Barring any further change in date, the Port Harcourt refinery will begin delivering refined petroleum products two weeks from now.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari, stated this in Abuja on Thursday.

Kyari, who spoke at the National Assembly shortly after meeting with the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Turnaround Maintenance of the country’s four refineries, disclosed that the rehabilitation of the refinery had been completed, having passed its “completion mechanical” procedure.

He disclosed that the Warri refinery was almost ready too, while the refinery in Kaduna would be completed and ready to go into production in December this year.

Kyari spoke further, “Completion mechanical means that you are done with your rehabilitation work; now you are to test if this completion is okay.

“As for the Warri refinery, we have also completed the mechanical works on it and it is undergoing the regulatory compliance processes that we are doing with our regulator.

“This also will be completed and it will be ready.

“Kaduna will be ready by December. We have not reached that stage (of Port Harcourt and Warri) with Kaduna.”

Kyari explained that there were no challenges with the pipelines to deliver crude to the refineries, as the existing lines were fully pressurized to deliver crude.

“All crude lines are active and have actually delivered over 450,000 barrels into the Port Harcourt refinery.

“We are confident in its integrity. Yes, there may be security issues, but the government is also responding to the situation,” he stated.

Kyari earlier met with the committee, chaired by Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra-South).

To verify the state of readiness of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries and the extent of work done in Kaduna, the committee said its members would conduct oversight tours of the sites.

Kyari and the committee agreed to liaise and agree on the dates to commence the oversight visits.

The senator representing Katsina Central in the National Assembly, Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua, has emerged as the new chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum.

Yar’Adua, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, was appointed as the forum’s new chair two days after the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi.

Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central, accused the upper chamber of padding the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7 trillion.

Although the issue of budget padding is not new in Nigeria, it is however the first time a serving senator who actively participated in the passage of the budget will accuse the lawmakers of such an act.

On Tuesday, Ningi blamed his resignation on unfolding events in the National Assembly, the north, and the nation at large.

The forum also named Senator Tahir Mungono representing Borno North as its spokesperson to replace Senator Sumaila Kawu who was warned by the Senate to stop sharing posts capable of causing unrest in the country.

The Federal Government has said that it plans to spend N178.9 billion on the implementation of the eight priority areas of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Zaphaniah Jisalo, made this known in the executive summary of the 63-page FMSDIGA strategic plan 2024-2028 presented on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to the minister, the key priority areas of the strategic plan includes food security, ending poverty, economic growth/job creation, access to capital, inclusivity, security, fairness and rule of law and anti-corruption stance.

Jisalo said his ministry is among the three Federal Ministries saddled with the responsibility to contribute to the implementation of President Tinubu’s developmental policies and National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025.

The minister also pledged strict monitoring of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs’) projects, including constituencies’ projects across the country.

He said: “On our own part as a ministry and as part of our mandates, is to monitor, do evaluation and also certify the payment.

“You know some of the projects are not in our ministry, they are in other ministries, we will collaborate with them to know what the national assemblies are doing.”

President Bola Tinubu has sent a new bill to the National Assembly regarding the student loan scheme.

Naija News reports that the development comes less than 48 hours after the federal government announced the indefinite suspension of the student loan scheme.

The new bill repeals the current Act and replaces it with a new one, aiming to facilitate a smoother scheme implementation.

In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, President Tinubu emphasized the necessity of this action to ensure the seamless execution of the scheme.

It is worth noting that the existing Act was among the first legislations signed by Tinubu after his inauguration.

The bill itself was sponsored by former speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who now serves as the Chief of Staff to the president.

Despite the government’s efforts, they have faced challenges in implementing the scheme, leading to multiple postponements of its launch.

A couple of days prior, a high-ranking official of the Tinubu government declared the permanent halt of the student loan program.

In his statement, Tinubu mentioned that the recent legislation aims to tackle issues concerning the organizational framework of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), qualifications for applicants, loan objectives, sources of funding, and distribution and repayment processes.

“TRANSMISSION OF STUDENT LOANS (ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION) (REPEAL AND RE-ENACTMENT) BILL, 2024

“Pursuant to Section 58(2) of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). I forward, herewith, The Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024 for the kind consideration of the House of Representatives.

“The Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re- Enactment) Bill, 2024 seeks to enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by addressing challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant eligibility requirements, loan purpose, funding sources and disbursement and repayment procedures.

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“Whilst hoping that this submission will receive the usual expeditious consideration of the House of Representatives, please accept, Rt. Honourable Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

The military has vowed to rescue the over 200 schoolchildren who were recently abducted by bandits in Kaduna State.

While addressing a press conference in Abuja on the activities of the Armed Forces in the last two weeks, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, says the military is committed to rescuing all kidnapped victims unhurt.

The defence spokesman during the Thursday event, however, blamed school owners for failing to report cases of abduction to security agencies on time.

He also blamed the recent kidnapping of some internally displaced persons in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno State on their disobedience to instructions as they left the camp in search of firewood without informing camp officials.

The abduction of 287 students in Kaduna State has triggered a flurry of comments from authorities in Nigeria.

In the wake of the abduction, President Bola Tinubu mandated security agencies to fish out the kidnappers and rescue the students, insisting his government would not pay ransom.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation Muhammad Idris said this on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

He told State House Correspondents that President Tinubu also reiterated his directive to the defence to ensure that the children are rescued and brought back safely to their homes.

The minister reiterated that under the current government, kidnapping, especially mass abduction will not be tolerated.

The Katsina State Command of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday handed over six trucks and their contents to the owners as directed by President Bola Tinubu.

The released trucks were mostly intercepted along the Kongolam Border Patrol Checkpoint in Mai-Adua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The presidential directive aimed to ensure food security and alleviate the hardship faced by most citizens of the country.

The Katsina State Customs Area Comptroller Muhammad Umar while releasing the trucks loaded with assorted grains that were hitherto under the custody of the Nigerian Customs Service recalled that the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, had during his official work visit to Katsina, passed across the presidential directive which mandated the return of the detained food items to the owners on the condition that they would be sold within the Nigerian market.

He announced that the released trucks will be closely monitored by the Katsina Customs Area Command in collaboration with the Customs Intelligence Unit, Federal Operation Unit, and the Joint Border Patrol Team, to ensure that they are not smuggled out of the country again.

He added that the service is committed to fostering constructive dialogue and collaboration with the border communities to ensure prosperity and security in the whole thing.

He, therefore, pleaded with the general public to provide information that would assist in curtailing the smuggling of foodstuff out of the country.

In his remarks during the brief ceremony, the Chairman of the State Taskforce Committee on Food Security and Promotion, Jabiru Abdullahi Tsauri, warned smugglers and owners of the released trucks to adhere strictly to the presidential directive by selling these assorted grains to Nigerians particularly citizens of Katsina State.

“We have already instructed the Local Government Chairmen to form a Committee to monitor strictly in conjunction with the task force, the sales of these Grains,” Tsauri added.

The N1.1tn Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Bill, 2024 has scaled the second reading at the Senate.

A breakdown of the N1.1tn showed that N280bn was booked for overhead, N726bn for capital projects, and N140bn for what was termed “personnel”, bringing the total budget to N1.147tn.

Leading the debate on Thursday, the sponsor of the bill and Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, noted that the appropriation bill took into cognisance the FCT administration’s revenue and expenditure forecasts which are in tandem with fiscal and developmental policies of the Federal Government.

It also contemplates the consideration of the 2024-2026 Economic Recovery Growth.

During the debate, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, assured that the bill presented earlier than usual will be expeditiously considered and passed to encourage the minister of the FCT to advance reforms in the nation’s capital.

The bill has been referred to the committee on the FCT to report back on the next legislative session.

Labour Party (LP) standard bearer in the 2023 presidential election, Mr. Peter Obi, has admonished the Senate to come clean and clear all the allegations of N3 trillion padding in the 2024 budget.

Obi on his X handle yesterday told the upper chamber that Nigerians deserve to know the truth about the allegations, especially as the Senate and the executive arm of government are singing discordant tunes on the matter and fresh allegations cropping up on the sharing of constituency funds in the budget.

The former Anambra State governor said, “The fuss over the alleged N3 trillion padded into the 2024 budget raised by a senator still rages as the Senate reaction of suspending the whistle-blower has not addressed vital issues emanating from the allegation.

“The senator is insisting on his allegation and the executive agreed that there was only N1.2 trillion padded not N3 trillion as alleged by the Senate.

“Fresh allegations have also cropped up over indiscriminate and unbalanced allocation of constituency projects by the Senate leadership.

“A civic group, Budgit, through their official, has also added their voice to agree with thes. They alleged that there was no detailed project allocations for about N3.7 trillion in the 2024 Appropriation Act.

“As the Senate suspension of the senator involved has not addressed the issue, they still owe the Nigerian public a clear clarification over the various claims and counterclaims, including that of the executive arm, to be able to know exactly what is happening, and also disclose to the public, the amounts allocated for constituency projects for appropriate monitoring of implementation by the public.

“I had particularly elucidated in my earlier comment on what we can use the N3 trillion to achieve, by showing that it is more than the national budget of the two most critical components of the human development index, health and education, combined.

“Now that the executive arm has accepted that the padded amount is only N1.2 trillion, it is still a very significant amount, when you consider that it is almost 5 times the N251.47 billion proposed for Universal Basic Education, which is the foundation of education, in the Country.

“Today in Nigeria, the greatest challenge to human resource development is education, which has been identified as most critical at the basic level. Nigeria has about 20 million out-of-school children today because of the poor investment in education. These are resources that would have been utilised to ensure that our children are taken off the streets and returned to schools…

“We must, as a matter of urgency, put a stop to all the wastage of our scarce resources, amid the excruciating hardship in the country. Let every penny of our public fund be used for public good. That is the only way to achieve the New Nigeria we are working towards,” Obi added.

The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced its plans to issue a Eurobond, marking its return to the international bond market since its last issuance in March 2022.

For this venture, the government has enlisted the services of leading global investment banks, including Citibank NA, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., along with Standard Chartered Bank and the Lagos-based Chapel Hill Denham, as advisors.

According to Punch, the upcoming Eurobond issuance, expected to occur before June, represents a pivotal moment for Africa’s largest oil-producing nation as it seeks to re-engage with global financial markets.

This initiative is part of a broader strategy to finance the significant budget deficit outlined in President Bola Tinubu‘s N28.8 trillion ($18 billion) spending plan for 2024, which projects a fiscal shortfall of N9.8 trillion, or 3.8 percent of the GDP.

The exact size of the Eurobond offer has yet to be determined.

However, sources close to the transaction, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the platform that Nigeria could aim to secure up to $1 billion in international loans throughout 2024.

This external financing is deemed critical for the country to manage its ambitious fiscal deficit. The shortfall is expected to be covered through a mix of local and international borrowings, alongside support from global financial institutions.

In a related development, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, revealed that the decision to issue Eurobonds was influenced by the potential for lower interest rates and ongoing economic reforms.

Since taking office in May 2023, President Tinubu has introduced several policies to attract foreign investment and revitalise the economy.

These include two devaluations of the naira to establish a more flexible exchange rate regime and the controversial removal of fuel subsidies.

Furthermore, the Federal Government has disclosed plans to borrow N450 billion from its third FGN bond auction of 2024, a significant reduction from the N2.5 trillion target of the previous month.

According to the Debt Management Office (DMO), this auction will feature a new 3-year bond and the reopening of existing bonds, with the collective aim of financing the 2024 budget deficit.

With the DMO’s recent circular announcing the auction details, including the offer of three different bonds, each with an allocation of N150 billion, the government’s N450 billion borrowing target for March 2024 is set.

The Federal Government has filed a Charge, bordering on terrorism, against the President of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo.

Bodejo has been in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency since his arrest on January 23.

The Miyetti Allah leader was arrested in Nasarawa State days after the organisation launched a vigilante group named, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya.

At the inauguration of the 1,144-man Fulani outfit on January 17, 2024, Bodejo said the move was to tackle banditry, cattle rustling and all forms of insecurity in Nasarawa State.

Following his arrest, the Miyetti Allah leader filed a fundamental rights suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja to challenge his prolonged detention.

In response, the Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi(SAN), on February 5 filed a motion ex parte, seeking to remand Bodejo pending the conclusion of the investigation and arraignment in court.

Justice Inyang Ekwo, who is hearing Bodejo’s suit, granted the Federal Government permission to detain him for 15 days in the custody of the Defence Intelligence Agency.

Subsequently, the judge ordered the Federal Government to either file charges against the Miyetti Allah leader or release him.

At the resumed proceedings on Wednesday, the judge asked the counsel for the prosecution, Y.A. Imana, if charges had been filed against Bodejo.

“The court made an order that you should charge the defendant before a court of competent jurisdiction. Where is the evidence that you filed before this court?” The judge demanded.

In response, the lawyer told the judge, “It was filed yesterday.”

The judge, however, said the charge was not before him.

Our correspondent also observed that the DIA did not bring Bodejo to court.

However, in the charge sheet sighted by the correspondent, the Federal Government accused Bodejo of establishing an ethnic militia group without authorisation.

The Federal Government stated that Bodejo’s action was “prejudicial to national security and public safety and punishable under Section 29 of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022.”

Bodejo’s lawyer, Mohammed Sheriff, subsequently urged the court to hear his bail application pending his client’s arraignment.

The prosecution counsel, however, opposed the prayer for bail.

“We pray this court will dismiss the application of the defendant because it is a matter that touches on national security,” the Federal Government’s lawyer said.

Justice Ekwo adjourned till March 22 for ruling on Bodejo’s bail application.

Meanwhile, some members of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, in their numbers, stormed the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Wednesday, to demand Bodejo’s unconditional.

They held a big banner bearing a large picture of Bodejo and the inscription “Free Bello Bodejo”. Others, mostly women, lined along the road with placards in hand.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Kabir Matazu, decried the DIA’s disobedience to court orders directing that Bodejo be tried or released.

He said, “We are in a democratic society and in a democratic society, respect for the rule of law is the building block for democracy to thrive. You cannot arbitrarily arrest and detain an individual without a charge against him.

“That’s why we have gathered our members from across the country to come here to agitate and also make our voice heard that the Nigerian security agencies should, without further delay, free and release him unconditionally.”

Matazu lamented that Bodejo’s family and friends had yet to see him since he was arrested.

Matazu said, “It is sad that up till now, his family members were not granted access to see him.

“He is not a criminal. He has no criminal record. He will not run away and leave this country. So, if not because of the failure of our security agencies, there are bandits in the forest who they should have gone after.”