News
Reps move to investigate petrol scarcity
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The House of Representatives has mandated its Committees on Petroleum Resources (Downstream and Midstream) to investigate the return of fuel queues in the nation’s service stations and proffer lasting solutions to the oil sector’s challenges.
The decision of the House was sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved at Tuesday’s plenary by the member representing Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency, Edo State, Mr Bill Osawaru.
The motion titled, “Urgent need to carry out a legislative forensic investigation into the challenges affecting the downstream and midstream petroleum sectors in Nigeria and other related matters to find out a lasting solution to all challenges being experienced in the sectors and reposition them for efficiency and productivity,” was overwhelmingly endorsed by the lawmakers during plenary.
Leading the debate, Osawaru noted that there has been a resurgence of fuel queues in petrol stations, with allegations of high cost of petrol and non-availability of fuel stock for downstream domestic refineries in Nigeria as well as disruption of distribution of the product.
Consequently, the House mandated the Committees Mandate to “Carry out a legislative forensic investigation into the resurgence of fuel queues in petrol stations, allegations of high cost of PMS, unavailability of fuel stock for downstream domestic refineries, disruption of distribution of PMS products, unfair subsidization of PMS and other petroleum products racketeering and favouritism in the Pro Forma Invoice System regime.”
The mandate of the committees also includes probing “The indiscriminate issuance of licenses and importation of refined petroleum products, alleged return of PMS price intervention, allegation of product unavailability to marketers from NNPC Retail, endless shifting of timelines for refinery rehabilitation and the nefarious activities at petrol depots.”
The committee will also conduct “A legislative forensic investigation into the presence of middlemen in trading, indiscriminate issuance of licenses, unavailability of laboratories to check adulterated products, influx of contaminated products into the country, the allegation of non-domestication of profits realized from crude marketing sales in local banks, abuse of the PFI regime, importation of products already being produced in Nigeria and use of international trading companies to resell fuel stock to local refineries.
The two committees were also mandated to “Carry out a legislative forensic investigation into the allegation of importation of substandard products and high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, sale of petroleum products below fair market value and its impact on downstream and local refineries as well as the source of funds for such interventions, the failure of the regulators such as NMDPRA, NUPRC to enforce compliance with standards; the lack of support to local crude refiners, issuance of import license, despite local production, and report back to the House within four weeks for further legislative action.”
Justifying the relevance of the motion, Osawru noted that “There is an allegation of unfair subsidisation of the Petroleum Motor Spirit and other petroleum products which negatively affects competitiveness in the sector. There are also allegations of racketeering and favouritism in the Pro Forma Invoice System regime, indiscriminate issuance of licenses and importation of refined petroleum products.
‘The House is informed of the alleged return of PMS price intervention with its impact on the domestic market, as well as the allegation of product unavailability to marketers from NNPCL Retail. This is in addition to the endless shifting of timelines for refinery rehabilitation, and the nefarious activities at petrol depots which have affected product distribution and caused scarcity. There is also the use of middlemen in trading which has negatively affected domestic crude supply.”
According to the lawmaker, there are claims that subsidy has returned on petrol, including lack of clarity about the exact landing cost of PMS, reduction in retail price and its impact on downstream operations, allegation of importation of substandard products and high-sulphur diesel into Nigeria, among others.
That said, Osawaru blamed the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission for failing in their regulatory roles, which he said, is partly responsible for the current scarcity.”
A tragic plane crash in the city of Gramado, southern Brazil, has claimed the lives of ten family members of influential businessman, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi.
The crash involved a private plane piloted by Brazilian businessman Luiz Claudio Galeazzi. He, along with his wife, three daughters, and other family members, died in the crash, according to a statement from his company.
The small aircraft reportedly struck a building’s chimney, as well as a house and a shop, before crashing. Local authorities confirmed that 17 people on the ground were injured, with two in serious condition.
Mr. Galeazzi, 61, was reportedly taking his family on a trip to Jundiaí, São Paulo state. All ten victims were members of his family, as confirmed by the Governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite.
The plane had taken off in poor weather conditions. The aircraft flew for about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) before crashing into the urban area just minutes after takeoff on Sunday morning.
An eyewitness, Nadia Hansen, described hearing the plane revving up before it hit the building. “At the time, it was revving up. You could see that it was accelerating a lot,” Hansen said. “Then there was a bang as it hit the building and then it passed close to my house and then it fell, and I thought it had dropped in front of the house.”
Emergency workers were seen at the crash site, attending to the wreckage and debris from damaged buildings. Galeazzi was the CEO of Galeazzi & Associados, a corporate restructuring and crisis management firm based in São Paulo. His company expressed its condolences in a LinkedIn statement, honoring Galeazzi’s dedication to his family and his professional legacy.
The crash occurred near the center of Gramado, hitting a house, furniture store, and hotel. The cause of the accident is under investigation by the Aeronautical Accident Investigation and Prevention Center (Cenipa). Governor Leite assured that the state was mobilized to provide necessary assistance.
Gramado, a well-known tourist destination, has recently been hit hard by devastating flooding earlier this year, which caused extensive damage and displaced thousands of residents.
The Federal Government has allocated a total of N6,364,181,224 billion for the renovation and rehabilitation of the residential quarters of President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and some of their aides in the 2025 budget proposal.
Sunday PUNCH’s analysis of the proposed allocation, contained in the 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly, showed that the annual maintenance of the Presidential Villa would gulp N5.49bn.
According to the proposed budget, N765m will be used for the renovation of the Vice President’s quarters and guest house.
The renovation of the president’s quarters at the State House will cost N6.39m, while the renovation of security quarters, auditorium, gymnasium and presidential aides’ quarters will cost N49m.
In addition, the renovation of Prescott barracks at Maple State House officers’ mess building and signal office in Asokoro, Abuja will cost N51m.
Further analysis of the budget revealed that Tinubu and his vice are also expected to have N87m as honorarium and sitting allowances, while N127m was allocated for the procurement of SUVs.
Also, N3.66bn was budgeted for the purchase of State House operational vehicles and N1,09bn will be spent on replacement of SUV vehicles at the State House.
Under the budget of the State House Lagos Liaison Office, there is an allocation of N14.72m for the routine maintenance of State House Lagos facilities (Dodan Barracks, Vice President guest houses at Ikoyi, among others).
Another N140.10m was allocated for the completion of renovation and furnishing of the State House annex (Dodan Barracks), Lagos.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government is planning to spend N1.83bn on converting forfeited properties from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission into State House quarters.
The plan to convert forfeited houses from the EFCC comes in the same month that the commission disclosed the recovery of an estate in the Lokogoma District of Abuja, measuring 150,500 square metres and containing 753 units of duplexes and other apartments.
The commission described this as its “single largest asset recovery” since its inception in 2003.
The estate rests on Plot 109 Cadastral Zone C09 of the district, and was forfeited in a ruling on Monday, December 2, 2024, by Justice Jude Onwuegbuzie.
(Punch)
WHEN we look at this month, USD was traded at ₦ at the beginning of this December on Monday, December 2, 2024. As at today with USD being traded at ₦1,655 we see a % for United States Dollar to Naira exchange rate for this month.
On this page, we are primarily focusing on the Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate Today, the USD to Naira currency pair are the most traded currency in the FX market.
Black Market Exchange Rates
Buying Rate
Selling Rate
Dollar to Naira 1655 1640
Pounds to Naira 2150 2000
Euro to Naira 1730 1700
Canadian Dollar to Naira 1146 1135
Rand to Naira 52 43
Dirham to Naira 0 0
Yuan to Naira 62 62
G.Cedi to Nair 70 50
CFA F. (XOF) To Naira 0.83 0.81
CFA F. (XAF) To Naira 0.74 0.74
READ ALSO: INSIDE LIFE: 26-Year-Old Lady Died In Bangladesh With No One To Claim Her Body, She Is A Nigerian From Enugu (SEE PHOTO)
Having full knowledge how much USD to NGN black market exchange rate today will give you a better opportunity to plan and make informed decisions.
Nairatoday.com
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