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The Nigerian Navy has uncovered 14 crude oil processing sites in Ataba Creeks in Andoni Local Government Area, where oil thieves use as a processing point for stolen crude oil that is transformed into various petroleum products.
Also found at the sites within a 500-meter radius at Ataba Creek, were plastic drums, and canoes, among other equipment that were abandoned by the oil thieves when the quick response force comprising the components from JTF, stormed the area.
The JTF operatives got wind of the location after being tipped- off by officials of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd PINL, the Surveillance contractor covering the area.
The Operation Delta Safe OPDS, Commander, Real Admiral, John Okeke who led the team of officers told journalists that the task force team kept vigil in the area for three days, but noted that no arrest was made.
He added that the area was discovered based on the information provided by the “intelligence cell, which of course comprises, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, other components like the police, DIA, Civil Defence and of course, our big collaborator in the name of Pipeline Infrastructure Nigeria Ltd, PINL”.
Rear Admiral Okeke said that with the operation the country could sustain its oil production output, noting that the evidence at the sites shows that the oil thieves had been operating for quite some time but that the weekly overflight surveillance by Shell could not detect the sites because of the remoteness of the area and the thick vegetation.
He added: “What we discovered was shocking, a whopping number of 14 cooking sites. On arrival of our quick response force, we met one still very hot, which suggests that they just pulled out on their arrival.
“The task force quick response team has been on ground for 3 days keeping vigil here. And I want to commend them and the quick response team comprises the components from JTF, so it’s not a one-man show”.
He also said that the operation has aided in the removal of “a major illegal refining site, which of course has reduced the quantity (crude oil) that would have been pilfered from our pipeline and what it portends for the task force is that we are sustaining what my predecessor did and I want to thank God Almighty for at least not up to 24-hours and we are able to achieve this feat.
“If not for the intelligence provided through the stakeholders and the naval intelligence and force cell we wouldn’t have discovered this place because the vegetation is thick. It’s an island beside Bonny Island. When you transit through the main channel you will not notice that there is something here”.
Okeke added: “I want to say again, the criminals that are here, I think it’s better they, those hibernating here can relocate for now or I will advise that they can decide to do legit.
“When you do legitimate business you don’t have any business coming to the bush. And the Nigerian Navy will continue to support your business. But in so far that you continue to hide inside the bush, tearing our pipelines we will not allow you to see peace”.
The strike action embarked by members of the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners, NARTO, has continued into the second following the failure of the Federal Government, oil marketers to reach agreement with the transporters.
A meeting conveyed by the Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri with NARTO, oil marketers and the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, in Abuja ended with an agreement.
Senator Lokpobiri told journalists that the meeting will continue as the government seeks to find a solution to issues raised by the transporters.
According to the Minister, “We have been having engagement with different stakeholders in the downstream petroleum industry based on some concerns which were raised. The engagements are still continuing and we hope that we will be able to find solutions to those concerns as soon as possible. Engagement will continue tonight till tomorrow.
“But it should be pointed out very clearly that they have demonstrated utmost good faith and patriotism. It should also be known that the issues have nothing to do with the government. It is basically commercial. But as a government we have decided to intervene so that Nigerians will not suffer unduly”, he added.
NARTO had threatened to stop the lifting of petrol over high cost of operation.
NARTO National President, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal Othman explained that the tanker owners have been recording huge losses due to high cost of operation which is no longer sustainable.
He explained that members would park their trucks from Monday “because what we spend on operation is more than what we get in total: both in local and bridging”.
He said: “We will have to suspend operations between now and Monday. We cannot continue to operate at a loss. Most people have parked. A lot more are going to park.
“But from the point of view of the association itself, we are going to suspend operations on Monday.”
Othman disclosed that NARTO’s efforts at soliciting the intervention of all the key stakeholders in the Federal Government and industry have not yielded positive results.
“We have written letters up to the level of the Chief of Staff. We have written to the Honourable Minister of State Petroleum Resources (Oil).
We have written to DG SSS. We have written to the GCEO. We have written to the Authority Chief Executive. We have written to the Major Marketers, yet no response.”
He noted that the N32 Lagos to Abuja freight rate that was implemented while the dollar was N650 is still retained now that dollar is N1,615.
“Everybody is aware that all our consumables in terms of operation are not produced in the country. So, by virtue of the rate of dollars, every consumable has increased. But the freight they are paying us has been the same even during Buhari’s time.So how is that feasible?
He explained further: “What I mean by local is if you load Lagos, you discharge in Lagos. And bridging is if you load from Lagos, you come to Abuja. Lagos to Lagos, we are paid N120,000.
“AGO alone to distribute fuel within Lagos is N140,000 because it is N1,400 per litre. So, they give you N120,000 and you spend N140,000. How do you want to operate? We are not talking about cost of vehicles, cost of loading, driver’s allowance. That is for local. For bridging Lagos to Abuja, they gave us N32.
“If you have a truck of 40,000 litres, you are talking of N1,280,000-N1,216,000. Less 5% of the amount of N1,280,000 Withholding Tax N64,000. Less 55,000 loading expenses and 15,000 driver allowance. Total expenses N134,000 while balance is N1,146,000. AGO is N1400 for 900 litres, totalling N1,260,000. There is a total loss of N114,000. The diesel that you use from Lagos to Abuja is 900 litres”, he added.
A former presidential aspirant and legal practitioner, Chief Reuben Famuyibo, has cautioned northern leaders against plunging Nigeria into chaos by making statements capable of inciting Nigerians against the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Famuyibo, speaking with The Nation on Monday, February 19, emphasized the potential for such statements to precipitate nationwide turmoil that would affect everyone.
He criticized the ongoing attacks on the Tinubu administration, highlighting the inconsistency of political, traditional, and religious leaders who remained silent during the tumultuous eight-year tenure of former President Muhammadu Buhari but now seem vocal in what he perceives as playing identity politics with governance.
The Ekiti-born politician stated that he had engaged in extensive consultations with Yoruba leaders both domestically and internationally, revealing their growing discomfort with the implicit threats, subversive rhetoric, unfair criticisms, and insinuations directed at President Tinubu, based solely on the notion that Nigerian leaders warrant reproach only when they hail from a specific region of the country.
Famuyibo said: “My consultations across the length and breadth of the Southwest and with leaders in the Diaspora shows that while many of our leaders see nothing wrong in President Bola Tinubu receiving criticism over the pains Nigerians are going through following the policy reforms embarked upon by his administration, they are, however, surprised that certain elements in the North have been hiding under the issue of the policy reforms to openly make politically charged, ethnically insensitive, and provocative statements aimed at inciting the Nigerian public against the Tinubu administration and plunging Nigeria into civil strife.
“These leaders ascribe ethnic and religious sentiments to even the purely administrative actions of the Tinubu administration, including the relocation of key departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to their natural habitat in Lagos.
“We learnt authoritatively that even Julius Berger, the construction company behind the CBN Abuja office, said that the overpopulation of the Abuja CBN office with 11,000 plus workers when it was designed for 4,000 workers could cause the structure to experience strain, yet these so-called northern leaders act like nothing was amiss.
“We want to remind those threatening fire and brimstone against President Tinubu over the problems created by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, which ran the economy aground and made Nigeria the poverty capital of the world, that neither Nigeria nor Abuja is the exclusive preserve of anyone but all Nigerians.
“They must stop the politics of provocation and incitement influenced by a born-to-rule mentality and years of patient endurance by other sections of the country.
“The self-serving, perfidious, insidious, provocative, and inciting utterances must be denounced by all right-thinking Nigerians.”
Some northern leaders had last week decried the economic hardship in the country, saying they could no longer prevail on the youths to be patient.
The Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has given 86 government agencies, including the presidential villa, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) 10 days’ notice to pay up over N47 billion debt due as of December 2023 or risk having their establishments disconnected from grid power.
Among the list of debtors is the Chief of Defence Staff Barracks and Military Formations with over N12 billion debt, followed by the Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory with a N7.5 billion debt, Ministry of Finance with over N5.4 billion debt, and Niger State Governor-Abuja Liaison Office with N3.4 billion.
Others include: Ministry of State for Petroleum, Presidential Villa, Ministry of Education, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and Nigeria Police Force, among others.
In an advertorial seen by LEADERSHIP, the management of the company said: “The Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) is constrained to do this publication with the details of government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) with long outstanding unpaid bills for services rendered to them through the provision of electricity supply, in that our previous attempts to make them honour their obligations have not achieved the desired result.
“The relevant MDAs are hereby given notice that AEDC shall, after the expiration of 10 days from the date of this publication, that is, after Wednesday, 28th February 2024, embark on disconnection of our services to them until they discharge their obligations to us by paying their debts.”
This is as electricity distribution companies (DisCos) continue to grapple with poor revenue collections.
For example, according to the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s report, the total revenue collected by all DisCos in the third quarter of 2023 was N267.61 billion out of N349.55 billion billed customers.
[Leadership]
A digital expert, Caroline Lucas British, who is a director with a UK renowned leadership development firm, has urged Nigerian leaders to utilise strategic benefits of effective remote leadership in the digital world.
Caroline, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja, said in the fast-paced world of the global operating ecosystem, adaptability was not just an advantage, but a necessity.
She noted that as leaders found themselves at the dawn of a new era defined by remote work and distributed teams, the demand for effective leadership had never been more pressing.
[[DailyTrust]
The officers of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, raided and arrested over 50 illegal Bureau De Change operators in Wuse Zone 4 Abuja, the continued free fall of the Naira in the Foreign Exchange Market, DAILY POST reports.
Dayyabu Mistila, a Bureau De Change operator in Wuse Zone 4, disclosed this to DAILY POST on Monday.
According to Mistila, the operatives said the raid was because of the rising exchange rate of the US dollar and other currencies against the Naira at the forex market.
“Around 3 pm on Monday, officers of EFCC raided Wuse Zone 4 and arrested over 50 of our members. They were complaining that BDC operators are responsible for the rising exchange rate of the Dollar, the parallel exchange market”.
When asked the rate of Dollar to Naira on Monday, he told our Correspondent that it traded for N1,660 per Dollar.
Similarly, official FMDQ data showed that Naira dropped to N1574.62 per US dollar on Monday.
Efforts to speak with the spokesperson, Dele Olyewale, were unsuccessful at the time of filing this report.
DAILY POST recalls that the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso and the Chairman of EFCC, Ola Olukoyede, met on February 3 2024, in an effort to curb the continued fall of the Naira in FX market.
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Abuja after attending the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government.
NAF 001 pulled up at the Presidential Wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Int’l Airport at about 04:00 pm local time, concluding his 15th foreign trip since assuming the Presidency nine months ago, and logging 73 days abroad.
Tinubu was received by top government officials including his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume; National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and the Minister of State for Defense, Bello Matawalle.
Also on the receiving line were the Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma; the Director-General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi, among others.
During his three-day stay, the Nigerian leader discussed thematic issues such as climate change and modalities of the AU’s participation and priorities in the G20.
At the Ministerial Executive Leadership Programme on Saturday, February 17, Tinubu argued that addressing Africa’s health sector challenges would require states to forge partnerships that transcend borders and sectors, leveraging collective expertise, knowledge, resources, and the private sector.
Tinubu, who spoke in his capacity as the newly-appointed AU Health Champion, said Africa’s effective collaboration with the rest of the world to tackle existential health challenges is not merely a strategic choice, but a moral imperative.
Addressing a plenary session attended by several of his counterparts, he affirmed Nigeria’s readiness to host the African Central Bank according to the vision of the Abuja Treaty.
On Sunday, he held talks with Brazilian President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, with both countries now planning to establish direct flight operations between their respective financial capitals of Lagos and São Paulo.
Nigeria and Brazil also reaffirmed their commitment to deepening bilateral relations mainly to increase the volume of trade and cooperation across solid mineral exploration, healthcare, and agriculture.
Tinubu has so far visited Paris, France (thrice); London, the United Kingdom; Bissau, Guinea-Bissau (twice); Nairobi, Kenya; Porto Norvo, Benin Republic; New Delhi, India; Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates; New York, the United States of America, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Berlin, Germany.
His return coincides with protests in Oyo State over the rising cost of living.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) is calling on President Bola Tinubu’s government to provide an account of the savings resulting from the fuel subsidy removal in the initial nine months of his administration.
The bishops raised concerns about the absence of functional refineries despite substantial expenditures on turnaround maintenance, resulting in a persistent dependence on fuel imports.
The bishops described the government’s efforts to address the mountainous issues, as “counterproductive” and a “therapy worse than the disease.”
Speaking through the president of CBCN, Archbishop Lucius Ugorji, during the opening session of the 2024 First Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja on Sunday, the bishops described the current situation in the country, as the “worst of times” in its history.
Archbishop Ugorji accused the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of mortgaging the future of Nigerians yet unborn with unmitigated borrowing without showing what they are used for.
He said, “In withdrawing the fuel subsidy, the government assured Nigerians it would save a lot of money to be injected into other national development sectors.
“Rather than give evidence of money so far saved from the withdrawal of subsidies for which Nigerians are being afflicted with untold hardship, all we hear is the government’s accumulation of more and more foreign debt to balance its budgetary deficit, thereby mortgaging the future of our nation and generations yet unborn.
“This has led many Nigerians to conclude that all the extensive talks on fuel subsidies may be mere fairy tales.
“Nigeria owns four refineries, two in Port Harcourt, one in Warri and one in Kaduna. How can we explain that these four refineries have remained moribund for years, despite turn-around-maintenance efforts, which have continued to gulp huge sums of money?”
The Archbishop drew attention to the stark realities facing Nigerians, emphasizing the persistent insecurity and economic turmoil, despite substantial security votes.
“If we cast a cursory glance at the present state of our nation, we are inclined to conclude that this seems to be the worst of times for our country in the areas of security and the economy,” he said.
According to him, kidnappings for ransom, senseless killings, and the rise of banditry have left communities across Nigeria in the grip of fear and paralysis.
“Unarmed citizens are brutally slaughtered on our highways, in their homes and even in the sacred precincts of places of worship. Killer herdsmen, bandits and unknown gunmen seem to be on rampage.
‘’Many communities across the nation have been taken over completely by criminals. Families have lost their ancestral lands to armed invaders and land-grabbers,” the Archbishop lamented.
The Mandate Secretary of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Women Affairs Secretariat, Mrs Adedayo Benjamins-Laniyi, has sealed off an orphanage, known as the Priesthood Orphanage in Karonmajigi.
The move followed the rescue of 23 children, aged between 1 and 14 years, who were trafficked from Plateau state and found within the premises of the orphanage.
Addressing reporters on Monday, Benjamins-Laniyi stated that the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had granted authorization to the Secretariat to conduct a thorough profiling and recertification of orphanages operating within the nation’s capital.
She said: “There is no question, yesterday, with immediate effect, that ‘home’ was sealed, shut down. We have the name of the proprietor of the orphanage home, but we are not naming names now for obvious reasons. When the entire material investigation is concluded, there will be an official gazetted presentation of the facts, the findings and the delivery of this intervention we’ve started here today.
“NAPTIP, as we speak is already on it. Using this as an example, one of the first things I have done is to get approval for the recertification of orphanage homes in Abuja. The Minister has approved that there will be a full thorough re-profiling of anything that has to do with orphanage and recertification status of all orphanages in Abuja.”
She noted that the Women’s Secretariat was already working with the office of the Commissioner of Women Affairs of Plateau State, to reunite the children with their families, some of whom she said had been at the uncertified orphanage for five years, since 2019.
She said: “We are working with the Plateau state government to reunite the children that I had earlier mentioned by name and by age, with their families in Plateau state. This is a transition arrangement.”
The Plateau State Commissioner for Women Affairs, Mrs. Caroline Dafur, narrated that the Proprietors of the orphanage home abandoned the children at the orphanage, under the care of one Pastor Abraham, in a terrible condition of hunger.
She noted: “Three of the children had then escaped and were discovered by officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps, who reported the case to the NAPTIP and took the children to the Human Rights Radio, who then notified the Plateau State government and the FCT Women’s Secretariat.
“We came in yesterday and on reaching here, we were told that they went to church. We kept going from one church to another, looking for them until we found them in a Deeper Life Church, where we were able to pick them up, and we went to the home. And we saw the place it is not supposed to be called a home.
“The place is just so unkempt. I wonder how the children were sleeping in the small room. Nine girls were sleeping in a very small room with just two mattresses. And then for the boys, they were in a small room too, with two mattresses just on the floor. And I mean, it’s so pathetic the way human beings treat human beings in this country.”
She stated the displeasure of the Plateau state government while appreciating the Mandate Secretary for the assistance in evacuating the children, and relocating them to the Karu Children’s Home.
The Federal Government has commenced the payment of the withheld salaries of academics under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, PUNCH Online has learnt.
Multiple sources in the academic sector confirmed the development to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday.
The chairperson of ASUU at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, who confirmed the development on the record, said, “Yes, it is true. Payment has started rolling in.”
President Bola Tinubu Tinubu had in October 2023 approved the release of four of the eight months’ ASUU withheld workers’ salaries.
The salaries were withheld when the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against some university-based unions that embarked on a strike that lasted eight months in 2022.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, recently said the government has increased the university workers’ salaries by 35 per cent.
The minister also said the government has granted autonomy to the universities by removing them from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System.
He added that the universities no longer need a waiver to recruit and fill vacancies.
These resolutions were reached through informal consultations with the unions based in the tertiary institutions, Mamman said
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N47bn Debt: Electricity Distribution Company To Disconnect Presidential Villa, National Assembly, Ministry Of Finance, Others (Full List)
AdminThe Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) has issued a disconnection notice to 86 various government agencies and departments over outstanding electricity bills amounting to N47.1 billion.
The AEDC, in its notice issued on Monday, said the affected ministries, departments and agencies have ten days from the date of notice to pay up or be disconnected.
Some of those listed include the Presidential Villa, CBN Governor, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), several federal ministries, including the Ministry of Finance and state liaison offices in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The notice falls due on Wednesday, 28th February, 2024, according to the statement issued by the AEDC.
“The Abuja Electricity Distribution PLC is constrained to do this publication with the details of Government, Ministries, Departments and Agencies with long outstanding unpaid bills for services rendered to them through the provision of electricity supply in that our previous attempts to make them honour their obligations have not achieved the desired results.
“The relevant MDAs are hereby given notice that the AEDC shall after the expiration of 10 days from the date of this publication, that is, after Wednesday, 28th February, 2024, embark on the disconnection of our services to them until they discharge their obligations to us by paying their debts,” the notice read.
Danielle Edochie, daughter of actor Yul Edochie, has removed her father’s surname from her Instagram account.
A check on her Instagram page on Monday, February 19 revealed that Edochie has been removed as her Instagram username and bio.
Danielle, formerly Danielle Yul Edochie, now bears Danielle Diana Dubem.
While it remains unclear why Danielle made the sudden decision, many have speculated that it is connected to her father’s actions on social media.
See screenshots below:
Yul unsettled the peace in his home in April 2022 when he announced he had married actress, Judy Austin Moghalu as his second wife and that they have a son together.
The drama heated up when the actor justified his marriage to Judy which led to backlash from fans, celebrities and his brothers who distanced themselves from the actor and his second wife.
On her part, Yul’s first wife May Yul-Edochie made it clear that she would not be cajoled into accepting her husband’s choice of polygamy.
In 2023, May reacted to a threat against her daughter from a Facebook account allegedly run by a woman named Ukawike Sandra.
During the marriage crisis, Danielle warned her followers to stop tagging her in posts related to her father as she has no interest in pursuing a career in acting.
She wrote:
“Please I’m NOT an actress, I have no business with acting and Nollywood, no dey force career on me abeg. I don’t act and I’m not interested in acting.
“Acting is for him and not for me and I am a whole different person, I am my own identity.
Please stop tagging me in posts related to him/Nollywood/films/actors. I am not interested in Nollywood. Know these and know peace.”
Yul Edochie is the last child of veteran actor Pete Edochie.
A former Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, is currently being held by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The anti-graft agency is interrogating Ahmed over how some funds running into billions of naira were expended during his time as governor of the state.
It’s gathered that he was invited by the EFCC and is currently answering questions as to how these monies under his administration were expended.
The former Kwara governor arrived at the Ilorin office of the anti-graft agency on Monday morning.
Provide account of money saved from fuel subsidy removal, catholic bishops tell Tinubu
Ahmed succeeded Bukola Saraki as the governor of the Kwara state and ruled between May 2011. He handed over to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in May.
He was once quizzed in May 2021 by a crack team of operatives at the EFCC headquarters in the Jabi area of Abuja, the nation’s capital, in connection with the alleged diversion of funds to the tune of about N9 billion from the coffers of the Kwara State Government.
The money was alleged to have been diverted during Ahmed’s tenure as governor of the state, and when he served as the Commissioner for Finance in the administration of ex-Governor Bukola Saraki
The Federal Government, on Sunday, clapped back at the governors elected on the platform of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party for asking President Bola Tinubu to resign from office if he had no answer to the nation’s myriad problems.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, questioned why the PDP failed to turn the country around during its extended shot at power.
He described the PDP governor’s resignation call as a distraction.
The PDP governors, under the leadership of the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, had last week said Nigeria under Tinubu was on the path to becoming like Venezuela.
AFCON 2023: Super Eagles Ends Continental Cup Campaign With Silver Ware0.00 / 0.00
On Saturday, the PDP governors advised Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress to resign over the state of the nation if they could not provide sustainable solutions.
But responding on Sunday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, in a statement signed by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, knocked the PDP governors.
He said, “It is our considered view that the PDP and its governors should not be seeking, through the back door of intimidation, what they have consistently failed to achieve by democratic means, since 2015.
I would rather stay with Moses through wilderness, Seyi Law reaffirms support for Tinubu
“Those who could not bring transformational change when they had a lengthy chance to, should not seek to interrupt or distract those who are busy at work on the presidential vision that Nigerians elected them to implement.”
Explaining what the present administration was currently working on, the minister explained, “The administration of President Bola Tinubu has, since inception, generously extended financial support to all the state governments, regardless of partisan affiliation. In addition, the removal of the petrol subsidy —which, incidentally, was one of the main planks of the PDP presidential campaign—has swelled the revenues of all states, including the PDP states. To whom more has been given, more is therefore expected.
“The President and his administration recognise the unfinished business of revamping our national economy kickstarted by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, through programmes focused on large-scale infrastructure, social welfare, prioritising the equipping and welfare of the military and security agencies, and reclaiming Nigeria’s strategic place in the comity of nations.
“Boko Haram and its affiliates, on the ascendancy in 2014/2015, have since been decimated, and similar bold gains are now being made with bandits and other criminals.
“Nigerians have not forgotten that it was the APC administration that cleared several liabilities left behind by the PDP government, such as subsidy claims by oil marketers, Paris Club refunds, unpaid pensions, gratuities, and salary arrears owed various categories of pensioners from liquidated and existing state-owned enterprises.”
Idris said Tinubu would never be overwhelmed by the current challenges facing the country.
“He will not abdicate his responsibilities. He will courageously continue to wrestle with the challenges and surmount them, laying a durable foundation for the new Nigeria that is emerging,” the minister.