Outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan signs Tobacco control bill, five others

Nigeria’s outgoing president, Goodluck Jonathan, has signed the Tobacco Control bill into law, hours to the end of his tenure.

The president signed the bill alongside five others, his spokesperson, Reuben Abati, announced on Twitter, Wednesday.

Other bills signed by the president include, National Sugar Development Council (amendment) bill, AMCON Amendment bill, Standards Organization of Nigeria Bill, Nigerian Electricity Management Services Agency Act and Equipment Leasing bill.



The president’s tenure is due to end midnight of May 28, the next day. The signing is his largest in his six years as president but follows a similar pattern that saw him sign Nigeria’s Freedom of Information Bill at the tail of the end of his tenure in 2011.

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Senate receives National Conference report from Outgoing President, Goodluck Jonathan

The Senate on Tuesday received the report of the National Conference from President Goodluck Jonathan for consideration. The letter accompanying the report, which was read by the President of the Senate, David Mark, indicated that the conference report had been deliberated upon and approved for implementation by the Federal Executive Council.

“Council considered and approved the conference report and resolved that the draft bill be transmitted to the National Assembly for enactment into law. “It held that the recommendations and resolutions that are outside the purview of the Federal Government be forwarded to the relevant tiers of government for implementation.

“That relevant agencies of government should harmonise the conference resolutions with extant policies for immediate implementation,’’ it stated. It recalled that the National Conference was inaugurated on March 17, 2014, to discuss issues about Nigeria, with particular emphasis on finding solutions to the problems of national unity and development.

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'If you want to probe me, you have to probe all the administrations before me' - Jonathan tells Buhari

President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday advised the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, not to restrict any probe he will want to carry out to his administration alone.

He said Buhari must extend his probe beyond his regime or else the probe will be seen as witch-hunting.



Jonathan made his position known at the valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council which he presided over at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He also said those calling for his administration’s probe should also add that the probe should be extended to the way oil wells and fields were allocated in the past.

The President also made it clear that he has not dissolved his cabinet as all ministers are expected to attend inauguration dinner on Thursday in their official capacity.

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Lightening strikes 4 kids dead on Children's Day

This year’s Children Day celebration was marred by tragedy at Gure town in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, as four female children were killed by lightening.

This came on a day a woman went berserk at Otta in Ado-Odo Local Government Area of Ogun State, stabbing her three-year-old son to death.


It was that the lightening at Gure, a popular ancient town and the commercial nerve centre of Baruten council, struck during a downpour between 12 midnight of Tuesday and 1a.m of yesterday.

The lightening was said to have killed all the children instantly, three of who were of the same parents. The fourth one came to pass the night with the other victims. The injured ones have been hospitalised.

Sources said the lightening broke down the wall of the house, and that the remains of the victims have been buried in accordance with Islamic rites.

It was further learned that the down pour also blew off the roofing sheets of many houses in the town, rendering some residents homeless.

Council boss calls for assistance

Speaking on the ugly development yesterday, the ýChairman of the local government, Mallam Mohammed Omar-Bio, who confirmed the incident, described it as a devastating and pathetic experience.

He appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and other disaster management agencies to provide succour for the victims of the disaster.

Omar-Bio, who spoke through the Public Relations Officer of the council, Mr. Jubril Masene, said with the development, the number of rain disaster victims in the area was more than 200.

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Nigeria's Flying Eagles arrive New Zealand for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Nigeria’s Under 20 national team, the Flying Eagles, has arrived in New Zealand for the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup which begins on May 30.

The African champions left their training camp in Nurnberg, Germany, on Sunday and flew via Frankfurt on a hectic 25-hour flight across three continents before arriving in New Plymouth.

The 28-man delegation, including 18 players and 10 officials, landed in Ðubai from Frankfurt on Monday morning before heading for Melbourne, Australia.



They later connected a flight to Auckland, the capital of New Zealand, from Australia after being airborne for 18 hours 35 minutes on Tuesday morning.

At the Auckland International Airport, the Flying Eagles team was joined by Manchester City youth team striker, Kelechi Iheanacho.

They flew together to New Plymouth, where they will play their preliminary matches.


The Nigerians will camp at the Quality Hotel Plymouth International and will continue final preparations with their first training scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at 13:00 hours local time (Tuesday midnight in Nigeria).

Manu Garba’s lads have been drawn against Brazil, Korea DPR and Hungary in Group E.

Nigeria, the African champions, will begin their campaign for glory against Brazil on June 1 in New Plymouth

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The four great enemies Buhari must terminate after being sworn in on Friday

Muhammadu Buhari is sworn in as Nigeria’s next president on Friday but he has a daunting to-do list after promising wholesale change during elections two months ago. Here are four key areas, otherwise termed enermies of his successful administration he will have to tackle when he takes office:


– Corruption –

Buhari, 72, has said the corrupt and corruption will have no place in his administration, sparking fears of a wide-ranging crackdown similar to his previous time as military ruler in the 1980s. But he has pledged outgoing President Goodluck Jonathan has “nothing to fear” and there will be no witch-hunt against the former administration.

Some areas are likely to be too big to ignore, however, such as the running of the opaque, state-run oil firm, which is seen as riddled with corruption. Analysts predict Buhari will beef up existing anti-corruption agencies, while he has personally promised to declare his assets and liabilities for greater transparency and accountability.

Buhari’s All Progressives Congress (APC) estimates it could save three trillion naira ($15 billion, 13 billion euros) by streamlining government and plugging “leakages” in the system.

– Security –

Jonathan’s administration will be remembered for the rise of Boko Haram Islamists, who left least 15,000 people dead and more than 1.5 million homeless in a six-year campaign of violence. Boko Haram is currently seen as on the run but security experts say the war is far from over, with sporadic attacks continuing and the likelihood the rebels could regroup in border regions.

Former army general Buhari has recognised the need for top-down reform to boost poor morale and end graft that hit military procurement, leaving troops ill-equipped to fight. But restructuring also needs to go hand-in-hand with social and economic programmes to tackle the root causes of the insurgency, namely lack of development and unemployment in the Muslim north.

Buhari has indicated he will maintain regional cooperation with Chad, Niger and Cameroon but he faces potential trouble on another front from former militants in the oil-producing southern Delta. Rebels wanting a fairer share of oil wealth have threatened to resume their activities against energy facilities in the region if a government amnesty programme is not extended beyond this year.

– Unemployment –

Nearly two-thirds of Nigeria’s population of more than 170 million is under 30. But unemployment is currently nudging 30 percent, despite strong overall rates of economic growth in recent years. Outgoing Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in 2013 recognised the benefits of growth needed to be shared more equitably. The APC says some 110 million people still live in poverty.

Buhari’s administration has pledged to embark on a massive programme of industrialisation, including building railways, improving roads and ports, and improving crumbling infrastructure. But those programmes could be hamstrung immediately by lack of funds, with Nigeria hit hard by the slump in the global price of oil, on which it depends for 90 percent of foreign income.

Observers say diversifying the economy is a must, as is educational reform to improve skills. Some 10.5 million Nigerian children are currently out of school — the most in the world.

– Energy –
Last Friday, the government said Nigeria was producing just 1,327 megawatts of electricity — an all-time low and down even on Buhari’s last time in power in 1983-85. Reversing the country’s crippling power deficit is seen as key to driving economic growth but has evaded successive governments because of mismanagement, incompetence and vested interests.

Buhari is expected to decentralise, deregulate and privatise the transmission sector, opening it up to competition. The APC has reportedly promised to triple generation to 12,000 MW by 2019. He will also have to address the oil and gas sector and controversial subsidies paid to fuel importers who bring in petroleum products because of a lack of functioning refineries.

The government’s alleged non-payment of arrears saw fuel supply lines shut down in recent weeks, causing a crippling shortage that brought Nigeria to a near standstill.

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EFCC set to probe ten former governors for corruption

In a quick bid to respond to criticism that it is not doing enough to tackle corruption, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has closed in on ten former governors who are standing trial for looting the treasury of their states when they held sway.

Among the suspects, whose cases are being tackled in courts by the anti-graft agency with a view to bringing them to account for the huge sum of money said to have stolen by them are, Lucky Igbinedion, Chimaroke Nnamani, Orji Uzor Kalu, Saminu Turaki and Joshua Dariye.

Others on the trial list of the commission are: Abubakar Audu, Danjuma Goje, Akwe Doma and Jolly Nyame.


The Head of Media and Publicity of the Commission, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, made the disclosure at a media briefing in Abuja on Monday.

The commission said however the case of corrupt enrichment preferred against Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State has been temporarily put on hold following his election as the governor of the state in line with the immunity clause in the Constitution of Nigeria.

Uwujaren disclosed that apart from seizing the assets of the most of the suspects, it has also frozen the accounts of companies linked to the former governors.

He said the former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriif might be declared wanted if he fails to honour its invitation to answer some questions bordering on a petition against him.

The commission said that it has so far recovered the sum of N65 billion from the suspects.

In the same vein, EFCC said it also recovered $245 million, £693,000 and €62,000 from the corrupt individuals and organisations between 2012 and 2014.

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Oil Marketers Call Off Strike

The major oil marketers association of Nigeria (MOMAN) has reached an agreement with the federal government to begin lifting of petroleum products across the country “in six hours”.

According to Magnus Abe, chairman of the senate committee on petroleum resources, the resolution was reached after a meeting of MOMAN and the committee with‎ Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, minister of finance and coordinating minister for the economy; Joseph Dawha, group managing director of the Nigeria national petroleum corporation (NNPC) and major stakeholders in the oil and gas sector.

Also, the Nigeria union of petroleum and natural gas workers (NUPENG) and the petroleum and natural gas senior staff association (PENGASSAN) have suspended their industrial actions.

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APC states incurred bulk of $63 Billion debt – PDP

The Peoples Democratic Party on Monday said Vice President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, misrepresented facts on the state of the nation’s economy.

The party specifically faulted Osinbajo’s claims on the correct status of the nation’s government debt stock.

It alleged that the misinterpretation was part of a ploy by the in-coming All Progressives Congress administration, to discredit the PDP.

This was contained in a statement signed by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh.

Metuh criticised the Vice President-elect for failing to be bold and honest enough to also inform the nation that the bulk of the $63.7bn debt was incurred by the APC states.

He said, “It is indeed unfortunate that the Vice President-elect who has the details of the debt stock chose to be economical with the truth and to mislead Nigerians just to discredit the current PDP-led administration and rationalise the APC’s unpreparedness for governance.

“Prof. Osinbajo is aware that the $63.7bn is made up of external and domestic debts belonging not only to the Federal Government but to federal and state governments and accumulating since the 1960s, yet he deliberately misrepresented the facts to give the unsuspecting public the impression that the amount was exclusively incurred by the current Federal Government.

“Perhaps the Vice President-elect avoided the details so as not to expose the fact that the APC controlled Lagos State has the highest external debt stock of $1.169bn as well as the highest domestic debt stock of N278.867bn.”

The PDP further stated that it finds it unacceptable and un-statesmanlike for the Vice President-elect “to attempt to mislead Nigerians into believing that the total federal debt component was accumulated under the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, when it is on record that a greater chunk of the amount was inherited.”

According to the PDP, it is also on record that part of the contemporary borrowing from the domestic bond market was occasioned by the global economic and financial crisis as well as the downturn in crude oil revenue, which adversely affected other economies of the world.

The party berating the in-coming administration for dwelling on excuses and reneging on campaign promises, the PDP wondered if the APC and the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, did not know about the economic challenges caused by the dwindling oil revenues before making their bogus promises to Nigerians.

“The APC must fulfill its promises for which Nigerians voted for them. Were they not aware of the debt stock and the dwindling oil revenues before making their huge promises to the people? Were the promises only intended as carrots to mislead the people and deceitfully win their votes after which they are dumped?” the PDP queried.

The party said the in-coming administration should stop contriving excuses and understand that Nigerians expect nothing short of the fulfillment of its campaign promises in its four years rule, especially given that the solid foundation for wealth creation has already been laid by the PDP, which also remained truthful and honest in making promises to the people during the campaigns.

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Fuel crisis could shut down our service - MTN warns Nigerians

Nigeria’s biggest mobile phone operator MTN has warned that its network faces shutdown due to fuel shortages that have crippled the nation.

The company, the biggest subsidiary of the South Africa-based MTN Group, said it needed a “significant quantity of diesel in the very near future to prevent a shutdown of services across Nigeria”.



“If diesel supplies are not received within the next 24 hours the network will be seriously degraded and customers will feel the impact,” it added on its Twitter account @MTNNG on Saturday evening.

Nigeria — Africa’s biggest economy and most populous nation — has been increasingly hit by fuel shortages in recent weeks because of a long-running row over controversial subsidy payments.

Despite being Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria lacks domestic refineries, forcing crude to be exported and products such as petrol and diesel to be imported.

To keep costs to consumers low, the government sets prices below the market rate and pays the difference to importers.

But the global slump in oil prices has hit Nigeria’s economy hard, squeezing government revenues and devaluing the local naira currency against the US dollar, and oil marketers claim they have not been paid in full.

Fuel depots have closed pending payment of the arrears, with the situation worsening after oil and gas union workers walked out over the sale of two oil blocks.

The crisis comes just days before President Goodluck Jonathan leaves office, handing over power to Muhammadu Buhari on May 29.

Many petrol stations have now run out of fuel, both for vehicles and the generators on which most people and businesses rely because of the woeful public electricity supply.

On Friday, the Ministry of Power said electricity production was at an all-time low of 1,327 megawatts, according to local media reports.

Diesel generators power most of MTN’s base stations and switches across the country but fuel supplies are running low, said the company’s corporate services executive Akinwale Goodluck.

– Businesses hit –

The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry earlier this week warned the crisis could force firms to lay off staff.
The warning from MTN, which has more than 55 million subscribers, is a sign that businesses are now being hit.

Some domestic flights have been cancelled while international airlines have re-routed services in and out of Nigeria to pick up aviation fuel.

Virgin Atlantic flights from Lagos to London Heathrow have diverted to Ghana’s capital Accra and Majorca off southern Spain, while Air France services from Paris have stopped in Dakar, passengers said.

At least three Nigerian radio stations announced on Twitter they would be going off the air to ration fuel that powers its generators.

On Twitter, one user said on Sunday his local church had merged its Yoruba-language and English services because of the fuel shortage.

“Don’t bother to bring your charger to church, we have disconnected all the plugs,” read the note, which was signed: “Yours in Christ.”

Elsewhere Nigerians were facing up to the shortages with customary good humour.

“Boko haram attacked Nigerian Army Base but instead of fleeing in their vans, they surrendered peacefully cos #AintNobodyGotFuelForThat,” one Twitter user wrote.

But many blamed Jonathan for doing nothing to alleviate the crisis, which began before the March 28 election that Buhari won.

Oil importers and marketers claim they were owed 200 billion naira ($1 billion, 910 million euros) in outstanding subsidies.

Last month, outgoing Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who has said the subsidy scheme is open to corruption, said fuel importers were paid 156 billion naira.

She accused them of engineering the crisis to make money out of blackmarket fuel sales.

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NLC Threatens Nationwide Strike Over Fuel Scarcity

The Comrade Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has described the chronic fuel scarcity being experienced across the country as war against the citizens and a conscious attempt to subject 170 million Nigerians to economic suicide.

Towards this end, the labour union has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike action should the scarcity continued unabated.


NLC, according to a statement issued today and signed by its deputy president, Comrade Issa Arem‎u, averred that, “Nigeria is the only country on earth which unacceptably and criminally denies its citizens basic sources of energy; fuel and electricity‎.”

It, however said it was time all Nigerians stopped agonizing and rose in unison against this ‘agony capitalism‎‎.’

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FUEL SCARCITY: Okonjo-Iweala vows not to pay oil marketers their subsidy claim

The federal government is spoiling for a fresh showdown with oil importers over subsidy payment.

This is coming as there is no end in sight yet for the current face off between the two sides that has grounded the nation for several days now.


Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala yesterday accused them of submitting to government suspicious payment claims to the tune of N159billion in exchange rate differentials.

The payment claims, according to her, reeked of fraud.

She told reporters at a farewell meeting in Abuja that she would not approve payment of the claims unless verified by the relevant authorities.

“Marketers were asking for N159 billion for exchange rate differentials from the outstanding N200 billion. There has been so much fraud and scam so I have refused to sign for that money but have agreed that a committee be set up involving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to verify marketers’ claims,” she said.

”Marketers just want to make Nigerians suffer,” she added.

The minister also slammed the marketers for allegedly blackmailing Nigerians and asked the people to resist.

Insisting that the current fuel scarcity has nothing to do with paying the marketers, she said: “They are making a lot of money from black market activities, people should rise up against the blackmail of oil marketers.

“I will not pay the N159 billion without verification, Nigerians should not allow themselves to be blackmailed.”

The minister said there was something curious about the supply of and payment for Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

Her words: “I cannot say that the problem is due to not paying marketers, the process of paying marketers is always a rolling process and there has never been a time government reduced its financial obligation to marketers to zero.

“In a year where so much effort has been made to pay marketers including prioritizing their payment as subsidy claims in favour of other financial obligation like paying contractors, yet fuel scarcity still persists at this particular point in time suggests that something suspicious is happening.”

She responded to the claim by Vice President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, that the Jonathan administration will be leaving a $60 billion debt burden for the in-coming government.

She said that Nigeria’s total debt indeed stands at $63.7 billion but it is the totality of all the debts incurred by successive governments since 1960.

“No $60 billion was accumulated under the Jonathan administration,” she said.

She added: “Current debt stock includes both federal and state governments debts made up of $9.7 billion external debt or 15 per cent of total debt stock and $54 billion or 85 per cent domestic debt stock.

“Nigeria is still repaying the multilateral loans it collected on concessionary terms with as long as 40 years maturity periods.”

The breakdown of the accumulated domestic stock is $18.575 billion outstanding by 2007, $17.3 billion accumulated between 2008 and 2011 and $18 billion accumulated between 2012 and 2015.

“This is so because of something that happened in 2010 because of the salary increment under Yar’Adua administration which increased civil servants salaries by 53 per cent.

“Those bonds have been rolled over and government had to weather the difficulties because resources to fund such increase were not there,” she said.

She described Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio as one of the lowest in the world.

On the domestic debt stock, she said 20 per cent is owed by state governments with Lagos state having an external debt burden of N1.169 trillion while the balance of 80 per cent belongs to the federal government.

Reviewing her tenure, Okonjo-Iweala said she has no regrets in serving the country and declared that anyone called upon to serve Nigeria should consider it a privilege.

“Some people criticise from afar but some came home in spite of challenges to serve,” she said.

She faulted suggestions that the economy was mismanaged, saying: “The economy is reacting to the forces of demand and supply but there is hope for the country. Only that people will have to make sacrifices.

“The out-going government, she said, achieved a lot but she lamented that “there are very serious attempts to rewrite history.”

Meanwhile, there is still no respite for motorists and commuters across the country as the fuel scarcity persisted yesterday.

Most filling stations remained shut and only a few managed to sell but at exorbitant prices.

On the other hand black markets continue to thrive with operators charging as much as N350 per litre in parts of Lagos.

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