The Edo State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the expulsion of former deputy governor, Philip Shaibu as a sign of panic by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Recall that Shaibu was expelled from the party, alongside the PDP South-South Vice Chairman, Dan Orbih, after declaring support for the APC ahead of the September 21 governorship election.

Reacting to the development, the APC stated that Shaibu was welcome to return to the party.

The party maintained that it would embrace Shaibu and others when they decide to join.

Speaking via a statement on Thursday, the opposition said,  “The hurried suspension of Philip Shaibu, the immediate past deputy governor of Edo State, and Hon. Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama by the Governor Godwin Obaseki faction of the Peoples Democratic Party is a sign that the remnants of the PDP are in panic mode as the election draws nearer.

“The All Progressives Congress in Edo State is aware that both politicians are community builders that have contributed to the development of the state both in and out of government, and the party is proud of them, especially with the contributions they have made for the enthronement of good governance that Senator Monday Okpebholo will bring to bear as from November 12, this year.

“Our party, the APC will not hesitate to embrace Shaibu and Ogbeide-Ihama whenever both gentlemen decide to bid the sinking ship of PDP goodbye.”

The Federal Government has begun the proposed audit of the N2.7tn fuel subsidy claim by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, The PUNCH has learnt.

An audit firm, KPMG had conducted an initial audit reducing the claims from N6tn to N2.7tn.

However, in the new audit, the government said it had approved the engagement of the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation to verify the claims made by the corporation regarding the amount the government owes the oil firm.

This process was confirmed by the Director, Home Finance, Ali Mohammed, during the April 2024 Federal Account Allocation Committee meeting.

The government said an update on the issue would be provided during the May FAAC meeting.

The PUNCH had reported last month that the audit would span from 2015 to 2021, aiming to verify the authenticity of NNPC/Federation Account claims on the N2.7tn while it considered hiring an external audit firm.

On May 30, 2023, a few hours after the “subsidy is gone” declaration by President Bola Tinubu, the NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, told State House correspondents that the federal government still owes the firm the sum of N2.8tn spent on petrol subsidy.

While saying the NNPCL footed petrol subsidy bills from its cash flow, Kyari said the government had so far been unable to pay back the N2.8tn.

He said “Since the provision of the N6tn in 2022, and N3.7tn in 2023, we have not have not received any payment whatsoever from the Federation.

“That means they (the Federal Government) are unable to pay and we’ve continued to support this subsidy from the cash flow of the NNPC. We are waiting for them to settle up to N2.8tn of NNPC’s cash flow from the subsidy regime and we can’t continue to build this.”

However, a copy of the minutes of the FAAC meeting obtained by our correspondent, however, revealed that the government had begun the audit of the N2.6tn subsidy claim.

The minute read in part, “On the forensic audit covering the period 2015 to 2021 to authenticate NNPC/Federation claims in respect of N2.7tn withheld by NNPC Limited: The Director, Home Finance informed members that the process of the forensic audit of NNPC Limited as reported at the last meeting was in progress. He assured that an update would be provided on the matter at the next meeting.”

Members of the committee also bemoaned the refusal of the NNPCL to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 in converting federation revenue.

According to them, NNPCL has declined to adhere to the revision of the May 2023 Central Bank of Nigeria exchange rate from N436.38/$1 to N621.86/$1, and subsequently to N693.50/$1, as instructed by the CBN.

On the refusal by NNPC Ltd to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 in converting Federation revenue, the Vice Chairman, Post-Mortem Sub-committee,  warned that “If NNPC Ltd continues to disregard the use of the agreed rate without presenting any authority to that effect, FAAC will be left with no option but to take appropriate action to recover the Federation funds.”

The minute further read, “At the last meeting of FAAC, it was reported that there was a review of the May 2023 CBN Exchange rate from N436.38/$1 to N621.86/$1 and a further review to N693.50/$1 in line with the directive of CBN. NNPCL was directed to comply with the revised exchange rate of N693.50/$1 and re-compute all the Royalties, Taxes and other revenue items for May 2023 and revert.”

 The official informed the meeting that at the April 2024 meeting of the sub-committee, NNPCL complained that the proposed review would result in a refund of N16,829,747,742.96 to the Federation Account by the company.

He concluded that the sub-committee expected that the Federation Account be refunded the amount of the exchange rate but NNPCL used it to defray the subsidy claim. He recommended that FAAC should decide on the matter.

He recalled that the sub-committee had reported the implication of the “weighted average rate” on PMS computation and discovered that the exchange rate differential for the period of June to December 2023 was N937,961,442,969.83, contrary to the NNPCL claim of N1,675,920,811,819.

He stated that the Sub-committee recognised only the exchange rate that was backed by law and that NNPCL was mandated to provide authorisation for the use of weighted average exchange rate on PMS Dollar payments. He disclosed that NNPCL in response, requested the Sub-committee to write the company officially to enable the release of the NEC approval on the issue.

He suggested that NNPC Ltd should be called to order and hoped that the matter could be resolved amicably with the company.

Ligue 1 clubs, Monaco, Olympic Lyon and Olympic Marseille are jostling for the signature of Leicester City midfielder Wilfred Ndidi.

Ndidi has few days left on his contract with Leicester City.

The Foxes are desperate to extend the Nigerian’s contract following their return to the Premier League.

According to French news outfit, Foot Mercato, Ligue 1 clubs; Marseille, Lyon and Monaco have all approached Ndidi.

Aside from the French trio, Everton and Sevilla have also been credited with interest in the defensive midfielder.

Turkish clubs; Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are also reportedly interested in the player.

The 27-year-old joined Leicester City from Belgian Pro League club, KRC Genk in January 2019.

Everton have reportedly completed a £9m move for Aston Villa’s England-born Nigerian midfielder, Tim Iroegbunam.

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano. the 20-year-old looks set to be Everton’s first signing of the summer.

“Everton have completed deal to sign Aston Villa midfielder Tim Iroegbunam for fee around £9m, medical to follow,” Romano wrote on X.

Iroegbulam featured 15 times under Unai Emery last summer – including five times in the Europa Conference League.

Prior to that, he enjoyed a successful loan at QPR last season, making 32 appearances and scoring twice.

He also has two goals in seven games for England’s U20 side and is a highly-rated youngster that will bolster Sean Dyche’s midfield options.

Iroegbunam is a product of the West Bromwich Albion and Aston Villa academies.

He spent the 2022–23 season on loan at EFL Championship side Queens Park Rangers, and also appeared for England at under-19 and under-20 levels, winning the UEFA European Under-19 Championship with the former in 2022.

The Federal Government said yesterday it was working on establishing an electricity offences tribunal to combat power theft in the country.

Speaking at a briefing in Abuja, the Managing Director, Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency, NEMSA, Aliyu Tahir, who disclosed this, said:  “We are working on the establishment of an electricity offences tribunal with an in-built appeal system for faster dispensation of electricity-related offences. It is to vest NEMSA in-house counsel with powers to prosecute electricity offences.” 

Providing further explanation about the tribunal, Tahir said the initiative would adequately check electricity theft when implemented, adding that the National Assembly had been informed.

“We are looking at the establishment of this electricity tribunal to be able to enforce our mandates more. When you look at the enforcement, with respect to sanctioning of violators in the Act, it is a very long process.

“So to fast-track the prosecution of offenders, the establishment of this tribunal solely for the power sector will go a long way in ensuring that we fast-track the process, carry out enforcements and sanction violators,” he said.

The NEMSA boss said based on the powers conferred on the agency in the Electricity Act, NEMSA had been working hard to establish a tribunal that would speedily try electricity-related offences.

He noted that with the tribunal, issues of electricity theft would be addressed speedily and violators prosecuted as quickly as possible.

While noting that the agency was interfacing with the National Assembly on this, Tahir said further:  “The establishment of this tribunal has been brought to the knowledge of the legislature and we’ve made submissions to them. Our hope is that they will amend the Electricity Act to include a provision for this.”

He also said his agency was perfecting the process for the establishment of an electricity offences tribunal with an inbuilt appeal system to speedily tackle power-related offences.

He said a total of 2,655,488 meters in the power sector had been tested and calibrated, as most of the equipment had been deployed for use by consumers across the country.

Tahir stated that in line with the mandate of the agency, NEMSA has tested and calibrated over 2.6 million meters.

He said NEMSA, which is an agency of the federal government established in 2015, was still testing and calibrating more meters to ensure their functionality, durability and safety when in use

“A total of 21,681 electricity installation projects have been inspected and tested, out of which 13,154 have been certified. Also, a total of 16,624 electricity networks have been monitored by NEMSA.

“About 4,921 factories, hazardous installations and public places have been inspected, tested and certified fit, while 2,655,488 electricity meters have been tested and calibrated, as 487 incidences were investigated by the agency,” the NEMSA boss added.

Tahir, who said the figures were based on data compiled by NEMSA as of the first quarter of 2024, added that the Electricity Act 2023 had strengthened the enforcement powers and responsibilities of the agency.

The Federal Government has requested an 18-month extension on the closing date of the World Bank’s $800m palliative loan to boost its social safety net programmes.

The request is coming in the wake of the country’s battle against rising inflation and economic challenges. 

According to a restructuring paper document on the project from the World Bank, the government requested an extension of the closing date of the project from June 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025.

The report said about three million poor and vulnerable households have benefitted from the $800m palliative loan.

The apex bank had disbursed the loan to cushion the effect of recent government’s policies, such as fuel subsidy removal.

Of these beneficiaries, 700 thousand households were from rural areas and about 2.5 million households from urban areas.

The extension seeks to realign project timelines and enhance the efficacy of the National Social Safety Net Programme-Scale Up, adding that 1,652 urban wards had been covered through the targeting system developed under the project.

The document read:  “Since its start, about 30 million beneficiaries have been covered by social safety net programs, and about three million poor and vulnerable households have received shock responsive cash transfers as of May 2024.

”Of these beneficiaries, 700 thousand households were from rural areas and about 2.5 million households were from urban areas. 1,652 urban wards have been covered through the targeting system developed under the project.”

It added that a planned digital payment delivery mechanism had been put in place, using straight-through processing to deliver transfers directly to beneficiaries’ accounts or wallets while the national social register is being integrated with the National Identification Number, NIN, to further strengthen the targeting system.

The NASSP-SU project, initiated to provide shock-responsive safety net support to Nigeria’s poor and vulnerable, was approved on December 16, 2021, and became effective on January 30, 2023.

With this loan, the Federal Government plans to run a monthly cash transfer programme for poor and vulnerable Nigerians, who have been hit hard by recent policies, such as the fuel subsidy removal.

But it was abruptly stopped following a probe of alleged malfeasance in the management of the scheme by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation.

As part of restructuring to restart the cash transfer, the government has sought approval to change the chairmanship of the project’s national steering committee from the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to the Minister of Finance.

It also stressed that the extension request stems from Nigeria’s ongoing battle with high inflation, which peaked at 33.2 per cent in early 2024, exacerbated by the removal of fuel subsidies and exchange rate depreciation.

The document partly read, “This paper seeks approval from the Country Director for a Level II restructuring of the National Social Safety Net Program Scale-Up project, an $800m investment project financing.

”The restructuring will extend the project closing date by 18 months from June 30, 2024, to December 31, 2025. The benefit size and duration of the cash transfers under component 1 will also be changed.

“Despite earlier delays, the project remains central to the government’s ambitious plan to provide temporary cash transfer support to the population affected adversely by high inflation, particularly in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal and other macroeconomic reforms the government is undertaking.

”No financial or audit reports are pending, and there are no changes in the audit requirements. There have been some delays in procuring key service providers, and contract management practices are being improved by building the capacity of the PIU’s procurement team.”

The UN World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced a spike in cholera in several regions of the world, with almost 195,000 cases and over 1,900 deaths reported in 24 countries since the start of this year.

The agency’s Eastern Mediterranean Region reported the highest number of cases, followed by the African Region, the Region of the Americas, the Southeast Asia Region, and the European Region.

WHO, in a statement on Thursday, stated that there are no reported cases in the Western Region, according to its bulletin released on Wednesday.

The UN health agency said it exhausted its global stockpile of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCV) by March but was able to exceed “the emergency target of five million doses in early June for the first time in 2024.”

Yet, the supply of the vaccine does not equate to its demand.

WHO reported that since January last year, 16 countries requested 92 million doses of OCV – almost double the 49 million produced during that time.

WHO, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners are working together to use resources to find long-term solutions for cholera.

On the positive side of health news, WHO announced on Thursday that Chad successfully eradicated “sleeping sickness” as a public health problem.

The agency applauded the Government and people of Chad for eradicating the gambiense form of human African trypanosomiasis, (also known as sleeping sickness).

“I congratulate the government and the people of Chad for this achievement.

“It is great to see Chad join the growing group of countries that have eliminated at least one neglected tropical disease (NTD),” Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said.

In eliminating the disease, Chad joining some 50 others globally that have succeeded in this endeavour.

“The 100-country target is nearer and within reach,” Ghebreyesus, added, referring to the target set out in the road map for address neglected tropical diseases by 2030.

Sleeping sickness can cause flu-like symptoms initially but eventually causing behaviour change, confusion, sleep cycle disturbances or even coma, often leading to death.

Improved access to early diagnosis and treatment, as well as surveillance and response has proven that countries can control and eventually eliminate transmission.

Femi Otedola, billionaire businessman and chairman of FBN Holdings, has regained his position as the majority shareholder of First Bank.

According to corporate filings on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on Thursday, Otedola now owns 9.41 percent shares in the bank.

This became possible after he purchased the group’s shares valued at N18.9 billion.

According to the corporate filings, the billionaire paid N21.91 per share or N6.935 billion for 316,506,776 shares.

He then bought an additional 546,674,034 shares through Calvados Global Services Limited, his holding company, for N21.97 per share — totalling N12.01 billion.

With this, the number of shares recently acquired totalled 863,180,810.

The fresh acquisition has increased Otedola’s shares (direct and indirect) in FBN Holdings to 3,380,462,950 — from 2,517,282,140 shares.

This means the businessman is now the highest shareholder in the company, overtaking Barbican Capital Limited, owned by Oba Otudeko, which has 3,110,400,619 direct shares.

In January, FBN Holdings appointed Otedola as the chairman of its board of directors.

The appointment came two years after the investor became the firm’s single largest shareholder in December 2021, when he increased his stake to 7.57 percent.

A month after the appointment, FBN Holdings named Barbican Capital Limited as its majority shareholder — making Otedola the second major shareholder at the time.

The World Bank says its $750 million loan to Nigeria will support the federal government’s policy reforms.

World Bank made this known in the programme appraisal document — dated May 17, 2024 — on the proposed loan disbursement to Nigeria.

On June 13, Wale Edun, the minister of finance and coordinating minister of the economy, announced the approval of two financial support packages by the World Bank valued at $2.25 billion.

The loan consists of $1.5 billion for Nigeria’s reforms for economic stabilisation to enable transformation (RESET) development policy financing program (DPF) and $750 million for Nigeria’s accelerating resource mobilisation reforms (ARMOR) program-for-results (PforR).

In the programme appraisal document, the World Bank said the ARMOR programme contains revenue policy measures such as raising pro-health taxes on tobacco, and alcohol.

The Bretton Woods institution also said the programme contains the introduction of taxes on online betting and gambling, as well as new excise on telecommunication services.

Also, green taxes in the form of excises on vehicles and single-use plastics, as well as the implementation of an electronic money transfer levy were included in the programme.

The World Bank also said the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms has recommended more structural reform of the value-added tax (VAT) regime.

According to the World Bank, the disbursements under the proposed ARMOR programme will be through nine disbursement-linked indicators (DLIs) structured around the programme’s three result areas.

DLI, also referred to as performance-based financing, is a modality under which funds are disbursed by an investor or donor to a recipient upon the achievement of a predetermined set of conditions.

The World Bank said the DLIs support increased revenues from value-added tax and reduced forgone revenue — which will support phasing out the exemption of interest income from corporate bonds and pioneer status tax incentive scheme.

The Bretton Woods institution also supports increased revenue from pro-health and green taxes — which supports increasing the excise rates on tobacco, and alcoholic products, as well as online betting and gambling services — increased on-time online e-filing and e-payments, enhanced VAT voluntary compliance, improved tax audits, increased compliant trade flows, increased customs revenues through better risk management and enhanced post-clearance audits (PCAs), and enhanced transparency and increased oil revenue flows.

A high court in Akure, the Ondo state capital, has nullified the creation of additional 33 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state.

Adegboyega Adebusoye, a judge, delivered the ruling on Thursday.

The Ondo state house of assembly passed the bill for the creation of the 33 additional councils on August 15, 2023, after it scaled a third reading.

In September 2023, Rotimi Akeredolu, former Ondo state governor, signed the bill a day after his return from a three-month medical leave.

The 33 LCDAs were to co-exist with the 18 LGAs, bringing the total number of local councils in the state to 51.

Akeredolu died on December 27, 2023, following a protracted battle with prostate cancer. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, his deputy, was immediately sworn in to succeed him.

‘UNCONSTITUTIONAL, NULL AND VOID’

The judge held that it is illegal for a governor to sign a law outside the state he or she governs.

Addressing journalists after the court session, Tolu Babaleye, counsel to the 22 plaintiffs, said the court held that the creation of the 33 LCDAs was “unconstitutional, null and void”.

“We approached this court being the last hope of the common man. And today, the court gave a well-considered judgment which I call a judicial Tsunami, sweeping off all those illegally created local governments in Ondo state,” Babaleye said.

“Apart from that, there was a landmark pronouncement by the court to the effect that no governor is empowered to sign the law of a state outside the shores or jurisdiction of that state because the government has provided for a massive government house for a governor.

“So the governor has no right under the law to go to Ibadan to sign the law. Because of that, the law was nullified, declared unconstitutional and of no effect.

“So as I talk to you now, Ondo state has reverted to 18 local governments.”