The Peoples Democratic Party has
recently been plagued with one crisis after another and a major test
before it is tied to who emerges the party’s national chairman at its
next convention, GBENRO ADEOYE writes
From all indications, now is the time
for the Peoples Democratic Party to be united and strong, but
ironically, it seems to be the time the party is at its weakest point in
its 17-year history.
Since the party was relegated to the
main opposition status after losing the presidential seat to the ruling
All Progressives Congress in 2015, the tale has been about one
wrangling or the other- all internal. And there seems to be no immediate
end in sight to the ongoing crisis in the erstwhile biggest political
party in Africa.
Indeed, the party is at a crossroads and
some decisions made ahead of the 2019 general elections look set to
either make or mar the party’s chances to discover its lost relevance.
But there is one major decision to be
made first, which will decide the fate of the party’s current National
Chairman, Ali Modu Sheriff beyond May 21, 2016- the date of the party’s
national convention.
By all standards, Sheriff is arguably
the most unpopular chairman in the party’s history, so the test before
him and his backers are quite stiff. Although, Sheriff has enjoyed
considerable support from PDP governors, he has largely failed to win
some other key caucuses of the party to his side.
Seventy three suspects who specialise in
cultivating and dealing in cannabis have been arrested by the National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
The suspects made up of 60 males and 13
females were apprehended in Edo State with 10,094.75kgs of cannabis
between January and March 2016.
A statement by NDLEA spokesperson, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, released on Thursday, described how the cannabis hauls were seized.
He said, “A cannabis laden Toyota Hilux
and a J5 bus with cannabis disguised as pineapple shipment were
impounded, while a warehouse located at the Okpuje forest, Owan West
Local Government Area of Edo State, was detected and 2,590kgs of
cannabis were seized.
“Four notorious drug dealers at Ekpoma,
Auchi and Benin as well as five young farmers from Taraba and Plateau
States are among those being investigated for cannabis cultivation and
trafficking by narcotic undercover operatives in Benin City. The Edo
State Command exhibit room is already filled to capacity with over
80,000kgs of cannabis.”
A former governor of Jigawa State, Sule
Lamido, on Monday said he would contest the nation’s Presidency on the
platform of the Peoples Democratic Party in 2019.
Lamido made this known to newsmen in his
village, Bamainain, which is located in the Birnin-Kudu Local
Government Area of the state.
He, however, said the party’s ticket
would not be given to anybody on the platter of gold, adding that a
candidate must earn it.
“If my party finds me worthy of its presidential ticket to serve Nigeria, I will thank God and oblige.
“Although there are issues in the party that we are all working to resolve; we hope to have success soon and come out united.
“As I’m talking to you now, we are
working silently to resolve our differences and bring back to our fold
those that left the party for the All Progressives Congress,” he said.
The former governor said that the internal crisis within the PDP was the reason for its defeat in the 2015 general election.
He said that the party had the capacity
to rule the country again, stressing, however, that the members must
work hard to achieve that.
Lamido denied any rift between him and his successor, Governor Muhammad Badaru of the AP
The Oyo State Police Command has arrested 21 robbery suspects in various parts of the state.
According to the state Commissioner of
Police, Leye Oyebade, some of the suspects were recently released from
prison. Among the suspects is a six-man gang, said to operate in Oyo,
Ogbomoso and Ilorin.
They suspects are Aliyu Azeez, 28;
Olanrewaju Ajayi, 23; Kehinde Abiodun, 28; Adeleke ADeyemi, 26; Teslim
Muhammed, 26; and Adamu Muhammed, 23. Leader of the gang, Teslim
Muhammed, said they were arrested after taking delivery of guns in
Ilorin.
He said, “We had yet to make use of the
weapons when we were arrested. After the guys who brought the guns to us
were arrested, they implicated us and brought the police to our hideout
in Agbabiaka area of Ilorin. The guns were actually brought to me. We
all met at different occasions. I knew Azeez through a friend called
Tosin.”
The member of the All Progressives
Congress representing Awe-South state constituency at the Nasarawa State
House of Assembly, Mr. Yahaya Rilwanu, has been attacked by some youths
who alleged that he did not deliver the dividends of democracy to them.
The youths were said to be APC members from Ribi town.
It was gathered that a fight broke out
between the supporters of the lawmaker and the angry youths who demanded
the dividends of democracy from the lawmaker.
The crisis allegedly followed an altercation between one of the youths on the entourage of Rilwanu and one of the Ribi youths.
The Movement for the Actualisation of
the Sovereign State of Biafra on Monday replied the leaders of the
South-East chapter of the All Progressives Congress, who advised
pro-Biafra groups in the zone to forget the struggle for the secession
of Biafra.
MASSOB said it would not abandon the
struggle. It urged the Igbo and the members of the other ethnic
nationalities in the South-East to disregard the advice of the Igbo APC
chieftains.
In a communiqué issued after a meeting
in Enugu on Friday, the leaders of the South-East zone of the APC urged
MASSOB and other pro-Biafra groups to have a ‘rethink’ and give up the
struggle for the actualisation of an independent state of Biafra.
“We call on all the groups agitating for
separation from Nigeria, particularly the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra
and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra
to rethink and abandon the idea, and join other ethnic groups in
building a formidable Nigeria where all Nigerians will be equally
treated in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria,” the South-East APC leaders said in the communiqué.
Anti-riot policemen have blocked the BringBackOurGirls
members from accessing the presidential villa where they planned to hold
a press conference.
The DPO, Asokoro Police Station, CSP, Grace Longe said the
protesters cannot be allowed to access the villa for security reasons.
The BBOG is currently holding its world media conference to
commemorate the two years anniversary of the abduction of 219 Chibok
schoolgirls at the entrance road to the presidential villa.
OLUSOLA FABIYI
writes on the plan by the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic
Party, to poach from the ruling All Progressives Congress in its
build-up to 2019
Of all the 30 political parties in the
country, only the Peoples Democratic Party has a functional church built
within its premises. There is also a mosque, all within the compound of
the party’s national headquarters located at Wadata Plaza, Wuse Zone 5,
Abuja.
Activities within the church, which is
known as PDP National Chapel, picked up a few days to the conduct of the
last general elections, which the party lost to the All Progressives
Congress. The party, however, didn’t limit its prayers to the church
and the mosque alone.
On Tuesday, members of the party
gathered at the National Executive Hall. One of the agendas of the
meeting was to inaugurate the four committees set up by the party’s
National Working Committee.
The committees were those of the
National Convention, Reconciliation, Finance and Zoning. As usual, the
party would not start any business without appealing to God to be in
their business.
The lot of who to appeal to God in
prayer fell on a former Chief of Staff to former President Goodluck
Jonathan, Mr. Mike Ogiadome. Picking his words carefully, he said the
loss of the election was not that God was not ready to hear the prayers
of members of the party, but that the party and its members had offended
God.
It was with rapt attention that members
of the party including its National Chairman, Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff,
members of the NWC and governors listened when Ogiadome launched into
prayers.
He said, “We offended God. We had done
what we ought not to have done. We were to rule for 60 years, but we
offended you God. That was why we were defeated during the last
election. Father, forgive us and give us back the Presidency in 2019.”
The hall, which was filled to the brim, roared with a thunderous “amen.”
“Father, we have learnt our mistake.
Return our party to Aso Rock in 2019,” he further prayed, and with a
renewed vigour, the members of the party answered with a more vibrant
“amen”.
The leadership of the party, however,
seemed to have realised that prayer without action might amount to
nothing in the country’s political space. Hence, since the party lost
the general election to its challenger, the All Progressives Congress,
in 2015, it had begun moves to rally round its disgruntled members on
how to regain power.
Several meetings had been called while
strategists were asked to examine the remote and immediate causes of the
party’s monumental defeat; the first of its kind the party suffered
since 1999 when the country returned to democratic rule.
This was why it said it was abiding by
the suggestion made by its committee on Post Election Review headed by
Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, by zoning the PDP
presidential ticket for the 2019 elections to the North.
A human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana
(SAN), has advised the Federal Government to shelve its plan to obtain
$2bn loan from China.
He said instead of “plunging the nation
into more indebtedness” the Federal Government should intensify efforts
to recover some funds totalling about $200bn which were either not
remitted to the Federation Account or stolen from the nation’s treasury.
Falana gave this advice in a letter
dated April 8, 2016, addressed to the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun, threatening to sue the Federal Government if his request was
not taken seriously.
He said, “In the light of the foregoing,
we are compelled to call on the Federal Government to muster the
political will and courage to recover the aforesaid withheld or stolen
wealth of not less than $200bn belonging to the Nigerian people.
The umbrella body of Ijaw youths, the
Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, has alleged that the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission is laying a foundation for the arrest of
former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The IYC, however, advised the anti-graft
agency to shelve any plan to “persecute” the former President,
insisting that such a move would spell doom for the Muhammadu Buhari
administration.
Speaking at a news conference on
Saturday to mark the burial of a former Bayelsa State Governor, Chief
Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, the IYC President, Mr. Udengs Eradiri, said
most of the close allies of Jonathan had been arrested by the EFCC.
He particularly condemned the recent
arrest and detention of Jonathan’s cousin and contractor, Mr. Robert
Azibaola, over an alleged $40m contract fraud.
Eradiri said Ijaw youths would not allow
Azibaola, Jonathan or any rising Ijaw leader to be persecuted by the
EFCC, the way the Federal Government dealt with the late Alamieyeseigha.
The General Overseer, Latter Rain
Assembly, Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has lampooned politicians and
political parties for using the abduction of 219 Chibok schoolgirls to
score cheap political points.
He noted that the nation had not given
the issue the necessary thoughtfulness and seriousness it deserved,
stressing that those who are in a position to act have not taken
sufficient action towards addressing it or even towards calming the
anxiety of the waiting Chibok parents.
The cleric said this in a sermon on
Sunday during the thanksgiving service to mark the global action week in
commemoration of the second anniversary of the abduction of the
schoolgirls organised by the BringBackOurGirls coalition at the Unity Fountain, Abuja.
Bakare stated that the girls would have
been rescued if they were children of the political and religious elite
and appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to prioritise their rescue
in the midst of the numerous challenges before him. He stressed that the
girls had become the symbols of the soul of the nation.
The country’s education sector is set to
receive a boost with the introduction of the 2016 version of Cinfores
BrainFriend, known as BrainFriend Platinum, an e-learning and exam
preparatory software.
The company said that software would
not only set the stage to revolutionise the ailing education sector in
e-learning, but was in line with meeting the Sustainable Development
Goals of giving access to and enhancing qualitative education.
The Managing Director and Co-Founder of
Cinfores Limited, Mr. Ibifuro Asawo, said that Cinfores had championed
change in the education sector through its products and services in
e-learning, schools/campus administration, scholarships management,
among others.
“Consequently, its various
stakeholders’ engagements with students, teachers, school
administrators, at both the federal and state levels as regards
BrainFriend, has been reassuring and impressive,” he said.
The Kwara State Commissioner of Water
Resources, Mr. Abdulrazaq Akorede, has said that the state government
will spend N1bn out of the proposed N20bn bond on the Ilorin water
reticulation project.
He stated that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed
had declared a state of emergency on water supply in the state, adding
that presently, more than 25 communities were benefiting from water
supply from tankers on daily basis.
Akorede spoke to journalists in Ilorin on Friday after a tour of some water projects.
There has been acute water shortage, especially in the Ilorin metropolis for some time.
The commissioner also said the government would enact a law that would regulate borehole drilling in the state.
Akorede urged indigenous drillers to
maintain high standards and professionalism, adding that they must take
cognizance of avoidable hazards in borehole drilling.
He stated that the essence of the expected law was to reduce hazards and streamline borehole drilling in the state.
The Federal Government may use money set
aside for funding joint venture projects with foreign and local oil
firms to make up any shortfall in the 2016 budget if its revenue
projections are not met, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, has
said.
The nation has been trying to boost tax
revenues and the non-oil income to fund a record N6.06tn 2016 budget
aimed at reviving Africa’s biggest economy hit by the slump in oil
prices.
“The Plan B is around the cash calls,” Adeosun told Reuters and the Financial Times in an interview in Lagos when asked how the budget would be funded if revenue projections fell short.
This year marks the 15th year that ace
gospel group, Midnight Crew, was formed. In a celebratory mood, the
group takes a trip down memory lane and remembers how they almost broke
up about four years after it was formed unknown to them that God had a
lot in stock for them.
The spokesperson for the group, Mike Abdul, shared the story of how the group was almost disbanded.
Idris Adesina
Ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil, Nigeria have retained
their lead on the continent in the April Olympic rankings of the
International Table Tennis Federation released on Sunday.
Nigeria’s men’s team are ranked 26th in the world ahead of their
rivals, Egypt, who are ranked 32. The team which is ranked highest in
May will represent Africa in the team events of the Games.
The Nigeria team, led by veteran Segun Toriola, garnered 206 points
but dropped a spot from the 25th position, which they occupied in March.
Nigeria’s men team went ahead of the Egyptians after their performance
at the 2016 ITTF Perfect Team World Cup in February. The Egyptians
currently have 194 points.
Frozen fish and other seafood may soon
become scarce in markets across the country as a result of the Central
Bank of Nigeria’s foreign exchange restrictions for the importers of the
items.
Investigations by our correspondent
revealed that there had been no importation of the items since February
and over 80 per cent of cold rooms, especially in Lagos, had been shut,
while about 75 per cent of workers in the sector had been laid off.
It was also learnt that the Federal
Ministry of Agriculture had issued permits to importers to bring into
the country about 520, 000 metric tonnes of fish this year.
An importer, who spoke with our
correspondent on condition of anonymity, said the CBN listed fish and
other seafood among items not valid for forex from the official
interbank market, and requested that importers should raise funds from
alternative sources.
The source said the CBN was refusing to sign the ‘Form M’ that would enable the importation of the items.
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory
Commission on Wednesday begged Nigerians to exercise patience with the
power generation and distribution companies with respect to the drop in
electricity supply and the attendant blackouts being experienced
nationwide.
According to NERC, the drop in power
supply is due to vandalism of critical installations and heavy downpour
witnessed in parts of the country recently, adding that the Federal
Government was working hard to repair the vandalised gas pipelines.
The commission was, however, not
specific as to when power generation
The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon
Arase, has said the Force will henceforth carry out urine tests on all
policemen for signs of drug abuse before they are issued lethal weapons
or posted to their operational points.
Apart from denying access to firearms or
retrieving guns from officers who failed such drug tests, Arase stated
that the police would provide appropriate help to wean them from drugs
or other emotional or psychological issues that may trigger fatal
outcomes in their line of duty.
The IG said this on Wednesday in Abuja
during the inauguration of drug testing and campaign against sudden
death among police officers organised in collaboration with Hypertension
and Diabetes Awareness Foundation.
Acting Director, Defence Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar
Fidelis Soriwei, Abuja
The Defence authorities have said that
not less than 800 members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect had surrendered
to the military in the last three weeks.
The Acting Director, Defence
Information, Brig. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, confirmed to our correspondent in
Abuja on Wednesday that 800 of the insurgents surrendered to the troops
of the Nigerian Army in the last three weeks.
He said, “I can confirm that about 800 of the Boko Haram members have surrendered to the military.”
Abubakar spoke barely 24 hours after the
Defence Headquarters announced the establishment of a rehabilitation
camp for repentant Boko Haram members.
The Nigeria Labour Congress says it will
declare a one-day national warning strike over the refusal of the
Federal Government to reduce the electricity tariff.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba said this
while addressing newsmen during the Central Working Committee meeting of
the congress on Wednesday in Abuja.
On January 29, the NLC led the picketing
of electricity distribution companies (DISCOs) nationwide, the Nigeria
Electricity Regulatory Commission, and the National Assembly.
The action, aimed at getting the Federal Government to reverse the 45 per cent tariff hike did not yield the desired result.
Wabba insisted that the tariff increase
was “illegal, unfair, unjustifiable and an exploitation of the already
exploited Nigerians.
The Federal Government on Thursday
banned its top officials from flying first class whenever they embark on
officials trips in a bid to reduce the amount being spent on overhead.
It said henceforth, all top officials
like ministers, permanent secretaries, chairmen of committees, as well
as chairmen and chief executive officers of its parastatals and agencies
would have to travel on business class.
The development was confirmed in a statement issued by the Media Adviser to the Minister of Finance, Mr. Festus Akanbi.
Nigeria Premier League champions,
Enyimba, and their rivals, Abia Warriors, have qualified for the
semifinals of the 2016 edition of the Abia State FA Cup after defeating
their respective opponents at the quarterfinal stage.
The premier league teams will battle
Nigeria National League side, Abia Comets, and amateur side, Abonta of
Aba, in the last four.
To make the last four, Enyimba beat
another amateur side Flying Birds of Aba 6-0 while Warriors defeated
Kambu, also of Aba, 2-0. Flying Birds went past Wanderers and Diamond of
Umuahia before their dreams ended against Enyimba. Kambu also
eliminated Enyimba Feeders and Chidex both of Aba to meet with Warriors.
A man simply identified as Shabi and his two daughters, 18 year old
Mistura and 16 year old Adura, were burnt to death after some Jerry cans
of petroleum products stored at their home in 5 Adebiyi Street, Somolu
Oja in Lagos exploded yesterday night.
The Director of the Lagos State Fire Service, Rasak Fadipe who spoke
with PM news, said the petrol was stored close to the kitchen where the
family cooked their meal. In a related development, a grandfather was
burnt to death after his grandchild lit a candle and went out to play at
their home 48 Oyedele Street, off Liasu Road, Egbe , in Ikotun area of
Lagos. The candle fell and ignited a fire which consumed the apartment
and the old man
For the All Progressives Congress to
deliver on its campaign promises and deepen the nation’s democracy,
opposition parties which are believed to be in slumber now must wake up, FISAYO FALODI writes
Nearly 17 years of unbroken democratic
government in Nigeria is believed to have been characterised by poor
performance culminating in misappropriation of public fund. The ongoing
revelation of the alleged political sleaze and corruption perpetrated by
a few top public officials and the astronomical rise in the cost of
living are said to be a testimony to the fact that the lives of the
citizens have not been impacted by the successive governments they have
elected over the years.
An economist, Dr. Godwin Obaseki, said
on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to withhold
assent to the 2016 appropriation bill until the details were scrutunised
was a financially sound decision.
Obaseki, the Chairman of the Economic and Strategic Team of the Edo Government, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Benin that the president’s decision was in order.
OPERATIVES of the Police Special
Anti-Robbery Squad, Obehie Division, Abia State, have arrested three
persons for allegedly manufacturing and selling guns.
The suspects; Allwell Anyanwu, Udo
Nwanmuo and Ejiofor Kanu, said to be natives of Ukwa West Council Area
of the state, were arrested at their different villages by the police
following a tip-off.
Some items recovered from the suspects included assembled guns, oxygen gas cylinder, pipes of various sizes and a hammer.
It was gathered that the suspects had been in the business for over 10 years.
While fielding questions from
journalists, the suspects admitted that they did not have the licence to
manufacture guns, but insisted that they sold guns to hunters in the
area.
Early in the week, reports surfaced
online that the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos struck out the
Actors Guild of Nigeria’s Board of Trustees and Ibinabo Fiberesima’s
suit challenging the nullification of her election as President of the
body and also challenging the legitimacy of the presidency of Emeka Ike
and his executives.
The implication of this judgment is that the Emeka Ike-led executive remains the only authentic and lawful leadership of AGN.
In a chat with Saturday Beats,
the actor said that although he has nothing to do with Ibinabo’s
predicament, the actress could bag another jail term because of contempt
of court.
Nine lawmakers of the Ekiti House of
Assembly have fled Ekiti State to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital,
alleging that their lives were unsafe.
The lawmakers, who addressed a news
conference in Ibadan, on Wednesday, alleged that a batch of detectives
from the Force Criminal Investigation Department, Abuja, arrived in Ado
Ekiti on Tuesday to arrest them.
They alleged that the batch was led by a Chief Superintendent of Police, Mohammed Abubakar.
The lawmakers alleged that some leaders
of the All Progressives Congress were seen helping policemen identify
their homes, stressing that they fled Ekiti because
A fresh twist crept into the
reconciliation between Governor Ayodele Fayose and a former Secretary of
the Ekiti Peoples Democratic Party, Tope Aluko, on Tuesday, when the
latter denied reconciling with Fayose.
This came barely 48 hours after Fayose
and Aluko jointly addressed journalists at the VIP section of the Eko
Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, on Sunday.
Last year, Aluko alleged that Fayose,
with support from former President Goodluck Jonathan, rigged the
governorship election held on June 21, 2014.
Speaking with journalists on Tuesday in
Lagos, Aluko, however, alleged that he was under duress when he
addressed journalists in company with Fayose.
He added that the event was stage-managed by Fayose and some PDP chieftains to look like a reconciliation.
Gunmen on Sunday kidnapped an aide to Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, Captain Henry Ungbuku (retd).
Ungbuku, who is the special adviser on
aviation to the Bayelsa State governor, was abducted as he was about
leaving the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Light House Parish, after
service.
It was gathered that his abductors had
waited close to the church located in Iwofe, Obio/Akpor Local Government
Area of Rivers State as early as 8.50am. They waited for their victim
to come out of the church at the end of the service before pouncing on
him.
An eyewitness told our correspondent
that Ungbuku, who came out of the church some minutes after 10am, was
stopped by the hoodlums as he drove out of the premises of the church.
Ungbuku’s abductors were said to have asked him to open the door of his vehicle while one of them pointed a gun at him.
The gunmen, according to the source, drove their victim away to an unknown destination after forcing him into a waiting vehicle.
“They were about four, but we did not
know whether there are others hanging around the premises of the church.
They forced him out of the car at gun point and took him away.
“There was confusion around the premises
of the church when the incident happened. The kidnappers were all armed
and many people who saw the scene were all scared,” the eyewitness
said.
When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, said he had not been briefed on the incident.
The slogan: ‘rest is sweet after
labour’ is not applying to many erstwhile government workers, who served
the nation meritoriously in their prime but have now retired into
penury and hardship as a result of haphazard or non-payment of their
pension stipends, NIKE POPOOLA writes
Neglected after service
Abraham Adigun, 70, used to work in the
Federal Ministry of Works until his retirement nine years ago. In June
2015, he left his home in Osun State for the Pension Transitional
Arrangement Directorate in Abuja to seek solution to the problem he
encounters every month with regards to the payment of his pension.
The payment of his pension stipend was
stopped in 2010 without any explanation. The PTAD is currently in charge
of the payment of pension benefits to former Federal Government civil
servantswho retired from service before 2007 when a new pension scheme
was introduced. This old man had been weakened by illness but had to
fall back on a reserve energy that even he could not explain where it
came from to embark on the risky road journey to Abuja since he could
not afford any other means of transportation.
Adigun had torely on a walking stick on
which he balanced his gaunt figure as he entered the pension office to
lodge his complaint.
“I was employed and posted to the
Ministry of Works in 1980 and retired in 1998, after which I got my
gratuity and the payment of my pension stipends commenced. But in 2010,
my name was removed from the payroll for no reason and I have been
lodging complaints ever since.I have been asked to fill several
forms,yet my money has not been paid,” he explains while wiping his
brows with his right palm.
Nigeria is said to be losing an
estimated $1.5bn annually to a monopoly, which allows for the discharge
of oil and gas-related cargos at a designated terminal belonging to a
particular company.
The Nigerian Ports Authority had last
year issued a directive, citing presidential order, that all oil and
gas-related cargos must be handled only by the company’s terminal in
Onne, Warri and Calabar ports. The directive was signed on behalf of the
NPA managing director by its General Manager (M&O), A. A. Goje.
Fuel queues at the Berger end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway
Akinpelu Dada and ’Femi Asu
The scarcity of petrol got worse in many
parts of the country on Monday despite assurances by the Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation that the situation would improve.
Lagos, which traditionally receives more
product than other parts of the country, was virtually grounded on
Monday as only few vehicles moved about, with many passengers stranded
at bus stops, while queues of desperate motorists stretched for
kilometres at the few filling stations that had the product to sell, and
partially blocked major roads.
The same situation was recorded in the
Federal Capital Territory, Osogbo, Abeokuta, Ibadan, Minna, Maiduguri,
Bauchi, Ado Ekiti and Benin City, among others.
At most filling stations belonging to
independent marketers, a litre of the product sold for between N120 and
N200 instead of the N86 and N86.50 official pump prices, while black
market hawkers sold it for as high as N400 per litre.
Many commuters were seen in Lagos
struggling to get commercial vehicles to different destinations, even as
some transport operators increased the fares by 100 per cent or more.
On the Otedola Estate and Berger end of
the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Mobil, Capital Oil and Oando filling
stations had longer queues of desperate motorists and other customers,
which spilled onto the road and caused a serious gridlock.
The Osun State Governor, Rauf
Aregbesola, on Tuesday said never would his administration base the
execution of its programme on allocations from federal revenues again.
The governor, at the signing of the Osun
State Land Use Charge Law in Osogbo, stated that previous and present
administrations in the state had so much relied on federal allocations
and that when the oil glut came, his government could no longer pay
salaries and carried out other critical expenditure.
Aregbesola said the state had learnt a
lot of lessons from the situation where it had to go cap in hand to the
Federal Government for allocations that could no longer take care of the
primary needs of the state.
French telecommunications company,
Orange, says it will invest €75m (N1.6tn) in Nigerian e-commerce group,
the Africa Internet Group.
The AIG owns several technology firms
across 26 African countries, including online retailer, Jumia; a
delivery app, HelloFood; hotel booking platform, Jovago; and online real
estate marketplace, Lamudi.
The Federal Government on Tuesday said
it had entered into a partnership with the World Bank Group to address
the challenges facing the solid minerals sector in the country.
The Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr.
Kayode Fayemi, stated this during a meeting between the representatives
of the Federal Government, World Bank and investors in the sector.
Some of the challenges currently facing
the sector are limited infrastructure, insufficient geological data,
limited cooperative federalism and low productivity.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corps, Bayelsa State Command, has deployed no fewer than 100 fully armed
operatives in Bayelsa to protect solid minerals.
The corps personnel are to work in
concert with Licensed Mineral Operators of the Federal Ministry of Solid
Minerals to tackle all forms of illegal mining activities in the state.
THE Delta State Command of the Nigeria
Security and Civil Defence Corps says it has arrested and is currently
prosecuting no fewer than 76 suspected pipeline vandals across the
state.
The state Commandant, Mrs. Beatrice
Irabor, in a chat with journalists on Saturday, disclosed that the
arrest of the suspects was made between January to March, 2016, adding
that many of the suspects were arrested within Amai and Kwale
communities in the state.
One half of the musical group known as PSquare, Peter Okoye, has
said that he has not been on speaking terms with his twin brother, Paul,
since December, 2015.
The singer made this known in an interview he granted Nigeria Entertainment Today.
He said, “Truth is: I have not been in talking terms with Paul
since December 2015 and that was why I travelled in January. I had a lot
on my mind.”
In the interview, Peter bared his mind on the sour relationship
between him and his brothers, as well as the crisis that is threatening
to tear the group apart.
Blaming the crisis on his twin brother’s ‘weakness’ and an internal
struggle for control of the PSquare, he said, “You know they say change
is constant, you can’t stay at one spot.
As the industry moves, you move. So I won’t say the problem we have is money.
I think everybody is just dragging power unnecessarily. Imagine
Jude telling me that he’s in charge of Psquare and there’s nothing Peter
and Paul can do about it, and I look at Paul he’s quiet about it”.
Peter also revealed that his insistence on growing a workable
structure for the group was at the root of the quarrel between him and
his brothers.
How time flies! On May 27, 2017, Lagos
State will be 50 years old. It seemed like yesterday when the state was
created by Gen. Yakubu Gowon. In February, the Lagos State Governor, Mr
Akinwunmi Ambode, inaugurated a planning committee for the golden
jubilee celebration that has Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, and
industrialist, Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, as co-chairmen.
Ambode, who faced an avalanche of
criticisms immediately after assumption of office on May 29, 2015,
gradually overcame the teething troubles and began to get some positive
press, especially with the action he has taken in the areas of
infrastructure, security, transport, among others.
But he seems to be cutting ties with
some key Lagos messages that will help him achieve better results in the
long run by reshaping how people view Lagos. For example, when was the
last time you heard “Eko o ni baje!” (Lagos will not spoil)? It seems to
have gone with Ambode’s predecessor, Mr Babatunde Fashola. This was an
expression that was on the lips of most Lagosians for many years. Why
was it jettisoned by Ambode? Maybe, because he wants to create his own
slogan. This reminds us of the American expression: “If it ain’t broke,
don’t fix it.”
Elders and youths of Umueke village in
Igwuruta Community, Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State have
called on the Nigerian Army to stop encroaching on their land and desist
from intimidating the people of the area.
Members of the community made this call
on Thursday when the youths of the area embarked on a peaceful
demonstration to the palace of their paramount ruler over what they
termed dehumanisation and intimidation of the people by the soldiers.
Speaking during the protest, the youth
leader in the village, Mr. Christian Worlu, who said they were currently
living in fear, complained that the Nigerian Army had left the portion
of land, which the community allocated to it for shooting range and was
now encroaching into the community.
Worlu said that the Army was forcefully
acquiring more land in the area outside the space already given to it
by the community prior to 1973.
He stressed that the community was
living in fear based on the activities of the soldiers in the area,
adding that they were being intimidated.
Sometime last week, President Muhammadu
Buhari gave an apology. This was for his administration’s improper
dissolution of university boards. Apologies are uncharacteristic for
Nigerian presidents in general, and for Buhari in particular. This is
why his words are worth noting: “There is nothing wrong in saying sorry
and going back on your decision. So, we said sorry and allowed all the
universities to continue with their councils.”
OLX says with the variety of options to
choose from when buying a used car, people are often advised to be
patient and vigilant to ensure they choose their ideal vehicle.
The company said that when in the market
to buy a car, multiple trips by car dealers are taken, or one looks out
for the ‘Buy Me’ sign. “These trips can be time-consuming and quite
stressful especially in a city like Lagos,” it said in a statement.
“But with the emergence of online
classified platforms like OLX, the process has been simplified and one
can view several cars for sale with information on their specs, price,
brand and model all from the comfort of their homes,” the statement
added.
A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Opeoluwa
Sodinmu, remembered his experience when he was ready to buy his first
car, saying that he saw the OLX ad on television
This, he said, prompted him to go to the
site to look out for cars, after he had a successful experience on the
site with the flat he currently lives in.
The owner of Bovina Hotel, a popular site in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, Chief Ifeanyi Okoya has been kidnapped.
The Kwara State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Samuel Okaula confirmed the
abduction in an interview with our correspondent in Ilorin on Tuesday.
He stated that the victim was abducted on Monday evening along
Taiwo Road in Ilorin, adding that the police got the information late
after he had been kidnapped.
He said the police had activated mechanism to free the hostage
unhurt, adding that the command had already arrested three suspects
in connection with the abduction.
Details later.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday
regretted that Nigeria has little to show for the huge resources it made
from oil in the past 16 years.
He said despite the fact that oil sold
above $100 per barrel for the greater part of the last 16 years, leaders
of the country refused to plan for the rainy day.
According to a statement by his Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President spoke
while receiving the Nigerian-born President of the International Civil
Aviation Organisation, Dr. Bernard O. Aliyu, at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.
Buhari said while enduring
infrastructure was built with the little resources available in the
First Republic, a lot of money was made in the last 16 years with little
to show for the money.
The Peoples Democratic Party has been in
charge of the Federal Government in the last 16 years, until 2015 when
Buhari of the All Progressives Congress ousted the former President
Goodluck Jonathan of the PDP.
