Kachikwu Directs NNPC, Shell to Start $10bn Bonga South West Project Today Nigeria’s crude oil, second highest valued in 2017 OPEC reference basket Ejiofor Alike in Lagos and Chineme Okafor in Abuja Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has directed the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) to commence the tendering process for the execution of the $10 billion Bonga South West/ Aparo (BSWA) deepwater
project today, THISDAY’s investigation has revealed. This is coming as Nigeria’s Bonny light crude oil blend maintained an average spot price of $54.55 per barrels in 2017 to become the second
most valued crude oil blend in the oil price reference basket of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to the cartel’s 2018 Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB).
Kachikwu’s directive followed the April 17, 2018 meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and a delegation from Royal Dutch Shell Plc., led by the Chief Executive Officer, Bern Van
Beurden, in London, where a decision was reached that the oil giant and the NNPC would begin the implementation of projects that have been on the Continued on page 6
ISIS Sneaking Extremists from Syria into Nigeria, Report Warns… Page 6 Tuesday 19 June, 2018 Vol 23. No 8461. Price: N250
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National Convention: APC Governors to Take Charge, Meet Tomorrow No unity list, insists party 42 positions for contest, 20 returned unopposed Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja Ahead of the national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) holding on Saturday, the governors on the platform of the party are billed to meet tomorrow evening in Abuja to decide on a consensus list of aspirants for its National Working Committee (NWC) positions up for grabs. The party, however, insisted yesterday that there would be no unity list, saying the playing field would be level
for all the aspirants. A member of Publicity Sub-committee of the National Convention Organising Committee, Hon. Abike DabiriErewa, told reporters in Abuja that there would be no unity list as was being speculated, confirming, however, that the governors would meet tomorrow. Dabiri, who spoke after a brief meeting between the governors and the subcommittee at the convention Continued on page 6
FG Orders Land Border Shut to Protect Local Rice Production Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja In a move to protect local production, the federal government has directed the closure of the nation’s land border over incessant smuggling of foreign rice into Nigeria. The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, told participants at a youth leadership clinic, organised by the Guardians of the Nations International (GOTNI) in Abuja, yesterday
that the decision to shut the border was to consolidate on the gains by government, which had reduced rice importation from South East Asia by more than 95 per cent in the past two years, and had seen the number of local rice farmers grow from five million to 30 million. Although, Ogbeh did not specifically mention the border areas to be closed, his reference to the western frontiers of the Continued on page 8
SUCCOUR FOR THE DISTRESSED... L-R: Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima; a widow and internally displaced person receiving letter of award from Chairman and Founder Aliko Dangote Foundation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, during the inauguration of Dangote Estate & School for Widows and Orphans, built by the Aliko Dangote Foundation, at Dalori Konduga LGA of Borno State… yesterday