BusinessDay 09 Apr 2018

44 BUSINESS DAY C002D5556
NEWS
NNPC, contractors sign agreement for
$2.8bn Ajaokuta-Kano gas pipeline project
OLUSOLA BELLO & HARRISON EDEH
The construction of
the over $2.8 billion
Ajaokuta - Kaduna
- Kano gas
pipeline, expected
to supply gas to the proposed
1,000 megawatts Abuja power
plants and other users, is
expected to take off any moment
from now.
This is because the Nigerian
National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) has
signed agreement with two
consortia for the Engineering,
Procurement and Construction
(EPC), and commissioning
of the project under a 100
percent contractor financing
model for Lots 1&3 of the
40inch x 614km project.
One of the consortia is a
mixture of indigenous and
foreign contractors. Under the
terms of contract, Lot 1 with
total length of 40inch x 200km
stretching from Ajaokuta to
Abuja Terminal Gas Station
was awarded to the OilServe/
Oando Consortium. While
Lot 3 that runs from Kaduna
Terminal Gas Station (TGS) to
Kano TGS with total length of
40inch x 221km was awarded
to the Brentex/China Petroleum
Pipeline Bureau (CPP)
Consortium.
It is envisaged that contract
agreement for Lot 2,
which covers 40inch x 193km
stretching from Abuja to Kaduna,
will be executed in
the weeks ahead. Under the
terms of contract, Lot 1 with
total length of 40inch x 200km
stretching from Ajaokuta to
Abuja Terminal Gas Station
was awarded to the OilServe/
Oando Consortium.
Maikanti Baru, group
managing director of the
NNPC, while speaking at the
signing ceremony, said the
AKK Gas pipeline was a section
of Trans-Nigerian Gas
Pipeline under the gas infrastructure
blueprint designed
to enable the industrialisation
of the Eastern and Northern
parts of Nigeria. The project
will also enable connectivity
between the East, West and
North, which is currently nonexistent.
The AKK section has suffered
setbacks due to scarce
resources for government to
fully finance the project, hence
the adoption of the contractor
financing model, he said.
“The two other pipelines,
the OB3 & ELPs 2 in the Gas
Master Plan blueprint, are
currently at various stages of
completion and are being financed
directly by the Federal
Government,’’ he said
In his remarks on behalf
of the Oilserve/Oando Consortium,
Emeka Okwuosa,
chairman of Oilserve Limited,
expressed gratitude to
the Federal Government and
the NNPC for providing the
opportunities for indigenous
companies to flourish in the
Nigerian oil and gas industry.
According to Okwuosa,
the decision to award Lot 1 of
the AKK project to an indigenous
consortium speaks volume
of government’s resolve
to grow and encourage the attainment
of the ideals of local
content philosophy.
Abubakar Nuhu, vice
chairman of Brentex Nigeria
Limited, said the Brentex-CPP
Consortium would rely mainly
on the acclaimed pedigree
and global expertise of CPP in
pipeline construction to deliver
a world-class project.
It would be recalled that
the process for the award of
the AKK project took off in
July 2013, with the advertisement
for tenders published
by the NNPC in major
national newspapers.
After a painstaking
technical and commercial
evaluation process, the
Federal Executive Council
(FEC), at its 46th meeting
on December 13, 2017, approved
the contract valued
at over $2.8 billion.
Stakeholders task FG to tackle
corruption in immigration service
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
A
legal rights group
has called on the
Federal Government
to tackle
corruption in Nigeria Immigration
Service (NIS)
command across the
country, saying it will reduce
the fraud and pressures
from the embassies.
This call was made at
a press conference convened
by Prince Williams-
Joel, managing partner,
Prince Joel &​ Associates,
and partner at NOVO IN-
IZIO LLC, at the unveiling
of the firm’s immigration
clinic sessions and supplementary
services in
Lagos.
​“Tackling the menace
of corruption is not an
easy task, but it is​possible,​even
if many feathers
have to be ruffled.​If our
government has a resolute
commitment to tackle
corruption, Nigeria needs
to address growing concerns
and dearth of practical
knowledge of visa
application requirements,
practice, procedure and
other immigration related
matters to visa applicants,”
Williams-Joel said.
According to Williams-
Joel, the immigration
clinic is a hub for issues
relating to​ visa, as the firm
is worried by the influx of
touts who have completely
and effectually taken
over visa applications and
immigration related services
from professionals
Monday 09 April 2018
The week-on-week
foreign exchange
turnover declined
by 16 percent to $1
billion ($195.3m) from $1.2
billion recorded in the previous
week at the investors
and exporters forex window.
At the Nigerian Autonomous
Foreign Exchange
(NAFEX) rate opened the
week appreciating 17 kobo
to N359.83/$1 from N360/$1
at the prior Thursday’s close.
By midweek, the rate depreciated
to 21 kobo to close at
N360.04/$1 and appreciated
3 kobo to N360.01/$1 the
subsequent day.
However, NAFEX rate
appreciated 13 kobo W-o-
W to close at N359.87/$1
compared to N360/$1 in the
previous week, according to
a report by Afrinvest Securities
Limited.
The CBN continued its
weekly interventions of $210
million via the Wholesale
SMIS (Secondary Market Intervention
Auction). Consequently,
rates traded flattish
within tight bands during
the week.
Following the resumption
of financial markets after
the Easter holidays, the
week opened flat on Tuesin
Nigeria.
In return, they offer
poor and abysmal immigration
related services to
visa applicants with the
attendant consequence of
perpetual increase in the
percentage of numbers of
visa denials from foreign
embassies, high commissions
and consulates.
Michael Damiari, immigration
attorney and
head of chambers, Prince
Joel & Associates, speaking
on the denial of visa,
said it was not a myth that
no fewer than 220,000 Nigerians
apply for non-immigrant
visas every year.
“It is proven that several
unemployed intended
emigrants use touts
and miscreants under the
guise that they are travel
agents to apply for visa for
them,” Damiari said.
However, Charles Ejiogu,
an attorney at law
admitted to the New York
Bar and Federal District
Court, advised Nigerians
to always know what visa
they want before applying,
in relations to advice
and assistance, the immigration
clinic was open to
all citizens to reach out for
more knowledge on visa
application.
The immigration clinic
is a strategy and innovation
introduced by the firm to
address growing concerns
and dearth of practical
knowledge of visa application
requirements, practice,
procedure and other immigration
related matters.
L-R: Oliver Alawuba, executive director, United Bank for Africa (UBA) plc; Emmanuel N. Nnorom, group CEO, Heirs Holdings and
celebrant; Florence Nnorom, wife of the celebrant; Tony Elumelu, chairman, Heirs Holdings and UBA plc, and Haruna Jalo-Waziri, MD/
CEO, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) plc, at the 60th birthday celebration of Emmanuel Nnorom in Lagos, at the weekend.
Experts explore right policies to grow real estate in Nigeria
THEODORA KIO-LAWSON
In a bid to address
challenges militating
against the progress of
the real estate sector in
Nigeria, legal and real estate
experts in Nigeria are seeking
the right policies to help
drive its growth.
Speaking at the seventh
Detail Business Series in
Lagos organised by Detail,
Nigeria’s first commercial
solicitor firm specialising
in non-court room practice,
Andrew Nevin, partner
and chief economist, PwC,
said the real estate was not
growing, as it should because
of land registry.
Navin said, “Land registry
has delayed the progress
of the real estate sector. It
is delaying its investment,
which is costly. In Lagos, we
need approximately 5 million
dwellers and we are not
getting them as expected as
a result of the land registry.”
According to Navin, the
right economic policy will
go a long way in improving
the real estate sector.
“At PwC, we are trying to
push forward the most suitable
economic policy for
the real estate and for the
country as a whole, because
if real estate sector doesn’t
work, nothing else works. It
should be the biggest employer,”
he said.
Sonnie Ayere, CEO,
Dunn Loren Merrifield,
said the real estate had a
whole lot of disrupting factors
restraining its progress
in Nigeria, especially in the
area of raising enough fund
to secure a house, shopping
space and the likes.
“In trying to develop, it
is important to know how
to raise money right. One
means foreign countries
raise money is through the
‘Crowd funding’ where
many people come together
to raise money. This practice
cannot be visible in Nigeria
because the law is out
rightly against such practice
here. But we are looking for
a way around such law so
that it can seize being practiced
in Nigeria, ”Ayere said.
The mortgage terms and
agreements are also bottlenecks
to eliminate in the
sector, he said. He therefore
advised people who embark
on mortgage skill to
rather go for ‘loss of work
insurance,’ which to him
was more suitable and affordable
for those who want
to secure and own a house.
The ‘loss of work insurance’
covers for a minimum
of one year peradventure
there are any incidences,
he said, adding that in cases
where people lose their
jobs, it pays the mortgage
for 12 months, and sometimes
another six months
giving them enough time
until they secure a new job.
Toyin Ajose, associate
partner heading Detail’s
real estate and construction
practice, said this was the
seventh detail series but the
first time to focus on real estate,
adding that the theme,
’Navigating the evolving
real estate marketplace –
dealing with market disruptors’
was timely and apt.
Ajose said, “We try to focus
on our practice areas.
We look out for what is new
and relevant so as to draw
attention to that area so that
people are positioned to
benefit from the changes in
the market.”
She said the issues that
suppress the real estate
prompted them to call in
experts to speak on them.
Forex turnover declines 16% at investors’ window
HOPE MOSES-ASHIKE
day with the CBN spot rate at
N305.65/$1, and this appreciated
5 kobo to N305.60/$1
by midweek, which remained
constant throughout
the week. The parallel market
rate opened flat at N362/$1
and remained unchanged till
the end of the week.
The total value of open
contracts of the Naira settled
OTC futures in the FMDQ
OTC futures market improved
by $57.2 million, representing
a 1.8 percent W-o-
W growth to $3.3 billion on
Friday from $3.2 billion last
week close. Nonetheless, the
APR-2018 instrument was
the most subscribed with a
total market value of $660.5
million (contract price:
N360.31/$1), while the
MAR-2019 was the least subscribed
with a total market
value of $8.8 million (contract
price: N361.96/$1).
Analysts Cowry Assets
Management Limited and
Afrinvest expect rates to
continue to trade within
tight bands, as the apex bank
remains committed to sustaining
its foreign exchange
interventions in the face of
domestic macroeconomic
and external sector positives,
including the steady
accretion to the external reserves.