President Muhammadu Buhari felicitates with Comrade Festus Osifo, newly elected President of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC).

He salutes the vision and courage of the dedicated trade unionist, whose election as President of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN) in 2020 has translated into improved welfare and working conditions for workers.

Garba Shehu,Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity),conveyed the congratulatory note in a statement made available to PREMIUM NEWS

He quoted President Buhari as congratulating the leadership of PENGASSAN and TUC on the historic choice, while looking forward to a partnership that will foster more development in the country, particularly for workers.

The Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources,hassaid that it has no financial records of fuel subsidy payments from 2017 to 2021.

The Ministry told the House of Representatives adhoc Committee probing fuel subsidy payments on Wednesday

But the committee maintained that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva and other major stakeholders in the oil and gas industry must appear before it to give accounts of the regime from 2017 to 2021.

The stakeholders had sent representatives at the maiden hearing of the committee on Wednesday, a development which was not acknowledged by the lawmakers who said that the matters under probe demanded the physical presence and participation of the heads of relevant agencies.

A member of the Committee Hon. Mark Gbillah from Benue State moved a motion that all agencies not duly represented by their Heads should not be allowed to make presentations.

A director in charge of the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Busayo Kamoru representing the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources had sad earlier that the ministry has no financial records on the subsidy payments.

He said that the request had been forwarded to the NNPC for answers. Gbillah was not convinced by the submission.

He said: “I find it completely unacceptable that the ministry has no presentation before this Committee. That shows you complete lack of regard and I think that it’s important we start to set the precedent about how serious we are going to take this issue that this will not be tolerated and they need to account for every single Kobo that has been expended in what some of us consider to be a charade over several years to the detriment of our country. Mr Chairman, I think we need to take some serious action about l this. But first of all, he should tell us because they said they have invited the NNPC. So, the ministry of petroleum resources has no record of the amount of money that has been expended in trillions of Naira for subsidy payments?”

He later formally moved a motion to summon the minister which was adopted by the committee.

In his speech to declare the hearing open, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase who represented the Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila,where he decried the absence of critical stakeholders.

Wase expressed disappointment that the people in authority expected to give account of their stewardship to Nigerians were absent.

He disclosed that the quantum of money assumed to have spent on subsidy during the period under review was amounted to N4.9 trillion and going by the quantum of estimation assumed to have spent as of today was amounting to N6 trillion.

“On behalf of the members of the House of Representatives, I’m expressing my displeasure by the attitude of stakeholders in the oil and gas industry that are supposed to be here. Nobody has any excuse not to be here, that shows lack of respect for constituted authority and I think we are not going to take it”, he warned.

He charged the special ad-hoc committee to ensure that nobody was spared or regarded as being above the law.

He assured the committee that the House was ever ready to give them the necessary support and cooperation to ensure that the interest of the country and the benefits of the people must be protected.

In his welcome address, the chairman of the adhoc committee, Hon. Ibrahim Aliyu the committee would not hesitate to evoke the provisions of the law to compel attendance.

He said: “Let me start by expressing the displeasure of the committee for the nonchalant attitude exhibited by some MDAs as well as some executive of the oil companies for non-compliance on the request of the committee to provide vital information on the subsidy granted by the federal government. This attitude is unfortunate, unacceptable, condemnable and undemocratic and an infraction on the separation of powers of the legislature in carrying out one of its legitimate functions of oversight. It’s more worrisome that this is happening during an era of change by the very people who should be in the Vanguard of the change mantra to this administration.

“But they are treating a matter such as this with levity and contempt. It’s also a great concern to us that at the time when the country is undergoing a myriad of challenges especially the current queues and hike in petroleum and Diesel prices which this adhoc Committee seeks to unveil, unravel and address. I believe that both the legislature and the Executive had worked together for a common goal. And I want to assure you that we are very serious about his national assignment and all parties involved should treat it as such. This must not be condoned. May I remind you that this Committee is not unmindful of the positions availed to it by the 1999 constitution and if necessary will not hesitate to enforce compliance to compel any person to honor its requests or invitation.

“NNPC should submit details of oil companies and other parties involved in the crude oil swap, direct sales and direct purchase agreement and beneficiaries of those subsidies. We are not here to blackmail or witch-hunt anybody but within the period under review, we are taking about 5 years to date, a lot had gone wrong. Nigerians are asking questions”, he said.

Responding to the non availability of the financial records on subsidy payments, the Director, Kamoru said “So, when we got his letter, we gave it the urgency it required and sent the letter to NNPC where all those records are, and we went to meet yesterday prior to today’s meeting. Unfortunately, yesterday being the day for unveiling NNPC, it was not practicable for them to have brought the documents yesterday.”

The National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Okoronkwo,in his presentation, said his association was not part of the subsidy.

Okoronkwo agreed when asked that the landing cost of fuel remained N148, regretting however,that some petrol depots are selling fuel at the rate of N158.

He added:”When we got the letter, we arranged with our consultants so that they can help us aggregate and get all these information. We want a transparent industry where everyone will have access to information. The consultant is already working on it and you will see our position soon”, he said as his response to a question on the subsidy records”

The family of Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola (MKO), has berated a journalist, David Hundeyin for peddling rumour that the June 12 hero was involved in narcotics.

Hundeyin had authored an article titled: “Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord To Presidential Candidate,” where he alleged that Abiola traded in hard drugs when he was alive.

In a statement on Tuesday by Yushau Olalekan Abiola, on behalf of all Kudirat Abiola’s children, the late MKO’s family said Hundeyin’s unfounded allegation exposed him as a hack journalist, who had engraved his name in the sand of fake news.

The statement said that the journalist was only rabble-rousing and intended to drag the legacy of the acclaimed winner of the June 12 presidential election in the mud.

It further noted that neither the late MKO nor his companies’ bank accounts were ever frozen as falsely claimed by Hundeyin, adding that Abiola was so respected and dignified that he was the only Nigerian to have been so far allowed to enter the United States of America without his international passport.

They wondered why the journalist would stoop so low to have echoed an unfounded allegation that first appeared in Daily Beast, an American tabloid in 2015, where John Campbell, who had concocted it could not concretely justify the rumour when he was confronted by the Abiola family.

The statement said : “Our father, Chief M. K.O. Abiola, GCFR, died a hero 24 years ago, after being victimized by the military juntas of Generals Abacha and Abdulsalami. He died confronting the military dictatorship, determined to secure the mandate of the Nigerian people given in the historic June 12 elections, so that Nigerians regardless of their backgrounds, could live and aspire freely! It is disheartening that his legacy is being dragged in the mud by David Hundeyin for his own ulterior motives.

“The completely unfounded narcotics related allegations by David Hundeyin in relation to our father in his article “Bola Ahmed Tinubu: From Drug Lord To Presidential Candidate” not only raise questions about Hundeyin’s motive for including these concocted facts but also expose Hundeyin as a hack journalist.

“In his article containing these despicable rumours, Hundeyin tried to detail and back up every allegation he put forward about Bola Ahmed Tinubu with “some form of evidence” (but did not seem to present anything new beyond what is currently in circulation), yet when it came to this grave allegation about our father he merely quoted an American tabloid, the only source he could find for his malicious purposes.

“In his story and we quote – ‘In the course of researching this story, a name that kept coming up repeatedly as a comparison to Nigeria’s teflon Asiwaju was a certain Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. When the Daily Beast took a stab at this story some years ago, a tantalising hint was mentioned in passing about an unimaginable parallel between 1993 and 2023.’

“He gave the impression that the article in the Daily Beast was a recent article which drew a parallel between Bola Ahmed Tinubu and M.K.O. but this article was published in 2015. Hundeyin, beyond this article failed to back up his allegation that in his research MKO’s name ‘kept coming up repeatedly as a comparison to Nigeria’s telfon Asiwaju’. Strange is it not, that he provided no other evidence of same? Some research! An investigative journalist, indeed.

“Hundeyin’s motive for making this unsubstantiated allegation is a mystery. Perhaps our father is simply a victim in the war to bring down Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Or, the journalist may be a willing pawn for those who seek to tarnish MKO’s image because of our father’s role in spearheading the reparations battle against the beneficiaries of the enslavement of Africans. This though a just cause, earned him many enemies in the West who would want his name tarnished and bury his reparations cause.

“Neither our father’s nor his companies’ bank accounts were ever frozen. He was a frequent visitor to the White House, was recognised by the Congressional Black Caucus along with several other important American organisations, and after the June 12 elections, he was allowed to enter the US without his passport, a privilege never accorded any other Nigerian. Indeed, our family name ranks so high in the USA that a prominent corner in New York, right next to corners named after Nelson and Winnie Mandela and Yitzhak Rabin, was named after his wife, our mother, Kudirat Abiola. This is not the manner in which the US government would treat those associated with the narcotics trade.

“When this unfounded allegation first appeared in the said American tabloid in 2015, we confronted John Campbell, a former US ambassador to Nigeria, who was alleged to have said that MKO was accused of narcotics trading. He said that he knew of nothing concrete but a rumour he had heard from some in the military leadership, which he presumed was being peddled by persons who sought a justification for the annulment of the June 12 election.

“We hereby state for the record that our father was never accused of nor indicted for nor involved in any narcotics related matter and we challenge David Hundeyin, the investigative journalist, to provide the results of his so called research showing such allegations other than the 2015 Daily Beast article.

“David Hundeyin’s attempt to portray himself as a purveyor of serious journalism or as an investigative journalist cannot stand the test of time with this engravement of his name in the quick sand of fake news!”

Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency, will soon introduce crime data bank and bodywork cameras for officers as part of efforts to rebrand the agency and equip it to secure the entire metropolis of the state.

The agency’s General Manager,Dr.Ifalade Oyekan announced this during a media briefing at the Lagos State Multi-Agency Centre, in Oshodi.

Oyekan,who said the agency is prepared for a state police status,noted some efforts made to improve the performance of the agency to include the introduction of professional service through specialised units, the development of new training and retraining modules for the officers, restructuring of the activities of the agencies, and prompt response to security calls, among others.

According to him,the agency is exploring the option of collaboration and cooperation, logistics and technology, engagement and enlightenment of the populace, creation of crime data bank, the introduction of bodywork cameras, among other initiatives, to bring the agency at par with what obtains across the globe.

He added:“Officers of the agency now complement the efforts of traffic management officers in the state as a proactive measure to nip insecurity in the bud, explaining that security concerns are more pronounced when there is a traffic situation.

“I enjoin Lagosians to be security conscious and join hands with the government to sanitise the entire metropolis by offering useful security information to the agency and I also urge the media to be thorough in their reportage because the task of securing Lagos is a herculean task such that demands understanding and commendation for the selfless sacrifices being paid by the officers.”