Napoli’s Victor Osimhen has found himself sidelined as the Serie A club has handed his iconic number 9 jersey to their new signing, Romelu Lukaku.

This development follows a summer of intense transfer speculation and a reported fallout with the club’s hierarchy, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Nigerian striker, who played a pivotal role in securing Napoli’s first Scudetto in four decades, was at the centre of a tug-of-war between several top clubs.

However, despite last-minute bids from Saudi giants Al-Hilal and English side Chelsea, Osimhen remains with the Partenopei, a situation that has left many fans and pundits puzzled.

New Napoli manager Antonio Conte, who has a history with Lukaku from their successful stint at Inter Milan, appears to have no place for Osimhen in his plans.

Conte’s preference for the Belgian striker is seen as a key reason behind the decision to strip Osimhen of his number 9 shirt.

Napoli had reportedly reached an agreement with Saudi club Al Ahli for a fee of around £67 million, but negotiations hit a snag when the Italian club demanded a higher fee.

This prompted Al Ahli to shift their focus to Brentford’s Ivan Toney, ultimately securing the English forward for a £40 million move.

Toney, who had already undergone a medical in London on Deadline Day, became the more straightforward option for the Saudi side.

The failed transfer saga has left Osimhen in a precarious position, with reports suggesting he could be sidelined until January when the transfer window reopens.

This situation is in contrast to his recent successes, including being named African Footballer of the Year and finishing 8th in the Ballon d’Or rankings.

After a successful 2023 season, tensions between the striker and Napoli had already been simmering, especially after the club’s official TikTok account released a controversial video that many interpreted as disrespectful.

Despite the public fallout, the former Wolfsburg striker extended his contract with Napoli until 2026.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has promoted 684 senior police officers.

Ikechukwu Ani Head, Press and Public Relations, in a statement, said the decision to approve the promotion of senior officers took place during the first preliminary meeting with the new chairman of PSC in Abuja.

According to him, the meeting presided over by the Chairman of the Commission, DIG Hashimu Argungu (rtd), had in attendance, DIG Taiwo Lakanu, (rtd), Honourable Commissioner and Chief Onyemuche Nnamani, Secretary to the Commission.

It said eight Commissioners of Police were elevated to the rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police, while 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police were promoted to the next rank of full Commissioners of Police.

“52 Chief Superintendents of Police were also promoted to Assistant Commissioners of Police, 525 Superintendents of Police promoted to the rank of Chief Superintendents of Police and 84 Deputy Superintendents promoted to Superintendents of Police. ASP Patrick Ebhodahe was also promoted to the next rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police,” it said.

It said the eight Commissioners of Police and 15 Deputy Commissioners were subjected to some form of assessment/examination,a condition now precedent for their promotion to the new ranks.

The PSC Chairman said the Commission must also ensure that promotions in the Police will be merit based and predictable, just as he assured that the Commission will not for any reason delay the promotion of deserving officers but insisted that it must be earned.

The eight Commissioners of Police promoted to the next rank of Assistant Inspectors General of Police are CP Benneth Igwe; Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Command; Suleiman Mohammed Abdul, acting Assistant Inspector General of Police, PAB, Force Headquarters Abuja; CP Augustina Nwuka Ogbodo, CP Ebonyi State Command; CP Stephen Olanrewaju, CP Admin, Works, Force Headquarters Abuja; CP Kenechukwu Onwuemelie, CP Abia State Command; CP Fayoade Adegoke Mustapha, CP Lagos State Command; CP Adegboyega Funsho Adegboye, CP Admin, FID, Abuja and CP Mohammed Bala Labbo, CP Communication DICT Force Headquarters, Abuja.

The 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police elevated to substantive Commissioners of Police are; DCP Innocent Ifeanyi Emenari, DCP State CID Taraba State Command; DCP Betty Enekpen Otimenyin, DCP DFA, Zone 5 Benin; DCP James Iroegbunam Nwokolo, DC DFA, Edo State Command; DCP Felix Nka Oben, DC Federal Operations, Force Headquarters, Annex Lagos; DCP Olusegun Eyitayo Omosayin DC Armament, Directorate of Operations, Force Headquarters Abuja; DCP Ugobueze Ogbodo, Deputy Commandant, Police Detective College Enugu; DCP Ohagwu Felix Ndukwe, DC Department of Operations, Zone 11 Osogbo and DCP Taylor Lennox Olarewaju, DC, CCR, Lagos State.

Others are: DCP Sa’adatu Ismaila, DC Anti Human Trafficking Annex Lagos; DCP Olabode Adeleye Akinbamilowo, Deputy Force Secretary (DFS11), DCP Regina Cosmas Udoette, DC Department of Finance and Admin, Akwa Ibom State Command; DCP Francis Omatimeyin Gbiwen, DC, State CID Edo State Command; DCP Afolabi Wilfred Olatokunbo, DC Department of Finance and Admin, Delta State Command; DCP Ohiozoba Oyakhire Ehiede Acting CP Legal, FCID Force Headquarters Abuja and DCP Anthonia Adaku Uche-Anya, DC, Department of Finance and Admin FID.

The Commission has conveyed its approval to the Inspector General of Police for Implementation and further necessary action.

A Nigerian woman based in Canada, Amaka Sunnberger, is under probe for threatening to poison Nigerians of Yoruba and Benin extractions.

A representative of the Toronto Police Service, Sergeant Bassey Osagie, said investigation had begun into the matter.

“This incident has been reported to the Toronto Police Service and is currently under investigation,” Osagie said.

The House of Representatives and the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission had petitioned the Canadian authorities, demanding an investigation and prosecution of the woman.

Nigerians woke up on Wednesday to a viral video of the woman, who was on a TikTok live with some other persons, threatening to ensure mass killings of the Yoruba and Benin people living in Canada.

Sunnberger, who boasted that she lived in Ontario, Canada, said she would begin to poison the food and water of Nigerians immediately after she got to her place of work.

Hours after the threat went viral, the Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, revealed her identity with her photo.

She further sent a petition to the Mayor of Brampton, Patrick Brown, to call attention to the threat.

Reacting to the video, the House of Reps, in a letter to the Canadian government, requested that Sunnberger be prosecuted.

The letter, addressed to the Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jamie Christoff, said Sunnberger’s inflammatory statements constituted a direct threat to Nigerians.

The letter read in part, “In the light of the seriousness of these violations, we respectfully request the following actions: Investigation: an immediate and thorough investigation should be conducted into Ms. Sunberger’s actions by Canadian law enforcement and appropriate authorities.”

Reacting to the lawmakers’ demand, Sunnberger, in another video, dismissed the request for her arrest, affirming that she held a Canadian passport.

She said, “Somebody just sends me a message, say them arrest me, say them wan deport me, with passport? I be Canada pikin.

“See am now, I dey house, why I go dey lie?”

While speaking in Pidgin, Sunnberger had said she hated the Yoruba and Benin people.

She said, “It is time to start poisoning the Yorubas and the Benin. Put poison in all your foods at work. Put poison in all your water so that you all will begin dying one after the other.

“You all will not die one day. You will start falling sick for a long time. I will put Otapiapia (rat poison) inside your waters and foods. You people will never recover from the poison.

“This kind of hatred I have for you people will last forever. In all your foods, I will put Otapiapia,” as others at the meeting reminded her of other poisons including Eat and Die, Sniper.

She added, “I will put them in all your foods. If I go to work tomorrow, I will put it (poison) in Yoruba people’s food. Go and tell the government that I’m in Canada, I’m in Ontario. Hurry up, go fast.

“I will put Otapiapia, I will put Ogbomosho inside your foods. You will start hearing that Yorubas have died, Benins have died. I’m the one saying it.

“I want Igbos to have a heart of wickedness. You people are too quiet. You are too cool. Enough is enough. If you have a means of killing them, kill them out of the way, because they are too foolish. They are of no use to society. Lots of prostitutes and everything.”

Amid prolonged delays in the appointment of ambassadors to oversee Nigeria’s diplomatic missions, the Federal Government disbursed an approximate sum of N14bn to no fewer than 16 foreign missions in July 2024, findings by Saturday PUNCH have revealed.

Nigeria has 109 missions: 76 embassies, 22 high commissions, and 11 consulates globally.

Recall that on September 2, 2023, President Bola Tinubu recalled all career and non-career ambassadors operating the country’s diplomatic missions, embassies, and consulates globally.

The envoys, which include 41 non-career ambassadors and 42 career ambassadors, were directed to return to the country on or before October 31 by Tinubu, having been appointed by the President’s predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, in July 2020.

Since last year, the lack of appointed ambassadors has continued to elicit public concerns over the country’s diplomatic representation and the effectiveness of its foreign missions.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, attributed the delay in the envoys’ appointments to financial and economic challenges being faced by the current administration.

Tuggar, who disclosed this during a ministerial sectoral briefing in Abuja in May, said the ministry had not been receiving the necessary funding to operate effectively.

“The whole idea was to stop subsidising consumption and focus on subsidising production. However, the government has faced various other challenges. When the microeconomic reforms began showing benefits, platforms like Binance and the rise of crypto currencies began undermining those gains,” Tuggar stated.

He noted that it was pointless to appoint ambassadors without the financial resources to support their travel and the effective running of missions abroad.

However, checks by our correspondent using GovSpend, a civic tech platform that tracks and analyses the Federal Government’s spending, showed that the government disbursed the sum of N13.7bn for the personnel costs of 16 foreign missions.

The overseas missions are those located in The Hague (Netherlands), Tokyo (Japan), Vienna (Austria), Washington (United States), Berlin (Germany), Brasilia (Brazil), Brussels (Belgium), Paris (France), Beijing (China), Geneva (Switzerland), Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), London (United Kingdom), Madrid (Spain), Moscow (Russia), New York (USA), and Ottawa (Canada).

The funds were wired through the FGN Treasury (TSA Settlement Centre) on Friday, July 19, and Monday, July 29, 2024.

On the last day, The Hague received N504,071,400, Tokyo N761,253,100, Vienna N505,361,900, Washington N1,115,260,900, Berlin N813,678,400, Brasilia N564,693,300, Brussels N593,438,800, UNESCO Paris N545,086,850, Beijing N657,566,000, Geneva N830,278,500, and Jeddah N527,993,000.

Others include London N1,233,706,800, Madrid N803,821,400, Moscow N516,013,500, New York (CG) N915,844,500, New York (PM) N1,523,174,400, Ottawa N631,663,800, and Paris N611,712,300, while New York (PM) also received N576,147,689 on the first day.

Speaking to Saturday PUNCH, a former Nigerian ambassador to Singapore, Ogbole Ode, said even though paucity of funds had hindered the appointment of the envoys, the heads of missions at the consulate level had been deployed.

He noted that in the Foreign Service accounting system, there were different subheads, one of which were for personnel, adding that the free fall of the Nigerian currency often increased the naira value of the funds the government disbursed to the overseas missions.

The Nigeria Football Federation has been forced to abandon its agreement with German coach Bruno Labbadia to lead the Super Eagles, citing complications arising from strict German tax regulations, Soccernet.ng reports.

The deal fell apart after the NFF refused to shoulder the additional tax burden, which could have amounted to between 32% and 40% of Labbadia’s salary.

NFF President Ibrahim Musa Gusau revealed that while both parties had initially reached an agreement in principle, the unexpected tax issue became a sticking point.

“We have been on the tax issue for the past three days, and I told him clearly that there was no way the NFF will agree to offset the concomitant tax percentage on his salary that will be demanded by German tax authorities,” Gusau said. “We were doing our best to be flexible in the discussions, but he was adamant that the NFF had to pay the full tax amount as well. We simply cannot do that.”

With the Labbadia deal now off the table, the NFF has turned to its Technical Director, Coach Augustine Eguavoen, to lead the Super Eagles in their upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches.

Eguavoen, who is stepping in for his fourth stint as head coach, will guide the team in crucial matches against Benin Republic on September 7 in Uyo and Rwanda on September 10 in Kigali.

Eguavoen’s appointment brings a familiar face back to the helm of the three-time African champions, but the sudden change in leadership just days before the qualifiers has raised concerns about the team’s readiness for the challenges ahead.

In its ongoing efforts to combat terrorism within the nation, the Department of State Services (DSS) has successfully obtained a fresh order from the Federal High Court in Abuja to freeze 13 bank accounts associated with a suspected terrorist, Henry Okocha.

Naija News understands that the accounts held across seven different banks will remain frozen for 60 days, allowing the agency to conduct thorough forensic investigations into the alleged terrorist activities linked to the individual.

In a ruling on an ex-parte application supported by various exhibits, Justice Peter Lifu authorized the DSS to impose a freeze on the accounts for the specified duration to facilitate the investigation.

According to an eight-paragraph affidavit accompanying the ex-parte motion, the DSS accused Okocha of receiving substantial sums of money into these accounts, which are believed to be proceeds of terrorism.

After his arrest, Okocha was placed in the security agency’s custody for further investigation.

The DSS’s application was presented by its attorney, Yunus Ishaku Umar, who informed Justice Lifu that the freezing order was necessary to prevent the suspect from utilizing the funds for unlawful activities that could harm innocent citizens.

The attorney further explained that the account freeze would assist the DSS in identifying the individuals involved and ensuring their prosecution in court.

The ex-parte application, FHC/ABJ/CS/1036/2024, was filed under sections 5 and 81 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act of 2022.

The banks involved in this matter include United Bank for Africa, Guaranty Trust Bank, Union Bank of Nigeria, First Bank of Nigeria, Providus Bank, Palmpay Limited, and Resolut Limited.

Justice Lifu denied the request for a 90-day freeze, granting only 60 days, which will automatically expire at the end of that period.

It is noteworthy that a similar order was previously issued against a suspected female terrorist, Aisha Abdulkarim, whose 20 bank accounts were also ordered to be frozen for 60 days by the DSS.

Amid calls by Nigerians for a lower cost of governance, the personnel costs of the 36 states in Nigeria for the 2024 financial year have hit N2.76tn, an analysis of the budgets by The PUNCH has revealed.

In 2023, the wage bill of the states according to their approved budget documents available on Open States powered by civic-tech innovation platform, BudgIT, stood at N2.26tn indicating that about N901.88bn had been added to the wage bill in two years and N501.16bn in one year.

The analysis of the data showed that most of the states have consistently increased their wage bill over the years. However, the increase made by Taraba State to its wage bill in 2023 was significant.

The sum of N37.62bn had been budgeted as personnel costs in 2023, however, the final budget showed a jump to N109.65bn. In terms of actual budget performance from January to September 2023, it was N28bn, which was far below the originally budgeted amount. The wage bill for 2024 stood at N54.47bn.

In 2024, the wage bill for Imo State surged by 134.12 per cent to N61.18bn from N26.13bn. The 2023 budget performance (January to September) stood at N20.35bn. About N30.19bn had been expended on wages in 2022 in Imo State.

Rivers State was another subnational whose wage bill nearly doubled in 2024. The approved budget for personnel cost in 2024 in the oil-rich state rose to N252.89bn higher than N128.78bn in the 2023 revised budget indicating about 96.36 per cent increase.

On the flip side, both Bayelsa and Ekiti States reduced their budget for personnel costs in the 2024 budget.  Bayelsa’s wage bill dropped to N69.12bn from N81.77bn in 2023; a 15.47 per cent drop. Ekiti’s wage bill was marginal at a 1.21 per cent decline to N31.02bn from N31.40bn.

States with a wage bill above N100bn include Oyo (N132bn), Ogun (N122bn), Delta (N164bn), Akwa Ibom  (N127bn), Lagos (N302bn) and Rivers (N252bn).

Meanwhile, about 12 state governors have appointed no fewer than 4,385 aides since assuming office in 2023, according to a recent report by Saturday PUNCH.

While some of the new governors hired fewer than 50 aides, others, especially the governors of Taraba, Ekiti, Niger, Enugu, Adamawa, Kano, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Borno, Yobe, and Kogi States, have so far appointed a combined 4,385 aides since coming into power last year.

While these governors go on their aide-hiring spree, their domestic and external debt profiles increased greatly within the first six months of their administrations.

According to the data published by the Debt Management Office recently, the domestic debt of Niger State increased from N121.95bn to N139.80bn in the six months between June and December 2023 under Governor Mohammed Bago.

Similarly, Plateau State’s domestic debt surged to N173.93bn from N157.62bn within the same period under Caleb Mutfwang.

The same is true for Cross River State, as its domestic debt moved from N204.05bn to N220.20bn in six months under Bassey Otu over the same period.

Also, about eight states incurred a total of $89,747,901 in external debts within the first six months of the new administrations, according to the DMO.

Cross River recorded the highest foreign debt increase during the period, as it moved from $153,168,738 in June to $211,125,104 in December last year. It was followed by Ekiti, whose external debt stock rose from $103,479,209 to $121,049,293.

Kano’s debt was the third highest, moving from $101,319,905 to $107,920,953, while that of Adamawa increased from $100,919,509 to $103,196,881.

Niger State’s debt rose from $66,791,105 to $68,056,534, and Taraba’s debt moved from $21,918,173 to $23,427,411.

The PUNCH reported in July that at least 24 states of the federation would not be able to pay workers’ salaries this year without having to wait for federal allocations from the central government.

Only 11 out of the 36 state governments of the federation can independently pay their workers’ salaries without depending on federal allocations, according to an analysis of the state governments’ approved budgets for the 2024 fiscal year.

The states with robust internal revenue are Lagos, Kano, Anambra, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, Kwara, Osun, Ogun, and Zamfara.

The 24 states that cannot fund salary payments from their Internally-Generated Revenue, may have to rely on Federal Government allocations or borrowing from banks and related institutions.

The development also means that the respective wage bills of the affected states surpassed their various IGRs, raising concerns about workers’ productivity and state governments’ efficiency in internal revenue generation.

This plays out amid plans for a higher minimum wage. Although details of the new minimum wage are yet to be finalised,  it is expected that it would bump the wage bill of states and even the Federal Government higher.

A recent report titled ‘The Nigerian New Minimum Wage: Implications For State Governments’ Budget Performance’ presented by the Managing Director/Chief Economist of Analysts Data Services & Resources, Dr Afolabi Olowookere, at a webinar organised by the Oyo State Chapter of the Nigerian Economic Society, ranked states according to their ability to pay a higher minimum wage based on their fiscal position.

The report indicated that states like Benue, Osun, Oyo, Yobe, and Kogi, which were in the bottom five, would struggle while states like Lagos, Imo, Zamfara, Kaduna, and Ebonyi would fare better.

In his presentation, Olowookere said the ability of states to pay a higher minimum wage was computed and ranked as a combination of the ratio of personnel expenditure to total expenditure, revenue, especially internally Generated Revenue, low debt profile, and the relatively high elasticity of personnel costs contribution to future revenue and expenditure.

The economist submitted that states need to improve their fiscal conditions to increase their ability to pay a higher minimum wage going forward.

Providing some of the ways that states can finance the new minimum wage, the report called for tax hikes but called for consideration of the “Current economic situation in which companies operate, many companies will also be struggling to increase wages, avoid over-taxing those already paying (raise tax base not rate), avoid multiple taxes to improve the business environment, invest in an efficient tax collection.

“Borrow funds, but ⁠consider the state’s current level of indebtedness. Note that interest rates are currently high. Borrowing to pay a salary is not a sustainable strategy. Seek aids and grants from FGN and development partners, but ⁠will need to use such assistance for development purposes to free resources for workers.”

Other proposals include the reduction of instances of  ‘ghost’ and redundant staff, commercialisation of relevant state projects and facilities and tackling of corruption. Corruption needs to be significantly minimised with wastes and leakages avoided for States to be able to find resources to finance higher minimum wage sustainably.”

Speaking with The PUNCH, the economist said that some states that are struggling fiscally may decide to pay for political reasons.

“Based on the facts on the table, the more green you are, the more your ability to pay. The states that are tending towards red can pay, paying is political but this is an economic analysis to say that if you are spending a lot of your money on salaries, if your IGR cannot pay your salaries, it would be difficult for some states to pay a higher minimum wage unless they want to rely on federal allocation which is not stable. Lagos for instance can pay a higher wage from its IGR alone, Enugu too if you check the 2022 actual data but the other states cannot even pay.

“If the states who can’t pay decide to go ahead, their fiscal conditions would worsen because it is not even very good to start with except they can finance it through those methods proposed.”

Commenting on the need to reduce the cost of governance across the country, the Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors in the Lagos chapter, Olujide Oke, recently said cutting needless spending and pruning the size of government appointees would help state governments have more funds to channel into crucial areas for development.

Also, Professor Seth Akutson of Kaduna State University, pointed out that with the new minimum wage, the wage bill will go higher, hence a need to rightsize the workforce and block leakages.

He said, “We don’t have social insurance for workers. The only way you can give people survival is to employ them. Some people are earning salaries but not going to work. They have to do away with those. You must understand that political consideration got those people the job, not qualification. Some of the governors have more than 1,000 aides, so you can imagine the impact on the wage bill. There are a lot of allowances, estacodes, and expenses that need to be cut off.

“Also, the workforce needs to align with the budget and ability to pay principle. Now that the wage has increased by more than 100 per cent, that N2.79tn you are talking about may get closer to about N5tn. They need to begin to rightsize the workforce. To look at the cost of governance, to negotiate a percentage decrease in the pay of some of the political appointees. Also, they need to close all the leakages found around governance.”

A professor of economics at Babcock University, Segun Ajibola, said, “The states must do all they can to raise internally generated revenue without putting undue pressure on their citizens. Secondly, they must reduce the cost of governance, block wastages, do proper streamlining of ministries, departments, and agencies, shun profligacy, and ensure accountability and transparency in government.

A former chief economist at Zenith Bank, Marcel Okeke, pointed out that the increase in the ministries and governance at the centre would trickle down to the subnationals and impact their wage bill.

“Most of the things these governors do are done out of political considerations and not economic ones, from the location of companies to the appointments of aides; special advisers, senior special advisers, and so on. There are notorious cases of governors appointing hundreds or thousands of assistants. What are those people doing and they are paid money? Can they not do with a fewer number of them?

“Do you know we have bloated staff? In some ministries that should only have about 100, they have 400 to 500, so a job that should be done by one person, you have about five persons hanging around. What some people do is to carry files and they have no job. When these states do staff audits, they report ghost workers. If they look into this area, they can reduce cost,” he said.

Also speaking on the development, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Ibrahim, faulted the governors’ appointments, noting that the governors had followed the step of the President who also expanded portfolios of aides.

“The governors are equally copying what the President is doing, but sadly, this is not a positive thing that should be copied or should be done at all.

“So this system has to be disrupted to bring sanity to how public officials are spending, wasting, diverting, and appropriating resources. No country can survive this kind of indiscriminate spending and borrowing that we are seeing now in Nigeria”, he said.

The Chairman of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, condemned the development, urging the National Assembly to draft a legislation to curb such frivolous spending.

“It is part of the life governors are living by creating appointments for the boys. So it is unfortunate and it is unwarranted. It is not the right thing to do during this period.

“What we advised before now is to reduce the number of political appointees and to ensure they have optimal productivity. And what we are suggesting is the National Assembly should do a law that will peg the number of political appointees that the governors and other heads of MDAs can engage,” he stated

The Accountability Lab Country Director Country, Friday Odeh, criticised the Nigerian government for hiring more aides despite the country’s severe economic issues, including over 35 percent inflation.

Odeh argued that this decision exacerbates financial strain on state governors and worsens the economic hardships faced by citizens.

He believed that using limited resources for additional aides is imprudent and politically motivated, rather than addressing real development needs.

“Hiring more aides in an economy where the government claims there is no money and inflation is over 35 percent is insensitive and problematic.

“Nigeria  government is facing financial difficulties, adding more aides is a strain on the lean allocations received by state governors (of which their revenue generation is not sufficient for the state) which is worsening the economic situation citizens are complaining about with bad governance and cutting down the cost of their luxurious lifestyle.

“Instead of using the limited resources on tangible projects and human development, expenses on aides is not a wise decision but for political reasons across all the states. the government is certainly not prioritizing the needs of the people they swore to serve but serving political interest,” Odeh noted.

The country director suggested that the government should focus on enhancing the efficiency of existing aides or investing in technology to streamline operations, rather than increasing bureaucracy and political patronage.

He added, “Adding more aides will not solve any development issues but rather increase bureaucracy.

“State government should explore other cost-effective measures, such as improving the efficiency of current aides or investing in technology to streamline operations that create unnecessary burdens for the states FAAC resources.”

Also, the Executive Director of the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, Okechukwu Nwagunma, lambasted Nigerian government officials for their lack of vision, sincerity, and patriotism.

Nwagunma pointed out that despite promises from the president to cut the cost of governance by reducing the number of appointees and ministries, the reality is the opposite—new ministries are being created, and a record number of appointees are being appointed.

He said, “The government at all levels in Nigeria is composed mainly of people who are visionless, insincere, unpatriotic, selfish, and insensitive to the suffering of the people they claim to serve.

“They do the opposite of everything they claim they will do. The president talked about reducing the cost of governance by pruning down the numbers of government appointees and ministries.  But the president is busy creating new ministries and appointing the highest ever number of appointees, both as ministers and aides.

“The same thing is happening at the state levels.  State governors appoint needless numbers of aides with almost every other aid having their aides.  While the state of the economy continues to worsen, with government policies unable to alleviate the suffering of the majority of Nigerians who continue to groan in deprivation, poverty, and hunger, the same government officials continue to live in obscene and provocative opulence and extravagant lifestyles. And they ask Nigerians to be patient and to continue to make sacrifices.”

South Africa’s Udeme Okon won gold in the 400m final at the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships in Lima, Peru, with a remarkable comeback, clocking in at 45.69 seconds.

The victory, shared on social media, highlighted Okon’s dual ties to Nigeria and South Africa, sparking reactions from both nations.

While the recent controversy involving Miss Chidinma Adetshina underscored tensions between the two countries, Okon’s achievement seems to have been celebrated across borders

PUNCH Online reports that the 2024 World Athletics U20 Championships, also known colloquially by its former official title, the World Junior Championships, is an international athletics competition for athletes qualifying as juniors.

The event is ongoing in Lima, Peru, from August 27 to 31, 2024.

Okon’s profile on his Instagram page, #udeme_sprints, shows both the Nigerian and South African flags, signifying his ties to both nations, PUNCH Online also reports.

World Athletics in early Friday video posts on X revealed this.

It read, “WHAT. A. COMEBACK. ‘s Udeme Okon wins the 400m final in great style with 45.69.

“It’s Okon’s moment Udeme Okon claims the 400m gold with an incredible comeback in the home straight  45.69 ”

Meanwhile, several reactions followed the post from South Africans and Nigerians alike.

Nigerians-South Africans tension

Recall the recent controversy surrounding Miss Chidinma Adetshina, a South African-born model of Nigerian and Mozambican descent, which sparked significant debate and tension between South Africans and Nigerians.

Adetshina’s eligibility to compete in the Miss South Africa pageant was questioned after revelations about her dual citizenship. Critics argued that her participation undermines the opportunities for South African-born candidates, fueling xenophobic sentiments.

As the scrutiny over her citizenship and background intensified, Adetshina withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition, citing concerns for her safety.

Following her withdrawal, she was invited to compete in the Miss Universe Nigeria pageant, which has further complicated the situation given the uncertainty around her Nigerian citizenship status. 

However, it seems reactions from the South Africans do not have an issue with Okon and his gold medal.

World Athletics

PUNCH Online reports that World Athletics, the global athletic governing body, oversees disciplines like track and field, cross-country, road running, and race walking. Established in 1912 as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF), it rebranded in 2019 to modernise its image and expand its global appeal.

Headquartered in Monaco, World Athletics sets the sport’s rules, organises major events like the World Athletics Championships, and maintains world records. The organisation is committed to promoting athletics worldwide, supporting athletes and national federations, and fostering the development of the sport at all levels.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says it is seeking to engage reputable and credible operations and maintenance (O&M) companies to operate and maintain two refineries. 

The refineries are the Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company (WRPC) and the Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC).

NNPCL, in a statement on its official X handle on Friday, said the decision is to ensure reliability and sustainability to meet the nation’s fuel supply and energy security obligations.

“The O&M tender for WRPC and KRPC will be treated as a single tender through a three stage tender process (expression of interest, EOI, technical and commercial) leveraging on all the possible opportunity costs associated with procurement of consumables, personnel/manpower management, utilisation of computerised maintenance management software (CMMS), warehousing management system (WMS) etc,” the statement reads.

According to NNPC, the O&M contract scope of work will cover, but not be limited to the following: long-term and short-term production and operations planning, production and operations execution, monitoring, reporting and optimisation of operation, maintenance planning (short-term), maintenance execution, and reliability and inspection.

Others include process and controls engineering, quality control, quality assurance and laboratory, specialist engineering, health and safety, environmental management, turnaround maintenance planning and execution, minor projects, non-contractor management, subcontractor management, inventory, and warehouse management.

The oil firm said for any bidder to be eligible for the tender exercise, they are required to “fill out and submit mandatory details through this link http://forms.office.com/r/kjSyVwz3Eg on or before 12 midnight Thursday 12th September 2024”.

“Individual bidders would be duly notified on their registration in NNPC LTD/NipeX tender process portal,” the NNPC said.

“Thereafter the bidder would have access to make their submission on the NNPC LTD/NipeX tender process portal.

“All submission bids should be titled; EOI for the provision of operations and Maintenance (O&M) services for NNPC Limited Refining: Warri Refining and Petrochemical company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC)”.

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS 

The oil company said applicants must present audited accounts for the past four years (2020 to 2023) that include balance sheet, income and cash flow statements. 

“Provide evidence of your company’s latest credit ratings and the name of the rating agency,” the energy firm said.

“Demonstration of a minimum average annual turnover of at least $2 billion USD for the financial years ending: 2020, 2021, 2022, & 2023 respectively.”

TENDER SUBMISSION AND CLOSING DATE

The NNPC also said documents should be submitted online through the electronic NIPEX tender portal on or before 12 pm on September 26.

“The EOIs shall be opened virtually, following the deadline for EOIs submission at 12noon Thursday 10th October 2024 using the Microsoft Teams,” the oil firm said.

“Bidders who have submitted their bids and external observers shall be invited to attend the virtual live stream bid opening session.”

In the event of any unscheduled holiday on the bid submission date, the NNPC said the new deadline for submission of bids will be on the next working day.

Also, the EOI closing date and time will be extended to the next working day and time, the oil company said.

Heineken Lokpobiri, minister of state for petroleum resources (oil), says the federal government has set up a committee to resolve the dispute on domestic crude supply to the Dangote refinery and other local refineries.

In a statement on Thursday, Lokpobiri said the committee will investigate the disagreements among industry stakeholders.

He directed the committee, headed by the permanent secretary, to provide a report between Monday and Tuesday.

The minister stressed that all stakeholders are responsible for enforcing the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), particularly concerning domestic crude oil supply obligations.

“We remain committed to promoting local refining and creating an enabling environment for players in the sector, fostering a sustainable and thriving oil sector, ensuring compliance with the PIA and safeguarding the interests of all stakeholders,” Lokpobiri said. 

“In respect of this, I convened a crucial meeting to address the recent misunderstandings surrounding the regulation on domestic crude supply, which has sparked concerns among industry stakeholders.

“It became evident that a collaborative approach was necessary to resolve the issues at hand, and to this end, a committee has been set up with the task of reviewing the concerns raised by all parties involved.”

In recent months, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and the Dangote refinery were locked in a conflict over domestic supply.

On August 9, the NUPRC had denied allegations by the refinery of failing to uphold the PIA by not properly enforcing the domestic crude supply obligation (DCSO) regulation to ensure product availability to local refiners.

The commission said it facilitated the supply of 29 million barrels of crude oil to the Dangote refinery between January and June.

However, Anthony Chiejina, group chief, branding and communications officer of Dangote Group, said NUPRC did not facilitate any crude supply, noting that it did not receive 29 million barrels as claimed by the agency.

According to Chiejina, the regulator said it cannot implement its own Act because of the “sanctity of a contract”.

“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,” he said.

“All we are asking for is for refineries in Nigeria to buy crude directly from the companies that produce it in Nigeria rather than from international middlemen.”

In July, the federal executive council (FEC) approved a proposal by President Bola Tinubu, directing the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPCL) Limited to sell crude oil to the Dangote refinery and other refineries in naira.

The federal government, on August 15, inaugurated a technical subcommittee to ensure the smooth implementation of President Bola Tinubu’s directive to sell crude to local refineries in naira.

Wale Edun, minister of finance, had said the sale of crude oil to the Dangote refinery in naira will commence on October 1.