Headlines
Senate Demands Immediate Reversal of Power Privatisation
The Senate on Tuesday asked the Federal Government to consider a comprehensive review of the power privatisation policy with a view to reversing the current arrangement.
The red chamber said Nigerians would not enjoy stable power supply in the next 10 years if the activities of the distribution companies were not reviewed and restructured.
The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, stated this on Tuesday after the Senate had considered and approved a motion by Senator Gabriel Suswan on the power sector recovery plan.
He said, “We gave power to them (power generation and distribution companies) and they still come to the public to ask for funds.
“I think it’s time for Nigeria to consider reversing the privatisation of the power sector or they should just cancel the entire privatisation process completely.
“If we leave it, we may not have power for another 10 years.”
Lawan said, “The privatisation of the power sector has, so far, not been successful. We expected efficiency and effectiveness in the power supply.
“The Discos have no capacity to supply us power. The Gencos have challenges too.
“It is not a good commentary that we should continue to give them money. They’re private businesses. We need to review this privatisation.
“Our committee needs to investigate trillions spent. That’s a lot of money.
“Try to find out what has happened so far. Government needs to look at this whole thing.
“Maybe, government is not doing its own part. We need to find out.
“There is lack of capital, lack of investment. We feel very bad because we have no electricity and the country is suffering.”
The Senate also urged the Federal Government to suspend the planned electricity tariff increase due to take effect from July given the increased hardship occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.
The upper chamber also commended the Federal Government for the proactive initiative to establish the N1.7tn Covid-19 crisis intervention fund to cater for critical issues on effective management of the pandemic.
Suswam, had while leading debate on the general principles of the bill, said stable and uninterrupted power supply was also a critical factor in management of COVID-19 pandemic patients at the designated isolation and treatment centres across the country.
The Punch
Ghana’s President-Elect, Dr. John Dramani Mahama, a courtesy visit to President Bola Tinubu at his residence, Presidential Villa, State House on Monday.
Mahama won 56 percent of the votes in this month’s presidential election, compared to the ruling party candidate and Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, who secured 41 percent.
The landslide comeback for former president Mahama ended eight years in power for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) under President Nana Akufo-Addo, whose last term was marked by Ghana’s worst economic turmoil in years, an IMF bailout and a debt default.
Headlines
Usurpation of Office: Supreme Court Absorbs Tinubu of Wrongdoings, Slams N5m Fine on Accuser
The Supreme Court has imposed a N5 million fine on a former presidential candidate, Ambrose Owuru, for instituting what it described as frivolous and vexatious suits against President Bola Tinubu.
Owuru, who contested the 2019 presidential election against former President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of the Hope Democratic Party (HDP), was ordered to pay N5 million to Tinubu.
Justice Uwani Musa Aba-Aji issued the order while dismissing his fresh suit seeking Tinubu’s from office of President.
Apart from the N5 million fine, the apex court ordered its Registry not to accept any frivolous suit-originating summons from Owuru again.
At the day’s proceedings, Owuru, who claimed to be a lawyer called to the Nigerian Bar in 1984, sought to argue his case wearing his wig and gown.
He was ordered out of the Bar and directed to remove his wig and gown before he could be allowed to argue his case.
Upon complying with the orders, Owuru was asked why he came before the court again, having had his suits dismissed three times earlier.
Although he tried unsuccessfully to convince the Apex Court to grant him adequate audience, his explanations were rejected as unconvincing.
Following his recalcitrant attitude, the court threatened to refer him to the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee (LPDC).
Justice Aba-Aji ruled that Owuru’s conduct was unbecoming of a lawyer of over 40 years, as he claimed.
In the end, the Court dismissed his suit and ordered him to pay Tinubu N5 million.
The court lambasted him for taking the Supreme Court for a ride, wasting its precious time with baseless suits and grossly abusing court processes.
Before the suit was thrown out, Bode Olanipekun SAN who appeared for President Tinubu had drawn the attention of the court to several cases of Owuru that were dismissed on account of frivolity.
He added that the direction of the fresh suit could not be understood because of the poor ways and manners it was couched by the applicant.
Olanipekun SAN also said that it was difficult for him to apologize to the court on behalf of Owuru because the conduct of the applicant had become something unbearable in the practice of the law profession.
In his own response, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, Taiwo Osipitan assured that the conduct of the former presidential candidate would be referred to the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA.
The Court of Appeal had previously imposed a fine of N40 million on Owuru, to be paid to Tinubu, INEC, and others, for filing a suit against them.
The new suit prayed the Apex Court to sack Tinubu on two major grounds: alleged non-qualification to hold office as Nigeria’s President and alleged usurpation of the office in contravention of the law.
Defendants in the suit were former President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and Tinubu as 1st to 4th defendants, respectively.
He claimed that his suit at the Supreme Court, which would have removed Buhari from office, was technically jettisoned by the Apex Court due to a mix-up in hearing dates.
He also prayed the Apex Court to disqualify Tinubu on account of the forfeiture of $460,000 to the United States of America over an alleged drug trafficking-related offence.
Besides the alleged forfeiture, Owuru accused Tinubu of being an active agent of the CIA, a position he claimed disqualified Tinubu from holding the office of President of Nigeria.
Specifically, Owuru prayed the Supreme Court to invoke Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution to remove Tinubu from office on the grounds of being under the control of foreign authorities.
He also asked the Supreme Court to declare him Nigeria’s President and order his immediate inauguration to reclaim his alleged usurped mandate.
The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, announced on Monday that the N13 trillion deficit in the N48 trillion 2025 budget would be financed through borrowing.
The minister said this while briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The total projected revenue for 2025 stands at N34.8 trillion, out of which the expenditure is projected at 47.9 trillion, an increase of 36.8 per cent from the 2024 estimate.
The deficit for 2025 is projected at 13.1 trillion, representing 3.89 per cent of GDP.
Edun said the budget was designed within the context of how far and how much progress that have been made under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, in the last 18 months.
“And even looking at it from an international context, we, like governments around the world, are concerned about how to achieve fiscal sustainability, revenue to expenditure and borrowing that is balanced, to create an environment in which the economy can grow.
“Private sector-led economies such as ours and others, rely on investors to put down their money in various projects, increase productivity, create jobs, grow the economy and in the case of countries such as ours, bring the people out of poverty,” Edun said.
He explained that the Tinubu administration has put in place policies that ensure market pricing of petroleum products, foreign exchange, and efforts had been made to improve the pricing of electricity.
Edun said: “Just recently Shell announced a $5 billion investment, Total announced a multi-billion dollar investment just before that, and there are so many others expressing interest in investing in this country.
“So, progress has been made. There is greater fiscal sustainability and as I said, even the European countries are struggling to achieve some of these critical macroeconomic reforms.
“This budget is based on government spending in critical areas, but also more importantly, encouraging and making room for private sector investment.”
He further stated that the improvements in the economy were encouraging.
“For the first time in about 25 years we have domestic refinement of petrol, not just to produce petrol but also raw materials for industries across a whole range, from pharmaceuticals to building products to textiles,” the minister said.
NAN
