The Nation Newspaper

Tag: worsens

  • Power supply worsens – News

  • Apapa gridlock worsens with alleged extortion by security officials

    In addition to the poor road conditions and lack of truck holding bays, the nefarious activities of some security officials, especially those of the Nigerian Navy, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Police drafted to control traffic on major roads in Apapa, are responsible for the resurgence of gridlock in the area, findings carried out yesterday has shown.

    It was gathered that only truck drivers that part with a minimum of N10,000 per truck are allowed access into the port by the security operatives while others are detained on the already choked road.

    The gridlock assumed a worrisome dimension on Wednesday morning as traffic on major routes in and out of the port city came to a standstill.

    The stretch of traffic extended from the Tin Can Island Port end to Mile 2 with all the lanes on the ever-busy Apapa-Oshodi expressway blocked by trucks and tankers.

    The Ijora Wharf end did not fare any better as trucks and tankers occupied a major chunk of the road with the queue stretching to as far as Obanikoro on Ikorodu road. Many motorists had to abandon their vehicles to trek long distances to get to their destinations.

    Further findings revealed that the resurgence of the gridlock is not far-fetched as only those who pay certain amount of money were given the right of passage to the port.

    A port security officer attached to one of the terminals at the Lagos Port Complex (LPC) Apapa accused security operatives responsible for directing traffic in Apapa of turning the gridlock situation to “big business”.

    He said on Tuesday night for instance, only trucks belonging to Flour Mills Nigeria were allowed into the port from midnight until 5am “for reasons best known to them”.

    The port security officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Apart from the bad stretch from the back of Leventis through under Marine Bridge to Ijora ascent that requires urgent palliatives, Police and Naval officials aid certain categories of people to disrupt the flow of outbound traffic.

    “On Tuesday night, all outbound traffic was stopped from about 2359 hours till 0515 hours for Flour Mills trucks to drive one-way to their facility.”

     

     

  • Oyo PDP crisis worsens as Ladoja moves to pull out

    Oyo PDP crisis worsens as Ladoja moves to pull out

    The crisis in the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has taken a worse turn.

    The new harmonised list of the State Executive Council (SEC) of the party, which was released by the national leadership on Tuesday, was said to have jolted the Senator Rashidi Ladoja faction.

    The faction reportedly conceded some slots to the faction headed by Seyi Makinde against the former’s expectation.

    While the list ceded 14 slots to Ladoja’s faction, 12 went to Makinde’s faction. The positions of the State Chairman, Women Leader, Publicity Secretary, Legal Adviser, Vice Chairmen I and II went to Ladoja; the position of State Secretary and many other assistantship positions went to Makinde.

    The two factions had organised parallel congresses late last year when they could not agree on a sharing formula.

    It was gathered that the national leadership of the party took the decision to ensure that party members have a sense of belonging.

    But the decision reportedly jolted the Ladoja faction so much.

    The Nation learnt that their leaders have decided to pull out and join a neutral party ahead of next year’s election.

    Ladoja pulled out of the PDP early 2011 to re-contest the governorship election under Accord (A) party.

    He returned with his supporters last year during the reconciliation of the Ahmed Makarfi-led Transition Committee.

    It was gathered that the party leaders will meet today in Ibadan under the leadership of Ladoja.

    The former governor is expected to announce his faction’s defection at the meeting.

    With Ladoja are: Senator Olufemi Lanlehin, Sharafadeen Alli and Senator Ayoade Adeseun, among others.

    Former House of Representatives Leader Mulikat Adeola-Akande and Hazeem Gbolarumi are among those with Makinde.

    A source said Ladoja and his supporters are of the view that PDP’s national leadership cannot be trusted because of the singular decision to adjust the result of his faction’s congress without his approval.

    Efforts to get Ladoja’s comments last night were unsuccessful.

  • Onobi worsens CHAN Eagles injury crisis

    Onobi worsens CHAN Eagles injury crisis

    Sunshine Stars midfielder Paul Onobi has worsened the injury problems of the CHAN Eagles after he was forced out of Wednesday’s warm-up game against Angola.

    The midfield Trojan, who famously benched Chelsea star Mikel in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Swaziland in Port Harcourt, was an early substitute after he suffered a knock in the 35th minute and was replaced by U23 ace Usman Mohammed.

    The Eagles already have striker Tunde Adeniji and Chisom Chikatara on the treatment table with muscle injuries.

    Both players did not feature against Angola forcing coach Sunday Oliseh to pick midfielders to lead the attack and so the lack of bite in the Eagles strike force in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw.

  • Bearish trend worsens as equities lose N208b

    The simmering downtrend at the Nigerian stock market boiled over into major burns for investors yesterday at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) with losses totaling N208 billion over 4006 deals.

    With nearly seven out of every eight price changes ending in the negative, aggregate market value of all equities on the NSE dropped by N208 billion from N12.576 trillion to N12.368 trillion. While a total of 121 stocks were traded, there were only seven gainers as against 48 losers, a situation that further depressed the overall market return.

    The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices of all quoted equities, indicated a day-on-day decline of 1.65 per cent, nudging the average year-to-date return to -6.84 per cent. The ASI slipped below the 39,000 mark to close at 38,503.65 points as against its opening index of 39,150.30 points.

    Market analysts attributed the steep decline to significant selling pressures from profit-takers and speculative investors, who were desirous of locking in their gains against expected lull in the post-earnings period.

    Guinness Nigeria topped the losers’ list with a loss of N6.40 to close at N166.75. Dangote Cement followed with a loss of N3.98 to close at N235. Nigerian Breweries recorded a loss of N2.55 to close at N145.50. Mobil Oil Nigeria dropped by N1.10 to close at N120.90. Presco slipped by N1 to close at N43. International Breweries lost 98 kobo to close at N27.01. UACN Property Development Company declined by 96 kobo to close at N20.10. Oando dropped by 95 kobo to N16.63. Guaranty Trust Bank lost 70 kobo to close at N24.30 while Union Bank of Nigeria dropped by 63 kobo to close at N10.05 per share.

    Total turnover stood at 367.19 million shares valued at N1.82 billion in 4,006 deals. Financial services sector accounted for 271.62 million shares worth N945.64 million in 2,318 deals. African Alliance Insurance was the most active with a turnover of 150 million shares valued at N75 million in four deals. Market sources said the deals on African Alliance Insurance were cross deals, implying that the buying and selling sides had been matched ahead of the final closure through the market.