President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) which is in a production sharing contract with the Chinese government-0wned, Addax Petroleum.

This is in line with the current administration’s rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business environment for businesses.

This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, through a series of tweet posts on his official Twitter handle on Friday, April 23, 2021.

The President directed the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) to retract the letter of revocation of the leases, while also directing NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.

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What the Presidential Media Aide is saying in the statement

The statement from Garba Shehu partly reads, ‘’In line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness and enabling a stable business climate for investment, President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 to NNPC Group which is in production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum, a company wholly owned by Government of the People’s Republic of China on the blocks. The leases belonging to the Federation were revoked on March 30, 2021.

‘’This development reaffirms the commitment of President Buhari to the rule of law and sanctity of contracts. While directing the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR to retract the letter pf revocation of the leases, the President also directed NNPC to utilize contractual provisions to resolve issues in line with the extant provisions of the Production Sharing Contract arrangement between NNPC and Addax.’’

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Shehu in his statement also said that the restoration of the blocks to NNPC will boost the organisation’s portfolio, thereby making the corporation to, in the long run, boost its crude oil production and in turn increase the revenue it generates to the Federation Account.

In case you missed it

It can be recalled that the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), had on March 31, 2021, revoked the 4 assets of Addax Petroleum Exploration Nigeria Limited, namely OMLs 123, 124, 126 and 137 due to the non-development of the assets by the company.

The DPR had earlier said that it has inaugurated a team of experts to evaluate the revoked assets of Addax Petroleum, which was in preparation for the formal handing over to the new operators- Kaztech/Slavic Consortium.

The oil sector regulator also pointed out that the move was in fulfilment of the Federal Government’s commitment to reactivating all moribund oil and gas support facilities across the country.

In line with the current administration’s commitment to the rule of law, fairness & enabling a stable business climate for investment, President @MBuhari has approved the restoration of the leases on OMLs 123, 124, 126 & 137 to @NNPCgroup,…

— Garba Shehu (@GarShehu) April 23, 2021

After what has been an interesting year for so many reasons, the GAGE Awards is finally taking centre stage on 24th April, 2021.This year’s edition is fully virtual, leveraging the best of technology to broadcast proceedings at the event.

The event is beach-themed, which is meant to help set viewers in a relaxed mode after such a tough past year. Digital came through for us and it’s time to gather virtually to celebrate the stars that made our lives simpler and better especially in the thick of the pandemic.

The virtual edition will be hosted by Ex – BBNaija star Bisola Aiyeola alongside a stellar cast of entertainers billed to perform on the night. It will be interesting to see the winner of some of the categories such as the Online news platform of the Year, Data Service provider of the Year, Webseries of the Year, Content Creator of the Year etc.

The Influencer of the Year category which got the internet in frenzy with over 20 million engagements on the GAGE Awards website will definitely be one of the most anticipated categories on the night. In that category are online powerhouses such as BBNAIJA revelations Erica Nlewedim and Nengi Hampson. Also in that category are Twitter top influencers Pamilerin Adegoke, Aisha Yesuf and Instagram top brand Influencer, Tomike Adeoye. Another big category to watch out for is the Online Comedian of the Year. Top contenders in that category are; Mr Macaroni, MCLively, Sydney Talker, Taaooma and Lasisi Elenu. Taaooma took home this category last year and it will be interesting to see if she can retain her crown as king of Online Comedy. The Banking app of the Year is another huge category to look for.Top contenders for the crown are GTBank, VBank, Zenith Bank, Access Bank and Alat by Wema.

To attend the GAGE Awards virtual edition, registration is via this link, https://gageawards.com/register/.

It will be recalled that GAGE Awards seeks to celebrate and spotlight the best individuals, brands or groups who have enriched lives in 2020 by leveraging on the power of digital to simplify our everyday lives. The award recognizes, celebrates, rewards, and amplifies the eventual winners’ outstanding activities and contributions to the digital ecosystem yearly.