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Double Award of Contracts For oil and Gas Metering by NUPRC undermines Nigeria’s National interest-CASER

Published

2 months ago

July 29, 2024

John Ajayi

Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) strongly condemns the recent contracts awarded by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) for oil and gas metering. This decision blatantly undermines Nigeria’s national interest and reeks of high-level corruption.

In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, by the Director, Advocacy CenterCitizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) Frank Tietie, Esq, expressed disappointment that we have learned from the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobri, of the recent revelation.

According to the statement, CASER has strongly advocated for the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note (Advance Cargo Declaration) and have in the past, had course to pursue legal action which stalled an earlier attempted breach of the Public Procurement Act. This measure is crucial to ensure accurate revenues from exports and imports, particularly crude oil exports and petroleum imports, prevent the influx of illegal arms and weapons together with other contrabands, and collate accurate trade statistics for vital National planning purposes.

“The Federal Government of Nigeria, under the past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had already awarded the contract to a Consortium led by Antasser Nigeria Ltd, a global leader in cargo monitoring for ensuring national security and accuracy of revenue remittances to governments across the world.

“However, it is with profound disappointment that we have learned from the Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobri, of the recent revelation that contracts for the engineering audit of upstream measurement equipment and facilities in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Upstream has been awarded to a particular company, PE Energy Limited, for the sum of $21 million (US Dollars), while another contract for the procurement of pre-field development studies for advanced declaration solution Technology (international Cargo Tracking Note) for the Nigerian Oil and Gas Upstream Sector was awarded to P-Lyne Energy Limited for an amount yet to be disclosed.

“Essentially, the above two recent contracts form part of services to be rendered free of charge to the Federal Government in a different contract which has already been awarded to a Consortium led by Antasser Nigeria Ltd, and the services to be provided by these recent awards are a clear duplication of services that are actually meant to be at a total zero cost to the Federal Government of Nigeria under the implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN).

“It is important to question why the Nigerian Shippers Council and the Honorable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy have not activated the existing contract with the Antasser-led consortium, instead they have allowed for a duplication of the same contract by another agency of the same government.

“This duplication seems to either be motivated by corruption and the self-enrichment of certain individuals in positions of power or the refusal of a cabal benefiting from the status quo.

“The conclusion is easily reached due to the speed and lack of transparency in the processes that led to the recent announcement of the appointment of PE Energy Ltd and P-Lyne Energy Ltd to execute a part of an already awarded contract. These processes defy all public procurement standards, raising more questions than answers at a critical time when our nation is battling with serious economic and security issues.

“This highlights another important reason why the current operations of the Nigerian oil and gas sector need to be carefully scrutinized and completely overhauled, especially in light of the recent crisis involving the NNPC, Mid and Downstream regulatory commission, and the Dangote Refinery.

“In the spirit of transparency and justice for the Nigerian people, CASER is calling on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to call to order, all the relevant authorities, including the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum and the chief executive officer (CEO) of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, to immediately stop the unnecessary and unjust duplication of award of the oil and gas metering and cargo monitoring contract to PE Energy Ltd and P-Lyne Energy Ltd, and instead liase with its fellow government agency (The Nigerian Shippers Council) to implement the already existing contract.

The Statement added that: “Having said the above and despite the provisions of the Public Procurement Act, CASER has suspicions related to corruption and favoritism. To get to the bottom of this, it has hereby decided to immediately initiate a freedom of information (FOI) request in order to find out the following:

1. The contract details and when it was advertised.

2. Information about the companies that submitted bids.

3. Details about the winning bidder, including the bidding process used and the reason for their selection.

4. Evidence that this process went through all the required agencies for such a contract.

5. The ultimate beneficiaries of the contract.

“CASER is committed to its mandate of ensuring that the Nigerian government’s institutions and agents work in the interest of the Nigerian people’s well-being and welfare through judicious resource use, compliance with legal standards, eradication of manifest forms of abuse of public office for self-service, and reduction of public sector corruption.

“Therefore, we urge the President to hold to account and sanction all those officials involved in this clear case of corrupt contract maneuvering and ensure that the proper thing is done immediately.”

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RMRDC: Making Giant Strides Under Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso

Published

2 days ago

September 19, 2024

The Gleamer

By Joel Ajayi

As we embark on a journey, we always pray for an able, experienced, and courageous driver, pilot, or sailor depending on the means of transportation.

This is because the captain will have enough experience and boldness to navigate out of turbulence and to bring all the passengers and crew to the intended destination.

Interestingly, these fine qualities of ability, experience, boldness, and many more, abound in the man, Prof. Nnanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso, who we all are pleased was appointed the Raw Materials Research and Development Council, RMRDC, the Director General/CEO by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu a few months ago. This is because he has brought his knowledge, ability, experience, and doggedness to bear in carrying out his assignment in charge of the Council.

The RMRDC, operating under the Federal Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, is pivotal in driving Nigeria’s industrial growth by optimizing local raw materials exploitation, development, and utilization. RMRDC, ab initio, was conceived as a child of necessity when Nigeria was reeling from the throes of global recession and plummeting crude oil prices.

Without an iota of doubt, today, the council is experiencing a transformation with massive innovation in raw material exploitation, development, and utilization, supporting business and industrial growth, and contributing to Nigeria’s economic prosperity.

Speaking during a press briefing on Tuesday, in Abuja to commemorate his 100 days in office, he said the council is laying a solid foundation through numerous innovations that will further enhance growth in the country.

According to him, “In the past 100 days, my strategic pursuits have been to lay solid foundations for enduring success in these goals.

“Upon assuming this position, I set five crucial deliverables which include, refocusing the Council as a premier research institution; Strengthening the Council’s productivity and operational efficiency; and Significantly improving the staff welfare to be the best in the class of similar organizations.

“Others include, Boosting the Council’s visibility and instituting remarkable culture change that encourages ownership and productivity as well as Strengthening and deepening the Council’s place in the international arena.”While speaking on his Achievements so far, the DG revealed further: “My first task, therefore, was to implement a strategic goal-setting for the Council’s staff to define and set out clear objectives and targets to be achieved by the Council within a specified period towards refocusing on this historical mandate. We unleashed five significant initiatives in that regard.

“The nationwide raw material data collection exercise that focused on technical and investment information to drive our mission forward.

“The restructuring and renaming of the former Technology Innovation Complex (TIC), at the Obasanjo Space Center at Airport Road, Abuja, to a Research and Demonstration Plants Complex (RDPC). This complex will be Africa’s first center of excellence in raw material research, featuring state-of-the-art laboratories, technology development workshops, and proof of concept demonstrations.

“We have reactivated the Council’s Journal and repositioned it internationally. The repositioned Journal of Raw Material Research (JORMAR) will host RMRDC’s researchers’ publications, which are crucial in promoting awareness, facilitating knowledge sharing, and informing stakeholders about the opportunities and challenges in Nigeria’s raw materials sector. “The collaboration with universities and academies will strengthen our capacity for conducting market-guided research, ensuring sustained workforce training while deepening our orientation in science.

“The council has reformulated a new template for all our research proposals to ensure and sustain a clear departure from the old culture of blue-sky and deliberately endless research.”Speaking further, Prof Nwanyelugo Martins Ike-Muonso stated that Staff welfare remains a top priority as an issue of unpaid salaries is settled as well as set up a comprehensive welfare program. “Similarly, we established the RMRDC Training School to sustainably build our staff and stakeholders’ capacity to further the staff welfare improvement goal.

“We are committed to openness, inclusiveness, and performance management and have initiated steps to continuously improve staff ownership, orchestrate transformative culture change, boost our corporate visibility, and enhance.

“To further strengthen our visibility and communication strategies, we are upgrading our media infrastructure, which includes the launch of the RMRDC online media platform, The RMRDC TV Online.

“Additionally, we are working hard to effectively enhance the intellectual property and patent portfolio of RMRDC from its current 40 to approximately 200 new patents within the next 24 months. This proactive approach secures valuable IP assets and positions the Council as a leader in innovation within the raw materials sector, contributing to Nigeria’s overall economic growth.“As well as launching an e-registration and certification portal to enhance transparency in the raw materials sector,” DG revealed.

He however reaffirmed his commitment to reshape the future of research, technology, and innovation, driving Nigeria towards an industrially vibrant and technologically resilient economy.

“As I mark 100 days in office, I boldly say that the Council is on the verge of rewriting its history.

“I believe that in no distant future, RMRDC will play a leading role in enhancing raw materials’ development to boost raw materials’ industrial trial processing and attain sustainable industrial growth in Nigeria.

The DG, however, applauded the Minister of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Chief Uche Geoffrey Nnaji, for his unwavering support and mentorship, saying the Minister’s leadership has been instrumental in the progress made so far.

In his opening remarks, the Directorate of Corporate Affairs, Mr Chucks Ngaha commended the hard-working DG who has weathered the storm further to put the Council on the ladder of more prosperity.

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