How Nigeria’s largest Independent Power Plant is set up to funnel billions to tax haven

Nigeria’s largest independent power plant (IPP), Azura Edo Power Plant, is a huge suction pipe set up to siphon millions of tax-free dollars through a network of Mauritius-incorporated offshore shell companies to a number of trusts and private equity firms, an investigation by PREMIUM TIMES and the International Consortium of Investigative journalist (ICIJ) has revealed.

A study of the data obtained by German newspaper, Suddeutsche Zeitung, and ICIJ from two offshore secrecy providers (Appleby and Asiaciti Trust) and 19 secrecy jurisdictions showed that promoters of the power plant will earn as much as $28 million before the first light bulb comes alive from power generated by the facility.

The 1.4 terabyte leaked data, now named Paradise Papers, contains 13.4 million records and ranks among the biggest leaks in history.

For 12 months, more than 380 journalists from 96 media organisations in 67 countries pored over the gigantic data, which cover a period of nearly 70 years, from 1950 to 2016. PREMIUM TIMES is the only Nigerian media organisation involved in the investigation.

More than 120 politicians and country leaders, in nearly 50 countries as well as hundreds of business people across the world were identified in the record as users of offshore entities.

The beginning

In October 2014, former President Goodluck Jonathan, a spade in hand, flanked by Adams Oshiomhole, then governor of Edo State, and other dignitaries broke the earth of the sprawling 100 hectares site for the Azura Edo Power Plant for the first time.

The power plant, located at the Ihovbor/Orior Odemwende communities outside Benin City was hailed as the first fully financed private power plant in Nigeria.

The first phase of the IPP, which is planned to take off in 2018, will produce 450 megawatts of electricity but ultimately, the plant is expected to produce 1,500 megawatts.

Mr. Jonathan said the project demonstrated the “strong foundation” on which his administration was “building a sound and sustainable electricity industry, with great expectations for robust growth in the sector.”

Azura Edo was an instant hit with foreign investors and multilateral financial institutions. The gas-fired plant had little problem generating the $1 billion ($700 million for the construction of the plant and $300 million to build associated infrastructure) required to set it up.

The World Bank provided a partial risk guarantee of up to $245 million. The board of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) approved loans and hedging instruments of up to US$135 million and guarantees of up to US$659 million.

The project received loan financial backing from First City Monument Bank, Rand Bank of South Africa, Standard Chartered Bank, United Kingdom and the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO).

Other financial institutions that provided debt financing were Standard Bank of South Africa, SWEDFUNDS International, AB, Sweden, and Overseas Private Investment Corporation, USA.

But after the funfair of the groundbreaking ceremony, work on the project stalled. The Mr. Jonathan’s administration, for undisclosed reasons, withheld its backing of the World Bank facility needed for the plant to take off.

In August 2015, however, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration breathed new life into the plant, signing a $237 million risk guarantees with the World Bank in support of the power plant. The guarantees included a debt mobilization guarantee of $117 million and a liquidity guarantee of $120 million.

Things to know about Bitcoin

Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange MtGox,

 went on trial in Tokyo on charges stemming from the disappearance of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of the virtual currency from its digital vaults.

Here are some key facts about the world’s most widely used crypto currency:

What is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a virtual currency created from computer code. Unlike a real-world unit such as the US dollar or euro, it has no central bank and is not backed by any government.Instead, Bitcoin’s community of users control and regulate it. Advocates say this makes it an efficient alternative to traditional currencies because it is not subject to the whims of a state that may devalue its money to boost exports, for example.

Just like other currencies, Bitcoins can be exchanged for goods and services — or for other currencies — provided the other party is willing to accept them.

Where does it come from?
Bitcoin was launched in 2009 as a bit of encrypted software written by someone using the Japanese-sounding name Satoshi Nakamoto.

Last year secretive Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright said he was the creator of Bitcoin, but some have raised doubts over his claim.

Hundreds of other digital currencies followed but Bitcoin is by far the most popular, with an increasing number of merchants accepting digital currencies for payments.

Transactions happen when heavily encrypted codes are passed across a computer network. The network as a whole monitors and verifies the transaction in a process that is intended to ensure no single Bitcoin can be spent in more than one place simultaneously.

Users can “mine” Bitcoins — bring new ones into being — by having their computers run complicated and increasingly difficult processes.

However, the model is limited and only 21 million units will ever be created.

What’s it worth?
Like any other currency, it fluctuates. But unlike most real-world units, Bitcoin’s value has swung wildly in a short period.

When it first came into existence it was worth a few US cents. Several years later Bitcoin topped $1,000. It’s now worth more than $2,300, with commentators suggesting some are buying it as an alternative bet in times of global economic uncertainty.

The chaotic withdrawal of high-value notes in India, and Chinese controls on the purchase of foreign currency have also been cited for its meteoric rise.

There are presently more than 16 million units in circulation. Some economists say the limited number of Bitcoins mean its price will increase over the long run, making it less useful as a currency and more a vehicle to store value, like gold.

But detractors point to Bitcoin’s volatility, security issues and other weaknesses as flaws that will eventually undermine it.

What’s the future?
Some commentators say that like many technological developments, the first iteration of a product will encounter difficulties, possibly terminal ones. But the trail it blazes might smooth the way for the next crypto currency.

Problems include an apparent vulnerability to theft when Bitcoins are stored in digital wallets.

A major Hong Kong-based Bitcoin exchange suspended trading last year after $65 million in the virtual unit was reportedly stolen by hackers.

The virtual currency movement also faces legitimacy issues because of the way it allows for anonymous transactions — the very thing that libertarian adopters like about it.

Detractors say bitcoin’s use on the underground Silk Road website, where users could buy drugs and guns with it, is proof that it is a bad thing.

If Bitcoin does become more widely accepted, experts say, it could lead to more government regulations, which would negate the very attraction of the concept.

Nigeria won’t import rice next year

Having closely monitored the progress of local farmers, the International Fund for Agricultural Development Programme (IFAD) is convinced that Nigeria will be self-sufficient in rice production in 2018. Opinionvoices reports from Minna



It might well be the best piece of news to come out of Nigeria. At the rate rice farming is going, the country will not have to import the grain next year. This piece of information was released by Dr. Odoemena Ben, Country Programme Officer in Nigeria, International Fund for Agricultural Development Programme (IFAD).

Ben was speaking in Niger State as part of IFAD Value Chain Development Progra-mme (VCDP) fifth supervision mission team to the state. He said that with the attention being paid by governments at all levels and international agencies on rice production, the sector has received a boost.

This means a lot to Nigerians and the Muhammadu Buhari administration. The administration took off on a plan to stimulate local food production and stem the outflow of import cash. This spurred increased cultivation of rice, for instance, in some states, one of which is Niger. As late as last December, it was clear that the administration and the rice growers meant business. The farmers grew the grain, processed and neatly bagged it.
Ben corroborated that in Niger, adding that farming in general has received a lot of boost from both state and federal governments as farmers are being given farm inputs, fertilisers, seedlings, equipment and other implements that would improve the quality and quantity of farming in the country.Ben said that with the investment made in rice this year, the farmers across the country can produce more than three million metric tonnes of rice which would be more than enough until the next rice planting season.”Niger is heading for self-sufficiency of rice before the end of 2017. I am very sure that if the path of what we are doing continues, we will be self-sufficient in Rice production. By next year, Nigeria will be able to export rice.He however called on states governments to fulfil their parts by paying their counterpart funds to enable the farmers enjoy more and give them increased yield in their farm produce.However, the Niger government has assured the International Fund for Agricultural Development Programme (IFAD) of its commitment to pay its N87.1 million counterpart fund.The state Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Kabiru Musa called for patience during the team’s visit to his office.He said, “We appreciate you for being patient with us over non payment of counterpart fund. I assure you that we are going to discourse with the governor to make sure that the money is paid. The state government has approved the money, what is happening is that we are waiting for cash backing to pay our counterpart fund.”Musa lauded the project in the state, saying that it has impacted positively on farmers in the state thereby creating jobs, increasing their income and increasing food production, “Today our farmers can carter for their households with ease without going to borrow,’’ he said.He urged the project to extend their activities in the state to the 20 Local Government Areas that are yet to benefit as only five local government areas in the state; Kontagora, Wushishi, Bida, Shiroro and Katcha are currently participating in the programme.The state IFAD Project Coordinator, Dr. Ahmed Mathew said that over N83 million has been expended for infrastructures for Rural Farmers in Niger state to provide them with basic amenities and alleviate their sufferings.He said that the infrastructures were provided under the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) under the programme adding that the projects will help in increasing the productivity of the farmers in the state.He said that Solar Powered boreholes was set up for N9.5 million, rehabilitation and construction  of warehouses gulped N23 million while others cost N33 million..Ahmed further said that IFAD has helped the farmers in increasing their income while he stressed on the need for the state government to pay up its counterpart fund to enable them give the farmers more infrastructures.

Nigeria internet users hits 91 million - NCC report

According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), by May this year, Nigeria hit the 91 million mark in terms of internet users in the country.

The number, which has risen from 90,124,428 in April to 91,565,010 in May, was revealed in a report released by the telecommunications industry regulator in its Monthly Internet Subscribers Data.

According to the NCC, internet users on both Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) networks increased during the period. The NCC report revealed that out of the 91,595,319 internet users in May, 91,565,010 were on GSM networks, while 30,309 users were on CDMA networks. Also, GSM service providers gained 1,440,582 internet customers after recording 91,565,010 users in May, as against 90,124,428 it recorded in April. On the other hand, CDMA operators had retained 30,309 internet subscribers in May as recorded in April.

The report also shows that MTN had 31,406,441 subscribers browsing the internet on its network in the month under review and also recorded an increase of 600,464 internet subscribers in May.

According to the NCC, Globacom had 27,402,484 customers surfing the net on its network in May, revealing an increase of 211,713 users from the 27,190,771 that surfed the internet on the network in April.

Airtel had 19,912,661 internet users in May, showing an increase of 504,811 customers from 19,407,850 recorded in April.

Etisalat, now 9Mobile, recorded 12,843,424 internet users in May, an increase of 123,594 users from the 12,719,830 users recorded in April.

CDMA operators, Multi-Links and Visafone had a total of 30,309 internet users on their networks in May.

Nigerians still believe in PDP – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan said Nigerians still believed in the capacity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to lead the country.

Jonathan stated this at the expanded National Caucus of the party held on Monday night at Wadata House, Abuja.

He said that this was demonstrated with reactions by Nigerians to the Supreme Court judgment on the party’s leadership crisis on Wednesday.

He urged that all our efforts by PDP members and supporters within this period should be channeled towards building the party.

“Nigerians still believe in the PDP because when the Supreme Court judgment was given, I was so surprised because some people called and sent text messages to me.

“They are not even politicians but they are so happy that PDP has come on stream because they were worried that PDP will go down.

“So, if people who are not even members of PDP are so happy that PDP has now gotten a platform to operate in spite of the negative propaganda against us, it means people still believe in PDP.

“PDP is a party that Nigerians still believe in,” Jonathan said.

He appealed to party members to rebuild it, assuring that many people who stepped aside from the party as a result of its leadership crisis would return.

“The first thing we need to do is to rebuild the party because when the party is strong, everything will be added to that.

“Whether you have individual or group interest, as a politician, you must serve. These are very basic things, but first and foremost, we must strengthen the party.

“Let us cooperate with the Caretaker Committee and make sure that PDP is very cohesive. And when that happens, people who stepped aside may step back.

“We may not even need to go on a voyage of discovery to discover people. But they, themselves will come back because a strong party acts like a magnet.

“It will attract all the people that are interested,” he said.

On his part, Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Sen. Ahmed Makarfi, said only a miracle would stop PDP from regaining power in 2019.

Makarfi said the meeting was convened to chart the way forward for the party.

“We call this caucus before the meeting of other organs. You are our party leaders.

“Immediately judgment was delivered, I said no victor nor vanquished, and we mean it.

“It does not mean taking what belong to people and giving to a few people.”

On his part, Mr Ayodele Fayose, Chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ekiti State, urged party members and leaders to return to the “home” and mobilise Nigerians at the grassroots.

“If this party must win, if PDP must get the confidence of Nigerians, if this party must be restored, our leaders must go back home and work,” Fayose said.

The Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, said that the Lord gave PDP the victory because He loved Nigerian.

He said that the time had come for the party to work together and deliver good governance to the country.

“Time to work is now; we must go back to the drawing board. We must not disappoint Nigerians. It is time for fence-mending and reconstructing Nigeria for real change.

“We all believe in the party that was why we stayed. We need everybody in this party to re-build the party,” Ekweremadu said.

The Board of Trustees Chairman, Alhaji Jubril Walid, said it was time for the party to build a new Nigeria.

Walid, who was represented by Mr Aminu Wali, said “this is a new PDP. It is going to have a new beginning, a new start, by the grace of God.”

Present at the meeting were David Mark, Remi Bakare, Stella Omu, Godswill Akpabio, Nyesom Wike, Sule Lamido, Ahmadu Ali and also Uche Secondus.

Others were Olisa Metu, Jonah Jang, Jerry Gana, Grace Bent, Gabriel Suswam, Emmanuel Udom, Sen Ifeanyi Okowa, Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu and Darius Ishyaku

The other persons were Jonah Jang, Tom Ikimi, Vincent Ogbulafor, Ahmadu Ali, Jim Agbaje, Solomon Ewuga, Liyel Imoke, Ibrahim Mantu, Emeka Ihedioha, Dimeji Bankole.

Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the Party, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff was absent. (NAN)

APC fires PDP

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has slammed the former ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over its ongoing calls for the restructuring of Nigeria.

The party wondered why PDP suddenly woke up to realize that Nigeria needed to be restrucutured but failed to do so while it was in power between 1999-2015.

Speaking with Nation, Hon. Hilliard Etta, the National Vice Chairman (Southsouth) of the party said, Nigerians needed to give the APC time as it would surely fulfill all electioneering campaign promises.

He said, “I don’t know if it is essentially about the APC. But some Nigerians are very quick to enter judgement when it comes to APC. The APC has been in power for two years and in these two years, you are aware of what has attended our presidency. It is disingenuous for people to now look at the APC and say those types of things that they say.

“If is unfortunately because, whenever these things are done, I think they are just amplifying or reciting the propaganda of the PDP. The PDP was in power for 16 years and never cared about restructuring. Today, PDP is all over the place talking about restructuring. I think Nigerians should be a little patient with us.

“It is unfortunate that the unsustainable sub structure of Nigeria has brought the current agitations in the manner it has come and at this time when the APC is in power. We we are not afraid of the responsibility and the challenges of the time.”

Asked his take on the cries of marginalization, which has lead to one form of ultimatum or the other, Etta said, “there is agitations from almost all parts of the country. The almajaris are agitating for a better life, the Yoruba man is agitating for better governance, the Igbo man is agitating, the Calabar man is agitating.

“There is no ethnic nationality in this country that isn’t agitating. Now we must interrogate who they agitating against and who should they agitate against? I laugh when I hear my Igbo brothers agitating against the Hausa/Fulani, are they to saying that it is the Hausa/Fulani that has marginalized them.

“When I see the Almajiris agitating, are they to saying that it is the Hausa/Fulani that has marginalized them? It is the same thing for the Yoruba, the same for the Igala people, the same thing for the Efik people, the same for the Ibibio people. The truth of the matter is that Nigeria is sharply divided into two; the leaders and others and the people that have marginalized all ethnic nationality are less than one percent of the population of Nigeria and they come from all ethnic nationalities.

“I have done a personal interrogation of those who have superintended over Nigeria and very sadly, I have come to realise only three Hausa/Fulani people have been in charge of Nigeria since independence. The first was Tafa Balewa, the second was Buhari and the third was Yar’dua.‎”

Nigeria needs repackaging not restructuring- Okorocha

Gov. Rochas Okorocha said Nigeria does not need restructuring as being demanded by some Nigerians, but said the nation only needed to be repackaged.

Okorocha said this on Monday while declaring open the 67^th annual conference of Broadcasting Organizations of Nigeria (BON).

He said BON as critical stakeholders must be in the forefront of the campaign against restructuring, but rather sell the massage of repackaging.

He said only repackaging could attract huge investors to Nigeria and help boost its economy.

“Many people have defined restructuring just to benefit their geo-political zones.

“To the South Easterners, restructuring means creation of an additional state, While it may mean resource control to other geo-political zones”, he said.

The governor said Nigeria has been presented in the bad light to other nations of the world which made it non marketable to the international communities.

“We are not the worst nation in the world in terms of corruption but we have been presented as the worst nation.

“I urged BON to see Nigeria as its project and repackage it so that we can regain our lost glories”, he said.

Okorocha however appealed to BON to also give the less privileged  the opportunity to be heard considering high cost of electronics media subscription.

In his address, the BON Chairman Mr. John Momoh said the main aim of the meeting was to brainstorm on how to proffer solutions to Nigerian problems.

He also said part of the group’s agenda was to suggest ways  to strengthen BON for it to continue to serve as watch dog to political office holders.

According to him, it is the responsibility of BON to bring the feelings of the people to government and also let the people know their civic responsibilities.

He commended the governor for his huge developmental projects which he said have changed the face of Imo state. (NAN)

Fayose launches presidential campaign on Facebook, Twitter

The Ekiti State governor, Ayo Fayose, has commenced activities towards his ambition to become president of Nigeria in 2019.

On Monday, the governor launched his campaign on Twitter and Facebook by opening accounts in the name his presidential campaign on both platforms.

His spokesman, Lere Olayinka, however, told PREMIUM TIMES that the campaign has not been officially launched.

Mr. Olayinka said what happened on Monday was the opening of the official Twitter and Facebook accounts on the social media.

“When we officially launch the campaign, everyone will know about it,” he said.

Mr. Fayose had recently boasted that he would wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress come 2019.

He had indicated that he would approach the Supreme Court to determine his eligibility to contest the next governorship election following the court’s judgment that his impeachment during his first tenure was a nullity.

As a result, many Peoples Democratic Party governorship aspirants had suspended their ambition until it was clear that Mr. Fayose would not be able run in the election.

Gauteng seeks to strengthen trade ties with Lagos State

FEC Approves 29-Member Committee On National Minimum Wage

he Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the setting up of a 29-member National Minimum Wage Committee to negotiate and arrive at a new minimum wage in the country.

The meeting was presided over by acting President Yemi Osinbajo.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige said this when he briefed State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting of the Council held in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.

He stated that the approval of the committee followed the council’s deliberation on the report of the joint committee of government and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

Ngige said that membership of the committee would be drawn from Governors’ Forum, organised private sector and labour federation.

According to him, the chairman and secretary of the committee will be appointed by the Federal Government.
“Today, the Council deliberated on the report of the joint committee of government on one side and the labour federation of the NLC and TUC.

“If you recall, on May 11, 2016, there was a deregulation of the oil and gas sector in Nigeria and this resulted in the increase we had in the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

“As a result of that, the labour union kicked against the increase and said that even if the increase will be there, government should put in place mechanisms to make sure that we don’t have further increases.

“That is why they said the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Board (PPRB) should be put in place.’’

Osinbajo said that labour also asked for review of the National Minimum Wage for workers in the country in order to enable them have better purchasing power.

“Prior to this increase, they had made a demand of N56,000 monthly as the lowest wage payable to any Nigerian worker and thirdly they need some palliatives to cushion the effect of the increase in the pump price of petrol.

“So, government put in place a committee and that committee finished its work on April 24 and handed its report to Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

“Today at the council, I presented the report with various recommendations therein and I’m happy to let you know that government approved the setting up of National Minimum Wage committee,’’ he said.

According to the minister, the Federal Government will present six members of the committee from the public sector; Governors’ Forum will select six governors (one from each geo-political zone), and labour federation will present eight persons.

He added that the organised employers association would jointly present eight persons as members of the committee.

The minister, however, revealed that the chairman and secretary of the 29-member committee would be appointed by the Federal Government.

Ngige reassured that the government would commence the payment of arrears of salaries and promotion, death benefits and other outstanding allowances of workers to boost their morale.

2014 National Conference recommendations will solve Nigeria’s problems – Jonathan

Former President Goodluck Jonathan says recommendations ​of ​the 2014 National Conference ​organised by his administration will solve many of Nigeria’s problems.

He spoke at the Rivers State 50th year anniversary in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

Jonathan insisted that fiscal federalism was the system that ​would ​​develop Nigeria.

“This will allow states to assume control of the exploitation of their natural resources and mandate them to pay adequate taxes to the Federal Government,” ​he ​said​.

​”​My conviction that fiscal federalism will initiate faster development is borne out of a comparison between the intervention Agencies and the 13 percent derivation.

”​From the days of Special Funds, through OMPADEC to now NDDC, the Federal Government has provided funds for the development of the oil bearing communities but very little physical infrastructure to show for it.

“This is so because these bodies are highly political and lack continuity as tenures are hardly completed. New Federal Government administrations appoint new teams who award new contracts hence the zone is littered with abandoned projects.

Nigeria to unveil new investors for its refineries – says minister

At the annual Nigerian jamboree to the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, Dr. IbeKachikwu, the minister of state for petroleum resources, told a “world press conference” on May 5, 2017 that Nigeria’s refineries would soon have new investors. He said 26 investors had indicated interest in the epileptic refineries. “By September, we will unveil the investors for the refineries,” the minister said smoothly, typically. “When we came onboard, the refineries were not working but as we speak, we have sizeable investment portfolio for them to an extent that we don’t know who to partner with for the investment.”

Let’s say I didn’t go to school at all. Or let’s say it was evening school that I attended. These would still be my takeaways from the minister’s proclamations: one, our refineries are now in a position to attract investment; two, 26 investors have indicated interest in taking over the refineries (on a repair, operate and maintain, ROM, agreement); three, we have not taken a decision yet because there are so many suitors to choose from; and four, we will announce the favoured investors by September. Without attending Harvard Business School, I would still conclude that it appeared the process was going to be competitive and transparent.

On May 11, 2017 (six days later, right?) Mr. Wale Tinubu, the CEO of Oando Plc, told the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) that the group had received approval of the government to “repair, operate and maintain” the Port Harcourt Refinery together with “our partner” Agip, a subsidiary of ENI, the Italian company indicted in the Malabu/OPL 245 affair. Tinubu said: “We plan to increase the refinery capacity from 30 per cent to 100 per cent.” Great news, as far I am concerned. We need the refineries back as soon as possible; we have had enough of the endless TAMs gulping billions of naira and spewing out virtually no products for decades.

Now this is where I need your help. The last time I checked, with the help of Google, May and September are different months. There are June, July and August in-between. With the help of Google, I also discovered that the gap between when Kachikwu spoke in Houston and when Tinubu spoke in Lagos was a whopping six days — or, to make it simpler, less than one week. There are usually four weeks in a month, and from May 5, when Kachikwu spoke, to September, there are 17 weeks, according to the all-knowing Google. With Tinubu’s disclosure, should we assume that May is the new September? Or that September came early for Oando, Agip and Kachikwu?

But I think Google is overrated. There were so many questions it could not answer. For instance, I asked: “Is Oando among the 26 investors Kachikwu boasted about in Houston?” I could not make head or tail of the results. Google came up with “FOX 26 Houston KRIV”. Nonsense. But I got more gibberish for other questions: did Oando and ENI send in a bid? Was it an unsolicited bid? Was it selective tendering? If it was competitive bidding, how many bids were received for Port Harcourt? How much did Oando/ENI bid? How much did others bid? How much did the bidders promise to invest? How many years will the ROM run? Are there concessions for the new operators?

I can understand why Google got stuck — that almighty search machine likes transparency. If you do not make your information public, it cannot make it public for you. The best, or should I say the worst, Google would do is to suggest answers that it thinks are related to your questions, even when there is no connection whatsoever. If you google most of the major concessions and major contracts awarded by this government, you will get irrelevant answers on the process. For the same reason: transparency is very scarce in these major deals. We just wake up one day and hear that one company has been awarded a job. Not a word on the process.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying Oando should not take over the Port Harcourt Refinery. I have devoted a significant part of my column-writing career to promoting the cause of Nigerian companies. I believe that one day, made-in-Nigeria will be enjoyed all over the world. I want Nigerian companies to fly our flag honourably. Even though I have been called names and subjected to sickening innuendos for promoting Dangote, Globacom, Oando and Innosons, among others, I am not about to repent. Americans are proud of their Apple, Microsoft and Chevron, and my dream is that our people and our companies will become global brands too.

That said, though, I am very worried about an emerging pattern in this administration. President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned on the strength of correcting the mistakes and misdeeds of the previous government, but I am seeing too much repetition for it to be coincidental. There is too much secrecy in the way many important things are done, and corruption, need we say, thrives on secrecy. Take away competition, take away transparency, take away accountability, and you have a perfect recipe for corruption. We cannot be sealing deals under the table without revealing the details to Nigerians and then claim we are building an open society.

We just woke up one day to learn that GE had secured the concession to take over the railways. How did it happen? What are the details of the deal? Is this the best possible deal Nigeria can get? We were just watching TV one evening and learnt that the federal government had finally signed a renegotiated concession agreement with the Global Steel Holding Limited (GSHL) for Ajaokuta Steel. Up till today, we don’t know the details. Ask questions and what you get as answer is: who paid you to ask? As a journalist, I’m used to the blackmail. I would have quit this job the day I joined if I had to pay attention to personal attacks.

By the way, I know a bit about the procurement options. I know of “sole sourcing”, where you go to one provider only because no other provider does it — like buying a Rolls Royce from the maker. “Selective tendering” allows you to approach a few providers who meet certain criteria. There is “repeat procurement”, where you return to earlier provider because of time constraints and because they did a previous job well. All these need strong justifications because you are restricting competition, which is a major element of procurement. And then there is “competitive bidding”, where you throw it open to all. In all, Nigerians deserve to know the process adopted.

Get me right. I am not saying anything illegal is being done in the case of the Port Harcourt Refinery. It just lacks transparency. That’s my point. And what about other moral issues? ENI again? As I write this, many Nigerians are being prosecuted or wanted by the EFCC for their involvement in the OPL 245 deal. They are being accused of taking part in an elaborate bribery scheme. But ENI, which is at the centre of it all and is being prosecuted by an Italian prosecutor for its role in the $1.3 billion affair, is cornering more deals in Nigeria without getting as much as a slap on the wrist. The impression being created is that our anti-graft war is very narrow.

I sympathise with the government over the limitations imposed by procurement rules, particularly the constraint of speed, but the process was designed for a purpose. More so, this government has been in power for nearly two years, which means a lot could still have been accomplished over the years in spite of the constraints. And, remember, there are many options that can shorten the process which the government has been using for a while now. The biggest headache, though, is that there is too much opaqueness for us to conclude that transparency is a guiding principle. The chaos over the concessioning of Port Harcourt Refinery is a very good example. Dissonance.

Chelsea cancel victory parade after Manchester bomb attac

Chelsea have cancelled a victory parade scheduled for Sunday in London in the light of Monday’s bomb attack in Manchester.

Antonio Conte’s side won the English Premier League title last Sunday and could claim the double by winning Saturday’s English FA Cup final match at Wembley.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that thousands of fans were expected to turn out for the parade.

“In light of these tragic events, we feel it is inappropriate to go ahead with the victory parade in London on Sunday,” the club said in a statement.