TOP STORIES: President Tinubu, Emefiele Meet In Aso Rock.
President Bola Tinuba had been scheduled to have a meeting with the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele and the NNPCL boss, Mele Kyari, at the presidential Villa in Abuja on the issue of removal of fuel subsidy.
Tinubu, whose vehicle entered the villa at 2:30 pm this afternoon inspected a parade by the Guards of Honour,
Wale Edun, former Lagos Finance Commissioner; and James Faleke, a House of Reps member, were also at the villa.
Vice President Kashim Shettima while speaking to the reporters at the vice president wing assures that President Tinubu will change the life of the common man.
He said: “To paraphrase the late John F. Kennedy, to some generations much is given; to other generations much is expected. I believe this generation has a rendezvous with destiny and my principal, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is poised to redefine the meaning and concept of modern governance.
“I want to assure Nigerians that he is going to provide the lead. He is going to provide the leadership and we will rally around him, give him our unequivocal support and loyalty to see to the realization of the Nigerian dream – a Nigeria where every black man in the world should be proud of.
“Power to me is a humbling experience. It’s all about how we can make life better for the common man.
“So, I want to assure our countrymen that President Bola Tinubu will by the grace of God catapult this nation to a higher pedestal. He is determined; he has the skills set; he has the temperament; the disposition and the purity of mind and commitment to give service to this nation.”
On subsidy removal, Shettima stressed the need to do away with it.
According to him, the government is aware that those who benefit from it will resist the removal and Tinubu is prepared to take them on.
He argued: “The president has already made pronouncements yesterday on the issue of the fuel subsidy. The truth of the matter is that it is either we get rid of the subsidy or the fuel subsidy gets rid of the Nigerian nation.
“In 2022, we spent $ 10 billion subsidizing the ostentatious lifestyle of the upper class of society because you and I benefit 90% from the oil subsidy. The poor 40% of Nigerians benefit very little. And we know the consequences of unveiling a masquerade.
“We will get fierce opposition from those benefitting from the oil subsidy scam. But where there is a will, there is a way.
“Be rest assured that our president is a man of strong will and conviction. In the fullness of time, you will appreciate his noble intentions for the nation. The issue of fuel subsidy will be frontally addressed. The earlier we do so, the better.
“The issue of multiple exchange rates, we are going to collapse it into one. So, these are two big elephants in the room and as the days go by we will be unveiling our agenda.
“He is going to unveil his agenda because as I have always said there can never be two captains on a ship. He is the president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. I’m the vice president. Your relevance is directly proportional to the level of your loyalty to the president.
“This is a gentleman that I have known for well over a decade; that I have interacted closely with. Be rest assured that we are going to work harmoniously as a team, as a family for the greater good of our nation.”
Tribune.
Fuel subsidy removal will not take effect immediately-Tinubu.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has issued a statement addressing the reactions of Nigerians to his recent remarks about the removal of fuel subsidies.
The presidency has clarified that the removal of fuel subsidies will not take immediate effect.
During his inauguration ceremony on May 29th, 2023, President Tinubu announced that “fuel subsidy is gone,” causing some parts of the country to experience a hike in fuel prices and hoarding by some fuel marketers.
The Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu Media Center released an official statement stating that the President’s declaration was simply communicating the existing state of affairs, as the previous administration’s budget for fuel subsidy only covered the first half of the year.
Therefore, the Federal Government will not have the funds to continue the subsidy regime by the end of June, leading to its termination. Panic-buying is unnecessary as the fuel subsidy removal will not take immediate effect.
In his words, “In essence, it implies that the subsidy regime will come to an end as the Federal Government will be out of funds to sustain it by the end of June. There is no need for panic-buying as a result of this communication since the termination will not take immediate effect.”
Vacate EFCC Building Now – Tinubu orders DSS.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the Department of State Service, DSS, to immediately vacate the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The President directive was contained in a statement issued by Tunde Rahman on Tuesday.
According to the statement, “The President gave the directive when reports that DSS officials stormed the EFCC office located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos on Tuesday, preventing officials of the anti-graft agency from accessing their work place, was brought to his attention.
“The President said if there were issues between the two important agencies of government, they would be resolved amicably.”
Stop Hoarding Fuel, Sanwo-Olu Tells Marketers.
The Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has stated that some petroleum marketers are taking advantage of President Bola Tinubu’s announcement on the removal of oil subsidies to hoard the commodity and inflict suffering on the citizens.
The governor said this in a video shared by his media aide Jubril Aremu Gawat on his Twitter handle on Tuesday.
He said, “I think it is too early in the day for people to second guess our new president. This is a pronouncement it is unfair for some of our major marketers to want to begin to seize opportunities
“There is nothing that has changed in that pronouncement that could have caused the queues, but hey, I am sure the federal government that we have will be able to rise up and deal with it.
“I want to encourage everyone to be law-abiding, to go about their normal business”
I’m Not Stepping Down-Kalu.
The chief whip of the Ninth Senate, Orji Kalu, has declared that he won’t step down for anybody in the Senate Presidency race.
Kalu made this known during a press briefing on Tuesday morning at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
He also added that he was in talks with one of the contenders for the Seanet Presidency, former Zamfara governor, Abdulaziz Yari over collaboration and partnerships.
The National Working Committee of the All Progressive Party had named Senators Godswill Akpabio and Jibrin Barau as its preferred candidates for the office of the Senate President and Deputy respectively.
We are talking with Governor Yari. Our group and his group are talking intimately and in partnership. We will make sure that no one zone can produce the Senate presidency. Like I used to tell people, no zone can produce the president of Nigeria.
Petrol Prices Jump to N350- N600 Per Litre As Queues Increase.
Less than 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu as assumed office as the Nigeria’s 16th President, the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS) has jumped to N300 and N600 per litre.
On Monday shortly after President Tinubu announced the total removal of subsidy on fuel, queues returned in major petrol stations across the country especially in Lagos and Abuja.
Fuel subsidy: Vandals burst fuel pipeline in Lagos.
On Tuesday, suspected vandals destroyed one of the state’s petroleum product pipelines in Ijedodo, Ikotun-Igando, Local Council Development Area, LCDA.
This followed gasoline shortages as a consequence of product hoarding, which has created immeasurable misery for motorists and commuters since Monday owing to the Federal Government’s elimination of fuel subsidies.
Meanwhile, the Lagos Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, and the Nigeria Police, among others, have roped off the area to prevent a fire from spreading.
Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, stated that the situation was quickly brought under control. “On arrival at the incident scene, the agency’s response team discovered some visible quantities of leaked petroleum product (petrol) on the land surface,” Oke-Osanyitolu said.
“Investigations conducted by the agency’s response team revealed that the immediate cause of the leaked petroleum product was due to damaged pipelines.”
Meanwhile, Oke-Osanyitolu stated that the agency later undertook a critical risk assessment in terms of safety and preventive measures, as well as public advocacy and community awareness, with the goal of eliminating any interaction with the spilled petroleum product.
In addition, the agency has sealed off the near and remote regions surrounding the event location.
The situation has been reported to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) maintenance department by LASEMA.
The valves linking to the pipeline in the vicinity were quickly switched off by NNPC.
Court sentences owner of Hilton hotel Adedoyin to death by hanging.
Dr Ramon Adedoyin, the owner of Hilton Hotel in Ile Ife, has been sentenced to death by hanging.
The death sentence was issued by Osun State Chief Judge, Justice Adepele Oyebola Ojo.
Adedoyin was found guilty of the murder of Timothy Adegoke – a Master’s student of Obafemi Awolowo University.
Justice Ojo, in her ruling on Tuesday, said circumstantial evidence proved that Adedoyin was responsible for the murder of Adegoke.
She added that Adedoyin’s decision not to enter the witness box did not help him, as the circumstantial evidence had shifted the burden of proof on him.
The judge
ge dismissed the alibi who said the hotel owner was in Abuja for many days around the time the death of the late Adegoke occurred.
However, four members of the staff prosecuted alongside Adedoyin were discharged and acquitted of charges against them.
Adegoke, a postgraduate student of Obafemi Awolowo University, went missing after lodging at Hilton Hotel in November 2021.
After his family raised the alarm, the police began an investigation, which led to the arrest of the hotel owner.
Tribunal Admits U.S. Court Judgment, Other Documents Tendered By Peter Obi Against Tinubu.
The judgment allegedly indicted Tinubu and ordered his forfeiture of $460,000 in a drug-related offence.
The Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has admitted in evidence documents tendered by the candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi, to defend his petition against President Bola Tinubu.
Obi had filed a petition at the tribunal to challenge Tinubu’s victory in the election as declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission. Tinubu was sworn in as President on Monday, May 29.
The documents which were tendered on Tuesday in Abuja through the petitioner’s first witness, Mr Lawrence Nwakaeti, included a United States District Court judgment.
The judgment allegedly indicted Tinubu and ordered his forfeiture of $460,000 in a drug-related offence.
Nwakaeti, who was led in evidence by Mr Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), told the court that he was a registered voter who voted at a polling unit in his hometown in Anambra on February 25, 2023, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.
The counsel for the respondents raised objections to the admission of the document in evidence but reserved their arguments to their objections until the final address stage.
Under cross-examination by the counsel for Tinubu, Mr Wole Olanipekun (SAN), the witness admitted that the judgment was not registered in Nigeria.
Nwakaeti also admitted that there was no certificate from any Consular in Nigeria or the U.S. in support of the judgment but that the judgement was obtained and certified by the person in whose custody it was.
The witness told the court that he had been to the U.S. and also read the judgment in its entirety, adding that he would be surprised if no mention was made of the forfeiture of $460,000 by Tinubu.
While also cross-examining the witness, the counsel for the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), sought to know if the document had the certification of any police officer in the U.S.
“Do you have a certificate given under the hand of a police officer in the United States where the alleged conviction took place?
“Are you aware of a formal clearance report dated February 4, 2003 issued under the legal attache of the United States embassy in respect of the alleged indictment and forfeiture?”
The witness told the court that he had no certificate from the police and that he was not aware of any such report.
The witness further told the court that he did not have the charges against Tinubu because there were no charges since the indictment was from a civil forfeiture proceeding.
Since Nwakaeti was the petitioner’s only witness for the day, the Chairman of the Court, Justice Haruna Tsammani adjourned further hearing in the petition until Wednesday.
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