Salihu Lukman, former National Vice Chairman (North-West) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has criticized the removal of Senator Ali Ndume as Senate Chief Whip and his alleged expulsion from the party.

Lukman claimed that President Bola Tinubu may not stay for a second term in office due to these actions.

On Wednesday, July 17, Ndume was replaced by Senator Tahir Monguno as Chief Whip of the Senate.

The decision came via a directive from the APC National Chairman, Abdullahi Ganduje, and National Secretary, Senator Basiru Ajibola, citing Ndume’s alleged rabid outbursts against President Tinubu.

In a statement titled “Fanatical Mindset” released on Thursday, Lukman expressed concern over the attack on free speech in Nigeria, comparing the current situation to the era of Nigeria’s late military dictator, Sani Abacha.

“The way things are, it is almost as if President Asiwaju Tinubu has resolved that he will only be a one term President. Under his watch living conditions of Nigerians is continuously getting worse. Instead of making effort to develop clear plans to address the situation, the government is becoming more intolerant to criticism.

“In the last one week, the government has developed a fanatical mindset of condemning and criminalising criticism so much so that it is resorting to bribing religious leaders to declare that protests are ungodly. Everything is being done to suspend free speech in the country. It is almost as if we are back in the Abacha era, or even worse. As it is, personal liberties of citizens are being threatened. Fair hearing is no longer guaranteed. Sadly, we are having democracy without democrats,” said Lukman.

According to him, the APC Constitution does not grant party officials, including the National Working Committee, the authority to summarily remove National Assembly principal officers.

He condemned the APC Senate Caucus for allowing this “act of illegality,” warning it sets a dangerous precedent undermining the National Assembly’s independence.

“Any democracy that cannot accommodate criticism is no democracy. A democracy that subverts fair hearing is a dictatorship. A democracy that permits a ruling party to demobilize its organs and inadvertently expel its members is worse than a military government,” he stated.

Lukman further called on patriotic Nigerians to ensure the defeat of the APC and Tinubu’s government in 2027, and suggested that their current trajectory is self-destructive.

“So long as APC, its leadership and Asiwaju Tinubu’s government have taken the self-destructive path, which is equivalent to a declaration of working end their tenure in 2027, patriotic Nigerians must help them to ensure their defeat in 2027!,” he added,

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and sister unions have bowed to pressure and accepted President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s N70,000 Minimum wage offer.

Their acceptance follows the approval of a new national minimum wage of N70,000 for Nigerian workers on Thursday.

The labour unions had rejected the government’s previous offer of N62,000 national minimum wage.

The organized labour leaders have however confirmed their acceptance.

Recall that the organized labour were demanding N494,000 pay for workers.

The government had argued that the N494,000 wage being demanded by organized labour, which cumulatively amounts to the sum of N9.5tn bill, was “capable of destabilizing the economy and jeopardizing the welfare of over 200 million Nigerians.”

But after reaching an agreement in a meeting with the Minister of Information Mohammed Idris, President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, confirmed that the unions had accepted Tinubu’s offer.

The President of TUC, Comrade Festus Usifo and other representatives of Nigerian workers were all present at the meeting.

Ajaero explained that organized labour accepted the offer because of other incentives attached.

He disclosed that part of the agreement was that the N70,000 wage would be reviewed every three years.

Since the creation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria on July 29, 2010 about N1.96tn has been recovered from debtors of banks with toxic assets.

The Managing Director of AMCON, Gbenga Alade said this when the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Other Ancillary Institutions, Hon. Eze Nwachukwu Eze,visited the Corporate Head office of AMCON on its 2024 oversight visit.

It is the first oversight visit of the Eze-led Committee to the Corporation since the new AMCON EXCO assumed office in February.

The Corporation had been under pressure in recent times to recover the toxic loans inherited from banks that were liquidated estimated at over N5tn.

With the recovery of about N1.96tn, it means that the Corporation is still indebted with about N3tn.

Of the total recovery, cash represents 43 per cent (N842.8bn), sale of bridged banks 13 per cent (N254.8bn) sale of proprietary shares 11 per cent (N215.6bn), clawback and repurchases nine per cent (N176.4) sale of property assets & rentals nine per cent (N176.4bn), investment income seven per cent(N137.2bn), while others represent about seven per cent (N137.2bn).

The nation’s banking sector ran into a financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 – a problem that was partly triggered by the global financial crisis.

AMCON’s seed investment was secured from the capital market through the Central Bank of Nigeria. Subsequently, its operations were funded with levies imposed on commercial banks.

The corporation is funded with 0.5 per cent charge on banks’ total assets on and off-balance sheet items. The levy is a statutory charge imposed by the CBN on all banks operating in the country.

Experts have said that with the performances of companies indebted to AMCON falling below par, even as they struggle to find their feet amid endless litigations, the corporation may lose some of the money spent repurchasing toxic assets from troubled banks and other entities.

This comes as values of the companies taken over by the corporation have been eroded by challenges, ranging from poor management to a harsh economic environment.

According to experts, some of the companies have become a burden to AMCON with the possibility of turning them into profitable ventures becoming increasingly difficult.

Speaking on the development, the AMCON MD/CEO who hosted the Committee with his Executive Directors – Dr Aminu Mukhtar Dan’amu, and Mr Adeshola Lamidi among other senior staff of the Corporation told the Committee that despite the shaky start-off model, the Corporation, with the support of the National Assembly, has made considerable recoveries.

Alade said, “To date, the Corporation has made recoveries in the sum of N1.96tn. Of the total recovery, cash recovery represents 43 per cent, sale of bridged banks 13 per cent, sale of proprietary shares 11 oer cent, clawback & repurchases nine per cent, sale of property assets & rentals nine per cent, investment income seven per cent while others represent about seven per cent.”

The AMCON boss who took the members down memory lane of what led to the creation of AMCON and the many battles the Corporation had to deal with since its establishment informed that AMCON has disposed of proprietary assets worth about N651bn from inception to date.

In addition, Alade said the Corporation has made a total repayment of N2.929tn to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from 2013 to 2023, which includes contributions to the Sinking Fund by other Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), and AMCON recoveries.

The Chairman said that once transparency, accountability, and efficiency remain the cornerstones of AMCON’s operations, as legislators, the committee members will be committed to providing the necessary support through appropriate legislative frameworks and oversight functions to ensure AMCON fulfills its recovery mandate effectively.

Eze added, “Moreover, we recognize that AMCON cannot achieve its mandate in isolation. Collaboration with the National Assembly, which this Committee represents, other financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and other stakeholders is crucial.

“As representatives of the people, we are committed to fostering an enabling environment that supports AMCON’s efforts and promotes the stability and growth of our financial system.

“As we navigate through the current economic landscape, marked by global uncertainties, and domestic challenges, the role of AMCON becomes even more critical. Resolving non-performing loans, recovering debts, and managing acquired assets are key to ensuring the stability and resilience of our banking sector. It is essential that AMCON remains steadfast in its mission, adopting innovative strategies and leveraging technology to enhance its operations.

“AMCON, since its inception, has played a pivotal role in stabilizing the Nigerian financial system. In the aftermath of the 2009 global economic crisis, AMCON was established to address the non-performing loan crisis that threatened the stability of our banking sector.

“Today, as we reflect on the journey thus far, we acknowledge the significant strides made by AMCON in fulfilling its mandate. This visit aims to ensure that AMCON operates within the legal framework established by the National Assembly and achieves its objectives effectively and efficiently.”

He added that the visit to AMCON is part of their legislative functions, as enshrined in sections 62, 88, and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which empowers the National Assembly to oversight all Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs) and Government owned Enterprises (GoEs) for judicious utilization of Government Funds.

It is also in line with Order 21(2) of the House Standing Orders, Eleventh Edition (as amended), which placed AMCON under the oversight jurisdiction of the Committee.

…Strategic Equipment Damaged

Some vandals have been arrested while carrying out an operation at the Port Harcourt Refinery in Rivers State.

Some of the suspects intercepted at night were caught with various items like Motorised Valva (MOV), termination cable assembly and copper cables.

Other items include hack saws, pliers used for cutting cables and rubbing used to shroud stolen materials and other vital equipment.

The suspects were discovered to have pilfered other expensive equipment like armoured cables.

Videos seen by THE WHISTLER showed that two inches of long pipeline connections were used to illegally tap petroleum products to feed suspected bunkering stations, located outside a plant.

The pipeline has an estimated stretch of 800 kilometres illegally tapped from Indorama, a company based in Eleme, Port Harcourt.

The vandals were said to have connected the pipes at a diversion on the Indorama line close to the Port Harcourt refinery police station.

The suspects were said to have also stolen the anodes installed in a storage tank to protect the tank from corrosion.

Each storage tank contains at least 70 sacrificial anodes, each up to one meter in length and weighing 10-20 kilograms, welded to the bottom of the tank internally.

Storage tanks’ sacrificial anodes are made from highly-priced aluminium or magnesium alloys and hold great rewards to vandals if they succeed in their quest to cut and move the anodes to the black market.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, Mele Kyari had last Monday assured that the Port Harcourt Refinery will begin operation by August this year.

Kyari said this during an interactive session with members of the joint committees of the National Assembly on Finance.

He added that in few months time, oil production level for the country will hit two million barrels per day as every measures have been put in place to achieve that target.

He said, “Mr. Chairman and members of the Joint Committee. Let me just give confirmation that NNPCL and the oil and gas industry is very critical in bringing a turnaround in our current economic situation, and we understand the importance of this. We are taking every step that is practical for us to achieve this..

“We have already seen growth in our oil and gas production because of certain actions that Mr. President personally took, and also the very mere truth that we have also declared a war on production activities, and this is yielding the required results.

“The combination of these two has now seen us restoring production in our country, and we believe that, as the Honorable Minister has said, we will soon hit the target of two million barrels oil production per day.

“I’m aware that there are several comments in the public space around refining business and domestic production, including production that will come from the commissioned Dangote refinery.

“Yes, this country, as we have said, will be a net exporter of petroleum products by the end of this year. We’re very optimistic that by December , this country will be a net exporter. That means a combination of production coming from us, and also from Dangote refinery and other smaller producing companies that we know are in line to do this.

“So, I can confirm to you, Mr. Chairman, that by the end of the year, this country will be a net exporter of petroleum products.

“Specific to NNPC refinery, we have spoken to a number of your committees, that it is impossible to have the Kaduna refinery come to operation before December, it will get to December. Both Warri and Kaduna but that of Portharcourt will commence production early August this year.”

THE WHISTLER had reported that following the mechanical completion of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery in December, last year, a total of one million barrels of crude oil has been supplied to the plant by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd as refining of petroleum products from the facility.

THE WHISTLER gathered that the one million barrels of crude oil were supplied to the refinery in two tranches with the latest coming in last Wednesday.

About 170 litres of refined petroleum products can be obtained from a barrel of crude oil. This implies that the one million barrel supplied by the NNPC to the Port Harcourt refinery can provide an estimated 170 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol and other refined products.

The Newspaper further reported that the importation of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, popularly called cooking gas, would reduce as the refinery starts pumping out refined products.

THE WHISTLER’s investigations had also revealed that in preparation for commencement of refining of petroleum products, the license for the refinery had been issued by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has approved 140 as the cut-off mark for 2024 admission into the nation’s universities and 100 for polytechnics and colleges of education respectively.

The cut-off mark for 2024 admission into tertiary institutions was arrived at on Thursday during the 2024 annual policy meeting on admissions, which was held at the Body Benchers, Headquarters, Abuja.

The meeting was held following the successful conduct of the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME). A total of 1,989,668 registered candidates for this year’s UTME.

Out of the 1,989,668 registered candidates, 80,810 were absent while a total of 1,904,189 sat for the UTME within the six days of the examination.

The policy meeting was chaired by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, and decided following recommendations by the heads of institutions.

Registrar of JAMB Registrar, Is-haq Oloyede, who announced the cutoff marks, explained that individual institutions were at liberty to raise their minimum benchmark approved at the policy meeting but could not go below what was approved for various institutions.

Gunmen terrorising Nigeria’s south east region have abducted eleven travellers in Enugu state

The passengers were kidnapped at the Amechi-Idodo axis of the Enugu-Abakaliki federal highway.

They were said to have been kidnapped on Tuesday while returning to Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, from Anambra State.

A source familiar with the incident disclosed that some tertiary institution students are among the kidnapped victims.

They left Awka, Anambra State capital, before they were intercepted by the heavily armed men at the notorious Amechi-Idodo area in Nkanu East Local Government Area of Enugu State.

The kidnappers are now said to be demanding for N30 million to free the victims.

The Enugu State Police Command is yet to confirm the incident

Three candidates scored 367 during the 2024 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination and by that emerged as the highest scorers for the examination.

This was revealed at the ongoing 2024 policy meeting by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board on Thursday in Abuja.

JAMB identified the names as: Olowu Joseph from Ondo State, Alayande David from Oyo State, and Orukpe Joel from Edo State.

In 2023, Umeh Nkechinyere emerged as the highest scorer with a 360 aggregate score.

JAMB had earlier said it won’t announce the 2024 highest scorer to avoid a repeat of the “Mmesoma matter.

Recall that Ejikeme Mmesoma, a 19-year-old student, claimed to score 362 as against her actual score of 249 in the 2023 UTME JAMB portal.

“It is common knowledge that the Board has, at various fora, restated its unwillingness to publish the names of its best-performing candidates, as it considers its UTME as only a ranking examination on account of the other parameters that would constitute what would later be considered the minimum admissible score for candidates seeking admission to tertiary institutions,” Oloyede said.

Highly-rated former UFC welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman has opened up on his retirement plans after losing his last three bouts.

Usman has been struggling for form and consistency. He has been out of action since losing to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294 in 2023.

He has, however, expressed his desire to return to the welterweight division, but open to opportunities in the middleweight division.

Usman said: “It’s an interesting sport. I’ve never been in a sport like this. For me, I made my career being a welterweight…. But, for the right fight, the middleweight makes sense,

He admitted that he is edging towards the end of his career and he wants to finish strongly.

He said, ” know I’m at the tail end, let me finish the career the right way and then decide what else I want to do. So, I’m just getting healthy right now… Oh yes, (I’ll face one of them next).”

The 37-year-old made his UFC debut in 2015 and went on to win his first nine bouts in the promotion and a welterweight title against Tyron Woodley in 2019.

He defeated numerous high-profile fighters like Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, and Gilbert Burns to defend his title.

The Nigerian nightmare’s reign ended in 2022 when he suffered a knockout loss to Leon Edwards.

He also lost the rematch against the same opponent in 2023 before suffering another loss in his debut in the middleweight category against Chimaev.

Usman holds the record for most wins in UFC welterweight history and has established himself as one of the best fighters of his generation

He became the NCAA Division II national champion at 174 pounds in 2010, finishing the season with a 44–1 record and 30 straight wins.

Stakeholders currently participating at the 2024 Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) policy meeting were rattled when the Minister of Education, Prof Mamman Tahir, announced that candidates seeking admission into higher institutions must be 18 and above.

Immediately after the Minister made the comment in his address and policy directive, the crowd roared “no, no, no” but Tahir insisted that it is already a policy which the government has keyed into because it is the expectation that candidates are much more mature at 18 years old.

He said if anyone was aggrieved, they can approach the National Assembly for an amendment.

The JAMB policy meeting is an annual event where stakeholders from the various tertiary institutions in the country sit to decide on appropriate cut-off marks for admissions in the current academic year.

Recall that Mamman had previously condemned a situation where students find themselves in higher institutions of learning, but fall prey to negative vices because of their premature stage.

Details later…

Nigerian aviation expert and youth activist, Isaac Balami, has dumped the Labour Party, LP, and returned to his former party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Balami, a former National Deputy Campaign Manager for Obi/Datti in the 2023 presidential election, made this known on Wednesday while addressing journalists in Abuja.

Balami, who dumped the ruling party in 2023 over the Muslim-Muslim ticket of President Bola Tinubu and his vice, Kashim Shettima, said the president’s administration has proved him wrong.

He said the Muslim-Muslim ticket was the major crux of crossing to the Labour Party, but he has now seen that it actually means nothing.

The former National President for Aircraft Pilots and Engineers said, “No president has ever worked with the Middle Belt like President Bola Tinubu,” he highlighted areas where the administration has done well, including appointing credible Nigerians with more emphasis on equity.

Balami said: “That was not what I saw when I left. I now see a better party and a better government. I can see a Nigeria that, in a few years, will thrive and I think it is only important for us to work with APC in its effort to rescue this country.

“Consequently, after consulting widely with leaders across Nigeria, the middle-belt caucus, my parents and my immediate family, it becomes expedient that I resign from the Labour Party. I will now return to the APC.”