How lack of power, money fuels disloyalty in PDP

The unfolding crisis in the PDP was one that had over time been covered up on account of the party’s previous hold of the apparatus of government. Now denied of such, the bubble easily burst given the absence of the mixture of power and money that had until recently kept the workers and the party leaders united. As the crisis in the party national secretariat deepened at the weekend it was not surprising that elements in the party who had issues to grind with the national leaders were observed trying to stoke the crisis for the purpose of undermining the present leadership. Chief Olisa Metuh, arguably the longest serving political operative at the national level of the party has become the object of the attacks against the party. In the weeks leading to the recent national elections the gulf between the national secretariat and the former president had become very visible. The president and his lieutenants for one reason or the other refused to carry the party leaders along. Of the 12 members of the National Working Committee, NWC, only the national youth leader, Abdullahi Hussaini MaiBasira, it seemed, was accommodated in the president’s plans for re-election. Luxury vehicles That was underpinned by the fact that when brand new SUVs were distributed by the president’s campaign team, only him got a pick of the luxury vehicles. The assertion that the NWC could go to hell was not lost on many of the party officials, many of whom instead of going to hell went abroad in the heat of the campaigns. There were also reports that Chief Olisa Metuh particularly felt bad as he was almost always left to manage issues that fell from the mismanagement of the campaign by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, the former antagonist of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan who the then president shockingly picked to be his campaign spokesman.
However, central to the unfolding crisis in the party was the directive from the national secretariat of the implementation of austerity measures as a reaction to the revenue shortfalls into the party.

In a memo from the national secretary, the party had said:

i.Reduction of the allowances of all NWC members by 50%.

Reduction of the number of personal staff of the NWC members by 50 per cent.

iii. Reduction in the number of security personnel attached to the National Officers by 50 per cent.

The reduction of the salaries and allowances of all staff (Establishment and Staff of NWC members) by 50% effective August, 2015.

Abolition of the Research Directorate and transfer of its functions to the Peoples Democratic Institute.

Research directorate
“Furthermore, Establishment staff who would remain are required to obtain individual letter of revalidation from their State Party Chapter within one month of this circular as to their suitability for service at the National Secretariat.” The proposal for staff to obtain revalidation letters from their state chapters was one seen as a way of sacking them from the party given the fact that some of the national secretariat staff have been on loggerheads with their state chapters. A case in point is a national secretariat staff whose brother, is a prominent member of the APC and had in the past supported the brother’s campaigns at home while supporting the PDP at the national level. Given Metuh’s prominent role in the present leadership of the PDP and the banishment of some national leaders who had in the recent past fallen out with him, it is not surprising that external influence is being inputted for the crisis that is swirling around him. Some have traced the external influence to some PDP leaders in Anambra State who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the recent congresses that saw Metuh in dominant control of the party in the state. Others have also traced the development to the faceoff between the party and the APC over the issue of the appointment of its new director general with the assertion that the DSS may have prompted the action.

Alade Market Concessionaire Bemoans Threat to $50 Million Cash Flow

Master Reality International Concepts Limited, the concessionaire for the redevelopment of Alade Market, Allen, Ikeja Lagos State, on Sunday, August 2 lamented a great threat to $50 million it obtained in 2013 to redevelop the market to an ultra-modern shopping mall. According to the concessionaire, the market redevelopment, valued about N6.5 billion on August 17, 2010 when the concession agreement was signed, was delayed due to refusal of market women to relocate to an alternative market. The Managing Director of the company, Lai Omotola, expressed concern over the delay at a session with journalists in Maryland after he took control of the market, which the Ikeja Local Government ceded to him five years ago.

He disclosed that a foreign cash-inflow of $50 million, which he obtained in 2013, was under grave threat, citing the astronomical increase in the exchange rate. He explained that the exchange rate was the pegged at N175 to a dollar, thereby lamenting that the exchange rate had skyrocketed to N195 to a dollar within the same period. Omotola stressed that the declining value of the naira was “a serious concern to him, adding that the redevelopment posed great threat to the fast-tracked delivery of the project.

Annual Premium Flight in Nigeria’s Insurance Industry Reaches N148.5 Billion

Findings have revealed that the annual premium flight in Nigeria’s insurance industry has now reached N148.5 billion ($750 million). Recently, Africa Re, founded by members of the then Organization of African Unity in 1976, stated that despite its efforts, more than 80 per cent of the reinsurance risks in Africa are covered outside the continent. However, experts have expressed optimism that the industry could in the future clinch a larger share of the risk that is placed offshore if the on-going consolidation in the industry succeeds. The immediate past Commissioner for Insurance, Fola Daniel, had in July revealed that just three million Nigerians have insurance policies in a population of 175 million. According to the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) gross premium income in the industry amounted to N258 billion in 2013, and increased by 24 per cent to N319bn ($1.60bn) last year.

CBN Mulls Restrictions of More Items from Forex Market

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,has said it may increase the list of items excluded for funding from the official foreign exchange (forex) market.
This is coming as the apex bank seeks to reduce pressure on the naira and preserve the country’s external reserves. CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, revealed this during over the weekend.
The CBN recently restricted importers of 41 items from accessing forex at the official foreign exchange market. Some of the items include toothpicks, rice, wheel barrows, head pans, cement, margarine, palm kernel/vegetable oil, meat and processed meat products, vegetable and processed vegetable products, poultry, private airplanes/jet, Indian incense and tinned fish in sauce (Geisha/Sardines), among others.
According to the central bank, the restriction was also designed to facilitate the resuscitation of domestic industries and improve employment generation.
Although some of the affected importers and members of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) have continued to kick against the policy, Emefiele said: “The truth is that as long as we find that there are more items that can be produced locally, I can assure you that we would increase the list.
“We are not saying that those 41 items cannot be imported, but we are saying that we don’t have the foreign exchange for you at the banks or at the interbank market for these.
He stressed that before the central bank decided to place the items on the exclusion list, it carefully thought about them, did its research and came to the conclusion that the affected items could be produced in Nigeria.

Dangote Cement Eyes 45m Tonnes Annually With New Zambia Plant

Ahead of the inauguration of its new cement plant in Zambia, on Tuesday, August 3, Dangote Cement Pl'c total output is expected to hit 45 million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) on the continent.
An investor relations report on Dangote Cement’s operations showed that with the company’s plant expansion in various African countries including one in Nepal, Dangote Cement’s total projected capacity will stand at 53mmtpa by 2017.
The company’s cement factories in Nigeria lead the way with a combined capacity of 29.25mmtpa from three massive plants in the North-central and South-west regions of the country.
The Obajana cement plant in Kogi State, which is the largest single cement plant in Africa, produces 13.25mmtpa from four lines, dwarfing all other cement plants on the continent. This is closely followed by the Ibese cement plant in Ogun State, which also runs four lines with a combined annual output of 12mmtpa.
Dangote’s smallest plant in Nigeria is the Benue Cement Company (BCC) acquired from the federal government in Gboko, Benue State, with a capacity of 4mmtpa.
The three Dangote plants in Nigeria produce a combined output of 29.25mmtpa, representing about 60 per cent of the total cement produced locally, with smaller producers in the country like Lafarge, BUA and UNICEM accounting for the remaining 40 per cent local production.
Apart from Nigeria, Dangote owns cement plants in other countries in Africa comprising Ghana, Cameroun, Senegal, Ethiopia, Congo, Cote d’ Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, Niger, Mali and Zambia.
While the company is already producing cement in Zambia, Ethiopia, South Africa, Senegal, Cameroun, Ghana and of course Nigeria, new plants in the other African nations have reached advanced stages of construction, with many to be commissioned before the end of 2017, the report said.

Nigerians Expend N150bn on Power Supply Yearly

A poser industry watcher,Festus Mbisiogu, has revealed that Nigerians expend over N150 billion every year on generating their own electricity for personal and corporate use. Mbisiogu, who disclosed this at a press conference in Lagos recently, said Nigerians were losing huge amount to what the government should ordinarily provide, adding that if such money was plowed into the economy, it would bring in more development. He said the federal government must act to prevent the continuous loss of money, as this has also caused intending investors and businesses to move to other countries where constant power supply is guaranteed. He said: “It is very possible to have uninterrupted power supply in the country if the government and the private investors managing the power sector no longer consider it business as usual.” Mbisiogu, who stressed that about 65 million Nigerians still lack access to electricity even with the unbundling of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to 10 Distribution Companies (Disco) and five Generating Companies (GENCO), called on President Muhammadu Buhari to review government’s relationship with these private investors through improved monitoring, evaluation and setting of targets, which they must meet if they want to continuously be of service to the citizens. According to him, there should be a clear policy that tasks investors on giving Nigerians certain amounts of mega watts, which would form part of their evaluation.

DPR Seals 5 Petroleum Depots In Calabar

The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) has shutdown five petroleum depots in Calabar for selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) above the ex-depot price of N77.66 per litre.
Mr Asuquo Antai, DPR’s Controller of Operations in charge of Cross River and Akwa Ibom, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Eket on Sunday.
“The depots have been suspended from loading products to marketers, for selling above the ex-depots price of N77.66 as stipulated by government.
“We are selling off the product to the marketers at the official price of N77.66 per litre at those depots that still have it,’’ he said.
Antai cautioned other depots in Calabar against dispensing the product above the official price or the wrath of the law would catch up with them.
He added that marketers were expected to be selling PMS known as petrol at the official pump price of N87 per a litre.
He further said that DPR would sanction and prosecute erring marketers caught selling PMS above approved pump price of N87 per litre. (NAN)