A clean-up of the mess in the oil and gas and solid minerals sectors has been approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC. The project, which will cost N363 million, will be executed by two consulting firms, which have scaled the screening of FEC. It is the first time the government has engaged consultants to look into these sectors of the economy.
The extractive industries audit, which covers 2009 to 2011, will be completed within nine months. The government awarded the contracts to two firms Messrs Sada Idris & Co for oil and gas industry and Messrs Haruna Yahaya for solid minerals.
While the oil and gas industry's audit consultancy would cost N226.613 million, the solid minerals audit consultancy contract is worth N137 million.
The cleansing of the oil and gas sector and the prosecution of Nigerians and corporate bodies topped the demand of civil rights groups during the nationwide strikes, rallies, and protests against the removal of subsidy on petrol.
Information Minister, Mr. Labaran Maku, explained that the appointment of the consultants was aimed at establishing “processes and procedures, physical volumes and financial flows from the sectors, improve revenue remittances into the government's account and enthrone competition and corporate governance.
“The industry audits will also provide relevant information and data for the government's anti-corruption agenda. It is central to Nigeria's compliance to the global NEITI, which the country is signatory,” he said. “The audits would be carried out in major revenue generating and all revenue remitting government's institutions in the oil and gas and solid minerals sectors from 2009 to 2011 and 2009 to 2010 in that order,'' Maku added.
No provision for housing in SURE programme – Minister
As important as the housing sector is to national development, the Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment programme has no provision for its development, the Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Ms Amah Pepple, has said. The minister told members of the Senate Committee on Land, Housing and Urban Development, led by the chairman, Sen. Bukar Abba-Ibrahim, who called on her in Abuja that despite the exclusion of the sector in the SURE programme, the ministry would continue to ensure affordable houses for Nigerians.
For instance, she said the ministry had introduced a corporative finance housing scheme meant to reduce the 16 million housing deficit in the country. SURE is a programme prepared by the Federal Government to mitigate the potential impact of the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol on the poor through properly targeted safety nets. Pepple said, “For the SURE programme, money has not really been provided for the housing sector, but we are involved in vocational training and we just submitted our proposal for the building of vocational centres in each of the six geopolitical zones and that will be our own contribution.
“We just produced a draft National Housing Policy and draft Urban Development Policy. We presented them to the National Council on Housing and we also have presented them to the Economic Management
Team and we will soon present them to the National Economic Council, where the state governors will be present so that they will appreciate it,” she said.
Investment in African Renewable Energy Predicted to Grow by 1,583% in 9 Years Evelyn Oputu, the Managing Director of Nigeria's Bank of Industry (BOI), has said that total investments in renewable energy in Africa rose from $750 million in 2004 to $3.6 billion in 2011.
According to a report issued by Frost & Sullivan entitled "Mega Trends in Africa: A bright vision for the growing continent," investment in renewable power in Africa is set to grow from the 2011 total of $3.6-billion in 2010 to $57-billion by 2020, a staggering 1,583 percent increase in nine short years. Modest starts in renewable energy have already begun across the continent.
