Author: Farouk Abbas

THE Dangote Petroleum Refinery has started supplying Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, to some oil marketers directly without recourse to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. It was gathered that while more oil marketers were intensifying efforts to buy the product directly from the plant, others were importing the commodity, as hundreds of millions of litres of imported PMS should hit Nigeria’s shores in two weeks’ time. Recall that this newspaper reported on Monday that no fewer than four vessels carrying imported PMS arrived at seaports situated along the nation’s borders between Friday, October 18, and Sunday, October 20.…

A FORMER national publicity secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Kola Ologbondiyan, has said that the party leadership has resolved that the North-Central will produce a candidate to take over as the substantive national chairman of the party in November, replacing Umar Damgunm who has been acting in that capacity since the ouster of Iyorchia Ayu by a court judgement in 2023. Ologbondiyan said it is a consensus conclusion of the PDP leaders who met in Abuja on Tuesday and postponed the party’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting originally scheduled to hold on October 24 to November 28, 2024,…

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors forum has rescheduled its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, originally scheduled for October 24, 2024, to November 28, 2024. The decision was reached following the consultative meeting of its various organs, which was held on Tuesday at the Bauchi State Governors’ Lodge, Tatari Ali House, Asokoro. A communiqué issued and signed by the Chairman, PDP Governors’ Forum and Governor of Bauchi State, Senator Bala Mohammed after the meeting, said the meeting postponement is to ensure that the party goes into the forthcoming Ondo gubernatorial elections scheduled for November 16, 2024, with the unity and…

THE Senate has announced a six-man ad-hoc committee to investigate recent allegations levelled against Sen. Ashiru Oyelola representing Kwara South. The committee is expected to summon the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to explain the recent allegations. It would be recalled that the NDLEA had days ago alleged that Senator Ashiru’s house in Ilorin, Kwara State, was raided, and illicit drugs were found. The accusation followed contributions by Senator Ashiru on the floor of the Senate on the 15th of October, during a debate on the Bill to establish the National Institute for Drug Awareness and Rehabilitation, where the…

THE Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) says its 330kV Ugwaji–Apir Double Circuit transmission lines 1 & 2 tripped due to a fault, leading to a power outage in several parts of northern Nigeria. In a statement on Tuesday, the TCN General Manager of Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah said the development “forced power outage affecting the communities in the North-east, North-west and parts of North-central”. The affected states are; Kano, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Niger, Kogi, Yobe, Gombe and parts of Kwara and Benue States. “At approximately 4:53 am, the Ugwuaji–Markurdi 330kV Line 2 tripped and 243 MW on that line…

FOLLOWING the suit filed by the 16 state governments contesting the constitutionality of the laws that established the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in the country, the Supreme Court is set to hear their request today. The governors and the EFCC are eagerly awaiting the judgment of the apex court, which would confirm the legality or otherwise of the anti-graft commission. The state governments, in their suit, had argued that the Supreme Court, in Dr Joseph Nwobike Vs Federal Republic of Nigeria, held that it was a United Nations Convention against corruption that was reduced into the EFCC Establishment Act…

IN a surprising twist of events, the Dangote Group says it will withdraw its ₦100bn suit against the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) for granting import licenses to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, AA Rano Limited, and four other companies despite local production of petroleum products. The Dangote Group, in a statement late Monday, said the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja on September 6, 2024, was “an old issue” and that events have overtaken the suit. A spokesman for the group, Anthony Chiejina, said the parties involved…

DESPITE the huge investment in the power sector, the national grid collapsed about 105 times under the administrations of President Bola Tinubu and his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, this newspaper reports. Findings on Sunday showed that Nigeria secured about 10 loans worth $4.36bn from the World Bank over the past decade to address key challenges in its power sector. Although not all 10 World Bank loans have been disbursed completely, the Federal Government and other multilateral agencies have supported the country’s power sector financially. They have provided billions of naira to revamp the industry but despite these funds, the sector is…

ABDULLAHI Umar Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has declared that the ruling party will capture the SouthWest by winning the November 16 off-cycle governorship election in Ondo State. Ganduje declared this when he led members of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC to a stakeholders’ meeting in Akure, the state capital, on Sunday. Daily Trust reports that the APC National Chairman was joined by Governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Abiodun Oyebanji (Ekiti), and Dapo Abiodun of Ogun, who was represented by Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Talabi Olatokunbo. Others include Isaac Kekemeke (APC, Deputy…

Raise Alarm Over Pressure On Supreme Court To Go Against Principle Of Federalism HUNDREDS of Civil Society Organizations in Nigeria have kicked against what they described as a deliberate attempt by the Federal Government to disrespect the Nigerian Constitution  and destroy the principles of federalism, using illegally constituted anti-graft agencies. The CSOs, numbering about 200, said the attempt by the Federal Government to frustrate the hearing of the case instituted by 19 state governments, challenging the constitutionality of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and two others, was an indication that Government was aware of the illegality of the anti-graft…

FORMER President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, says the growing number of out-of-school children in the country poses a great security risk for the nation in the future. He said that the over 20 million out of school children in Nigeria are only being prepared for recruitment into Boko Haram and banditry in the next 10 to 15 years. The former president said this in Bauchi on Sunday at the commissioning ceremony of some selected projects executed by Governor Bala Mohammed. “Let me emphasise what we want to do, human capacity building, education and human capacity building very important. “World Bank…

NIGERIANS have decried the repeated collapse of the national grid, which happened again on Saturday. They described it as an embarrassment to the nation. This newspaper reports that the national grid collapsed around 8.16am on Saturday, the third time in one week, with its attendant blackout across the nation. Checks by our correspondent confirmed that power generation was 3,042 megawatts at 8am. It peaked at 3,968MW at 9am. However, it dropped to 47MW around 11am. It later rose marginally as the system operator made efforts to restore normalcy. The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, had promised that Nigeria would attain…

NIGERIANS are once again reeling in darkness following the collapse of the national power grid for the third in one week. The grid collapse occurred early Saturday morning, with many states reporting total blackouts. Data obtained from the Nigerian System Operator’s portal (niggrid.org), revealed that the grid recorded an unprecedented zero Megawatts (MW) as of 8:16 am today. Data showed that all 22 generation companies (GenCos) are down as of the time of this report. The grid had collapsed twice this week, marking the eighth grid disturbance in 2024. The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) had yet to confirm the…

THERE are indications that the Abdullahi Ganduje-led leadership of the All Progressives Congress may postpone the inaugural meeting of the National Executive Committee till 2025. Sources at the APC Secretariat attributed the reason to the busy schedule and unavailability of President Bola Tinubu, who has not yet returned to the country. “As we speak, Mr President is not back in the country. This was also the reason we had to annul the initial September dates we chose for the NEC meeting. “But whichever way, the chances of holding a NEC meeting this year are no longer feasible. It is just…

THE whereabouts of five policemen serving in the Osun State Command have remained unknown eight months after they embarked on a special operation in Abia State. This newspaper gathered that six policemen attached to the Anti-Robbery Unit of the State Criminal Investigations Department were dispatched to Abia State for an operational assignment on February 12, 2024. The team, consisting of five male and one female officers, was investigating an armed robbery case, with one of the suspects tracked to Abia State. The officers lodged in a hotel in Asaba, Delta State, on the night of February 12, and continued their…

A FORMER President, Olusegun Obasanjo, has hailed former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (Rtd), on reaching the remarkable age of 90, saying that he deserves to be celebrated nationally. Obasanjo said this while speaking at the 90th Birthday Lecture for former Gowon in Abuja on Friday. Obasanjo said he is thanking God on behalf of the former Head of State whom he said got to the age of 90 by the grace of God. “This is a national celebration and you are worthy to be nationally celebrated while you are still alive,” Obasanjo said. “I look at the galaxy…

THE Kogi State Government has procured massive relief materials for distribution to flood victims in the State to ameliorate the hardship being experienced by flood victims. This was made known in Lokoja, Friday by the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr Kingsley Fanwo, while briefing newsmen on the efforts of the State Government at providing succour for victims of flood in the State. He said, “We are not just crying for help, we have set the ball rolling by expending huge resources on making provisions for the needs of flood victims in the State. “We have taken delivery of the…

THE Federal Government says it would implement the cashless tolling system for the Abuja-Keffi expressway. Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, disclosed this on Thursday while inaugurating a committee for the project, as well as the dualization of the Keffi-Akwanga-Makurdi Road. He said the cashless tolling system was a strategic programme under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) aimed at promoting a strong and sustainable transportation ecosystem. “This is one of the cardinal strategies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards realising the desires of our people in the road sector development,” Umahi said. “Recall that a point of…

PRESIDENT of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote remains the richest man in Africa, and now the 65th richest man in the World, despite the volatility of the Nigerian currency against the dollar. Bloomberg, in its latest top 500 Billionaires Index released on Thursday, revealed that Dangote with a wealth of $28 billion had his wealth increased significantly after the commencement of operations of his newly built Petrochemical refinery, said to be worth over $20 billion. This new ranking is the highest the renowned entrepreneur has risen. He was previously ranked 83rd in 2022. The Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, in the…

THE Kogi state government has directed the restriction of movement on October 19th over the LGA election in the state. The Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission (KSIEC) will conduct the election in the 21 LGAs of the state. In a statement late Thursday, Kingsley Femi Fanwo, commissioner for information in the state, said the restriction will begin from 7am to 4pm on Saturday. Fanwo said the decision is to ensure a hitch-free Council Poll in the State and to guarantee the security of voters and citizens across the 21 Local Government Areas of the State. “The State Government also calls…