Fuel subsidy removal cruel to the masses – NIM

Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke

The President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered), Dr. Nelson Uwaga, said on Wednesday that removing fuel subsidy at the moment would be cruel to the masses.

Uwaga, however, said during a courtesy visit to the head office of PUNCH Nigeria Limited in Ogun State that the enormous corruption around the subsidy regime would make it unsustainable on the long run.

“People are abusing the whole thing; so, I think the government should put its house in order. It should not totally remove the subsidy but work towards stabilising the local production of petroleum products,” he said.

The Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, on Tuesday gave a hint of the plan by the Federal Government to remove subsidies on petrol and kerosene at the ongoing Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference in Abuja.

She said the subsidies being paid to the marketers by the Federal Government on both products were no longer sustainable.

The NIM president pointed out that the revenue sharing formula had to change with the federating units given priority.

Uwaga said the Federal Government should focus on security, among other things, while the states and the local governments should take on more responsibilities.

“In all honesty, the sharing formula has to change and tilt towards the state and local governments, while we should leave the centre to focus on security so that we can live together as one,” he said

Speaking on the clamour for state police, Uwaga said, “State police is a good idea but we have to be careful. We have a situation where most state executives have become small gods in their states.”

“In such a situation, we may have governors using the police against their opponents in election time, for instance.”

Jonathan sacks NNPC director, appoints five new GEDs

President Goodluck Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday sacked the Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mr. Abiye Membere, and appointed five new ones to fill existing vacancies.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the new appointees and their portfolios are Mr. Ian Udoh, Group Executive Director, Refining and Petrochemicals; Dr. Dan Efebo, Group Executive Director, Corporate Services; and Ms. Aisha Abdurrahman, Group Executive Director, Business Development.

Others are Mr. Adebayo Ibirogba, Group Executive Director, Engineering and Technical; and Dr. Joseph Dawha, Acting Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production.

Abati said the appointments took immediate effect.

Among the GEDs, the one in charge of the Exploration and Production is one of the most influential in the hierarchy of the NNPC because the department is responsible for producing the crude oil that is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

It was gathered that some of the old GEDs had retired from the corporation without the government filling their positions, while some served in acting capacities.

For instance, the former GED, Refining and Petrochemicals, Mr. Anthony Ogbuigwe, and GED, Business Development, Mr. Aminu Babakusa, were said to have retired from the services of the NNPC.

The former acting GEDs, Corporate Services and Engineering and Technical were replaced with substantive directors.

Those that retained their portfolios are the GEDs, Commerce and Investment, Dr. Attahir Yusuf; Finance and Accounts, Mr. Bernard Otti; Gas and Power, Dr. David Ige; and Comapny Secretary/Legal Adviser, Anthony Madichie.

Udoh, according to the statement, is a native of Akwa Ibom State and has been the Managing Director of the Port Harcourt Refining and Petrochemicals Company Limited since November 2012.

He has considerable experience of managing the nation’s refineries, having previously held the position of Executive Director, Operations, at both the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemicals Company Limited and the PHRPC.

In addition, Udoh had previously served as a general manager in the Refining and Petrochemicals Directorate of NNPC.

Efebo, who hails from Bayelsa State, was until the latest appointment the Group General Manager in charge of the NNPC’s Human Resources Division. He was previously General Manager, Human Resources, Brass LNG.

Abdurrahman is a native of Kogi State and was the Managing Director, Nikorma, NNPC’s shipping subsidiary.

She also served as Managing Director of Hyson, an NNPC trading subsidiary; and as Executive Director (Services), Pipelines and Products Marketing Company.

Ibirogba, a chemical engineer, until now was the Group General Manager, Engineering, NNPC’s Engineering and Technology Directorate, and hails from Ogun State.

He served at various times as General Manager (New Business), General Manager (Gas Development), and Group General Manager, Greenfield Refineries.

In 2010, Ibirogba became the first African to be elected to the Board of Directors of the World LP Gas Association.

Dawha, who replaces Membere as Group Executive Director, Exploration and Production, was previously the Managing Director of Integrated Data Services Limited.

He is an indigene of Borno State and has served the corporation over the years in various capacities in the upstream and downstream sectors of the industry.

Meanwhile, the Managing Director, Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, Mr. Babs Omotowa, on Wednesday said the firm paid N220bn as tax on its operational profit in 2013.

According to him, the firm prides itself as the biggest tax payer and gas income earner in the country.

Omotowa said this in Abuja at the inauguration of the company’s university support programme.

“Our corporate income tax will exceed N220bn per annum, which is by far the highest in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.

He added that the NLNG had also commercialised over four trillion cubic feet of natural gas to lead the country’s aspiration for flare reduction at oil production sites.