The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Adamawa/Taraba chapter, has expressed resolve to continue its ongoing strike even as petrol sells N2,000 per litre.

The IPMAN Chairman, Alhaji Dahiru Buba, stated this in an interview with the journalists in Yola on Tuesday.

He said that the strike was occasioned by incessant harassment of its members and illegal seizures of their tankers carrying petrol by officers of the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS).

He said Customs officers had abandoned their designated areas of operation at the borders and were now targeting legitimate businesses in metropolitan and local government areas.

According to him, these have led to financial losses, artificial scarcity and hike in products’ prices and the strike will continue until NCS stops their activities.

The strike and attendant high cost of petrol has resulted in low vehicular movements on the roads.

Abubakar Muhammed, a resident, told journalists that workers and other commuters now find it difficult to get transport to their offices and destinations.

Muhammad explained that this was due to the sharp rise in transport fares as commuters now pay N700 instead of N300 for a drop.

Most fuel stations in Yola are closed and motorists can only source petrol from black markets in some parts of the metropolis and state.

On June 10, the Comptroller-General of the NCS, Adewale Adeniyi, during a news briefing in Yola, solicited support and cooperation of all stakeholders in the fight against smuggling, especially of petrol.

He said that smuggling of petroleum products across the country’s borders was a sabotage of Nigeria’s economy.

Adeniyi therefore solicited the cooperation and support of all Nigerians with security agencies to curb the menace.

Sahara Energy has unveiled its target of achieving zero carbon emissions from its oil and gas operations by 2030.

The company, along with its sister companies in the energy value chain, has commenced arrangements to reduce carbon emissions and earn carbon credits for a sustainable future.

The agenda was disclosed at a news conference, tagged, “Carbon Footprint and the African Narrative”,  held by Sahara Group and Asharami Square in Lagos on Tuesday.

Mr Wole Ajeigbe, Group Project Manager, Asharami Energy,  while speaking on “Decarbonisation of Africa’s Upstream Operations”, said Sahara Energy was building a sustainable energy future with an ambitious but pragmatic approach to its upstream carbon net zero journey.

According to him, efforts are ongoing at its seven oil-producing assets across Nigeria to ensure that operations at the sites are considerate of global warming.

Ajeigbe said that the net zero plan would be achieved gradually by reducing and minimising carbon emissions on a yearly basis.

He said that the company had some gas commercialisation projects which were expected to be completed by 2025 to 2026.

He listed the strategies to include; elimination of gas flare across its upstream operations; reduction in freshwater usage during operation; and making use of Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) among others.

Emphasiaing its determination, he said that the company had already joined the global group of CCUS, emerging as the first African company in the forum.

Ajeigbe said, to ensure oil and gas continue to be used to meet Africa’s energy demands, the sector needed to decarbonise its operations quickly.

He noted that the energy demand and usage in Africa would increase significantly in coming years,

Ajeigbe stressed the need for the government to create an enabling environment that would stimulate investments and grant fiscal incentives on gas projects such as tax holidays, funding recurities, risk mitigation among others.

The government and stakeholders, according to him, also need to encourage availability of capital pools; improve bankability of gas projects; give support to projects that have taken decarbonisation seriously; and attract skills and develop the capabilities needed for the energy future.

Regional Director, West Africa, Ford Foundation, Dr Chichi Aniagolu-Okoye, said although Africa was contributing about  four per cent to global warming, the continent has been severely affected by the phenomenon.

She said the fact that Africa holds up to 17 per cent of the global population, yet contributes just four per cent to global carbon emissions.

This, he noted, means that the continent could do more for a sustainable environment through careful and strategic planning.

Aniagolu-Okoye said that Africa must focus not only on challenges, but also on opportunities that global warming presents.

“There are numerous opportunities to place Africa firmly at the forefront of climate debate and the media should lead the campaign,” she said.

The Director, Governance and Sustainability, Sahara Group, Ms Ejiro Gray, spoke on most viable solutions for mitigating carbon emissions and meeting Africa’s development.

According to her, these solutions include natural gas development; increase in use of renewables; protection and rehabilitation of African natural carbon sinks.

Gray said that other were innovation in low cost/low emissions clean energy solutions; carbon culture storage/carbon capture and re-utilisation and utilisation of domestic knowledge.

She said that Sahara had continued to make improvements to its operations, to reduce the carbon footprint and by extension, the continent footprint.

Gray listed some of the strategies to include; increase use of renewables; gas commercialisation; research and development and sustainable energy and carbon sinks.

Others are Carbon Capture Usage and Storage (CCUS); tree planting initiatives; and awareness campaigns for youths, among others.

The Head, Corporate Communications, Sahara Group, Bethel Obioma, said the Asharami Square has come to stay and would be having training and mentorship for journalists.

Obioma said that it would also be having Asharami Awards to appreciate those works that had contributed to building sustainability in Africa.

He said that the body was already in partnership with University of Lagos and Pan Atlantic University in the quest to upscale skill on sustainability.

The number of electricity consumers rose by 210,000 from 12.12 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 to 12.33 million in the first quarter of 2024.

The National Bureau of Statistics stated in its Electricity Report for the first quarter (Q1) of 2024 released on Tuesday in Abuja that the increase was by 1.78 per cent.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the review focuses on energy billed, revenue generated, and customers by DISCOS under the reviewed period.

It stated that on a year-on-year basis, the number of electricity customers increased by 9.47 per cent in Q1 2024 from 11.27 million reported in Q1 2023.

It said in Q1 2024, the number of metered customers stood at 5.91 million compared with the 5.61 million recorded in Q4 2023, this indicated a 5.38 per cent increase.

“On a year-on-year basis, the figure grew by 11.26 per cent from the 5.31 million reported in Q1 2023,’’ it said.

Similarly, estimated electricity customers stood at 6.43 million in Q1 2024, showing an increase of 10.22 per cent over the 5.83 million recorded in Q4 2023.

“On a year-on-year basis, estimated customers increased by 7.88 per cent in Q1 2024 from the 5.96 million recorded in Q1 2023,” it stated.

The NBS also said that electricity distribution companies collected N291.62 billion in revenue in Q1 2024 compared with the N294.95 billion they collected in Q4 2023.

It added that on a year-on-year basis, revenue collected rose by 17.91 per cent over the N247.33 billion collected in Q1 2023.

It stated that electricity supply was 5,769 (Gwh) in the first quarter of 2024 from 6,432 (Gwh) recorded in the fourth quarter of 2023.

However, the report said on a year-on-year basis, electricity supply decreased by 1.41 per cent in Q1 2024 compared with the 5,851 (Gwh) reported in Q1 2023.