Court dismisses suit seeking to restrain protesters from continuing #EndBadGovernance protest
AFOLABI
The federal high court in Abuja has dismissed an application seeking an interim injunction to restrain protesters from continuing the #EndBadGovernance protest.
Peter Lifu, the presiding judge, on Monday, dismissed the ex parte motion filed by Danladi Goje, Buky Abayomi, Adiza Abbo, and 13 other Nigerians.
In the application dated August 12, the applicants sought the enforcement of their fundamental rights against the organisations involved with the protests.
The organisations sued as 1st to 8th respondents are Take It Back Movement, Concerned Nigerians, Nigerians Against Hunger, Initiative For Change, Human Rights Co-advocacy Initiative, Nigerian Against Corruption Initiative, Citizens for Change Advocacy Initiative, and Timely Intervention.
The 9th to 19th respondents are Active Citizens Group, Students For Change, We Coalition, Total Intervention, Refurbished Nigeria, Tomorrow Today, Our Future In Our Hands Initiative, Youths Against Tyranny, Save Nigeria Movement, Omoyele Sowore, and Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Other respondents in the matter are the attorney general of the federation and security agencies.
In the court documents, Tsembelee Sorkaa, the applicants’ lawyer, said his clients’ rights to life, personal liberty, private and family life, and economic activities would be further breached if the 1st to 19th respondents continued the protest.
Sorkaa urged the court to restrain the 1st to 19th respondents from continuing with the protest pending the determination of his motion on notice.
The lawyer also appealed to the court to enforce the restraining order if it is granted.
In his ruling, Lifu said the #EndBadGovernance protest ended last week, noting that there was no evidence presented before the court showing that the protesters would reconvene later.
The judge said the applicants’ lawyer cannot rush his notice ex parte without providing the required affidavit to support the requests for an interim injunction and substituted service.
He dismissed the application for lacking merit and adjourned the hearing on the motion on notice to August 29.
From August 1 to 10, Nigerians took to the streets in some parts of the country to protest what they described as bad governance and rising hunger in the country.
In some parts of the country, courts granted interim injunctions restraining the protesters to some designated locations.
A Federal High Court, sitting in Lagos, yesterday, dismissed the applications by two Indian nationals, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg and a Briton, Marcus Wade, to quash a bench warrant issued for their arrest and extradition, issued against them on alleged of $42.485million fraud, for lacking in merit.
The two Indians, and the Briton who is the Chairman of Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, and their companies, Agrico Agbe Limited, Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai, are being charged before the court by the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, for allegedly defraud Ecobank Plc of the sum of $42,485,900, with the pretence of using the of money to purchase and import into India parboiled rice Nigeria.
Counts one and four against the defendants in the charge marked FHC/L/562C/2022, dated October 7, 2022, reads, “That you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015, at Ecobank Plc, Lagos within the jurisdiction of this court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 422 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“That you, Prem Garg, Devashish Garg both of Indian nationality, Agrico Agbe Limited (a company registered in Nigeria), Wilben Trade Limited, Dubai (a company registered in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai), Marcus Wade (Chairman of Wilben Trade Ltd, Dubai) of British nationality, sometime in the month of May and September, 2015 at Eco Bank Plc., Lagos within the jurisdiction of this court conspired between yourselves to commit an offence to wit: Cheating in that you caused Ecobank Plc to deliver monies to the tune of $42,485,900, which was intended by contract for the purchase and import into Nigeria India Parboiled rice but never utilized the sum of money for the contract and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 421 of the Criminal Code Act, Cap, C38 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
However, while the charge is pending, the defendants did not appear in court to take their pleas on the charges.
The development made the office AGF, through its lawyer, Dr. Pius Akutah, now Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Nigerian Shippers Council, to file applications before the court for issuance of bench warrant and possible extradition against them.
The application was granted by Justice Akintayo Aluko, sometimes in November 2023.
But the defendants, through their lawyers, Dele Belgore and Dr. Dada Awosika, SANs, filed applications to quash the orders for their arrest and extradition.
The application was countered by the AGF through its lawyer, Mrs. Kehinde Bode-Ayeni, who inherit the case file from Dr. Pius Akutah.
Justice Aluko in a delivering, said that the proceedings before Magistrate Court in Delhi, Indian can not operate as a stay in criminal proceedings in Nigeria because its not purely a criminal proceedings, moreso, it a proceedings in Nigerian court as constituted by the Nigerian constitution.
The second issue is that an order of status quo granted by another court can not viciate the criminal charge pending in this court.
The position of the administration of Criminal Justice Act which regulate criminal proceedings in Nigeria have stipulated that the criminal and civil proceedings can be going simultaneously.
On the final note, Justice Aluko held, “There is no merit in the applications filed by the defendants.” The judge held that the two applications lack merit and same are dismissed.
Consequently, Justice Aluko the case to October 24, for report on bench warrant and further proceedings.
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has said if by now, the President Bola Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress (APC) administration hasn’t realised the enormity of the sufferings of Nigerians it means it wasn’t ready for governance from the start.
Atiku who spoke through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe , explained that it was disappointing that the administration had to wait for Nigerians to take to the streets to draw its attention to what has become the desperate times we’ve been forced to live in.
He said, “There were certainly challenges before now, that’s why you were given the mandate. We know so many things were done wrong under Buhari.
“The economy went into recession twice under the last APC administration because it knows nothing about economics, nopotism , corruption were at a high.
“Whatever Buhari did wrong we are seeing a higher dimension under Tinubu. What we are worness today is Buhari pro-max. Divisions under Buhari have become craters under this government.
“How can the cost of basic food items come down when farmers can still no go back to their farms due to insecurity?
“Look at all the drama over the Dangote Refinery, this is one refinery that the last administration inspite of its failings invested $20bn tax payers money in.
We had thought by now our domestic needs will be met and exports will generate the much needed foreign exchange for our development but here we are asking questions.
“What is going on? Did this administration enter into any partnership with foreign interests to ruin this investment?
“Sadly, there is nothing in the horizon to show that this government is ready to solve our nation’s problems. “ end
The management of AIPCC Energy Limited, operators of the Edo Refinery and Petrochemicals Company Limited (ERPCL), says it lacks crude oil supply despite being a fully functional 1,000 barrels per day crude oil refinery.
The company said the Edo refinery is yet to get any supply from the relevant authorities — despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive on crude oil supply to local refineries.
Speaking to journalists in Benin City on Sunday, the management of the refinery said the firm is facing significant challenges due to the persistent lack of crude supply.
Segun Okeni, a representative of the company, said the refinery can barely function at full capacity.
Okeni said although the company has existing crude oil supply agreements with Seplat Energy and ND Western since 2022, bureaucratic bottlenecks have prevented the refinery from accessing the much-needed crude feedstock.
“On 18th August 2021, our team led by our chairman, met with the NNPCL CEO and its top management team to discuss our intention to buy crude oil from NNPCL and we immediately wrote seeking crude supply, the letter was dated 22 July 2022,” he said.
“In July 2022, the representatives of NNPC (from HQ Abuja and NPDC Benin) visited our facility for site inspection and to confirm the mechanical completion of the Edo refinery.
“In September 2022, we were invited for a commercial negotiation meeting with the NNPC Head of terms, after which we sent a follow-up letter identifying the oil fields from which we can offtake crude oil.
“In March 2022, we also wrote to the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, informing it of our refinery status, future projects and our challenges of lack of crude oil supply to our refinery.
“We had also written and had a meeting with the NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL) between November 2022 and March 2023, indicating our severe need for crude oil supply from oil fields where NEPL has equity stakes.”
However, the Edo refinery official said despite these meetings, correspondences, and communications with the NNPC over the past three years on the issues of crude oil supply, nothing was done.
On the way forward, the ERPCL said the NNPC and other crude oil suppliers need to put loading infrastructure in place to allow for truck loading.
On August 9, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery said it had not received the 29 million barrels of crude allocated to it by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC).
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) has released the 2024 West African Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE) for the May/June examination.
The examination body also withheld the results of 215,267 candidates for participating in examination malpractices.
Dangut added that although insecurity hampered the conduct of the exam in different areas of the country, 1,805, 216 candidates registered for the WASSCE.
“WAEC is releasing its results today as out of 1,805, 216 that entered for exam, 1,332, 089 candidates have credits in five subjects including any subjects with either Mathematics or English language and 1,301, 949 candidates got credits in five subjects including Mathematics and English language accounting for 72.9 percent of total candidates.
“This is a 7.6 per cent decrease in examination performance compared to last year of 2023 WASSCE. Also 215, 267 results were withheld due to examination malpractice by the candidates. This accounts for 11.92 per cent of the total number of candidates who wrote the examination,” Dangut said.
President Bola Tinubu has sworn in Esther Walson-Jack as head of the service (HoS) of the federation.
She was sworn in before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday.
In a statement on July 17, Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, said her appointment will take effect on August 14.
Ngelale said Folasade Yemi-Esan, the outgoing HoS, will retire from the civil service on August 13.
“Walson-Jack was appointed as Federal Permanent Secretary in 2017 and has served in several ministries,” the statement reads.
“The new appointee will take over from the incumbent Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, CFR, who is due to retire on August 13, 2024.
“President Tinubu, while thanking the outgoing Head of Service for her stewardship, tasks the incoming Head of Service to discharge her duties with innovative flair, integrity, and stringent adherence to the extant rules and regulations of the Civil Service of the Federation.”
Walson-Jack holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Lagos and was called to the bar in 1987.
Before joining the federal civil service, she was the solicitor-general of Bayelsa and also served as the permanent secretary of the state ministry of justice.
[TheCable]
Peter Obi, Atiku, Kwankwaso, others must unite to oust Tinubu, rescue Nigeria – APC chieftain
AFOLABI
A former National Vice Chairman North-west of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Salihu Lukman, says the government of President Bola Tinubu is indifferent to the plight of Nigerians and the sorry state of the nation.
He lamented that despite the widespread hardship and hunger in the country, Tinubu’s government has embarked on frivolous and extravagant spending.
He noted that the federal government insensitivity and lack of optics and tact in handling matters of national significance have made the country highly volatile.
He charged Nigerians to rise to the occasion and begin the process of reforming the Democratic structures of the country in the aftermath of the #EndBadGovernance with a view to ousting the APC from power.
Lukman in a statement issued Sunday titled, “#EndBadGovernance Campaign: What Next?”, every committed democrat in the country must wake up to this challenge and seek to mobilise Nigerians to direct their anger creatively and positively towards reformation of democratic structures in the country.
He said: “As it is, the President Asiwaju Tinubu’s administration seems to be on a roller coaster of aggrandised spendings amid mass hunger and poverty in the country, which is partly responsible for the highly volatile situation in the country.
“Every committed democrat in the country must wake up to this challenge and seek to mobilise Nigerians to direct their anger creatively and positively towards reformation of democratic structures in the country.”
The former APC chieftain said that given that majority political leaders are already aggrieved and with the way the government has rendered virtually all registered political parties comatose, the process of uniting aggrieved political leaders across all parties must earnestly commence.
He added: “This is the point when ideally, opposition leaders such as Alh. Atiku Abubakar, Mr. Peter Obi and Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso should step forward to provide the needed leadership to reform our democracy and ensure the emergence of a functional political party capable of rescuing Nigeria.
“In addition to opposition leaders, other political leaders in APC who have been edged out of the party should join forces with opposition leaders to rescue the country and put Nigeria back on the path of democratic development.
“These leaders include Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Sen. Ibukunle Amosun, Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and many others.
“While acknowledging that there are already unfolding initiatives in this direction, the rising anger in the country must be utilised and directed to strengthen the emergence of a veritable functional political party different from APC, PDP, LP and NNPP. As it is, it must be acknowledged that these parties cannot serve as the platforms to rescue Nigeria from its current unfortunate self-inflicted downward spiral producing mass poverty and starvation.”
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mike Ozekhome, has stated that Nigeria needs an indigenous and people-centric constitution to redirect the country’s journey of no destination.
He argued that the 1999 Constitution was military-imposed, and not subject to any referendum.
The human rights lawyer urged President Bola Tinubu to muster the political will to get the nation a people-centred constitution.
He stated this during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics show.
Asked whether a new constitution is an antidote to poverty, insecurity, and other challenges confronting the Nigerian state, Ozekhome said, “It is. The killings you are seeing, the poverty, the corruption, they are all symptoms of a larger problem which is the basis of what we are talking about. When you solve it, other things will be in place.”
“Nigeria is a country still yearning for nationhood. We are not united.
“The brand new constitution must be subjected to the referendum of the people,” he said.
Ozekhome further stated that the engine (constitution) of the Nigerian state has knocked and should be replaced.
“The political elite has to agree. If you are driving a car and the car has a knocked engine. Is it not the engine you should look at? Do you begin to panel-beat the car, spray it with beautiful paint, and buy new tyres? Will that move the car?
“I am saying that the engine of the Nigerian state, for now, is knocked and it is giving rise to all these mutual suspicion, religious intolerance,” he said.
He said economic reforms are good but must not be put before a people-centred constitution.
•Marketers blame policy inconsistency for shortages ...Motorists sleep at filling stations
Fuel scarcity: NSCDC to shut down defaulting stations in Ekiti Monday
The lingering fuel shortages across the country appear to have defied all solutions as filling stations across the country continue to battle acute shortages.
The horror has shot up petrol prices to an all-time high of N990/litre in Abuja and as high as N1,200/litre in far-flung cities up north.
The frustrating development has forced motorists to sleep in filling stations, especially those belonging to NNPC Ltd to get petrol.
The situation has been exasperated by the silence of various government agencies responsible for smooth supply and sale of petroleum products.
In Lagos, most of the filling stations, especially those operated by independent marketers are out of stock with major marketers and NNPC battling to salvage the situation with minimal supplies.
At the weekend most filling stations were shut with only a few majors selling, thereby compounding the traffic situation across the metropolis.
In Ikeja, Abule-Egba, Ojota, Ikorodu, Isolo and Surulere, Ikoyi mand Victoria Island, the situation is the same.
In Abuja, motorists complained that a liter of petrol had hit about N990 with Point of Sale (PoS) operators making brisk business by making a premium from withdrawals to buy the fuel.
Commenting on the development, National Operations Controller, IPMAN, Mr. Zarama Mustapha, said policy inconsistency remained the major reason for the frequent fuel shortages.
Mustapha, said when the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) became a law, industry observers believed that would bring about a permanent solution to the challenges in the sector.
Regetably, he said the PIA Has not addressed the problems in the downstream sector as the country continues to battle with fuel shortages.
The major problem about the unabated fuel scarcity is mainly about foreign exchange which is very unstable and makes it less lucrative for any marketer to import.
‘‘When the President announced an end to subsidies, marketers were happy, believing they could return to imports of products. At that time, the exchange rate was N720 per litre. Along the line, the Government floated the naira, and the exchange rate hit N1550.
Today, the landing cost of petrol is N1,200 while product at NNPC retail outlets is sold for N568, that means there is a subsidy of N632 being absorbed by the government.
“Now, we have a situation whereby people are calling for a return of subsidy, which will take fuel cost back to N200 per litre. If that happens, where will the government get the resources to absorb N1,000 per liter subsidy,’’?
The IPMAN boss said even though government is denying paying subsidy, the facts on the table lay bare to the fact that Government is still paying subsidy on petrol
He added that all the policy flip-flops through policy summersaults creates an uncertain business environment, leading to fuel shortages
He noted that the Federal Government last week said it was spending $600 million monthly on fuel imports.
‘‘How NNPC manages to sustain supply in the last 9 months or more is still a miracle because there is no budget for subsidy in 2024.
“You plan something and you expect things to go smoothly as planned with a good intention on the part of the Government but suddenly there are disruptions in the economy, an example is the FX crisis.
“The ultimate solution is for the refineries to function optimally but I don’t know what the contractors are doing because the timelines keep changing. NNPC has committed about $1.5 billion to revamp the old Port Harcourt refinery. Do we now terminate the contract,’’?
Some of the marketers at the Apapa depot who declined to be named said there has been a drastic drop in the level of vessels calling at the seaports.
The drop according to them was responsible for the shortfall in the supply of fuel as products had to be rationed.
FG set to bar British Airways, Virgin from Lagos, Abuja airports over Air Peace’s lack of access to Heathrow
AFOLABI
The row over Air Peace’s flight operations from the United Kingdom has taken another turn with Festus Keyamo, the Nigerian minister of aviation and aerospace development, writing to his British counterpart to lodge a formal complaint, TheCable understands.
In a letter dated August 1, 2024 and addressed to Louise Haigh, the UK secretary of state for transport, Keyamo warned that if Air Peace is not allocated a space at the London Heathrow, Nigeria will be forced to “reciprocate” by denying British Airways and Virgin Atlantic slots at the Lagos and Abuja airports.
Although Heathrow is the UK’s primary airport, Air Peace, the Nigerian carrier, currently operates from the Gatwick Airport, the secondary airport.
All efforts by Air Peace to get a slot at Heathrow, which is closer to the heart of London, have been unsuccessful.
In the letter seen by TheCable, Keyamo expressed “the displeasure” of the Nigerian government over the “consistent denial of slot” by the UK slot office to Air Peace on the Nigeria-London route to fly into Heathrow, its first choice, since it began operations in the UK in March 2024.
“The Airline had made consistent efforts in the past to fly into Heathrow Airport from Lagos, but was denied, and only granted approval to fly into Gatwick Airport from Lagos,” he wrote.
“Following the approval granted the Airline by the Nigerian Government to fly the Abuja-London route, the Airline approached the Slot Office for slot allocation at the London Heathrow Airport, for flight operations planned to commence in November 2024, during the IATA Winter Season. It is highly disheartening that up till this moment, the Airline has not received any favourable response from the Slot Office.”
He reminded the UK that both British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are operating into Nigeria’s primary airports in Lagos and Abuja “without encumbrances placed in their ways”.
British Airways, in particular, has been flying into Lagos since 1936.
“Therefore, it is necessary for Nigerian designated carriers to enjoy similar reciprocity that British carriers are enjoying. It is highly unfair on the side of the British authorities and a discredit to the Nigerian authorities and the Nigerian nation as a whole, for slot allocation to Nigerian carriers to be an issue at all times. We feel totally betrayed by the British authorities for not reciprocating the good gesture of the Nigerian State and its people,” Keyamo wrote.
“The slot allocation issue should not be used as an alibi to deny the existence of a Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, which hallmark is based on the principle of reciprocity. Whatever concessionary arrangements you have with your airports with third parties, the concessionaire(s) should legally inherit your existing obligations (especially those under Bi-Lateral Services Agreements) in respect of the use of those airports.
“Arising from the foregoing, I wish to emphatically state that if Air Peace is not allocated a slot at the London Heathrow Airport, it might be difficult for British flag carriers to access Nigeria’s tier one airports from the next Winter Season, unless when a frank discussion is opened with us to break the debacle associated with the slot allocation at Heathrow to the Airline and other Nigerian designated airlines.
“While expecting your timely intervention over this pressing issue dear to the hearts of Nigerians, please, accept the consideration of my warm regards.”
TheCable confirmed that the letter has been received by the UK high commission in Abuja.
Keyamo was unavailable for comments when he was contacted by TheCable.
More...
Dangote Refinery: Don’t suffocate manufacturers, investors – CPPE advises regulatory agencies
AFOLABI
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, CPPE, has lamented the growing incidents of regulatory irritations and distractions inflicted on Nigerian manufacturers.
Muda Yusuf, the director of CPPE, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
The economic think tank group said there are multiple regulatory fees, levies, duplications, overlapping responsibilities, and regulatory repression in Nigeria.
Yusuf appealed to Nigerian regulatory agencies to exercise more discretion in carrying out their responsibilities.
He said: “The CPPE appeals to the regulatory agencies to exercise more discretion in the exercise of their powers and support the aspiration of the present administration to create an enabling environment for investment to boost domestic production, reduce import dependence, conserve foreign exchange and elevate investors’ confidence.
“This does not detract from the primary responsibilities of the agencies to protect consumers, ensure competition, promote standards and quality and protect the environment.
“But they do not have to suffocate investors to achieve this objective. Public pronouncements by some of the agencies had the unintended consequences of demarketing local brands, an action which is detrimental to the country’s aspiration to boost domestic production, grow investment, expand exports, earn foreign exchange and create jobs.
“The regulatory agencies should appreciate the context in which businesses in Nigeria are operating. The headwinds are profound and multifaceted, which is why many large companies declared huge losses in their latest financial results. Many have shut down; some have scaled down their operations, while several others have left the country.”
This comes amid the feud between Dangote Refinery and the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission over crude supply.
DAILY POST recalls that the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority made the controversial statement that Dangote Refinery’s petroleum products are inferior to imported ones.
…Gives FG 48-hour ultimatum to release protesters
AS the nationwide protests ended on Saturday across the country, one of the leaders and lawyers to the protesters, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, yesterday, disclosed that 26 protesters and journalists have so far been released from among over hundreds arrested and detained by security agents across the country.
Adeyanju made the disclosure in an interview with Vanguard, adding that they were still making efforts to secure the release of the rest protesters from custody.
He said: “We have been able to release 26 protesters including six journalists from the Nigeria Police Force and Department of State Service, DSS, in Abuja.
“Majority of the protesters released from the cells of the Police and DSS were males, we only got two females arrested and released but other persons were males and were released and all of these were released unconditionally.”
On the number of those still behind bars, he said: “We have about 16 more protesters we know of. These are protesters in Abuja but there are 100s detained in Kano. In Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, Jigawa. Others we have so many comrades detained but we cannot ascertain the number.”
He added that the six journalists that were arrested have also been released.
“We have released a lot of journalists that were arrested as well, and they were six in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, and Kaduna.
“All the journalists that we know of have been released. The last one was released four days ago, he was a support staff of a journalist.”
On the protesters still detained across the country, he said: “We are optimistic that the security agencies should be reasonable and release everybody because they have no right to detain anybody over protest.”
Gives FG 48-hour ultimatum to release protesters
Meanwhile, he said they were going to issue a 48-hour ultimatum to release all protesters and if refused, they were going to sue them.
“We are going to sue them for the breach of the rights of these protesters. We are giving them a 48-hour ultimatum, if they do not, we are going to sue them.”
Further, he said: “The President as a perpetual protester himself, I do not know why all of a sudden he has become an oppressor and fast becoming a tyrant that does not have regard for the fundamental rights of protesters in a democracy. It is really ironic and sad, and he stands completely condemned.
“On the release of protesters still in detention, the President should mandate and direct that security agencies to release all protesters in custody unconditionally, and it is an irredeemable minimum the President should do almost immediately.”
Meanwhile, he encouraged Nigerians “to hold their leaders accountable at all levels because when citizens fail in their responsibility as citizens, then leaders will have a field day to violate and abuse their rights.
“So citizens must rise up and hold their leaders accountable at all levels irrespective of local, state and federal government.”
A federal lawmaker from Kano State, Rep. Alhassan Doguwa, has vowed to deliver the state to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
Doguwa said this in Abuja on Sunday, while responding to a claim by another lawmaker, Rep. Abdulmumini Jibrin, that he posed a threat to the electoral fortunes of the APC in Kano State.
Jibrin had also said that Doguwa was a political liability to his party.
Doguwa said that he would ensure success for the APC in the 2027 general elections, adding that he should be allowed to serve as the Directors-General (D-G) of the party’s 2027 campaigns in the state.
“I want to use this opportunity to respectfully request the leadership of our party to allow me to coordinate and serve as a D-G of the Kano State Campaign Project in 2027.
“I am not a political liability in Kano; I am an asset, a source of pride for the APC both in the state and the country, ” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Doguwa is the only member of the House of Representatives elected under the platform of the ruling APC in Kano South Senatorial District.
He represents Tudun-Wada/Doguwa Federal Constituency, and he is the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream),
He has been embroiled in a verbal attack with Jibrin, another lawmaker from Kano State who represents Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency on the platform of the New Nigerian People Party (NNPP).
Jibrin had earlier accused Doguwa of being an obstacle to peace in Kano State.
There are strong indications that the Dangote Petroleum Refinery may not roll out petrol on Monday in line with its earlier schedule.
The President, Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had last month projected that the refinery would begin the production of petrol between August 10 and 12, 2024.
However, findings by The PUNCH reveal that the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery might not roll out petrol on Monday (today).
But multiple officials close to the development confirmed to The PUNCH on Sunday that all was set for the refinery to begin the production of the much-awaited Premium Motor Spirit before the end of August.
“All is set. The refinery will roll out petrol this month. However, its concern is that the refinery cannot stop for one minute, it needs the constant supply of crude to keep going,” one of the top officials close the refinery told The PUNCH on condition of anonymity on Sunday.
However, further findings show that the ongoing crude supply crisis might be a setback to the Dangote oil refinery which is supposed to commence the supply of the much-awaited Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, into the market today.
This is also as PMS marketers await the sale of the commodity by the refinery this week.
The PUNCH reliably gathered that the refinery has put efforts in top gear to roll out petrol this August, even as it awaits 29 million barrels of crude oil from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Reliable sources privy to the development told our correspondent that the refinery is ready to release petrol this month, regardless of the crude crisis.
The sources, who did not want to be mentioned because of the sensitivity of the matter, disclosed that the company is 100 per cent ready to pump out petrol as planned. However, they said the low supply of crude may impact the process.
“I can confirm to you that we will start the sale of PMS this August, though the low supply of crude oil has always been affecting the process. But from the information at my disposal, we are 100 per cent ready for the supply of PMS,” a source stated.
Another informed person said the refinery is still awaiting 29 million barrels of crude oil from the NUPRC.
“The NUPRC is yet to fulfil the supply of the 29 million barrels promised to Dangote. They are still waiting for that. Surprisingly, the 29 million barrels were allocated on paper, they didn’t get to the refinery, yet the NUPRC told the media on Friday that the crude was supplied.
“Dangote refinery needs 15 cargoes for September, only six cargoes have been supplied. Where do you want him to get the remaining nine cargoes? He will have to import again. Though the President said local refineries should buy in naira, but if it is at the international rate. What is the difference?” she asked.
Our correspondent reliably gathered that though Dangote will roll out the supply of petrol in August, the product may not be sold locally due to price differential.
Experts familiar with the company stated that the current price being offered by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for petrol is not competitive for any trader.
“For Dangote to sell to Nigerians, it has to be at a competitive rate. Dangote will source crude at the international rate, how do you expect him to sell at a rate below the cost price? So, it will be better to sell outside the country than to sell in Nigeria at a loss.
“There is a lot of politics in oil and gas, and this is heavily killing Nigeria. Just like former President Olusegun Obasanjo said, those making money from fuel importation are frustrating Dangote,” the expert said anonymously.
Some workers of the refinery who spoke reluctantly to our reporter maintained that all was set for the sale of petrol, but they would not know the exact date and the price.
“I learnt PMS will be out probably by next week, but I don’t know the exact date,” one of the workers disclosed, pleading not to be mentioned because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
29 million barrels
The PUNCH reports that the Dangote refinery engaged in an exchange of words with the NUPRC over the alleged supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the refinery.
The Dangote Group Thursday accused the NUPRC of failing to effectively enforce the Domestic Crude Supply Obligations regulations, saying the refinery had yet to get enough crude locally.
Reacting, the NUPRC debunked the claim, stating that it facilitated the supply of over 29 million barrels of crude oil to Dangote from January to June 2024.
The NUPRC argued that it had facilitated the domestic supply of crude oil to Dangote refinery and other refineries using the monthly production curtailment platform.
“A breakdown shows that nine refineries have benefitted from the 32,088,122 barrels of crude as Dangote alone enjoyed 29,047,098 barrels out of the total supply between January to June 2024.”
According to the commission, the Warri refinery reportedly received 949,670 barrels; NDPR refinery got 823,395 barrels of crude; Port Harcourt refinery received 471,123 barrels; Seplat-WPSOL refinery was allocated 419,541 barrels while Waltersmith-WSPOL refinery got 296,353 barrels.
Other beneficiaries listed include the Edo refinery which got 58,504 barrels of crude and Du-port refinery which got 22,438 barrels of crude.
It added that in the pursuit of its mandate, if it became necessary for licences to be withdrawn, the commission would do so, but it would not resort to the ‘presumptuous and arbitrary’ withdrawal of licences because of the ‘sanctity of contract.’
But in a swift response, the Dangote Group also denied receiving 29 million barrels of crude from any source.
Spokesperson of the Dangote Group, Anthony Chiejina, had said, “We receive NUPRC’s statement that they have facilitated the allocation of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals, we would like to thank them for this allocation but at the same time, we wish to let them know that we are yet to receive these cargoes.
“Aside from the term supply we bilaterally negotiated with NNPCL, so far NUPRC has only facilitated the purchase of one crude cargo from a domestic producer. The rest of the cargoes we have processed were purchased from international traders.”
Chiejina added that all the refinery was asking for was for refineries in Nigeria to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen.
“Unfortunately, the NUPRC has effectively admitted in their statement that they will be unable to enforce the domestic crude supply obligation as specified in the PIA, citing ‘sanctity of contracts’ as an excuse,” Chiejina stated.
In a chat on Sunday, the NUPRC spokesperson, Olaide Shonola, told our correspondent that the commission was looking into the claims by the refinery that the allocated 29 million barrels were not received.
“We are looking into this,” Shonola said, promising to revert later.
As August progresses, Nigerians are beginning to ask whether or not the Dangote refinery will be able to supply petrol this month as promised by the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
The worries of many Nigerians stemmed from the crude shortage crisis that has been rocking the facility since it commenced operations a few months ago.
The PUNCH recalls that Dangote had to postpone the supply of PMS like three times since the refinery began the sale of diesel and aviation fuel in April.
In May, Dangote told Nigerians that fuel importation would completely stop in Nigeria the moment the refinery began the sale of petrol in June.
During the Africa CEO Summit in Rwanda, Dangote promised that the refinery would put an end to the monthly importation of an average of one billion litres of PMS in Nigeria from June.
According to him, following the laid-down plans of the Dangote refinery, Nigeria will no longer need to import petrol starting in June.
He said, “Right now, Nigeria has no cause to import anything apart from gasoline (petrol) and by sometime in June, within the next four or five weeks, Nigeria shouldn’t import anything like gasoline; not one drop of a litre.
“We have enough gasoline to give to at least the entire West Africa; and diesel to give to West Africa and Central Africa. We have enough aviation fuel to give to the entire continent and also export some to Brazil and Mexico.
“We have started producing jet fuel, we are producing diesel, and by next month (June), we’ll be producing gasoline. What that will do is that it will be able to take most African crude.”
In June, Dangote informed Nigerians that his plan to release petrol into the market in the sixth month of the year would no longer be possible, sparking reactions from Nigerians.
While on a tour of the facility with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State and other dignitaries, he announced, “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,” Dangote had said.
However, this could not happen in July as Dangote again told pressmen that the supply of petrol was impacted by a fire incident that broke out at the refinery’s effluent treatment plant on June 26. He said the product would be out between August 12 and 15.
Marketers await Dangote
Meanwhile, petroleum marketers in Nigeria said they are still waiting to hear from the refinery on when it would begin the release of petrol.
Both major and independent marketers showed interest in buying PMS from Dangote, especially after years of depending on the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited for petrol.
The Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, told The PUNCH on Sunday that the major marketers are waiting to hear from the Dangote Group.
According to him, MEMAN members are currently buying PMS from the NNPC while most of them get diesel and aviation fuel from the Dangote refinery.
“We are still waiting for them. Currently, it is only the NNPC that imports PMS because of the price differential. So, we are waiting (for Dangote refinery).
“Currently, we are all buying AGO (diesel) and ATK (aviation fuel) from the Dangote refinery. To the best of my knowledge, marketers are not buying PMS yet,” Isong stated.
Crude crisis
Recalls that the management of the Dangote Group had alleged that the International Oil Companies were still frustrating crude supply to the 650,000-capacity refinery.
The group said the IOCs insisted on selling crude oil to its refinery through their foreign agents, saying the local price of crude will continue to increase because the trading arms offer cargoes at $2 to $4 per barrel, above NUPRC’s official price.
It also alleged that the foreign oil producers seem to be prioritising Asian countries in selling the crude they produce in Nigeria.
The Vice President of Oil & Gas, Dangote Industries Limited, Mr Devakumar Edwin, had said, “If the Domestic Crude Supply Obligation guidelines are diligently implemented, this will ensure that we deal directly with the companies producing the crude oil in Nigeria as stipulated by the Petroleum Industry Act.”
Edwin insisted that IOCs operating in Nigeria have consistently frustrated the company’s requests for locally produced crude as feedstock for its refining process.
He highlighted that when cargoes were offered to the oil company by the trading arms, it was sometimes at a $2 to $4 (per barrel) premium above the official price set by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission.
Edwin was reacting to a statement by the Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Gbenga Komolafe, who in an interview on national television said, “It is ‘erroneous’ for one to say that the International Oil Companies are refusing to make crude oil available to domestic refiners, as the Petroleum Industry Act has a stipulation that calls for a willing-buyer, willing-seller relationship.”
The Chief Executive of Nigerian NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, had also debunked the claim by the Dangote official, saying Nigeria could not rely heavily on the Dangote refinery for its fuel supply.
Ahmed had also alleged that Dangote diesel had a higher sulphur content than the ones imported into the country.
But the President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, had denied the allegation, wondering how he could be a monopoly when the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited was renovating government-owned refineries with $4bn.
President Bola Tinubu has since ordered the NNPC to sell crude oil to Dangote in naira.
Hasten crude supply
Oil marketers who weighed into the matter called on the NNPC and the International Oil Companies to hasten up the process of crude oil supply to local refineries both in naira and adequate volumes.
Reacting to the claim by Dangote and other domestic refiners that they had yet to get crude both in naira and as required, the National Publicity Secretary, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, said, “I think the NNPC is on top of this matter.
“However, I must state that they need to expedite action to ensure that crude oil is sent to the refineries. But you need to understand that the process of getting something from the government does not happen easily, some processes must be followed.
“While we admit that there are processes, we are advising those implementing these processes to hasten it up so that the refineries will start refining as quickly as possible and bring down the costs of these petroleum products which have remained a burden on Nigerians.
“It is not sensible that we are an oil-producing country and refined products are still high in our nation, and we are still importing from other refineries when we have refineries in Nigeria. We have to act and it has to be fast.”
Also speaking on the matter, the National Operations Controller of IPMAN, Mustapha Zarma, called on NNPC and IOCs to strive to supply crude oil to domestic refineries both in naira and the required volumes.
This, he said, was because of the enormous gain that the domestic supply of crude oil would have on the local currency and the Nigerian economy.
“The directive of Mr President on the supply of crude oil to Dangote and other local refineries is a welcome development and will help the naira appreciate. This is because most of the demand for forex comes from the petroleum sector.
“So if the refineries get crude oil in naira, I believe that there won’t be much pressure again on the naira. It is a welcome development that should be implemented by the oil producing companies and NNPC.
“Also, they must strive to ensure the supply. Of course, this may not be immediate considering the processes that it may require but the fact is that it should be given the necessary speed to save our local currency from further depreciation,” Zarma stated.