₦airaland Forum

sarrki:



You worry ooo

Na same you be op

Na same you first comment

We can all see why our leaders are greedy

They will be the one to approve contract

They will also be the one to execute it

Change begins with all of us

[size=15pt]Senate Committee calls for oil data[/size]

The Senate Committee in stating its position, said: “The problem with us is that we don’t think the National Assembly is part of government.

“I have always told people that it the National Assembly is taken away from governance, there would be no democracy anymore. In any other government setting, there is the executive, legislature and the judiciary. But it’s only when you have the legislature which will act as a check on the executive that there’s democracy.

“So, whatever is worth doing for the executive must also be done for the legislature so that, at the end of the day, we will all understand and speak with one voice.

“Some believe that it is only the executive that is running the government, no. It is not only when you come for budget that the National Assembly should be involved, it should be on a daily basis.

“When you budget money for certain areas, is it only when we come here like this, maybe for once or twice in a year that we should know what you are doing with the money? No.”

Speaking on the performance of the agency, Alasoadura expressed satisfaction with the performance of DPR, saying so far, it had lived up to expectations of people even as he said the agency was still grappling not only with funding problem, but also low workforce.

“Well, we are very impressed by what we saw. A lot of rumours fly around about the seeming incompetence of the DPR or the seeming collusion that people think they do, but from all the efforts they are putting in to get the required results in information gathering, going technical or going ballistic, let me put it that way, from what we saw here today, I think they are putting in their best.”

And I believe that in a few more years time, doing business in the oil industry in this country will be so transparent that even people will be able to read what is happening in the oil industry from their bedrooms, from their offices and that will be a day for Nigeria.”

He dismissed the notion in some quarters that the DPR had over the years displaced incompetence in executing its constitutional mandate.

Hear him: They are not incapable, I think what has happened is that people have made up their minds that they (DPR) are not good.

“And with this, the DPR needd to come out more, let people know what they are doing so that this bad impression about them can be corrected, ‘he said, adding :”I too, had believed that maybe they were not doing the right thing.

“ But again, when I compared it with the notion I had before I became a senator, that senators just go and sleep and every month, take money home, now that I don’t sleep at all, I know that the perception was wrong.”

“From what we have seen here today,people’s perception about the DPR may not be correct.

“And when they start coming out to let the people know what they are doing and how they are doing it, I’m sure the perception will change, “he further added.

Alaosoadura said the Senate would seek for additional funding for the DPR, given that what was at its disposal was inadequate to enable it execute it’s constitutional mandate expected of it in the ongoing year.

“ They have briefed us about their difficulties and I believe that the most important area there is funding.

“If they have enough money, they can do a lot of things and without money, you cannot modernize. It is modernisation that is required. They have started it and I believe that the National Assembly will support them to ensure that they get to the level that they should get to.

The committee, which was surprised to know that the agency had only 1120 staff in its workforce, promised amendment of the necessary existing acts to raise its workforce in order to enhance its efficiency.

To this end, the committee requested the organisation to supply it with its nominal roll so that it can address the issue. Making presentation before the Committee, the Director, DPR, Mr. Mordecai Danteni Baba Ladan,hinted that the agencies was actively working with a view to launching an innovation that would enable it monitor oil production, delivery to locations as well as monitoring of compliance in petroleum prices by filling stations from its offices. But he hinted that the organisation’s dream of achieving higher feats was not only being hampered by inadequate funding but also inadequate workforce.

To this end, the committee requested for the nominal roll of the agency’s workforce with a view to looking into the issues raised.

Ladan explained that the DPR ,as a regulatory agency of the oil and gas industry in Nigeria with the responsibility cutting across the entire spectrum of the petroleum industry, through the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors was doing its best to ensure it lived up to the expectations of Nigerians.

ABUJA—The Federal Government, weekend, said it would undertake a review of the pricing template for Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol, to forestall a further increase in the price of the commodity.

Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, stated this during a grand award ceremony organised by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, branch of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN in Abuja.

Meanwhile the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Upstream), has asked the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to henceforth, prepare and forward to it, the daily product records of oil and gas in the country.


The committee said the record of daily crude oil production must be submitted to the Senate every month. This will include petroleum industry activities, data on seismic activities, crude oil production, liftings, allocations, exports by destination, receipts, gas production, utilization, sales, transmission and exports.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Tayo Alasoadura, who led members of the committee to the headquarters of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, in Lagos on oversight responsibility, said the development would afford the Red Chamber the opportunity to have deeper knowledge of activities of the oil and gas sector in the country.

Alaosoadura, who represents Ondo Central Senatorial District on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, frowned at perceived sidelining of the legislature in the provision of some information on activities by agencies of government, saying the trend must stop.

Speaking on the pending review of pricing template, Kachikwu said it would help cushion the effect of rising foreign exchange rates and the dwindling value of the naira against major international currencies on the price of petrol.

[size=15pt]Oil marketers have N30 margin[/size]

In early October, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, had said in a session with Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, that fuel price would not be adjusted because marketers had been given N30 profit margin per litre.

He had said: “I am telling you that the price of petrol will not be reviewed based on the arrangement the CBN and the NNPC have put in place to see to it that dollar is available to the importers of petroleum products and I am telling you that. What is that arrangement at this time, all the International Oil companies, IOCs, have been directed, based on the agreement between CBN and NNPC, that they should channel their dollars, oil companies and servicing companies selling their foreign currencies cannot go directly to begin to auction their money. They should channel their dollars through a mechanism created and operated between the CBN and NNPC where dollar is made available to marketers to import petrol.

[size=15pt]Foreign exchange template[/size]

“At the time this programme started, the marketers were told that they can procure their foreign exchange at no more than N280 to the dollar and their price should not be more than N145 per litre. But in working out the price of N145 per litre, the template provided for nothing less than N30 per litre margin for the marketers. That template is available. By making N30 per litre available, even if the marketer does not find the product at N280, but finds it at N300, N305 or even N310, that marketer will still make profit though at a reduced margin.

“That is the template that is currently in place and I am optimistic that it will work. We will see to it that even the IOCs are not compelled to sell at a fixed rate but they will sell at an average interbank rate of the previous day. So even today, some are selling at N305, N310, N315, the average cannot be more than between N305 and N310. I am saying if a marketer procures foreign exchange at an average of between N305 and N310, he will still make profit by selling at N145 per litre, that is my argument.”

[size=15pt]Inter-bank exchange rate[/size]

The exchange rate at the interbank market stands at N305 to the dollar, making the template still relevant. But major marketers and Independent marketers are not importing, leaving only NNPC to bear the brunt of fuel importation. “There is no need for a marketer to contemplate price increase,” Mr Emefiele had said.

But there have been reports of NNPC saying that the current price of N145 per litre is no longer sustainable. NNPC last month said it can no longer sustain the sale of petrol at N145 per litre. Recall that Labour last month warned against increase in pump price of petrol. Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, had said with the current exchange rate, it was no longer feasible to sell petrol at N145 per litre. TheNNPC official said at this year’s Oil Trading and Logistics Expo, holding in Lagos that “we have a very difficult business environment. It is impossible today to import products at the current market price, at current fixed foreign exchange rate.

“There is no way today you can take products to retailers and sell at N145. It is not possible. If that is true and I believe that it is, because we all go to the market, why can’t we sell above N145? That is where legislation should come in.”

[size=15pt]NNPC sells at N145[/size]

Meanwhile, Kachikwu has said that he was not aware of the fact that the retail arm of NNPC had increased the price of petrol from N141 per litre to N145 per litre, the maximum price allowed by government under the price modulation mechanism, adding that he would consult with the NNPC management to understand the reason for the increase.

“I am not aware that the NNPC has increased price. I need to look into that, it is a bit of surprise to me, because there are processes in doing this. If they have done that, it means they are doing it wrongly. Let me find out what the facts are,” he noted.

Commenting on the petrol price template, Kachikwu explained that the review would eliminate certain charges that are attributable to the Federal Government and some of its agencies, so that the price can be retained where it is at the moment.

He said, “One of the things I think we had hoped to do, which we would still do, before we embark on any price increase is to work on those templates. There are still areas that are within the government controlled aspects; payments to the Ministry of Transport and the rest; payments to the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA.

“We are working on the possibility of being able to shift that out so that we can still modulate the prices within where it is right now. But I would hold a conversation with the industry and see how it is going.”

Furthermore, Kachikwu explained that the meeting brokered between President Muhammadu Buhari and leaders of the Niger Delta was part of series of actions to bring lasting peace to the Niger Delta region, while he lamented that the crisis recorded in the region over the last one year had taken its toll on the country, its resources and even the sustenance of the oil industry.

Also speaking, Acting Executive Secretary of the PPPRA, Mrs. Sotonye Iyoyo, said while they celebrate the last 13 years of the PPPRA, they are aware that the challenges before it in attaining full and total deregulation of the downstream petroleum sector are daunting.

It would be recalled that in September 2016, former and present Group Managing Directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation expressed fears that the current pump price of N145 per litre was no longer feasible.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Federal Government will, this week, arraign all the judges accused of corruption, an authoritative source who prefers anonymity told New Telegraph yesterday.

In a bid to kick-start the trial, the Federal Government has listed politicians, senior lawyers and some bank officials to testify against the judges.The Department of State Service, DSS, had on October 8 and 9, raided the apartments and arrested seven judges over alleged corruption. The judges were consequently released on bail.

The seven judges affected include Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Okoro of the Supreme Court; Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and Justice Muazu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe Division.

Another Judge of the Abuja Division of the Federal high Court, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba’s residence was also searched, but he was not arrested. Others are Justice Mohammed Tsamiya of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin, and the Chief Judge of Enugu State, I. A. Umezulike. According to the source, the judges would be arraigned in batches. He said: “All is set for arraigning of the judges. The charge is ready and it will be filed this week.

There are several people that were invited by the investigative bodies. Such people are senior lawyers, politicians and even some bankers. Statements have been taken from them, and some of them will testify against the judges.

“Also call logs of some of the judges and the links who brought the bribe for them will also be tendered as evidence against the judges.

Some of their bankers too will be brought as witnesses. “When their trial commences, a lot of revelations will be made and everybody will believe President Muhammadu Buhari was right when he said that the judiciary was his greatest headache”, the source said.

He noted that the FG had started the process by filing criminal charges against the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court, Gambo Saleh and two others over N2.2 billion scam before an Abuja High Court.

The DSS had, in a statement soon after the raid of the Judges’ houses, given a breakdown of the recovered funds from the judges. The secret service said it recovered N93,558,000.00, $530,087, £25,970, €5,680,1,010 Rupees, 380 UAE Dirham, 430 Gambian Dalasi, among others.

Further, the DSS said that it also recovered from Justice Ademola N54 million, $171, 779.00, £80.00 1,010.00 Rupees and €4,400. It said that it recovered from Justice Ngwuta, N35,208,000, $319,475, £25,890, €280, 380 Gambian Dalasi 420, Argentine notes—420 Ghana Cedis.

The service also said that it recovered from Justice Okoro, N4,350,000, $38, 833, £25,890 and €1,000.00. The security outfit also said that other foreign currencies, banking and real estate documents were recovered. Soon after the DSS stated its position and released the judges, four of them defended themselves of allegations levelled against them by the DSS.

While Justice Ngwuta said that his ordeal was as a result of his refusal to accept the offer by a former Governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi that he (Justice Ngwuta) should set aside the election of Governor Ayo Fayose, Justice Okoro said his arrest was because he never danced to the tune of Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu.

For Justice Ademola, he submitted that his ordeal was a result of a clash he had with the Attorney General of the Federation, AGF and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN sometime ago.

Justice Kanu submitted in his letter to the CJN that his persecution was as a result of the cases involving the DSS that he is handling.

Alongside, the seven judges, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) had sent the names of additional six to the secret service for investigation. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had also invited eight for interrogation.

This has brought the total number of judges under investigation to 21. Speaking on the decision of the NJC sacking the judges under investigation, the source said it was a welcome development, adding that the decision had paved way for the trial to commence.

New Telegraph recalls that the NJC had, on Thursday, asked all the judges accused of corruption to stop performing judicial functions. This was just as the Council set up a three-man anti-corruption policy implementation committee.

According to the Council, Section 6 of the National Judicial Policy aims at putting in place multifaceted strategies and guidelines that will ensure transparency and eliminate corruption in the Judiciary.

“It seeks, amongst other measures, to provide a platform and opportunity to citizens who profess factual and credible knowledge of information on the nature and modalities of corruption in the judicial system to ventilate such.

“Council also decided that Judicial Officers shall not be standing trial for alleged corruption related offences and be performing judicial functions at the same time.

Council, however, decided that it will ensure that Judicial Officers who are being investigated for alleged high profile criminal offences do not perform judicial functions until their cases are concluded”.

Before now, Justices Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta, both of the Supreme Court, had voluntarily stepped down from judicial functions. Justices Ademola and Dimgba had, however, continued to sit until the order of the NJC.

A 75-year-old man, Mallam Yahaya Shanjijiri, and his 14 children were among over 500 suspected criminals who voluntarily renounced their activities in Rijau Local Government Area of Niger state at the weekend.

Mallam Shanjijiri, alleged to be one of the most notorious criminals in the state who publicly announced his retirement from his illicit business at the palace of Sarkin Bauchi, in Rijau, confessed to have been kingpin for over 30 years.

He disclosed that he had stopped going out for operation eight years ago due to age, but was providing his children intelligence and training.

[b]According to him, he began his criminal act when he was barely 10- year- old, stealing within neighborhood and gradually grew to stealing goats and cattle before engaging in a full blown robbery.

Mallam Shanjijiri said he had been arrested and sent to prison 11 times but regained his freedom. He said his area of operation includes Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto states.
He told the gathering, which included the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Rijau, head of vigilance group and other security agencies that he carried out over 300 operations, an average of three operations in a month.
He stated further that he and members of his gang which included his children used to make between N2million to N3million in every successful operation. According to him, the proceeds were usually shared into four places.

Shanjijiri, who spoke in Hausa said: “When we robbed and the operation is successful, we would settle the security, we would keep some for court cases; we also settled our herbalist who prepared charms for our us.

“The remaining proceeds we used to take care of ourselves and I had been doing this for the past 30 years. Although, I have been arrested, charged to court and sent to prison 11 times, I still regained my freedom”.

He confessed that he and his gang had been responsible for a number of high profile robbery, kidnapping and cattle rustling in Niger, Kebbi and Sokoto states. He said his gang never killed any victim in their operations. He noted that nobody forced them into repentance.

“I want God and all those we have robbed in the past to forgive us as we will never contemplate doing such again‎ in this life. I want to make it clear that nobody forced or threatened us to take this step of repentance:We did it of our own volition because it doesn’t pay‎,” he concluded.[/b]

In a related development, two brothers, Elijah Okpara and Prince Okpara were at the weekend arrested by men of the Ondo State Police Command over alleged roles in robbery incidents in the state.

The suspects who were arrested at Abusoro in Ijoka area of Akure are currently being interrogated by the police.
One of the suspects, Elijah said he and his brother were into burglary and robbery, having lost their jobs due to the current economic hardship in the country.

He said he and his sibling had not killed any of their victims as they only broke into shops and stole goods .
Parading the suspects, the state Police Commissioner, Mrs. Hilda Harrison said the police recovered from the suspects a single-barrel gun.

She said: “While our Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) opratives were on patrol at Abusoro community, some boys whose movements were suspicious within the community were arrested by combined efforts of policemen and youths of the area.

“ Elijah was arrested with a black bag, containing a locally-made gun, while the other two boys escaped. Investigation is on with a view to arresting the remaining suspects.”

It was gathered that after Elijah had been arrested, his brother, Prince too was later arrested by the police in Elijah’s house .
Elijah said he was introduced into robbery by one of his friends, called Kenny.

All the “born again” criminals swore by either the Holy Quran the Holy Bible according to their faith, at the palace, promising never never to return to crime again while begging for forgiveness from their victims.
Speaking at the event, the chairman of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Rijau branch, Mallam Adamu Shanbo, said the repentance by the criminals was a welcome development, adding that the people of Niger,Kebbi and Sokoto could now sleep with both eyes closed.

“This is a welcome development to our people as it would reduce the menace of stealing, armed robbery and kidnapping of innocent people for ransom”.
‎
Confirming the story to our Correspondent in Minna, the Police Public Relation Officer (PPRO), Niger State Command, Bala Elkana, Deputy Superintendent said these “born again” criminals are among the over 5,000 that have renounced their criminal activities across the 25 local government areas of the state.

With less than a week left for the incumbent Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed to retire, the time to appoint a successor is fast running out for President Muhammadu Buhari.

Investigations by THISDAY have also revealed that the president may have queried two of his ministers – Rotimi Amaechi and Ogbonnaya Onu – over allegations that they tried to influence the outcome of Supreme Court rulings on the election appeals for Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Ebonyi and Ekiti States.

Justice Mohammed will retire on November 10when he will turn 70, the mandatory retirement age for justices of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
By virtue of Section 231 of the 1999 Constitution, it is the prerogative of the president to appoint a CJN.

Section 231(1) explicitly provides: “The appointment of a person to the office of Chief Justice of Nigeria shall be made by the President on the recommendation of the National Judicial Council (NJC), subject to confirmation of such appointment by the Senate.”
At its emergency meeting held on October 11, 2016, the NJC had recommended Justice Walter Samuel Onnoghen for consideration as CJN.

If his name is submitted and he is confirmed by the Senate, Onnoghen will be the first person from the southern section of the country to occupy the post in almost three decades. Justice Ayo Irikife was the last southerner to occupy the post of the CJN between 1985 and 1987.

However, with less than a week to the retirement of Justice Mohammed, the president is yet to forward the name of his nominee to the Senate for clearance. This can still be done within the next few days, however.
Going by convention, the most senior justice has always been appointed CJN. In this regard, Justice Onnoghen is favoured to emerge as the next CJN.

However, in law, the president is not bound to accept his nomination. He also cannot bypass the council in making the appointment.

If for any reason, the president does not want to appoint the recommended justice, he is at liberty to ask the NJC to recommend to him another suitable candidate for the office.

A source at the Senate told THISDAY that the Senate president was yet to receive any letter from the president regarding the appointment of a new CJN.

Section 230(4) of the Constitution is also instructive. It provides that “if the office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria is vacant or if the person holding the office is for any reason unable to perform the functions of the office, then until a person has been appointed to and has assumed the functions of that office, or until the person holding the office has resumed those functions, the president shall appoint the most senior justice of the Supreme Court to perform those functions”.

Investigations have also reveal that Buhari may have queried two of his ministers over the allegations that they approached Supreme Court justices to influence the court to deliver favourable judgments for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election appeals from Rivers, Abia, Ebonyi, Ekiti and Akwa Ibom States.

Presidency sources revealed that during the CJN’s meeting with Buhari last month on the arrest of seven judges by the Department of State Security (DSS), Justice Mohammed reportedly orally informed the president of the attempt to induce the judges.

He told Buhari that his ministers, among others, alleged that they were acting on the instruction of the president.
Justices Inyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta of the Supreme Court were two of the seven justices who were arrested by the DSS. However, after they were granted bail, the two Supreme Court judges, in separate letters to the CJN, blamed their arrests on their refusal to yield to demands by Amaechi, Onu and other APC chieftains to give favourable judgments to the governorship candidates of the ruling party in the five states.

Following the revelation, Buhari was reported to have informed Justice Mohammed that he had nothing to do with the allegations, but asked the CJN to put it in writing.
On receiving the CJN’s letter against his ministers, Buhari, a source confirmed, queried Amaechi and Onu to respond to the weighty allegations.

The president’s position was in line with a statement issued by the presidency on October 30, when it advised journalists and other Nigerians to stop linking Buhari to the legal travails of the arrested judges in the country.
A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, had said Buhari would be the last person to authorise anybody to induce a judge to pervert the course of justice.

However, the CJN’s decision to report the affected ministers to the president has not gone down well with them, as they are now hell bent on extracting their pound of flesh from the judiciary and the Supreme Court for daring to report them to their boss.

It was learnt that the desire to exact revenge informed the filing of the charges against the Chief Registrar of the Supreme Court Gambo Saleh by the Office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice.

Owing to the strained relationship between the executive and the judiciary, the AGF has in recent times boycotted events organised by the Supreme Court.

One of such events was the valedictory session held in honour of a retired Supreme Court justice, Sueliman Galadima. It has always been the tradition of the AGF to attend and deliver a speech on such occasions. But the AGF did not attend and neither did he send a representative.

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to the president, Mr. Femi Adesina, has offered reasons why members of the ruling APC and those in the president’s cabinet have not been prosecuted for corruption.
The presidential spokesman, who spoke on a radio programme, Sweet F.M’s Podium in Abeokuta, further maintained that the federal government’s anti-corruption fight was not selective.

According to him, the APC chieftains and appointees were not being prosecuted because no evidence had been put forward indicting them of being involved in corrupt practices.

“The onus lies on he who alleges to also prove (the allegation),” he said.

“The fact that any PDP member crosses to APC does not provide automatic shield. Whoever is indicted will be prosecuted,” he added.

On the arrest of the judges, Adesina said the raid on judges was only a raid on corruption and not the judiciary.
“Mr. President has said it all. No one is out to intimidate the judiciary. The DSS raid was a raid on corruption, not the judiciary,” he said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is eyeing a N150 per litre price for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise called petrol. This is as the embargo placed on price increase by President Muhammadu Buhari has worsened planned fuel price hike dilemma for the corporation.

Landing cost of PMS, checks by New Telegraph showed last weekend, has surged to N122.03 per litre, about N4 increase from the specification in the pricing template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulating Agency (PPPRA).

This, further checks showed, was responsible for the N4 per litre price hike by NNPC’s mega stations across the country, which hiked their pump price from N141 to N145 per litre.

Some independent marketers, caught in the debacle who were selling at the N145 price before now, have adjusted their pumps to meet up with the market reality.

Further checks by this newspaper showed that seven foreign contractors, including Vitol, Petrocam and Northwest who participated actively in the importation of PMS, have abandoned the contracts.

“The NNPC top notch caught up in this dilemma have approached the president to explain the new market realities to him, but the president refused to hear any briefing on price hike,” a source at the presidency told this newspaper.

“The only option left on the table for NNPC is to push the prices at their stations to the highest point of the price mark.” The source added that the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Mainkanti Baru would still meet with the president next week to brief him on the possibilities of declaring huge losses by the yearend due to the situation.

“Major marketers like ExxonMobil have exited the downstream while Total is on the verge of its exit. Marketers are running at loss; they are not making profits as envisaged and some of them have adjusted their pumps to accommodate price hike.

In all these, the DPR is helpless because the N145 per litre price is still within the range,” an industry source added. The Group General Manager, Crude Oil Marketing Department of the NNPC, Mr. Mele Kyari, had earlier hinted that the nation’s difficult business environment may make it difficult to sustain the current pump price of petrol.

He spoke at the 10th Oil Trading and Logistics Africa Downstream Week in Lagos, where he also said it was impossible to import products at the current market price, at current fixed foreign exchange rate and recover one’s money.

Marketers that are currently selling below N145/ litre, he said, are doing so because they are not the importers of the fuel. “Because we (NNPC) have taken the heat, and you buy from us you can afford to go to the market and then put a ridiculous price,” he said.

However, Kyari ruled out the possibility of increasing the pump price by the government due to the economic hardship in the country, saying, “it is impossible for this government to announce tomorrow that petrol is about N150.”

“This government cannot sustain it,” he declared, maintaining that this “is the truth. The people will not take that number. But that is why the suppliers now are not importing. It is not about the foreign exchange.”

“We are in subsidy regime absolutely, there is no way you bring product today and take it and sell at N145 and get back your money, and make profit. That is not possible. You can see some marketers saying that fuel is N138.

It is because they did not import. Somebody has taken the heat of the price.” Few weeks before Kyari’s submission, former and present Group Managing Directors of the NNPC had also expressed fears that the current pump price of N145 per litre is no longer feasible.

They said the amount does not correspond with the price-determining components of the commodity and the fluctuations of the foreign exchange rate.

The NNPC had, in its statement, said: “They (the GMDs) noted that the petrol price of N145/litre is not congruent with the liberalisation policy, especially with the foreign exchange rate and other price determining components such as crude cost, Nigerian Ports Authority charges, etc. remaining uncapped.” On the N145 per litre price, Kyari had said:

“We have created a niche market for the forex. We have ring-fenced all forex from the upstream such that those forex will be available at a fixed price; a price that the CBN has agreed. I am part of the people who are involved in making sure that this forex is available.

“I am part of the committee allocating those forex, and I know and I can see some of you here; we gave you forex, but you returned it. And the reason that was given was that the forex was not enough to import.

But the truth is that, that is not the truth. The truth is that if you go to the market today and buy products and land here, that you are required to sell it at N145 max. That is the main reason why people are not importing.

It is not forex; we have addressed the forex issue.” The PPPRA has, however, left its template unchanged for seven months. “Based on 30 Days Moving Average Platts Posted Price for: 23rd April – 23rd May, 2016, the Landing Cost is 122.03 per litre; Total Margins are 18.37; while Total Cost 140.40; and Retail Price Band is between 135 and 145,” the agency said on its website yesterday.

Meanwhile, the NNPC stations have increased the pump price of petrol at its retail outlets by N4 from N141 to N145 per litre.Though the new N145 price remains within the maximum price cap fixed by the Federal Government last May, this is the first time fuel at NNPC’s outlets will be sold at that price.

Hitherto, prices have been hovering between N141 and N143 per litre at NNPC and affiliate stations in major cities and even less at stations in the hinterlands.

The prices have been N141 in last few months until last week when it was raised to N145. Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC, Alhaji Garba Deen Muhammad, however, said the N4 per litre price hike by NNPC was interplay of market forces. “Marketers can sell between N135 and N145 range price regime introduced in May.

It is simply an interplay of market forces,” he said. The N145 per price at NNPC, a management staff of the corporation said, was to minimise the losses the NNPC will record by the end of the year through its monopoly of importation. Already, the revenue losses recorded by the corporation had hit N35.4 billion in two months, as profits woes rocking the corporation worsened.

The monthly financial and operations report released on the corporation’s website last Thursday showed that the losses were recorded in July and August.

The NNPC stated that the force majeure declared by SPDC, as a result of vandalised 48-inch Forcados export line was a drag to NPDC, its subsidiary, and the overall group performance.

LesbianBoy:
It will be their undoing for the title! That and the fact that those that have won the league in the past, their strikers are always top of the goalscoring chart! Liverpool are spreading the goals! Its good and in a way its not good!

LesbianBoy:
Liverpool cannot just keep clean sheet....

[size=22pt]We Are The Reds, We Are Liverpool; THE FAMOUS KOPITES. #YNWA[/size]

In response to a statement credited to the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, in which he promised to ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari seek a second term in 2019, prominent Nigerians, including clergymen, political parties and ethnic groups, have carpeted the statement.

They urge the APC to face governance and stop scheming for 2019, warning that the party would lose the election if things remain as they are now.Odigie-Oyegun was quoted to have said that, “Buhari is the only man who can command 12 million votes even without any major campaign”, while vowing that he “will do anything within my power to ensure that he re-contests in 2019.”

The Pan Yoruba sociopolitical group, Afenifere, was the first to react yesterday saying that Buhari and the APC had the right to run and free to seek reelection in the 2019 presidential election, provided that they fulfill all the electoral promises made to Nigerians in 2015.

The secretary of the mainstream Yoruba organisation, Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa, who spoke on behalf of the organisation, said the president and his party must not only fulfill the promises made to Nigerians before thinking of seeking reelection, but Buhari must also take Nigeria out of the current economic recession to be in good reckoning.

Arogbofa, though admitted that it was within Odigie-Oyegun’s right to urge Buhari to re-contest, he said the APC should know better, because the statement is not just untimely, it also an insult on the sensibilities of Nigerians, who are going through hard times, now that the economy is in comatose. His words: “There are lots of challenges.

If they are able to do that, he has the right to contest. He still has a mandate, the economy is down, and there is unabating unemployment, there is insecurity of lives and property, the problem of Niger Delta and that of IPOB is there, among several others. “He should fight corruption squarely without fear or favour, he should be fear to all irrespective of political party affiliations, these are the expectations of Nigerians.

People want changes in their lives”, he said. Toeing the same line, a former Minister of Transportation and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Ebenezer Babatope, was categorical in his own submission, saying that, as things stand today, Buhari will lose if he decides to seek reelection.

“The APC can do whatever they like. If Buhari says he wants to contest he is free to recontest, I wish them the best of luck. But by the grace of God if Buhari recontest, he will fail. “The hunger is too much; people are very hungry and they are starving. There is no answer at all to all that.

Things were not this bad under Goodluck Jonathan”, Babatope lamented. The Archbishop Emeritus of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie was not left out of those who aired their voices against the call, as he insisted that, unless the APC changes its candidate, the party will lose the election if Buhari is represented. “I want to look at it from this angle

Presently, we must realise that APC is the ruling party. Secondly, the head of that party must be, whether they like it or not, the president. “For John Odigie-Oyegun, whether he too likes it or not, he must blow the trumpet of the party and whose trumpet is he blowing? It is, of course, that of Muhammadu Buhari.

That is why he is now telling you. “He may be serious or may not be serious but we are in the political regime, he cannot but make that kind of statement because if he doesn’t then he will get himself fighting against himself and his position will be up for grabs. “But, is Odigie-Oyegun serious with such statement?

He cannot; he just cannot. Unless APC is reformed and I can even tell you this one going a little bit further that if the president is there in 2019, APC will likely to lose, because that is the way we now see it. Unless they get somebody else that will just change everything. We have been shouting and fighting restructuring, restructuring, did they listen to us?

“Unless the government and the ruling party restructure itself, he may not make any impact in 2019. That is the only way they can remain in government but right now, I don’t think they can fool Nigerians the second time. That statement to me is a huge joke; the joke of the century.

On his part, the National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said he was a bit taken aback by Odigie-Oyegun’s statement because, “for the national chairman of a ruling party to kick-start a campaign for 2019 in 2016 is very unusual”.

Okorie, who noted that it was too early for such a statement, adding that what is paramount now, is for the APC-led Federal Government to improve the lot of Nigerians and not to start politicking. “The country is facing a lot of challenges on leadership and governance, and many people are trying to see how they can assist the president to tackle the various challenges in the country.

“For the chairman of a party to kick-start a campaign for the president now is in a very bad taste and he must withdraw the statement. I expect the president to make a statement that he is focus on governance and not on 2019 election.

“Otherwise, there is probability that what Odigie- Oyegun said may be so much that the president may digress from the focus that he was supposed to have and that will not be good for the country.” Also adding his voice against the untimely statement, the presidential candidate of the National Conscience Party (NCP) during the 2015 elections, Chief Martins Onovo, said Odigie-Oyegun must apologise to Nigerians, having failed to lead his party to take Nigeria out of the woods, before making such a “reckless” statement.

“ Odigie-Oyegun is the national chairman of the ruling party. We must respect his right to his free choice as a Nigerian citizen. We remember that he promised Nigerians three million new jobs a year but today, we have about six million job losses a year based on the 2016 second quarter NBS report. “We remember that he promised in writing, immediate pay rise and improved conditions for all five-security services.

Nigerians do not deserve false promises. “Today the Nigeria economy is in a recession; National debt is rising; job losses continue; Inflation is soaring; our naira has lost over 50 per cent of its value, terrorist herdsmen are killing Nigerians; Boko Haram just overran one of our military out posts last month, killed about 83 soldiers and stole our military equipment; Nigerians are divided along regional lines and power supply has dropped from 4,500 MW to 3,500 MW what a catastrophic record!

“Odigie-Oyegun, if he understands his responsibility as the national chairman of the ruling party should first apologise to Nigerians about the catastrophic failure of their government and then, work to correct their incompetence and errors. “It is a pity he chose to play unpatriotic politics after his party leader accused him of promoting an undemocratic ‘five is greater than six’ political agenda.”

sekundosekundo:
If it's in Nigeria, they will blame the opposition party for the earthquake and afterwards the road will be abandoned b'cos it leads to South East.

Three senior officials of the Supreme Court of Nigeria are facing a nine-count criminal charge, including diverting N2.2 billion belonging to the apex court and receiving gratifications.
The officials are the Chief Registrar, Ahmed Gambo Saleh; Director of Finance, Muhammed Abdulrahman Sharif and Chief Accountant, Rilwanu Lawal.

The charges were contained in a court document filed yesterday by Principal State Counsel Hajara H. Yusuf on behalf of the Attorney General of the Federation at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja with case No. CR/13/16. A date has not been assigned for the case yet.

According to the charges, “Ahmed Gambo Saleh ‘M’, Muhammed Abdulrahman Sharif ‘M’, and Rilwanu Lawal ‘M’ all of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, between 2009 and 2016, did agree to do an illegal act to wit: diverted N2.2 billion belonging to the Supreme Court of Nigeria into personal accounts domiciled at United Bank for Africa PLC a/c no: 2027642863, and you thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 96 of the Penal Code Act and punishable under Section 97 of the Penal Code Act Cap 532 LFN (Abuja) 2004.”

Other offences said to have been committed by the trio include: Criminal breach of trust to wit: diversion of N2.2 billion belonging to the Supreme Court of Nigeria into personal accounts domiciled at United Bank for Africa PLC a/c no: 2027642863; receiving N10million gratification from Willysdave Limited, a private contractor to the Supreme Court of Nigeria; obtaining N6 million gratification; obtaining N6 million gratification from Welcon Nig. Ltd, a private contractor to the Supreme Court of Nigeria; and obtaining N2.4 million gratification from Welcon Nigeria Ltd, a private contractor to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The rest are: obtaining N16 million gratifications from Dean Musa Nig. Ltd, a private contractor who provided services to the Supreme Court of Nigeria; obtaining N19 million gratification from Ababia Ventures Ltd, a private contractor who provided services to the Supreme Court of Nigeria; and obtaining N21 million gratifications from MBR Computers Ltd, a private contractor who provided services to the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

The offences were also said to be contrary to Section 10 (a) (i) of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000 and punishable under the same section of the Act.
Judges under probe suspended

The National Judicial Council (NJC) yesterday said it will ensure that judicial officers being investigated for alleged criminal offences do not perform judicial functions until their cases are concluded.
This effectively puts the affected officers under suspension.
The NJC, under the chairmanship of the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed reached the decision at the end of its 79th meeting held on the 2nd and 3rd of November 2016.

NJC’s acting Director of Information, Soji Oye, who disclosed the decision in a statement yesterday, said it was agreed that judicial officers shall not be standing trial for alleged corruption related offences and be performing judicial functions at the same time.

Oye also informed that the council has commenced implementation of specific aspects of the National Judicial Policy (NJP) which came into force in April 2016 and was launched on Monday 24th October, 2016.
NJC gets anti-graft c’ttee.

Meanwhile, the NJC has also setup a Transparency and Anti-Corruption Policy Implementation Committee (TAPIC) to be chaired by retired Justice of the Supreme Court Justice E. O. Ayoola.

Other members of the committee are Chief Judge of Borno State, Justice Kashim Zannah; and President of the Nigeria Bar Association, A. B. Mahmoud, SAN.
Section 6 of the NJP aims to put in place multifaceted strategies and guidelines that will ensure transparency and eliminate corruption in the judiciary.

Daily Trust reports that the Department of State Services (DSS), last month, raided the residences of some judges across the country and arrested them over alleged corruption. The judges are Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court; Justices Adeniyi Ademola and Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja; and Justice Mu’azu Pindiga of the state High Court in Gombe. Two more judges – Justices Bashir Sukola and Ladan Manir of the Kaduna State High Court – were also arrested subsequently.

greatiyk4u:
A good reader is a leader

The Federal Government says the nation needs $25bn annually, for the next 10 years, to develop its infrastructure to a sustainable level.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated this at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja on Thursday during a knowledge-sharing forum on Public Private Partnership jointly organised by the African Development Bank Group and the Ministry of Finance.

He said: "It is estimated that Nigeria requires about $25billion annually for the next 10 years to grow its infrastructure to sustainable levels. It is obvious that this cannot be funded entirely by the public sector which brings the Public-Private Partnerships model to the forefront of our considerations."

The vice president said the National Infrastructure Master Plan put the country's current infrastructure stock at between 20 and 25 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Represented by the Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu, Osinbajo noted that this was below the global benchmark of 70 percent.

According to him, Nigeria would witness growth if there were substantial investments in power, railways, ports, telecommunications, airports, roads, dams, housing, bridges, airports, housing and facilities.

Osinbajo, who said that was why the present administration had prioritised investment in infrastructure, recalled: "In the 2016 budget, government has proposed to spend N1.84trn on capital projects, amounting to about 30% of the entire budget. Even though this is unprecedented in recent times, there is a realisation that this figure is still way below what the country should ideally be investing in infrastructure."

The vice president explained that the government was considering public-private partnership in infrastructure development owing to shortage of funds.

He, however, listed its benefits as including a more efficient procurement regime, rigorous analysis and market testing of costs as well as more efficient operation and maintenance of infrastructure.

Speaking further, the vice president stressed that using pension funds for infrastructure development was risky.

Osinbajo stated: "closely related issue is whether we have the appropriate framework to enable the use of our very large and growing public pension assets estimated at about N5.3 trillion for the provision of infrastructure without putting these assets at risk."

Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said in view of the nation's infrastructural deficit, it had become imperative for the Federal Government to partner with the private sector.

INTROVERT:


Ekiti people for don chop all Fulani cow before next year #stomachinfrastructure

Ekiti state Governor, Ayodele Fayose, on Thursday, released nine cows arrested for contravening state’s anti-grazing law to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) after signing a peace pact with the leaders of the association.

The governor also gave the cattle farmers 14 days to register with traditional rulers in their respective communities where they are operating while the traditional rulers in such communities will forward same to the state government for documentation.

Fayose, however, stated that he released the cows to cement the relationship between the government, farmers and the Fulani herdsmen in the state warning that the 7am till 6pm grazing period stipulated in the law stands and that anyone who contravened it would face the full wrath of the law.

The cows were seized a couple of weeks ago by the recently inaugurated Ekiti State Grazing Enforcement Marshal for contravening anti-grazing law.

Fayose said: “I have decided to release these cows to strengthen our union. So, I expect you to comply with the law because after now; if you contravene the law, we will take appropriate sanctions against you”.

The governor also empowered the traditional rulers to enforce the grazing law in their domains and to apportion lands to herdsmen to do their businesses under a controlled situation.

“You can’t because you are rearing cows be destroying our farmlands. Our people rely on these farms to survive and the moment you are destroying them, then they will not be interested to go into farming and hunger will affect all of us”, he said.

Fayose threatened to deal with whoever harasses the cattle-rearers while doing their legitimate businesses, urging the leaders of Miyetti Allah to always report directly to him any case of intimidation and oppression against their members.

The South-West Chairman of Miyetti Allah, Alhaji Mohammed Abass, warned the government at all levels against politicizing the crisis between his members and farmers in some states.

Abass, who said the cattle business is very profitable in the southwest, added that government politicizing the agriculture sector would destroy the business and this he said may have an adverse effect on the diversification process of the government.

“We want to appeal to the government to leave us out of politics. We are here to do our business and whatever crisis we have, I think we should be able to resolve it. But when issues that could be resolved are being politicized, then it assumes a dangerous dimension.

“Cattle business is profitable in the southwest. Many of us were born here and we have multi-million business which government can bank on and make enough revenues. So, we are pleading with Governor Fayose to ensure that this business thrives in Ekiti”, he pleaded.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Dec. 10 for the conduct of the outstanding National and State Assembly elections in Rivers.

A statement by the Secretary to the commission, Mrs Auguta Ogakwu, on Thursday in Abuja said that the commission had also approved Dec. 3 to conduct election for the vacant Ifako/Ijaiye seat of Lagos state in the House of Representatives.

The seat became vacant following the death of the member who represented the constituency in the house, Mr Adewale Oluwatayo, in July.

On the same day, according to the statement, the commission will also conclude rescheduled councillorship polls in some area councils in the Federal Capital Territory.

“After months of intensive planning and wide consultations, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday approved the conduct of Lagos’ House of Representative election on Saturday, Dec 3, 2016.

“Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Councillorship election will also hold on Saturday, Dec 3, 2016.

“Rivers, National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) and State House of Assembly elections on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2016,” the statement said.

It would be recalled that the National Assembly on Wednesday, gave INEC Dec. 10 deadline to conduct pending elections in Rivers and other parts of the country.

The Senate also threatened to suspend plenary if the commission failed to meet the deadline.

drnoel:
I don't know what is wrong with this people. Why will they get into into their head that Nigeria in its present situation cant own and.effectively manage a national carrier.

modath:
How is it nice?

Name one thing, just one thing that Nigerians have over the years successfully & efficiently managed? Just one.

Bubu's nostalgia with Nigeria Airways is one i do not get, he should let it go!!!! The country need only enter into 50-50 agreement with solid biz folks, provide the infrastructures, ensure a positive operating atmosphere & watch the bird soar into the sky (pun fully intended)

Bubu won't be there forever & what happens when he leaves & the vultures gather again? They start with freebies for wives, kids & concubines before proceeding to cleaning out the books..



Cc presidency .... (Tolu Ogunlesi & his team)

Y'all need to speak with Bubu, this path ain't gonna do us much good in the long run, we don't need a "name" , we just want effective service & affordable flight ticket...

EU airlines are asking for 600k+ for a flight to US & Arik @ 400k has no inflight entertainment and only does JFK.. Make una assist Arik first by buying up 50% of their equity, inject beta money to enhance the fleet , (tweak their useless mgt staff)...so dem go fit change dem yeye plane for intn'l routes, raise the standards in flight and just up their game mega, dazall...

Leave national carrier alone bubu!!!!