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Tinubu, Time Is Going

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By Ganiyu Adams
President Bola Tinubu-led administration is becoming indifferent, insensitive and unresponsive to the plights of Nigerians.
The present administration has disappointed Nigerians, the citizens can no longer bear the economic hardship.
We have no regret that we were created to inhabit this geographical space in the West African axis of the African continent.
We are happy to be here because I don’t know any country in the world that God has blessed, in terms of natural and human resources, like Nigeria.
Obviously, past leaders, since 1960, disappointed Nigerians with the way ‘Nigeria and Nigerians were badly led and resources selfishly managed’.
When you came with the ‘Emilokan’ coinage in the build-up to the 2023 elections, many Nigerians were persuaded that as a democrat exposed to the modern way of governance, you will perform better than Muhammadu Buhari, a soldier who deepened the poverty levels of Nigerians and increased insecurity from 2015 to 2023.
Today, events have proved that they were wrong. Mr President, to say the truth without minding whose ox is gored, you have disappointed many Nigerians who thought you were the messiah they were waiting for.
The facts are there to speak for themselves. On May 29, 2023, when you became the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigerians, the price of a litre of fuel was less than N200.
Today, it is more than N1000. As the Minister of Petroleum, I ask you, what type of reform is this? In May 2023, the Naira to a Dollar was less than N740. Today, it is more than N1,600.
Now, your two right-hand men when you were Governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007, Wale Edun (Finance Minister) and Yemi Cardoso (CBN Governor) are in charge of the economy.
What exactly are the fiscal, economic and financial briefings they give you daily to convince you that they know what they are doing in those two offices?
When Buhari left on May 29, 2023, many Nigerians heaved a sigh of relief that insecurity would soon become history.
Pitiably today, from the North to the South, East to the West, the rate at which Nigerians are being abducted and some killed, even after ransom was paid, it was as if these blood-thirsty maniacs have just been unleashed on Nigerians from the hottest part of hell.
As the Commander-in-Chief, the rising spate of insecurity across the country has put to question the kind of briefings you get daily, especially, from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, the Chief of Army Staff, General Taoreed Lagbaja, and other Security Chiefs on their modus operandi to send these killers to where they belong?
In August, many Nigerians came out to express their frustration on the way you are governing them.
Today, some of those arrested have been charged with treason. In the comity of nations, who does that? Is that the way governments are overthrown, with placards?
Human rights activists are being harassed by security agents daily and Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, have become soft targets of sycophants who speak sweet words to your ears for selfish reasons.
Many Nigerians know the ‘radical’ role you played when you were Governor, and even after 2007 when you galvanised and mobilised them to challenge the status quo at the national level.
Now that you are in government, protest has suddenly become a criminal offence. God is indeed great. The plain truth is that the recent fuel price increase by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, an agency which is under your office as the Petroleum Minister, is an attack on Nigerians.
Obviously, your administration is becoming indifferent, insensitive and unresponsive to the plights of millions of Nigerians who can no longer meet their daily needs.
This is a brutal assault on the sensibility of Nigerians. I think you and your party should be sensitive to the plights of Nigerians.
Mr President, don’t you think the wicked and draconian increase in fuel price, especially, at this time that Nigerians have been pushed to the wall, is a huge recipe for crisis? Nigerians can no longer bear this economic hardship any longer.
Adams is the Aare Ona Kakanfo Of Yorubaland 

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US-Iran deal: Petrol prices remain high in Nigeria *Marketers snub Dangote

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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Obi dares opponents: I’m an open book! *Expose me, scrutinise others too!

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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.

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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.

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“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.”

 

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Lifu: This mustn’t happen again – Atiku *Judiciary mustn’t be used to destroy democracy

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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