Business

Presidency: Why Buhari Signed 2022 Budget Despite Insertion Of 6,576 New Schemes

Published

4 years ago

January 3, 2022

The Presidency Sunday night said that President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law despite the insertion of 6,576 new schemes worth N37 billion because he did not want to “throw away the baby with the bathwater.”

According to a statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity) which gave the president’s rationale for the action, even though Buhari had a disagreement with the National Assembly over the changes made in the budget, he was not in conflict with the legislators.

The statement accused unnamed critics of deliberately trying to create a fiasco between the president and the legislature.

Explaining the need for the president to give his assent to the budget because of the other provisions contained in it, the statement said: “Given Mr President’s commitment to improving the lot of the Common Man, it was felt that it would not be wise to throw away the baby with the bathwater. “

The statement further explained Buhari’s rationale for assenting to the bill: “Mr President was clear and candid in expressing his reservations with the numerous changes to the 2022 Budget made by the National Assembly, which would hamper its implementation.

“However, to respond to critics that question why assent to the Budget if it was so severely tampered with, we wish to respond as follows:

“Need to Save Value-Additive Projects, Programs & Policies:

“Although over 10,733 projects were reduced and 6,576 new projects were introduced into the budget by the National Assembly, there are tens of thousands more provisions in the 2022 Budget, all of which, when efficiently and effectively implemented, will have a significant developmental impact on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary Nigerians.”

“Ongoing Capital Projects, Critical Recurrent Votes, Priority New Projects – all feature in the 2022 Budget and Mr President’s forbearance in assenting to the Budget will save these provisions from implementation delays and other challenges.

“Dealing with Modern Democratic Norms:

“President Buhari is a democrat who deeply believes in the supremacy of the Constitution, with its checks and balances across the three arms of Government,” it added.

The Presidency maintained that while it is true that the president expressed disagreement with insertions and the other alterations, including the ‘reduction in the provisions for many strategic capital projects to introduce ‘Empowerment Projects,’ “innumerable lies are being spread about the President being ‘angry’ at, had ‘blasted’ or ‘lashed out’ at the Parliament.

“This cannot be farther from the truth.”

The statement pointed out that as the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawan said shortly after the budget-signing ceremony, disagreements as the ones listed by the president are normal in the everyday Executive-Parliamentary relationship because, as he explained, “executive and legislative judgements don’t always have to be the same.”

The statement added: “While we note that there are people who are trying to create a fiasco between the two arms of government on account of the budget, we assure that they will, in the end, be disappointed.

“The Executive and the 9th National Assembly have since moved away from the wild, destructive political games of the past, conducting themselves in a way that puts national interest supreme in their decisions.

“We doubt if there is a patriotic citizen who wants to see the return of the operating environment engendered by the 8th Senate when an elected government was held in chains, held hostage to the desperate political ambitions of a clique, and the public denied needed services including that which impinged on national security. Happily, the 9th National Assembly is more about policy than politics.

“Under the constitution, both arms of government are coequal and at the same time, independent and interdependent. The rule of the game is cooperation and the President, as a democrat fully accepts this.”

The Presidency affirmed that it is at the discretion of the National Assembly to override the president’s action where if he had vetoed the bill, a measure, it pointed out had not been exercised under the current dispensation.

The statement further said: “In terms of the passage of legislations like the Appropriation Act and other Money Bills, the National Assembly has equal responsibilities with the Executive.

“Indeed, if Mr President had declined assent to the 2022 Appropriation Bill, the National Assembly has powers to override the President’s veto if they can drum up a 2/3 majority vote. This is the constitution.

“Happily, this situation has not arisen during the tenure of Mr President’s Administration, and the Executive’s relationship with the Leadership of the 9th National Assembly is much improved over what happened with the 8th National Assembly.

“It is on account of his confidence in the strength of this excellent working relationship that Mr President has directed that an Amendment Budget Proposal should be prepared and submitted to the National Assembly, once they return from their recess.

“It is hoped that the National Assembly will carefully consider and approve the 2022 Amendment Budget Proposals, once presented to them in due course, for the benefit of all Nigerians.

“It is important therefore that, in place of “anger” or confrontation, President Buhari showed the democracy-loving side of his personality as he signed the budget at the same time calling for dialogue with the parliament to resolve the contentious issues.

“The Presidency under Muhammadu Buhari and the parliament under Lawal and Gbajabiamila are committed to a good neighbourly relationship and this or any other disagreement between the two arms of government will not alter the dynamics of that relationship.”

(TRIBUNE)

Business

Naira Continues To Appreciate Against Dollar On Official Market

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The naira continued its appreciation against the dollar at the foreign exchange market on Tuesday.

Accordingly, the naira strengthened further to N1,533.18 against the dollar on Tuesday, from N1,534.21 traded the previous day.

This represents a gain of N1.03 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis and marks the second consecutive day of appreciation at the official FX market.

Meanwhile, on the black market, the naira depreciated further to N1,545 per dollar on Tuesday from N1,537 traded on Monday.

Recall that the naira had similarly closed Monday’s trading session with mixed sentiments, recording gains at the official market but depreciating at the parallel market.

Business

Dangote Refinery Gets New CEO

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has appointed David Bird, the former head of Oman’s Duqm Refinery, as its new Chief Executive Officer.

A report by S&P global on Friday said, Bird heads the refinery’s petroleum and petrochemicals division in a strategic move to overcome production challenges and advance its next wave of expansion.

Effective from July 2025, the former Shell head of operations at its Balau Pokom refinery stepped in as CEO of the Dangote Group’s fuels and petrochemicals business, which commissioned the world’s largest single-train refinery last year.

Our correspondent also observed that the CEO participated at the just concluded Dangote Leadership Development Program Graduation Ceremony.

The appointment signals the company’s renewed focus on scaling production, streamlining operations, and positioning itself as a dominant force in Africa’s refining and petrochemical landscape.

The report read, “Nigeria’s Dangote Group has appointed the former head of Oman’s Duqm refinery as CEO of its petroleum and petrochemicals business as it strives to overcome production challenges and advance its next wave of expansion.”

It, however, noted that the Dangote Group founder Aliko Dangote, will remain as chairman of the refining business and CEO of the wider conglomerate, which is also active in cement, fertilizers and sugar refining.

The business is expected to tap Bird’s experience expanding the Duqm refinery and diversifying its crude slate as CEO of OQ8, a role he adopted months before the Omani complex began its first test runs in 2023.

Commenting on his appointment, Bird said his focus at Dangote will involve advancing the group’s footprint beyond the Nigerian market and across the African continent.

As CEO of the refining business, he will be responsible for ensuring maximum output and efficiency for the refinery, and aims to make the group a leader in the global market, a LinkedIn update noted.

The appointment comes after a string of unit upsets and “design issues” that have stalled the ramp-up process of the 650,000-b/d refinery, while its leadership has called out a hostile business environment for challenging its operations.

Since it was commissioned in January 2024, Dangote has quickly grown its market share in the Nigerian fuel sector, displacing large volumes of gasoline imports that the country once relied on.

However, Aliko Dangote has railed against “rent-seeking” trade partners and substandard fuel imports for putting strain on the business.

In a previous interview with Platts, Bird emphasised a trading-led approach to achieve a competitive edge in the refining sector, with a focus on high utilisation rates, efficiency and feedstock flexibility.

His approach aligns with a recent shift from the Dangote complex to process a wider range of crude grades, partially spurred by limited availability of the Nigerian oil it was designed to process.

However, the Nigerian refinery is still obliged to sell fixed volumes of its oil products into the domestic crude market under a naira-based trade agreement with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, a 7.2 per cent stakeholder in the business.

As the Dangote Group eyes its next wave of growth, it plans to expand the capacity of the Lagos refinery to 700,000 barrels per day, build out port infrastructure and establish foreign storage assets in Namibia and other countries.

In August, it is set to roll out its own distribution business with a fleet of 4,000 CNG-powered trucks.

Dangote Group officials have also shared ambitions to list the refining business on the London and Lagos stock exchanges, and Aliko Dangote reiterated plans to take the business public.

After years of setbacks and budget challenges, the speed of the refinery’s ramp-up in 2024 caught many analysts by surprise, and the complex quickly began exerting pressure on global oil benchmarks as it began exporting its products.

Yet despite beginning test runs on its main gasoline outlet, the residue fluid catalytic cracker, in Q3 2024, the company has since suffered repeated outages on the unit in 2025, forcing it to rely on its lower-yield reformer and sacrifice output over extended periods.

Speaking to Platts earlier in July, a Dangote executive said the RFCC was running at 85 per cent. He denied reports that the company will undergo a planned turnaround on the unit in December.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, Nigeria exported some 220,000 b/d of petroleum products in July 2025, when outages at NNPC facilities made Dangote the country’s only active refiner.

The complex exported 30,000 b/d of residual fuel, a refining byproduct which would normally be kept on site for further processing in the RFCC under normal operations.

Exports continue to be dominated by jet fuel, which accounted for 45 per cent of total shipments, and gasoil with a 24 per cent share.

Business

Petrol Tankers To Stop Loading Beyond 45,000 Litres By October 1 – IPMAN

Published

2 days ago

August 1, 2025

Editor

The Western Zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has said tankers will no longer load more than 45,000 litres of the product from October 1.

The Chairman of the zone, Chief Oyewole Akanni, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Ibadan on Friday.

Akanni stated that the measure was adopted in a joint meeting involving IPMAN, the government and other stakeholders, held to reduce the cases of petroleum tanker accidents.

The stakeholders, he said, are the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and oil marketers.

He said, “Before now, some tankers carried up to 90,000 or 60,000 litres, which was dangerous.

“Those big tankers damage our roads, as the trucks are made to carry far more than they were designed for.

“And when overloaded, they become unstable and fall, causing accidents.”

Akanni stated that the government had also mandated all tankers to install safety covers that prevent spillage in the event of a crash.

“With these covers, even if a tanker falls, fuel won’t spill, except if the tank is punctured,” he said.

He, however, lamented the activities of vandals, who deliberately puncture fallen tankers to steal fuel, describing it as a major challenge.

The IPMAN chairman also said that PTD discovered that most accidents occurred at night due to fatigue.

“We have, therefore, instructed drivers not to drive at night.

“Once it is 7.00 p.m., they must park and continue their journey by 7.00 a.m. the next day, but some still disobey this directive,” he said.

Akanni assured that IPMAN would continue to work with stakeholders to ensure that tanker-related accidents were minimised.

He said that the spate of fatalities had triggered federal interventions, calling for stricter regulations, mass education, and enforced safety reforms.

According to Akanni, the incidents form part of a broader wave of tanker disasters across Nigeria.

“These are marked by systemic failures, including overloading, poor infrastructure, inadequate enforcement, alongside dangerous public practices like fuel scooping,” he said.

NAN