The terrorist campaign rocking Northern Nigeria, yesterday, turned fatal towards the Nigerian media with simultaneous bomb attacks on Thisday Newspapers in Abuja and Kaduna, as well as The Sun and The Moment offices.
PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday that those indicted in the report of the House of Representatives Committee that investigated the implementation of the subsidy regime in Nigeria will be punished. He vowed that no one will be spared.
“We are fighting against entrenched interests whose infectious greed has decimated our people. Therefore be mindful that they will fight back, and they do fight dirty”.
The House of Representatives was in a war mood yesterday as House officials and concerned stakeholders in the oil industry prepared for today’s debate on the report of the investigations into the management of the petroleum subsidy regime.
Ahead of tomorrow’s commencement of debate on the report of the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on the utilization of petroleum subsidies, industry and political stakeholders were weekend separately upbeat and muted over alleged errors in the recommendations.
Some of the companies that benefited from the allocation of petroleum products and were, therefore, entitled to draw from the subsidy funds were neither registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, nor the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA.
Mixed reactions yesterday trailed the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the nomination of Seriake Dickson as the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, candidate for Bayelsa State in the February 11, 2012 governorship election won by the incumbent governor, Mr Seriake Dickson in the state, saying that the nomination of candidates for elective positions were exclusive preserves of political parties.
Chairman of the House ad-hoc committee on the utilization of subsidy, Rep. Farouk Lawan at a press conference, yesterday, admitted serious pressure from government, marketers and other quarters on his committee for a favourable consideration during its investigation. Lawan at the briefing further asserted that there would be no need for fuel importation in a regime of transparency in the petroleum sector.
The House of Representatives Ad-hoc committee that investigated the implementation of the subsidy regime in the country, yesterday, recommended that the sum of N1,067,040,456,171.31 be refunded to the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, marketers, companies that refused to appear before the committee as well as the Petroleum Product Pricing and Regulatory Agency.
It took Justice Nicholas Pitts, just one hour to end the five-year legal ordeal of former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori, whom he sentenced to spend 13 years in a United Kingdom prison. The sentence ended the legal battle between the strongman of Delta State politics and the combined powers of the EFCC and the UK legal system.
Nigerians, yesterday, stormed the South Wark Crown Court in London where former governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibori was expected to be sentenced after pleading guilty to money laundering charges. Supporters of the former governor who came from Nigeria joined their compatriots living in UK to witness the sentencing proceedings and give him moral support.
AGAINST the backdrop of speculations on his political ambition, President Goodluck Jonathan has declared before an Abuja High Court that he was yet to indicate or announce anywhere that he would contest for presidency in 2015.
For Northern leaders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rooting for a party member from the North to succeed President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, it is time for a rethink as it has been revealed that there is no such agreement holding the president to any promise.
President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday signed the 2012 federal government budget of N4.697 trillion and threatened to sack heads of Ministries, Departments and Parastatals that lobbied the National Assembly and got their budgets increased.
