On Monday, the Nigerian government dodged having to pay out as much as $11 billion to a British Virgin Island company after a London judge ruled that the arbitration award for a failed gas deal was won fraudulently.

The judge found that the massive arbitration award in favour of Process & Industrial Development Ltd. (P&ID) was tainted by bribes. “The awards were obtained by fraud,” Judge Robin Knowles said in a ruling on Monday, adding, “The way in which the awards were procured was contrary to public policy.”

Court document shows that Nigeria was able to establish a strong prima facie case that the 2010 gas project agreement between the government and P&ID “was procured by bribes paid to insiders as part of a larger scheme to defraud Nigeria”.

While Nigeria won this case, the London court lamented the greediness of some Nigerian officials that would have cost the country $11 billion in damages.

“This case has, sadly, brought together a combination of examples of what some individuals will do for money,” Mr Knowles said after establishing some Nigerian officials collected bribes in the deal.

The judge added that these officials were “driven by greed and prepared to use corruption; giving no thought to what their enrichment would mean in terms of harm for others.”

Over the history of the matter, Nigeria has had many government agencies and individuals involved at different times and in different ways. These included officials in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Land and Urban Development, Ministry of Justice, the Office of Attorney General, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), and some ministers.

The judge concluded that the people of Nigeria have been let down in “so many ways over the history of this matter by a number of individuals in politics and administration whose duty it was to serve them and protect them.”


The P&ID deal

In 2010, the P&ID won a contract from the Ministry of Petroleum Resources to build a gas-processing plant in the southern city of Calabar. Nigeria was to supply the gas for free over 20 years and the two parties would split the processed resources. But Nigeria never provided the promised gas, and the plant was never built.

Then, P&ID successfully sued the Nigerian government for breach of the contract at an arbitration tribunal presided over by Lord Hoffmann, a retired senior English judge.

The legal dispute between Nigeria and P&ID ran for more than a decade. The contract was signed between Nigerian government officials and Michael Quinn, an Irish former band manager, and his business partner Brendan Cahill, to help the West African country turn its vast reserves of natural gas into power.

The project never broke ground. Mr Quinn and Mr Cahill’s offshore company, P&ID, in 2012 began arbitration proceedings against Nigeria for breach of contract.

P&ID ultimately won a $6.6 billion award from a panel of arbitrators in London, one of the biggest known payouts to a company from a sovereign state. That bill has risen to $11 billion with interest — more than Nigeria’s 2023 budgets for its health, education, and justice ministries combined.

In 2017, Nigeria challenged the awards on the grounds of liability and jurisdiction. The Nigerian government accused P&ID of bribery before, at, and after the time the parties entered into the Gas Supply and Processing Agreement for Accelerated Gas Development (GSPA), a court document shows.

It alleged that some of its lawyers at the time of the arbitration, including two lead counsel, were corrupted by P&ID.

But, P&ID in its legal filings denied the corruption allegations, arguing that it was a “contract which P&ID genuinely wanted to perform, and a genuine arbitration which [Nigeria] lost for reasons . . . [that] had nothing to do with any corruption.”

However, on Monday, the judge said not only was the original gas contract tainted by corruption, but that P&ID officials also engaged in bribery to win the UK arbitration.

Monday’s ruling has been commended by many Nigerian officials including President Bola Tinubu.

The U.S. has advised Israel to postpone its planned ground offensive in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Hamas organisation, according to local media reports.The U.S. government hopes to obtain more time for negotiations to secure the release of more than 200 hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.The aim is to avoid further civilian casualties and to ensure that more humanitarian aid reaches the population in the blockaded Gaza Strip.Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the ground offensive after Hamas killed hundreds of people and kidnapped more than 200 in terrorist attacks on Israeli territory on Oct. 7.

Since the attack, according to its own statements, the Israeli army has attacked hundreds of Hamas targets in the densely populated Gaza Strip.On Friday, Hamas surprisingly released two U.S. hostages, which prompted the U.S. government to advise Israel to postpone the ground offensive, the report said.The Islamist group, designated as a terrorist organisation in the U.S. and the European Union, had warned that a ground offensive would make it very unlikely for further hostages to be released.

These negotiations primarily take place through Qatar, which has close ties with the political leaders of Hamas.

Ahead of the off-season elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa, the White Witches and Wizards of Nigeria have predicted the outcome of the gubernatorial polls slated for November 11 in three States of the federation.

Speaking with journalists at the weekend in Lagos, Okhue Iboi, the spokesperson of the group, warned Imo Governor, Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Kogi, Dino Melaye, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva against losing their elections on November 11 if they fail to heed wise counsel.

In Imo, Iboi said the fight would be between the candidates of the Labour Party (LP), Athan Achonu, and the Peoples Democratic Party’s Samuel Anyanwu, contrary to speculations that the incumbency factor will favour Governor Uzodinma.

Oboi charged security operatives to tighten security in the politically charged and volatile state to avert a bloodbath during the poll.

“When we met in the coven to review the three off-cycle governorship elections, we examined all the political parties and their candidates and their chances of winning the election.

“We noticed that Uzodinma is terribly hated by his people. Also, remember that he’s governor not by popular will but by legal technicalities of the Supreme Court.

“To date, his people derisively refer to him as Supreme Court Governor. The senseless killing in the state is another albatross he is carrying.

“His people thought that he was the brain behind the spate of killings perpetrated by Unknown Gunmen (UGM) and the destruction of property of the people. So, the people believe he is their sponsor. This is very unfortunate anyway, but that is what we saw in the coven,” he stated.

In Kogi, the White Witches said the election is between the Social Democratic Party (SDP) Murtala Ajaka and PDP’s Dino Melaye, stressing that Governor Yahaya Bello had already lost over failure to field his deputy to succeed him.

He said, “The Social Democratic Party (SDP) is as strong as the APC and the PDP in the state. When we met in Idah, Okenne, Ankpa, and other parts of the state, Governor Yahaya Bello’s candidate would have won easily in the state, but he appeared to have shot himself in the foot by listening to wrong advice.

“The people that advised him not to field his deputy will cost him the election victory in the state. When we got to the coven, we were told that all his strategies of destabilizing the election by fomenting trouble would not fetch him victory. There will be a bloodbath in Kogi, but Bello will still lose the election. So, we saw the election is between PDP and SDP.

“For Dino Melaye, he’s very recalcitrant. We’ve invited him a couple of times for a strategic meeting, but you know, pride goes before a fall. His vain pomposity will be his undoing. And if he fails to heed our call, he will be shell-shocked about the outcome of the election.

“Governor Bello has already lost out of favour with his people by not fielding his deputy governor to succeed him, but preferring to field his brother.”

On Bayelsa poll, Iboi said Sylva would not go anywhere in the election.

“Recall that I had in a statement predicted that he would suffer a setback in his candidacy for the ruling APC.

“Now, he is fighting the battle of his life to retain the candidacy of the party, which the court had taken away from him. If he gets it, we don’t see him going far with it,” he said.

Filling stations, particularly those operated by independent marketers, now dispense Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, at prices that are higher than the bands approved by the Federal Government, with some filling stations in the North selling as high as N685/litre.

In July, the pump price of petrol was raised from between N537 and N550/litre to N617/litre at filling stations operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited in Abuja and many states in the North.

The price of PMS was also increased from between N488 and N500/litre in Lagos and other South-West states to around N580/litre. In the South-South, the price rose from N515/litre to about N600/litre.

Oil marketers confirmed at the time that any shift in price by NNPCL stations was an indication of a rise in the pump price of PMS as approved by the Federal Government, because the NNPCL, being a national oil company, was also the major importer of petrol.

The NNPCL is now the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria. Other marketers stopped importing the commodity due to their inability to access the United States dollars, which is required for fuel imports.

“The price of petrol at NNPCL stations is believed to be the approved price by the government. So once the NNPCL raises its price, every other marketer adjusts his own,” the Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Abuja-Suleja, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated.

President Bola Tinubu during his inaugural address on May 29, announced that subsidy on petrol had ended, a development that led to the jump in the price of the commodity from N198/litre to over N500/litre on May 30, 2023.

But rather than dispense petrol around N580/litre and N617/litre bands in the South and North respectively, it was observed that dealers of the commodity were selling petrol for as high as N685/litre, particularly in some states in the North, such as Sokoto, Taraba, among others.

In Abuja, independent dealers jacked up their pump prices to as much as N630/litre, as black marketers who hawked the commodity in jerrycans sold theirs at about N850/litre.

At the Aso Energy Resources Station in Kubwa Phase 2, it was observed that fuel was dispensed at N630/litre, against the approved rate of N617/litre.

A.A Rano filling station at the Jabi Garage, Abuja, dispensed PMS at N625/litre. Meanwhile, NNPCL filling stations at Wuse Zone 6 and Garki Area 10 dispensed the product at the normal pump price of N617/litre.


Lagos, Ekiti stations shut

Petrol has not been available in most filling stations in Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, for some days, as queues are seen in many outlets in the state.

While the commodity was sold at the approved rate of N580/litre at NNPCL stations, independent marketers, for instance, Matrix located along Poly Road in Ado Ekiti, dispensed petrol at N610/litre.

In Lagos, several filling stations including those belonging to the NNPCL were shut down on Sunday, as findings showed that prices had since climbed to between N600 and N620/litre in retail outlets belonging to independent marketers.

It was observed that some retail outlets belonging to the NNPCL and other independent marketers did not have products on Sunday, thereby shutting their gates against customers.

NNPCL stations around Gate, Jakande Estate Oshodi/Isolo and along 2nd Rainbow did not have any product as of Saturday and Sunday, and did not open to customers.

The PUNCH noticed that some stations belonging to IPMAN had raised the price to between N600 and N620/litre, while those belonging to the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria still sold within NNPCL retail price of N585/litre.

It was observed that Fatgbems stations increased their price to N600/litre, Jezco sold its products at N620/litre, AP dispensed petrol at N593/litre.

NorthWest stations sold products at N595/litre, while Eterna Plc also sold products at the same price.


N685/litre in Sokoto

Petrol is still not readily available in most filling stations in the Sokoto metropolis, as it was also observed that the cost of the commodity at filling stations operated by independent marketers was between N680 and N685/litre.

One of our correspondents observed that while stationsoperated by the NNPCL sold PMS at between N615 and N620/litre, other major marketers dispensed the product at between N630 and N640/litre.

However independent marketers in Sokoto, who had been dispensing the product non-stop since the beginning of the recent scarcity, had continued to sell the commodity at between N680 and N685/litre.


N650/litre in Delta

Filling station operators in Delta State, especially Asaba and its environs are selling fuel at between N615/litre and N650/litre.

A check revealed that filling stations owned by major marketers such as Rain Oil, Matrix, Northwest, among others, were selling N615/litre, while others were selling fuel at between N620 to N650/litre.

Some operators, who spoke on the condition of anonymity said when they received signals from their headquarters to hike the pump price of petrol, they quickly had to comply.

“We are not the ones changing the pump price, it is our head office. Like four days ago we were selling N605, just on Friday we received a signal to change the price to N615,” one of the major marketers explained.

In Makurdi, Benue State, it was observed that the cost of petrol was between N630 and N635/litre.

One of our correspondents who visited some filling stations in the capital city, observed that the pump price of PMS was raised from N620/litre to the current rate.

The price of the product was said to be higher in locations outside the capital city, as operators in the state declined to speak on the reason behind the recurrent price hike.

But a fuel attendant at Enyo filling station along modern market road, Makurdi, who simply identified herself as Roseline, said they were asked to be selling the product at the price because they could not get the product seamlessly.

“If you had come here last week, you would have observed that we didn’t open for business because we didn’t have the product, not until last Friday.

“So, our boss said that the landing cost of the product in Makurdi has changed, so we have to adjust the meter from N615 per liter to N630,” she stated.


N650/litre in Bayelsa

In Bayelsa State, the cost of petrol is between N620 and N650/litre. Some of the filling stations in Yenagoa and its environs were selling the product at N620, N630, N640, and N650/litre on Sunday.

Rainoil along the Mbiama-Yenagoa Road and the Isaac Boro Expressway sold a litre of petrol at N650 last week but reduced the cost to N630 on Sunday.

Perez Petroleum, located on the same expressway, was selling a litre of fuel at N650, while Ereboter Oil dispensed it at N640.

It was observed that only the NNPCL mega filling stationon the Sani Abacha Expressway and other sales outlets were selling at N595/litre.

A commercial tricycle rider, Michael Chibuike said he had no choice than to buy fuel at the various pump prices sold in the state, though he was sad about the development.

“I have no choice but to buy fuel at the high prices that the filling stations are selling. But seriously, I’m not happy. I don’t know where our country is going,” he stated.

In Katsina State, many stations locked their gates against customers on Sunday, as the few that opened for business sold their products at N640/litre.

The few stations witnessed a large influx of customers. A drive around the state capital, Katsina, showed that only the Matrix filling station, located at the Kofar Kaoran roundabout, was dispensing PMS to customers. It was selling at N640/litre.

An attendant at the station who refused to disclose his name said, “We were instructed to be selling at N640/litre and we have been doing it since Wednesday evening.”

It was further observed on Sunday that PMS was sold at between N630 to N700/litre in Gombe State depending on the filling station of purchase.

Retail outlets in the hinterlands dispensed their products at between N700 to N1000/litre.

Some motorists who spoke to one of our correspondents blamed the hike in price on the recent fuel subsidy removal.

Danladi Adamu and Haruna Gimba, in separate interviews, bemoaned the fluctuating price of fuel, noting that it had a direct impact on the cost of living.

“Fuel that used to be N617, now we buy for N630, this is depending on where you buy, most places are more expensive than that.

“In rural areas, stations there sell for as high as N700 to N1000. It’s sad because things are now expensive,” Gimba stated.


IPMAN explains

The Public Relations Officer, IPMAN, Chief Chinedu Ukadike, explained that the high cost of petrol at independent retail outlets was due to the exorbitant cost of diesel.

“We spend over N2m to transport PMS from the South to the Northern part of Nigeria and who is to pay for that cost? Diesel is now more than N1,000/litre and it is a critical component for transporting petrol,” he stated.

Ukadike confirmed that the cost of petrol in the state was higher than the approved price bands, particularly at stations operated by independent dealers, but stressed that the major issue was the high price of diesel.

He explained that the prices at the NNPCL retail stations and those of major marketers were lower because these operators had tank farms and depots from where they lift their own products.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, the regulator of the downstream oil sector, could not provide any explanation for the development.

When told that independent dealers were dispensing petrol above the approved bands, the spokesperson, NMDPRA, Kimchi Apollo, said he would need to confirm from the operations department of the agency and revert.

He, however, did not revert up till the time of filing this report on Sunday evening.

In Enugu State, petrol stations sold the PMS at between N625 and N630 per litre in stations owned by independent marketers.

However, major marketers like Total, North West, Pinnacle Oil, and NNPCL stations are still selling petrol at N620 per litre.

A commuter driver, Celestine Omeje, told one of our correspondents that marketers especially independent marketers had been increasing pump prices since last week.

Fuel stations in Niger State sold petrol at between N619 and N625.

The product is sold between N640 and N660/litre in Kano.

Some motorists who spoke to The PUNCH blamed the marketers for increasing the price of the commodity despite the fact that the Federal Government had not made any pronouncement on it.

The suspects

Gombe State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has arrested 76 youths suspected to be involved in same-sex relationships in the State.

The suspects were arrested by the NSCDC personnel at the point of alleged same-sex marriage somewhere in Gombe metropolis following a tip-off on the planned same-sex birthday party after which the marriage would have been consummated.

The disclosure was made by the Gombe State NSCDC Commandant, Muhammad Bello Mu’azu while briefing Journalists at the Command headquarters, in Gombe on Sunday.

Mohammed Mu’azu who was represented by the PRO, SC Buhari Sa’ad said that operatives of the Command successfully prevented the wedding from taking place because according to him, the NSCDC has zero tolerance for such social vices.

The Commandant further disclosed that following investigations, the Command discovered that out of the 76 suspects, 59 are males with 21 of them said to have confessed to being homosexuals, while 17 females who are believed to be involved in same-sex relationships were also arrested at the scene.

Muhammad Muazu said, “They were arrested at Duwa plaza along Bauchi-Gombe expressway, holding homosexual birthday party and had plans to hold same sex wedding before our men raided the scene.”

He explained that “59 males were arrested, 21 willfully confessed to being homosexuals and 17 females, being present at the scene we also picked up amongst them.”

The Commandant while lamenting the degeneration of morality among the Youths, said that he will send the culprits to school where they will not have adequate time for frivolities.”

He noted that they would be charged to court upon completion of investigation, to answer for their crimes which is on social vice; a crime in Gombe.

A truck carrying coffins was reported to be among the 20-truck humanitarian convoy carrying medicine and food supplies, which entered the Gaza Strip on Saturday from the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

According to BCC, its reporter on the ground in Gaza said one of the trucks was loaded with coffins while others were carrying medicines.

Palestinian officials said about 4,137 people have died in Gaza since Hamas infiltrated and attacked Israel two weeks ago, which led to a war between two warring neighbours.

In a statement, Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), said the 20 trucks were “an important first step, but this convoy has to be the first of many.”

“This food is desperately needed as the conditions inside Gaza are truly catastrophic,” she said.

WFP has another 930 metric tonnes of emergency food items at or near the Rafah border, ready to go whenever access is allowed again.

On its part, the World Health Organisation (WHO), in a statement, said the supplies delivered include trauma medicines, chronic diseases medicines. It added that these supplies will barely begin to address the escalating health needs as hostilities continue to grow.

“Inside Gaza, hospitals have already reached breaking point due to shortages and the depletion of medicines and medical supplies,” the statement reads.

“These supplies are a lifeline for severely injured people or those battling chronic illnesses, who have endured a harrowing two weeks of limited access to care and severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

“WHO calls for the protection of humanitarian aid teams in Gaza as they work to ensure the safe delivery of these supplies to where they are most needed.”

By Nike Adebowale-Tambe


Medical authorities in the United Kingdom (UK) have suspended a Nigerian doctor, Ewere Onyekpe, for having a sexual relationship with a patient including in a hospital’s toilet.

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal of the General Medical Council (MPT of the GMC) – a medical regulatory body in the UK – had in January imposed a sanction of six months on Mr Onyekpe’s practising licence, after he was found guilty by an investigative tribunal that looked into the matter.

The tribunal’s verdict, which took effect in February, was due for review six months later.

But before the case was due for review, a UK independent body that focuses on ethics and standards – Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) – appealed against the MPT’s decision.

PSA said it found the punishment too lenient on some grounds and challenged MPT’s decision before a UK law court.

The court found PSA’s argument logical and ordered MPT to stage a retrial of the matter, taking into consideration one of the grounds of appeal.


How it started

Mr Onyekpe, a Nigerian-born medical doctor, had in June and July 2020 had a sexual relationship with an unnamed female. The sexual relationship was said to have begun after Mr Onyekpe treated the patient “in his capacity as a locum registrar in the Accident and Emergency (“A&E”) department at the Whittington Hospital in London.”

The details of the act are contained in a court judgement obtained by PREMIUM TIMES which indicated that both the doctor and the patient continued their sexual relationship until 24 July 2020, when the patient reported to the police that she had been raped in the toilet by Mr Onyekpe.

Apart from having sex with the patient in the hospital’s toilet on the night of 10 June, Mr Onyekpe still went to the patient’s home the following morning and had sex with her.

The police, while continuing with its investigation, had also reported the case to the General Medical Council which in turn set up the tribunal.

The medical tribunal said it found that the charges against the doctor, “all of which he admitted, amounted to a course of conduct which amounted to ‘serious misconduct’”.

“Dr Onyekpe also conceded that his fitness to practise was impaired by reason of this misconduct, and the MPT agreed,” a news report on ethics stated.

The decision to suspend the doctor was made on 19 January 2023, and the MPT’s order took effect 28 days later, with a review scheduled for the end of a six-month period.

In a witness statement provided during the tribunal, Mr Onyekpe acknowledged and said; “I appreciate that what I did was awful and that I let down myself and my family and my colleagues.

“I also accept this because the power imbalance between me as a doctor and that of the patient, it can be perceived that I took advantage of my professional position in pursuing this brief sexual relationship, consensual though it may have been.”

The tribunal heard the case and found Mr Onyekpe guilty of misconduct. His licence was then suspended for six months, and his case was meant to be reviewed between August and September.


Call for case review

Reacting to the six-month suspension of Mr Onyekpe, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care (PSA) said it was challenging the medical tribunal’s decision on some grounds.

The PSA is an independent body that promotes the health, safety and well-being of patients, service users and the public. It does this by improving the regulation of people who work in health and social care and running the Accredited Registers programme for roles not regulated by law. The PSA is accountable to the UK Parliament.

The PSA said it identified procedural irregularity in the charges against Mr Onyekpe by the medical tribunal, saying the charges “did not adequately reflect the seriousness of his misconduct.”

A court document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES quoted a judge, Thomas Linden, of the High Court of Justice King’s Bench Division Administrative Court, that; “The particular criticism which the PSA makes is that there should have been an allegation that Mr Onyekpe knew or ought to have known that Patient A was vulnerable or likely to be vulnerable. The lack of such an allegation meant that the full gravamen of his misconduct was not considered by the MPT (“Ground 1”).

“Second, that the sanction of six months’ suspension of Mr Onyekpe’s registration was unduly lenient and insufficient for the protection of the public in any event. In particular, nothing short of erasure would have been sufficient to maintain public confidence in the profession, as well as proper professional standards and conduct for members of the profession (“Ground 2”).

“Third, that the reasons given by the MPT for its decision on sanction were inadequate (“Ground 3”).”


Court verdict

Mr Linden in his verdict which was delivered on 4 August, and which was attended by parties through Cloud Video Platform, quashed the tribunal’s decision.

The judge cited deficiencies in the decision-making process.

He said the case was fundamentally flawed because it failed to consider the events between the doctor and the patient adequately. He, therefore, ruled that a new medical tribunal be set up to investigate the matter. PREMIUM TIMES could not establish if the new tribunal had been set up as of the time of this report.

The judge said: “…In short, I allowed the appeal on Ground 1 and quashed the MPT’s decision, I decided not to express a concluded view on Grounds 2 and 3, and I remitted the matter to a freshly constituted MPT. What follows are my reasons for that decision.”

While giving reasons for his decision, Mr Linden revealed that evidence presented through WhatsApp messages exchanged between the doctor and the patient included pornographic materials.

The judge said; “…My conclusion on Ground 1 was that the decision-making of the GMC and the MPT in this case was fundamentally flawed because it did not give any or any adequate consideration to the evidence of what Patient A told Onyekpe about her circumstances.

“In particular, there was a failure adequately to consider (a) whether she was vulnerable for the purposes of the Sanctions Guidance and, if so, the degree of her vulnerability and, (b) what Onyekpe knew or ought to have known about these matters and what influence this had on his actions.”

Mr Linden emphasised that these questions should have been raised by the allegations the MPT was tasked with considering and should have been thoroughly examined in the context of the entire body of evidence, but that they were not.


About Onyekpe

Mr Onyekpe, born in Nigeria, received his medical qualification in 2003 from Kharkiv State Medical University in Ukraine and began his medical practice in Nigeria, primarily within the Nigerian Army.

According to court documents, in 2008, he moved to the United Kingdom and pursued a Master’s in Public Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He began his medical practice in 2010. Between 2013 and 2018, he completed a postgraduate diploma in emergency medicine at Manchester Metropolitan University and, starting in 2016, entered a formal training programme in emergency medicine. He completed his ST3 training in 2019 and worked night shifts in the A&E department at the Whittington from August to November 2019 and again from 4 March to 3 July 2020.


Brain drain

Mr Onyekpe was one of the thousands of Nigerian doctors working in the UK.

Nigeria’s health sector is currently grappling with a severe shortage of skilled personnel, resulting from the mass departure of healthcare professionals.

A 2022 UK immigration report showed that 13,609 Nigerian healthcare workers (including doctors) were granted working visas in the past year, making the country second only to the 42,966 from India.

As of October 2022, the Nigeria Medical Association disclosed that only 24,000 licensed medical doctors were available in the country, lamenting that only one doctor is available to treat 30,000 patients in some southern states, while in the North, it is one doctor to 45,000 patients.

Bolaji Ogundele, Abuja


President Bola Tinubu has directed an exceptional last waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” order instituted against members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), following their 17-day industrial action between July 26 and August 12.

In a statement issued by his special adviser on media and publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, President Tinubu waived the order, invoking the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, adding that he had also considered the faithful implementation of the terms agreement by both parties.

He, however, has tasked both the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to ensure it is clear to doctors that exceptional waiver would be the last that would be granted the association.

According to the statement, the exceptional waiver granted will, in effect, pave the way for the withheld part of salary to be released to members of the association.

He said: “Invoking the Principle of the Presidential Prerogative of Mercy, President Bola Tinubu has approved the waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order that was instituted against striking members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) on August 1, 2023, following the commencement of their industrial action which began on July 26, 2023.

“After several constructive engagements between the Federal Government and NARD, the Resident Doctors called off their strike on August 12, 2023. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation was directed to withhold all salaries accrued by striking NARD members during the 17 days of their strike action.

“In view of the faithful implementation of terms which were agreed upon during the fruitful deliberations between the Resident Doctors and the Federal Government of Nigeria, President Bola Tinubu has directed the grant of an exceptional last waiver of the “No Work, No Pay” Order on Resident Doctors, which will allow for the members of the NARD to receive the salaries, which were previously withheld during the 17-day strike action.

“The president has directed the grant of the waiver with a mandatory requirement that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment must secure a Document of Understanding (DoU) establishing that this exceptional waiver granted by the President will be the last one to be granted to the National Association of Resident Doctors and all other Health sector unions.”

Diplomat and ex-Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, has narrated how ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo 1991 lost out in the race to become the Secretary-General of the United Nations.

Gambari revealed that Obasanjo’s military background disqualified him from being selected by the countries with veto power.

He stated this on Wednesday at the public presentation of the biography of the first African UN Secretary-General, the late Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who assumed office in 1991 but served only one term till 1996.

The book, the first historical biography of the Egyptian diplomat in English, was written by Prof. Adekeye Adebajo and titled Boutros Boutros-Ghali: Afro-Arab Prophet, Pharaoh, and Pope.

The book launch, held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on Victoria Island, had Ambassador Martin Uhomoibhi as the reviewer. Also present was the NIIA Director General, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae.

Reminiscing on the event leading to the choice of the late Boutros-Ghali as the US Secretary General in 1991, Gambari said he recalled how some envoy told him: “Your candidate (Olusegun Obasanjo) has no chance in hell of becoming secretary.”

He said, “I asked: ‘What do you mean? He is the most qualified former head of state, handed over power voluntarily to civilians, and was head of the group that led to the process of the end of apartheid.’

“He said ‘No. Listen carefully, when we, the big ones, are looking for a Sec Gen, the emphasis is on the secretary and not on the general.’ A very profound statement.

“The thing was that the veto ruling power wanted somebody they could dictate to, not a general, who would be giving them orders. Sometimes they think they are getting a secretary but they end up getting a general.

“Ghali, who they thought would be a secretary turned out to be a general and Koffi Annan, who they thought was a secretary turned out to be a general.

“When you turn out to be different from what the big powers want, they do something about it. Boutros-Ghali was not given a second term, and Koffi Annan was nearly forced to retire over frivolous charges.”

Gambari described his relationship with the late Boutros-Ghali as ‘up close and personal,” adding that apart from being the first UN Secretary-General from the African continent, he was also the first Post-Cold War Secretary General but encountered difficulty organising a security council meeting that had all the heads of states as delegates.

“He hardly had a meeting of the security council where the chief delegates were the heads of states of those member states.”

Gambari also touched on the high and low points of Boutros-Ghali’s career, saying the 1994 Rwanda genocide was the low point of his career.

He said, “It was under his watch that the UN failed to respond adequately and to prevent genocide and when it was happening, the big powers also did nothing.”

The author, Adebajo, explaining the reason for the title of the book, said Boutros-Ghali acted as a peace-making prophet in terms of being the de-facto foreign minister of Egypt during the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel between 1977 and 1981.

The Chairman, House Committee on University Education, Abubakar Fulata has proposed N250,000, N.5 million and N1 million as salaries for primary, secondary and university teachers, respectively.

This came as the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman lamented that Nigeria’s education system was yet to contribute to the nation’s societal and economic growth despite the fantastic education policies in place.

Both spoke Thursday, in Abuja,at a one Day National Stakeholders Workshop on the Development of a Roadmap for the Nigerian Education Sector (2023-2027),organized by the Federal Ministry of Education.

Fulata insisted that no primary school teacher should earn less than N250, 000, while secondary teacher and lecturers should earn N500, 000 and N1 million respectively, if Nigeria wants to achieve quality education.

He said: “If you want quality education you must pay them to teach your children very well. Teachers must also be encouraged as it is obtained in the other climes.”

Fulata,who also advocated declaration of emergency on education, equally called on the federal government to commit at least 25 percent or 30 percent of the national budget to education.

Hear him: “The nation must declare a state of emergency in education. We must commit at least 25 per cent or 30 per cent of our national budget to education.”

The Minister of Education,Prof. Tahir Mamman, speaking,lamented that the nation’s education system was not connected to its society and economy, saying things cannot go that way.

According to him,his ministry was determined to change the narratives in line with the aspiration of President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Mamman said: “Our education system is not connected to our society or our economy, we cannot say for certain that we are key contributors either locally or globally to the ideas which push societies forward.”

According to him, the country has fantastic education policies but they fail to solve its problems.

“When we receive briefings from agencies we will see fantastic policies on education but the problem is our people do not see those policies on ground, they are not seeing the problem addressed and no longer seeing the value of sending their children to school,” he said.

Prof Mamman said there was high number of unemployed graduates because the quality of education they are getting does not connect them to the industries.

The minister said industries were complaining that education institutions were churning out graduates that are unemployable.

He explained that the workshop was convened to develop the roadmap and as such be seen as problem solving one, adding that the government has few days to come up with what it will use to reset the education sector from the basic to the tertiary levels.

The minister however, urged the state governments to do their part so as they can address the challenges of the basic education, saying the federal government only has about 120 unity colleges and the majority rest on the states’ shoulders.

Earlier the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Tanko said the contribution of Stakeholders at the workshop will help in preparing their children for the future and the development of the nation.

He said the recognition of the importance of education is yet to translate to tangible results that show that an educated person stands a better chance of living a fulfilled life.

“This disconnection between purpose and reality could be said to be responsible for inadequate attention to the sector, wrong perceptions of the relative importance of the different forms and types of education,” he said.

“I must also say that the inability of our youths to gain employment after going through the rigors of academia may be responsible for gradually building dis-interest in the pursuit of education,” he said.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says the country has adequate stock of petrol to last for 30 days.

In a statement on Thursday, NNPC Retail, the national oil company’s subsidiary, said petrol queues in Lagos and some other parts of the country are due to reduced depot loadout in Apapa.

NNPC said the reason behind the lag has since been addressed.

“NNPC Retail Ltd. notes the appearance of fuel queues in some parts of Lagos and a few other locations around the country,” the statement reads.

“This is due to reduced Depot loadout in Apapa, Lagos over a few days, and the root cause has since been addressed.

“We assure all Nigerians that there is ample supply with sufficiency of at least 30 days.”

NNPC, therefore, advised motorists to desist from panic buying as distribution “will normalise over the next couple of days”.

The NNPC recently regained its status as the sole importer of petrol into the country.

Mele Kyari, firm’s group chief executive officer (GCEO), said the situation had changed as licensed private oil companies were unable to obtain foreign exchange (FX) for importation.

“None of them (fuel companies) can do it today. That means we can manage the market situation without creating any subsidy environment. But for them, access to foreign exchange is difficult. We have access to FX; we create FX, therefore, we have access to FX and their access to FX is limited,” he had said.

Kyari added that the increasing diesel price would have an adverse effect on petrol.

The new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ola Olukoyede, says about ₦2.9 trillion meant for some government projects was diverted into personal use by contractors between 2018 and 2020.

Mr Olukoyede disclosed this on Wednesday when he appeared before the Senate for screening.

The upper chamber confirmed him after the exercise.

“I did a survey between 2018 and 2020 on 50 entities in Nigeria, both human and corporate entities. I picked just one scheme, one specie of fraud, which is called contract and procurement fraud. I discovered that within the three years, Nigeria lost N2.9trn,” the EFCC chairman said.

Mr Olukoyede said the stolen funds during the period under review would have been used for useful government projects, if the former authorities of the anti-corruption agency had prevented it from being diverted.

“When I put my figures together, I discovered that. If the country had prevented the money from being stolen, it would have given us 1,000 kilometers of road, it would have built close to 200 standard tertiary institutions. It would have also educated about 6,000 children from primary to tertiary levels at N16m per child.

“It would have also delivered more 20,000 units of three bedroom houses across the country. It would have given us a world-class teaching hospitals in each of the 36 states of the country and the Federal Capital Territory.

“This is where we are coming from, this is where we are. Where we are going, it depends on the decision the Senate would take this afternoon.”


Transparency

Mr Olukoyede assured that his administration as chairman of the EFCC would be transparent and accountable.

He said he will introduce a transactional credit system that will prevent Nigerians from purchasing luxurious properties by cash in order to be able to monitor financial transactions of some individuals.

“Without downplaying the importance of enforcement. There is what we call a transactional credit system. If we continue to allow Nigerians to buy houses, cars and other luxurious properties by cash, because we don’t have an effective credit system, 1,000 anti-corruption agencies will not do us any good and that is the reality.

“We must create an atmosphere to make sure that people have choices. If I don’t steal money, can I afford to train my children in school with good standards? If I don’t steal money, can I buy a car after I have worked for five years? If I don’t steal money, can I put a three room bungalow in place after I had worked for 20 years?

“An average Nigerian does not own a home, when he has the opportunity, he would steal. Even if he did not have the opportunity he would create one,” he said.


Court Cases and technicalities

The EFCC chairman stressed that for proper justice to be delivered on fraud allegations, judges must look beyond technicalities when deciding judgments.

He recommended that cases on fraud allegations should not exceed more than five years from the High Court to the Supreme Court.

“In order to encourage our criminal justice system to work, the substance should be taken above technicalities. We must encourage our criminal justice system to adjudicate in such a way that it will not drag for a very long time. Prosecution should not be allowed to last for a maximum of five years from the court of first instance to the Supreme Court.

“The Senate can work on that very seriously. If we make the administration of the criminal justice system really work, you will see the great work the anti-corruption agencies are doing,,” Mr Olukoyede stated.

A 20-year-old student of the University of Ilorin, Sanni Hameedat, reportedly committed suicide after lending a boy she met on the social media platform, Snapchat, the sum of N500,000.

According to Rubiks, the private hostel management she resided in before her demise, in a statement made available to PUNCH Online on Wednesday, Hameedat was undergoing her SIWES programme before the incident happened.

The management asserted that the cause of her death was not unrelated to the pressure from the app agents, who were demanding fast repayment, coupled with her brother’s inability to assist her financially, which led to depression.

“The cause of Suicide was traced to financial misappropriation. She was entrusted with a significant sum of money by her mother. She crossed paths with a guy on Snapchat and developed a friendship.

“When the boy claimed that his mother was battling breast cancer and urgently needed N500,000, the compassionate and emotional lady decided to help him by lending him half of the N1 million she held for her mother. And the boy promised to repay the borrowed money.

“However, when her mother needed the money back, the boy abruptly cut off all up all contact, blocking her. This left her deeply troubled and in order for her to make up the missing N500,000, she resorted to borrowing money from various apps.”

Hameedat, therefore, managed to gather N450,000 from the loan apps, adding her savings of N50,000 to make up the borrowed N500,000.

The management further maintained that she was reported to have ingested a bottle of pesticide popularly known as Sniper the previous night, and her roommate (name withheld), who had retired to bed early, woke up in the middle of the night to discover her in distress while she was foaming from her mouth and also vomiting.

“Alarmed, the roommate sought help, and she was rushed to UITH before being declared dead,” the statement concluded.

Meanwhile, both the Dean, Student Affairs Unit, Prof M.T. Yakubu, and the Head, Corporate Affairs, Kunle Akogun of the institution, could not comment on the issue in terse messages sent to them as they both claimed to be partaking in the 37th and 38th combined convocation ceremony which kickstarted on Monday, October 16, 2023.

But when our correspondent contacted the Student Union President, Ologundudu Adesunkanmi, popularly called Royal Prince, he confirmed the incident, corroborating the narration of the hostel management.

He said, “The Vice-Chancellor, Dean of Student Affairs are very much aware of the issue, and they have reported to the appropriate authority to begin a full-length investigation into the matter. It is sad that the university community lost her in such a devastating manner.”

About 71 companies enjoyed N390.26bn pioneer status incentives in two years, according to findings by The PUNCH.

Data obtained from the Federal Inland Revenue Service annual reports showed that pioneer status incentives gulped N1.43bn in 2021 and N388.83bn

The Federal Government grants tax holidays to companies with pioneer status awarded by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission.

This tax incentive was in accordance with the Industrial Development Income Tax Relief Act, No 22 of 1971, to boost investment in the industries.

The tax holiday which grants qualifying industries and products relief from payment of corporate income tax is for an initial period of three years, extendable for one or two additional years.

The products or companies eligible for this pioneer status are meant to be those that do not already exist in the country.

The second quarter 2022 report by the NIPC (which was the last released document by the commission) disclosed that there were about 71 beneficiaries of this tax incentive.

However, at the end of 2021, 46 companies had benefitted from the tax incentive scheme while the requests of 186 companies were still pending.

This means there were 25 more beneficiaries of the tax incentives within six months.

The beneficiaries operate in sectors that include manufacturing, solid material, pharmaceuticals, information and communication, trade, construction, waste management, electricity and gas supply, tourism, infrastructure, among others.

The companies that have benefitted included Dangote Sinotrucks West Africa Limited, Lafarge Africa Plc, Honeywell Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, Jigawa Rice Limited, and Stallion Motors Limited.

More included African Foundries Limited, Royal Pacific Group Limited, Kunoch Hotels Limited, Princess Medi Clinics Nigeria Limited, Medlog Logistics Limited, and Masters Liquefied Gas Limited.

Others included Aarti Rolling Mills Limited, Von Automobile Nigeria Limited, Ikorodu Steel Mills Limited, Confluence Metals Fabrication Company Limited, Cormart Nigeria Limited, Tiamin Rice Limited, Outsource Global Technologies Limited, Crown Flour Mills Limited, Elvis Hotels Nigeria Limited, Olam Hatcheries Limited, among others.

The Federal Government recently disclosed plans to review and reduce tax waivers given to companies operating in Nigeria.

The Chairman of the Presidential Tax Reform Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, recently said the committee would carry out a comprehensive tax waiver review in line with the plan the previous administration had set.

Organised Labour has issued a two-week deadline to governors to commence negotiations on the N35,000 wage award for workers in their states in line with the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Federal Government, the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress.

The state chapters of the NLC and TUC, which handed down the ultimatum on Tuesday, said they had written to the governors to fast-track the necessary protocols and implement the award meant to assuage the subsidy removal pains.

The unions pointed out that the deadline for payment of the wage award would expire in the next two weeks, and they asked the governors to begin the implementation process.

This came as President Bola Tinubu Tuesday inaugurated the N1tn cash transfer programme to 15 million households to cushion the economic shocks of the fuel subsidy.

Each household will receive N25,000 for three months. With 15 million households getting N25,000 each for three months, about N1.13tn will be spent on the programme.

At the event, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, said about 61 million Nigerians would benefit from the cash transfer.

The national leadership of the NLC and TUC had on October 1 reached an agreement with the FG to pay N35,000 to all federal workers beginning from September, pending when a new national minimum wage is expected to have been signed into law.

The resolution provided that the wage award would be paid to the federal workers for six months while states were encouraged to extend the same benefit to their workers.

The PUNCH reports that Labour had threatened to declare a nationwide strike on October 3 but the move was suspended with the caveat that the wage award, cash transfer, and some other resolutions must be implemented within 30 days effective from the day the MoU was signed.

The Kano State NLC Chairman, Kabiru Inuwa, revealed he had written to the state government to demand the immediate implementation of the N35,000 wage award in the state.

“We have written to the government requesting for the payment of the wage award to workers in the state and we are still waiting for the government to respond,” Inuwa said, noting that the deadline given by the NLC to the federal and state governments to implement the wage award and other welfare packages for the workers would soon expire.

He expressed the hope that the state government would pay the wage award before the expiration of the deadline.

“The ultimatum given to both state and federal governments will expire by the end of this month, so we hope the government will start the payment before the end of the deadline,” Inuwa said.

On his part, the Gombe State NLC Secretary, Ibrahim Fika, in an interview with The PUNCH, said the 30-day ultimatum, which is now remaining two weeks, applied to workers in state governments. He said, “The ultimatum says the state councils should negotiate with the state government. So it applies to us.’’


Rivers TUC

In Rivers State, the TUC said it would fully comply and implement the ultimatum given to the Federal Government by organised labour.

The state TUC Chairman, Ikechukwu Onyefuru, stated this while speaking with our correspondent in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

He stated, “State unions are subject to national directives and the 30-day ultimatum was issued by the national body to the Federal Government and directed all state chapters to also issue demands to their respective state governments and implement the same.

“This means that if any state peradventure decides to jettison that directive, such a state is already in breach of the national directive.

“So what I am saying is that it is a national directive, and the respective states have been served and it is expected that they will respond.’’

The Chairmen of the NLC and TUC in Benue State, Terungwa Igbe and Gideon Akaa, disclosed that they had written to the state governor on the wage award for workers.

Speaking separately to our correspondent, Igbe and Akaa explained that the state government had yet to respond to their letter.

Igbe said, “The union has written to the state government about the wage award, and we asked for N35,000. But we have yet to receive a response from the government. Well, I cannot say for now what we will do if the government fails to pay; it all depends on their response.’’

Responding to inquiries from The PUNCH, Aka said, “The two unions, NLC and TUC, wrote a joint letter to the governor that they should implement the N35,000 wage award to Benue workers of both the state and local government areas last week.’’

He expressed optimism that the state would implement the wage award.

Asked about the union’s next steps if the governor failed to respond, Aka noted, “Let us not pre-empt them because the adviser to the governor on Labour promised to talk to the governor so we can have an interface.’’

In Sokoto, the state chapter of the NLC disclosed that it had opened discussions with the state government over the package.

The secretary of the union, Hamisu Yanduna, explained that the leadership of the NLC in the state was expected to hold a meeting with the governor any time this week.

Similarly, in Ogun, Labour has commenced negotiations on the payment of the wage award with the state government.

Speaking with our correspondent on Monday, the TUC Chairman, Akeem Lasisi, said, “Even when other state governments have folded their arms waiting for the outcome of the national engagement with organised labour, the Ogun State Government invited us four days after the removal of the subsidy to have common fronts on how to cushion the effect.

“The outcome of the engagement is the release of a 14-item palliative measure, among which is the payment of N10,000 in the first instance for the first three months of July, August, and September, which we are sure would be increased from October.’’

Speaking further, he stated, “By the agreement with the Federal Government, Ogun State Government has also commenced, among others, the payment of 40 per cent of the basic salary as palliatives to cushion the effect of removing the subsidy.

“Already, we have written a letter to the government on the need to review the wage award given to workers in the state, and we have also met with the Head of Service and the Accountant-General to inform them of the readiness of the Labour leaders to discuss with government and we hope for the best.’’

The state NLC Chairman, Hameed Ademola, confirmed that the unions would soon meet with the governor on the implementation of their demands.

“Yes, we have written to the state government on this component of the salary review agreement, calling for the implementation of this component. The letter has been dispatched.

“We have followed it up with a visit to the Secretary to the State Government, Mr Talabi Tokunbo, last Friday and we have been assured that the letter is on the table of Mr Governor. We hope we shall meet the governor this week and iron out other issues besides the salary increment.”

The labour unions in Katsina State said they were also expecting the government’s response to their demand for a meeting with Governor Dikko Radda to discuss the welfare of the workers in the state.

Giving an update on their request, the state TUC Chairman, Muntari Ruma, said, “Yes, we have written to the state government and anytime from now, we will be invited. So, it is better to wait until we have the meeting before discussing the issue further.”

The NLC Chairman, Husseini Hamisu, affirmed that the unions would demand a comprehensive welfare package from the governor.

“We have written to the state government and I am quite sure that before the week runs out, there will likely be a meeting. We are discussing a comprehensive package and not only the wage issue. We shall keep you posted,’’ he added.

Further findings showed that the state government may constitute a committee to address Labour’s demands.

Credible sources revealed that the committee might be constituted anytime from now.

The Director-General of media, Maiwada Dammallam, could not be reached for comments on Monday.

But the Niger State NLC chairman, Idrees Lafene, stressed that workers might demand more than N35,000 from the state government given the spike in the cost of living.

He disclosed that discussions had gone far on the wage award implementation, and they were optimistic that the government would yield to their demands.

“Yes, we’re still on the negotiation table and we are asking for more; we’re asking for more than N35,000 and the discussion has gone far,’’ he stated.

Asked what would happen should the state fail to heed the union’s demand, Lafene replied, “You are pre-empting what will happen. Let it happen first.”

Following the delay in the award payment, the Ondo State chapter of the TUC said the unions had written a joint letter to the government.

The state Chairman of the TUC, Mr Clement Fatuase, said, “The government has not started paying the money in Ondo State and we have written to them on the matter but up till now, nobody called us.’’

Also, the unions in Osun, Kwara, Kebbi, Bayelsa, and Delta states have made overtures to the authorities on the payment of the wage award to cushion the pains of fuel subsidy removal.

Sources in the Osun State labour movement said formal negotiations had yet to commence between the state government and the labour leaders.

The TUC Chairman, Abimbola Fasasi, confirmed that negotiations had not started on the workers’ demands.

He said, “We have not formally commenced negotiation with the government on the N35,000 wage award, but meetings have been held, but not formally.”

The national leadership of the NLC and TUC could not be reached for comments on Tuesday on the delay in negotiation of the wage award in states, but the National Deputy President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, had earlier told The PUNCH that they would call out their members on an indefinite strike without warning if the government failed to implement the MoU within the stated timeframe.

‘’The 30-day ultimatum we gave to them is still in place. We have given them time and we are sure they are working. What we did was just a suspension. When you suspend a strike, you can kick-start it without further notice. We have done our part and are waiting for them to play their part,’’ he stated.


Cash transfer

In line with his administration’s plan to ameliorate the hardships in the country, President Tinubu has begun the conditional cash transfer initiative by presenting symbolic dummy cheques to the first set of beneficiaries in Abuja.

He presented cheques of N25,000 each to five beneficiaries: Larai Suleiman, Shuaibu Hassana, Sariki Gamu, Okor Jonah, and Hameed Isiaka.

“I hereby flag off the Renewed Hope conditional cash transfer programme for 15 million households targeted at uplifting poor and vulnerable Nigerians as an immediate intervention to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks,” Tinubu told guests and international partners who converged on the Press Gallery of the State House, Abuja, for the ceremony.

The conditional cash transfer is among 15 items in the MoU between the Federal Government and the Organised Labour signed on October 1.

Speaking on Tuesday, which is also the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Tinubu, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, said his administration was “partnering the World Bank Group and other development partners to implement conditional cash transfers, business grants and other forms of support for the most vulnerable households via the National social safety net expansion programme.”

Tinubu stated, “The theme of this year’s commemoration, ‘Decent Work and Social Protection: Putting dignity in practice for all,’ is undoubtedly in perfect alignment with the Renewed Hope agenda.

“My government will lead from the front to ensure that all Nigerians have decent opportunities for dignified work and sustained social protection.”

However, he said the government was working to develop and deploy several more solutions and interventions to help Nigerians of all walks of life.’’

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, said 61 million Nigerians would benefit from the scheme every month in October, November, and December.

She said, “So, in total, 15 million households will receive N75,000 over three months. This equates to about 61 million Nigerians directly benefiting from the conditional cash transfer.

“Why do we call it conditional cash transfer? And what really can it do for Nigerians? If we are sincere with ourselves and as a country, we all must put our hands together to make progress.

“We must recognise that indeed there is a need for that urgent intervention to Nigerians’ need to feel the renewed hope agenda N75,000.”

Edu said beyond the cash transfers, the FG would provide “low-cost shelter for the poor and internally displaced persons as a form of providing that cover for them.

“Several other interventions, including the Rural Vocational Skills Intervention, will be carried out at a mass scale. All of these are targeted at the various dimensions of poverty in the country.”

Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of Economy, Mr Wale Edun, said the 63 per cent of Nigerians living in poverty was unacceptable to President Tinubu.

“Clearly, to Mr President, it is unacceptable as it is to the rest of us. And that is why it is, perhaps, his number one priority- tackling poverty, and he has a programme to stabilise the economy and grow it in general,” said Edun.

Meanwhile, the World Bank country representative, Shubham Chaudhuri, confirmed that cash transfers were widely applicable to reducing poverty.

Chaudhuri noted that the method was one of the most effective in assisting citizens, particularly the impoverished and vulnerable, impacted by economic shocks or rising living costs.

“This aid is crucial in helping them overcome the initial period during which they might otherwise be compelled to make decisions with long-term consequences.

“For instance, these decisions might include reducing daily meals to just one or withdrawing their children from school.

“The type of cash transfer referred to as ‘shock-responsive cash transfer’ currently being implemented is utilised by countries worldwide to offer temporary relief in such situations,’’ he concluded.

REALITY is piercing the optimism of multilateral agencies and domestic stakeholders hoping that President Bola Tinubu’s adoption of some of their standard prescriptions would quickly revive the economy. The IMF revised its earlier growth forecast for Nigeria for 2023 downwards from 3.2 per cent to 2.9 per cent, while the World Bank voiced fresh concern over rising debt. Among business operators, apprehension is mounting as adversity threatens many more enterprises.

Amid the uncertainties, the administration remains unsteady. Beyond broad statements of intent, no coherent economic plan has emerged. In the meantime, the economy worsens. Western agencies, and the organised private sector that applauded Tinubu’s stoppage of petrol subsidy, and the unification of the naira exchange rates are squirming.

The influential Financial Times of London admitted last week that his touted economic plans are not moving according to plan. While still praising the subsidy removal and the “shifting towards a market-driven exchange rate from the previously overvalued currency,” FT said, “but four months into his (Tinubu’s) presidency, there are signs of things going awry.”

That is putting it mildly: the naira plunged further at the parallel market midweek to exchange at N1,025 to the US$1; by weekend, it was N1,040-N1,050 to $1. In the energy sector, independent marketers pulled back from importing petrol, citing excessive costs fuelled by the high exchange rates and higher crude oil prices in the international market. Effectively, this restored the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited’s monopoly on imports. Chaos and subsidy may bounce back.

Simultaneously, prices of diesel, kerosene, lubricants, and industrial and cooking gas spiked geometrically. Electricity tariff has gone up. Unemployment is rising, far above the reality-denying 4.1 per cent posted recently by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Inflation hit 25.8 per cent in September. OPS organs are warning of more job losses, and factory closures. The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises said a combination of forex scarcity, energy prices, dumping of foreign products and others would kill SMEs. Inability to access forex, the Airline Operators of Nigeria lamented, guarantees more shutdowns.

Tinubu needs a master plan. Nigerians and businesses are distressed. A World Bank estimate of 7.1 million more Nigerians sliding into poverty after the subsidy removal is now feared to top 10 million persons.

As The PUNCH had constantly canvassed, FT, IMF and others now agree that Tinubu should stop announcing policies without plans for their implementation and handling their fallout. His ministers are separately proclaiming plans, but no discernible overall coordinated plan weaving them together has emerged. While the administration touts, and cherry-picks some free market policies, it ignores the critical ‘low-hanging fruits.’

It is continuing the self-defeating template of wasting public funds on the four comatose public refineries, and the Ajaokuta Steel Company instead of immediate, transparent, and corruption-free privatisation. The evidence is crystal clear; reforms taken in isolation without simultaneous coordinated plans targeted at pulling down the inherent binding constraints arresting the economy will only deliver hardship.

To make his free-market actions deliver desired impact, Tinubu must immediately re-launch the privatisation programme; through outright asset sales, concessions and unfettering critical sectors like railways, mining and ports and airports. He should enforce existing, and roll out more executive orders liberalising all economic sectors.

Institutions must be strengthened to deliver on their mandates. The Central Bank of Nigeria needs to radically retool its monetary policies to manage the naira, and tame interest and inflation rates. Without effective regulation of the money deposit banks and the bureaux de change, and tackling corruption, limited reforms will always backfire.

The NNPC requires total restructuring into a lean, efficient holding company and an investment subsidiary.

Tinubu should devise and implement a pragmatic master plan post-haste or have the economy collapse on his watch.

New governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, may have opted out of some key development finance projects of his predecessor, Godwin Emefiele, a move that will halt the bank’s interventionist programmes that helped Nigeria exit economic recession twice in five years – between 2016 and 2020.

Dr Cardoso was appointed alongside four deputy governors for the CBN by President Bola Tinubu in September 2023 following the suspension of Emefiele and the voluntary resignation of his four deputies.

Cardoso had told a Senate session during his confirmation that he would drop some of the policies of the Emefiele-led administration.

Multiple sources privy to some of the management meetings held by Cardoso and his deputies said he emphatically stressed that his administration would specifically drop the bank’s N63 billion Centre of Excellence programme, Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, eNaira (a financial inclusion instrument) and the controversial currency redesign policy introduced to curb banknote counterfeiting and vote buying during the last general elections.

A reliable source at the apex bank told this newspaper that Cardoso said the ABP was characterised by fraud while disclosing that he would discontinue states’ engagement.

Cardoso, it was said, believes that most of the existing CBN unorthodox policies introduced to support the fiscal side and create buffers for the national economy are not public-oriented.

The new management has, however, said it would focus on the core mandate of the central bank – monetary and price stability, promoting sound financial system and exchange rate control.

“The man has cancelled many things, including state engagements,” the source who asked not to be named, said. “They want to focus on the core mandate of the CBN and promote pro-masses policies.”

Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP)

Former President Muhammadu Buhari launched the CBN-initiated Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP) in Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi State on November 17, 2015, with an expectation that the scheme would lift thousands of small farmers out of poverty and generate millions of jobs for unemployed Nigerians. It was an intervention programme to cut Nigeria’s N1 trillion importation bill which Buhari said was not sustainable.

A director in the bank said the decision to discard the programme would reverse the gains of the past eight years. He also said Nigeria is now back to the era of allocation of foreign exchange to the importation of items such as rice, wheat, milk and fish, among others, which will contribute greatly to the depletion of the nation’s foreign reserves, especially in the face of low non-oil revenue and burgeoning fiscal deficits.

Thousands of farmers have reportedly defaulted in paying back the ABP loans which, among other things, were expected to increase the banks’ financing to the agriculture sector, help smallholder farmers scale up, achieve food security and ensure self-reliance in rice production.

According to CBN’s 2022 financial report, lending through the ABP stood at N1.079 trillion as of February 28, 2023, out of which N0.960 trillion was due for repayment. About 502 billion has been recovered, with over N5 trillion still under moratorium.

The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme guidelines stipulate that upon harvest, benefiting farmers are to repay their loans with produce (which must cover the loan principal and interest) to an anchor, who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account.


Centre of Excellence

Like the ABP, the Centre of Excellence project was meant to shore up the capacity of Nigerian universities. This intervention was planned for nine federal universities nationwide to enhance post-graduate studies in financial-related courses and the Tertiary Institutions Entrepreneurship Scheme (TIES) to train and finance entrepreneurship ideas of Nigerian university graduates. The first phase covers the University of Ibadan (UI), the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. Those three universities already have operational centres.


eNaira

The eNaira is referred to as a unit of account, store of value and medium of exchange. The objective of the eNaira is to aid financial inclusion and advance the boundaries of the payment system to make financial transactions easier for Nigerians.

At the launch of the digital currency in October 2021, President Buhari said the e-Naira was expected to foster economic growth by offering easier access to capital and financial services which will increase economic activities at low/no interest transaction rate.

“It is also expected to provide secure and cheaper diaspora remittance option and make such transactions faster. Due to its traceability, the e-Naira makes it more difficult for individuals or organisations to indulge in fraud,” he stated.

By Terhemba Daka, Abuja


In an attempt to zero-in on the closest buddies to the occupant of Nigeria’s seat of power, State House Correspondent, TERHEMBA DAKA, borrows the title from the book, ‘All the President’s Men’, a 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, two of the journalists who investigated the June 1972 break-in at the Watergate Office Building and the resultant political scandal for The Washington Post.

But, this is not an attempt at investigating Nigeria’s Presidential Villa. Rather, it’s an attempt to locate the individuals in Nigeria’s State House, who are personally and politically close to the president, chosen specifically to serve the president’s needs.

Feelers gleaned from the State House indicate that these are officers and men who have greater access to and have more influence on the president than the Cabinet, they are All The President’s Men:


Lieutenant Colonel Nurudeen Alowonle Yusuf (ADC):

He is the son of a monarch, Oba Yusuf Omokanye Oyekanmi, the Elemona of Ilemona in the Oyun Local Council Area of Kwara State. Yusuf is the Aide-de-Camp to President Bola Tinubu, and was appointed before the inauguration on May, 2023.

He holds one of the toughest assignments his career could ever offer him. Lt. Col. Yusuf provides protection and is ready at all times to lay down his life for the President.

He previously served in sensitive roles in the Presidential Villa during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. He brings his experience in intelligence and VIP protocol and protection to the new role.

Lt Col. Yusuf enrolled in the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Electrical Electronics).

Between 2004 and 2005, he attended Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (RMAS), in the United Kingdom.

The RMAS is an institution where all officers in the British Army are trained to take on the responsibility of leading their soldiers.

In 2006, he attended the Nigerian Army Intelligence School in Lagos where he was trained in intelligence and security-related subjects in accordance with the Nigerian Army training policies and directives.

Before his current assignment, Lt. Col. Yusuf attended various courses including the Young Officer’s Course Infantry, NASI, in Kaduna in 2007 where he honed his military skills on the use of various types of weapon systems used in infantry units as well as special operations.

In 2008, Yusuf completed the Tactical Intelligence Officers and Security Investigations courses to improve his capabilities as a military officer. Between 2009 and 2018, the multilingual officer, who is fluent in Yoruba, Hausa, English and French, had several military trainings in Mali, Pakistan, China, Israel and the United Kingdom.

The trainings include Military Intelligence Basic Officers Course (Mali); Junior Staff Course (China); Officers Advanced Intelligence Course, SMI, (Pakistan) Advanced Command and Staff Course (Shrivenham UK).

While acquiring military training, Yusuf obtained a master’s degree in Defence Studies from Kings College, London in 2018, and a postgraduate diploma in Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution from the National Open University (NOUN).

Prior to his appointment as ADC, Yusuf had completed a military course designed for Commanding Officers in Jaji, Kaduna.

He also served as Officer Commanding State House Military Intelligence Group and in 2015, where he later commanded the Presidential Body Guards, State House, Abuja.

The Intelligence Senior Officer does not handle his job with kid gloves, as he approaches every public function and other assignments both within and outside the country with the highest level of precision and seriousness they deserve.

He keeps an eagle’s eye on his principal, watching over every move he makes. He leaves no stone unturned to ensure the safety of Mr. President at all times.

His job goes beyond just standing behind the President at official functions and ensuring that his principal is unruffled at the function.

His role as a military intelligence officer and ADC to the President is mostly ceremonial and to give the Presidency dignity and honour. He usually follows the President whenever he goes out on official duties.

Many would, often, see him escort the President to a waiting car, opening the door, then standing at attention and saluting when the President sits on the back seat.

Lt Colonel Yusuf, at times, carries the President’s personal items like mobile phones and speeches. He also receives gifts or other items on behalf of the President.

Many soldiers of his rank, no doubt, were as qualified to be the ADC to President Tinubu, but other qualities stood him out among the pack.


Victor Adeleke – State Chief of Protocol (SCOP):

Many who follow developments in the Presidency would have noticed one distinguish official who usually fusses around whenever the president is in a room. His most obvious role is to pull out a chair for the presidential bum to rest on.

The man in question is also a career ambassador. He replaced Lawal kazaure who held sway under the former President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

Adeleke’s official title is either “Chief of Protocol” or “Presidential Liaison Officer.”

Apart from the servile chair adjustment task, Adeleke, a former career Ambassador seems to be the president’s gofer.

Presidency watchers believe that Adeleke is poised to become one of President Tinubu’s most powerful ally as he occupies the office and being a member of the inner circle because of his closeness to the president.

His appointment came few hours after Tinubu’s inauguration as the 16th Nigerian leader since independence in 1960.

The new SCOP was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. He graduated from the Obafemi Awolowo University, lle-Ife. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1991 and joined the Foreign Service In 1993.

After his diplomatic training at the Nigerian Foreign Service Academy, Lagos in 1994, he served in various capacities at home and abroad, including, the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Office of the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and, the Office of the Permanent Secretary (MFA).

He also served as an Assistant Director of Protocol to three of Nigeria’s former Presidents, viz: President Olusegun Obasanjo (2007), President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua (2007-2010), and President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (2010) at the State House Protocol, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Adeleke had served in many of Nigeria’s diplomatic missions, notably Beijing, (China), Brasilia (Brazil), Warsaw (Poland), London (United Kingdom), and Dublin (Ireland), where he was Deputy Head of Mission.

Before his appointment, he served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Ethiopia.


Fasasi Adeboyega – Chief Security Officer (CSO):

The CSO, who is an operative, is a very powerful official in the Presidential Villa.

During the military era, the CSO’s office was called CPA (Chief Personal Assistant) and all the Body Guards (BGs) were called Personal Assistant to the C-In-C.

This was because the BGs were all drawn from the Nigerian Army, SSS (now DSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA), and Directorate of Military Intelligence(DMI). Then, the first two were the closest to the C-In-C.

The CSO oversees, supervises and coordinates especially the inner cordons.

In conjunction with the ADC, the CSO plans the President’s movement both within and outside the country.


Femi Gbajabiamila – Chief of Staff

Gbajabiamila is known to be one of the President’s closest allies. Gbajabiamila, who wield enormous power in the Presidency, was announced Tinubu’s Chief of Staff on Friday, June 2, 2023. This came barely few days after he (Tinubu) was inaugurated at the end of former President Muhammadu Buhari’s second tenure on May 29.

What has distinguished Gbajabiamila from the Chiefs of Staff before him is that he had been Tinubu’s right hand man – a man Friday sort of, for over three decades, and currently wields enormous political power in the Presidency.

There is the perception, whether rightly or wrongly, that Gbajabiamila is the head of the new cabal. There are even talks that he singlehandedly handpicked no fewer than five of the current Ministers on Tinubu’s cabinet.

Indeed, Gbajabiamila is one alter-ego to Nigeria’s Commander-in-Chief who enjoys tremendous following. He creates a convivial camaraderie and serves as a go-between, providing the needed umbilical cord that bridges the Parliament and the President.

He plans President’s schedules and guests seeing the President cannot boycott his office in the Presidency.


Nuhu Ribadu – National Security Adviser (NSA):

He is a trained lawyer, reputed to be a fearless crime fighter.

He was the pioneer Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the government commission tasked with countering corruption and fraud, which he literally transformed into one of the most effective and renowned anti-graft agencies in modern history.

With uncommon commitment, he courageously brought to book hundreds of fraudsters, scores of high profile looters and economic saboteurs in spite of temptation, booby traps and threats to life.

Ironically, Ribadu, after a celebrated media trial of Tinubu for alleged corruption, turned around to become his political disciple. How they became friends is still within the realm of conjecture.


Seyi Tinubu: He is the President’s son and the president’s closest confidant.

He is influential and travasses the corridor of power in Abuja. There are also talks that he worked behind the scenes to handpick no fewer than 10 of the current Ministers on the father’s cabinet. This underscores his magnitude of influence in the corridors of powers.

Reports have it that the billionaire President’s son also facilitated the engagement of Ayodele Olawande as the new minister for state for youth. He is also, reportedly, behind the nomination of his employee, one Charles Odili as the new Director General of SMEDAN (Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria).


Col. Adebisi Onasanya -Commander, Guards Brigade:

He took over from Brig. General Aminu Umar who has been redeployed to Army War College Nigeria as the Deputy Commandant and Director of Studies.

As Commander of the elite Brigade, he is charged with the primary responsibility of providing all round protection and guard the President, first family and his guests, as well as perform ceremonial duties.

The Guards Brigade Commander also provides protection for the Vice President of Nigeria, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chief Justice of Nigeria.


Toyin Subair – SA Domestic:

He oversees the activities of the President’s household. In other words, he is the Chief emissary to the President. You may not see him regularly like others as he is hardly visible, but he is a very influential personality. He decides who sees the President at home and decides who gets what.


Ajuri Ngelale – Special Adviser On Media And Publicity In The Presidency.

Before he transmuted into his current position, Ngelale had served under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari as Senior Special Adviser on Public Affairs. He was a co-principal spokesperson of Ahmed Bola Tinubu presidential campaign council for the 2023 Nigeria presidential elections, which they won.

He was a senior reporter and presenter at Africa Independent Television (AIT) and Channels Television.

As spokesperson of the President, Ngelale has the onerous responsibility of managing the image of the President and all the good works therefrom the presidency.

He is also influential and is responsible for collecting information about actions and events within the presidency and issues the Presidency’s reactions to developments around the world.

He interacts with the media, and deals with the State House Press corps on a daily basis, generally in a daily press briefing.


Opeyemi Bamidele

Although his office is not situated within the presidential villa, not many, however, know that this distinguish member of parliament and current holder of the office of majority Leader in the Nigerian Senate is a close ally of the Commander-in-Chief and currently wields influence in the corridor of power.

He had served as the Senior Legislative Aide to President Bola Tinubu in 1992 when Tinubu was a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Appropriation, and Currency.

Little wonder that President Tinubu sent special felicitations to Bamidele, his long-term political associate and trusted ally, on the occasion of his 60th birthday, on July 29, 2023.

Bamidele, who is the Senator representing Ekiti Central constituency, served as Commissioner in the Tinubu administration in Lagos State.

Describing Bamidele, President Tinubu in a statement by the media office of the State House, praised him for his loyalty and dedication to progressive politics and years of promoting the welfare of the people as Students’ Union leader, activist, legal practitioner and an outstanding politician.

“I use the opportunity of the 60th birthday of Senator Opeyemi Bamidele to thank God for His grace upon his life and the mercy he received to be alive, and to be in such an exalted position.

“Senator Bamidele is one of my closest allies and protégés who has risen to national prominence on the back of his steadfastness, loyalty, commitment to progressive politics and hardwork in the promotion of the welfare of the people.

“I know of Senator Bamidele’s sense of duty and extraordinary talent having worked with him for many years. His passion, energy and dedication has continued to propel him and will continue to serve him into a greater future.”

Senator Opeyemi who is not visible to many in the Presidential Villa, an ally in the inner circle of Tinubu’s presidency, is said to wield tremendous influence in the corridor of power.


Abdullahi Ganduje:

Unknown to many, he also belongs to the inner circle in the Presidency. Although he is one unassuming political heavyweight from the northern axis of the governing party (APC), he possesses tremendous magnetism.

The former Governor of Kano state is a staunch ally of President Bola Tinubu. The grapevines have it that Ganduje it was, who worked behind the scenes and served as the arrowhead of those who stood firm for the emergence of Tinubu during the presidential primaries and the main election.

The Kano political maestro it was, who stood firm in alliance with the former Lagos State governor and moved across the country with him in the campaign train during the build up to the presidential election.

With his tremendous influence, Ganduje was able to garner for Mr Tinubu 517,341 votes in Kano, the second-highest that he polled in a state.

Not too long after the presidential election, there were speculations that the parley between Tinubu and Rabiu Kwankwaso could leave Ganduje out in the cold. But all the rumours of a rift with Tinubu fell like a park of cards as the President also supported the former Kano State Governor to emerge as the national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Ganduje is one of Tinubu’s confidants and wields tremendous influence in the current Presidency.

As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) awaits the Supreme Court verdict on the 2023 presidential election, the tussle for leadership of the has begun amid realignment of power brokers within.

Checks by LEADERSHIP Sunday revealed that the while the pro-Atiku Abubakar group are pushing to seize control of the party, the group loyal to the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike is also scheming to take the reins of the party.

It was learnt that the dilemma before the party is the search for a national chairman who can balance the interests within and enhance the fortunes of the party.

This comes as the prospect of a mini convention after the Supreme Court verdict is being discussed in some quarters.

The convention which is being projected to re-access the party’s fortunes after the 2023 polls might see the change of leadership.

It was further learnt that the recent visit of former president of the senate, Abubakar Saraki, to Wike was linked to the search for a consensus.

Wike and Saraki lost last year’s PDP presidential primary to Atiku.

However, Wike and four other governors worked for President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) instead of Atiku during the election after their demand that a national chairman from the South should replace Dr Iyorchia Ayu.

Wike was however later to be rewarded with the FCT ministerial appointment.

Saraki was appointed into the PDP/Atiku’s campaign team.

A party source said despite calls for Wike’s sanction for working with the ruling party, the former governor’s group has insisted that they will not leave the party.

The source said the group had resolved to retain their influence in the party.

“One of the ways to do so is to be part of the power groups that will determine the future of the party by influencing who leads the party from next year,” the source said.

He added that the Wike and Saraki meeting was against the backdrop of the need by the camps to forge an understanding ahead of the tussle for party leadership.

“Failure to do this will lead to the emergence of a hostile chairman who may move against them. They know Saraki as a reconciliatory man, a bridge builder, somebody they can trust to be neutral and have the capacity and resources to rebuild the party.

“The meeting is the first step the Wike group is making. More governors and senators in the group will openly canvass support for Saraki and even visit. Many have silently visited him,” the source added.

When asked, another source close to the former senate president who pleaded not to be named, said he had not made up his mind on the chairmanship yet.

“His position is that we should wait till after the Supreme Court verdict on the Atiku case. Either way the case goes, the next assignment for the PDP is resolving leadership issues and reconciliation,” he said.

The Investor & Exporter forex window recorded a turnover of $53.02m on Friday, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s forex ban lift on 43 items.

The CBN on Thursday, lifted the ban on importers of 43 items restricted from accessing foreign exchange on its official platform.

It disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘CBN restates commitment to boost liquidity in forex market’, signed by the Director, Corporate Communications, Isa AbdulMumin.

“Importers of all the 43 items previously restricted by the 2015 circular referenced TED/FEM/FPC/GEN/01/010, and its addendums are now allowed to purchase foreign exchange in the Nigerian foreign exchange market,” the statement said.

Figures obtained from the FMDQ on Friday revealed that there wasn’t improvement in turnover on the official trading platform, as it recorded $53.02m turnover from $60.30m on Tuesday.

The naira however appreciated slightly as it exchanged at 764.86/$ from 766.70/$ on Thursday.

Analysts at Cordros Securities said in a report on Friday on the forex ban lift that, “In our view, while this is another step forward, we think FX liquidity should take prominence to avoid further FX pressures at the official and parallel markets, more so that the FX queue will now be longer at the official market without liquidity.

“Perhaps this is a signalling tool by the CBN to shift attention away from the parallel market and reduce the pressure of the official market playing a catch-up game with the unofficial exchange rate.

“Hence, in terms of impact, we think FX pressures will increase in the official market in the near term, while the parallel market rate is likely to appreciate as the importers of these 43 items move to the official market.”

The Senate has passed for first reading a bill that recommends a fine of N50,000 to parents who default in providing their children with primary and secondary school education.

The Red Chamber also recommended free meals for every child in the country.

The bill proposed by Senator Orji Kalu titled, ‘Compulsory free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, Section 2’ states that every government in Nigeria shall provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.”

The act further states that “Every parent shall ensure that his child or ward attends and completes his primary school education and junior secondary school education by endeavouring to send the child to primary and junior secondary schools.”

“The Act further states that stakeholders in education in a local government area shall ensure that every parent or person who has the care and custody of a child performs the duty imposed on him under section 2(2) of this Act.”

The act further noted that a parent who contravenes the earlier prescription should be liable, on the first conviction, to be reprimanded.

“On a second conviction, a fine of N2,000 or imprisonment for a term of one month or both; and on subsequent conviction, to a fine of N5,000 or imprisonment for a term of two months or to both.”

The Senate, however, in its amendment, proposed N50,000 fines, instead of the N5,000 previously stated in the Act.

The amendment states, “Section (4) (b) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N2,000 and inserting N20,000. Section (4) (c) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N5,000 and inserting N50,000.”

It added, “Section 3(2) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N10,000 and inserting N100,000.”

It stated, “A person who receives or obtains any fee contrary to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding N10,000 or imprisonment for a term of three months or to both.

“Every parent shall ensure that his child receives full-time education suitable to his age, ability and aptitude by regular attendance at schools.”

However, the Senate proposes, N100,000 in replacement of the N10,000.

The Senate proposed, “Section 3(2) of the Principal Act is amended by deleting N10,000 and inserting N100,000.”

Responding to this development, the Programme Coordinator for Basic Education at Reform Education, Nigeria, Ayodamola Oluwatoyin, in an interview with Saturday PUNCH, noted that while the move by the lawmakers seems commendable, there should be an investigation into the additional charges by the public schools across the country.

Ifeanyi Ubah, senator representing Anambra south, says 80 percent of Igbos got their wealth from President Bola Tinubu’s legacy in Lagos state.

Lagos is Nigeria’s commercial hub and Tinubu governed the city between 1999 and 2007.

Speaking after he was formally received into the fold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Thursday in Abuja, Ubah said Tinubu has the capacity to govern Nigeria.

“I want to be sincere, it has always been difficult for the Igbo people to key into the national party because of our sentiments and emotions,” he said.

“Since our president has emerged and I put that challenge to each Igbo man today in Nigeria, 70 percent – 80 percent of them derive their wealth from the legacy that the president has left in Lagos.

“Our president is the politician that understands how it pains and how to console everybody. He has that capacity.

“One of the important things for me to tell our people is the appointment of Engr. Dave Umahi as the Minister of Works for the very first time, irrespective of our very low turnout of votes to him.”

Ubah said he joined APC because he wanted the south-east to align with Tinubu’s administration.

While responding, Abdullahi Ganduje, the national chairman of APC, said with the senator’s defection, he is confident that the party would take control of other south-eastern states.

“We will start a revolution, already we have two states in south-east and with this timber and calibre juggernaut, I think we have found the answer,” Ganduje said.

“We thank you for coming. I describe him as a swing politician because wherever he is, that party wins.

“And we are expecting this swing will swing throughout the south-east, especially to the other three states that don’t belong to APC.”

By Dalhatu Liman


The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has in strong terms condemned the ongoing Israeli military aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip for the sixth day in a row, killing more than 1,200 martyrs.

The OIC says Israel’s brutal actions on civilian populations have been inflicting injuries to thousands of unsuspecting Palestinians, including women and children, and destroying residential buildings, civilian facilities, infrastructure, hospitals, schools, places of worship, and United Nations facilities.

In a statement seen by Daily Trust, Thursday morning, the organization labeled Israel attacks as inhumane.

“Add to this the inhumane water and power outages and continued daily deliberate killings in West Bank cities in conjunction with the repeated attacks on the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“The OIC considers this brutal aggression against the Palestinian people a blatant international and humanitarian law violation and a war crime.

“The OIC holds Israel, the occupying power, fully responsible for the repercussions of the continuation of this sinful aggression,” the statement added.

It also called on the international community to intervene urgently to force Israel, to stop its ongoing attacks against the Palestinian people immediately, and to ensure the opening of humanitarian corridors to facilitate the entry of medicines and food supplies and basic needs to the Gaza Strip.

Nigeria's anti-corruption body, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it has recovered a combined sum of N27,184,357,524.52 and $19,084,419.33 from three different money laundering cases.

The agency disclosed that out of the N27.2 billion recovered, N12.7 billion was from one individual.

According to the commission, it is also investigating former governors, ex-ministers, and several government officials across the country.

The Acting EFCC Chairman, Abdukarim Chukkol, who disclosed this in Lagos, during a media interaction with select journalists, said further efforts were being made by the agency to recover more illicit funds.

According to ThisDay, he added that the agency would soon make public details of its ongoing investigations into the activities of some past leaders.

Chukkol, who was represented by the spokesperson for the commission, Dele Oyewale, said the anti-graft agency had received several petitions against former governors, ex-ministers and government officials.

The anti-graft agency is also carrying out ongoing investigations into some monumental procurement fraud involving some officials of the Federal Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Oyewale said the anti-graft agency had seized several houses in the Federal Capital Territory, Lagos and Cross River states which are proceeds of funds meant for the Mambilla and Zungeru Power projects that were diverted through sundry Bureau de Change operators.

“In three different cases, the commission has recovered N27,184,357,524.52 and $19,084,419.33. While ongoing recovery is being made, the commission’s works are progressing in line with our mandate as prevention initiatives, risk assessments and recovery efforts are being intensified.

“Petitions were received in respect of several public officials, some of them former governors, some former ministers, and some ministry officials, and investigations are ongoing on those petitions; however, details of their involvements and our investigations will soon be made public.

“Also, investigations are ongoing in respect of monumental fraud involving some officials of the Federal Ministry of Power and Agriculture; procurement fraud actually. Funds meant for the Mambilla and Zungeru Power projects are diverted through sundry Bureau de Change operators. For now, several houses purchased with the funds are being recovered. The houses are in Abuja, Lagos and Cross River states,” Oyewale said.

Reminded that some former governors, who are now ministers in the current administration and current members of the National Assembly have allegations of fraud against them, the EFCC boss said investigations were ongoing.

He assured Nigerians that once investigations were concluded, those involved would be persecuted according to the laws of the land irrespective of the office they occupy.

Chukkol explained that the agency was focused more on preventing financial and economic crimes, noting that it was more cost-effective to do so.

“Considering the cost involved in investigating and prosecuting financial crimes and their perpetrators, it is better we prevent them from happening. As a result, EFCC is intensifying its focus on its preventive mandate. We shall be doing more in the area of public enlightenment and more jingles among others,” he said.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has not convened the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting 44 days after the inaugural cabinet session held on August 28.

This has continued to raise questions on whether or not this could affect governance.

The Federal Executive Council, which is chaired by the president, is the cabinet of the Federal Government of Nigeria and part of the executive branch.

The constitutional role of the FEC, as contained in the Ministers’ Statutory Powers and Duties Act, is to serve as an advisory body to the president.

President Tinubu had, on August 21, sworn in and inaugurated 45 ministers who attended the maiden cabinet meeting at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa in Abuja on August 28.

The president was away from the country for 20 days in September alone.

He spent eight days attending the G20 Summit in New Delhi, India and held talks in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for a follow-up discussion to address “specific, salient issues within the bilateral relationship” after conversations held during a visit by the UAE Ambassador to him at the State House in Abuja.

For 12 days, also in September, he was away for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, the United States, and other outings.

During the period, Vice President Kashim Shettima, who could have presided over FEC meetings, was in Havana where he represented the president at the G77+China Leaders’ Summit from September 15 to 17.

President Tinubu returned to Abuja on September 29 ahead of the 63rd Independence Anniversary.

FEC meetings were held weekly by past administrations.

Meanwhile, the three ministers recently confirmed by the Senate – Balarabe Abbas Lawal (Kaduna), Jamila Bio Ibrahim (Kwara) and Ayodele Olawande (Ondo) – are also waiting to be inaugurated, though a source at the Presidency said they would be sworn in at the next cabinet meeting.

A top presidency source hinted that the FEC meeting was being put on hold owing to a ministerial retreat which has not yet taken place.

The source, who spoke to Daily Trust on condition of anonymity, said each minister had been given a document that specified his/her mandates and targets.

On why the ministerial retreat has not taken place, the official said all 48 ministers were expected to internalize the content of the documents before the retreat.

“The ministers ought to have started a retreat. And they have been given some materials which they want them to internalize before the retreat,” the source said.

Our correspondent, however, reports that President Tinubu has continued to receive briefings from ministers and heads of various agencies and parastatals.

When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Print Media, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz, said President Tinubu has a different idea of the functions of the Federal Executive Council.

According to the presidential aide, the fact that FEC meetings have not been held does not stop governance.

“I think this is not an issue because there is no specific time for FEC meetings. Nobody said there are specific provisions for FEC meetings and every government can work out things that will suit it. The most important thing is that ministers are working.

“In fact, the president has a different idea of the functions of the FEC because what we have seen, which a lot of experts have criticized, is how FEC reacts to contract awarding, but that is not the principle of FEC.

“He (the president) will hold the FEC, but those policy advisory and supervision kinds of functions, not the traditional way of coming every week announcing contract awards.

“There is more to FEC than contract award and the most important thing is that cabinet is in check and minsters are busy working and there is a consultation with the president. So, lack of FEC meeting doesn’t stop anything,” he said.

The Executive Director, Sustainable Gender Action Initiative (SGAI), Abuja, Mufuliat Fijabi, in a chat with Daily Trust, noted that the FEC meeting constitutes an important aspect of Nigeria’s democratic process and that as a response to the growing socio-economic challenges facing Nigerians, it cannot be toyed with.

“I am calling on the government to call the FEC meeting and deliberate on the challenges in order to renew the hopes of Nigerians in the government. As is the practice over the years, Nigerians usually look out for new outcomes from the meeting. Besides, it is an opportunity for the government to review progress made so far and adjust where necessary,” Fijabi said.

For the Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the citizens ought to be mounting pressure on the government to deliver good governance.

He said the fact that many Nigerians did not notice the president’s failure to hold FEC meetings “speaks volumes about the serious crisis of lack of governance affecting Nigeria.”

He said: “The government itself is struggling for legitimacy with the certificate of the president currently under legal scrutiny. The result is that Nigeria is currently rudderless and citizens are groaning under the weight of the multiplicity of challenges including, but not limited to the fuel crisis, forex crisis and insecurity.

“The way out of the current crisis is for citizens to continually pressure the government to deliver good governance.”

Similarly, the Executive Director, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre (PAACA) and chairman, Partners for Electoral Reforms (PER), Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, said socio-economic challenges are not resolved or addressed by rituals, but have “to be confronted by some sort of intentionality.”

“I think we need to get off baby steps and walk. Often, new governments talk about how they didn’t know how deep the rot is, but we expect that they are prepared to confront the challenges they meet.

“Our current public anaesthesia will soon wear out, and days will start counting for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration,” Nwagwu said.

Osagie Otabor, Akure


An Akure Magistrate Court has declared as barbaric, evil and ungodly a part of Igbo custom which denied a father access to his children over non-payment of bride price to the wife’s family.

It said: “The custom that tends to punish one person when two consenting adults are involved in the act is nothing but the highest element of insensitivity and servitude.”

Magistrate Segun Stephen Rotiba spoke when he gave ruling on the legal tussle between Prophet Theophilus Obayan and his estranged wife, Prophetess Chibuzor Lilian.

Prophet Obayan is a Yoruba while his estranged wife hails from Abia State.

The were heads of the Divine Prophetic Solutions Prayers Ministry, Ladipo in Lagos State.

Prophetess Chibuzor left her husband to marry one of his spiritual sons, Abua Obi, and changed her children’s surname to Obi.

Obayan filed a divorce suit against his wife on grounds that she changed his children’s surname to her lover’s name.

He also asked the court to dissolve the 23 years old union over allegation of disobedience, misunderstanding, lies, manipulation, abuse, hate and rage.

Prophet Obayan challenged snatching of his four children by a member of his church, and sought return of the paternity of the children as well as grant him custody of the children

In his ruling, Magistrate Rotiba dissolved the marriage on grounds that the parties have lost interest in the union and granted Obayan’s prayers to reclaim his four children.

He noted that from the evidence before it, the Respondent alluded to the fact under cross- examination that since the Petitioner did not pay her bride price, her new husband who paid same has the right to have them bear his name in accordance with Igbo custom.

According to him: “In the same breathe, I find the Igbo custom exuded by the respondent and her witnesses that the children of the union can bear Mr Abua Obi as their surname, atavistic, barbaric, evil, ungodly, irrational, unsensational, crass, gross, crude, unwary, provocative, ungodly, discriminatory and insensible.

“The custom that tends to punish one person when two consenting adults are involved in the act is nothing but the highest element of insensitivity and servitude.

“I condemn this custom in the strongest terms. While the matter was on, a publication was made on February 2, 2023 in Vanguard newspapers, changing the surname of the first two children of the parties to Abua Obi

“Aside the fact that complicit to change the surname of the first two children has been establishqed against the Respondent, it also amounts to subjudice as no action is expected to be taken on the subject matter by whoever, when the matter is pending before the Court.

“This is a complete affront to the Court. I say no more. In conclusion, the Court hereby dissolves the union between the parties, having broken down irretrievably.

“The Court, hereby declares personal non grata, the custom of the Respondent awarding paternal personality to a man who is not the biological father of the children.

“The Court hereby invalidates and render null and void the publication changing the surname of the 1st and 2nd children from Obayan to Abua Obi.

“The Court also invalidates any other publication or whatsoever changing the surname of the Children from Obayan to Abua Obi during the pendency of this case.”

The army authorities have discovered explosives at the scene of the Ikeja bomb blast, 21 years and nine months after.

The explosion which occurred on January 27, 2002 at the Military Cantonment in Ikeja is believed to have killed at least 1,100 people and displaced over 20,000 with many others injured and rendered homeless.

Bombs and other explosives mistakenly went off in the armoury section of the barracks.

The explosion, which sounded about seven times, over two days, led to the destruction of properties in and around the area. It was an unprecedented occurrence, so people scampered for safety.

Speaking in Lagos Tuesday at the flag off of the “Exercise Clean Sweep”, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Tajudeen Lagbaja, said the army had finally commenced the movement of the remaining unexploded ordinance to one of its bases in Ajilete, Ogun State.

He said the initial clearance operation done in 2002 ensured some degree of safety in the Ikeja Cantonment and environs.

The COAS said the recent discovery of some unexploded explosive ordnances at the site of the 2002 blast raised the need for the army to carry out a follow up clearance exercise.

He said the 60+1 day exercise would be held from October 10 to December 10 and that it would involve the mobilisation of engineers’ plants and other necessary equipment to the site.

“There will also be movements and disposal of recovered unexploded explosive ordnances from Ikeja Cantonment to the Nigerian Army Range at Ajilete in Ogun State during this exercise.

“The objective of Exercise Clean Sweep is to totally disinfect the epicenter of the Ikeja bomb blast and clear it of all verified and suspected remaining Unexploded Explosive Ordnance. This will aid putting the site to future safe and productive use by the Nigerian Army and the larger Ikeja community.

“I must state at this point that exercises of this nature are time and resource consuming. It has taken this long to finalize the clearance operation, not because of lack of will but because it requires long term planning and acquisition of relevant expertise and equipment.

“I am happy today, to report that the Nigerian Army, with the support of the government and our international partners, has got what it takes to embark on such an ambitious and arduous cleanup. This briefing is a sensitization campaign to adequately notify the people of Lagos and Ogun states of the cleanup exercise. It also serves as an avenue to seek the support and collaboration of the Governments and the good people of Lagos and Ogun States for safe and smooth conduct of Exercise Clean Sweep,” Lagbaja said.

He added, “I wish to assure the general populace, especially Lagos and Ogun states residents, that the exercise will be conducted in the most professional manner with all necessary safety and security measures emplaced in line with global best practices.”

“To further reassure the citizenry, I have directed that adequate sensitization and awareness on the impending exercise be carried out on popular electronic, print, and social media. I implore the people of Lagos and Ogun states to not panic on sighting the movement of heavy vehicles and equipment as well as the sound of demolition of recovered Unexploded Explosive Ordnance at the Nigerian Army Range Ajilete, in Ogun State.

“The Nigerian Army equally seeks the cooperation of relevant government agencies and parastatals in Lagos and Ogun states, such as the State Emergency Management Agencies, the Federal Fire Service, Federal Road Safety Corp, Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services towards ensuring the success of this clean up exercise,” he added.

The COAS said it had taken the army 21 years and nine months to arrive at this point, adding that the journey might have been perceived as slow, but had been steady and painstaking.

“The best compensation we can give to the victims of the 2002 bomb blast is to make the site and others secure for those living to avoid reoccurrence,” he added.

But in an interview with one of our correspondents last night, a retired Nigerian Air Force personnel, John Ojikutu, said the discovered unexplosive materials couldn’t have been there for that very long time.

Ojikutu, who retired as Group Captain in the force, explained that it might have been planted in recent times, saying no incident had happened in Lagos that warranted such materials to be there.

“I’m an indigene of Lagos. Though, I hail from Isale Eko and I have not heard of this type of incident before. Even during the Civil War, there I don’t think such device was planted anywhere in the Centre of Excellence,” he said.

The Lagos State Government says it has suspended its planned mass burial of the 103 corpses recovered in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, told The PUNCH on Monday that the planned mass burial had been suspended, following the controversy generated by the announcement in July.

In a leaked memo dated July 19, 2023, the state government had said it would conduct a mass burial for the 103 corpses, The PUNCH reports.

This had raised dust among human rights campaigners and civil society organisations.

A human rights organisation, Amnesty International, and a group under the aegis of the Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters had demanded that the state government should suspend the planned mass burial.

In addition to the suspension demand, Amnesty International had asked the government to “also carry out transparent coroner inquest and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims.”

In its reaction, the state government through the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr Gboyega Akosile, exclusively told The PUNCH that the government would “conform to global best practices” in carrying out the mass burial.

When asked for an update on the matter on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy said the planned mass burial “remains suspended to give people ample time to identify their relatives that may be among the corpses.”

“It is to allow more time for identification as suggested when it was disclosed that the government was planning a mass burial for them,” Omotoso said.

He stated further that “up till now, nobody has shown up to identify any of the corpses. But the government has decided to give people more time.”

He added that the planned burial would “be carried out soon, but because of the controversies around that time, it was suspended. People now have the time and ample opportunity to see if their relatives are there.

Citing increasing cost of business operations and the harsh economy, the telecom operators are proposing an upward review of the mobile termination rate for voice services and the institution of an interim adjustment of the telecom industry’s floor price for voice and data services.

This is coming ahead of the conclusion of a cost study and issuance of a substantive pricing regulatory framework in this regard.

To this end, telecom operators under the auspices of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) have asked the new minister of communication, innovation and digital economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, to issue policy guidance to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to commence implementation of targeted interventions starting with an upward review of voice call rates, among others.

They also urged the new minister to address teething investment-impacting causal factors, to help deepen investment with the overall objective of driving increased CAPEX deployment for improved Quality of Service (QoS), in line with the targets of the Strategic Plan to achieve 50 per cent improvement in QoS by the end of 2024.

In a document made available to LEADERSHIP, telecoms operators averred that the cost of doing business in the country had risen sharply in the preceding months due to a myriad of factors generally impacting businesses, including macroeconomic headwinds such as inflation, currency devaluation, sustained difficulty in accessing forex at an affordable rate, rising energy costs, rising cost of securing telecommunications facilities and field personnel in the face of worsening insecurity, among others.

ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo, decried the strong macroeconomic headwinds which have occasioned tough operating conditions, leading to a decline in CAPEX (Domestic) and Foreign Direct (Capital Inflow) investments into the industry by 30.37 per cent and 46.9 per cent respectively between 2021 and 2022.

Despite these challenges, Adebayo disclosed that the pricing regulatory framework had not been reviewed to account for changes in macroeconomic conditions and reflect current cost profile of operators, as such, ALTON’s members are unable to price services at a sustainable rate.

“Consumer prices in other sectors have seen a steep rise over the last six years as they adjust to reflect macroeconomic realities. However, telco prices have remained flat and even declined. Contrary to the price trends in other sectors, telcos have had to adjust for the macroeconomic headwinds caused by an increasing erosion of margins. Other highly regulated sectors such as power and insurance have implemented price increases over the last year. Insurance prices have risen 200 per cent with power raising prices by over 40 per cent.”

He noted that telecommunications was the only sector that had not experienced any price review notwithstanding local and global macroeconomic realities, adding that not only has this impaired investor confidence and depleted available investible funds necessary to optimise infrastructure for improved service delivery, but also threatened the very sustainability of telecoms operations.

On multiple taxation, ALTON chairman appealed to the minister to collaborate with the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms to address the perennial incidence of multiple taxation in the Nigerian telecommunications sector, including the elimination of the currently suspended excise duty on telecommunications services.

On infrastructure bill, Adebayo averred that operators have recorded several cases of vandalism of their equipment and shut down of their infrastructure by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government and communities, as a means of compelling them to comply with their demands for spurious taxes or levies.

This is even as he tasked the House Committee to sponsor/coordinate a Critical National Infrastructure bill that will accord telecommunications infrastructure the same level of protection as other critical national assets and will provide a legal framework to guide law enforcement agencies accordingly.

In his response, the communication minister said he would look into all that had been tabled by ALTON and said the challenges were not insurmountable.

He informed the team of operators that the sector was not innovative enough in the attempt to reach the unreached people in the rural areas and unlock the services for a lot of people through technology, just as he urged operators to carry out more research and development to boost the sector.