DANGOTE Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals has filed a lawsuit at the Federal High Court in Abuja requesting the annulment of import licenses granted to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, AA Rano Limited, and four other companies. The case centred on the importation of refined petroleum products that Dangote Refinery claimed were already being produced domestically without shortages. In the suit, Dangote Refinery is also demanding ₦100bn in damages from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA). The refinery alleged that the NMDPRA has unlawfully continued to issue import licenses to the NNPCL,…
Author: Hamza Rufai
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OIL marketers have said that the bulk of jet fuel consumed locally is now being supplied by the Dangote Refinery. According to a report by Energy Intelligence, jet fuel marketers say fuel from the 650,000 barrels per day Dangote refinery make up the bulk of jet fuel utilised locally, less than six months after it began production. “We’re already buying from Dangote [now] it’s slightly cheaper or at least the same price as imports,” Asharami Synergy’s managing director, Foluso Sobanjo, told Energy Intelligence in an interview this week. The downstream subsidiary of Sahara Group is now Nigeria’s leading airline fuel…
NO fewer than four vessels carrying imported Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, arrived at seaports situated along the nation’s borders between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20, findings by this newspaper show. According to a document obtained from the Nigerian Port Authority on Sunday, about 123.4 million litres of PMS were berthed at two seaports to improve fuel supply nationwide. The latest development confirms an exclusive report by this newspaper, which disclosed that oil dealers intend to import the commodity to supplement the supply from the $20bn Dangote Petroleum Refinery. The dealers had stated that the supply from…
THE All Progressive Congress, APC, has swept the 21 Local Government Chairmanship seats and 239 councillorship slots in Kogi in the election held on Saturday Mr Mamman Nda-Eri, chairman, Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission, KOSIEC, who announced the results in Lokoja, said the election was peaceful, free, fair and credible. This newspaper reports that among the elected local government chairmen was a woman that clinched the seat in Ogori-Magongo Local Government. “APC performed excellently; it cleared all the chairmanship and councillorship positions, leaving nothing to the other 18 political parties that took part in the election. “The results declared at…
THE Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman noted that the country has recorded a drop in the performance of female students in examination. Mamman gave the expression at the end of a technical and vocational education training camp for girls in Uyo, Akwa Ibom state capital. Although he did not state the reason for the decrease in performance, however, the minister further noted that the camp would trigger female students’ interest in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship. Mamman urged female students to show commitment to their studies. According to him, the President Bola Tinubu-led administration was determined to produce students with…
THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to attend to numerous issues affecting the smooth operations of polytechnics and mono-technics in the country, or face a prolonged industrial action. Addressing journalists at the Plateau State Polytechnic, Barkin Ladi in Plateau State Zonal Coordinator Zone B, Lumpye Simji stated that the national executive council at its last meeting, reviewed the current status of engagements with proprietors of public polytechnics, colleges of technology and mono-technics in the country, specifically on some disturbing issues affecting the polytechnic sector. Some of the issues in contention…
VANDALS have destroyed two towers along the crucial 330kV Shiroro–Kaduna transmission lines 1 and 2, throwing parts of Kano and Kaduna into darkness. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) said Friday that the towers, T133 and T136, suffered extensive damage, resulting in a disruption of electricity supply to parts of the North-West, including Kaduna and Kano. The incident was first detected when one of the transmission lines tripped, shortly followed by the second, prompting TCN to mobilise local vigilante groups for increased patrols around the affected area. TCN’s Shiroro Regional Office said the cables were found to be severely compromised…
FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has expressed worry over the deepening political crisis in Nigeria, pinning the blame on court rulings, which he described as “turning the cone of justice upside down.” Speaking at the 67th birthday celebration and 50-book presentation of renowned human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Professor Mike Ozekhome, the former President also warned Judges not to be swayed by political antics. While addressing the gathering, which he co-chaired alongside former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Jonathan noted that recent court judgments in political matters have thrown the country into disarray, particularly referencing a ruling that empowered…
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited is still the sole off-taker of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery despite the recent directive of the Federal Government that other oil marketers were free to start loading PMS from the plant. Oil marketers revealed on Wednesday that NNPC would continue to be sole off-taker of the product from the $20bn Lekki-based plant until its agreement with the Dangote refinery as regards the lifting of PMS terminates. They, however, did not tell when the agreement between both organisations would end. Officials of NNPC and the Dangote refinery also…
THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) on Tuesday said the ongoing restoration of the national grid which collapsed on Monday is ongoing and almost completed. In a statement on Tuesday, the Public Affairs General Manager of TCN, Ndidi Mbah, said that the national grid experienced a partial disturbance, on Monday, 14th October 2024 at about 6:48 pm. “The statement said although the recovery of the grid commenced immediately, with Azura power station providing the blackstart, grid recovery reached advanced stages at about 10.24 am, today (Tuesday) when it encountered a challenge that caused a slight setback in the recovery process,”…
THE national electricity grid collapsed again on Tuesday, plunging millions of people into darkness. The latest incident comes barely 24 hours after electricity distribution companies across the country announced the grid collapsed around 6:48 p.m, resulting in the loss of power supply across their networks. “Dear valued customer, kindly be informed that there was a system collapse at 09:17hrs which has resulted to a loss of power supply across our network,” Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) which serves some parts of Lagos State said on its X handle. “We are currently working with our partners as we hope for a…
AMID the hardship faced by Nigerians, the Federal Government says it empathises with the citizens, especially the poor. The Vice President, Senator Shettima, stated this in Abuja on Monday during the 30th anniversary of the Nigerian Economic Summit. He defended the economic policies of the current administration while highlighting steps taken by the government to improve the economy. “Some of the policy decisions, the policy options available are painful, but they are almost inevitable,” Shettima said. “My heart and the heart of President Bola Tinubu go to the Nigerian people. We empathise with what the poor and the young are…
GROUP Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, Mele Kyari, says petrol smugglers took advantage of the loopholes in the subsidy regime by making around ₦17m profit per truck in neighbouring countries. Briefing journalists in Abuja, the NNPCL boss said cross-border smuggling was rampant due to the fuel subsidy, with a 6,000-liter truck netting smugglers no less than ₦17 million per trip. “In the last 47 years, PMS has always been subsidised and subsidy is creating arbitrage that means there is a difference between price in one location, lower than what it should be in another location,”…
THE Senate has announced its decision to issue a warrant of arrest for some agencies for their incessant refusal to honour lawmakers’ summonses. This newspaper exclusively gathered that the agencies penned down for invitation by the Senate Committee on Ethics, Priviledges and Public Petitions, led by Senator Neda Imasuen (LP, Edo South), are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, the Nigerian Diaspora Commissions, and the Union Homes Savings And Loans Plc. Others are the Federal Ministry Of Works, Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Sally Best Properties Limited, and the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation. Senator Imasuen had…
THE Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, says the Federal Government is considering options to address the 18-year age limit for university admissions. Speaking at the Ministerial Session of the 68th National Council on Education meeting in Abuja, Prof. Mamman explained that the Federal Government acknowledges that there are students who may be exceptionally talented and would make exclusive provisions for such talents. He also explained that the age limit policy only applies to admission into tertiary institutions and not O’level examinations. “There is a need to clarify yet again the misrepresentation on the issue of the 18 years age…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu is working to reverse Nigeria’s growing unemployment rate, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said on Saturday. Shettima said this at the launch of the Nasarawa state human capital development strategy document and gender transformative human capital development policy framework in Lafia. He stated that the current administration is committed to empowering Nigerians with globally competitive skills which would enable them excel anywhere in the world. “The unemployment rates, the growing informal sector, and low labour force participation must be reversed. This is the dystopia our Human Capital Development Programme is designed to avert, under the mandate of His Excellency,…
THE President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated that the Senate will intervene in the current hike in the pump prices of petrol set by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) if the need arises. Responding to a question after plenary, Senator Akpabio told Senate correspondents that he is yet to make a holistic assessment of the situation but believes that what has happened is owing to deregulation. “It simply means that you are going to stop the idea of subsidy to make sure that the monies are used for other things. So I don’t expect any increase…
THE House of Representatives has Mandated its constitution review Committees, to organise public hearings with a view to addressing permanently the delay in justice delivery in the country and restoring the confidence in the judiciary. This is sequeal to a motion on the need to address delays in the judicial system amid concerns of undermining the public’s trust in the judiciary. The motion which was raised by Honourable Ganiyu Ayuba, drew attention to some states of the federation where cases in trial courts that should be resolved within months, last four to five years before judgement is delivered, especially long-term…
THE Federal Ministry of Education has set up a 31-man panel to renegotiate the agreement entered into between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities. The committee, according to findings by our correspondent, will be inaugurated next Wednesday. This move by the government is part of plans to avert a potential disruption in the academic calendar of universities, following a fresh strike threat issued by ASUU. Speaking to our correspondent in Abuja, the Director of Press, FME, Folasade Boriowo, said, “The government has started working, and I am sure that ASUU won’t be embarking on a strike…
THE demolition of Crystal Place Mall, Ilorin, owned by former House of Representatives member, Moshood Mustapha, has raised dust in Kwara State. The development has further widened the rift between Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Mustapha who are of same party. The property was allegedly pulled down on Sunday night with the police providing security. Occupiers of the complex claimed the the Kwara State Geographic Information Service (KW-GIS) served them a 3-hour vacation notice on Friday, citing violations. But the chairman of KW-GIS, Suleiman Abdulkareem, explained that the land was originally allocated to Mustapha for a commercial car park. “But he…