President Goodluck Jonathan fires PHCN boss

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday ordered the removal of the managing director of the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Mr. Akinwumi Bada the market operator, Uzoma Achinanya; and the executive director, human resources of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Mr Olushoga Muyiwa, for their failure to prevent what the minister of power, Prof. Barth Nnaji, described as "controllable impediment" to supply power to Nigerians.

Announcing the sacking yesterday in Abuja, Nnaji, in an extraordinary meeting held with all chief executives of the transmission, distribution companies and other agencies under the Ministry of Power, said the trio were to proceed on retirement. Mr. Shola Akinniranye was appointed to head the TCN, and Mr. Evarestus Mogbo named the new market operator.

He said the issue of sabotage has to be addressed by the CEOs, noting that there was need for predictability in power supply. "Professional management is required from all CEOs to ensure that things work well. We need to roll our sleeves and get to work to ensure that power supply improves," the minister stated.

Nnaji, who frowned at the decline in power supply over the last three weeks, said the changes became necessary as part of renewed efforts towards achieving adequate and effective power supply in the country.

He, however, noted that while some of the issues are within management's capacity to control, some were caused by nature, which is beyond human control.

Informing that water flow has been a challenge to the operational capacity of Kainji, Jeba and Shiroro power plants, he said "gas supply and transmission management needs to improve. We are not going to allow any controllable impediment to stop the supply of power to Nigerians".

He also stated that there would be an inter-ministerial meeting with the ministry of Petroleum Resources with a view to resolving gas supply-based issues, even as he charged the new appointees to brace up in meeting the energy requirements and avoiding the disruptions in power generation.

A source who confided in LEADERSHIP said the government had to take the hard decision in order to make things right. "Just these past days that the minister was out of the country, the system went down. In fact, the minister was even summoned by the president over the power situation upon his return," the source said.

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Aliko Dangote's cement company to be listed in London Stock Exchange

Aliko Dangote has commenced plans to list his N1.76 trillion ($11 billion) cement business, Dangote Cement Plc, on the London Stock Exchange next year.

Africa's richest man foresees a boom afterwards. He said: "We want to list in London next year. By then the upside to our business will be much bigger than today."

The Nigerian industrialist, who has capitalised on the continent's booming demand for building materials, told The Financial Times he intends to free-float a 20 per cent stake in Dangote Cement to finance its rapid expansion. It will be the first listing of one of Dangote's companies outside Nigeria.

Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan have been appointed as co-leads for the London share issue. Dangote said the company was on track to meet the stringent corporate governance requirements for a premium listing, and that he would give up his current role as chairman.

He said: "My plan is to have different faces (on the board). The face of the chairman will not be Aliko Dangote, it will be somebody else, a professional who is well-respected within investment circles."

Already the largest cement producer in sub-Saharan Africa, Dangote Cement is more than doubling capacity this year to 21m metric tonnes, and wants to reach 43m tonnes in 2015. Besides Nigeria, where it has three plants and 70 per cent market share, the company has contracts to construct factories in eight African countries, from Senegal to South Africa to Ethiopia.

Dangote Cement's net profit in 2011 is expected to be $790m on revenues of $1.5bn, according to guidance filed at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Dangote, whose net worth is $12bn according to Forbes, said he wanted to quadruple profits within four years and turn the business into the world's most profitable cement company.

At the same time, the conglomerate, Dangote Group, is changing focus. It plans to sell 80 per cent stakes in its food business, which include salt, sugar, flour, rice and pasta.

Besides cement, the group will concentrate on three other main sectors, Dangote said. The mining arm will focus on coal, iron and bitumen. The petrochemical business will produce methanol, polyethylene, and fertiliser.

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President Goodluck Jonathan proclamation to end Boko Haram by June might worsen threat

The Vice Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), in Maiduguri, Husseini Hala, has said that President Goodluck Jonathan's pronouncement that his government will end the menace of Boko Haram by the middle of this year can worsen the security crisis in the country.

He said that Boko Haram militants appear to have intensified their attacks in the region following Jonathan's statement just as residents in the area bear the brunt of the violence.

"We are seriously concerned because they have done nothing and the menace is increasing. The militants have been killing people day in, day out; there are a lot of attacks in Maiduguri, they come out to attack the military officers face-to-face," the legal practitioner lamented

Critics have accused the government over what they claim to be the administration's failure to control growing insecurity in northern Nigeria. They said that the government's violent crackdown on suspected Boko Haram members in recent months has escalated violence.

But the administration said that the country's security agencies were working hard to contain the security problems by the middle of this year.

"The stance of the elders of Maiduguri and the population is that they should look for a way of dialoguing with the members of the Boko Haram, so that we will have an end to this crisis," said Hala.

He also said that the government should embark on a confidence building measure so that residents could help with efforts to combat Boko Haram's security threat.

"The people they appointed said that the government is insincere in its move to see that the crisis is settled. They said, if the government is sincere, they are ready to settle. "This is the view of the people of Borno State. Government should negotiate with them so as to bring the crisis to an end."

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Permanent secretary arrested for N14 Billion pension fraud

A Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Niger Delta, Abubakar Kigo and 5 others were arraigned this morning over their involvement in a fraud in which an estimated N14bn was stolen from Nigeria's police pensions administration.

The accused persons were brought to court by the EFCC in whose custody they had been and arraigned before Justice Mohammed Hamza Bello. All accused persons pleaded not guilty to the 16-count charge leveled against them.

Until his promotion to the position of permanent secretary, Abubakar Kigo was the director of the Police Pension Office and it was during his stint there that he allegedly connived with the others to tamper with the pension funds.

The scam had involved the use of over 3,000 bank cheques to make illegal withdrawals by staff of the police pension office.

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