The nation few days ago, as is now customary every other day, was gripped by the trending news of a line item with the description ‘Presidential Yacht’ in the N2.2 trillion Supplementary budget sent to the national assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The presidential yacht was requested for by the Nigerian Navy with the sum of N5 billion earmarked for its purchase in the supplementary budget. It is understandable that many Nigerians raised concerns on the propriety of such an acquisition at this point where the nation is experiencing a severe revenue crunch and citizens are implored to…
Author: Michael Chibuzo
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) is set to supply the new 650,000 barrel-per-day Dangote oil refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil totalling six million barrels of crude oil in December to be used in its test runs. This was revealed by an NNPC top official who preferred not to be named. The commencement of commercial test-runs and eventual ramping up of production in the Dangote Refinery, which is the largest single train refinery in the world has been repeatedly delayed by crude oil supply challenges since August. This crude oil supply handicap was due to…
Following public reactions over the provision for what is termed presidential yacht and other line items in the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation presented to the National Assembly, the presidency has provided some clarifications for members of the public on the true facts regarding the line item in the Supplementary budget. This was contained in a press statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. According to the presidential Adviser, President Bola Tinubu’s administration respects the views of Nigerians on all matters of public concern and therefore considers it very imperative to clear any misconception…
The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz came to Nigeria on a state visit on Sunday 29th October in keeping with his promise to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the G20 Summit in India two months ago. Germany is Europe’s biggest economy with a huge manufacturing sector that contributes 20% to its $3.4 trillion GDP. This manufacturing sector is built around cheap oil and gas principally from Russia. With the war in Ukraine and the Western sanctions slammed on Russia’s energy sector, it has significantly impacted on Germany’s gas supply from Russia. Prior to the war, Germany relied heavily on Russian…
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has warned all Ministers and other political office holders appointed by his administration to perform or get ready to leave his government. The President made this warning on Wednesday while declaring open the 2023 Cabinet Retreat for Ministers, Presidential aides, permanent secretaries and top government functionaries holding at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja. While challenging the cabinet members and other government officials to perform and the consequences for non-performance, President Tinubu said, “If you are performing, nothing to fear; if you miss the objective, we’ll review; if there is no performance, you leave…
By Bayo Onanuga Former Vice President and Peoples Democratic Party Presidential candidate in last election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, unraveled on Monday at a press conference in Abuja where he finally found his voice after more than 96 hours to respond to his trouncing at the Supreme Court in a landmark judgment on his grossly incompetent election petition appeal. We were wrong to expect that Atiku at 77 would play the statesman and sportsman and accept, with equanimity, the verdict of the highest court and the people of Nigeria. Instead, he unashamedly constituted himself into a demagogue and anarchist in the…
President Tinubu has warned government officials who are not members of FEC against attending the Federal Executive Council meeting without invitation. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued the warning before the commencement of today’s FEC meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. “Last week, I noticed people sneaking in and out of this council. People had access to this place when they should not. That is not acceptable. “I will announce to you here, people who are supposed to be here. “Hadiza Usman, Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Principal Private Secretary and…
By John Fanimokun In April this year, ahead of the May 29 inauguration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a US-based Nigerian fiction writer, Chimamanda Adichie wrote an open letter to the United States President, Joe Biden basically complaining to him or if you like, chastising him for allowing the US State Department to congratulate then President-elect Bola Tinubu and accusing the US of being compromised! Chimamanda alleged that the elections were flawed and that President Bola Tinubu was not the actual winner of the February 25 presidential election. Her reason? INEC ‘reneged’…
By Michael Chibuzo A day after the Supreme Court delivered judgment in the appeals filed by the candidates of the PDP and the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Mr. Peter Obi respectively, a retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad has unleashed a parting salvo at the Supreme Court and by extension the entire judiciary. During a valedictory speech as he bowed out of the apex court, Justice Dattijo made some damning verdicts about the institution he has spent 40 years of his career in lamenting that the Nigerian judiciary has…
When people hear NIPOST, their minds naturally get fixated on letters, mails and delivery of documents. Few also link the Nigerian Postal Service to purchase of postage stamps. With the great advancement in information and communication technology that revolutionised the way we communicate, it appeared as if the end of post offices was in sight. In Nigeria, NIPOST naturally went on an inevitable decline with the era of P.O. Box strolling towards extinction. But post offices in other parts of the world especially the developed world are evolving to keep up with the changing times. In the UK for…