Mixed reactions trail NNPC plan to acquire stake in Dangote refinery
Financial analysts have expressed divergent views over the proposed plan by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to acquire 20 per cent equity stake in Dangote refinery.
They expressed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Monday.
NAN reports that the NNPC had expressed interest in purchasing a 20 per cent minority equity stake in the 650,000bpd Dangote refinery.
The NNPC Chief Operating Officer, Refining and Petrochemicals, Mr Mustapha Yakubu, made the announcement at the just-concluded Nigeria Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair.
Yakubu said discussions were already going on with the Dangote Group for the acquisition of the stake which would further ensure undisrupted product supply to Nigerians.
Dr Uju Ogubunka, a former Executive Secretary, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, said the initiative was novel but unnecessary.
“The planned equity is unnecessary because the NNPC has not adequately managed its own assets too well.
“The four refineries under its supervision have not refined at an optimal capacity over a decade,” Ogubunka said.
He noted that most successful acquisitions were perfected by private entity and not state concern.
However, Mr Titus Okurounmu, a former Director, Central Bank of Nigeria, lauded the proposed equity stake acquisition by the NNPC in Dangote refinery.
Okurounmu said the proposal if well implemented and managed could boost government’s revenue.
Okurounmu who described the move as strategic called on the NNPC to be more transparent in its operations.
“The management of the NNPC must be continuously improved upon in order to get the support of Nigerians over its decisions.
“As often times, the state-owned oil corporation is seen as managed poorly due to its antecedents,” he said. (NAN)
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Rescue our children from kidnappers, father of abducted girls appeals to FG, Niger
By LALEYE DIPO
The father of five of the abducted girls in Salihu Tanko Islamiyya School in Tegina Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State, Ali Mohammed, a tipper driver, has appealed to the state and federal governments to rescue the pupils from the kidnappers.
Speaking in an interview with THISDAY Monday, Mohammed said no fewer than 25 of the bandits stormed the school and took away the pupils to an unknown destination.
According to him, the school had a population of over 200 pupils with more than half of the population being girls, adding that most of the kidnapped pupils are girls.
“It is a school where Western and Islamic education are being taught,” he said.
He stated that the Deputy Head Teacher, Safiya Alhassan, was also abducted as she was in the school when the incident occurred, adding that the Head Teacher, Malam Garba Alhassan, was reported to be in the town.
Mohammed wondered why policemen, whose station is located a few meters from the school, could not rescue the pupils from the kidnappers.
He said the girls were made to trek in batches, while the bandits followed them on motorcycles until the pupils were taken behind the rocks outside the town “where we suspect they are being kept”.
Meanwhile, THISDAY learnt that the bandits again stormed Tegina town on Monday sacking homes and shops in search of food for their abductees, in the process making people to run helter skelter as the gunmen moved freely in the town.
It was gathered that at neighbouring Beri village, another group of armed men sacked the community Monday morning killing a riot policeman in the process.
The Niger State Government and the senator representing Niger East Senatorial zone in the National Assembly, Senator Sani Musa, in separate statements condemned Sunday’s attack on Tegina town and the abduction of the pupils and asked the bandits to immediately release those in their custody.
In his statement, Musa described the incident “as callous and unfortunate” before asking the federal government to strengthen security in Niger State, particularly in areas where bandits have been terrorizing the people.
“My heart goes out to the victims and all those affected by this horrific attack in our senatorial district. I stand with the people of Tegina at this tragic and difficult time,” Musa said.
The state government, in its statement, expressed outrage at the escalating level of banditry in the state and also asked the federal government to take prompt action to salvage the situation.
“The situation has reached crisis level. In fact it’s a war situation that we have to confront without further delay,” Governor Abubakar Sani Bello said in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mary Noel Berje.
Bello described the incident as unfortunate and unbecoming the serial attacks in the state, adding that: “The Joint Military Taskforce has been mobilised and are already tracing the tracks of the criminals for possible isolation and ambush.”
The statement said government has also embarked on the conduct of house-to-house head count to ascertain the exact number of children abducted. (THISDAY)
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