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Subsidy Palliatives: FG Releases  81,000 Bags Of Rice To Ondo, Others

By
Ayodele Oni
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Wale Akinterinwa

By Ayodele Oni

The Federal Government  has allocated 81,000 bags of rice to each State of the Federation as part of palliatives to cushion the hardship occasioned by subsidy withdrawal on petrol.

Some States are already taking delivery of the package, which is to be distributed in batches.

Ondo State Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Wale Akinterinwa confirmed in Akure on Tuesday, that the State Government has taken delivery of 3,000 bags of rice from the Federal Government.

He revealed that the State has also received 3000 bags of rice from the lot being paid for by the State Government.

Fielding questions from journalists at a media forum organized by the state Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) tagged Ondo Media Agenda, Akinterinwa assured that pensioners and the vulnerable in the state would receive the N10,000 set aside for them at the end of this month, August.

The Commissioner assured that besides rice, other local food items would be procured and distributed to the poor people in the State using the existing data in the communities.

“From this month, apart from transportation, the pensioners would get their N10, 000, the vulnerable would also get the same, some of this promises would  definitely take time, we have to ensure transparency and accountability too.

“Free Transportation for School children would commence next month, transportation for civil servant would also commence to ease movement, and we intend to buy more vehicles.

“We would have purchased more vehicles, but we don’t want the one using petrol, we want to buy CNG buses because they are bigger, but all the State are going for this purpose because of the fuel cost, we are also on the queue for it.

“The government would help the famers get their food crops get to town because we had realized that transportation has been the major difficulties.

“The farmer do complain of access, we would provide tricycle for easy access when these crops get to town, it would be sold in a subsidized price.”

Speaking on the efforts of the Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu-led administration in improving the standard of living and infrastructure development in the state, Akinterinwa stated that Governor Akeredolu directed him and other members of the Economic Team to put in place, at the inception of his administration, a matching order to shore up the Internally Generated Revenue, (IGR) of the state.

He disclosed that at the inception of the administration, the state IGR was hovering between N500,000 and N600,000.

Having applied some measures and with the leadership and conducive environment provided by the governor, the state IGR jumped to N3 billion monthly.

Akinterinwa said the governor, through legislative instrument, created Ondo State Internal Revenue Service(ODIRS) managed by an expert from the private sector.

“Different leakages in the revenue were blocked and brilliant graduates were employed with encouraging incentives and salaries to begin exploration of the taxable products and services.”

He recalled that the people of the state, particularly civil servants, were disillusioned before the assumption of office by Governor Akeredolu as a result of non-payment of salaries for seven consecutive months.

The commissioner revealed that as the time, the state government was paying over N5 billion as wage bill, while local government also was paying over N2 billion as wage bill.

He alleged that the immediate past administration deprived the economy of the state over N7 billion for seven months.

Akinterinwa, however, said Governor Akeredolu has paid six months out of the seven months backlog of salaries having shored up the revenue generated internally by the state government.

“We designed tax payment, you can now pay your tax at the comfort of your zone, all those placement helped out in increasing our IGR, we deploy technology, we have data for all Houses.

“All we did was just enforcing the law, we have the data to send notice of tax payment to people and we enforce it, everybody was involved and implementation was done, we also tried to be transparent enough about the funds and usage.

“We also did Technology, training of Staff, bringing people from the private sector has helped us in easy generation of more revenue for the state.

“We did so many financial reengineering on debts that were inherited from loans, they were restructured. The role of the Government is not just to pay salaries, we have not abandoned any projects.

“We are able to achieve great increment in our IGR because we brought in an independent person, he was given autonomy and an enabling environment, that is why we have ODIRS, we recruited Experts and also give more training to staff, we blocked leakages, lots of things are now done properly.”

Commenting on all ongoing capital projects in the state, the Commissioner for Finance assured the people of the state that none of the projects would be abandoned.

He explained that the developing economic situations to some extent affected some of the road projects, saying the contractors demanded contract variation, which has been addressed and contractors have moved to sites.

Speaking on the debt profile of the state on assumption of office by Governor Akeredolu, he disclosed that “The past administration took a bond, which they were servicing. It wasn’t professionally structured. We were spending over N700m to service it every month.

“We had to increase the tenure of the payment and looked at the rate that was reduced and we started paying about N347million monthly.

“The following year we were able to take a fresh one and still servicing the old one because we have increase our IGR. The requirements were very stringent at the time we approached the Capital Market. But we were able to get it.

“This improved the economy of the state. The governor provided good leadership and conducive environment to perform.

We were able to recover some debt on which hope had been lost.

“When we came in, we did restructuring in all areas, we bring stakeholders together and investors together, we took Bond that was not maintained well by the previous administration.

“We serviced it, by the time we approached the capital market, there was no other State that could be able to approach it except Lagos State, because the requirements were strict, but we are able to achieve it.

“All the infrastructure you see today is because the Governor of the state gave us good leadership, and an enabling environment was created for us in other for us to put up our best.”

Shock as ESUT Final Year Student Mysteriously Dies in Her Room; Male Companion Battles for Life

By
The Source
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By Barth Ugwu,  Enugu

Enugu State University of Science and Technology, ESUT has been thrown into mourning following the discovery of the lifeless body of a final-year student of the institution, Mbah Ezinne, in her room.

The lifeless body of Ezinne, a student of the Department of Anatomy, was found on Sunday in her apartment following concerns raised by her friends and Church members after she was not seen in the Church.

Ezinne’s friends, Church members, and family became concerned after she was not seen in the Church and had frantically tried to contact her through her mobile phone to no avail.

Worried about the inability to reach their daughter,  Ezinne’s family members and some of her friends stormed her school apartment on Monday morning and peered through the widow only to find Ezinne and her male companion who was later identified as her coursemate lying on the floor.

Shocked by the gory sight, her brother who led the family on the trip promptly got police permission to break open the apartment whereupon the duo were rushed to the hospital.

Ezinne was pronounced dead upon arrival while her male companion whose name could not be ascertained at press time was revived and now battling for life.

Meanwhile, some of the acquaintances of the late Ezinne have expressed sorrow at her demise.

In a Facebook comment, Ede Njideka said: “She’s from my village, Umueze Awkunanaw. She’s not a bad girl… Very decent girl.

Suggesting that Ezinne and her male coursemate were victims of orchestrated murder,  another commentator who simply goes by the name,  Splendid Visuals, said:  “They weren’t involved in anything bad, injuries were found on their bodies and they were locked from outside the house. They aren’t dating, I know them”

And according to Ajah Nneka,  “She was industrious and a very nice girl. Only God knows what happened to her, I was so shocked when I heard of her demise.

CSR: Fidelity Bank Feeds Benue IDP With 1,200 Food Packs

By
James Orji
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Leading financial institution, Fidelity Plc, has distributed over 1,200 food packs to the internally Displaced Persons in Makurdi, Benue State in its ongoing commitment to eliminate hunger among vulnerable persons in the society. 

The event, which took place on Thursday, 10 August 2023 at the IDP Camp, Federal Housing Estate in North Bank, Benue State was executed in partnership with the Hyacinth Alia Foundation and the Benue State Emergency Management Agency, BESEMA.

Speaking during the distribution event, the Divisional Head, Brand and Communications, Fidelity Bank Plc, Meksley Nwagboh noted that the Fidelity Food Bank is a Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, initiative of the Bank designed to reach out to vulnerable persons and reduce the effect of hunger.

In his words, “The vision of the Bank is to reach out to the less privileged communities through our partner organisations who identify with these communities. In Benue State, we are partnering with the State Government through the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA.

“So, as I speak with you over 24,000 Fidelity food packs have been distributed to communities across the country to help cushion the effect of hunger which has become a global issue” he stated.

Commenting on the initiative, the Special Adviser to the Benue State Governor on Innovation Strategies, Special Duties, Development, Policy, and Planning, Fidelis Unongo, commended Fidelity Bank for their donation and also appealed to IDPs to exercise patience, noting that the Governor is aware of their requests and is working to ensure that they get settled back to their ancestral homes.

On his part, the Chairman of the IDP Camp, Abraham Tar who spoke in Tiv, commended Fidelity Bank for their kind gesture and promised to ensure that the items donated gets to the desired beneficiaries even as he appealed to donors to also look into the health condition of the IDPs, especially women and Children.

Some of the beneficiaries, Msurshima Kunde, Comfort Lorfa, and Terundu Shima applauded Fidelity Bank for their kind gesture and appealed for increased health services at the camp to enable them access quality healthcare services.

NNPCL Debunks Fuel Hike Story, Says It Is False

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has dismissed the news that it plans to further increase the price of Fuel.

The NNPCL Management broke its silence on the widespread concern of a possible hike in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol.

In a statement by the company, posted by 11:48pm on Monday on its official X (formerly Twitter) handle, the national oil firm and major importer of petrol into Nigeria, said it had no intention to increase the pump price of petrol.

The statement reads: “Dear esteemed customers, we, at NNPCL Retail, value your patronage, and we do not have the intention to increase our PMS pump prices as widely speculated.

“Please buy the best quality products at the most affordable prices at our NNPCL Retail stations nationwide,” the company stated.

The NNPCL Retail is the downstream subsidiary of NNPCL that retails refined petroleum products for the group.

It would be recalled that oil marketers had on Sunday indicated that the cost of petrol would rise to between N680/litre and N720/litre in the coming weeks should the dollar continue to trade from N910 to N950 at the parallel market.

They also hinted that dealers seeking to import PMS were being forced to put the plans on hold due to the scarcity of foreign exchange to import the commodity.

The warning came barely one week after the local currency crossed the N900/dollar ceiling, with the naira selling at over 945/dollar at the parallel market on Friday.

The oil dealers had also said the CBN Importers and Exporters’ official window for foreign exchange, which boasts of a lower exchange rate of about $740/litre, had remained illiquid and unable to provide the $25m to $30m required for the importation of PMS by dealers.

NNPCL spokesperson, Garba-Deen Muhammad, on Monday, said if the oil firm would hike petrol price as projected by dealers, but he promised to find out and revert.

He, however, did not revert, rather the company posted its response on X (formerly Twitter) around midnight on Monday.

Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress had on Monday warned that its members would commence a nationwide strike without any formal notice if marketers increased the pump price of petrol without concluding the ongoing negotiations.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, admonished the Federal Government to stop the falling value of the naira.

In the aftermath of the fuel subsidy removal in May, the organised labour had attempted to down-tool over the skyrocketing prices of goods and services but the Federal Government secured an injunction from the National Industrial Court barring them from embarking on strike.

FG Slams 20 Fresh Charges On Emefiele

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

Incarcerated and suspended Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Governor, Godwin Emefiele has been slammed with a fresh 20-Count Charge by the Federal Government – meaning that freedom for him is still far.

On Tuesday, the FG  withdrew the allegations leveled against him of the illegal possession of firearms  at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Aside from that, the Federal Government concluded plans to file 20 new charges against Emefiele at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court in Abuja.

Mohammed Bakodo Abubakar, Director of Public Prosecutions at the Federal Ministry of Justice, who approached the Federal High Court in Ikoyi with an oral application, made this known while speaking with journalists after the day’s proceedings.

He said the withdrawal followed the result of further investigations.

It would be recalled that on July 25, Emefiele was arraigned on a two-count charge bordering on “illegal possession of firearms” at a federal high court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Details Later……

Female Students Accuse Dean, Faculty Of Law, Unical  Of Harassment

By
The Source
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UNICAL Law Students Protests

By Charles Igbo

The Dean Faculty of Law, University of Calabar, Professor Cyril Ndifon, is in trouble. The Professor is being accused  by his female students of, allegedly, touching them inappropriately. They say they are tired of such touches, and of forcing them to engage in a game of “it takes-two-to-tango”. They are angry, and have asked the University Management to give the Professor the boot.

Proof of their anger: In an unprecedented action, the female Law students, backed by their male colleagues, trooped out and embarked on a protest.

Carrying placards, on which were written various demands, and why they are angry, some of the inscriptions obscene, they marched to the Faculty of Law, singing angrily. They said they were tired of the demands, in kind, by the Professor, from the female Law students. They said they were tired of the exploitation of their feminity by their Dean. They also asked the Professor to stop tampering with the list of Law students. They demanded that they be saved from such untidy and inappropriate demands.

The solution, they said: remove him from office.

At the time of filing this report, there has been no reaction from the Dean, the Faculty or the University authorities.

In recent times, a few number of University Lecturers have either lost their jobs or suspended from office over untidy exploitation of female students. At least one of them, a Professor, has been jailed.

Ondo: PDP Advises APC To Stop Celebrating Inactive Decampees

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Ondo state has said the state chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) Ade Adetimehin, was in a state of hallucination when he announced that the PDP has gone into extinction in the state.

Adetimehin, during an interactive session with journalists in Akure, had declared that “Of all the political parties in Ondo State, APC is the only united party. There is no division and we are rancour free. We work together under the leadership of Governor Akeredolu.

“He is a man that believes in the supremacy of the party. He never interferes in the running of the party. He allows the party to function effectively. That is what brings unity of the party and makes us the strongest political party in the state.

“That is why many members of opposition political parties are coming to join the APC in Ondo State. Three days ago, the grassroot strength of the PDP totally collapsed into the APC. All the former Vice Chairmen and 203 former Councillors defected to the APC.

“In Idanre, Chairman of PDP Elders Forum joined the APC. The PDP has gone into extinction in Ondo. It is now my duty to manage the APC in Ondo State.”

Reacting, PDP spokesman in the state, Kennedy Peretei, stated that “Adetimehin is probably the only person who is oblivious of the fact that, Ondo State people hold his party, APC and its inhuman government responsible for their suffering and agony of the last eight years.

“Especially the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and its bitting effect on everybody. He does not realize that, even those who were tricked to vote APC in the 2023 general elections are already regretting and lamenting their miscalculation that has brought about untold hardship on them and their families.

“Such a man, if he has any sense of shame and responsibility should have been on his knees begging the people for the huge misfortune masterminded by his party.

“To now open his mouth in a most careless manner to say “PDP is now extinct” is not only laughable but mischief of the highest order.

“Majority of the 203 Councillors Adetimehin is celebrating for joining his party have not been active in the last two cycles of elections in Ondo State.

“A few of them have been in the APC since 2016. How the defection of such characters translates to PDP being extinct can only be understood by someone like Adetimehin who is presiding over a dangerously fragmented APC in the State, but deludes himself with fun-seeking decampees who tell him tales by moonlight.

“The PDP in Ondo State is unruffled by a few persons who are in a self-destruct misadventure in Adetimehin’s sinking APC ship.

“While we sympathize with such persons, it is pathetic that those who should be weeping are dancing and rejoicing. But in no distant time, reality will dawn on them that, indeed, they lived a lie all along. PDP cannot be extinct, there are no such signs. And it will never be.”

Nigeria Customs Impounds Live Cartridges As Smugglers Flee

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS) has announced seizure of no fewer than 1,245 live cartridges worth N17,638,145 concealed in some bags of rice in Ogun state.

The service explained that the seizure was made at Tobolo community near Ijoun, in Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The Area Controller, Bamidele Makinde, disclosed this on Monday in Abeokuta during a press conference.

Makinde told newsmen that the ammunition was loaded with 203 bags of foreign rice and abandoned in a bush path at Tobolo junction, near an exit point to the neighbouring Benin Republic.

According to him, the cartridges, 70mm (2¾), were of Lion, Trust, Supreme and Redstar brands.

The customs boss noted that the ammunition was intercepted on Saturday following intelligence gathered by the command on the planned smuggling of the prohibited items into Nigeria from Benin Republic.

According to him, the Roving B Team of the command intercepted five vehicles conveying the prohibited items.

The Area Controller disclosed that the drivers who were suspected to have been hinted at the movement of the operatives, escaped through the bush path.

“During an examination of the seized vehicles and the item, about 1,245 rounds of 70mm ((2¾)) ammunition of Lion, Trust, Supreme and Redstar branded cartridges were found to have been ingeniously concealed in 20 bags of the intercepted foreign rice.

“While considering the potential danger of ammunition of such magnitude if successfully smuggled in, we redouble our efforts to ensure they do not find their way into the country.

“It is a threat to the safety of the border communities and national security. We are committed to ensuring maximum security of our border lines with all sense of patriotism.”

He said the items have been deposited for safekeeping, pending necessary action, adding that an “investigation is ongoing to unravel the cartel responsible for the attempted smuggling of the items for arrest and prosecution.”

IGP Alkali Baba Usman Joins Senatorial Race

By
The Source
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Usman Alkali Baba and His Poster

By Gideon Njoku

The immediate past Inspector General of Police, Alkali Baba Usman has joined Politics, and is reportedly seeking an elective office.

Usman who was the 21st Indigenous Nigeran IGP, was appointed to office by the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, on  6th April, 2021. He was removed by President Bola Tinubu on 19th June, 2023, and succeeded by IGP Kayode Egbetokun, PhD.

It is not known when Baba joined Politics and registered as a card carrying member of the ruling Party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. But he is reportedly vying to represent Yobe East Senatorial District in the expected upcoming by-election. Its incumbent Senator,  Ibrahim Gaidem, a former Governor of Yobe State has just been nominated and confirmed a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Posters, declaring Baba’s interest in the Senate, have been placed all over the Senatorial District.

Not a few people now think that he was, allegedly, a card-carrying member of the APC while in office as the IGP.

Born in 1963, Baba attended  Bayero University, Kano and the University of Maiduguri where he received his first and masters degrees, respectively.

CBN Takes More Knee-jerk Measures To Stop Naira Slide

By
James Orji
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The Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that the recent volatility experienced in the forex market is driven by speculators, vowing to take serious measures to curtail the trend.

Acting Governor of the CBN, Folasodun Sonubi, made this known after a closed-door meeting with President Tinubu in Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The CBN governor said the president is seriously concerned over the volatility in the forex market, saying the bank is on top of the situation to stop the naira from further devaluation.

According to the Acting CBN Governor, Shonubi part of the measures the apex bank is taking include sanctions against commercial banks involved in the illegal sale of forex.

The CBN boss also stated that the bank is trying to improve liquidity in both the I& E and parallel market in order to stop a further freefall of the naira.

Shonubi said: “Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market. One of the things we discussed is what could be done to stabilise and what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings on in the various other markets, including the parallel market.

“He’s concerned about its impact on the average person, since, unfortunately, a lot of activities that we do, which are purely local, are still referenced to exchange rates in the parallel market.

“We’ve discussed and I’ve shared with him what we’re doing to improve supply. If you look at the official market, you’ll find that that market has been fairly stable and the spreads of the difference have not fluctuated as much.

“We do not believe that the changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply, but are touched by speculative demand from people.

“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them.

“But my presence here is more about the concerns the President has and his needs to know that we are doing something about it, assurances of which I have given him totally.

“So I hope this helps. We are looking at it and we’re doing things that will significantly impact the market in a few days time and we will all see it.

“The intention is to ensure the environment operates at a level that’s more efficient, but also that is also very reasonable and does not have a negative impact to the best that we can on the lives of the average person.

The governor of the government-controlled bank spoke amidst concerns among not a few Nigerians that CBN has lost total control of the forex market, considering how the naira has lost value in the past few weeks.

The nation’s currency started falling to the dollar not long after the CBN ordered the convergence of both the parallel and I&E markets early in June this year, as part of its forex reforms policy.

The belief then was that the measure will improve liquidity and in turn, strengthens the naira.

But that’s not to be, as the measures, according to analysts appear to have been counterproductive, considering that the value of the naira to other foreign currencies continues to slide raising further concern about future stability.

Analysts have therefore warned that the value of the naira to the dollar could rise to as much as N1000 or more in a few weeks if serious measures are not taken by the monetary policy regulator to quickly arrest the trend, adding that the current CBN approach to the problem is another knee-jack measures that have not helped in the time past.

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