2023: Buhari reassures of free, fair, credible elections
During a visit to the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Aminu Ado Bayero, on Monday, President Muhammadu Buhari assured residents and Nigerians in general of his administration’s commitment to ensuring that the February and March elections are free, fair, and credible.
President Buhari promised to ensure that there would be a level playing field for the conduct of the election in the country.
He explained that the present administration was fully committed to sustaining and consolidating the giant strides achieved under his leadership over the years.
He said that no democratic system could be feasible without touching every sphere of human endeavour.
He, however, stated that the Kano Emirate Council had, over the years, been up and doing in giving its contributions to the development of the country.
He urged traditional institutions to play a more active role in promoting good governance in a genuine democratic setting.
Read also: Buhari appoints Dogara as new NYSC Director General
PENGASSAN urges FG to revoke licence of oil marketers selling above approved price
In a statement issued on Monday, Festus Osifo, the National President of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), urged the Federal Government to revoke the licences of oil marketers selling above the official pump price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
Osifo, writing on behalf of PENGASSAN, pleaded with the staff of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) in various locations to immediately carry out a nationwide monitoring and compliance exercise and ensure that any marketer found wanting gets their licences revoked.
He said that the call for the revocation of licences became urgent following a lingering fuel scarcity crisis that has persisted for more than five months.
“Should this collusion go unchecked, we will not hesitate to partner with other stakeholders in ensuring that Nigerians are not further exploited. A stitch in time saves nine,” he said.
Redesigned notes: Lagos residents complain as scarcity persists
Some residents of Lagos State interviewed on Monday expressed their frustration and anger over the lack of cash at the banks, automated teller machines (ATMs), and even point of sales (POS).
Banks whose ATMs were dispensing cash had long lines of people waiting to withdraw as little as N1,000, of which the maximum payout was N20,000.
A cross-section of banks monitored at Ikorodu, Constain, and Apapa showed how people moved around looking for ATMs that were dispensing cash only to end up in the long line of desperate customers hoping to get a hold of the new notes.
Even the banking hall wasn’t spared as some banks denied customers hoping to withdraw access.
Some customers who couldn’t endure the long queue complained that their bank applications weren’t going through.
“Can you imagine, my bank app isn’t working,” Dapo, a civil servant, lamented as he struggled to complete a transaction. “And when you get to ATMs, they are either not paying or the queue is very long.”
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had ordered banks to load their ATMs with the new, redesigned naira notes to ensure Nigerians had access to them.
The CBN extended the deadline for the collection of the old naira notes from January 31 to February 17.
3 ships with petrol waiting to berth at Lagos ports
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) reported that three ships with petroleum products arrived at the Lagos Ports Complex waiting to berth on Monday.
It listed the products as petrol, jet fuel, automobile gasoline, and base oil.
The authority said that 21 other ships were expected at the port from Jan. 30 to Feb. 13.
It listed items expected as general cargo, petrol, trucks, containers, frozen fish, bulk gypsum, bulk wheat, bulk salt, bulk urea, automobile gasoline, and bulk fertiliser.
It said that 13 other ships were discharging frozen fish, general cargo, containers, soya bean oil, bulk gypsum, jet fuel, automobile gasoline, base oil, petrol, and bulk urea. This is according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
AfDB plans $1.5bn food facility for Nigeria, others
Akinwunmi Adesina, the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said on Monday that the bank has put in place a $1.5 billion emergency food production facility to meet its food sufficiency objective in Africa.
Adesina disclosed this when he paid a courtesy visit to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State. He said that the facility was necessitated because of the ongoing Russia and Ukraine war, which has driven up the price of wheat and maize.
Adesina added that the emergency food production facility would be supporting 34 countries, with 20 million farmers producing roughly 38 million metric tonnes of food valued at $12 billion.
He expressed confidence that Africa would not have a food crisis as a result of the war in Ukraine, as efforts made by the bank and other development partners would help to address the shortages in food supplies that the war has caused.
