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OPC Condemns Removal Of Fuel Subsidy, Decries High Cost Of Gas, Fuel

By
Akinwale Kasali
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By Akinwale Kasali

A faction of the Oodua People’s Congress, OPC, formed by Late Dr. Frederick Fasheun, is lamenting the high cost of Fuel and Gas, and has called on the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Government to, with immediate effect, halt the removal of fuel subsidy.

The Group demanded that pending when the nation’s four refineries would begin local production, the Buhari administration  must rescind any plan to remove fuel subsidy.

This call was made by the OPC in a statement signed by its President, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, popularly called Askari. It stated that  scrapping fuel subsidies without locally-produced fuel would further escalate inflation, endanger industries and increase the hardship Nigerians already suffer.

OPC demanded that the Government should equally tame the galloping prices of cooking gas, domestic kerosene and aviation fuel.

The statement reads: “Many households and families are suffering due to the high cost of cooking gas and domestic kerosine. They want the government to alleviate their sufferings by ensuring that the price of gas, for example, returns to N256/kg at most, instead of the current astronomical price of N850/kg.”

It further stated that the price of diesel has also sky-rocketed from N190 to N810, Which has, in turn, had a negative effect on industries and transportation with attendant high cost of goods and services.

According to the OPC president, lower fuel prices will reduce inflation, restore the health of the devalued Naira and increase the purchasing power of citizens, with the overall boosting of the economy.

Challenging the government to invest in local production of fuel instead of importation, Afolabi said Buhari must see to the revamping of the country’s four refineries and encourage the abundant establishment of functional modular refineries.

“What is happening today was not what General Muhammadu Buhari promised Nigerians when he was campaigning in 2014. His promise to change the fuel situation by revamping the four refineries was attractive to Nigerians who were dissatisfied with the high cost of imported fuel. Nigerians voted for change. Now the situation is even worse.

“How do you explain that Buhari called fuel subsidy of N306.92 billion a scam in 2015, but under him fuel subsidy rose to N1.43 trillion in 2021 and N4 trillion in 2022?

“By running the economy on imported fuel these past seven years, the Buhari government has sacrificed Nigerians to the unchained greediness of an evil cabal that has deliberately paralysed local refining. Clearly, no country will do well under such a system. Time has come to say, ‘Enough is Enough.’

“President Buhari, as the Minister of Petroleum, lacks any excuse to import petroleum products at all. Nigeria is an oil-producing country. Nigerians are blessed with petroleum resources and they deserve to enjoy the benefits of this God-given gift.”

Afolabi went down memory lane, and said that when Buhari took over in 2015, petrol was sold for N87 at the fuel pump, as against N190, which is over 120 percent increment.

OPC equally faulted the high price of aviation fuel, saying the situation had increased the cost of flight tickets and made travelling by air expensive, unattractive and nightmarish.

Afolabi said: “It is unreasonable that just a few months back aviation fuel sold for N190 and today it has increased to N880. Yet the government allows the situation to continue, without doing anything to bring this alarming situation under control. This is unacceptable.”

Osun PDP Mocks Gov. Oyetola Over Students Performance In WAEC

By
Ayodele Oni
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By Ayodele Oni

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Osun State said it is shameful that the state placed 36th in the recent West African Examinations Council (WAEC) performance index.

In the WAEC ranking, Osun is 36th out of 36 states, including FCT.

The PDP Caretaker Committee Chairman, Dr. Adekunle Akindele, asked the Governor Gboyega Oyetola-led government to apologize to the people of Osun State for “a destructive handling of the education system that led to the state’s very shameful placement.”

This was contained in a statement on Wednesday in response to the  recent state-by-state performance record in the Senior School Certificate Examination for the 2022 calendar year.

The PDP lamented the distasteful result as a function of the laissez-faire attitude of the All Progressive Congress (APC) led administration to education in the state.

PDP accused the APC administration of leaving the all-important sector in the hands of ‘do-nothing propagandists,’ while the proverbial future leaders are having their future inadvertently fogged up.

“For long, the state government had rebuffed all wise counsels to employ competent professionals to fill existing vacancies in key subjects in almost all public secondary schools in the state, in a bid to avert the present disaster.

“What more, Oyetola is happy expending parts of the funds expected to be used to revamp the badly bleeding education sector in the state on illegal local government elections that will surely fall flat.

“These are streams of misplaced priorities for which innocent students are being made to suffer heartaches and bleak futures through faulty education.”

Promising a better education system, the PDP pledged that under the Governor-elect, Senator Ademola Adeleke, “parents, whose wards have been subjected to psychological trauma with the unsavory performance in WAEC and other basic examinations of better days ahead.

“Senator Ademola Adeleke’s administration, as promised during electioneering, will set education as topmost priority by restoring sanity to the sector, away from personal aggrandizement.”

Costa Rica 2022: NFF Debunks Claim Falconets Were Stranded In Turkey, Slept On Bare Floor

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Falconets Sleeping on Floor

By Akinwale Kasali

After the Quarter Finals ouster of the Falconets of Nigeria from the ongoing FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Costa Rica, images emerged online of the National Team players sleeping on bare floors, Chairs at the Istanbul Airport in Turkey, yesterday.

The team had left San Jose, Costa Rica and boarded a flight to Turkey on a 24-hour layover in Istanbul.

Super Eagles’ ex-media officer, Collin Udoh, had posted on his Social Media Handle, saying m, “Nigeria’s #Falconets have been travelling from Costa Rica since 6:30am on Monday.

“They’re now in Istanbul on a 24-hour layover and sleeping on the airport chairs and floor, or wherever they can find.”

The images caused outrage from Social Media users and Football enthusiasts who lamented the ill- treatment meted on the Ladies.

Accusing fingers are being pointed at the leadership of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, led by its President, Amaju Melvin Pinnick, for their poor and shoddy arrangement, and making the nation a laughing stock.

Reacting, NFF General Secretary, Mohammed Sanusi, says the Falconets missed their flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Nigeria, adding that they were not stranded in the European nation.

He debunked reports that the Falconets were stranded in Istanbul, describing the reports as mischievous and misleading, saying the girls missed their connecting flight.

“The Falconets were not stranded in Turkey; to say the girls were stranded is a mischievous statement. It’s the fault of the airline.

“By the time they arrived in Istanbul, the connecting Turkish Airline flight that was supposed to convey them from Turkey to Abuja had left and the Falconets had to wait for the next flight.”

Sanusi said the Falconets have, finally, boarded a flight to Abuja.

PDP BoT Chairman, Jibrin, Backs Wike’s Camp, Says Party’s Leadership Structure Unfair To The South

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Senator Walid Jibrin - PDP BoT Chairman

By Akinwale Kasali

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustee, BoT Chairman, Senator Jibrin has agreed that the leadership hierarchy of the Party is Pro-North.

By agreeing to that, Jibrin has backed the Camp of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, which has been fighting the party over the situation.

In the crisis that has engulfed the Party since Atiku Abubakar won the Presidential Primary, one of the requests by Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike and his Camp is that the Party Chairman, Dr Iyorchia Ayu, should step down for a Southerner since Atiku is from the North. Ayu’s refusal to do so has caused a stalemate in the ongoing peace talk.

Jibrin, who had earlier made this assertion, faulting the leadership structure of the opposition Party, further reaffirmed his  position while featuring on a Channels Television’s programme, Politics Today.

He insisted that it was unfair for the Presidential Candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar; its national Chairman, Iyorchia Ayu; and himself to come from the North.

Jibril, in a statement, on Tuesday he stood by his earlier position.

He said, “Based on my earlier statement that the PDP cannot produce a Northern President, National Chairman, BoT Chairman all from the North for the 2023 Presidential elections, I still maintain my stand on that statement.

“The PDP is a party that caters for all Nigerians; it is not sectional but loved by all Nigerians.”

He said as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, there was the need for him to speak the truth regardless of any form of rejection.

“As a PDP BoT Chairman, I must say the truth and nothing but the truth no matter anyone’s criticism. I do not fear anyone but God and the true agenda of our party.  I will add that I stand strongly on my toes; I have been a true member of PDP since its inception in 1998.

Today, I am one of the Trustees’ members of the party who remained in the party since 1998 that never changed to any party passing all positions in the PDP,” Jibril said.

There is pressure on Ayu to step down, but he insists he was elected to a four-year tenure. However, Atiku said in an interview on ARISE TV, that Ayu would step if he wins the Presidential election.

Court Seizes Andy Uba’s Cars Over N50 Million Debt

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

The All Progressives Congress, APC, Governorship Candidate in the 2022 Anambra State Election, Andy Uba, has lost his cars to a Court judgement.  Officials of the Execution Unit of a Federal Capital Territory High Court, working with officers of the Nigeria Police Force, on Tuesday, seized vehicles belonging to Uba in his Abuja residence over a N50 million debt resulting from a loan he took from Oranto Petroleum Limited.

The one-time two-week Governor of Anambra State lost in a case instituted against him by Oranto Petroleum.

The seizure of Uba’s property was sequel to the judgment of an Anambra State High Court delivered on March 6, 2017, in a case presided over by Justice Mbonu Nwenyi of the Aguata Judicial Division Ekwulobia

Oranto Petroleum is a Pan-African oil exploration and production company owned by Chief Arthur Eze.

The seized vehicles were impounded at Uba:s residence on No. 49 T.Y Danjuma Street, Asokoro, Abuja.

In his ruling, the Judge held that Uba as the defendant in the case had not denied receiving the friendly interest-free loan from the plaintiff.

The Court further held that, having gone through the statement of defence of the defendant, the defendant had not disclosed any good defence to the suit and in such circumstance the plaintiff was entitled to the judgment.

Justice Mbonu stated, “The Plaintiff has sufficiently shown that he granted interest-free friendly loan to the defendant which has not been denied and since has not been repaid.

In the circumstances I enter judgment for the plaintiff in the sum of N50 million being refund of interest-free loan granted to the defendant by the plaintiff at the request of the defendant.”

Ugochi Obajekwe with the brief of Chief Tugbe Ike appeared for the plaintiff, while G.N Onovo with the brief of Chima Oguejiofor appeared for the defendant.

The execution took place in Abuja as a result of a motion ex parte dated May 5, 2022, and filed same date praying the court for some reliefs and subsequent order of the FCT High Court dated June 30, 2022 as follows:

“Leave is hereby granted the plaintiff/judgment creditor/applicant to register the certificate of judgment of the High Court of Anambra State in the Aguata Judicial Division holden at Ekwulobia and delivered by Hon. (Justice) C.N. Mbonu-Nwenyi on the 6th day of March, 2017 in suit no. AG/94/2016:Oranto Petroleum Ltd Vs Senator Nnamdi Emmanuel Andy Uba as the judgment of this Court.

“An order of this Honourable Court deeming the judgment of the High Court of Anambra State in the Judicial Division holden at Ekwulobia and delivered by Hon. (Justice) C.N. Mbonu-Nwenyi on the 6th day of March, 2017 in suit no. AG/94/2016: Oranto Petroleum Ltd VS Senator Nnamdi Emmanuel Andy Uba as the judgment of this Court is hereby granted.

“An order of the Honourable Court directing the cost of the registration and execution of the judgment to be recoverable from the Defendant/Judgment Debtor/Respondent to an amount assessed by the Court in the circumstances of this case is hereby granted.

“The order was issued in Abuja, under the seal of the court and the hand of the presiding judge this 30th day of June 2022.”

Anambra: Assembly Majority Leader, Okafor, Slumps In Hotel Room, Dies

By
Adesina Soyooye
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Nnamdi Okafor

By Adesina Soyooye

Death has again hit the Anambra State House of Assembly.

Honourable Nnamdi Okafor, its Majority Leader  is dead.

Okafor, reportedly,  died in a hotel room in South Africa, after he suddenly slumped.

He and a number of his colleagues had gone to South Africa for a legislative retreat when death suddenly called on Tuesday, August 23, 2022.

The details of his passing are still sketchy as nobody has confirmed, yet, whether he was ill before the trip, or suddenly took ill there.

There is no official statement, for now, either from the Anambra State House of Assembly or the State Government.

Until his passing, Okafor was the representative of Awka 1 State Constituency in the Assembly.

Zenith Bank Sustains Double-Digit Growth, Earns N405bn H1

By
James Orji
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0
Ebenezer Onyeagwu - Zenith Bank PLC MD

In a clear demonstration of its industry leadership and consistency in providing superior financial returns, Zenith Bank Plc has announced its audited results for the half-year ended 30 June 2022, recording an astounding double-digit growth of 17 percent in gross earnings from N346 billion reported in H1 2021 to N405 billion in H1 2022.  This is in spite of a very challenging macroeconomic environment.

According to the bank’s audited half-year financial results presented to the Nigerian Exchange, NGX on Tuesday, August 23, 2022, this growth was underpinned by a 19 percent YoY growth in interest income from NGN204 billion to NGN242 billion and an 18% YoY growth in non-interest income from NGN127 billion to NGN149 billion. The growth in interest income was driven by the modest increase in the loan book and improved interest margins. The increase in non-interest income attests to the Group’s success in its income diversification strategy.

Profit before tax, PB) grew 11 percent year-on-year (YoY) from NGN117 billion to NGN130 billion. Earnings per share, and EPS also grew from NGN3.38 to NGN3.55 over the same 6-month period.

The Group also recorded an 11 percent year-to-date, YtD increase in total customer deposits to close the period at NGN7.15 trillion. The retail strategy of the Group continues to deliver outstanding results as retail deposits grew by 17 percent YtD from NGN1.82 trillion to NGN2.13 trillion. Retail activities also supported the growth recorded in fees on electronic products which grew by 45 percent YoY from NGN17 billion to NGN25 billion.

Despite the elevated yield environment, the cost of funds increased only marginally from 1.3% in June 2021 to 1.4 percent in June 2022. The increase in the cost of funds was lower than the increase in yields on interest-generating assets, giving rise to an improved Net Interest Margin (NIM) of 7.1 percent from 6.4 percent in June 2021.

Total assets rose to NGN10.12 trillion at the end of June 2022 from NGN9.45 trillion at the end of December 2021. Despite the headwinds imposed by the operating environment, the Group grew its risk assets as gross loans grew by 5% YtD, from NGN3.5 trillion to NGN3.7 trillion. This was achieved at a moderate NPL ratio of 4.4 percent (FYE 2021: 4.2 percent) and cost of risk of 1.4 percent (June 2021: 1.3 percent). Prudential ratios such as liquidity and capital adequacy also remained stable and well-above regulatory thresholds at 60.5 percent and 21.0 percent respectively.

The Group is focused on advancing its digital banking strategy anchored on a strong technology base, and intends to consolidate on the gains achieved in prior years across all business segments. Combined with the Group’s industry leadership, we expect this to drive improved performance and deliver enhanced returns to stakeholders.

Zenith Bank’s track record of excellent performance has continued to earn the brand numerous awards, including being recognised as Number One Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital, for the 13th consecutive year, in the 2022 Top 1000 World Banks Ranking published by The Banker Magazine; Best Bank in Nigeria, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria 2021 and 2022 in the World Finance Banking Awards; Best Corporate Governance Bank, Nigeria in the World Finance Corporate Governance Awards 2022; Best in Corporate Governance ‘Financial Services’ Africa, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022, by the Ethical Boardroom; Best Commercial Bank, Nigeria and Best Innovation In Retail Banking, Nigeria in the International Banker 2022 Banking Awards.  Also, the Bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria in the Banker Magazine Top 500 Banking Brands 2020 and 2021, Bank of the Year (Nigeria) in The Banker’s Bank of the Year Awards 2020 and Retail Bank of the year at the BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards 2020 and 2021.

Similarly, Zenith Bank was honoured as Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020 and emerged winner in four categories at the Sustainability, Enterprise, and Responsibility (SERAS) Awards 2021, carting home the awards for “Best Company in Reporting and Transparency”, “Best Company in Infrastructure Development”, “Best Company in Gender Equality and Women Empowerment”, and the coveted “Most Responsible Organisation in Africa.

China Forgives African Countries $3bn Loan

By
James Orji
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0

The Chinese government has shortlisted 17 African countries for debt forgiveness. A total of $3 billion will be wiped off from the loan book, according to the details provided by the second largest economy in the world.

Nigeria is one of the biggest debtors to the Chinese Peoples’ Republic with a total debt stock of over $3.121 billion going by the figures provided by the Debt Management Office, DMO.

The details provided by the Chinese government did not include the countries that have been shortlisted to benefit from the loan magnanimity, but it was learned from experts that the debt that will be written off are those whose tenor has matured in 2021.

According to experts who spoke to the magazine on the issue, the countries that qualified under this category are Angola, Congo DRC, Djibouti, South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, among others.

Speaking at the recently held Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said the gesture is proof that his government will continue to foster strong ties with the continent.

He explained that the PRC has proven through concrete actions that it is a development partner with African countries, adding that his country will continue to support infrastructure development in the continent through the Belt and Road Initiative.

“China will waive the 23 interest-free loans for 17 African countries that had matured by the end of 2021,” Mr Wang said at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, according to a statement.

“We will also continue to increase imports from Africa, support the greater development of Africa’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors, and expand co-operation in emerging industries such as the digital economy, health, green and low-carbon sectors.”

“What Africa wishes for is a favourable and amicable cooperation environment, not the zero-sum Cold War mentality,” Wang said.

Since the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation took place in Senegal in November 2021, Beijing has delivered $3 billion of $10 billion of credit facilities pledged to African financial institutions, Wang also said in the speech.

Ndigbo Lose N25 billion Each Day Of Sit-at-Home Order –  Orji Kalu

By
The Source
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By Charles Igbo

The Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, has lamented the effect the sit-at-home order imposed on the people of the South-east is having on the region.

He said it has affected many businesses and ground the economy of the region to a halt. According to Orji, a former Governor of the State, Ndigbo lose a whopping N25b each day of the sit-at-home order.

The order was imposed on the region by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, several months ago, to protest the continued prosecution of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, by the Federal Government.

To pressurise the Federal Government to release Kanu, they declared every Monday of every week as a sit-at-home day, as well as any day Kanu would appear in court.

Kanu is being prosecuted by the Federal Government for among other things, alleged terrorism and treasonable felony. The United Nations, recently, asked the Nigerian Government to release Kanu without any conditions.

IPOB had since bowed to pressure from well meaning citizens in consideration of the sufferings of the people, and especially, the violence which usually accompanied the compliance, cancelled the order.

But a splinter group led by Simon Ekpa, a self-confessed disciple of Kanu, but who has since been denied and disclaimed by IPOB, has continued to enforce the order, even though Kanu, whose disciple he claims he is, has since ordered the cancellation of the sit-at-home order. Ekpa, allegedly, leads a group identified as “Auto Pilot.”

Addressing his Constituents in Umunneochi Local Government Area, a hotbed of kidnappers, Kalu lamented what Igbo land has been reduced to by the incessant abductions of innocent citizens, and the enforcement of the sit-at-home order. He revealed that in connivance with the Military, he would bomb the bushes and forests in Abia State, and warned parents to ask their children who live in the bush to leave or risk being killed, emphasising that: “We want peace.”

Kalu: “We want peace here. We want our businesses to continue. The Igbo are losing N25 billion each day they close their businesses. And they cannot continue. I wish I’m still Governor of Abia State. But I’m not the Governor.”

INEC Chairman, Mahmoud On 2023 Poll, How It Will Succeed

By
Ayodele Oni
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0

By Ayodele Oni

Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmoud Yakubu has highlighted measures that can guarantee a hitch free elections next year.

Yakubu, among others, called for the passage of the National Electoral Offences Commission Bill into law.

The INEC boss was addressing other issues germaine to the conduct of the 2023 elections at a Public Hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters, in Abuja, on Tuesday.

He thanked the leadership of the National Assembly  for organizing the public hearing, which came four months after a similar exercise on the same Bill by the Senate Committee on INEC.

“This is the closest the nation has come to the passage of the long overdue National Electoral Offences Commission Bill into law.

“I hope in the next few months, the National Assembly will pass the Bill so that it will not suffer the fate of previous efforts, which were inchoate at the end of the lifespan of the Assembly.”

The INEC boss further stressed that the Bill for an Act to establish the National Electoral Offences  Commission is a critical legislation.

“It has been part of all national conversations on constitutional and Electoral Reforms for the last 13 years. The Justice Mohammed Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms commended it in 2009.

“It is clear that the reform of our electoral process cannot be complete without effective sanctions on violators of our laws.

“At present, INEC is saddled with the responsibility of prosecuting electoral offenders under the Electoral Act. This has been very challenging for the Commission.

“For instance, since the 2015 General Election, 125 cases of electoral offences were filled in various Courts out of which 60 convictions have secured so far, including the most recent one in Akwa Ibom State.”

Yakubu also called for the prosecution of offenders, not just ballot box snatches, falsified of election results and vote buyers at polling units but most importantly, their sponsors.

“We look forward to the day when highly placed sponsors of thuggery, including high-profile figures that seek to benefit from these violations, are arrested and prosecuted. We believe the work of the proposed Commission will help in this regard.

“We have studied 46 Clauses of the Bill under consideration and made 16 comments. I would like to touch on two Clauses and make a general observation while submitting our detailed, comments to the Committee.

“It is propels that Electoral Offences Tribunal be established with exclusive jurisdiction to try Electoral offenders.

“The second is Clause 44 which empowers the Attorney-General of the Federation to make rules or regulations for the Commission.

“Thirdly, because work on the Bill started before the passage of the current Electoral Act into law, all references to the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), for example Clause 39 (1), should be replaced with relevant provisions  of Electoral Act 2022.”

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