Nigerian rapper, Michael Ugochukwu Stephens, widely known as Ruggedman, recently revealed his reasons for distancing himself from the controversial self-proclaimed activist, VeryDarkMan.

During a recent episode of the Echoo Room podcast, Ruggedman explained that his support for VeryDarkMan waned when the activist began delving into people’s personal lives.

He expressed concern that VeryDarkMan’s methods had become less logical and more intrusive.

The rapper compared VeryDarkMan’s approach to that of a police officer resorting to extreme measures prematurely, suggesting that as a professional, there are more appropriate ways to handle such situations.

Ruggedman emphasized that while he initially supported VeryDarkMan for his efforts to hold people accountable for selling products without proper NAFDAC approval, he has become disillusioned with the activist’s recent actions.

Ruggedman said, “I liked VeryDarkMan in the beginning when he started with the whole NAFDAC number thing but when he started going personal into people’s private lives, especially with women. That to me, he is just distracting himself.

“But it is like saying a policeman took a shooting which was his last resort as the first. They will tell you but if you’re a professional you are supposed to be used to it.

“So even if someone says something against you there is a way you should address it. Not your mama, your papa. You don’t catch me doing that but that’s me.

“His approach is what I don’t like anymore. He was calling out people that sell products without a NAFDAC number, that’s amazing but now what do you hear about him?

“Iyabo Ojo and her daughter kind of thing, that’s why I said it is his approach I’m not okay with. So any response he gets from them is probably what he said.

“I think what he said stemmed from what I think was Mohbad’s situation. Where he said the old retired actresses are trying to use the situation as clout. Everyone knows it was Iyabo Ojo and Tonto Dikeh.

“Now you can’t say something like that and don’t expect people to respond. So he started it. That’s what I meant by people’s private lives.”

Nollywood actress Lizzy Anjorin has said that it is impossible for someone of her calibre to steal gold worth ₦91,000.

The thespian stated this while revisiting the controversial theft case that surfaced on social media months ago.

Anjorin was accused of stealing a gram of gold worth ₦91,000 at Idumota market in Lagos.

However, speaking during an appearance in a podcast, the actress stated that the value of the alleged gold could be compared to a grain of rice.

She dismissed the case, adding that someone of her calibre, who deals in heavy gold and other fashion accessories worth millions, could not stoop so low as to steal gold worth ₦91,000

According to her, “Let’s establish the fact that we are talking about N91,000 gold when a gram of gold was around N150,000. A gram of gold is less than a grain of rice, so how can I go into the market to steal something less than a grain of rice? I am a certified jewellery seller, I sell gold and I sell diamonds. You can tell just by looking at me. I am a certified fabric merchant, and if you watch me closely, you will realise that I am not a simple person when it comes to fashion—I love it big.”

Continuing, she said, “What I am wearing right now is like 350 to 400 grams, and everybody knows I don’t sell small gold jewellery, I sell 19 to 22 carats. I sell the best jewellery. So how can I stoop so low as to steal a gram of gold at Eko Idumota? That is ridiculous. I am not a thief; I will never be a thief. I am just too disciplined and too straightforward to become a thief.”

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says Nigeria’s employment level declined in July.

In its purchasing manager’s index (PMI) report on Wednesday, CBN said the industry sector employment level index stood at 47.0 points.

CBN said this indicates a contraction in the level of employment.

The apex bank said eight employment sub-sectors recorded contraction, while seven sub-sectors reported growth in the reviewed month.

“Eight subsectors reported a contraction in the level of employment with the Printing & Related Support Activities reporting the highest contraction,” the apex bank said.

According to CBN, primary metal and transportation equipment sub-sectors reported stationary levels in July.

PRODUCTION INDEX INCREASES FOR THE SECOND CONSECUTIVE MONTH

CBN said the industry production index recorded expansion at 50.5 points in July 2024 — indicating growth in production for the second consecutive month.

“Eight subsectors reported growth in production during the review month with Water Supply, Sewerage & Waste Management recording the highest growth, Printing & Related Support Activities Subsector was stationary, while the remaining eight subsectors registered declines in production with Transportation Equipment reporting the highest contraction,” the apex bank said.

On August 13, the CBN said it reintroduced the publication of several key economic reports.

CBN said the reports, including the PMI, business expectation survey (BES), inflation expectation report and other macroeconomic indicators, will provide stakeholders with timely and accurate insights into the country’s economic performance.

The last PMI report and business expectation survey released by CBN was on December 23, 2020.

The National Judicial Council (NJC) has set up four panels to investigate the petitions against 27 judges of federal and state courts.

The decision to probe the judges was reached during the NJC’s 106th meeting on Thursday and Friday, presided over by Olukayode Ariwoola, the outgoing chief justice of Nigeria (CJN).

The NJC resolved to issue a letter of advice to Olusegun Olagunju, a judge of the Oyo high court, for using “uncouth language” in correspondence to Ariwoola, challenging the council on the appointment of the president of the customary court of appeal in the state.

The council also resolved to issue letters of commendation, appreciation, and non-performance to 215 judges of the federation.

“The National Judicial Council, presided over by the Hon. Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, GCON, at its 106th meeting of 14 and 15 August 2024, resolved to issue a letter of advise to Hon. Justice O. M. Olagunju of the Oyo state high court to be circumspect as a judicial officer before acting, even in the most challenging situation,” Soji Oye, NJC director of information, said in a statement.

“The resolution was made after council considered the report of the committee it set up and mandated it to invite the Hon. Judge to appear before it to defend his uncouth language in a letter addressed to the chief justice of Nigeria, challenging council’s decision viz-a-viz its policy direction on appointment of president, Customary Court of Appeal, Oyo state.

“Council at the meeting considered the report of its preliminary complaints assessment committee on 22 petitions written against 27 judicial officers of the federal and state high courts and decided to empanel four committees to investigate allegations in the petitions that were found meritorious.

“The remaining 18 petitions were discountenanced for lacking of merit, abandoned, or being subjudice.

“The discountenanced petitions are against Hon. Justice Monica B. Dongban-Mensem, CFR, President Court of Appeal, Hon. Justices E. O. Williams Dawodu, B. A. Georgewill, Yargata Timpar, S. D. Samchi, Aisha B. Aliyu, A. A. Aderibigbe M. L. Shuaibu, H. A. O. Abiru, and Abdulazeez Waziri, all of the court of appeal.

“Others are Hon. Justice J. T. Tsoho, OFR, Chief Judge Federal High Court, Hon. Justices Z. B. Abubakar, J. K. Omotosho, and Sunday B. Onu all of the Federal High Court, and Justice Okon E. Abang when he was serving at the Federal High Court, Hon. Justice Kayode Agunloye of the FCT High Court, Hon. Justice Babagana Karumi of the High Court Borno State, Hon. Justice Maimuna A. Abubakar of the High Court of Niger State, Hon. Justice A. A. Aderibigbe of Osun State High Court, and Hon. Justice Aisha B. Aliyu of Nasarawa State High Court.

“Petitions written against Justices Ayodele Oyeyemi Oyebisi, Amaobi L. Agara, Amina Garba, Bello M. Tukur, Omeka Elekwa, and O. A. Adetujoye who served at Asaba and Plateau National and State Assembly Election Tribunal Panels.

“Council also considered the report of its performance evaluation of judicial officers of superior courts of record and resolved to issue letters ranging from commendation, appreciation, no submission, and non-performance to 215 judges all over the Federation.

“It also placed five judges on its pre-sanction watch list register for poor performance. They would be recommended to the Council for appropriate sanction if they do not improve on their performance.”

On July 10, the federal government officially announced the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes on the importation of food commodities as part of initiatives to curtail the prevailing economic hardship worsened by high prices of commodities.

Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, said the measure is a 150-day duty-free import window for food commodities, which involves the suspension of duties, tariffs, and taxes for the importation of food maize, husked brown rice, wheat, and cowpeas.

On Wednesday, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced the implementation of the policy after it received a letter on the presidential approval for the initiative to be implemented.

The federal government believes the measure would ameliorate the high cost of food items in the Nigerian market.

‘REDUCING HIGH COST OF ITEMS WHILE LOSING REVENUE’

But analysts are divided over the federal government’s strategy which seeks to address the high cost of food items through the tax waiver.

Olorunfemi Toyin, the country representative of Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), described the policy as a short-term palliative meant to address food security but said it would affect Nigeria’s internally generated revenue (IGR) significantly.

“The revenues that has been suspended for now, would have been money generated to address some challenges in the country, isn’t it? Because what we are saying is that revenue should stop,” Toyin said.

“We are also having problems of internally generated revenue. It can no longer meet our needs. It’s like we are surviving on loss and incurred debt. So for me, it’s very important that there should be a broader strategy beyond these palliative.

“Because for consumers, he’s looking at price reduction, for businesses, it is having them to reduce their production costs and all of that but the global thing is to ensure that we are having very strong plans.”

Also, Toyin said the policy is “not impactful,” as it has a “very low shelf life” in terms of impacts to both businesses and the system.

It is almost detrimental to the economy, according to the expert.

‘TAX WAIVER ON WRONG FOOD COMMODITIES’

In the announcement by Kyari, the federal government limited the tax waiver to maize, husked brown rice, wheat, grain beans, and millet.

However, Emmanuel Oparah Ogu, former president of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), said the tax waiver would have “no positive impact” because the main food items that Nigerians need were not included.

“The announcement has not reduced hunger in the country. Then when you talk of other food items, I don’t know another food item that people talk about if not rice,” he said.

“The husked rice is basically for farmers and not for the end users to access. They are not finished product. The announcement that Mr. President made it to please people because that is exactly what you want to hear.

“So, I understand that it is a way of them bringing down the price of food items but I mean, giving waivers to goods that are not the major things is what I don’t understand.”

Ogu urged the government to make all food items “duty-free both from land and sea” as that would go a long way to helping everyone, especially the poor.

‘HIGH FX RATE AFFECTING FOOD COSTS’

With the official foreign exchange rate at N1,564.48 per dollar as of Thursday, there are questions as to whether the tax waiver on imported food items would crash the prices of food since a high FX rate remains a challenge for importers.

The high FX rate has led to imported inflation, which affects goods sold to the end users.

With the naira trading at over N1,500 against the dollar, experts believe that the policy would only succeed in achieving availability — not affordability.

Also speaking on the role of FX in the prices of food items, Ogu said the high exchange rate should have also been considered.

“You know the problem, our politicians are wiser than us. How can you float exchange rates? What stops them from reducing exchange rates? Let them peg it at a particular amount so importers will know what they are doing.”

However, Toyin said the affordability of the food items will not be a challenge as the FX rate has been stable.

‘A QUICK FIX’

On his part, Shakirueen Taiwo, an economist at Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), described the tax waiver as a quick fix.

Taiwo said the goal of the government is basically to reduce the “current level of high food insecurity in the country by reducing the price of goods and services”.

“So it means the government will have to work towards bringing down the cost of food as much as they could. The government has two ways;  the quick fix and the short and meantime. Both measures are aimed towards increasing the availability of food,” he said.

“The first is that the government should ensure massive importation of those grains either from neighbouring countries, from developed countries, or developed or international commodity markets.

“The second is that the government must increase our productivity, agricultural productivity in the country. This is the medium to long term.

“That cannot be achieved in the next one or two months. It’s not possible. So government then has to go for the quick fix which is to ensure massive importation of goods and services.

“The government has to be sure that the imported goods are coming at a minimal cost so that the final cost to the end users will also be affordable or at a price lower than the current market price.

“So for this policy at this moment I would say it is good but it is even coming so late. The eradication of hunger will not come with one government policy. We would need to ensure that Nigeria’s agricultural potentials are at optimal level.”

Taiwo added that the government must ensure that the bottlenecks concerning logistics are addressed as quickly as possible, deploy tools, enhance irrigation farming, and roads from the farm to the market must be fixed.

The federation account allocation committee (FAAC) says the three tiers of government shared N1.358 trillion in July.

This represents N4 billion increase compared to the N1.354 trillion shared in June.

On Friday, FAAC held its August meeting chaired by Wale Edun, minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy.

According to a statement by Mohammed Manga, director, information and public relations, ministry of finance, FAAC shared the amount from a total revenue of N2.61 trillion available in July.

The revenue breakdown showed that statutory revenue was N161.5 billion, value-added tax (VAT) was N528 billion; electronic money transfer levy (EMTL) was N18.8 billion, exchange difference stood at N581 billion, and solid mineral provided N13.6 billion revenue, bringing the total distributable amount for the month to N1.358 trillion.

Out of the distributable revenue, FAAC said the federal government received N431 billion, the states received N473 billion, and the local government councils got N343 billion.

Also, oil-producing states received N109 billion as derivation fund (13 percent of mineral revenue).

The committee said the sum of N99.7 billion was given for the cost of collection, while N109.816 billion was allocated for transfer intervention and refunds.

Gross revenue available from the VAT for July was N625 billion — up by N62 billion compared to the N562 billion distributed in the preceding month, according to the statement.

Also, out of the distributable VAT revenue of N582 billion, the federal government got N87.3 billion, states received N291 billion and local governments got N203 billion.

“Accordingly, the Gross Statutory Revenue of N1,373.503 Trillion received for the month was lower than the sum of N1,432.667 Billion received in the previous month by N45.517 Billion. From the stated amount, the sum of N73.959 Billion was allocated for the cost of collection and a total sum of N1,137.951Trillion for Transfers, Intervention and Refunds,” FAAC said.

In addition, the gross statutory revenue balance was N161 billion, and out of this, the federal government got the sum of N58.5 billion, states received N29.6 billion, and N22.894 billion was allocated to local governments, while N50.4 billion was given as 13 percent derivation revenue to oil-producing states.

However, from the N19.6 billion ETML revenue shared, the committee said the federal government received N2.8 billion, states received N9.4 billion, and local governments received N6.5 billion, while N0.784 billion was allocated for the cost of collection.

FAAC added that oil and gas royalty, petroleum profit tax (PPT), VAT, import duty, EMTL, and external tariff levies (CET) increased significantly.

On the other hand, the company income tax (CIT) recorded a decrease, while excise duties increased only marginally.

The balance in the excess crude account (ECA) as of August 2024 stands at $473,754.57.

Goodnews ‘Gnewzy’ Emuemu, the fast-rising singer, has recounted his ordeal in the hands of his abductors.

In April, Gnewzy was abducted along Eklat road in Ughelli, Delta state while heading home from an event.

Eric Many Records, his music label, said Obas9ice, the singer’s manager and brother, “narrowly escaped” the kidnap.

The abductors were said to have contacted Dilly Umenyiora, the record label’s CEO, via mail demanding a $200,000 ransom.

The fast-rising singer was, however, released on May 3.

Narrating his ordeal in a recent interview with HipTV, Gnewzy confirmed that$200,000 was paid to his abductors for his freedom.

The singer also disclosed that his abductors were “dressed in police uniforms”.

“They actually paid a ransom. It was a ransom of about $200,000. I actually went for a radio tour in Delta state. Which is the state where I came from, Ugheli precisely. After the whole tour, to round it up, it was a Sunday, so I said let me just put up a little listening party,” he said.

“It was Sunday, we all got ready for the party, I performed. We left for the apartment that we were in. After a while, my brother said he wanted to pick somebody up. I was like let me go with you.

“We went to where we wanted to pick the person and the person was no longer willing to follow us. We were going home and around a U-turn, they just ran on us and were like come down. They were putting on police uniforms.

“So we got to one certain point. They stopped and dragged my brother out. He was initially trying to struggle with them but they told him they were going to shoot him. He was told to run into the bush or else they would shoot him.

“We were thinking someone was trying to use me to get to my label boss.

“They then covered my face with something. They took me on Sunday and released me on Friday. They even fed me and did not beat me. They gave me food and told me I should not do anything funny or else they would f**k me up.”

Nigeria was awash with news recently about the quantum leap in the quantity of fuel imports from Malta after revelations by Aliko Dangote, chairman of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.

In 2023, Nigeria’s petroleum importation from Malta surged significantly to $2.8 billion, compared to zero between 2017 and 2022, and a mere $13.32 million in 2016.

Mele Kyari, the group chief executive officer (GCEO) of Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL), immediately denied Dangote’s claim, saying he did not have interest in any plant in Malta.

TheCable can now reveal the identity of one of the biggest importers via the tiny European country.

He is Abdulkabir Adisa Aliu, owner of Matrix Energy and member of the presidential economic coordination council (PECC).

In an interview with TheCable, however, Aliu strenuously denied any wrongdoing in his business practices and promised a full response to the newspaper’s questions.

‘SMALL PLAYER, BIG CONTRACTS’

In July 2024 alone, over 200,000 tonnes of petrol from Malta were discharged into the Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, according to an insider who shared confidential documents with TheCable.

“This represents about 25 percent of Nigeria’s monthly PMS consumption going to a relatively small player with only 150 retail stations,” the insider said.

The insider said Aliu is also leveraging his close relations with the top management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) to secure crude oil cargoes from the national oil company for his company.

“Crude cargoes are discretionarily allocated to Matrix Energy by the NNPC monthly,” the person familiar with the company’s operations said.

The crude allocations to Matrix are traded by Gulf Transport & Trading (GTT), a trading company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the insider.

“Two of the three crude cargoes of the recently launched Utapate grade were allocated to GTT,” the source said.

“The crude cargoes are typically sold at a $3 per barrel premium which translates to $3 million per cargo with no sweat. This implies a tax-free take of almost $150 million per year or N240 billion, at N1,600/$.”

On August 5, NNPC introduced the Utapate crude oil blend into the international market.

The new crude oil grade is from an oil mining lease (OML) 13, fully operated by NNPC Exploration and Production Limited (NEPL), an upstream subsidiary of NNPC.

‘FROM RUSSIA TO NIGERIA VIA MALTA AND LOME’

Matrix — which has three old ships (Matrix Pride, Matrix Triumph, and Matrix S.ILU) —  reportedly loads diesel products exported from Russia in Lome, Togo.

It is understood that the diesel from Russia is typically off-spec and is often corrected in places like Lome and Malta through blending with other components.

However, on June 16, about 15,000 tonnes of diesel — loaded on May 26 from Novorossiysk, Russia, and transported by a vessel, MT Kallos — were reportedly transloaded into Matrix Triumph offshore Lome without corrections and discharged into Matrix jetty in Warri, Delta state, Nigeria, on June 21.

On June 19, another 15,000 tonnes were transloaded into Matrix Pride and then discharged into the Obat Oil terminal on June 22.

In documents seen by TheCable, the products from Malta were transported through intermediate ships and sometimes through intermediate companies like Poly Pro Trading registered in Dubai Free Trade Zone.

Their listed office at OneJLT Towers 05.015, Dubai, is a business centre without any physical presence, according to checks by TheCable.

“Malta is now the top European destination for blending and ship-to-ship (STS) transfers of sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products ever since the Greek navy decided to stop such activities in their offshore zone,” the source said.

“About 35 percent of shipment into Malta is naphtha and other components which are blended into gasoline to produce lower quality ‘African Spec’. This lower quality spec is then transhipped into various vessels for delivery into Nigeria to be sold to unsuspecting public who suffer frequent vehicle and equipment breakdowns.”

An oil blending plant has no refining capability but can be used to blend re-refined oil (a used motor oil that has been treated to remove dirt, fuel, and water) with additives to create finished lubricant products.

Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Ltd, a Chinese firm, says it is ready for a resolution of its dispute with Nigeria. 

A Paris court recently ordered the seizure of Nigeria’s assets — including three aircraft — over the contract dispute.

The court ruled that the Chinese firm should use Nigeria’s jets at the Paris-Le Bourget and Basel-Mulhouse international airports “as security for its claim of EUR 74,459,221”.

BACKGROUND

In 2010, Zhongshan, through Zhuhai Zhongfu Industrial Group Co. Ltd. (Zhuhai), its Chinese parent company, acquired rights to develop a free trade zone in Ogun state.

A year later, Zhongshan set up Zhongfu International Investment (NIG) FZE (Zhongfu), a Nigerian entity, to manage the project with the permission of the Ogun state government.

However, things took a different turn in July 2016 when the investor accused the state government of abruptly moving to terminate its appointment while attempting to install a new manager for the free trade zone.

Subsequently, Zhongfu initiated an investment treaty arbitration against Nigeria under the bilateral investment treaty between the People’s Republic of China and Nigeria (the China-Nigeria BIT).

The arbitrators had ruled that Nigeria was in breach of its obligations under the China-Nigeria BIT and awarded Zhongshan a compensation of around $70 million.

In January 2022, the Chinese company initiated a case to seek enforcement of the arbitration award.

Nigeria pleaded state immunity but was turned away by Sara Cockerill, a high court judge in the UK, who said the country abused the time frame for appealing arbitral awards.

On August 9, a US appellant court affirmed the judgment of the US district court for the District of Columbia, that held that the arbitration award is enforceable.

The court rejected Nigeria’s sovereign immunity defence.

‘READY TO SETTLE THIS CASE’

On Thursday, the presidency accused the Chinese firm of deploying “unorthodox and subterfuge” means in a bid to seize the assets.

Refuting the allegations in a statement sent to Premium Times, Zhongshan said it has only ever sought to assert its rights under international law and is confident in its case.

“The independent arbitral panel was found unanimously in its favour, and courts in multiple countries have upheld the view that the panel’s compensation should be enforced. The French court was fully aware of the facts when it reached its decision,” the firm said.

“Far from being just a fence, the Ogun Free Trade Zone was featured as a significant international investment by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

“Zhongshan has for a long time been ready to enter serious negotiations with the federal government of Nigeria to settle this case and still awaits an indication that the government is equally willing.”

A lawyer and human rights activist, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, on Friday, described Nigeria’s sovereignty as under threat following a report of the seizure of Nigeria’s three presidential jets in France.

Ejiofor spoke while commenting on the issues surrounding the report of the seizure of Nigeria’s presidential jet in Paris.

It was his view that; “We are no longer under any form of illusion that Nigeria’s sovereignty is under serious threat amid mountain debt concerns. unfortunately, Nigerians are not paying commensurate attention to this impending disaster.

“On August 15, 2024, three presidential aircraft undergoing maintenance in Paris were temporarily seized in strict compliance with a court order.
What an international disgrace!”

“The unfortunate reality is that with the Nigerian government’s growing habit of excessive and reckless borrowing, it is increasingly likely that we may one day wake up to find Nigeria’s assets and the entire Nigerians tied to foreign judgments. It is only a matter of time,”he said.