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Senate Passes Petroleum Bill, Six Others Rejected by Buhari

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The Senate on Wednesday passed the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill and six other bills earlier rejected by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The passage of the bills followed the adoption of their clause-by-clause consideration that lasted some hours.

Other bills passed are the  Stamp Duties (Amendment) Bill, National Institute of Hospitality and Tourism (Est.) Bill, National Research and Innovation Council (Est.) Bill and  National Agricultural Seeds Council Bill.

The rest are the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (Amendment) Bill and  Independent National Electoral Commission Act 2010 (Amendment) Bill.

Buhari had refused to sign the bills for various reasons ranging from financial constraints, negative impact on Nigerians, duplication of responsibilities, violations of extant laws to a  lack of consultation with relevant stakeholders.

The Senate recently adopted the report of its Technical Committee on Declined Assent to Bills, which reviewed the  President’s observations and redrafted the affected clauses in the bills.

Withholding assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill in August 2018, Buhari had kicked against the provision permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated and expanding the functions of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund.

In the new bill, the Senate agreed with Buhari’s submission and reduced the revenue generated by the regulatory commission from 10 percent to five per cent.

It also expunged the Petroleum Equalisation Fund from Part IV of the new bill.

The new bills will be transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being sent to the President for his assent.

PIGB is a fraction of a more comprehensive Petroleum Industry Bill, one of the longest standing bills in the National Assembly.

It was first introduced to the National Assembly in 2008 as an executive bill by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The Sixth National Assembly (2007 – 2011) refused to pass the bill.

It was brought back to the National Assembly in 2012 by former President Goodluck Jonathan.

In 2014, 47 out of the 360 members of the House of Representatives in the Seventh Assembly (2011-2015) were present when the bill was passed a few hours to the end of their tenure. But the bill failed to get concurrence from the Senate.

The current proposal is a private member bill sponsored by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Upstream, Tayo Alasoadura.

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Trump Claims US Now in Total Control of Strait of Hormuz

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United States President, Donald Trump, says his country is now in “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing tensions with Iran over the reopening of the strategic waterway.

Trump made the claim while speaking to reporters at Joint Base Andrews, saying the situation with Iran was progressing well despite continued disagreements between both countries.

“Iran is going fine – going just absolutely fine. We totally control the Strait of Hormuz. We have control over it; nobody else, only us. Our navy is unbelievable, and things going great for our country,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews.

“I don’t trust Iran. I’m the last person to trust Iran; they’ve lied to me constantly. We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now; they don’t have control,” he added.

The claim comes as the United States and Iran continue to exchange demands over the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, casting further uncertainty over negotiations aimed at ending their five-month conflict.

Although the US has confirmed its involvement in the talks, Iran maintains that it is negotiating directly only with Oman. Tehran has also proposed that the future management of the strategic waterway be shared with Oman.

The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy route, with about one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passing through it before the US-Israel war with Iran began at the end of February.

On Monday, Trump said he would seek compensation from Iran for deaths and injuries associated with conflicts and attacks spanning several decades.

His position followed Iran’s demands for reparations over the war last week, as Tehran said it would not reopen the strait until Washington addresses its political and  economic conditions.

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ADC Rejects ICPC Report on PFIPC, Queries N1.3bn Budget Allocation to Fake Agency

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The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected the interim report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on the controversial Presidential Foreign Investment Promotion Council (PFIPC), arguing that the findings leave some of the biggest questions surrounding the scandal unanswered.

The opposition party said the report appeared to focus more on limiting political fallout than establishing how a purported  government agency allegedly gained access to official institutions, occupied  government office space and received other forms of state recognition despite questions over its legal status.

The ADC’s position was contained in a statement issued on Saturday by its National Publicity Secretary, Bolaji Abdullahi.

The controversy surrounding the PFIPC has intensified in recent weeks following allegations that the organisation operated as a government agency despite questions over its establishment, with its purported Director-General, Adeniyi Adeyemi, facing scrutiny from law enforcement agencies and lawmakers.

The party said the ICPC’s interim findings had failed to provide satisfactory explanations for how the organisation allegedly secured office accommodation within the Federal Secretariat, attracted civil servants, obtained official recognition and appeared in the 2026 federal budget with a reported allocation of N1.3 billion.

The ADC recalled that it had previously opposed President Bola Tinubu’s decision to assign the investigation to the ICPC, insisting that an independent panel would have been better positioned to investigate the matter without questions about institutional proximity.

According to the opposition party, the interim nature of the ICPC report made it even more difficult to understand why the commission appeared to be pointing responsibility towards Adeyemi while simultaneously maintaining that its investigation was still ongoing.

“The report is not only predictable, it appears more concerned with exonerating government officials rather than providing clear answers to the serious questions that the scandal has raised,” the party said.

The ADC argued that the controversy could not simply be dismissed as an administrative failure.

It maintained that if the PFIPC was indeed established through fraudulent representations, there were still important questions about how those representations allegedly passed through several layers of government without being detected.

“A forgery may explain the first door that was opened. It cannot explain why every subsequent door appears to have opened as well,” the party said.

For the ADC, the central issue is not simply whether Adeyemi allegedly forged documents or misrepresented himself.

The party wants investigators to establish how an organisation whose legitimacy is now being questioned could allegedly secure office accommodation, civil servants, official vehicles and other institutional support.

It argued that such developments would ordinarily require interaction with multiple government departments and officials.

The party therefore questioned whether the alleged activities were facilitated by negligence, institutional failure or possible complicity within government.

The ADC also raised concerns over reports that the ICPC had identified two other allegedly fictitious organisations linked to Adeyemi.

Rather than viewing that development as evidence of an isolated individual operation, the party said it should prompt investigators to widen the scope of their inquiry.

One of the most significant issues raised by the opposition party was the reported N1.3 billion allocation to the PFIPC in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

The ADC argued that a provision of that magnitude should have generated a clear paper trail involving budget submissions, reviews, approvals and verification.

“Budgetary provisions do not materialise by accident,” the party said.

It consequently demanded to know who proposed the allocation, which government officials processed it and who verified the existence and legitimacy of the purported agency before the provision was included in the federal budget.

The party noted that the House of Representatives had already begun its own investigation into how the PFIPC allegedly found its way into the federal budget.

According to the ADC, the legislative inquiry could provide an opportunity to establish whether the budget allocation resulted from deliberate manipulation, administrative negligence or failures within the government’s budgetary verification system.

The opposition party also criticised the reported recommendation that Adeyemi be prosecuted.

It argued that the ICPC’s decision to single out the purported PFIPC director-general appeared premature if, as the commission itself indicated, its investigation remained ongoing.

“If all that the commission had to present was a preliminary report, why not simply present it as a confidential brief to the President instead of making a public drama of it?” the ADC asked.

The party said the investigation should not be structured around finding a convenient individual to blame but should instead establish everyone who may have played a role in allowing the alleged operation to continue.

The ADC described the controversy as a national embarrassment and called on the ICPC to release the full interim report rather than only selected findings.

It also demanded that any public officials whose actions or negligence enabled the purported agency to operate be identified and investigated.

The party stressed that anyone found culpable should face appropriate sanctions after due process.

“What has happened is a national disgrace in the full glare of the entire world. No serious  government should be satisfied with identifying one culprit for prosecution,” the party said.

The ADC maintained that Nigerians were not asking investigators to manufacture suspects or reach predetermined conclusions.

Rather, it said, the investigation should follow the evidence wherever it leads — including into government offices if necessary.

At the heart of the controversy, according to the opposition party, is a simple question: if the PFIPC is not a legitimate  government agency, how did it allegedly get so far inside the machinery of government without multiple officials noticing?

That, the ADC argued, is the question the ongoing investigations must ultimately answer.

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Atiku Raises Alarm over ‘Mysterious’ Credit into Private Bank Account

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Former Vice President and African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has raised concerns over what he described as a suspicious and unauthorised payment into one of his private bank accounts.

In a statement issued on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said the transfer originated from an individual or entity unknown to him and carried the narration, “Contribution Electioneering Campaign.”

According to the statement, neither Atiku nor his campaign solicited, authorised or had any knowledge of the payment.

The former Vice President said the account was strictly private and its details were not in the public domain, raising concerns about how the information could have been obtained.

“How did unknown persons obtain the confidential banking details of a private citizen?”

Atiku said the incident raised broader concerns about the security of Nigerians’ financial information, particularly if the private banking details of a former Vice President and presidential candidate could allegedly be accessed without his consent.

“If the private banking information of a former Vice President and a leading presidential candidate can be accessed and deployed for reasons yet unknown, then no Nigerian’s financial privacy is safe.”

He further expressed concern that the alleged disclosure could have involved individuals with privileged access to confidential information.

According to him, if such access is established, it could expose account holders to criminal elements, including kidnappers, terrorists, bandits and fraudsters.

The former Vice President also called the attention of Nigerians and security agencies to the incident, describing it as part of what he termed a series of “suspicious activities” ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“We therefore put the Nigerian public and the security agencies on notice about this latest incident in a litany of suspicious activities leading up to next year’s general elections.”

Atiku also alleged that the incident could be part of an attempt to damage his reputation as political activities intensify ahead of the elections.

He urged Nigerians not to be distracted by what he described as “tired tactics” aimed at character assassination.

“Such desperate antics have failed before and will fail again.”

The ADC presidential candidate said he remained focused on his political agenda and his stated commitment to providing solutions to the country’s challenges.

“The Waziri Adamawa remains focused on offering Nigerians credible leadership and practical solutions to the nation’s challenges.”

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