Urhobo News

The Alema of Warri Kingdom, Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan, will host the Atta of Ebiraland, His Royal Majesty, Ohinoyi, Dr. Ado Ibrahim on Saturday, August 21 in Warri, Delta State.

‘’His Royal Majesty, Ohinoyi, Dr. Ado Ibrahim, CON, Atta of Ebiraland and President, Kogi State Council of Chiefs will be received by the Alema of Warri Kingdom and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Webster Group of Companies, Chief Emmanuel Oritsejolomi Uduaghan on Saturday’’ a statement in Abigborodo, Warri North Local Government Area said.

Omo Oba Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko will be crowned the 21^st Olu of Warri on Saturday, August 21, 2021.

Google My Debt Servicing Ratio’s 9 Percent, Jimoh Ibrahim Challenges AMCON

Bar. Jimoh Ibrahim, the owner of NICON Insurance and Nigeria Re. has described his debt servicing ratio as the lowest among strong business moguls in the country.

He said his current debt  servicing ratio is put at 9 percent, while that of Dangote  is 13 percent.

In a statement made available to newsmen the First Doctoral Candidate of the University of Cambridge Business Management Science explained that the debt servicing ratio of Nigeria stands at 98 percent, while USA and UK’s stand at 105 percent and 85 percent respectively.

He, therefore, challenged Asset Management Corporation Of Nigeria (AMCON) to name who’s a business man with a first-class score.

According to the 54-year-old business mogul, the Google rating of his net asset is over one billion dollars, adding that the data showed excellent asset specificity.

He said: “I collateralized a loan of N26 billion with £130.7 million British pound stealing (at  5% interest rate now £245m or N178 billion). So, if you buy my loan, where is my cash collateral is the question.”

Ibrahim described AMCON as a lawless organisation which the World Bank and IMF had condemned.

He said: “AMCON should not drag Federal Government’s economic policy into self-interest and I am sure that President Buhari will not support economic injustice because ‘an unjust order is an invitation to Anarchy.’

PRESIDENT BUHARI REJOICES WITH ITSEKIRIS ON CORONATION OF 21ST OLU OF WARRI

President Muhammadu Buhari congratulates all Itsekiris home and abroad, as Prince Tsola Emiko gets installed as the 21st Olu of Warri, August 21, 2021.

The President salutes the Kingdom for overcoming the issues that arose after the initial appointment of the Olu-designate, urging that any outstanding matters should be amicably resolved in the interest of peace and tranquility.

As a Western-trained political scientist, and management expert, President Buhari counsels the new Olu to use his gift and intellect to serve his people, noting the peaceful disposition of Itsekiris to peace in the Niger Delta region, and the country in general.

The President prays that the new epoch will consolidate on the peace, progress and prosperity of all members of the Warri Kingdom.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

August 20, 2021

August 20, 2021

Press Statement

You are already a failure, PDP Mocks Buhari

…Says Lame Attempt At Damage Control Can’t Help APC

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has told President Muhammadu Buhari that he is already a failure in governance and will leave a failure, adding that his attempt at political damage control cannot help his fizzling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The PDP describes the statement by President Buhari that he will not leave office as a failure as “medicine after death” noting that as long as he is a product of the corrupt, inept, directionless and anti-people APC, he will leave as a failed leader.

The party asserts that President Buhari’s veiled admission of failure, which smacks as a tactic to exonerate the APC, is an exercise in futility as the APC, which now only exists on paper, will soon fizzle from our political firmament, having shown itself as perverted platform that cannot be entrusted with governance at any level in our country.

President Buhari and his APC have failed in their three-pronged promises of security, anti-corruption and economic development.

They have instead wrecked all sectors of our nation life with no hope in sight.

What explanation can the Buhari Presidency and the APC offer for failing to decisively tackle terrorists, insurgents and bandits, who are daily ravaging our communities, killing and maiming our compatriots in various states across the country, despite the huge resources at their disposal?

How do President Buhari and APC leaders sleep at night when they know that due to their incompetence and compromises, hundreds of Nigerians, including school children are languishing in kidnappers’ den at the mercies of their assailants and the elements?

President Buhari has so failed as a Commander-in-Chief that non-state actors have taken over, with regions now resorting to their own security outfits while state governors, including his home, Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari, telling helpless victims of terror attacks to defend themselves.

On the economy front, President Buhari has only succeeded in ruining the once robust economy handed over to him by the PDP administration in 2015 and turned Nigeria into the poverty capital of the world, where over 82.9 million once thriving Nigerians can no longer afford their daily meals and other necessities of life.

Moreover, the Buhari Presidency cannot point to any landmark project it conceptualized, started and completed in the last six years.

All it can boast of is the mortgaging of the future of our nation with accumulated N33.107 trillion debt with nothing to show and no clear repayment plan.

More atrocious is that Mr. President is seeking to borrow additional N5.62 trillion, when he knows that he has less than two years in office.

Rather than fighting corruption, the APC-led Buhari administration has become the citadel of corruption where over N15 trillion naira have reportedly been stolen by APC leaders from various agencies under the cover of government.

Nigerians can recall how the PDP recently held a strategic meeting where suggestions on how to entrench unity, reduce tension, fight insurgency, curb corruption and restore our nation to the path of economic progress, were placed at the behest of Mr. President and how he failed to listen to the voice of reason.

What is expected of Mr. President and the APC at this point is for them to end their media orchestrations, apologize for their failure and allow Nigerians to chart a fresh course as they rally with the PDP to salvage our dear nation.

Signed:

Kola Ologbondiyan

National Publicity Secretary

PRESS STATEMENT

20th August, 2021

DELTA PDP CONGRATULATES THE NEW OLU OF WARRI

The Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has congratulated the Olu of Warri designate, Prince ‘Tsola Emiko, ahead of his coronation on August 21, 2021.

Delta State PDP Publicity Secretary, Dr. Ifeanyi Osuoza said in a Press Statement that: “Delta PDP heartily congratulates the new Olu of Warri, Prince Utieyinoritsetsola Emiko, whose official coronation on Saturday, August 21, 2021, confirms him as the 21st Olu of Warri.

We wish His Royal Majesty a happy, prosperous, and peaceful reign as he assumes his royal heritage as the custodian of the great Odé Itsekiri ancestral throne of Warri Kingdom.

Long live HRM, Omoba ‘Tsola Emiko.

Ogiame! Suoooo!!!

PDP! Power to the people!!!

Dr. Ifeanyi M. Osuoza

State Publicity Secretary,

PDP, Delta State.

PRESIDENTIAL DELEGATION TO VISIT KANO FOR TWO KEY EVENTS

Ahead of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Kano for the marriage of his son, Yusuf Buhari, to Zahra Bayero, the daughter of Nasiru Ado Bayero, the Emir of Bichi in Kano State on Friday, the President has dispatched a high level delegation to be led by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

The Presidential delegation, including the Ministers of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi (rtd), Agriculture, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika and Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Hussein Adamu as well as the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media and Publicity), Garba Shehu will stay back after the wedding, to represent the President at the coronation of the Emir at Bichi the following day, Saturday.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 19, 2021

PRESIDENT BUHARI APPROVES REVIEW OF GRAZING RESERVES IN 25 STATES

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved recommendations of a committee to review “with dispatch,” 368 grazing sites, across 25 states in the country, “to determine the levels of encroachment.”

The President’s directive followed his approval of the recommendations of a committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari.

Among others, the committee had recommended the collection of field data collection on 368 Grazing Reserves across 25 states to assess encroachment and encroachers, stakeholder engagements and sensitization.

The Committee also recommended production of maps and geo-mapping/tagging of sites, analysis of findings and report preparations as well as design appropriate communication on Grazing Reserves and operations.

The number of the Grazing Reserves and States were deduced from considerations of existing security concerns and other pre-existing socio-economic conditions.

The President directed that the assignment be undertaken with dispatch to bring more understanding on the Grazing Reserves, and implementation.

Members of the committee include, Governor of Kebbi State and Vice Chairman, National Food Security Council, Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of NEC Sub-Committee for National Livestock Transformation Plan, David Umahi, Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, Minister of Environment, Dr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar and Deputy Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye.

The Technical Sub-Committee consists of representatives from the seven members of the main committee in addition to representatives from Ministry of Justice, Surveyor General of the Federation, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) and National Space Research Development Agency (NASRDA).

Among its Terms of Reference, the Committee was to collate from states and confirm the status of all Grazing Reserves, assess the percentage of available land and those with existing encroachment complications for case-by-case resolution in partnership with state governments and the FCT.

The Committee will also make recommendations for gazetting of ungazetted Grazing Reserves and create a data base of National Cattle Herders and ensure that Grazing Reserves are well communicated to all stakeholders.

The inaugural meeting of the Committee was held on May 10, 2021.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 19, 2021

PRESIDENT BUHARI CONGRATULATES HON JOSHUA OJO, EX-OYO ASSEMBLY SPEAKER AT 70

President Muhammadu Buhari rejoices with immediate past Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon Joshua Olagunju Ojo, JP as he turns 70 August 20, 2021.

The President salutes the commitment of the astute politician to service of the people of Ogbomoso in particular, and Oyo State in general, using his privileged position to touch their lives in diverse ways.

As a prominent farmer, marketer, and politician, President Buhari is delighted that the All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart remains resolute in the ideals of service to the people.

As the Fellow of Institute of Management Executives and Administrators of Nigeria turns 70, the President wishes Hon Ojo longer life, good health, and greater service to God and humanity.

President Buhari also extends goodwill to the immediate and extended Ojo family, their friends, relations and associates on the landmark birthday.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media and Publicity)

August 19, 2021

PRESIDENT BUHARI RATIFIES INTERNATIONAL COFFEE AGREEMENT, 2007

President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday, August 17, 2021, confirmed and ratified International Coffee Agreement, 2007, following Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval of Nigeria’s membership of the International Coffee Organization (ICO).

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting had drawn a conclusion on the agreement on October 21, 2020, with emphasis on Conclusion 10 which approved the preparation of the Instrument of Ratification of Nigeria’s membership of the International Coffee Organization and International Coffee Agreement of 2007.

The 2007 Agreement will strengthen the ICO’s role as a forum for intergovernmental consultations, facilitate international trade through increased transparency and access to relevant information, and promote a sustainable coffee economy for the benefit of all stakeholders and particularly of small-scale farmers in coffee producing countries.

The agreement is an important instrument for development cooperation and will provide the legal framework for core activities undertaken by the Organization in the future.

The Instrument of Ratification was prepared by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.

Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 19, 2021

HIS SERVICES TO NIGERIA WERE IMMEASURABLE, NEVER ASKED ME FOR ANY FAVOURS, PRESIDENT BUHARI EULOGISES AHMED JODA IN YOLA

President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday in Yola described the services of the late Ahmed Joda to Nigeria as immeasurable, saying that all the years he knew the revered public administrator, he never requested any favours from him.

The President spoke at the palace of Lamido Adamawa, Alhaji Muhammadu Barkindo Musdafa during a condolence visit to the families of three elder statesmen and prominent sons of Adamawa State who passed recently.

The families are those of Ahmed Joda, a former Permanent Secretary and Chairman of the transition committee that ushered in President Buhari’s administration in 2015; Dr Mahmoud Tukur, former Minister of Commerce and Industry during his military administration and Abdullahi Danburam Jada, Minister of Animal Health and Northern Cameroons Affairs in the defunct Northern Region Government.

President Buhari, who was accompanied by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, recounted his personal relationships with the deceased, noting that at various points, they played very supportive roles in his public service.

On the late Joda, he said: ‘‘Since I became Governor of North East, under General Olusegun Obasanjo and later Minister, Ahmed Joda was part of those who assisted me, until his transition.

‘‘He was very supportive each time I called on him as governor, Minister and President and he never demanded any favours from me, either in cash or any form of gratification.’’

On the late Dr Mahmoud, the President said: ‘‘He was a bosom friend to my brother and they studied together in Europe. He also contributed much during my military administration and did well in his assignment.’’

President Buhari noted that from the antecedents of his close working relationship with the people of Adamawa and how they have distinguished themselves, he appointed one of their sons the Minister of FCT, a very important position.

‘‘I gave an Adamawa indigene, Mohammed Bello, a huge and complicated assignment as FCT Minister. Although he is young, he is performing very well with the fear of God,’’ the President said.

Commiserating with the Government, people and the Lamido of Adamawa on the demise of their illustrious sons, President Buhari prayed for the repose of the souls of the departed and divine comfort for their families.

In his remarks, Governor Fintiri thanked the President for the condolence visit, saying ‘‘given your closeness to the deceased we should have been the one travelling to Abuja to commiserate with you.’’

The Governor commended the President for taking out time off his busy schedule to visit Adamawa, on the same day his son, Yusuf, is getting married to Zahra Bayero, the daughter of Nasiru Ado Bayero, the Emir of Bichi in Kano.

The Royal father, Lamido Adamawa also conveyed the Emirate’s appreciation to President Buhari and his entourage, pronouncing blessings for safe travels and success in the President’s engagement in Kano for his son’s wedding.

Femi Adesina

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

August 20, 2021

LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT

PRESS RELEASE

FOOD SECURITY: LAGOS APPEALS PROJECT SUPPORTS OFADA RICE FARMERS ON MASS PRODUCTION  

• Farmers Laud Project’s 500 Hectares Rice Farm Technology Intervention 

Lagos State Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project has charged farmers and investors to invest in agriculture, especially mass production of Ofada Rice to improve productivity for food security in Lagos State and Nigeria in general.

Speaking during a Field Day for Rice Seed Outgrower Scheme to farmers supported by APPEALS Project in Epe and Lekki areas of Lagos, the State Project Coordinator of APPEALS, Mrs. Oluranti Sagoe-Oviebo, said APPEALS Project sponsored by Lagos State Government in conjunction with the Federal Government and World Bank is supporting and building farmers’ productivity in rice value chain with technology for food security.

She said since inception, Lagos APPEALS Project has supported 20 clusters of Ofada rice farmers with modern technology and necessary supports to improve farming, noting that a cluster comprise about five to 10 groups of 10 individual farmers.

Sagoe-Oviebo who was accompanied by top officials of Lagos APPEALS Project, African Rice and farmers, during a visit to beneficiaries of the Project Rice Seed Outgrower Scheme at Origanringan, Epe and Okegelu in Lekki areas of the State, said the Project has supported rice farmers with modern technology to increase mass production of pure strain of Ofada Rice for consumption in Nigeria and export to foreign countries.

She said Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has keen interest in agriculture and that was why the State Government is fully supporting APPEALS Project to empower farmers, especially youths and women with necessary technology for productivity, improved livelihood and food security.

“Lagos APPEALS Project wants to increase the productivity of rice farmers in Lagos State. We want to ensure that Ofada Rice gets to foreign countries.

“Our rice is better than foreign rice. It is more nutritious than the imported rice. So, I want to implore farmers to invest more in farming activities, especially in the rice value chain.

“We are using this opportunity to call on investors and entrepreneurs to invest in agriculture for food security. If there is no food, there is no guarantee that there would be security in the State or in any country. So, it is high time investors came on board and invest in agriculture. The gap of food demand cannot be overemphasised,” she said.

Also speaking, a rice seed expert from African Rice Center, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr. Abraham Shaibu, said the Center has supported farmers in Lagos to produce good quality of Ofada rice by assisting them with technology to improve their productivity.

He said African Rice has identified and produced pure strain of Ofada rice seed with high yield for Lagos APPEALS Project farmers, adding that the seed has been successfully cultivated by the Lagos APPEALS Project outgrower and a willing off-taker is available to take it up and sell to rice producer.

Speaking during the visits to their farms, representatives of different clusters expressed gratitude to Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration and Lagos APPEALS Project for having the interest of farmers at heart by investing and empowering them with quality Ofada rice strain as well as providing necessary supports and technology to improve their productivity.

A rice farmer at Origanringan in Epe, Mr. Segun Omotayo, who has been in rice farming business for close to 20 years, said the assistance provided by Lagos APPEALS Project has helped to increase their productivity from about 1.5 tonnes to three tonnes per hectare based on rice seeds given to them by the Project.

Mr. Giwa Adeolu, a rice farmer, who is coordinating clusters of Ofada Rice farmers farming on 500 hectares of land at Okegelu in Lekki, said the technology provided by Lagos APPEALS Project has contributed positively to the rice farm, which according to him is an investment that is worth N350million.

He said they are expecting nothing less than 2.5 to 3 tonnes per hectare by the time they harvest their produce in next two months.

“We really appreciate Lagos APPEALS Project for their support. They empowered us and gave us adequate support to the extent that presently we have five clusters and we cultivated over 500 hectares of land in the same place. This (pointing to the 500 hectares of the rice farm) is demonstration of what Lagos APPEALS Project did.

“They gave us nets to cover our plants to chase away the picker birds, which is a major challenge of rice farmers all over the world. This initiative sound so loud that more farmers are coming out now to benefit from what Lagos APPEALS Project is doing for rice farmers in the State,” he said.

PRESS RELEASE

LEAVE AMAECHI FROM YOUR SINKING PARTY, EZE TO AKAWOR… Thinking Amaechi’ll return to PDP is a sick, wild fantasy… Amaechi didn’t join APC to Ouster Jonathan, but was forced out by PDP hawks and Idle political Jobbers within PDP…Counsels Governor Wike to start preparing his handover note come 2023 for enthronement of an APC Led Government

Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, has trashed claims by the Rivers State Chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, that former Rivers Governor, Chibuike Amaechi, will soon return to the People’s Democratic Party.

Recall that Akawor, had during a sparse gathering of members of the PDP in Ikwerre Local Government Area, announced to his audience that the Minister of Transportation and South-South Leader of the APC, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, would make a comeback to the People’s Democratic Party any time soon.

An excerpt from the very deceptive and widely publicized opinion reads “One day, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, your son, will come back to his family, which is PDP. He has to come back because he was a speaker. Where he went, he went for a reason. He went to remove President Jonathan. Jonathan has gone, so he should come back to his party. I am saying it again. My brother, my friend, the bosom friend of our Governor, Nyesom Wike, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, come back home.”

In a statement made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, Chief Eze counseled Akawo and those who share in his wildest imagination to quickly seek the service of health professionals for medical examinations to ascertain their health status and subject themselves to treatment where necessary, because according to him, only young men with sophisticated health issues, defective sensory neurons and blurred reasoning will share in such a blunt view.

“While I lack the power to stop Ambassador Akwaor from dreaming of the Super Minister and Minister of the Decade, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, erstwhile Governor of Rivers State and incumbent Minister of Transportation returning to the sinking Peoples Democratic Party, I wish to counsel him to try to treat himself of malaria as nothing will cause the Minister to return to a party that did everything to destroy his political feats and personality.”

The Party Chief said Chief Akawor, who earned his Ambassadorial appointment on the footing of his roles in the satanic collaboration among the Jonathans,Wike, Obua, and others, which led to forceful exit of Amaechi from the PDP, may just be  scamping alongside

others, for the return of Amaechi, in order to give credibility to the party already destroyed by Governor Wike and his inklings.

It is unfortunate and in fact pricking on the conscience for Akawor, whose inputs in the broad day robbery that tore the Rivers PDP in pieces, to say Amaechi’s motive for leaving the party was chiefly to remove President Jonathan, and having succeeded, he should return to the PDP.

For avoidance of doubt and in straightening the records, Chief Eze said Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has nothing to do with the ouster of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the President of Nigeria but was forced out of the PDP by those he described as party hawks and jobbers who felt Amaechi was a threat to their undemocratic antecedents.

The famous statement “We’ll arrest Amaechi by next year – Wike” credited to Chief Nyesom Wike, then a junior Minister in the administration of Dr. Jonathan Goodluck by 2014 still suffices and speaks more on the ploy to trick the then Governor to swim in  muddy waters.

Then Supervisory Minister of Education had said that Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi will be arrested after President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration as winner of the 2015 presidential election.

“Once INEC announces the victory of President Jonathan, we will immediately shut down the Port Harcourt International Airport and all land and sea borders in Rivers State to prevent Governor Amaechi from escaping. Does he think we don’t know that he is planning to run away? But he and his cohorts will not succeed.

All they can do thereafter is to lock themselves in the government house and at the appropriate time we will go there and pick them up one after the other. Believe me, governor Amaechi will surely account for all our monies that he is frittering away now”.

The Deputy National Chairman of the PDP then Prince Uche Secondus, who also spoke at the event said that Governor Amaechi is a temporary occupant in government house and that PDP will not allow him to choose his successor in 2015 because Rivers State is for PDP. He has taken all our money to Lagos to develop APC.

With this type of threat by the over ambitious and deadly Wike, one maybe forced to ask, “is Amaechi a stone or a tree that is been threatened to be cut but stood still without running. Amaechi has to find a way to survive this unwarranted onslaught, so he left.

Eze recalled with nostalgia how the hawks running the administration of Dr. Jonathan kicked Amaechi out of PDP.

Let me state that the obvious desperation of the PDP leadership to completely destroy Amaechi led to his departure, alongside five other PDP governors, to form the New PDP, with five of them later joining the mega opposition political party, the All Progressives Congress.

The Factors that forced Amaechi out of PDP are thus under listed:

1.

When the PDP national leadership undemocratically decided to suspend Governor Amaechi from the party without any sound reason on May 27, 2013 and was to follow it up with expulsion, Amaechi the victim resorted to the courts, once again, to stop them from taking any further step on his case until he decided to join APC. The suspension of Amaechi from the party was agreed during an unscheduled and unusually early morning meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party at the residence of the then National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur. The meeting commenced at 8:00 am and came two days ahead of the regular meeting of the NWC, which normally holds on Wednesdays. It was also three days after Amaechi beat the odds with his re-election as chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. He had been allegedly opposed by the PDP Governors’ Forum (PDP-GF) ahead of the election.

It was this suspension of Governor Amaechi from PDP, not minding all that he did to uplift the party that started the decimation of PDP and its reduction from a ruling national political party to an opposition regional political party.

It is said that during the intervening days, many interventions were made to save the crisis and resolve the matter. Important national leaders including Retired General Yakubu Gowon tried to stop the departure of Amaechi knowing it was the only way to stop the exodus. But the more such efforts were made, the harder those who did not want Amaechi in the party worked to push him out.

For the education of Ambassador Akwaor and his misguided fellows, let me call on Amaechi to explain by himself why he joined APC.

Explaining why he joined APC, Governor Amaechi said: “Unfortunately, recent events within the PDP have given me reason to reconsider our collective interest as people of the South-South and, indeed as Rivers people. At various times, as the one whom you gave your mandate, I had cause to complain about the marginalization of our state and our people, despite our huge contribution to the national coffers and our unflinching commitment and support for the ruling PDP. While the political and economic importance of Rivers State cannot be contested, we continue to hold the shorter end of the stick.

“A few instances may suffice: Our demand that the Federal Government return oil wells belonging to Rivers State to us has gone unheeded and been treated with levity under this administration. Rather, our oil wells have been ceded to Bayelsa, Abia and Akwa Ibom states. Even after we got a judgment that the oil wells were wrongly ceded to Akwa Ibom State and should be returned to us; only dry wells that were no longer producing oil were returned.

“In the specific case of the Soku oil wells, despite a decision reached that the monies should remain in an escrow account till all matters concerning it are resolved, the Federal government continues to pay neighbouring Bayelsa State the revenues meant for Rivers State in a classic case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It is indeed noteworthy that we have made several representations formally and informally on this matter.

“A second instance is the total absence of federal presence in Rivers State. The ‘National Good Governance Tour’ provided a good opportunity for the Federal Government to showcase its presence in Rivers State. The tour, if nothing else, proved that there was not much to show in a state that is the cash cow of the federation. The East-West Road remains abandoned, work has been deliberately slow on the Port Harcourt International Airport, the third busiest airport in the country, while all airports started along with it have long been completed and commissioned. The Bonny-Bomu Road that leads to the only functional liquefied natural gas project remains uncompleted. In the midst of all these, our administration went ahead to fix federal roads to the tune of N103 billion. Several representations and letters after, not one kobo has been repaid. The Federal Government is actively discouraging investments in Rivers State.”

Amaechi at another forum stated, “They have become so desperate that they have gone to hire Joseph Mbu to serve as the political wing of the PDP in Rivers State. I pray to God to save Rivers State so that those thieves will not come to power and steal your money. We want to confront the Nigerian Police. When you hear impunity, it is because you allow it. There is no revolution without blood. From now till election, we should mobilize and confront the Nigerian police. If they say they are ready for debate, tell them I am ready. They should go to the National Assembly and summon me.”

Other instances that made the departure of Amaechi from PDP imperative are the following:

Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu, during these inglorious days in the state.

Supporting every unimaginable act of impunity in the state, including the plot by five State Assembly members to impeach the speaker in a House of 31 members, with the hope of impeaching Amaechi thereafter. This led to the closure of the courts but they turned around to blame the victim, Amaechi.

Seizing and grounding the planes belonging the state for no just cause. Shutting down the robust security architecture that was to save the region and oil facilities.

Harassing and intimidating the duly elected Governor of Rivers State for no just cause, and even supporting the splitting of the Governors Forum into two, to ensure that Governor Amaechi, who was duly elected by his colleagues, does not have an easy reign as the chairman of the forum.

Other factors are:

1. Refusal to refund to the state government over N130 billion used in the dualisation of Ikwerre-Owerri Road, approved by late President Yar’Adua, and other federal roads in the state executed by the state to ease the suffering of the people of Rivers State. It took the APC controlled FG and President Muhammadu Buhari to refund at least N79BN of it which fell into the laps of the same man who did everything against such payments to the state. What an irony.

2. Ceding of oil wells belonging to Rivers to Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom and Abia states, to ensure that the revenue accruing to the state is reduced. To this day, this has pushed Rivers State to the third state in the Niger Delta behind Delta and Akwa Ibom, but not far ahead of Bayelsa State that was far below Rivers State.

3. Abandoned construction of the Port Harcourt International Airport after completing other airports started at the same time with it. The airport thus became an eyesore and declared as one of the worst airports in the entire world. Pictures of the state of the airport attached then explained the level of hatred President Jonathan had for Rivers State and her people.

4. Posting and encouraging the excesses of the tyrannical Police Commissioner Joseph Mbu, during his inglorious days in the state.

5. Supporting or remaining silent over the impunity of daily killing, maiming of members of Rivers APC by the PDP and their agents’ killer squads.

6. President Jonathan released all N25 billion that accrued from the principle of derivation from the five Soku oil wells that rightly belong to Rivers State and kept in reserve for Rivers State and Bayelsa State, to Bayelsa, his home state.

Eze further highlighted that the world maybe astounded to learn that not minding all that Amaechi went through in the hands of Jonathan, he ensured that a slot in the State Executive Council was given to Jonathan through out his eight years tenure as the Governor of Rivers State.

In conclusion, Chief Eze said contrary to the defective reasoning of Ambassador Akwaor and those sponsoring him, Amaechi never joined APC in order to ouster Jonathan and his administration from the centre but undemocratic elements like Chief Nyesom Wike were the architects of his ouster after forcing and imposing on Amaechi all his actions in 2014 in order to join progressive forces to rescue Nigeria from the hands of the likes of Wike.

If there is anybody to blame over the exit of Dr. Jonathan from Government, it is Wike and his fellow hawks who, for the pursuit of selfish goals, plotted and ruined the administration of Jonathan, relegating him to the background and keeping him at bay on current happenings in the polity.

Finally, Eze counsels Akwaor to stop deceiving Governor Wike and help him to start preparing his handover note for an APC led Government come 2023 as Rivers State and her people are totally tired of the confused PDP Government in the State.

Ends

Signed

Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze,

APC Chieftain & former National Publicity Secretary, nPDP

Mele Kolo Kyari: A Daniel Has Come To Judgement

By Erasmus Ikhide

Crude oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Nigeria in Oloibiri

in present day Bayelsa State in 1956; four years before the British

granted us political independence. A school of thought believes that

if the discovery had been made earlier, the Caucasians would never

have fully departed the country and we would have had White Nigerians

in a similar manner like what obtains in South Africa.

The black gold as it is fondly called has been tragically more of a

curse as it has elevated a culture of sloth and lack of innovation

which has done nothing but greatly impoverish us. Who could have

believed that the revolutionary strides undertaken by the late sage

Chief Obafemi Awolowo while he held sway as Western Region Premier

between 1952 and 1959 was from the proceeds of cocoa and other

agricultural produce?

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) was established on

April 1, 1977 by the military government of the then General Olusegun

Obasanjo but since then it has been involved in an endless cobweb of

corruption and cesspit of ineptitude.

Mele Kolo Kyari was appointed as the 19th Managing Director of the

Corporation on July 8, 2019. Many critics of the Buhari led government

criticized him to the High Heavens as another northern appointment and

opted to throw away the baby with the bath water.

Days after his appointment, he unveiled Transparency, Accountability

and Performance Excellence (TAPE), a five-step strategic roadmap for

NNPC’s attainment of efficiency and global excellence.

According to a report done by Premium Times, He said the five steps

for realizing the objectives of TAPE were to ensure:

1.NNPC opened up its systems to public scrutiny;

2. Its operational processes were made transparent and accountable to

the Nigerian people and the government;

3.The new system would operate along with well-defined operational

processes, benchmarked against established global best practices by

world-class oil and gas companies;

4. Set the right operational cost structure, to guarantee

value-addition towards NNPC’s sustained profitability, and

5. Set achievable goals, priorities and performance standards and

criteria, by developing suitable governance structures for its

strategic business units, and the entrenchment of team-spirit, work

ethic and collaboration with all key stakeholders to achieve set

corporate goals.

So far the objectives of TAPE have been met.

He initiated bold minded reforms in the upstream sector. His

creativity saw an alternative financing deal for the Nigerian

Petroleum Development Company (NPDC). Within the last one year, Kyari

ensured the execution of a funding and technical services agreement

(FTSA) as well as a alternative financing deal for NPDC’s OML 13

valued at about $3.15 billion and OML 65 for $876 million. These

agreements resulted is a 32% and 21% incremental production output in

OMLs 40 and 30.

Also, 14 companies participated in the auction for the financing and

redevelopment of OML 119 operated by the NPDC. The twin offshore block

made up of Okono and Okpoho fields located approximately 50 kilometres

offshore south-eastern Niger Delta operated by ExxonMobil.

Kyari described OML 119 as one of NNPC’s critical projects, which

aligns with the Federal Government’s aspiration to boost the country’s

crude oil and gas production, growing reserves, and monetizing the

nation’s enormous gas resources.

He has also revised the unit costs for joint ventures (JV) and

production sharing contracts (PSC).

He has also been able to save costs for the government through NNPC’s

revision of joint venture and production sharing contract (PSC)

operators’ unit costs, down to $19 per barrel and $18.3 per barrel,

from the initial $31 per barrel and $24.3 per barrel respectively.

Concerned about the impact of high oil production cost on the

government revenue, Kyari has, in the last one year, demonstrated

commitment to achieving the industry target of reducing oil production

cost to an average of $10 per barrel by 2021.

Under Kyari’s management in the last one year, the NPDC also acquired

four new oil acreages (OMLs 11, 24, 116 and 98, while recovering debts

for gas supplies totaling about N16.64 billion and $3.55 million.

There has also been sustainable average oil output under his pragmatic

leadership. Despite the challenges in the oil and gas industry, Kyari

was able to ensure the NNPC subsidiary in charge of the government

investment interests in the oil industry joint venture projects, the

National

Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS), was able to achieve

an average oil production capacity of 1.8 million barrels per day

prior to the recent decision by the Organization of Petroleum

Exporting Countries (OPEC) to cut its members’ output to boost crude

oil prices and stabilize the oil market.

Kyari has also supported NAPIMS to secure external funding for the

SPDC’s Santolina 3 projects expected to deliver an average production

of 16,300 barrels of oil per day, while also superintending over the

resolution of the Escravos gas-to-liquids (EGTL) cost dispute with

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL).

Nigeria LNG Train 7 FID

For almost two years, the final investment decision (FID) for the

construction of Train 7 of the Nigeria LNG project was delayed. The

NNPC and other partners in the project could not come together to

commit to the development of the project.

The outbreak of the coronavirus last year worsened the problem as the

global economy came to a virtual standstill. But, Kyari did not allow

all the crises to rob Nigeria of all the benefits derivable from the

execution of the project.

At the height of the global pandemic, Kyari ensured the NNPC and its

JV partners, including Shell, Total, and ENI, came together to execute

the NLNG T7 FID on December 27, 2019. He went ahead to mobilize for

the signing of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC)

contract for the project awarded to the Saipem, Chiyoda and Daewoo

(SCD) JV Consortium.

The signing of the contract signaled the commencement of EPC

activities for NLNG T7 Project. On completion, the production capacity

of the six-train plant would expand exponentially by 35 per cent, from

the extant 22 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 30 MTPA, and boost

Nigeria’s competitiveness in the global LNG market.

The project has the prospects of further attracting foreign direct

investment (FDI) in excess of $10 billion to Nigeria.

The AKK Pipeline Project

Just as Nigerians were jubilating at the milestone on the Nigeria LNG

project, Kyari ensured President Muhammadu Buhari launched the EPC

activities on the 614 kilometers-long Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano (AKK)

pipeline project by NNPC last week.

Considered to be at the heart of the country’s economic growth, Kyari

has pursued the execution of the project with single-minded commitment

to see that it is completed on schedule in 2023.

The pipeline project represents phase one of the 1,300 kilometre-long

Trans-Nigerian Gas Pipeline (TNGP) project being developed as part of

Nigeria’s Gas Master Plan to utilize the country’s surplus gas

resources for power generation as well as for consumption by domestic

customers.

The TNGP project also forms part of the proposed 4,401 kilometre-long

Trans-Saharan Gas Pipeline (TSGP) to export natural gas to customers

in Europe.

Uninterrupted Fuel Supply

Prior to his appointment, hiccups in the supply of petroleum products

were a common feature in the Nigerian economy. The incessant

disruptions in fuel supply affected Nigerians’ ability to plan

effectively. They could not predict when the next fuel scarcity would

hit the country and send families to spend days and nights in long

fuel queues at filling stations.

Kyari leveraged on the existing Direct-Sales-Direct-Purchase (DSDP)

product supply arrangement he started and sustained while in office as

the GGM COMD of the NNPC, to guarantee energy security for Nigerians.

2020 crude oil lifting contracts

In August 2019, a few weeks after his inauguration, Kyari announced

the issuance of fresh crude oil lifting contracts to 15 local and

international oil marketing and trading consortia/companies under the

2020 DSDP scheme.

With the country’s four refineries still operating far below their

installed capacities, and unable to produce enough to meet the

country’s daily national consumption need for petroleum products, the

15 contractors were to utilize the 445,000 barrels per day crude oil

allocation for local refining to bring into the country petroleum

products for domestic consumers.

But, Kyari said the difference in the latest issuance of the oil

lifting contracts was that this would be the first time since the DSDP

programme began in 2016 that the NNPC would officially be making

public the list of all the contract winners.

Kyari said revealing the names of the beneficiaries to the public was

a new normal for NNPC as part of the policy direction, pledge and

commitment of his management to transparency and accountability in

NNPC’s operations going forward.

To sustain the era of uninterrupted supply of petroleum products,

Kyari assured that his management would continue to revamp downstream

infrastructure to guarantee availability of 90 per cent pipeline for

fuel distribution; ensure automation of the fuel distribution system,

and grow NNPC Retail’s market share to 30 per cent.

“Operation White”

To build on the success of the DSDP programme, entrench energy

security and deepen transparency in petroleum products supply and

distribution, Kyari, in collaboration with the Minister of State for

Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, initiated an innovative programme,

“Operation White”, to curb products diversion and smuggling, and

ensure that the entire country was kept continuously wet with

petroleum products.

Under the initiative, a team of 89 officials drawn from various

government agencies involved in the petroleum products supply process

was inaugurated, tasked with the responsibility of monitoring and

tracking fuel distribution and consumption throughout the country.

The team included representatives from the NNPC, Department of

Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory

Agency (PPPRA), Petroleum Equalization Fund (PEF) as well as the

Department of State Security (DSS).

Under the initiative, Kyari ensured actual volumes of petroleum

products imported and consumed in the country were authenticated. The

NNPC now has a customer express solution and online marketers’ portal,

which is live for oil majors and Depot and Petroleum Products

Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) to monitor loading and

lifting of petroleum products from NNPC depots. Plans are on course

for the system to go live for members of the Independent Petroleum

Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) by the end of the

second quarter of 2020.

These achievements are by no means all that can be credited to the Lee

Kuan Yee like visionary leadership of Kyari and we in the media have

the duty to praise our public officials when they do well so that we don’t become permanent Rottweilers.

A Daniel has indeed come to judgement!

Erasmus Ikhide is a media strategist and can be reached via:

ikhideerasmus@gmail.com; 08035032123

Ebireri Henry Ovie Mobile: 2348036977194