system surveillance of the CBN, at a meeting of the joint appropriation committees of the national assembly, assured Nigerians that speculators would get their hands burnt.

“Distinguished chairman sir, we have $20bn lying idle in various domiciliary accounts of many customers at the various banks across the country,” he had said.
“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.”

Reserves rising again as Nigerian crude hits $39

Nigeria’s foreign reserves are on the rise again, as the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) confirmed on Thursday that the Nigerian crude, bonny light, is trading at $39.07 per barrel.

The current selling price, which is above the 2016 budget benchmark of $38 per barrel of crude by $1, is also the highest point for Bonny Light in 2016.

According to the latest figures from the central bank, the reserves rose to $27.88 billion following a nine-day rising streak from $27.82 billion at the beginning of the month.

The reserves had a four-day rise in February, the very first of such, since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May 2015.

On the other hand, Brent crude – the global benchmark for crude oil prices – is trading at $40.07 per barrel on the international market.

According to OPEC secretariat, the daily basket price, which is the average of 13 crude oil variant, stood at one of its 2016 record high of $35.05 a barrel on Wednesday.

President Buhari and Udo Udoma, minister for budget and national planning, have come under fierce criticism for pegging the national budget for 2016 at an oil benchmark of $38 in December, when oil sold less than $35.

The crude oil prices were said to be rallying, following plans by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and some Latin America oil producers to stabilise prices.
The new turn of events, regarding increase in crude oil prices would mean some sort of surpluses for the Nigerian budget, if they persist.

Explosion rocks CBN Calabar

The office of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in Calabar, capital of Cross River state, has been hit by by an explosion.

A witness described what he heard as “a deafening explosion”, saying it occurred “around 1pm”.

“I was part of a group of people that was about to make cash withdrawal at CBN building in Calabar this afternoon,” said the source, a banker who did not want to be named.

“Suddenly, there was an explosion within the CBN premises that caused heavy casualties. Ambulances were used to convey people to various hospitals.

“I was lucky to have escaped, and even luckier to discover that everyone in my group was safe and in good conditions of health. CBN immediately began to evacuate staff, just as corporate organisation in the area did.”

More to follow…

TSA: Skye Bank confirms EFCC’s invitation, denies wrongdoing

Skye Bank has confirmed receiving an invitation from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission over allegations of non-compliance with the Federal Government’s directives on the Treasury Single Account.

Specifically, the Bank was said to have failed to remit funds belonging to the Presidential Implementation Committee to the Central Bank of Nigeria in compliance with the TSA directives.

The invitation, it is believed, was extended to its Group Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer.

The Bank, however, denied any wrongdoing.

It said in a statement by Nduneche Ezurike, its Head of Strategic Brand Management, that the Bank did not receive the invitation from the EFCC before stories went awash in the media that its Group Managing Director and Chief Compliance Officer had been invited for interrogation.

The Bank said it had complied with the directives on the TSA by October 2, 2015.
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The statement by Azurite reads in full: “Our attention has been drawn to a report in Sahara Reporters and other publications stating that the GMD and the Chief Compliance Officer of Skye Bank have been invited by the EFCC over an alleged non remittance of funds belonging to the Presidential Implementation Committee (PIC) to the CBN in compliance with the TSA directives.

“As at the time of the said Sahara reports, neither the GMD nor the Chief Compliance Officer of the Bank had seen any such invitation.

“More importantly however, the balances in the said PIC account had since been moved to the CBN in compliance with the TSA on 2nd of October 2015 and the account closed.

Skye Bank thus does not maintain any account nor hold any funds belonging to the PIC as at today.

“We have however received the invitation. These facts and clarifications will therefore be provided to the EFCC or any investigating agency on the subject.”

Senate Reveals MTN’s N300bn Proposal as Settlement for Fine

MTN’S PROPOSED N300BN PAYMENT PLAN
• N50bn already paid in “good faith”
• N100bn via electronic transfer between Dec 31, 2016 and Dec 31, 2020
• N80bn investment in Nigerian sovereign debt instruments in 2016-2017
• N70bn through the provision of broadband access to the FG (subject to excess capacity on MTN’s fibre network) for its e-initiatives

The Senate Committee on Communications yesterday revealed that MTN Communications Nigeria Limited has proposed to pay N300 billion ($1.5 billion) in the ongoing negotiations between the company and Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on the N780 billion fine imposed on the network operator by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

The industry regulator imposed a N1.04 trillion fine on MTN last October for failing to disconnect 5.2 million unregistered subscribers on its network, but later reduced it to N780 billion and gave the network provider till December 31, 2015 to pay up after it had appealed for leniency.

But before the deadline, MTN sued the federal government challenging the power of the federal government and NCC to impose the fine.

Last month, it withdrew the case and paid N50 billion as a gesture of good faith towards the settlement of the fine.

The penitence exhibited by MTN paved the way for negotiations with the federal government led by Malami and the South African-owned firm led by former US Attorney General, Mr. Eric Holder.

At an investigative hearing held yesterday by the Senate committee in the National Assembly, vice chairman of the committee, Senator Adeola Olamilekan (Lagos West) brandished a proposal acknowledged by the Solicitor General of the Federation, Taiwo Abiodun, from MTN wherein the network provider insisted that it could only pay N300 billion.

A breakdown of the proposal which was forwarded to the Ministers of Communications and Finance by the solicitor general as well as NCC executive vice chairman, Prof. Umar Dambatta include the N50 billion already paid by MTN into a recovery account of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and another N100 billion to be paid via electronic transfer between December 31, 2016 and December 31, 2020.

The proposal also includes another N80 billion proposed payment by MTN as a demonstration of its commitment to and confidence in the Nigerian economy and will be subject to necessary regulatory approvals,

This would come by way of MTN Nigeria committing to purchase N80 billion of Nigerian sovereign debt issued on the international market in 2016-2017.

The last tranche of N70 billion which the network provider proposed will be through the provision of broadband access to the Federal Government of Nigeria (subject to excess capacity on the company’s fibre network) for the purpose of the government’s e-initiatives (e.g. visa processing, public service, connecting schools, registration, etc.).

If accepted, the broadband access valued at N70 billion will commence from the date of the execution of the agreement between the federal government and MTN to December 31, 2020.

Olamilekan, having brandished the document, accused the AGF of deceiving Nigerians that negotiations were still ongoing with MTN, whereas he had already executed an agreement with MTN that will allow the company pay the proposed N300 billion in four years.

However, an official from the AGF’s office dismissed the charge, describing the document as a proposal which he said was not an end in itself but a means to an end.
But Olamilekan disagreed, insisting that the government was only playing on Nigeria’s intelligence and questioned the rationale behind the acceptance of N50 billion from MTN, which was the first tranche of the payment as contained in the proposal, and yet claiming that negotiations were still ongoing.

The session was attended by Minister of Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, Dambatta, another representative of the AGF, Mr. Dayo Apata, MTN’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Ferdinand Moolman, acting Director of Banking and Payment System Department of the CBN, and the Accountant General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris.

The meeting revealed how the AGF and presidency kept NCC and Shittu in the dark in the negotiations with MTN on the fine.

While Shittu said he was not part of the entire negotiation process, Dambatta said NCC was not responsible for the reduction of the fine from N1.04 trillion to N780 billion, saying it was only invited to a meeting of an inter-agency committee set up by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the committee reduced the fine by 25 per cent following the president’s approval after MTN wrote a letter of apology to the government.
Both Shittu and Dambatta said they were not aware of negotiations between Malami and MTN that led to the payment of N50 billion by the latter into the CBN recovery account on February 24.

Shittu maintained that the matter was between Malami and MTN. According to him, since the matter went to court, his ministry and the NCC had virtually been kept at arms length on the matter, adding that when MTN indicated its decision to settle the matter out-of-court, the AGF gave it two conditions for the out-of-court-settlement.

He listed the conditions to include making a down payment of six per cent of the total fine, amounting to N50 billion first, and withdrawal of the suit, both conditions which he said MTN fulfilled.

In his submission, Dambatta disclosed that the fine of N1.04 trillion imposed on MTN by NCC was predicated on a charge of N200 per line that was not registered by the company, in line with its directive at the time.

However, he said the negotiations on the N1.04 trillion fine down to N780 billion was handled by an inter-agency committee set up by the president to look into the fine, to which he said NCC was invited.

According to him, based on a letter of apology written by MTN and its remission, Buhari gave approval to the committee to reduce the fine by N25 per cent, thus bringing it down to N780 billion.

He further disclosed that NCC was not informed about the move to settle the case out of court neither, nor was it a party to the payment of N50 billion to CBN.
On its part, MTN explained that the process leading to the payment of N50 billion began when it made its intention to settle out-of-court known to the AGF.

According to MTN’s chief executive, who echoed the communications minister’s submission, the AGF had informed them that the federal government’s interest in the matter would be dependent on MTN’s preparedness to fulfill the two conditions enumerated by AGF, which he said MTN fulfilled.

But the representative of the AGF who said Malami was unavoidably absent due to a trip out of the country, said on January 22 while in court, MTN had indicated its interest in settling the matter out of court and after being told to do so in “good faith”, by meeting the two conditions, it requested for a long adjournment, which he said was granted by the court.

He said it was these actions that led to the adjournment of the case to March 18 by the court.

When asked why MTN was asked to pay the money into a CBN account and not the NCC account, Apata said he did not know.

However, the accountant general said though his office was not involved in the negotiations, he only got involved in the matter when the AGF asked him to facilitate the opening of an asset recovery account with the CBN. He said the account was credited with N50 billion on February 24.

When the committee questioned the AGF’s representative on the legality of the account, he said he was not in a position to say whether it was legal or not.

Through out the questioning the Senate committee did not conceal its displeasure with the entire process, with Olamilekan demanding to know the right of the AGF to enter into negotiations with MTN while sidetracking other major stakeholders – Ministry of Communications and NCC – in the matter.

He accused the AGF and accountant general of having ulterior motives in the matter by taking over the jobs of NCC and Ministry of Communications.

Also speaking, Senator Abiodun Olujinmi (Ekiti South), said impunity usually begins with the abuse of a process, saying having served on the board of NCC, imposition of fines on telecommunications company by NCC was a regular norm.

According to her, such fines are usually paid into the NCC account, for subsequent transfer by NCC into the Federation Account.

According to her, Malami and Idris had shaved the heads of Shittu and NCC in their presence by totally taking over their jobs.

She described the entire negotiation process as “voodoo” and faulted the opening of a recovery account for money that was not stolen, describing it as a clandestine move to circumvent due process.

She also queried the rationale behind the determination of 6 per cent of the fine, amounting to N50 billion paid by MTN.

“You asked them to pay 6 per cent of N780 billion. And you said it was in good faith. Who determined that? You asked them to withdraw the case from court and you said the case is still in court,” she said.

CBN to borrow N1.07tn via treasury bills in Q2

The Central Bank of Nigeria is planning to borrow N1.07tn via treasury bills issuance in the second quarter of 2016.

The CBN said it would auction N303.77bn worth of 91-day bills, N169.98bn worth of 182-day paper and N599.63bn of one-year paper between March 17 and June 2.

The Federal Government, through the CBN, had raised N1.22tn from treasury bills in the first quarter.

The Debt Management Office had on Wednesday said it would raise N100bn ($503.02m) in local currency denominated bonds with maturities ranging between five and 20 years on March 16.

The debt office said it would raise N40bn at par in the local bond maturing in 2036; N40bn of the paper maturing in 2026 and N20bn of the debt maturing in 2020.

The 2026 and 2020 maturing notes are re-openings of previously issued paper, while the 2036 maturing note is a fresh issue.

The Director-General, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, had said the slump in crude oil prices in the international market had made a deficit budget inevitable this year, adding that the DMO was prepared to borrow on behalf of the government to fund the deficit.

Nwankwo dismissed the fears in some quarters that the government might not be able to borrow from the bond market to finance any shortfall in the budget because of the recent delisting of Nigeria from the JPMorgan Bond Index.

SEC-TAKES E-DIVIDEND REGISTRATION ENLIGHTENMENT CAMPAIGN TO KANO

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Tuesday took the Investor Education Enlightenment Campaign on e-Dividend Registration to the ancient city of Kano with a view to mobilize the investing and the general public towards the value of e-Dividend Registration which is currently on-going in the country.

The Enlightenment exercise reached thousands of Kano people as they massively came out from their houses, shops and business places to digest the information being disseminated via fliers, stickers and interfacing with the audience in various languages which include Hausa and Igbo.  

e-Dividend is a service which allows an issuer to electronically pay cash dividend entitlements directly into the shareholders bank account.

Director General, Mounir Gwarzo had recently said that the Commission aims to attract more retail investors into the Nigerian capital market in its determination to deepen and develop the market.

Gwarzo said that this is one of the reasons why the Commission has embarked on various initiatives line e-Dividend, Direct Cash Settlement, National Investors Protection Fund (NIPF) among others to attract retail investors to the Market. 

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 2% participation of retail investors in our market. Malaysia has 9%, South Africa  19%, USA 43%, and UK 13%. So our market is highly less being participated by the retail investors. Due to the dominance of the foreign investors, anytime they move out of the market the market goes down. Our effort is to see that in the next 5-10 years we raise the level of involvement of the retail investor to at least 5%”. 

Gwarzo said the Commission has identified some of the challenges hindering the retail investor from accessing the market and believes tackling these challenges through the recent initiatives by the Commission would be very productive.

During the Kano campaign, the public were mobilized and informed that they could collect registration form the bank within the next 90 days after which a fee of N100 will be charged by banks for registration.

The campaign started from Airport Road through Murtala Muhammed Way, Bello Road, Ibrahim Taiwo, IBB Way k/Mazugal as well France Road.  

NACCIMA describes President Zuma's visit to Nig as sign of good things to come

The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce has described the South African President, Jacob Zuma’s visit to Nigeria as a sign of good things to come.

NACCIMA Deputy Treasurer, Vincent Furo in an interview with correspondent Joy Kalio said President Zuma’s visit will strengthen business and security relationship between Nigeria and South Africa.

Mr Furo however advised Nigerians in diaspora to abide by the rules and regulations of the countries were they do business. 

On his part, Vice President Center for Policy and Foreign Engagement, Eke Agbai called on the federal government to ensure the Nigerian Foreign Policy is reviewed to take into cognizance the suffering of the people. 

LG calls for the arrest of all Directors of Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited

Lagos State Government has ordered all directors of Lekki Worldwide Estate Limited to surrender to the State Commissioner of Police within the next twenty four hours, or face immediate arrest. 

This is following a building collapse on Kushenla Road, Ikate Elegushi, in Lekki, which killed about 30 people, while 13 others were rescued alive.

A statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde, said preliminary reports showed that the collapsed five- storey building under construction, was served contravention notice for exceeding the approved floors and thereafter sealed.

The statement added that promoters of Lekki Gardens, unsealed the property and continued building beyond the approved floors. 

The State Government has therefore, warned that any developer who fails to comply with building regulations or attempts to subvert the law, will henceforth face criminal prosecution.

Housemaids, Artisans To Pay Taxes In Lagos

Lagos State Government says it has widened its tax net to include domestic workers and artisans.

Chairman of the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service, Olufolarin Ogunsanwo, said the agency had commenced the process of overhauling the informal sector with a view to ensure voluntary compliance by all tax payers.

He said the agency had identified three categories of tax payers in the sector which include market men/women, artisans, micro, small and medium-scale enterprises and domestic staff and they are expected to remit one per cent of what they earned to government’s coffers.

GDP growth rate declined to 2.79% in 2015 – NBS

The Nigerian economy witnessed a massive decline in output as the country’s Gross Domestic Product slipped from a growth rate of 6.22 per cent in 2014 to 2.79 per cent at the end of 2015.

The growth figures, which were released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics, showed that the growth rate of 2.79 per cent recorded in 2015 was the lowest in recent times.

In 2012, the economy grew by 4.21 per cent, while the rate rose to 5.49 per cent and 6.22 per cent in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

An analysis of the report showed that the GDP grew by 3.96 per cent in the first quarter of last year. This dropped to 2.35 per cent in the second quarter. It, however, rose to 2.84 per cent in the third quarter before declining to 2.11 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Further analysis of the report revealed that as was the case in 2014, the services sector remained the driver of economic growth last year.

The sector recorded a GDP growth rate of 53.18 per cent in 2015 as against 53.48 per cent in 2014.

This was followed by the industrial sector, which recorded a growth rate of 23.71 per cent in 2015 as against 22.66 per cent the previous year, while the agriculture sector recorded a growth rate of 23.11 per cent last year as against 23.86 per cent in 2014.

In terms of quarterly performance, the report stated that the services sector recorded a growth rate of 54.56 per cent, 54.36 per cent, 49.70 per cent and 54.30 per cent in the first, second, third and fourth quarters of 2015, respectively.

Minister says fuel importation will end in 18 months

The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, said Federal Government planned to end importation of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) within the next 12 to 18 months.

Kachikwu said this while addressing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PMS is also known as petrol

He said that government was working out modalities to ensure that it repayed the 5.1 billion dollars arrears it owed its Joint Ventures (JV) partners within a six-month time frame.

This, he said, would go a long way to restore confidence in the sector.

Kachikwu stated that the process of fixing the refineries had started and it was looking at entering into series of partnerships with investors and oil majors.

He added that partnership would be on the upgrade of the refineries and in co-location of refineries along with existing refineries.

"To fix the four refineries, the country would require about 400 million dollars and the Federal Government is considering sourcing the amount from investors.

"The total revamp of the refineries is being hindered by lack of funds and investment, especially as most of the refineries are old and needed massive overhaul and refurbishment," he said.

He said talks were already ongoing with the original builders of the refineries and some oil majors who had shown interest in investing in the upgrade of the refineries.

Kachikwu said that when the refineries were finally fixed, they would contribute in building the country’s strategic fuel reserves.

On the issues of JV cash call arrears and adequate security of the pipelines and petroleum infrastructure, he said it was part of its grand plan to boost Nigeria’s crude oil output to 2.4 million barrels per day.

''This is from its current position of 2.3 million barrels before the end of the year,'' he explained.

This, he added, would be a significant improvement from between 1.8 million and 2.1 million in the last few weeks.

Kachikwu said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was looking at replacing almost the entirety of its pipelines because most of the pipeline networks were more than 30 years.

He noted that huge funds would be required to replace the refineries, adding that before they would be fixed, the NNPC would secure the services of host communities to protect the pipelines.

On unbundling of the corporation, the minister said it would be done into seven key business components.

He said that the subsidiaries would be broken into about 20 companies.

Kachikwu identified the new business components as Upstream Company, Downstream Company, Gas and Power, Refineries, Ventures Company, Service and Finance.

"Those are the things; so when I hear unbundled to 30 companies, that is not correct,'' he said.

He assured that nobody would lose his job, rather the unbundling would get everybody busy.

Oil Workers Shut Down NNPC Operations Over Unbundling

Oil workers have shut down the operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) nationwide until further notice following the unbundling of the corporation.

This decision was reached at a meeting of the Group Executive Councils of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), which held on on Tuesday, March 8.

After “extensively discussing the pronouncement”, they “observed that the GMD/HMSP totally disregarded due process and failed to engage stakeholders.

“Hence, from midnight today (Tuesday, March 8), all NNPC locations will be shut down completely until further notice. Further directives will be communicated accordingly”.

Speaking in a telephone interview with Channels Television, President of NUPENG, Mr Igwe Achese, said the unbundling process was not transparent.

The Federal Government had approved the creation of seven operational units in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu said that five of the seven operational units would be strictly business-driven in line with global best practices.

The new units include those for Upstream, Downstream, Gas and Power, Refineries, Ventures, Corporate Planning and Services, and Finance and Accounts.

He said each of the units would be headed by Chief Executive Officers; namely Bello Rabiu for Upstream; Henry Ikem-Onih for Downstream; Anibor Kragha (Refineries); Saudu Mohammed (Gas and Power), while Babatunde Adeniran takes charge of Ventures.

I never said NNPC will be unbundled into 30 companies – Kachikwu

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu has stated that he was misquoted by some sections of the media which reported him as saying last week that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, would by this week be unbundled into 30 different companies, stressing that he was only referring to the “subsets” of the state oil firm which are the subsidiaries.

He disclosed that what was ignored in his statement about the new structure of the NNPC is that there will be “subsets. Subset is the unbundling. It is not a direct unbundling of NNPC into 30. It means that the subsets of NNPC are being unbundled into smaller numbers of companies. It is totally a different thing and the press got it wrong, please.”

Kachikwu made this clarification on Tuesday while announcing at a news conference in Abuja that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the immediate unbundling of the NNPC into five business and two services components as well as appointed those to head the units with immediate effect.

He announced the restructuring as follows: for the Upstream division, Alhaji Bello Rabiu, who used to be the Group General Manager, Corporate Planing & Strategy, will now serve as the Chief Executive Officer, CEO; for the Downstream, Mr. Henry Ikem-Obih was brought in as Chief Executive Officer; Anibor Kragha, who was formerly GGM Treasury, is now to be in charge of Refineries division while Alhaji Saidu Mohammed who was the MD of Kaduna Refinery has been appointed CEO, Gas & Power.

Mr. Babtunde Adenira, formerly GED C&I, is now to oversee Ventures; Isiaka Abdulrazak is CEO Finance and Services; while Isa Inuwa who was DMD, NLNG is now Executive Head of Corporate Services.

Kachikwu, who noted that, “the new NNPC comprises a lean headquarters”, explained that the GMD is still the Chief Executive of NNPC, noting that all that has been done is to decentralize authority to allow the heads of divisions exert their creativity. He added that the restructuring is also meant to create work for staff members who are not productively engaged in the corporation.

He assured that the new arrangement will eliminate bureaucracy in the operations of the corporation and that each of the constituent units would be profit-driven.

The Minister declared that the NNPC had so much property that at times it was difficult to account for some of the corporation’s assets.

According to him, “We have so much property in Nigeria that sometimes we don’t even know where they are. In some cases, we found out that some property had been encumbered and nobody followed up on them. This was because it wasn’t a business, it was just an allocation to do an office, which didn’t happen and so it was just there.

“Shell, for example, recently passed back to us a huge complex in Warri, which used to be their headquarters.”

When asked if the steps he was taking won’t conflict with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, the NNPC boss said he was liaising with members of the National Assembly and that the restructuring agreed with the PIB, in principle.

“What we are doing is anticipation of the PIB. We are tailoring it towards the PIB because we are in conversation with the legislators,” he stated.

MTN Denies Plan To List On NSE

South African telecoms giant, MTN Group, says it has no plans to list its Nigerian unit on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

This is coming against the backdrop of expectations that MTN Nigeria would get listed on the NSE once it resolves the disputed 780 billion naira fine with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

In a statement issued by the telecom giant’s Corporate Affairs Executive, Chris Maroleng, the group described the reports as untrue.

Mr Maroleng further stated that the listing of MTN Nigeria remains a consideration and not a planned listing, as suggested in some of the media reports

Reports had suggested that the only thing stopping the group from listing in Nigeria was the 780 billion Naira penalty imposed on it for failing to comply with directives from the NCC to disconnect 5.1 million unregistered sim cards, and was planning to list as soon as the matter was resolved.

9 Ships laden with petrol and other goods expected in Lagos ports

Nine ships are waiting to discharge petroleum products and other goods at Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its daily publication – `Shipping Position’, – a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to the statement, six of the ships would discharge petrol, while three others would discharge containers, base oil and general cargoes.

The document stated that 24 ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods were expected to arrive the ports from March 8 to March 20.
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NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, bulk salt, empty containers, frozen fish, steel products, base oil, diesel, petrol, containers, petrol and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), bulk gypsum and aviation fuel,

NAN reports that 17 other ships are at the ports discharging general cargoes, bulk charcoal, bulk sugar, bulk salt, aviation fuel, bulk gas and petrol.

    
    

No plans to get listed on NSE, says MTN

MTN group, one of Africa’s largest telecommunications network, says it has no plans to get listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

The company denied media reports saying it was planning to get listed in Nigeria, adding that only MTN Nigeria, not the MTN group, could be listed on the NSE. Chris Maroleng, corporate affairs executive of MTN Group, released a statement on behalf of the organisation to express dissatisfaction with some reports emanating from a media session with its chairman, Phuthuma Nhleko, which she described as “grossly inaccurate”. “MTN is particularly perturbed that despite the extensive engagements in the day, the media coverage around our results has been characterised by grossly inaccurate media reports and misinformation,” the statement read. “We are disturbed by this as the issues being misrepresented are very material to our operations and stakeholders. “Of particular concern are reports attributed to our senior executives, purporting that MTN Group is planning to list in Nigeria.

This is grossly inaccurate. “The correct comment, as expressed by the Executive Chairman, is that MTN could consider listing the local operation, MTN Nigeria, not the Group. As a result, reports that MTN is considering a secondary listing in Nigeria are misleading.” MTN stressed that the listing of MTN Nigeria on the NSE still remains a consideration, not necessarily a plan. “Furthermore, the listing of MTN Nigeria, as indicated in the media briefing, remains a consideration, it is not a planned listing, as suggested in some of the media reports. “Also important to correct is that the current shareholding in MTN Nigeria available for Over-The-Counter (OTC) trading constitutes approximately 10% of MTN Nigeria. “Also worrying are reports that MTN has $US22bn stuck in Nigeria. This is completely inaccurate. MTN Nigeria has the cash equivalent of approximately R24.6bn with some R26.2bn in debt implying a net debt position of R1.7bn.” MTN group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), with no plans to come to the NSE.

Nigeria's Refineries Record First Profit in 12 Months

Nigeria’s three refineries, for the first time since February 2015, have recorded a profit at the close of business in January this year, latest figures from NNPC's financial and operations report have shown.
The report showed that the refineries recorded losses consecutively from February last year up till December; but in January 2016, they made an operating profit of N5.67bn.

 The plants are the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, (WRPC), Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC) and Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC).

For specifics, the WRPC and PHRC recorded operating profits of N4.391bn and N3.397bn, respectively, while the KRPC had a loss of N2.118bn.

9 Ships laden with petrol and other goods expected in Lagos ports

Nine ships are waiting to discharge petroleum products and other goods at Apapa and Tin-Can Island ports in Lagos.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) stated this in its daily publication – `Shipping Position’, – a copy of which was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.

According to the statement, six of the ships would discharge petrol, while three others would discharge containers, base oil and general cargoes.

The document stated that 24 ships laden with petroleum products, food items and other goods were expected to arrive the ports from March 8 to March 20.
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NPA explained that the expected ships contained buck wheat, bulk salt, empty containers, frozen fish, steel products, base oil, diesel, petrol, containers, petrol and Aviation Turbine Kerosene (ATK), bulk gypsum and aviation fuel,

NAN reports that 17 other ships are at the ports discharging general cargoes, bulk charcoal, bulk sugar, bulk salt, aviation fuel, bulk gas and petrol.