NEWS
FG Again Dismisses Report on Fuel Price Hike, Promises Action on High Cost of Cooking Gas
The Federal Government has again dismissed reports on plans to hike fuel price.
Chief Executive Officer of the Midstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Farouk Ahmed, who made this position known in Abuja on Tuesday, reassured that there were no plan to increase the official price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), as being speculated in some quarters.
Ahmed spoke when he fielded questions from State House Correspondents, after he along with the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Gbenga Komolafe, were officially presented to President Muhammadu Buhari.
This is coming just as government also promised to do something drastic, concerning the rising cost of cooking gas, so as to address the pains Nigerians are going through, especially now that the Yuletide season approaches.
The Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, presented the two Chief Executive Officers to the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.
Ahmed maintained that the marginal queues being witnessed at filling stations in Abuja and some parts of the country, had nothing to do with any supposed plan by government to hike PMS price.
He, however, stated that the queues were caused by the payment logistics in US Dollars by depot owners, and the issue is being addressed by relevant authorities.
“Basically, what happened is that some of the depot owners selling Premium Motor Spirit above the official ex-depot price of N148, are selling at N156 or N157.
“The reason is that they are paying for their logistics like shipping and Port charges and Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) charges in US Dollars and they have to go to parallel market to source for the Dollars.
“The differential between the official exchange rate and the parallel market is their reason for adding between N9 and N10.
“But we had a meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 9, and the heads of the Nigeria Ports Authority and NIMASA as well as other stakeholders were all there and it was resolved that NNPC excess capacity vessels would be chattered to oil marketing companies and they would be charging in Naira.
“NIMASA and the Ports Authority will also revert back to their supervising ministries and get directives to collect their charges in naira rather than US Dollars.
“I believe with these, there will be no reason for the depot owners to increase their price beyond the official selling price of N148,” he explained.
Also addressing the State House Correspondents, Sylva said the president was happy with the level of implementation of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
According to him, President Buhari urged the regulators in the petroleum industry to do what is best for Nigeria.
He said: ”The President is happy with the level of implementation of the PIA. A lot is going on, already the agencies created by the law are now in place.
“The President charged us to ensure that we use our best experience to ensure that the industry is on track.
“Luckily for us, we have very experienced people on the saddle, both in the authority and the commission and the President asked us to go ahead and do what is best in the interest of Nigeria at all times.”
On the recent increase in the price of cooking gas in the country, the Minister said “the President is worried over the situation just like all other Nigerians.”
Sylva further said although the price of the essential commodity is not regulated by Nigeria, some steps would be taken internally to provide some relief, ahead of the yuletide season.
“We must understand that cooking gas is not subsidized. It is already a deregulated commodity so the price is not determined by government or anybody here in Nigeria. In fact, gas prices are determined internationally.
“The price of gas internationally now affects the price of gas in our country.
“But there are some issues around Value Added Tax (VAT) charges and other taxes on imported gas, which we are handling.
“But, I want to assure you that we are quite concerned and the President also is very concerned; he is aware that the price of gas is high in the market and we are doing everything to see how we can bring down the price of gas, especially as the yuletide approaches,” he said.
On the transition of cars from the use of petrol to gas, he said government needed about N6 billion for the procurement of kits to convert the first one million cars as well as facilitate the procurement of equipment that will enable gas pump stations come on board. (NAN)
The Police Command in Anambra says gunmen have burnt its station in Umunze, Orumba South Local Government Area, killing two officers.SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, announced this in a statement issued in Awka on Monday.He said that the gunmen attacked the police facility with improvised explosives, shooting sporadically, which caused a fire to burn part of the station.
He said further that during the attack, two police operatives on duty were killed when they attempted to resist the gunmen. Ikenga stated that the bodies of the deceased policemen had been recovered and taken to the morgue.He also noted that joint security forces, including the police, army and navy, among others, had recovered five unexploded improvised explosives.Ikenga noted that the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, CP Nnaghe Itam, had visited the scene for assessment.He said that Itam called on anyone with information that could assist in the investigation to come forward, assuring then that such information would be treated confidential.(NAN)
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has reiterated the Federal Government’s determination to maintain and operate a secure and efficient personnel and payroll system.In a statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mr Bawa Mokwa on Monday, the OAGF maintained that the Integrated Personal and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) database has not been compromised, assuring that employees personal data on the IPPIS database is safe and secured.
The OAGF, which manages the IPPIS and other financial management initiatives of the Federal Government, said it is already implementing its ICT Security Policy that aims to ensure that its digital assets are secured in line with global best practices. The Office explained that no data is saved on its website, adding that the IPPIS uses the website to only share information and not for any transaction. “The IPPIS is not using the OAGF website for any transaction. The website is actually the medium to share information. Neither payroll nor payment is made through the website, therefore, no data is contained in the website”, it said. The OAGF stated that the IPPIS validation portal that was recently developed for updates of employees information was deployed for a period and after the exercise was over, the data were pulled out and the site shut down permanently.According to the statement, “the IPPIS Validation Portal was deployed on a secure platform. A secured database and application were purchased from the popular HELIX-FONS.”The Office acknowledged that the IPPIS is of utmost importance to Nigerian workers, thus it became imperative to assuage the fears of any loss or breach of employees personal data in the IPPIS database. The OAGF noted that the IPPIS has put in place necessary mechanism to resolve any problem that may arise in its operations and advised workers that observe anomalies in their salaries to follow the official procedures inorder to get such issues resolved.
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Nigeria’s headline inflation dropped to 32.15 percent in August, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report
The report released on Monday said the inflation eased the second time in 2024 after a 19 month increase that peaked at 34.19 percent in June.
“Looking at the movement, the August 2024 headline inflation
rate showed a decrease of 1.
It however, said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 6.35 percent points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (25.80%).
“This shows that the headline inflation rate (year-on-year basis) increased in August 2024 when compared to the same month in the preceding year (i.
e, August 2023).Furthermore, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.22%, which was 0.06% lower than the rate recorded in August 2024 (2.28%).
” This means that in August 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is lower than the rate of increase in the
average price level in July 2024.”
The report added that food inflation rate in August 2024 was 37.52 percent on a year-on-year basis, which was 8.18% points higher compared to the rate recorded in August 2023 (29.34%).
It said the rise in food inflation
on a year-on-year basis was caused by increases in prices of; “Bread, Maize Grains, Guinea Corn, etc (Bread and Cereals Class), Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, etc (Potatoes, Yam & Other Tubers Class), Palm Oil, Vegetable, etc (Oil & Fats Class) and
Ovaltine, Milo, Lipton, etc (Coffee, Tea & Cocoa Class).”
But on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in August 2024 was 2.37 percent, a 0.10% decrease compared to the rate recorded in July 2024 (2.47 percent).
“The fall can be attributed to the decline in the rate of increase in the average prices of Tobacco, Tea, Coco, Coffee, Groundnut Oil, Milk, Yam, Irish Potatoes, Water Yam, Cassava Tuber, Palm Oil, Vegetable etc.”
It added that the average annual rate of Food inflation for the twelve months ending August 2024 over the previous twelve-month average was 36.99 percent, which was 11.98 percent points increase from the average annual rate of change recorded in August 2023 (25.01 percent).
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