From Uche Usim, Abuja
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has computed its 2014 audit exercise, disclosing that the Federal Government earned $55.5 billion from the oil and gas sector and N55.82 billion from solid minerals, totalling $111.32 billion.
The 2014 audit result, being the latest, also showed that $4.7 billion and N318.2 billion that should have gone to the federation account were not remitted by Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and its parent company, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).
According to the Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of NEITI, Waziri Adio, losses from crude-for-product swap and Offshore Processing Arrangements (OPA) were put at $198.7 million in 2014.
“At the close of the 2014 audits, NPDC had not paid the outstanding $1.7 billion for the eight Oil Mining License’s (OMLs) under the Shell Joint Venture (JV) divested to it by the NNPC. NPDC had also not paid for the four OMLs under the Nigerian Agip oil Company Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) JV divested to it by NNPC. Those four assets were recently valued by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) at $2.25 billion; NPDC had sought clarification for the basis of the valuation,” he explained.
According to the reports, the total revenue flows for the oil and gas sector fell from $58.07 to $55.5 billion between 2013 and 2014, a decline of about 5 per cent. However, revenue flow for the solid minerals sector in 2014 showed a marked improvement over the previous year, with a 48 per cent rise from the N37.676 billion of 2013 to N55.8 billion in 2014.
“Forty-one oil and gas companies and 16 government agencies were audited for the 2014 oil and gas audit cycle. These were the producing companies that made material payments of $5 million and above to the federation in 2014 and the government agencies that received funds on behalf of the federation.
“One hundred and nine producing assets were active in the year, comprising: 59 Joint Venture (JV) licenses; 26 Sole Risk and Marginal Field Operating (SRMF) licenses; 23 Production Sharing Contract (PSC) licenses; and one Service Contract (SC) license,” he said.
The 2014 oil and gas audit, which was conducted by SIAO and Co., a Nigerian accounting and auditing firm, also reveals the following: 22 billion litres of petroleum products were imported as against the 20 billion litres imported in 2013, with 950 million litres of the products locally produced in 2014 as against the 2.6 billion litres locally produced in 2013; N1.2 trillion was processed as subsidy claims in 2014 as against the N1.3 trillion processed for subsidy in 2013; and N426.6 billion was distributed in 2014 under the Subsidy Re-investment Programme (SURE-P), same as the SURE-P figure for 2013.
NOA: Nigerians tasked on apprehending fleeing Boko Haram fighters
From Magnus Eze, Abuja
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has called for heightened vigilance and security-consciousness among citizens, especially with the dislodgment of Boko Haram insurgents from Sambisa Forest, Borno State, and the dispersal of its remnants.
Director-General of NOA, Garba Abari, who relied on intelligence reports available to the agency to give the security advice, particularly advised Nigerians to be vigilant and take precautions in places of worship, which usually attract large gatherings of people, to detect and promptly report any suspicious faces or objects within the community.
Abari said the safety and security of the community was a collective responsibility, and adequate security and surveillance should be evolved by various communities in the country to forestall unscrupulous elements taking advantage ofd lapses to wreak havoc and unleash terror on the nation.
A statement by the Special Assistant to the DG NOA, Mr. David Akoji, also said
the State Directors of the agency had been directed to use all available platforms and channels to educate the public on the need for greater alertness during this period.
The Nigerian Army had raised a similar alarm on Boko Haram insurgents fleeing from Sambisa to other parts of the country.
The army authorities in a statement issued by the acting Director of Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, urged the Nigerian public to be wary of people of suspicious movements and appearances during and after the Yuletide season.
PLANNING: 2016 budget implementation continues till March – Udoma
From Basil Obasi, Abuja
The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, has reinstated the commitment of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government to complete implementation of the national budget.
At an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Appropriation in Abuja, recently, Udoma explained that, in spite of the shortfall in revenue expectations, government remains committed to its debt obligations and has made efforts to fund the critical sectors to enable government to function smoothly while seeking lasting solutions to revenue shortfalls.
According to Udoma, a total of N753.6bn already released for capital expenditure in 2016 was the highest in the nation’s recent history, even in the era of high oil prices.
He explained that although the 2016 budget was well conceived, with reasonably conservative benchmarks, it recorded unanticipated revenue shortfalls along the line due to militants’ activities in the oil-producing Niger Delta region.
In a related development, the Accountant-General of the Federation, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, in a circular released last Friday, confirmed that the Federal Government has extended the execution of the N1.58tn capital component of the 2016 budget to the end of March 2017.
Idris disclosed that the N6.06tn 2016 budget, which was signed into law by the President on May 5, 2016, had a recurrent expenditure of N2.65tn; capital expenditure of N1.58tn, with debt service of N1.47tn and fiscal deficit of N2.2tn.
NUC: NUC to review varsities’ curricula
From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
National Universities Commission (NUC) has announced that a comprehensive review of the entire university curricula, including the benchmark minimum academic standards and ranking of Nigerian universities, would begin anytime soon in the new year.
The exercise is in line with the acclaimed determination and commitment of the commission to address the perceived decline in the quality of education and public outcry thereof.
The NUC also disclosed that two of its key constitutional mandates, accreditation of programmes and resource verification, would be carried out twice and thrice a year, respectively: May and November for accreditation and March, July and December for resource verification.
Executive Secretary of the NUC. Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, who stated this in Abuja at the weekend, added that the commission intends to pursue the course of revamping institutional accreditation, commencement of accreditation of part-time programmes and resumption of the Nigerian University System Annual Review Meeting.
He also said that the accreditation of academic programmes by professional bodies, shortfall in personnel emoluments and incorporation of universities into the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information Systems and matters arising from the 2009 agreement between the federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities would be given due attention.