₦airaland Forum

Ekiti State Governor-elect, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has said that Labour Party’s candidate ,Opeyemi Bamidele, contributed to his victory in the June 21 governorship election.

Fayose, comfirmed this when he visited the LP secretariat in Ado-Ekiti where he met Bamidele and key leaders of the party.

He said, “I want to thank you for making yourself available for Ekiti people as an agent of change through June 21 election. What you did is a replica of what I did in the past when I used the Labour Party to prevent a bad government installed by PDP then from continuing in office and we succeeded in putting APC in place.

I divided PDP and you divided APC all for good intents and purposes. But I thank God that he has used you to play a similar role today. The journey is not too far and you have what it takes to lead our people.

“By age, experiences and exposure, you are indeed a leader of your people. I have a lot of respect for you and that’s why I have called you more than 15 times after this election insisting on seeing you. I see you as a brother and a fellow fighter from the same side of the divide.”

Fayose, who attended the meeting alongside his deputy governor-elect, Olusola Ojo-Eleka, said Bamidele remained a reference point of integrity, service and voice of the voiceless in Ekiti any day.

He said the incoming government would need Bamidele’s wealth of experience in governance and politics to move Ekiti state forward.

“By all standards you are a leader and a gentleman, that’s why I have always identified with you even before and after you contested this election. In an election there must be one governor, so as far as I’m concerned, you have lost nothing in this race. You can only count your blessings. That’s why I felt you have fought a good fight and emerged a victor,” Fayose added.

Bamidele in his remark said the meeting was a turning point for Ekiti people and their democratic experience since politicians from various political platforms were beginning to come together to discuss the future of their people.

He assured that politicians from his party were ready to contribute their quota to the development of the state.

http://www.punchng.com/news/fayose-thanks-bamidele-for-splitting-apc/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_HUrexd32U

Get an Android phone, download an application called "truecaller" it can source caller's name from sim registration etc.

Maiduguri - The Borno government on Monday imposed a 24-hour curfew on Maiduguri metropolis following an attack by suspected members of the Boko Haram sect in some parts of the state capital.
Alhaji Ahmed Jidda the Secretary to the State Government, announced the decision in a statement released to newsmen in Maiduguri.
The statement said that the curfew was imposed in consultation with the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army in Maiduguri.
“During the period of curfew, government pleads with all citizens to remain calm.
“Only vehicles on emergency calls and essential services are allowed to move while the curfew will be lifted as soon as situation improves, ‘’ it added.
“The imposition of the curfew is necessitated by an attack in Maiduguri by people suspected to be Boko Haram members in the early hours of today.”
The apparently large attack in a major urban centre will cast further doubt on military claims that the Islamist insurgents have been pushed into remote, more rural parts of the northeast.
The military on Saturday said they would tighten security in communities near Nigeria’s northern and eastern borders with Chad, Niger and Cameroon due to fears about Boko Haram strikes over the Christmas and New Year period.
Army spokesman Ibrahim Attahiruon Monday said that one of the attacks struck near the city’s airport but he was not able to provide further details.
The phone network has been down in Borno state since mid-May, when a state of emergency was declared in the area.
The military said the shutdown would help block militants from coordinating attacks but with no working mobile phone service, details of the conflict in the area have been difficult to verify.
The latest violence began at around 3:00 am (0200 GMT) and included bomb and gun attacks,
Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri more than 10 years ago and has attacked the city repeatedly.



- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/boko-haram-attacks-prompt-24-hour-curfew-in-borno/#sthash.NSynj3KY.REpyb6AB.dpuf

By Ndahi Marama
Suspected Boko Haram terrorists, Monday morning, attacked the Composite Group Air force Base and other places in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.
The siege which started at about 3am shook the town as sporadic gunshots and other Rocket Propelled Launchers fire were heard, with airstrikes in Maiduguri and Jere metropolis till 8 am.
Sources said during the attacks on the air force base and other places including the Maiduguri international airport, several people were killed as the terrorists numbering over 300 planted explosive in targeted areas in the state capital.
*Boko haram
*Boko haram
Also attacked are, the newly constructed trailer parks along Damaturu- Maiduguri road, military check points and other residential and public buildings, which according to the source led to the death of many people among the terrorists and security agencies.
An eye witness who resides in Gomari airport area, just few metres away to the air force base, said, ” I saw 5 military operational vehicles conveying dead bodies to the hospital at about 6am, the dead bodies were suspected to be security agents killed during the attack”.


- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/12/scores-killed-boko-haram-attacks-air-force-base-maiduguri/#sthash.tqeTCvlM.2nbNh3zJ.dpuf

The Kogi State University lecturer, Muhammad Nazeef, who was paraded by the Department of State Security Service as a Boko Haram suspect on Thursday, is a victim of conspiracy, his daughter –Summayya, has claimed.
Ms. Muhammad, in a statement sent to the media, insisted that her father is renowned for speaking out against the activities of Boko Haram and described the state security’s (SSS) allegation against him as “untrue and full of mischief”.
She said the allegation was planned to tarnish her father’s image and that of the family.
“The family categorically writes and states that the parading of Dr. Muhammad Nazeef Yunus, on the allegation as claimed by the SSS, was falsehood and a calculated attempt to damage his good reputation and image as a peaceful Islamic cleric.” Ms. Muhammad said
Mr. Nazeef, a lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Islamic studies at the Kogi State University was paraded alongside four others by the SSS on Thursday in Abuja.
A tearful Mr. Nazeef denied any link with the dreaded sect even as the other four other accused maintained that he had connection with Boko Haram. They described him as their leader, saying they had been trained in the sect’s camp in Sambisa, Maiduguri.
During the parade of the suspects, Mr. Nazeef said he believed he was being set up by Boko Haram following his consistent preaching against the sect’s activities.
This claim was further attested to by Ms. Muhammad, who said available tapes of her father’s messages will prove that he was an outspoken critic of the sect.
“Dr. Nazeef is a strong condemner of the Boko Haram sect. His available records of his preaching have proven that he is not a member of the sect. Dr. Nazeef, as known by all other persons for his peace, has never been an advocate of the sect; as such the family strongly condemned in totality his parading by the SSS, even as he repeatedly denied having knowledge of his allegation.” She said
Ms. Muhammad also picked holes in the SSS’ claim that Mr. Nazeef was arrested at a mosque in Zuba, on the outskirts of Abuja. Rather, she said her father was picked up by security agents at his Anguwan Rogo residence in Jos on October 29 along with one of the suspects, Umar Musa, and then transferred Abuja.
“The SSS after 21 days of the arrest shamelessly, through its spokesperson Ms. Marilyn Ogar, said they arrested him just three days ago, in a white mosque in Abuja.” She said
She lampooned the SSS for hurriedly arraigning her father after the family had filed legal action against the SSS at an Abuja High court. She said the judge handling the case – Valentine Ashi, had ordered that the SSS present Mr. Nazeef in person before the court on Tuesday.
“The court, presided over by Justice Valentine B. Ashi, has ordered for his presentation before it by the SSS, next Tuesday, they hurriedly and mischievously paraded him and labelled the Boko Haram.” she said


http://www.informationng.com/2013/11/my-fathers-a-staunch-critic-of-boko-haram-activities-kogi-varsity-lecturers-daughter-cries-out.html

Baba has retired into entertainment business.........there is alot to do after presidency and otta farm.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzUEtWO7fU4

http://www.videonigeria.com/why-you-love-me-so-feat-former-president-olusegun-obasanjo-ibitayo-jeje-music-video-video_4025a031e.html

My fellow NL, my wife has been suffering from a very severe migraine for years now.
anytime its triggered she has to stay in the room with the light off and the windows sealed to create a very darkroom, she takes trip-tans to get relieve, but lately the medication is not as effective as it use to.
A doctor suggested another med (EXCEDRIN for migraine) and i have searched all some pharmacies in Abuja where i leave but cat fine it,
i have checked online but the stores i found don't ship to Nigeria.
if there is anyone out there around Nigeria with information of where i can get this drug PLEASE SHARE my wife is suffering.
thank you.

SOME eminent Igbo leaders yesterday faulted revelations by Lt. General Jeremiah Useni, former Minister of Federal Capital Territory, on how northern military officers killed the late General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigeria’s first military head of state. He was killed in the July 1966 counter-coup.
Useni, in an interview published in The Nation yesterday, claimed that he was one of the soldiers who fired shots during the coup in which Aguiyi-Ironsi was killed. In the interview, he spoke of how the plot to topple the military government was hatched and executed by mainly northern military officers seeking revenge against the Igbo.
The 1966 coup which toppled the civilian government in which the Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafwa Balewa, Premier of the Northern Region and Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Western Region, Chief Ladoke Akintola and several northern military leaders were killed, was perceived as a coup against the north.
Colonel Joe Achuzia, former Biafran army commander, dismissed Useni’s accounts as unreliable. According to him, the former minister was not relevant in the scheme of things during the Aguiyi-Ironsi era.
He said, “I don’t react to such nonsense as the one you said came from Jerry Useni. It is not in my character to make statements on documents or statements I have not seen or read as the case may be.
“However, people like Useni are not in any position to give any reliable account. He was a junior officer who was not in reckoning in the army until the mass recruitment done in preparation for the Nigerian civil war. His account can never be anything reliable. It cannot be correct. At most, it will be very, very wrong,” Achuzia said.
In his own reaction, Chief Ralph Uwazurike, leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), accused Useni of intentionally fanning the embers of discord ahead of the 2015 presidential election in the country.
“I like what Jerry Useni has said. It is a good revelation that reinforces the fact that Nigeria was built on distrust right from the word go. The whole polity called Nigeria was conceived and delivered on distrust between the north and the south. We know this all the while but Useni’s confession merely confirms our fears over how our brother was murdered.”
According to him, northerners saw themselves as brothers united against the south. It was not about religion but a north versus south divide. “They conspired and murdered Aguiyi-Ironsi simply because he was an Igbo man who rose to become the Head of State. That is why MASSOB is saying there is no basis for us to remain in the entrapment called Nigeria. With this kind of revelation, what is the basis for our remaining in the country called Nigeria? We want to be allowed to go our separate way because Nigeria is built on distrust.”
He accused Useni of fanning the embers of war at all cost. “They want the country to erupt in chaos ahead of 2015. He is reminding us of how they murdered our brother in cold blood based on distrust. He expects us to be happy reading all he said. Boko Haram is killing our brothers even now, based on the same distrust. Yet they want a united Nigeria.”
For Dr. Chinweoke Mbadinuju, former Governor of Anambra State, Useni should be cautioned against waking up the past that is not very pleasant. Doing this, he warned could re-open old wounds that are better left to heal.
“I don’t know what he wants to achieve by all he said. The statements were very unfortunate and unnecessary. We need peace in this country. No need to wake up the past that is not very glorious.
“I would have said more, but the truth of the matter is that it is not good to ascribe too much to inglorious past especially now that Nigeria is at the stage it is now politically. It is bad now that seven northern governors are looking for trouble in the PDP.”
And according to the submission of Nduka Eya, former Secretary-General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the consciences of people like Useni, who had hands in the killings of prominent Igbo sons and daughters during the dark days of Nigeria’s history, must be haunting them.
“Even though I am yet to read the said interview, I can say maybe his conscience is haunting him,” Eya said.
Mazi Okwu Okwu, Secretary of the Board of Trustee (BoT) of the Ohaneze Youth Council, said Useni should be ashamed of his involvement in the killing of Aguiyi-Ironsi and other gallant officers of the Nigerian Army.
“If Useni is importing heroism into his action, then it means he lacks any element of human feeling. At a time when his co-travellers are writing books and granting interviews to express their regrets over this same incident, Useni is busy celebrating his callous nature.
“To me, here is a man who is on his own in his failure to realise that the misdeeds of the past account for many of the troubles we face today as a nation. He is a fish out of water. He should be pitied,” Okwu said.


http://thenationonlineng.net/new/aguiyi-ironsi-igbo-leaders-blast-useni/

rumor has it that Asiri Dokubo the niger delta commando was robbed and left naked on the street of Abuja yesterday....................anyone with with more details should please provide

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8SS5pXnTOJk
The bizarre spectacle of power grab by brain damaged governor of Taraba State, Danbaba Suntai continued today in Jalingo as cabal led by his wife and a Nigerian Senator Emmanuel Bwatcha.

The event was a swearing in for new cabinet members for the governor. The event happened at the dining room of Mr. Suntai at the Governor's Lodge in Jalingo, which had been converted to an office for the purpose of giving a semblance of official activity.

Suntai forcefully read a few minutes of speech broadcast on state TV. However, he was unstable and unclear.

After the swearing in the speaker of the state assembly, Haruna Tsokwa walked in to see Suntai but the ailing governor did not recognize him and others but the video was edited to look as though the speaker's delegation was part of the swearing in ceremony. Members of the cabal, propping up the ailing Governor to grab power, are listed as Sylvanus Giwa, Senator Emanuel Bwatcha, Haruna Manu of the the house of reprsentatives, state PDP chairman, Victor Bala, Aminu Jika, who was sworn in as the new chief of staff to Mr. Suntai and the new Secreatry to the state government, Barrister GT Kataps.









http://saharareporters.com/video/governor-suntais-stage-managed-swearing-new-cabinet-members-jalingo

Home » Commentary » Columnists

2015: Why Buhari Matters By Chido Onumah And Godwin Onyeacholem
Posted: July 4, 2013

Chido Onumah
Columnist: Chido Onumah
We must state unequivocally that we have no illusion about the present order. We do not think that the present system can solve the fundamental crisis in the nation or bring succour to our people.

The impoverishment of millions of our country men and women, the wanton abuse of rights, the unmitigated corruption, alienation, internal colonisation and exacerbation of the fault lines of the country, are not issues that the current political order can tackle.

As a first step toward addressing these issues, we recommend a national dialogue of genuine representatives of the people on the future of Nigeria. How to force this all-important national dialogue – whether through a bloody revolution or otherwise – will have to be determined by millions of toiling Nigerians who bear the brunt of the present anachronistic social order.

Having made this clarification, it is important to note that we have to “play politics” within the parameters of the current bourgeois democratic order. And that is exactly what we intend to do in this piece. This piece was inspired by Joe Igbokwe’s ostrich politics which has found expression in his rejoinders to our articles on what the opposition – the All Progressives Congress (APC), specifically – needs to do to make an impression in 2015.

In his latest rejoinder, Joe Igbokwe preferred to hide his head in the sand and instead of addressing the salient points we raised in our articles, resorted to name-calling as a way out of the political cul-de-sac he has found himself. Clearly, for Igbokwe, insults can get you votes and even win elections. Unfortunately, this approach only goes to show how patently untenable his position is. He accused us of starting a project of rigging Jonathan back to power “via such flimsy and laughable excuse as the opposition not being ready to wrest power from PDP”. These are Igbokwe’s words not ours.

And to clear any doubts, he averred that, “Those who voted Jonathan in the South-west (in 2011) told us (Igbokwe and others) how Jonathan moved from nowhere to become Deputy Governor, from Deputy Governor to Governor, from Governor to Vice President and from Vice President to become President and concluded that the man has some divine luck going with him. They told us that they want to tap Jonathan’s divine luck. That is how we got to where we are today”.

“Now where is the luck after four years? Where is the divine luck in Nigeria? Can we see it? Can we feel it? Where has this luck led Nigeria to? Igbokwe queried. We shall leave him to answer the question. And if we accept Igbokwe’s thesis about the underlying reasons for Jonathan winning in the South-west, perhaps it is apposite to conclude that if voters in the South-west found justification in 2011 to vote for Jonathan, his antecedents notwithstanding, we are sure they will find reasons to do the same in 2015. This time around, it may not be a desire to tap into his imaginary divine luck, but to imbibe the virtues of patience.

Of course, we would be glad to see the back of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Jonathan as far as the governance of Nigeria is concerned. But just taking a stand as Igbokwe implored us to do isn’t enough. I don’t know where Igbokwe got the impression that we imputed that PDP is invincible. We are not in PDP and we don’t intend to be. So it is a waste of time offering advice to a party whose implosion looks imminent. On the contrary, since we have a stake in the APC we feel obligated to prime the party for the struggle ahead because 2015 is its to lose.

According to Igbokwe, “Apart from General Buhari any of these great minds in APC can rule this country better than President Goodluck Jonathan. They are: Nuhu Ribadu, Nasir El’ Rufai, Pat Utomi, Gov Babatunde Fashola, Gov Oshiomhole, Gov Rochas Okorocha, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Audu Ogbeh, Gov Fayemi, Senator Chris Ngige, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, Alhaji Shekarau, to mention a few.

Quite an impressive list! Perhaps, we should add Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of the State of Osun. It is heartening to know that our good friend, Joe Igbokwe, is actually thinking ahead. However, we have to stop the idle chatter and cut to the chase because there seems to be too much wooly politics going on, and deliberately too we might add. Let’s do a forensic analysis of the list Igbokwe threw up and our addition to it. Governors Fayemi and Aregbesola, both capable candidates for the presidency, will be running for re-election next year so they can’t possibly be in contention for 2015.
It is the same for Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, another capable candidate, who will finish his second term in 2016. We don’t see them abandoning their mandate to chase a position that is at best fluid. As the leader of the largest party in the merger, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the de facto leader of the APC. It looks like that is the role he wants to play.

Clearly, the South-west holds the ace in the 2015 election. As a geo-political bloc, it is more cohesive than any other zone. But the popular sentiment is that the zone has had its “turn”. And before Joe Igbokwe and his fellow travellers raise their voice in righteous indignation, let’s note that this is what bourgeois politics is all about. So APC has to look toward other zones. Apart from Imo, all the other states in the South-east zone (just like the South-south minus Edo State) are PDP or pro-PDP/Jonathan. The likes of Prof. Pat Utomi, Senator Chris Ngige and Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu will have an uphill task making an impression in the zone much less in other parts of the country.

There is little chance that the APC can make any impact in the North if it picks a presidential candidate outside the three zones in the North. Nasir el Rufai has repeatedly said he is not interested in any elective post. So that leaves us with Gen. Buhari (retd), Nuhu Ribadu, Audu Ogbeh and Alhaji Shekarau. These are viable candidates and reputable men who have made their mark nationally. However, Gen. Buhari stands out simply because he has a cult following in the North (at least the “core” North) which, if properly harnessed, will stymie any assault by the PDP (particularly, a much-weakened and divided PDP) in the zone.

The last man standing is Babatunde Raji Fashola, the popular, young and dynamic governor of Lagos State. So what do we say about a Buhari/Fashola pairing for 2015? That looks like an ideal choice for APC moving forward. Fashola will draw the crowd that APC needs in the South-west while Gen. Buhari will do same in the North. And with the mounting influence of Owelle Rochas Okorocha, the APC can make an inroad in the South-east. Gov. Fashola will complement Gen. Buhari in every area and offer the steady hands and moderating influence of a budding statesman that will give Nigeria the kind of leadership it truly deserves.

The only snag, some would say, is that it is a Muslim/Muslim ticket. But we have travelled this road before and it is nothing new. Agreed that this is not June 12, 1993, but we can draw some parallels between 1993 and now and between the APC and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) from which MKO Abiola and his running mate, Babagana Kingibe, emerged.

This is where we stand. And we are willing to put our “feet, hand, head, heart, eyes into the project” as Joe Igbokwe requested. Joe Igbokwe should be bold enough to give us the specifics of his position.

While he is at it, he would do well not to talk about the need for “internal democracy”. Between us, Joe, we know there is nothing like that in the present order. We can achieve the same thing by acclamation, which itself is an integral part of democracy.
conumah@hotmail.com; gonyeacholem@gmail.com

http://saharareporters.com/column/2015-why-buhari-matters-chido-onumah-and-godwin-onyeacholem

Dozens of people died yesterday when villages in Gashish District of Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State were attacked by gunmen whose identities were yet to be clearly ascertained at the time of filing this report last night.

Bloody attacks of this nature have been common in Barkin Ladi and Riyom local government areas of Plateau State in recent times, and the Berom and Fulani people who co-inhabit the areas have always traded blames when such attacks have occurred.

Nine villages in Riyom and Barkin Ladi local government areas of Plateau state were attacked early yesterday morning by suspected Fulani herdsmen. Our correspondent gathered that over 20 people killed and several houses destroyed in the mayhem.

Sunday Trust learnt that suspected Fulani herdsmen stormed the Berom villages of Kakuruk, Kuzen, Ngyo, Kogoduk, Ruk, Dogo, Kufang, Kpapkpiduk, and Kai in Gashishi district of Barkin Ladi local government area in a commando style, dressed in black attire with bullet proof vests and sophisticated weapons. Two security agents also met their untimely deaths in the early morning raid.

After invading the villages, Sunday Trust learnt, the attackers proceeded to nearby villages in Riyom local government area where they destroyed properties and set houses ablaze.

Tension started escalating on Tuesday when Fulani accused the security men of destroying their houses and dispersing them from the area. But, things got to a head last Friday after the Berom community blamed the Fulani of destroying their farms and staged a peaceful demonstration. However, a full scale violence erupted in the early hours of yesterday after the Fulani laid blame on the Berom community of violently assaulting them.

An official of the Stefanos Foundation, Engr. Mark Lipdo, told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service that it was the Fulani who launched the first attack, but the Secretary of Miyetti Allah in Plateau State, Muhammad Nura Abdullahi, debunked the allegation, saying it was the Berom who were the aggressors.

In the attacks of yesterday morning, the villages of Kakuruk, Kuzen Ngyo, Kogoduk, Ruk, and Dogo were said to have come under gunfire by the attackers said to be dressed in bullet-proof vests and military camouflage.

While most sources said they could not yet give the number of those who died, the Special Task Force (STF) told Sunday Trust last night that 37 people died, among them 14 villagers killed by the attackers, 21 of the attackers killed by members of the STF, and two of the STF members killed by the attackers.

But spokesman of the STF, Captain Salisu Mustapha, who gave the casualty figures, said STF members only did their duty by going to the scenes of the fracas to reduce the effects of the attacks and restore order to the troubled villages.

He admitted, however, that some of the attackers wore military camouflage and bullet-proof vests, but added that what the attackers wore did not prove who they were and that the STF had not established the ethnicity of the attackers.

Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Dr (Mrs) Joe Okei-Odumakin among other rights activists have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to post-humously recognise the acclaimed winner of June 12 1993 election, Chief Moshood Kashimawo Abiola as Nigerian democratically elected president.

Soyinka and others made known their stance in Lagos on yesterday at the laying of wreath at the tomb of the late business mogul in commemoration of the 14th year of his death.

Soyinka whose speech was read at the event said it has become expedient to recognise Abiola because despite the tribulations he was subjected to in an attempt to reclaim his mandate, the late businessman persevered.

He said, “Let that fact be enshrined in the nation’s record, then we would have embarked on one of the tributaries to the amplitude of true national reconciliation. Chained, immobilised, isolated and beset by uncertainties, Moshood Abiola proved himself the personification of rare political courage.

“This nation owes him. All who have held and hold office today since his death are permanently indebted to him, and to his terminal sacrifice. It is a moral demand that the incumbent president exercise a fraction of his exemplary courage, and re-establish Abiola, albeit posthumously as Nigeria’ democratically elected President.”

In his remark, the vice presidential candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) during 2011 general elections and convener Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare said whether there is formal recognition or not for Abiola, there will be a generation of Nigerians who will accord him due respect.”

In her speech, the president Women Arise and Coalition for Democracy (CD), Dr (Mrs) Joe Okei-Odumakin listed five conditions the present administration must meet in honouring Abiola for his sacrifice to Nigeria.

New bill scraps equalisation, bridging funds

. Merges NNPC, PPPRA, DPR functions

Prices of petroleum products in the northern part of Nigeria will be higher, compared with what will be paid by users of fuel in the south, if the current version of the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed into law.
President Goodluck Jonathan received a copy of the draft bill last month. It is expected that the PIB will be forwarded to the National Assembly for debate in the next few days for possible passage into law.

The bill is entitled “An Act to Provide for the Establishment of the Legal and Regulatory Framework, Institutions, Regulatory Authorities, for the Nigerian Petroleum Industry; Establish Guidelines for the Operation of the Upstream and Downstream Sectors.” When passed, it will be the bible of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.

The proposed bill has excluded the Petroleum Equalization Management Fund. Instead there is the Petroleum Host Communities Fund, which will now provide 10 per cent stake in the profits of oil and gas companies to host communities.

The PEF, which is currently a parastatal under the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, has two main objectives: to apply the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as they affect the uniform pricing system, in ensuring that each marketing company complies with the laws regarding the management of the transportation equalisation process, and to equalise the transportation differentials in product marketing in the country.
The fund has been an avenue to equalise the differential gap that marketers incur as a result of the transportation of petroleum products from the coastal part of the country to the hinterlands.

Industry sources told Sunday Trust that the absence of the equalisation fund in the bill will create serious differences between the prices paid in the south and what will be paid in the north, in terms of prices petrol, diesel and kerosene.

In the initial PIB, submitted in 2008 by the late President Umar Musa Yarádua to the National Assembly, there was a provision for the Petroleum Equalisation Fund. However, the Inter-Agency Team set up to draft a memorandum on the bill recommended the scrapping of the fund.

The Inter-Agency team called for a total deregulation of the downstream sector in order to create a strong competition, resulting in the lowest possible petroleum product prices for consumers and to create an attractive environment for investment in new refining capacity and distribution systems.

Currently, about 90 percent of the fuel use in the north is accessed by road transportation, using diesel-powered tankers by marketers. The transportation cost of a 44,000 liters tanker from Lagos or Port Harcourt to either Maiduguri, Kano or Sokoto is in the range between is between N380,000 to N500,000, depending on the destination.

As a consequence, the PEF reimburses the marketers the fees that cover the cost of transporting petroleum products from depots to filling stations.

“If really there is no provision for the bridging and equalisation fund in the new bill, then we should get ready to pay more prices for petroleum products in this part of the country,” said Danladi Pasali, a national official of independent marketers.

“We pay for transportation a sum between N380,000 to N500,000, depending on where your filling station is in the north. We move these products from Lagos or Port Harcourt. We also pay between N100,000 to N150,000, for instance, from Suleja depot to some parts of Kogi or Nasarawa States, if we get fuel at the depots.”

“We can’t pay this amount, apart from the prices of the fuel and not charge the cost into the petroleum prices. We sell. It is not possible, definitely we have to recover our cost,” Pasali added.

But some critics said the equalisation fund creates opportunities for rent-seeking, which is a source of corruption. billion for naira is missing in the funds, as many marketers are suspected to have been presenting fake claims to the agency for reimbursements.

The drafted bill made provision for Open Access System, where marketers will pay tariff for accessing petroleum infrastructure, such as jetties, depots and pipelines.

The bill said in Section 198 that “Open Access: Licensed petroleum marketing companies shall have equal access to all jetties facilities and storage depots owned by the refining companies, which are designated as regulated open access facilities by the Inspectorate.”

The existing capacity in the said jetties and storage depots shall be shared amongst licensed oil marketing and refining companies in proportion to their needs.”

Pasali said “the fear is that if government allows us to use the pipelines to transport our products to the north, who will guarantee us the safety of the pipelines, because, we cannot endure the excessive pipelines vandalism, as marketers.”

The new bill also merges the functions of the Department of Petroleum Resources with those of the Petroleum Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) to form the Nigeria Petroleum Inspectorate (NPI). The NPI will be the only regulator in the industry with former bodies as departments under it.

The draft bill does not contain the Nigerian Petroleum Research Centre. At present, this agency has the following functions: to (a) carry out research in all areas pertaining to the petroleum industry, but primarily in the areas of exploration and production and process technology, with the primary focus on the need to develop: i) new technologies; and ii) design capabilities suitable for the needs of Nigeria; (b) carry out research and advise the Minister and the Directorate on matters relating to exploration and production outside Nigeria; (c) advise the Minister, the Directorate and the Inspectorate, as the case may be, on i) the technical evaluation of any acreages whatsoever; ii) the value of any licences or leases, particularly during the bidding round process among others.

HOPEFULLY BY 2049 AFTER PDP HAVE COMPLETED THE 50 YEARS THEY PROMISED TO RULE