COVER
NNPC Refineries Generate Zero Revenue, Pay N69bn Workers Salaries
By Our Correspondent with Agency Report
Workers at the government-owned refineries were paid a total of N69.07billion last year, even as the plants generated zero revenue as they did not process a single barrel of crude oil.
The refineries suffered a combined loss of N108.29billion in 2020, compared to N162.
22billion in the previous year, according to data collated from their audited financial statements released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation on Wednesday.The plants, which are located in Port Harcourt, Kaduna and Warri, have a combined installed capacity of 445,000 barrels per day but have been in a state of disrepair for many years.
Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company reported a loss after tax of N55.
77bn last year; Port Harcourt Refining Company recorded N28.67bn loss; and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company posted a loss of N23.85bn.Salaries, wages and other fringe benefits paid to Kaduna refinery workers fell to N26.02bn in 2020 from N34.52bn in the previous year.
Port Harcourt refinery put its aggregate payroll costs (wages, salaries and allowances, redundancy and pension costs) at N22.55bn, up from N18.62bn a year earlier.
Warri refinery said its aggregate costs of employees, comprising direct labour cost and indirect labour and staff welfare cost, dropped to N20.51bn last year from N30.86bn in 2019.
“For the year 2020, the company did not earn any income through shutdown of the plants and the ongoing turnaround maintenance,” KRPC said.
According to the financial statements, the company relies on short-term funding from NNPC to meet its obligations as and when due.
“Although the funding arrangement is short term in nature, the directors, based on historical patterns and continued discussions, with the parent, believe that the funding will be available for at least the next one year,” it said.
PHRC said the N28.674bn loss it incurred last year arose “principally from the inability of the company to refine single drop of crude in the year 2020 and other previous years in quantities and at rates above its break-even points, hence it was unable to earn enough revenue to cover its costs.”
“However, the parent company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation is committed to continuing to support the sustenance of its operations through adequate funding,” it said.
The company noted that the Federal Government had approved the sum of $1.5bn to rehabilitate the aging plants towards productive and profitable use.
“Without doubt, if this plan is fully executed, the reoccurring losses will stop in the year 2023, which is the expected date of completing the phase one of the rehabilitation project,” it added.
According to PHRC, the NNPC provided N107.86bn as of December 2020 to the company under a funding arrangement that is interest-free.
“An amount of N448bn is due from the company to the NNPC as at December 2020 and N361bn in year 2019 under this arrangement,” it said.
COVER
281 Inmates Missing from Custodial Centre after Borno Flood
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
COVER
NNPCL Lifts Petrol from Dangote at N898 Per Litre
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
COVER
CBN Issues 30-day Deadline to Payment Service Providers on PoS Transactions
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.