Insanity inducing latest report from Nigeria
- Details
- Category: GENERAL
- Published on Saturday, 07 July 2012 22:42
- Written by Ogbuefi Blogs
'With the news that a 16 year old Blessing Effiong was jailed for 4 years as an adult for a mere pettiness, while $16 billion supposedly meant to uplift NEPA cannot be vouched for, $7b on fuel subsidy, disappeared and a president with impunity gives not a damn about declaration of wealth, and helplessness of the masses in Nigeria
are in etc. - it is really sanity maintenance listening to some Jazz. I pray for you Nigerians'.............Nkem Eugene Ejiofor
Do you want to lose your sanity? Read about Nigeria Daily!
Below is insanity inducing latest report from Nigeria.
Two of Nigeria’s refineries pack up …others produce at 25% of installed capacity - PUNCH
The four Federal Government-owned refineries in the country are producing refined petroleum products at an abysmally low level.
Investigations by SATURDAY PUNCH show that the refineries are producing at about 25 per cent of installed capacity.
The investigations show that only two of the refineries – the Warri and Kaduna refineries – are partially functional at the moment.
The remaining two located in Port Harcourt are struggling with faults that have prevented them from adding to the quantity of fuel produced locally.
The old refinery in Port Harcourt has not been in operation for several months, while the new refinery, which before now was contributing to the quantity of locally-refined products, has also stopped operation because of lack of electricity.
Specifically, the two refineries in Port Harcourt have not been working since January 2012, when the anti-subsidy removal protests spearheaded by organised labour and civil society groups took place.
SATURDAY PUNCH discovered that the new Port Harcourt refinery had struggled with epileptic operations because of the activities of vandals, who had damaged its pipeline at the Ogoni area of Rivers State. This had a serious impact on its operational capacity.
The National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Ogun, attributed the low level of productivity of the nation’s refineries to neglect by successive administrations.
He said the performance of the refineries had become poor because of lack of deserved attention to their maintenance.
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Nigeria’s debt rises by N1.21tn under Jonathan – Investigation
In one year of the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s debt profile has risen by N1.21tn, SATURDAY PUNCH investigations have shown.
Statistics obtained from the Debt Management Office show that the country’s debt profile rose from $36.45bn (about N5.68tn) in March 2011 to $44.28bn (N6.88tn) as of March 2012.
The domestic debt component stood at $38.37bn (or N5.97tn), while the external debt stood at $5.91bn (or N919.44bn) as of March 31, 2012.
Details of the external debt balance show that multilateral financial institutions account for 83.28 per cent of the country’s foreign debt.
The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a member of the World Bank Group, accounts for $6.31m, while another member of the group, the International Development Association, accounts for $4.29bn.
The International Fund for Agricultural Development, also a World Bank group member, contributes $70.25m to the nation’s external debt balance.
The African Development Bank accounts for $43.55m, while the African Development Fund contributes $387.23m to the debt burden.
Non-Paris debts sources are 8.26 per cent of the nation’s external debt. These include the European Development Fund, $110.08m: and the Islamic Development Fund, $14.56m.
Bilateral loans account for $433.84m, while commercial loans contribute $54.63m.
The $500m, which Nigeria borrowed from the International Capital Market in 2011, accounts for the remaining 8.26 per cent of the external debt.
Details of the domestic debts, on the other hand, show that FGN bonds account for N3.67tn or 61.44 per cent of the money borrowed by the Federal Government from internal sources.
Nigerian Treasury Bills account for N1.95tn or 32.63 per cent, while Treasury Bonds account for N353.73m or 5.93 per cent.
As of March 31, 2011, the nation’s external debt stood at $5.23bn, while the domestic debt stood at N4.87tn.
This means that within one year, the external debt stock rose by 13 per cent, while the domestic debt stock rose by 22.59 per cent.
Most of the domestic debts were not tied to any specific projects, but were raised to finance budget deficit.
Ogbuefi Ndigbo
