News - NOGSpeed - Energy-Affair

Licenced miners in Rivers State under the aegis of Miners Association of Nigeria, Port Harcourt Branch have called for the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to eject illegal counterparts and address alleged extortion by officials of the State Government.
The Asociation made the call when its Chairman, His Royal Highness, Hope Daminabo Dan Opusingi led his members on a courtesy visit to the Acting Director, Port Harcourt Zonal Directorate of the EFCC, Asistant Commander of the EFCC, ACE1 Adebayo Adeniyi.
Opusingi lamented the alleged harassment and extortion of registered miners in the state by some unscrupulous state government’s actors, whom he claims often shut down their mining sites and impound their equipment without any legal backing. He further observed that while there are numerous mining companies operating in the state, only few, he said, are licensed and implored the EFCC to swing into action against the illegal mining companies.
“Most of the mining companies are not authorized, they do not even have licence or any kind of authority from the federal government. They are here, operating illegally and causing confusion in the mining sector. The EFCC among other agencies is a member of the Presidential Tax Force on Mining that was set up by the federal government in 2019,” he said.
In his response, Adeniyi, who was represented by ACE 1 Ude Nkechi Rita, thanked the Chairman and members of the association for identifying with the Commission and assured them of a swift response, adding that the EFCC will not only enforce the laws against the illegal mining but will also enlighten members of the association through workshops on the laws governing activities in the sector to enable them guard against extortion and harassment.
“I appreciate your courtesy visit. We have heard all you said and thankfully enough, we now have a committee on illegal mining which is currently handling a lot of matters on illegal mining,” she said.
Head, Illegal Mining Task Force, Superintendent of the EFCC, SE Adamu Alhassan assured of his team’s readiness to sanitize the mining sector and sought the cooperation of the association.

The Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, has reaffirmed his commitment to staff development, to boost productivity and revenue generation.
Dr. Dantsoho gave this assurance when he received the leaders of the Senior Staff Association of Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) and hte Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, (MWUN), led by the President General, Comrade Adewale Adeyanju.
The MD who expressed appreciation for the visit, emphasized the need ot position the NPA ot perform its role ni trade facilitation efficiently, saying that with the right communication and dialogue, ‘we wil get there soon’.
He assured them of his determination to further strengthen the organisational culture of the NPA for the good of all.
He called for continued collaboration and harmony from the two house unions.
nI his remarks at the occasion, the President General, Comrade Adeyanju congratulated Dr. Dantsoho on his appointment while calling on the MD ot look into the issues of staff welfare and remuneration.
He expressed confidence ni the abilities of Dr. Dantsoho to bring about the desired improvements in the authority and the maritime sector.
Earlier, the president of the SSASCGOC Comrade Akinola Bodunde while congratulating the MD on his appointment pledged ot support management ot achieve the growth and improved welfare of the workforce.
nI the same vein, Comrade Ifeanyi Mazeli, the president of the MWUN, NPA Branch expressed the union’s commitment towards promoting dialogue and enhancing growth in the Nigerian Port Sector.
The meeting had ni attendance the Executive Director Finance and Administration Mrs Vivian Richard-Edet, Executive Director Marine and Operations, Engr. Olalekan Badmus and other Management staff of NPA.

The Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has observed that the unsettled billing and collection inefficiencies in the electricity sector is still undermining overall performance of most electricity distribution companies (DisCos).
In its 2023 report just published the Commission maintained that the low collection efficiency combined with billing inefficiency has continued to adversely impact the financial liquidity of the industry, ultimately limiting the electricity supply industry’s ability to grow and attract investment.
During the period under review, only the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company had a collection efficiency above 90 per cent, which the regulator said can be partly attributable to the fact that it leads the DisCos in terms of overall metering rate (72.54 per cent) as of the end of 2023.
The IKEDC was followed by Eko and Abuja Discos with collection efficiencies of 84.31 per cent and 80.19 per cent respectively.
However, Yola Disco had the lowest collection efficiency of 43.56 per cent, according to the report.
In the year, the Federal Government paid N610bn as electricity subsidy.
The NERC stated the cumulative Minimum Remittance Obligation for DisCos was 52.92 per cent, being N685.69bn out of N1.29tn invoices issued by the Nigeria Bulk Electricity Trading Plc, meaning that “the government incurred a subsidy obligation of N610.06bn (47.08 per cent of total NBET invoices).”
The report added that an MRO-adjusted invoice of N858bn was issued by NBET and Market Operator for energy costs and administrative services to DisCos in 2023.
“The DisCos remitted a total of N706.73bn resulting in a deficit of N151.30bn during the year – this underpayment is known as “market shortfall”. Based on the above, the gross DisCo remittance rate to the upstream segment for 2023 was 82.37 per cent,” the report disclosed.
The NERC maintained that the total revenue collected by the DisCos from customers in 2023 was N1.07tn out of the total bill of N1.46tn to customers.
This, it was said, left an outstanding balance of N385.73bn, translating to a collection efficiency of 73.64 per cent.
According to the NERC, this implies that for every N100 worth of energy billed to customers by DisCos in 2023, approximately N26.36 was not recovered from customers.
The NERC’s performance chart shows that the top performing DisCos were Eko (105.76%), Yola (105.24%), Ikeja (96.20%), Benin (95.15%) and Ibadan (93.11%).
“Conversely, Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest remittance performance to NBET in 2023 (17.59%).
“The MO invoice in 2023 was ₦172.33 billion, and the DisCos remitted ₦128.40 billion, translating to a 74.51% remittance performance rate. The top-performing DisCos were Yola (90.91%), Eko (90.85%) and Ikeja (90.38%) with remittances above 90% to the MO in 2023.”
The NERC said Kaduna DisCo recorded the lowest remittance of 10.75 percent to MO in 2023.
On January 9, the NERC dissolved the board of directors of the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company (KAEDC).
The dissolution followed the DisCo’s inability to pay its N110 billion debt owed to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI), according to a statement jointly signed by Sanusi Garba, NERC’s chairman, and his vice Musiliu Oseni.