General
Agreement With Niger Delta Avengers Not Breached—FG
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Federal Government has said it has not in any way breached any agreement it had with the notorious Niger Delta Avengers (NDA).
Last week, the militant group threatened to resume hostilities in the oil rich region over the failure of government to honour its agreements with them.
But while address Political Editors in Lagos yesterday, Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, refuted the claims by the group, saying it is totally not true.
The Minister admitted that the threat was unsettling the Federal Government because of its effect on the nation’s economy; he however appealed for calm from the group.
“We are very worried about it (threat) because if the Avengers should start destroying our oil installations, it is going to bring the country back to its knees.
“And that is why we are appealing to them. We have not breached any agreement with them and we will rather appeal to them to understand that there is more to gain by all sides in engaging than in going back to the trenches.
“Even power has improved in the Niger Delta as well as infrastructure. Contractors can now go and work there.
“We are talking of University of Maritime Technology in the Niger Delta, Second Niger bridge and East- West road. I think what they are fighting for will be achieved much more if there is peace and we will continue our engagements with them because it will not be in the interest of anybody to have crisis,” Mr Mohammed told journalists.
Reacting to a question on how Nigerians doubt statements attributed to him, the Minister, who was the spokesman of the then opposition party now the ruling party, said, “I have two burdens. The first is that I happen to be the face of the opposition and PDP has not forgiven me and they will never forgive me.
“I think they look at the magnitude of what has happened to them and they hold me solely responsible; which is not fair.
“But, I did my beat. Now, becoming the face of government again, it is automatic that whatever comes from Lai Mohammed, we must shoot it down as fake news and a lie. Unfortunately, my father gave me the name Lai also.
“So, it makes it very easy for them. But, what I challenge them every time is, please, give me one thing I said that is not true.
“Emotionally, you may not agree with me, but in terms of facts and figures, I have never said anything which they can dispute. You don’t have to like them, but you can’t deny that they are facts.”
On the 2019 polls, the Minister warned Nigerians never to return the PDP to power.
“As to whether we are afraid of whether we are afraid of the PDP staging a comeback, I can confidently tell you that we are not even contemplating it. It will be a tragedy for Nigeria to fall back into the hands of PDP.
“They dropped us in hell and we are taking people out of hell. How can Nigeria now go back to Egypt? It is not about APC or President Buhari. With the kind of revelation that is coming out, the kind of rot, you want those people to come back and preside over the affairs of Nigeria again? What will happen to the investigations that were carried out if the PDP should win elections again? It will be swept under the carpet.
“This is the first time in the history of this country that we are making real recoveries. Just recently, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Swiss government to return $321 million that was stolen from the country. This is the first time this country is actually looking at our problems from a realistic and pragmatic viewpoint.
“We are not talking of what we are going to achieve in two years or three years. We are talking about laying a solid foundation for a Nigeria that our children will be able to thrive. Unfortunately, the reform agenda is always longer than the political agenda. In many parts of the world, they plan for 10, 15, 20 years. Nobody plans for four years.
“When you look at our Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), we are talking about 2020, even though we know that there may be a change of administration depending on the outcome of the presidential election. But, you do not think in the short term. Nigerians should never pray for PDP to come back.
“When we negotiated with the Swiss government to return late General Sani Abacha’s loot, they gave us some conditions; one of which is that we must identify what programme we want to use the money for and that the World Bank will supervise what we are using the money for.
“When we argued that we are a sovereign country and that they can’t dictate to us how we are going to spend money that was stolen from our country, which they are returning, they said ‘yes, but when we returned part of it to your country under Goodluck Jonathan, you relooted it,’ and that is true.”
By Dipo Olowookere
A $15 million debt facility has been obtained by Watt Renewable Corporation from the AfriGreen Debt Impact Fund to finance hybrid solar power plants to be built and operated by the former, especially in Nigeria.
WATT intends to use the projects to serve commercial and industrial clients in Nigeria, particularly in the telecommunication and financial services sectors.
By integrating solar hybrid solutions, the firm aims to significantly reduce diesel consumption and CO2 emissions, enabling its clients to achieve substantial energy cost savings while promoting environmental sustainability.
As a pioneer in renewable energy solutions, WATT continues to drive innovation in Nigeria’s energy sector.
The company’s robust roll-out plan includes deploying hundreds of hybrid solar power sites nationwide to meet the growing energy demands of commercial & industrial clients.
This strategic expansion aligns with WATT’s vision to revolutionize energy access across Africa, enabling sustainable development and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The funds from AfriGreen provide the critical capital needed to accelerate WATT’s ambitious projects, strengthening its market position and empowering businesses with reliable and affordable energy solutions.
Business Post gathered that to mitigate the currency risk for WATT in the event of devaluation of the Nigerian Naira, AfriGreen is offering a local currency facility that matches the payment structure of the power purchase agreements.
“We are thrilled to partner with AFRIGREEN on this transformative journey to expand reliable and sustainable energy solutions across Africa.
“With this support, it enables us to accelerate our shared mission of providing hybrid solar power to businesses, reducing carbon emissions, and supporting economic growth while enhancing energy security for our clients,” the Managing Director of WATT, Mr Oluwole Eweje, said.
“We are delighted to support WATT in rolling out hundreds of hybrid sites across the country.
“This represents another key transaction for AFRIGREEN in Nigeria. The combination of high energy prices, good solar irradiation, and strong demand from industrial and commercial energy users makes this market particularly attractive for companies like WATT.
“By leveraging these favourable market conditions alongside WATT’s exceptional operational performance and a well-structured financing solution, we are setting the stage for a strong and lasting business partnership,” the Managing Director of AfriGreen, Mr Alexandre Gilles, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has denied issuing a directive that gas supply to power generating companies (GenCos) be halted.
In a statement on Wednesday, the authority also denied instructing wholesale gas suppliers to stop further supply of gas to companies due to failure in payment obligations.
The NMDPRA described reports stating that it has directed the stoppage of gas supply to GenCos over N2 trillion debt as “false and completely unfounded”.
“It has absolutely no bearing on the information shared at a recent stakeholders’ engagement held in Lagos between the Authority, the OPTS, IPPG and other stakeholders in the oil and gas industry,” the NMDPRA said.
“The purpose of the engagement was to sensitise stakeholders on the requirements, opportunities and benefits associated with the implementation of the wholesale supply license as provided by sections 142 and 197 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021.
“It was a follow-up to an earlier stakeholder engagement held at the NMDPRA corporate headquarters in Abuja on November 27, 2024.
“The Authority wishes to reassure all our stakeholders and indeed the general public that at no time was the false statement made at that event and anywhere else, and are advised to completely disregard the publication as every effort is being made to ensure that the supply and distribution of natural gas and petroleum products to end users is seamless and unabated as we head into the festive season and indeed all through the coming year 2025.”
Recall that Nigeria’s national grid experienced another collapse on Wednesday, the 11th time in 2024 as Gencos couldn’t generate enough power, compounding issues facing the Nigerian power sector.
This was the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shutdown in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Nigeria is currently experience a cut in power supply after the national grid collapsed for the 11th time in 2024.
This is the first time in over a month as the last time the nation witnessed a nationwide shut down in electricity supply was on November 7, 2024.
Before then, the country was experiencing an incessant collapse of the grid, which prompted the federal government to set up a team to address the issue.
However, just when Nigerians were thinking they will not witnessed another national grid collapse in the year, it issue reared its ugly head again.
On Wednesday afternoon, most of the energy distribution companies suffered power outage, prompting them to inform their customers of the situation.
One of the DisCos, Ikeja Electric Plc, in a message to electricity consumers under its franchise area, said, “Please be informed that we experienced a system outage today, December 11, 2024, at about 13:32 hours affecting supply within our network.
“Restoration of supply is ongoing in collaboration with our critical stakeholders. Kindly bear with us.”
Recall that on Tuesday, in a report, Google listed national grid as one of the top trending searches by Nigerians this year.
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