PRESS RELEASE

On 28 June 2024, Nigeria signed the Samoa Agreement at the Organisation of African, Caribbean, and Pacific States (OACPS) Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium.

The partnership agreement is between the EU and its Member States on one hand, and the members of the OACPS on the other.

Negotiations on the agreement started in 2018, on the sidelines of the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. It was signed in Apia, Samoa on the 15th of November 2018 by all 27 EU Member states and 47 of the 79 OACPS Member states.

The agreement has 103 articles comprising a common foundational compact and three regional protocols, namely: Africa –EU; Caribbean-EU, and Pacific-EU Regional Protocols with each regional protocol addressing the peculiar issues of the regions.

The African Regional Protocol consists of two parts. The first is the Framework for Cooperation, while the second deals with Areas of Cooperation, containing Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Growth and Development; Human and Social Development; Environment, Natural Resources Management, and Climate Change; Peace and Security; Human Rights, Democracy and Governance; and Migration and Mobility.

Nigeria signed the Agreement on Friday 28 June 2024. This was done after extensive reviews and consultations by the Interministerial Committee, convened by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMOJ). It was ensured that none of the 103 Articles and Provisions of the Agreement contravenes the 1999 Constitution as amended or the laws of Nigeria and other extant Laws.

In addition, Nigeria’s endorsement was accompanied by a Statement of Declaration, dated 26th June 2024, clarifying its understanding and context of the Agreement within its jurisdiction to the effect that any provision that is inconsistent with the laws of Nigeria shall be invalid. It is instructive to note that there is an existing legislation against same-sex relationships in Nigeria enacted in 2014.

It is necessary to assure Nigerians that the President Bola Tinubu Administration, being a rule-based government will not enter into any international agreement that will be detrimental to the interest of the country and its citizens. In negotiating the Agreement, our officials strictly followed the mandates exchanged in 2018 between the EU and the OACPS for the process.

The Samoa Agreement is nothing but a vital legal framework for cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, to promote sustainable development, fight climate change and its effects, generate investment opportunities, and foster collaboration among OACPS Member States at the international stage.

Mohammed Idris
Minister of Information and National Orientation.

The federal government says Nigeria has won its bid to host the headquarters of the $5 billion Africa Energy Bank (AEB).

In a statement on Thursday, Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), described the development as a testament to the country’s leadership and commitment to the energy sector.

The decision, reached at an extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), places Nigeria at the forefront of Africa’s energy future, Lokpobiri said.

“As the Minister for Petroleum Resources[Oil], I am incredibly proud of this achievement. The African Energy Bank will be a cornerstone for financing and advancing energy projects across Africa, promoting innovation, sustainability, and economic growth,” the statement reads.

“This is a remarkable victory for Nigeria and the entire African continent. It symbolizes our collective efforts to harness and develop our rich energy resources for a brighter, more sustainable future.

“Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Together, we are shaping the future of energy in Africa, starting right here in Nigeria!”

In March, Nigeria won the bid as the preferred host nation despite competing against Algeria, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and South Africa. 

The proposed AEB, which will focus investment in oil and gas projects across the continent, plans to start operations later this year with an initial $5 billion authorised capital base.

In November last year, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) had the African Energy Bank would be inaugurated in June 2024 to mitigate the crisis in the continent’s energy sector.

The lender said it had partnered with over 700 banks in Africa and its partners to chart a profitable pathway for the African energy sector.

Keir Starmer, the Labour Party candidate, has won the UK general election and will become the next prime minister of the country.

Labour has been declared official winner of the poll after reaching the required 326 parliamentary seats.

“Change begins now. It feels good, I have to be honest,” Starmer told a cheering crowd in central London.

Rishi Sunak, outgoing prime minister, said he takes responsibility for the loss of the Conservative Party.

“Britain has delivered a sobering verdict. On this difficult night, I’d like to express my gratitude to the people of Richmond and Northallerton constituency for your continued support,” Sunak said.

“The Labour Party has won this general election and I’ve called Sir Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his victory.

“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner, with goodwill on all sides. That is something that should give us all confidence in our country’s stability and future.

“The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight, there is much to learn… and I take responsibility for the loss.

“To the many good, hard-working Conservative candidates who lost tonight, despite their tireless efforts, their local records and delivery, and their dedication to their communities, I am sorry.”

Wale Edun, minister of finance, says the N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan announced by President Bola Tinubu will prioritise food and energy security.

Edun spoke to journalists after the inauguration of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC) on Thursday.

He said the council members were presented with the outcomes of the president’s review of the accelerated stability and advancement plan.

The minister described the plan as an emergency measure set to span the next six months following the approval of the N2 trillion intervention package.

He said the package includes N350 billion for health and social welfare, N500 billion for agriculture and food security, N500 billion for the energy and power sector, and N650 billion for general business support.

“This is in addition to a range of promising tax measures, there is a range of Executive Orders which the president’s signed and are been gazetted to ease the cost of doing business at this particular time,” Edun said.

“There are a number of funding which will reduce the cost of interest rate for certain sectors in economy with small and medium scale in particular but also larger companies there is a line of credit that will allow them to fall cheaper than the elevated rate.

“This plan is a means of stabilising the economy and [to] get business growing again.

“We know what has happened since the micro economic measures which are necessary and have been implemented in a determined and consistent manner led to elevated cost for industries and for individuals.”

Edun said Tinubu’s focus is on food security, food production, and nutrition security.

He reaffirmed the president’s commitment to reducing losses in the crude oil sector and increasing production and sales to 2 million barrels per day.

In his remarks, Tony Elumelu, chairman of Heirs Holdings, said the president’s target of producing 2 million barrels of crude oil per day is achievable, emphasising the need to improve power generation in Nigeria.

In a move to revive Nigeria’s struggling economy, Tinubu announced a N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan on Thursday.

The plan was unveiled during the inauguration of the PECC.

Established in March, the PECC is chaired by the president and includes key government officials such as the vice-president, the senate president, and the chairman of the governors’ forum.

Prominent private sector leaders, including Dangote, Elumelu, and Bismarck Rewane will serve on the council for one year.

Janet Galadima-Gimba, a customary court judge in Kaduna, who was abducted by bandits, has been released.

The judge and her sons were reportedly abducted at their residence in the Mahuta area of Kaduna on June 23.

The abductors, numbering up to 15, invaded the home of the judge at night when her husband, a medical doctor, was away on duty.

The bandits were said to have demanded N300 million ransom for their release and had threatened to start killing their victims one after the other if payment was delayed.

One of the children, a 14-year-old boy, was, however, killed on Tuesday by the bandits when the N298 ransom demanded could not be delivered at the stipulated time.

However, in a telephone interview on Thursday evening, the judge said she was released by her abductors.

She added that they demanded N150 million for the release of her three children.

“Initially, they demanded N298 million, but they have reduced it to N150 million, and they released me to go and bring the money before my children are released,” she said.

She said the bandits threatened to kill her children in less than three days if she failed to deliver the ransom to them.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has inaugurated 12 compressed natural gas (CNG) stations in Lagos and Abuja.

The newly-built CNG stations were simultaneously inaugurated on Thursday by Ekperikpe Ekpo, minister of state for petroleum resources (gas).

According to the national oil firm, the facilities include six CNG stations in Abuja, constructed through its subsidiary NNPC Retail Ltd and six CNG-Autogas stations in Lagos and Abuja, via NNPC Gas Marketing Limited and NIPCO Gas Limited.

Speaking at the occasion, Ekpo said the commissioning of the stations would provide economic benefits by creating jobs and boosting local economies.

He said it will also contribute significantly to Nigeria’s national goals of lowering emissions and combating climate change.

The minister commended NNPC for ensuring that CNG is available for Nigerians.

On his part, Mele Kyari, group chief executive officer (GCEO) of NNPC, said in addition to the deployment of CNG stations nationwide, the firm and its partners would also build three liquefied natural gas (LNG) stations in Ajaokuta.

“There is simply no way to turn back on delivering CNG for all Nigerians,” Kyari said.

“It is the right thing to do. Is it late? Yes, but we will make progress, we will cover the gap in order to ensure that the volatility we see with Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) does not apply to gas.”

Also speaking, Huub Stokman, managing director at NNPC Retail, said in the next one year, the retail company would launch over 100 CNG sites, including 16 NNPC Gas Marketing and NIPCO Gas joint venture (JV) sites.

“CNG provides Nigeria with affordable alternatives to existing available fuel products. It will be about 40% cheaper than petrol in Nigeria and with continued investments, it will become a significant part of our energy mix,” Stokman added.

According to the national oil company, NNPC Gas Marketing, in partnership with NIPCO Gas Limited, has developed an Auto-CNG rollout plan for the construction of 35 CNG stations across several geographical zones in Nigeria.

A group known as Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD) says summits and conferences on insecurity will not end the menace in the north-west geopolitical zone.

In a statement issued on Thursday, Sani Shinkafi, the group’s executive director, said governors in the north-west need the political will to exterminate banditry and other vices behind insecurity in the zone.

“The problems in the zone require political will and pragmatic actions, not empty rhetoric as obtainable in the past 12 years, which has not changed the narrative,” the statement reads.

Shinkafi said the governors should “accelerate the development of the zone through education, wealth creation, and social amenities that will impact the lives of the people”.

He urged them to “stop dissipating energy and resources in organising peace and security summits and conferences within and outside Nigeria, as they are not the solution to the insecurity confronting the zone”.

“The zone is neglected by past and present leaders. Agriculture, which is the mainstream of the region, is neglected in spite of the abundant, fruitful land mass,” Shinkafi added.

“The recent North West summit on the security of life and livelihoods was a welcome development if governors would be spurred to implement people-oriented projects and ensure the security and welfare of the people for rapid development of the zone.

“It is obvious that the UNDP and other development partners cannot solve the problem of insecurity in the region.

“The remote causes of insecurity in the zone include corruption, poverty, unemployment, illiteracy, poor governance, a weak judicial system, a weak security apparatus, porous borders, drug abuse, weak traditional institutions, the influx of illegal Fulani aliens through land borders, and the proliferation of small and lighter arms and ammunition by unauthorised persons.

“It is amazing that governors in the region have been receiving monthly statutory allocations from the federal government since the inception of democratic governance in 1999, yet the region is underdeveloped. The resources are carelessly misappropriated, misapplied, and siphoned for personal enrichment.

“Illiteracy is one of the major causes of armed banditry and related crimes. Most of the bandits are uneducated both western and Islamic education.

“Leaders in the zone failed to invest in education, in building primary and secondary schools, adult education, and Almajiri schools. They left the children to roam about the streets begging; sadly, many of them were recruited into armed banditry, terrorism, and other social crimes. The existing schools are not renovated and equipped, let alone building new schools.

“Due to widespread armed banditry, cattle rustling, herders-farmers clashes, kidnapping for ransom, and displacement of innocent people from their ancestral homes, millions of small and large-scale farmers deserted their farmlands, which exacerbated the food crisis in the region in particular and the nation in general.

“The Bureau of Statistics recently released data that showed the North West geopolitical zone has the highest poverty rate in Nigeria. The activities of bandits have brought economic stagnation to the region, as people can no longer go about their legitimate business for fear of being kidnapped or killed by bandits.

“Many who were kidnapped sold their farmlands and houses to pay the ransom demanded by their captors. This further impoverished the people. Governors lack the political will to tackle the problem; instead, they divert funds for development to use to buy votes during elections and bribe electoral officers to hang on to power.

“It is obvious that corruption is the root cause of bad governance, unemployment, and banditry.

He asked the north-west governors to be proactive and create jobs for the youth to reduce unemployment and poverty.

Shinkafi also called for the overhaul of security architecture in the geopolitical zone, adding that modern crime-fighting equipment should be provided, including scanners, CCTV, surveillance drones, communication gadgets, operational vehicles, and quarters in the border areas to fight insecurity.

Nigeria’s debt to petrol suppliers has surpassed $6 billion, doubling since early April, Reuters is reporting.

According to the report on Thursday, the development comes as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited strives to cover the gap between fixed pump prices and international fuel costs.

The report noted that the NNPC started struggling early this year when late petrol payments were over $3 billion.

“The company has still not paid for some January imports, traders said, and the late payments amount to $4 billion to $5 billion,” the publication said. 

Under contract terms, the report said the NNPC is obligated to pay within 90 days of delivery.

“The only reason traders are putting up with it is the $250,000 a month (per cargo) for late payment compensation,” an industry source told Reuters.

According to sources, at least two suppliers have already withdrawn from current tenders after reaching their self-imposed debt exposure restrictions to Nigeria. 

This means they would not provide any more petrol unless they are paid, Reuters added.

“Traders thrive in risky environments, but they place limits on how much credit they allocate per trade in order to avoid too much exposure on one borrower. These limits vary by company based on their size and where they operate,” the publication said.

Nigeria’s tenders to buy petrol in June and July were consequently smaller, traders told Reuters.

Two sources said the NNPC will import about 850,000 tonnes in July via tender — down from the typical 1 million tonnes in previous months.

President Bola Tinubu had announced the removal of the petrol subsidy when he took over in May last year, saying “its ever-increasing costs” could no longer be justified “in the wake of drying resources”.

Prior to the removal, the federal government had said it would spend up to N3.3 trillion on petrol subsidy between January and June 2023.

Petrol subsidy has remained a controversial issue in Nigeria as spending continues to deplete the country’s revenue. But the removal has since worsened the living conditions of Nigerians as petrol prices, coupled with a weak currency have stoked inflation to unbearable levels.

While there are speculations that subsidy has been reintroduced partially, the federal government has dismissed the claims on many occasions.

President Bola Tinubu says Nigeria’s power generation capacity at about 4.5 gigawatts is shameful.

According to a statement by Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, Tinubu spoke during the inauguration of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC) on Thursday.

Since powered generation is measured in megawatts in Nigeria, 4.5 gigawatts would translate to 4,500 megawatts.

Speaking at the event, the president called for the collaboration of the members to increase Nigeria’s on-grid electricity capacity.

”We have the challenge of energy security in Nigeria. We need to work together to improve our oil and gas sector, and we must also increase electricity generation and distribution throughout the country,” Tinubu said.

“We are determined to do that with your cooperation, collaboration, and recommendations. As a nation, it is so shameful that we are still generating 4.5GW of electricity.

”We must increase our oil production to two (2) million barrels per day within the next few months and we are determined to remove all entry barriers to investments in the energy sector while enhancing competitiveness.”

Tinubu highlighted the need for innovative solutions to the country’s economic challenges, stressing the importance of public-private partnerships in driving economic reforms.

Additionally, Tinubu announced measures under the economic stabilisation programme, aimed at stabilising the economy, enhancing job creation, and fostering economic security.

On energy security, the president said the initiative — which includes power, oil and gas — aims to increase on-grid electricity to be delivered to homes and businesses from about 4.5 gigawatts to 6 gigawatts in six months.

The scheme, according to the president, also aims to increase oil production to 2 million barrels per day within the next 12 months.

On Thursday, Tinubu announced a N2 trillion economic stabilisation plan to revive Nigeria’s struggling economy.