News
Alleged embezzlement: Fashola finally replies Dino Melaye
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has condemned what he described as ‘unverified allegations’ raised by a senator against his ministry.
Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi West, had accused the ministry of mismanaging funds to the tune of $35 million and another attempt to break away with $350 million Eurobond.
Reacting to the allegations, the minister in a statement personally signed on Thursday, said he would cooperate with the Senate as he and his staff has done nothing wrong in management of the said fund.
“With all emphasis, I state that there is no factual basis for the allegations,” he said.
“The ministry, my staff and I have done nothing wrong and we will collaborate fully with the investigating committee when called upon,” he added.
He alleged an ulterior motive in the presentation of the allegations, as the senator made different allegations while raising it as a petition, and later as a motion.
“The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) had on Monday, 6th November 2017 issued a statement on the front page of The Nation Newspaper explaining that the money was not missing, stating also that the $350 million had been invested and that interest had even accrued on the money.
“If there was no ulterior motive for the allegation, this was enough reason for a reconsideration of the presentation of the motion on the floor of the Senate on the 8th of November 2017.
“But the story seemed to have changed from “missing money” last week, to a “desperate attempt to retrieve the money “, this week.”
“They offered to do this by providing Nigeria with mobile turbines of 600MW if we could find a location with Gas and Transmission evacuation infrastructure. The Afam Power Station fitted because it had transmission and evacuation facilities but all its turbines had been virtually run down.
“The investment was contingent on paying $27,990,000 million which was 15% of 8 (eight) units of 30MW turbines each totalling 240MW valued at about $186,600,000:00.
“This payment of $27.9m was made without breaching any law.
“At this moment, the turbines have arrived Nigeria and currently at the Onne Port. This is verifiable just as works are on going on the site – civil and engineering – preparing to receive the turbines , and install other equipment already at site.”
More than 50,000 Russian military personnel have died during the Ukraine conflict, the BBC reported Wednesday, citing its own reporters, independent media group Mediazona and volunteers.
They found that more than 27,300 Russian soldiers died during the second year of the war, a 25-percent increase on the first year.
BBC Russian, Mediazona and volunteers have been counting deaths since February 2022, using open-source information from official reports and the media, as well as using satellite images of Russian cemeteries to estimate the number of new graves.
The figure of more than 50,000 is eight times higher than the official toll acknowledged by Moscow in September 2022. It does not include deaths of militia in Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine said in February that it had lost 31,000 soldiers, but that figure is also likely to be significantly lower than the true toll.
Russian losses spiked in January 2023 as it launched a large-scale offensive in Donetsk and again months later last year during the battle for the city of Bakhmut.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “special military operation” at dawn on February 24, 2022, which has since turned into a bloody and attritional war, isolating Russia from the Western world.
Responding to the report, the Kremlin said it did not disclose any information on military deaths and casualties, which falls under the remit of the defence ministry.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov added official secrets laws and those covering what Russia calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine meant it was “absolutely understandable” that the ministry did not release the figures.
The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has disclosed that 95 million Nigerians need to enroll for the National Identification Number (NIN) to meet its target of 200 million enrollments by 2025.
Kayode Adegoke, Head of Corporate Communications at NIMC, emphasised the importance of this enrollment during an interview on X over the weekend.
He stated, “For NIMC to meet the 200 million target by 2025, 95 million Nigerians need to register for the NIN.”
Adegoke revealed that over 105 million NINs have been issued to Nigerians and legal residents so far.
He assured Nigerians of the commission’s commitment, saying, “We want to assure Nigerians that within the next one or two years, we will reach our target of enrolling all Nigerians.”
“The NIN serves as a unique identifier for each citizen and has become increasingly important for various government initiatives aimed at improving security, governance, and service delivery.”
Adegoke highlighted the efforts to streamline the modification and enrollment processes under the leadership of Abisoye Coker, the director-general of NIMC. He announced the development of a self-service platform, allowing Nigerians to make necessary modifications such as changing names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers from anywhere, using different devices.
Emphasising the convenience of the self-service modification portal, Adegoke encouraged Nigerians to utilize this innovative solution.
He noted the evolution of the process, citing the past requirement for applicants to visit NIMC offices for data corrections.
Engr Gbenga Komolafe, Chief Executive of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), has disclosed that the nation’s oil and gas reserves have risen to 37.50 billion barrels as of January 1, 2024.
This marks an increase from the 37.046 billion barrels recorded in May 2022.
Komolafe emphasised the implementation of robust policies aimed at enhancing and optimising oil and gas operations across the country.
Notably, gas reserves stand at 102.59 trillion cubic feet (TCF), with non-associated gas reserves reaching 106.67 TCF, culminating in a total of 209.26 TCF of gas reserves.
Addressing concerns during a press conference held in Abuja on Monday regarding crude supply regulation and enforcement, Komolafe underscored the importance of prioritising feedstock supply to local refineries while addressing grievances from oil producers and the Dangote Refinery within specified timelines.
This announcement follows recent reports of a decline in Nigeria’s crude oil production during February and March 2024.
According to data from the April 2024 Monthly Oil Market Report of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Nigeria’s crude oil production (excluding condensates) experienced its second consecutive monthly decrease, dropping to 1.231 million barrels per day in March from 1.322 million barrels per day in February.
OPEC attributed this decline, amounting to a reduction of 91,000 barrels per day, to factors communicated directly from Nigeria.
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