Reunion Wire

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Amb. Gabriel Aduda, says funding and technology are key to sustainable energy transition in the country.

Aduda said this at the ongoing 2023 Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) Energy Week conference in Abuja.

According to him, as the country transits to the use of gas, it is important to raise funds for the acquisition of appropriate technology to drive its energy transition.

He said :“ So if gas is our transition fuel, we should receive every encouragement to be able to move with that.

“Integrated Petroleum Geoscience (IPG) is taking over, but what are we doing to draw funds to be able to build up the technology we require to run with it?.

“While IPGs are acquiring assets, they should build capacities that will take over, develop and continue to keep them producing.

“To acquire technology takes a lot of money and nobody is going to hand over technology to you for free.”

The permanent secretary decried the bias African countries face in accessing funds in the international market.

He said: “How fair then is it that when we talk about debt to GDP ratio and we see countries in Europe where their debt to GDP ratio is over 200 per cent and you come back to Africa, where you see anywhere between 50 and 80per cent.

“Yet those countries in Europe are able to draw from international financial institutions at one to two per cent; because you are an African country you are a risk nation, and you drove from nine per cent. How fair is that?.”

Aduda therefore said if the world was really serious about energy transition, it was important to fund the process, invest in infrastructure and the entire value chain.

The permanent secretary further said acquisitions and transfers and cooperation was also important factors for sustainable energy transition, as such Africa and Nigeria must define its terms when collaborating.

“We are blessed with resources, but you need to guard these resources jealously, and use the same resources to participate in the global stage.

“Cooperation is a must, no man can go it alone. We are talking about the AKK, we are talking about the Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline and recently we started another discussion.

“So we will look at what pays us best and fastest and puts money in our pockets as that is necessary to be able to even fund a transition agenda itself,” he said.

Aduda commended the organisers and charged the participants to build the capacity of those who will sustain and develop the sector.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

A financial expert, Prof. Uche Uwaleke, has described as commendable, President Bola Tinubu’s request for legislative approval of N500 billion as palliatives to cushion removal of petrol subsidy.

Uwaleke, a Professor of Capital Market at the Nasarawa State University, Keffi, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Abuja.

He urged the National Assembly to give the request favourable consideration as speedily as possible.

He advised the Federal Government to consider non-cash palliatives.

According to him, although the nature of the palliatives was not indicated, as much as possible, the government should look into the direction of non-cash palliatives in the utilisation of such funds.

“Reports say Nigeria has also secured 800 million dollars from the World Bank as a soft loan to cushion the impact of subsidy removal, expected to be distributed as cash to about 10 million households.

“That will amount to N600 billion, assuming I & E average rate of N750 applied to the World Bank’s facility. That should give N1.1 trillion.

“One way to ensure that the money reaches the grassroots is to divide it by 774, which translates to about N1.4 billion, and transfer this sum to each Local Government Areas (LGAs).

“That will be consistent with the principle of maximum social benefit in public expenditure,” Uwaleke said.

He.added that an optimal way to ameliorate suffering is through sustainable jobs.

“So, this money can be utilised as initial capital to establish massive skill acquisition centres in every LGA.

“The construction of these centres will generate huge job opportunities in the LGAs and help to reverse rural-urban migration.

“The management of the funds will be done by the communities themselves using traditional and religious institutions.

“In the area of mass transit schemes, the government should partner the private sector to address the challenge,” he said. .

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the President Bola Tinubu, on Wednesday, wrote to the National Assembly seeking an amendment to the 2022 supplementary appropriation Act.

He.said ttga the amendment.woul.allow the Federal Government to source N500 billion for palliative to cushion the effect of petrol subsidy removal.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, who read the president’s letter during plenary on Wednesday, said the money would be sourced from the 2022 supplementary Appropriation Act of N819.5 billion.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), has embarked on training of some stakeholders in Abuja on the effective use of the Beneficial Ownership Register (BOR).

The CAC Registrar-General, Alhaji Garba Abubakar, on Wednesday expressed the hope that participants would after the training be able to query the data base to access information.

“The workshop is meant to train stakeholders on how to access information in the register.

“You can see that we have representatives from the EFCC, the Nigerian Financial Intelligent Unit (NFIU), Code of Conduct Bureau, the ICPC, the National Insurance Commission, and all other key stakeholders and the media.

“To learn how the register operates to access information, and how to query the data base.

“Either by the use of the name of the beneficial owner, the entity or the entity number as well as the format for applying to register as a user for the organisation,” Abubakar said.

He said if an organisation required an Application Programming Interface (API) integration of the CAC, there was a link it could use to enter the details of the officer.

“The commission will seamlessly create access for them to access information in real time.

“So this is why we are here and you can hear from the feedback. People are already using the register since its inauguration in May.

“We are hoping that it will assist them in their work because this register is not just for our benefit. It is for the benefit of Nigeria,” he said.

According to Abubakar, the essence of the register is to actually support the work of our investigation, law enforcement agencies, media and the civil societies.

On penalties, he said: “what the law says is, if you are a beneficial owner of any company, or a limited liability partnership, you must disclose the information to the company within 30 days of qualifying as a beneficial owner.

“And the company has to file this information with the CAC within seven days.

“Default in making this filing with the CAC attracts a daily default penalty which depends on the nature of the company and the penalty will run until the filing is made.

“So, if you are in default for one year, you will have a default penalty which is about N10,000 for every day for as long as the default lasts.

“So, this is what we are explaining that it helps to actually comply, don’t wait to accumulate penalty for yourself because the penalty cannot be waved,” Abubarka added.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the BOR is an anti-corruption initiative of the commission.

Aside the penalty, the CAC has vowed to strike out companies that refused to comply with implementation of the initiative soon.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria