COVER
PDP Honchos at War: Tinubu Like a Lost Sailor on High Sea, Atiku
By Johnson Eyiangho, Abuja
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and a former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George yesterday did a show in the public space.
While Atiku attacked President Bola Tinubu education policy, George on the other hand came out to warn Atiku against looking the side of the presidential until 2031.
Atiku who was presidential candidate of the PDP in the 2023 general elections lost to President Bola Tinubu.
Atiku posted on his X account describing President Bola Tinubu’s education policy as not only controversial but “belongs in the Stone Ages”.
Daily Asset reports that the Federal Government recently pegged age limit for entry into tertiary institutions at 18.
It would be recalled that the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman had directed that candidates less than 18 years old not be taken by tertiary institutions.
Mamman said, “The minimum age of entry into the university is 18, but we have seen students who are 15, 16 years going in for the entrance examination.”
Atiku who owns the ABTI American University of Nigeria sited in Yola, Adamawa State said the policy gave a “graphic impression of how the Tinubu government behaves like a lost sailor on a high sea”.
He wondered how such anti-scholarship regulation the next logical step in the myriad of issues besetting the nation’s educational system.
In his words, “The recent policy of the Federal Ministry of Education pegging age limits for entry to tertiary institutions is an absurdity and a disincentive to scholarship.
“To be clear, the Nigerian constitution puts education in the concurrent list of schedules, in which the sub-national government enjoys more roles above the federal government.
“Therefore, it is extra-constitutional for the federal government to legislate on education in a manner similar to a decree.”
He said the best global standard for such regulation is to allow the sub-national governments to make respective laws or rules on education.
According to Atiku, it is discouraging that even while announcing this obnoxious policy, the government inadvertently said it had no plan to cater for specially gifted pupils, adding that it is an embarrassment to the body of intellectuals in the country because it portrays Nigeria as a country where gifted students are not appreciated.
George on the other hand took a swipe at Atiku saying the latter cannot be president in 2027.
There have been reports that the former Vice President is anxious to again run for president in the next general elections.
George said Atiku must wait till 2031 if he wants to be president of Nigeria.
In a statement yesterday, George said that a southerner must occupy the office of the President and Commander in Chief from 2023 to 2031 “because that is the reality of our country, PDP constitution and our polity”.
“Even in 2027, Atiku will be 81 years and this is the time for him to embrace the President Joe Biden concept of allowing the younger generation to run for the highest office in the land.
“I have nothing personal against Alhaji Abubakar. He is my friend but the truth must be told. By 2027, by God’s Grace, I will also be in my 80s.
“So, what am I looking for in public office as an octogenarian? The same principle should apply to Alhaji Abubakar.
“We all saw what American President, Joe Biden, did recently when he stepped down for Kamala Harris to contest the November presidential election.
“That is the hallmark of a statesman. Alhaji Abubakar should do same so that in 2027, PDP will field a southerner as presidential candidate,” George, a former military governor of Ondo State, said.
According to him, the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari, a northerner from Katsina State just left office after ruling for eight years.
He said that power at the federal level could not go to the North in 2027 because “that is the reality of our country and our party’s constitution”.
George said that Section 7, Sub-section 3 (C) of the PDP Constitution stated that zoning and rotation must be maintained for justice, fairness and equity.
He added, “In our party, this is the right and logical thing to do in the present political circumstances.
“But if Alhaji Abubakar is desperate to contest again, I will advise him as a friend, a party man and brother to wait till 2031. By then, he will be 85 years.
“As loyal party members, we must continue to respect PDP Constitution. Fair is fair. I joined the PDP in 1998 and I have remained in this party since.”
George urged every member of the party to embrace and respect the entrenched principles of zoning and rotation bequeathed the party by its founding fathers since inception in 1998 “no matter whose ox is gored”.
He maintained, “The principles explicitly stipulate that at the end of every eight years, all elective and party offices should change from the northern divide to the southern divide and vice versa.
“That is the position which I’ll continue to champion till thy kingdom come.”
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.
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.
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.
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