President Muhammadu Buhari administration has broken so many giant-sized jinxes in the last sis years, the Presidency has said.
Presidential spokesperson Femi Adesina, in a statement on Sunday, said “a giant-sized jinx was broken recently when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced a first net profit in the 44-year history of the organisation.
He said under President Buhari, who doubles as the Minister for Petroleum Resources, the oil conglomerate announced a first-ever profit of N287 billion, saying such had never happened before.
He, however, observed that this feat was by no means the only major jinx broken by the Buhari administration.
Adesina listed other jinxes broken to include the “Petroleum Industry Bill signed into law in 2021, after almost two decades in the works.
“It is aimed at reforming a Petroleum Act dating back to 1969, as well as other supplementary laws and regulations.
“Deep Offshore and Inland Basin (Production Sharing Contracts) Act, 2019, amended for the first time since 1993.
More than six billion dollars of inherited cash call arrears now being cleared by the Buhari administration, since 2016.
“More than three billion dollars of the arrears (payments due to International Oil Companies) have since been paid,“ Adesina said.
He said the Buhari administration has also overseen the first successful Marginal Fields Bid Round in almost 20 years.
“The Buhari administration has launched the first National Social Investment Programme in the country’s history. Today it is the largest Social Investment Programme in Africa and one of the largest in the world.
Restoration of the Federal Budget to a January-to-December cycle, after more than a decade, he said.
The presidential aide said that the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) though established in 2011 did not have an enabling Act of the National Assembly until 2018 when President Buhari assented to the NCDC Act.
Nigeria Police Act, 2020: The first overhaul of the Police Act since it was originally enacted in 1943
“Nigeria Correctional Service Act, 2019 overhauled the existing Prisons Act, almost 50 years after it was first enacted.
“Finance Acts 2019 and 2020 – the first time ever that federal budgets are being accompanied by dedicated and specific reform legislation, to support implementation.
Adesina also listed the suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences Bill (SPOMO), 2019 as one of the jinxes broken, pointing out that it was the first of its kind in the entire Gulf of Guinea dedicated to prosecuting maritime offences.
Police Trust Fund Act, 2019: First-ever legislation dedicated to addressing the financing of the Police Force
“CAMA, 2020 – the first overhaul of the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) in 30 years.
He said the Discrimination Against Persons With Disabilities (Prohibition) Act, 2018 was another unprecedented piece of legislation in Nigeria and Treasury Single Account (TSA), started in 2012, expanded across the entire government by President Buhari.
Adesina also listed the completion of some major projects by the Buhari administration to uplift the quality of life of the citizens.
He said the projects included the Itakpe-Warri Rail Line, started in 1987, was abandoned for decades, and finally completed in 2020.
Others are the completion of four standard gauge railway projects between 2016 and 2021: Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line, Abuja Metro Line, Itakpe-Warri Rail Line and Lagos-Ibadan Rail Line.
He said Buhari is the first president to start and complete a rail project in Nigeria’s history – Lagos-Ibadan Rail.
“The last NLNG Train project (Train 6) was completed in 2008. President Buhari has successfully flagged off Train 7 construction.
“Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway, undergoing full reconstruction for the first time since it was constructed in the late 1970s.
