Every day, we bring you the best stories the media is reporting about the Government of Nigeria…
THIS DAY reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has plans to increase its downstream petroleum sector market shares from 13 to 30%. This action will help in “expanding its retail operations to include countries within the West African sub-region by 2019”. Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru, said “that the NNPC would in the course of the period build more products depots to add to its existing 23 depots scattered across the country. This, he explained would help ease products supply and distribution in the country.”
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has estimated that Nigeria’s economy might expand by 2.1% in 2018, “a 0.2% upgrade from the 1.9% earlier forecast in October last year”. According to Business Day Newspaper (Tuesday, 23 January 2018, page 35), “global growth for 2017 is now estimated at 3.7%, 0.1%point higher than projected in October, as the IMF notes upside growth surprises, which were particularly pronounced in Europe and Asia, but broad-based, with outturns for both the advanced and the emerging markets and developing economy groups exceeding the fall forecast by 0.1%point”.
“Determined to address fuel scarcity in the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) yesterday said it was making plans to build more fuel depots in the country. NNPC Group Managing Director (GMD), Dr. Maikanti Baru, in a statement from the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, disclosed this in Abuja while inaugurating board of one of its downstream companies, NNPC Retail Limited. According to him, such new depots when built would complement the corporation’s existing 23 depots nationwide and would ease products supply and distribution in the country”. New Telegraph this.
Business Day Newspaper (Tuesday, 23 January 2018, page 19) reports that Afam 5 Power Plant in Rivers State has been described as “still one of the best technologies in the market if it is fixed”. The report mentioned that Andreas Pistauer, Executive Vice president, Power and gas Sub Saharan Africa for Siemens, an international Power and gas company said so. He also “said that Afam 5 power plant in Rivers state can generate additional 200megawatts of electricity into the national grid in less than 12 months”.
According to Business Day Newspaper (Tuesday, 23 January 2018, page 33), “the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development on Monday officially launched the Revenue Optimisation and Verification Project’ expected to bring additional annual revenue of N32 billion by tackling revenue leakage in the sector. The project, which is to be handled by consultants in collaboration with ministry’s officials, is geared towards optimizing revenue collection in the sector as well as address concerns of royalty shortfalls, while also fostering Nigeria’s revenue diversification on a drive through the solid mineral sector.”
According to Guardian “the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) collected record N4 trillion taxes last year, representing 82.38 percent of government set a target of N4.89 trillion. The FIRS Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Fowler, disclosed this yesterday during a visit by the members of the Senate and House of Representatives Finance Committees to the palace of the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Babatunde Akiolu.”
The “Federal Government has established an Inter-Ministerial Committee on the harmonization of data collection and evaluation for Nigeria. Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who confirmed this on Monday in Abuja, said the committee would be chaired by the Statistician General of the Federation and Director General of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Yemi Kale.” This was according to (Tuesday, 23 January 2018, page 35).
