“Ultimately and on the long run, the incoming government should get our refineries working to reduce the nation’s avoidable dependence on importation of petroleum products. The tank farms in Apapa must also be relocated to allow a breath of fresh air for port operation,” Haastrup said. She said port operators and their staff have been worse hit by the gridlock as the various operators have suffered “substantial losses” since the gridlock set in.

Awka—-THE leadership crisis in Awka, Anambra State capital, worsened, weekend, with security operatives averting what could have led to a major confrontation between the contending parties. Stakeholders in the community claimed that its former President General, Mr. Tony Okechukwu, whose tenure expired March this year, was hanging on to power and frustrating moves to conduct election for the emergence of a new leadership.

Nnewi—Traders of Marine Modern Market, Onitsha, Anambra State, have appealed to Governor Willie Obiano to settle amicably the ownership crisis at market, which has retarded its growth and structural development. They expressed fears that the continued court case over the ownership of the market by some people in the state was retarding the growth and structural development of the market and have, therefore, appealed to Governor Obiano to intervene to settle crisis amicably.

UMUAHIA—Governorship candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the last elections in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has filed a petition at the Abia State Election Tribunal sitting in Umuahia, against INEC’s declaration of PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, as winner of the poll. In the petition, Otti is praying the tribunal to declare him the rightful winner of the election on the grounds that Ikpeazu was wrongly declared winner.

ABAKALIKI—A syndicate that specializes in robbing unsuspecting citizens of the state of their monies, electronics and other household property, was, last weekend, arrested and paraded by Ebonyi State police command. The suspects who are all indigenes of Enugu State, include Okechukwu Okolie, 27, Nnabude Onwudiwe, 28, and Sunday Agu, 38.

Super Eagles top two goalkeepers Vincent Enyeama and Austin Ejide had a bad day in the office Saturday when they each conceded four goals as their clubs, Lille and Hapoel Be’er Sheva respectively, lost.

lagos—The Labour Party, LP, has denied reports of an impending merger of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and other parties such as the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, Hope Party, and KOWA Party to form a formidable mega opposition party to challenge the All Progressive Congress, APC. Speaking with journalists over the weekend, the National Secretary of Labour Party, Mr Kayode Ajulo debunked the rumours as “false and diversionary”, stating that at no time whatsoever had the leadership of the party entered into merger talks with any other party.

“Buhari is obsessed with development and long-term competitiveness of the Nigerian economy, aimed at improving the welfare of Nigerians. He will have to deal with some trade-offs especially allowing for some inflation whilst investing significantly i.e. 10% of GDP in infrastructure to jump start the economy. There are no easy options, there are only hard choices”.

Last Saturday, May 16, the who’s who in track and field in the land gathered at Okpekpe, a sleepy town, about 23 kilometres from Auchi for the 3rd IAAF Sanctioned Okpekpe 10 Kiliometre Marathon.

We were using manual oven before which would bake a tray for three hours but the electric oven does it in 30 minutes. We can still calibrate it to bake a tray in 10 minutes. With that, we believe we can have more turnover. It will increase our salary and we will be able to employ more people.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE and Nigerian Institute of Management, NIM have commenced negotiations for a capacity building partnership for all operators in the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This was made known when the President and Chairman in Council, NIM Dr. Nelson Uwaga paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema in Lagos.

Lafarge Africa Plc shareholders are expected to reap from the company’s consolidation as its Board of Directors is expected to propose a dividend of N16 billion at its forth coming Annual General Meeting, AGM. Vanguard reliably gathered that the Board would proposed a dividend of N16 billion to its shareholders at an AGM expected to hold next week. It will be recalled that the shareholders last year gave the Board approval to consolidate the businesses of the company in Africa into a stronger group.

Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has commended leading telecommunications services provider, Airtel Nigeria, for its support to local content development, saying the telco is helping to power the State’s job creation drive. Speaking at the RLG Product Discovery Day held at RLG Adulawo Technology City, Ilesa, he said that the telecommunications company has shown support for local content development, establishing retail footprints across the country and boosting job creation.

INVESTORS in the maritime sector, under the auspices of NPA Warri Port Stakeholders’ Forum, have faulted the Bureau of Public Enterprises, BPE, over its defence of the purported concession of NPA Warri Old Port Terminal ‘B’, insisting that neither the bureau nor National Council on Privatization, NCP, had the constitutional right to do so under the Infrastructure Concession Regulation Commission, ICRC, Act of 2005.

International Distillers Limited, IDL, manufacturers of Chelsea dry gin, Squadron, says Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR and sustainability runs in the Deoxyribonucleic Acid, DNA, (molecule of life) of the company. The Managing Director, Engr. Patrick Anegbe, asserted this when he said, “as a policy, our company believes that business is not just about making profit, but also touching lives of communities where we operate in a positive way.”