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From Carter, I learnt not to keep quiet even out of office – Obasanjo
For those wondering the reason Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s longest-serving leader – 11 years – three years as military Head of State and eight years as elected President – picked up his penchant for advocacy even out of power, including not only crusading for the betterment of humanity, but actually challenging bad governance, especially in Nigeria, the answer came on Monday – Jimmy Carter influence.
The former Nigerian leader, said he took the cue from Carter, the 39th President of the United States – 1977-1981, with whom he had a chummy relationship within and out of office, one, which was accentuated with the former POTUS, being the first US leader at that level to visit Nigeria, even with the country having Obasanjo as a military leader at the time.
The ex-POTUS, who passed on at the age of 100 years on Sunday, had not only used his remaining years out of office, where he spent only one term to advocate and enhance development for humanity through his Carter Centre, but had at various times, reason to question the activities of his successors, especially in the tenure of Donald Trump, the 45th POTUS, who incidentally is returning to office in January after losing out to Joe Biden, the incumbent four years ago.
Obasanjo, in a rare appearance on television since the end of his second tenure in 2007, even though he had remained a critical voice at the national stage, told his hosts on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise News television that he learnt a lot from his collaboration with Carter, one of them, not keeping silent in the face of burning issues.
Hear him: After he left office, he devoted his time to civil rights and western liberal democracy. He was persistent on that. In Jimmy Carter, I saw what was called ‘symbol of power’ not the bully that people take power to mean nowadays. I believe if you are the leader of a country, either as a President or Prime Minister or the opportunity to be at the top of your country and you disengage from that opportunity, your term should not end there.
“One good thing about that is that whether you spent two years, five years, 10 years, 12 years, you have acquired certain experience, you had also made certain friends and they are all there to be tapped into for the good of the world, not only for your country. Part of the problem of the world today, is what I call deficit of leadership. I’m not talking about leadership only at the political level. Of course at the political level matters most, because politics drives all other things, but at all levels.
“I’m not also talking about only incumbent leaders – incumbent leaders matter more, because they have the power and all that goes with the power, but those that have also had opportunities and God has endowed. They should realise that the world that we are living in that we call a village, if anybody failed to play his part and his role in that village, that village will soon be destroyed. And that should clear to all of us.
“That was clear to Jimmy Carter. In office, he was humble and out office, he did not go home to sleep. He remained active, even criticising those who came after him, who were not doing what they should do. And one thing is that when you have gone through it, you know certain things that should be done. And when they are not done, it pains you as a leader, who has gone through it.
“That is one lesson that we can learn from President Carter. He was active until he had no power to be active anymore. And I believe that God created you for a purpose and part of that purpose is to be of service to humanity. And by being of service to humanity is to be of service to God. And you shouldn’t shirk your responsibilities in that wise.”
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.
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