The price of Premium Motor Spirit popularly called petrol has risen by 81 per cent in the past three years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics reports analysed by our correspondent. This came as findings showed that the Federal Government has paid about N5.83tn subsidy on petroleum products. NBS data showed that between February 2020 and February 2023, the price of fuel rose from N145.41/litre to N263.76/litre. The NBS report stated that the average retail price paid by consumers for Premium Motor Spirit in February 2023 was N263.76, indicating a 54.76 per cent increase when compared to the value recorded in February 2022 (N170.42). Likewise, comparing the average price with the previous month (January 2023), the average retail price increased by 2.58 per cent from N257.12. At the onset of 2020, the average price paid by consumers for petrol increased by 0.08 per cent year-on-year and month-on-month by 0.03 per cent to N145.41 in February 2020 from N145.37 in January 2020, according to the NBS. At the time, the Federal Government had paid about N134bn as fuel subsidy payment. States with the highest average price of petrol were Abia (N146.87), Adamawa (N146.67) and Niger (N146.57). States with the lowest average price of premium motor spirit were Abuja (N143.67), Enugu (N144.50) and Lagos (N144.73) in 2020 In the last three years, fuel subsidy has gone from N134bn in 2020 to N1.43tn in 2021, N4.39tn in 2022 and a projected N3.63tn by June of 2023. This led to a total of N5.83tn in subsidy payments, excluding the figures for 2023. The Federal Government has continued to restate plans to remove fuel subsidy with a plan to deregulate the oil market by June this year. The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said last week Nigeria had borrowed $800m from World Bank for the purpose of palliatives for Nigerians ahead fuel subsidy rmeival. A September 2022 report by the Nigeria Extractive Industries Initiative disclosed Nigeria had spent N13.7tn ($74.386bn) on fuel subsidies between 2005 and 2022. However, there are fears that the removal of fuel subsidy might be drastic for the populace as the countdown to the June 2023 date for subsidy removal inches closer.

  The Benue State governor, Samuel Ortom, has suspended the operations of livestock guards and the state para-military agency saddled with the enforcement of the state open grazing for a period of two weeks to allow all herdsmen with livestock in the state to leave. Ortom disclosed this at the end of the state security council meeting on Tuesday after over 130 persons were gruesomely killed across the state within one week. He said the suspension was to show a good fate to all those who claimed to have come into the state without knowing there is Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law of 2017 that is solely anti-grazing. He also said security agencies in the state have confirmed the receipt of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.)’s directive to fish out perpetrators of the mass killings across the state. He beseeched the security agencies to act fast on the matter in order to bring victims of the attack some form of justice.

  The Independent National Electoral Commission has asked the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Abuja to dismiss all the petitions challenging the declaration of Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as the winner of the February 25 presidential election. INEC had declared that Tinubu polled 8,794,726 votes to win the election. The commission declared that the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, came second with 6,984,520 votes, while it announced Labour Party’s Peter Obi as the second runner-up with 6,101,533 votes. But Atiku, Obi and some other parties rejected the results announced by INEC and heeded for the tribunal with prayers that the election should be nullified. All the opposition parties challenging Tinubu’s victory joined INEC as a co-defendant. In its defence to the various petitions, filed through its team of lawyers led by A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), INEC described Atiku’s petition as “grossly incompetent, vague and academic, saying it was an abuse of the court process.” INEC affirmed that having scored at least one-quarter of the valid votes cast in 29 states, which is over and above the 24 states threshold required by the constitution in addition to scoring the highest number of the lawful votes cast at the election, Tinubu was properly declared winner and returned as the President-elect. On the issue of Tinubu not winning the FCT, INEC argued that going by the provisions of the 1999 Constitution, “the FCT has the status of a state and ought to be recognised as one of the states of the federation.” INEC insisted that it declared Tinubu as winner of the election, considering that he “scored highest valid votes cast at the election and at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in not less than two-thirds of the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.” “The 1st respondent pleads and shall at the trial of this suit rely on all the Electoral Forms including but not limited to Forms ECSA, BCSB, ECSC, ECSD and ECBE used in the course of the Presidential Election held on the 25th day of February 2023,” INEC said. “The FCT, beyond being the capital of Nigeria, has no special status over and above the other 36 states of the federation to require a candidate in the presidential election to obtain at least 25 per cent of the votes cast in the FCT before being declared winner of the presidential election. “The 1st respondent shall also contend at the trial of this suit that the FCT is regarded as the 37th state of the federation and as such, a candidate needs to score 25 per cent of the valid votes cast in at least two-thirds of 37 states to be declared as winner in the presidential election. “The 1st respondent avers that the 2nd respondent scored 25 per cent of the valid in 29 states of the federation as stated above.”

  A final year student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Okoli Ahize, has been allegedly beaten to death by a mob in the institution over alleged phone theft. The unfortunate incident was said to have occurred Monday at the Awolowo Hall of Residence of the institution. The deceased was said to be a Part 5 student of the Department of Civil Engineering. The Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr Abiodun Olarewaju, confirmed the incident in a statement sent to The PUNCH on Tuesday night. He noted that the university management condemned the action and had set up a panel to investigate the matter. “The administration of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, has condemned, in strong terms, the incident that led to the death of a Part 5 student of the institution. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the student died of a mob action on the allegation that he stole a phone. “Saddened by this ugly development which he described as unfortunate, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Adebayo Bamire, has set up a committee to unravel the circumstances that led to this incident,” Olarewaju stated. Confirming the incident as well, the Students’ Union President, Olayiwola Festus, described the action as inhumane and pledged justice. “I regret to announce the death of a Part 5 student assaulted in a mob action at Awo Hall yesterday (Monday). The student was declared dead on arrival at the Emergency Medicine Department of OAU Teaching Hospital this afternoon,” the union leader said in a statement. He noted that arrests and investigations of individuals suspected to be connected with the assault of the deceased were being made for consequent legal actions. “Our union does not support mob action and justice must be served in this incident,” he added. The university administration commiserated with the parents of the deceased, staff and students, and “prays that God will grant us the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.” The PUNCH reports that condemnations have trailed the incident from some students and alumni of the institution. Source: Punch

  Gunmen have killed an Inspector of police in Imo State identified as Augustine Ukegbu. It was gathered that Ukegbu was killed at his village at Umuoshike Ogbor in the Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of the state when he went home to celebrate the Easter with his family. A source who preferred anonymity said that the inspector was kidnapped from his house upon his arrival from his base in Owerri and was later found dead in a bush along Mbutu in the Aboh Mbaise LGA. The source said “inspector Augustine Ukegbu who was serving at Orji police divisional headquarters went home to celebrate the Easter with his family at Aboh Mbaise. Around 11pm on April 8, some gunmen riding in a Lexus jeep came and kidnapped him from his house in the village. “The abduction was reported at Oke Ovoro police Division. The Jeep he was kidnapped with was later found abandoned long the Mbutu Road in Aboh Mbaise. Police men visited the scene and the surrounding bush was searched and the inspector’s corpse was found.” The source said that the inspector’s corpse had been deposited in a mortuary in the area by some police operatives and the Lexus jeep he was kidnapped in recovered by his colleagues. Another source who was embittered with the killing of the cop said that he saw the slain inspector in Owerri the day he was travelling to the village. He said ” I saw Inspector Augustine in Owerri and he told me he was travelling to celebrate the Easter with his family at Mbaise. We exchange pleasantries and I wished him journey mercy. He was serving at Orji police divisional and had served at the headquarters in Owerri. He was an operative of SWAT( Special Weapons and Tactics) Department. I am saddened by his death. The spokesperson for the police in Imo state, Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident.

Wednesday 12 April 2023 Benue govt suspends enforcement of anti-grazing law temporarily Final year OAU student ‘beaten to death for theft’ FG, Peter Obi bicker over leaked audio conversation with Oyedepo Illegal sale of crude: Malami received funds without remittance, Reps allege Alleged Drug Case: Why Tinubu forfeited $460,000 in US — APC tells court Nobody can stop Tinubu’s swearing in — Umahi ‘You Have Touched The Tiger’s Tail’, Melaye Replies Wike Former Anambra Gov, Mbadinuju Is Dead Police Bar Lawmakers From Plateau Assembly Complex Jandor, GRV, Others File Petitions Against Sanwo-Olu $2.4bn Stolen Crude Probe: Reps Invite Finance Minister, SGF, NNPC, Others APC Asks Tribunal To Throw Out Obi, Labour Party’s Petition Ekiti State Varsity Shut Over Students’ Protest Peak Milk Apologises Over ‘Offensive’ Good Friday Advert FG Receives 104 Stranded Nigerians From Chad Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Recent strange deaths have claimed a family of four in similar circumstances at Amukwu village in Abor, Udi Local Council of Enugu State. The Guardian learnt that Peter Okolongwu, his wife, Petronilla, their nephew and niece, who were living with them, all died days apart in a strange and mysterious way that has thrown the community into confusion, worries and mourning. The situation has forced community members to embark on a search to unravel the mysterious deaths. It was gathered that while Peter died a day after he was hit by a strange illness at the hospital on January 18, 2023, his wife died a day after, from similar circumstances at a different hospital, followed by their niece and nephew. Peter, a technician and coordinator of electricity matters in Abor, was said to have been hit by a strange illness after leaving his farmland and was rushed to the Ark of Life Hospital in Ngwo, where he died the next day. On the day Peter died, the wife, a senior staff of the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, developed similar clinical manifestations and died moments after she was rushed to the Niger Foundation Hospital in Enugu on January 19, 2023. Similarly, children of the deceased, Favour Okolongwu, 15, and Boy Okolongwu, 12, were not taken to the hospital and they all died. Jolted by the development, the community had endorsed autopsies for Peter, Petronilla and Favour, while they buried Boy and reported the matter to the police. President General of the community, Ozo Bonaventure, told The Guardian that the matter has also been escalated to the Ministry of Health and the State ‘s Disease Control Agency. He said: “The entire community was devastated by this tragedy. One thing that was clear to all is that the deaths were strange, as they weren’t sick, but died hours apart. To ascertain the root cause of these mysterious deaths and prevent future occurrence, the matter was reported to the police by some family members and a coroner inquest ordered. Some government health authorities were also alerted “Officials at the state’s Disease Control Agency came to the community and asked questions; the police also obtained their information. Later the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) officials came from Abuja to the community and took samples from everyone that had connection with deceased. They thought it could be an epidemic. “It is more than two months. As I speak to you, none of these efforts have yielded anything. We have not been able to unravel the course of the mysterious deaths. The Disease Control office, Abuja informed us that it was not an epidemic.” The autopsies, we paid for at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu, in the last two months have not produced any results. The hospitals where they died could not give a medical report about the cause of their deaths. We are worried and still seeking answers and solutions. “I am a Christian, but as I speak to you, some traditional members of the community have gone to make inquiries and came back without answers. We are praying to God to help us because we have not seen this kind of a thing before. We are still shocked by the development. When the incident occured in January this year, most members of the community abandoned their homes in fear that it was an epidemic. They returned following assurances from the NCDC officials that it was not an epidemic.” But, a community source told The Guardian that the hospital, where Peter’s wife died, specifically reported the primary cause of death in her case, to be “Toxic Syndrome”. The source alluded to the fear in the community, insisting that “ these strange and mysterious deaths happening in one family house within hours and days apart is a matter of serious public concern and interest, and needs to be unraveled.” He lamented the invaluable contributions of Peter to the development of the community, especially with regards to coordination of electricity issues, stressing that his death had created a yawning gap in the area. Meanwhile, the community has fixed April 14, for the burial of the deceased family members.

  Top officials of the Federal Government failed to appear before the House of Representatives in the ongoing investigation of the alleged illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil valued at $2.4bn. The House’ Ad Hoc Committee to Investigate Alleged Loss of Over $2.4 Billion in Revenue from Illegal Sale of 48 Million Barrels of Crude Oil Export in 2015 Including All Crude Oil Exports and Sales by Nigeria from 2014 Till Date commenced its three-day investigative hearing on Tuesday. The committee was to grill ministers and other heads of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government as well as oil companies and banks. However, only the National Intelligence Agency sent a representative on the government side. Consequently, the committee summoned the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed; Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN); Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, among others. Chairman of the committee, Mark Gbillah, in his ruling at the end of the day’s sitting, noted that the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation had indicted several officials and agencies in their memoranda to the panel. Gbillah noted that the committee is probing into the 48 million barrels of crude oil allegedly sold in China, crude oil exports in general from Nigeria for the period under review and the whistle-blower revelations and recoveries “which the Federal Government has publicly declared they had made recoveries from.” He said, “It is unfortunate that the Honourable Minister of Finance is not here; the Attorney-General of the Federation is not here and this is a formal request from the committee that they appear before this committee, because they have received formal invitations to do so, and a lot of what we have to investigate with regards to the whistle-blower policy is saddled with the Ministry of Finance and the (Office of the) Attorney-General of the Federation. “So, there have been responses that we have received from the Office of the Accountant-General which show that the Honourable Minister of Finance has been approving payments to whistle-blowers in percentages at variance with what the policy says they should be paid.” The chairman added, “There have been allegations of the (Office of the) Attorney-General (of the Federation) being involved also in the receipt of funds from outside the country without these funds being remitted to the Federation Account in line with the provisions of the Constitution. “There have been allegations that the expenditure of these recoveries has also been done in complete violation of the provisions of the Constitution.” Gbillah also disclosed some content of the memo from the CBN in which the apex bank accused ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government of illegal spending of public funds. “The CBN made a formal response to this committee indicating that under the TSA (Treasury Single Account) policy, and I quote, ‘of this administration, agencies operate their TSA accounts and make expenditure from these accounts without recourse to the CBN.’ “Now this is something that is alarming to this committee, for the CBN to declare before us – because we are cognisant of the provisions of the Constitution; that all revenues accruing to the Federation must be paid into the Federation Account. “So, if there are recoveries being made from whistle-blower revelations, we expect those monies to be paid into the account of the Federation as required by law. If any expenditure is to be made, it should come through the National Assembly. But that does not appear to be the case,” he said. The chairman summoned Ahmed, Malami, Mustapha and other government officials involved in the implantation of the government’s whistle-blower policy “to appear before the committee, to provide clarification on the operation of this policy and the approvals being made by the Honourable Minister of Finance.” The chairman summoned Ahmed, Malami, Mustapha and other government officials involved in the implantation of the government’s whistle-blower policy “to appear before the committee, to provide clarification on the operation of this policy and the approvals being made by the Honourable Minister of Finance.”   Gbillah added, “With regards to the issue of crude oil, we are expecting the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, oil and gas companies who operate fields and engage in exports, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation and the Accountant-General himself, including the Budget Office of the Federation, to be present and provide clarifications to the issues under investigation. “There are certain individuals as well that we need to investigate. Certain whistle-blower revelations show that from the Paris Club refund, hundreds of millions of dollars were paid into company accounts without any record of whatever services they provided to the country. These are things that need to be investigated. “There are allegations that fugitives from their country in India are being harboured in Nigeria and are involved in Nigeria’s crude oil exports in the oil and gas industry, when they are wanted by the anti-graft agencies in their country, with specific regards to certain individuals that we have communicated to and we believe that these individuals appear, in the absence of which the committee would be constrained to exercise its statutory powers under the law to compel appearance before the committee.” Earlier, Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, while declaring the hearing open, noted that the petroleum sector, particularly crude oil, is still the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, accounting for 95 per cent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and 80 per cent annual of budgeted revenue. Gbajabiamila, who was represented by a member of the House who moved the motion calling for the investigation, Ibrahim Isiaka, also noted that while daily production of crude was put at 1.88 million barrels in 2022, “this figure was never met with production, dropping below 1 million barrels during the year with significant revenue losses to the country; and 1.69