Senegalese-American singer, Akon has revealed that he played a key role in the career success of Nigerian international Afrobeats star Wizkid.

He claimed that the Starboy crooner was just a local musician before he signed him to his record label in 2008 and brushed him up.

Speaking in a recent episode of the Bagfuel Brigade podcast, Akon also claimed that Afrobeats wouldn’t have been what it is today without him developing some artists in Nigeria and opening bigger markets for them in the late 2000s to 2010s.

“In 2008, I spent my time in Nigeria developing what you see today as Afrobeats. And all of them can attest to it,” he said.

“Wizkid was the first [Nigerian] artist we signed officially at that time. And then we went on to sign a group called P-Square, which was the first [Nigerian] group that made it internationally.

“Wizkid was just the local Nigerian star before we touched him and it opened up to a bigger market. I wouldn’t want to take credit for all of it but I can tell you that if we didn’t do what we did, Afrobeats would still have been in the same position it was when we got there [Nigeria in 2008]. That I can tell you 100 per cent.

“I brought the business side of music to Afrobeats because all they [Nigerian artists at that time] knew about was the creative [side of music]. There was no business, no infrastructure, none of it attached to it.”

Former special adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, has alleged that the Nigerian economy is worse under the current administration of President Bola Tinubu than during his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.

He made the claim in this interview aired on Channels TV programme, Politics Today on Thursday, where he spoke on his open letter to President Tinubu in which he asked him not to contest in 2027, why he stepped down from the administration, and political defections rocking the country.

Baba-Ahmed served for 17 months before resigning.

Tinubu’s assumption of office since May 29, 2023, has seen bold economic reforms such as the removal of petrol subsidies and the floating of the naira.

At that time, Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 22.41%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). However, inflation surged to an alarming 34.6% by November 2024, a rise many economists attribute to the president’s controversial policies, including the removal of the petrol subsidy and the unification of the country’s foreign exchange rates.

“It is worse than Buhari left it,” Baba-Ahmed said while commenting on the state of the economy.

On recent economic growth rate statistics by top world organisations, he said, “This is the thing with the statistics that the administration keeps reeling out. And you really wonder where they get the statistics from. You go to villages, go to Kastina, go to Zamfara, go to Niger State, go to Plateau, go to Benue, virtually, in fact literally, go to every part of Nigeria.

“More blood is shed now than it was maybe two years ago. And yet you see this kind of statistics that say there are fewer killings, there is less violence. You have to ask, do our leaders actually know how our people live? Who is telling them all this? How do these statistics get acquired? Because if you want to really measure how people live, you do not do that by just some statistics that someone gives you. Do the president’s people really tell him the state of the country? Does he know? Does he know the level of poverty? Does he know how many families, entire families, live in that village?”

Baba-Ahmed said he had hoped President Tinubu’s administration as president would bring economic development, given his role as former Lagos State governor who had also tasted poverty.

“I saw a president who was stubborn, almost visionary, but he ran Lagos for eight years. Whether he ran it well or not, I do not know. But he ran Lagos well. He resisted former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s overbearing and strong determination to get rid of him. Beyond that, I saw him as a calculating politician. He gave his platform to Atiku. He gave his platform to Nuhuru Ribadu. He participated actively. Then he agreed with Buhari, created a platform which allowed Buhari to become president. Because for 2003, 2007, 2011, Buhari was running, he did not get anywhere.”

He said Tinubu had played a major role in the election of former president Buhari.

“To be honest with you, I think that coalition, CPC-APC-AC, was decisive in terms of giving President Buhari victory. And as I said, I was part of the campaign. I had a front-line seat, so I know what I am talking about. And Tinubu’s contribution to Buhari’s emergence was genuinely a deciding factor. So in many ways, you have to give him credit for being a calculating president. I do not know what has happened since 2015, but I do not see the fire. I do not see that calculation. I did not see much of him, to be fair to him.”

He alleged that although selected a political adviser in the current administration, he was not pleased with the role, and had to resign. He reinstated his advice to Tinubu not to re-contest the position come 2027.

“To be honest, Vice President Kashim Shettima. But he had to get the consent of the president before I became an adviser. I mean, the vice president facilitated my appointment, and the president approved it. So, I would say President Tinubu approved my appointment. Otherwise, I would never have been an adviser.

“No, I did not do any job. I was supposed to be an adviser on political matters to the president, in the office of the vice president. You have to understand, at least in constitutional terms, it is the same thing. Basically, it is supposed to be both the vice president and I, we are both supposed to advise the president.

“There are two. There is one called Darazu. So there are two special advisers on political matters. Well, I have not met the first one either.

“I spent a year and six months there.

“To be honest, I suspect if I met the president, if I did sit down with him, I might say things to him that he might not be very happy about. I think they developed cold feet. Because if I did, I would have told him exactly what I said in that open letter: ‘Mr President, please do not run again.’

“It is not authority. I am making a request. I am not giving him instructions. I remember I said, I would have said: ‘Mr President, please do not run again.”

“And look, working for a government, especially Tinubu’s government that had inherited a really messed up country from Buhari, was the most patriotic thing anybody could do. You could not just turn your back on an administration that says: ‘come and help fix the country after the damage that you so graphically criticised’. I was one of the most vocal critics of former President Buhari. So, if a government takes over from President Buhari and says: ‘come and help fix the country,’ you could not possibly say: ‘no, I prefer to be a critic for life’. I participated very actively in Buhari’s election.

“I was chairman of his party for four years in my state, long before he became president, so I was not a critic. I became an outspoken critic: one, because my organisation had seen the situation in which the country was. A few months into the presidency of President Buhari, we could see that he was just interested in becoming president, and he was not interested in governing. Certainly, not governing well, and we started criticising him. We began by advising him privately. Then we started saying he was wrong here and he was wrong there. And then, when it became clear that he was not interested in public opinion, we became outstanding critics.

On why he advised the president not to run again in 2027, Baba-Ahmed said, “I think that first he has become a president, so that’s settled. A lot of the people who are now, including President Tinubu, quite possibly, want to be president just simply because they want to be president. We had the case of Buhari, perhaps even Atiku, whose multiple attempts at becoming president may be primarily driven by the desire to be president. If he spends the next two years of his life on the things that he ought to have done that he has not done yet or improving on what he has done.

“And then, like I said in my letter, look for a younger person, more energetic, healthier, more focused, more committed to the future of this country; find even from your party, find someone that a group of people among younger people, the kind of people who really feel the pain about what Nigeria is today. The kind of people whose children are just growing up, and they can look at them and say: ‘What will happen to my child or my grandchild in the next 20 years?’ The way this country is going downhill, consistently going downhill. There are a lot of educated, very athletic Nigerians who desperately want to be part of the future of this country. Trust them with power. You have done your bit. And so you do not need to run for another one. Spend the next two years fixing Nigeria, fix the economy as much as possible, fix insecurity.”

Baba-Ahmed argued that he had yet to see evidence that if Tinubu is voted for in 2027, the Nigerian economy would be better than it currently is.

“Well, it is not so much that he does not have the capacity. I do not know what will happen in the future. I have not seen evidence that the last two years have prepared him to continue to govern for six years, but more importantly, he does not need to be president to actually do something good for this country.

“If he draws the line at 2027 and prepares his party and the country to vote in a new set of people everywhere APC governor stands now, use your power and influence, get them to bring out younger people, a lot of people with energy, commitment, passion to fix what is broken, which is this country, history will record you as the greatest leader.”

He argued that who would end up as the next president has nothing to do with tribe.

“Let him come from anywhere. Believe me, at this stage, it is not important anymore. He could come from anywhere at this stage. Anybody who is talking to you about North and South doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

He reiterated his stand that Tinubu should not run for the presidency come 2027.

“I never really participated much in choosing who should vote. But for the benefit of hindsight, do you think he was better than the lot that were on the ballot in 2023?

“Again, to be honest with you, I participated with Northern groups in assessing these candidates. You remember there was a time when Northern groups got together. About five or six people turned up and we asked them questions. Beyond the moment parties choose who they wanted, as far as I was concerned, my job was done. In fact, everybody’s job was done. You had to leave the whole thing to the voter. Voters decided it was Tinubu. As far as I was concerned, that is a decision made democratically. If anybody disputed it, they could go to court. I had no problems with him being legitimately elected as president. I wanted him to succeed. I want him to succeed.”

He also said he would not return to work for Tinubu’s re-election even if invited.

“He won’t. No, I won’t go back. I can’t. Come on. Not for anything. Not for anything. I have done my bit. It did not work out. I have to move on.

“It can not be in the interest of the nation if I am just going in and out. I will be like some of these politicians jumping from one party in the morning and then the next evening, they have another party. They are talking about coalitions. I want to be better than those guys.”

Asked if he regretted backing the emergence of Buhari as president, he said, “Absolutely.

But Buhari represented the North.

“If you are talking about how he became president, that is a different thing. We did not support Buhari because he was a Northerner. We supported Buhari because he was a better option than Jonathan in 2015. He was a much better option at the time. And we supported him because we could quite clearly see that Jonathan’s administration was weak. It was soft on Boko Haram. It was soft on corruption.

“It was soft on a lot of things that we believed a government that had inherited from Yar’Adua ought to have been doing. We needed a president who would hold the country together, and we saw in Bahari a better option. And we supported him, not because he was a Northerner, but because we thought he was tough on corruption. He had fought Chadians who had invaded Nigeria many years ago. He had run a country that jailed corrupt politicians for 300 years and stuff like that. We supported him, and it could have been anybody. We were just looking for a better option than Jonathan.

On Buhari’s administration he said “I have not seen eight years under a leadership that just did not govern, did not care about the priorities, did not set priorities, did not chase, did not care about how the poor lived, how secure the country was, how the young people needed to find futures. I did not see one. Therefore, I could not see myself sitting on the fence when another government that had the mandate of Nigerians to fix Buhari’s damage says, ‘please come in and help.’ It would have been irresponsible to say no.”

“With the way the Tinubu government is going, no. But regretting going in, I do not. I got out because there was no space. I did not see that fire, commitment and zeal to fix a country that has been wrecked. Instead, I saw a country getting worse.

“See the records. The one I saw was where, in 2023, Nigerians lined up, elected President Tinubu, because they thought, okay, Buhari is gone, we are in a mess, let us elect a president that would fix Nigeria. President Tinubu comes in and says, ‘Put your belts on, we are going into some turbulence’. Thus removed subsidy, and you would think a president at that stage was quite prepared to undertake such a monumental policy. It turned out he did not. He had a handful of advisers who then had to fix a problem. They started looking for solutions.

“From day one, he pushed the country to the deep end. And we have never really recovered in a way. We keep seeing promises. And the difference between what President Tinubu’s people say the country is, and the difference between that and what the country is today, is miles apart. And you have to wonder whether we are living in the same Nigeria. I think that the issue is: should one have committed to working for a government that had at least the mandate of the people to fix things, particularly in the Northern part of the country? It is unbelievable the levels of insecurity and poverty.”

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have arrested three suspected fraudsters in connection with the Q-net scam.

The suspects — Olaniyan Joshua, Oyetunde Julius Akano, and Victor Oluwale — were apprehended on Wednesday, May 1, 2025, in Abuja and are currently being interrogated by the Commission.

According to the EFCC, the trio operated under the company name, Mighty Infinity Millionaire Limited, and falsely claimed to be representatives of Q-net, a global e-commerce and direct selling company. Q-net has denied any association with the suspects or their activities.

“Investigations further revealed that the suspects were equally running a fraudulent university training in pavilions and under trees, offering fake Bachelor of Science degrees in Medicine, Nursing, Cybersecurity, Computer Studies, and Geology, among others with a false claim of affiliation with Quest International University, Malaysia.”

“Student victims were charged between N1.2million and N1.3million as registration fees from which the suspected scammers raked in hundreds of millions in proceeds of crime.”

The arrests follow a March 24, 2025, raid by the Commission at Q-net University, Compensation Layout, Gwagwalada, FCT, Abuja, during which 133 suspects were detained.

A former member of the house of representatives, Usman Bugaje, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s administration has failed to solve any of the challenges it inherited.

Speaking on Daily Politics, a Trust TV programme, on Thursday, Bugaje said Tinubu’s government is prioritising politics over governance at a time when Nigerians are demanding results.

“There are complaints, not just in the north, including Lagos, the base of the president,” he said.

“It is unfair to get into politicking when you have not effectively delivered your mandate. There will be time for politics, but this is the time to deliver.”

Bugaje questioned whether the Tinubu administration has delivered on the promises it made during the 2023 elections’ campaign.

He said the government has yet to tackle critical national challenges, including insecurity, poverty, and human capital development, which, according to him, are fundamental to the country’s progress.

“These are the questions that are being raised, and this is exactly why the point is being made that rather than spending money in politicking — you know, putting up billboards all over the place and running all manners of campaigns — you would rather concentrate on the job for which you have been elected,” the former lawmaker said.

“This is the second year, or the end of the second year, and there is hardly anything to show for it.

When asked if opposition figures talking about a 2027 coalition are distracting the government, Bugaje said the talks are a response to the government’s poor performance.

“I think they are reacting to the emptiness of this particular regime. Basically, they are beginning to get ready because this government is not performing,” he said.

“If, for example, from its inception two years ago, it solved the problem of electricity, it solved the problem of poverty, it solved the problem of insecurity, everybody would have been quiet by now — basically praising the government or at least giving it time to see how far it can go.

“The government has failed and not delivered on any of the problems it found on the ground.

“I cannot remember if there is any one single problem that this government has solved since inception.”

On Monday, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the former special adviser on political matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, said Tinubu was “genuinely isolated”.

“The president really is genuinely isolated, whether it’s by choice or by circumstances we don’t understand,” he told Arise TV.

“The bottom line is he ought to be available to a lot more of the people that he has trusted, either to run ministries or departments or to advise him. And he isn’t. And that’s a problem for the country.”

David Adeleke, the popular Nigerian singer, who is better known as Davido, has said that the uncanny resemblance between his young son, and Ifeanyi, the other son he lost in 2022, can best be described as “scary”.

Recall that Davido’s first son, Ifeanyi, had died in a drowning incident in the singer’s Banana Island home on November 1, 2022. In an interview some months later, the singer revealed in an interview that he had “secretly” married Chioma. And in October 2023, almost a year after the loss of Ifeanyi, the adored couple had a set of twins— a boy and a girl. They eventually had a grand wedding in June 2024.

In a recent interview with Ebro Darden on Apple Music 1, Davido stated that with the resemblance the two kids share, it felt like Ifeanyi had “come back”.

Speaking about the loss and how it affected him, the ‘Unavailable’ singer said, “That type of loss made you just be like, ‘I’m out’. I am just going to chill, take care of my wife and take care of the family and get my head right. To come back from that and…to be blessed with twins out the gate; a boy and a girl.

“And, the boy looks just like my son (Ifeanyi) that passed. It is scary. It’s like literally him. We’re like, “No, it’s him. He came back” type stuff.”

The singer added that the painful loss remoulded him to the point that he now encouraged and inspired others who were going through hard times. This even as he stated that his marriage to Chioma and the success of his 2023 ‘Timeless’ album further strengthened his belief that “God is real”.

Speaking on how feels about his journey in the music industry, Davido stated that from watching other stars on social media, he felt fulfilled that his dreams had turned to reality.

Asked about working with American singer, Chris Brown, and what’s next for them, Davido stated that they had made about 20 songs together.

On if they would release a joint album, the Nigerian singer said, “We could put out two albums right now. It is going to happen. I am happy for Chris. I feel like he is back in his bag. He is celebrating his 20-year anniversary. I told him I was meant to go on this tour (Breezy Bowl, 20-year anniversary tour).”

Confirming that he was getting involved in the film industry, Davido said, “I am an executive producer on a movie and a series with my director, Dammy Twitch. (We are) also working on my documentary.”

Lagos State government has revealed that its Metro Fibre project of rolling out 6,000km fibre optic ducts has paid off leading to an increase in the number of internet subscribers to one million between 2024 and 2025.

This was disclosed by the state’s commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Olatunbosun Alake at a ministerial press briefing to mark the second year in office of the second term of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at Alausa, Ikeja.

While explaining the mandate of the ministry, the commissioner listed among others, science and policy promotion, infrastructure management, science and ICT Advisory, IT-Service management, smart projects and e-governance.

He said the state government through the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) has so far registered 6,465,667 residents.

Out of the total registered, the number of adults was 4,058,833 while children were 2,407,224.

Alake stated that the government targets to register over 20 million while working vigorously to register 10 million in the next two years.

He said, “Building a digitised city will require physical infrastructure connections to improve the digital connectivity of the state.

“The MetroFibre project seeks to deliver 6000km of optic fibre and optic fibre ducts for increase in digital penetration.

“Due to efforts in fibre roll out and connectivity, the number of internet subscribers will increase to approximately one million between 2024 and 2025.”

In building a digitised 24/7 city, Alake explained that there has been the introduction of Intelligent Video Surveillance systems installed in areas such as Alapere and Bank Anthony Way areas of the state.

He said it would allow companies to operate in a state and secure environment thereby creating a safer and more conducive environment for businesses which would lead to more jobs and increasing IGR of the state.

Harping on Artificial Intelligence, Alake explained that, “AI is now astronomic and we know the danger in it. So, we want to ensure that when people build the AI, it is safe and takes our diversity into consideration and also makes sure it is fair.”

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has reacted to the walkout on the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, by some women in Rivers State on Thursday.

He described the incident as “very disturbing and embarrassing” and sent a strong message to Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his supporters.

The walkout took place during the Renewed Hope Initiative empowerment programme at the EUI Event Centre in Port Harcourt. The programme was organized by the office of the First Lady and aimed at supporting 500 women in the state with empowerment items.

The women who staged the walkout were reportedly loyal to the suspended governor, Fubara.

Wike, who is currently on official duty in China, released a statement through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka. In the statement, he apologized to the First Lady and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on behalf of the people of Rivers State.

“Insult on anyone representing the First Lady of Nigeria in an event is a direct insult on the office of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and as a leader in Rivers State, I apologize,” he said.

The governor of Abia State, Alex Otti has reviewed some of the achievements recorded by his administration since assuming office on May 29, 2023.

Speaking in an interview with Arise Television’s Rufai Oseni, the governor said the allegation by the opposition that the state’s money was been wasted and that his administration was not doing much is a mere imagination and does not hold water.

Citing the case of the strategic Port Harcourt Road which serves major businesses across the commercial city of Aba, Otti said the opposition while in power abandoned the road for over three decades.

He said, “I would like you to go to Port Harcourt Road after this interview and talk to people, that road has been abandoned for over 30 years, and nobody could fix it except Julius Berger.

“And everybody knows, and if you go to Aba and make this allegation, you’ll probably not come back.

“The road is 5.8 kilometres, it’s a dual carriageway, it is something else and I would like you to just go there.

“So the allegation of the so-called opposition is because they couldn’t fix it and somebody has come to fix it. Every other person is very happy and Julius Berger is handing over the project to me next week,” the governor said.

Speaking on the cost of the project, Otti said it has gone beyond the initial approved N30 billion.

“It has gone beyond N30 billion, it’s actually somewhere around N36.5 billion,” he noted.

Continuing, Otti said the Port Harcourt Road in Aba is one of the most important parts of the Southeast not just for the metropolitan city.

This particular road connects the town, especially, the popular Ariaria International Market to the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and is key for ease of transportation of goods and services within the region.

He said, “Virtually everything is made in Port Harcourt Road, It is a very long stretch of road and I would like you to see it. And everybody is happy, even the opposition is happy.”

President Bola Tinubu has said that Nigeria’s economy is sailing in the right direction.Nigerian cultural tours

Speaking during a two-day visit to Katsina state where he commissioned projects completed by the governor, the president warned that hunger and poverty have remained the biggest bane to any country’s development.

Also urging for peace through the eradication of poverty, hunger and all the social injustice bedevilling the nation, the president said his administration is committed to banishing hunger.

“The economy is sailing in the right trajectory. Today, we are seeing an effort to banish hunger and a commitment to food security and the empowerment of our people.

“Small and large-scale farming will be encouraged. Once we liberate ourselves from hunger, we will appreciate peace and harmony,” Tinubu said.

He added that so far, Katsina State has witnessed a turnaround and will continue to be rewarded.

Calling for more improved means of the agricultural process, Tinubu said the people must dedicate themselves to ensuring food security for all.

“I want to assure the Nigerian public that agriculture is the heart of our progress and must be for all. We have dedicated ourselves to food security. Nigerian cultural tours

“We must invest in mechanisation and water management. The old style of agriculture is gone,” he said.

• P’Harcourt, Warri, Kaduna refineries’ MDs arrested
• Kyari, 13 senior ex-NNPCL officials face probe

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested the recently sacked managing directors and some top officials of the Port Harcourt Refining Company, Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company, and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company.

The officials were arrested over alleged mismanagement of funds earmarked for the rehabilitation of the facilities. The total amount under investigation is $2,956,872,622.36.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the EFCC is probing the sum of $1,559,239,084.36 allocated to the Port Harcourt refinery, $740,669,600 released for the Kaduna refinery, and $656,963,938 approved for the Warri refinery.

The ex-Managing Director of Port Harcourt Refining Company Ltd is Mr Ibrahim Onoja, while Efifia Chu served as the ex-Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd.

Also, operators and experts in the sector lambasted NNPCL for deceiving Nigerians regarding the operations of the refineries, particularly the Port Harcourt and Warri plants, following the poor output from the facilities since their resumption of operations in November and December 2024.

Dashed hope

NNPCL manages the three refineries for Nigerians. The plants had remained dormant for decades, but the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries resumed operations in November and December 2024, respectively.

However, less than one month after the Warri refinery resumed operations, the plant was again shut down due to safety concerns.

The Port Harcourt refinery, on the other hand, has been operating below 40 per cent of its capacity since its widely celebrated revamp.

On Tuesday, The PUNCH exclusively reported that the new NNPCL management fired the managing directors of the three refineries under its purview.

Some other senior officials of the national oil firm were also asked to leave; among them was Bala Wunti, a former chief of the National Petroleum Investment Management Services, a subsidiary of the NNPCL.

The new management also asked many officials with one year to their various retirement dates to leave.

Arrest of suspects

On Friday, a senior EFCC source, who spoke with Saturday PUNCH on the condition of anonymity due to the lack of authorisation to speak on the matter, revealed that the arrests of the three ex-MDs and top officials were part of an ongoing investigation into the billions of dollars released for the quick-fix maintenance of the three state-owned refineries.

“We are investigating the money that was released for the rehabilitation of all three refineries—money disbursed in recent times. All the principal officers within that time frame are being invited.

“Some have been arrested already, and we are still on the lookout for others. Nigerians are interested in seeing our refineries work. We are asking: where is the money, and what has happened to the refineries?” the official said.

The source added that the investigation was far-reaching, covering all key actors involved in the management of the refineries during the period in question.

The EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.

Earlier, sources at the NNPCL told Saturday PUNCH that one of the sacked MDs had been with the EFCC for about a week.

“Large amounts have been discovered in his accounts. About N80bn has so far been discovered in his various accounts. The way things are going, it may be bigger than Emefielegate,” the official, who spoke in confidence due to the nature of the probe, stated.

Another official stated, “All the three of them are being investigated by the EFCC. It is indeed sad!”

Kyari under probe

A document obtained by our correspondent on Friday from NNPCL, dated April 28, 2025, and titled, ‘Investigation Activities: Request for Information’, indicated that the probe by EFCC included the immediate past Group Chief Executive Officer of the national oil firm, Mele Kyari.

The EFCC document was addressed to the Group Managing Director (Group Chief Executive Officer) of the national oil company and contained the names of 13 other former senior executives of the NNPCL.

“The commission is investigating a case of abuse of office and misappropriation of funds in which the underlisted officials of your organisation featured,” the document stated.

It outlined the officials to include Abubakar Yar’Adua, Mele Kyari, Isiaka Abdulrazak, Umar Ajiya, Dikko Ahmed, Ibrahim Onoja, Ademoye Jelili, and Mustapha Sugungun.

Others are Kayode Adetokunbo, Efiok Akpan, Babatunde Bakare, Jimoh Olasunkanmi, Bello Kankaya and Desmond Inyama.

“In view of the above, you are kindly requested to furnish certified true copies of their emoluments and allowances, including that of those who have retired and no longer work with your organisation,” the anti-graft commission told the NNPCL boss.

The spokesperson for the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, has remained mute over allegations against top officials of the company, as he ignored repeated enquiries on the matter.

Lies uncovered

Although this is not the first time the company has feigned the effectiveness of its operations, citizens have noted that the lack of transparency not only deepens public distrust but also fuels speculation about the company’s true intentions and the actual state of Nigeria’s oil infrastructure.

On Tuesday, The PUNCH exclusively reported that the NNPCL came under fire as the $897m Warri refinery revamp flopped.

The report also stated that the $1.5bn newly repaired Port Harcourt refinery had been struggling at under 37.87 per cent production capacity.

This was after the revelation that the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company had remained shut since January 25, 2025, due to safety issues in its Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.

An April 2025 document on the Midstream and Downstream sector obtained from the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority revealed that the refinery, which consumed $897.6m in maintenance costs, failed to produce Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and was shut down barely a month after former NNPCL boss, Kyari, declared it operational.

An investigation by Saturday PUNCH on January 5, 2025, revealed that skeletal activities were ongoing at the WRPC, compared with the heyday of the refinery when the company was working at full capacity. But NNPCL debunked this, stressing that production was ongoing.

The PUNCH reports that the 125,000 barrels per day capacity Warri refinery, which had been moribund for decades due to technical issues, was brought back to life by the national oil company on December 30, 2024.

The Warri refinery

Situated in Ekpan, Uwvie, and Ubeji areas of Warri, the petrochemical plant has an annual production capacity of 13,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene and 18,000 metric tonnes of carbon black.

Commissioned in 1978, the WRPC is operated by the NNPC and was established to cater to the markets in Nigeria’s southern and southwestern regions.

The PUNCH reported that President Bola Tinubu commended the NNPCL for completing the refurbishment of the 125,000-bpd capacity Warri refinery, which reportedly kicked off operations at 60 per cent capacity.

It is focused on producing and storing critical products, including Straight Run Kerosene, Automotive Gas Oil (diesel), and heavy and light Naphtha.

A month earlier, the national oil company, at a much-publicised event, announced the revitalisation of the 60,000 barrels per day old Port Harcourt refinery.

The $1.5bn rehabilitation project, funded through a loan facility backed by international financial institutions, was projected to restore the state-owned facility to full operational status after years of dormancy and seven postponements, with the latest failure occurring in September 2024, from its earlier target of December 2023.

But a few days after the fanfare, a visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by our correspondent claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration. This was also denied by the company.

The NNPCL spokesperson, Soneye, had said that the refinery recommissioned on November 26, 2024, was operating at 70 per cent of its installed capacity, with plans to increase output to 90 per cent in subsequent months.

At its recommissioning, the state-owned firm stated that the Port Harcourt refinery would produce daily outputs of 1.4 million litres of Straight-Run Gasoline blended into Premium Motor Spirit, 900,000 litres of Kerosene, 1.5 million litres of Automotive Gas Oil, 2.1 million litres of Low Pour Fuel Oil, and additional volumes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas.

The new NMDPRA document highlighting the refinery’s true state, however, linked the shutdown of WRPC to critical faults in the refinery’s Crude Distillation Unit Main Heater.

“The Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company was shut down on 25th Jan. 2025 due to safety concerns over the CDU Main Heater,” the document stated.

The PHRC facility, on its part, did not exceed 42.23 per cent of its operational capacity within the six months.

At another visit on Friday to the Warri refinery by Saturday PUNCH, some members of staff who were seen around the premises declined to comment on the situation at the refinery.

Non-staff members were denied access to the complex, as security operatives at the main gate insisted they were working on instructions.

Marketers contacted also lamented they had been unable to lift petroleum products at the refinery.

Our correspondent did not see fuel-laden trucks either coming in or going out of the refinery during the visit.

FG deceiving Nigerians – Expert

An energy expert, Kelvin Emmanuel, said the Warri, Port Harcourt, and Kaduna refineries were never truly set to resume operations.

Speaking on Arise News, Emmanuel described the televised commissioning as a “charade,” accusing the government of staging the event to mislead the public.

He said, “For months, I had said that Warri, Port-Harcourt, and Kaduna were never going to come back into operation and that what Nigerians saw on television as the commissioning was just a charade.

“On August 12, 2021, the Federal Executive Council approved memos for monies worth $2.96bn to be raised for the turnaround maintenance of the three refineries.

“This money can build a brand new 60,000-barrel refinery. The last of these refineries was completed in 1989 by Shell. So these refineries were built as very sizable modular refineries to power the operations of operators off-stream.

“So they were not built to refine. The PHRC and WRPC don’t have a catalytic reform unit that can convert Naphtha to PMS.

“The 46km pipeline that was designed to supply feedstock from Escravos to Warri is out of service. So, how are you carrying crude oil to the refinery?

“One of the proofs that the NNPCL was deceiving Nigerians that it was refining is that most of our products are supplied from Lagos.

“We have a situation where $2.96bn was approved by the FEC, but there is nothing to show for it. So, if you claim that your refineries are operational, it is supposed to deliver up to 7 million litres. If you check the balance sheet of the company, the refineries are a loss-making business.”

Staff threaten strike

Meanwhile, plans to restart a section of Nigeria’s 125,000b/d Warri refinery are at risk due to an indefinite strike planned by plant support staff scheduled to begin on Monday, May 5, 2025. The strike is in protest against casualisation, low pay, and lack of benefits.

A new report by Argus Media said the state-owned company had planned to restart the crude and vacuum distillation units (CDU and VDU) and a gas plant in the first week of May. But the support staff have timed their strike to disrupt these plans.

Support staff representative, Dafe Ighomitedo, said the striking workers had been protesting their employment terms since 2015.

“A previous strike called in April 2022 would have delayed the start of the quick-fix programme, but it was called off following appeals from community leaders and a promise from refinery management to address the workers’ demands if they supported the programme,” Ighomitedo said.

“Workers were promised an improved salary structure upon the refinery’s restart, but that promise has not been fulfilled,” he added.

IPMAN worried, PETROAN demands probe

The Delta State Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Harry Okenini, speaking with Saturday PUNCH, expressed worry over the non-production of petrol at the Warri refinery, months after the announced completion of its rehabilitation.

The IPMAN boss said, “Since the inauguration of the rehabilitated Warri refinery on January 5, 2025, there has been no green light for IPMAN to lift petroleum products from the facility.

“For the past months, there has been no product for marketers here, and we cannot just stay idle, so we decided to source products from the private depots.

“These private depot owners, today they will increase the price; tomorrow they will increase it again. So, the whole thing has caused problems for the business.”

He appealed to the Federal Government to give the newly-appointed board of the NNPCL a free hand to work.

Also, the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria called for an investigation into the condition of the refineries.

Challenged by one of our correspondents to defend its earlier claims that the refineries were supplying fuel to its members, PETROAN National President, Billy Gillis-Harry, said the refineries were working at the time he and his team visited the sites.

He said, “We had very clear knowledge because we had a technical team with us, and the evaluation showed that there was hope for these refineries to work. We are not the contractors; we are not the ones who maintain them.

“So, we went home with the fact that we saw the refineries working and the furnaces were lighting up. But if today they are not working, then, of course, PETROAN probably needs to revisit and check what happened and what didn’t happen, which we are going to do.

“Since this news came out, I have had meetings with NMDPRA and a few other critical leaders in the industry.

“For us, we want to encourage the system to be very efficient. But if what has been done is not good enough, of course, you can see that punishment is being meted out to those who managed it. So, we hope that things will become much better.”

An energy expert, Dan Kunle, described the much-celebrated renovation as a scandal.

Giving insights, Kunle said the Federal Government failed to convince the original builders of the refinery from Japan to come for its renovation, as the country’s government warned against insecurity.

He said another contractor was employed to fix these refineries at a high cost with nothing to show for it yet.

He said the government was only wasting money on renovating the refineries, saying the Kaduna refinery has no pipelines to supply it with crude oil.

“Why did we avoid Japan? Why did we go around when a sovereign authority like Nigeria could not convince Japan to come and fix the refinery? And the same Japanese company is in NLNG doing contracts.

“Kaduna refinery has no pipe to feed it. Even if you fix the Kaduna refinery with the $800m or $750m, how will crude get there? So why will you put the rehabilitation of that place on course and abandon the crude pipeline from Escravo to Warri, to Auchi, to Lokoja, to Suleja?

“The crude pipeline was built in the late 70s. Today, you cannot pressurise crude from Escravo to that place.

“All these three refineries, we are wasting money rehabilitating them,” Kunle stated.

He accused Kyari of launching media propaganda with public funds to deceive Nigerians that the refineries were working.