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Mr Kelechi Ofoegbu, Executive Commissioner, Economic Regulation and Strategy Planning, NUPRC, while providing insight into the regulations explained that the measurement regulations would give the regulator the capability of knowing exactly what was produced by different upstream oil operators.

He said, it became necessary to understand the regulation because through the years of production in Nigeria, there has been the quest to know how much we produce and how much we consume, from upstream to midstream to downstream.

“If you ask 10 people in the industry what are your production and consumption numbers, you will get 10 different responses. So nobody takes us seriously, whether is on gas flaring, or whatever. I think that is enough already,” he said.

The engagement had in attendance the Oil Producers Trade Section, Independent Petroleum Producers Association, IOCs, Indigenous Operators among others.

(NAN)

general election - Expert

•As NILDS DG, KONRAD says Proper Democracy depends on Proper Media •want prosecution of electoral act violators

Highlighting the substantive and Noteworthy Provisions in the 2022 Electoral Act” said the Section 3 sub section 3: recommended that Funding for the election shall be released 1 year ahead, adding that INEC Spent N117 billion in Cyber Security alone

Also the NILDS DG in his opening said “I call on all security and enforcement agencies to closely study all the electoral offences in the Act and takes measures to arrest and prosecute offenders.

“The Electoral Act has robust provisions prohibiting campaigning or broadcasting based on religious, tribal, or sectional reason for the purpose of promoting or opposing a particular political party or the election of a particular candidate (s.97). Section 91 prohibits campaigns or slogans that are tainted with abusive language that directly or indirectly injure religious, ethnic, tribal or sectiona| feelings.

“It also prescribes penalties for breaches. Yet, no politician or party has been charged despite abundant evidence of blatant contraventions of these provisions by people from all parties.

“Additionally, the Electoral Act has a few provisions on the use of state media but, unfortunately, nothing concrete to regulate private media organisations. Nonetheless, Section 120 (6) prohibits the dissemination of false results and prescribes a penalty of three years imprisonment”.

He decried the rise of negative campaigns by politicians and tasked the media to redirect the candidate in their approach to electioneering campaigns. “The failure of the media to re-frame the conversation and re-direct politicians to issues that confront Nigeria has largely worsened the situation”, he alleged.

Conttinuing, he advised, “I challenge you, therefore, to reflect on your role as watchdogs of our democracy. As professionals, you have a duty to inform the public and provide them with the information they need to make Informed decisions about leadership and policy.

“However, the media is better placed to set the agenda for public discussion of critical issues, especially in the build-up to the elections”.

In a welcome remarks, the resident representative of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) in Nigeria, Marija Peran, said that it was critical to prepare the media for the task ahead.

She noted that a strong media coverage is needed to x-ray the election and strengthen democracy in Nigeria assuring that KAS will continue to contribute to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria.

“It was really important that we hold this training before the election. The next four years will shape the political direction that Nigeria will go. One of the mandates of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, is to support all democratic institutions. And the media is very important to us,” Peran said.

The Chairperson of the House of Representatives Press Corps, Ms. Grace Ike, said the training is the most important training session because it dwells on two most critical issues in the history of Nigeria today.