Latest News
Bello Matawalle, minister of state for defence, says many African countries now purchase arms and ammunition from the Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON).
Matawalle spoke on Monday in Abuja during the 60th anniversary of DICON and launch of the maiden Africa defence industries conference.
In November, President Bola Tinubu assented to the DICON Bill, 2023.
DICON was founded in 1964 to enhance national security by reducing dependence on foreign arms.
Matawalle said despite industry challenges, DICON is committed to independence and has the capacity to produce military vehicles and artilleries.
“DICON’s journey began with a modest start, focusing on the production of small arms and ammunition,” he said.
“Over the years, DICON has expanded its capabilities, venturing into the manufacture of military vehicles, artillery, and other defence equipment.
“Despite facing challenges, DICON persevered, driven by its commitment to self-reliance and national security.
“DICON’s 60-year journey is a testament to Nigeria’s commitment to self-reliance in defence production.
“But we assure you that we have the capacity, we can produce, and as you know, many countries, many African countries now are coming to DICON for the procurement of arms and ammunition.”
Ibrahim Kana, permanent secretary in the ministry of defence, said it is now compulsory for all security agencies to procure their arms and ammunition from DICON.
Kana said in the next two years, Nigeria will no longer import certain types of ammunition.
“I can assure each and every one of us, in the next two years, Nigeria will not buy 7.62mm calibre ammunition again,” he said.
“The Public Procurement Act also supports local production, not only military-industrial companies but any goods that are produced in Nigeria.
“All procuring entities in the country have been mandated to put it as a first line before importation.
“The law now makes it mandatory for us in the ministry of defence, the national security advisers office, ministry of interior, police affairs and all other security organisations in Nigeria… if you are procuring any arms or ammunitions using government funds, you have no rights to go and procure abroad unless we did not have any money in Nigeria.”
[TheCable]
Some graduates of Higher National Diploma (HND) academic programmes across the country are at the risk of exclusion from the national service due to the National Youth Service Corps’ (NYSC) latest policy of demanding Industrial Training (IT) certification for those seeking to fulfil their national service obligations.
NYSC, on its official Facebook handle, announced that HND graduates must provide evidence of completing their one-year mandatory IT certificate before being registered in their respective camps.
It stated, “Graduates of Higher National Diploma (HND) are to provide evidence of completion of their one-year Industrial Training in addition to ND and HND Certificates/Statement of Results.”
With this mandate, polytechnic and mono-technic graduates mobilised for Batch B stream II without evidence of the mandatory one-year industrial training will miss out on the national service.
The policy shift means that without a valid IT certificate, HND graduates cannot proceed with registration in the camp. Thus, many graduates now face the task of securing proof of their internship experience and risk missing participation in the next orientation camp, scheduled for August 28, 2024.
LEADERSHIP reports that the one-year mandatory IT programme is a prerequisite for admission to the HND programme, as stated in the law.
According to the law, graduates of polytechnics and monotechnics must undergo the one-year IT with evidence of completion before applying for a HND academic programme, and institutions must confirm this before admitting them.
Unfortunately, our correspondent gathered that most of these HND awarding institutions do not confirm the IT-compliance before admitting students, thus graduating thousands of students who now face hurdles to participate in national service after being mobilised by the NYSC.
Our investigation further revealed that some polytechnic institutions have previously disregarded these regulations by enrolling students without the required one-year IT certificate.
Giving reason for its decision to enforce the law, the NYSC coordinator in Lagos State, Yetunde Baderinwa, said, “It has been noticed in recent times that some graduates of polytechnics and mono-technics do not observe the mandatory one-year IT before being admitted for HND programmes. The one-year IT is a prerequisite for HND.
“They must undergo the one-year IT with evidence of completion before going for HND, and institutions must confirm this before admitting them for HND.”
However, some affected HND graduates have called for leniency in their national service eligibility, pleading with the NYSC to intervene with their polytechnic institutions and allow them to serve the fatherland since they had already been mobilised for Batch B Stream II.
They argued that the institutions were to blame, as they admitted them without requiring the mandatory IT certificate, or alerting them to the need for it.
Some of them, who spoke with LEADERSHIP, expressed frustration that they do not have evidence of an IT certificate to proceed with registration when camps open this month.
A recent graduate from Kaduna State Polytechnic, who identified herself as Hauwa, said she was anxiously awaiting her national service posting after being mobilised by NYSC, until the recent pronouncement.
Hauwa faces a hurdle due to a new NYSC policy that mandates one year of industrial training certification for eligibility.
She said, “I’m excited to start my service, but I’m worried that I might not be screened (admitted) in camp due to this new requirement. My school did not let us know that we have to provide the mandatory IT certificate, and I fear this could disqualify me.
“I would like the Scheme (NYSC) to address this issue and find a way to accommodate those of us who this policy may have overlooked. It would be fair to work with our institutions to clarify our standing,” she said.
She stated that her schoolmates who were mobilised under Batch B Stream 1 were already in the service without any obstacles.
Hauwa’s case highlights a growing frustration among graduates caught between their enthusiasm for national service and the practical challenges of new regulations.
As the affected prospective corps members await further clarification on the issue, they hope for a resolution that considers their circumstances while the rule takes effect in subsequent years.
The monies unremitted by Revenue Generating Agencies to the coffers of the Federal Government increased to N4.1tn as of June 2024, the Federation Accounts Allocations Committee has said.
FAAC stated that this was despite the agencies’ reconciliation and payment of outstanding debts of N94.96bn in May 2024.
The PUNCH reports that the unresolved amount is $165,067,714.53 (N178.52bn) and N3,917,340,180,696.84, compared to the initial amount of $36,329,376.24 (N51.88bn) and N2,977,561,881,021 recorded in May 2024.
The latest development was disclosed in a report by the Federation Account Allocation Committee post-mortem sub-committee meeting and signed by the Chairman of Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Mohammed Shehu.
THE ROUNDTABLE: #Endhungerprotest - Govs, Ministers Meet To Stop Protests0.00 / 0.00
A breakdown of the agencies indebted to the government showed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited owes N940.62bn; Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission and NNPC owe a combined amount of $23.81m and N1.94tn.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service and NNPC have an unresolved remittance of $141.25m and N1.04tn, while the Ministry of Solid Minerals Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria owe N48.75m.
Two months ago, The PUNCH reported that the government could lose over N3tn if revenue-generating agencies in the country do not reconcile unremitted earnings collected.
The Vice President of the Post-Mortem Sub-committee, who represented the committee Chairman, Kabir Mashi, at the meeting, said the outstanding amounts were still being reconciled with the relevant agencies at the monthly reconciliation meeting.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee disburses allocations from the revenues generated into the Federations Account, which comprises multiple accounts specific to a sector/ business type.
But giving an update in its June meeting, the chairman reported that the total unresolved amount due to the Federation Account from the reconciliation meeting held with the Revenue Generating Agencies in June 2024 was $165,067,714.53 and N3,917,340,180,696.84.
He said the outstanding amounts were still being reconciled with the relevant agencies at the monthly reconciliation meeting.
He added that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission made the revenue reconciliation.
The report read, “Outstanding Federation Account Revenue Arising from Inter-Agencies Reconciliation Meeting held in June 2024: The total unresolved amount due to the Federation Account from the reconciliation meeting held with the Revenue Generating Agencies in June 2024 was $165,067,714.53 and N3,917,340,180,696.84.
“Assessing the impact of the FAAC PMSC on outstanding arrears of revenue inflows due to the federation account.
“For May 2024, the PMSC would like to inform the plenary that as a result of reconciliation with Revenue Generating Agencies, a total sum of $64,073,123.40 equivalent to N94,964,537,885.84 was reconciled and confirmed paid to the CBN designated accounts,” the report added.
The document further explained that the government had recovered a cumulative outstanding of N537.35bn in five months.
“The cumulative outstanding arrears reconciled and paid to the Federation Account from January to May 2024 stood at N537,353,864,835.67.”
“Members should note that these outstanding amounts are still being reconciled at the monthly reconciliation meetings between the agencies and the sub-committee. Furthermore, the sum of $180,230,895.02 and N2,535,352,533,190.87 outstanding payments from the Revenue Generating Agencies before June 2023, were referred to the Stakeholders Alignment Committee and the Sub-Committee awaits the outcome of the reconciliation soonest.
“The sub-committee is working with the Revenue Generating Agencies to ensure that the above outstanding amounts are paid to the Federation Account as soon as possible.”
Reacting, the commissioner of Finance, Kaduna State, Shizzer Bada, raised concern over the accumulation of outstanding arrears of revenue by RGAs against the Federation Account, which was running into trillions of naira between 2023 and 2024.
She, therefore, advised on the need to expedite action in concluding the reconciliation with Agencies.
The Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, has threatened to cripple the activities of states that refuse to implement the N70,000 new national minimum wage.
President of the Association Shehu Muhammed, gave the threat yesterday during the association’s 5th Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Lagos, where he emerged as the new president.
According to him, “For states not ready to implement the new minimum wage, let me tell you categorically, it is impossible. We are coming for them.”
He urged state governments to implement the new wage to improve the standard of living of their citizens since the incomes of state governments have continued to rise following enhanced allocation from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC.
Muhammed urged that states could achieve this by reducing wastages and blocking leakages of government funds, advising states to embrace the policy of indexing income to correspond with the rate of inflation.
ASCSN new President said “the most important priority now is to address the issue of the new minimum wage by constituting a committee to address the consequential adjustments towards implementation and the strategies to ensure workers have a living wage in Nigeria.
“The full implementation of the new national minimum wage and its consequential adjustments at both the federal and the 36 states of the federation will be the top priority of Organised Labour.”
Earlier, the Secretary General of the Association, Joshua Apebo argued that following the increase in allocation from the Federal Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, since the removal of fuel subsidy, the state governors should immediately implement the new minimum wage to improve the standard of living of their citizens.
He said “We request that state governments implement the new national minimum wage to enhance the standard of living for their citizens. This can be achieved by reducing wastages and blocking leakages of government funds. We also advise the government to adopt the policy of indexing income to match inflation rates, as recommended years ago by the Chief Ernest Shonekan committee.”
Delivering a solidarity message, the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, Festus Osifo, promised to support the new executives to ensure the interests of workers were protected.
He urged the new leadership to put the interest of the union first and those who elected them into office.
Court dismisses suit seeking to restrain protesters from continuing #EndBadGovernance protest
AFOLABI
The federal high court in Abuja has dismissed an application seeking an interim injunction to restrain protesters from continuing the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, on Monday, dismissed the ex parte motion filed by Danladi Goje, Buky Abayomi, Adiza Abbo, and 13 other Nigerians.
In the application dated August 12, the applicants sought the enforcement of their fundamental rights against the organisations involved with the protests.
The organisations sued as 1st to 8th respondents are Take It Back Movement, Concerned Nigerians, Nigerians Against Hunger, Initiative For Change, Human Rights Co-advocacy Initiative, Nigerian Against Corruption Initiative, Citizens for Change Advocacy Initiative, and Timely Intervention.
The 9th to 19th respondents are Active Citizens Group, Students For Change, We Coalition, Total Intervention, Refurbished Nigeria, Tomorrow Today, Our Future In Our Hands Initiative, Youths Against Tyranny, Save Nigeria Movement, Omoyele Sowore, and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Other respondents in the matter are the attorney general of the federation and security agencies.
In the court documents, Tsembelee Sorkaa, the applicants’ lawyer, said his clients’ rights to life, personal liberty, private and family life, and economic activities would be further breached if the 1st to 19th respondents continued the protest.
Sorkaa urged the court to restrain the 1st to 19th respondents from continuing with the protest pending the determination of his motion on notice.
The lawyer also appealed to the court to enforce the restraining order if it is granted.
In his ruling, Lifu said the #EndBadGovernance protest ended last week, noting that there was no evidence presented before the court showing that the protesters would reconvene later.
The judge said the applicants’ lawyer cannot rush his notice ex parte without providing the required affidavit to support the requests for an interim injunction and substituted service.
He dismissed the application for lacking merit and adjourned the hearing on the motion on notice to August 29.
From August 1 to 10, Nigerians took to the streets in some parts of the country to protest what they described as bad governance and rising hunger in the country.
In some parts of the country, courts granted interim injunctions restraining the protesters to some designated locations.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, yesterday, dismissed the applications by two Indian nationals, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg and a Briton, Marcus Wade, to quash a bench warrant issued for their arrest and extradition, issued against them on alleged of $42.485million fraud, for lacking in merit.
The two Indians, and the Briton who is the Chairman of Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, and their companies, Agrico Agbe Limited, Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, are being charged before the court by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, for allegedly defraud Ecobank Plc of the sum of $42,485,900, with the pretence of using the of money to purchase and import into India parboiled rice Nigeria.
Counts one and four against the defendants in the charge marked FHC/L/562C/2022, dated October 7, 2022, reads, “That you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015, at Ecobank Plc, Lagos within the jurisdiction of this court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 422 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“That you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015 at Eco Bank Plc., Lagos within the jurisdiction of this court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Cheating in that you caused Ecobank Plc to deliver monies to the tune of $42,485,900, which was intended by contract for the purchase and import into Nigeria India Parboiled rice but never utilized the sum of money for the contract and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 421 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap, C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
However, while the charge is pending, the defendants did not appear in court to take their pleas on the charges.
The development made the office AGF, through its lawyer, Dr. Pius Akutah, now Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Nigerian Shippers Council, to file applications before the court for issuance of bench warrant and possible extradition against them.
The application was granted by Justice Akintayo Aluko, sometimes in November 2023.
But the defendants, through their lawyers, Dele Belgore and Dr. Dada Awosika, SANs, filed applications to quash the orders for their arrest and extradition.
The application was countered by the AGF through its lawyer, Mrs. Kehinde Bode-Ayeni, who inherit the case file from Dr. Pius Akutah.
Justice Aluko in a delivering, said that the proceedings before Magistrate Court in Delhi, Indian can not operate as a stay in criminal proceedings in Nigeria because its not purely a criminal proceedings, moreso, it a proceedings in Nigerian court as constituted by the Nigerian constitution.
The second issue is that an order of status quo granted by another court can not viciate the criminal charge pending in this court.
The position of the administration of Criminal Justice Act which regulate criminal proceedings in Nigeria have stipulated that the criminal and civil proceedings can be going simultaneously.
On the final note, Justice Aluko held, “There is no merit in the applications filed by the defendants.” The judge held that the two applications lack merit and same are dismissed.
Consequently, Justice Aluko the case to October 24, for report on bench warrant and further proceedings.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said if by now, the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration hasn’t realised the enormity of the sufferings of Nigerians it means it wasn’t ready for governance from the start.
Atiku who spoke through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe , explained that it was disappointing that the administration had to wait for Nigerians to take to the streets to draw its attention to what has become the desperate times we’ve been forced to live in.
He said, “There were certainly challenges before now, that’s why you were given the mandate. We know so many things were done wrong under Buhari.
“The economy went into recession twice under the last APC administration because it knows nothing about economics, nopotism , corruption were at a high.
“Whatever Buhari did wrong we are seeing a higher dimension under Tinubu. What we are worness today is Buhari pro-max. Divisions under Buhari have become craters under this government.
“How can the cost of basic food items come down when farmers can still no go back to their farms due to insecurity?
“Look at all the drama over the Dangote Refinery, this is one refinery that the last administration inspite of its failings invested $20bn tax payers money in.
We had thought by now our domestic needs will be met and exports will generate the much needed foreign exchange for our development but here we are asking questions.
“What is going on? Did this administration enter into any partnership with foreign interests to ruin this investment?
“Sadly, there is nothing in the horizon to show that this government is ready to solve our nation’s problems. “ end
The management of AIPCC Energy Limited, operators of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (ERPCL), says it lacks crude oil supply despite being a fully functional 1,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery.
The company said the Edo refinery is yet to get any supply from the relevant authorities — despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive on crude oil supply to local refineries.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City on Sunday, the management of the refinery said the firm is facing significant challenges due to the persistent lack of crude supply.
Segun Okeni, a representative of the company, said the refinery can barely function at full capacity.
Okeni said although the company has existing crude oil supply agreements with Seplat Energy and ND Western since 2022, bureaucratic bottlenecks have prevented the refinery from accessing the much-needed crude feedstock.
“On 18th August 2021, our team led by our chairman, met with the NNPCL CEO and its top management team to discuss our intention to buy crude oil from NNPCL and we immediately wrote seeking crude supply, the letter was dated 22 July 2022,” he said.
“In July 2022, the representatives of NNPC (from HQ Abuja and NPDC Benin) visited our facility for site inspection and to confirm the mechanical completion of the Edo refinery.
“In September 2022, we were invited for a commercial negotiation meeting with the NNPC Head of terms, after which we sent a follow-up letter identifying the oil fields from which we can offtake crude oil.
“In March 2022, we also wrote to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, informing it of our refinery status, future projects and our challenges of lack of crude oil supply to our refinery.
“We had also written and had a meeting with the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) between November 2022 and March 2023, indicating our severe need for crude oil supply from oil fields where NEPL has equity stakes.”
However, the Edo refinery official said despite these meetings, correspondences, and communications with the NNPC over the past three years on the issues of crude oil supply, nothing was done.
On the way forward, the ERPCL said the NNPC and other crude oil suppliers need to put loading infrastructure in place to allow for truck loading.
On August 9, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery said it had not received the 29 million barrels of crude allocated to it by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has released the 2024 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the May/June examination.
The examination body also withheld the results of 215,267 candidates for participating in examination malpractices.
Dangut added that although insecurity hampered the conduct of the exam in different areas of the country, 1,805, 216 candidates registered for the WASSCE.
“WAEC is releasing its results today as out of 1,805, 216 that entered for exam, 1,332, 089 candidates have credits in five subjects including any subjects with either Mathematics or English language and 1,301, 949 candidates got credits in five subjects including Mathematics and English language accounting for 72.9 percent of total candidates.
“This is a 7.6 per cent decrease in examination performance compared to last year of 2023 WASSCE. Also 215, 267 results were withheld due to examination malpractice by the candidates. This accounts for 11.92 per cent of the total number of candidates who wrote the examination,” Dangut said.
President Bola Tinubu has sworn in Esther Walson-Jack as head of the service (HoS) of the federation.
She was sworn in before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday.
In a statement on July 17, Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, said her appointment will take effect on August 14.
Ngelale said Folasade Yemi-Esan, the outgoing HoS, will retire from the civil service on August 13.
“Walson-Jack was appointed as Federal Permanent Secretary in 2017 and has served in several ministries,” the statement reads.
“The new appointee will take over from the incumbent Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, CFR, who is due to retire on August 13, 2024.
“President Tinubu, while thanking the outgoing Head of Service for her stewardship, tasks the incoming Head of Service to discharge her duties with innovative flair, integrity, and stringent adherence to the extant rules and regulations of the Civil Service of the Federation.”
Walson-Jack holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Lagos and was called to the bar in 1987.
Before joining the federal civil service, she was the solicitor-general of Bayelsa and also served as the permanent secretary of the state ministry of justice.
[TheCable]
More...
Peter Obi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, others must unite to oust Tinubu, rescue Nigeria – APC chieftain
AFOLABI
A former National Vice Chairman North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, says the government of President Bola Tinubu is indifferent to the plight of Nigerians and the sorry state of the nation.
He lamented that despite the widespread hardship and hunger in the country, Tinubu’s government has embarked on frivolous and extravagant spending.
He noted that the federal government insensitivity and lack of optics and tact in handling matters of national significance have made the country highly volatile.
He charged Nigerians to rise to the occasion and begin the process of reforming the Democratic structures of the country in the aftermath of the #EndBadGovernance with a view to ousting the APC from power.
Lukman in a statement issued Sunday titled, “#EndBadGovernance Campaign: What Next?”, every committed democrat in the country must wake up to this challenge and seek to mobilise Nigerians to direct their anger creatively and positively towards reformation of democratic structures in the country.
He said: “As it is, the President Asiwaju Tinubu’s administration seems to be on a roller coaster of aggrandised spendings amid mass hunger and poverty in the country, which is partly responsible for the highly volatile situation in the country.
“Every committed democrat in the country must wake up to this challenge and seek to mobilise Nigerians to direct their anger creatively and positively towards reformation of democratic structures in the country.”
The former APC chieftain said that given that majority political leaders are already aggrieved and with the way the government has rendered virtually all registered political parties comatose, the process of uniting aggrieved political leaders across all parties must earnestly commence.
He added: “This is the point when ideally, opposition leaders such as Alh. Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi and Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso should step forward to provide the needed leadership to reform our democracy and ensure the emergence of a functional political party capable of rescuing Nigeria.
“In addition to opposition leaders, other political leaders in APC who have been edged out of the party should join forces with opposition leaders to rescue the country and put Nigeria back on the path of democratic development.
“These leaders include Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Sen. Ibukunle Amosun, Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and many others.
“While acknowledging that there are already unfolding initiatives in this direction, the rising anger in the country must be utilised and directed to strengthen the emergence of a veritable functional political party different from APC, PDP, LP and NNPP. As it is, it must be acknowledged that these parties cannot serve as the platforms to rescue Nigeria from its current unfortunate self-inflicted downward spiral producing mass poverty and starvation.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has stated that Nigeria needs an indigenous and people-centric constitution to redirect the country’s journey of no destination.
He argued that the 1999 Constitution was military-imposed, and not subject to any referendum.
The human rights lawyer urged President Bola Tinubu to muster the political will to get the nation a people-centred constitution.
He stated this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics show.
Asked whether a new constitution is an antidote to poverty, insecurity, and other challenges confronting the Nigerian state, Ozekhome said, “It is. The killings you are seeing, the poverty, the corruption, they are all symptoms of a larger problem which is the basis of what we are talking about. When you solve it, other things will be in place.”
“Nigeria is a country still yearning for nationhood. We are not united.
“The brand new constitution must be subjected to the referendum of the people,” he said.
Ozekhome further stated that the engine (constitution) of the Nigerian state has knocked and should be replaced.
“The political elite has to agree. If you are driving a car and the car has a knocked engine. Is it not the engine you should look at? Do you begin to panel-beat the car, spray it with beautiful paint, and buy new tyres? Will that move the car?
“I am saying that the engine of the Nigerian state, for now, is knocked and it is giving rise to all these mutual suspicion, religious intolerance,” he said.
He said economic reforms are good but must not be put before a people-centred constitution.
•Marketers blame policy inconsistency for shortages ...Motorists sleep at filling stations
Fuel scarcity: NSCDC to shut down defaulting stations in Ekiti Monday
The lingering fuel shortages across the country appear to have defied all solutions as filling stations across the country continue to battle acute shortages.
The horror has shot up petrol prices to an all-time high of N990/litre in Abuja and as high as N1,200/litre in far-flung cities up north.
The frustrating development has forced motorists to sleep in filling stations, especially those belonging to NNPC Ltd to get petrol.
The situation has been exasperated by the silence of various government agencies responsible for smooth supply and sale of petroleum products.
In Lagos, most of the filling stations, especially those operated by independent marketers are out of stock with major marketers and NNPC battling to salvage the situation with minimal supplies.
At the weekend most filling stations were shut with only a few majors selling, thereby compounding the traffic situation across the metropolis.
In Ikeja, Abule-Egba, Ojota, Ikorodu, Isolo and Surulere, Ikoyi mand Victoria Island, the situation is the same.
In Abuja, motorists complained that a liter of petrol had hit about N990 with Point of Sale (PoS) operators making brisk business by making a premium from withdrawals to buy the fuel.
Commenting on the development, National Operations Controller, IPMAN, Mr. Zarama Mustapha, said policy inconsistency remained the major reason for the frequent fuel shortages.
Mustapha, said when the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) became a law, industry observers believed that would bring about a permanent solution to the challenges in the sector.
Regetably, he said the PIA Has not addressed the problems in the downstream sector as the country continues to battle with fuel shortages.
The major problem about the unabated fuel scarcity is mainly about foreign exchange which is very unstable and makes it less lucrative for any marketer to import.
‘‘When the President announced an end to subsidies, marketers were happy, believing they could return to imports of products. At that time, the exchange rate was N720 per litre. Along the line, the Government floated the naira, and the exchange rate hit N1550.
Today, the landing cost of petrol is N1,200 while product at NNPC retail outlets is sold for N568, that means there is a subsidy of N632 being absorbed by the government.
“Now, we have a situation whereby people are calling for a return of subsidy, which will take fuel cost back to N200 per litre. If that happens, where will the government get the resources to absorb N1,000 per liter subsidy,’’?
The IPMAN boss said even though government is denying paying subsidy, the facts on the table lay bare to the fact that Government is still paying subsidy on petrol
He added that all the policy flip-flops through policy summersaults creates an uncertain business environment, leading to fuel shortages
He noted that the Federal Government last week said it was spending $600 million monthly on fuel imports.
‘‘How NNPC manages to sustain supply in the last 9 months or more is still a miracle because there is no budget for subsidy in 2024.
“You plan something and you expect things to go smoothly as planned with a good intention on the part of the Government but suddenly there are disruptions in the economy, an example is the FX crisis.
“The ultimate solution is for the refineries to function optimally but I don’t know what the contractors are doing because the timelines keep changing. NNPC has committed about $1.5 billion to revamp the old Port Harcourt refinery. Do we now terminate the contract,’’?
Some of the marketers at the Apapa depot who declined to be named said there has been a drastic drop in the level of vessels calling at the seaports.
The drop according to them was responsible for the shortfall in the supply of fuel as products had to be rationed.
FG set to bar British Airways, Virgin from Lagos, Abuja airports over Air Peace’s lack of access to Heathrow
AFOLABI
The row over Air Peace’s flight operations from the United Kingdom has taken another turn with Festus Keyamo, the Nigerian minister of aviation and aerospace development, writing to his British counterpart to lodge a formal complaint, TheCable understands.
In a letter dated August 1, 2024 and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK secretary of state for transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace is not allocated a space at the London Heathrow, Nigeria will be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
Although Heathrow is the UK’s primary airport, Air Peace, the Nigerian carrier, currently operates from the Gatwick Airport, the secondary airport.
All efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful.
In the letter seen by TheCable, Keyamo expressed “the displeasure” of the Nigerian government over the “consistent denial of slot” by the UK slot office to Air Peace on the Nigeria-London route to fly into Heathrow, its first choice, since it began operations in the UK in March 2024.
“The Airline had made consistent efforts in the past to fly into Heathrow Airport from Lagos, but was denied, and only granted approval to fly into Gatwick Airport from Lagos,” he wrote.
“Following the approval granted the Airline by the Nigerian Government to fly the Abuja-London route, the Airline approached the Slot Office for slot allocation at the London Heathrow Airport, for flight operations planned to commence in November 2024, during the IATA Winter Season. It is highly disheartening that up till this moment, the Airline has not received any favourable response from the Slot Office.”
He reminded the UK that both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are operating into Nigeria’s primary airports in Lagos and Abuja “without encumbrances placed in their ways”.
British Airways, in particular, has been flying into Lagos since 1936.
“Therefore, it is necessary for Nigerian designated carriers to enjoy similar reciprocity that British carriers are enjoying. It is highly unfair on the side of the British authorities and a discredit to the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian nation as a whole, for slot allocation to Nigerian carriers to be an issue at all times. We feel totally betrayed by the British authorities for not reciprocating the good gesture of the Nigerian State and its people,” Keyamo wrote.
“The slot allocation issue should not be used as an alibi to deny the existence of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, which hallmark is based on the principle of reciprocity. Whatever concessionary arrangements you have with your airports with third parties, the concessionaire(s) should legally inherit your existing obligations (especially those under Bi-Lateral Services Agreements) in respect of the use of those airports.
“Arising from the foregoing, I wish to emphatically state that if Air Peace is not allocated a slot at the London Heathrow Airport, it might be difficult for British flag carriers to access Nigeria’s tier one airports from the next Winter Season, unless when a frank discussion is opened with us to break the debacle associated with the slot allocation at Heathrow to the Airline and other Nigerian designated airlines.
“While expecting your timely intervention over this pressing issue dear to the hearts of Nigerians, please, accept the consideration of my warm regards.”
TheCable confirmed that the letter has been received by the UK high commission in Abuja.
Keyamo was unavailable for comments when he was contacted by TheCable.