Category: Nigeria

APC Candidate, Muhammadu Buhari. By Levinus Nwabughiogu, Johnbosco Agbakwuru & Joseph Erunke Abuja — The president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari, yesterday, lamented that the out-going administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has failed to provide the in-coming government with all the necessary information needed for a smooth take-off next week, particularly on how to tackle the current fuel scarcity in the country. The President-elect spoke on a day the Senate directed its committees on Petroleum Resources ( Upstream and Downstream ) to immediately commence investigation into the remote and immediate causes of the fuel crisis in the country. The Senate directive was sequel to the motion by the Deputy Senate Majority Leader, Senator Abdul Ningi, who had called on the lawmakers to pay serious attention to the fuel crisis that had created great hardship for Nigerians at the moment. Senator Ningi wondered why a country that has abundant oil resources should […]

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Fuel shortage causing long lines in Nigeria 01:56 Lagos, Nigeria (CNN)Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producer, but fuel shortages have paralyzed the country that just a year ago was declared Africa’s largest economy. At one gas station in Lagos, crowds push at the gates waving empty jerry cans. Cars queue for a kilometre down the road creating gridlock. Similar scenes are being repeated at almost every petrol station across Nigeria. "I’ve been here since 4 a.m. It’s not good," says local resident Abdulsalam Mohammed as he finally drives his car to the petrol pump. "Now it’s almost 3 p.m. Nobody can work today." "We are an oil producing country, very rich, a giant in Africa," says Seun Olewale, another driver who is carrying empty fuel cans. "But the experience we are getting now is so hard." The shortages have been going on since March despite the fact that, according […]

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Business leaders in Africa’s leading oil producer Nigeria on Thursday warned that jobs could be at risk, as a weeks-long fuel crisis showed no signs of easing. Long queues have been seen for days outside filling stations, flights have been grounded and generators that kick in when the country’s patchy public electricity supply goes off have run silent, leaving many without power. "Many companies have shut down because they cannot get diesel to fuel their plants," Musa Yusuf, of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told AFP. "Unless the situation is redressed, companies may be forced to lay off (staff)." Addressing the crisis looks likely to be the first major task for incoming president Muhammadu Buhari, who takes office next Friday. – Empty tanks – Nigerian motorists have borne the brunt of the shortages, with long queues at petrol stations in major cities such as Lagos, the capital […]

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The Trans Nigeria Pipeline that carries Nigeria’s Bonny Light crude oil to an export terminal has been shut down since May 12, a Shell spokeswoman said on Thursday. While neither the reason for the shut down nor its expected duration have been disclosed as at the time of filing this report, traders affirmed that Bonny Light loadings have been delayed by up to four days over the past week. This development is taking place about a week after the Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell, declared force majeure on exports of Nigeria’s Forcados crude oil stream. "Force majeure" is a legal term releasing a company from contractual obligations when faced with circumstances beyond its control. It declared force majeure on the evening on May 5 following "a series of leaks" in the Trans Forcados pipeline that brings the oil to the export terminal. The pipeline itself is operated by the Nigerian […]

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A former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Lamido Sanusi, has reacted to the recent audit report by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the alleged missing $20 billion oil money, saying the report has confirmed in the first instance that at least $18.5 billion was indeed missing. Mr. Sanusi faulted the petroleum minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke, who said the report had exonerated the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, earlier accused of diverting the money. In an opinion article published by the Financial Times of London, Mr. Sanusi, who is now the Emir of Kano, said the argument that the outstanding amount was used by the NNPC for apparently unlawful purposes such as kerosene subsidy, does not dismiss the notion that the NNPC illegally withheld billions of oil dollars from the government. "Contrary to the claims of petroleum minister Diezani Alison-Madueke, the audit report does not exonerate the NNPC. It establishes that […]

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Crude oil prices have continued to be on an upward swing in the last few days, signalling hope of better economic fortunes for Nigeria and other Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Brent crude futures rose towards $66 yesterday, which is far above the approved $53 per barrel benchmark for crude oil in Nigeria’s 2015 budget. The price of OPEC basket of 12 crudes stood at $62.03 a barrel on Monday, while it recorded $62.44 the previous Friday. June Brent crude was up 88 cents at $65.79 (£42.02) a barrel by 14.52 London time, easing back from an intraday high of $66.45 a barrel. June West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 58 cents to $59.83 a barrel, after touching $60.55 a barrel earlier in the day. Meanwhile, OPEC has warned against price speculators, accusing them of contributing to the uncertainty in crude oil prices. Speaking on the recent uncertainty in […]

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LAGOS, Nigeria — As the Nigerian military battled Boko Haram over the past year, scores of soldiers made a decision that would put their lives in grave danger — they refused to fight. It wasn’t for lack of bravery, they said. It was for lack of weapons. At least 66 of the soldiers have been found guilty of mutiny and sentenced to death by firing squad. Dozens more remain in detention, awaiting trial. The Nigerian government describes them as cowards. Their supporters say they are scapegoats. “They joined the army to fight, not to commit suicide,” said Femi Falana, an attorney for 59 of the soldiers. The cases have opened a rare window into the Nigerian military, once one of the strongest in Africa but now struggling to combat an insurgency of several thousand fighters. Rebuilding the army is a major challenge for Muhammadu Buhari, who assumes the presidency […]

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* Queues for petrol worsen across the country * Importers hold back over subsidy fears * Buhari government faces backlog of payments By Libby George and Julia Payne LONDON/ABUJA, May 8 (Reuters) – Fuel shortages are set to worsen in Nigeria as international traders and local marketers back away from imports over fears that the cash-strapped new government will halt costly subsidy payments. Already, lines at petrol stations in the major cities are blocking traffic as Africa’s largest crude oil exporter runs out of domestic fuels. The shortage in some rural areas is even more acute due to a payment battle between independent retailers and the government. "We have exhausted our stocks," said Stanley Yakubu, a worker at the Forte Filling Station in the Maitama neighborhood of Abuja. "We thought government and marketers have resolved their issues but supply is very slow in coming." Traders said new bookings for […]

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Africa’s richest economy is borrowing money to pay salaries as it struggles through a "difficult cash crunch" brought on by halved oil prices, Nigeria’s finance minister revealed. The news comes as Nigeria prepares to welcome a new government at the end of this month and the country’s naira currency remains in a slump, hovering between 180 and 220 to the US dollar. It was trading at 160 a few months ago. Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala tried to be upbeat in a speech on Tuesday after lawmakers approved the 2015 budget – revised three times because of slashed oil prices that provide 80 percent of revenue for the government of Africa’s biggest petroleum producer. She said "revenue challenges" had prohibited the release of any funds for capital expenditure this year but that food prices and single-digit inflation remained quite stable. And she said the economy still was on course to grow […]

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Despite the claim by the Federal Government that N156 billion was released on Thursday to oil marketers to facilitate the quick resolution of the current fuel crisis, the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), has said normal lifting of fuel will not resume till their members’ accounts are duly credited by the banks. As at 4.35 p.m. on Thursday, the Executive Secretary, Depot & Petroleum Products Marketers Association(DAPPMA), Odufemi Adewole, told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview that none of its members and their counterparts in the Major Oil Marketers Association(MOMAN), had confirmed receiving any payment. "The money government said it was paying to marketers has not yet hit our accounts. So, there is little we can do about the situation," Mr, Adewole said. "The money the Minister of Finance promised to pay us last February did not get into our hands till about four or five weeks […]

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