COVER
Rivers Crisis: No Respite as Ijaw Reject Tinubu Intervention
By David Torough, Abuja
Political crisis in Rivers State may have turned into an ethnic struggle as the Ijaw people of the riverine state have rejected the peace accord brokered by President Bola Tinubu.
The president on Monday night brokered truce between the warring parties and an eight-point resolution was agreed upon by the stakeholders.
As part of the resolutions, the governor was directed to recognise the Martin Amaewhule-led faction of the state House of Assembly alongside the 26 members who dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Reacting to the peace accord on Tuesday, the South-South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark described the directives issued to Governor Sim Fubara as a resolution of the political crisis as not only appalling but also unacceptable, particularly to the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
The Ijaw leader made the declaration on Tuesday at a press briefing at his residence in Abuja, threatening to take legal action.
He said the eight-point resolution is undemocratic, dictatorial, one-sided, and aimed at handing over the political leadership of Rivers State to the former governor of the state and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike.
According to him, from the terms of the purported settlement, it is obvious that President Tinubu used his role as a mediator to once again show gratitude to the FCT minister for “delivering” Rivers State to him during the last presidential elections.
He observed that Tinubu had previously gratified Wike by making him the minister of FCT.
Clark noted that the attendees of the meeting were one-sided in favour of the minister while adding that Fubara was ambushed and intimidated into submission.
Clark said, “The terms of settlement as contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the reconciliatory meeting are what is baffling, appalling, and unacceptable to the people, especially the Ijaw ethnic nationality.
“First Observation: The composition of the attendees of the meeting was one-sided in favour of Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), because while Martins Amaewhule, a former Speaker (because he automatically lost his seat the very moment he decamped to another political party), was present at the meeting, it would have only been equitable and expedient for Edison Ehie, the Speaker, as affirmed by constitutional provisions and by the granting of the court, to be in the meeting, if the purpose was sincere.
“President Tinubu should know that with all the powers he possesses, he cannot override the Constitution.
“From all that transpired at the meeting, the laws of the land have not been obeyed. President Tinubu simply sat over a meeting where the Constitution, which is the fulcrum of his office as president and which he swore to uphold and abide by, was truncated and desecrated.”
Clark pointed out that the Nigerian Constitution is clear on what should happen to the members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who left the political party on which platform they were
He described the directive to re-submit the names of Commissioners who have resigned their appointments on their own volition as ridiculous.
The former Federal Commissioner of Information also observed that the directive for Fubara to re-present the state budget already passed into law and signed “is absolutely ridiculous and unconstitutional.”
Clark maintained, “By the actions of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, he has really shown his dislike and disdain for the Ijaw people and confirmed his hatred for them. And as the leader of the Ijaws, we will resist it.”
He vowed that the directive that members of the House of Assembly will choose where they will sit to carry out their legislative duties will be resisted, as according to him, “it is the duty of the executive to provide legislative accommodation for the Houses of Assembly, including the National Assembly, and not the members of the House of Assembly to choose a place to meet.”
Clark accused Fubara of showing “feebleness of character, by agreeing and appending his signature to a document containing such absurdity,” adding, “He has betrayed the people who elected him as governor and those who stood behind him in this cause.
“Mr. Fubara has shown naivety in his actions; by signing that document, he has signed his death warrant, believing that the president will show him some sort of favour. Mr. Fubara’s mandate is constitutional, and so he cannot surrender it in the face of intimidation from any quarter.”
He warned, “We will resist any attempt, subtle, subterranean, covert, overt, to make an elected Ijaw son, Siminialayi Fubara, the Governor of Rivers State, a servant, a stooge to Nyesom Wike, who had boasted that any attempt by the governor to touch his so-called ‘Wike’s structure’, with the connivance and support of President Bola Tinubu, will be resisted by us.”
On Tuesday, all eyes were open to see how the governor would implement the agreements.
While some party faithful criticised the agreement and called on the governor to reject it, others said since Fubara had consented to it, he should go ahead and implement it to ensure peace returns.
In a related development, the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP went into an emergency meeting over the matter.
The party’s national leadership is said to be worried about the manner Tinubu resolved the rift between Fubara and Wike.
Sources said the meeting was expected to come out with the position of the party on the crisis and the way forward.
Earlier, the Acting National Chairman of PDP, Umar Damagum while responding to questions at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday hinted that the party leadership would sanction Wike.
Damagum said, “Our stand about Wike, I have always said this thing that as long as you are a member of the PDP, there is a time for everything.
“My duty is to stabilise this party and not to cause crisis. And I will continue to do that within the confines of reason.”
COVER
281 Inmates Missing from Custodial Centre after Borno Flood
By David Torough, Abuja
Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has declared 281 inmates missing from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Maiduguri, Borno State.
NCoS said this followed an evacuation after the flood that engulfed the state capital.
A statement onby the Service Public Relations Officer (SPRO), Mr Abubakar Umar yesterday in Abuja said seven other inmates had been recaptured.
Umar said that the service was in custody of the details of the missing inmates, including their biometrics.
“The flood brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the medium security custodial centre Maiduguri (MSCC) as well as the staff quarters in the city.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing.
“However, it is important to note that the service is in custody of their details, including their biometrics, which is being made available to the public.
“The service is working in synergy with other security agencies as both covert and overt deployments have been activated to look out for them.
“Presently, a total of seven (7) inmates have been recaptured and returned to custody, while efforts are on ground to track down the rest and bring them back to safe custody.“While this effort is on, the public is assured that the incident does not impede or affect public safety,” he said.
COVER
NNPCL Lifts Petrol from Dangote at N898 Per Litre
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
After controversies, trucks from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) yesterday lifted petrol from the Dangote Refinery.
NNPCL revealed that Dangote Refinery sold the fuel at N898 per litre.
The national oil company began loading yesterday after moving about 300 trucks to the 650,000 capacity refinery Dangote Refinery located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State.
Its spokesman, Olufemi Soneye was quoted as saying, “We successfully loaded PMS at the Dangote Refinery today [Sunday].
”“The claim that we purchased it at N760 per liter is incorrect.
“For this initial loading, the price from the refinery was N898 per liter.
”At least, over 70 trucks had loaded at the time of this report.
This marks an end to the month-long debate over the quality and sale of the Dangote petrol.
Speaking to newsmen at the refinery, the Vice President of Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin described the commencement of the petrol lifting moment of pride to every Nigerian.
He said, “My President has been showing presentations that 52 years ago, we were trying to see how to solve the problem of PMS supply and the queues. Now, after 52 years, we have a solution.
“And the solution is local production of PMS and it is from a Nigerian oil company. And as EPC contractor, it was constructed by a Nigerian company.
“So, it’s a matter of pride that a Nigerian oil company, constructed by a Nigerian-owned company, is able to generate PMS from the local crude and daily will not only to meet the entire requirement of Nigeria, but can also have surplus to export. So, it is a time and moment of great pride to every Nigerian.”
Edwin said 44 percent of the PMS production from the Dangote refinery can meet the requirement of the entire country.
“If you look at the refinery as a whole, PMS alone, every day, 650,000 barrels of crude if we’re processing, we can generate more than 54 million litres of PMS.
“And, of course, the refinery has the capacity to produce various other products too. 44% of the production can meet the entire requirement of the country, 56% of the production has to be exported. “So, it is a huge refinery. So, it is not only going to be doing import substitution, but it is also going to make Forex generation through export revenue.
“The gantries are actually 86 and they can load 86 trucks at a go,” he said.
Last Friday, in Abuja, a member of the Presidential Committee on the Sale of Crude Oil and Refined Product and Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Zacch Adedeji confirmed that the NNPCL remains the sole buyer of petrol from the Dangote refinery while willing off-takers are free to lift diesel and other products from the refinery.
According to Adedeji, the NNPCL would further distribute to other independent marketers after lifting from the refinery.
He said the nation’s oil company will commence the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira from October 1.
COVER
CBN Issues 30-day Deadline to Payment Service Providers on PoS Transactions
By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a new directive to Payment Service Providers (PSPs), requiring them to comply with enhanced routing guidelines for Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.This move is aimed at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria.
The directive issued on Wednesday aims at strengthening the monitoring of electronic transactions across Nigeria following CBN’s initiative to diversify the Payment Terminal Service Aggregator (PTSA) structure, which previously operated through a single aggregator. In a circular signed by Oladimeji Yisa Taiwo on behalf of the CBN Payments System Management Department, the apex bank mandates that all PoS transactions from merchant and agent locations—whether physical or electronic—must now be routed through any CBN-licensed PTSA.The directive is part of efforts to decentralize PoS transaction routing and address concerns over the centralization of such transactions under a single entity.In Aug. 2011, the CBN initially granted a PTSA license to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc to serve as the sole aggregator of PoS transactions.However, to promote competition and enhance service delivery, the CBN awarded a second PTSA license to Unified Payment Services Limited (UPSL) on April 19.This development aims to reduce the dependence on a single aggregator for the management of PoS transactions, promoting transparency and operational efficiency in Nigeria’s growing electronic payments landscape.