The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has directed its members to comply with the directive of the two labour centres to begin an indefinite nationwide strike on Monday.

Its General Secretary, Mr Afolabi Olawale, in a statement on Saturday, said the union was committed to ensuring total compliance with the directive.

Recall that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) declared an indefinite nationwide strike to begin on Monday, to express their grievances over the proposed new minimum wage.

In a joint statement signed by NLC President, Mr Joe Ajaero and TUC President, Mr Festus Osifo, the centres declared the strike over the tripartite committee’s inability to agree on a new minimum wage and the hike in electricity tariff.

Afolabi said the union was concerned and disturbed with the insensitive attitude of the federal government “to the very critical issue of negotiating a new minimum wage for Nigerian workers”.

“This is in view of the various socio- economic policies of this administration that have impoverished the working people of this country.

“Leaders of our great union at all levels, from the units, zones and branches, should immediately put all processes in place to ensure total compliance with this directive.”

Also, the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) said it was mobilising its members to embark on the strike following the directive of NLC and TUC.

The Acting. General Secretary, Mr Dominic Igwebike, gave the directive to the members in a statement.

Igwebike said that along with the reasons of inconclusive negotiations on the minimum wage and electricity tariff hike, apartheid categorisation of Nigeria electricity consumers into bands was another, to embark on the strike.

“Given the above, all national, state, and chapter executives are requested to start the mobilisation of our members in total compliance with this directive to ensure the government does the right thing as stated above.

“The withdrawal of services becomes effective on Sunday 2nd June by 12.00 midnight, “ the union leader said. (NAN)

Oando Plc, an energy solution provider, has posted a turnover of N3.4 trillion in its 2023 full year-end unaudited financials.

The figure represents an increase of 71 per cent when compared to N1.9 trillion posted in 2022.

Mr Wale Tinubu, Group Chief Executive Officer, Oando Plc, said this in a statement on Saturday in Lagos.

Tinubu said that over the last four years, the company consistently recorded a positive incline in turnover.

According to him, the company’s turnover stood at N477.1 billion in 2020 and grew to N803.5 billion in same period of 2021.

He also said that the energy company later posted N2 trillion as turnover in 2022 and N3.

Tinubi said although the year 2023 saw oil and gas companies impacted by spikes in incidences of militancy and sabotage, the company was still able to also record a Profit-After-Tax (PAT) of N74.7 billion in the year under review.

He stated that the result indicated a positive turn in the company’s fortunes in comparison to the preceding year when the company posted a loss after tax.

Tinubu said that in spite of the persistent pipeline vandalism across the Niger Delta, which ccontinued to dampen crude production, the company achieved an outstanding profit in 2023.

According to him, this was largely driven by increased trading volumes due to the company’s strategic global partnerships.

Also, the net foreign exchange gains on the group’s foreign currency-denominated assets as against losses on its foreign currency-denominated liabilities drove the positive performance.

Tinubu stressed that the year 2023 had seen Oando push forward with its growth agenda, recording positive highlights.

This, he noted, included the signing of a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Italian oil major, Eni.

Tinubu explained that this would allow it to acquire one of its local subsidiaries, the Nigeria Agip Oil Company Ltd.(NAOC).

He added that the firm’s clean energy arm, Oando Clean Energy Ltd.(OCEL) launched its electric mass transit buses in partnership with the Lagos State government, signalling that things were beginning to look up for the Indigenous giant.

The group’s chief executive said that more significantly the release of the company’s 2023 financial results, albeit unaudited, finally brought the company a step closer to being in line with regulatory requirements for all listed companies.

He stated that it indicated that by the end of the year, the company would have been on track with its peers in reporting results, giving confidence to shareholders and investors in the company’s current state and future.

“Furthermore, our milestone signing of the Sale and Purchase Agreement with Eni towards the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of NAOC Ltd, marked a pivotal moment for our organisation.

“It is poised to unlock substantial synergies soon.

“Our focus is now on completing the acquisition and seamlessly integrating operations to deliver exceptional value to our shareholders,” he said.

According to him, while the country saw a decline in national oil output, precipitated by pipeline vandalism, oil theft and illegal refining, the  Oando’s upstream operations saw an average daily production increase.

Tinubu revealed that the energy company’s upstream operations average daily production increased marginally by  one per cent to 20,837 boepd in 2023, as against 20,703 boepd in 2022.

He said these production numbers comprised oil production at 6,024 bbls per day, compared to 4,939 bbls per day in 2022.

The group’s chief executive stated that natural gas production stood at 14,572boe per day in the year under review, compared to 15,292boe per day in 2022 financial year, while NGL production was 241bbls/MMscf/day, compared to 472bbls/MMscf/day posted in 2022.

He said: “In its trading operations, Oando marked improvement, recording a 50 per cennt increase in traded crude oil volumes of 32.8 million bbls in 2023, compared to 21.8 million bbls in 2022.

“The company however posted 15 per cent decrease in traded refined petroleum products which stood at 1,645,535 MT, compared to 1,937,833 MT recordes in 2022.”

Tinubu noted that having weathered the storm of recent years, the 2023 results provided a foundation for the energy company to consolidate and build for the future.

He stated that with its planned acquisition of NAOC, the company was positioned to take full operatorship and drive-up outputs, value and efficiencies.

“Moreover, our foray into and leadership in clean energy expand our footprint as a fit and proper integrated energy company with our feet firmly planted in today’s realities and the possibilities of the future,” he added. (NAN)

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja 

In a strategic move to address the identified gaps in the Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos), the Federal Government has secured a $500 million loan from the World Bank.

In a statement by Head of Public Communications, Bureau of Public Enterprises ((BPE) Amina Tukur Othman on Thursday, approval for the facility was given by World Bank Board of Directors on February 4, 2021.

According to the statement, “this funding supports the Nigerian Distribution Sector 

Recovery Program (DISREP) aimed at improving the financial and technical 

performance of the DisCos”.

The Distribution Sector Recovery Program is designed to enhance the 

financial and technical operations of the DisCos through capital investment and 

the financing of key components of their Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), 

which have been approved by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission 

(NERC).

Key areas of improvement include:

• Bulk procurement of customer/retail meters and meter data 

management systems.

• Implementation of a Data Aggregation Platform (DAP).

• Strengthening governance and transparency within the DisCos.

• Program Components

• The DISREP comprises two main components:

• Program for Results (PforR):

• Allocation: $345 million

• Purpose: Support the implementation of selected PIP components.

Others include 

• Implementation: Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)

• Investment Project Financing (IPF):

• Allocation: $155 million

The Purpose is to finance the procurement of meters, a Data Aggregation 

Platform, and Technical Assistance.

The DISREP loan, particularly the Investment Project Financing (IPF) component, is expected to significantly benefit the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) by:

• Closing the metering gap

• Reducing Aggregate Technical, Collection, and Commercial (ATC&C) 

losses

• Improving remittances and liquidity for the DisCos

• Enhancing the reliability of power supply

• Increasing transparency and accountability within the DisCos.

The $500 million DISREP loan from the World Bank offers concessional financing 

with more favorable terms than commercial bank loans. This will enable the DisCos to:

1. Invest in critical distribution infrastructure.

2. Improve ATC&C losses.

3. Increase power supply reliability.

4. Achieve financial sustainability in the power sector.

5. Enhance transparency and accountability.

The statement further explained that significant progress has been made in the preparation of the DISREP Program, with several key milestones achieved, and approval by the Federal Executive 

Council (FEC) on August 3, 2022. execution of the Financing Agreement by the 

Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, and the World Bank, 

adoption of the Program Operations Manual (POM) by BPE and TCN, obtained 

Legal Opinion from the Attorney-General of the Federation, Execution of the 

Subsidiary Loan Agreement, effective declaration of the DISREP Program on 

January 31, 2023, inauguration of the DISREP Technical Committee on May 6, 

2024, inclusion in the Federal Government Borrowing Plan, approved by the 

Senate Committee on May 16, 2024.

To ensure repayment assurance, the Bureau of Public Enterprises sought and 

obtained approval from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) 

and the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) for a structured repayment 

hierarchy. 

The structure prioritizes payments including, Statutory Payments (Taxes), Repayment of CBN market loans, Market obligations , Repayment of DISREP loan and DisCos’ net revenue.

This structured repayment plan aims to mitigate risks associated with repayment 

uncertainty and defaults, with regulatory sanctions imposed for any defaults.