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.

READ: Senate to investigate 7 oil companies over refusal to remit $21 billion 

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.’’

READ: Total SA to explore crude on Nigeria’s border with Sao Tome

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

The Dangote Group has taken delivery of another set of 400 Shacman trucks from Transit Support Services Limited and assembled in the former ANAMMCO plant in Enugu.

This brings the total number of trucks bought by the Dangote Group from Transit Support Services Limited to about 4,000 units since the entry of the brand into the country in 2016.

According to a report from the Punch, this disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the Head of Public Relations and Media at the Transit Support Services Limited, Iyere Ikhide.

READ: Dangote Cement incurs N97 billion taxes in 2020

Ikhide in the statement said that the Dangote-Shacman partnership has led to the resuscitation of the ANAMMCO plant in Enugu.

It described Dangote as the biggest customer of the Enugu-based auto assembler, noting that the partnership had resulted in the provision of more jobs for many youths; rejuvenation of the Onne Port in Rivers State and the attendant economic benefits.

The statement from Transit Support Services Limited partly reads, “Following the partnership deal and commitments to quality, the biggest customer of Shacman brand in Nigeria, Dangote Group, has taken delivery of additional 400 units of Shacman trucks.

Dangote Group has since the entrance of Shacman vehicles into the Nigerian market through Transit Support Services Limited as Shacman Nigeria six years ago, bought over 3,500 units of the brand.’’

READ: Dangote injects N63 billion to revive moribund ANAMMCO

What you should know

• It can be recalled that in February 2020, the largest Indigenous Industrial Conglomerate in West Africa, the Dangote Group, invested about N63 billion in a local automaker with an assembling plant in Enugu with the purchase of 3,500 trucks while going into a long-term partnership with them.
• The automaker, which goes by the name Transit Support Services Limited, went into a long-term agreement with Dangote Group and has already supplied 3,500 Shacman trucks to the company from its Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company assembly plant in Emene Enugu State.