Libya has displaced Nigeria as the biggest oil producer in Africa producing an average higher figure of 1.236 million bpd- a 5,000 barrel difference, becoming the largest oil producer in Africa for March 2024.
Nigeria’s crude oil production for March dropped to 1.23 million barrels daily according to the latest data from OPEC’s monthly oil market report for March.
This was a 92,000 barrel drop from the 1.32 million daily production in February 2024.
However, according to secondary sources, the country’s crude oil production for March stood at 1.39 million barrels daily- marking a decline of 38,000 daily from 1.43 million barrels.
The country’s crude oil production in March was the lowest this year and fell below the benchmark crude oil production of 1.78 million barrels daily in the 2024 budget.
The drop in crude oil production means lower receipts from oil sales and reduced foreign exchange for the federal government.
According to the report, Saudi Arabia maintained its position as the biggest oil producer among OPEC member countries with average daily production of 8.97 million bpd- a drop of 39,000 barrels, followed by Iraq with 3.9 million bpd and the United Arab Emirates with 2.91 million barrels daily.
In March, the value of the OPEC Reference Basket (ORB) rose by $2.99, or 3.7% month-on-month, reaching an average of $84.22 per barrel. Similarly, oil futures prices also saw an increase.
Atleast twenty-seven (27) fishermen were slaughtered and three (3) others abducted by suspected members of Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, a.k.a Boko Haram terrorists group at the fringes of Lake Chad in the border between Cameroon- Nigeria.
According to VANGUARD, The incident took place last Sunday (few days ago), as it was gathered that the terrorists suspected to be from the Buduma faction of Abou Ummaymah, attacked a local fishing community harboring most fishermen from Nigeria at Kofiya Island near Darak in the Republic of Cameroon.
This is as the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) has yesterday executed a police officer abducted along the Damboa – Biu Road in Borno State.
Reliable sources informed that the Boko Haram Terrorists asked the fishermen to lie down, tie their hands behind their backs before they started slaughtering them without confrontation.
The sources said the terrorists also abducted four other fishermen after accusing them of spying for the ISWAP factional group.
“The bodies of the fishermen were later recovered during a search and rescue operation by troops, while their other colleagues fled the scene.” Sources informed.
In a related development, the Islamic State of the West African Province (ISWAP) has executed a police officer abducted along the Damboa – Biu Road in Borno State.
Sources reliably informed that on Sunday 7 April 24, at about 1000hrs, the police officer with wife and children, were on transit from Damboa to Biu for Eid break but unfortunately went through a banned route.
It was later reported that the deceased and his family were abducted by suspected ISWAP operatives around Shokotoko general area located approximately 73/km south of Damboa.
However, later in the evening , the wife and his children were released, while the police officer was executed by the terrorists.
A high court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos, has granted bail to Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in the sum of N50 million.
Rahmon Oshodi, the judge, in his ruling on the bail application on Friday, admitted Emefiele on bail with two sureties in like sum.
The former CBN governor is facing trial in Lagos on a 26-count charge bordering on abuse of office.
Oshodi ordered the sureties must be gainfully employed and must have made three years tax payment with the Lagos State Government.
He also said that the sureties must show proper identification and that they must be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System
The judge said he was satisfied with the bail conditions of N1 million, earlier given to Emefiele’s co-defendant, Henry Isioma-Omoil, who is facing another charge before Justice Olufunke Sule-Hamzat of Yaba High Court.
Oshodi, however, said the bail documents must be transferred to special offences court and registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
This is a developing story…
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, has described as wasteful and a highway to fraud the claim by Works Minister Dave Umahi that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will tentatively cost N15.6 trillion.
Atiku also knocked Mr Umahi for altering the project’s initial plan after Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had been awarded the contract without any competitive bidding.
He said, “Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit.”
Mr Umahi had, during his media rounds at select TV stations on Thursday, said the road project would cost N15.6 trillion ($13bn at an exchange rate of N1,200/$1) while the rail which will pass through the road would be costed separately.
The minister also said the project would not be PPP but that the government would be providing 15%-30% counterpart financing.
Responding to Mr Umahi’s revelation, Atiku said the tentative cost was the equivalent of the total budget of all 36 states of the federation combined.
He said, “The total budget of all 36 federation states for 2024 is about N14 trillion. If you add that of the FCT, the entire budget of all sub-nationals is N15.91 trillion. This is scandalous. Worse still, they have already awarded the contract but are still not sure of the level of the counterpart funding component of the federal government!
“Umahi had said in September 2023 that Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had the money to construct the highway and would be PPP. Hitech was to build, operate, and transfer it back to the Nigerian government after years of tolling.
“It was reported by every media organisation, including those owned by Tinubu. It was based on this proposal that Hitech was picked. Why did Umahi then turn around to claim that it was not to be a PPP but that the government would pay 15%-30%?”
The former Vice President noted that in the 2024 budget, the project was captured as the Lagos-Port Harcourt coastal highway and was put at a cost of N500m.
“Although the National Assembly approved N500m for the project this year, the Tinubu administration has released N1.06tn. That is more than 200 times what is in the Appropriation Act. This is what happens when the National Assembly fails in its duties,” he added.
Atiku said it was curious that the N15.91 trillion announced by Mr Umahi did not include the cost of the railway component. He, therefore, wondered how much the project would cost if the railway component is included.
“If N15.6 trillion is for the road component alone, then the total cost could be far higher when the railway is included. We want to know the cost of the railway,” he said.
The PDP presidential candidate also lambasted Mr Umahi for admitting that the project was given to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech construction company without competitive bidding.
He asked Mr Umahi to stop trying to deceive Nigerians with the claim that only Hitech was competent enough to do the project, wondering if it is the same that has been grappling with the execution of its projects in Lagos.
The former vice president stated, “The essence of competitive bidding is so that Nigerians can get the best value for money. It is so that you can compare prices and pick the company that can afford the project. It is wrong for him to have concluded that only Hitech could handle this project when such a project has been done by other reputable firms in the United States, China and South Africa.
“He claims he didn’t know there was a business relationship between Gilbert Chagoury and Tinubu, but this is another lie because Tinubu has publicly acknowledged this fact.”
Atiku also accused the works minister of attempting to deceive Nigerians as regards the appropriation for the project.
He called on members of the National Assembly to be alive to their responsibilities instead of acting like an annexe of the presidency.
The PDP candidate stated, “Until I exposed the dubious nature of this project, no member of the National Assembly thought it wise to investigate. The total cost was never made known until now. The fact that there was no bidding was never made known until I blew the whistle.”
The former vice president also knocked Mr Umahi for claiming that no money had been released yet to Hitech, which he described as another lie.
“On March 31, 2024, Umahi came on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics programme where he pointedly said that the sum of N1.06tn was released to Hitech. Only for him to say on TVC on April 11 that the same money had not been released. Which one is true, and which one is false?”
Signed:
Atiku Media Office
Abuja
11th April, 2024.
Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has claimed that the electricity tariffs that were recently increased, will reduce if the exchange rate falls below N1,000 to a dollar.
Adelabu made this comment when he appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
On April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, announced the removal of subsidy on the electricity consumed by Band A customers.
Band A customers now pay N255/KWh, a hike from N68/kWh, while others maintain the old tariffs.
But Adelabu has now given conditions for a possible reduction.
“The tariff is flexible. I can tell you if the naira gains more and the exchange rate comes down below N1,000 to a dollar, it must positively affect the tariff; and the tariff, even for Band A, will come down below the N225/KWh that we are currently charging.
“There are variable factors that go into the composition of the tariff, and we are not closing our eyes to it,” Adelabu said.
Eddy Olafeso, the former National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the south-west, has said Nigerians have witnessed nothing but hardship under the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Olafeso, who stressed that there is no remedy in sight, maintained that when the opposition party was in power, life was more pleasant for the people.
Speaking in Akure, the Ondo State capital, he expressed optimism that Nigerians will smile when the opposition party returns to the helms of affairs.
The PDP stalwart said, “No matter the challenges we are facing at this moment, we are very sure and confident that the future will be better and that the PDP will take back power and connect to do what it did in the past to develop Nigeria. I am very confident that we will return.
“There’s no middle class anymore; there is poverty in the land; there is insecurity.
“What else can we hope for but the support of the people that will make the PDP’s dream of creating prosperity for this country happen as quickly as possible?
“We are sure that the future will take care of itself, and we are very resolute, and beside that, the future of Nigeria, especially the current situation that Nigerians are facing under APC, can’t continue forever.
“I’m very excited that we are going somewhere. We’re heading somewhere, and that is success; that is victory.”
Following the fire outbreak which razed over 14 buildings in Dosunmu Market on Lagos Island, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has declared that many buildings with structural defects around the site of the inferno and those that do not comply with the state government’s building regulations would be demolished.
Sanwo-Olu issued the warning yesterday in Lagos during the inspection and meeting with stakeholders, victims of the Dosunmu Market inferno which occured in the highbrow Lagos Island on Monday.
The governor, who said the state government would not shy away from its responsibility in ensuring that building standards are followed, added that, “I am going to shut down this place as long as it takes, there will be zero-tolerance all around here.
“It’s not by force that you have to trade. If you don’t have a conducive environment, go and look for something else to do,” he said.
The governor who condemned the avoidable fire disaster said, “We just finished on-the-spot assessment of the very unfortunate and preventable fire disaster here at Dosunmu Market.
“As you are all aware, this fire started on Monday and immediately, the first responders were activated and we thought it was something that we could bring under control in the first couple of hours.
“But unfortunately, as you can see, our people have been very extremely reckless and access was denied to first responders for a couple of hours. Even 48 hours after, the site is still a live site, we still have an isolated burning site and it is still an active disaster site.”
Sanwo-Olu continued, “This is a complete disaster. It is extremely unfortunate. As at the last count, we had about 14 houses in one form or the other that have been affected and a bit more might still go down after the extensive fit-for-purpose test that will be conducted over the couple of days here.”
“What I have seen here is what could have been prevented. We don’t have a full report yet, so I don’t want to speculate. But the initial report that came to us was just gross carelessness and people don’t understand what it means when we say keep your environment safe.
“We will conduct a proper extensive audit into what led to this. But as you see from the initial assessment, we have had an activation of an advocacy that indeed from the month of December and all throughout the month of May, these are high combustible weather that we have known will come year-on-year.
“We have been advertising on the media that people should know that during the harsh harmattan, the weather is not only hard, that you need to also stay away from combustible materials that can activate easy spread of fire and that is a kind of thing that we have seen here today,” Sanwo-Olu further warned.
He lamented that a lot of residential apartments had been converted into warehouses, as inflammable materials were kept in people’s sitting rooms.
The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, said the Federal Government is still paying subsidy on electricity despite the recent hike in tariff paid by Band A customers.
Adelabu stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday.
The minister said the government has about N1.8trn to pay in electricity subsidy for 2024.
Adelabu said the Electricity Act, 2023 made provisions for the review of tariff twice a year.
He said, “Review of tariff is actually legal once it is within the exclusive responsibility of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). The Act actually provides for review twice in a year, every six months.”
“If we have been paying the tariff at the same level in the last two years, it logically means that someone has been paying the burden of all these increases.
“As it is today, looking at a total production, transmission and distribution cost, the Nigerian Government is bearing 67% percent of that cost before the increase in tariff for Band A customers.
“But when you look at generation cost, the Nigerian Government is paying 90% but in terms of total subsidy, it is about 67% of subsidy on the tariff.
“Last year, it was about N720bn which was not fully funded, we have about N305bn carried into this year. If we retain tariff at the current level, the Nigerian Government will be needing about N2.9trn to subsidise electricity but with the increase for Band A customers, we are going to have a reduction of about N1.1trn. So, we are looking at about N1.8trn in subsidy,” he said.
Recall that on April 3, 2024, NERC raised electricity tariff for customers enjoying 20 hours power supply daily. Customers in this category are said to be under the Band A classification.
The increase will see the customers paying N225 kilowatt per hour from the current N66, a development that has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians, considering the immediacy of the tariff hike and the current hardship in the land.
But, Adelabu said, “The fact that the tariff for Band A, which is 15% of the total consumers will increase by over 200%, does not necessarily translate into 200% increase in their electricity bill if power is properly managed in terms of consumption.”
He assured Band A customers of value for their money. He also assured Nigerians that consumers on other bands won’t be shortchanged by distribution companies as the regulators won’t hesitate to wield their big stick on any of such discos.
Adelabu said the government has shifted its attention on discos inefficiently ran and won’t hold back in taking the appropriate steps in the interest of consumers.
He said by cutting down the inefficiencies of some operators in the sector, couple with the gains by the naira against the dollar in the last few weeks, tariff paid by Nigerians should moderate positively.
“The tariff is flexible and I can tell you that even if naira gains more and the exchange rate comes down below N1,000, it must positively affect the tariff and the tariff even for the Band A will come to down below the N225 kilowatt per hour that we are currently charging,” he said.
The minister further said the government has been working on ramping up power generation from about 4,000 megawatts to 6,000 megawatts in the next six months.
He said 25% of Nigeria’s power generation is from hydroelectric power while the remaining 75% is from gas plants.
The minister said “the gas that is supposed to be the raw material has not been coming in adequate proportion” but the government has been working with electricity generation companies to ramp up power generated for the benefit of Nigerians.
According to Adelabu, President Bola Tinubu administration plans to decentralise power generation across states of the federation and strengthen transmission and distribution of the energy to power Nigeria’s industrial transformation.
The impeached Deputy Governor of Edo State, Mr. Philip Shaibu has said that his removal by the state House of Assembly will not stand the test of the courts, noting that the entire exercise was because of the September 21 governorship election in the state.
Shaibu stated this in a viral video released yesterday, when he received the acting State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jaret Tenebe in his Abuja residence on a solidarity and sympathy visit.
This is as the APC chieftain described the impeachment as a sham and urged Shaibu to use all legal means to upturn the action.
This position came barely 24 hours after some APC faithful in Etsako West local government area protested against a planned return of the former deputy governor to the APC.
But speaking, Shaibu said: “We have shared a lot of things both good and bad together. I am deeply humbled and happy that even this situation has brought us together as one that we are. You are one person that I have always admired, someone that I grew up with.
“The person that actually separated us has also united us and that is the beauty of what has happened. I want to assure you that as we move on, just like you said this whole thing happened between the lent and Ramadan and the lessons of lent and Ramadan are obvious. I am not ready to change my attitude, I am ready to be a friend, a loyal friend and partner.
“What has happened will not change my quest to be loyal to anybody that I will work with and I will encourage anybody to be loyal to their boss. I was a loyal person and I am still loyal, the price of loyalty is success.
“The impeachment that has happened is because God wants to open a new chapter and I see that new chapter, that new opportunity and I can assure you, my chairman.
“ I call you my chairman because you are already my chairman and I think you are also one of the reasons why they hurriedly did what they did because they know what it takes for you and I to be together and they thought they could use impeachment to get me to succumb but you know that I won’t succumb.
“I am somebody that is strong willed and when I mean something, I mean it and when I look at the whole thing, I am paying the price, I also believe that it is only the man that God impeaches that is impeached.
“By the grace of God, I know the judiciary will do the needful because it is an impeachment that I have not been served, so I want to assure you of my cooperation and my loyalty will remain my weapon and I will definitely be there at all times. I think our next target is September 21 and by the grace of God we will get there.”
Earlier, Tenebe assured Shaibu that he would not be abandoned, adding: “I am here to pay you this solidarity visit because I still regard you as the deputy governor of Edo State.
“That sham they did in the Edo state House of Assembly is a disgrace to the governor and it is an aberration to our democracy which I know that the court will not allow to stand.
“You are somebody who stood out, the price you paid is the price of loyalty, you were loyal even to the detriment of people you started with, you paid that price.”
Tenebe added: “We just celebrated Easter and we know the price Jesus Christ paid. He died for our sins, what has happened is a replica of what Jesus Christ did for humanity.
“ Today, they have removed you as the deputy governor but we still regard you as the deputy governor, it is the price that you have paid to ensure that Obaseki and his semblance are rooted out of Edo state and I can tell you that we will not allow you walk alone, we are with you in spirit.”
The Edo APC boss advised Shaibu to put on the spirit of an average Uzairue person which epitomises willpower all the time, believing that when a door closes, many are opened.
“You are a strong man and I am here as the chairman of APC in Edo state and I am also an Uzairue indigene. Where we both come from, we should be strong and I implore you to continue to pursue this matter in court and we will be with you all through and God is your strength.
“When one door is closed many more are opened and many are opened for you from today. That is what the detractors don’t know, be strong and we will match on together,” Tenebe declared.
The Labour Party has faulted plans by the Federal Government to toll the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
According to the party, the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress administration is clearly not tired of “inflicting pains, suffering and misery on ordinary Nigerians. “
National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, said this in Abuja, on Thursday.
He was responding to a pronouncement by the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, that road users are to pay N3000 (three thousand ) Naira per toll gate per trip.
Ifoh said, “This administration’s policies have over the last one year have been targeted at making the poor poorer and the rich richer at the expense of hardworking, but poorly remunerated citizens.
“First, it was the the poorly executed fuel subsidy removal policy without a buffer.
“While we are still trying to deal with the hardship imposed by all of this, the government increased electricity tariffs!
“It is not longer news that this policy is largely responsible for the galloping inflation, rising poverty and the volatility of the Naira against major foriegn currencies.
“Obviously not satisfied with the suffering this has inflicted on Nigerians, the Minister of Works just announced a decision to toll the 700 km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road.
“Vehicles plying the road are expected to pay a whopping N3000 toll gate, per trip.
“All of these has not stopped the administration from reckless borrowing most of these borrowed funds end up being looted by officials with itchy fingers.”
Ifoh further said, “The various financial scandals involving ministers and other government officials attest to this fact.
“If we May ask, how much is the national minimum wage?
“We can’t continue to run our economy like an exploitative business enterprise.
“At the rate, this administration is going, Nigerians will soon start paying for the air we breathe.”
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In a rare twist of events in Rivers State politics, former Governor Peter Odili has endorsed Governor Siminalayi Fubara as the political leader of the state, praising him for defending the interests of the people.
Odili, who served between 1999 and 2007, stated that Fubara, having secured his electoral victory both through the ballot and the courts, is now the political leader of the oil-rich South-South state.
Odili spoke on Thursday at the commissioning of a Primary Healthcare Centre donated by his PAMO Foundation in Ndoni, his hometown in the Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area.
He emphasised the strategic importance of Rivers State, warning that if the state sneezes, the entire nation catches cold. He urged Governor Fubara to act with this awareness in all its decision.
Assessing Fubara’s performance, Odili commended him for making significant strides in critical sectors within his first year in office, particularly focusing on the well-being of the people.
He noted that Fubara’s administration is in alignment with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda, especially in the health sector, following the recent launch of the Primary Healthcare Fellows scheme by the Federal Government.
Odili encouraged the governor to maintain this alignment with the President and his policies to attract federal government attention and support to the state.
The Federal Government will recoup its investment on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project through 15 years of tolling, Works Minister Dave Umahi said yesterday.
He also said the N4b per kilometer road will be ready in eight years, adding that motorists will pay N3,000 per toll gate.
He said contrary to the misleading N8 billion per kilometer given by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, the standard gauge design of the road adopted by the Federal government would cost N4.59b per kilometer.
The Minister said the former design by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was not comprehensive, stressing that it was replaced by the standard gauge design that has multiple features of bridges, till plazas, and economic settlements among others.
However, Atiku yesterday maintained that the project is a fraud, chiding Umahi for claiming that the coastal highway will tentatively cost N15.6 trillion.
Atiku also criticised Umahi for altering the initial plan of the project, alleging that it was also awarded to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech without any competitive bidding.
Umahi, who spoke on a live television programme in Lagos, debunked allegations that the project was awarded to the company out of favouritism.
He said the award followed the due process outlined in the Procurement Act, with considerations given to capacity, competence, and track record as mandated by law.
He alluded to Hitech’s successful projects like Eko Atlantic, which involved controlling the ocean, and previous concrete pavement road projects, saying that the company has a track record.
On the scope of the project, Umahi said: “We’re looking at 700 kilometers with two spurs, one from the Badagary section going to Sokoto and the other African Trans Sahara trade route from Enugu to Abakaliki, Ogoja, Calabar going to Cameroun.
“Phase 1 of 700 kilometers that comes in multiple sections. Section 1 is starting from Zero Point and up from Ahmadu Below Way to Lekki Deep Seaport enough is 47.47 kilometers.
“We have Section 2 that we have already procured. It has been approved by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) waiting to be approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and that is about 55 kilometers, running from Lekki Deep Seaport going into the border between Ogun and Ondo States.
“We are finalizing the design of Section 3 which is from the end of the project in Calabar, rolling towards Akwa Ibom that is about 65 kilometers.
“So, multiple sections will also come up as we go along but each of these sections, like Section 1 is 36-month duration but it’s going to run independent of Section 2.
“Section 2 is going to run independent of Section 3. That is how the road is going to be? And how long it’s to take, by God’s grace, within eight years of this administration. But the first phase we’re talking about should finish before 2027. 36 months is projected but Hightech is going to complete it before then.”
The minister also clarified that the project was not envisaged by the Federal government under the Public Private Partnership (PPP), but under the Engineering Procurement Construction Plus Finance (EPCF) where the Federal government is required to pay a counterpart fund for the execution of the project
Read Also: 700km Lagos -Calabar Coastal Highway ready in seven years-Umahi
He said the coastal highway was not the first under such arrangement citing the Abuja-Makurdi highway and the Markurdi to Night mile, Enugu road handled by China Harbour where the Federal government paid 15 per cent counterpart fund for the completion of the projects.
He said the project is an EPC plus F project by Hitech, which was initiated by the President when he was the Lagos State governor, is funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to him, Tinubu at that time procured the Right of Way and gazetted it.
He said: “I also have to pay counterpart funding but I took my counterpart fund to build some sections of the road. So part of what we are committing on Sections 1,2 and 3 funded by the Federal government is still going to fall under the percentage counterpart funding of the Federal government when negotiation is completed.”
Umahi said the only design by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which the former Vice President relied on, was erroneous as the adopted design for execution by Hightech is standard gauge.
He said the figures presented by Atiku were erroneous due to a lack of knowledge of the new design while he ran with the NDDC design for the entire 700km.
He said with the new design, including the Right of Way, modifications were made to meet the standard gauge superhighway carriage way specifications.
He said the initial design was four lanes of carriageways while the train track was not provided for.
He said: “The one we are constructing has 10 lanes, about 23 shoulders, a total of 59 meters of concrete pavement and 23 meters of flexible pavement among others.
“When you run the figures, you’ll find out that under the former VP’s calculation, it is given that 19.% per kilometer. Now divide it by the 22-kilometer stretch they are doing which is about 2.225 times a standard superhighwacarriagewayay which is 11.54
“Whereas what we are doing, if you divide it you will get 5.167. So, when you now diivide, using 1.067, you will get about N4b per kilometer. If you go back to what he (Atiku) has quoted, you will get about N8.something.
“So, using concrete which should be more expensive because of the kind of terrain we have and using flexible pavement which shouldn’t stand the coastal road, you’ll find out that our cost is N4b per kilometer, instead of the N8b he quoted.
“This is an upgraded version of the road with much improvement because what they had before was just a 60-millimeter binder cost and the 40-millimeter wearing costs which is far below the standard of the project of this nature.
“Even at that, when we compare the cost of a similar project, Boddo-Bonny five years ago was about 5.123b per kilometer done on flexible pavement.
“This one has multiple flyovers, multiple bridges among others, so it is the most economical”.
The minister also disclosed that the project would come at no job loss to the communities along the corridor.
He said the fears expressed by an investor, Landmark, that its tourist property would be demolished were not justified because the property was not affected.
Citing the law, Umahi said the 250 meters to the shoreline belong to the government and that 50 meters have been provided which allowed the property and others to avoid demolition.
On tolling the highway, Umahi confirmed that there will be toll gates,.
He said: “In fact, Section 1, which is the most economically viable, I estimate that about 50,000 vehicles per day on the average of N3,000 and we have two points within the 47 kilometers which will net off the cost of the project within 15 years.”
He also confirmed that the project was appropriated in the 2024 budget, even though a figure of N1.067 trillion would not be seen under it, to confirm the buy-in of the National Assembly having followed all due process.
Umahi however, added that the funding of the Federal Government’s part of the project would be sourced from the Infrastructure Fund.
However, Atiku insisted that the Federal Government has more explanations to make on the project.
He said: “Umahi had announced that the project would be fully funded by Hitech, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then turned around to say that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit.
“The total budget of all 36 states of the federation for 2024 stands at about N14 trillion. If you add that of the FCT, the entire budget of all sub-nationals is N15.91 trillion. This is scandalous. Worse still, they have already awarded the contract but are still not sure of the level of the counterpart funding component of the federal government!
“Umahi had said in September 2023 that Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had the money to construct the highway and that it would be PPP. Hitech was to build, operate, and transfer it back to the Nigerian government after years of tolling.
“It was reported by every media organization, including those owned by Tinubu. It was on the basis of this proposal that Hitech was picked. Why did Umahi then turn around to claim that it was not to be a PPP but that the government would pay 15%-30%?”
He added: “Although the National Assembly approved N500m for the project this year, the Tinubu administration has released N1.06tn. That is more than 200 times what is in the Appropriation Act. This is what happens when the National Assembly fails in its duties.
“If N15.6 trillion is for the road component alone, then the total cost could be far higher when the railway is included. We want to know the cost of the railway.”
Forex Revamp, Refinery Restart To Drive Naira Gains Against Major Currencies By Q1 2025 — Presidency
AFOLABIWith the successes recorded by President Bola Tinubu administration’s intervention in the foreign exchange market and resumption of full operations by the refineries, a stronger Naira should be achieved by the first quarter of 2025.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, who made the projection in a brief to State House Correspondents in Abuja on Thursday, said the policy revitalisation in the foreign exchange market is aimed at strengthening the Naira in currency markets.
Ngelale, however, noted that the recent successes in foreign exchange market are not enough for the nation to rest the policies and other efforts to strengthen the Naira.
He further noted with the various refineries, public and privately-owned, resuming full operations and capacity between now and the first quarter of 2025, the position of the Naira should become stronger and reflect on prices of market commodities.
“The President has been very consistent in his view that the labour pains felt by our people and the incredible sacrifices made by our people over the past 10 months would be rewarded across the board.
“The President’s multi-faceted approach to ridding the nation’s foreign exchange market of malign actors and sharp practices have provided a platform for the sustainable strengthening of our national currency against all global currencies and this is what we are seeing.
“But there is still much work to be done and this is not a time for celebration. It is a time for doubling down and working harder to ensure that inflation is sustainably brought down in short order and that consumer protecting regulatory agencies step up enforcement to ensure that our people are not short-changed by enterprises that fail to reflect the prevailing exchange rates on the pricing of goods and services across the board.
“As our private and publicly-owned refineries resume operations between now and the first quarter of 2025, the nation’s cash position will dramatically improve to the extent that Nigerians can rightly expect a stronger Naira and a fair reflection of its strength in the prices of commodities in the market place.
“Once you join the rising spending power of Africa’s population with the historic availability of trillions of naira for consumer credit that will bolster the real sector, you will see why Nigerians will be most pleased that they elected a financial engineer and businessman as president by the end of his first term in office, even as the signs are increasingly more evident today,” he said.
Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma has approved the immediate employment of Mr. Chinonso Oparaji and Mrs. Chipuruime Udeh, two indigenes of the state who made First Class in Law at the Imo State University and the Nigerian Law School.
He gave the approval when the duo, in the company of the Vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Prof. Uchefula Chukwumaeze, the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Prof. Chimezie Okorie and the Chief Judge of Imo State, Hon. Theresa Chikeka, paid a courtesy call on him at the Government House, Owerri on Monday.
A statement by Chief Press Secretary and Media Adviser to the Governor, Oguwike Nwachuku, noted that the governor was delighted with the news of the two Law graduates who made First Class at the Law School, adding that it was a joyful thing that needed to be appreciated.
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He noted that having distinguished themselves with excellent results worthy of emulation, he was happy to encourage them further with approval for their immediate employment.
Uzodimma said appreciating the duo was to encourage other students of Imo extraction that hard work pays.
He praised Chukwumaeze, and staff of IMSU for bringing back hope to the university “in this period of Renewed Hope Agenda.”
He congratulated the graduates and urged them to correct the ills in the system and society.
Oparaji and Udeh, who were accompanied by their relatives, expressed joy at the governor’s gesture, describing it as reward for hard work.
They encouraged other students reading Law and those in the university to always put in their best if they want to achieve the best.