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IMF LOAN SENATE Approves GJ's $915 Million Dollar debt

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on April 28, 2010 at 1:51am
Is it sheer coincidence that Olusegun Aganga was made Chairman of the IMf/World Bank and now the senators have appeased the World Bank by accpeting the GJ loan ?

Senate Approves FG’s $915m World Bank Loan

Senate yesterday approved the request by the Acting President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, to borrow $915 million (N138.165bn) from the World Bank.
Jonathan said that $179 million (N27.02bn) out of the total loan package would be utilized for the funding of the 2010 budget.
He had said in his letter to the National Assembly that the loan would be used to finance development in critical sectors of the economy.
Before approval was given, Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmad Lawan (ANPP, Yobe North) demanded clarification on the expenditure plan for specific projects and communities that are expected to benefit from them.
photo:Segun Aganga World Bank chairman and Minister of Finance
 Lawan said this would have bolstered a better appreciation of the projects instead of the wide scale listing of projects such as powers and rural development.
According to him, “In as much as I support the loan, I want to know what exactly are those projects that the money will be used for. I think it will also be proper for the government to tell us the communities that will benefit from the loan in the rural areas development scheme.”

Chair of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP, Enugu North) said the loan would bolster development in the country.
According to him, “We found out that it was a worthwhile development to support our Acting President’s request to draw from the World Bank.

“The loan will support development of our energy sector, support opening of the rural areas, support the governors in providing infrastructure. We look back at it and consider it in order.”
Eze added, “We should be cautious about the loan; it should not be about borrowing but about the utilisation.
“The areas that have been outlined for this loan are critical, urban and water transport, human capacity development and power infrastructure development projects across the country.
“We should ensure that this loan is frugally managed so that we do not slip into where we are coming from.”
The House of Representatives had last week considered and approved the same request.
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Aero may halt operations due to accumulated debt

Posted by 9jabook.com on April 28, 2010 at 1:36am
Once the most prestigious airline to fly with ,

Today,Aero Contractors, one of Nigeria’s oldest commercial airline involved in domestic and regional transport business, may suspend its flight operations following accumulated debts of about $200m.

The airline, which has been in regular negotiations with its banker (Oceanic Bank Plc) for about six months, disclosed that it has now reached a point where it is difficult for the carrier to operate on the terms of discussions with the financial institution.

“Though flight services might be affected if this continues, Aero is still flying and operations are still on,” said a reliable source at the carrier on Tuesday in Lagos.

Meanwhile, the airline in a statement “regrettably” disclosed that the unilateral decision taken by the bank on the morning of April 23, have effectively prevented the carrier from paying its suppliers and lessors, including Canadian Helicopter Company (CHC).

“The dilemma centres on the allocation of historical debt. The management teams at Oceanic Bank and Aero have been in constant dialogue about this matter for the previous six months. However, they have been unable to agree on a resolution that will allow Aero to continue trading as a going concern,” said the carrier in a statement.

The carrier, however, disclosed that it has approached Nigeria’s minister of aviation, Fidelia Njeze; the National Security Adviser, Aliyu Mohammed; and the Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Harold Demuren, in the belief that they will intervene as an arbitrating party between Aero and Oceanic.

Commenting on the development, the airline’s chief executive officer, Shaf Syed, disclosed that the carrier is poised to set itself on a better pedestal, regardless of the thorny condition.

“Despite the difficult situation that Aero finds itself in today, I am sure the strategic importance of Aero Contractors to the national economy will be appreciated and good sense will prevail all around,” he said.

“We have every confidence that Aero will be able to set itself on a good platform and we look forward to a bright future, serving a third of the Nigerian Oil & Gas industry and 1.5 million passengers each year.”

It would be recalled that Aero Contractors commenced the online sales of reduced promotional airfares varying from N7,000 to N3,000 across all domestic routes, which it covers for one way trips.

The airline, which is notable for the introduction of online check-in of passengers, recently introduced an advanced pricing strategy and price optimisation application called Aviator, which has a capacity of making available 26 different types of fare on every flight for passengers.

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Oceanic freezes Aero’s account over N30bn debt

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on April 27, 2010 at 10:23pm

Oceanic Bank Plc has frozen Aero Contractors’ account with it over an estimated debt of $200m (about N30bn), an authoritative source at the airline told our correspondent on Monday.

According to the source, a six-month old controversy over the status of the alleged debt led to the freezing of the airline’s account by the bank on Friday.

However, a spokesman for Oceanic, Ms. Nonye Ugwujide, said in a telephone conversation with our correspondent on Friday that she had not been briefed and, therefore, could not comment on the development.

But, Aero, which confirmed the development in a statement on Monday, said it might soon stop operations because of the unilateral action by Oceanic on Friday.

The airline said the decision by Oceanic had stopped it from paying its suppliers.

The airline said it had approached the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze; National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. (rtd) Aliyu Muhammed; and the Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Harold Demuren, to intervene.

The statement by Aero’s Managing Director, Mr. Shaf Syed, which was obtained through email, read in part, “Aero has been locked in discussions with its bankers for some months now and it has now reached a point where it is difficult for Aero to operate on these terms.

“The dilemma centres on the allocation of historical debt. The management teams at Oceanic Bank and Aero have been in constant dialogue about this matter for the previous six months; however, they have been unable to agree on a resolution that will allow Aero to continue trading as a going concern. ..

“Regrettably, Oceanic took unilateral decisions on the morning of Friday April 23, 2010, which have effectively prevented Aero from paying her suppliers and lessors (including the Canadian Helicopter Company).

“Aero has approached the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze; the National Security Adviser, Lt. Gen. (rtd) Aliyu Mohammed; and the Director-General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, in the belief that they will intervene as an arbitrating party between Aero and Oceanic.

“Aero, for its part, needs to complete the full cycle of turn-around that was started last year. The company has new management with a new vision, and is in the process of bearing the fruits of financial success.”

Syed added, “Despite the difficult situation that Aero finds itself in today, I am sure the strategic importance of Aero Contractors to the national economy will be appreciated and good sense will prevail all around.

“We have every confidence that Aero will be able to set itself on a good platform and we look forward to a bright future, serving a third of the Nigerian oil and gas industry and 1.5 million passengers each year.”

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