A SUIT filed by the former Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, to challenge the order obtained by the EFCC for final forfeiture of her seized assets, was on Monday stalled at a Federal High Court, Abuja. The matter, which was before Justice Inyang Ekwo, was fixed for further mention in the day’s cause list. However, the case could not proceed because the court did not sit. Justuce Ekwo was said to be attending a seminar at the National Judicial Institute, NJI, in Abuja. The matter was subsequently fixed for Nov. 21. The ex-minister had, through her counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome,…
Author: Hamza Rufai
Read More
THE Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited may begin the supply of crude oil in naira to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery this week following the announcement by the Federal Government that the naira-for-crude deal has commenced. Also, following the promise by the government, three more refineries are getting set to start the production of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, it was gathered on Sunday. The three refineries include the 11,000 barrels per day capacity Aradel refinery in Rivers State; 20,000-capacity Clairgold refinery in Delta State; and 12,000-capacity Azikel in Bayelsa. This came as officials at the $20bn Dangote refinery…
THE Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has issued a warning to 3,273 allottees to settle their outstanding payments for Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) within two weeks or risk revocation. The allottees include prominent Nigerians and corporate organisations. According to online newspaper, Premium Times, a two-week notice was issued by the administration to the affected plots located in the Maitama District of Abuja. It cited infrastructural development within the district as the reason for the notice. The notice read: “The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), is carrying out infrastructural development in Maitama II (A10)…
JUSTICE Evelyn Maha of the Federal High Court in Abuja has issued an order barring the Directorate of Road Traffic Services, also called the Vehicle Inspection Office (VIO), from further stopping vehicles on the road, impounding or confiscating vehicles, and imposing fines on motorists. News Point Nigeria reports that in a judgement on Thursday, Justice Maha issued the order on a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by a human rights activist and public interest attorney, Abubakar Marshal. Also affected by the order are the Director of Road Transport; the Area Commander, Jabi, and the team leader, Jabi, and the Minister…
A FORMER Senate Majority Leader, Jonathan Zwingina, has reportedly passed on. Zwingina was also the former Director-General of the MKO Abiola campaign Organisation in the June 12, 1993 presidential election. Although his family has yet to formally confirm his death, this newspaper reports that the Adamawa State-born politician died on Wednesday, October 2, at the age of 70 in the nation’s capital, Abuja. He was reported to have died after a protracted illness. The former lawmaker represented Adamawa South Senatorial District in the Senate. He was a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party but later defected to the All…
THE Defence Headquarters has announced the dismissal of a naval rating, Seaman Haruna Abbas, from service for disobeying lawful military orders. Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the Director of Defence Information, Brigadier General Tukur Gusau, said Abbas Haruna was dismissed after the Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla, ratified the judgement of the court martial instituted by the Defence Headquarters on September 19, 2024. General Gusau explained that the dismissed seaman was arraigned before a court-martial on a three-count charge bordering on disobedience to orders, resisting arrest and destruction of service property in contravention of Sections 56 (1), 86…
THE Senate has summoned the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to appear before it to explain the abandonment of a portion of the Ogbomoso-Oyo Road by the contractor assigned to handle it. The upper chamber asked Senator Barinada Mpigi, (PDP, Rivers South-East) led Committee on Works to immediately summon the Minister to unravel the circumstances that led to the abandonment of the said project. Lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, direct the relevant authorities to complete the rehabilitation of the old Ogbomoso-Oyo Road to forestall further negative occurrences on the road. These resolutions…
IMPORTATION of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol dropped by 3.5 billion litres in the last year, data gathered from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has shown. In the latest petroleum products distribution statistics released by the agency on Tuesday, total petrol imports reduced to 20.30 billion litres in 2023 from the 23.54 billion litres recorded in 2022, showing a decrease of 13.77 per cent year-on-year. NBS also noted that petrol imports dropped by 3.58 billion litres in the second half of 2023 compared to the year’s first half. It said the country imported 8.36 billion litres…
THE landing cost of petrol has dropped from the N981/litre recorded on September 25, 2024, to N945.63/litre as of September 27. This is according to data released by the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria on Monday. The drop in the landing cost of petrol happened following the appreciation of the naira against the United States dollar. In the MEMAN report, a dollar was said to have been exchanged for N1,586.26 on September 27 while it was N1,667.22 on September 25. Also, Brent, the global benchmark for crude, dropped from the $73.67/barrel recorded in the last report released by MEMAN…
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned a former governor of Taraba State, Darius Ishaku, and a former Permanent Secretary of the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Bello Yero, before Justice Sylvanus Oriji of the Federal Capital Territory High Court, Abuja for fraud. Both are being prosecuted on a 15-count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust, conspiracy, and conversion of public funds to the tune of N27bn. One of the charges reads: “That you Darius Dickson Sshaku whilst being the governor of Taraba State and Bello Yero whilst being the permanent secretary,…
INSPECTOR General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered water-tight security across the country to create a safe and conducive environment for citizens to celebrate the country’s 64th independence. In a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, on Monday, the IGP ordered the deployment of adequate human and tactical resources to enable a maximum level of security for the independence celebration on Wednesday. “The Police, in synergy with other security agencies, will fortify various designated event venues and the major highways across the country, to forestall any threats to lives and property and the celebration. “Additionally, the IGP…
SEVENTEEN state governors have raised committees to implement the N70,000 new minimum wage for workers across the country. The 17 states which set up the implementation committees are Ogun, Ekiti, Sokoto, Kebbi, Osun, Enugu, Borno, Zamfara, Kogi, Kwara, Gombe, Kano, Taraba, Delta, Rivers, Jigawa and Abia. The development is happening as the Federal Government commenced payment of the new minimum wage to its 1.2 million workers last Thursday. The Accountant General of the Federation, Oluwatoyin Madein, in a memo to the Budget Office of the Federation, noted that the civil servants would be paid the minimum wage with effect from…
PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday appointed seven executive directors for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). This is contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. The appointees are: Ayo Adewuyi — Reappointed Executive Director, News; Barrister Ibrahim Aliyu — Executive Director, Special Duties; Malam Muhammed Fatuhu Mustapha — Executive Director, Administration and Training. Others include Mrs Apinke Effiong — Executive Director, Finance; Mrs Tari Taylaur– Executive Director, Programme; Mr Sadique Musa Omeiza – Executive Director, Engineering; and Mrs Oluwakemi Fashina – Executive Director, Marketing.
A FORMER Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, says contrary to popular belief among the members of the public, many politicians in Nigeria are not in government for money. Dogara, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Friday monitored by News Point Nigeria, said many government officials are ready to work for free if people’s expectations on them are lowered to an extent. “If we can cut the demands on some of these our government officials by 90 per cent I assure you that there are so many people there who are willing to…
THE Chairman of BUA Foods Plc, Abdul Samad Rabiu, on Thursday, blamed the artificial scarcity and rising cost of foodstuffs in Nigeria on the activities of some greedy distributors and producers. This was while the business mogul applauded President Bola Tinubu for granting duty waivers on food imports into the country. Rabiu disclosed this at the 7th annual general meeting of the company in Abuja. He said, “BUA products are the cheapest in the market. And because we have other companies producing similar products, it is very difficult to price them low. For instance, a few months ago, the price…
THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the sale of $20,000 to each of the eligible Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in the country at the rate of N1,590/$. In a circular to all Bureau De Change operators dated September 25, 2024, the apex bank said the forex would provide “additional liquidity to this segment of the foreign exchange market”. The circular was signed by CBN’s Acting Director of Trade and Exchange Department, W.J. Kanya. Kanya said, “To this end, the CBN has approved the sale of $20,000 to each eligible BDC at the rate of N1,590/$. This is…
FORMER Minister of Finance and National Planning, Shamsuddeen Usman, says it takes deft navigation of many political manoeuvres to become a minister in Nigeria. Usman, who was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, said there is a lot of “scheming” that makes ministers unable to excellently execute many reforms they loudly propound before their appointments. He said, “There are a lot of things that you try to do but the political system is set in such a way that is very difficult to get things done properly. “Public servants are put…
THE leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has disclosed that investigation of alleged economic sabotage in the petroleum sector by Ad – hoc committees separately set up by both the Senate and the House of Representatives in July, will now be jointly handled by both chambers. Senator Bamidele who doubles as the Chairman of the investigative Adhoc committee stated this in a statement personally signed by him on Monday. He says: ‘As we return fully to the parliamentary sessions on Tuesday this week, the National Assembly will without ambiguity, revisit its decision to decisively address challenges in the petroleum…
THE President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has called on the Federal Government to end fuel subsidies completely. He said the removal would help determine the actual petrol consumption in the country, as he confirmed ownership of two oil blocks in the upstream sector with an expected production date of next month. Dangote also stated that fuel production from his $20bn mega refinery in Lagos will help ease pressures on the naira. The refinery can refine 650,000 barrels of crude oil daily. Speaking in a 26-minute interview with Bloomberg Television in New York on Monday, monitored…
PROFESSOR Adamu Abubakar Gwarzo, Founder and President of the MAAUN Group of Universities, has warmly congratulated Nigeria’s First Lady, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, on the occasion of her 64th birthday. In a heartfelt statement released on Sunday, Prof. Gwarzo praised Mrs. Tinubu for her unwavering dedication to fostering peace and promoting harmonious coexistence among Nigeria’s diverse communities. “As a beacon of humility and simplicity, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu truly deserves to be celebrated on this auspicious occasion, marking a significant milestone in her life,” Prof. Gwarzo expressed. He emphasized that her exemplary leadership qualities make her a role model for women leaders…