Sufuyan Ojeifo And Ejiofor Alike
21 October 2008
Lagos — Senate Committee on Gas has summoned Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) management to appear before it Monday, next week, to state its side to the N16billion debt it is owing Nigerian Gas Company (NGC).
The Committee also summoned Minister of State for Power (Energy), Mrs Fatima Ibrahim, her counterpart in charge of Gas, Mr Emmanuel Odusina and Managing Director of NGC, Mr Voka Mukoro, to appear with the PHCN management over PHCN's high debt portfolio.
The PHCN buys natural gas from the NGC to power its stations and generate electricity to different parts of the country.
The summons by the Senate Committee, under the Chairmanship of Senator Osita Izunaso, followed the disclosure yesterday by Managing Director of NGC, Mr Voka Mukoro, at a meeting convened by the Committee, to address the hike in price of gas by Oando-Gas Link from N21.05 kobo to N69.27 per standard cubic metre.
Although Oando-Gas Link has proposed an interim reduction from N69.27 to N38.09, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has proposed a 10 per cent increase in the price of gas from N21.05 kobo to a new price of N23.15, with a proviso that there would be no further adjustments in future.
There had been a stalemate in the negotiation between Oando-Gas Link and MAN, thus prompting intervention of the Senate Committee, which heard yesterday from all parties to the disputed price hike. MAN was represented by Mr Felix Okojie, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company (PPMC) Limited was represented by its Managing Director, Mr.Stanley Reginald, Oando-Gas Link was represented by its Managing Director, Mr Bolaji Osunsanya.
At the end of the meeting, the Senate directed them to meet and come up with a draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in line with existing laws on the appropriate pricing for natural gas.
Meanwhile, the NGC boss stated yesterday that the company was not in business to make money, while at the same time it was not out to make losses. He said PHCN owed NGC about N16 billion, a disclosure that prompted a member of the Committee to suggest NGC cutting off gas supply to PHCN.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
