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Power firms holding Nigerians hostage, says Esele

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…As Zimbabwe to cut government jobs in savings drive***

A former President of the Trade Union Congress, Mr Peter Esele, has accused the electricity generation and distribution companies of failing to fulfil their side of the deal for the privatisation of Nigeria’s power sector.

Esele explained that against established timelines in the privatisation agreement, the Gencos and Discos had failed to guarantee a steady power sector.

Speaking with journalists in Benin, Edo State on Thursday, the former labour leader noted that the Federal Government had placed itself in a difficult situation when it privatised the power sector in 2013.

He explained, “I was the TUC president then when we had the discussion about power. Between (former) President Goodluck Jonathan’s government and President Muhammadu Buhari’s government; these so-called Gencos and Discos have collected over N1tn.

“How can we be giving money to privatise an entity? What they have done is blackmailing the government, as they borrowed so much money from the banks. So, if the government does not make money available to them, they will not pay the banks and the banks may go under.

“They do not share their profit with us. When profit comes, they pocket it. But you and I will carry their liability.”

He added, “When you carry out privatisation, there are timelines. There are agreements. Are they meeting the timelines? No. The Discos declared force majeure in the North-East, so they are not responsible for anything.

“But in other areas, if you do not meet the timelines, then you have violated the terms of the contract and the asset can be resold. I was part of the negotiating team.”

In the meantime, cash-strapped Zimbabwe will cut public sector jobs to help stem ballooning expenditure, the country’s finance minister said Friday.

Recently-appointed Mthuli Ncube said job cuts were among austerity measures needed to revive the moribund economy as the southern African country reels under a debt of $16.9 billion.

“We are going to do that (job cuts),” Ncube told journalists at a news conference while presenting a two-year fiscal policy plan titled “transitional stabilisation programme”.

“Trying to restructure your workforce is never easy. It’s painful, it’s emotional and can be a traumatic process but still necessary,” he said.

Ncube said the government, which has a workforce of more than 300,000, will target jobs held by workers due for retirement and “those who are not correctly positioned in their positions”, but he gave no figures.

He warned that the country’s fiscal deficit for the first half of the year, which stands at $1.4 billion, will top $2.7 billion by the end of 2018 if not controlled.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was elected in a disputed election in July, has vowed to revive the economy.

The incoming administration denounced corruption, botched land reforms and government policies that saw investors flee under former president Robert Mugabe, who ruled for nearly 30 years.

Earlier this week, Ncube forecast that Zimbabwe’s economy would grow by 6.3 percent this year, driven mainly by agriculture and mining in a bid to boost growth after the fall of Mugabe.

The minister pledged to implement key reforms to cut expenditure, improve income, tackle corruption and privatise some state enterprises to turn Zimbabwe into a middle-income economy by 2030.

In recent weeks, the country has been running out of essential medical drugs and supplies of fuel have dwindled because importers are unable to secure foreign currency to replenish stocks.

Punch with additional report from AFP

Economy

PETROL: ‘Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping’, Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

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PETROL: 'Be Wary Of Substandard Product Dumping', Dangote Refinery Tells Nigerians

…Says citizens’ health and vehicle longevity are seriously at risk!

The Dangote Refinery on Sunday warned that Nigerians may soon begin to buy substandard petrol, without much concern for either the citizen’s health or the longevity of their vehicles, except care is taken to prevent low products dumping by those open to connive with certain international traders.

The Group’s image maker and spokesman, Anthony Chiejina gave the warning, saying the group was constrained to raise the alarm, despite its desire to refrain from engaging in any media fights.

“We have lately refrained from engaging in media fights but we are constrained to respond to the recent misinformation being circulated by IPMAN, PETROAN, and other associations. 

“Both organisations claim that they can import PMS at lower prices than what is being sold by the Dangote Refinery. We benchmark our prices against international prices and we believe our prices are competitive relative to the price of imports”, Chiejina stated, stressing that the issue on ground was not about being able to land relatively cheaper petrol on ground, but the quality of such products.

“If anyone claims they can land PMS at a price cheaper than what we are selling, then they are importing substandard products and conniving with international traders to dump low-quality products into the country, without concern for the health of Nigerians or the longevity of their vehicles. Unfortunately, the regulator (NMDPRA) does not even have laboratory facilities which can be used to detect substandard products when imported into the country.

“Post deregulation, NNPC set the pace by selling PNS to domestic marketers at N971 per litre for sale into ships and at N990 for sale into trucks. This set the benchmark for our pricing and we have even gone lower to sell at N960 per litre for sale into ships while maintaining N990 per litre for sale into trucks.

“In good faith, and the interest of the country, we commenced sales at these prices without clarity on the exchange rate that we will use to pay for the crude purchased.

“At the same time, an international trading company has recently hired a depot facility next to the Dangote Refinery, intending to use it to blend substandard products that will be dumped into the market to compete with Dangote Refinery’s higher quality production.

“This is detrimental to the growth of domestic refining in Nigeria. We should point out that it is not unusual for countries to protect their domestic industries to provide jobs and grow the economy. For example, the US and Europe have had to impose high tariffs on EVs and microchips to protect their domestic industries.

“While we continue with our determination to provide affordable, good quality, domestically refined petroleum products in Nigeria, we call on the public to disregard the deliberate disinformation being circulated by agents of people who prefer for us to continue to export jobs and import poverty”, the Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer further said.

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YULETIDE Decorations: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

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YULETIDE Decorations,: LASG To Divert Traffic At Ajose Adeogun

The Lagos State Government will divert Traffic, away from a section of Ajose Adeogun Street in Victoria Island, for the mounting of end-of-the-year decoration, for a duration of three weekends starting from Saturday 19th October 2024.

The aforementioned exercise, according to Commissioner for Transportation, Oluwaseun Osiyemi,  will be carried out in three phases with each phase focusing on different sections of the street. 

To this end, the following alternative routes have been mapped out for motorists during the cause of the mounting; 

 During the First Phase which will cover Jubril Martins to Chicken Republic – (Saturday, 19th and Sunday, 20th October 2024)

Traffic inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to the other half (existing section) of Ajose Adeogun Street by VCP Hotel to form contra-flow traffic and exit at Eko-Hotel Roundabout to continue journeys.

Alternatively, Traffic inward to Eko-Hotel Roundabout from VCP Hotel will be diverted through Jubril Martins into Muri Okunola to link Patience Coker and access Ajose Adeogun Street to connect destinations.

During the Second Phase which will cover Molade Okoya Thomas to Mounis Bashorun section – (Saturday, 26th and Sunday, 27th October 2024). 

Traffic inward Ajose Adeogun Street from Eko-Hotel Roundabout will be diverted to a right turn into Molade Okoya Thomas to link Younis Bashorun to access Ajose Adeogun Street to continue journeys. 

During the Third phase of the project spanning 10 meters inward Ajose Adeogun (Saturday, 2nd November, 2024).

Motorists from Adetokunbo Ademola Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Ajose Adeogun Street to connect their destinations, while Motorists inward Eko-Hotel Roundabout on Ajose Adeogun Street will maintain a lane movement for about 10 metres into Eko-Hotel Roundabout.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Transportation, Mr Oluwaseun Osiyemi while imploring Motorists to note the ease of movement plan assured that the State’s Traffic Management Authority will be on ground to manage vehicular activities along the corridor to minimise inconveniences.

The Commissioner therefore advised Motorists to be patient, as the Partial closure is part of the traffic management plans for the commencement of End of Year Decoration of Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, by Zenith Bank PLC.

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NLC Kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Job Loss

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NLC kicks, Says Petrol Hike Will Further Deepen Poverty, Jobs Lost

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has kicked against the current petrol price hike, stressing that the latest increase in the pump price of petrol will further deepen poverty as production capacities dip.

The Congress added that the increase would lead to more job loss with multidimensional negative effects, and therefore, demanded its immediate reversal.

NLC’s position is contained in a statement signed by its President, Mr Joe Ajaero on Wednesday in Abuja, titled, “What next after increase in pump price?”.

The labour leader said the previous increases had not produced any good results, rather, people only got poorer.

He said the Congress was dismayed by the latest increase in the pump price of petrol without commensurate capacity of Nigerians or mitigatory measures.

“Even following the logic of market forces, we find it an aberration that a private company (NNPCL) is the one fixing prices and projecting itself as a hegemonic monopoly.

“We challenge the government to go to the drawing board and present us with a blueprint for inclusive economic growth and national development instead of this spasmodic ad hocism and palliative policy.

“It needs no stating the fact that the latest wave of increase has grossly altered the calculations of Nigerians once again at a time they were reluctantly coming to terms with their new realities,” he said.

It would be recalled that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had raised the pump price of petrol by 14.8 per cent to N1,030 per litre from N897 across its retail outlets in the FCT.

Earlier in September, the NNPCL had increased the price of the product from N615 to N897.

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