TCN restores national grid
The Transmission Company of Nigeria said that it has restored the national grid, hours after it collapsed on Monday morning.
“The restoration of the affected part of the grid commenced immediately at 11.55 am with Osogbo/Ihovbor back to the grid followed by Jebba/Osogbo, Kainji/Jebba, Benin/Onisha, Shiroro/Kaduna, Shiroro/Katampe, and Alaoji/Ikot-Ekpene,” it said in a statement on Monday.
“Others are Lokoja/Gwagwalada, Odukpani/Ikot Ekpene, Benin/Omotosho, Oke-Aro/Ikeja west, Egbin/Oke-Aro and Kaduna/Kano.”
The TCN said that the collapse was due to “a sudden drop in system frequency, which created system instability.”
“The National Control Centre (NCC) said a full-scale investigation is being conducted to establish and ascertain the cause of the partial disturbance as this unwholesome event has resulted in aggregated generation loss, ” Ndidi Mbah, TCN’s General Manager, Public Affairs, said in the statement.
Earlier in the day, some distribution companies, such as Ikeja Electric (IE), had sent circulars to their customers informing them of a disruption in supply of electricity, citing the collapse of the national grid.
Read also: National grid collapses for the seventh time this year
Afenifere throws weight behind Peter Obi
Afenifere, a Pan Yoruba socio-political organisation, on Monday, threw its weight behind the presidential ambitions of Peter Obi of the Labour Party. Speaking on behalf of the group, Ayo Adebanjo, Afenifere Leader, said that it won’t compromise its cherished principles of justice, equity, and inclusiveness over ethnic affiliation.
He aired the position of the group at a press conference held at the Wheatbaker Hotel in the Ikoyi area of Lagos State.
The 94-year-old elder-state man advised every Nigerian to be “Obi-Datti compliant” as that is the only way to keep Nigeria one in 2023.
Obi is running for Aso Rock’s top job alongside Datti Baba-Ahmed.
“The South-West has produced a president and currently sits as vice-president. The South-South has spent a total of six years in the presidency, but the Igbo people of the South-East have never tasted the presidency in Nigeria, and now that power is due back in the South, equity demands that it be ceded to the Igbo.
“We cannot continue to demand that the Igbo people remain in Nigeria, while we at the same time continue to brutally marginalise and exclude them from the power dynamic.”
“Peter Obi is the person of Igbo extraction that Afenifere has decided to support and back. He is the man we trust to restructure the country back to federalism on the assumption of office.”
“We will not compromise this principle of justice, equity, and inclusiveness because one of our own, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is a frontline candidate,” he said.
Pa Adebanjo’s comment comes after Bayo Onanuga, the Director of Media and Publicity of the All Progressive Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, had criticised him for supporting Obi, saying that he only speaks for himself and his group, not the Yoruba people.
Adebanjo, who defended his group’s position on Obi on Monday, said Nigeria’s next president should come from the South-East to keep the country together and quell dissenting voices along the lines of secession.
“We enjoin the labour movement, students, youth organisations, women’s associations, and every institution whose foundation is built on fairness and justice to join hands in this task of enthroning a democratic government by supporting Peter Obi.
“If we are sincere and honest about keeping Nigeria together in peace, the slogan henceforth should be “To keep Nigeria one, everyone should be Obi/Datti compliant.”
“In the final analysis, let it be said that we have no apologies but due courage of our conviction that Nigeria can only prosper in righteousness.
“For me, in the twilight of my sojourn on earth at 94, it is too late to derail me on the track of true federalism and national inclusiveness on which I have travelled for over 70 years of my life as one of the few surviving initial prophets, I prefer to ascend on a chariot of fire, fueled by justice and equity,” Adebanjo added.
2023: Group stages 1m persons’ walk for Tinubu/Shetima in Lagos
A political group, Nigeria for BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu), on Monday staged a one-million persons’ solidarity walk in Lagos in support of the APC presidential candidate, Sen. Bola Tinubu and his running mate, Sen. Kashim Shettima.
According to NAN, the APC supporters, who defied early morning rainfall, also inaugurated its state executive committee to rally support for Tinubu/Shettima as well as the reelection of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Dr Obafemi Hamzat.
The event, which took place at the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Lagos, had in attendance hundreds of APC supporters and leaders from various local government areas and local council development areas.
Others in attendance were representatives of Persons Living With Disabilities, market women and artisans, Nollywood Yoruba actors and representatives of some tertiary institutions in Lagos State.
Nicola Sturgeon indicates she will not cuts taxes for high earners
Nicola Sturgeon has indicated she will not follow the UK Government in cutting tax for the highest earners as she branded its fiscal plans “morally repugnant”.
According to the Scotsman, the First Minister slammed last week’s mini-budget as “fiscally disastrous” and insisted Scotland would continue to have a “progressive tax system”.
It came as the Bank of England said it “will not hesitate” to raise interest rates to prop up the value of sterling after a day of turmoil on the markets, which saw the pound slump to its lowest level for at least half a century.
UK Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng will bring forward the announcement of a “medium-term fiscal plan” to start bringing down debt levels following an adverse reaction to his £45 billion package of tax cuts set out on Friday.
The Treasury said it would now be published on November 23, having previously been slated for the new year, and will include further details on the Government’s fiscal rules, including ensuring that debt falls as a share of GDP in the medium term.
Student Loan Update: Biden’s Cancellation Could Cost $400B
Sweeping amounts of student loan forgiveness proposed by the Biden administration could cost as much as $400 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate released Monday.
On August 24, President Joe Biden announced his plan to wipe out $10,000 in debt for those earning less than $125,000 per year, and $20,000 for those who had received Pell grants—the latter of whom comprise about one-third of U.S. undergraduate students.
Biden has already canceled over $25 billion in loans for 1 million student borrowers, though in total, more than 45 million Americans owe a combined $1.7 trillion in federal student debt. Nearly a third of those borrowers owe less than $10,000.
The CBO’s estimate does not include any effects of actions affecting income-driven repayment plans, any other changes in loan terms, or effects on loans issued after June 30, according to a joint letter to Congress penned by Senator Richard Burr and Representative Virginia Foxx, two North Carolina Republicans who had requested the CBO report. This is according to Newsweek.
