Category: West Africa

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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The much anticipated report of the forensic audit of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, operations on the missing $20 billion oil money may not amount to much after all, as PricewaterhouseCoopers Limited, the audit firm that conducted the probe, has said it cannot vouch for the integrity of its findings. In a startling introductory letter addressed to Nigeria’s Auditor General, the audit firm said findings in its 199-page report were limited to available information and did not constitute a review in accordance with generally accepted standards. "The procedures we performed did not constitute an examination or a review in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards or attestation standards," the firm said. "Accordingly, we provide no opinion, attestation or other form of assurance with respect to our work or the information upon which our work was based," it added. The report and all accompanying deliverables, the company pointed out, […]

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An audit ordered by Nigeria’s outgoing president was published on Monday, seeking to explain why $19 billion in oil revenue never made it into the government’s bank accounts. The report caps a year-long political debate over how Africa’s top oil exporter manages its revenue, a debate that help lead to President Goodluck Jonathan’s ouster last month. PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd., which conducted the audit, said Nigeria’s state-owned oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corp., deposited $19 billion less than expected from January 2012 to July 2013. According to the report, $10 billion went to kerosene and motor fuel subsidies. The remainder went to operations itemized by the audit, such as $2 billion spent financing the growing debt of the company. The oil company spends so much money on fuel subsidies and other operations that it may operate close to a loss this year, barring an overhaul or a rise in oil prices, […]

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Nigeria’s President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has stated that his administration will probe the $20 billion alleged to be missing from the coffers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC. The immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Sanusi Lamido, had alleged that the $20 billion made from the sale of Nigeria’s crude oil by the NNPC could not be accounted for. President Goodluck Jonathan sacked Mr. Sanusi from the CBN after he made the allegation. The former bank chief was later crowned the Emir of Kano after the death of Ado Bayero, the former emir. Speaking Sunday when he played host to a delegation from Adamawa State led by the state’s governor-elect, Bindow Jibrilla, in his campaign secretariat, Mr. Buhari said although he received information that some persons already started returning money to government coffers, he would only believe it when he "sees it". "I heard that […]

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Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, has denied planning to flee the country to escape alleged corruption charges under the incoming Buhari government. Mrs. Alison-Madueke struck a defiant tone Wednesday, dismissing allegations that six countries had denied her requests for asylum. The minister said she had no plan to escape as she was not indicted for any offence. Following her recent meeting with former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, the minister said speculations have been rife that she is looking for a “soft landing” from the in-coming administration. “I have not sought such assistance because I am not aware that I have been indicted of any crime that I will need a soft landing,” Mrs. Alison-Madueke told journalists at the presidential villa in Abuja Wednesday. “Over the last four years, I have been severally and unfortunately accused and labeled in so many malicious and vindictive ways. “I have […]

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