Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has appealed the June 19 ruling of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja and presided over by Justice Binta Nyako, against his objection to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to subject him to trial.

Kanu through his Special Counsel, Chief Aloy Ejimakor, filed the notice of appeal on Tuesday at the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

This was disclosed by Ejimakor in a statement.

The statement made available to newsmen Tuesday night read:”Earlier today (Tuesday), I filed a Notice of Appeal with the Court of Appeal in Abuja against the 19th June 2024 ruling of Justice Binta Murtala-Nyako, refusing Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s application objecting to the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court to subject him to trial.

” The grounds of the objection are seven and mostly predicated on provisions of the Constitution, the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022 and other pertinent statutes.”

The Federal Government to Nigeria is the only Respondent, and to be served through her Counsel, Asiwaju Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN.

Kanu has remained at the Abuja headquarters of the Department of State Services, DSS, since his extraordinary rendition from Kenya in June 2021.

The notice of appeal further read:”TAKE NOTICE that the Appellant being dissatisfied with the Ruling of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division coram: B.F.M Nyako, J. delivered on the 19th June, 2024, more particularly set out in Paragraph 2, doth hereby appeal to the Court of Appeal, Abuja upon the grounds set out in Paragraph 3 below and will at the hearing of the Appeal seek the Reliefs set out in Paragraph 4 of this Notice of Appeal..

“AND TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the names and addresses of persons directly affected by this appeal are those set out in Paragraph 5.

“Ground one:Error in law: The Learned Trial Judge erred in law and occasioned grave miscarriage of justice against the Appellant when the trial Court held that “The main claim in this application deals with the counts of charge the Defendant is facing. These counts of charge that this Court had retained after a considered ruling on the counts of charge dismissing 8 of the original counts. The main issue is that, if the Defendant has a problem with the counts of charge retained, the option open is appeal.

“Particulars of the error: The part of the Ruling by the court below that states that “The main issue is that, if the Defendant has a problem with the counts of charge retained, the option open is appeal” is an erroneous statement of the law for the following reasons:

“a. As a matter of law, the Appellant is, after the remission from the Supreme Court to the court below, entitled to raise any further preliminary objection to jurisdiction on Grounds not raised in the previous preliminary objection that reduced the initial Counts of the Charges from 15 (fifteen) to 7 (seven).

“b. As a matter of trite law, the Appellant can only exercise the option of appeal after the trial court has pronounced a ruling on the instant preliminary objection, not before. It is markedly strange, in our jurisprudence, to suggest (as the trial court did) that appeal of the said seven (7) Counts (remitted from the Supreme Court) should precede or take the place of the instant preliminary objection raised before the court below. Thus, the Appellant cannot be expected to proceed on appeal over the validity or otherwise of the Counts when the issues had never been raised and ruled upon by the trial court.

“2, The previous jurisdictional issues raised by the Appellant against the erstwhile 15 counts and which were decided by the Supreme Court was on the basis of the Extraordinary Rendition of the Appellant and other Grounds not raised in the preliminary objection that is the subject of this Appeal.

“3, The Supreme Court in its decision never foreclosed the Appellant from raising other jurisdiction issues affecting the retained counts/charges; instead the Supreme Court had in fact contemplated (or pre-exempted from its judgment) further objections to the jurisdiction of the trial Court when, in its lead judgment at Page 46, the apex court stated as follows:

“In the above premises, the duty to consider and make pronouncements on the other issues in this Appeal, is abated particularly since the trial court is clothed with the requisite jurisdiction to proceed with trial of the Respondent during, in the course of, or at which some of these issues may be raised or arise”.

“4, Further to the above, especially as it concerns the validity of the remaining or “retained” Counts of Charge, the trial court conceded or correctly stated that “the Supreme Court did not determine the validity of the counts”, thus occasioning a grave miscarriage by refusing to make said determination when the instant application was on the validity of the said retained counts.

“Ground two: Error in law

The trial court erred in law when it considered only one out of the seven (7) ‘jurisdictional’ Grounds raised in the preliminary objection), said lone Ground bordering on the repeal of the Terrorism Prevention Amendment Act 2013 (TPAA 2013), which thus occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice against the Appellant.

” Particulars of the error:

1, As can be gleaned from its Ruling, the Honorable trial court did not consider the following Grounds of objection to its jurisdiction:

“a. Regarding COUNTS 1,2,3,4,5 and 8, the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention Act 2011 (as amended in 2013) under which the IPOB was proscribed and declared a terrorist group are inconsistent with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution, and are thus void to the extent of the inconsistency.

“b, Regarding COUNTS 1,2,3,4,5 and 8, there is a subsisting judgment of a High Court to the effect that the executive action leading to the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist group and its proscription is unconstitutional.

“c, Count 3 of the charges against the Appellant is unconstitutional as it seeks to punish the Appellant for an act that was not a crime when it occurred and is otherwise an abuse of process.

“d, COUNTS 1,2,3,4,5 and 8 are incurably defective as the Appellant is misled by the failure to state the place or where the alleged offenses were committed and the specific dates of the alleged broadcasts.

“e, Count 15 is not in compliance with the Administration of Criminal Justice Act; it is not within the territorial jurisdiction of this Honorable Court; and it is not supported by any proof of evidence; and Law under which Applicant is being tried in these Counts has otherwise been repealed.

“2. The failure of the trial Court to determine the said foregoing six (6) Grounds is manifestly wrong and a denial of the Appellant’s rights to fair hearing, since the Appellant ought to know the competence or otherwise of the counts before being subjected to strenuous pretrial detention and trial over the manifestly incompetent counts affected by the said Grounds not determined by the trial court.

“3, Further, in its said consideration of the said Ground of objection (bordering only on repeal of TPAA 2013) and in ruling the way that it did, the Honorable trial court erred by ruling against the settled law that a repealed law can only sustain a completed or concluded prosecution and where not so concluded, the charges/counts become abated and incompetent.

“4, The binding decisions of Amona & ORS Vs. Incorporated Trustees of Omadino Development Association & Ors (2004) LPELR-12610 (CA) andNCAA Vs. Project Eagle Air Ltd & ORS (2021) LPELR-53105 (CA) on the incompetence of charges/counts founded on repealed laws were adverted to the trial court, but the court ignored them and relied on no judicial or statutory authority to overrule the Appellant’s Notice of Preliminary Objection.”

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has said the menace of drug abuse in the country is a ticking bomb that all stakeholders must rise to fight elaborately.

The anti-narcotic agency disclosed that the menace has become a serious national issue as the proliferation of drug abuse now cuts across classes of persons and regions in the country.

According to the NDLEA, the practice of abuse of drugs and addiction is not only peculiar among the street and common people, but also a challenge recording high indulgence among the very important persons (VIPs) in the country.

The Assistant Commander General of Narcotics, Directorate of Operations and Investigation, NDLEA, Mrs. Ibinabo Archie-Abia, said this on Tuesday while featuring in an interview on Arise TV Morning Show.

Speaking on how drug abuse is creating a challenge at the workplace, she said: “We go to the workplace, we organise seminars and workshops, we take it to their companies, and the factories because for most persons that abuse these drugs, people think they are the low class ones or those people you see on the road, it’s not true. We have high profile persons abusing drugs, managing directors, VIPs or their children into drugs. So these things translate to the work places.

“For the VIPs, they have the money to do the drugs, we are also talking to them. They can come out of it if they have the will because it’s doing them no good, rather it’s destroying their persons. We have so many of them.”

She decried the prevalent abuse of drugs among children and women in the country, saying the statistics show “for every four abusers of drugs there are three females.”

“The drug problem is now very highly worrisome. I want to see it now as an epidemic in Nigeria. Nigerians ought to know that primary school pupils are also in drugs now, girls are involved in drugs, as young as age nine they go into drugs. We have to be careful not to think it’s only in the secondary schools.

“We are not just talking to the youths, we are talking to the adults. Please be careful, save our nation. “It’s a big issue, it’s challenging, it’s worrisome, in fact, it’s a ticking timed bomb,” she said, adding that “even pregnant women are into it and they don’t get help. Because of the stigma, the women hide away, they don’t do it in public, but they are hooked on drugs.” She said addicts of drugs could be treated and rehabilitated to get freed from the problem, but called on relevant stakeholders to contribute to identification of cases for intervention, while warning against stigmatising victims of the menace. “Recently we counselled the children of very high profiled persons, some who were in schools and left, and they are hooked on drugs. We found them on the streets, and their parents came for us to help. We took them in and they are now restored.

“We have experts trained to address this situation, so nobody should be labelled or stigmatised because he/she is challenged with substance use. All they need is help. We see it as a mental issue. If you can treat malaria, you can also treat addictions. So let’s encourage them, the idea of hiding them, living a life of denial, is not helpful,” she said.

According to her, the spread of drug abuse in the Country is not isolated to any particularly geo-political zone in the Country, but there was much concentration in the North, the Southwest and the South-south.

“I want to say it’s a national issue. There’s no state that is insulated from this scourge called drug abuse and illicit trafficking. Every State, even the ones you think will never get involved, are all in it.

“But for the purposes of enlightenment, I want to say that, and that’s not like stigmatising any region, we have a major problem in the South-west, North, and the South-south. Majorly in the North, what we contend against is the local substances they abuse, they do lots of tramadol and that is understandable too.

“When it comes to the South-west because of our porous borders, the airports, the seaports and the exposure of the people, they also abuse drugs so much and they traffic in drugs. So predominantly, for every region in Nigeria, there is nothing that is insulated,” she said. She disclosed that given the clampdown on traffickers using sea and air ports to traffic drugs, the perpetrators of substance proliferation have shifted to localising the production of substances within the country.

“Nigeria was first referred to as a transit nation because of the network of our airlines. You can connect most parts of the world from Nigeria, so it was easy for people coming into our nation and trafficking substances through our sea and air ports. But recently, there’s been a new sheriff in town that uttered that we have strict enforcement measures in place, at the airports, seaports, the land borders everywhere, and we do intercity interdictions and operations taking out these drugs and now they are not very easy again, but what they do now is that they localise it and that’s the bane now and that’s what we are working seriously on.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said he needs more time to consult widely on the appropriate amount to be paid as new minimum wage for workers in the public sector.

The President gave the explanation at the Federal Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, when the matter was put forward for deliberations.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris revealed this on Tuesday, while briefing State House Correspondents.

He said the memo was stepped down because the Federal Government thought it wise to consult with other stakeholders, especially as the new wage proposals affects the local government areas, states and the Federal Government.

The minister said, “A lot of people have been asking me questions pertaining to whether the New Minimum Wage would come up for deliberations today at FEC, especially whether government was going to have a position on the new wage.

“Recall that there was a report from the tripartite committee, comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress, the Organised Private Sector and the government representatives, these three make up the tripartite committee that discussed on the new minimum wage. They have forwarded a report to the President which he has gone through.

“But consistent with the way it should be done, I want to inform Nigerians that FEC deliberated on that because the new national minimum wage is not just the decision of the Federal government. “That memo was stepped down to enable Mr President consult further so that he can have an informed position on what to do. This decision was taken because it affects the States, LG and the Federal Government.”

The Police Service Commission has denied reports that it cancelled the recently concluded 2022 police constable recruitment.

The PSC and the Joint Congress of the Police Service Commission had been embroiled in verbal disputes following the police’s allegations that the recruitment exercise done by the commission was marred with irregularities.

The commission, in a statement on Tuesday by its Head, Press and Public Relations, Ikechukwu Ani, stressed that the final list of successful candidates from the recruitment would never be cancelled. He insisted that the exercise was done by relevant laws.  Ani said, “The Police Service Commission has just concluded routine maintenance of its portal containing the list of successful candidates for the recently concluded recruitment into the constable cadre of the Nigeria Police Force.

The commission wishes to disown a statement circulating in social media alleging that it has succumbed to pressure and cancelled the final list of successful candidates.

“The commission has not and will not cancel the final list of successful candidates from the recruitment exercise which was conducted in clear adherence to relevant guidelines and provisions of the law. The commission is in control of the situation and has since restored the Recruitment portal with its original contents.”

He, therefore, urged successful candidates to disregard the reports.

Ani said, “Successful candidates are advised to ignore the deliberate antics of desperate groups bent on destroying the good work of the Commission in giving the nation a merit-based and inclusive recruitment exercise. It notes that it will continue to ensure that Federal character, gender sensitivity and merit are the bedrock of its recruitment process.” He warned those behind the report to desist, adding that anyone caught would be made to face the wrath of the law.

Ani said, ” The commission calls on these disgruntled elements to desist further from undermining the recruitment exercise as anyone caught will be dealt with.

“The Commission restates that the portal is now fully functional and accessible. Candidates can now log in and access all its features without any disruptions. The Commission regrets the hitches and assures that it has fully secured the platform.”

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has announced a 14-day extension for the student loan application process for state institutions, citing low data submissions.

The decision was made due to the failure of several state-owned institutions to upload required student data and fee information to the NELFUND Student Verification System.

According to a statement released in Abuja on Tuesday, only a limited number of state-owned institutions have successfully completed the data submission process.

Out of 48 state universities, only 20 have submitted data, while 12 out of 54 state colleges and 2 out of 49 state polytechnics have complied.

NELFUND said the application window, initially set to open on June 25, 2024, will now commence on July 10, 2024. The extension, the body says will provide additional time for state institutions to comply with the data submission requirements.

NELFUND also stressed the importance of complete and accurate information, including JAMB numbers, matriculation numbers, admission numbers, full names, level, faculties, departments, duration of program, fees, and gender of all eligible students.

The presidency has again appealled to Nigerian workers to exercise more patience with the Bola Tinubu administration over the new minimum wage.

Special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, made the plea in a chat with journalists on Monday, June 24.

He urged Nigerians not to pile unnecessary pressure on President Tinubu.

Onanuga assured that Tinubu would transmit the proposed bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly in the coming days.

The assurance comes barely 24 hours after labour leaders urged President Tinubu to consider consulting and reaching an agreement with its leadership before transmitting the bill to the National Assembly.

The workers’ union admitted that their much anticipated meeting of the National Executive Committee, which will accommodate about 300 Labour leaders, is being stalled by Tinubu’s delay to transmit the wage bill.

The last time the NLC and the TUC held a joint extraordinary National Executive Council was on June 4. It was an emergency meeting to determine whether to continue its strike or shelve it following the agreement they reached with the government.

Reacting, Onanuga wondered what the rush for the transmission of the bill was all about. While admitting that he had no knowledge of the date for submission, the presidential aide pleaded for more time. “People should be patient,” Onanuga appealled.

Meanwhile, labour leaders have vowed to reject any offer below the N250,000 they are demanding.

A tragic incident unfolded at the National Assembly when a senior officer from the Nigeria Customs Service collapsed and died during a session with the Public Account Committee of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, June 25, 2024.

The distressing event occurred around 1:00 pm while the officer was actively engaging with the committee. He suddenly developed health complications that quickly escalated, leading to his collapse during the proceedings.

Immediate efforts to assist the officer were made by first responders present at the scene. He was quickly transferred to the National Assembly Clinic, where medical personnel undertook urgent intervention attempts.

Despite their diligent efforts, the officer was unfortunately declared deceased.

The House spokesperson, Akin Rotimi, addressing the incident, chose not to disclose the name of the deceased officer out of respect for his family’s privacy during this difficult time.

The spokesperson emphasized the sensitivity of the situation and the need to handle it with the utmost respect and care.

The statement read, “It is with deep sadness and regret that we confirm the passing of an esteemed official of the Nigeria Customs Service who was at the National Assembly for an engagement with a House Committee.  “Out of respect for the family, the official’s name will not be disclosed at this time. “The House of Representatives extends its heartfelt condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the deceased during this difficult time. We recognize the significant contributions he made to the Nigeria Customs Service and our nation. ‘The House of Representatives stands ready to support efforts to understand the circumstances surrounding the incident and is cooperating fully with all relevant authorities to ensure all necessary protocols are followed.

“The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, PhD., expressed his condolences, stating, “We are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of a dedicated public servant. Our hearts go out to his family during this difficult time.”

A Federal Capital Terrritory, FCT, High Court in Abuja yesterday  adjourned until October 22, the trial of the suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele over alleged procurement fraud.

Emefiele is charged with an alleged 20-count amended charge, preferred against him by the Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

He was alleged to have engaged in criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to obtain by false pretence and obtaining money by false pretence, when he served as the apex bank’s boss.

Specifically, the EFCC alleged that the former CBN boss forged a document titled: Re: Presidential Directive on Foreign Election Observer Missions dated January 26, 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201 and purportedly to have emanated from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, AGF.

Besides he is also accused of using his office as CBN governor to confer unfair and corrupt advantage on two companies; April 1616 Nigeria Ltd and Architekon Nigeria Ltd.

Emefiele in the amended charge was alleged to have, on Feb. 8, 2023 knowingly obtained, by false pretence, 6.2 million dollars by falsely representing the Secretary to the Government of the Federation via a letter dated January 26, 2023 with Ref No. SGF 43/L.01/201 requested the CBN to provide a contingent logistic advance in the sum of $6,230,000 “in line with Presidential directive.”

Justice Hamza Muazu adjourned until October 21 after hearing from the testimony of the 9th prosecution witness (PW9).

He further adjourned until July 8 for hearing of Emefiele ‘s application seeking for the release of his passport to enable him to attend to medical appointments.

Earlier, the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, brought two witnesses PW8 and PW9.

Umar Tilde the 8th prosecution witness (PW8) works with Zenith Bank as the Compliance Office.

He told the court that EFCC, requested for account opening documents, statement of account, and certificate of identification for the account of Emefiele.

On whether Emefiele had only one account with the bank, he said the letter from the EFCC had different account numbers.

The prosecution’s 9th witness is Mrs Abibia Ockiya-Ogeleye , a lawyer Principal Partner A & A Legal Consociate.

She handled the incorporation matters at the CAC for Architkun Nigeria Ltd.

According to the witness, prior to 2021, the company had two directors.

The witness added that all she did was given to her by Esther Oyeladun.

After her testimony, Matthew Burkaa, SAN, Emefiele’s counsel told the court that his client applied for the release of his passport to travel for a medical appointment.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has stepped down the memo on the new minimum wage. Our correspondent  learnt that the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, revealed the latest development while speaking to State House Correspondents on Tuesday. Idris said 39 items were on the agenda, and all were taken except the minimum wage.

According to the Minister, there was a report by the Tripartite committee, which comprises local government, States, NLC/ TUC and the federal government.

He said the Tripartite Committee submitted its report, and there was a memo to that effect. Idris noted that the Council could not decide on the minimum because it involves Local Government, states, FG, Organized Private Sector and Labour unions.

On why the memo on the new minimum wage was stepped down, Idris said the action was taken to enable President Bola Tinubu to consult widely before a final submission to the National Assembly. Meanwhile, Organised Labour, on Monday, charged President Bola Tinubu to prove his love for Nigerian workers and approve its demand of ₦250,000 minimum wage to reflect the present inflationary trend in the country.

A member of the organised labour negotiating team in the Tripartite Committee of the New National Minimum Wage and President-General of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), Adewale Adeyanju, in an interview withnewsmen, accused state governors of stalling efforts at achieving a reasonable wage for public workers.

He said, “If you are an employer of labour and you do not have the love of your workers in your heart, how do you call yourself an employer of labour? We have problems with OPS and the state governors that believe they cannot afford to pay ₦30, 000 talk less of the figure that labour is demanding.

“We started having that issue at the negotiating table where they were dragging from N30, 000 to ₦48, 000 and to ₦60, 000. They were pricing as if it were tomatoes and onions before they now finally came out and said ₦62,000.”

The Managing Director, ExxonMobil Nigeria, Shane Harris, has declared that the oil major is not leaving Nigeria as claimed in some quarters, particularly after the oil firm’s proposed divestment of a 100 per cent interest in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited.

Harris, who disclosed this at a meeting with the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, in Abuja, stated that ExxonMobil is currently carrying out new investments in the oil and gas sector in Nigeria.

The Special Assistant on Media and Communications to the petroleum minister, Nneamaka Okafor, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

“During the meeting, Mr Harris hinted at significant new investments that ExxonMobil is injecting into Nigeria’s energy sector.

“He expressed confidence in the renewed relationship between ExxonMobil and the Nigerian government, assuring the government that the oil giant is not planning to leave Nigeria,” the statement read.

It further quoted the ExxonMobil boss as saying, “We are excited about the prospects these new investments bring. Our partnership with the Nigerian government is crucial for sustainable growth, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration as we have no plan to leave.”

On his part, Lokpobiri reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to enhancing production and fostering a conducive environment for investors in the energy sector.

He highlighted the ministry’s focus on creating collaborations and sharing innovative ideas with international oil companies, stating that “we are dedicated to ramping up production and ensuring a supportive environment for all investors by doing everything possible to maintain investor confidence in our country.”

Lokpobiri commended the ExxonMobil team for their commitment in the Nigerian oil and gas sector, noting that it aligned perfectly with the nation’s objectives.

“ExxonMobil’s planned investments are commendable and greatly appreciated. This renewed relationship is a testament to the mutual goals we share for the future of our energy sector,” the minister stated.

The statement added that the discussions by both parties also touched on the ministry’s support for international and independent oil operators.

Lokpobiri assured Harris of the government’s support, emphasising the importance of creating a thriving environment for all stakeholders.

“We fully support ExxonMobil and other lOCs, just as we do with independent operators. Our collaborative efforts are key to the sustainable growth of our energy sector,” he stated.

On May 31, 2024, The PUNCH reported that Nigeria might add 480,000 barrels to its daily crude oil output as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and ExxonMobil took a step towards resolving the disagreement surrounding the sale of the latter’s asset to Seplat Energy.

The report stated that NNPC confirmed it had signed a settlement agreement with ExxonMobil companies in Nigeria over the proposed divestment of a 100 per cent interest in Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited to Seplat Energy Offshore Limited.

This was after President Bola Tinubu announced his intervention in the debacle between NNPC and ExxonMobil hindering the sale of the assets to Seplat.

Lokpobiri said recently that Nigeria had lost about $30bn in the past two and a half years as a result of the unsuccessful divestment.

The minister expressed concerns that Nigeria was losing about 480,000 barrels of crude oil per day due to the Seplat/ExxonMobil crisis.

He said the asset was producing about 600,000bpd until the crisis began in 2022, saying the nation was losing millions of dollars daily.

Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria has denied importing dirty fuel into Nigeria, saying the diesel from the Dangote refinery contains more sulphur than imported one.

The association is reacting to claims by the management of the Dangote oil refinery that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority had been granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import what they described as dirty refined products into the country.

In a statement made available to our correspondent by the DAPPMAN Secretary, Olufemi Adewole, the management of the association stated “emphatically that no member of the association and indeed, no private fuels depot has imported into the country any fuel with specification that is outside of the regulation other than what is currently approved by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority and would wish to state that the information from the Dangote Refinery Management is laced with Inaccuracies”.

DAPPMAN noted that the downstream regulatory authority has recently objected to offtakes by its daughter vessels from import mother vessels, via ship-to-ship operations which usually take place offshore Lome, a move it said was vehemently protested and resisted by downstream operators until it was rescinded.

“DAPPMAN recalls that between February and May 2024, the NMDPRA had allowed AGO imports with a maximum sulphur content of 200/ppm, however, this was followed by another move, by the regulator, to fast forward the country’s target date of the implementation of the 50/ppm sulphur limitation on PMS and AGO imports, from 31st December 2024 to 1st June 2024, thereby limiting all marketers and depots’ AGO source to Dangote Refinery even though the latter was yet to install its desulphurization equipment as the sulphur in its blends of AGO presently exceed 50/ppm.

“This again was resisted by DAPPMAN in its letter to the NMDPRA which was dated 10th June 2024 to warn and alert the regulator not to ‘inadvertently promote and introduce a monopoly into the sector,” the statement read partly.

The depot owners association said further that, “With stiff resistance at every attempt at introducing a Dangote Refinery monopoly into the downstream, and the fact that the latter, despite its most recent production of AGO with sulphur contents reported at 1200/ppm, it is baffling to us that the Management of Dangote Industries (including the Dangote Refinery), who are very much aware of these facts, could claim that the NMDPRA has been granting licenses indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country.

“Their current blend of AGO, with reported sulphur contents of 1200/ppm is technically classified as ‘dirty fuel’ and grossly above the 200/ppm imported by any marketer or depot owner,” DAPPMAN stated.

While acknowledging that the Dangote refinery is a business entity that is free to adopt any model that suits its management, DAPPMAN, however, stressed that “its current practice of cheaper bulk sales prices to international buyers at the detriment of Nigerian buyers calls to question their patriotism to the country”.

It added, “Several Nigerian marketers had in recent past been offered Dangote refinery cargoes by international trading firms at rates that are very much lower than what they were directly offered by Dangote Refinery, and this will not be in the interest of the Nigerian fuel end-user.”

The statement concluded, “There is no doubt that the success of the Dangote refinery will be a thing of pride to the nation, but all downstream operators and their activities must be in tandem with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act 2021 which abhors ‘monopoly’ of any sort.

“DAPPMAN will continue to work with all stakeholders, including the Dangote refinery willingly to provide safe and healthy fuels to all Nigerians competitively giving them great and affordable fueling options for their daily activities.

Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, has accused former President Muhammadu Buharis administration of lavishing the initial $100 million of a $500 milion World Bank loan for women empowerment.

Ohanenye said Buharis government lavished the $100 million on meetings, advocacy and consultancy.

The minister made this known in an interview with Arise News on Monday.
DAILY POST recalls that the World Bank on June 27, 2023 approved a fresh $500 million loan for Nigeria to help improve the livelihood of women in Nigeria.

Ohanenye commended President Bola Tinubu for his proactive involvement in the project, particularly his scrutiny of the initial $100 million expenditure.

She clarified that the funds were a loan, not a grant, and stressed the importance of proper management to ensure repayment.

About the Nigeria for Women Project, let me first tell Nigerian women to clap for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who came in after the first $100 million had been expended. That was when he came in and when he came in, he looked at it with me and we were not satisfied with how the $100 million was used.

Let me make it clear. This is not a grant, it is a loan and when some monies are loans, they must have to be managed well so that the loans can be paid back. If you dont manage it well, how do we pay back the loan?

And when money is a loan, we expect whoever you are giving loan to be allowed to utilise that loan properly in a way that it can yield back the money to be paid, so that Nigeria will not continue owing.

The first 100 million, when I came in,
I was not satisfied. It didnt augur well with the vision of the new Presidents Renewed Hope Agenda.

It was mainly used for advocacy, meetings, consultancies and that was it. They shared it among the states.