Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 22nd November 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/11/19
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E2%80%93shell-boss Nigeria Needs Right Investment Climate To Drive Petroleum Sector –Shell Boss
Chairman of Shell Development Company of Nigeria, Mr Osagie Okunbor has emphasised the need for a right investment climate to help enhance the expansion of Nigeria’s petroleum landscape.
Okunbor made the remarks while speaking at the 37th Annual International Conference and Exhibition of National Association of Petroleum Explorationists’ in Lagos where he was represented by Shell’s General Manager, Exploration, Mr Dan Agbaire.
Pointing that the development would enable the increase of Nigeria’s oil production from the current average of 2.3 million b/d to 3 million b/d, Okunbor said that the development will also boost the country’s proven oil reserves to about 40 billion barrels through further exploration and appraisal.
He said, “The right investment climate would also include strengthening our regulatory bodies, giving priorities to research and further enabling the industry’s financials.
“I believe that where the investment climate is right, digitalisation and deployment of emerging technologies will enable incremental value creation over the coming years.”
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Nigerian Travellers On RwandAir Yet To Receive Luggage 48hrs After Arriving Lagos
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More than 50 Nigerian travellers on RwandAir are yet to receive their luggage more than 48 hours after arriving the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
The passengers had arrived on RwandAir flight WB305 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Lagos via Kigali on Tuesday hoping to get their luggage on arrival but were disappointed when they could not retrieve their luggage at the baggage reclaim area of the airport on Tuesday.
Since the passengers arrived the country, they have been visiting the Lagos airport office of the airline but without success or when the luggage would arrive from Kigali.
A passenger, who narrated the ongoing situation to our correspondent, lamented that they had been treated poorly by the staff of the airline at the Lagos airport.
The male passenger, who gave his name as Chris, alleged that staff of the airline at the airport were yet to effectively communicate to them the whereabouts of their luggage, adding that they were not equally told in Kigali that their luggage were dropped.
He decried that passengers were billed to depart Dubai with an Airbus A320 aircraft, but were surprised when the aircraft arrived and it turned out to be a 737-800, which was smaller in terms of capacity.
He further explained that even on arrival date, the aircraft had to be diverted to Uganda before it went to Kigali with the passengers being told it was due to inclement weather and when the 737-800 eventually landed in Kigali, an Airbus A320 WB305 was deployed to return them to Nigeria.
He said the aircraft eventually arrived Nigeria but without their checked in luggage.
He stated, “There are about 50 of us without our baggage. When they changed the aircraft, I was suspicious, but because this aircraft was bigger, my fears were allayed a bit but because of the full flight I was still skeptical.
“When we landed, we went to baggage claims and none of our luggage came. No one said anything to us, which was wrong.
“Eventually, we were told to come back on Thursday (today). The flight landed but still no baggage.”
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Ownership Disagreement Delays AEDC For Three Years
Shareholder of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, CEC Africa Investment Limited, has revealed that board members of the distribution company have not had their statutory meetings in three years and counting.
This was disclosed in a statement by its Chief Executive Officer, Emmanuel Katepa, and made available to journalists on Thursday.
The CEO blamed an unsettled legal dispute over majority shareholding in the DISCO to be the reason for the delay of the meeting.
Further disclosing that the development had not affected the operations of the DISCO, Katepa said that supplies of electricity to Abuja and neighbouring states including Kogi, Niger and Nasarawa have been ongoing regardless of the challenge.
The statement detailed how CEC and its partner, Xerxes Global Investments Limited, acquired the DISCO, as well as how their business relationship gradually broke down.
It also stated that court actions had been taken in this regard with the situation yet to improve.
The statement reads, “The purchase price of AEDC was $164m and it was agreed by XerXes and CECA that this would be funded 25 per cent ($41m) by cash contributions from Xerxes and CECA and KANN would borrow the remaining 75 per cent of the acquisition costs ($123m) from a third party lender (which ended up being the United Bank for Africa).
“When the initial 25 per cent ($41m) was demanded by the Bureau of Public Enterprises as an upfront payment, Xerxes could not raise its equity contribution, leaving CECA to wholly fund the initial 25 per cent equity payment. CECA paid for that portion of the acquisition amount in full being $41m in March 2013. XerXes did not fund any of this equity payment.”
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Bayelsa Election: Group Calls For Swift Prosecution Of Electoral Offenders
The Kimpact Development Initiative has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission and the Nigeria Police Force to swiftly prosecute electoral offenders in the just concluded governorship election in Bayelsa State.
KDI said this while presenting its Nigeria Election Violence Report for the Bayelsa State governorship election held on November 16.
The group urged government to set up a special court to ensure the prosecution of electoral offenders.
KDI asked for “swift prosecution of electoral offenders and recommends that the Federal Government considers setting up an Electoral Offence Commission or special electoral court to prosecute and punish electoral offenders as INEC presently is being overwhelmed with other aspects of election administration and management”.
It also lamented the late commencement of election in Bayelsa, noting that the time lag in the starting time of voting will always affect the timely completion of the collation process.
KDI urged the commission to investigate the high reports of materials being carted away and destroyed in some wards and LGAs.
The group also admonished voters to dissuade from being an instrument to foment violence in any area as peace for one is peace for all.
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NDPHC Begins Construction Of 10 Power Generation Plants
In a bid to improve the volume of electricity generation in the country, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company has begun the construction of 10 power generation plants.
Disclosing this development at the Environment Impact Assessment Scoping Workshop of the Akurba 330/132KV Substation Project in Lafia, Nasarawa State, on Thursday, General Manager, Environment and Community Relations of NDPHC, Eze Odigbo, disclosed that eight out of the 10 power plants had been completed with the remaining two still under construction.
Further explaining to the audience on the reason why the 10 power generation plants were situated in the Southern part of the country, Odigbo, represented by a Deputy Director in the department, Olajide Olubunmi, gave the availability of gas as the major factor before beginning the construction.
He disclosed that the company had also constructed 121 transmission/substations across the country, adding that the NDPHC has also carried out 291 projects for the distribution of the energy generated to consumers with one of the projects sited in Lafia, Nasarawa State.
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E2%80%99-monstrous-traffic-unites-city%E2%80%99s-rich-poor-residents-pain SPECIAL: Lagos’ Monstrous Traffic Unites City’s Rich, Poor Residents In Pain
Akujobi Okorie nearly ‘died’ of excitement in the weeks and days leading to his arrival in Lagos. A skilled carpenter in his native Ihiala, one of Anambra’s most popular regions, what he earned from hours of labour made nonsense of the energy and artistry he plugs into each task. In July, after a distant cousin told him of the promises Lagos held for an artisan like him and also offered to bring him to the city where ‘gold’ is said to dot every street corner, the 35-year-old father of two became restless. He was convinced in only a few weeks plying his trade across Nigeria’s commercial capital – Lagos – fortune would be served in bags of money.
But four months after that period, Okorie is already fastening his ‘seat belt’ to make the long journey back home – to a life he reckons offers little pay but delivers much peace. Lagos’ endless and often ruthless traffic ‘epidemic’ has stung him hard like the venom from an inland taipan – the world’s most venomous snake. The 35-year-old is desperate to escape the ‘madness’ he had witnessed across many of the city’s fast-crumbling roads over the last four months.
“There is no amount of money that can keep me back in Lagos going by the suffering and stress I have experienced on the road,” Okorie told SaharaReporters, frustration and a tinge of regret clearly visible in his voice.
“There is money in this city but the suffering is too much,” he reminded. “If I continue to subject myself to the long hours of traffic I experience almost every day in Lagos, I will age very fast and maybe develop a sickness that would eventually kill me soon.
“Before Christmas, I would go back to my state and remain there. I may come again sometime in the future but for now, I am leaving, the stress on Lagos roads is too much for me to bear,” he added painfully.
Interestingly, Okorie’s frustration is not a peculiar one – all across the city of aquatic splendour as Lagos is sometimes often referred to, the hallmark and fangs of its bone-crushing traffic ‘epidemic’ sit on almost every face you come across.
On Monday for example, the situation took an even more disturbing turn when major roads across the city was gripped by a ‘stubborn’ gridlock that left vehicles and their frustrated owners stuck on every corner for hours. Commuters lucky enough to find commercial motorcycles to hop on, also had their own demon to deal with. Negotiating their ways out of the armada of stranded automobiles – some of them gorgeous-looking machines acquired with mouth-watering millions – posed a tough challenge for dozens of ‘bikers’. It was indeed chaos in every sense.
Narrating his bitter experience that fateful day, Peter Igodaro, a businessman with deep pockets, told SaharaReporters that he was heading to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Ikeja, the state capital, to board a flight to Kenya when he got stuck in traffic around Oshodi. Coming all the way from Victoria Island only to be held down by traffic a few minutes from the airport was a sad experience for him.
“I live on the Island and because I knew I will need to go to Ikeja for my flight, I left home early.
“I had gotten to Oshodi when I suddenly became trapped in traffic.
“But thank God I had the initiative to call the airline to leave my flight open. It cost more to reschedule but that’s how terrible we have become as a country.
“I don’t know where we go from here as a country, so many opportunities wasted in traffic. The governor must decongest the road,” Igodaro said.
Seun Sanni, a content administrator and also a resident of Lagos Island, told SaharaReporters that a 20-minute commute to work now took him more than twice that period and sometimes far higher as a result of traffic occasioned by dilapidated roads in the city.
“My house is not too far from the office but heavy traffic has become a usual experience these days,” he said.
“I think the problem is compounded by bad roads. For me, the solution is for the governor to resign. If he cannot fix something as simple as roads, I don’t know what he intends to fix,” Sanni added.
A handful of residents across most parts of Lagos SaharaReporters spoke with this week all said they now spent between five to six hours daily in traffic while going to work or other places and returning to their homes later in the day. Bad portions of road in the wealth-ridden nooks and crannies of Lagos Island and deadly ditches splattered across the strife-stricken neighbourhoods of Lagos Mainland have ensured that the city’s rich and poor are united in pain.
“I live in Ajah, in one of the most expensive estates in Lagos but I can tell you that the problem we face in terms of traffic is not different from what those in places like Apapa, Ijora and Iyana-Ipaja experience.
“There is hardly a month that I don’t spent large sums in car maintenance since the beginning of this year. It does not make any sense at all,” Patrick Ekanem, a manager in a telecoms firm, told SaharaReporters.
As a result of this problem, many offices in Lagos have now had their employees work more remotely to avoid a hitch in their operations while some have made funds available for such persons to get small apartments closer to the work places.
On major social media platforms, images and stories capturing the growing frustration of Lagos’ residents over the city’s monstrous traffic is one of the quickest things your eyes show you as you log on to the Internet these days. The sentiments and concerns are overwhelmingly shared by all – young, old, rich and poor.
Blaming the rising traffic menace on Lagos’ roads in recent weeks on ongoing repair works on bad portions, Commissioner for Information in the state, Gbenga Omotoso, said the crisis would soon be over.
In a statement on Wednesday, Omotoso admitted that since the beginning of the massive road repairs under “Operation 116” across the state the traffic had been heavy.
He however, appealed to residents for understanding as the situation would soon normalise.
On October 13, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu declared a state of emergency on Lagos’ roads and listed at least 116 roads for urgent repairs.
But weeks after that declaration, commuters are yet to see or witness any significant improvement in state of the city’s roads and the traffic they inspire.
Disturbed by the situation, Abdullah Adeniran, a public affairs analyst, said, “This government is bereft of ideas.
“If there was a move to construct roads, why are there no palliatives for residents? This is the height of irresponsibility.”
Left at the mercy of health risks and hoodlums, who capitalise on failed road portions to rob and maim vehicle owners and commuters, dozens of Lagos’ residents would hope for a swift turn of events in the coming days especially as Yuletide slowly creeps into sight.
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Ganduje Rejects Court Ruling, Vows To Continue Dealing With Sacked Monarchs
Kano State governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, has rejected the ruling of a Kano High Court, which sacked four emirs he recently appointed.
Justice Usman Na’Abba had in a ruling on Thursday dissolved the four new first-class emirates, stating that the law creating them did not follow due process.
SaharaReporters had exclusively reported how Ganduje planned and executed a three-step plan to oust Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, and disintegrate the Kano emirate, which had been around for centuries over a personal feud.
Ganduje in a statement by the Commissioner for Information in the state, Mallam Muhammad Garba, said the state was studying the ruling of the court on the creation of four new emirates with a view to taking immediate appropriate action.
He posited that the government will not fold its arms and concede such constitutional power in the interest of the well-being of the people and general development of the state.
The statement said, “Despite the ruling, the government still recognises them as first class emirs and will continue dealing with them as such.
“The state government therefore advises people to be calm, law-abiding and await further action.”
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Two Killed As Robbers Attack Bank In Ekiti
Two people have been killed after armed robbers attacked a bank in Oye, Ekiti State, on Thursday.
The robbers overpowered the police officer attached to the bank to gain access to the facility before killing him.
A school girl was also hit by a stray bullet and died on the spot.
It was gathered that the robbers went away with millions of naira, which was stolen from the vault of the bank.
Customers of the bank, who were inside during the incident were also robbed of valuables.
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BREAKING: Groups To Occupy National Assembly Over Sowore, Others On Wednesday
A number of civil society and advocacy groups will on Wednesday, November 27 storm the National Assembly in Abuja and various state Houses of Assemblies to demand the release of detained activists, Omoyele Sowore, Olawale Bakare and other prisoners of conscience across the country.
The groups expected to participate in the march, which will include human rights lawyers, activists, students unions, Nigeria Labour Congress; Trade Union Council, United Labour Congress and the Federation of Informal Workers Organisations of Nigeria, will also voice their opposition to the proposed anti-social media bill currently before the National Assembly.
In a statement, organisers of the march slated for Wednesday said, “People must not be gagged to talk as this reminds one of the era of human slavery when lock and keys were forced on the mouth of Africans and other oppressed people of the world.
“The mass action which will take place simultaneously across the 36 states of the federation including Federal Capital Territory to champion the resistance against oppression and tyranny.”
The groups called on the Nigerian Government to stop the secret trial of Agba Jalingo, a journalist in Cross Rivers State.
The activists said they would not be deterred or intimidated by the Department of State Services during the event.
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Money Laundering: Mompha Demands N5m From EFCC For Unlawful Detention
A businessman, Ismaila Mustapha widely known as Mompha, has instituted a fundamental rights enforcement suit before a High Court in Lagos against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for detaining him beyond the constitutionally stipulated days without charging him to court.
Mompha in the suit filed by his lawyers including Mr Gboyega Oyewole (SAN), Ademola Adefolaju, Kolawole Salami and four others, is demanding the sum of N5m as damages from the EFCC.
He is also seeking a court order directing the anti-graft agency to release him unconditionally forthwith from its custody.
He is asking for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the anti-graft agency or any person whatsoever acting for or on behalf of the agency from arresting and detaining him in relation to the subject of the suit without recourse to due process of law.
He is also seeking a court declaration that his continued and further detention by the EFCC on the basis of the remand order granted on October 22, 2019, by Court 6 of Ikeja Magistrate Court, Lagos, vide a form for request for remand pursuant to the Administration Of Criminal Justice Act and which elapsed and or expired on November 4, 2019, without being charged and arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction is unlawful, unjustifiable, unconstitutional and constitute gross violation of his fundamental rights to personal liberty and fair hearing as contained in section 35 (4) (5) and 36 of the 1999 constitution (as amended)
The grounds for the application, according to Mompha’s lawyers is that their client is a Nigerian and entitled to fundamental rights as enshrined in sections 34, 35 and 36 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The lawyers also stated that on October 19, 2019, their client was arrested at the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, and thereafter detained by the EFCC on account of alleged money laundering and other related offences.
They added that on the same day, he was transfered to the agency’s detention facility in Ikoyi, Lagos from Abuja, before obtaining a remand order from the Magistrate’ Court of Lagos for a period of 14 days and that since October 19, 2019, he has been held in detention beyond two days as stipulated by Sections 36 and 35 of the constitution respectively.
Also, the applicant in a 20 paragraph-affidavit deposed to by Olumuyiwa A. Ajidagba, a lawyer, averred that in spite of the remand order of the Magistrate Court of Lagos empowering the EFCC to detain their client for 14 days pending investigation and arraignment, he has now been in detention and custody for over 26 days unlawfully, as the order detaining him had expired since November 4.
Olumuyiwa also stated that the applicant had suffered and been subjected physical, mental and psychological torture in the underground cell at the EFCC’s detention centre.
The deponent further averred that unless the court grants the applicant’s prayers as sought on the motion paper, his fundamental rights to liberty and fair hearing will continued to be infringed and trampled upon by the EFCC in clear violation of 1999 Constitution (as amended).
No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit as it is yet to be assigned to any judge.
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