Category: Big Story

Investors Will Not Come If We Continue To Pay Electricity Subsidy For Nigerians – Tinubu’s Govt Defends High Tariffs

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu has claimed that the country needs to invest the sum of 10 billion dollars yearly, to revive the power sector for the next 10 years.

The minister revealed this on Monday, at a one-day investigative hearing on halting the electricity tariff increase by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) organised by the Senate Committee on Power in Abuja.

He was quoted by NAN saying: “For this sector to be revived, government needs to spend nothing less than 10 billion dollars annually in the next 10 years.

”This is because of the Infrastructure requirement for the stability of the sector, but government can not afford that.

“And so we must make this sector attractive to investors and to lenders.

“So for us to attract investors,and investment, we must make the sector attractive, and the only way it can be made attractive is that there must be commercial pricing,” he said.

Adelabu added, “If the value is still at N66 and government is not paying subsidy, the investors will not come.

“But now that we have increased tariff for a Band, there are interests being shown by investors.”

The minister stated that the main difficulty in the sector was a lack of liquidity, and that the sector had been operating under a subsidised tariff regime due to the lack of a cost-reflective tariff.

He stated that the subsidy had not been provided over the years due to large liabilities owed to the Generating Companies (GenCos) and Gas Companies.

Adelabu explained that the government’s failure to pay the unpaid N2.9 trillion subsidy was owing to limited resources, necessitating the development of strategies to sustain the industry.

He urged lawmakers to assist the process of repaying debts owed operators along the value chain of generation, transmission, and distribution.

He continued: “The increase is based on supply, saying that any customer that does not receive 20 hours power supply will not be made to pay the new tariff.”

Ibom Focus had reported how President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government had approved N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour tariff increment for Band A electricity consumers in the country.

The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musliu Oseni, who made this known at a press briefing in Abuja said the increase would see the customers paying N225 kilowatt per hour from the current N66.

According to Oseni, customers in Band A who are those who enjoy 20 hours of electricity supply daily represent 15 percent of the 12million electricity customers in Nigeria.

BREAKING: Nigerian Government Announces New Minimum Wage

Information reaching Ibom Focus says that Nigerian Government Announces New Minimum Wage

The Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has approved a new minimum wage of N70,000 for civil servants in the state.

The governor revealed this while commissioning the new Labour House in Edo state on Monday.

According to him, the new wage comes into effect on May 1st, 2024.

Details soon…

JUST IN: Nigerian Government To End All Nnamdi Kanu’s Trial

The legal team of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has said that the United States of America has officially and publicly acknowledged that Kanu was unlawfully renditioned from Kenya by the Nigerian government in 2021.

The legal team said this in a statement issued by lead counsel of the team, Barrister Aloy Ejimakor, who said that the US government made the acknowledgement in an official publication captioned: “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria”.

Kanu’s legal team said that the position the US government had waited for almost three years to take and make public is surely well-considered and thus important for two reasons.

The team said that the reasons include that it affirms the case-in-chief the team adduced since June 2021 that Kanu was unlawfully renditioned, not lawfully extradited, and it is expected that, coming from a respected and an influential foreign power like the United States, the public acknowledgement would likely encourage the Nigerian government to also acknowledge that it had gravely violated Kanu’s human rights by subjecting him to a horrendous extraordinary rendition.

The statement read, “The attention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s Legal Team has been drawn to an official publication (a few days ago) by the United States government, captioned: “2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Nigeria”, whereby the US government acknowledged the obvious that “Nigeria’s secret police had violated Kanu’s rights during his arrest and extradition” and that Kanu was a victim of “arbitrary arrest” in June 2021.

“On behalf of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, his Legal Team hereby expresses its profound appreciation to the Government of the United States including, in particular, the US Mission in Nigeria. It is indeed a demonstration of diplomatic courage.

“It needs to be emphasised that this laudable position the US government waited for almost three years to take and make public is surely well-considered and thus important for two reasons.

“First, it affirms the case-in-chief we have adduced since June 2021 that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was unlawfully renditioned, not lawfully extradited. These are two opposite concepts that bear dissimilar legal implications.

“Second, it is expected that – coming from a respected and an influential foreign power like the United States – this public acknowledgement will likely encourage the Government of Nigeria to also acknowledge that it had gravely violated Kanu’s inalienable human rights by subjecting him to a horrendous extraordinary rendition.

“To be sure, one way the government of Nigeria can come clean and acknowledge this egregious wrong done to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is to banish any further temptations to impunity and summon its powers and discretions under the Constitution to bring the prosecution of Nnamdi Kanu to closure, without further ado.

“In our view, this is the most sensible thing to do because Kanu’s prosecution has, by effluxion of time, become attritional and questionable to boot, given that it was initiated almost a decade ago in 2015 and for alleged offences that are no longer in play.

“There are other cogent reasons, including the open and notorious fact that it is becoming increasingly clear that Nnamdi Kanu may never get a fair trial by dint of the grave complications created by the locale of his current detention.”

EXPOSED: How Tinubu Borrowed Over N3.8trillion In Six Months

In the last six months of 2023, the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government received an additional N3.8trillion in what appeared to be a fresh Ways and Means borrowing.

This was confirmed in a provisional data published in the latest statistics bulletin for the fourth quarter of the year recently released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This is despite claims by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, that the President Bola Tinubu government had not borrowed money from the CBN.

The CBN’s provisional data showed that the total figure rose from N4.4 trillion at the end of June 2023, meaning that the cumulative Ways and Means balances due by the government grew to N8.2 trillion as at December 2023.

Total Ways and Means balances as at May 2023 when the Tinubu administration took over was N26.95 trillion. However, the balances were securitised as included as part of the federal government’s domestic debt profile.

According to Daily Trust, a breakdown of the data shows that the balance at the end of June 2023 was N4.36 trillion, indicating that the prior month balances may have been moved to the Debt Management Office.

However, from July 2023, the balances increase every month, first to N4.5 trillion in July, then N5.1 trillion in August, crossing the N5.1 trillion mark for the first time.

By September, the total was N6.4 trillion, representing the single largest additional borrowing for a month with about N1.3 trillion. It then climbed to N7.2 trillion in October before rising marginally to N7.6 trillion in November.

At the end of the year, in December, the total hit N8.21 trillion, suggesting that Ways and Means increased by 88 per cent in six months.

BREAKING: Many Feared Killed As Multiple Explosions Rock Rivers

No fewer than four persons were feared killed following a multiple explosions at the Eleme section of the East-West Road in Rivers State on Friday night.

It was gathered that a tanker laden with petroleum products exploded, affecting other vehicles in the area known for its gridlock.

The incident started arpind 9:15pm adjacent to the Indorama Petrochemical Company located along the Akpojo-Onne axis of the East-West Road leading to some critical national assets.

A source living in Akpajo, Eleme Local Government Area, said he heard a deafening sound twice from his residence.

The source who gave his name as Vikko said, “I heard a very loud sound about 20 minutes ago, and people were shouting.

“The sound came from the Petro-Chemical company area. So when I came out, I saw a thick smoke with fire from a distance.”

A Port Harcourt-based broadcast journalist, Segun Owolabi, who gave a live update from the scene aired on his company’s Radio Station (Super FM, 93.3) painted a gory picture and said he counted four bodies burnt.

Owolabi stated, “I saw four dead bodies burnt. Some may have been in the bushes because many ran away. I saw a whole stretch of vehicles burnt down, trailer burnt down.”

On what may have caused the fire which he said was still raging, he said, “There seems to be a truck carrying substances and it was as if it had a collision with another vehicle that may have ignited the fire. Over 20 vehicles burnt down and several people trapped.

“There may be more bodies. Oh my God this is a tragedy. A stretch of vehicles burnt,.”

He, however, said three fire-fighting trucks from the Indorama Petrochemical company had arrived at the scene and were trying to put out the fire which was still raging.

He added, “Our call right now is to other companies to assist in putting out the fire because it may overwhelm the three fire trucks by the Indorama Company.

“Some security agents are here too, but we call for security presence to ensure nothing else happens here. Also the Rivers State Government and other relevant agencies should rise to the occasion in seeing that the situation is brought under control.

“Also, the Chairman of Eleme Local Government Area should swing into action and make every necessary call he needs to make to save people of his area and others using the road.”

Owolabi said the fire was still raging as of the time he left with thick smoke billowing into the atmosphere.

Following the incident, it was gathered that hundreds of travellers and passengers were stranded as the road which leads to Akwa Ibom, Cross River and others were blocked.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said though she was yet to get a situation report on the incident, she would find out and revert.

She had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

Nigerian Journalist, Dee Hails Wife At 2nd Birthday

Nigerian journalist Dominic Edet Edem, also known as Dee, celebrated his wife Nnema Dominic Edet on her second birthday.

Dee expressed his joy on Facebook and Twitter, stating that marrying his wife was not a mistake, and if he hadn’t married her, he wouldn’t have married anyone else.

He emphasized the importance of having a good wife, mentioning that marrying a good wife can reduce about 95% of one’s problems. He expressed gratitude to God for choosing his wife for him, stating that she provided everything he needed including Joy, love, happiness, rest of mind, Others.

Dee and his wife tied the knot on January 5th and 7th, 2023, and their marriage has been blessed with a handsome boy named Tiandibot Dominic Edet. Dee referred to his wife’s birthday as her second since they got married.

Dee is the publisher of Naija News House and Ibom Focus.

He concluded by wishing his wife a happy birthday and expressing his continued love for her with various endearing terms.

BREAKING: FG Reveals New Minimum Wage

Information reaching Ibom Focus says that FG Reveals New Minimum Wage

The meeting which is to take place at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) will be attended by the government representatives on Tripartite committee on new minimum wage only.

The purpose of the meeting is to deliberate and agree on government position on the new minimum wage which will be presented at the next meeting of the Committee.

At the meeting summoned by the SGF today, the government side is expected to consider all positions including that of the governors under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum before arriving at a middle ground.

A source at the SGF office, said from all indications, the federal government might consider amounts ranging N150,000 to N200,000 as the template for further negotiation.

JUST-IN: FG Revokes Another 924 Mining Licences

The federal government has revoked another 924 mineral titles due to inactivity at the mining sites.

The minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr Dele Alake, who announced the revocation Wednesday at a press briefing in Abuja, said some of the affected persons were in the habit of licence racketeering where they procure the titles at cheap government rates only to resell at exorbitant rates to genuine mining firms.

It was reported that the federal
government had revoked 1,633 mineral titles in November 2023 for various infractions.

Details Later…