News
Seized planes, a fraud, failed plot to embarrass Tinubu – Presidency
The Presidency, on Thursday, took a tough stance on the issue of the three presidential planes currently seized in Paris, the French capital on the orders of that country’s court, saying that like the case of the P&ID case, which had all the trappings of fraud, Nigeria would not only fight, but triumph in the same way by retrieving the jets.
Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, who conveyed the position of Presidency on the matter, informed that Chinese company, Zhongshan Fucheng Industrial Investment Co. Limited, which instigated the matter was only engaging in arm-twisting and subterfuge in its attempt to confiscate the country’s assets through the back door.
Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, in a statement on Thursday, said: “The Federal Government is not under any contractual obligation with the company. The case in which Zhongshan is trying to use every unorthodox means to strip our offshore assets is between the company and the Ogun State Government.
“The Federal Government is fully aware of efforts being made by the Ogun State Government to reach an amicable resolution on the matter. It must be said without any equivocation that Zhongshan has no solid ground to demand restitution from the Ogun State Government based on the facts regarding the 2007 contract between the company and the State Government to manage a free-trade zone.
“When the contract with Ogun State was revoked in 2015, the company had only erected a perimeter fence on the land earmarked for a free trade zone. While the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice is working with the Ogun State Government on an amicable resolution, Zhongshan obtained two orders from the Judicial Court of Paris dated March 7, 2024, and August 12, 2024, without any notice being duly served on the Federal Government of Nigeria and Ogun State Government.
“The material facts in the transaction between the Ogun State Government and Zhongshan point to another P&ID case in which unscrupulous and questionable individuals falsely present themselves as investors with the sole objective of undercutting and scamming Governments in Africa.
“Undoubtedly, Zhongshan withheld vital information and misled the Judicial Court in Paris into attaching the Nigerian government’s presidential jets, which are on routine maintenance in France. The use and nature of the Presidential jets as assets of a Sovereign entity whose assets are protected by diplomatic immunity forbid any foreign Court from issuing an order against them.
“We are convinced the Chinese company misled the Judicial Court of Paris regarding the use and nature of the assets it seeks to attach and did not fully disclose to the court as required by law. This same Chinese company had tried to enforce its questionable judgment in the UK and USA but failed.
“Like the P&ID case, foreign companies are trying to defraud Nigeria with the collaboration of some bureaucrats. Zhongshan appeared to have sold the judgment they got to a venture capitalist seeking to make money by embarrassing the Federal Government and President Bola Tinubu. We want to assure Nigerians that the Federal Government is working with the Ogun State Government to discharge this frivolous order in Paris immediately. Nigerian Government will always work to protect our national assets from predators and shylocks who masquerade as investors.”
Reports say that after the revocation of a contract between Ogun State and Zhongshan to manage a free-trade zone was executed in 2007, the Chinese firm, launched a legal battle against the Ogun government, in 2015, leading to the commencement of an arbitration began in 2016, at at the end of it in 2019, the Arbitral Panel awarded over $60 million against the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), a co-defendant, even when all Zhongshan had done was build a perimeter fence around the free-trade zone.
Based on legal advice, the Ogun State Government resolved to resist the enforcement of the award, which resulted in success in eight different jurisdictions, but unrelenting, the firm went on appeal on the matter in both the US and UK courts, while the Ogun State on its part, launched settlement discussions on reasonable terms, with a meeting lasting three days held in September 2023 in London, which had in attendance officials of Ogun State, including Governor Dapo Abiodun and the Attorney General/Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi.
It was further reported that the Chinese firm, which had initially agreed to consider a “reasonable offer,” surprisingly reversed its position on the second day, insisting on the government paying the full arbitration debt, a development that led to a breakdown of the mediation, with parties agreeing to meet again in the first quarter of 2024.
But instead of the meeting, the firm, was said to have continued hedging on the matter, while embarking on a series of enforcement proceedings, which the legal team appointed by the FGN and Ogun State successfully opposed and even succeeded in setting aside an ex-parte order, which the company similarly obtained as in the instant case.
Qowiy Oloyede, a resident of Oriya Sokoto road, Atan Ota, is currently telling operatives of the Ogun State Colice command, the reasons that pushed him into making a video suggesting that a part of the state was under attack of terrorists, knowing same to be fake.
Oloyede, reports say, dragged to the police on May 23 by one Ayinla Sodiq, who accused him of creating and sharing a misleading TikTok video falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the Atan Ota community..
Zagazola Makama, a counterinsurgency publication, which broke the news, said on immediately being questioning by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Oloyed, allegedly confessed to fabricating the video to gain followers on social media.
Apart from admitting that that he created the fake bandit attack content to gain followers and trend online, said in a video currently on social media the herder featured in the clip was a cattle rearer who usually grazed cows behind his shop and had initially refused to participate before eventually agreeing.
Oloyede, who also claimed he could neither read nor write, adding that his apprentice wrote the caption accompanying the video posted online, maintained that he had only produced and posted two similar videos, one on Monday and another on Wednesday.
The command, said to have recovered photographs and video evidence linked to the fake publication during preliminary investigation, added that the suspect would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Abeokuta, for further investigation, warning residents against spreading false information capable of causing panic and public disorder, and for the public to verify information before sharing content on social media.
For the umpteenth time, President Bola Tinubu has once again, urged Nigerians to be patient with his government, saying the reforms he embarked upon in the last three years, which had begun to yield result would come to its full manifestation soon.
The President, also expressed gratitude to those who had remained supportive of his government during the period, praising them for their resilience and promising that he would not disappoint in the end.
Tinubu, who spoke on Sunday while accepting the fresh nomination of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after being announced as the winner of last Saturday’s presidential primaries across the country, was particularly grateful to the members for their support and renewed his commitment to national development.
With a total of 10,999,162 votes against Stanley Osifo, his only opponent during the exercise who polled 16,503 votes, the President told his audience: “In accepting this nomination, I renew my commitment to serve our nation with even greater determination.
“With another four years of discipline, focus and national cooperation, we will firmly place Nigeria on an irreversible path of economic expansion, industrialisation, energy security, infrastructural development, food sovereignty and democratic consolidation.”
Anyim Pius Anyim, former Senate President, Chairman of the Presidential Primaries Committee of the party, had announced the result of the exercise, subsequent upon which the President received the party flag for the 2027 presidential polls from Nentawe Yilwatda, the APC National Chairman.
Tinubu, while acknowledging the economic hardship experienced by Nigerians since the introduction of key reforms under his administration, including the removal of fuel subsidy and foreign exchange reforms introduced in 2023, told the party faithful: “You have given me the encouragement. Sometimes it is difficult, and I share the pain with you.
“I know what it is to reform an economy that was in tatters. If you lost sleep, I lost some too. If you have lost weight, I think I have lost some too. But I have always remembered one thing: in 2022, I asked for this job, you all supported me, and I got it, so I must do it.”
Highlighting several reforms implemented by his administration, including the student loan scheme, tax reforms, and infrastructure projects, he said more than ₦282 billion had been disbursed to about 1.5 million beneficiaries under the student loan programme, pledging to strengthen electricity supply and create more opportunities for young Nigerians and businesses across the country ahead of the 2027 election.
The president reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to security, promising intensified efforts against banditry and other criminal activities across the country.
Tinubu also urged Nigerians not to become “complacent” or allow politicians without “clear alternative visions” to derail the country’s progress, noting that the forthcoming election must be “a reaffirmation of Nigeria’s democratic maturity.”
“We feel that if the situation is not immediately checked, the citizens may rise against the owners of gas filling stations,” were the words with which gas marketers raised alarm on Sunday about the consequences of the continued scarcity of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas across the country.
At the current prices, of ₦1,500 per kg, the Nigerian Association of Liquefied Petroleum Gas Marketers (NALPGAM) warned stakeholders of an impending public anger against their operations, regardless of their innocence in the rising prices of the commodity.
They particularly drew the attention of the Federal Government, government agencies, industry regulators, importers, LPG producers, depot owners, LPG consumers, and the general public to the situation, exculpating members of blame, as they were now forced to pay between N25,200,000 and N26,200,000 for 20MT of cooking gas in parts of the country.
Part of the statement, read: “It is sad and rather very pathetic to inform the general public that the citizens of Nigeria have woken up to buy cooking gas, which should be a social item at a prohibitive cost of over N1,500per kg, while the Marketers are made to pay as much as N25,200,000, or, depending on location, N26,200,000 for 20MT of cooking gas.
“This sad situation has brought untold hardship to millions of Nigerian households, small businesses, food vendors, and low-income families who rely on LPG for daily cooking and livelihood.
“It is rather worrisome to state that this situation is seriously eroding the substantial progress made by the Government on the usage of Clean Energy in the country.
“We observe that where product is available, it is sold at rates far beyond the reach of average Nigerians. NALPGAM hereby observes that the current crisis is undermining years of progress achieved through Federal Government policies, public-private investments, and awareness campaigns aimed at deepening LPG penetration and promoting clean cooking energy as a safer alternative to kerosene, charcoal, and firewood in Nigeria.
“While millions of Nigerians have embraced cooking gas as a result of the national clean energy transition agenda, it is sad to state that those gains are at risk as households are struggling to refill cylinders, small businesses are folding under rising energy costs, while many families are reverting to firewood and charcoal despite the serious implications for public health, environmental degradation, and deforestation.”
On the wider socio-economic implications, the Association warned that if urgent and coordinated actions are not taken immediately, the current crisis could trigger broader consequences, including accelerated food inflation, the collapse of small-scale LPG retail businesses, job losses, reduced investor confidence, and a significant setback to Nigeria’s clean energy and climate commitments.
The Association is calling on the Federal Government, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd, domestic producers, terminal operators, international suppliers, and all critical stakeholders in the LPG value chain to take urgent, coordinated steps to stabilise the market before it degenerates further.
It called for immediate measures to improve the availability and accessibility of LPG nationwide, increased domestic LPG allocation to the Nigerian market, ensuring transparent and equitable distribution of available supply across regions, reduction of bottlenecks in product importation, storage, and distribution, implementation of strategic interventions to stabilise retail prices, and protection of consumers.
The marketers also called for other measures, such as investment in critical infrastructure, including storage and distribution facilities, and adoption of policies that support affordability, sustainability, and long-term growth of the sector.
NALPGAM reaffirmed its commitment to constructive engagement and collaboration with government agencies, regulators, producers, and other stakeholders to develop sustainable solutions that will guarantee an affordable, stable supply and continued growth of the LPG sector.
“In conclusion, it is apposite to state that “We cannot stand by and watch millions of Nigerian families suffer in silence while access to clean cooking energy becomes increasingly difficult and unaffordable. For years, Government and industry operators have worked to move Nigerians away from unsafe fuels. Those gains are now under serious threat”, the statement added.
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