Dangote Refinery has insisted that Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, refined at the refinery, will hit the market by August.

The company’s Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Anthony Chiejina, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES in an interview on Monday.

The response came amid concerns over the earlier announcement that the refinery would commence domestic supply by mid-August.


When asked why the refinery is yet to commence domestic supply at its stipulated date of 12 August, Mr Chiejina said, “We said August, and today is 12 August. Just wait; this is August.”

Over the months, the company had set dates for its domestic petrol supply, but the timelines were unmet.


In June, the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said petrol, refined at the refinery, will hit the market in July.

Mr Dangote, who disclosed this when he received a Senate delegation led by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on a tour of the facility, explained that the date change was because of a delay that prompted the shift from the initially proposed date of June to mid-July.

“We had a bit of delay, but PMS will start coming out by 10 to 15 of July. But then, we want to keep it in the tank to make sure that it settles. So by the third week of July, we’ll be able to come out to take it into the market,” Mr Dangote said at the time.

Again, in July, Mr Dangote said petrol production in the refinery was disrupted because of the fire incident at the refinery.


“PMS was supposed to be out by July, but we had a fire incident. The incident disrupted us for a few days, but latest 10 or 12 of August, PMS will be ready,” Mr Dangote said while addressing journalists at the refinery at the time.

The refinery

The 650,000 barrels per day Dangote Petroleum Refinery commenced diesel and aviation fuel production in January.

Announcing the commencement of production, the company said the refinery had received six million barrels of crude oil at its two SPMs 25 kilometres from the shore.


The first crude delivery was done on 12 December 2023, and the sixth cargo was delivered on 8 January.

The company made a further move towards the commencement of the production of refined petroleum products with the receipt of an additional one million barrels of bonny light crude supplied by the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC Ltd).

The company commenced supplying petroleum products to the local market in April.

Background

In recent months, the Dangote Group and the petroleum regulators in Nigeria have been at loggerheads over the control of the petroleum downstream market.

In June, the Dangote Group accused some international oil companies of sabotaging the plant’s operations by refusing to supply crude or offering oil at higher premiums than market prices.

It also clashed with the regulators of the Nigerian energy industry, including the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Regulatory Authority, which claimed diesel from the refiner has sulphur content levels above the allowed threshold. The regulators also accused Dangote of seeking to be a monopoly.

In refuting the allegation, Mr Dangote took lawmakers visiting the refinery to a laboratory within the plant, where diesel from the refinery was tested alongside two different imported samples.

The results showed that the refinery’s diesel sample had much lower sulphur than the imported ones.

Last month, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) directed NNPC Ltd to engage the Dangote refinery and other local refineries to resolve the dispute over the sale of crude oil to them.

The FEC, presided over by President Bola Tinubu, also directed that such crude oil sales to the refineries be made in naira and that the refineries located in Nigeria should also sell their refined products to the Nigerian market in naira.

Former Chief Security Officer to the late military head of state, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha (retd), has called on Nigerian youths to use their voter cards to unseat bad leaders.

Al-Mustapha spoke in Abuja on Monday at the commemoration of the International Youth Day Celebration 2024 by the Social Democratic Party, SDP.

Al-Mustapha accused politicians of being disconnected from the people.

He said: “They’re not connected to the villages and do not know how the councils and local governments functioned before and that is why the LG system was crippled.

“This is part of the crisis the federal government is trying to handle today. If the LGs were functioning, we would not have the food supply chain cut off because the foods are being produced at the community and LG levels.

“Today, insecurity, kidnapping, barbarism and the failure of leadership have crippled our communities. They cannot even farm. The crop of leaders from 1999 who are not career politicians queued in and hijacked the system and this is the only reason a governor will tell you that the state resources belong to him and say, ‘It’s my money’.

"This situation, we have the capacity to change it and we can change it through only one way. In a democracy, the day of the election is the day of coup and the weapon for coup is your fingers. You change bad leaders by voting them out, not with guns.

“And then, all of you here, you have your weapons, you have your guns – your fingers. Now, if you don’t use it, who would you blame? People rig elections where they’re not popular. Nobody will rig if you cast your votes and work together to protect them. I’m happy that the era of rigging is gone.

"If you see millions of youths on the streets, you will assume that the world is coming to an end. You can’t afford the injustices in Nigeria that have kept us where we are today.

"I read the recent report released by the MBS; our judges are the most corrupt judges in the world. Get your PVC. That is your greatest weapon. Don’t be deterred. Don’t let anyone intimidate you. This is our country.”

President Bola Tinubu has approved a new national policy in curbing health workforce migration.

In a statement on Monday, Ali Pate, coordinating minister of health and social welfare, said the policy is a comprehensive strategy to manage, harness, and reverse health workers’ migration.

The minister added that the policy will also encourage the return of professionals to Nigeria through attractive incentives and reintegrate them into the nation’s health system.

“This approach leverages the expertise of our diaspora to bridge gaps within the health sector,” the statement reads.

“Also, the policy champions reciprocal agreements with other nations to ensure that the exchange of health workers benefits Nigeria.

“These bilateral and multilateral agreements are designed to protect national interests while respecting the rights and aspirations of our healthcare professionals.

“We call on recipient countries to implement a 1:1 match — training one worker to replace every publicly trained Nigerian worker they receive.”

The minister said the policy recognises the importance of work-life balance and has included provisions for routine health checks, mental well-being support, and reasonable working hours, especially for younger doctors.

“These measures aim to create a supportive work environment, reducing burnout and enhancing job satisfaction,” Pate said.

“The governance of this policy will be overseen by the National Human Resources for Health Program (#NHRHP) within @Fmohnigeria, in collaboration with state governments. This ensures responsible implementation and alignment with broader sector-wide (#SWAp) health objectives.

A man simply identified as Musa has been apprehended in the Amuloko area of Ibadan, Oyo State capital, with a fresh human skull of an unidentified woman.

Residents, suspicious of his unusual behaviour, confronted him and demanded to see the contents of a sack he was carrying.

Upon inspection, they discovered a human skull inside.

Sharing the video of the suspect on X.com on Monday, OyoAffairs wrote, “Man caught with a fresh human head earlier today in Amuloko area of Ibadan. He has been handed over to the police.”

During questioning, Musa revealed that he is part of a syndicate that deals in the sale of human body parts.

He has been handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

The Ewi of Ado Ekiti, Oba Rufus Adejugbe, has cancelled various traders’ associations in markets in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, intending to remove their undue control of prices and ensure farmers have direct access to traders.

Oba Adejugbe, who also ordered traders in the markets not to sell their foodstuff beyond stipulated prices, said the steps were necessary to regulate the high prices of foodstuff in the state capital.

The monarch, leading the Ewi-in-Council, gave the directive in Ado Ekiti on Monday during a meeting with the leadership and some members of the market women association, warned of sanctions for anybody who flouted the directives.

The Ewi-in-Council, which noted with dismay the reports from members of the public on the heartless attitudes of most of the traders leading to high food prices, said the directives were to correct the trend.

The Council, at the meeting, directed that henceforth “vegetables should not be sold more than N50; pepper, pepper N100; garri N700; while kilogramme of meat should be reduced to N4,500.”

Oba Adejugbe said, “Reports have it that traders, under the aegis of the associations, hide under middlemen to inflate the prices of goods such as tomatoes, pepper, vegetable, palm oil, locust beans, meat, garri, among others by dictating prices to the farmers that brought them to the markets for sale.

“We have taken these steps to make life bearable for residents of the town. I hereby direct the leadership of traders in the market to effect the directives. Chiefs will continue to monitor marketplaces to ensure strict implementation and sanction defaulters.

DSS, Immigration Place Ex-El-Rufai Adviser Lawal on Watch-list Over Alleged N11bn Project Scandal | #Politicsnigeria


The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has summoned a former Special Adviser to Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, Jimi Lawal, over an alleged phoney Light Rail Project valued at N11 billion.

Lawal was invited for questioning but failed to appear, prompting the ICPC to request the Department of State Service (DSS) and Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to place him on a watch-list at airports, seaports, and land borders.

A copy of the letter to DSS and NIS reads: “The above mentioned person (Lawal Shakiru Olujimi Adebisi), who hails from Ogun State and speaks Yoruba and English fluently, is being investigated for the offence of criminal conspiracy.

“Credible information at the commission’s disposal suggests that the suspect, who is under investigation, is most likely to flee the country to evade being prosecuted.

“You are therefore, kindly requested to place him on the watch-list and arrest him if seen in any of the airports, seaports or land border and inform this commission accordingly.”

The ICPC is investigating Lawal for alleged criminal conspiracy and loans obtained without due process.



The commission discovered N144 million in his bank account from four private companies.

Twenty top officials and a company’s Managing Director have also been invited for questioning over $350 million loans meant for school rehabilitation and infrastructure projects.

The ICPC’s probe is part of an ongoing investigation into the administration of El-Rufai.

Recall that the Kaduna House of Assembly’s ad-Hoc Committee in June alleged that N423 billion was siphoned from the state government’s coffers between 2015 and 2023, and $1.4 million was withdrawn from the Kaduna State Economic Transformation Account.

El-Rufai has denied all allegations, claiming he was not given a fair hearing by the House of Assembly.

FORMER Presidents Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari are physically attending the inaugural Council of State meeting under the administration of President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

But two former Heads of State, Generals Yakubu Gowon (retd) and Abdulsalami Abubakar, joined the meeting virtually alongside the governors of Abia, Adamawa and Akwa Ibom States.

The council comprises of president as chairman and vice president as deputy chairman, all living former Heads of State and Presidents, all former Chief Justices of Nigeria, the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, all state governors and the Attorney-General of the Federation as members.

The Council of State is an organ of the federal government saddled with the responsibility of advising the executive on policymaking.

The meeting which began at 12:35 pm, is expected to address pressing national issues, including food security, national security, and economic policies.

The last Council of State meeting was held on February 10, 2023, under former President Buhari.

Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, CBCN, has appealed to the federal government to listen to the yearnings of the masses and take a holistic review of it’s economic policies and programmes to take Nigerians out of the multi-dimensional poverty situation they are currently enmeshed in.

President of CBCN, Most Rev. Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, who made the appeal while delivering a homily during the ordination of 11 priests at Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Owerri, linked the depressing poverty level in the land to the withdrawal of fuel subsidy and floatation of the naira.

He said: “The President of any country ought to be a listening and compassionate leader. I don’t want to talk about the hunger protest in detail but we cannot continue to keep quiet.

“Credible reports have it that the protest has claimed so many lives and caused properties worth millions of naira, to be destroyed or looted. We do not know how many people that will die in the days ahead, if the protest continues.

“In protesting, the people were just exercising their constitutional right by assembling and expressing their feelings of anger and concern over bad governance in the country.

“It is obvious that people do not only march on the streets to express their anger, but also engage in other actions. Indeed, it remains a truism that action speaks louder than words.

“Despite all petitions and pleas, our young people decided to go to the streets to say they are dying of hunger and hardship. It is a very serious matter and government should see it as such. The protesters, by their actions, also demanded attentive listening to what they are saying.

“To listen to what the youngsters are saying, government should rely on the prevailing amount of rising prices of everything needed for living.”

Taking a critical look at the free fall of the nation’s currency, Archbishop Ugorji said: “This is another of President Tinubu’s economic policy that has sadly degenerated to hyperinflation.

“Floating of the nation’s currency amounts to devaluation of the naira. The President removed fuel subsidy and surreptitiously devalued the naira.

“He devalued the currency used in paying workers and still want the workers to continue to work at the same amount that was agreed when the naira had a higher value.

“When the President removed petroleum subsidy, he should have been aware that it will come with ugly consequences because everything revolves around transportation.

“Government ought to have known that production of goods and services largely relies on fuel. Currently, the prices of everything have risen astronomically and people have been reduced to multi-dimensional poverty. Simply explained, poverty means not having access to what you need to survive each day.”

Stretching the argument further, the CBCN President opined that “food may be available but definitely not affordable.”

He said: “In this day and age, people can no longer afford things they are used to and the standard of living has drastically reduced to zero per cent.

“I am adding my voice to the voices of those who have already called on the President to address the demands of the young people, for peace to reign.

“If government says they are listening to the people, then it should immediately address these problems.

“We are also told that government is trying to cushion the effect of the current hardship by distributing palliatives and remittance of money into people’s bank accounts. I don’t know how many people that have received it.”

The family of late Nigerian singer, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba, popularly known as Mohbad, has kicked against plans to mark the anniversary of the late musician.

Mohbad died on September 12, 2023, at the age of 27, with the circumstances surrounding his death still lingering.

A statement signed by a member of the family’s legal team, Monisola Odumosu, urged organisations and individuals planning to celebrate Mohbad’s first anniversary to suspend the ideas.

The family said they would rather mourn Mohbad in peace as it does not seek to reopen old wounds.

According to the family, some individuals and organisations might plan to use Mohbad’s memory for commercial purposes.

The statement reads, “It has come to the attention of the Aloba family that some organisations have been planning to celebrate the first anniversary of the death of our late son and singer, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba (Mohbad). The Aloba family wishes to appeal to such interest groups to suspend such ideas.

“It is no longer news that some individuals and organisations have been planning to carry out events to commemorate the late singer’s death.

“We will appeal to such persons and organisations to seek proper approval from the family before going on with such plans. The Aloba family would not wish the goodwill of their illustrious son to be employed for commercial purposes.”

The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Ireti Kingibe has called for the elimination of barriers threatening the Nigerian youths.

She said this in a statement on Monday while commemorating International Youth Day.

Acknowledging the crucial role played by young people in the society, Kingibe insisted that youth empowerment must be considered a necessary investment for economic and social growth.

She said, “We stand at a critical juncture in human history, where the decisions we make today will shape the future of our planet.

“Climate change, inequality, and social injustice threaten our very existence. Yet, I stand before you with hope, inspired by the passion, creativity, and determination of our young people.”

Speaking further, she argued that youth empowerment should not only be seen as a moral imperative but a necessity.

“Youth empowerment is not only a moral imperative but also an economic and social necessity. Investing in our youth means investing in our future.

“we must provide them with access to quality education, skills training, and opportunities for participation in decision-making processes.

“As leaders, we must create an enabling environment that fosters innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity. We must listen to their voices, value their perspectives, and support their initiatives.

“We must also address the systemic barriers that prevent many young people from reaching their full potential,” the Senator said.

The senator commended the youth of the FCT and equally assured them that the current administration is not ignorant of their efforts as they are working tirelessly to provide the needed support, opportunities, and resources to make the environment conducive to thrive in.