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We’re not preventing Dangote from fixing lower petrol price – NNPCL  

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Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), has denied the allegation that it is preventing Dangote Refinery from selling Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol and that the coming on stream of the entity is the reason for the current hike in the pump price of the product.

Hours after Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group Limited, the conglomerate that birthed the Dangote Refinery Limited (DRL), announced the commencement of the production of PMS for commercial purposes in Nigeria, the NNPCL, increased the price of the commodity from N617 to N897 per litre, while other filling stations began to sell at between N1,000 to N1,200 per litre.

The development, which came despite the long queues that had persisted for weeks across the country, due to the scarcity of the product, was seen as a function of the manipulative hands of the NNPCL, the alpha and omega in the petroleum industry in Nigeria, especially with the dimension that it is going to be the sole offtaker of the product from DRL.

Dangote, himself, had while addressing the issue of pricing before opening the ceremony to announce the commencement of the public sale of the product, told anxious Nigerians, who had hoped that he it would be followed with the concomitant announcement of a lower price regime that the issue of how much the product was the sole business of the Federal Government, through the NNPCL, the sole authority of fixing prices of petroleum products in the country.

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On the heels of the development, many Nigerians had condemned the outcome with the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), a pressure group of Muslim faithful in Nigeria, lampooning the petroleum company, which transformed to a public institution owned by the Nigerian government to a private concern, for the ugly turnaround in the people’s expectation.

The organisation, has claimed that the DRL, was being undermined by actions of the NNPCL, by preventing it from offering lower prices, using its powers as the sole offtaker of all products from the refinery, with Ishaq Akintola, MURIC convener, wondering why the sudden announcement of an upward review of petrol from N617 to N897 just 24 hours to the commencement of full operations.

The group, which argued that the current parlous situation came as a result of NNPCL making itself the sole marketer and fixing outrageous prices at the same time. said in a statement: “By taking these two actions, NNPC has effectively taken control of Dangote’s fuel and the real owner cannot determine the price of its own product. This is an ambush, a punch below the belt.

“NNPC Ltd must not allow fifth columnists whose wish is to bring down Tinubu-Shettima administration to have their way. NNPC should know that frustrating Nigerians is one of the fastest ways to bring a regime to a premature end. If NNPC had not increased the price of its own fuel, the decision to monopolise Dangote’s fuel would have favoured the hoi polloi, but by increasing the price and restricting the supply of Dangote’s fuel to itself alone, NNPC has rendered Dangote Refinery helpless.

“MURIC finds NNPC’s action to be anti-people, immoral and lacking in conscience. It is an open secret that the prices of most products, particularly food items, are tied to the umbilical cords of petroleum and its price. The latter is the engine room that moves the economy. But NNPC Ltd has shattered the hope of the jamaahiir (masses) by raising the price of petrol and disallowing other marketers from buying from Dangote Refinery.

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“This is against the spirit of free economy. It contravenes natural law of justice. It is not fair. What was the contribution of NNPC Ltd to the new refinery? How can NNPC suddenly take full control of Dangote Refinery, the hope of the masses to whose process it contributed virtually nothing? We charge NNPC to retrace its steps on this matter. It is too sensitive. Nigerians had placed their hopes on a fait accompli status of Dangote’s fuel to reduce hardship. This refinery must not be strangulated.”

But in a swift riposte, the NNPCL, in a statement by Sola Soneye, its spokesman, by way of “putting the records straight, said: “The pricing of petroleum products from any refinery, including the Dangote Refinery Ltd (DRL), is determined by global market forces. The recent changes in PMS prices have no impact on the DRL or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market. In fact, if current prices are perceived as high, it presents an ideal opportunity for the refinery to sell its products at lower prices in the Nigerian market.

“Furthermore, we emphasize that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd will only fully offtake PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria. The DRL and any other domestic refinery are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis, which is the current practice for all fully deregulated products. NNPC Ltd has no desire or intention to become the distributor for any entity in a free market environment, and therefore, the notion of becoming a sole offtaker does not arise.

“The NNPC Ltd cannot undermine a business in which it holds a billion-dollar stake. As an advocacy group for fair and just treatment, MURIC should have verified the facts before making statements that are entirely flawed and has the potential to incite ordinary Nigerians against the NNPC Ltd.”

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On Tinubu, you’re on your own, ACF tells Ganduje *We’re wiser now

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It does not lie in the mouth of Abdullahi Ganduje, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) or any othe party’s big-wigs from the North to corral the people into voting for President Bola Tinubu in 2027, as the people were now wiser and more prudent to make crucial decisions.

This much was delivered by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), a pro-North socio-political organisation, as a clapback to the assurance of Ganduje, former Governor of Kano State to the effect that the people would have no choice but to allow the President do two terms in office as was allowed Muhammadu Buhari, his predecessor.

The PUNCH, in a report, quoted ACF and other northern leaders as declaring that no individual could claim to be the mouthpiece of the North and, as such, it was wrong for the ACF boss to ask the North to wait till 2031 before vying for the Presidency.

Ganduje who spoke on Tuesday, urging politicians nursing presidential ambition in 2027 to bury the idea, as Tinubu would complete two terms in office, told a delegation of the Tinubu Media Centre and Tinubu Northern Youth Forum at the APC National Secretariat in Abuja that it would be unfair to deny Tinubu the chance of being re-elected after a fellow northerner was allowed to finish his tenure of eight years.

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His words: “When a leader from the northern part of this country was in office for eight years, we advocated that the next president in our party should come from the south. Luckily enough, we worked very hard with the cooperation of Nigerians. Our president has come from the south and is going, Insha Allah, for a second term come 2027. And after that, it will be the turn of the northern part of this country.”

The PUNCH, however quoted Tukur Muhammad-Baba,National Publicity Secretary of the ACF,  as saying that the comment credited to the former governor was a reflection of the cult-like nature of the presidency, where allegiance to the president is paramount.

His words: “Given the nature of the Presidency, it has become something like a cult; a personality cult and allegiance to the president because it looks like the president wants total allegiance and nothing else.

“We are in the season of politics and you should expect that those who are near the corridors of power should express those things. But it’s not constitutional.

“There’s nothing new in what Ganduje said. So many people have said so before. Not too long ago, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume said the same thing that northerners should forget about it until 2031.

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“He or she or party members cannot influence voters by force. So, what he said was an opinion and his personal opinion and it’s up to the voters to endorse, reject or modify what he said. I think voters are becoming wise as to where the president comes from. In 2015, we were sold a dummy of anti-corruption.

“We were sold a dummy of many things and people have realised that it wasn’t true. Then, of course, the Renewed Hope came in 2023 and the hope is turning into a nightmare. What will sell President Bola Tinubu, I think and I hope, is not whether he will contest or not, it will be his policies and their impact on the people. If they buy it, fine.”

Mallam Salihu Lukman, former APC National Vice Chairman (North-West), who echoed the same sentiment, was also quoted as saying: “El-Rufai is not saying anything different from what I have been saying all thise while. The only difference is that he is talking for the North while I talk for the whole country.”

Also, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has declared once again that he remains the right candidate for President in the 2027 general elections.

Reacting to Ganduje’s admonition for the North to wait till 2031 for Tinubu to finish his second term before aspiring for the Presidency, Mohammed, who spoke through his Commissioner for Natural Resources Development, Maiwada Bello, described Ganduje’s comment as silly.

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Bello urged the youths to rally around Governor Mohammed, saying that he had set a national precedent by appointing more youths into key positions in government than any other governor in Nigeria.

The commissioner said the Bauchi governor’s bold move underscores his administration’s commitment to youth empowerment and inclusive governance, adding that he deserves the collective support of the Nigerian populace to propel him to the country’s highest political office in 2027.

He said, “We are committed to building a government that reflects the energy and innovation of the youth.  No other administration in the country has given young people as many opportunities to serve in high-level positions as my administration.”

In an interview, a former ally-turned-foe of the President Tinubu, Babachir Lawal, affirmed that the North can never forgive Tinubu over the manner he allegedly brought suffering to the region through his nail-biting reforms.

The former SGF reiterated El-Rufai’s warning that the North is massively mobilising its people ahead of the 2027 polls.

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He stated, “The North is seriously mobilising with a consensus that Bola Tinubu must give way in the 2027 election. This is no doubt about the consensus. There’s no argument about that. I may not have been supporting El-Rufai’s position. But on this one, I will join him to see how we can stop Bola Tinubu from winning the 2027 election. Because if he does win, you know there will be one large refugee camp.’

“So, there’s that consensus. Everybody understands that if we are to continue with these policies for another four years, northern Nigeria will become one large refugee camp. So, there’s a consensus that for self-preservation alone, we must look for another candidate.”

Babachir said the state of origin of the candidate doesn’t matter, noting that the important thing is for the candidate to understand the need for one Nigeria.

He added, “Now, that is where quite a number of people think that it is only right to find someone who is patriotic and sees Nigeria as one, even if it’s from the South or the North. Some want it to come from the South while others are saying we cannot take the risk of bringing a southerner for self-preservation alone. So, that is where the divergence is.

“But we all agree that we must look for a substitute for Bola Tinubu. Unfortunately, quite a lot of people like Ganduje and other northerners benefiting directly from this government are just irritants. They are people who are talking to justify their positions in this rogue government. So they are justifying their place in it not caring what the other parts of northern Nigeria are going through.

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“So, if we can get a good southerner that can rule with equity, we are okay. It’s not actually about the elite consensus. It’s about the masses and what they are saying at the bottom. Even if some elite pretend to be supporting Bola, they will not vote for him because they are the ones at the receiving end of this thing. They are also the ones directing us, political elites of northern origin, to make sure this man doesn’t have a second chance.”

Commenting on the development, a Peoples Democratic Party chieftain and lawmaker representing Benue South Senatorial District, Abba Moro, also observed that what is playing out is an alignment of forces ahead of the electoral contest.

Moro also noted that El-Rufai and Ganduje’s remarks smacked of political alignment

He said, “There are several fireworks that are going on in the political firmament at the moment. These are attempts at alignment and realignment. Ambitions are on display and people are expressing sentiments in line with their ambitions.

“My take is that with time, the picture will become clearer as to the direction of things takes shape. Nigerians will make up their minds as to where to go. Don’t forget that this present government is barely a year and a few months old.”

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However, taking a different position on the matter, a former Secretary General of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Anthony Sani, submitted that El-Rufai and Ganduje do not speak for the North.

He said, “There is nothing controversial about the statements of the two. This is because none of the two people you have mentioned speaks for the North in so far as partisan politics is concerned. This is because the North can be united politically on issues of real concern to northerners but when it comes to partisan politics, the North does not act in unison.”

He recalled that in the Second Republic, “Shehu Shagari contested against Nnamdi Azikiwe of the Nigeria People’s Party while Obafemi Awolowo of Unity Party of Nigeria from the South and with Mallam Aminu Kano of Peoples Redemption Party from Kano and Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim of famous ‘politics without bitterness’ from the North joined forces together.

“During the third and the current Fourth Republics, the North voted for Moshood Abiola against their son, Bashir Tofa, and voted for Bola Tinubu in 2023 from the South against the son of the soil, Atiku Abubakar. This should also inform political pundits that the North can use contingency in its approach to politics depending on the situation on the ground,” he elaborated.

The National Chairman of the Peoples Redemption Party, Malam Falalu Bello, expressed disappointment that El-Rufai and Ganduje were playing ethnic or religious politics.

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Bello said though the constitution of the country gives Tinubu the privilege of running for re-election, the PRP would field a sellable candidate in 2027.

He said, “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria does not allow for an eight-year term for the President of the Federal Republic but a four-year term which for President Ahmed Bola Tinubu comes to an end in 2027 at the end of which he must face the Nigerian electorate to seek for another mandate.

“The PRP had a candidate in the presidential elections of 2023 who came 8th out of the 19 presidential candidates and would, Insha Allah, field its presidential candidate in the 2027 election to face President Tinubu or whoever APC decides as its candidate and our choice will be any Nigerian to bring good governance to Nigerians.”

The Immediate past Publicity Secretary of the PDP in Benue State, Chief Bemgba Iortyom, warned El-Rufai to stop heating the polity with his posturing as the mouthpiece of the north.

The PDP chieftain said playing the south against the North in the name of promoting the interest of the region is an ill wind that will bring no good.

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He said, “So I asked again, who are the northerners? Are they Almajiris who are the real face of poverty or El-Rufai, whose children are part of the bourgeois? I think one of his sons is in the House of Reps, right? You have his children in the upper echelons of life. He wants you to understand that he and his children and those Talakawa and the downtrodden are all North.

“He should basically be trying to pacify certain areas where he has caused so much strife within the polity of that state. El-Rufai had placed himself in a larger perspective in the eyes of Nigerians as an ethnic and religious extremist. He’s not the sort of person that should be talking about the north and the south dichotomy. As far as I’m concerned, he’s only leading a crusade in the wrong direction.”

The National Secretary of the APC, Senator Ajibola Basiru, described the claim that Tinubu brought poverty to the North as laughable.

He said, “First and foremost, El-Rufai and others cannot speak for the North. Lukman, on the other hand, is a hireling of El-Rufai. So, whatever he says is from the same person and the way they going about it is laughable. I don’t know when El-Rufai turned himself to the mouthpiece of the north.

“He should, first of all, go and make peace with the Kaduna chapter of the APC before talking about national leadership. Then two, this idea of trying to represent the North is for his personal and egoistic interest because when you look at the structure of government we have in place now, you cannot be saying anybody is anti-north.

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“The Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the national chairman of the party, the Vice President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, deputy senate president, and key other ones from the North. So, we don’t know what they meant meant. This is not even a military government. It’s a democratic one.

“The structure and setup of the Nigerian Constitution does not even facilitate or allow marginalisation of any part of the country. There’s no northern state that does not have members in the Federal Executive Council. So, where did El-Rufai and others come up with their theory of Tinubu being anti-North? Even as we speak, the North now North-West, North-East and North Central Development Commissions. All of them have been activated?”

The APC scribe emphasised that El-Rufai was free to exit the APC if he so wished without levelling any false claim.

Basiru also advised that the former governor should have been engaging in penance over the manner he managed Kaduna State amid the turbulence, killings and rife state of insecurity that rocked the state under his watch.

“We all know he is working together with Atiku. He should not divert from the implementation of the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr President. He has also been going about alleging that they want to arrest him and put him in a dungeon. Who does that in a democratic society? The president is a detribalised Nigeria.

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“That was why the Federal Government also gave out N150bn support to Kaduna State. But El-Rufai turned around and claimed it was a bribe to Governor Uba Sani. We are talking about funds that will benefit farmers and the agricultural structure in the state. Rather than commending the federal government and seeing it as charitable, he is labelling it as a bribe to his governor.’’

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Natasha unveils 150 free JAMB forms, five scholarships after Tuface’s engagement

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Even while currently in the heat of the public storm over her current blistering love affair Natasha Osawaru, Deputy Majority Leader of the Edo State House of Assembly, has moved to endear herself with her constituency with the announcement of the purchase of 150 free JAMB registration forms on a first-come, first-served basis to students of the state.

Osarawu, whose love affair with Innocent Idibia, Nigeria’s iconic and award-winning singer, popularly known as Tuface, is on top of social discussions in the country, at the moment, made the announcement in a video, which surfaced on Thursday, the same day she received an engagement from the popular artist.

She said in the video that she would also award scholarships to the top five students with the highest JAMB scores, covering their university education, a rare outing from the legislature in Nigeria, very low on public-spirited gestures in recent years.

She said: “The time has come again to push education into another level. With my fronts as a politician, I will be offering 150 JAMB registration forms for Edo State. It will be first come first serve. The 5 most intelligent students with the best score, I will sponsor their education.”

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It is not known whether the gesture is purely a measure of philanthropy, political or appreciation for finally attaining the status of a wife-to-be to the singer, who announced recently that he was divorcing Annie Idibia, nee Macaulay, his childhood love.

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Canada hits Nigerian military! *Denies CDS, others visa *They can go to hell – Ribadu

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What appears to indicate the new rating of Nigeria on the global stage came to the fore on Thursday with report that Canada denied the topmost echelon of the country’s military, including Christopher Musa, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), to visit the country.

But in a swift riposte, Nigeria has clapped back through the Nuhu Ribadu, National Security Adviser, who brushed off the obvious snub, with an equally disparaging message to the North-American country – go to hell!

Musa, the head of the Nigerian military, had briefed the NSA, himself a retired top police officer, about the snub during the maiden annual lecture of the National Association of the Institute for Security Studies (AANISS), held at the Shehu Yar’adua Centre, Abuja, on Thursday, leading to his angry retort.

Ribadu, pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, in expressing his strong disapproval over the incident, maintained that such a treatment would not affect Nigeria’s march to greatness.

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Musa, who though did not give reasons for the rejection of the visa application, explained that the delegation of the top military echelon was going to honour of an invitation for war veterans in Canada, adding that while half of the delegation, including himself, was denied visas, others were allowed into the country.

Describing the incident as disappointing, but served as a reminder for Nigeria to stand strong as a nation and not be taken for granted, Musa had told the NSA: “Every disappointment is a blessing. Yesterday, I was meant to be in Canada. There’s an event to honour our veterans, those who were injured during battles, and we were meant to be there. We were invited with our team. Half has gone and half has been denied. It’s very disappointing.”

Replying Ribadu, commended the CDS for  speaking out about the incident, saying: “Thank you for the courage to say Canada denied you visas. They can go to hell.”

Restating that despite the disappointment, Nigeria remained “peaceful and strong” and must work hard to overcome such challenges, Ribadu also praised the CDS for providing “purposeful leadership” in the war against terrorism, banditry, and other security threats in the country.

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