Flowerbud News

Month: October 2023

  • OML 65: NNPC seals $875.75m financing deal with CPDC

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it has signed a 875.75 million dollar funding and technical services agreement and alternative financing deal for the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company(NPDC) operated Oil Mining Lease (OML) 65.

    The Corporation in a statement by its spokesman Mr Ndu Ughamadu in Abuja said it signed the deal with CMES-OMS Petroleum Development Company (CPDC).

    The Chief Financial Officer of the NNPC, Mr Umar Ajiya,who signed for corporation explained that the package entailed comprehensive financing solution that addresses the complex issues involved in growing NPDC’s production.
    He added it would help minimise its cost of capital, and maximize its value preservation.

    On CPDC’s right to provide technical services, he listed the field of consideration in this regard to include: drilling and completion services; building capacity and technology transfer; generating employment opportunities for youths.
    This, he added that it would have an attendant positive multiplier effect on the nation’s economy, among other considerations.
    He noted that the deal would also struck a balance between risk and reward which gave investors a rate of return that was commensurate with funding a brownfield project which had significant exploration risk.

    Ajiya noted that the expectation was that the collaboration between the NPDC and CPDC would translate in real terms to the efficient execution of the scope of activities for the optimal development of the OML 65 asset within cost and schedule, whilst maximizing value to all the stakeholders.

    He said it was projected that the collaboration would enhance operational and financial performance strictly guided by the pre-agreed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which remains critical for determining incentive payment due to CPDC.
    Ajiya further disclosed that the project, which scope cuts across exploration, development, production and provision of facilities with incremental first oil targeted for fourth quarter 2020, was estimated to have potential reserves of 800 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

    “It will also help an ultimate recoverable reserve of 244 mmboe and cumulative production of 44mmboe from the Abura Main and Abura SE fields,” he said.
    He explained that over the project’s life, it was expected to generate over 6.35 billion dollars in taxes and royalties to the Federation to support government’s medium to long term economic development agenda.

    He described the contractor financing model as an innovative approach by NPDC to funding its operations in response to the challenging economic environment, saying the approach would fast-track the development of NPDCs under-developed assets.

    He informed that the project was expected to ramp up production at OML 65 from 900 barrels per day to 60, 000 barrels per day with average production over field life at 40,000 barrels per day.

  • Key EU interior ministers seek to resolve Mediterranean rescue crisis

    Interior ministers from major European countries are to meet in the Maltese town of Vittoriosa on Monday to seek a solution to an ongoing stand-off over migrants rescued in the Mediterranean.

    The ministers are from Germany, France, Italy, Malta, Finland, and the European Commission.

    Expectations are high, with hopes that ministers can agree on the outline of a “coalition of the willing” for how rescued migrants can be distributed among EU countries, Petra Bendel, head of a council of experts from German migration foundations, told dpa.

    Italy and Malta have been at the front lines and repeatedly sought to restrict port entry for charity rescue ships that arrive at their shores carrying migrants found stranded in the waters between the North African coast and Europe.

    At the moment, migrants are often forced to remain on rescue ships for weeks at a time as EU countries haggle over who should take a share of the rescued.

    Germany and France have pushed for a more comprehensive solution.

    German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that the EU currently has an opportunity to reach a deal, with a new Italian government that forced former hardline interior minister Matteo Salvini into opposition.

    According to the EU border agency Frontex, nearly 6,600 people sought to cross the central Mediterranean to Europe between the start of 2019 and the end of August.

    Seehofer has said Germany is willing to take around one quarter of migrants rescued as part of a “flexible solidarity” deal that would not necessarily include all 27 members of the EU (excluding Britain).

    France is expected to offer a similar amount.

    Dimitris Avramopoulos, the EU commissioner for migration and home affairs, will also take part in the Malta meeting and on Sunday tweeted he was “hopeful” that progress could be made.

    Finland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, will also attend.

    The key question is likely to be which harbours rescue ships should be required to dock at going forward.

    Italy is pushing for a rotation system that would include France, but Paris has rejected that approach.

    Other sticking points include how long any deal will be valid for and exactly what kinds of migrants should be distributed.

    Should the outlines of a deal be agreed, the plan is to present the agreement to all EU interior ministers at a meeting at the start of October.

    EU countries have long failed to agree on a distribution mechanism for migrants coming to Europe.

    Incoming European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has pledged to solicit ideas for a long-term deal.

  • Kogi Govt. Set To Inaugurate N4 Billion Rice Mill

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS)  The Kogi Government is set to inaugurate a newly-constructed rice mill worth over N4 billion and with the capacity to produce 50 tonnes of rice per day.

    Gov. Yahaya Bello disclosed this on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the mill at Omi dam in Ejiba, Yagba West Local Government Area of the state.

    ”In 2016, we visited this particular Dam and I promised to establish  a rice mill here, and today we have this factory 100 per cent established by Kogi State Government.

    ”We approached the Federal Government through the Minister for Water Resources, to allow us to use this dam for the benefit of our people.

    ”Today, we are here to inspect a brand new rice factory that is second to none, as far as northern Nigeria is concerned ,” Bello said.

    He said that the factory had the capacity to produce over 1000 bags of 50 kg of high quality rice every day, and could employ over 5000 people as direct labour , and more of indirect employments.

    He said that over N300 million would be injected into the economy of the state every month, through the factory, while generating additional over N120 million as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for the state, monthly.

    ”The rice mill will also be producing fish and poultry meals, because we are presently having over 500 fish ponds in this Omi dam.

    ”We have the capacity to produce cassava and all agro allied products in this particular location,” the governor said.

    He stated that the factory had its own independent power generation plant, powered through biomass gasification technology.

    According to him, the capacity of the plant is 500 kWh and the rice milling plant capacity at every processing line (shift) is 200kwh.

    Bello also said that the plant would have an excess power of 300kwh, which would be used to power strategic locations in neighbouring communities.

    ”Kogi is situated in the centre of Nigeria. People traveling to North, South, East and West must pass through Kogi, which means we are saddled with lots of responsibilities.

    ”All that is required now is that the Federal Government through the Central Bank (CBN), should to come to our aid, because we have the capacity to expand this factory in multiple folds.

    ”Through this factory, we are going to pull many of our people out of abject poverty,” he said.

    The governor assured that the rice factory and all other projects in the state would be commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari before the Nov. 16 governorship election in the state.

    The governor further said that his administration had curtailed insecurity to the barest minimum.

    He, therefore, urged the people of the state to continue to embrace peace and security and live in harmony with one another, including the Fulanis and other tribes for the development of the state.

    ”This factory will only exist if we protect, safeguard and cherish it jealously as our own,” he said.

    In his remarks, the Obaro of Kabba, Chief Solomon Owoniyi, who spoke on behalf of all traditional rulers in the region, thanked the governor for the gesture, saying the facility was the first of its kind and the best in the whole of the state.

    The monarch, however, urged the governor to use his influence and connection with the Presidency to ensure that the Kabba-Ilorin road was rehabilitated for the benefit of the people and the mill.

    Earlier, the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Kehinde Oloruntoba, commended the governor for the gesture, saying the people of Kogi West would be eternally grateful to him.

    Oloruntoba said the rice mill was just the phase one of the project, assuring that the second phase would be provided to have seed production company, so that the state would have a uniform rice facility. (NAN)

  • Buhari dissolves Obono-Obla’s SPI

    President Muhammadu Buhari has formally dissolved the Special Presidential Investigation Panel for the Recovery of Public Property (SPIP) as currently constituted with Mr. Okoi Obono-Obla as Chairman.

    The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice has been directed to immediately take over all outstanding investigations and other activities of the SPIP.

    The President also said he is awaiting the final Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) report on Obono-Obla.

    The panel was established in August 2017 by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, while acting as president, to investigate specifically mandated cases of corruption, abuse of office and similar offences by public officers.

    President Buhari thanked all members of the dissolved panel for their services, said the President’s media adviser, Femi Adesina.

    Buhari in August suspended Okoi Obono-Obla, from office.

    The suspension letter, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, who also directed him to answer questions from the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission.

    According to Mustapha, Obono-Obla was to hand over to Dayo Apata, the Solicitor-General of the Federation, who was holding forte in the Justice Ministry at the time.

    Among other things, he is being investigated over allegations of certificate forgery and other corruption-related charges. He was also accused of acting outside the mandate setting up the panel

  • Full Oil Production To Resume By End Of Month, Says Saudi Oil Minister

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Saudi Arabia’s energy minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said that half of the crude oil production that was disrupted due to the weekend attack on Aramco’s oil facilities had been restored.

    Salman made this known at a news conference on Tuesday.

    “Over the past two days, we were able to contain the damage and restore more than half of the production that was disrupted due to the terrorist attack,” he said.

    He added that Aramco will fulfill all its commitments towards its clients this month through withdrawing from its stocks of crude oil.

    He expected that the production capacity will return to 11 million barrels per day by the end of September and to 12 million barrels by the end of November.

    “Not a single shipment to an international customer has been or will be missed or canceled as a result of these attacks,” Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser told journalists in Jeddah.

    Drone attacks at the weekend targeted two facilities operated by Saudi state oil giant Aramco in the eastern province of Buqyaq, forcing the kingdom to halt about half its oil supplies afterwards.

    Earlier in the day, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdelaziz said that the kingdom is able to deal with the consequences of the “cowardly attacks” that targeted the Saudi oil facilities.

    In a cabinet meeting, the king said the attacks not only target the kingdom’s vital facilities, but also the global oil supply and the stability of the world economy.

    The “kingdom will defend its lands and vital facilities, and is able to respond to such acts whatever their source is,” said the cabinet.

    Oil prices were sent soaring following the attacks, which were claimed by Houthi rebel fighters in Yemen who are backed by Iran. (dpa/NAN)

  • UNICEF, EU-MNCHN improves immunisation to 84 % in Kebbi –ES

    Dr Abubakar Kaoje, Executive Secretary, Kebbi State Primary Health Care Development Agency says immunization coverage in the state has improved from 18 per cent in May/June 2018 to 84 per cent in 2019.

    Kaoje said in Birnin Kebbi on Wednesday that the achievement was recorded under UNICEF and European Union–Maternal, Newborn, Child Health and Nutrition (EU-MNCHN) project.

    He explained that the EU-MNCHN was a four-year project that began in 2016 with the main goal of improving access to quality primary healthcare services by women and children in the state.

    He described Kebbi as one of the states with disturbing primary healthcare indices in the country, stressing that routine immunisation coverage was barely 18 per cent in 2018.

    The executive secretary added that skilled-birth attendants were 17 per cent in 2017, along with very disturbing nutrition indices among children under five years.

    According to him, thanks to UNICEF and EU-MNCHN project, the state is beginning to record some very impressive improvement in maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition.

    “Just last year we were the last in immunisation coverage in the country but today, with 84 per cent coverage, we are among the best five states.

    “Also, through the project, we have been able to reach out to 1,050 out of the over 2,000 hard-to-reach communities, who are five kilometres away from the nearest health centre.

    “We are reaching them through an outreach programme that delivers integrated healthcare services, including child protection, nutrition and immunisation to their doorstep.

    “Similarly, we have introduced Emergency Healthcare Scheme in collaboration with the National Union of Road Transport Workers to transport pregnant women and children in need of emergency health services to the hospitals.

    “There is equally the Integrated Community Case Management initiative where community-based volunteers provide treatment for malaria, pneumonia, diarrhea and other child killer disease to children under five years.”

    Kaoje also said that capacity building training, including clinical mentorship are being carried out under the project to build the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality primary healthcare services.

    He further said that the project equally supported the recruitment of 106 nurses and Community Health Extension Workers to bridge manpower gap.

    He added that the health workers were deployed to the four most populous local government areas of the state with highest burden of negative health indices, namely Argungu, Fakai, Jega and Birnin Kebbi.

    “These among other initiatives have improved antenatal care attendance, access to quality nutrition and other healthcare services.

    “This remarkable improvement will in no distant time reverse the negative health indices in the state,” he added.

    He appealed to UNICEF and EU to extend the project for another four years, saying, “I do not know what we will do if this project wind you.

    “Our health problems are enormous, and as a state, we cannot do it alone. We need all the support we can get.”

  • Chemical weapons: FG warns producers, marketers

    The Federal Government has cautioned producers and marketers of chemical weapons against allowing it into the hands of non-state actors.

    Mr Gabriel Aduda, the Permanent Secretary, Political and Economic Affairs in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, gave the warning at a sensitisation workshop in Kano on Tuesday.

    The workshop was organised by the federal government to educate major stakeholders in the North west on sound management of chemicals as part of measures to prevent its getting into wrong hands.

    Aduda said the workshop was also aimed at promoting awareness and safety, by strengthening the understanding of stakeholders on proper handling of chemical and biological weapons.

    Aduda said chemical producers, marketers, transporters and users, as well  as regulatory authorities involved in implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) participated in the workshop.?

    ?”The objective among others, is to raise awareness among relevant national stakeholders and representatives of the chemical industries in the North -West zone on the CWC and its national implementation in relation to the chemical industry.

    “Ensure that chemical weapons imported into the country are used for the purposes for which they are meant and government also makes sure that these chemicals do not get into the hands of non-state actors; it ?will? have great repercussions,” he explained.?

    The permanent secretary said similar workshops were held in Lagos and Port harcourt.   ?

    Some of the participants commended the federal government for organising the event, which they said had enhance their knowledge on how best to handle chemical weapons.?
    ?
    They urged the government to evolve a National Action Plan to guide and regulate the use and threat of chemical weapons in Nigeria.

  • Indians top international migrant population – UN

    (FLOWRBUDNEWS) A report released by the United Nations titled “International Migrant Stock 2019” revealed the global migrant population has reached an estimated 272 million, an increase of 51 million since 2010.

    At present, international migrants comprise 3.5 percent of the global population.

    India was the country of origin for the largest chunk of international migrants with 17.5 million persons, followed by Mexico (11.8 million), China (10.7 million), Russia (10.5 million) and Syria (8.2 million)

    The estimates on migrants are based on official national statistics on the foreign-born or foreign population, prepared by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA).

    Europe hosts the largest number of international migrants, at 82 million; followed by North America, (59 million) – 51 million in the United States alone – the largest number in a single nation. The largest influx of foreign populations is in North Africa and Western Asia (49 million) along with sub-Saharan Africa.

    With forced displacements continuing to increase, refugees and asylum seekers account for close to a quarter of global increases.

    Although migration is global, most journeys are taking place within a limited set of countries, with the US, Germany, and Saudi Arabia making up the top three.

    “Facilitating orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people will contribute much to achieving the sustainable development goals”, said John Wilmoth, Director of the UN DESA’s Population Division.

    Mr Wilmoth said as a general observation that the contribution of migrants both in host countries and countries of origin is a major social contribution through the transmission of ideas and sending valuable remittances back to their countries of origin.

  • UK parliament suspension not matter for judges – Lawyer

    (FLOWERBUDNEWS) Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament is a political issue and not a matter for judges, a lawyer for the prime minister said  as he sought to persuade the British Supreme Court that the five-week shutdown was lawful.

    Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth to prorogue, or suspend, parliament from Sept. 10 until Oct. 14, prompting accusations from opponents that he wanted to silence the legislature in the run-up to Britain’s exit from the European Union on Oct. 31.

    The Supreme Court, Britain’s top judicial body, began three days of hearings on Tuesday to decide whether Johnson’s advice to the queen regarding the suspension was unlawful.

    A ruling against him would be a major embarrassment for Johnson, who has no majority in parliament, and could see lawmakers returning early, with more time to try to influence his Brexit plans.

    James Eadie, a lawyer for Johnson, told the court he would produce a written document on Thursday outlining what Johnson would do if he lost.

    Another government lawyer said on Tuesday that if Johnson lost the case, he could recall parliament earlier than planned.