David Umahi, the minister of works, says the administration of President Bola Tinubu inherited N14 trillion worth of road projects across the country.

Umahi gave the number of road projects inherited from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as 2,604 spanning 18,000 kilometers.

Speaking with reporters at the presidential villa, the minister said of the N14 trillion, N4 trillion has been paid to contractors by the current administration.

“Between when we came on board and now, about N4 trillion has been paid. And so that is a balance of N10 trillion remaining,” he said.

“Now, in this N10 trillion, we have identified sources that could fund up to N4 trillion. So, we have a funding gap of about N6 trillion.

“We have a number of programs for road development under the previous administration. We inherited all the projects; we have not dropped any of them. But curious to know that some of these projects have lasted for 20 years, some 10 years.

“In fact, in most cases, they were never appropriated throughout every tenure.

“So I went to seek Mr. President’s nod so that I will be able to terminate some of the projects that have stayed up to 10 years without any defined source of funding.”

The minister said Tinubu should encourage the national assembly to prioritise road projects.

“Just look at over 2,600 projects, 18,000 kilometers of roads, and N14 trillion. That is huge and the worrisome part of this is that even the ones that are being funded properly, the roads hardly last up to five years,” Umahi said.

“I shared with Mr President that the way appropriation is being done is not healthy to develop our roads infrastructure. For example, for a road that may cost N10 billion, an appropriation of N150 million is made.

“It is just for the contractor to take and put in his pockets because where the average cost of projects that we inherited is about N700 million per kilometres and you are giving out N150 million for the whole year, then you are just enhancing the pockets of the contractor.”

The rise in the cost of crude oil, coupled with the depreciation of the naira against the United States dollar, might lead to a hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, oil marketers stated on Sunday.

It was also gathered that the sharp rise in crude oil price to about $94/barrel and the crisis around forex, had warranted a gradual increase in the amount being quietly spent as subsidy on petrol by the Federal Government.

Dealers in the downstream oil sector explained that the cost of crude oil and the exchange rate of the dollar accounted for over 80 per cent of the cost of PMS.

Brent crude, the global benchmark for oil, rose to $94/barrel on Sunday, the highest figure in 2023. Oil had started the year at about $82/barrel, dipped to $70/barrel in June, but traded above $92/barrel in the past week.

Recall that the naira weakened to N950/dollar as forex scarcity worsened.

The report stated that the naira fell further against the dollar the preceding day (Wednesday), after closing at 950/$ at the parallel market.

Bureau de Change operators had told The PUNCH that the naira, which earlier closed at 930/$ at the close of operations on Tuesday, was bought and sold at 935/$ and 950/$ on Wednesday.

Although the Federal Government and its Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited had insisted that subsidy on petrol had ended, following the deregulation of the downstream oil sector, operators insisted on Sunday that the government was implementing quasi-subsidy.

They explained that with the latest rise in crude oil price, the cost of petrol was meant to increase, stressing that if the government insists on leaving the commodity at N617/litre, then subsidy on PMS had been returned quietly.

The marketers explained that in July when the cost of petrol was raised to N617/litre, crude oil traded around $82/barrel, while the the exchange rate was not as high as N950/$ at the parallel market.

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners corroborated the concerns of marketers, as it stated that the price cap on petrol had made it tough for marketers to comply with the demands of NARTO with respect to increasing the cost of transportation for petrol.

“The Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC, in one of his statements, had pointed out that as long as the dollar continues to rise, Nigerians should not expect petroleum products prices to be pegged. The cost of crude oil is also on the rise and it impacts on petrol price, because PMS is derived from crude.

“So in this price deregulation regime, once the dollar increases, automatically it means that the cost of importing petroleum products will also increase. And the cost of every other related service will rise,” the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, stated.

He added, “So the fuel we are buying today at N617 or N596 depending on where you buy it and based on the nearness to depots, is actually below what the price should really be, going by the rise in dollar and crude oil price.”

Ukadike stated that though the rise in crude oil price would increase Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings, the forex was being used to import refined products.

“I said earlier that what we are experiencing now is quasi-deregulation. The rise in crude oil price has both positive and negative effects on Nigeria. It is positive because it increases our generation of dollars when we sell the crude.

“But it is negative in the sense that we still use that dollar that we have got to import the finished products of crude. That is the problem. For if Nigeria is refining products, then there will be a windfall, but since we import with the dollar that we make, then it makes no sense.”

On whether the rise in oil prices would warrant further hike in the cost of PMS and other finished products, thereby increasing subsidy on petrol particularly, Ukadike replied, “Yes, of course.

“The gap is becoming too much. Also, the exchange rate gap between the official and parallel markets is widening. And these gaps have to be filled by the government through quasi-subsidy on petrol.

“You also know that most of the investors who tried to import products when it was announced that the subsidy on petrol had been removed, are now finding it very difficult to do so.

“This is because after buying the dollar in the parallel market, they cannot recoup what they have invested. So the government must be transparent with this subsidy removal thing. It should apply it to the fullest, so that competition can set it.”

On his part, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said though the cost of crude had been rising lately, the NNPCL should be able to manage it for the benefit of Nigerians, with respect to petroleum products prices.

“Crude oil is selling at a higher price and that price should impact positively, because the major importer of petroleum products is the NNPC and they do that on a swap basis, unless they are telling us that the swap is not efficient.

“For if it is efficient, they should have more money for the size of crude oil they sell, which should impact on the price they pass on to Nigerians. Yes, today it is a commercial company, but it is still owned by Nigerians and is a sovereign company.

“And the fact that Nigerians must benefit from their natural endowment by God should be reflected in the pricing of products by NNPC. That is all I’ll say about this issue,” he stated.

Earlier, the National Secretary, IPMAN, Chief John Kekeocha, had asked the Federal Government to come out clean with respect to fuel subsidy, instead of mandating oil marketers not to dispense the product above a stipulated band.

In August, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, had told State House correspondents that President Bola Tinubu had instructed that the cost of petrol should not increase.

“Mr. President, wishes to assure Nigerians following the announcement by the NNPC limited just yesterday (Monday) that there will be no increase in the pump price of PMS anywhere in the country. We repeat, the President affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of PMS.”

NNPCL had also in August stated that it was not raising petrol price.

“Dear esteemed customers, we at NNPC Retail value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated. Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPC Retail stations nationwide,” the company had stated.

NNPC Retail is the downstream subsidiary of NNPCL that retails refined petroleum products for the group.

Kekeocha had told our correspondent that the decision of the Federal Government to put a cap on petrol price meant that subsidy on petrol had been reinstated.

He said, “The government is not being very transparent with this issue. When you say you have removed fuel subsidy, you don’t come again and moderate prices. Is like speaking with the two sides of the mouth.

“Removal of subsidy means you have removed your hands and the prices have to follow demand and supply. So if the NNPC says it is getting forex (foreign exchange) to import products and reduce prices for marketers, are they going to do the same for other importers? Remember the government gave import licenses to about seven marketers?

“Are they still going to moderate prices for those people when they bring in the products? No! You don’t blow hot and cold at the same time. There is no way they can bring in products and reduce the price and peg it for marketers to sell at a certain level, it means they are indirectly bringing back subsidy.

“If they want to bring back subsidy, let them say it openly, that ‘we are going to come back to subsidy because of the pains the country generally is going through.’ This is because the initial things they are supposed to do they did not do it. We have always been clamouring, let the refineries work.”

Nigerian musician Teniola Apata, better known by her stage name Teni, Has revealed that witnessing her father’s murder, retired Nigerian army Brigadier-General Simeon Apata, had a profound impact on her life.

The late Brig. Gen. Apata (RTD) was killed On January 8, 1995, in Lagos.

Teni claimed that the incident took place in their living room when she was only two years old.

She revealed this on the newest episode of the Tea With Tay podcast, hosted by actor Temisan Emmanuel Ahwieh, nicknamed Taymesan.

Regina Daniels opens up, speaks on criticisms trailing marriage to Billionaire – VIDEO
Teni described how watching her father assassinated in her presence and growing up without a father has affected her life and made her have trust issues.

Young Teni and Late Military father
In her words:

“My father was a disciplinarian. He was a soldier and he owned a school; Apata Memorial High School. He was also a big philanthropist.

“Growing up with my father passing at such a young age, the trauma of losing my father at a young age affected me. You know, him being assassinated in the presence of all of us and all that stuff. I was 2 at the time.

“Him passing away robbed me as a child of having a father figure. It sort of made me have trust issues growing up. Because they [gunmen] came into our house purposely to kill him.”

In another story, Teni Sparks Reactions As She Shares Video Of Her Pet, Named ‘Burna Boy’

The singer took to his Instagram story to share a video of herself playing with the pet as she beacons on it to get closer.

Some internet users, however, see it as a dig at Grammy Award-winning singer Dami Ogulu, also known as Burna Boy.

Members of the House of Representatives on Friday were shocked to the marrow as the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) publicly justified the sales of 82 vehicles for the sum of N5.8 million over the past 12 years.

Trouble started when the NIMASA Executive Director, Mr. Chudi Offodile, announced during the resumed investigative hearing into the disposal of public property by the Agencies between 2010 and 2022 to unravel the extent of illegal auctioning of public property and non-remittance of revenue realised into the Consolidated Revenue Fund’, chaired by Hon. Julius Ihonbvere, that due process was followed.

The documents presented and obtained by the Nigerian Tribune showed that a Peugeot Expert Ambulance with a market value of N200,000 was sold at a forced liquidation or auction value of N95,000; a Honda Civic Saloon Car with a market value of N170,000 was sold at N76,500; a Toyota Hilux (Grounded) with a market value of N300,000 was sold at N140,000; another Toyota Hilux (Accidental) with a market value of N200,000 was sold at N96,000; and another Toyota Hilux (Grounded) with a market value of N250,000 was sold at N115,000.

In the same vein, two units of Toyota Hilux, which were at the time of inspection in the custody of Carbotage Consultant in Lagos and put at N1 million market value, were sold at N470,000 each for forced liquidation or auction value; a Honda Civic put at N210,000 was sold at N95,000; a Honda City put at N190,000 market value was sold at N80,000, among others.

Through its office in Abuja, a Toyota Hilux put at N500,000 market value was sold at N245,000; a Toyota Avensis put at N300,000 market value was sold at N145,000; a Toyota Corolla put at N300,000 market value was sold at N147,000; and two units of Honda Civic put at N90,000 market value were sold at N30,000 each, among others.

Other lawmakers who spoke during the investigative hearing demanded documentary evidence of funds remitted into the CRF account as provided by extant provisions of the Procurement Act, Proceeds of Crimes Act, and other known legislation or financial regulations.

In his presentation, Mr Offodile, who denied knowledge of the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, 2007 on the remittance of the funds generated from the sale of public assets, however, affirmed that the proceeds of sales were paid by the Auctioneers into NIMASA’s coffers.

When asked whether the Agency has a mechanic’s workshop where faulty vehicles can be repaired, Mr. Offodile answered in the negative.

While expressing surprise that most of the vehicles displayed in the document presented to the Ad-hoc Committee didn’t show that they are old or not in good condition, Hon. Ihonbvere said: “Looking at them (pictures of vehicles captured in the documents), some of them are looking new,” adding that for Nigerians, a 13-year-old Toyota Hilux is not old.”

Hon. Ihonbvere thereafter narrated how a former Edo State Governor engaged a female mechanic to fix some of the vehicles tagged as unserviceable and recovered over 100 vehicles while other spare parts were stored.

He explained that over 100 vehicles fixed by the female mechanic were deployed to various MDAs, thereby blocking financial leakages.

Hon. Ihonbvere specifically expressed concern over the rationale behind the placement of an advertisement on March 29, 2022, calling for a public auction of NIMASA vehicles and the sale of all the vehicles on March 30, 2022, through forced liquidation or auction.

While alleging that the move “leaves us with the impression that it’s a pre-arrangement,” the Majority Leader argued that the process contravened the extant Public Procurement Act to dispose of public assets within 24 hours.

Hon. Ihonbvere, who disclosed that the Ad-hoc Committee is in the custody of petitions against NIMASA alleging that the vehicles were sold to some officials and staff of the Agency, maintained that the Auctioneers engaged by NIMASA were merely hired to rubber stamp the fictitious insider trading.

Hence, the lawmakers requested a list of all the Auctioneers as well as beneficiaries of the vehicles, the original cost of the vehicles and invoices, a letter of contract awards for the auctioning of the assets to the auctioneers, and relevant approvals obtained from the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing as well as the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).

One of the lawmakers expressed worry about why the Agency only carried out sales of vehicles and did not have any record of sales of computers and other office equipment within the period under review.

Hon. Ihonbvere, who requested the registers of all the assets of NIMASA and other MDAs, disclosed that the asset registers would be computerised in the state-of-the-art library, which is currently under construction within the National Assembly complex, to be commissioned by the end of September 2023.

In the same vein, the lawmakers quizzed the Sokoto River Basin’s delegation over indiscriminate sales of public assets to the management of the Agency in breach of the extant Public Procurement Act at ridiculous prices.

To this end, Hon. Ihonbvere directed the delegation from NIMASA and the Sokoto River Basin to provide relevant documents that will aid the ongoing investigation. The ad hoc Committee is expected to resume hearings on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.