Football transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confidently stated that Victor Osimhen will not take a pay cut to facilitate his move to Chelsea, The PUNCH reports.

The Italian hinted that Chelsea’s pursuit of the Napoli striker could allegedly ‘go down to the final week of the transfer window’.

The Blues are in dire need of a striker capable of guaranteeing them goals, and with less than two weeks until the start of the new Premier League season, they have intensified their search.

Chelsea are reportedly closing in on a deal for Atletico Madrid attacker Samu Omorodion, but the London club are also heavily being linked with Osimhen, with the Super Eagles forward said to be ranking prominently on their wish list to lead their line during the 2024/25 campaign.The Nigeria international has emerged as one of the most sought-after strikers in Europe, having been linked with moves to Chelsea, Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and Liverpool, among others.

However, his hefty €130m release clause has scared off many suitors, with PSG the only European club still keen on signing him.

There has been talk of a potential swap deal involving Romelu Lukaku, as Chelsea are unlikely to be in a position to activate the £113m release clause in his Napoli contract.

Osimhen is Serie A’s highest earner at around £325,000 a week. He signed a new contract with Napoli in the latter stages of last year, but he is expected to leave the club before the transfer window closes.According to Romano, Osimhen is not willing to accept a pay cut to move to Stamford Bridge, and a potential transfer for the Nigerian could ‘go down to the final week of the window’.

“Forget about Victor Osimhen taking a pay cut; he won’t reduce his salary. This will be a deal I think will go down to the final week of the window,” Football Transfers quotes Romano on their website.

Osimhen joined Napoli from Lille in the 2020 summer for a club record fee of €70m plus another €10m in bonuses.

The 25-year-old has been in top form for the Parthenopeans for the past two seasons, guiding them to their first Scudetto in over three decades in the 2022/23 season, scoring 26 league goals, which earned him the top scorer award.

The Senate has raised concerns over 1.5 billion dollars approved in 2021 for the turn-around maintenance of the Port Harcourt Refinery with little or no result.

Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, Chairman of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate the Alleged Economic Sabotage in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry, raised the concern during an interactive session with stakeholders on Wednesday, in Abuja.

Bamidele, who is also the Senate Leader, said it was unfair and wrong to treat public companies shabbily while private businesses were flourishing and thriving.

He recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had approved the plan by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to rehabilitate and turn around the Port Harcourt Refinery with 1.5 billion dollars.

Bamidele expressed concerns about the dysfunctional state of government-owned refineries despite billions of dollars spent on turn-around maintenance.

“The federation is undergoing a truly challenging period. The distribution and supply of refined petroleum products have been irregular and problematic in the recent history of our fatherland.

“The long queues at filling stations are obviously a testament to this challenge.

“A situation whereby we now depend almost entirely on the importation of these products even when we daily supply the global oil market about two per cent of its crude oil requirements is worrisome,” he said.

He said also of serious concern was the importation of hazardous petroleum products and dumping of substandard diesel into the country.

Under different administrations since 1999, Bamidele observed that the federal government “has invested billions of dollars to maintain and turn around the state-owned refineries in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri. But the refineries are not functioning.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN said it sold a total of $876.26 million to end users from 26 successful banks at a cut-off rate of a cut-off rate of N1495 per dollar.

This is as the bank commenced its latest Retail Dutch Auction System.

The apex bank disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday signed by Omolara Duke, its
Director, Financial Markets Department.

CBN noted that total bids came to US$1.18 billion which was received from 32 authorized dealer banks.

The apex stressed that while 26 banks successfully submitted bids for FX, six banks were disqualified for not meeting with deadline and other requirements.

“The Bank approved a cut-off rate of N1495/US$ for the Retail Dutch Auction where bids valued at US$876.26 million from 26 banks qualified.

“While bids valued at US$313.69 million from 6 (six) banks were disqualified. Of the disqualified bids, 4 (four) banks submitted their bids after the cut-off time of 3:00 pm, while 2 (two) banks did not provide bids in the template submitted. All bids with Form Q. and unverifiable Form A and Form M on the Trade Portal were disqualified”, the statement partly reads.

Recall that on Wednesday, CBN announced the commencement of the Retail Dutch Auction System amid the Dollar demand spike.

On Tuesday, the Naira recorded two consecutive appreciations against the Dollar closed at N1601.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, Mele Kyari, says the oil industry has nothing to do with the importation of sub-standard products into the country.

Kyari made the statement on Wednesday while appearing before a Senate ad-hoc committee investigating alleged economic sabotage in the Nigeria Petroleum industry.

The committee is led by Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele.

Kyari said he, as the CEO of the NNPCL, had faced undue media attacks from persons doing everything to create the impression that NNPCL is sabotaging the nation’s economy, adding that the company is “faithful and will not lie” to the country.

He said, “We are not criminals and we are not thieves. We will protect our dignity so we can serve this country.”

Kyari further disclosed that the oil and gas industry is bleeding and that there were things they knew but could not talk about in public until the right time comes, urging that the committee sessions be televised live going forward.

The Department of State Services (DSS) has announced its intention to identify and reveal the names of individuals funding foreign-flag-waving protesters to incite insurrection.

DSS spokesman Peter Afunanya stated that the identities of the sponsors will be made public soon.

Speaking at a joint press conference in Abuja, Afunanya urged Nigerians to be patient with the Federal Government.

He explained that the DSS is investigating the display of foreign flags during the protest and will reveal more information about the sponsors in due course.

He said, “Now, people have started exhibiting behaviors that are detrimental to the security, welfare, and orderliness of society. We won’t remain passive. We have arrested those behind the flag display. It’s not just about children waving flags; there’s more to it.

“There are aspects of our operations that we may not disclose publicly due to their sensitivity, the ongoing nature of investigations, or because revealing them might jeopardize the investigations.

“We will see it through to the end, and you may be surprised if and when we do make the information public.”

Some protesters in the North had displayed Russian flags during the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.

The protest is directed against President Bola Tinubu’s administration and the levels of hunger and suffering in the country.

Mr Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria, has begged Nigerians to be patient with his administration, assuring that the country is about to enter a new dawn.

Tinubu made this appeal on Wednesday, acknowledging the hardship Nigerians are going through as a result of fuel subsidy removal.

He also admitted that an avoidable lag between subsidy removal and his good and helpful plans compounded Nigerians’ pains.

“Fellow Nigerians, this period may be hard on us and there’s no doubt that it is tough on us but I urge you all to look beyond the present temporary pains and aim at the larger picture. All our good and helpful plans are in the works. More importantly, I know that they will work. Sadly, there was an avoidable lag between subsidy removal and these plans coming fully online,” he said.

The president assured that the measures his government has taken would get the country out of the lingering economic crisis, urging Nigerians to have faith in his administration.

“I plead with you, please, have faith in our ability to deliver and in our concern for your well-being. We will get out of this turbulence and due to the measures we have taken, Nigeria will be better equipped and able to take advantage of the future that awaits her.

“For example, we shall fulfill our promise to make education more affordable to all and provide loans to higher education students who may need them. No Nigerian students will have to abandon the higher education system because of lack of money.

“Our commitment is to promote the greatest good for the greatest number of our people. On principle, we shall never falter, I assure you, my fellow countrymen and women, that we are exiting the darkness to enter a new and glorious dawn. Now, I must get back to work to make this vision come true," he added

This marks the second time the President would address Nigerians amid the lingering tension in some parts of the country.

Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, says Nigeria currently spends $600 million on petrol importation monthly. 

Edun spoke on Tuesday during an interview on AIT’s Moneyline programme.

The minister, however, reiterated that there is no petrol subsidy in the 2024 budget.

“The fuel subsidy was removed May 29, 2023, by Mr President, and at that time, the poorest of 40 percent was only getting four percent of the value, and basically, they were not benefitting at all. So it was going to be just a few,” he said.

“Another point that I think is important is that nobody knows the consumption in Nigeria of petroleum. We know we spend $600 million every month on importation but the issue here is that all the neighbouring countries are benefitting. 

“So we are buying not for just for Nigeria, we are buying for countries to the east, almost as far as Central Africa, north and west. 

“And so we have to ask ourselves as Nigerians, how long do we want to do that for and that is the key issue regarding the issue of petroleum pricing.”

Edun said the nation must take a decisive step to tackle the problem as it impedes economic growth.

‘IMPORT DUTIES SUSPENSION WILL NOT UNDERMINE LOCAL FARMERS’

While speaking on the welfare of Nigerians, Edun said the current administration’s key priority is to ensure food availability and affordability, hence the recent suspension of tax and duties on the importation of food commodities.

He assured that the measure will not undermine local farmers, as importation will only be permitted after exhausting local supplies.

“There is a concerted effort to ensure that we have homegrown food available. In the short term, apart from what is being distributed from reserves, there is a window that has been opened for importation because the commitment of Mr. President is to drive down those prices now and make food available now,” he said.

“So, one of the conditions for this importation will be that everything available locally in the markets or with the millers and so forth has been taken up. We will have auditors that will check that.”

Edun said these interventions seek to reduce inflation, stabilise exchange rates, and lower interest rates, thereby creating a conducive environment for investment and job creation.

“With the kind of food production programme we have, inflation will come down as prices come down. When inflation comes down, exchange rate will stabilise. Interest rates will come down and the economy will have a chance,” he said.

“People will have a chance at reasonable rates to invest in various sectors of the economy, increase productivity, grow the economy and create jobs which is the key to reducing poverty.”

On the issue of the N570 billion recently released to state governments, Edun said it was a reimbursement under the COVID financing protocol.

“This actually refers to a reimbursement that they received from December last year onwards and it was a reimbursement I think under the COVID financing protocol,” he said.

“But the point is that the states have received more money. They have received more money. We have to do our research.”

‘WINDFALL TAX WILL REDISTRIBUTE UNEARNED INCOME’

Edun said the introduction of the 70 percent windfall tax in the banking industry will redistribute unearned income.

The minister said the windfall tax was not peculiar to Nigeria alone, adding that it is “done everywhere else in the world where you have, especially the energy sector as well as banking”.

“Where you have unearned income, where you have a section of the society or an industry or a set of companies that earn money through no dint of hard work of their own, the society deserves a chance to share some of that and it’s just a redistribution of that,” he said.

“So I think that takes care of the issue of the windfall levy.”

Speaking on the recent rise in the maximum borrowing percentage in the Ways and Means advances from 5 percent to 10 percent, Edun said the move does not imply that the federal government will rely on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) financing.

Edun described the approval by the national assembly as a “fail-safe” measure.

He said the government had rather used market instruments to manage its debts.

“We have not gone to the central bank to say, please lend the government money to pay its debt, to pay its salaries. That’s Ways and Means,” he said.

“We have not gone. In fact, we have used market instruments to pay down what we owed, and that is a very, very germane aspect of having a strong economy.

“Sometimes it just gives that extra flexibility so that if a payment needs to be made and there’s a mistiming, there’s a gap between the time at which the revenue will come in and the expenses needed, you can just draw down briefly.”

The minister said the aim is to act within the law.