The presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 election, Peter Obi said the biggest problem of Nigeria’s democracy is the judiciary and not the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Obi stated this at the fifth memorial of late Justice Anthony Aniagolu at the Godfrey Okoye University in Enugu.

According to the former Anambra governor, justice in Nigeria “goes to the highest bidder” and has become “commodified.”

He said, “While the judiciary, today, still boasts of a few outstanding judges, there is an undeniable decline in our judicial system.

“This decline poses a significant threat to the future of Nigeria. Justice is increasingly commodified, and delivered in favour of the highest bidder.

“Whenever democracy is discussed, fingers point to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the problem. But INEC is not the problem, instead, the judiciary is. The judiciary is the biggest threat to Nigeria. If our judiciary is effective, our businesses will thrive.

“When the rule of law is compromised, the most vulnerable members of society are disproportionately affected, and the fabric of our society begins to fray. The integrity of our institutions, the protection of human rights, and the stability of our nation are all jeopardised.

“The rule of law is the highest intangible and most valuable asset of any society, and we must work tirelessly to protect and preserve it. We must prioritise the pursuit of justice above all else.

“I emphasised the urgent need to revitalise our judicial system by safeguarding its independence and promoting the values of character, competence, capability, compassion, and integrity among our jurists, as well as within our political leadership.

“By doing so, we can ensure justice and fairness prevail as we endeavour to build a better Nigeria for all.

“Nigeria has become a country where anything goes. There is no rule of law, there is almost no judiciary. Everybody could be pushed down because there is no rule of law.

“Because the judiciary has become commercialised and depends on how much one pays, it has become difficult to get true justice in the judiciary.

“At any point in time where the judiciary is not working, the society suffers.”

Dangote Refinery is set to buy at least 24 million barrels of US crude over the next year as it ramps up its processing capabilities.

A report by Bloomberg revealed that the $20 billion refinery has issued a term tender for the purchase of 2 million barrels a month of West Texas Intermediate Midland (WTI) crude for 12 months starting in July, which amounts to 24 million barrels of crude in one year.

The call for US oil reflects Nigeria’s struggle to lift its own crude production, which remains well below theoretical capacity, as well as Dangote’s willingness to tap cheaper supplies than it can find at home. It also highlights how influential the refinery will be in global crude and fuel trading. 

Elitsa Georgieva, Executive Director at Citac, an energy consultancy specializing in the African downstream sector, said: “Supply of Nigerian crude is insufficient or unavailable and sometimes unreliable. WTI on the other hand, is available, with reliable supply and competitively priced.

“Buying different feed stocks also provides flexibility and optionality for the refinery, so the tender makes economic sense for Dangote,”

Nigeria has not been able to meet its Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) + quota for at least a year. The nation pumped about 1.45 million barrels a day of crude and liquids in April, still far below its estimated production capacity of 2.6 million barrels a day.

Crude theft, aging oil pipelines, low investment, and divestments from oil majors operating in the country have all contributed to declining production.

To ensure enough local supply to the 650,000 barrel-a-day refinery, Nigeria’s upstream regulator, the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), released new draft rules last month that will compel its oil producers to sell crude to domestic refineries. NUPRC mandated all oil companies in Nigeria to supply crude to domestic refineries that are unable to procure it locally. 

Producers are allowed to export crude only after meeting these domestic supply obligations. 

Under the new rules, NUPRC will act as an intermediary between local refiners and producers when agreements on crude supply are not reached, facilitating a sales purchase agreement using a willing-buyer, willing-seller model.

This new policy could benefit Dangote refinery by enabling it to procure crude oil from local suppliers rather than depending on imports. The plant, currently running at about half capacity, is taking advantage of cheaper US oil imports for as much as a third of its feedstock. Since the start of this year, it has received at least one supertanker carrying about 2 million barrels of WTI Midland each month.

An official at Dangote declined to comment on the report, Bloomberg stated.

President of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has revealed details of the contract given to new Super Eagles coach Finidi George.

Recall that Finidi was appointed as coach of the Super Eagles on April 19, and was unveiled by the board of the NFF at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium on Monday in Abuja.

Gusau refuted claims making the rounds that the federation only committed the new Super Eagles head coach to a one-year deal.

“I don’t know where the one-year contract information emanated from, all I know is that, as far as our contract with Finidi is concerned, he is going to be in charge of the team till the end of 2026,” Gusau said on Soccer Africa, a popular TV show in South Africa.

“So I don’t think 2026 is going to be a one-year contract.

“The key thing is, in every contract, there must be some indices and some targets that you must put in place for somebody in other for him to get optimal performance.

“And the first target is to qualify the team for next year’s Nations Cup and to get to at least the semi finals of the Nations Cup, as well as qualify the team to the World Cup and to get us the target of playing in the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

“So these are the main targets we put in place for him in the contract, and by the grace of God, we are working hard to see how we can achieve that,” he added.

Speaking further, Gusau also stated that the federation didn’t force George to choose his assistants.

During the unveiling, the NFF also introduced the assistants who will support George: Daniel Amokachi, Benjamin James, Olatunji Baruwa, Chima Onyeike, and Mehmet Ozturk.

“I am very happy when we unveiled Finidi to Nigeria. The NFF Technical Director put all the names on the list, and they chose the best they felt would work. All the names you saw as assistants to Finidi were chosen by him,” Gusau said.

The Super Eagles will host South Africa in their upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying fixture at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium in Uyo on Friday, June 7th.

The three-time African champions will travel to face Benin at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium in Abidjan three days later.

The federal government has asked labour leaders and other stakeholders to return to the negotiating table and continue discussions on the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

Naija News understands the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage, Bukar Goni, sent a letter of invitation to labour leaders dated May 16, 2024 for a meeting on Tuesday, 21st May.

This development comes barely 24 hours after the leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) stormed out of a meeting of the minimum wage negotiation committee on Wednesday over what they termed a ridiculous offer from the government.

It would be recalled that the government offered ₦48,000 as the new minimum wage while the Organized Private Sector (OPS), proposed N54,000 during the meeting while the labour maintained its stand on a ₦615,000 minimum wage for workers.

In a statement released after the meeting, the labour leaders expressed disappointment, saying the federal government has shown its unseriousness with the amount it proposed.

They described the ₦48,000 proposed new minimum wage by the federal government as an insult to the sensibility of Nigerian workers.

However, according to Punch, there are indications the government may review its proposal upward during the fresh meeting.

The tripartite committee chairman, in his letter, is understood to have indicated the willingness of the government to shift grounds on its ₦48,000 offer.

The letter was titled, ‘Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage: Negotiation.’

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has approved part payment of all power sector debts, estimated at N3.3 trillion.

Adebayo Adelabu, Nigeria’s Minister of Power, disclosed this at Thursday’s 8th Africa Energy Marketplace in Abuja.

He noted that the federal government’s N1.3 trillion debt to power-generating companies would be paid via cash injections and promissory notes, while about $1.3 billion (N1.994 trillion using the current official closing rate) owed to gas companies will be paid via cash and future royalties.

Adelabu stressed that the federal government had commenced payment of the cash part of the N1.3 trillion debt owed Gencos and concluded plans to settle the second part via promissory notes within two to five years.

“The debt for the power-generating companies is N1.3tn. I can also tell you that Mr. President has consented to pay on the condition of reconciling these debts between the government and the power-generating companies.

“It is true that I mentioned that Mr President has approved the submission of the Hon. Minister of State Petroleum (Gas) to defray the outstanding debts owed to the gas supplying companies to the power sector operators.

“The payments will be in parts. We have the legacy debt and the current debt. For the current debt, approval has been given for a cash payment of about N130bn from the Gas Stabilisation Fund, which the Federal Ministry of Finance will pay if it hasn’t already,” he said.

In March, the government paid $120 million out of the $1.3bn indebtedness to gas companies.

On different occasions, Adelabu has blamed indebtedness to gencos for the epileptic power supply in the country.

Recall that on April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission approved a 230 per cent electricity tariff hike for band A customers, who receive a 20-24 power supply.

A month later, the government slashed the hike by N18.2 to N206.8 per kilowatt-hour from 225kwh.

However, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, and other Nigerians have kicked against the hike, calling for its complete reversal.

The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Abdullahi Ganduje has said that the decisions, policies and programmes introduced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will take the country out of the woods to progress and prosperity.

He gave the assurance on Thursday night when he hosted officials at the Forum of APC Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja.

While commending the leadership virtues of Tinubu, the APC Chairman noted that the President, unlike his predecessors, took bold decisions to give the country the push that will usher her into the next level of prosperity and development.

“I assure you that our President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is also a grassroots politician, tested and trusted. He is great, because he is bold enough to take some decisions which the previous administrations could not take and very soon, you will start seeing the positive effects of the reforms that he’s introducing.

“Our refineries will soon be producing abundant fuel. It is all over the world now that the narrative is changing about the use of petrol, CNG vehicles will soon be on ground where transportation will be cheaper.

“The reforms Asiwaju is introducing will take Nigeria to the next level,” Ganduje said.

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, on Thursday, announced May 24, 2024, as the official date for “the opening of the portal for student loan applications.”

The announcement was made in a statement by the media lead for the NELFund,  Nasir Ayantogo.

Ayantogo, in the statement, said the opening of the application portal marked a significant milestone in the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to “fostering accessible and inclusive education for all Nigerian students.”

On June 12, 2023, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, 2023 into law to enable indigent students to access interest-free loans for their educational pursuits in any Nigerian tertiary institution. 

The move was in “fulfillment of one of his campaign promises to liberalise funding of education,” a member of the then Presidential Strategy Team, Dele Alake, said.

The Act, popularly known as the Students Loan Law, also established the Nigerian Education Loan Fund to process all loan requests, grants, disbursement, and recovery.

Although the government initially announced that the scheme would be launched in September, it suffered several delays leading to an indefinite postponement in early March.

The Presidency had linked the delay to Tinubu’s directive to expand the scheme to include loans for vocational skills.

After receiving briefing from the NELFund team led by the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, on January 22, the President had directed the Fund to extend interest-free loans to Nigerian students interested in skill-development programmes.

Tinubu based his decision on the need for the scheme to accommodate those who may not want to pursue a university education, noting that skill acquisition is as essential as obtaining undergraduate and graduate academic qualifications.

“This is not an exclusive programme. It is catering to all of our young people. Young Nigerians are gifted in different areas.

“This is not only for those who want to be doctors, lawyers, and accountants. It is also for those who aspire to use their skilled and trained hands to build our nation.

“In accordance with this, I have instructed NELFund to explore all opportunities to inculcate skill-development programmes because not everybody wants to go through a full university education,” he had said.

Through the portal, students can now access loans to pursue their academic aspirations without financial constraints.

The portal, according to the statement, provides a user-friendly interface for students to submit their loan applications conveniently.

“We encourage all eligible students to take advantage of this opportunity to invest in their future and contribute to the growth and development of our nation.

“Students can access the portal on www.nelf.gov.ng to begin application,” the statement said.

The details of the meeting between President Bola Tinubu and his Senegalese counterpart, Bassirou Faye have emerged.

Recall that the Senegal President arrived in Nigeria on Thursday and met with President Tinuhu at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

A statement issued by the presidential spokesman, Ajuri Ngelale, quoted President Tinubu saying that countries in West Africa must unite to defeat the scourge of terrorism, human trafficking, and poverty in the region.

He urged leaders in the region to make the people the focal point of governance, noting that the essence of democracy is lost when citizens are not enjoying dividends.

The president emphasised that democratic values and constitutional order are sacrosanct and must be protected.

He added that critical institutions like the judiciary must be respected and obeyed for the sustenance of democracy.

He said: “Constitutional democracy is what Senegal proved to the rest of the world and Africa. It is a joy to have you here and to meet the hope and aspirations of our youths. You fit in perfectly well.

“A critical time it is in the history of constitutional democracy, particularly in West Africa. What you have embarked upon, a struggle couched in freedom, is remarkable.”

The president described Nigeria and Senegal as brotherly nations, recounting both countries’ long history of cooperation.

He added: “We are brothers. We have shared an interest in democracy. To make democracy sustainable in the interest of our people, we definitely must work hard.

“I am glad that you are a shining example of patience, perseverance, and commitment to democratic values.

“We must partner to make our people the focus of our democratic commitment. Your belief in the sovereignty of Africa is shared by all of us.

“But how can we work for our people and make them the focus of our democracy if we are violating the rule of law and promoting an unconstitutional takeover of government?

“As the chairman of ECOWAS, I am inviting you to collaborate and meet those other brothers. To persuade them to come back to the fold.

“We will continue to work together. We share good backgrounds, and we will continue to embrace and promote democratic governance.

“We must be able to partner and build the freedom we believe in – in economic growth, development, and other spheres of governance. It is left for us to provide assurance to our people and walk our talk.

“We must defeat human trafficking; we must defeat terrorism, banditry, and poverty in our society. That must be our focus and commitment.”

Speaking during the meeting, Faye acknowledged Nigeria and Senegal’s shared values and challenges, noting that both nations have always had good relations since the 1960s.

He called for the reactivation of the Nigeria-Senegal joint commission to strengthen bilateral relations across the areas of diplomacy, trade, and other spheres.

On ECOWAS, Faye said with Tinubu’s wisdom and experience, relations among member states can be strengthened for the advancement of the community.

He said: “The good relations we have and the relations between our private sectors should be beneficial to our countries.

“ECOWAS is the beacon of successful regional integration in Africa and globally. It is something we owe to the founding fathers of the community.

“I have no doubt that you want to continue this legacy of integration. The union is going through a rough patch, but not everything is lost.

“I know I can rely on your wisdom and experience, as the leader of this great African nation.

“Your wisdom and your democratic values should be an asset to that vision, and my youth and determination can also be an asset.

“If we come together, with all these assets and advantages, I am convinced we can open a window of opportunity to discuss.

“United, we are stronger. Faced with common challenges, such as human trafficking, migrant smuggling, and all other challenges, we need to show resolve to confront these challenges so that economically we can thrive and satisfy the wishes of our people.”

The Federal Government on Thursday denied an allegation that it intended to borrow the N20tn pension fund for infrastructure development.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, in a statement in Abuja, said the government would comply with the established rules and regulations governing the pension fund.

The minister was reported to have told journalists, after a two-day Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, that the government would unveil a plan to harness local funds, including the fund, to finance infrastructure development.

However, in a statement in Abuja on Thursday, Edun noted that the pension industry, similar to other sectors in the financial industry, is strictly regulated by specific legal frameworks.


He said the Federal Government did not plan to exceed these legal boundaries, emphasising that the government was committed to protecting workers’ pensions.

“It has come to my notice that stories are making the round that the Federal Government plans to illegally access the hard-earned savings and pension contributions of workers. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Highly regulated

“The pension industry, like most the financial industries, is highly regulated. There are rules. There are limitations about what pension money can be invested in and what it cannot be invested in.

“The Federal Government has no intention whatsoever to go beyond those limitations and go outside those bounds which are there to safeguard the pensions of workers.

“What was announced to the Federal Executive Council was that there was an ongoing initiative drawing in all the major stakeholders in the long-term saving industry, those that handle funds that are available over a long period to see how, within the regulations and the laws; these funds could be used maximally to drive investment in key growth areas,” Edun clarified.

Furthermore, Edun clarified that the government had no intention of increasing the risk associated with the pension funds or allowing their investments to become less secure.

Earlier on Thursday, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria asked the Federal Government to refrain from tampering with the pension fund.

The NLC President, Joe Ajaero and the TUC Deputy President, Tommy Okon, in a joint statement on Thursday, advised the government not to risk the future of workers by borrowing the money to fund infrastructure development.

They stated, “Nigerian workers have entrusted their hard-earned savings for retirement security, not as a means for government projects. It is imperative to halt any further plans to tap into these funds, especially given the lack of transparency and accountability in past government borrowing practices.’’


The unions demanded assurances from the government that workers retirement funds [b]“would not fall victim to further Federal Government borrowing, especially when the PENCOM Board has not been constituted as envisaged by the statutes,’’ [/b]arguing further that any plan to borrow the funds is not backed by the Pension Act.

Labour expressed regrets that despite the government’s assurances of widespread consultation with major stakeholders in the pension industry, the NLC and TUC, representing the owners of the entire pension fund contributions, had neither been consulted nor informed about the government’s intentions.

According to the unions, the lack of transparency undermined the sanctity of pension funds, which it said should always be treated with the utmost reverence and protection.

Similarly, the Head of Information, Nigerian Union of Pensioners, Bunmi Ogunkolade, urged the government to find an alternative source to fund its infrastructure development plan, noting that the pension fund did not belong to pensioners but to workers.

He said, “Simply put, we are not in support. We have told the government to go and look for where to get their money. We have appealed to them that they should please look for where to get money to fund infrastructure or whatever.

On its part, the Nigeria Union of Pension in Kaduna State also advised the Federal Government against using the money for infrastructure development.

The state Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, Mallam Alhassan Balarabe Musa, who stated this in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “The Federal Government under former President Muhammadu Buhari attempted a similar thing but failed.’’

“For us we are not happy about that. As of now, our national headquarters are trying everything to ensure that the fund is not going to be accessible.

“Now, we have so many retirees under contributory pension who are unable to get their gratuities. So, why will the Federal Government take that kind of amount? I think it’s going to be unfortunate and unacceptable.”

The NUP Pensioners, Ogun State Council, gave a similar warning.

The Secretary of the union, Dr Bola Lawal, said “I am sure if you have the opportunity to ask every pensioner none will accept this move of the government. Where is the assurance that this money will be paid back on time?

Osun pensioners

When contacted, the Coordinator, Osun State Contributory Pensioners, Mr Toyin Ayinde, warned the government against tampering with the contributions of retirees.

He said, “The government must not touch our money. What exactly is the matter with them? We don’t want anyone to touch our money under any guise. We are not interested in any proposal from them.”