The National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene and do everything possible to prevent petrol price from going up further and out of hand.

Mr Adeolu Ogunbanjo, National Deputy President of NAPTAN, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the appeal was coming following an emergency meeting of the association on Monday in Lagos.

Recall that Tinubu, had in his broadcast to the nation in July, said the government was monitoring the effects of the exchange rate and inflation on gasoline prices, promising to intervene if and when necessary.

Oil marketers on Monday projected an imminent price increase due to naira depreciation, against the dollar.

According to the marketers, as long as the dollar keeps rising against the naira in the foreign exchange market, the price of fuel in the country will continue to increase.

However, Ogunbanjo has now called on the president to give a concession rate on the dollar to petroleum importers.

According to him, this will create an enabling environment whereby the current price of fuel in the country will remain the same.

“The removal of the petroleum subsidy we agree, align with it. However, unifying the naira at the same time is what is causing the hardship because anytime the dollar rises, fuel imports rise.

“It is upon this development that we are pleading and seeking for the intervention of our dear president to consider a concessionary rate for fuel importers.

“About 60 per cent are parents; September is around the corner, when school fees will be paid, so the Nigerian parents are crying, begging and kneeling for Mr President to hear us.

“He should do everything possible to stabilise the fuel price and make the current pump price not higher than what we are buying now, as anything contrary will increase hardship,” he added.

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the Na­tional Chairman of the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC), has identified the position of Deputy Governor and by extension, Vice President as the most controversial position in governance.

Ganduje said the position of deputy governors, seen often as spare tires, is made worse as he is left to contend with the manipulative activi­ties of sycophants who would want to stoke a crisis between him and the governor.

The APC Chairman who received the Forum of Deputy Governors led by its nation­al Chairman, Prince Chris Alozie Akomas, former dep­uty governor of Abia State, said the challenge of deputiz­ing one’s for principal is not only a Nigerian problem but a global one.

Ganduje, a two term dep­uty governor of Kano State, said that it is for this reason he was compelled to author a book to open a conversa­tion around the issue, saying the entrenched controver­sy around the position has helped him to appreciate why God has no deputy or vice.

He stated that a national conference to address the pe­rennial crisis between gover­nors and their deputies and deputizing generally is geared to help improve the relation­ship between governors and their deputy with overall ben­efits for governance.

“There is no doubt the position of the deputy gover­nor is the most controversial position in governance. Not only in Nigeria but all over the world; except in some nations where some of the governors contest on his own party. The Deputy Governor can contest in another party. And win the election and they work together.

“In Nigeria, it has to be the same ticket; the position of the Deputy Governor as I always say is the most contro­versial position. That is why God has no deputy. Everybody is a servant. It is a no go area. But we as humans the consti­tution has to provide for it as a spare tire. And we all know the importance of a spare tire. If you don’t need it when you are normal then you will need it when you are in trouble.

“Deputy Governors will have to contend with one is­sue. The issue of sycophancy as I always say, it is very easy to get it right as far as his boss is concerned. What I was trying to say was that our position was faced with difficulties.

The national chairman of the Labour Party (LP), Julius Abure has said that only Peter Obi and the Labor Party have solutions to the numerous chal­lenges in the country.

Abure who disclosed this on Sunday in Lagos at the in­auguration of the Lagos State local government caretaker committee, where 20 Local Government chairmen and 15 members of their executive committee (exco) were inaugu­rated.

The national chairman who graced the event with some members of the Nation­al Working Committee (NWC) of the party, including Prof. Pat Utomi, who he called a champi­on of democracy

Abure who insisted that the LP mandate was stolen said, “They have stolen what doesn’t belong to them and since they’ve murdered sleep they’ll not sleep. They won’t have peace until they give us our mandate.

“The 2023 general election was a struggle to liberate Ni­geria. If you go to Plateau State now, people are killed on a daily basis. If you go to Benue State, people are being killed. The suffering of Nigerians has in­creased.

“They think it’s easy to gov­ern. They think it is easy to change Nigeria. I want to say that it is not taking power that matters. It is what you do with the power. What have they done with the power?

“How much was a litre of fuel when they took over power? How much was the ex­change rate of dollar to naira when they took over? Today, a dollar is almost N1,000. Today, insecurity has increased. It is only when they hand over power to LP, Peter Obi that the country will change and there will be peace.

“It is only LP and Peter Obi that have solutions to numer­ous challenges in the country. Age is not on their side, health is not on their side, energy is not on their side. Education and capacity are not on their side. Let them give us the power and they will see genuine change.

“Our participation in the 2023 general election changed the political landscape in Ni­geria. When they saw us they underrated us. When they saw our performance they decided to give money to some bad eggs in our midst. I am sure you all saw what played out. Today the people they decided to sponsor, Apapa and company, we have driven them to their houses.

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“I want to assure you that we have put our hands on the plough and we’re not looking back. We’re ready to provide leadership and we’re ready to continue with the struggle for a new Nigeria.

“We’ll continue to pursue our mandate and I’m very sure that the judiciary will do the right thing. In the next couple of weeks the judgment will be out and we will all come back here to celebrate and form a government of the people.

He appreciated the Lagos State led exco under the lead­ership of Pastor Dayo Ekong for providing formidable and atticulate leadership. “They said that we didn’t have struc­ture but we have been able to prove that we have structure.

Traditional worshippers in Kwara State have been asked to shelve their planned Isese festival in the state over security issues, Naija News reports.

The Kwara State command of the Nigeria Police warned the traditional worshippers in a statement signed and issued on Monday through its Public Relations Officer, SP Okasanmi Ajayi.

This news platform understands that the traditional religion worshippers had scheduled August 20, 2023, to celebrate Isese Day in the state. They were, however, asked to take the event elsewhere as the security situation in the state is not favourable for such a celebration.

The Police Command said it had met with the worshipers and advised them to find a suitable place in another state in the country for the celebration.

The statement reads: “Vigilante, local hunters, community policing members, and the leadership of the traditional worshippers in Kwara, along with some of their leaders from adjoining states, have also been dialogued with and made to understand that the intelligence available to the Police Command does not favour the kind of celebrations being planned by one of the religious sects in the state; they have been advised to relocate their celebration to another state pending a favourable security situation in the state.”

According to the force, it had planned to implement a new strategy to ensure harmonious living among the people and put criminal activities at bay in all areas of the state, adding that a 24-hour stop and search would be conducted by the Police on people and vehicles in the state.

The statement added: “In continuation of the Kwara State Police Command’s onerous effort to ensure a safe and secure State for the good people of Kwara, the Commissioner of Police Kwara State Command, CP. Ebunoluwarotimi Adelesi psc+, FISN held a meeting with Service Commanders, comprising heads of all security agencies in the state, where the security situation of the state was discussed and existing strategies dissected, where every t was crossed and all the ‘i’ was dotted.

“New security plans have been implemented across the length and breadth of Kwara State. One of the strategies to put crime and criminality at bay in the state is ‘Harmony Security Week. This operation will include aggressive stop and search, motorized, and foot patrols on a 24-hour basis.

“To this end, the CP is using this medium to put the good people of Kwara State on notice of the special security operation and advise the people not to panic or be apprehensive when confronted with the policemen on the assignment but to comport themselves and submit themselves for body and vehicular searches whenever they are asked to do so.

“The officers deployed for the assignment have been trained and warned to respect the rights of the citizens in the process of carrying out their duties.”

The Command further warned would-be lawbreakers in whatever guise and nomenclature to steer clear of Kwara State, as anyone found in any manner constituting himself or herself a security threat would be arrested and prosecuted.

No fewer than 15 officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA, have reportedly been injured in the ongoing crisis between them and some soldiers in Lagos.

Consequently, LASTMA officials withdrew from their duty posts in Lagos State, over fear of being attacked by soldiers.

From Ojota to Mile 2, there was no sight of the officials. Those on the BRT lanes were not exempted from the withdrawal either.

Vanguard gathered that trouble started last Friday, when a soldier was attacked by some LASTMA officials at Oshodi area of Lagos.

It was gathered that the soldier with an unknown identity was in a vehicle that was apprehended by LASTMA officials for violating traffic rules.

The soldier reportedly intervened by appealing to the LASTMA officials to allow the driver of the vehicle to go because of him.

But all entreaties fell on deaf ears as all passengers in the vehicle were ordered to alight, for the vehicle to be taken to LASTMA yard in Oshodi.

An altercation between the soldier and LASTMA officials degenerated into a fight, during which the latter was outnumbered and overpowered.

He was reportedly beaten and dragged to the ground by the LASTMA officials.

However, in a viral video on social media, a soldier in military camouflage was seen being flogged by some LASTMA officials.

Moments later, some soldiers stormed the area and attacked LASTMA officials at sight, an action that forced all the officials to leave the Oshodi axis.

It could not be ascertained whether the video clip was that of the latest attack that led to the ongoing crisis.

One of the commercial bus drivers plying Oshodi/NAHCO route, Mr Andrew James, who spoke with Vanguard, said: “LASTMA officials should be retrained on human relations. The attacked soldier was heard telling the officials that he had an iron in his hand. Even if he was not a soldier, no human being deserved to be treated that way.”

The reprisal attack by some soldiers continued, weekend, in Oshodi and Ojota areas of the state.
It was learned that some LASTMA officials were also attacked yesterday, by some persons in mufti, who claimed to be soldiers, in the Ojota area of the state.

At 1 p.m., most of the officials had vacated their duty posts in major areas of Lagos, as news of the attack spread.

One of the officials at 7/8 Junction, Ajao Estate, was sighted removing his uniform at 9 a.m., yesterday, to avoid being identified.

Speaking with Vanguard, he said: “I had to take this measure because if anyone is killed in the process, nothing will be done. This is not the first time soldiers will attack members of other government agencies. Even when it resulted in the death of some policemen, nothing was done about it. This case should have been resolved by now by both authorities. It should not be allowed to escalate.

“No fewer than 15 of my colleagues have been wounded since this crisis started. My colleagues have all vacated their duty posts because news went round that the soldiers were out for LASTMA officials in Lagos.”

Another official at the Ikotun area of Lagos said: “Yes, we have withdrawn from the road because nobody knows where or when they will strike. We got a text from our platform to withdraw for our own good.

“But we were advised to stand-by pending when the matter will be resolved. For me, I am not even close to my duty post because nobody knows if they are working with community people that will identify us.”

When the Director, Public Affairs and Enlightenment, LASTMA, Mr. Adebayo Taofiq, was contacted, he said an official statement would be issued soon.

On his part, spokesman for 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col Adebisi Ayeni, said: “I am aware that a LASTMA personnel attacked a soldier in uniform on Friday. An investigation into the issue is ongoing.”

Oil marketers, on Monday, said the foreign exchange crisis in Nigeria and the recent implementation of a 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax on Automotive Gas Oil, popularly called diesel, had pushed up the cost of the commodity to between N900 and N950/litre in many states.

The development has made local manufacturers say that the situation may lead to the closure of some factories and job losses.

Speaking under the aegis of the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria at a press briefing in Abuja, the marketers explained that their inability to access the United States dollars was impeding their ability to import diesel.

The National President, NOGASA, Benneth Korie, told journalists that the cost of diesel was around N650/litre before the Federal Government introduced a 7.5 per cent VAT on the commodity.

On June 20, 2023, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government had commenced the implementation of the payment of 7.5 per cent VAT on diesel.

Officials of the Nigeria Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service had confirmed this in Abuja, stressing that AGO was not exempted from the payment of VAT based on the VAT Modification Order 2021.

Speaking at the press briefing on Monday, the NOGASA president said, “Diesel price is now approaching N900 to N950/litre depending on where you are buying it from. Before the introduction of VAT on diesel by the FIRS, diesel was around N650/litre.

“This increase in price is also due to the scarcity of the dollars. The government has to intervene in this dollar situation. All bank CEOs, Central Bank of Nigeria and others must meet to address this dollar issue. The way it is going, it will destroy a lot of things for us if it is not controlled.”

Korie also called on President Bola Tinubu to get Nigeria’s refineries working. He said the pressure by marketers and other importers on dollars would reduce when Nigeria’s refineries start to pump out refined products.

“Our refineries were built by human beings and can be fixed by human beings. I believe Nigerian engineers can fix these refineries, instead of us depending on imports. This is not sustainable.

“We are pilling pressure on the very limited dollars in the country by importing petroleum products and other commodities. But once our refineries start working, this pressure will drastically reduce. The government has to fix our refineries,” he stated.

The NOGASA president also decried the state of Nigerian roads, as he gave an instance with the Port Harcourt-Warri road, stressing that about 500 tankers were currently trapped on that road due to its abysmal nature.

“For two weeks now our tankers have been on that road; you can’t cross it. Our roads are bad, our trucks trapped on the Warri-Abuja road for two weeks, our drivers are kidnapped, killes, while others suffer.

“Some of the roads are blocked. If the government does not fix those roads, then petroleum products will stop coming to Abuja and other locations across the country,” Korie stated.

Manufacturers lament hike

Meanwhile, reacting on the development, the Director-General of the Nigerian Textile Manufacturers Association, Hamma Kwajaffa, said several textile manufacturers were contemplating to shut down their operations owing to rising costs, largely caused by skyrocketing energy costs.

The DG said textile manufacturers could not afford to buy diesel at the projected price of _

He said, “Many are contemplating closing for now. We can’t meet up with that kind of amount. We have less than 24 textiles today, those who are working are contemplating closure. They have been pushed to the wall. These businesses are not in charity. They have to break even.

In the same vein, the Chief Executive Officer of Coleman Technical Industries Limited, George Onafowokan said increased diesel costs implied increased cost of production for the company.

He urged the government to find lasting solutions to the constant increase in diesel costs.

Onafowokan said, “Whenever the price of diesel goes up, it makes everybody’s cost go up. Logistics costs will go up for everybody, power costs will go up if diesel sells at N950.

“We are all in crisis. For most businesses in Nigeria, especially manufacturers, we are taking hits day in day out and sincerely, the government needs to do better not only in giving palliatives to the people, but for the businesses that are employing them, especially manufacturers.”

Sequel to reports in the media that the pump price of Premium Motor Sprit (PMS), also called petrol, is about to be increased again, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday threatened to go on a nationwide strike if the product sells above the current price of N617.

The labour centre warned that it will embark on the strike without any notification.

LEADERSHIP reports that following the removal of subsidy on PMS by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on his assumption of office on May 29 this year, the price of petrol has risen twice: from N194 per litre to N537 on May 30, and to N617 on July 19, this year.

This has put the government on a collision course with Labour, which had already embarked on protests and threats of further industrial actions.

NLC national president, Comrade Joe Ajaero, who gave the warning in Abuja yesterday during the African Trade Union Alliance meeting, said the unions would resist further price hikes.

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Although there is yet to be any official announcement by the NNPC Limited about a new price increase, some media reports yesterday indicated an imminent increase in the price to N720.

According to Ajaero, there were purported plans to further increase the pump price of petrol, and he expressed dismay that the development will cause additional and untold hardship on Nigerians.

He said, “As we are here now, they are contemplating increasing the pump price of petroleum products, and the Ministry of Labour for some time now would only go to the Ministry of Justice to come up with a so-called injunction to hold the hands of Labour not to respond.

“But let me say this: Nigerian workers will not give any notice if we have not addressed the consequences of the last two increases and we wake up from our sleep to hear that they have tampered with the prices again.”

The NLC president pointed out that government’s bad economic policies were making workers’ wages meaningless and urged a rethink.

“If you check those policies that lead to inflation and devaluation of the currency, we will be comfortable even where we are. If the naira is at par with the dollar today, we will ask you to leave the minimum wage at N30,000.

“If inflation is checked to zero, we will ask you to leave things the way they are. But inflation is flying, and by the admittance of the National Bureau of Statistics, we have over 133 million Nigerians that are multi-dimensionally poor. I think these are the issues the government should address. If we go for a wage increase tomorrow, the inflation that will follow suit will destroy it,” he said.

Fix Refineries, Scrap VAT On Diesel, Marketers Tell FG

Meanwhile, the Natural Oil and Gas Suppliers Association of Nigeria (NOGASA) has called on the federal government to remove the Value Added Tax (VAT) currently charged on diesel to reduce the cost that truck owners spend to transport Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) across the country.

NOGASA asked the federal government to suspend the recently introduced 7.5 per cent VAT imposed on Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), also known as diesel.

The national president of NOGASA, Mr. Bennett Korie, who stated these in Abuja, insisted that there is the need to stop the payment on VAT on diesel so as to make it cheaper to transport petroleum products.

He said most of the trucks which convey the fuels from depots to stations are powered by diesel and also fuels the cost of petrol.

“Because of the VAT that the government has imposed on diesel, today as we speak diesel is going from between N920 to N950. Diesel was like N600 before the tax on diesel,” he said.

The association also urged the federal government to fix Nigeria’s refineries and ensure constant supply of crude oil to modular refineries to boost in-country refining.

This is just as it called on the government to quickly intervene in fixing the deplorable condition of roads in the country following the flooding that has affected some sections of the roads.

Korie advised the government to deploy the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to the upstream terminals where crude oil is loaded to collect the tax.

He insisted that the FIRS must give the downstream sector a tax holiday because the operators are already losing their capital.

The NOGASA boss said, “We are suffering too much. We are losing money on a daily basis. We borrowed money from the banks and some of us cannot pay again.

“We are in trouble. So, there is a need for the government to come into this matter urgently, otherwise we will have a problem.”

Asked to confirm whether there will be a PMS price hike, he said: “Definitely, the price of PMS will go up once dollar price goes up. If you are exchanging $1 for N950, it will go up.”

Though he could not confirm how much the petrol could sell when it increases, he, however, said considering the problems associated with the removal of fuel subsidy, it has become imperative for the government to do all within its powers to alleviate the suffering of oil and gas suppliers.

According to him, apart from the high cost of diesel, there is the need to address the country’s exchange rate crisis as it is making it difficult to import petroleum products

Korie went on: “We want to suggest that the government move into action on this dollar issue, otherwise diesel and petrol and other petroleum products will go higher than they are today.

“Give crude to the modular refineries so that they can refine and supply diesel to the market. If the three or four currently in operation are able to refine consistently, it would boost the supply of diesel by as much as two million litres daily,” he said.

“So, the only way out is to take action, serious action. Call the BDC, call the bank CEOs and let them come out with one uniform price that will be okay for them so that we can say this is how much the dollar will be. The way the dollar is going, it is becoming a major issue for us.”

On the state of Nigeria’s refineries, he called on the government to work with Nigerian engineers to address the challenges facing the refineries.

“We need to get our engineers and let them go there to check what the issues are, and fix them. If we take this matter seriously, they can fix it. If the refineries are there, it will help us address the petrol subsidy issue.

“We are talking about roads, also. The roads are bad for our trucks to move petroleum products freely. I have spent over N50 million to fix the roads. From Warri to Abuja there is no road, our trucks have been there for two weeks and no road.

“The government should give licences to private and modular refineries, give them crude oil so that they produce diesel, if this happens, the price of diesel will reduce because it is diesel we use to transport this product.”

He noted that apart from the exchange rate, the cost of diesel used by trucks to transport PMS also contributes to its high price.

“If we continue this way, then it means that, one day, we will buy PMS at a price higher than diesel. We have Niger Delta Refinery and Walter Smith Refinery. Our trucks are trapped, over 500 of them are trapped on the bad roads,” he lamented.

Filling Stations Shut Down Amid Price Hike Speculation

Major and independent petroleum products marketers in Lagos have shut down their dispensing outlets over speculation of possible hike in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, also called petrol.

LEADERSHIP reports that most filling stations have shut down while few in operation have unprecedented long vehicular queues.

TotalEnergies outlet by Abule (Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja) and MRS at Ikeja that opened earlier in the morning closed shop at about 9am.

The national president of Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, IPMAN, Elder Chinedu Okoronkwo, yesterday said nothing had changed so far, but that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) was in a better position to make pronouncements on the matter.

He referred LEADERSHIP to depot operators who would also be able to determine the landing cost of the product.

Sources said the pump price may climb up to N750 per litre.

Transporters who spoke to our correspondent yesterday morning complained that they could not access the products as many stations in the state had suspended operations.

LEADERSHIP reported last week that marketers were contemplating to decline further importation.

Our correspondent was informed by industry sources that the rise in the exchange rate had made the business unprofitable.

Only last month, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) said oil marketers had started importing petrol into the nation.

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Job Racketeering said it is scrutinising the bank accounts of the 36 Commissioners of the Federal Character Commission (FCC) over alleged selling of employment slots.

Chairman of the Ad-hoc Committee Hon.Yusuf Gagdi, disclosed this at the investigative hearing of the panel in Abuja on Monday.

Gagdi said the panel was verifying the bank accounts of the Commissioners as well as those of certain individuals that have been serving as links to sell jobs in federal agencies.

“We have put in a machinery to scrutinise all the 36 Commissioners since a lot of things and activities have happened in FCC. We are studying their accounts visavis the accounts of individuals that are serving as fronts to selling slots.

But with these specific narrations regarding Abdullahi (one of the alleged links men) who you said you have been buying slots through him and he has scammed a lot of you and the pictorial evidence of his activities with some of the commissioners,” he said.

The chairman expressed displeasure over the absence of a former FCC staff member who currently works with the Asset Management Company of Nigeria, Haruna Kolo at the investigation for the fourth time.

He said: “We are going to force Haruna Kolo to appear in whatever way and we are going to do that. He cannot come here and say whatever he wants to say and disappear.

“We asked for evidence from him, he did not give any evidence so we want to further interact with him to get more facts and he is not forthcoming.

So whatever script he is acting, we would get the facts. Nobody would drag this committee into any politics.”

Kolo had appeared before the panel last Monday when he told lawmakers that he had been collecting between N1 million to N1.5 million for the FCC Chairman, Muheeba Dankaka from individual applicants before he left the Commission.

The Ad-hoc Committee had last week issued a warrant of arrest on Kolo, a former staff of FCC who allegedly acted as a middleman for the selling of employment slots at the Commission.

Gagdi also disclosed that the probe of the FCC would henceforth be held behind closed doors so that the investigation does not detract from the objective of dealing with over 600 other agencies.

He said: “Anyone that has anything on the Federal Character Commission again, we are going to consider it behind closed doors because we may not have time. Otherwise our investigation on other agencies would be affected.

“It is good to give them fair hearing while we write to banks regarding the account statement of Abdullahi. We would equally invite him to come here and tell us what he knows about the various slots that we have received from over nine persons regarding him.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that there are ongoing plans to clamp down on Bureau de Change dealers over unfair speculative activities.

The Acting Governor of the CBN, Folasodun Shonubi, said the activities of the black market dealers have led to the depreciation of the naira.

Sonubi made the disclosure on Monday to State House Correspondents after briefing President Bola Tinubu.

According to the acting CBN boss, the depreciation of the naira is causing worries for the president particularly due to its impact on Nigerians.

He said: “Mr President is very concerned about some of the goings on in the foreign exchange market. One of the things we discussed is what could be done to stabilise and what could be done to improve the liquidity in the market and also the goings on in the various other markets, including the parallel market.

“He’s concerned about its impact on the average person, since, unfortunately a lot of activities that we do, which are purely local, are still referenced to exchange rates in the parallel market.

“We’ve discussed, and I’ve shared with him what we’re doing to improve supply. If you look at the official market, you’ll find that that market has been fairly stable and the spreads of the difference have not fluctuated as much.”

The naira has fallen to N945 per dollar since the CBN floated the currency in June.

The CBN also abolished the different foreign exchange windows and made the Investors’ and Exporters’ FX window the official market for traders.

The BDCs were excluded from the market which the National President of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe protested.

Gwadabe had said that the naira will keep crashing so long as they are excluded from the official market.

Shonubi said the CBN does not believe that the “changes going on in the parallel market are driven by pure economic demand and supply, but are touched by speculative demand from people.

“Some of the plans and strategies, which I’m not at liberty to share with you, means sooner rather than later, the speculators should be careful because we believe the things we’re doing, when they come to fruition, may result in significant losses to them.

“But my presence here is more about the concerns the President has and his needs to know that we are doing something about it, assurances of which I have given him totally.”

Experts have also warned against the exclusion of BDCs saying the CBN was creating another window.

“So, I hope this helps. We are looking at it and we’re doing things which will significantly impact the market in a few days time and we will all see it,” the Acting CBN boss added.

The Lamidi Apapa faction of the Labour Party (LP) has reacted to the ruling of a Court of Appeal affirming Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the party.

Naija News had earlier reported that the Court of Appeal sitting in Benin City, Edo State capital ruled out a case filed by Lucky Shaibu against Abure and five others

However, Apapa’s faction in its reaction said it is aware of the capacity of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi and Abure to tamper with the court ruling.

The statement signed by the spokesman of the LP faction, Abayomi Arabambi, insisted that the Abuja High Court restraining order that recognised Apapa as acting national chairman remains in force.

Arabambi said, “Our party attention was drawn to misleading information that has been peddled around by some criminal elements loyal to the police-indicted former National Chairman of Labour Party Mr Julius Abure. Labour Party wishes to state categorically that our complaint in the appeal filed before the court of appeal bothered on his suspension as a member in Article 19(2)A of our party constitution which the three justices of the court of appeal did not take cognisance of and refused to make findings on.

“We are aware of the capacity of Peter Obi and Abure Julius to tamper with court proceedings and documents as evidence in the forgery perpetrated in Abuja FCT high court where the signature and seal of judges were forged by Abure Julius and which he boasted yesterday in Lagos with Peter Obi that nobody in Nigeria can probe or arraigned him in court and three others indicted by the police.

“Surprisingly, the same Abure has a pending appeal in the Supreme Court against this same set of justices which has been filed and served on us to arrest today’s judgment. But since they knew it may not fly in the face of the law, Abure resorted to his trademark by engaging the services of unscrupulous elements in the Edo state high court to tamper with the records transmitted. What we don’t know is if Abure has now become the Chief Judge of Edo State to be able to commit any crime and get away with it.

“The said missing document is in the transmitted copy with our lawyer and duly paid for, but unfortunately this singular criminal act that aided Julius Abure today at the court of appeal was the reason the three justices base their judgment on the suspension of Julius Abure.”