₦airaland Forum

4ward4:
So today he have is now a Bad sport man abi? Let me remind you ,in the year 2019, didn't he throw his weight behind Atiku? Then we can say the North was right to contest and today which happen to be the moral Turn of the South , Same ATIKU is coming out .
What kind of Nonsense is that, Is the Presidency a Sit for the North.
Even at the late minute TAMBUWA stepped down...Such Nonsense and Nobody is a fool any longer.
The Very fact that WIke did his part respectedly in the year 2019 earn me his respect.
His demands are Clear, Atiku should sign a one tenure undertaking .And immediately it is done he should hand over to the South. He Atiku is still playing some mind games thinking he is smart,someone that ones promised to spend Just once Tenure...
Atiku should continue the mind Game, that Port Harcourt Boy go mess am Up.

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is very concerned about the security of voters, its personnel and election materials, party candidates and agents and other stakeholders in the election process as the nation moves towards 2023 elections.

The commission also acknowledged the expectation on it to perform its duties exceptionally despite the myriad geographical challenges that characterize the country, especially poor transportation systems.

INEC said its staff would require water transportation systems in some states, while it will require motorbikes and other human carriers in other communities to access all the polling units across the country.

Its national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee Festus Okoye made the remarks during the inauguration of the election crisis communication team under the auspices of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) yesterday in Abuja.

He said the task of conducting elections all over the world is a daunting one, adding that election preparations, deployment and implementation are the most extensive mobilization that could happen in a country even in peacetime.

In Nigeria, he said voters would elect candidates for 1,491 constituencies, comprising one presidential constituency, 28 governorship elections, 109 senatorial districts, 360 federal constituencies and 993 state assembly seats for the 2023 general elections.


In preparations, he said INEC would be involved in recruiting and training staff and managing the logistics for their deployment to 176,846 polling units, spread across 8,809 electoral wards, 774 local government areas, 37 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“This is in addition to applying strategic approaches to ensure the printing and collection of PVCs by registered voters and replacing lost cards before the 2023 general election.

“These tasks are better appreciated when one reasons that the projected voter population for the 2023 general election is about 95 million, which is over 20 million more than the combined voter population of the other 14 countries in West Africa.

“The Commission is expected to perform these duties exceptionally despite the myriad geographical challenges that characterize the country, especially poor transportation systems,” Okoye said.

He said the commission is determined and confident of conducting free, fair, transparent and inclusive elections in 2023.

“To perform these tasks effectively, the Commission has since recognized the role of effective communication. That is the reason behind the Commission’s Communication Policy, which it continues to update and apply.

“The Commission continues to provide timely and important information relating to the electoral process, especially in the area of changes in the law, the deepening of the use of technology in the electoral process, the conduct of elections and the management of different aspects of the electoral process,” he said.

The INEC commissioner however said there is still room for strengthening the communications system of the commission, as it experiences increasing incidents of misrepresentation, either out of insufficient appreciation of the constitutive legal instruments underlying the work of the commission; inadequate understanding of the work of the Commission or other sundry issues around political positioning and contest for power.

As a result of the way elections are pursued by politicians, he said elections are almost akin to war, and it is almost like a perennial crisis.

Consequently, he said the commission must be better prepared in communicating its positions.

“Our communication must be robust and focused on the long-term needs of the commission. It must be diverse, proactive, coordinated and consistent, with effective feedback mechanisms.

“Our communication strategies must recognize and amplify the demographic changes in the voting population; the increasing use of technology by a sizable number of Nigerians, the increasing engagement by Nigerians with the electoral process and the affirmation of the Nigerian people in their belief that the Commission has the capacity and courage to conduct transparent and inclusive elections.

“This is the purpose of this ECCT. We hope that the Team will provide consistent, timely, and targeted messaging to various stakeholders.

“Other areas of interest that we hope the ECCT will assist the Commission include the development of voter education materials, production of a press kit and responding to fake news and disinformation.

“In addition, we are ready to work with you to educate critical stakeholders and the general public on critical aspects of the forthcoming general election, including innovations the Commission has introduced to improve election service delivery, particularly leveraging digital technologies, collection of PVCs, accreditation and voting procedure and election day logistics.

“With the profound expertise and experience in this team, both from the media and election management angles, I have no doubt that these will be achieved,” he added.

He assured stakeholders that the Commission will continue to work in synergy with them to ensure a free, fair, credible and peaceful election in 2023 to protect the will of the Nigerian people.

Rivers State Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has said some politicians canvassing for votes to win the 2023 presidential election do not mean well for the country.

Wike said he was in a privileged position to know their intention and would reveal their identities at the appropriate time so that Nigerians would reject them at the 2023 polls.

Wike said this yesterday at the flag-off of internal roads that were held at Rumuesara, Eneka town in Obio/Akpor local government area of Rivers State.

The governor said, “Some other people are busy putting themselves together on how they will take over leadership in Nigeria to loot the remaining ones these other people have already kept.

“I’m privileged to know and at the appropriate time I’ll tell you who these people are. You need to know what is happening in Nigeria. Forget about all these people running around saying they want to rescue or save you (Nigeria). Just watch to see what is going to happen next.

“All of us should be calm concerning what is happening in PDP. In fact, nothing has happened yet. But by the grace of God, something will happen,” Wike said.

He stated that while his administration continues to flag-off and inaugurate projects for Rivers people, detractors keep sponsoring negative media campaigns against him.

Wike stated that despite such negative media comments, his administration has not relented in offering good governance to strengthen the relationship with the people of Rivers State.

The governor said, “Look at us concentrating on giving our people good governance. What is good governance? Good governance is making the people happy. Good governance is providing infrastructure for the people.

“Good governance is not about party. Providing good governance is about leadership. We are here everyday flagging off projects, commissioning projects even though our tenure is coming to an end.”

He noted how difficult it will be for seasonal politicians who have never done anything to better the lot of Rivers electorate to come to them and solicit their votes.

Wike said, “Now that I have come to Eneka to provide this basic infrastructure, I can come back to Eneka and ask you to follow me, let us go there or let us stay here. Do they have what it takes to come and talk to you? Can they come and talk to you?

“It is somebody that hears from you that you have also heard from. This one you’ve not provided anything for my people, you’ve not asked them what they want, then you want to tell them where to vote.

“So, it is us that will come and meet you and say see where you’ll vote.  And I know based on our relationship, since we have not deceived you, we have not told you lies, you will follow us at the appropriate time.”

Speaking further, the governor said Eneka fills a strategic place in his educational and political success story, which is why he cannot abandon its people.

In a related development, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ogbonna Nwuke, has said nobody knows the outcome of the meeting between Wike and the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

Nwuke, who disclosed this while speaking with LEADERSHIP in Port Harcourt yesterday, said all the reports in the media about the outcome of the meeting were mere speculations.

He said: “All we know is that all these conversations that have taken place, took place behind closed doors and we have not officially heard from the two sides.

“So, I will treat what was put on the front page of the national newspaper as speculation.

“We know that the last comment on the meeting between Asiwaju and Governor Wike was made by Ibrahim Masari, the placeholder who told the BBC that genuine understanding has been reached and that the expectation was that Wike was going to be useful to them in their pursuit for power and victory in the forthcoming election.

“I can say to you that if you look at the media, it is awash with all sorts of things. Nobody is really sure of what those conversations came to,” he said.

Political activist, Deji Adeyanju has said opposition fronliners in the 2023 presidential election, Atiku Abubakar of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP); Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) and Rabiu Musa Kwankwanso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) must form an alliance in order to defeat the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Deji, who said it is sad that big ideas don’t win elections in Africa, spoke against the backdrop of the recents meetings that were held in London.

Speaking at #LeaderahipSpaces @LeadershipNGA, Adeyanju who noted that the presidential candidates have been meeting, however lambasted them for being unserious about taking over power.

“They have been meeting secretly and openly. They are completely unserious political parties heading for a defeat,” Adeyanju said of the PDP, LP and the NNPP.

“Big ideas don’t win elections in Africa. What wins elections in this part of the world is tribe, ethnicity, religion, rigging, vote buying, stomach infrastructure. What the opposition are doing now will not help them. Wike may not work for Atiku if he is not sure he will win. South South governors worked against Wike.

“No politicians want to be identified with failure. Peter Obi is good but it is not possible for Atiku to step down for him. So, they must unite. It is common sense, “ Adeyanju said.


He continued, “We know the states where these candidates will win. When the results start coming from the KKK states, there will be throttling. Atiku, Obi, Kwankwanso must form a force. They should put somebody forward. Kwankwaso is already working for Tinubu because he does not want Atiku to emerge, “ Adeyanju said.

On his part, chairman of Emohua local government area of Rivers State, Hon Chidi Lloyd said the Atiku camp is already posturing as if it has won the election.

“We can’t afford to go to this election with a divided house. The Atiku people are already talking as if they have won the election already,” he said.

A PDP member in Kaduna State, Danjuma Bello Sarki, on his part, said he is confident that the PDP will win the 2023 presidential election.

According to Danjuma, Nigerians can’t afford to allow the ruling APC to continue.

“Atiku is reaching out and by the grace of God, PDP will win because Nigerians can’t afford to allow the APC to continue, “ Danjuma said.

A speaker, Charles Ideho who said Atiku made a mistake in picking Okowa, added that the Delta State Governor doesn’t have the political muscle to produce votes from the south as expected.

Also, Prince Ironsi who said Atiku made a mistake in picking Okowa as his running mate, added that it is the reason they are having a crisis in the PDP. Nigerians should go for Peter Obi, “ Ideho said.

On his part, a PDP member, Ose Anenih said the 2019 presidential election has taught them a lesson.

“No united opposition in the PDP that’s why Buhari got the 25 percent votes in all the states. Because some state governors did not work for the PDP. This must change in the 2023 general elections,” Anenih said.

oluwaseyi0:
Even when the terms are not favourable to Nigeria? What type of slavery ass-licking is this

Play by their rules in our own country, shey you dey wyne me ni

dalass:


Which one be DOSCOS again?

Stakeholders in the nation’s power sector have averred that the timely takeover of five electricity distribution companies (DisCos), as well as the various financial interventions by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have helped to avert the collapse of many deposit money banks (DMBs).

The power sector has continually suffered a cash crunch, forcing the federal government to inject funds to avert a total collapse. Despite a series of government interventions, the problems in the power sector prevail.

Stakeholders said yesterday, that many DMBs in Nigeria who extended loans to DisCos may have collapsed except for the CBN, especially in the takeover of some distribution companies, amidst poor performance and inability to pay back their loans.

The experts, who also noted that the apex bank’s backing of the takeover saved the country from job losses and economic catastrophe, noted that recovering government loans as well as that of commercial banks remained critical for the nation’s financial sector even as government intervention in the sector now stands at N2.9 trillion.

A power sector analyst, Adetayo Adegbemle noted that the CBN roles in protecting the collapse of the bank from power sector loan remained sacrosanct, adding that the indebtedness of the power sector to the bank would have led to the collapse of banks.

“I love the fact that CBN came into the power sector, not just to save the power sector, don’t forget even though they have roles to play in the sector but they came in to save their own banking sector.

“The loans that the power sector took from the banks have become bad and if you do not do anything it is going to be on the books of the banks. So CBN backing the banks to take-over the shares is a good thing for CBN,” he said.

Backed by the apex bank, DMBs had taken over five DisCos amidst poor performance and inability to pay back loans, a development which is already putting some banks on the edge of collapse.

With indications that the government’s intervention fund to the power sector now hover around N2.9 trillion since the sector was privatized in 2013, stakeholders insisted that the total collapse of the power sector would have had serious implications, not only for the banks but the entire economy.

In what has been described as poor financial performance, Abuja DisCo, Ibadan DisCo, Kano DisCo, Kaduna DisCo and the Benin Electricity Distribution Companies (BEDC) have been at loggerhead with the banks in a move backed by the CBN, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

Coming amidst a fresh $500 million loan by CBN to improve the capacity of the distribution companies, the development is happening at a time of global energy crisis where diesel now hovering around N850 per litre, as government spend heavily to subside Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

A report by CSL Stockbrokers Limited, (CSLS) titled; “The continued rise of bank loans to power sector”, had last week stated that the power sector owed N836.08 billion to Deposit Money Banks (DMBs).

The payback loans notwithstanding, the DisCos are indebted heavily despite huge stimuli from the Federal Government and interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Prior to takeover, CBN had directed the Deposit Money Banks to take charge of the collection of electricity bill payments as a circular signed by Hassan Bello, director of banking supervision had linked the move to the recommendation of the Power Sector Coordination Working Group to improve payment discipline in the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI).

BPE had disclosed last week that it is working with CBN to ensure that banks, which took over the DisCos exit in six-month as the director-general of the BPE, Alex Okoh said the banks were not expected to hold the shares in perpetually.

“In fact, in conjunction with the CBN, we have given them a deadline of six months within which to sell those shares to credible operators approved by the BPE and NERC and should they not be able to meet that deadline, they can be given a maximum extension of another six months. So in one-year maximum, they should be out of the DISCOs.”

Recall that the Distribution Companies (DisCos) are responsible for the sector’s revenue collection. While there was clamour for an increase in tariff, the sector’s inability to improve on the collection and reduce losses, a basic part of DisCos Key Performance Indicators, as well as inability to make remittance to the Bulk Electricity Trading Company remained serious concern for the sector.

President of the Nigerian Consumer Protection Network, Kunle Olubiyo said the takeover has helped in averting massive job losses and prevented imminent collapsed of the banking Industry due to toxic loans.

According to him, those who were the pioneer investors in the DisCos are Nigerian, who meant well but lack the requisite technical requirements of the original financial bidding benchmarks and technical bidding benchmarks as originally set out as thresholds for financial diligence as well as the technical due diligence .

Last week,
“What is most important is our ability as a nation to rally round indigenous investors with the rightfinancial muscles, who in turn can put together an assemblage of individuals professionals with collective cognate experiences of working in the business of management of power generation, transmission and distribution value chain to apply and take over. I am quite sure that in the next one, the present crop of receivers managers would have learnt a lot from the multifaceted sector wide learning curves,” he said.

Partner, Nextier Power, Emeka Okpukpara, had earlier noted that the initiatives by the apex bank is reducing financial liquidity in the sector, and introduced transparency, which enabled players in the sector to have access to information.

According to him, aside from offering visibility to the sector’s finance, the efforts ensured payment of debts as first-line charges.
Okpukpara said: “The financial discipline allows visibility of what DisCos are collecting. It allows debts such as generation, services, and other charges to be settled first before operating expenses.

“Transparency, in most cases, increases trust in a system. Therefore, I would recommend that the collection figures are made public since DisCos are custodians of market funds, rather than the owners.”

While electricity consumers pay for the inefficiencies of the sector under a Service Based Tariff arrangement, stakeholders are miffed that the current takeover by the banks remained pointer to poor corporate governance, technical and commercial losses as well as the dismal technical regulations in the power sector.

Recall that none of the DisCos, except Eko is currently able to meet minimum remittance order set by NERC, none of them has declared profit for eight years, none of them have also met the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) set by the sector, leaving consumers to pay for minor repairs and maintenance due to the country’s energy situation.

An energy lawyer, Madaki Ameh had stated that there was need for the total overhaul of the sector, insisting that the overhaul is long overdue and the takeover of the DisCos remained legally justified under the terms of the agreement, which brought them into the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry (NESI). He said the DisCos have not met any of the minimum thresholds set for them by government since privatisation despite the huge investment the government has continued to make in the sector.

“If you compare happenings in the power sector with the telecoms sector, you will see clearly that there were structural defects with the implementation of the privatisation policy in the power sector and that nothing short of a total take over of the DisCos and some of the non-performing GenCos would deliver the sort of efficiency required to transform the Sector in Nigeria,” Ameh said.

ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Corporation, and Equinor ASA have said they will withdraw their lawsuits of about $3 billion, against the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

 
According to court letters, dated August 22, seen by Bloomberg yesterday, the oil majors told two New York federal judges that they had agreed to settle with NNPC.
It added that the IOCs also agreed to terminate ongoing litigation once the new arrangements take effect.

The move comes 10 days after NNPC renewed oil production sharing contracts (PSCs) with the oil majors — after nearly three decades.

The national oil firm also resolved lingering disputes with the PSCs contractors.

According to Bloomberg, lawyers representing Equinor and Chevron asked the judge to suspend the case until the end of October “to allow sufficient time for the conditions to be satisfied and for the settlement agreement to become effective”.

The companies said once that is done, they “expect to withdraw this action”.
On their part, Exxon and Shell, in a separate letter, said they expect to withdraw the litigation after 60 days.

In 2017, Equinor and Chevron filed a suit in the US, asking a court to enforce a $1.1 billion award issued by an arbitration tribunal against NNPC in 2015.

Shell and Exxon initiated similar proceedings in New York in 2014 over a $1.8 billion arbitration award.

Both penalties followed allegations by the oil majors that the NNPC took crude beyond its entitlement under 1993 PSC contracts, designed to incentivise the companies to develop deep offshore blocks.