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Reps in rowdy session, step down conference report on PIB

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The House of Representatives on Thursday in Abuja stepped down the report of the National Assembly conference committee on Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

The report was earlier scheduled for presentation, but was stepped down over row over the percentage of royalty due to host communities, from oil companies.

Rep. Mohammed Monguno, the Chairman, Committee on PIB, was billed to present the report before it was stepped down.

REPS

RT HON GBAJABIAMILA

The report was on the Conference Committee on a Bill for an Act to provide legal governance, regulatory and fiscal framework for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry and the Development of Host Communities.

Following the row, the House hurriedly dissolved into an executive session to iron out some grey areas on the PIB that was deemed unacceptable to some lawmakers.

Some of the lawmakers, mainly from the oil producing states, had earlier gotten wind of the conference report that recommended three per cent for the host communities.

READ  65 govt agencies have never been audited – Reps

The lawmakers therefore engaged in a shouting match before commencement of plenary to consider the Electoral Act Amendment Bill and the conference report on PIB Bill.

Rep. Chinyere Igwe (PDP-Rivers), Rep. Boma Goodhead (PDP-Rivers) and Bede Eke (PDP-Imo) were seen visibly angry and shouting that they were not going to accept the three per cent for host communities.

The trio and other lawmakers insisted that it must be five per cent or nothing.

The House had earlier agreed on five per cent while the Senate agreed on three per cent, but the conference committee report via harmonisation settled for the three per cent.

This, however, did not go down well with the lawmakers, which resulted in shouting match and eventually snowballed into a rowdy session.

Ssequel to the row, the Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, and other principal officers walked into the chamber without the usual announcement.

Gbajabiamila immediately dissolved the House into an executive session.

READ  Reps approve N4 trillion for petrol subsidy

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UPDATED: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the slash in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff regime will take effect from May 6, 2024.

 

“Please be informed of the downward tariff review of our Band A feeders from N225/kwh to N206.80/kwh effective 6th May 2024 with guaranteed availability of 20-24hrs supply daily,” the circular reads.

 

However, the DisCo said the tariff for bands B,C,D and E are unchanged.

 

On April 4, NERC said the approved tariff increase is expected to reduce subsidy for the 2024 fiscal year by about N1.14 trillion.

“With the newly approved tariffs, subsidies for the 2024 fiscal year are expected to reduce by about NGN1.14 trillion in furtherance of the federal government’s realignment of the subsidy regime,” NERC said.

READ  Reps committee on Judiciary condemns invasion of Justice Odili’s home, calls for investigation

 

Musliu Oseni, vice-chairman of the commission, said the new tariff will bolster the nation’s economy.

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JUST IN: Ikeja DisCo reduces Band A electricity tariff to N206.80/kwh

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The Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company says it has reduced the tariff for customers under Band A classification to N206.80 per kilowatt-hour (kwh).

 

On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approved an increase in electricity tariff for customers under the Band A category to N225 per kwh — from N66. 

 

The commission said customers under the classification are those who receive 20 hours of electricity supply daily. 

 

Announcing the cut in a circular on Monday, Ikeja Electric said the new tariff rate will be effective from May 6, 2024.

 

Details later…

READ  BREAKING: NNPP’s, Abba Yusuf wins Kano guber election
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80% of buildings in Lekki have no government approval, says commissioner

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The commissioner for physical planning and urban development in Lagos, Oluyinka Olumide, says 80 percent of buildings in the Ibeju Lekki-Epe corridor have no government approval.

The Lagos government has been facing backlash for the demolition of buildings and shanties across the state.

Tokunbo Wahab, commissioner for environment in Lagos, has repeatedly said the demolished structures were erected in contravention of the city’s masterplan, were never approved by the relevant agencies, and occluded drainage channels.

In an interview with journalists, Olumide said despite the rigorous procedures involved in securing government approval, property developers and owners are still circumventing due process.

 

“Just last Thursday and Friday, my team and I were in the Ibeju Lekki and Epe axis and you would agree that anybody passing through that corridor would see a lot of estates marked,” he said.

“We went there, and I can tell you that from what we saw, over 80 percent of them do not have approval.

READ  Gbajabiamila bids colleagues farewell as Reps hold valedictory session

“The procedure to get approval is first to get the planning information, as to what those areas have been zoned for. In this case, what we have is agricultural land, and people now go to their families to buy agricultural land.

 

“Of course, those lands would be sold because those families do not know the use such land would be put to.

“The next thing to do is the fence permit. If you missed the earlier information on not knowing the area zoning, at the point of getting the fence permit, you would be able to detect what the area is zoned for. After that, the layout permits a large expanse of land.

“So, you can see all these layers. But people still go ahead to start advertising. Some have even gone to the extent of displaying the sizes they want to sell. Imagine someone in the diaspora who wants to send money without any knowledge.

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“Then, no approval is eventually gotten. Even if they pass the assignment and the survey to them, we would not grant the individual permit, because that area is not zoned for that purpose.”

 

On Sunday, Wahab said owners of recently demolished property in Maryland had been served notices since 2021.

 

“We are not just doing demolitions. The law allows us to remove encumbrances on the right of way of the drainage channels,” Wahab said.

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