American oil exploration and production giant, Chevron Nigeria Limited, has disclosed that it invested $1.45 billion in Nigeria Content Development (NCD) in 2019.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), this disclosure was made in Chevron’s Corporate Responsibility Report for 2019.

The report, while highlighting Chevron’s commitment to Nigerian content development, showed that the firm’s local content policy had been updated, in such a way that it gave contracting preference to competent Nigerian firms. It also pointed out that the local content policy promoted technology transfer.

It stated, â€œOur investment in Nigeria content in 2019 was approximately $1.45 billion. Of this amount, expenditure on materials and services obtained from local community contractors was approximately $358 million.’’

According to the report,  some of the projects which were executed by Chevron Nigeria and its indigenous partners include Escravos Export System Project, Okan Gas Gathering Compression Platform (GCCP) Debottlenecking project, Meji GCCP Debottlenecking project, and Consolidated Maintenance Workshop project.

In addition, the report revealed that 184 Nigerians benefited from quality training in technical and professional skills in 2019, which is valued at over $5 million.

With the support of the Nigerian Content Development Monitoring Board (NCDMB), the oil firm trained over 200 community contractors to build local capacity, and strengthen indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry.

The Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria, Jeffrey Ewing, in his comment, said the company was focused on operational excellence, and helping its hosts communities to prosper.

He added that the company is committed to continually improving the quality of life of the people of Nigeria, through its social investments and community engagement activities.

President Muhammadu Buhari has justified Nigeria’s rising debt profile to fund infrastructure, saying loan for infrastructure will make Nigeria an attractive place for foreign investors.

Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu disclosed that the President made this statement at a virtual meeting with members of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) at the State House, in Abuja on Wednesday.

“We have so many challenges with infrastructure. We just have to take loans to do roads, rail and power, so that investors will find us attractive and come here to put their money,’’ the President said.

The President added that Nigeria must comply with its oil production quota from OPEC as the pandemic due to the â€œcollapse of the oil market”.

“We have to accept that decision; otherwise they (Middle-East producers) can flood the market and make the product unviable. So, we have cooperated with what we get. With oil, we are in a difficult situation. The politics of oil is that the less you produce, the more you earn,” he said.

He explained that Agriculture is necessary for Nigeria to bounce back from the economic losses and called for Nigerians to venture into the sector.

‘‘We are lucky we went back to the land. We eat what we produce. We are doing our best to secure the country and provide infrastructure for investment to be viable in the country,” he added.

The Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) explained that recent reforms introduced by the government would impact the economy.

Some of the reforms are the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) 2020 recently signed into law, the reforms in the energy sector, bringing electricity and fuel prices in line with the market, and the decision of the Central Bank of Nigeria to merge the exchange rate of the naira versus other foreign currencies.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says the global economic outlook for the year is less than earlier feared, as the body reduces the global economic decline for the year at 4.5%, compared to previous estimates of 6%. 

This was disclosed in the OECD Interim Economic Outlook published on Wednesday. They also forecast that the global economy will grow by 5% in 2021. 

“The Interim Economic Outlook projects global GDP to fall by 4½ per cent this year, before growing by 5% in 2021. The forecasts are less negative than those in OECD’s June Economic Outlook, due primarily to better than expected outcomes for China and the United States in the first half of this year and a response by governments on a massive scale,” the OECD said. 

The group says economic output for most of the world by 2021 will still be bellow pre-COVID-19 levels and â€œwell below what was projected prior to the pandemic”. 

OECD says economic output recovered fast after the collapse in the first half of the year, due to the easing of containment measures and the initial re-opening of businesses. They warn that the pace of economic recovery is dying out due to second outbreaks of the virus leading to newer lockdown restrictions.

OECD Chief Economist Laurence Boone said: â€œThe world is facing an acute health crisis and the most dramatic economic slowdown since the Second World War. The end is not yet in sight but there is still much policymakers can do to help build confidence.”

She urged that governments must avoid mistakes like tightening fiscal policy too quickly, citing that without government support, â€œbankruptcies and unemployment could rise faster than warranted and take a toll on people’s livelihoods for years to come.” 

“Policymakers have the opportunity of a lifetime to implement truly sustainable recovery plans that reboot the economy and generate investment in the digital upgrades much needed by small and medium-sized companies, as well as in green infrastructure, transport and housing to build back a better and greener economy,” she added. 

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has announced a 6-months extension of its contracts with private oil firms to swap crude oil for fuel.

According to a media report from Reuters, the affected oil companies renegotiated the price agreement due to changes that were made in the prices of petrol in the country.

The initial 1-year oil swap contracts to exchange over 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day with 15 company groupings were due to expire in October 2020. The swap deal with these companies supplies a huge portion of Nigeria’s petroleum products which include fuel, diesel and jet fuel, as it has not been profitable for private oil companies to import fuel into the country.

As a result of this, the state oil giant, NNPC, has been the sole importer of fuel for quite a while.

Nairametrics, over a year ago reported that NNPC had contracted about 34 companies under a total of 15 groupings to carry out a swap deal for the supply of refined fuel in exchange of crude oil. This scheme was introduced in 2016 to replace the programme at that time which gulped trillions of naira in subsidy payments to importers and supplied about 90% of the fuel import requirements.

The Federal Government recently started the implementation of its deregulation policy with its stoppage of fixing prices and allowing market forces to determine the price of petrol. This decision will eliminate the subsidy payment by the Federal Government and allow private oil companies to invest in the downstream oil sector and restart the importation of fuel again.

BREAKING: I won’t approve 2021 budget without provisions for #EndSARS victims, ASUU – Gbajabiamila

Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila

Leke Baiyewu, Abuja

The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila , has said he will not sign the 2021 Appropriation Bill presently before the National Assembly if provisions are not made for the compensation of the families of victims of police brutality in the last decade .

Gbajabiamila also said he would also not sign the budget if implementation of the agreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government is not captured by the budget.

Both the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate sign bills passed by the National Assembly before they are transmitted to the President for assent .

In his opening remarks at the plenary on Tuesday , the Speaker notes that the # EndSARS protests “have gotten more serious ” with pockets of violence in parts of the country. According to him , the protests “seem to have hijacked ” by those who have a different agenda .

Gbajabiamila noted that the Federal Government , through the National Human Rights Commission , had set up a panel of enquiry to take complaints from victims of police brutality.

According to the Speaker , none of these have convinced the agitators to suspend the protests.

He pointed out that expectations from the ruling class were high , stating that , “Our people expect action and we just deliver . ”

Gbajabiamila recalled that the House , after debating the issues with the Nigeria Police Force and the # EndSARS protests, met with the Nigerian Bar Association last week .

He said the President of NBA , Olumide Apata , had also set up a panel led by Prof Deji Adekunle ( SAN ) to work with the House on how to amend and create laws to reform the police .

The Speaker also disclosed that the House is considering the establishment of an independent body that investigate and recommends errant security operatives for sanction and prosecution . “The police cannot be above the citizens …and above the law,” he stated .

While threatening to withhold his signature to the appropriation bill , Gbajabiamila disclosed that he would be leading a delegation of lawmakers to pay condolence visits to families of some of those killed by the police , stressing that they would be honoured after the visits.

The Speaker , however , urged # EndSARS protesters to be cautious in handling the matter . He partly said, “ Don ’ t let your righteous cause be hijacked … and bring our nation to its needs … This is the time to move your agitation from the streets. ”