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The President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the Dangote Refinery’s crude oil supply problem lies with the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria.
Africa’s richest man disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
He was responding to a report that the NNPC supplies Dangote Refinery with about 60 percent of the 50 million barrels lifted.
In the statement, Dangote noted that the primary challenge confronting the refinery is NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce domestic supply obligations by IOCs in Nigeria.
He explained that when Dangote Refinery approached the IOCs for crude supply, they either redirected the company to a third party or responded that their cargoes were committed.
“Our concern has always been NUPRC’s reluctance to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation and ensure that we receive our full crude requirement from NNPC and the IOCs.
“For September, our requirement is 15 cargoes, of which NNPC allocated six. Despite appealing to NUPRC, we’ve been unable to secure the remaining cargoes.
“When we approached IOCs producing in Nigeria, they redirected us to their international trading arms or responded that their cargoes were committed,” he said.
Recall that in July 2024, the NUPRC directed oil refiners in the country to provide monthly price quotes on crude supply to address the challenges facing Dangote Refinery.
In a move to address the crude supply challenge faced by Dangote Refinery, President Bola Tinubu directed NNPCL to sell crude in Naira to the company and other local refineries.
However, as of the time of filing this report, Tinubu’s directive is yet to be implemented.
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has countered claims by President Bola Tinubu that the Federal Government granted N570 billion to the 36 states of the Federation.
Makinde spoke in a newsletter he published on the Oyo State official website on Thursday.
The governor, who said reports that the Federal Government gave the states N570 billion is not completely accurate, added that the funds disbursed were not a direct allocation from the Federal Government.
He explained that the money received by the states were actually World Bank COVID-19 funds, with the Federal Government acting only as an intermediary between the international creditor and the 36 states.
Makinde added that the funding was contingent on what the states had already spent on COVID-19 programs, meaning the World Bank was simply reimbursing what the states had used to address the pandemic crisis.
The Oyo governor said: “I responded to a question from a concerned citizen of Oyo State regarding the claim that the Federal Government ‘gave’ states over N570 billion as some kind of ‘hardship fund’ for citizens.
“Let me state categorically that this is yet another case of misrepresentation of facts. The said funds were part of the World Bank-assisted NG-CARES project—a Programme for Results intervention.
“The World Bank facilitated an intervention to help states in Nigeria with COVID-19 Recovery. CARES means COVID-19 Action Recovery Economic Stimulus.”
Recall that while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast over the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests against hunger and hardship, Tinubu had said his administration had disbursed N570 billion to the 36 states.
Tinubu stated that more than N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to citizens, while 600,000 nano-businesses have benefitted from nano-grants.
The President further said that an additional 400,000 more nano-businesses were expected to benefit.
Elder statesman and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Bode George has lamented that the crisis in the party is a resultant effect of personal ambition.
George disclosed that the ambitions of certain chieftains were tearing the party apart.
He stated that the development constitutes an obstacle to genuine reconciliation,
“Elders of the party have to come into the room to resolve the personalized ambitions of people. That is what is killing our party,” he said.
He spoke on the sidelines of an interactive session with the media on the State of the Nation, held at his office in Ikoyi.
According to the retired Commodore, the founding fathers of PDP, led by the late Dr. Alex Ekwueme, put ethnicity and religion aside while laying its foundation.
George recalled that by dividing Nigeria into six zones and distributing the top six positions in the country among them, the party fostered inclusion and a sense of belonging.
He expressed fear that holding on to personal ambition may create problems of marginalization and exclusion.
George, who also reflected on the state of the nation, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to restructure the country to foster true federalism.
Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has sent a message to the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun following invasion of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) headquarters in Abuja.
He warned that the invaders must be identified.
Recall that armed security operatives raided NLC headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday night.
NLC spokesperson, Benson Upah, said the ‘heavily armed’ security operatives broke into the second floor and “ransacked the bookshop carting away hundreds of books and other publications.”
“The invading troop claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the #EndBadGovernance Protests.” he wrote.
However, the Department of State Services (DSS) denied involvement in the alleged raid of the NLC headquarters.
In a statement on Thursday, Falana, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said the denial of DSS is not sufficient, stressing the invasion is a shameful reminder of a similar occurrence on February 28, 1988.
According to him, the invasion was designed to silence the NLC leaders for having the audacity to criticise the harassment of the #EndBadGovernance protesters by the police and other security agencies.
Falana said it is illegal for security forces to invade the homes and offices of law-abiding citizens and corporate bodies under a democratic dispensation.
The statement reads, “The invasion is a shameful reminder of the armed invasion of the NLC secretariat on February 28, 1988, following the loss of the post of the president of the congress at the triennial delegates conference of the congress by the stooge of the Ibrahim Babangida military junta.
“As if the invasion was not enough, the reactionary forces in power at the material time proceeded to seize the secretariat and impose a sole administrator to manage the affairs of the congress for over a year.
“Two years earlier, security operatives had detained NLC leaders, including its president, Comrade Ali Chiroma, who died a few months ago.
“The Gestapo tactic on that tragic occasion was to forestall a nationwide protest in response to police killings of Ahmadu Bello University students.
“For genuine democrats, it’s utterly regrettable that official actions in a democratic dispensation could be reminiscent of the atrocities that defined the dark days of military dictatorship.
“The State Security Service has denied its involvement in the invasion.
“However, the official denial of the State Security Service in the repressive activity is not sufficient.
“We are therefore compelled to call on the Inspector-General of Police to order an inquiry into the identities of the perpetrators of the illegal invasion. This should not be a case of unknown invaders!”
![[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Mourns Former CAF President Issa Hayatou](/media/k2/items/cache/b0399b97a611fcbd12d6d5a8855569ca_M.jpg)
President Bola Tinubu extends his condolences to the family of Mr. Issa Hayatou, former President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), who passed away at the age of 77 on Thursday.
Mr. Hayatou was also one-time acting President of FIFA -- the world's football governing body.
President Tinubu commiserates with the Cameroonian Football Federation, the people of Cameroon, and the African football community.
The President describes the passing of the legendary football administrator as a huge loss, underlining his contributions to the development of the sport in Africa and beyond.
The President prays for the repose of the soul of the departed and strength to his family at this difficult time.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
The Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has claimed that most of the protesters in the state during the #EndBadGovernance protest were Almajiris, who knew nothing about the demonstrations.
Naija News recalls that the #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests, which started on August 1, were initially peaceful across the states in the country.
But the protest took a different turn after looting and destruction in some northern states led to the imposition of curfews.
Featuring on Thursday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today, Governor Sule expressed concern over several challenges facing the northern region.
According to Sule, many protesters involved in the demonstrations were young, and most did not know what they were protesting against.
He said, “During this last protest that we had in Lafia, the majority of those that came out on the streets were the Almajiris – some of them five years old, seven years old, nine years old.
“A lot of them didn’t even understand the meaning of the protest. When I spoke with them later, they didn’t even know what they were protesting against.”
The Media Team of Ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has chided media handlers of President Bola Tinubu, over attempts to hoodwink Nigerians into believing that the president was compassionate.
It described the use of an old video of President Tinubu appealing to Nigerians; to cover up for his poor outing during his last national broadcast on the #Endbadgovernance protests as evidence of this duplicity.
Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, in a statement, in Abuja, yesterday said, “In the afternoon of Wednesday and on Day 7 of the #EndBadGivernanceInNigeria protest, the official X handle (formerly known as Twitter) of President Bola Tinubu posted a video clip of the President appealing to Nigerians to relax the protest and give his administration more time.
“The video went viral on the social media and it was adjudged to have shown more empathy for the concerns of protesting Nigerians, unlike the shambolic speech by the President on Sunday that will forever be remembered in ignominy.
“Curiously, much later in the evening of the same day, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, made a post on his X handle telling the country that the video clip that was posted on the President’s handle, “is not a new video. It’s a clip from a broadcast he made last year.” What a wawu!
“The scenario says a lot about the character of the Tinubu presidency, the proficiency of his media managers, and the attitude that the presidency accords the current #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest.
“For a start, what the Tinubu presidency did with the old video is to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians, to distract them. It’s a mannerism that is symptomatic of this presidency.
“This president and his media managers are a class act in propaganda.
“It is indeed shameless that in a time where misinformation and disinformation is being blamed for public outrage in many parts of the world, the Nigerian government is caught red-handed in the act, adopting it as a state policy.
“The flip-flopping episode that played out in the management of the President’s social media handle typifies the Tinubu administration’s policy flip-flops, and trial-and-error policies.
“It is for this very reason that the country has been on a tight noose since the beginning of the administration.
“The president’s media team knew they did a poor job in the Sunday broadcast by the president and in trying to make amends, came out to do what they know how to do best: deploy propaganda.
“This type of dysfunctional narrative is why Nigerians have lost confidence in the Tinubu administration. It is obvious even to the blind and the deaf that this government is deficient in credibility.
“As a matter of urgency, the Nigerian people deserve an unreserved apology from the Tinubu presidency for leading them into a tailspin of misinformation and disinformation and the attendant consequence of bad governance.”
Take It Back Movement, one of the key organizers of the EndBadGovernance nationwide protest, has scheduled Saturday for a one-million-man protest in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja.
Mr Sanyaolu Juwon, National Coordinator of the movement, stated this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
He said, “the Take It Back Movement (TIB), side-by-side with other organizers and organizations will on August 10, lead a monumental one-million-man protest in each of the 36 states of Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
“This event will mark a critical juncture in our nationwide EndBadGovernanceInNigeria campaign, which began on August 1, 2024.
“It started as a planned 10-day protest but has evolved into a sustained and widespread movement, drawing participants from every corner of Nigeria and the diaspora.”
DAILY POST reports that the protest which aimed at drawing the attention of the governments at all levels to the hardship bedeviling the citizens, commenced on August 1 and is expected to end on Saturday, August 10.
Although the protest was hijacked by criminal elements, the exercise recorded large turnout across the country, especially in the northern states.
Despite the appeal by President Bola Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast on Sunday, asking the protesters to back down and give his administration more time, the protest had continued in Abuja, Kano and some other parts of the country.
[DailyPost]
A former Center for Democracy and Development (CDD) Director, Jibrin Ibrahim, on Wednesday, said Nigerians are angry because they are being deceived by the President Bola Tinubu government.
Ibrahim made this claim during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
He said governance was collapsing in Nigeria because the government had failed in its promises.
Ibrahim said, “When they removed the fuel subsidy, they said in weeks we will have CNG buses and the price of transportation will crash. They said this 13 months ago. Nigerians have not seen those buses. It is called waiting for Godot in literature. When you are told continuously that you will see them and you wait for weeks, months and a year and nothing is coming. You know that what you are told is just a narrative not based on reality.
“That is why Nigerians are very upset. They are very angry. They are being deceived regularly and systematically by a government that feels that it can tell stories and we survive. We refuse to do what we need to do but we survive because we tell stories that will cover up. And Nigerians said no you can’t tell stories.”
He further stated that patients were dying on a daily basis because they did not have money to buy medicine.
According to him, Nigerians are starving because of the economic situation in the country, but the government wants them to starve in silence.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, has criticized President Bola Tinubu’s inner circle for not being truthful about the dire state of governance in Nigeria.
The PDP chieftain accused President Tinubu’s appointees of misleading Nigerians about the country’s economic condition.
In an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, Momodu alleged that Tinubu’s aides publicly defend the administration while expressing dissatisfaction privately.
Momodu said, “To ask a question ‘is there bad governance in Nigeria?’ I don’t think that is in doubt. Every Nigerian agrees on that. And I say it including the aides of Mr. President who cannot say it in his presence but they grumble behind him. I say it everywhere. He is my friend, he is my big brother and if anybody will deceive him, I will remain the only one who will continue to tell him that you’re surrounded by liars.”
The veteran journalist, who backed the #EndBadGovernance movement, lamented the current state of Nigeria, saying, “Nigeria has never had it this bad.”
He offered suggestions on how President Tinubu could address these issues, emphasizing the need for substantial reform rather than superficial gestures.
“What I would expect president Tinubu to do and for him to be able to assure the nation that he means well for the nation. It’s not about throwing money around. I expect Tinubu to say ‘Today, I am merging some of these ministries’ as long as you meet the constitutionally required number of ministries, cut off the rest.
“Number two, all these excesses. Everyday, they are awarding appointments like popcorn. You can’t run Nigeria the way you ran Lagos state. In Lagos, it’s just a state and because it’s a state and a very wealthy one at that, you can afford that. But nationally, the level of poverty in Nigeria does not allow that. Then, all this living large, outlandish lifestyle, you want to buy a presidential jet, you want to build multi-billion naira homes, stop it now,” he asserted.
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Jibrin Ibrahim, a professor of Political Science and member of governing board of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has revealed why Nigerians are angry with President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, the reason is because they are being deceived by the President Bola Tinubu government.
Ibrahim made the observation during an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today.
He lamented that governance was collapsing in Nigeria, saying that the government had failed in its promises to cushion the suffering of Nigerians.
“When they removed the fuel subsidy, they said in weeks we will have CNG buses and the price of transportation will crash. They said this 13 months ago. Nigerians have not seen those buses. It is called waiting for Godot in literature.
“When you are told continuously that you will see them and you wait for weeks, months and a year and nothing is coming. You know that what you are told is just a narrative not based on reality,” he said.
The political analyst noted that patients in hospitals are dying on a daily basis because they don’t have money to buy medicine, pointing out that Nigerians are starving because of the economic situation in the country.
According to him, the government wants Nigerians to starve in silence.
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has suspended an Assistant Superintendent of Immigration II (ASI II) for allegedly soliciting financial gratification from a traveller.
NIS’s Comptroller General, Kemi Nandap, made this known in a statement issued by the Service Public Relations Officer, Mr Kenneth Udo, on Thursday in Abuja.
According to Nandap, the officer’s conduct, captured in a video circulating on social media, does not reflect the values and ethics of professionalism upheld by the NIS.
She condemned the alleged misconduct in the strongest terms, saying that it undermined the ongoing reforms aimed at enhancing service standards.
She, however, assured that the officer had been indefinitely suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary procedures, in accordance with the law and Public Service Rules.
She said NIS received a video currently circulating on social media titled “This is how immigration officers treat tourists in Nigeria,” showing one of its officers soliciting financial gratification from a traveller.
“This disgraceful act is not a representation of our commitment to hospitality, reception, and courtesy.
“As a result, the officer in question has been indefinitely suspended pending the outcome of disciplinary procedures,” she said.
The NIS boss reiterated the NIS’s commitment to identifying and removing corrupt elements within its ranks, in line with its zero-tolerance for corruption policy.
The comptroller general also assured that the NIS would continue to strive for excellence in service delivery, in alignment with the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ of the Federal Government.
Nandap added that electronic gates (e-gates) were being installed at all international airports to facilitate smoother travel for passengers and prevent incidents like the one involving the suspended officer.
She urged the public to report any form of misconduct or corruption by its officers to the appropriate authorities. (NAN)
Media
Look at how our immigration officers treat tourists, Quite embarrassing. pic.twitter.com/sZyehBaPKx
— Chude Nnamdi (@chude__) August 7, 2024
The Department of States Service (DSS) has denied allegations suggesting that its personnel conducted a raid on the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) headquarters in Abuja.
Naija News reports that this statement follows claims made by the NLC on Wednesday, which asserted that secret police operatives had invaded their office and whisked away certain documents.
The union reported that the operatives arrived at the Labour House at approximately 8:30 PM.
“The security operatives, some from the Nigeria Police Force, some wearing black tee-shirts presumably from the Department of State Services (DSS), and others on outright mufti swooped on the 10th Floor of the NLC and arrested the security operative on duty and then commandeered him to the second floor where he was asked to produce the keys to the offices.
“When he told them that he had no such keys on him, they broke into the floor and ransacked the bookshop on the 2nd floor, carting away hundreds of books and other publications. The invading troop claimed that they were looking for seditious materials used for the#EndBadGoveranance Protests.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns in its entirety this new low in security operations in Nigeria. The armed security operatives showed no legal document permitting them to invade the premises of the Nigeria Labour Congress in the ungodly hours of the night.
“Even in the dark days of military rule, NLC secretariats were never invaded and ransacked by security agents. Today is indeed a very sad day for our democracy,” said a statement by the NLC’s head of Media and Public Relations, Benson Upah.
The NLC indicated that it could not quickly determine the full extent of items removed from its offices.
Nevertheless, in a statement issued on Thursday, the DSS spokesperson, Peter Afunanya, clarified that its personnel were not involved in the disruption of the labour union’s office.
“Good morning dear friends. Pls kindly note that the Service (DSS) did not carry out any operation at the NLC office in Abuja,” Afunanya said in a terse statement on the agency’s X handle.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, has said it will be hard for Nigeria’s economy if any administration tries to reverse the fuel subsidy removal after President Bola Tinubu’s government.
Wale Edun added that any plan by other administrations to reverse forex subsidy will have to deal with the gains recorded from the two policies.
Edun said with the removal of fuel and forex subsidy the federal government has been able to reduce the percentage Nigeria was spending on service debt from her revenue from 98 percent to 61 percent.
He said such administration would have to borrow money to run every responsibility of government, including payment of salaries, or even to construct a kilometer road
Edun’s statement was posted by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, on his X handle, on Thursday.
The Minister of Finance also explained that the federal government took the best decision by removing the fuel and forex subsidy.
He said, “Let me be very frank here if any president will come up and dare to return to payment of petrol subsidy or forex subsidy, he will have to deal with reversing the gains we have attained with reduction of percentage of what we were spending out of all our revenue to service debt, which we have reduced from 98% to 67%.
“Then, he will need to borrow to run virtually every other responsibilities of government, including to pay salaries or even to construct a kilometer of road.
“With this, more debts are incurred and debt servicing will now exceed all our revenue thereby leading to bankruptcy and a total collapse of every facets of the governance system.”