Two former governorship aspirants of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Philip Shaibu and Omoregbe Ogbeide-Ihama, have collapsed their political structures for the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), ahead of the September 21 governorship election in Edo state.

Naija News recalls that Shaibu, the impeached Deputy Governor of the state and Ogbeide-Ihama had contested for the PDP ticket but lost to Asue Ighodalo.

According to Daily Trust, Shaibu and Ogbeide-Ihama made also donated on Friday to the campaign council of the APC governorship candidate, Senator Monday Okpebholo.

Shaibu donated over 50 Toyota Sienna buses, music trucks, and his campaign secretariat office to the APC’s Okpebholo/DENCO Campaign Organization, while Ogbeide-Ihama, a former two-time member of the House of Representatives, donated a fully equipped campaign office.

Both properties, located in the heart of Benin City, serve as a vital hub for coordinating the APC’s campaign activities and engaging with the electorate.

The Director of the APC New Media Campaign Committee, Osigwe Omo-Ikirodah, confirmed the donations on Friday, stating that the donations would have a greater impact on the political landscape.

According to him, the development marks a pivotal moment in Edo politics, reflecting the growing momentum behind the APC and its agenda for progress and development.

He said, “Shaibu and Ogbeide-Ihama’s support for the APC is likely to galvanize other PDP members to reconsider their positions, potentially leading to increased support for our party.

“As the PDP grapples with these significant contributions to the APC, we are solidifying our position and building unprecedented momentum.”

…As Suspect Confessed Attempting To Sell Company Car For N5m

A suspected gunrunner, Ikechukwu Didi, 54, has confessed to joining a criminal syndicate to raise N6m for a heart operation.

Didi disclosed this in an interview with THE WHISTLER after he was paraded by the FCT Police Command among 14 others, on Thursday, in Abuja.

He was arrested on June 7, by the anti-car theft unit of the FCT police with the unlawful possession of seven pump-action rifles and over 1000 rounds of live cartridges.

The FCT Commissioner of Police, Ben Igweh said operatives of the command apprehended Didi after a crime syndicate on its watch list, upon arrest, identified him as their supplier of arms and ammunition.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER Didi admitted to the unlawful possession of the weapons which he said were delivered to him by an individual, whom he had identified to the police.

The FCT CP acknowledged the information, noting that police operatives were on a trail of other members of the syndicate, based on the information provided.

However, Didi told THE WHISTLER that he had only been recruited into the criminal group, and it was his first time taking delivery of the weapons. “They just connected me newly,” he said.

He added, “I do not know the people sending the weapon; I only have a name which I have told the police. I also do not know the people I am sending it to and what they are using it for.” he said.

The resident of Dutse Alhaji, a suburb in the FCT said his heart condition pushed him into crime without evaluating the consequences.

“I have been sick and the hospital said they will carry out an operation and it will cost N6m,” he revealed.

When asked about the agreed amount he was to receive if he had delivered the weapon, he said it was not discussed.

He also said that he had yet to raise a dime for his ailment.

He provided documents from the Gwagwalada Teaching Hospital which he said he had been visiting following a diagnosis of his heart condition in 2020.

The management of Eclath Human Resources in Jabi, Abuja, where the culprit works, had reported a case of a stolen vehicle to the police, after Udeke was sent to refill the vehicle with fuel.

Weeks after trailing the suspects, the anti-car theft unit of the FCT command tracked Udeke’s phone to Lagos State, and the car was subsequently recovered.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER in an interview, Udeke said he had been chased out by his landlord for his inability to pay his N350,000 rent when he decided to rob the company of its vehicle and sell it for the sum of N5m.

“Before then, I had written to the company asking for assistance,” he said, noting that his request did not yield any positive result.

Interestingly, Udeke had just worked with his company for three months, earning N70,000 when he decided to hatch his plans.

The new father of twins said on the day he ran away with the vehicle, he had received a call that his belongings had been thrown out of his apartment.

Rather than purchase the fuel, he had decided to use the company’s vehicle to take his family to a safe place.

“I decided to sell the vehicle. When I got to Lagos, they were pricing the vehicle N2m and it was not okay for me. So, I decided to take my family to Enugu and also park the car there while I returned to Lagos. It was in Lagos that I was arrested,” he narrated.

When asked how much he intended to sell the vehicle, Udeke said, “I wanted to sell it, like N5m.”

The suspect said it was his first time taking the belongings of others, hence the choice to park the vehicle in his country home. He advised others to be patient and shun all forms of criminal activities.

Meanwhile, Udeke’s vehicle was among four vehicles and one Hilux recovered by the police recently.

According to the FCT Police CP, criminal elements now resort to the use of anti-tracker devices to prevent security operatives from trailing them.

The Command had recovered two of such devices from the suspects paraded on Thursday.

According to them, there is a transborder car theft syndicate specialised in stealing vehicles from Abuja and neighbouring states and selling them to people in Niger Republic.

The CP warned, “I will still warn the criminals that it is not business as usual. We are focused, determined and eager, we have all it takes: intelligence, security and intelligence to get you.

“So, since they have reached the issue of using a jammer to do their act, we will use an anti-jammer to equally trace them.

“I want to appeal to residents of FCT when you see something, you say something, and we will do something.”

SRC: TheWhistler

Nollywood actor cum pastor, Yul Edochie, has resumed his online ministry following a short break.

Yul explained that he took a break to spiritually prepare himself for God’s work, during which time God revealed many things to him.

He emphasized that relying on religion alone for salvation is insufficient and that simply praying is not enough.

Extending an invitation to his followers for a live YouTube and TikTok broadcast, he assured them of an “explosive” session where he would unveil secrets and impart wisdom on protecting oneself from evil forces.

“Religion will not save us. Prayer is not enough. That is why we have thousands of churches springing up every day, yet evil persists. I took a break from my ministry so I could prepare myself spiritually for God’s work. During that time, God took me on a journey and revealed so much to me.

“Don’t miss our live broadcast this Sunday.I will expose many secrets and teach you how you can protect yourself from the evil plans of the devil, which are spreading rapidly. Streaming live on YouTube on Yul Edochie TV and TikTok @yuledochieodogwu. Don’t miss it. It will be explosive,” Yul wrote.

One Temitope Adetanju has been arrested by the operatives of the Ogun State Police Command for inserting a piece of firewood into the private part of a 12-year-old girl.

Adetanju, who happens to be the girl’s guardian, had assaulted her for allegedly stealing biscuits, Milo, and ‘Mr. Fruit’.

According to the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, the incident happened on Tuesday in the Isewo Obada Oko area of Ewekoro Local Government Area of the state.

Upon receiving a report about the incident, she said the Divisional Police Officer in the area deployed the division’s juvenile officer to the scene of the incident to arrest the suspect.

“The incident occurred on 11/06/24 at about 1100hrs. The Divisional Police Officer received information that a 12-year-old girl from Isewo Obada Oko was severely beaten and had a piece of firewood inserted into her private part by her guardian, one Temitope Adetanju, a 25-year-old woman residing at the same address.

“On receipt of the distress report, the Divisional Police Officer deployed the Officer in Charge of Juvenile Welfare Center, to apprehend the suspect. Upon her arrest, it was discovered that the victim had stolen items including biscuits worth N200, Milo worth N150, and Mr. Fruit worth N300,” Odutola told Punch on Friday.

The suspect has since confessed to committing the crime, Odutola said, adding that investigation is going on.

“The suspect admitted to committing the crime, and the investigation is ongoing,” the PPRO informed.

Ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the Super Falcons of Nigeria have retained the top spot in Africa and the 36th spot in the globe as FIFA releases the latest world ranking.

FIFA arrived at the latest ranking released earlier today, Friday, June 14, 2024, after reviewing the performance of the Super Falcons and other teams in the last three months.

Note that in the said period, FIFA recorded 154 international matches in women’s football alone. Since February 2024, the Super Falcons played four games, two ended in straight victories, while the remaining two ended in goalless draws.

With that, they remain the best-ranked women’s team in Africa as they are set to fight for their first gold medal at the 2024 Olympics which will start for the team on July 25.

The reigning African women’s champions, South Africa are the second-highest-ranked team on the continent. They are ranked 50th in the world, 15 spots below Nigeria.

Below are the top ten ranked women’s teams in Africa and their place in the world ranking according to FIFA in June 2024:

1. Nigeria (36)
2. South Africa (51)
3. Morocco (56)
4. Zambia (64)
5. Ghana (65)
6. Cameroon (68)
7. Ivory Coast (71)
8. Tunisia (78)
9. Mali (81)
10. Equatorial Guinea (81)

Below is the top ten highest-ranked women’s team in the world according to FIFA in June 2024:

1. Spain
2. France
3. England
4. Germany
5. USA
6. Sweden
7. Japan
8. Canada
9. Brazil
10. Korea DPR

Note that the next FIFA women’s ranking will be released in August, following the 2024 Olympics.

President Ahmed Bola Tinubu should adopt measures to divide Nigeria into six geo-political zones with elements of regional autonomy to ensure equity and true federalism.

A human rights lawyer and Chairman of the Labour Party in Enugu West Senatorial Zone of Enugu State, Barr Nnadume Offorkansi, stated this in an interview in Enugu on Friday. He said Nigerians expect President Tinubu to champion the restructuring of Nigeria, having been in its forefront during the military era under the auspices of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO.

Offorkansi however said there were some policies of the Tinubu administration already tilting towards restructuring Nigeria.

According to him, “The message in the old national anthem implies return to regionalism. There is a bill in the National Assembly for circling herders in their abodes. The current suit between the federal government and the states seeking the possibility of direct funding of local governments in Nigeria is another restructuring. The relocation of a key unit of the Central Bank of Nigeria from Abuja to Lagos is restructuring. We expect an end to states conducting elections into various LGAs when the LG autonomy is achieved.”

He advised Tinubu to create regions not based on the old ones because “there are already mistrusts in most of them”, adding that going back to regional structures would save Nigeria from its current conundrum.

Abuchi Anueyiagu, a public affairs analyst, also advised Tinubu to implement the report of the National Confab organized by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

According to him, the report, if implemented, would restructure Nigeria, and regretted that Jonathan’s re-election bid was behind his failure to implement it. He added that the confab report would have solved most of Nigeria’s political and economic problems.

Quoting him, “Restructuring will end various agitations for secession because it will grant the regions the autonomy to grow at their respective pace. Tinubu clamoured for it during the Jonathan administration.

“He is, therefore, expected to live by what he has been clamouring as an activist. He will endear himself to Nigerians, and he should avoid the mistake of waiting for his second tenure, which former President Jonathan made.”

The President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, says it is expanding the storage capacity of his refinery by 600 million litres.

This, according to him, will enable the refinery to have a storage capacity of 5.3 billion litres.
The Dangote Petrochemical Refinery refinery currently has 4.78 billion litres of storage capacity for refined petroleum products.

Dangote spoke at the Afreximbank Annual Meetings and AfriCaribbean Trade & Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas on Wednesday.

The billionaire alleged that international oil companies refused to sell crude oil to his refinery because they did not want him to succeed.

Asked to speak on whether or not his refinery would crash the pump price of petrol, which currently sells at around N700 per litre, Dangote gave no affirmative answer, but he quickly recounted how the price of diesel fell from 1,700 to N1,200 when his diesel flooded the market.

“The issue of gasoline is certainly a different issue. That one is being dealt with by the government. But let me give you an example. In the diesel, which the industries, transporters and everybody consume; when we first started, it was N1,700, and the dollar conversion was about N1,200 then. Immediately when we started, within two weeks we brought down the price to N1,000. We took it from N1,700 to N1,200 and from N1,200 to N1,700, we have given more than 60 per cent drop in price.

“With the currency now back up to about N1,500 per dollar, the price is still below N1,200. That’s a big improvement, from N1,700 to N1,200. And the diesel is available, we are not living from hand to mouth anymore,” Dangote replied when asked about a possible petrol price cut.

The business mogul said the refinery would be a strategic reserve for refined products.

“The country doesn’t have strategic reserves in terms of petrol, which is very dangerous. But in our plant now, when you came, we had only 4.78 billion litres of various tankage capacity. But right now we’re adding another 600 million.

“So effectively, as we go forward, the refinery will be the strategic reserve of the country in terms of petroleum products,” he noted.

The Africa’s richest man explained that international oil companies denied him access to their crude because they did not think he could succeed with the 650,000 barrels per day capacity refinery.

“In a system where, for 35 years, people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden, they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you. Of course, you expect them to fight back.

“And I think that is the process that we’re now really going through. But the truth is that, yes, the country, the sub-region, and also the continent, of sub-Saharan Africa, need this refinery. So, you expect them to fight through non-supply of crude, non-purchase of the product, but I think it’s all temporary. We’ll get there,” he added.

Dangote has been importing crude oil from the United States to get feedstock for the refinery.

The Kano-born businessman added further that Nigeria has for years been importing dirty fuel into the country.

Dangote asked the Federal Government to enforce regulations stopping the importation of dirty fuels.

According to him, dirty fuels have been responsible for many cases of cancer in Nigeria and Africa.

Speaking of imported fuel, he said, “It is high sulfur, very polluting and also when you look at it, especially in Nigeria, in the past few years, we’ve been having cases of cancer, and most of these cases of cancer have to do with the bad fuel that we’ve been using. So, I will advise even here, you should check the quality of what is being dumped in your region in The Caribbean.”

He spoke further that Nigerian crude oil attracts the most premium, yet the nation imports the dirtiest fuels.

Asked if there is no regulation to check the quality of imported fuel, Dangote reported, “Now there is regulation, so it is upon the regulators to enforce the regulation.”

The PUNCH reports that despite its huge crude oil reserves, Nigeria still depends heavily on imported refined fuel.

But Dangote recently said Nigeria would no longer import any fuel by the time he begins the sale of PMS in the next few weeks.

When fully operational, Dangote disclosed that the refinery would supply cheaper fuel to the Caribbean, saying the price of fuel in that area is expensive.

He planned to set up a terminal in the region to give them access to cheaper energy.

“I don’t know the exact price but I know that the price in the Caribbean in terms of petroleum products is very high. So, we produce it cheaply, we can always bring it here, we can set up a terminal and we will be able to feed their needs.

“We have a bilateral agreement with them and bringing in stuff from there is not more than 18, 20 days maximum. Once we set up a terminal, they will have very cheap oil. They will have cheap energy. By having cheap energy, their economies will grow faster,” he maintained.

Dangote recalled that he was once persuaded by a former Minister of Energy in Saudi Arabia, Khalid Al-Falih, to shelve the idea of building a refinery. However, he said he told the former minister that he did not need his advice.

“Four years ago, I was in Saudi Arabia during the fasting period and I was invited for the breaking of the fast, Dr Falih, who used to be the Minister of Energy invited me to come and break the fast with him and I went there. He just said, ‘Aliko, I heard that you’re planning on building a refinery, what capacity?’ I said 650,000. He kept quiet for a while and said, ‘You know just about 120km from Mecca, we are building one and I think I would like you to go and have a look. We as Saudi Aramco, are facing a lot of challenges and, we are proceeding with it, but my advice to you is not to do it because normally, refineries are built by major oil corporations or sovereign countries.’

“I said, ‘But Your Excellency, unfortunately, we have already started, so I’m not looking for am advice.’ That was really how we continued,” he recounted.

Dangote revealed that both local and international cartels, which he described as “mafia”, made repeated attempts to sabotage the $19bn refinery project located in Lagos.

“Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact,” he said.

Dangote, who described himself as a fighter, said they tried all sorts to stop him.

“As a matter of fact during the COVID period, some of the international banks were looking forward to making sure that they push us into default of our loans so that the project will just be dead. And that didn’t happen with the help of banks like Afreximbank,” it was stated.

He explained that he had paid off $2.4bn of the $5.5bn loan for his $19bn Lagos-based refinery.

“We borrowed the money based on our balance sheet. I think we borrowed just over $5.5bn. But we paid also a lot of interest as we went along, because the project was delayed because of a lack of land, also the sand-filling took a long time. Almost five years or so we didn’t do anything.

“We started in 2018. We borrowed that much. We have, of course, paid interest and some principal, about $2.4bn. We’ve done very well. We now have only about $2.7bn left to be paid. So we’ve done very well for a project of that magnitude,” he said.

Dangote generates 1,500MW

Talking about industries being energy independent, Dangote posited the refinery and his other companies are not putting any pressure on the grid, though he suggested that power production should be the business for other people.

“We don’t put pressure on the grid. Like us now, we produce about 1,500 megawatts of power for self-consumption. But if this thing is beneficial and it makes sense, there will be people who will concentrate on actually generating the power so it won’t be part of your cost. There are a lot of people that are doing industrial parks, and I think Afrexim Bank is involved in these parks in terms of funding; that will help. It means that once you come, you are just going to plug and play,” he added.

The PUNCH recalls that operators of modular refineries stated on Sunday that the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, should drop to about N300/litre upon the commencement of massive production by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and other indigenous producers.

Speaking under the aegis of the Crude Oil Refinery Owners Association of Nigeria, they explained that what happened to the cost of diesel after Dangote started producing it, would happen to petrol prices once it is being produced massively in Nigeria.

“A lot of companies today benefit from the importation of petroleum products at the expense of Nigerians,” the Publicity Secretary of CORAN, Eche Idoko, stated.

He told our correspondent that “if we begin to produce PMS today in large volumes, provided there is adequate crude oil supply, I can assure that we should be able to buy PMS at N300/litre as the pump price.

“Why make Nigerians buy it at almost N700/litre when you know that if you allow refineries to work the price will come down? Is it because you want to satisfy the global refiners abroad that are making so much from us?”

When told that there are arguments that it is not possible to have such a drop in price because crude oil, the raw material for PMS, is priced in dollars, the CORAN official insisted that the petrol price would crash once it is being produced massively by indigenous refiners.

He said, “We were selling diesel for N1,700 to N1,800/litre, but as soon as Dangote refinery started production he brought down the price to N1,200/litre. What other proofs do you need? As I speak to you now there is every tendency that before December diesel prices will drop further. The only reason why diesel is not doing below N1,000/litre is because of our exchange rate.

“If the exchange rate drops, diesel will drop below the N1,000/litre price. Now the exchange rate concern is because Dangote imports crude. If he is not importing, the exchange rate may not have so much effect, though he is still buying crude in dollars (in Nigeria) anyway.”

But oil marketers have repeatedly maintained that even if there would be a reduction in the pump price of petrol, it would be marginal.

On May 18, 2024, The PUNCH reported that Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, stated that following the laid-down plans of the Dangote refinery, Nigeria would no longer need to import petrol starting June this year.

Dangote had also stated that his refinery could meet West Africa’s petrol and diesel needs, as well as the continent’s aviation fuel demand. He spoke at the Africa CEO Forum Annual Summit in Kigali, expressing optimism about transforming Africa’s energy landscape.

“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,” the billionaire had declared.

Meanwhile, Dangote said his plan to release premium motor spirit into the market this month will no longer be possible. Dangote said this was due to some minor challenges, stating that the product would be out by July 10 to 15.

“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.

Africa’s richest person, Aliko Dan­gote, says local and foreign mafia tried several times to sabotage his $19 bil­lion refinery from coming to fruition.

This is as he said he has repaid about $2.4 billion of the $5.5 billion borrowed to build the refinery.

According to him, several entities did everything to sabotage the 650,000 barrels per day facility.

He spoke on Wednesday at the Afreximbank annual meetings (AAN) and AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Nassau, The Bahamas.

Dangote said he was aware that resistance would always exist, but he did not anticipate it being so harsh.

“Well, I knew that there would be a fight. But I didn’t know that the mafia in oil, they are stronger than the mafia in drugs. I can tell you that. Yes, it’s a fact. The local and foreign mafia tried several times to sabotage the refinery from coming to fruition,” he said.

The businessman, who tagged himself a fighter throughout his life, said the mafias had tried several times to defeat him.

“But I’m a person that has been fighting all my life. You know, so I think it’s part of my life to fight,” he said.

On if he was receiving enough crude oil as feed-stock for his refinery from the international oil companies (IOCs), Dangote said: “In a system where for 35 years people are used to counting good money, and all of a sudden they see that the days of counting that money have come to an end, you don’t expect them to pray for you. Of course, you expect them to fight back.

Linda Ikeji advises women to focus on achieving financial independence rather than relying on men for support.

She stressed that wealth is not limited to men alone, noting that she personally chooses to work towards financial freedom rather than depending on a man.

Highlighting the importance of fearlessness, strength, determination, and grace, Linda Ikeji encouraged women to take charge of their own destinies by pursuing their dreams, building their businesses, and breaking barriers. 

She also advised women to aim for financial success equal to or even greater than that of their partners, urging them to step up and take control of their own financial futures.

Taking to her Instagram post, Kinda Ikeji wrote :

“Dear young lady, I hear you! If that’s how you see life and want to live life, it’s your choice! To each his own. As for me, I’d rather be as rich as those men who must pay me for being beautiful. Being rich is not the birthright of men alone. I’d rather be their contemporary than waiting for their handouts.

“I know many believe it’s a man’s world; maybe it is, but with fearlessness, strength, determination, and grace, women can dominate and thrive in it. So, instead of waiting for men’s charity, I’d rather start early to fight for my dreams, build my business(es), break boundaries, and if God allows, shatter tables.”

The Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has shared photos of her 70th birthday celebration online.

 Okonjo, in the post via her X handle, described yesterday as one of the happiest days of her life.

While expressing appreciation to WTO Ambassadors, staff and members for their outpouring of love, the former Minister of Finance noted that she had never received as many flower bouquets from all over the world as she got today.

She wrote, “I don’t normally do personal tweets, but today is an exception! It has been one of the happiest days of my life – my 70th birthday! So much outpouring of love from everywhere!! I want to thank all WTO Ambassadors, WTO staff, friends and family! I’ve never received so many bouquets of flowers from all over the world, as I have today! Along with good wishes and prayers. I consider myself blessed to have a loving husband, family, friends and well wishers! All Glory and Thanks to God!”