Dangote accuses oil marketers of demanding N1.5trn subsidy to match price - ITREALMS

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Dangote Petroleum Refinery has accused the Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN) of demanding an annual subsidy of about N1.505 trillion in order to enable its members to match the refinery’s gantry prices at their depots.

In a statement made available to ITREALMS, the refinery alleged that while it offers petroleum products directly to marketers at its gantry, DAPPMAN insists on taking delivery via coastal logistics—an arrangement that would add an extra N75 per litre in costs. 

ADITOP accuses NUPENG of extortion, excessive levies on tanker owners - ITREALMS

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The Association of Distributors and Transporters of Petroleum Products (ADITOP) has accused the Nigerian Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) of extortion and excessive levies collection within the downstream sector.

This accusation came on the heels of a vote of no confidence passed on the leadership of NUPENG by the Lagos Zone of Petroleum Tanker Drivers Branch of the union (PTD). 

Oil resumption: MOSOP, Ogoni Liberation Initiative accuses FG of provocations - ITREALMS

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The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and the Ogoni Liberation Initiative have criticized the federal government over recent remarks made by the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, concerning the resumption of oil production in Ogoni noting that the statement was insensitive and damaging to a healing process undertaken by MOSOP over the past five years.

The groups further noted that the Ogoni people were yet to recover from the pains of the past and do not need to be reminded of the evils done to them by previous Nigerian regimes neither do they need to be subjected to renewed state repression.

Dangote refinery accuses IOCs of plotting downfall - ITREALMS

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... Laments NMDPRA licensing to import banned dirty diesel, jet fuel

The Vice President, Oil and Gas at Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Devakumar Edwin, has accused International Oil Companies (IOCs) in Nigeria of doing everything to frustrate the survival of Dangote Oil Refinery and Petrochemicals. Edwin said the IOCs are deliberately and willfully frustrating the refinery’s efforts to buy local crude by jerking up high premium price above the market price, thereby forcing it to import crude from countries as far as United States, with its attendant high costs.

Speaking to a group of Energy Editors at a one-day training programme, organised by the Dangote Group, Edwin also lamented the activity of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), in granting licences, indiscriminately to marketers to import dirty refined products into the country. 

CPV accuses PEPT of overthrowing 1999 constitution, creating 37th state - ITREALMS

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A body of concerned Nigerians under the aegis of Credible Peoples’ Voice (CPV) has accused the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal [PEPT] of overthrowing the 1999 Constitution with its recent controversial judgment, reports ITREALMS.

They also accused the PEPT judges of creating the Nigeria's 37th state without input from the people and the National Assembly.

FG accuses OBIDATTI of treason - ITREALMS

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The Federal Government (FG) has accused the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, and his running mate, Yusuf Datti Ahmed, of alleged incitement of people to violence over the outcome of the 2023 Presidential elections.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed made the allegation in Washington DC, USA, during his official engagements with some international media organisations.

Alake accuses NADECO of nefarious agenda against Tinubu - ITREALMS.

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The special adviser to the All Progressive Congress (APC) president-elect, Mr. Dele Alake, has alleged nefarious agenda of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), against his principal, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, reports ITREALMS.

Mr. Alake in a press statement available to ITREALMS said that their attention have been drawn to an attempt by one, Lloyd Ukwu, a United States-based Nigerian claiming to be the Executive Director of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) to organise a press conference specifically intended to disparage and cast aspersions on the credibility of the 2023 Presidential Election freely and fairly won by the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Exposed! Al-Mustapha accuses NGOs, western countries of exploiting Nigeria's californium - ITREALMS

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The Action Alliance (AA) Presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections, retired Major Hamza Al-Mustapha has accused some international Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) of conniving with some state actors to exploit the californium precious stones in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

Californium is reportedly worth $27 million, one thousand, per gram, about N12,040,920,000.00 billion.

MRA condemns raid on Peoples Gazette, accuses Police of being used - ITREALMS

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The Media Rights Agenda (MRA) has condemned the weekend raid on the head office of the Peoples Gazette newspaper by agents of the Nigeria Police and the arrest of the editor and four other staff of the newspaper. 

MRA also called on the Federal Government to rein in the law enforcement agency, accusing it of becoming a tool in the hands of rich or powerful individuals and entities for harassing journalists and media organizations.

FGN accuses Nigerians in diaspora of funding secessionist groups - ITREALMS

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The Federal Government of Nigeria has accused some Nigerians in Diaspora of funding secessionist groups, reports ITREALMS.

The government made this accusation through the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed during an audience he granted members of the United Kingdom (UK) chapter of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO) in Abuja, Tuesday.

Voicemail: ALTON accuses Pantami of meddlesomeness - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) has accused the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Isa Ali Pantami of meddlesomeness on his alleged interference over Voice mail deactivation order, reports ITREALMS.

Responding to the deactivation order by the Minister, ALTON described as unnecessary interference on a value added service, which the regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), could simply handle without much ado.

in response to the claimed order for deactivation of Voice Mail Protocol by Service Providers' Network as a ‘policy issue’ ALTON maintained that within the Section 23 and 24 of the Nigerian Communications Act, “this is not a major ‘policy issue’ which must align with consultations to be organized by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

“It is a mere operational/consumer protection issue which the Ministry can simply call NCC's attention to,” ALTON insisted amounted to unnecessary interference.

The group which is the umbrella of all licensed mobile network operators, noted that in as much that they want to believe that the Minister was misquoted.

However, ALTON posited that “Voicemail (VM) is a value-added service. Only those who opt-in should have it” stressing that the current practice on some networks is that once subscribers call and the recipient does not pick, “you get a voice prompt saying that the subscriber is not available and asking you to record a voice message *after the tone*”

They further said that for the avoidance of doubt subscribers are not billed anything, but if they delay in either exiting in the event of not wanting the voicemail, “they may be charged for a few seconds, or for the time it takes you to record the message.”

ALTON pointed out that the recipient of the voice mail does not get charged for listening, because “It is free.”

The group explained in a press statement available to ITREALMS signed by ALTON chairman, Engr. Gbenga Adebayo and Head of Operations, MR. Gbolahan Awonuga, said that VM is a value added service and should only be provisioned for those who expressly request for it, recalling that MNOs reintroduced the VM facility to discourage people who "flash" continuously.

“Flashing wastes network resources and also degrades QoS reporting. This should not however justify the practise the way it is being done by some networks” they said.

ALTON, however maintained that, this is not a major "policy issue" within the meaning of S. 23&24 of the NCA which empowers the Minister to formulate "general policy for the communications sector..." after due consultations organised by the NCC, describing it as a mere operational cum consumer protection issue which the Ministry could simply refer to NCC's attention.

“It is a purely consumer related issues that minister refers to as a major policy issue and also amounts to unnecessary interference by the Minister contrary to Section 25 subsections 1 & 2 of the Nigerian Communications Act 2003,” ALTON insisted.

Remmy Nweke/DoP

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Pix: Gbenga Adebayo of ALTON and Minister Pantami

Lai Mohammed accuses opposition of instigating victory by subterfuge – ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has accused the opposition of instigating victory by subterfuge, reports ITREALMS.

Speaking in Abuja, he recalled that on Monday, January 21st 2019, they alerted the nation, also via a press conference, to the plot by some opposition elements to scuttle the 2019 general elections by instigating widespread violence across the country.

“Of course we didn't just make this up. It was based on credible intelligence,” he said.

According to him, the desperate opposition is doing everything possible, including instigating widespread violence as well as relentless attacks on key institutions, to discredit the forthcoming election.

“They know they will lose the election, but they want victory by subterfuge,” he alleged.

And to further their plan, Lai Mohammed said, the opposition is dispatching a 10-member delegation to some Western capitals, including London, Brussels and Washington, DC, to sell the idea that the Buhari Administration has perfected the plan to rig the election.

“They have no empirical basis for the idea they are pushing, beyond relying on exploiting the nation's 'fault lines' of religion, ethnicity and regionalism.

“The opposition is approaching the election with an incredible level of desperation. In this regard, they have activated their own version of the infamous Association for Better Nigeria (ABN), under the guise of CUPP, to engage in unrestrained rabble-rousing and frivolous court cases. Of course, the activities of CUPP in recent times are there for all to see, even though the coalition seems to be a very poor imitation of the original ABN.

“The Buhari Administration is committed to a free, fair, credible and peaceful poll. We are glad that local and international observers are already fully mobilised to monitor the election.

“We call on all Nigerians to be vigilant as we begin the final countdown to the election. Eternal vigilance, as the saying goes, is the price of liberty. We must not allow desperate politicians to crash our democracy on the altar of their personal - and sometimes inordinate - ambition!”

Uboshe Uboshe/Editor

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APA candidate accuses Ajimobi of paralyzing Oyo tourism - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

The Oyo State Governorship Candidate of the African Peoples Alliance (APA), Deacon Tolulope Adedoyin,  has indicted the outgoing governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi of turning the Oyo State Cultural Centre which is also the arts house of the people in the state to beer joint and sex spot, reports ITREALMS.

This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by the governorship candidate of the African Peoples Alliance Party, Deacon Tolulope Adedoyin, after the party’s brief meeting at their party secretariat in Ibadan yesterday.

According to APA governorship candidate, “A cultural center is an organization, building or complex that promotes culture and arts. Not the one that encourages selling of beers and an avenue for prostitutes to meet and market their bodies. It should be made available to arts veterans and associations like GOND, ANTP, TAMPAN, NANTAP, SNA, ANA to mention but few of them who have been denied access innumerable times for rehearsals and meetings related to arts programmes. Cultural Centre should be where arts works are sold and crafted not where prostitutes and drunkards fellowships”

Adedoyin however promised to give full attention to the following tourists’ attraction sites after he has been elected governor of the state. The sites are Ado-Awaye Suspended Lake, Ido Cenotaph, Iya-nla Hill at Tede- Atisbo LGA, Oke-Ogun National Park, Bowers Tower, Cultural Centre to mention but few.

Ayo Midele/GEE

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LADOL accuses Samsung of entrenching corrupt tendency in Nigeria - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

A lawyer and Counsel to Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Prof. Fidelis Oditah, has accused Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), a subsidiary of the Samsung Group of trying to entrench its corrupt tendencies in Nigeria, reports ITREALMS.

Prof. Oditah also alleged this move by the South Korean company to take over land at the Lagos Free Trade Zone belonging to LADOL.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos, Oditah said Samsung was pressing to illegally take over the land and had written to both the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA), asking to be sold the portion of land inside LADOL, which was leased to it (Samsung) by LADOL for the Egina project.

Describing the action of Samsung as "unruly, against Nigeria’s local content law, and overall, unexpected from a mere contractor/tenant such as Samsung towards its landlord," he made reference to corruption cases involving the company in other parts of the world, including the bribery case in Brazil, and said the company was trying to bring same to Nigeria.

“Nowhere in the world can a tenant overthrow its landlord. Samsung is a contractor in Nigeria, not an investor, and the land on which it built its facility was leased to it just for the duration of the Egina project, and is open to other contractors with similar projects.

"Samsung wrote to NIMASA and NPA, asking to be given part of LADOL’s land. If Samsung wants to build its own facility, it should first come in as an investor and ask for its own land, not LADOL’s land,” Oditah stated.

In accusing Samsung of bringing its corrupt practice to Nigeria, oil industry observers point to the under-hand dealings it allegedly used in winning the contract for the Egina FPSO project.

Samsung was reportedly the lowest bidder among the contractors who had vied for the Egina FPSO contract. However, according to sources, some “corrupt and unpatriotic Nigerians” had connived to swing the contract for Samsung, shoving aside some of the necessary conditions required of the would-be winner of the contract.

Specifically, the company was said to have been handed over project after heavy bribing of corrupt government officials and the top echelon of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

Industry observers also point to Samsung's alleged subversion of the Nigerian Content Policy in the execution of the Egina FPSO project. According to them, the integration of the topsides of the Egina FPSO at the LADOL yard in Lagos earlier this year had seen personnel being shipped into the country from South Korea to handle the very integration of the vessel originally planned to be handled by Nigerians at the LADOL yard. The development thus created jobs for the Koreans here in Nigeria to the detriment of the Nigerian labour force, against the provisions of the Nigerian Content Act and the promise by the Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB), NNPC, and Total, the operators of the FPSO, that the project would create substantial number of jobs for Nigerians.

There is also an ongoing controversy about Samsung demanding an extra $300 million on the Egina FPSO project. Sources have not specified what the extra $300 million being demanded by Samsung is meant for, but it was learnt that Samsung was bent on collecting the money from Total and its Egina project joint venture partners, which include NNPC, before a final hand over of the vessel.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Ambazonia accuses Nigeria of abduction, demands release of President, 10 others

ITREALMS:

...  Indicts UK, UN, EU of negligence

The Interim Government of the former British Southern Cameroons known as the Federal Republic of Ambazonia has accused the Nigerian government of abducting its President, Julius Ayuk Tabe and 10 others, reports ITRealms.

Ambazonia, ITRealms also gathered, accused the United Kingdom (UK) as the root-cause of current negligence, while the United Nations (UN) and European Union (EU) were accused of abandonment.

According to the Secretary for Communication & IT, Federal Republic of Ambazonia, Mr. Chris Anu, the people of the former British Southern Cameroons noted with dismay, that since the abduction d at gunpoint on January 5th, 2018, the President, Julius Ayuk Tabe and 10 other members of his Cabinet have not been granted access to any lawyers and family members by the Nigerian government. “which we are now aware that in complicity with the Cameroon regime in Yaoundé, engineered their abduction.”

They equally condemned vehemently, the fact that the Nigerian Government, more than a week after the abductions has not as much considered a press statement on the abductions even when the majority of those abducted are duly registered refugees in Nigeria.

“Nigeria is a signatory to International conventions on human rights, and to be acting recklessly as it is doing in this case, is a bridge of those conventions,” he said.

Further, they called on the “Nigerian authorities to immediately effect the unconditional release of our President and the 10 others abducted along with him on January 5th.”

“We are demanding for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Nfor Ngala Nfor, Dr. Fidelis Nde Che, Dr. Henry Kimeng, Prof. Che Awasum
Dr. Cornelius Kwanga, Mr. Tassang Wilfred, Dr. Ojong Okonghor, Barrister Nalowa Bih
Barrister Shufai Blaise Berinyuh and Barrister Eyambe Elias.

“We would like to bring to the attention of the Nigerian Government, and the world at large the fact that these victims abducted in the guise of fomenting trouble in the nation of Cameroon are not Cameroonians. They are Ambazonians. And as long as the Cameroon Government continues the military occupation, assault, rape, killings and the savagery on property in the Ambazonian territory, our resolve to launch a campaign aimed at economic divestment in la Republic du Cameroun will not relent.

“We will target foreign companies that do business in La Republique du Cameroun and whose revenue supports Mr. Paul Biya’s corrupt and inefficient functionaries. It is time for Western Governments to pass a Cameroon Divestment Act that will force their governments to cut investment ties with companies doing business in La Republique du Cameroun. But if they don’t, our actions will definitely force them to do so.”

He insisted that the Interim Government will like to make this clarification; The Cameroon crisis isn’t about secessionists or separatists, as is being widely reported.

“Ours is rather a classic problem of a failed decolonization from British colonial rule. If Britain had granted Southern Cameroons independence like all other colonial powers did to their territories, this problem would not be here now. So let it be made plain and clear, Ambazonians are not separatists or secessionists, we are freedom fighters in the order of Nkrumah, Lumumba, Awolowo, Azikiwe, John Garang, Nyerere etc., fighting colonization by La Republique du Cameroun. The Union between La Republique du Cameroun and the Southern Cameroons was never consummated,” he lamented.

The IG of Ambazonia, he said, will continue worldwide campaigns for Southern Cameroons’ right to self-determination and continuous nonviolent protest within Cameroon until our dream of a completely free and independent Ambazonia is achieved. “Nothing less.” 

Abducting our leaders isn’t going to deter us, it will only just spur us the more. And killing, arrest, torture, rape and even a hundred thousand more refugees will not deter our resolve. 

He insisted that they have battled the injustice forced upon them by the British Government for 56 years.

“If the international community thinks we are now ready to let go at this juncture, it is mistaken. If the UN, EU, Commonwealth, the AU, the US and British governments want to stop a bloodbath in Cameroon, the time is now, not tomorrow. Every one of us, 8 million Ambazonians will be killed before our territory will be made part of Cameroun again,” he maintained.

Uboshe Ubhoshe/GEE

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