Saraki Tasks GLOBE Nigeria on Climate Change Bill

Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Monday tasked the Global Legislators Organisation (GLOBE) Nigeria, to tackle the challenges of climate change, gas flaring and others affecting sustainable development goals in Nigeria.

The Global Legislators Organization (GLOBE) is an international organization comprising national parliamentarians from over 80 countries committed to developing and overseeing the implementation of laws in pursuit of sustainable development.

According to a statement by the Special Assistant to the Senate President on Print Media, Chuks Okocha, Saraki urged the members of the organisation not to relent in their effort to address the challenges posed by climate change, gas flaring and sustainable development in Nigeria through the provisions of purposeful legislations.

Saraki urged the group to fashion out legislations that would address issues of climate change as is the situation all over the world.

He said: “A lot of pronouncements have been made by the government, and by the last National Assembly without legislative backing and we will just continue to see this as mere pronouncements. Am aware that as legislators that meet and discuss issues on Climate, we are the first country in West Africa and am happy with the kind of report the network is receiving.

“We want Nigeria to become the major hub of Globe Worldwide, to provide leadership in Africa.  Some of the things we see here, even in the sub-Sahara Africa, countries have gone so far in some of these legislations on the Climate  Change and sustainable developments.

“Am very happy of what I heard today on the close work between the Senate and the House of Representatives to see that Climate Change is addressed through  legislative processes.

“In Nigeria, we need to know that we have lots of work to do and I think that it can only be done with an organisation like this which is non-political or seeking the interest of one party, so that we can do what is best for our country”, Saraki said.

President of the Globe Nigeria, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, appealed to the Senate President  to support the Climate Change Bill which will be introduced concurrently soon at both chambers of the National Assembly.

Ibrahim said:  “You may recall our unique and desperate situation regarding the effect of Climate Change on our people. Very recently, Nigeria recorded more than 300 deaths as a result of meningitis outbreak; this epidemic cannot be unconnected to our worsening climate and heat waves.

“As a purpose-driven caucus of the Nigerian parliament, we have a responsibility to protect our people through effective legislation and oversight on climate-induced diseases, migration, conflicts and food insecurity.

“Climate Change is one of the flagship issues the GLOBE Organization has been advocating support for since its establishment and we will be happy to pull some political support from you for the upcoming Climate Change Bill”, he stated.

Other bills lined up for the Senate President’s support, he said,  includes the Gas Flaring Prohibition Bill, Access to Clean Energy Services and Technology Bill as well as an intervention on natural capital and sustainable development.

Senator Ibrahim assured the Senate President that the vision with which he established GLOBE Nigeria would be pursued with utmost dedication and commitment.

He said that the GLOBE Nigeria would  ensure that funds approved and released to the group  is judiciously used and in the spirit of engaging with only the things that will uphold the Nigerian legislature and associated social impact on the lives of the people

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Nigeria refining capacity increases by 29 per cent

…NNPC cuts losses by 16.19 per cent

The combined installed capacity utilization of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) refineries located in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna increased by about 29 percentage points in January 2017 compared with their performance in December 2016.

In the latest of the Corporation’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report for January released in Abuja Monday, NNPC said the capacity utilization of the refineries rose to 36.73 per cent in January, 2017, as against 7.55 percent in the previous month of December, 2016.

The report attributed the improvement to the implementation of the 12 Business Focus Areas (BUFAS) strategy introduced by the Group Managing Director, Dr. Maikanti Baru.

The corporation’s Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, Mr. Ndu Ughamadu made this disclosure in a statement Monday.

According to the report, the refineries benefitted from the introduction of a new Refineries Business Model under the 12 BUFAS strategy which has transformed them from “tolling plants to merchant plants” thereby placing them on the path of profitability.

The Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC ) and Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) also posted surpluses of Five Billion, One Hundred and Fifteen Million Naira (N5,115,000,000) and Four Hundred and Four Hundred and Four Million Naira (N404,000,000) respectively.

Under the new refinery model, each refinery purchases crude oil at export parity price, processes and sells the corresponding products on its own account.

“This is different from the previous Tolling Plant model where the refinery does not take title to the crude, but rather charges a tolling/processing fee to the owner of the crude which was PPMC on behalf of the Corporation”, the report stated.

Apart from PHRC and WRPC, five other subsidiaries of the Corporation also posted surpluses. These include the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), the Nigerian Gas Pipelines and Transport Company (NGPTC), NNPC Retail, the National Engineering and Technical Company (NETCO), and the Integrated Data Services Ltd (IDSL).

According to the document which is the 18^th in the series of Monthly Financial and Operations Reports since the NNPC began publishing its business transactions, the Corporation recorded a Two Billion, Seven Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N2.75billion) reduction in its trading deficit in the period under review putting the total trading deficit atN14.26billion.

“This represents about 16.19 per cent improvement compared toN17.01billion recorded in December, 2016, in spite of the Corporation’s challenging situations which limit its aspiration to profitability”, the report stated.

It listed some of the factors that impeded the Corporation’s performance to include the production shutdown of the Trans Niger Pipeline and Nembe Creek Trunkline due to leakages; the shutdown of Agbami Terminal for a mini Turn-around-Maitenance; and the subsisting Force Majeure declared by SPDC as a result of the vandalized 48-inch Forcados export line after its restoration in October 17, 2016.

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Neymar handed 3 match ban, Misses Clasico

Neymar was sent off against Malaga (Photo: Getty Images Europe)

Spanish FA has handed Barcelona star Neymar a three-match ban. The FA decided to hand him a one-match ban for the two yellow cards he got during the Barcelona 2-0 loss to Malaga on Saturday.

However he was giving an additional two match ban for sarcastically applauding the assistant referee when he was sent off. Barcelona will face Real Sociedad at the Nou Camp next week-end before meeting Real Madrid at the Santiagob Bernabeu on the 23rd of April but the blaugrana will have to do without Neymar.

According to Marca, Barcelona will appeal the FA’s decision. The LaLiga giants believe the ruling is not fair as it punishes a ‘spontaneous’ reaction of their footballer. The Spanish paper, however, claims Barcelona do not have many chances to win the appeal as similar bans have never been reduced by the FA in the past.

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18 Suspects under investigation by Kaduna police

The Kaduna State Police Command, on Monday paraded five suspected kidnappers, six armed robbers and seven receivers of stolen goods.

Briefing newsmen in Kaduna on the activities of his command, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Agyole Abeh, said the efforts of officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force, Kaduna was yielding fruits as the level of crime had gone down drastically.

He promised to make Kaduna State the safest and crime free in the country.

“If you recall, I promised you that this command would control the level of crime to the barest minimum. I am pleased to inform you that we have made lots of gains in our war against crime and criminality.

“We have had breakthroughs within this period and the war is ongoing, we will not stop until people go to sleep with two eyes closed without fear of criminals,” he emphasized.

He added that besides the major criminals they paraded, several others mostly those that were caught with hard drugs have been handed to the NDLEA.

“We also have common criminals like the Sara-Suka who we apprehended and they have been charged to court,” he added.

CP Abeh said that with the commitment and zeal of the officers and men of the command, the state would attain the status of a near crime-free society.

On the suspects paraded, he said though by law, they cannot be said to be guilty, but are still suspects because some of them were apprehended in action with guns in their hands, “They will be given opportunity to prove themselves innocent or otherwise before a competent court of law,” he stressed.

Some of the exhibits recovered from the suspects included seven vehicles, charms and assorted weapons.

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