US$151m, N8b Looted Funds Recovered As FG's Whistle-Blower Policy Yields Fruit The Federal Government's Whistle-blower policy has started yielding fruit as it has so far led to the recovery of US$151 million and 8 billion Naira in looted funds, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said. In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, the Minister said the looted funds, which do not include the $9.2 million in cash allegedly owned by a former Group Managing Director of the NNPC (which was also a dividend of the whistle-blower policy), were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation. The biggest amount of $136,676,600.51 was recovered from an account in a commercial bank, where the money was kept under an apparently fake account name, followed by 7 billion Naira and $15 million from another person and 1 billion Naira from yet another. ''When we told Nigerians that there was a primitive and mindless looting of the national treasury under the last Administration, some people called us liars. Well, the whistle-blower policy is barely two months old and Nigerians have started feeling its impact, seeing how a few people squirrelled away public funds. It is doubtful if any economy in the world will not feel the impact of such mind-boggling looting of the treasury as was experienced in Nigeria. ''Yet whatever has been recovered so far, including the $9.2 million by the EFCC, is just a tip of the iceberg,'' Alhaji Mohammed said. He appealed to Nigerians with useful information on looted funds to continue to provide the authorities with such information, saying confidentiality will be maintained with regards to the source of the information. The Minister also reminded Nigerians of the financial reward aspect of the policy, saying ''If there is a voluntary return of stolen or concealed public funds or assets on the account of the information provided, the whistle blower may be entitled to anywhere between 2.5% (Minimum) and 5.0% (Maximum) of the total amount recovered''. ...

Insufficient Budgetary Provision Responsible For Untimely Completion Of Road Projects - Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has stated that the major factor militating against the timely completion of road projects is insufficient budgetary provision for projects to sustain annual cash flow requirement levels, adding that this underscores the need for diversifying the sources of funding for highway projects through concession of bankable  projects.   Fashola stated this while defending his Ministry’s 2017 budget proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Works at the National Assembly recently. He said that the three sectors of the Ministry namely Power, Works and Housing and their parastatals proposed the sum of N564,211,583,496 for  Capital projects, Personnel and Overhead cost for the year 2017. The Capital Breakdown shows; Works stood at N283,138,551,643:00, while Parastatals stood at N28,349,090,000:00. For the Overhead cost proposal; Works is N554,538,906 while Parastatals is N17,169,056,316:00 and Personnel cost proposal stood at N10,426,114,809 for the three sectors of the Ministry namely Power, Works and Housing under the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), programme in the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, (OAGF) The Minister further stated that in 2017, highway projects have been prioritized into six;  Saying that  the objective of doing this is to pay premium attention to projects at arterial highways and to record appreciable progress in order of importance of the projects. He added that the sum of N150,470,553,292:00 representing 62.22% was proposed to execute National Priority one projects in 2017; saying that the  National Priority Projects include the road projects on critical economic routes on the Federal Road network. These are highly trafficked North-South, East-West Routes, used for the distribution of goods and services across the country and major river crossing bridges. On the priority two, the total sum of N43,143,299,357:00 representing 17.84% was proposed to execute projects under this priority. These are projects being executed along the branch routes from the critical economic routes on the Federal Road Network that serve as links between the major Routes and Agricultural producing hubs, factories and mining deposits for the evacuation of agricultural produce , manufactured goods and raw materials to markets and Ports nationwide. Fashola further stated that, Priority three are the projects targeted to routes leading to the Nation’s Refineries, Petroleum Deports, Major Ports and Mineral producing areas in the Country meant to ease movement of petroleum products and imported goods from the Ports/Deports to other parts of the country. The sum of N25,508,708,266:00 representing 10.55% was proposed to execute various road projects under this category. Also, priority four are the  roads in key agricultural States producing cash crops like yam, rice, maize, cassava, fruits, adding that the objective is to boost agricultural production, ease movement of crops to markets. The sum of N8,900,000,000:00 was proposed for the projects under this category. The Minister further said that, priority five are the projects under Counterpart Funding, funded from Multi-literal Loans such as World bank and African Development Bank. The sum of N874,409,248 representing 0.36% was proposed while priority six are the on-going projects on the federal road network and road interventions in the Tertiary Institutions across the country. The sum of N12,943,028,838:00 representing 5.35% was proposed for other on-going projects in 2017. ...

Efforts To Address Liquidity Issues, End Pipeline Vandalism In Niger Delta Record Progress ·      As Fashola chairs 12th Monthly Meeting with Power Sector Operators in Ibadan ·      TCN announces completion of the Osogbo–Ede line, transformer installation project in New Bussa; progress on Abeokuta-Igboora-Lanlate Line, other transmission projects in Iseyin,Ago- Iwoye, Magboro, Benin-Akure, Gamo-Ogbomoso Progress has been reported on steps being taken by the Federal Government to address the issue of liquidity in the Power Sector just as the engagement of Niger Delta Communities by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to find lasting solution to pipeline vandalism in the region is also yielding fruitful results. The progress reports which also included key policy steps taken by the Federal Government to improve the stability of the Sector such as the inauguration of new Commissioners for the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the appointment of an interim Managing Director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to reform the company for a more robust service to the industry came to the fore on Monday at the 12th Monthly Meeting of the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, with Power Sector Operators in Ibadan, Oyo State. In a Communiqué issued after the meeting which took place at the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) Olorunsogo Injection Substation, Akanran, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, TCN also reported the completion of the Osogbo-Ede Transmission Line adding that it was awaiting connection to the soon to be completed substation which, according to the company would be achieved within the next 12 months. The company also reported progress on the projects in the host (IBEDC) region including Abeokuta-Igboora-Lanlate 132KV DC Line, Odogunyan substation and transmission line, and transmission substation in Iseyin, as well as transmission projects in Ago-Iwoye, Benin-Akure, Gamo-Ogbomoso and Magboro, while the meeting charged them to expedite action towards completion and service delivery. Also, in his submission at the Meeting, the Managing Director, Transmission Services Provider (TSP), Engr. Tom Uwah announced the completion of a transformer installation project in New Bussa adding that the substation should be ready for energizing in six weeks following the carrying out of pre-commissioning tests. Noting the negative impact of sabotage of gas pipelines, which, according to it has led to a severe limitation in power generation in the country, the Meeting commended the efforts of the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in engaging communities in the Niger Delta in an effort to address their concerns and therefore, bring a lasting solution to pipeline vandalism. Also commending the Federal Government for the recent inauguration of the new commissioners of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, and the appointment of an interim Managing Director for TCN, the Meeting, which described the policy step as vital to the reformation of the company for a more robust service to the industry, added that they would also improve the stability of the Power Sector. Expressing regrets that the gross liquidity problem was currently limiting the functioning of the sector, the Meeting acknowledged the work currently underway to identify, verify and pay the debts owed by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) to DisCos, as well as gas debts and generation debts. It noted with delight that the Abuja, Ikeja, Ibadan and Yola DisCos have complied with data requirements and that verification of their submission is underway “on a first come first serve basis”, pointing out that a deadline of 17th of February 2017 was set as a deadline for submission of audited and management accounts while February 28, 2017 was issued to receive submissions on MDA debts from the DisCos. On the need for safety in the installations and operations of the service providers, the Meeting, which commiserated with the family of victims of recent electrical accidents, charged all DisCos to reinvigorate their efforts on safety of their networks and facilities. The Meeting, while also harping on the need for good service delivery as one of the most viable means to stabilize the Sector, also directed the Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) to monitor the resolution of the issues arising from such electrical accidents. The Meeting reiterated that service delivery should remain a key focus of the industry with enhanced efforts to engage community members in order to raise awareness and appreciation of work completed and resolved to undertake a stronger effort to connect the host communities of power installations to power supply. In continuation of the regular practice aimed at creating healthy competition among the service providers, the Market Operator (MO) announced at the meeting that the Eko DisCo showed the highest payment performance to service providers, followed by Yola DisCo, while it encouraged other operators to fulfil their obligations to the market. Apart from the Minister, who chaired the Meeting hosted by the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), other top officials in attendance at the Meeting were the Minister of State, Hon. Mustapha Baba Shehuri, one of the recently inaugurated Commissioners of NERC, Mr Dafe Akpeneye, Managing Directors and CEOs of GenCos, DisCos and the TCN. Also in attendance were various government agencies such as the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET), Nigerian Electricity Liability Management Company (NELMCO) and Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency (NEMSA) responsible for the regulation and development of the electricity industry. The meeting, as usual, focused on identifying, discussing, and finding practical solutions to critical issues facing the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry. ...