The Nation Newspaper

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  • How Nigeria lost $2 b to gas flaring last year, by Gowon

    How Nigeria lost $2 b to gas flaring last year, by Gowon

    •Ex-Head of State laments loss of LNG market to Qatar, others

    Nigeria flared over $2 billion worth of gas last year, former Head of State Gen. Yakubu Gowon has said.

    Gowon spoke yesterday in Finima, Bonny Island, Rivers State.

    The former Head of State, who visited the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Plant on the island, said the country would have more money for development projects by ending gas flaring.

    Gowon said the country has to ensure that steps were fast-tracked to complete the NLNG Train Seven and other LNG projects to end gas flaring.

    He said countries such as Qatar have taken over the leadership of the LNG market from NLNG, which used to be the fastest growing in the world.

    He said: “Think of how much gas we burnt between when we found oil in 1957 and when Nigeria LNG was able to start monetising our gas resources in 1999. Last year, this country flared over 460 billion standard cubic feet of gas that, if processed and exported, would have fetched the country over $2 billion and minimised the health and environmental impact of gas flares.

    “Think of how oil palm industry left Nigeria for Malaysia. Think of how athletics – we won Gold at the Sydney Olympics 12 years ago – left Nigeria to Jamaica. And the worst of all, countries we started out with in the LNG business have all left us behind.”

    Gowon lamented the country’s loss of the leadership of the LNG market.

    According to him, Nigeria LNG Limited used to be the fastest growing LNG plant in the world. But for the past five years, a country like Qatar has moved from 20 to 80 million tonnes range, whilst a country like Australia has made final investment decision to build LNG projects up to 80 million tonnes. I now understand that Mozambique and Tanzania will soon be joining the gas producers with the export of LNG.”

    He urged the Federal Government to ensure all the LNG projects were completed.

    The former Head of State said: “All the LNG projects on the drawing board in Nigeria (NLNG Train Seven, Brass LNG, OKLNG) will add about 30million tonnes of LNG to our national output, which is not that much when we compare with Australia, which has only 60 per cent of our reserves but effectively generates much higher domestic electricity and will soon be exporting much more LNG than all the LNG companies in Nigeria combined.”

    He warned of the consequence of not acting on time.

    “So, I am still not completely fulfilled that we haven’t reached our destination in that journey we started so long ago. I am worried that history is about to repeat itself as other players (including the USA, a previous importer now a net exporter) will get to the global market ahead of us and it may be another 30 to 50 years lost. I will not like to see another great opportunity lost due to our lethargy.

    “We can’t afford to sit on the fence any longer.”

     

  • Akeredolu urges Mimiko to allow ACN to transform Ondo

    Akeredolu urges Mimiko to allow ACN to transform Ondo

    Ondo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), yesterday said it is time for the ruling Labour Party (LP) to vacate office for the progressive party to transform the state for the benefit of its poverty-stricken residents.

    Akeredolu said the Sunshine State must join its counterparts in the Southwest to pursue the regional integration agenda to transform the region.

    Addressing reporters in Akure, the state capital, the former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President said Mimiko and the LP were indifferent to the progressives’ vision.

    He said: “As a progressive, I believe in regional integration. Anyone who is against it is selfish. We have always set the pace for others to follow. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, did it for the defunct Western Region and we are re-enacting it now.

    “Other states in the Southwest need Ondo to provide gas, which will assist us in generating light. The Yoruba can find themselves in different political parties, but the issue of Regional Integration is non-negotiable. Any bona fide Yoruba man should support the idea.

    “I am a professional in politics and not a professional politician. I am not like Governor Olusegun Mimiko, who is a medical doctor but abandoned the profession for politics. His clinic is already taken over by bush. Go to Ibadan, the Oyo State capital; my chamber is alive there. I have reached the peak of my profession as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

    “I have a sound pedigree; I had a stint in Ondo State as the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice. I handled many celebrated cases before I was elected the President of the prestigious NBA. Mimiko has not practised as a medical doctor for a day.”

    The ACN standard bearer said regionalism is an impetus for growth and development, adding that the era of western, northern, and eastern regions brought remarkable feat to Nigeria.

    On mega schools, Akeredolu said: “You don’t need N650million to establish a single school, when the same amount could build hundreds across the state, like it was done during the Olusegun Agagu administration.”

    He decried Mimiko’s neglect of the rural communities.

    The ACN candidate promised to improve infrastructure, particularly access roads in the rural areas, if he becomes governor, “while all abandoned road projects will be completed”.

    Akeredolu listed ACN programmes, which he called AKETI, the acronym for Agriculture, Knowledge, Education, Technology and Infrastructure.

    He said: “I will bring positive changes to the people of the state, if I’m elected, by identifying various potentials without hindrances.

    “It is time for service. Ondo residents are yearning for development, which should not be a lip service.

    “I am propelled to serve the state and its people, who are being short changed through Mimiko’s cosmetic governance.”

    He noted that the present administration has received over N650 billion since its inception but nothing tangible to show for it except market stalls, bus stations and water fountain.

    The frontline lawyer urged the electorate to vote for him and ACN in the October 20 election.

  • Party seeks support for Jonathan

    Party seeks support for Jonathan

    The national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is seeking the support of youths for President Goodluck Jonathan. It said the President is doing well despite the security challenges confronting the nation.

    National Youth Leader Alhaji Umar Chiza, made the plea yesterday when he received members of the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the Youth Vanguard at the party’s secretariat in Abuja.

    Chiza said Nigerians are beginning to feel the impact of some of the programmes of the administration, citing what he described as improvement in power supply as one of the major achievements of the administration.

     

  • We don’t need rigging to win in Ondo, says Akeredolu

    We don’t need rigging to win in Ondo, says Akeredolu

    The Akeredolu Campaign Organisation (ACO) of the Ondo State Action Congress of Nigera (ACN) yesterday described a statement by the Mimiko Campaign Organisation (MCO) of the ruling Labour Party (LP) that some ACN leaders had met with officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to compromise the October 20 election in the state, as false.

    ACO said the state was not only baseless and untrue but was also a product of LP’s hallucination.

    The MCO had petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, on the alleged plan.

    It urged Jega to monitor INEC workers.

    But in a statement in Akure, the state capital, by its spokesman, Mr Idowu Ajanaku, ACO said Mimiko was hallucinating with the allegations.

    It said: “Is it the same Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who joined hands with Mimiko to successfully prosecute the legal battle for retrieving his stolen mandate from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2007, that Mimiko is now accusing of trying to win election in Ondo State through rigging? “Tinubu, who is a democrat and a veteran in the struggle against anti-democratic forces, with international repute, would now turn around like Mimiko to work against his avowed principles.

    “Indeed, it is very clear that Mimiko and his amorphous LP have been rejected by the people of Ondo State. This explains why they have been spreading lies, cheap propaganda and promoting violent attacks against the opposition in a desperate move to hold on to power.

    “We in the ACN do not need to meet with INEC officials to win elections in Ondo State. The question Mimiko should answer is whether we met with INEC officials before we won in Oyo, Ogun and Edo states.

    “We will win the October 20 election because the people of Ondo State have been able to see through the charade and cosmetic projects that Mimiko has been parading as his achievements in the last three and a half years.”

  • How we can stop exodus of members, by PDP

    How we can stop exodus of members, by PDP

    Apparently worried by the exodus of its members to opposition parties, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has resolved to reconcile factions thrown up by conflict of interests among its members nationwide.

    National Chairman Alhaji Bamanga Tukur made this known yesterday while receiving the report of the peace committee that reconciled factions in the Benue State chapter.

    Tukur said the party cannot win elections when members are split into factions, adding that the party would ensure that all factions are reconciled before the next cycle of elections.

    He acknowledged the fact that there will always be problems arising from disagreements and conflict of interests, but stressed that the leadership at all levels must be prepared to listen to the grievances of aggrieved members with the view to settling them.

    He said: “We will continue to reconcile warring factions within the party nationwide because we need to be united before we can win elections and deliver the goods to the electorate.

    “There will be problems but we need to listen to the grievances of aggrieved members for us to build a strong party. We need to be united to build a strong government and to build a strong nation”, Tukur added.

     

  • Ondo NBA petitions IGP on DPO’s transfer

    Ondo NBA petitions IGP on DPO’s transfer

    The Owo branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) yesterday petitioned the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, on the transfer of the Police Divisional Officer (DPO) in Ose Local Government Area, Bashiru Sunmola, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), to Osun State.

    The association alleged that the DPO was transferred because he refused to align with the ruling Labour Party (LP) to unleash terror on opposition members, particularly those of ACN, in the community.

    The petition by its Chairman, Kola Olawoye, and Secretary, Taju Ahmed, also alleged that on several occasions, the council’s Caretaker Chairman, Mr. Adedayo Mabogunje, attempted to lure the police officer to back LP hoodlums in attacking opposition members.

    The NBA accused Police Deputy Commissioner Henry Faidaro of acting the script of Governor Olusegun Mimiko.

    It urged the Abubakar to investigate the reasons for the transfer and ensure that justice is done.

    The association said it had petitioned the IGP that some LP chieftains, led by the council chairman, allegedly harassed opposition members.

    The NBA accused Mabogunje of bringing a gun in the public during an ACN event in the council to scare party members.

    The petition reads: “Sequel to our correspondence, dated September 5 with you regarding the activities of Mr. Mabogunje and his thugs, a development that we posited could be deleterious to the hitch-free conduct of the forthcoming poll in the state.

    “Granted, the police reserve the right to transfer any of their men from one part of the country to the other, it is, however, our belief that the hurried and sudden nature by which Mr. Bashiru was transferred, gives room for concern. This is more so as he is the direct victim of the …local government caretaker chairman and his ‘gang’.

    “The NBA, Owo branch, views the sudden and hurried transfer of the DPO as carefully designed to consign the criminal acts of Mr. Mabogunje and the complicity acts of the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Mr. Henry Fadairo, into oblivion. We strongly frown at this unholy and ignoble design.”

  • Ondo Accord sues INEC

    Exactly a month to the Ondo State governorship election, the state branch of Accord Party (A) yesterday file a case at a Federal High Court to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from conducting the poll.

    The party complained that the electoral body refused to accredit its party for the election.

    It said the names of its governorship candidate, Olawale Ojo James, and his running mate, Olajenyo Ataunoko, are missing among other 13 governorship candidates that will participate in the election.

    The party is praying the court to make the INEC pay N3million onto its coffers for delaying its candidate’s campaign tour.

    In the suit, filed by its counsel, I. A. Aluko, the party said its candidate was duly nominated.

    Accord said it was registered with the INEC, adding that its candidate and his running mate are card-carrying members of the party.

    The party said: “The party’s congress was conducted by its national leadership and witnessed by INEC representatives, including S. A. Junaid (OPS), C.O Beckley (PRO) and O. Fasusi (PPI).

    “A copy of the memo for the holding of the primaries for the governorship election nominating the second plaintiff as a governorship candidate aspirant in the October 20 election is hereby pleaded and marked as exhibit “A”; same was received by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) at the INEC office at Alagbaka, Akure.

    “The Accord has printed posters, handbills bearing the names of the candidate and his running mate, Olawale James Ojo and Olufunmilayo Jenyo Ataunoko, but cannot go ahead with their campaign, despite the fact that their nomination forms had been sent to the INEC Chairman in Abuja.

    “The action of the electoral body has deprived us our constitutional right by not publishing our candidate’s and his running mate’s names.”

    No date has been fixed for hearing.

  • Police warn against violence

    THE Ondo State Police Command has decried an alleged plan by some politicians to cause violence before, during and after the October 20 election.

    A statement yesterday by its spokesman, Mr. Adeniran Aremu, said the command had uncovered the plot by some politicians to create fear in the minds of the electorate by hiring thugs to unleash terror on them.

    It said: “The command has uncovered a plot and an attempt by some disgruntled elements to cause panic and fear in the minds of residents of the state. They intend to achieve this by hiring and sponsoring thugs to unleash terror on some peace-loving members of the society, under the guise of being supporters of political parties.”

    The police warned politicians who intend to cause chaos during and after the election to desist.

    They said the command would not allow politicians to disrupt the peace in the state.

    The statement added: “We are sending this warning to parents, guardians and relevant unions to warn their children not to be used by politicians as tools for violence during and after the October 20 election.

    “The command will not fold its arms watching anyone causing a breach of the public peace. Such individuals or groups will be dealt with according to the laws of the land.”

  • ACN chieftain decries alleged security threat

    A chieftain of Ondo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and Special Adviser to Osun State Governor on Environmental Matters, Mr Bola Ilori, yesterday alleged that some politicians planned to cause security breaches in the October 20 governorship election in Ondo State.

    Ilori noted that there would be an election when there is peace.

    He urged the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Muhammed Abubakar, to ensure that the police perform their duty without bias.

    The politician told reporters in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, that the spate of political violence in Ondo State was threatening the preparation for a peaceful election.

    According to him, if the political unrest continues, victims of the violence might resort to self-defense and aggravate tension in the state.

    Ilori said it has become imperative for security agencies to be proactive ahead of the poll, following incessant attacks on ACN members by suspected Labour Party (LP) thugs.

  • Oyo ACN, group, others blast Folarin for criticising Ajimobi

    Oyo ACN, group, others blast Folarin for criticising Ajimobi

    •‘You represent our ugly past’

     

    Former Senate Leader Teslim Folarin yesterday incurred the wrath of the Oyo State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), his Ibadan compatriots and others for criticising the Abiola Ajimobi administration.

    Folarin was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senate Leader from 2003 till last year.

    He was quoted as saying the Ajimobi administration lacked a human face for pulling down some structures that were causing flooding in Ibadan, the state capital, and sacking workers with bad records.

    The Oyo State ACN described the former lawmaker as a good example of what a public official should not be.

    The party said its administration in the state was trying to erase the sad memories the former PDP administration left behind, adding that Folarin was reminding the people of that sad era.

    In a statement in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Dauda Kolawole, ACN noted that the likes of Folarin and the politics of compromise that his party, the PDP, foisted on Oyo State for eight years, could not be continued by any rational administration that wishes to transform the state.

    The statement reads: “There is no way Folarin would not see anything wrong in the ongoing reform in the state civil service and the aesthetics that the state is beginning to have. Until he parted ways with former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala, they were both co-travellers in the rotten boat of Oyo State, in consonance with the late self-styled strongman of Ibadan politics, Chief Lamidi Adedibu. Literally and metaphorically, they dirtied our state; they can never be happy with anyone who is fumigating their smelly past.”

    On the sack of workers, ACN said: “We demand that Senator Folarin show the world his academic credentials. Only …those who profit from a system of forgery and those who live a life of misdemeanour would advocate that persons who defrauded the system should be kept a minute longer in the service. We are ashamed that a former Senator could be a campaigner for the retention of the horrible system of the past.”

    An Ibadan-based socio-political group, the Oyo Patriots League (OPL), faulted Folarin’s criticisms of the Ajimobi administration.

    It described the comment as a campaign of calumny against the government.

    In a statement by Adewale Ajani and Mutiu Oyekola, Coordinator and Organising Secretary, the group noted that the former lawmaker exposed himself as an opponent of a new Oyo State, which Ajimobi is leading.

    The statement reads: “It is most irresponsible for a person who was expected to be remorseful for not only failing the electorate in his fruitless eight years in the Senate but also playing inglorious roles in the ego-driven political turmoil which the entire state was subjected to by his party in the build-up to the 2011 general elections.”

    The Chief Whip of Oyo State House of Assembly, Hammed Abiodun Adigun, described Folarin’s comments as unfounded and reckless.

    The lawmaker said they showed that the former Senate Leader was not happy with giant strides of the ACN-led administration in the state.

    Through his Media Assistant, Sikiru Akinola, the lawmaker said: “Why would a man who cannot point to a tangible project as achievement, when he was at the National Assembly, come out openly to criticise a performing government?

    “He occupied the same position Governor Ajimobi occupied and transformed the lives of his constituents. At least, if the people were not important to him, what did he do for Ibadan where he is a high chief?”