Thursday, March 28, 2024
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OUR LATEST POSTS

Alake: Nigeria has no business importing Bitumen

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*Inaugurates two high-powered committees for Bitumen Development “With an estimated reserve of 42 billion barrels of Bitumen and the second largest deposit in the world, Nigeria has no business importing Bitumen, we should be a major net exporter to the rest of the world and we have no choice but to make this a reality” The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, with those words, charged 18 winners of the first round of Bitumen blocks bidding process to roll up their sleeves and work hard to develop Nigeria’s Bitumen deposits. Speaking during a meeting with the concessionaires, Alake urged them to live up to expectations by complying with the terms of engagement and relevant sections of the mining act whilst taking cognisance of the host communities and seeking their cooperation. “ We want to know for instance as you move forward, how much of taxes you are paying, the royalties you are remitting, the local value addition that you are putting in place, the local employment generation or the multiplier effect and then the impact on your host communities. I will advise that you endeavour to engage your host communities and get their buy-in through Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and other efforts you can make to ensure seamless operations which will culminate in maximum beneficiation for you as investors, the communities and government”, the Minister added. Alake, whilst hinting at another round of bidding, urged the first round winners to post superlative performance, which will serve as encouragement to prospective investors. The Minister promised the support of the Federal Government for the Bitumen investors, stating that their success holds immense potential for economic growth and prosperity, heralding diversification of the economy. In his remarks, the Director-General of the Mining Cadastral Office (MCO), Engr. Obadiah Nkom, revealed that there have been...

Tinubu appoints Usman Bello as Chairman, Code of Conduct Bureau

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Dr. Abdullahi Usman Bello as the Chairman of the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB), pending confirmation by the Nigerian Senate. Dr. Bello is a consummate professional with more than 25 years of work experience in consulting, banking, law enforcement, financial services, and academia. The President anticipates that the new Chairman, upon confirmation by the Senate, will lead the Bureau with utmost integrity toward the realisation of its mandate of maintaining high standards of public morality in the conduct of government business and ensuring that the actions and behaviour of public officers conform to the highest standards of morality and accountability. Chief Ajuri Ngelale Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity) March 28, 2024

Eko DisCo crisis deepens as Otubu issues disclaimer on Egeregor’s...

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The Chairman of Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko DisCo), Mr. Dere Otubu, has issued a disclaimer on a publication made by a board member, Babor Egeregor. In a statement, Otubu said: "The attention of the Board of Directors has been drawn to the recent statements online and print media from Mr. Babor Egeregor, supposedly acting on behalf of the Board. "This is to state that the Board of Eko Electricity Distribution Plc (“EKEDP”) did not and has not authorised Mr. Babor Egeregor to issue any statement or press release on its behalf. We therefore urge the general public to regard all communications from him as his personal views and does not represent the position of the Board of "EKEDP". The Board of "EKEDP" hereby reaffirms that only communications and press releases signed by the Chairman, acting on behalf of the Board is authentic and represents the position of the company on any matter. "We kindly urge media houses to be wary about publishing statements from unconfirmed sources or unauthorised persons which may be aimed at misleading the public. Please be guided accordingly" Earlier, Otubu had reacted to media reports insinuating that former CEO, Dr. Tinuade Sanda, was still in charge. Otubu's reaction, contained in a letter to Mrs. Momoh and the entire staff, on Thursday, March 28, was sequel to a statement by the Director/Chairman, Legal and Regulatory Committee of EKEDC, Babor Egeregor, that removal of Sanda as MD/CEO and replacement with Momoh was not in sync with the directive of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Egeregor said the directive by NERC only covered those that were fingered in the allegations of fraud and negligence. "However, in his letter to members of staff on Wednesday, entitled "Recent Management Changes at Eko DisCo, the Board Chairman, stated: "Following my earlier message to you...

Kogi Tribunal: Confusion as SDP witness contradicts self on alleged ‘affidavit...

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*Renders testimony baseless The testimony of a witness of the Social Democratic Party at the Election Petitions Tribunal on the Kogi State governorship election went awry, on Thursday as the witness' statement before the Tribunal contradicted the documents submitted. The petitioners had delved away from BVAS, after their star witness claimed he was not in Kogi State during the said election, and alleged that the All Progressives Congress candidate, now the Kogi State Governor, Usman Ododo, forged his age declaration affidavit. The witness, one Dan Musa Williams from the FCT High Court, in Abuja, who had said the document did not emanate from the Court, upon cross examination, could not substantiate his claims. When asked whether he checked the record of the registry to ascertain that it was a forged document, he said he just looked at the date, being a Saturday and concluded that it could not have been from them. It was, however, found that the "declaration of age" affidavit was sworn in Okene, Kogi State, and not in FCT, but the witness claimed that a lawyer forwarded the one he was talking about to him. Confusion, however, set in when the witness claimed that he also concluded that the affidavit submitted by the APC candidate was fake because it did not have the name and picture of the deponent on it. At this point, the attention of the SDP witness was drawn to the fact that the affidavit with INEC, which he also annexed, had both the picture of the deponent and name, and that it was sworn in Okene and not FCT. The contradictions between what the witness said in court and the documents he (the same witness) presented to the court, seemed to have damaged his testimony beyond repair, as he could not give further defence after the discrepancies were...

FG to arraign Binance, Gambaryan, Anjarwalla for alleged tax evasion...

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The Federal Government will, on April 4, arraign Binance Holdings Limited and its two top officials - Tigran Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla - on allegations bordering on tax evasion. Binance, Mr Gambaryan and Mr Anjarwalla, listed as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, are expected to be arraigned before Justice Emeka Nwite of a Federal High Court (FHC), Abuja on four-count charge. While Anjarwalla is Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, Gambaryan, is a U.S. citizen overseeing financial crime compliance at the crypto exchange platform. However, Anjarwalla, who had been in detention alongside Gambaryan, was said to have escaped from lawful custody. Anjarwalla escaped on Friday from the Abuja guest house where he and his colleague were detained after guards on duty led him to a nearby mosque for prayers in the spirit of the ongoing Ramadan fast. The Briton, who also has Kenyan citizenship, is believed to have flown out of Abuja using a Middle East airliner. Though the FHC’s Easter vacation, which began on March 22, will come to an end on April 8, the Chief Judge of FHC, Justice John Tsoho, directed the transfer of Binance case file to Justice Nwite. Although Justice Nwite is not a vacation judge, it was gathered that the chief judge granted the fiat for the judge to handle the case during vacation being a matter that concerns dire national interest. Hearing notices had been related to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the prosecuting agency, and counsel to other parties for the defendants to take their plea. In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/115/2024 dated and filed March 22 by the FIRS’ team of lawyers, led by Moses Ideho, the defendants were alleged to have committed the offence on or about Feb. 1. Count one alleged that while involved in carrying and offering services to subscribers on their platform, known as Binance, failed to...

Six LP members defect to PDP

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Six Labour Party (LP) members of the Enugu State House of Assembly have officially defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). They made their defection known on Thursday in Enugu in a letter read by the Speaker, Chief Uche Ugwu, during plenary. The defectors include the Majority Leader, Mr Johnson Ani (Enugu North); the Chief Whip, Mr Ejike Eze, (Igbo-Eze North 1); and the Deputy Chief Whip, Ms Princess Ugwu (Enugu South Rural). Others are Mr Pius Ezugwu (Nsukka East); Mr Williams Amuka (Igbo-Etiti West); and Mr Osita Eze (Oji River). The defectors, in the letters, said their defection was as a result of the existence of irreconcilable division, incessant crisis within the Labour Party at the national level and across all the state chapters. They regretted that the party had evolved into perpetual discord with various factions embroiled in legal battles, which undermine its ability to effectively serve the interest of the people. According to them, the Labour Party, once considered a beacon of hope for progressive ideas, have regrettably become synonymous with internal squabbles, thereby reducing its capacity to fulfil the aspirations of electorates. They cited the cases of Mr Julius Abure and Mr Limido Apapa factions as well as the national treasurer as some of the divisions within the party. They expressed the hope that the PDP would give them the platform to continue to serve the interests of their people and thanked the leaderships of Labour Party for their supports. The defectors also acknowledged that the letters were sent to the office of the Speaker by themselves, adding that they would work wholeheartedly for the progress of their new party in Enugu State. In his remark, the Speaker welcomed the defectors into the PDP and promised that they would be carried along in the legislative activities of the House. With the defection, the PDP now had...