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Adulterated Petrol: NNPC, NMDPRA Commence Evacuation of Products

by Folarin Kehinde February 9, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

As a reaction to address the importation of over 80 million litres off specification Premium Motor Spirit, PMS, also known as petrol into the country, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, Wednesday said that it has commenced the evacuation of the adulterated products.

This is also as the authority assured Nigerians of 20 days sufficiency volume of petrol in the country.

NMDPRA also advised Nigerians against panic buying as about 300 million litres of petrol is being discharged at the Apapa jetty.

Speaking during a stakeholders meeting comprising of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN, Depot and Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, DAPMAN, and Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Limited, NNPC, in Lagos, NMDPRA Chief Executive Officer, Farouk Ahmed, stated that a technical team has been set up to manage the development.

In his words, “Today, I am happy to say that loading is ongoing at various depots in the country, because we have been able to identify, isolate and quarantine the limited PMS that was affected by the methanol volume discovered.

“At the moment, six vessel ordered by the NNPC, arrived the country in the last few days, carrying a total volume of 300 million litres. This is a means to close the gap that was created by those affected volume of petrol we have withdrawn from the system.

“Today, we have about 20 days sufficiency of petrol in the country. Our ideal is to have 30 days volume level, because of the concern, we have to withdrawn those vessels which created this gap of 90 million litres to 20 days sufficiency. But with aggressive importation by the NNPC, this gap will be mitigated in the next few days, according to data we obtained from the NNPC program.

“Loading is ongoing in most of the depots that have confirmed one specification material, so there is no need to panic. Between now and tomorrow, the off specification product will be cleared.

“Currently, there is 39,000 Metric Tonnes, MT, vessel that is about to discharge at the Apapa Single Point Mooring, ASPM, and this vessels will be providing products to major oil marketers, including OVH, TotalEnergies, 11 plc, Conoil, and Ardova, according to loading program received from MOMAN.

“So once these vessels complete discharging and start pushing the products to marketers, I believe Lagos will be cleared of shortage. We have gotten that assurance from the marketers.

“Also, most of these vessels that are onground will also be providing volumes to most of the key members of DAPMAN. Offcourse, we have smaller vessels loading these off specification product which our technical team are trying to address.”

February 9, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

FRSC warns Against Selling Vehicles with Number Plate

by Folarin Kehinde February 9, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

The new Federal Road Safety Corps Sector Commander in Cross River State, Elizabeth Akinlade has warned Nigerians against selling their vehicles with number plates.

She gave the warning when she paid a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Union of Journalists, Cross River State Council in Calabar.

The Sector Commander said the warning became necessary to protect unsuspecting members of the public against selling their vehicles to people of questionable character.

According to Akinlade, the original owner of the vehicle will be held responsible if it is used to perpetrate a crime after it had been sold.

She said the corps had a data bank of the original owners of all vehicles in the country, adding that when a car is sold, a new buyer ought to do change of ownership.

She said: “Don’t sell your vehicle with the plate number because in our data bank, the name of the original owner of the vehicle, including his address, is stored.

“If the vehicle is used to carry out a crime, with the information in our data bank, the original owner may be arrested, even if he knows nothing about the crime, but sold the car with the plate number.

“One of our strategic goals is to have a robust data bank because without data you may not be able to do much.”

Akinlade said the main goal of the corps in Cross River State in 2022 would be to reduce road crashes by 15 per cent, adding that it could only be possible with a cordial relationship with the media.

“We have lost a lot of people, especially breadwinners, some of whom have been rendered incapacitated, that is why we continue to urge the media to help us push the message of defensive driving to the public,” she said.

In his remarks, Victor Udu, Chairman of the NUJ, Cross River State Council, thanked the Sector Commander for her visit and urged the command to make the process of getting vehicle licence easy.

Udu appealed to members of the public to ensure that their papers were up-to-date and their vehicles in good condition, especially their tyres, side mirrors and rear glasses, to minimise altercations with FRSC officials.

“If we do what the law says, we will have less frictions with FRSC and whenever they stop you for breaking the law, be gentle enough to appeal to them and not claim right,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Akinlade took over from Ocheja Ameh at the Cross River State Command.

February 9, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

NIMC Server Hacked, As Millions of Nigerian NIN Stolen

by Leading Reporters February 9, 2022

written by Leading Reporters

Over three million National Identity Numbers of Nigerians have been stolen after a hacker known only as Sam broke into the server of the National Identity Management Commission.

Revealing how easy it was for him to breach the NIMC server and access personal information of millions of Nigerians in an article he shared on infosecwriteups.com, the hacker boasted that he got access to “juice” on the Nigerian Government agency’s server and that he could go ahead to do whatever he desired with other sensitive data at his disposal.

As the technical hitch that has bedeviled the portal of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) persisted yesterday, it is feared that the portal may have been compromised by hackers, data security experts have said, However, Engr. Aliyu A. Aziz DG/CEO is yet to commit.

It was revealed that telcos had continued to turn back subscribers seeking to retrieve lost, damaged or stolen SIM cards due to their inability to verify their customers’ NIN.

Responding to complaints from Twitter users, MTN Nigeria said it could not process SIM swap and update requests due to challenges with the NIMC portal.

“We are sorry we currently cannot process SIM swap and update requests due to external challenges. We appreciate your understanding and will post an update once this has been resolved,” MTN said.

Agencies such as immigration, police and road safety are among government agencies affected, according to officials.
Staffs of the Nigeria Immigration Service who spoke to Leading Reporters, that their are people who have been waiting for over 7 months for their NIN verifications to drop for international passport processing.

Displaying a defaced National Identity card of a Nigerian alongside the article, the hacker said, “I’ve got one more output for s3 bucket, I casually tried to access it without any hope, and damn! The s3 bucket is full of juice.

“I just simply got access to their (Nigeria) data of internal files, users and everything they have. I can download everything, even the whole bucket. I am sure that the bucket is full of juice.

“I wanted to look at more files but as we have to follow bug bounty rules I stopped doing more.

“I’ve got one more s3 bucket with nuclei and it also contained about 4–5 gigs of data.

“I’ve rewarded 5250$ for only one report and 0$ for the second one even it contained so much sensitive data,” the hacker wrote in the article that has continued to generate reactions from some Nigerians on Twitter especially tech enthusiasts.

A user on the micro-blogging platform with the handle @isidags while reacting to the development said, “I’m shocked Nigerians are shocked.

“Seems you people don’t know the government and country you’re involved with.”

Another user known as @boluxxxx while commenting said, “Jokes aside, this is enough reason for Buhari to sack Pantami.”

Berating Nigeria’s weak cyber security, another Twitter user, @bespokeKENErd, said, “It was only a matter of time before this happened.

“Nigeria’s information security is ridiculously lax. So careless with sensitive data.”

@St_Gothica while reacting to the issue said, “This is exactly why I never wanted to do the NIN registration. Delayed it as long as I could.”

Another Twitter user, @The_Jonathanian, said, “Somebody should tell Sheik Pantami that the most sensitive data of Nigerians under his care have been compromised and floating in the wild.”

The hacking of the NIMC server has not only exposed Nigeria’s weak cyber security but also highlighted the danger the country’s residents and investments were currently under.

The latest cyber attack comes less than two months after the Nigerian Communications Commission in November 2021 issued a warning that an Iranian hacking group was planning to carry out cyber espionage across Africa.

A statement from the agency had further disclosed that the hackers were targeting telecoms, Internet Service Providers, and Ministries of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria and other African countries.

The incident also comes months after the President Muhammadu Buhari administration while mandating Nigerians to enroll for National Identification Number claimed that it was going to stop crimes in the country including those perpetrated via the Internet.

Speaking during the launch of the National Policy for the Promotion of Indigenous Content in Nigerian Telecoms Sector and Revised National Identity Policy for SIM Cards registration in May 2021, President Buhari said, “The NIN will cover one of the weaknesses in our security structure. We will be able to easily identify and know the personality of Nigerians.

“We will identify people easily, including the crooks.”

Assuring Nigerians of how vital the new system would be to crime fighting in the country, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, in June 2021, claimed that incidents of terror such as banditry and kidnapping in the country had significantly reduced as a result of the insistence by government for persons in Nigeria to register for NIN.

Pantami went further to say that the improved database will protect Nigerians more than ever before.

But despite those assurances, the latest attack has exposed the failure of the President Buhari administration to protect Nigerians from cyber criminals.

Over 60 million Nigerians had so far been captured on the national identity database, according to the NIMC.

NIMC denies hacking

NIMC debunked the notion that its portal has been hacked, but that the portal was only undergoing routine maintenance.

Over 60 million Nigerians and legal residents of the country have been registered and given their unique identity numbers otherwise known as NIN.

We further reports that some banks and telecommunication operators in the country have refused to attend to some customers since last week due to the “maintenance” being carried out on the identity portal.

The federal government has made it compulsory for Nigerians to supply their NIN before they can access certain services offered by some private companies and government agencies.

When the NINs are supplied, the companies and agencies will then verify the unique numbers using the NIN verification portal of NIMC.

However, NIMC’s portal has been down since last week and the development is said to have affected the issuance of international passport, account opening at banks and SIM replacement by telecommunications operators.

NIMC, in a statement on Monday by its spokesperson, Kayode Adegoke, said it was an unreasonable action for the organisations to shirk their duties.

The commission said these organisations had an alternative platform through which they could render services. The alternative platform according to NIMC is TOKENISATION. “Tokenization is working!!!”. Declare NIMC.

Adegoke, who is the NIMC Head Corporate Communications, said: “Even though the NIN verification service (NVS) might be down due to maintenance by one of our service providers of its infrastructure, the alternative platform – TOKENISATION is up and running. No one should be debarred of any service on the guise of NIN not being verified”.

“The NVS issue has not in any way affected our other operations and services-Enrollment/issuance of NIN and other services going on”.

“There is the need to ask questions from the Telcos, The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Banks and others on the reason for turning down customers in the guise of NIN not being verified due to the temporary unavailability of the NVS, while the alternative platform- Tokenization is working!!!

“NIMC NVS platform is not the only verification platform available for use, but Tokenisation which protects the identity of NIN holders is also up and running!!!

“And for accurate information, it is not a NIMC problem, rather, a government service provider has embarked on maintenance of its infrastructure, which has affected most government agencies that rely on it for the provision of IT service.”

Galaxy Backbone contradicts NIMC claims on maintenance

Galaxybackbone, a government agency which mandate is to store all data for MDAs and provide backup for their data, apologised for the temporary service outage on the network.

“The management of Galaxy Backbone Limited (GBB) regrets the temporary outage of some of its services and the inconvenience being experienced by some of its customers across the country”, the agency said in a statement signed by its Head of Communications, Chidi Okpara. News Credit: saharareporters/dailytrust

February 9, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

FCT Poll: Confusion As Two Candidates Lay Claim to AMAC APC Ticket

by Folarin Kehinde February 8, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

There is confusion in the ruling All Progressives Congress in the Federal Capital Territory as two candidates claim the chairmanship ticket of the party in the Abuja Municipal Area Council.

Two candidates, Sulaimon Gwagwa and Muritala Karshi have been campaigning at the different parts of FCT.

The two candidates had on many occasions claimed to be the candidate of the party.

According to reports, Gwagwa won the primary election with 109 votes while his closest challenger, Karshi scored 103 votes.

It was gathered that Karshi challenged the matter in court and won. Gwagwa appealed at the Appeal Court, the court ruled in his favour. Karshi, however, approached the Supreme Court.

However, revealed that Karshi’s name was on the Independent National Electoral Commission list.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the APC in FCT, Abdulmalik Usman, said there was little the party could do as the matter was at the Supreme Court.

He added that the party gave them the nod to go about their campaigns.

Usman said, “When you have a party that is strong you would see people struggling to be its candidate. There is little we can do because the issue is before the supreme court, we hope the apex court gives its ruling and declares one of them the owner of the ticket.

“But what we are doing as a party is to allow the two of them to campaign. It is the logo of the party that appears on the ballot paper and not the candidates’ names. Whoever gets the ticket in court would be our candidate for the election.”

When asked if the situation would not affect the chances of the party at the poll, he said, “It would not. The PDP candidate cannot withstand any of the two candidates. Besides, we are on the ground in the area council.

“Also, none of them has asked their supporters not to vote for APC. This is not happening for the first time. In 2007, we had two National Assembly candidates, the APC won and one of them got the mandate.

“No one should worry about what is happening. The two should carry on with their campaigns and work for the victory of the party in the area council.”

February 8, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

IELTS: Nigerians reject UK’s explanation, insist language test a “scam”

by Folarin Kehinde February 8, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

The cost of IELTS, which currently stands between N80,000 and N90,000 in Nigeria, is almost three times the country’s minimum wage of N30,000.

Nigerians have maintained that the continuous request of an English Proficiency Test from Nigerians, and citizens of other Anglophone countries in Africa, seeking to study or work in the United Kingdom, “is simply a way of swindling the citizens of these countries of their monies by the UK authorities.”

Many participants, who spoke at the maiden edition of PREMIUM TIMES’ TwitterSpaces on Wednesday, condemned what they described as the UK authorities’ unwillingness to include Nigeria and other African countries on the list of its Majority English Speaking Country (MESC).

PT TwitterSpaces is an innovation of PREMIUM TIMES to advance conversations around issues of national concern and those that may be trending on social media and particularly Twitter.

Many participants had argued that English being the language of instruction in Nigerian schools from kindergarten to tertiary level is a testimony that Nigerians speak and understand the language.

Petition
As of Saturday, over 75,000 people had signed a petition by Policy Shapers, a public policy organisation, on Change.org, seeking a policy reform by the UK on its request for English Language Proficiency from Nigerians who are migrating to the UK to study or work.

The cost of the test, which currently stands between N80,000 and N90,000 in Nigeria, is almost three times the country’s minimum wage of N30,000.

Apart from its high cost, the test is only valid for two years and can only be taken in 12 cities across the country.

Individuals requiring it for their pursuits would have to take the test again if they fail or did not relocate to the UK after two years of taking the test.

UK Home Office reacts
In October 2021, Policy Shapers wrote to the UK Home Office seeking answers to why none of the Anglophone countries in Africa was part of its Majority English Speaking Countries, and what it will take for the UK to include them on the list.

Three months later, in January 2022, amidst the growing number of signees of the Policy Shapers’ petition, and growing Twitter trends of #ReformIELTSPolicy #IELTS, #TOEFL, most of them tagging the UK home office’s twitter handle, the UK replied the inquiry by the public campaign organisation.

Parts of its reply read: “To be included on the Majority English Speaking Country (MESC) list, we must have evidence that most people in the country (more than half) speak English as a first language.

“We rely on publicly available evidence such as official censuses to make this determination along with other academic sources.

“We may also consult the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office where additional evidence is required. Currently, based on the information available to us, Nigeria does not meet the requirement.

“This list is periodically reviewed and updated, and new countries are added if they are found to meet the requirements.

However, speaking on PREMIUM TIMES’ Twitter Space, Ebenezer Wikina, the founder of Policy Shapers, and a champion of the #ReformIELTSPolicy campaign, said the UK home office is too elaborate and not specific in what kind of public evidence it relies on to verify that more than 51 per cent of Nigerians speak English.

He said: “Public evidence is very broad. There is a lot of public evidence on why Nigerians should be on that list.”

To back his claims, Mr Wikina cited how Nigeria made the top 28 countries for six consecutive years in the English Proficiency Index released annually by Education First, a Sweden-based international education company that specialises in language training.

Mr Wikina said: “We actually deserve to be on the list. And I think that we should be on the list and that’s what the campaign is all about.”

He also hinted that Policy Shapers is working on a policy brief to be presented to the UK Home Office.

Others react
A participant, Senibo @Sen_Abbey, argued that IELTS is designed as a standardised IQ test and not necessarily as a language proficiency test.

He said: “It’s more of an intelligence quotient test than an English proficiency test. I have been to several classes, where I have to learn or study under someone to prepare for the test. And I have come to discover that what they are only testing is your IQ. How good you are and how fast you are in answering questions, which is the same thing with every other exam. These guys just go and rip us of our money, every two-two years.

“For me, it’s a scam, there is nothing else to it. It’s just a pure scam. These guys are just there to collect our money and that’s it. So for me, I will say this thing should be scrapped totally”.

Another participant, Joe Abuku @JoeAbuku, said: “Proficiency doesn’t get worse, it gets better. The ultimate goal is to scrap it”.

Munachi Deca-Anyanwu, @munadeca6 said: “For me, I am for the total scrapping of the test because our primary schools, high schools and our universities all teach in English.

“I have a friend who goes to France who went to language school before they go to university. There they finish a language school and they go to university and they get their masters. People who never spoke French. So why would people who have immersed themselves through English all through their lives will now have to go through another English language exam? And if somebody is going to the UK to study if you cannot speak English, that should be the person’s problem.”

Source: Premium Times

February 8, 2022 0 comments

Headlines Opinion

The Menace of “New Year Prophesies” And Aura of Negativity (Part 1)

by Folarin Kehinde February 7, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

By: Light Shedrack

The trend of “New Year Prophesies” by different religious leaders is fast becoming a norm, especially among the Christian community in Nigeria. While it is believed that God truly speaks to people, the prophecies and visions about Nigeria mainly border on social frivolities.

It mostly foretells what does not bear relevance to the growth and development of the country – Something like which politician and party stand a chance to win elections. It predicts doom and gloom and hardly points to a way out of Nigeria perennial crises.

Our prophecies, just like our religion hardly encourage hard work and creativity as antidotes to poverty and crime. It hardly calls out leaders by their names and rebukes them for squandering our national and state treasury.

In the scriptures, we read about prophets who, against all odds, called out leaders for their evil and wicked acts. Prophet Nathan and Prophet Elijah in the Bible come to mind. Prophet Nathan rebuked powerful King David for causing the death of Uriah while Prophet Elijah, despite the danger of being killed by wicked Queen Jezebel continued to speak against the evil of his time perpetrated by King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel. But today in Nigeria, we only have so-called prophets and seers who prophetically align with politicians and political parties of their choice for material benefits.

These religious leaders are beneficiaries of the prevailing corruption and untamed looting of the nation and state’s treasury by the public and civil servants.

Despite these “thus-says-the-lord” claims that spring from our religious places every year, Nigeria is still worse off in all its socioeconomic facets. Despite the presence of these so-called God’s advocates, Nigerians have continued to experience bad leadership. Ironically, while the people plunge further into abject poverty, these religious leaders continue to garner fortune, mostly from the very corrupt political elites. Who pays tithes and gives generous offerings from which massive cathedrals are built? Who patronizes the expensive schools owned by religious leaders? Your guess is as good as mine.

These ‘prophesies’ usually reach their peak when elections are around the corner. In some cases, Nigerians choices of voting those who will lead them are shaped by deceptive prophesy and visions of Nigeria religious leaders. An average Nigerian is religiously vulnerable making them easy preys in the hands of Nigerian politicians and the so-called prophets. Nothing sways an average Nigerian as claims of prophecies and visions. The religious leaders understand this susceptibility and they are cashing in and out.

Most deceptions perpetrated by religious leaders in Nigeria and Africa at large started in form of prophecy and vision. Once caught in the web of their ‘thus-said-the-lord’ visions, one becomes like a caged bird in the hands of these religious elements. But how far has all these prophesies stirred growth and development in the polity? How far has the prophesies shaped the morality and integrity of those saddled with leadership positions in the country? We have never been better off with the crop of leaders we have in Nigeria and the “prophecies” that bring them to power have never helped matters either. Rather this “yearly prophesy trend” has grown the “Prophesy Industry” more than it has grown the country’s collective fortune.

At the end of every year, Nigerians wait eagerly to hear from those who claim they have heard from God. Interestingly most of these prophesy only point to looming dangers and doom. From politics to the economy, we hear all manners of so-called negative prophesies. Esoterically, negative prophecies connote the presence and influence of the negative spirit. We have seen situations where a particular prophet claimed God told him a particular politician would win an election, while another prophet would claim that God prefers a different politician. The same God, different prophesies!

In 2015 when the likes of Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka and other pro-Buhari prophets claimed to have heard from God that the then President Goodluck Jonathan has been rejected by God. In his stead, that God has “anointed” the current Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari as President Goodluck’s successor and the person to bring the good luck he claimed eluded Nigerians under former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Using a pigeon as a symbol of his spiritual experiment, Rev. Mbaka claimed that “Jonathan’s pigeon” refused to fly; an indication that President Jonathan would not make any headway in the general election that was then around the corner. In the same vein, he claimed: “Buhari’s pigeon” soared to the skies, an indication that God has chosen Buhari as the “Messiah” of the time and the next president of Nigeria.

That prophesy from a popular preacher like Mbaka was among the many factors that aided President Muhammadu Buhari’s in winning the 2015 Presidential Election. President Buhari eventually won the election as predicted, but unfortunately, Nigerians are yet to see the messiah in him as the economy keeps plunging under his watch, and insecurity worsening. This is simple to interpret. People should be wary of prophecies. Most prophesies are products of the mind of the prophets.

This brings us to the question, who truly hears from God? Who is God’s mouthpiece? Who has He sent and who has He not sent to speak?

….….. To be Continued
Light Shedrack is a public issue commentator. He writes from Abuja, Nigeria Federal Capital Territory. He could be reached via lightsheddie26@gmail.com

February 7, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

Valentine’s Day is Satanic – Mummy G.O

by Folarin Kehinde February 7, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

Controversial Nigerian evangelist, Funmilayo Adebayo, better known as Mummy GO, has faulted the celebration of Valentine’s Day across the world.

Valentine’s Day is celebrated annually on February 14. It is a special day when people show feelings of love, affection, and friendship.

It originally started as a Christian feast day honouring one or two early Christian martyrs named Saint Valentine and gradually metamorphosed into a celebration of romance and love.

But in a now-viral video, Mummy GO claimed the day is not worth celebrating.

The cleric also claimed the idea of Valentine’s Day was initiated by the kingdom of darkness to destroy people.

“The story that happened that they said they are celebrating as Valentine does not deserve celebration. The story has nothing to celebrate, but the enemy just chose it because that man — Valentino or what did they call him — they knew everybody loves him because he is a good person, who helped people and showed love to everyone,” she said.

“Yet, how did he die? He died a useless, terrible death. He died of dejection if you know the story very well. Is that something that needs to be celebrated? No.

“But they purposively chose it because the kingdom of darkness needs a day dedicated for falling, destruction and how do you convince people to celebrate immorality: they use popular figures loved by others.”

The video which surfaced ahead of this year’s edition of the celebration, Mummy GO lamented that many youths now see the day as a period to indulge in sexual immorality.

February 7, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

N91.7B Fraud Alert; Amaechi, Malami sued over alleged illegal rail line contract award

by Leading Reporters February 7, 2022

written by Leading Reporters

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) have been dragged before a Federal High Court in Abuja over an alleged unlawful award of 190 km rail line construction to a Chinese firm without due process of law.

They were sued along with the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the benefitting firm, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).
Plaintiffs in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1426/2021 Duluidas Nigeria Limited, Duliz Dredging and Construction Limited and Consortium of Duluidas Nigeria Limited, Duliz dredging and Construction Limited/Hebbelyixin Fastener Company Limited, China.

In their writ of summons issued by their lead counsel, James Okoh, the plaintiffs are asking the Federal High Court to cancel the letter of “no objection” issued by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in favour of CCECC for the award of the N91.5bn rail line contract in breach of procurement laws and re-issue same in their favour.

The disputed contract is for the reconstruction of the narrow gauge track from Minna in Niger State to Baro with an extension to the Baro River Port at a whopping sum of N91.5 billion and a completion period of 36 months.

The plaintiffs prayed the court for an injunction restraining the defendants from awarding or purporting to award the contract to the Chinese firm or any third party on the basis of the flawed bidding process.

In the alternative, they sought an order setting aside any purported award on the basis of the flawed and heavily compromised bid process by the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) with the concurrence of other defendants.

They also asked for an order restraining the minister of transportation or any of his agents from presenting the CCECC to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the purpose of the award of the contract.

In the same way, they are asking the court to set aside any purported approval received from the Federal Executive Council awarding the disputed contract to any other company during the pendency of the suit.

The plaintiffs, who claimed to have quoted a lesser amount of N76.7 billion for the execution of the same project during their successful bidding, are alleging bias against them by the minister and undue favouritism in favour of the CCECC in the contract award.

They alleged that the minister on May 19, 2021, wrote the BPP for a certificate of no objection in favour of CCECC in the sum of N91, 580, 101, 710 and that by a letter of June 9, 2021, BPP rejected the minister’s request on the claim that such certificate can only be issued to them on the basis of their quotation of N76.7b to execute the job.

They asserted that along the line, other bidding processes were manipulated and compromised leading to receipt of an acceptance letter by the NRC from CCECC for the minister to be presented to the federal executive council for the purpose of the award of the contract.

Plaintiffs, therefore, prayed the court to make a declaration that the action of the minister and his agents in interfering with due process of the bid process for the contract damaged the integrity of the process of law. They also want the court to declare that the minister and his agents were biased in their assessment of the bidding in favour of the CCECC.

Plaintiffs applied for order of injunction against the minister, his ministry and the CCECC from continuing with the award of the contract and execution of same on the basis of a flawed process.

In the alternative, they sought general damages to be quantified against the defendants on a compensatory basis and compound interest for loss of use of money.

Meanwhile, a hearing in the matter has been fixed for February 17, 2022, by Justice Ahmed Ramat Mohammed.

February 7, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

Senegal Declares National Holiday to Celebrate AFCON Win

by Folarin Kehinde February 7, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

Senegal’s President Macky Sall declared Monday a public holiday to celebrate the national football team’s first ever African Cup of Nations crown following their victory against Egypt, public television announced.

Sall, who had been due to visit Comoros at the end of a trip that took in Egypt and Ethiopia, cancelled the last leg in order to welcome the triumphant Lions on their return to Dakar at 1300 GMT Monday, RTS said.

Led by Liverpool star Sadio Mane, Senegal overcame Mohamed Salah’s Egypt 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out at Sunday’s final in Cameroon. The game had finished goalless after extra time.

After two previous final defeats in 2002 and 2019, Senegal finally claimed their first Cup of Nations title.

The Lions will be decorated by Sall on Tuesday at the presidential palace in Dakar, RTS television said.

“The president of the republic declared Monday a public holiday, a paid day off, following the brilliant victory of the Lions,” RTS said, citing a presidential decree.

February 7, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

Panic as 40 suspected ‘Yahoo boys’ in white storm Abuja Estate

by Folarin Kehinde February 6, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

No fewer than 40 suspected internet fraudsters dressed in white were stopped from entering Mab Global Estate in the Gwarinpa area of the Federal Capital Territory.

It was gathered that security personnel manning the gate of the estate prevented them from accessing the estate around 11:45 pm on Friday.

According to residents, the suspected fraudsters said they came to honour a birthday party at a plot in which no celebration was happening.

They said the young guys were with bags and appeared as if they were up for a ‘ritual’.

The Chief Security Officer of the estate, Denis Omala, said they reinforced and came back around 2:30 am.

He said he had to call for reinforcement to subdue them.

Omala said, “Over 40 suspected Yahoo boys attempted to breach the estate security on Friday night.

“They dressed in white attempted to gain entrance into the estate around 11:45 pm but were not allowed in.

“They could not provide the requisite information on the particular house number that was expected. We turned them back. They returned strong in a convoy of 15 cars carrying over 40 people in white around 2:30 am.

“They became aggressive as they attempted to forcibly penetrate the estate. We had to call in all the security men and some residents to prevent them from breaching the peace of the estate.”

The Chairman of the Estate, Emeka Ihedioha, said he had to rush to the gate to ensure that the young men were turned back, adding that their intentions were not known.

He, however, urged the residents to be more vigilant.

February 6, 2022 0 comments

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