The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday, approved electronic cargo tracking devices that will monitor the vessels entering and leaving Nigeria’s water space.
The device, according to Jaji Sambo, minister of transportation, who disclosed this after the weekly FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the presidential Villa, Abuja, will help to check the incidence of oil thefts along the Nigerian maritime water.
“This scheme includes also the tracking of our oil exports. This way we are going to reduce, if not totally eliminate oil theft,” Sambo said.
Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, had last year, reported that the country loses close to $10 billion daily to crude oil theft, representing a major leakage in the nation’s revenue.
Despite occupying the position of Africa’s biggest oil producer, the country lost an average of 437,000 barrels of oil a day to criminal entities who illicitly tap pipelines onshore and offshore in the Niger Delta region.
As of then, the price of the stolen crude was put at more than $10 billion, which is equivalent to N4.3 trillion (at N430 to a dollar).
Sambo disclosed that the electronic cargo tracking put in place, a scheme already widely implemented in 26 African counties, including Ghana, Senegal, Benin republic and Togo.
The device is also expected to “tackle under declaration at ports and secure imports and exports, provide transparency in cargo invoicing and declarations”.
He disclosed that the countries where the devices are operational have recorded tremendous improvement in the management of trades across borders.”
“The deployment of the state-of-the-art ECT will ensure the elimination of loopholes in border operations and boost government revenue in form of duties, port charges and levies,” he said.
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“The platform will be deployed by a consortium of five companies made up of a foreign technical partner and four local companies.
“Apart from the above advantages, the scheme will also generate revenue for the government ranging from about $90 million per annum to a peak of about $235m per annum.
“Furthermore it is at no cost to the government, the investments are going to be made by the investing private sector companies and revenues that would be derived from the small margin of charges would be shared in the ratio of 60 percent to the government and 40 percent to the consortium of companies.”
The Federal Government also approved the sum of $53.1 million for the procurement and installation of electrical conductors and transformers that will help boost power supply in the country.
Abubakar Aliyu, Minister of Power, said when installed, the conductors will help address the challenge of constant tripping of circuit breakers due to overloading of electricity lines.
He revealed that the cost of the conductors also includes a naira component of N2.1 billion.
“The total amount for these four components of conductors is $53,131, 128.93 plus an onshore component of N2, 127, 068, 626. 45,” he said.
According to him, the new conductors would be used to upgrade existing power lines, with the aim of enhancing their efficiency.
“These are existing lines which are being upgraded. The wires will be removed and new ones put in place and the difference is that the new ones will be more efficient because they carry more load than the old ones.
“They will reduce sagging because once the wires are aged, they will sag and they become vulnerable and heavier. So, these ones are lighter and can carry more electricity so it will improve efficiency and address the challenges of constant tripping of the breakers due to the overloading of these lines will be tremendously reduced,” he explained.
Aliyu listed the four components of the contract to include 173-kilometre Kubotso- Hadeja, line; 105-kilometre Kumbotso-Kankiya line; the 90-kilometre Benin-Irrua line; 72-kilometre Irrua-Okpella; 48kilometre Okpella-Okenne, 58 kilometres Okenna-Ajaokuta lines and 394-kilometre Gombe-Biu-Damboa-Maiduguri line.
The minister also disclosed that the council approved one N1.46 billion contract for the procurement of 20 transformers ratio analysers for the Transmission Company of Nigeria.
