NEWS
Atiku Tackles FG on AGIP/ENI Purchase, Subsidy, Detained Whistleblower
By David Torough, Abuja
Former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has asked the Federal Government to explain why Oando Plc owned by the President’s nephew, got an accelerated approval to buy the onshore assets of AGIP and ENI while other transactions such as the Shell/Renaissance deal and the Mobil/Seplat continue to suffer delays.
In a statement yesterday by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former Vice President also slammed the Bola Tinubu administration for implementing a sham subsidy regime as revealed in the financial statement recently released by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL). “Tinubu visited the FMDQ in New York, visited Qatar, visited France where he told lies about removing petrol subsidies. Obviously, this is not a man who is serious about attracting FDI. More worrisome is that he is not even brave enough to admit that subsidy is being paid. The NNPCL admits that N7.8tn is owed to the national oil company by the Nigerian government.“IMF estimates that subsidy payments this year will constitute 3% of GDP, which is about $7.5bn. This will be about N11.8tn. Yet, the petrol scarcity continues to linger while the Tinubu administration continues to frustrate the Dangote Refinery and even its own NNPCL facilities. Obviously, the subsidy regime has become an even wider conduit pipe through which monies for funding the 2027 election will come from,” Atiku said.The former Vice President doubled down on his allegation that Oando was being given undue and preferential treatment in the oil and gas sector to the detriment of more competent investors.The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election also knocked the House of Representatives for failing to take proper action on the NNPCL which has now gone ahead to “mortgage the country’s national oil assets to vested interests”.Atiku said, “Within just eight months, the Nigerian Upstream Production Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) approved a deal which saw the divestment of ENI/AGIP onshore assets to Oando. Within that same period, Nigeria controversially withdrew all litigation against Shell/ENI in the OPL 245 scandal in what has been described as a quid pro quo.“However, the attempt by SEPLAT to buy Mobil’s onshore assets has continued to stall for the last three years even as the consent letter remains on Tinubu’s table. The deal between Renaissance and Shell continues to stall. In fact, the only deal that has fully scaled through so far is the one involving Oando. We now know why it got accelerated approval.“Ideally, democracy ought to be the government of the people, for the people, and by the people. But democracy in Nigeria has become the government of Tinubu, by Tinubu, and for Tinubu and his family members.”Atiku added, “In July 2023, the House of Representatives, following the adoption of a motion moved by Miriam Onuoha directed NNPC Ltd to suspend the acquisition of OVH assets pending an investigation by its committee.“The House ad-hoc committee requested the NNPC Ltd to furnish it with information about registration documents/history from CAC for OVH, Nueoil, and NNPC Retail Limited (NRL), Board Resolution of NNPCLtd on purchase of OVH, Audited Financial Statement and Management Accounts from 2015 to date of OVH, Nueoil, NRL and NNPC Ltd and the payroll from 2015 to date for NRL and OVH; Board Resolution of NRL/CHQ for movement of head office to Lagos and evidence of Tax Payments for NRL and OVH from 2015 to date.“The NNPC ignored all these and went ahead to transfer its ownership and properties in its retail arm to OVH, thereby mortgaging the future of Nigerians.“Despite the rot in the oil sector, the head of the NNPC, the head of the NUPRC, and the head of the NMDPRA continue to keep their jobs. This is clear evidence that they are fulfilling the mandate given to them by Tinubu.”Furthermore, Atiku pointed out that the NNPC lied in its vacuous response to their statement last week, as it is on record that the Kyari-led management appointed Huub Stoksman, a former Chief Executive Officer of OVH Energy, as Managing Director of NNPC Retail, and Mumuni Dangazau, the former Chief Operating Officer of OVH Energy, as his Special Adviser Downstream, long before the consummation of the incestuous marriage of the entities.In a related development, Atiku also lambasted the Tinubu administration for the rise in human rights abuses.Waziri Adamawa said Tinubu who rose to power over exaggerated claims of being a freedom fighter, had turned against the people by allowing the Department of State Services (DSS), police and even the military to abuse the rights of citizens without any consequences.He said that in some instances, citizens were arrested in a gestapo manner without the knowledge of their relatives who go about looking for them for several weeks.The former Vice President said the most affected since Tinubu took office have been journalists whose only crime is reporting the news and exposing government indiscretion.He argued that the Cyber Crime Prevention Act 2015 had become a tool with which officials in the Tinubu administration were abducting citizens while the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) had transmuted into the defunct SARS.Atiku added, “The dangerous trend of enforced disappearances has become a national embarrassment for a country which claims to be practising democracy. On May 1, 2024, Daniel Ojukwu of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism went missing and was presumed abducted by kidnappers until he was later discovered to be in police custody on the orders of IGP Kayode Egbetokun.“Ojukwu’s crime was that he exposed the corruption of a government official who currently serves in Tinubu’s administration. On July 23, the DSS arrested one Aliyu Sanusi in Sama Road of Sokoto, the state capital for printing and distributing materials ahead of the #EndBadGovernanceProtest Even the arrest and release of the former BBC Pidgin Editor and current West Africa Regional Editor of the Conversation, Adejuwon Soyinka, clearly shows a pattern, which objective is to intimidate journalists for speaking truth to this government.“Now, the police have arrested Bristol Tamunobiefiri, who owns the PIDOM Nigeria blog on X, formerly Twitter. After detaining him for over two weeks, he was granted an administrative bail, which will be impossible to meet. This is despite the fact that the Appeal Court, in the case of EFCC V. Emem Uboh (2022) LPEIR – 57968 (CA) held that administrative bail is illegal. Bristol should, therefore, be arraigned in court immediately or released.”Atiku advised Tinubu to take cases of human rights abuses seriously or Nigeria would remain at the risk of being slammed with sanctions which would prevent western powers from selling weapons, a development he argues could undermine Nigeria’s ability to tackle insecurity.“Amnesty International still has a pending petition before the Foreign Committee of the US Congress against the sale of weapons to Nigeria due to human rights concerns in line with the Leahy Law. Tinubu would do well to curb these cases of rights abuses by law enforcement authorities who all report to him as commander-in-chief,” the former Vice President said.
The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has clinched 15 Chairmanship seats in Saturday’s Local Government Elections in Abia, while the Young Progressives Party (YPP) won two seats.The Chairman of the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), Prof George Chima, announced the result of the chairmanship poll at thecommission’s headquarters in Umuahia.
Chima said: “We have carried out the duty we were inaugurated on September 5 to undertake. “It was not an easy task, but we went out on our way to create awareness about the elections across the state. “It must be noted that, in recent times, this commission has not conducted an election where over 12 political parties took part, this on its own is a plus to the commission.”The ABSIEC boss said that the chairmanship and councillorship polls took place in the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs).He described the exercise as “free fair and credible”.He said that the elections were a demonstration of the commission’s dedication, focus and efficiency.Chima expressed joy that the commission successfully completed, in just two months, a task that typically required six to 12 months of effort.“I congratulate the winners and the losers too, because in any election there must be winners and losers.“The most important thing is that Abia has been peaceful and I want the peace to continue.“I appreciate the security agencies for their support, political parties for playing the game according to the rule,” Chima said.Report says that ZLP won in Isiala Ngwa South, Isiala Ngwa North, Umuahia North, Umuahia South, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Obingwa, Aba North, Aba South, Isuikwuato, Umunneochi, Arochukwu, Bende, and Ohafia LGAs.The remaining two LGAs of Osisioma and Ugwunagbo were won by YPP. (NAN)
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared on the “Saturday Night Live” TV comedy show on Saturday, adding a surprise jolt to the U.S presidential election ust three days before her with showdown with Republican Donald Trump.“Keep Calm-ala and carry on-ala,” Harris said in unison with the actor who plays her on the show, Maya Rudolph.
It was Harris’ first time on the show, which has had other presidential candidates over its decades-long run. Trump appeared during his first presidential bid in 2015, where he poked fun at his tendency to exaggerate and steer clear of policy specifics.He also appeared in 2004, long before he entered politics.A Trump aide said he didn’t know if he had been invited to appear this year.Earlier on Saturday, Harris and Trump’s planes shared the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the two candidates held dueling events in the southern state, one of a handful that will determine the outcome of Tuesday’s election.It was the fourth day in a row that the candidates campaigned in the same state.Only seven states are seen as truly competitive, but poll released on Saturday showed Harris holding a surprise lead in Iowa, a state Trump won easily in the last two elections.Trump and Harris stuck to familiar themes at their appearances.Trump said he would deport millions of immigrants if elected and warned that if Harris wins, “Every town in America would be turned into a squalid, dangerous refugee camp.”Campaigning in Atlanta, Harris said Trump would abuse his power if he returned to the White House.“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power,” she said.More than 75 million Americans have already cast ballots, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, in a sign of voter enthusiasm.In North Carolina, the western counties that were devastated by Hurricane Helene appeared to be voting at roughly the same rate as the rest of the state, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer.At a later rally in Salem, Virginia, Trump said he ran for office to rescue the economy from “obliteration” even though it would have been easier to relax at one of his oceanfront resorts.“I didn’t need to be here today,” he said. “I could have been standing on that beach, my beautiful white skin getting nice and being smacked, being smacked in the face by a wave loaded up with salt water.”Trump was joined on stage by women from a local college swim team who have objected to competing against transgender athletes.Some of Trump’s TV ads have sought to capitalise on transgender controversies.Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has surpassed Donald Trump in a new poll in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Saturday.Women voters are likely responsible for the turnaround in a state that Trump easily won in 2016 and 2020.The poll of 808 likely voters, who were surveyed Oct. 28-31, has Harris leading Trump 47%-44% in Iowa, which has been trending deeply Republican in recent years.It is within the 3.4 percentage point margin of error, but it marked a turnaround from a September Iowa Poll that had Trump with a 4-point lead, the newspaper reported.“The poll shows that women — particularly those who are older or who are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris,” the Register said.Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said the Iowa poll was “idiotic” and an outlier that has no credibility. (Reuters/NAN)The Katsina State chapter of the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers, Employers of Nigeria, has inaugurated a 200-member task force committee to tackle vandals hiding under their umbrella.
Report says that during the inauguration in Katsina on Saturday, the association also launched its newly elected executive members in the state.
Alhaji Aminu Hassan-Soja, the North Regional President of the association, said the aim of the committee was to curtail vandalism in the state.
Hassan-Soja said: “There is no doubt, vandalism has now become a serious threat to the nation, and Katsina in particular, and accusing fingers are pointing at our members.
“To show the world that we are not vandals, criminals or thieves, but we are doing our legal businesses, that’s why we inaugurated this task force committee.
“The aim is to complement the efforts of government in tackling the activities of vandals in the nation, this is the focus of the committee.
“Our business is about buying and selling metals. I can confidently say that this business is contributing so much to the country’s economy, apart from reducing unemployment.”
He also revealed that scrap and waste dealers also clean the environment, and control the country’s economy through the supply of raw materials to over 70 per cent of Nigerian companies.
“Some of the companies we supply with the raw materials include steel, plastic, and also roofing sheets, where we supply them with scrap metals. We support the country’s economy through sustaining the recycling industry.
“Because without our activities, no investor will come to Nigeria because they can not see raw materials to process and make finished products.
“Also, most of our companies will wind-up because there’s no raw materials for them to process. This is where we contribute to the development of the country’s economy,” he said.
The regional president further explained that across the country, they have over 5 million members engaging and benefitting from the business, while Katsina accounted for over 200,000 members.
Also speaking, a member of Katsina State House of Assembly, representing Funtua constituency, Alhaji Abubakar Total said the assembly was not planning to ban the scrap activities, but trying to sanitise the business.
According to Total, there are some bad elements hiding under the association to vandalise and steal public and other people’s property in the state.
He explained that the assembly only urged the government to find a way of regulating their activities by engaging the leadership of the association and other relevant stakeholders. (NAN)
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