A former Head of State, Gen Yakubu Gowon (rtd), has said Nigeria would have been a better country if President Umaru Musa Yar’adua had completed his tenure.

Gowon spoke on Monday during a first President Umaru Musa Yar’adua international leadership conference and awards organised by Global Initiative For Leadership Success in Abuja.

Recall that Yar’adua became president in 2007, but in 2010, he died as a result of ill- health.

Gowon said Yar’adua had achieved significant milestones for Nigeria within his short time in office including granting amnesty to the Niger Delta militants as a way of restoring the economy of the country.

He lamented that though Yar’adua admitted that the process that produced him as president in 2007 was flawed and constituted the Justice Muhammed Uwais Committee for electoral reforms, successive administrations failed to continue with his initiative.

Gowon said, “He was a decent man; a man with absolute integrity. He was an honest man. He did very well and he has to be remembered. He was so honest that he said the process that brought him to power was not right. And he set up a committee. But it was not followed by successive leaders.

"However, I believe that one day, we shall have a solution. He was honey and sincere in dealing with any problem, and he was incorruptible. You can not blame him for corruption; he was clean. His various activities including the amnesty programme that he brought to the Niger Delta ensured our economy was protected.

“His illness and death, I believe if God had allowed him to complete his years in service, I believe Nigeria would have been better. A lot of things would have been better because he meant well for the country. So continue that love for the country and love for one another to make Nigeria great.”

Gowon also decried the spate of insecurity in the country and called on government and security agencies to fish out perpetrators of violent killings, abductions of schoolchildren in the North, and kidnapping for ransom in other parts of the country.

In his welcome address, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Global Initiative For Leadership Success, Gen A.B Mamman, said, “The blatant refusal to adopt and implement in whole this Uwais Committee report is consequential on the ever-faulty governance leadership recruitment system in Nigeria till date, accounting yet for her to remain in doldrums.

"Most public office holders continue to appear at the the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), or the Independent Corruption Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) office to answer questions on their tenure and so many reasons.”

The governor of Katsina State Dikko Radda says poverty is one of the major factors fueling banditry in the country, citing instances where young people are recruited into crime for as low as N500.

"The issue of the hypothesis behind political motive as responsible for banditry is not true,” the Katsina State governor said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

“Secondly, what also causes the recruitment of under the logistics services for bandits was a result of poverty because surprisingly with N5,000, N2,000, and N200, you can be able to convince some of these youths to join into this exercise which brings about money,” he insisted.

The governor lamented that banditry which is rife in the North-West region of Nigeria has become a business venture for some persons including government officials.

'Business Venture’
“Now it has turned out to be a business venture. A business venture for the criminals, some people who are in government; and some people who are in security outfits, and some people who are responsible for the day-to-day activities of their people,” the governor said. “These are so many reasons why we are unable to bring banditry to an end.”

In recent years, criminal gangs known locally as bandits have repeatedly raided places mostly in rural areas in the northern region, abducting many and killing others.

President Bola Tinubu has made reducing insecurity one of his priorities. Some have called for negotiations with the bandits as a way to end the menace.

But the Katsina State governor said his government won’t negotiate from a “point of weakness”.

"When you understand the terrain of the forest, and the different camps that we have within those forests… like in Katsina, we have more than 100 different camps that are being led by somebody. So, they have many leaders, many camps and if you’re negotiating with camps A and B and don’t negotiate with camps C and D, it will not bring any lasting peace,” Governor Radda said.

“Even if you negotiate with the leaders, the other followers of the leaders may not necessarily comply with the directives of their leader. So that is what makes the negotiation with the bandits a very difficult task,” he said.

"What I said is that I would never go into negotiations with any criminal at the point of weakness,” the governor added.

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested a gang of suspected ritualists who specialise in killing people and harvesting body parts for sale in various states.

The suspects include a woman who is an Osun priestess, a community chief, an Ifa priest, an Islamic cleric, and a trado-medicine practitioner.

While confirming this burst on Friday, the spokesperson of the command, Benjamin Hundeyin, explained that the suspects who operate in one of the extreme divisions of Lagos were arrested through intelligence reports from the public.

According to him, the leader of the gang, a 33-year-old man, Ademola Akinlosotu, confessed initially that he was exhuming corpses from cemeteries and selling their parts to ritualists but later graduated to killing and selling human parts to customers on demand.

Speaking on his antecedents, Akinlosotu said that he moved from killing people to harvesting parts because his clients requested fresh parts rather than dead body parts.

Akinlosotu said ”while I and some members of the gang would do the killings,” he would supply the parts to a 52-year-old man, Ahmed Wahab, aka Alfa Bororo, who operated from Badagry in Lagos State and Ogun State, to supply his clients.

The suspect said a fresh human head is sold at N45,000 or N50,000 while a dried human head sells between N30,000 and N35,000; heart for N70,000 and hands for N50,000.

Akinlosotu speaking further admitted to killing two persons, which included a friend he met through social media, before he was arrested.
He said before they killed anyone, the herbalist would be contacted to consult an oracle to determine whether the killing would be successful or would bring trouble.

The suspect alleged that a traditional ruler in Badagry requested him to kill his son because he was giving him problems. He also said that the day they were to carry out the killing was when a friend he met online visited him, and he was killed.

Akinlosotu said that all he harvests, when he kills, is the person’s head, the heart, and the hands.

Hundeyin said exhibits of different human parts were recovered from the suspects as the police continued the trail of other suspects. The command said that the suspects would be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed.

The military high command says it has concluded its long-awaited investigations on the bombing of innocent citizens Tudun Biri village of Igabi LGA of Kaduna State.

It also said two officers of the Nigerian Army, who were found wanting about the incident would face court-martial, saying the operation shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, disclosed this at an ongoing press briefing at Defence Headquarters, Abuja on Thursday.

Daily Trust had reported how the drone bombing mistake, which occurred on Sunday, December 3, 2023, resulted in dozens of casualties and injuries to residents of Tudun Biri, Ugara and Sabon Gida after they converged at Tudun Biri to celebrate the Maulud.

The Nigerian Army, which claimed responsibility for the deaths, attributed the incident to a mistake.

Giving an update at the briefing, the report of the investigation has been submitted to the appropriate quarters, adding that he was constrained to speak much about the incident.

The naira closed the month of April on a good footing as it gained N28.15 at the official market, trading at N1,390.96 to the dollar.

Data from the official trading platform of the FMDQ Exchange, a platform that oversees the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), revealed that the gain represented a 1.98 per cent appreciation for the naira.

The percentage increase is significant when compared to the previous trading date on Monday, April 29.

The local currency experienced a two-week steady fall by exchanging at N1,419 to a dollar.

The success story was replicated in the volume of currency traded as the total daily turnover increased.

The daily turnover stood at 225.36 million dollars on Tuesday, up from 147.83 million dollars recorded on Monday.

Meanwhile, at the Investor’s and Exporter’s (I&E) window, the naira traded between N1,450 and N1,200 against the dollar. (NAN)

Two undergraduates of Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, Edo State have been shot dead in a cult-related reprisal attack.

It was gathered yesterday that one of the victims was a member of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) and a 400-level student in the Faculty of Agriculture.

The incident occurred on Poultry Road Extension in Ekpoma after the death of a person named Eddy, who was reportedly beaten to death for allegedly using fake bank alerts to make purchases.

However, the circumstances surrounding Eddy’s death were misinterpreted as an attack by rival cult members, leading to a retaliatory attack by a rival cult group and resulting in the deaths of the two students.

The Edo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Superintendent of Police (SP) Chidi Nwabuzor, confirmed the cult-related killings and stated that some suspects had been apprehended, with investigations ongoing.

In a related development, one person has been killed and several properties were destroyed on Tuesday in a deadly clash between cult groups in Kwara State.

The incident occurred at Eyenkorin, Asa Local Government Area.

The Commissioner of Police, Victor Olaiya, confirmed the incident, saying “Mobile men and tactical teams have been deployed and are presently on the ground.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, said firefighters were called to the scene around 4:50 hours only to find two buildings engulfed in flames.

"Investigations revealed a sinister plot as the inferno was deliberately set by rival groups clashing in a deadly confrontation. One life was lost and the bereaved group avenged it by targeting the home of the rival group’s leader, leaving two houses in ruins,” Adekunle said.

Daily Trust reports that five persons had been killed in recent clashes between Eiye and Aiye rival cult groups in the state.

A 65-year-old suspect, Lukman Odejoju has narrated how alcohol packaged in nylon influenced the killing of his mother.

Vanguard has reported that the suspect killed his mother over palm oil proceed in Kajola village via Apomu, Isokan local government area of Osun state.

Fielding questions from journalists while he was being paraded at the State Police Command headquarters in Osogbo, he said the alcohol popularly referred to as ‘pelebe’ led him to an argument with his mother.

“We were both arguing inside the farm over handing over of her palm plantation to me but she refused. Amid the argument I pushed and strangled her, but I didn’t know she would die.

“Before I went to the farm, I had taken a sachets of alcohol. It was after the incident it dawned on me that I had committed a grave mistake.

“I adjusted her body and went to the village to bring people back to the scene. It was at the scene I told them what happened.

“I love my mother, I am her eldest surviving child out of five children and I urge the government to forgive because it was not intentional”, he pleaded.

ACTING National Chairman of the Labour Party, Prince Ifagbemi Awamaridi, has raised an alarm of alleged plans to kill the LP, saying they would resist the plots.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, Awamaridi, in a press statement titled: “Nigeria; the hard way, the only way” apologized on behalf of the party for the “disappointing conduct of the past executives,” which he described in Yoruba as “Gbajue” (fraud).

He said: “I and other members of the party apologize on behalf of the Labour Party for the disappointing conduct of the Gbajue executive.

“They commercially rented the party as a Special Purpose Vehicle mapped out as a mischief to kill the party in such a way that the party will be de-registered.

"The de-registration move they are making is done secretly, and we are aware. We will resist it with our last blood.

“We are now in charge of the Labour Party, and any group or individuals that call themselves the Labour Party are mere political clubs as all former excos’ tenures have expired.”

A dispatch rider, Monday Osazuwa, on Friday, narrated to the Special Offences Court in Lagos how the embattled former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Godwin Emefiele, instructed him on different occasions to collect the sum of $3m cash in tranches.

Osazuwa, who was led in evidence in chief by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission’s counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN), told the court that he had been a dispatch rider at Zenith Bank since 2001, before joining the CBN as a contract staff member in 2014.

The witness said Emefiele was the Managing Director of Zenith Bank while he worked there as a dispatch rider.

According to Osazuwa, he knew Emefiele, who was his boss while in Zenith Bank, before he later joined him in the CBN.

The witness, who testified before Justice Raman Oshodi, said he was later appointed as a senior supervisor (full-time) in charge of recording and filing documents while working in the CBN Governor’s office in Lagos.

Osazuwa said, “I was still working in the governor’s office when I was appointed a full-time staff member, and we usually communicated through WhatsApp and email.

"I performed as a senior supervisor, recording and filing with other official roles.

“I could recall that, in 2020, when he was outside Lagos, Emefiele called me and gave me a number that a man had something I would collect from him, and that the man would give me the number of another person.

When I got to the man’s office, I was given an envelope. I counted the money (in it), and was told to give it to my boss.”

The witness further told the court that Emefiele usually collected money alone whenever he was in Lagos.

According to him, any time the defendant was not around, Emefiele would tell him (Osazuwa) to give the money to the second defendant, Henry Omoile.

Osazuwa added that Emefiele sent him to MINL Limited when he was with Zenith Bank.

He added, “This company is situated at Isolo. The first defendant(Emefiele) do send me to collect cheques from the company from Mr. Monday, and when I collect the cheque from Mr. Monday, I would give it back to Emefiele, and he would lodge the money into the account of Dummies Oil and Gas.”

Osazuwa further stated that Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoile, lived in the residence of the former CBN governor.

He stated that when he collected money for his boss (Emefiele), he would take it to his residence at Iru Close, Ikoyi, Lagos.

"Whenever I received the money and took it to my boss’ residence, Mr Emefiele would tell me to give it to the second defendant (Omoile) whenever he was not home.

“I did not keep a record of the transactions, because he instructed me that I should collect the money and bring it to his house.

"I did not keep a record of the transactions, because he instructed me that I should collect the money and bring it to his house.

“The highest amount I collected was $1m, all in cash. Some weeks later, the businessman also called me, and I collected $850,000, $750,000, and $400,000 in cash in different tranches.

"I have never been rewarded, paid, or given anything. I was doing it out of faithfulness, and he knows it, but he never for once said, ‘Take this’,” the witness said.

While being cross-examined by the defence counsel, Mr. Abdulakeem Labi-Lawal, the witness confirmed to the court that he had been working with the defendant since 2002.

Earlier, Justice Oshodi had granted Emefiele bail in the sum of N50m.

He is being tried for alleged abuse of office and fraud to the tune of $4.5bn and N2.8bn.

The judge admitted Emefiele to N50m bail with two sureties in like sum.

He held that the sureties must be gainfully employed and have three years of tax payment with the Lagos State Government.

Oshodi also said that the sureties must show proper identification and be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.

The judge also said that he was satisfied with the bail conditions of N1m earlier granted to Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoil, who is standing trial in another charge before Justice Olufunke Sule-Hamzat of the Yaba High Court.

Oshodi, however, said that the bail documents must be transferred to the Special Offences Court and registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.

The EFCC arraigned Emefiele on Monday, April 8, on 23 counts bordering on abuse of office, accepting gratifications, corrupt demand, receiving property fraudulently obtained, and conferring corrupt advantage, while his co-defendant was arraigned on three counts bordering on acceptance of a gift by agents.

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Justice Oshodi also refused an oral application for adjournment, which was moved twice by defence counsel, Labi-Lawal, to cross-examine the witness.

The judge adjourned the case till April 29, 2024, for trial and the hearing of an application for a closed section.

A community in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria, has resorted to invoking deities to stop frequent attacks and killings by pro-Biafra gunmen in the area, [/b]PREMIUM TIMES reports.

The community, [b]Enugu-Ezike, which is in the Igboeze-North Local Government Area of the Nigerian South-eastern state, had been witnessing frequent attacks and killings by the pro-Biafra gunmen.

Multiple sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the community invoked the deities following the alleged inability of the security agencies to stop the attacks in the area.

How it happened

An indigene and elder in the community, Nicholas Idoko, told this newspaper earlier in March that leaders of the community were disturbed by the frequent attacks and killings in the area, which prompted them to make an arrangement to track down the hoodlums behind the attacks.

Mr Idoko said the first set of the people arrested by the community were confirmed to be indigenes of the community.

He said following the discovery, the community decided to invoke several deities against the attackers.

“We carried the deities in all parts of the community beginning from Orute Roundabout and petitioned the deities to kill anybody – man or woman who attacks or kills or causes insecurity in our land,” he said. “That was in November 2023. Since then, our place has been calm.”

Another indigene of the community who identified himself simply as Afamefuna confirmed the development to PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday.

Mr Afamefuna said the community decided to invoke the deities because the hoodlums behind the attacks believe strongly in the deities.

He said before the deities were invoked, the community leaders had tactically recruited the suspected attackers into the community’s Neighbourhood Watch Group. Still, their insistence on the Biafra agenda caused disputes between them and original members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, resulting in several killings.

“In the heat of the killings and attacks, soldiers were deployed to solve the problem. But the soldiers’ intervention did not really work,” he said in Igbo.

“So, the community invoked the deities in November 2023. That day, the whole community was filled with people. Even security agencies were guiding those carrying the deities.

He said before the deities were invoked, the community leaders had tactically recruited the suspected attackers into the community’s Neighbourhood Watch Group. Still, their insistence on the Biafra agenda caused disputes between them and original members of the Neighbourhood Watch Group, resulting in several killings.

“In the heat of the killings and attacks, soldiers were deployed to solve the problem. But the soldiers’ intervention did not really work,” he said in Igbo.

“So, the community invoked the deities in November 2023. That day, the whole community was filled with people. Even security agencies were guiding those carrying the deities.

As of now (after the invoking of the deities), to be honest, the insecurity has slowed down (in the community),” Mr Afamefuna added.

The indigene said more than seven deities were invoked by the community leaders on that day.

Sit-at-home also disappearing’

Like other communities in the South-east, sit-at-home had been enforced in the Enugu Ezike community on Mondays.

But Mr Afamefuna said after the invoking of the deities, the sit-at-home waned in the community and that attacks often witnessed during the illegal action in the area had also stopped.

“Mondays are like business hours for those criminals. But now, there is nothing like an attack, even on Mondays (in the community). The only thing is that fear of what happened before still prevents some people from coming out on Mondays,” he said.


‘Kill anybody who murders, kidnaps again in Enugu-Ezike.’

PREMIUM TIMES obtained a video clip which showed the community leaders invoking the deities.

In the clip, a traditionalist in the community identified as Stone Igwe was seen carrying a fetish pot while speaking to the deities and appealing to them to kill those who further murder, kidnap and carry out any attack or evil against any member of the community.

We are handing Enugu Ezike into your hands today. We are invoking you today in this land. We are asking you all from today henceforth whoever murders any innocent indigene of Enugu Ezike whether through charm, gun, or machete, kill such person or persons,” he shouted in Enugu Ezike dialect of Igbo language.

“Isee,” villagers chorused, meaning Amen.

“Whether you are from Hausa land, Fulani, Yorubaland, or even from India, and you murder any Enugu Ezike indigene, may these deities kill you,” the community leader implored the deities again.

Apart from killing, the community leaders also invoked the deities against kidnappers and armed robbers operating in the Enugu Ezike.

Biafra agitators or criminals?
Some residents of the community said the hoodlums initially terrorising the community were not members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) or any other pro-Biafra group but criminals hiding under the cloak of Biafra agitation in the region.

"They (the gunmen) are not Biafra agitators. Some of them were initially IPOB members, but later they had internal disagreements,” one of the residents, who asked not to be named, said.

“I heard that IPOB coordinators would tell them what to do, and they would reject it probably because they have guns. From there, they were sacked from IPOB,” the resident added.

‘It’s not new’
The invoking deities to fight insecurity is not new in the South-east, according to Nnamdi Anekwe, a security expert.

Mr Anekwe told PREMIUM TIMES that invoking of deities was used to resolve disputes, secure the people and achieve peace in the region during Nigeria’s pre-colonial era.

The security expert, who hails from the South-east, said communities in the region relied on deities to ensure orderliness because there was no police and judicial system at the time, explaining that the practice gradually went extinct due to the coming of Christianity.

“I buy into the idea that deploying traditional methods and practices can help them to solve insecurity (because the) people tend to believe in it rather than using the police force or the court,” he said.

“So, the approach by the community using traditional methods to solve or prevent crime dates back to more than 200 to 300 years. It’s not a new thing. It’s going to be effective,” Mr Anekwe stated.

Background
Like in other communities in the South-east, security had deteriorated in Enugu Ezike with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, residents and government facilities.

The Nigerian government has accused IPOB of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. However, the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is a group leading the agitation for an independent state of Biafra, which it wants carved out from the South-east and some parts of South-south Nigeria.

The group had repeatedly disowned the Monday sit-at-home and attacks in the region, saying those behind the attacks and the illegal order were criminals attempting to blackmail the separatist group.

The new Deputy Governor of Edo State, Omobayo Godwins, has pledged his unalloyed loyalty to Governor Godwin Obaseki in the few months they will work together before the end of the governor’s eight-year double terms on November 12, 2016.

The 37-year-old, who was sworn in on Monday after the state assembly impeached Philip Shaibu as Edo deputy governor, was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme.

Godwins said he is learning on the job and won’t hesitate to do all that his principal instructs him to do.

When asked if he is satisfied that the role of a deputy governor has been relegated to a “spare tire”, Godwins said, “It’s okay with me. Life is a process. At 37+, I am already a deputy governor, it has improved my political outlook and I am not in a rush to drag with my governor. Whatever he say I should is what I will do. He knows my strength. So, I will dwell on my strength when it comes to adding value. Politically, I am learning on the job.”

The new deputy governor was unambiguous that his becoming deputy governor, months to the expiration of the eight-year tenure of Obaseki, was part of the political permutations for Ighodalo to defeat his closest contenders like LP’s Olumide Akpata and Monday Okpebholo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Godwins boasted that he has robust grassroot support from his base in Akoko Edo, one of the local governments in the Edo North Senatorial District, to boost the chances of Ighodalo, who hails from Ewohimi in the Esan South-East Local Government Area of Edo Central Senatorial District.

On Shaibu’s impeachment, he said, “That is politics for you. Your job first of all is to be loyal.”


Meanwhile, Shaibu has rejected his impeachment by the lawmakers, describing it as a threat to democracy.

“This is not just an attack on me as an individual but on the democracy that we hold dear,” he said

"It is a dangerous descent into dictatorship and a threat to the foundation of our democracy. Let it be clear that this impeachment was hatched because of my ambition to contest the Edo State 2024 governorship election under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. An ambition that is a legal right to all citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Shaibu was Obaseki’s deputy from November 12, 2016 till April 8, 2024 when he was unceremoniously removed following a protracted rift between the two former political allies.

For about one year, Obaseki and Shaibu had been engaged in counter-accusations as their once-smooth relationship completely broke down. The governor had claimed that Shaibu was planning a “coup” to unseat him while the labour leader also accused his principal of instigating the state assembly to impeach him.

Shaibu, who contested the PDP governorship primary, had declared himself a winner in a parallel election after the party announced businessman Ighodalo the party’s flag bearer.

The Kaduna State Police Command has apprehended a nine-man gang of suspected ritualists under the name of ‘, NBM, at a Cemetery in Dutsen Abba Ward along the Zaria -Kaduna expressway with one full jerry can of human blood,

ASP Mansur Hussaini, Public Relations Officer of the Command, while making the confirmation of the arrest on Sunday, explained that their arrest followed a tip-off after a source drew the attention of the service formation that some group of people were sighted at the said cemetery, which in turn Saye Lowcost Division was alerted.

He added that those arrested for alleged involvement in ritual activities are, Samson Ezekiel (32), Samuel Francis (27), Usman Nura (34), Gabriel Sheba (23), Haruna Sa’id (37), Bala Lukman (27) and Jabir Rilwan (37).

The PPRO explained, “A search was conducted on their vehicle, a Lexus sedan, with registration number RSH 712 CW, where two locally made pistols, one Beretta pistol, two jacket knives, two calabashes and a jerrycan, full of human blood were recovered.”

He said the suspected ritualists, comprising the new and old members, were apprehended while initiating the new members, saying the gang confessed to getting the human blood after slaughtering an aged man and disposing of his body along the Jaji military cantonment, in neighbouring Igabi Local Government Area,

The suspects also confessed that the man’s vital body parts were dismembered but were taken away by another gang which came from Kaduna.

Following the arrest of the seven suspected ritualists along the Zaria -Kaduna expressway, he said that two other suspects were apprehended by the locals, at ABU Congo Conference Hotels, along old Jos road, stressing that they are Austin Ifinju from Ondo State, aged 28 and Yoruba by tribe and Aliyu Ali Yahaya, resident of Hadu Nasko road Abuja, aged 24. Agatu by tribe and a student of ABU Samaru.

ASP Mansur Hussaini, Public Relations Officer of the Command confirmed the arrest, explaining that investigations are ongoing.

AS the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, NNPC Limited, moves to end petrol scarcity in Lagos and its environs, Dangote Refinery and oil marketers have intensified efforts at taking final decisions on pricing and delivery of petrol to filling stations nationwide.

Dangote Refinery, which can refine 650,000 barrels per day, bpd of crude oil, intends to commence production and distribution of the product, the bulk of which is currently imported from the global market, in May 2024.

Checks by Vanguard, weekend, indicated that the parties have been meeting and exchanging notes on the pricing, distribution and margins to stakeholders in the value chain, including transporters and insurers.

Recall that depot owners buy the product from NNPC Limited at N556 per litre and sell to independents at N640 per litre.
It was, however learnt that independent markers have proposed N550 per litre to management of Dangote Refinery who is currenty in a discussion with them.

We have proposed N550 per litre — Marketers

The President of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Alhaji Abubakar Migandi Garima, who confirmed the development yesterday, said: “We have been discussing with Dangote Refinery. The discussion, centering on pricing, margins and other issues, is still ongoing.

“We have proposed that the lifting price should be N550 per litre in Lagos. The price of the product will differ from one part of Nigeria to another because of distance and cost of delivering petrol to different locations.

"We are currently waiting on Dangote Refinery to conclude and communicate the price per litre, so we can plan to lift the product when it comes on stream.

‘’We expect that the price of the locally refined petrol would be cheaper than imported petrol, due mainly to local availability of the bulk of its crude oil and removal of transportation cost.”

Let’s enjoy benefit of domestic refining — Experts, consumers

Similarly, Executive Director, Emmanuel Egbogah Foundation for Petroleum and Energy Industry Economics and Policy Advocacy, Professor Wumi Iledare, said the coming on stream of Dangote Refinery presented an opportunity for Nigerians to enjoy cheaper prices of petrol now or later.

He said: “The price of petroleum is majorly correlated with the acquisition cost of crude oil. The cost of running the refinery and opportunity cost of capital contribute marginally. Distribution and retailing costs are important but the crude cost matter the most.

"Thus, low price of petrol in Nigeria when Dangote Refinery operates at full capacity, is a possibility indeed, ceteris paribus.”

A motorist, who pleaded anonymity, said: “Most people have stopped driving every day. That is why we do not experience much traffic in the cities, including Lagos anymore. I am pleased that the Dangote Refinery will soon supply petrol. We hope and pray that it will be cheaper than the imported product.”

FG should float $1bn fund to complete new refineries — Refinery owners

However, President of Crude Oil Refinery-owners Association of Nigeria, CORAN, Mr. Momoh Oyarekhua, said: “ The coming on stream of Dangote Refinery is a very good development, especially as it would reduce huge dependence on imported petrol, conserve foreign exchange and create additional jobs.

"The government needs to support the construction of other indigenous refinery projects, currently at different stages nationwide. We have proposed the creation of $1 billion fund to support local investors.

‘’If this is done, lack of funds, which has always been a major challenge, would to some extent be addressed.

“The federal government and other stakeholders, including the Nigerian Midstream, Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, should engage with indigenous investors to explore the best ways and means of bringing this into reality in the best interest of oil and gas industry and the nation’s economy.”

We expect sector wide impact – CPPE

Also, the Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said: “If we are able to take advantage of Dangote refinery to reduce our consuming products, it will go a long way in easing the country’s foreign exchange crisis. However, it would also make positive impact across all sectors.”

It’s premature for our reaction—NLC

Asked to react to the development yesterday, an official of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, who chose to remain anonymous, said it was premature for comments, saying “how can we react to speculations? When we see what they have done, then, we can say something. For now, we think it is premature.”

NNPC Ltd moves to end shortage

On the current scarcity of fuel in some parts of Lagos and its environs, the Chief Corporate Communications Officer, NNPC Limited, Olufemi Soneye, stated: “The NNPC Limited wishes to inform the general public that the tightness in Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, supply witnessed in some filling stations in Lagos was a result of an issue in one of the depots in the area.

"The NNPC Retail Limited, our retail arm, has since resolved the issue and effective tomorrow (today), normalcy will be restored within the affected area.

“NNPC Limited calls on motorists in Lagos to avoid panic buying of PMS as all hands are on deck to sustain sufficiency in the supply of petroleum products in the area.”