President Bola Tinubu has appointed Mr. Tunde Rahman, and 19 others as senior special assistants and special assistants in his government. Though the appointments have not been officially announced by the government, Vanguard reliably gathered that those that were appointed have been notified. Recall that Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Senator George Akume, announced the appointment of eight special advisers by the President. The latest positions in which a veteran journalist, Tunde Rahman was one of them, include senior special assistants (SSAs), personal assistants (PAs), personal physician, and photographers. It was also gathered that some of the appointees are waiting for the release of their appointment letters before they assume duty. Rahman was made SSA to the President on Media Matters; Ibrahim Masari also appointed as SSA on Political Matters Others are Adekunle Tinubu – Personal Physician; Damilotun Aderemi – Senior Special Assistant (Private Secretary); Toyin Subair – Senior Special Assistant (Domestic); O’tega Ogra – Senior Special Assistant (Digital/New Media); and Demola Oshodi – Senior Special Assistant (Protocol). The rest are Tope Ajayi – Senior Special Assistant (Media & Public Affairs); Abdulaziz Abdulaziz – Senior Special Assistant (Print Media); Yetunde Sekoni – Senior Special Assistant; Motunrayo Jinadu – Senior Special Assistant; Segun Dada – Special Assistant (Social Media); and Paul Adekanye – Special Assistant (Logistics). Also on the list are Friday Soton – Special Assistant (Housekeeping); Shitta-Bey Akande – Special Assistant (Catering); Nosa Asemota – Special Assistant (Visual Communication) Personal Photographer; Kamal Yusuf – Personal Assistant (Special Duties); Wale Fadairo – Personal Assistant (General Duties); Sunday Moses – Personal Assistant (Videography); and Taiwo Okanlawon – Personal Assistant (State Photographer). It is expected that the official unveiling of the new appointees will take place as soon as possible.

  The senate has resolved to probe expenses incurred by the federal government in 30 months, under the petrol subsidy regime. The resolution by the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday, during the plenary, was a sequel to a motion moved by Chiwuba Ndubueze, a lawmaker representing Imo north. Moving the motion, Ndubueze said, while President Bola Tinubu’s decision to withdraw the petrol subsidy in May was commendable, the regime must be investigated. The motion was titled “Need to investigate the controversial huge expenditure on premium motor spirit (PMS) under the subsidy/recovery regime by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC)”.   Ndubueze said in 10 years — 2006 to 2015 — the federal government, through NNPC Ltd, claimed N170 billion as under-recovery. He added that the national oil company also expended N843.121 billion on under-recovery between January 2018 and January 2019. “Very worrisome of the expenses made on subsidy/ under recovery by NNPCL during the period under review, particularly from January 2021 to June 2023, was N9.3trillion claimed to have been spent,” he said. “The money as shown by available records, shows that in 2021, N1.42 trillion was expended, in 2022, N4.3 trillion and in the first six months of 2023, N3.6 trillion, totalling, N9.3 trillion.” The senate resolved that its standing committees on petroleum (downstream), petroleum (upstream), and finance, when constituted, would carry out a holistic investigation on all controversies surrounding subsidy and under the recovery regime. During the debate, the upper chamber also sought a living wage for workers as a way of cushioning the effects of petrol subsidy removal. The lawmakers debated the establishment of three functional refineries for local production and distribution of refined oil.   They said the development would help to bring down the pump price from N540 per litre to between N300 to N350 per litre.

  Nigerian billionaire, Femi Otedola says he nearly committed suicide following the loss of $480 million in the diesel market when he failed in business around 2008. He disclosed that his failure was so abysmal to the extent that his colleagues mocked him when Akin Akinfemiwa, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Geregu Power Plc, wanted to work with him at that time. Otedola said this at Akinfemiwa’s 50th birthday celebration in London on Tuesday. The oil magnate said it was the thought of his wife, Nana and their children that halted the suicide thought. He said, “My relationship with Akin is what I would call, destiny prevails. In 2005 I had a friend that worked in Oando and she did mention to me that she has a colleague. And she called Akin and we spoke.” “I set up my training company in London Fine Shade Energy, I was looking for a trader and I couldn’t find any good trader. I called Dimeji Edwards who was Akin’s boss. Akin picked up the phone to come and see me. “So he came, and I said to him, ‘listen I want to give you a job’. Come and work for me. Then of course he went back to Wale and Mofe who were his bosses then (at Oando). And they said you want to go and work for that man? That has sacked 6 CEOs in 6 years. “Now when I say destiny prevails, the business collapsed. I built a massive empire. I had 93% of diesel at my fingertips. I was a bit playful, and the business collapsed. The option I had then was to commit suicide. Then, of course, I thought of Nana and the kids. And I said no, I won’t commit suicide. “I will face reality and sack myself and the business. So, I sacked myself. I made Akin the CEO of the London office, and I was so impressed by the way he turned around the business. I gave him 1% of the business. I now later, made him the CEO of Zenon Oil, and then the CEO of African Petroleum.”

  The Asset Recovery Committee set up by Governor Hyacinth Alia of Benue State, on Tuesday, raided an automobile shop owned by ex-Governor Samuel Ortom in Makurdi, the state capital. Some vehicles were seized during the operation. The committee reportedly used towing vans to pull out some vehicles after attempts to drive them away failed. In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Benue accused Alia of witch hunting his predecessor. PDP State Publicity Secretary, Bemgba Iortyom, described the committee’s outing as “a shameful showing of naked tyranny and impunity.” “Earlier today, thugs accompanied by security agents purporting to be on an assets recovery mission, raided a private automobile workshop owned by the former governor’s business concern, Oracle Nig. Ltd., carting away motor vehicles at the premises of the workshop.” “Staff of the workshop have confirmed to PDP that the vehicles, of a yet to be ascertained number, were those brought there for repairs by private owners and are not in any wise from any public source. “PDP notes that this is yet another manifestation of disregard for the rule of law by the Benue State Governor, considering there is a subsisting court order barring his government from tampering with the assets of the former governor, specifically motor vehicles.” The governor had through his Chief Press Secretary, Tersoo Kula, said government vehicles numbering 29 were looted by the former governor. Kula had in a statement posited that, “the case of the government house is particularly pitiable with vandalised furniture, window blinds, electronics and other household appliances. “This is besides the carting away of all vehicles including an ambulance and press crew bus attached to the office of the governor. At the last count, 29 vehicles attached to the governor’s office are still no where to be found.”

  Not all land borders shut by the Federal Government across Nigeria in 2018 have been reopened, the acting Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Wale Adeniyi, has said. He said only six strategic land borders were reopened in 2021. Adeniyi stated this on Tuesday after a private meeting with the President Bola Tinubu at Aso Villa in Abuja. The Customs boss told State House correspondents that there are ongoing processes to review the situation and the quest to achieve border security and regional integration. He noted, however, that the reopening of the borders will be made public. Adeniyi lamented the challenge of fuel smuggling across the borders, saying that the removal of petrol subsidy and the attendant increase in price of fuel will disincentivise fuel smugglers in the long run. He states that with new policies by the government, the persistent challenge of smuggling of the vital commodity will diminish. According to the Customs boss, his discussion with the President also centered on advancing user-friendly ports, exports as well as ensuring 48-hour clearance of goods around the ports.

  It was a black Tuesday in Enugu as several people including a family of four have reportedly died in an accident at a military checkpoint in Enugu State. The accident happened at Ugwu Onyeama along Enugu-Onitsha Expressway around 9 am on Tuesday. According to some eyewitnesses, five persons died on the spot, while many sustained different degrees of injury in the accident that involved multiple vehicles. The affected family, yet to be identified, includes a man, his wife, and two children. Only one of the children was said to have survived. An eyewitness told our correspondent that the unfortunate incident occurred when a tanker carrying inflammable products had a head-on collision with a trailer carrying cement at a military checkpoint because of the blockade. “The crash now affected other vehicles in a queue at the checkpoint,” the eyewitness said, lamenting that the checkpoint located on the hill axis of the road has caused several accidents in the past. Among the vehicles affected are, “A fully loaded GUO bus travelling to Lagos from Ebonyi State, a private car with parents and their two young children, and an unmarked bus, were also involved in the crash.” Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai who was at the scene of the incident for an on-the-spot assessment, and the hospitals where the injured victims were taken to lamented the losses. Ossai thanked the hospitals for their promptness in treating the victims as well as the first respondents for their efforts in reducing the number of casualties. “We visited the private clinic at 9th mile where a substantial number of our citizens are hospitalized and we are also here at the orthopaedic hospital where some of the victims are receiving treatment. “We’re also grateful to the Doctors for their prompt interventions because I’m sure but for their interventions, we would have had more losses. We’re also grateful to the first responders; the military personnel, Road Safety Corps, fire service, DSS and police, and all the institutions that came and effected immediate response and ensure we didn’t lose more persons than we lost.” The Deputy Governor also assured that the government will assist the injured persons in their treatment. He said the incident has also exposed the need to strengthen the institutions responsible for maintaining accident-free roads as some accidents are avoidable, while harping on the need for regular vehicle maintenance and training programs for the drivers.

  Wednesday 12 July 2023 Naira devaluation: Nigerian students face tough times in UK, tuition soars by 60% Panel storms Ortom’s automobile workshop, impounds vehicles APC crisis deepens as Omisore labels Lukman ‘black sheep’ Tribunal: Former Borno deputy gov Dibal testifies for Sanwo-Olu FULL LIST: Nigerian Presidents who have chaired ECOWAS Gun-wielding hoodlums kidnap Ebonyi Catholic priest, three others Not All Land Borders Are Open, Says Customs Boss Akeredolu ‘Expected Back Soon’ – Ondo Acting Governor Aregbesola Urges INEC To Link Voter Registration With NIN Fish Out Masterminds Of Plateau Killings, Tinubu Orders Security Agencies Tinubu’s Cabinet: Omisore Hints At Possibility Of Merging Ministries Security Operatives Set Ablaze Seized Vessel With Stolen Oil Osinbajo Appointed Global Alliance Energy Advisor Kukah Still Pained Buhari Didn’t Patronise Him – Adesina NEMA Meets Governors Over Flood Alert Reps Ask CBN To Stop Social Media Details As Requirement For Bank Customers J. Martins, Kanu Nwankwo, Others Make List As Abia’s Otti Makes 30 New Appointments Court Sentences Man To Death By Hanging For Killing Employer Remi Tinubu Didn’t Close Aso Rock Chapel — Aide OPEC Faults Calls Against Funding Of Fossil Fuels In Africa I Shiver When Lecturers Brag About Rigging Elections — ABU VC Tribunal: INEC Tenders Gov Mbah’s Certificates As Enugu Guber Candidate’s Name Is Missing In LP Register Jimoh Ibrahim: Those wishing Akeredolu dead will die before him I’m not aware of FG’s felony charge against me, says Stella Oduah PDP govs, APC differ over security situation nationwide Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  Suspected diphtheria outbreak has killed at least 30 children and left 42 at the isolation center of the Specialist Hospital in Potiskum Local Government area of Yobe State. Tandari, Misau Road, Sabuwar Sakateriya, Arikime, Ramin Kasa, Boriya, Igwanda and Texaco quarters are the most affected areas, Daily Trust can confirm. A source at the Isolation center of the Specialist hospital in Potiskum revealed that they are faced with inadequate drugs to contain the situation. The source said so far about 46 cases have been admitted with more than 5 casualties. Daily Trust correspondent learnt that more than 20 children have died at home while 4 casualties were recorded at the hospital. A parent of one of the affected children who gave his name as Abdullahi Muhammad, said ‘‘many children have died at home before coming to the hospital, it’s a deadly disease claiming lives. ‘‘We appeal to the government to promptly respond to save the lives of our innocent children. The symptoms we observed include fever, coughing, weakness of the body among others.” A Neptune Prime Newspaper reporter Mr. Ibrahim El-Tafsir who resides in Potiskum told Daily Trust that ‘‘even though the government officials refused to tell us the number of mortality rate there are houses where 2 to 4 kids died and we are still burying the dyed children’’. When contacted, Potiskum zonal Immunization officer Mallam Buba, denied the casualties figures but admitted that no fewer than 42 children were hospitalized. He lamented that most of the affected children did not die in the hospital, saying the parents of the kids did not bring them to the hospital at the appropriate time. The Director of the Primary Health Care Unit Potiskum LGA, Mallam Abdurrahman Musa, said based on the report they received, they sensitized the public on how to prevent the disease. ‘‘Yesterday morning I was at the hospital for checks, the sample has been taken to the laboratory for analysis and we will continue to immunize and provide adequate drugs to the isolation center of the hospital,’’ he said Confirming the outbreak to our correspondent, The Acting Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr. Umar Chiroma, said ‘‘When we received the report of suspected diphtheria outbreak in Potiskum over the weekend, we immediately mobilized the LGA team to the affected areas for sensitization to stop the spread of this diseases. For now, we cannot declare it as diphtheria till we take the sample and do a diagnosis from there we can announce what its. ‘‘Some of these patients are above 30 years some 14 while some are 12 to 8 years. Unfortunately, some of their family are the peoples who are none complies with the immunization vaccine which is why it mostly affected children that where not been taken to health facilities. The information which I don’t have is the vaccination during their (children’s) early childhood’’ he said. While refusing to state the casualty figure, he said ‘‘Some of them have recovered, so we might not have to confirm that it’s diphtheria unless we have diagnosed it. Just this morning I received the update of the outbreak from the director in charge of the zone so we are yet to receive the official mortality rate as of now.”

  The Lagos State Special Offences Court sitting in Ikeja has sentenced a 30-year-old man, Vincent Jeffrey Ehizojie, to death by hanging for killing his employer, Olusola Olusoga, the owner of Etashol Hotel and Suites and the manager of the hotel, Tunji Omikunle. Justice Oyindamola Ogala, condemned Ehizojie to death after she held that the prosecution had proven the ingredients of the charge beyond all reasonable doubt. The condemned convict, who at the time of the crime was working as a supervisor in the hotel, was arraigned before the court on a two-count charge bordering on murder. The state had told the judge during the course of the trial that Ehizojie committed the offence on January 25, 2019 at about 3 a.m. at 42, Budland Street, Ojodu-Berger, Lagos where the hotel was located. The convict was also accused of conspiring, with other persons still at large, to steal from the hotel manager and owner but ended up strangling them to death. The offence contravened the provisions of sections 233 and 223 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised). In her judgment, Justice Ogala held that the case of the prosecution was premised upon the confessional statement of the convict as well as circumstantial evidence. The judge stated that confessional statements are the best evidence to ground conviction, and as the Supreme Court had held in several cases, it can be relied upon solely, where voluntarily made. She held, “It is curious that the defendant, who was privy to the state of affairs in the hotel, told the court that he was shocked when the police informed him of the death of his boss and the manager when he was arrested in Port Harcourt. “There is no doubt that the defendant was present at the premises of the scene of the crime as confirmed by him in his evidence-in-chief and exhibits before the court,” Justice Ogala held The judge further said that the court had carefully considered the evidence of the defendant, particularly his account of how he left the hotel premises on January 25, 2019, and his incredible story as to why he did not return to the hotel after the incident nor report at the police station. She held that the convict had no clear explanation for why he fled to Port Harcourt the next day and that the circumstantial evidence against the convict was unequivocal, positive and irresistibly pointed to his guilt. She maintained that the court believes that the convict indeed wrote the confessional statement and his feeble attempt to retract same was to exonerate himself from the commission of the deadly act. The judge further stated, “after carefully considering the facts in this case, I now find the defendant guilty of the two-count charge against him. “The sentencing of the court upon you, Jeffrey Ehizogie, is that you be hanged on the neck until you die,” Justice Ogala held. Olusola Olusoga, who owned Etashol Hotels and Suites in Ojodu, Lagos, and the manager, Tunji Omikunle, was strangled on January 25, 2019, at the hotel. The Lagos State Police Commissioner at the time, Imohimi Edgal, said the suspect, Ehizojie carried out the act with others at large. He said the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage available to the police showed the role played by each of the suspects. Ehizojie was arrested in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he fled to after the dastardly act. “We all agreed that we had no future in the company because we believed our employers were miserly,” he said. He also said they resolved to rob the late hotelier of her local and foreign currency, being a London returnee.

  Femi Adesina, a former spokesman for ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says the Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Matthew Kukah, is still pained that the former head of state didn’t patronise him (Kukah) as Nigeria’s President. The ex-presidential spokesman stated this in a tweet on Tuesday hours after the cleric said Nigerians witnessed the worst phase of corruption under the Buhari administration. Kukah spoke on Monday while delivering a keynote speech at the 60th call-to-bar anniversary of legal luminary, Aare Afe Babalola, in Ado Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State. The cleric said though corruption did not start under the last administration, the Buhari government amplified it in the last eight years. “We have seen the worst phase of corruption in Nigeria, Femi Falana, my friend here will speak about that because he has published a series of articles talking about what happened under the Buhari administration. “They were not the ones who caused corruption but I think in the last administration, we saw the ugliest phase of corruption whether in moral terms, financial terms and other terms,” Kukah said. Reacting, Adesina said, “Who listens to that Bishop again? He’s still pained that he got no under-the-cassock patronage from Buhari, unlike in the past. As e dey pain them, e dey sweet us.” Who listens to that Bishop again. He’s still pained that he got no under-the-cassock patronage from Buhari, unlike in the past. As e dey pain them, e dey sweet us. — Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) July 11, 2023