Rema Tells PDP To Explain How His Father Died by Nemere2020: 12:30am
Nigerian singer, Rema has called out the People's Democratic Party (PDP) over the death of his father Justice Ikubor.

Justice Ikubor was said to be a high ranking member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State and former General Manager of the state-owned Ethiope Publishing Company before his death. He was found dead in a room at Bins Hotel in Benin City, the state capital in 2008.

Nigerian Tribune reported that Idubor checked in with a female friend at about 8:30 p.m on the day he died. The lady reportedly left the hotel premises after spending some hours with the deceased.

It was said that when there was no sign of the presence of the PDP chieftain the next morning, the room in which he lodged was forced open by the staff members of the hotel and his lifeless body was found on the bed.

According to the publication, empty cans of popular energy drink/stimulant which he might have taken together with the lady littered the hotel room.

However in a tweet he shared today, Rema stated that the PDP needs to explain what happened to his father in that hotel room. He added that "Justice Ikubor's son has risen".

The tweets were deleted afterwards, but some screenshots were taken.

He confirmed they weren't deleted by him.

Y’all deleting my tweets. Okay!

#twitter #punch

Rema Tells PDP To Explain How His Father Died by Nemere2020: 12:30am
Nigerian singer, Rema has called out the People's Democratic Party (PDP) over the death of his father Justice Ikubor.

Justice Ikubor was said to be a high ranking member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State and former General Manager of the state-owned Ethiope Publishing Company before his death. He was found dead in a room at Bins Hotel in Benin City, the state capital in 2008.

Nigerian Tribune reported that Idubor checked in with a female friend at about 8:30 p.m on the day he died. The lady reportedly left the hotel premises after spending some hours with the deceased.

It was said that when there was no sign of the presence of the PDP chieftain the next morning, the room in which he lodged was forced open by the staff members of the hotel and his lifeless body was found on the bed.

According to the publication, empty cans of popular energy drink/stimulant which he might have taken together with the lady littered the hotel room.

However in a tweet he shared today, Rema stated that the PDP needs to explain what happened to his father in that hotel room. He added that "Justice Ikubor's son has risen".

The tweets were deleted afterwards, but some screenshots were taken.

He confirmed they weren't deleted by him.

Y’all deleting my tweets. Okay!

#twitter #punch

Rema Tells PDP To Explain How His Father Died

Nigerian singer, Rema has called out the People's Democratic Party (PDP) over the death of his father Justice Ikubor.

Justice Ikubor was said to be a high ranking member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State and former General Manager of the state-owned Ethiope Publishing Company before his death. He was found dead in a room at Bins Hotel in Benin City, the state capital in 2008.

Nigerian Tribune reported that Idubor checked in with a female friend at about 8:30 p.m on the day he died. The lady reportedly left the hotel premises after spending some hours with the deceased.

It was said that when there was no sign of the presence of the PDP chieftain the next morning, the room in which he lodged was forced open by the staff members of the hotel and his lifeless body was found on the bed.

According to the publication, empty cans of popular energy drink/stimulant which he might have taken together with the lady littered the hotel room.

However in a tweet he shared today, Rema stated that the PDP needs to explain what happened to his father in that hotel room. He added that "Justice Ikubor's son has risen".

The tweets were deleted afterwards, but some screenshots were taken.

He confirmed they weren't deleted by him.

Y’all deleting my tweets. Okay!

#twitter #punch

DISCOs: We Have Not Been Informed Of Tariff Hike Suspension by Islie

Power distribution companies said on Monday that they had not received any directive from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission on tariff suspension.

The Discos are confused on the decision of the Federal Government and labour unions as regards the reversal of the hike in electricity tariff, investigation has shown.

Senior officials of power distribution companies said on Monday that they were awaiting the NERC to come up with a new tariff plan to be implemented within the two weeks as agreed by the Federal Government and labour unions.

It was also gathered that up till 7pm on Monday, no order had been released by the NERC to Discos as touching the matter.

It was also gathered that the Discos told the regulator that it would take three to four days for them to change their billing/vending platforms and revert to the old tariffs.

“There is no communication yet from the regulator on that matter and I wonder how that can be implemented because right now, it is causing confusion in the power sector,” a senior official of a Disco in the northern region, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Also, sources at the commission confirmed that although there had been prolonged meetings on the matter at the NERC headquarters in Abuja, no order had been sent out to Discos as of 7pm on Monday.

“The whole thing is a bit complicated now. There has been series of meetings about it since (Monday) morning,” an official at the NERC, who pleaded not to be named, said.

The official added, “But up till this time (7pm) that you are speaking with me, no order has been issued on this matter to power distributors.”

A top official of one of the Discos who was at the meeting said the regulator had yet to tell them exactly what to do.

The Chairman, NERC, James Momoh, neither picked calls nor replied a detailed text message sent to him by our correspondent on the matter.

#punchng

Buhari Deserves Praise For Not Discarding Jonathan's Kano-Niger Republic Rail Project – Lauretta Onochie

Social media aide to the president Lauretta Onochie says former President Goodluck Jonathan initiated the Kano-Niger Republic rail line and that President Muhammadu Buhari deserves praise for not discarding the project, Igbere TV reports.

Mrs Onochie stated this in a tweet on Monday amid backlash from the public after the Federal Government signed a $1.96 billion contract for the development of the rail line last week.

“PRES. BUHARI DESERVES PRAISE. Our continuity President is only continuing where his predecessor stopped,” she wrote.

“Although the bilateral agreement setting up the rail line between Niger and Nigeria was signed by the previous administration, @MBuhari is making it happen.”

https://twitter.com/Laurestar/....status/1310592221692

The rail line will go through Kano-Jigawa-Katsina-Jibia to Maradi in Niger Republic.

The total cost of $1,959,744,723.71, according to the Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi, is inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT.

Igbere TV recall that former Vice President Namadi Sambo had in 2013 announced the government’s plan to build a rail line connecting to Niger Republic.

Sambo spoke of the rail line during a reception organised by the Zazzau Emirate in honour of Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State at the emir’s palace in Zaria.

#twitter

PRES. BUHARI DESERVES PRAISE.
Our continuity President is only continuing where his predecessor stopped.

Although the bilateral agreement setting up the rail line between Niger and Nigeria was signed by the previous administration, @MBuhari is making it happen. #SaiBaba pic.twitter.com/Nn5Ii8KWeb

Lauretta Onochie (@Laurestar) September 28, 2020

Yoruba Council Of Elders Rejects Agitation For Oduduwa Republic| Sahara Reporter

Secretary-general of the Yoruba Council of Elders, Dr Kunle Olajide, says it is unrealistic for the Oduduwa Republic to be achieved without violence.

Olajide made the assertion while reacting to comments by Professor Banji Akintoye that the Oduduwa Republic would be created without bloodshed.

The YCE scribe said there had never been a consensus or meeting of the Yoruba nation and elders to discuss the creation of a country made up of only the Yoruba.

The medical doctor wondered what parts of present-day Nigeria would form the proposed country.

According to him, Lagos has said it is not part of Oduduwa nation, and the head monarch of Ijebu land in Ogun State said his people migrated from North Africa.

“I visited the war front almost immediately after the truce and what I saw there, I would not wish it for my enemies. As far as the Yoruba nation is concerned, I will not lead my people to commit mass suicide,” he told SaharaReporters.

“The idea that they can have a peaceful exit is more theoretical than real. There is nothing like the 107 groups,” he said, referring to claims by Akintoye that the call for self-determination for the Yoruba nation had been signed.

“There is nowhere we have sat down and had a consensus to say we want the Yoruba nation. For us, we believe that if we can have a true Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 50 years, Nigeria will be leading Africa in all parameters of human existence. In 75 years, we will be in the league of first-world countries.”

He said although the Yoruba were not happy with the imposition of the Fulani political elite, who are in the minority, breaking up the country is not the preferred outcome.

“Yoruba people are justifiably angry about the system we are running that has completely diminished the upward development of the Yoruba people and has rendered most of the youths who constitute the majority of our population jobless. Nigeria appears to have reached the beginning of the end to this unitary, centralised pseudo-federalism we are operating,” he said.

Olajide expressed optimism that other regions of the country will soon join the call for true federalism.

He said, “There is no part of Nigeria today that is happy with the Nigeria we have. Since the North Central pulled out of the Arewa Forum, you don’t have any North like we used to have before and if anyone believes there is still a Northern region, that is the most unsafe part of the country today.

"They have all the negative indices of human development in Nigeria. A time is coming, and it is coming too soon that they will be championing for restructuring.”

He said they had been mobilising to break what he described as a ‘tiny political Fulani elite’.

“We have started mobilising. We already have a relationship with the cultural groups in the South and the Middle Belt. We are going to reach out to the North-Central forum so that we can reduce this tiny Fulani elite who have gained power from the constitution and the false sense of population advantage the British gave them," he noted.

#saharareporters

Buhari Submits PIB To National Assembly, Scraps NNPC, PPPRA In New Bill

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has transmitted the much awaited Petroleum Industry Bill 2020 to the National Assembly and has proposed the creation of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The bill, which was sighted by our correspondent on Sunday, also proposes the scrapping of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency.

The bill states that the NNPC Limited will be incorporated by the Minister of Petroleum, who together with his finance counterparts, will determine NNPC’s assets and liabilities that will be inherited by the new firm.

Section 54(1, 2 and3 )) reads in part, “The Minister (of Petroleum) and the Minister of Finance shall determine the assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC to be transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiaries and upon the identification, the minister shall cause such assets, interests and liabilities to be transferred to NNPC Limited.

“Assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC not transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiary under subsection 1 of this section shall remain the assets, interests and liabilities of NNPC until they become extinguished or transferred to the government.

“NNPC shall cease to exist after its remaining assets, interests and liabilities other than its interests, assets, and liabilities transferred to NNPC Limited or its subsidiaries under subsection 1 of this section shall have been extinguished or transferred to the government.”

According to Section 53 of the bill, the minister shall “within six months from the commencement of this Act, cause to be incorporated under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, a limited liability company, which shall be called Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC Limited).

“The minister shall be at the incorporation of NNPC Limited, consult with the Minister of Finance to determine the number and nominal value of the shares to be allotted which shall form the initial paid-up share capital of the NNPC Limited and the government shall subscribe and pay cash for the shares.

“Ownership of all shares in NNPC Limited shall be vested in the government at incorporation and held by the Ministry of Finance incorporated on behalf of the government.”

The bill also proposes the establishment of an agency known as the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission which will be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations.

Section 4 of the bill states in part, “There is established the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission (the commission) which shall be a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

“The commission shall have the power to acquire, hold and dispose of property, sue and be sued in its own time. The commission shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of upstream petroleum operations.”

The proposed law also recommends the creation of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority known as ‘The Authority’.

Section 29 of the bill states in part, “There is established the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (the Authority) which is a body corporate with perpetual succession and a common seal.

“The Authority shall be responsible for the technical and commercial regulation of midstream and downstream petroleum operations in the petroleum industry.”

The new bill technically scraps the PPPRA with the creation of the new agencies that will now carry out the PPPRA’s functions.

Efforts to reform the oil industry date back two decades, when the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo, inaugurated the Oil and Gas Reform Implementation Committee in April 2000. The committee was tasked to review and streamline all existing petroleum laws and establish an all-inclusive regulatory framework for the industry.

The administration of President Umaru Yar’Adua continued the project and the PIB was presented to the Sixth National Assembly in September 2008. But the bill stalled over disagreements on the sharing of oil profit among the international oil companies, host communities and the federation, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.

In July 2012, the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan forwarded a revised version of the PIB to the Seventh Assembly, but it suffered the same fate that befell it in the previous legislative cycle. It was passed by only the House of Representatives at the tail end of their term.

The slump in global crude oil prices, from a high of $115 per barrel in mid-2014 to $28pb in January 2016, combined with the regulatory uncertainty occasioned by the delay in passing the PIB to worsen the state of the industry.

In the first term of Buhari, the Eighth NASS split the bill into four parts – the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, Petroleum Industry Administration Bill, Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and Petroleum Host Community Bill — in a bid to fast-track its passage into law. The PIGB was passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives in May 2017 and January 2018 respectively

After its passage by the NASS, the PIGB was transmitted to Buhari for assent in July 2018, but he eventually declined to sign the bill into law. According to the Presidency, the provision of the PIGB permitting the Petroleum Regulatory Commission to retain as much as 10 per cent of the revenue generated is one of the reasons Buhari declined to assent to the bill.

Attempts to get comments of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare, did not succeed on Sunday night. He had yet to reply a text message sent to him as of the time of filing this report.

Also, the Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Reps), Umar el-Yakub, could not be reached. He neither picked calls to his mobile phone nor replied a text message sent to him.

#punchng

Akpabio Inspects New NDDC Headquarters Complex

In continuation of his working visit to the Niger Delta region, Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babayo Addo on Sunday, September September 27, 2020 inspected the new headquarters complex of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC).

Senator Akpabio and his entourage were received and shown round the complex by the Acting Managing Director, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mr Akwa Effiong, Executive Director, Evangelist Caroline Nagbo among other officials of the Commission.

In his remarks Senator Akpabio expressed satisfaction with the management over the project which was started in 1996 by the defunct oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC)

#nairaland

Akpabio Inspects New NDDC Headquarters Complex

In continuation of his working visit to the Niger Delta region, Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babayo Addo on Sunday, September September 27, 2020 inspected the new headquarters complex of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC).

Senator Akpabio and his entourage were received and shown round the complex by the Acting Managing Director, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mr Akwa Effiong, Executive Director, Evangelist Caroline Nagbo among other officials of the Commission.

In his remarks Senator Akpabio expressed satisfaction with the management over the project which was started in 1996 by the defunct oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC)

#nairaland

Akpabio Inspects New NDDC Headquarters Complex

In continuation of his working visit to the Niger Delta region, Minister of Niger Delta affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Babayo Addo on Sunday, September September 27, 2020 inspected the new headquarters complex of the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC).

Senator Akpabio and his entourage were received and shown round the complex by the Acting Managing Director, Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, Executive Director of Finance and Administration, Mr Akwa Effiong, Executive Director, Evangelist Caroline Nagbo among other officials of the Commission.

In his remarks Senator Akpabio expressed satisfaction with the management over the project which was started in 1996 by the defunct oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC)

#nairaland