News
BREAKING: I’ve not authorised anyone to stop protests – Tinubu
President Bola Tinubu, on Sunday admonished agencies of government not to engage in any act that would deny Nigerians the right to air their grievances through protests or any other means allowed by law, stating that it is not in his character as a veteran of protests in the past to toe that line.
The President, spoke against the backdrop of the 10-day nationwide protest by some interest groups in Nigeria, scheduled to commence on August 1, with which they intend to call attention to the biting hunger in the land occasioned by what they described as bad governance.
Termed Days of Rage, security agencies in Nigeria, ranging from military authorities to the police and Department of State Services (DSS), as well as government officials at various levels and pro-government organisations, had spoken against the protest holding, while some of them have vowed to put event down on the ground that it could turn violent.
But conveying his position through Ajuri Ngelale, his spokesman, Tinubu, who was one of the arrowheads of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), that was a thorn in the flesh of the late military despot, Sani Abacha, for which he was sent on exile alongside many pro-democracy advocates, maintained that protests remained the right of Nigerians.
Apart from the Abacha era, where his group demanded for the de-annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential and release Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola, then presumed to have won the election and swearing him in, Tinubu, was in the forefront of rallying support for the massive support against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2012, over the removal of subsidy on the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol.
Jonathan eventually capitulated on the weight of the massive protest, which took a whole two weeks to subside, and eventually settled to partial increase of the commodity, which also saw the government, putting up measures to cushion the effect, particularly the establishment of the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme, otherwise known as SURE-P.
Ngelali, Special Adviser to the president on media and publicity, a guest on Sunday Politics, a current affairs programme on TVC, while clarifying the position of his boss on the planned protest, told his host: “Let me be clear, we are not in office to dominate our people; we are here to serve them. President Tinubu fully supports the right of Nigerians to protest peacefully. He has his own history as an activist fighting for democracy in 1999. No one in our administration has the authority to deny Nigerians their right to peaceful protest.”
But he also acknowledged the fears across the land, which he said also resonated within the Presidency to the effect that the event could be hijacked by hoodlums to cause mayhem in the country, citing example with the #EndSARS protests, organised by Nigerian youths in October 2020, to protest police brutality, which was initially peaceful, but later turned bloody.
Stressing that credible intelligence suggested that they could be hijacked in a similar to the event four years ago, he said the government was not ready to allow a repeat of the anarchy that came as a result, which could have dire consequences on the polity.
Fuel marketers across Abuja on Wednesday continued to sell Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), popularly known as petrol, at old prices more than 24 hours after Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a reduction in its ex-depot price, Vanguard is reporting.
The paper reported that its investigation, showed that major retail outlets were yet to adjust their pump prices despite the N75 per litre reduction announced by the refinery on Monday.
At the retail stations visited in Abuja, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Retail and TotalEnergies dispensed petrol at N1,335 per litre, while AA Rano sold at N1,350 per litre. AYM Shafa and Conoil outlets sold the product at N1,330 per litre.
The development comes amid growing public expectations that the reduction in Dangote Refinery’s gantry price would quickly translate into lower pump prices nationwide.
Explaining the delay, the President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN), Dr. Billy Gillis-Harry, said retail prices are influenced by several factors beyond refinery gate prices.
Speaking to Channels TV, Gillis-Harry said: “Prices reflecting at the pump are dependent on availability of the product, the other is the cost. The cost of purchasing the product and cost in terms of logistics, and preparing the particular petroleum to be delivered to the people”.
According to him, downward price adjustments often take longer to reach consumers because marketers need to recover the cost of existing stock purchased at higher prices before restocking at lower rates.
When asked why increases in fuel prices are usually reflected immediately while reductions are delayed, Gillis-Harry said the dynamics of supply management play a significant role.
He explained: “It is mainly affected by whether the producer has additional resources or not at the time. Increases in prices are mainly caused by the need to restock. There must be that advantage pushing the price upward to be able to pay for new supplies.”
He further acknowledged that marketers generally seek to exhaust existing inventory before implementing lower prices.
“That’s the basic idea. But in petroleum, a mixture is involved, and loss is taken, though not in a way that affects the capital needed to restock,” he added.
Also speaking on the issue, energy analyst Olabode Sowunmi said fuel pricing in Nigeria is influenced by a combination of domestic supply arrangements and logistics costs, rather than crude oil prices alone.
He noted that although international crude oil prices remain an important factor globally, their impact on local petrol pricing is not always direct.
“Global price of crude oil is a factor internationally and not necessarily in Nigeria,” Sowunmi said.
Explaining that Dangote Refinery operates under arrangements that allow a portion of crude supply to be priced in naira, reducing the direct impact of international market fluctuations on local fuel prices, he said: “So basically the issue will have to be from the point of refinery to where it touches the final person. Logistics costs within the domestic supply chain remain a major determinant of the final pump price paid by consumers.”
Peter Obi, candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), has given assignment to Nigerians to put all those aspiring to take up political positions in the country through the grill to ascertain their level of integrity, saying it was required as a sine qua non for the job they seek.
Obi, who has been a subject of discussion in the polity since the allegation of corruption was levied against him by Kenneth Okonkwo, spokesman of his campaign in 2023, over the conduct of the party’s primaries to choose candidates for the 2027 general elections, said the grilling must start with his own person.
A guest in an interview on a podcast with Rufai Oseni, a popular television anchor, the former Governor of Anambra State, stated that it was actually for this reason that he had now sworn to see the litigation he instituted against Okonkwo through.
His take is that the Nollywood actor should use the courtrooms to give all the details of bad behaviour, following his threat to expose him fully, after alleging that he was collecting money from aspirants in the said election for electoral favours.
Hear him: “The issue of taking Kenneth Okonkwo to court wouldn’t have arisen if he had stopped at those allegations. But he claimed he still has more he would expose about me in the future. So, I am very happy to take him to court so that he can expose me publicly, alongside other Nigerians. If any of them has any criminal allegations against me, they should bring them to court.
“Not just Kenneth, everybody should now say those things they know that is bad about me or I did that is wrong because it’s good for the system, it’s good for the society,” Obi said.
“So, if you know that when we were in primary school, this man was cheating or didn’t go to the primary school, didn’t go to secondary school, didn’t do, if you know this man has done something criminal somewhere, this is time to bring it up.”
For the umpteenth time, Atiku Abubakar, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has warned about the dangerous implication of using state institutions, particularly the judiciary to destroy Nigeria’s democracy, saying it is an ill-wind that blows nobody any good.
Atiku, presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), speaking on the heels of Tuesday’s verdict of the Court of Appeal, halting the de-registration order by the Federal High Court, insisted that judicial officers must not lend themselves to any act capable of undermining the nation’s democratic process.
The appellate court had ordered a stay of execution on the order made on Monday by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court Abuja, for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to deregister the ADC alongside four other political parties).
A totally scandalised Court of Appeal, sitting in Abuja, had taken umbrage, sparing no hard words in upbraiding the lower court judge, stating that his likes were unfit to sit on the bench.
In a unanimous ruling by a three-man panel, the court held that Lifu’s action was “the highest form of judicial impertinence”, stressing that the Supreme Court previously held that a judge who acted in such a manner.
Describing his conduct as the height of judicial rascality, the upper court, stated: “Courts are enjoined to protect their integrity. This Court has supervisory authority over the trial court.
“The decision of the lower court to proceed with the judgment despite the express order of this court is a brazen violation of the hierarchy of the court and the 1999 Constitution.
This court has the duty to invoke its powers in ensuring that its orders are obeyed. The application for a stay of execution is here yet granted. The enforcement of the judgment is stayed.”
Atiku, who hailed the position of the higher court, which restored his hope to be on the ballot as presidential candidate in the 2027 election, also noted the role of INEC as “significant.”
He said: “I welcome the Court of Appeal’s decision to stay the execution of the Federal High Court judgement seeking the deregistration of our great party, the ADC, and four other political parties. It is particularly significant that INEC itself initiated the application for the stay.
“The development reflects growing public concern over judicial contradictions and politically charged rulings within the judiciary. “Any attempt to undermine Nigeria’s hard-won democracy through judicial manipulation is a grave danger to the Republic. If our democracy suffers further injury, history will demand accountability from those entrusted with dispensing justice.
Outside ADC, Lifu’s order, also included: Action Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Peoples Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Accord Party (AP) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), similarly slammed for allegedly failing to meet the constitutional requirements for continued registration and participation in elections.
-
Columns4 weeks agoDear General Gowon: That apology you’re running from is your nemesis
-
News2 weeks agoBREAKING: Terrorists strike Ibadan again! Abduct ex-Minister’s sister, twin children
-
Columns3 weeks agoSee Tinubu’s terrible damage on Option A4 and its precious memories
-
News3 days agoBREAKING: Troops rescue wife of kidnapped General! *Terrorists flee scene
-
News4 weeks agoPresidency: Obi met all requirements – NDC *Cleared to contest primaries
-
News2 weeks agoEmeka Ike: I’ll make example of Lere Olayinka for prying into my privacy
-
News3 weeks agoBREAKING: All clear for Jonathan! Ex-President eligible to run in 2027 – court
-
News4 weeks agoCooking gas inches N2,000 per kg price *We fear the worst – marketers