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Afriland Properties Plc has faulted the Lagos State Government’s claim that it paid N50m for a 50-year lease of Falomo Shopping Centre in the Ikoyi area of the state. The firm, which was the concessionaire of the property, said the contract was negotiated transparently in accordance with best practices, adding that the transaction was not detrimental to the people of Lagos State as claimed by the government. Afriland, in a statement on Thursday, explained that the Lagos State Development Property Corporation, acting on behalf of the Lagos State Government, established a Special Purpose Vehicle, SPV, which was jointly owned by the parties for the purpose of developing the Falomo project. The statement said, “Under the terms of the agreement, the SPV ─ Falomo Shopping Centre Development Company Ltd. ─ was granted a concession to develop, build, operate and maintain the project on a build, operate and transfer basis. “Afriland paid N50m to the LSDPC as an expression of in

The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has said that scrapping electricity fixed charges may impact negatively on the market participants who have invested a lot and are continuously making investments in the industry. In a statement on Wednesday, NERC described electricity fixed charge as a universal practice, which enables operators to recover the capital and fixed cost. NERC’s Chairman, Dr. Sam Amadi stated that the fixed charge is not tied to consumption, as such, NERC cannot wake up in the morning and say, we have abolished this. We will always go through due process and even before the intervention, we have commenced the process’’. According to him, Senate’s concern is not far-fetched. “Senate is just worried that people are paying for what they did not consume”, while he maintained that the fixed charge that consumers pay is not an illegal. “Section 32 of the EPSR Act 2005 mandates the Commission to approve a tariff that allows investors recover their pru

Over 46 pairs would converge at the high brow Lakowe Lakes Golf and Country Estate from September 12 for this year’s regional finals of the International Pairs Golf Championship, which the prestigious Lagos club would be hosting for the first time. The one-day stableford, all-score count competition, according to the Chief Executive Officer of Falcons Golf Development Company Limited, the new franchise holder of the event in Nigeria, Remi Olukoya, would feature over 46-pairs, but slots for 16-pairs have already been taken. According to Olukoya, the remaining slots for 30-pairs would be given out on first come first serve basis. Winners of the competition would be given an all expense paid trip to the world finals of International Pairs holding at Marriott Denia, Alicante, in Spain in October this year. Speaking in Lagos during the week, Olukoya said the repackaged International Pairs competition would be given its best shot ever, saying every participants in this year’s editio

The once bubbling federal secretariat located in Ikoyi, Lagos, has become a shadow of its past as hoodlums and worshippers have taken over the 12-storey complex. This old secretariat complex was abandoned 24 year ago (1991), following the relocation of the federal capital to Abuja. Those who spoke to the Punch correspondent on Wednesday when she visited the place agreed to do so on the condition of anonymity, due to the presence of policemen around the complex. They said they observed movement of people within the complex, especially at night, but could not explain what they were always doing there. “The only activity that goes on here during the day is that Muslims pray in a makeshift mosque inside the complex on Fridays but there are also rumours that some criminals also go there at night,” a commercial driver operating in the area, said. The complex comprising three towers of 12-storey buildings was conceived by the Gen. Yakubu Gowon-led military government in 197

Members of the independent petroleum producers group on Wednesday said they would achieve 1.2 million barrels per day domestic refining capacity of petroleum products by 2020. The group, which consists of indigenous companies responsible for natural gas and crude oil production, currently produces over 200,000 barrels of oil and over 900 million cubic of gas per day. A member of the group, Mr. Austin Avuru, disclosed this target to State House correspondents after a meeting they had with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Avuru, who is the Chief Executive Officer of Seplat Petroleum, said it was one of the issues they raised with Buhari during the closed-door session. He said as indigenous operators, they had resolved that domestic refining capacity should not be less than one million by 2020. He said, “The issue of private refineries was one of the points we raised with the President. “We think that by 2020, domestic refining capacity sho

The Lagos State Government on Wednesday terminated the concession granted by the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation to Afriland Properties for the redevelopment of the Falomo Shopping Centre, Ikoyi. A statement by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, said the governor approved the termination of the project based on a recent discovery that the concession was “grossly detrimental to the interests of the people of the state”. The statement said, “Only N50m was paid by the concessionaire for a 50-year lease of the property belonging to the government. “The government, as custodian of the interests of Lagosians, is committed to the restructuring of the LSDPC to ensure it begins to provide positive capital returns to the state for the ultimate benefit of the people.” The statement added that Ambode recently relieved the former Managing Director of the LSDPC, Mr. Biodun Oki, of his appointment and appointed Mr. Jacob Agosu as ac

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has highlighted the need for the government to spur investment in embedded power generation by providing an enabling environment for the private sector. The LCCI said the private sector must be empowered and attracted to actively participate in power generation and distribution. Embedded power is power generated on a smaller scale and not centrally dispatched through the grid, but directly connected and supplied to a distribution network or customer load point. It entails a bilateral agreement between the generator (that is the company that generates the power) and the distribution company. Speaking at a seminar organised by the Power Sector Group of the LCCI on Tuesday, the President, LCCI, Alhaji Remi Bello, said, “We expect to see government provide an enabling environment for private sector investments in the embedded power generation sector.” He said the sector had been limited by myriads of factors such as poor gas suppl