APC National Convention: Group backs Buni-led CECPC, blast ex-PGF DG, Lukman for anti-party activities
A pro-All Progressives Congress (APC) group, APC Great Minds, has written a rejoinder to the open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari by the sacked Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Moh. Lukman.
Recall that Lukman had in his letter on Tuesday, alleged plans to sabotage the scheduled February 26 national convention of the APC, referring to the Gov. Mai Mala Buni-led Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) as “undertaker”, which was not doing enough to show that it was ready to conduct a hitch free exercise.
The group in the fierce rejoinder released by its spokesperson, Gbenga Olawepo, on Wednesday, described Lukman’s allegations as “breath of bitterness”, stressing that the he has been working against the leadership of the party since he was “unceremoniously removed” as PGF DG.
While expressing optimism in the ability of the National Leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, to build the party into a fortress, the group urged doomsayers like Dr Lukman to “jettison their doomsday prophecies and embrace the ambience of peace and greatness that Mai Mala Buni has built around the party.”
They admonished the party members and leaders to keep supporting the Mai Mala Buni led CECPC in order to pilot the party into victory in 2023.
The rejoinder reads: “Re- APC Convention: Caretaker or Undertaker
Open Letter to President Muhammadu Buhari
“Our attention has been drawn to the foul breath of bitterness oozing from the sacked Director General of the Progressive Governors Forum, Salihu Moh. Lukman. Initially, Dr. Lukman was using the officialdom of the PGF to attack the leadership of the party he claims to belong to until he was sacked from that office by the enraged APC Governors who considered him unfit to continue to hold the office of the Director General of the PGF.
“Since the garb of the PGF DG has been unceremoniously removed from his neck, he has decided to further untame his pen of fury against the leadership of the party again, this time as a “Freelance APC Campaigner”.
“Since discipline and respect to party authorities are not his forte, our organization has decided to school Dr Lukman since he is idiosyncratic in attacking the party hierarchy.
“The claim by Dr Lukman, a hired gun of the 3rd Force proponents bent on killing the party, that there is no sign of a Convention is not only laughable but indicative of the fact that the erstwhile PGF DG is a confusion merchant. The Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) rolled out a timetable towards actualizing a Convention to remember. The Committee has received reports from the Reconciliation Committee and have issued Certificates of Return to the State Chairmen.
“On the setting up of sub-committees ahead of the Convention, the date for the release of the list of Sub-Committees was slated for February 19, 2022. But Dr Lukman is already crying wolf on February 15
“Regularly, the Secretary of the CECPC, Sen. John Akpan Udoedehe, has been briefing newsmen on the level of preparedness of the Committee for the Convention. But Dr Lukman said the Committee has not been communicating. How else do you communicate? APC is an organized party and not a confused circle like the orchestrators of the 3rd Force mirage.
“The author of confusion said in his open letter that there are speculations of postponement and a grand plan to ensure the Convention does not hold. He even went further to accuse the CECPC Chairman, Gov. Mai Mala Buni of sit-tightism and an agenda to self-perpetuate. These allegations are frivolous, malicious, unintelligent, narrow and indicative of the scheming by the hirers of Lukman. Gov. Mai Mala Buni has been the best thing to have happened to our dear party at a tumultuous time. He has grown the party to 41 million members , 9 million more than the entire population of Ghana. He has digitalized the party and brought in high profile members into the party. He has successfully conducted Congresses at the Wards, Local Government and State levels. And he has reconciled the party significantly as well as set the stage for a great Convention. He would be remembered by history as one of the greatest leaders our party got to know.
“On the issue of zoning and sale of forms, we are very much aware of the fact that our forms are ready. But party leaders are working on the issue of the possibility of zoning. The issue of whether the party will adopt zoning or not must be resolved before the aspirants would know what forms to buy. You can’t make people buy forms and then zone the positions away from their zones. If there won’t be zoning, aspirants will know what to do.
“The fears of Lukman are the fears of his paymasters who drove him into trouble, ran him out of PGF Secretariat, ran him into disrepute and now running him against the tides of time. APC has never been stronger than it is now. We have 22 Governors that are committed to the party and leaders across the geopolitical zones are poised to ensure the party remains unplugged from her support base which is populated by the masses of Nigeria.
“It is characteristic falsehood that the party is waning. We are waxing stronger. It is expectedly discomforting to Dr Lukman that the party is not heading to the doom he prophesied 2 years ago.
“The National Leader of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari is working with other stakeholders of the party to build APC into a fortress. We urge the likes of Dr Lukman to jettison their doomsday prophecies and embrace the ambience of peace and greatness that Mai Mala Buni has built around the party.
“We urge our party members and leaders to keep supporting the Mai Mala Buni led CECPC in order to pilot the party into triumph come 2023.”
Why Is The NYSC Trust Fund Needed Now?
The NYSC Trust Fund, according to Ventim Bako, Executive Secretary of the National Youth Service Corps Foundation, is needed to provide orientation camp facilities and start-up capital for corps members with entrepreneurial skills.
He told a press conference in Abuja on Wednesday that the fund, once established, would be used to supplement the governments’ efforts to fund the scheme.
He predicted that the government would soon struggle to maintain funding due to the rising number of graduates.
Bako stated that the Foundation had partnered with the NYSC in the construction of camp facilities and the provision of soft loans to ex-corps members as business start-up capital.
He appealed that the Foundation be included in the composition of the Board of the Trust Fund.
NNPC Apologizes to Nigerians Again, Reveals Five Rejected Vessels of Substandard Fuel: (Video)
Mr. Mele Kyari, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited’s Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, apologized to Nigerians yesterday for the damage caused by the importation of substandard fuel into the country. Kyari assured Nigerians that normalcy would return to petrol stations by the following week, claiming that the country’s national oil company had taken the necessary steps to restore supply.
Kyari spoke this in Abuja while addressing the House of Representatives Committee on Downstream, during an investigative hearing on the importation of methanol-blended petrol.
However, in a bid to end the fuel scarcity and clear the long queues at filling station in many parts of the country, petroleum products marketing companies, under the umbrella of Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), have extended their opening hours in their jetties, depots and filling stations to a minimum of 18 hours.
Kyari said with at least 2.1 billion litres of petrol in stock, the fuel queues would end by next week.
The NNPC boss disclosed that given the current situation, five other vessels conveying their next supply had been rejected and were not allowed to sail into the country’s waters because they were coming from the same shipping terminal that sent the four substandard cargos. He stressed that the current challenge was because Nigeria imported all gasoline.
Kyari said, “Not a single litre of petrol is generated in the country, that means 100 per cent of petrol you see in this country is imported. Those imports are done on the basis of existing contractual arrangements that we have. It is called the direct sale- direct purchase process, which is simply with the best of practice to enable our suppliers supply products to us on agreed terms and conditions.
“We have been doing this since I came on board and its part of our supply mechanism. Even if all our refineries come up today, except Dangote Refinery, we will still be in short supply of premium motor spirit (PMS), because all of our refineries can only make 18 million litres of gasoline. Consumption is certainly above 18million litres.”
Kyari further explained that the four cargoes that in question met all the criteria on arrival and that was why they were allowed to discharge into terminals and convey into ship.
While noting that there was no way, based on the current specifications, that they would know that the PMS contained methanol, as it was not part of their requirements at the load port, Kyari assured that they have been able to trace all the volumes and quarantine them accordingly.
According to him, “By law, NNPC is required to ensure energy security. Therefore, it is our responsibility to ensure that we provide energy security for this country. This company must operate within the laws of this country and this is what we have always done, and this is what we will continue to do.
“For this current situation, I assure you that we have taken every necessary step to restore supply into this country. We have placed orders significant enough for us to cross into March, with at least 2.1 billion litres of PMS in our custody. The situation you are seeing today I can assure you that by next week, it will vanish.
“All things being equal, because of distribution issues that we may not have control over, including the movement of trucks, otherwise, we have robust supply arrangement to make sure that we exit this issue.
“On the basis of those contracts, our suppliers bring products to us and we reconcile with them regularly. Part of those supply arrangements is to give specification to your suppliers. These specifications are bound by regulation and the latest that we are using is the one that is in place since 2006.
“The current specifications we have is what is the subject of all our import arrangement. So all our partners were given those specifications and on the basis of this, those imports were made. Before a vessel leaves the load port, they have to declare that those vessels meet our specification; they will send it to the importer and confirm that it is the specification. On the basis of that, you allow the sail away of the vessel.”
Speaking further, he said, “Now, once it comes to the country, two things happen. We have NNPC surveyors, who are now also required to validate that this product that we have meets the Nigerian specification.
“Also we have the regulatory authority who has to conduct an independent assessment to confirm that this product meets the specification that is in consonance with the existing regulation in the country.
“In case of all the problems we have seen, four of the cargoes that are particularly in question today met all the criteria on arrival and that was why they were allowed to discharge into terminals and conveyed into ship.
“There is simply no way, based on the current specification, that you will know these PMS contains methanol. It is not part of their requirements at the load port. So we did not ask them to declare whether it contains methanol because it is not part of our specification.
“Let me make it clear that methanol is not contamination, it is a regular addictive to PMS. In China, up to 15 per cent PMS contain methanol. On its own it is not a contamination, the key issue is handling methanol. If we knew we will not accept this. Anytime methanol comes in contact with water it emulsifies, it turns into a different chemical.”
Kyari lamented that one of the challenges NNPC faced was lack of tracking mechanism to track trucks leaving the depot. He said this had aided smuggling, as some of the fuel was transported to places that might not be in this country.
The GMD disclosed that NNPC had filed litigation against importers of the methanol-blended PMS considering the effect of the withdrawing the products across the country.
He said, “What did we do? We have put all our suppliers who are our contacts or commercial angle on notice that there would be liquidated damages that will come from this. And also it is typical practice that we compile liquidated damages that the direct supplier did not cost, he will transfer that to the next person until it gets to the originating supplier, so it is a back-to-back arrangement.
“That is always done so that once you file, it will get to the last one. I do not know how many people are in the chain because this PMS supply business in one cargo you can have three sellers, you can have two, and you may have only one.”
However, a member of the House committee, Hon. Adediji Olamide, in his submission, said ignorance was not an excuse in law. Olamide said the committee would need a lot of documentation that NNPC.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman, House Committee on Petroleum Resources Downstream, Hon. Abdullahi Gaya, noted that the investigative hearing was to ensure that the culprits were brought to book as well as make recommendations towards curbing a reoccurrence of the incident.
He stated that the task ahead was challenging, including examining the lessons, proffering solutions and way forward, and rejigging supply and regulating the system to make them more effective and efficient.
Oil Marketers Move to Clear Fuel Queues, Extend Opening Period to 24 hours
Meanwhile, MOMAN said where possible, its members would extend their opening hours up to 24 hours a day in high density and flagship locations where the security situation permitted. The association stated that its members “shall operate these extended hours until the excessive queues subside.”
The association made this known yesterday in a statement signed by its Chairman and Managing Director of Ardova Plc, Mr. Olumide Adeosun. The statement added that it was working with the regulatory authorities and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited towards a resolution of the current fuel crisis.
Adeosun said MOMAN’s subject matter experts were active contributors to the technical and commercial committees’ set up by the regulatory authorities to re-stock fuel supplies, resolve the blending of contaminated product and identify losses suffered by customers, operators and third parties.
He said MOMAN members were also working with designated laboratories to double-check the quality of product (re-blended or new) before they are released into the fuels supply chain.
Most importantly, Adeosun maintained that MOMAN members had committed resources towards enhanced operations and associated activities to reduce the burden of the current fuel scarcity to customers.
The association urged its customers not to engage in panic buying, as it might take a few days for normalcy to return, stressing that panic buying increases the pressure on the supply chain.
NANS Condemn Attempts to Instigate Crisis, Attack NNPC
,The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned an alleged attempt by some unscrupulous elements to hijack the adulterated fuel saga and resultant fuel scarcity to engage in a protest aimed to instigate crisis in the country and damage the reputation of the NNPC Limited.
NANS also bemoaned the serious fuel supply disruption across the country occasioned by the importation of bad petrol, allegedly, by some approved dealers of the NNPC.
The students’ body, in a statement issued yesterday and jointly signed by its National President, Asefon Sunday, and Secretary General, Adekitan Lukman, said it was in receipt of credible intelligence that certain individuals had mobilised civil society organisations (CSOs) to embark on protests to paint the NNPC leadership in bad light.
While acknowledging the avoidable situation the country had been plunged into as a result of the fuel supply disruption, NANS frowned on those it claimed wanted to make political gain out of a purely operational issue, urging them to have a rethink.
The statement said, “While we acknowledge the avoidable situation we are in as a country after almost six years of no queues and scarcity, we frown on those who want to make political gain out of a purely operational issue and urge those behind the attempt to put a spanner in the smooth administrative structure of President Muhammadu Buhari at the NNPC to desist forthwith.
NANS was in receipt of credible intelligence that certain enemies of the Kyari leadership wanted to use the petrol scarcity as a excuse to embark on protests to paint the NNPC leadership in bad light.
The association demanded a speedy resolution of all issues and the normalisation of fuel supply across the country to ameliorate the hardship being experienced by Nigerians.
NANS, however, commended the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for an inquiry into the dire fuel importation mishap, which has put a strain on the supply chain and on Nigerians, saying it hoped the inquiry would be decisive and far-
Civil Defense Warns Filling Stations Against Hoarding Petrol
Filling stations have been warned not to hoard petrol by the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Ilorin.
At a news conference on Wednesday, the NSCDC’s Kwara commandant, Makinde Ayinla, issued the warning.
Mr Ayinla stated that the corps had made efforts to checkmate fuel station practices such as selling fuel above the recommended pump price or hoarding it, causing artificial scarcity.
“This is in line with the directive of NSCDC commandant-general Ahmed Abubakar Audi, that we should make sure that petroleum products are available to the people and at recommended pump prices,” he explained. “And also to checkmate the activities of the pipeline vandals, petroleum black marketers, those engaging in fuel adulteration and diversion, among others.”
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He disclosed that the NSCDC task force led by the head of the anti-vandal unit of the command, Ayinde Yusuf, discovered that some filling stations had the petrol but refused to sell it.
Mr Yusuf also mentioned that some filling stations were selling petrol as high as N250 per litre, against the recommended price of N165 per litre.
He ordered those with the petrol but chose to hoard to start selling, adding that the team will ensure that the petrol stations empty their underground tanks before leaving their stations.
The NSCDC boss also disclosed that some culprits were caught selling petrol above the recommended pump price and were made to revert to the approved price of N165 per litre.
Mr Ayinla further stated that the head of the anti-vandal unit of the corps ordered owners and managers of the erring fuel stations to sign undertakings, not to engage in any sharp practices forthwith.
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He disclosed that some black marketers were arrested and confiscated petrol concealed inside kegs.
Yobe Assembly Threatens Showdown Over Airport Project’s Non-Completion
The Yobe State House of Assembly has directed the Executive Arm to direct the contracting firm in charge of the dual carriageway at the Damaturu International Cargo Airport to complete the project by the end of February or risk having the contract revoked.
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During plenary on Wednesday, Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Hon. Bulama Bukar, issued the threat while presenting the Auditor General’s annual audit report for the years 2019 and 2020 to the House.
He claimed that the project was critical to the completion of the airport, which is now nearing completion, and that the State government needed to exert pressure on the contracting company, Ric Rock.
He said the committee during its Public Account Committee session had invited government Ministries, Departments and Agencies with queries in the 2019 and 2020 audit report to defend their positions with valid documents.
According to Bukar, the committee also recommended the need for government’s organizations to ensure that all procurement undergo store accounting processes.
He, however, said the committee despite the ravaging effects of COVID-19 pandemic in the last two years, discovered that there was no outstanding audit report, something which placed Yobe State among the best performing audit institutions in Nigeria.
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Presiding over the sitting, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Lawan Mirwa commended the committee for presenting a comprehensive report that will assist the government to ensure transparency and accountability in financial transactions in the State.
Mirwa called on the members of the House to study the report carefully for possible consideration in the next legislative session.