Index to Nigerian Newspapers

Pundits and economists alike are waiting to see which side will prevail 10 years after protests against petrol subsidy removal empowered the present ruling party. Despite fears of repercussions, some economists and stakeholders agree that removal of the subsidy is a necessary step towards long-needed reform. However, the feasibility of the plans to give transportation grants to poor Nigerians has raised doubts on the source of funds and impact on the volume of money in circulation, as well as transparency and accountability issues. President Muhammadu Buhari's administration has decided to remove the subsidy this year and damn the consequences to free up resources needed to run the economy. A panel chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will meet with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other stakeholders to consider the proposed N5,000 transport palliative and other options aimed at ameliorating the effects of the planned subsidy removal on Nigerians. The options remain hard as labour unions are already up in arms to protest if the decision on subsidy removal is taken.

Nigeria's 11 Electricity Distribution Companies (DisCos) have insisted that billing of end-users by estimation is normal and follows necessary methodology. However, the NERC's Key Operational and Financial Data of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI) for January 2019 to September 2021 showed that of the 12,784,685 registered energy customers as at September 2021, only 4, 772,906 (37.33%) had been metered. The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) said DisCos were not forcing their marketers to 'extort' customers and give them bills that do not reflect their electricity consumption in an effort to improve revenue. ANED's Executive Director for Research and Advocacy, Sunday Oduntan, said the companies were only concerned with market 'receivables', which is the money owed to the DisCo for a service already rendered. DisCos set commercial, operations, technical and customer service targets for their staff, which are specific and based on what has been consumed. Distribution transformers are metered to show the value of electricity passed through them, and customers are allowed to contest their billing. NERC's Methodology for Estimated Billing Regulations 2012 (Estimated Billing Methodology Regulation) was introduced in 2012 to ensure energy consumed is paid for and to ensure DisCos do not issue arbitrary electricity bills. Oduntan asked customers to promptly report electricity workers demanding bribe, noting that Nigerians must help the market fish out bad eggs.

The Federal Government has suspended indefinitely its planned fuel subsidy removal and will amend the 2022 Appropriation Act to provide for subsidy payments from July 1. This was announced by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Ms Zainab Ahmed, in a meeting with lawmakers at the National Assembly. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited had revealed that Nigeria consumes 19.535 billion litres of petrol yearly, averaging 1.6 billion litres monthly. This brings yearly subsidy to about N4.6 trillion. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatened to embark on a nationwide protest against the planned removal of fuel subsidy in the 2022 budget signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari. The Finance Minister, Timipre Sylva, and the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Limited, Mele Kyari, met with the National Assembly leadership to amend the law to provide for an extension of subsidy provision beyond June 2022. Sylva said the government had initially planned to remove subsidies on petroleum products from July, but a reasonable provision was made in the 2022 national budget for subsidy payment till June.

In December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians that an autogas policy would ensure that vehicles plying the country's roads run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). However, an investigation by The Guardian shows that the plan is yet to take off despite the commitment of resources for the conversion. The cost of gas has gone up by over 200% since the announcement, and the infrastructure to convert cars to be powered by gas has exponentially increased. As of yesterday, a litre of autogas was selling for an average N400 at the NNPC retail outlet along the Lagos-Ibadan highway. The Guardian investigation revealed that no one has come to fuel their cars at the gas pump for over two months, and only NNPC vehicles have been converted at the pilot phase. The Federal Government had set aside N250 billion for willing investors in autogas assembly plants, but the funds would barely convert 100,000 vehicles to autogas going by market rates.

Vandals have caused the shutdown of over seven power plants in less than two months, with the Trans-Forcardos Pipeline (TFP) and TotalEnergies pipeline (NOPL Line) being the most affected. This is coming as transmission and distribution bottlenecks pushed average stranded electricity generation to 2,248.50 megawatts in 2021. Vandalism is a huge drain on the country, with Nigeria losing almost 200 million barrels of crude oil in the first 11 months of 2021. The Association of Power Generation Companies, Dr Joy Ogaji, warned that power generation would be under threat if vandalism continues, but Special Adviser to President Buhari on Infrastructure, Ahmad Zakari, noted that the sector is set for monumental growth in 2022. Zakari also said that the national mass metering of the Federal Government would move to phase one to reduce the metering gap by 50 per cent before 2023.

Nigerians may need to adjust their expectations ahead of possible removal of subsidy as the rising price of crude oil may push Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to N403 per litre. The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) has initiated talks with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on the proposed removal of subsidy on petrol. The National Economic Council (NEC) has disclosed that a decision on the removal of petrol subsidy will be made in June when the provision for its payment in the 2022 budget expires. The NLC has mandated all states organs to intensify mobilisation for next Thursday's nationwide protest against the Nigerian government over its proposed increase in the pump price of petrol. Stakeholders have insisted that liberalisation of the downstream sector, including removal of subsidy, were necessary steps if the country must end its borrowing and revive the downstream segment of the nation's petroleum industry. The Federal Government had opted for deregulation of the downstream, partially removing subsidy from petrol, resulting in a doubling of the pump price. In December 2021, the NLC and TUC forced the Federal Government to a dialogue, where the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) agreed to slash N5 from N167.44 to N162.44. This was in contrast to expectations that the signing of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) would automatically commence deregulation.