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Yuletide: Reduce Petrol Price to N300 Per Litre, Bode George Urges Tinubu
A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Bode George, has urged President Bola Tinubu to reduce the price of petrol to N300 per litre, noting that it would enable Nigerians to celebrate the festive season.
He also said the party will overcome its current challenges before the 2027 elections, noting that the ambition of an individual should not be higher than the party’s interest.
Speaking on the need for a reduction in petrol price at a press conference in Lagos, the PDP leader said the reduction should commence immediately.
George said: “What am I suggesting is that by the 15th or the middle of this month, President Tinubu, if he really believes that these Nigerians voted him into power, it is time to give back to them.
“There are two months in any calendar year that are very important months. Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, an atheist, or a traditionalist, it is common and it is all over the world. The months of December and January are the most important months.
“From the middle of December, at least to the end of January, the cost of petrol should be reduced to N300 per litre. The government can absorb the losses.
“With this, you will be sending a lot of messages of happiness across the tribes and homes. Everybody in Nigeria will be happy because it will positively impact this period of the year.
“It is a challenge and he can do it. If Madam First Lady could donate N1 billion to a university, she could also donate into the coffers to bear this cost. What’s wrong? So that everybody will be able to sleep well with N300 per litre across the board.
“So by the end of January, in the meantime, the prayers, the happiness, the impact of that will drive people up. And the Almighty God will answer our prayers. We need this in this December and January to put a smile on the faces of people.
“Who is the Minister of Petroleum? So he has a singular effort and if he really looks at these cuts in fuel price across all political parties, all human beings, all Nigerians, he will see the joy in them because the cost of items will crash.”
He said there is no organization anywhere in the world that is not riddled with crisis.
He said this at an interactive session in Lagos.
“I call our party (PDP) the Iroko because the party didn’t emerge from anywhere. It is entrenched in our constitution. Section 7 (3c), of the PDP constitution states that there will be and there must be and there shall be zoning and rotation of party positions and elective offices.
“Everything that had been in the South must go to the North. Everything that is in the North must come to the South. So that was what drove some of us because this is justice, equity, and fairness.
“That’s what made some of us say, I will join politics. We were the first to be elected in 1999. The first were appointed the managers.
“They handed over to us these procedures and these doctrines, so suddenly human manipulation came because someone wants to be president.
“So your ambition is now higher than the corporate ambition of everybody. Who the hell are you? And because it’s been going from generation to generation, I’m happy I’m still alive. We can talk about it.
“What they handed over to us, we are telling them, this is what they handed over that made the party to be stable. We will tell ourselves some serious old truths. We messed up ourselves with the manipulation. It started with Ayu,” the party chieftain added.
A former Acting Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Anamekwe Nwabuoku, who is standing trial for alleged misappropriation of ₦1.96 billion, has appealed to the Federal High Court in Abuja to grant him time to negotiate a settlement with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Nwabuoku, who is facing a nine-count charge, made the request after EFCC’s lawyer, Ekele Iheanacho, SAN, informed the court that the prosecution was ready to proceed with five additional witnesses.
Although he was represented at the hearing by his lawyer, Isidore Udenko, the defendant personally addressed the court, stating that he had hired a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) to facilitate an out-of-court settlement with the anti-graft agency.
Udenko noted that the trial had commenced only after the defendant’s previous attempt to reach an agreement with the EFCC fell through.
Immediate past Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has stated that the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu is planning to tarnish his reputation because of his 2031 Presidential ambition.
Speaking in an interview with Arise TV on Monday, el-Rufai alleged that Ribadu is collaborating with Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna, and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to destroy his image
“This project of destroying Nasir el-Rufai is Nuhu Ribadu’s conception. He is the architect and builder of that project. He is the one working with Uba Sani to implement it. So far, it has been frustrating for them,” el-Rufai said.
“Somebody wants to destroy my reputation. Why? Nuhu Ribadu wants to be president in 2031. He has to eliminate every northerner that he thinks is on the radar.”
Following the revelation by former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida in his book, “A Journey in Service” that the 1966 coup was not an Igbo coup as alleged, Igbo apex group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, on Sunday, February 23, has demanded an apology and N10 trillion as compensation from President Bola Tinubu to the Igbos.
In his book, Babangida revealed that the primary objective of the coup plotters was to release Chief Obafemi Awolowo from prison and install him as Prime Minister. He emphasized that the involvement of officers from different ethnic backgrounds, including non-Igbo officers such as Major Adewale Ademoyega, Captain Ganiyu Adeleke, and Lieutenants Fola Oyewole and Olafimihan, further invalidates the claim that it was an Igbo-driven coup.
Additionally, some senior Igbo officers were also victims of the coup, such as Lt-Col. Arthur Chinyelu Unegbe, who was executed by fellow officer Major Chris Anuforo. This further weakens the argument that the coup was designed to serve Igbo interests.
Furthermore, Babangida pointed out that the coup was ultimately crushed by Major John Obienu, an officer of Igbo extraction, reinforcing the argument that it was not an ethnic uprising but rather a failed military intervention with specific political objectives.
Reacting, Ohanaeze noted that the story surrounding the coup at the time, unleashed disastrous repercussions on the Igbo people, which ultimately led to the cataclysmic horrors of the Biafra War.
In a statement by the Deputy National President of the Ohanaeze faction, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the group noted that the apology and compensation had become necessary due to the ”staggering loss of life, with approximately three million Igbo—predominantly innocent women and children—slaughtered during the war.”
It stated that the revelations by IBB would compel Nigerians to confront the alleged ‘’stark injustices perpetrated against the Igbo people.”
The statement added that the demand for ten trillion naira in reparations remained steadfast, stressing that the figure was not arbitrary but a symbolic recognition of the ‘’huge losses the Igbo people had endured since the creation of Nigeria.”
The statement read:
“The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, extends its profound appreciation to General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) for his remarkable courage in officially declaring that the January 1966 coup was unequivocally not an Igbo coup.
“This pivotal acknowledgement is not merely a correction of historical nomenclature but a significant moment in our collective pursuit of justice and reconciliation, signalling a potential end to the historical vindictiveness and cruelty that have been pervasive in Federal Government policies towards the Igbo Nation.
“His forthright exemption of the Igbo from the egregious classification as enemies of the Northern region in the aftermath of the coup is both timely and necessary, even if it arrives decades later.
“The mislabeling of the January 1966 coup has unleashed disastrous repercussions upon the Igbo people, most tragically culminating in the July 1966 counter-coup, which decimated a military Head of State of Igbo descent.
“The staggering loss of life, with approximately three million Igbos—predominantly innocent women and children—slaughtered during this conflict, continues to reverberate through our collective consciousness.
“Furthermore, even in the post-Biafra era, the Igbo Nation continues to grapple with systemic injustices, evidenced by acute marginalisation that leaves us with the smallest representation of states within the Nigerian federation.
“The political conspiracies designed to deny the Igbo the rights to ascend to the highest office in the land—Nigeria’s Presidency—the chronic economic neglect symbolised by the closure of the Calabar seaport, the inoperative state of several ports in Igbo land, the implementation of a discriminatory quota system, and the conspicuous absence of functional international airports in the Southeast starkly illustrate the Federal Government’s long-standing policy of exclusion.
“In light of these egregious injustices and the deliberate neglect exhibited by successive administrations, Ohanaeze Ndigbo hereby restates its demands, as articulated previously during the Justice Oputa-led Judicial Commission for the Investigation of Human Rights Violations Panel in 1999.
“We assert that the Nigerian Federal Government, under General Yakubu Gowon, conducted indiscriminate and unjustified bombardments in Igbo territory during the Nigeria-Biafra War, resulting in overwhelming loss of life. These historical realities establish an irrefutable case for the reparations we seek.
“The present Federal Government, led by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, must recognise this moment as an opportunity to extend a public and unequivocal apology on behalf of previous military regimes. Our demand for ten trillion naira in reparations remains steadfast.
“This figure is not arbitrary but a symbolic recognition of the indelible losses the Igbo people have endured. The time has come for true acknowledgement of these historical wrongs, which can only be rectified through both reparations and sincere apologies.”
Source: LIB
