NIGERIAN NOTCH

It has been brought to the attention of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company PLC (EEDC) that some yet-to-be identified individuals are going about extorting unsuspecting customers of their monies to have their meters upgraded. In a press release made available to newsmen by Emeka Ezeh, head corporate communications to the organization said "EDC states that this is wrong, that it does not represent its position, and is totally unacceptable and further reiterates that the prepaid meter upgrade is free and at no cost to customers." He said customers are urged to ignore any such proposal from anyone asking them to pay any amount for their meters to be upgraded. The company advises that such action should be reported to EEDC through its Whistle Blowing line: 08146026678. "All the customer needs to do to have the meters upgraded is to purchase token, which will come with the Key Change Tokens (KCTs) needed to upgrade the meters. These are three sets of 20-digit t...

Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 elections, says the implementation of the Oronsaye report is a welcome development albeit long overdue. In 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan constituted the Stephen Oronsaye-led panel to identify inadequacies in the country’s civil service. In 2012, the committee submitted an 800-page report and recommended the abolishment and merging of 102 government agencies and parastatals. The committee on the white paper submitted its report in 2014. Since the submission of the report, the recommendations have not been implemented. On Monday, President Bola Tinubu directed the full implementation of the Oronsaye report.⁣ The report revealed that there are 541 statutory and non-statutory federal government parastatals, commissions and agencies.⁣ Speaking with reporters at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) on Monday, Mohammed Idris, minister of information, said Tinubu has approved some reforms ba...

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has written to the management of Director Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical, DPRP, lbeju-Lekki, Lagos, dismissing a purported leadership crisis in the Union. In a letter dated February 16, 2024, to the Group Executive Director of Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemical, General Secretary of NUPENG, Afolabi Olawale, the union urged the management of the refinery and Petrochemical not to allow mischief-makers create crisis to drag the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry, and most importantly, the nation’s long-anticipated beautiful bride of Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry into avoidable industrial crisis that will bring nothing but hardship to Nigerians. In the letter copied Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG Zone 2, Lagos, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, and the Director of State Security Service, DSS, Lagos Command, among others, the Union stated that NUPENG is one and indivisible Trade U...

Air Peace on Wednesday,  announced N1.2 million and N4 million respectively on its London route for Economy and Business classes, effective March 30. This is contained in a statement in Lagos by the airline’s Corporate Communications Lead, Mr Stanley Olisa. Recall that flight tickets for London in Nigeria are between N2.3 million  to N4.2 million  for economy and N6 million for business class. According to Olisa, the flight schedules for  Air Peace London route is now available on our website, and we are crashing the price of  flight tickets. ”A return economy class ticket goes for N1.2 million, while a return business class ticket sells for N4 million. ”Nigerians studying in the United Kingdom can also now access their special 15 per cent rebate on the already reduced economy fares.” The airline had announced a special fare for Nigerian students in the UK when it hosted travel agents in Lagos in preparation for the launch of the London route. Olisa ...

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday made a 17-point demand to President Bola Tinubu to assuage the poverty, hunger and mass suffering inflicted on the citizens by the policies of the federal government. However, leaders of NLC, yesterday suspended the two-day nationwide protest after the first day, saying its suspension was based on the fact that the street action achieved overwhelming success. In a communiqué at the end of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting yesterday in Abuja, President of NLC and Acting General Secretary, Joe Ajaero and Ismail Bello, said: “The NEC-in-session, therefore, reviewed the execution of the first day of the nationwide protest to assess its effectiveness and take decision on further necessary action to guide congress in its effort at engaging government to protect the people and Nigerian workers from the increasing scourge of hardship.” Meanwhile, on first day of nationwide protest yesterday, NLC, in a letter to President Tinubu...

The Nigerian Senate has asked the Federal Government to urgently introduce the Nigeria version of the food stamps programme as an interventionist measure to cushion the effects of food insecurity/shortage in the country. It also asked the government to mandate the federal ministry of agriculture to liaise with development partners and other relevant stakeholders, especially the Lagos Food Bank Initiative, which introduced Temporary Food Assistance Programme, TEFAP, a few years ago.  According  to the Upper Chamber,  this is with a view to working out practicable templates and implementable modalities for the actualisation of the programme. Resolutions of the Senate yesterday were sequel to a motion, titled, “Introduction of food stamps in Nigeria as an interim measure to address imminent food insecurity in the country.’’ It was introduced by the Senate Chief Whip,  Senator Ali Ndume,  APC, Borno South, and co-sponsored by Senator Mustapha Saliu, APC,...

The Federal Government said on Tuesday that none of the International Oil Companies (IOCs) doing business in Nigeria has left as against insinuations. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Heineken Lokpobiri, gave the clarifications during the inauguration of the ongoing Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES 2024), at the Presidential Banquet Hall in Abuja. He said the IOCs only shifted their portfolio and investments to offshore. “I want to use this opportunity to assure everyone that no IOC is leaving Nigeria. They are only going deep offshore,” he said. The minister said that the divestments by some of the oil companies would benefit the country, as the IOCs would be making further investments in the deep offshore. The investments, according to Lokpobiri, will create room for indigenous companies to develop capacity within the onshore and shallow waters space. “It is imperative to note that we are strategically managing the divestment processes. “Our commi...

Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, on Tuesday told President Bola Tinubu to find an immediate solution to the hardship and insecurity ravaging the country. NLC also told the President to also address transportation problem occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy and the attendant high price of petroleum products. Speaking to journalists on the first day of the two day nationwide protest in Abuja, the NLC President said that insecurity, banditry, hunger in the land and high cost of transportation fare were among the reasons that made workers to protest in order to register their plights to the government. According to him, “Well, part of the reason why we are protesting is because of the security situation in the country. So it’s good that you understand this. So long as the security situation in the country is that bad, the level of kidnapping and abduction is high, even kidnapping for ransom.” He said he was not afraid of being attacked by anyone in as much as the protest is ...

A former Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu has commended the CBN for raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by four hundred basis points to 22.75 percent from 18.75 percent. Moghalu gave this commendation in a statement via his Twitter handle on Tuesday. He stated, “Correct move by @cenbank Monetary Policy Committee to dramatically hike the Monetary Policy Rate by 400 basis point to 22.5 %. The situation calls for nothing less if we are to check inflation over 12-18 months. We did the same a decade ago to bring inflation from 14% to 8%. “It will hit businesses hard, but inflation is hitting harder. We must slay the inflation dragon lest it consume our economy and we head to Zimbabwe/Venezuela. The money supply MUST be reduced. Price stability must take priority before economic growth in the current situation,” he added. Recall that the CBN raised its benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate MPR to 22.75 per cent. This represents 400 basis p...

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has raised its benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate MPR to 22.75 per cent. This represents 400 basis points from the current 18.75 percent. CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso disclosed this at the end of the Monetary Policy Committee, MPC meeting held in Abuja today. Recall that in 2023, Nigeria’s MPC implemented a strategy of gradually increasing the MPR over four consecutive meetings. Other important indices, such the Cash Reserves Ratio (CRR) and Liquidity Ratio, stayed constant throughout the time despite these aggressive efforts, with the CRR remaining at 32.5 percent and the Liquidity Ratio at 30.0 percent. Details soon…