₦airaland Forum

PRESS STATEMENT SIGNED BY H.E ATIKU ABUBAKAR

Tinubu’s administration owes Nigerians an explanation for the NNPC $3.3bn emergency loan

In what appears to be a landmark economic decision of the Bola Tinubu-led administration, the Federal Government last year, precisely on August 16, 2023 through the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) secured a $3.3 billion emergency crude repayment loan, which according to the NNPC, was to help give support to the Naira and stabilize the Foreign Exchange market.

The curious thing about this transaction is that up till now, the Federal Government continues to keep mum about it, and the only information available to the public on the mega deal is coming only through unofficial sources from the NNPC.

The deal is supposed to be a crude-for-cash loan arranged by the African Export-Import Bank.

According to information available, a Special Purpose Vehicle called Project Gazelle Funding Limited is driving the deal, and it was incorporated in the Bahamas.

The SPV is the borrower while the NNPC is the sponsor, with an agreement to pay with crude oil to the SPV in order to liquidate the loan at an interest rate that is a little over 12 per cent.

What is even more confounding about this deal is why the Federal Government would register a company in the Bahamas, knowing full well the recent scandal of the Paradise Papers that involved that country.

Curiously also, Nigeria’s current Barrels Produced Daily (BPD) is 1.38 million, and according to the Project Gazelle deal, Nigeria is to supply 90,000 Barrels of its daily production, starting from 2024 till it is up to 164.25 million barrels for the repayment of the loan.

Now, this is where the details get disturbing because Nigeria’s benchmark for the sale of crude per barrel in 2024 is $77.96. A simple multiplication of that figure by 164.25 will give us a whooping $12bn.

It is on this note that we are calling on the Federal Government to speak up on this shady deal.

It is inconceivable that the Federal Government will lead the country to take a loan of $3.3b with an interest rate that is not more than 12 per cent, but with estimated repayment amounting to $12bn.

That is a humongous differential of about $7b between what is in the details of the deal on paper and what indeed is the reality.

There are questions to be answered on the integrity of this deal, and we earnestly request the Federal Government to talk directly on these cloudy details behind the deal.

We therefore demand, on behalf of the ordinary people of Nigeria, that the Federal Government provides answers to the following questions.

1. Has the Federal Government accessed the loan?
2. Is the loan in the government’s borrowing plan as approved by the National Assembly?
3. Who are the parties to the loan, and what specific roles are they expected to play?
4. What are the conditions to the loan, including tenor, repayment terms, the collateral, and the interest rate?
5. And, lastly, why register an SPV in the Bahamas knowing the recent scandal of the country’s notoriety for warehousing unclean assets?

Signed:
Atiku Abubakar
Vice President of Nigeria, 1999-2007
25th January, 2024.


https://twitter.com/Rasheethe/status/1750559205746974972?t

Mynd4,Nlfpmod please help move![/b]

The terrorists also kidnapped two women after killing the school principal in an attack that was said to have occurred on Friday evening.



Terrorists locally dubbed as bandits have reportedly killed the school principal of Government Secondary School (GSS) Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Mallam Idris Abu Sufyan, in an attempt to kidnap him.


The terrorists also kidnapped two women after killing the school principal in an attack that was said to have occurred on Friday evening.

SaharaReporters gathered that the victim, Mallam Sufyan, was killed by the bandits when he tried to resist abduction.

"They succeeded in kidnapping two women in the process," Senator Shehu Sani who shared the news on his X account on Saturday regretted.


He wrote: "Mallam Idris Abu Sufyan, Principal GSS Kuriga, Chikun Lg Kaduna State was killed by Bandits when he tried to resist abduction. They succeeded in kidnapping two women in the process. May his soul rest in peace. Ameen."

https://twitter.com/ShehuSani/status/1748627544092385673?t=BH9A_JBk1ROyEsscENRY3A&s=19


His colleague, who also confirmed the unfortunate incident, wrote on his Facebook: “Innalillahi wa Inna ilaihi raji'un.

"I feel sad to inform you that our noble colleague; the principal of GSS KURIGA (SNR). MAL IDRIS ABU SUFYAN, has been killed by bandits and also kidnapped his wife with baby boy. May the Almighty Allah forgive his shortcomings and also grant him Aljannatul firdausi. Amen."
One Manajer Deeni also lamented the murder Mallam Sufyan, adding that he had an opportunity to leave the village due to incessant bandit attacks but he chose to stay for his people.

“Allah sarki Abusufyan Idrees u get the opportunity to leave kuriga village at once, but u choose to stay with ur people, when he was alive he was the village gss principal, he used to taught the village youth football, he get the opportunity the leave to town but even after tense attacks of armed bandit in his community he choose to stay & he lived all his life trying his best to makes the world a better place for the youths & to put his little community in the map, now he paid the price with his life, armed bandit invade his house & shoot him death & kidnapped his wife. R i p Abusufyan,” he wrote on his Facebook.

Lamenting the escalating killing and kidnapping ravaging the country, @Aloefuna1 described the murder of Mallam Sufyan as heartbreaking.

He wrote on his X account: "This is heartbreaking. The level of insecurity is increasing daily, but all they could do is to instigate bigotry among young Nigerians by call a name from a particular tribe.

"Nigerians know it o! CHINAZA PHILIP is a name to distract you. Insecurity is still eating us deeper."

https://twitter.com/Aloefuna1/status/1748631370866249812?t=dXsmbqWRsSbfopPKkOgKXQ&s=19



https://saharareporters.com/2024/01/20/breaking-terrorists-kill-nigerian-government-school-principal-kaduna-resisting-abduction#google_vignette

“As I am burying my husband today 14th January, I’m also burying anything good that will ever happen to your entire generation. None of your children will live long, they will all die painfully the way you made my husband. You will die miserably and vultures will eat you”. That was a Nigerian woman raining curses on the kidnappers who killed her husband in their custody even after she had paid N10m ransom they demanded.


Last week, five sisters were abducted alongside their father from their home in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT while the father, Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, was later released to raise N60m as ransom for the release of his children. But when the father couldn’t meet up with the deadline, the kidnappers killed one of the sisters, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar, a 400-level Biological Science student at Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, Zaria, with a threat to kill the remaining sisters if the ransom, which has been increased to N100m was not paid by January 17. Nigerians are now being killed or kidnapped from their homes, farms, schools, roads, trains and their communities. No where appears safe anymore from the north to the south and from the east to the west of the country. Why have successive governments failed to secure Nigerians after huge defence budgets and even non budgeted expenditure like former President Muhammadu Buhari did when he paid for Tucano jets?

Residents are alarmed by by the frightening wave of insecurity in the country and they are outraged that the government appeared helpless. Some of those who spoke to Saturday Vanguard on the sad turn of events in the country identified corruption, lack of intelligence gathering and effective surveillance as partly responsible for the festering security challenges rocking the country. They however stressed the need for synergy between the security agencies and the people as a way out. They also urged the Federal Government to urgently set up counter terrorism centres across the federation to tackle the security problem.

Conspiracy theory may not be ruled out—Nwoko SAN

A former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice Akwa Ibom State, Uwemedimo Nwoko, SAN, said: “The President has put up a strong security team this time and I strongly believe that the security experts should be able to do very thorough analysis on why we are facing insecurity on a daily basis in Nigeria. That is why a conspiracy theory may not be too far away from our analysis. I believe that in the course of events the President should look both inside and outside and find out why he is facing more challenges in terms of security. I believe that intelligence across the country should be able to give the President a fair idea of what is responsible for the sudden upsurge in insecurity, particularly in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) that is supposed to be the safest”.

Synergy is the way out – Ikponmwen

Former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Idada Ikponmwen (rtd)
said,”Synergy between the people and the security agencies is the way, the people must be alert and ready at any time to give information to the necessary security agencies and in all these there must be penalties for people who have information but withhold them. Similarly, the security agencies must be alive to their responsibilities; they should not handle cases of kidnapping, robbery and all other crimes with kid gloves.

Many people believe that security agencies can do better than they are doing presently. They will tell you that they don’t have confidence in the DSS and other security agencies to handle the issue of insecurity with all the seriousness it deserves. Security is the primary purpose of government, it’s something that government must give priority to and fund it very well.


Our leaders must sit up, Nigeria is sinking-Wills


“Nigerians are predominantly docile and silent sufferers. Everyone waits till specific evils and consequences of bad governance happen to them before they attempt to speak out, act or look for activists whom they used to see as busybodies. It is time for all Nigerians to become responsible citizens by doing whatever everyone can do to let President Tinubu and our governors know that Nigeria is sinking and our leaders must sit down here at home, their work stations, all year round to secure, develop and renew hope in our country. Two hundred million Nigerians should not tolerate bad governance and leadership this year, whether at federal, state or community levels.”

Corruption fueling insecurity— -Ambakederimo

According to Elder Joseph Ambakederimo, Convener, South South Reawakening Group, “It has been very embarrassing to our psychic as a nation that this insecurity issue has dragged on for this long as if we are a people waiting to be led to the slaughter house. It is not out of place that by now we should have been presented with the counter terrorism plan, what is the National Security Adviser doing, the Nigerian Police has not done anything differently. The functions of the police have been taken over by the military. How many choppers do the police have to undertake aerial surveillance and patrol? This is the area resources should be deployed but this is not to be. I wonder why we have not thought of employing technology that abounds the shelves everywhere. Abuja is supposed to have a command and control centre to monitor the entire city up to Lokoja in Kogi State, Lafia in Nasarawa State and the stretch of the Abuja-Kaduna highway.

Government has not shown enough political will — Omare


Eric Omare said: “I think the government has not been able to secure the country because of lack of political will. I do not believe that the security challenges are beyond the ability of the Nigerian government. However, the problem persists because the political leadership has not shown enough political will. For example, in Buhari’s era, even when the Service Chiefs were not delivering, he left them for almost eight years. So I think the solution to our security challenges is for the political leadership to show enough political will and once that is done, the security officials would have no option than to live up to their task.”
Funds released for purchase of weapons should be monitored-High Chief Sara-Igbe

For High Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, Ex Security Adviser to Rivers State Government and chieftain of the pan Niger Delta Elders Forum, PANDEF, he said: “Securing any society entails embarking on intelligence/information gathering, policing/surveillance and operation. You cannot pick one or two and leave the rest. Also, the government must establish effective counter-terrorism centers across the country. “Government is only interested in the operation rather than information gathering and proper policing of the country. They divert money meant to procure weapons into private pockets. That is our problem as a country. People support some of these criminals because they share the same religious belief and are from the same tribe. We cannot make any progress in the fight against terrorism or insecurity in the country except the right thing is done. They must release money for the purchase of weapons and monitor how the money is utilized.”

Some in position of trust are profiteers —Ogwuche

Festus Ogwuche, a constitutional lawyer, asserted: “The glaring challenges of insecurity in the country appears to have become intractable as successive governments have shown what appears as an avowed reluctance to tackle the evil headlong, as it should be. Now, it has taken on a monstrous dimension that defies every prescription of counteroffensive.

From Jonathan to Buhari to the current administration, we have seen some underhand manoeuvres and complicity of government officials and state actors in the entire plot to continue in the terrorization of Nigerians and the Nigerian population, by insurgents, bandits and herdsmen. “First, we see the clay-footedness of the Buhari administration in genuine calls to stop the herdsmen and the deadly menace they constitute across the nation, a situation informed by primordial irredentist ethnic considerations and personal convictions rather than the wider national interest.


It is quite clear that there are people who are benefitting from these national misfortunes and would want a continuation. That explains why it is not abating one bit, but rather expanding in dimension and ferocity. “It also explains the effectiveness of the military and their precision when the targets are civilian communities or when the offensive has to do with the South East. The bravery at decimation and destruction is never replicated anywhere else except in those two circumstances where the military display their gallantry”.

Ethnicity part of our problem in tackle insecurity —Ochuko

Also speaking, Mr. Freedom Ochuko, a security analyst, said, “Nigeria is a country where the leaders protect themselves at the expense of the people and the people are satisfied with it. Government acquires weapons to protect the leaders instead of the state. How do we explain why a local government chairman will go about with four mobile policemen who are supposed to be on the roads protecting the people? “Ethnicism is another problem.

When the military comes hard on bandits and terrorists the action is labeled ethnic cleansing. You begin to see all kinds of campaigns against the head of the military. Until Nigerians sink the issue of ethnicity and also demand the military to do their jobs the problem of insecurity at this frightening level may continue and even spread further.”

Primordial sentiment not helping matters —Gbemre


Zik Gbemre, Coordinator, Niger Delta Peace Coalition in his submission said, “The Nigerian government is about pretence. Who do you blame if the Nigerian government cannot provide high technology in tracking criminals who kidnap and kill? When criminals are the boys of politicians and when apprehended they make calls for their immediate release, how can the government tackle insecurity?”

Security now for the highest bidder -James

Also speaking, Chief Nengi James, National Coordinator, Association of Rural Chiefs for Peace and Development, said, “While we are grappling with insufficient manpower in the security agencies to adequately police the country, security personnel are now assigned to those who can pay while the ordinary citizens are left unprotected. You see security personnel in their numbers being assigned to politicians, rich persons who can pay including ‘yahoo’ boys and even criminals.

How many are now left to protect most of us ordinary citizens? “If there is adequate security manpower and less corruption, the insecurity wouldn’t have got to this level. Again there should be policing at the community level by empowering the traditional institutions, who should be given clear cut roles to take responsibility for their domains.”

Detective capacities of our security agencies very low — Prof Azeez Olaniyan


For Prof Azeez Olaniyan, Director General, Institute of Security and Strategic Studies said, “Rising insecurity stems from nepotism and ineptitude of leaders, poverty, corruption, unemployment, amongst others and lack of provision of basic amenities to the people. “The level of vigilance and detective capacities of our security agencies is very low.

You can imagine that right in Abuja, kidnapping and abductions are occurring daily. If insecurity must be reduced, there should be high level vigilance and community policing. There should be strengthening of Joint Task forces, Inter – agency security meetings and briefings, training and capacity building of personnel. Money budgeted for security is often diverted. The vigilance should extend to how such funds are deployed.”

Worsening insecurity, terrorism, conspiracy on Nigerians — MBF

On its part, the Middle Belt Forum, MBF, blamed the increased tempo of terrorism and criminality in the country on the conspiracy of a section of the country against the others. The National President of the MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu said in Makurdi that, “a part of this country has decided to conspire against the others, kill, maim and take their land and they changed the narrative; instead of calling it terrorism, they changed it into herders-farmers crisis which is a lie. They planned and thought that President Tinubu would play their game but when it appears Tinubu has refused to play their game, they increased their tempo to destabilise everything. They are making the country ungovernable just because they feel that things are not going their own way. So, Nigerians need to wake up and take back their land, we must wake up and take back our country from these criminals.”

Public analyst, Hon Ayo Fadaka said, “Today’s kidnappers have become more vicious than they were in the immediate past years. They kill recklessly to drive their demand for mind-boggling ransoms, families are traumatized, victims are dehumanised, yet our security architecture remain lethargic and mostly impotent. Can’t we develop a forest-ranging security team from our security forces to pursue these criminals and annihilate them? Those responsible for banditry and terrorism are not anonymous, they are known to the intelligence communities in the various security agencies. But why is action not being taken to expose, shame and prosecute these felons who are soaked with mega litres of blood of hapless Nigerians? How more do they have to kill before President Tinubu would do something? Let me call on Nigerians to begin to take actions to protect themselves, we simply have to, and this is where the danger is, things may become very degenerated, but we must live.


The National Organising Secretary of the Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, Otunba Kole Omololu, said, “an overhauling of the security agencies should have been done. The Department of State Security should have been thoroughly overhauled. The public should not be made to suspect criminal complicity by the security forces. The intelligence arm of the police should have been upgraded, where are CCTV cameras everywhere? The situation is very frightening. Nigerians have been let down by the security forces in spite of the huge budget.

The spokesperson, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, a civil society coalition, said, “majority of those we look up to as security operatives, either at the leadership or intermediate level, have become saboteurs, they are the ones in charge of securing us and they are the same persons, for pecuniary gains, that leaked information to those who terrorize us. The political class has also turned insecurity and insurgency into an enterprise. How are the kidnappers getting ransom without being traced? If by today, the ruling class has the political will to stop insurgency, I assure you that they will flush out the saboteurs in the military formation and insurgency will be a thing of the past in the country.

A lawyer, Mr Adeola Adediran said, “Where corruption is, it gives room to all other social vices. The money budgeted on security, did it get to the right beneficiaries? If it did, how much was voted and how much was delivered?

Chief Adebayo Babatunde, a businessman at Bodija market said, ” The only problem we have is the issue of corruption. Everywhere and in every sector, corruption is entrenched. Successive governments are failing because most of them benefit immensely from the jaundiced system. When the government even pays money to bandits or negotiates with them, what do you expect?

According to Dr. Abayomi Arabambi, Publicity Secretary, Labour Party, ”Some of the factors responsible for terrorism in Nigeria are poverty and illiteracy. Other root causes of banditry are unemployment, poor leadership, porous borders, proliferation of arms and non-compliance with the rule of law.


The inability of the past government to effectively control armed non-state actors has allowed them to establish their parallel government systems in certain regions, leading to a surge in insecurity. To address this problem, the government should emphasize technical education, restoring Civic Education in school curriculum, implementing community policing, establish the rule of law, and promoting nationalism.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/01/increased-insecurity-nationwide-our-country-is-sinking-nigerians/amp/

The naira yesterday fell to N1,350 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,295 per dollar on Tuesday.
However, the naira depreciated to N931.23 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM).


Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative exchange rate for NAFEM rose to N931.23 per dollar from N878.57 per dollar on Tuesday, indicating N52.66 depreciation for the naira.



Consequently, the gap between the official and parallel market exchange rates widened to N418.77 per dollar yesterday from N416.43 on Tuesday.


https://www.vanguardngr.com/2024/01/naira-falls-to-n1350-in-parallel-market/