COVER
Alia Dedicates Tribunal Victory to God, Benue People
By David Torough, Abuja
Benue Governor, Hyacinth Alia, has dedicated his victory at the the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal to God and the people of the state.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, quoted Alia as saying that the victory was to God, democracy and Benue people.
The tribunal that sat in Makurdi upheld Alia’s victory and dismissed a petition filed by his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) rival, Engr Titus Mba.
A unanimous decision read by the Chairman of the three-man panel, Justice Ibrahim Karaye held that the petition was a pre-election matter.Justice Karaye dismissed the petition on the grounds that the tribunal lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.The case brought by the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Titus Uba, alleged that the APC candidate and his running mate were not properly nominated.In a unanimously decision, the tribunal held that the petition was incompetent because issues raised therein were pre-election matters and ought to have been heard and determined by the Federal High Court.Justice Karaye therefore struck out Uba’s petition for want of jurisdiction, stressing that the case was an abuse of process.
The tribunal established that the allegations were unfounded in the argument of petitioners that Alia and his deputy, Sam Ode were not qualified to stand the election as they averred that their party, the APC did not follow the provisions of the law in their nomination as governorship and deputy governorship candidates.
They also alleged that the deputy governor had presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and therefore should be disqualified.The petitioners had prayed among other things for the nullification of their (APC) election and to declare them (petitioners) winners of the said election having scored second highest lawful votes.But Justice Karaye held that the petitioners failed to prove their allegations of forgery against Ode before the tribunal.
The tribunal added that Alia and Ode were qualified to be in the March 18 governorship election and therefore dismissed the case.
The Deputy Governor of Benue State who was in court, hailed the decision of the tribunal and called on the opposition PDP to join hands with the government to develop the state.Also, the counsel to the respondents, Mamman Osuman, (SAN), appreciated the judgment, saying he knew the petition was dead on arrival as it lacked merit and was a mere waste of resources and tie.
Counsel to the petitioners, Clement Mue and Okon Efut (SAN) declined comments. In reaction to the judgement, Alia said that the court had demonstrated that it was the last hope of the common man.
“The court has demonstrated that no might is powerful enough to thwart the supreme will of the people; it has demonstrated that no one can claim power through the back door,” Alia was quoted as saying.
The governor was further quoted as assuring the people that he was committed to their welfare.“The governor also enjoined members of the opposition to support his efforts toward building a state everyone would be proud of,” the statement stated.
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.