By David Torough, Abuja

Makurdi, the Benue state capital came alive as guests from all walks of life troop arrived yesterday for the Diamond Jubilee celebration of former Governor of the state, Senator Gabriel Torwua Suswam.

The two-day event organised  by Suswam’s family members and a committee of friends and political associates has expectedly drawn political leaders, business executives and  corporate  leaders, traditional rulers and religious leaders to the ‘Food Basket’ state to honour the former Governor.

The first day of the high-profile event will hold today at the College of Health Sciences Auditorium, Benue State University (BSU) and will feature presentation of a  book written in honour of the celebrant by a team of academics  and edited by former Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Prof Ncholas Ada and Director, Centre for Gender Studies, BSU, Prof Member George-Genyi.

The occasion will be under the chairmanship of former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Udom Emmanuel, while the Governor of Benue State, Rev Fr Dr Hyacinth Iormem Alia will be Chif Host.

Similarly, former Governor of Benue State and Secretary to Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume will be the Special Guest of Honour, while former Senate President, Senator David Mark and former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Barnabas Gemade will be Fathers of the day.

Also expected to grace the occasion are Tor Tiv, HRM, Prof James Ortese Oirzua Ayatse and the Och’Idoma, HRM Elaigwu Odogbo John Obagaji as royal fathers of the day.

The second day of the event will feature a Thanksgiving Service at NKST Church, High-level Makurdi, to be followed by a grand reception for the celebrant at the IBB Square.

Chairman of the Central Planning Committee, Prof Nicholas Ada in a chat with DAILY ASSET said the event was designed to honour Suswam for his contributions to the development of the state.

“Senator Suswam is a great Nigerian. He has achieved so much in everything he was opportuned to do especially as Governor of Benue state so it’s only natural to give honour to whom honour is due,” Ada stated.

The former Deputy Vice Chancellor, BSU said arrangements were fully in place in give the retinue of guests a befitting welcome to Benue state.

“As you know, Senator Gabriel Suswam is a crowd puller. We expect people to come from across the country.

“You know he was in the House of Representatives, he became Governor and also became a Distinguished Senator.“He has good relationship with so many people so we expect his friends and well wishers to  come in large numbers and as a Committee, we are prepared to host them,” Ada said.

By Tony Obiechina, Abuja

The Federal Government of Nigeria has disclosed plans to source from the private sector, part of the $10 billion required to provide regular electricity across Nigeria within the next five to 10 years.

This formed the crux of the deliberation when the Director General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Dr Jobson Oseodion Ewalefoh paid a courtesy visit to the Minister of Power Chief Adebayo A.

The duo agreed that in view of the funding and technical requirement needed to advance the power sector in Nigeria, it had become imperative to seek private sector input through Public Private Partnership (PPP) in co-financing and providing expertise that will ensure optimal performance of power infrastructure.

The Director General of the PPP regulatory body said that in view of the importance of power to the economic development of Nigeria, optimizing performance of existing infrastructure as well as funding new ones was imperative.

He acknowledged the challenges in the sector was hydra-headed and went beyond funding alone, adding that with such inter-agency collaboration and partnership with the private sector, the limitations can be addressed.

Reacting to a comment by the Minister, the DG said that through its regulatory processes, the ICRC can midwife private sector investment of part of the $10bn in the power sector to provide regular electricity, attract more foreign direct investment to other sectors and ultimately grow the economy.

“Revamping the power sector requires planning, it involves investments and it takes time. So, we need to collaborate to solve the issues in this sector.

“The investment required in power is very huge and government cannot fund it alone, so we have to leverage on the financing capacity of the private sector. That is why the ICRC was set up to regulate this leverage.

“The Commission is poised to regulating the processes of attracting investment to the power sector”.

He commended the Minister for his vast knowledge of the sector, pointing out that Mr. President’s choice of him was commendable.

Dr Ewalefoh said that in a bid to accelerate PPP investment as directed by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Commission had issued a 6-point policy direction which has ultimately streamlined the process of PPP service delivery.

The DG stressed that whereas the processes have been streamlined to accelerate project delivery and encourage investors to adopt PPP, the Commission was not relenting or compromising on its stringent regulatory function so as to forestall contingent liabilities or unnecessary delays by companies that lack the requisite capacity.

In view of the above the ICRC’s helmsman added that the Commission was now insisting on inserting conditions precedent to all PPP agreements such that any preferred bidder that defaults will have their agreement automatically nullified by reason of their default.

In his response the minister commended the DG for the initiative to visit the ministry with the proposal of advancing investment in power sector through PPPs.

He said, “For us to achieve 24 hours power supply across Nigeria in the next 5 to 10 years, there is a minimum funding requirement of about N10 billion in the next 10 years.

“The government cannot afford that, when there are other critical sectors in need of funding.

“Can government do it alone? No! which is why we have to look for or marshal private sector fund while still retaining government interest and ownership. That is where ICRC comes in.“We need to do this in collaboration with the private sector and the best way is through concession.”

By David Torough, Abuja

Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) has announced reduction in price of petrol by N50 per litre when purchasing directly from Dangote Refinery.

This is coming after Monday’s deal where Dangote Refinery agreed to sell petrol directly to IPMAN members, ending the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL)’s role as the exclusive buyer of Dangote’s petrol.

Currently, motorists pay between N1,060 and N1,200 per litre at NNPCL retail outlets and other filling stations.

IPMAN’s National President, Abubakar Maigandi, shared this news during a press interview yesterday.

According to him, Dangote Refinery had agreed to supply petrol to IPMAN members at a rate of N940 per litre for depots and N990 per litre for trucks.

With this arrangement, Maigandi said, IPMAN members who currently sell petrol between N1,150 and N1,200 per litre would adjust their prices down by N50, depending on location.

Maigandi said, “Presently, we have been given two different arrangements on how to buy fuel from the refinery.

“There’s one where we can load the vessels and carry them to our various depots at the rate of N940 per litre. Then, for the depots, it is at the rate of N990 per litre.”He stated that in Maiduguri (Borno State) for instance, “the current price is N1,200 per litre. With these changes, it may likely reduce to N1,150, which is a reduction of N50. So that’s N1,150; it may even be below that.”