According to the Borno authorities, there are no elephants in the Sambisa forest.

The Ministry of Environment’s Director of Forestry and Wildlife, Mr. Ayuba Peter, informed the News Agency of Nigeria that there were no elephants in the forest according to the results of the most recent government survey.

“We conducted a survey prior to the Boko Haram insurgency and discovered that poachers’ activities have reduced its population,” he stated.

“In the Sambisa jungle, we once had an elephant herd, but we have since lost them to poaching and other habitat degradation.

We were thrilled to learn about their invasions into Borno via the Gamboru/Ngala and Kala-Balge axis, coming from a neighboring Cameroonian forest.

We anticipated that they would go on to the Sambisa Forest and most likely locate a more livable area.

“They haven’t gone down to Sambisa yet; they’ve just kept wandering around the border areas destroying farmlands.”

 

Joe Ajaero, the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, has been granted administrative bail by the Department of State Services.

A few minutes before the organized labor’s midnight ultimatum, he was set free.

Omoyele Sowore, the African Action Congress presidential candidate and pro-democracy campaigner, tweeted on Monday night that he was free.

“BREAKING: The fascist regime of @officialABAT has released the @NLCHeadquarters President Joe Ajaero from @OfficialDSSNG custody on bail,” he wrote on X.com.

Following the Department of State Services’ raid on the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project’s Abuja office and the arrest of Joe Ajaero, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party, the New Nigeria Peoples Party, and the Social Democratic Party criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration on Monday.

Ajaero was detained on Monday morning while traveling to the United Kingdom for a formal assignment at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

The president of the NLC was scheduled to attend today’s opening of the Trade Union Congress convention in London.

Additionally, the SERAP office in Abuja was raided by the DSS.

According to reports, the cops wanted to talk to the directors of the rights organization.

The NLC met behind closed doors with stakeholders in Abuja on Monday in response to the detention of its president. At the meeting, the NLC demanded Ajaero’s immediate release and gave instructions to all chapters to get ready for a possible statewide strike.

Adeyanju Adewale, the deputy president of the NLC, released a statement following the council meeting in which he called the detention “brazen and illegal” and a “affront to the rights of workers and democratic principles.”

In addition to demanding Ajaero’s release by Monday at midnight, the council urged that the recent increase in gas prices to N617 per liter be reversed.

The NLC said that it had sent a red alert to state councils, affiliates, and friends in civil society, announcing that it will not tolerate violations of workers’ rights.

Congress called on the government to buck the “dangerous trend” and enact the new National Minimum Wage, reiterating its commitment to upholding workers’ rights and against oppression.

The statement said as follows: “To address the concerning and illegal arrest and detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero, President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, by agents of the Nigerian Government, the National Administrative Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress called an emergency meeting today.

While traveling to the United Kingdom, where he was supposed to speak at the Congress of the Trade Union Congress of Britain and represent Nigerian workers in important debates on social justice and workers’ rights, Comrade Ajaero was apprehended and held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja.

“After extensive deliberation, the NAC resolved as follows: The Council unequivocally condemns the brazen and illegal detention of Comrade Joe Ajaero by the Nigerian state without any legal warrant or justification. The NLC notes with grave concern that Comrade Ajaero was lawfully discharging his duties to represent Nigerian workers and had not committed any offense warranting such action.

“His detention is an affront to the rights of workers and the democratic principles of freedom of movement and expression.

“The NLC demands the immediate and unconditional release of Comrade Joe Ajaero before 12 midnight today. The Council reiterates that Joe Ajaero is not a fugitive or a criminal, and his detention is an act of intimidation aimed at silencing dissent and stifling the labour movement’s voice in Nigeria. NAC also demands the immediate reversal of the current hike in the price of petrol to N617/litre.

“The congress places all its affiliates, state councils, civil society allies, and the Nigerian populace on red alert. The detention of Comrade Ajaero is an attack not just on the NLC leadership but on the rights of all workers and citizens to organize, protest, and express themselves freely. The NLC will not stand by while these rights are trampled upon. This provocation is another attempt by the State to scuttle the implementation of the new National Minimum Wage.”

Ajaero was taken by state officials without a formal warrant or documents, according to Benson Upah, Head of Public Relations for the NLC, who made this statement earlier. He also added that it was unclear where Ajaero was taken to and his present health.

In response to the event, PDP National Publicity Secretary Debo Ologunagba cautioned that Nigeria has now descended into a totalitarian state governed by President Tinubu.

Ologunagba asked the federal government to stop focusing on people who disagreed with their policies and instead address the root causes of problems like hunger.

“Caution is necessary,” he said. This nation saw a demonstration, but the government took no action. You make an arrest, accuse someone of being a terrorist, and file charges against them. You assert that a few people are the protest’s sponsors.

“We know who sponsored the protest: it is hunger. The President and his administration should address hunger, and there will be no problem. Let your draconian policies that bring people to their knees be re-evaluated. With school resuming, we understand the struggles of those with pupils in school.

“You wake up one morning unable to plan because the government is so insensitive and irresponsible, implementing policies that destroy people’s plans and their pursuit of happiness without consulting the National Assembly.

“Why does the government exist? For the welfare and security of the people. Currently, there is no welfare or security. This is breaking news. We need to see and understand what is happening. The government should address the country’s welfare challenges to prevent protests.”

The PDP publicity secretary voiced his displeasure with President Tinubu for prioritizing his comfort over all else.
No one really minds who the president is as long as the government gives us the chance to achieve our dreams, Ologunagba continued. We will look into this breaking news as a party and take appropriate action. It makes sense to reexamine these policies if the government is concerned with welfare and the public is suffering.

“You must show leadership by saying, ‘Okay, you are telling me to tighten my belt while you are buying a new belt.’ This is a country that cannot pay N70,000 minimum wage but can purchase a N150 billion plane. The President seems to be testing it, flying everywhere. This is a country where N21bn was spent to renovate the Vice President’s house, yet according to them, there is no money.”

The PDP Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Ibrahim Abdullahi, remarked that Tinubu’s administration was sliding into ‘’a hotbed of corruption and tyranny.’’

He stated, “Tinubu’s administration is not sliding into authoritarianism, we are already in a full-blown dictatorship.

“The APC and indeed the Tinubu-led government have finally degenerated into a cesspool of corrupt and tyrannical monsters. The contraption is no longer pretentious about its anti-democratic posture, a development we are not surprised about because of the background and disposition of the elements.”

The National Publicity Secretary of NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, described Ajaero’s arrest as shocking.

Johnson, however, disclosed that the Tinubu administration must urgently explain why the Labour leader was whisked away to douse the tension.

 

 

Oil marketers have expressed concern on the delay in revealing the pricing of Dangote Petroleum Refinery’s Premium Motor Spirit, or petrol, given that the landing cost of imported PMS is currently approximately N1,120 per litre.

Dealers said that since the government has opened up the market to competition, marketers would import the commodity in the event of a high PMS price from the Dangote refinery.

The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria disclosed in July of this year that PMS had a landing cost of N1,117 per liter. The price at which the commodity lands on Nigerian soil is known as the landing cost.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited increased the price of gasoline last week to between N855 and N897 per litre, while some independent dealers increased their rates to above N1,000 per litre. In July, the price of gasoline fluctuated between N600 and N700 per litre at the pump.

Additionally, information was acquired on Monday indicating that oil marketers were forced to intensify their talks with overseas partners in an effort to begin importing gasoline due to the postponement of the Dangote gasoline price release.

While awaiting the Dangote gasoline price, IPMAN was in communication with its international partners, according to Abubakar Maigandi, National President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria. However, he cautioned that a high cost from Dangote would result in enormous PMS importation.

We are depending on our international partners to estimate the landing cost of gasoline to determine the cost of bringing the product to Nigeria. This will enable independent marketers to learn how to import the product as well. As a result, we are awaiting their data.

“I’ll tell you the actual landing cost once we get the data from our foreign partners. So if the landing cost is cheaper than what the Dangote refinery will sell, then we will see how to bring in the product.

“You know, it is now an open market, so anywhere we see a cheaper rate with good quality, we will buy from there. We don’t know the price of Dangote PMS. We are waiting for the refinery to release the price. However, we are discussing it with our foreign partners,” he said.

Maigandi explained that allowing multiple importers of the PMS would ensure availability and competition.

“One advantage of allowing everyone to bring in the product is that there will be guaranteed availability of products.

“There is also going to be competition. Once this happens, everybody will try to see how they can sell their products and buy another one. It is only when you sell what you have that you can generate profit,” he stated.

According to a representative of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the group president, will make every effort to lower the price of gasoline.
Whether the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited accepts to be its off-taker or not, Dangote would sell PMS in Nigeria, according to the official, who wished to remain anonymous due to lack of authority to talk on the subject.

The person who provided the information claims that Aliko Dangote is a patriotic man who loves his nation and is willing to make sacrifices for the benefit of the general populace.

He recounted how the refinery reduced the price of fuel from approximately N1,600 to N950, after which it began to fluctuate between N1,100 and N1,200 because of changes in foreign exchange.

“When we started diesel, the product was around N1,700. We crashed the price to N1,200 and later, N950, before it now hovers around N1,100 and N1,200. Those who were milking the nation with dirty diesel saw it and they reduced their cost too. We will do it again,” the source stated.

When asked if Dangote might sell his PMS locally given the NNPC’s apparent unwillingness to cooperate with the refinery, the insider said, “Why not? We would sell locally because Alhaji Aliko Dangote is a patriotic Nigerian who is willing to make sacrifices for his country.

‘We will bend for the country. We have high-quality PMS for the country. Some people who are importing fuel and some owners of refineries and blending plants in foreign countries don’t want this to happen. Their $117bn shipping business to West Africa is at stake.”

When the official was asked to disclose when the PMS will be out, he said, “Don’t worry, we are on course. We are ‘talk and do’. When we talk, we make it happen.”

The official did note, however, that the Dangote Group is still awaiting word from the NNPC and will make its own determination should the state-owned enterprise decline to cooperate.

The PUNCH claims that the terms for the sale of the Dangote refinery’s PMS have not yet been agreed upon between the NNPC and the refinery.

Olufemi Soneye, the NNPC’s spokesperson, stated in a statement on Saturday that the company would not purchase Dangote PMS unless the price was lower than that of the global market.

Aliko Dangote has stated that the refinery was waiting for the NNPC to release its product, but this is untrue.

The NNPC further stated that it has no desire or purpose to become the distributor for any company in a free market setting, and that Dangote and any other domestic refineries are free to sell directly to any marketer on a willing buyer, willing seller basis.

“The DRL’s or any other domestic refinery’s access to the Nigerian market is unaffected by the recent increases in PMS prices. In reality, the refinery has a great chance to offer its goods at a discount in the Nigerian market if the current pricing are thought to be excessive.

Soneye said that if the Dangote refinery thought the new pricing were too high, it may cut its price.

“We emphasise that there is no guarantee of lower prices associated with domestic refining compared to any global parity pricing framework, as confirmed by the DRL. The NNPC Ltd will only fully off-take PMS from the DRL if the market prices of PMS are higher than the pump prices in Nigeria,” the NNPC said.

According to our source, the NNPC’s remark suggests that the company is not yet prepared to cease importing, particularly given that its refineries are still not up and running.

It seemed as though the NNPC had abandoned the Dangote refinery after revealing its PMS.

Aliko Dangote announced during the 650,000-capacity refinery’s opening that gasoline will be produced there as soon as the NNPC was prepared.

After all negotiations with the NNPC were completed, Dangote revealed that the gasoline will arrive at the gas stations within 48 hours (starting on Tuesday), indicating that the lines would soon end.

Under the existing structure for the sale of naira crude, the group president emphasized that the NNPC would be the firm in charge of marketing and distributing the product.

“We roll once the NNPC is ready,” Dangote emphasized.

However, it appears that the two firms’ negotiations have broken down, thus gasoline imports will likely keep going at a rate of N2 trillion per month until the government refineries are fixed.

The NNPC has refuted in several ways over the last two days that it would set Dangote’s price or act as its exclusive distributor.

This came after the state-owned energy company claimed that the refinery had given it until September 15 to remove its gasoline, a claim that the Dangote official refuted.