Headlines
NNPC Assures Fuel Will Continue to Sell for N145 Per Litre
Despite increased landing cost of petroleum products, Premium Motor Spirit will continue to sell at N145 per litre, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said.
In a telephone interview with our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday, NNPC Group General Manager, Public Affairs, Mr Ndu Ughamadu, said that the corporation would continue to bear the cost of under-recovery of petrol through other sources.
Ughamadu said, “The Federal Government has made it clear; petrol will continue to sell at N145 per litre. NNPC is not operating subsidy. What we have done is under-recovery of which we make up from other sources.
“Yes, the under-recovery will continue. The corporation plays many roles in the country. We are an importer of the last resort where others refuse to import.
“We equally operate in a social regime to make sure that the system gets wet with products because if the corporation is not doing that as part of its responsibilities, you can imagine what the system will look like.”
Meanwhile, the NNPC on Wednesday denied that it had spent $22bn on the Brass LNG project.
In a statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja, Ughamadu said that the corporation had spent $1.2bn on the project.
Ughamadu said that the corporation made the clarification at the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee investigating the expenditure.
The statement quoted the General Manager, New LNG Venture of the NNPC, Ahmed Dikko, as telling the committee that the $1.2bn was about the total money spent so far by the various shareholders to get the project to its current stage.
Dikko said, “This sum included the cost of acquiring project land, which covers approximately 606 hectares, cost of early works contract, Front End Engineering Design, Pre-FEED Concept Evaluation Study, Project Environmental Impact Assessment comprising both onshore and offshore studies, dredging, EIA activities and ambient noise survey, displacement and settlement action plan, cultural site heritage study, staff and administration project cost from inception, and sustainable development cost, among others.”
The Punch
Headlines
Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
