Connect with us

News

Aso Villa, NASS, DSS, Police, EFCC Risk Disconnection Over Debt Of N47.1Bn Owed To AEDC

Published

on

By Kayode Sanni-Arewa, Abuja

The Abuja Electricity Distribution Plc (AEDC) has said that the Clerk to the National Assembly, Ojo Olatunde Amos, the Nigeria Police Force, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS), also known as State Security Services (SSS), owe a total of N3,416,204,222 in electricity bill.

The AEDC said this on Monday in a disconnection notice where it threatened to disconnect the electricity supply of the Presidential Villa in Abuja, along with Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) over a total electricity debt of N47.1 billion.

Advertisement

According to the electricity distribution company, the Clerk to the National Assembly owes the sum of N1,093,056,370, while the Nigeria Police Force owes the sum of N1,383,222,250.

It further stated that the anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission owes N291,297,171 while Nigeria’s secret police, DSS office in Abuja owes the sum of N648,628,431.

The company said the Presidential Villa owed the sum of N923,873,150 as an outstanding debt for electricity charges.

The electricity distribution company in the document stated that it was constrained to publish the details of the debts which had lasted for long for the services rendered.

Advertisement

The AEDC stressed that the publication of the unpaid electricity bill became imperative because its “previous attempts to make them honour their obligations have not achieved the desired result”.

In a disconnection notice on Monday, the AEDC listed the outstanding electricity debts of government ministries, departments and agencies as of December 2023.

It gave the MDAs 10 days to comply and pay their debts or risk disconnection and subsequent blackout from February 28, 2024.

According to the electricity distribution company, the Clerk to the National Assembly owes the sum of N1,093,056,370, while the Nigeria Police Force owes the sum of N1,383,222,250.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) said that the Nigerian government paid the sum of N2.8 trillion to subsidise electricity consumed in the country from 2015 to 2022 under former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

It was been reported that President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government claimed it cannot continue to subsidise electricity because of huge debts already incurred.

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, who made this known during a press conference in Abuja said that the country must begin to move towards a cost-effective tariff model, as the country owes up to N1.3 trillion to generating businesses (GenCos).

The minister further stated that just N450 billion was funded for subsidies this year, even though the ministry required more than N2 trillion in subsidies.

Advertisement

He added that state governments would now be able to generate power independently to supply power to their respective states.

Adelabu stated that the grid collapsed six times between December 2023 and last week due to a lack of gas, ageing machines in the grid value chain, insufficient capacity to evacuate generated power, and the destruction of power stations in some parts of the country’s North-East geopolitical zone.

According to the power minister, the Transmission Commission of Nigeria (TCN) has over 100 abandoned projects due to discrepancies in contract figures caused by FX volatility, adding that the business will not grant new contracts until all such projects are completed.

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

News

“I am not happy Iran, Israel violated ceasefire deal -Trump declares

Published

on

By

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was holding, shortly after he lashed out at both countries and cursed as he accused them of violating the truce.

In a fast-moving series of declarations, the 79-year-old Republican, who was on his way to attend a NATO summit in The Hague, posted on his Truth Social app that “the Ceasefire is in effect!”

“ISRAEL is not going to attack Iran. All planes will turn around and head home, while doing a friendly ‘Plane Wave’ to Iran. Nobody will be hurt,” Trump wrote.

Minutes earlier, he had castigated Iran and also close US ally Israel for violating a ceasefire he had originally announced late Monday.

The two countries have been “fighting so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing, do you understand that?” the president told reporters at the White House.

Iran violated the ceasefire, “but Israel violated it too,” Trump told reporters on the White House’s South Lawn as he departed for the NATO summit.

“So I’m not happy with them. I’m not happy with Iran either. But I’m really unhappy if Israel is going out this morning.”

“I’ve got to get Israel to calm down,” he said. “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and dropped a load of bombs the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”

Trump’s unusually public display of anger at Israel saw the US leader apparently trying to cajole his ally to call off warplanes in real time.

A man looks at items found in the rubble of a destroyed home in the northern Arab-Israeli city of Tamra, on June 24, 2025, days after an Iranian ballistic missile slammed into the neighbourhood. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

Earlier the same morning, he had posted on Truth Social: “ISRAEL. DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS” — without it being clear which bombs he was referring to.

“IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION. BRING YOUR PILOTS HOME, NOW!”

If it holds, the truce would be a big political win for Trump in the wake of his risky decision to send US bombers over the weekend to attack three nuclear facilities in Iran that Israel and the United States say were being used to build an atomic bomb in secret.

The US leader had said the truce would be a phased 24-hour process beginning at around 0400 GMT Tuesday, with Iran unilaterally halting all operations first. He said Israel would follow suit 12 hours later.

Israel has been bombing Iran in an offensive that began June 13. The United States joined the attack with a mission starting overnight Friday to Saturday against the deeply buried Fordow complex and two other sites.

cease-fire-iran-israel

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump insisted that the US bombing mission was a success.

“I think it’s been completely demolished,” he said, savaging US journalists for “fake news” and calling two networks “scum” for reporting that it remains unclear whether the Iranian nuclear infrastructure was truly dismantled.

“IRAN WILL NEVER REBUILD THEIR NUCLEAR FACILITIES!” he posted separately on Truth Social.

Continue Reading

News

Just in: Senate extends 2024 budget cycle to December 2025

Published

on

By

A bill for an Act to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend deadline for the capital component of the Act and for other related matters 2025 was passed into law by the Nigerian Senate on Tuesday.

The bill was passed into law by the Senate after it passed third reading, following a motion moved by Senate Majority Leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, that was seconded by Minority Leader, Abba Moro.

The Nigerian Senate, during a plenary session presided over by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, amended the 2024 budget and further extended the deadline set for implementation of the capital component from 30 June 2025 to 31 December 2025.

A bill for an act to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the capital component of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025 and for other related matters 2025; third reading taken and passed,” the Deputy Senate President declared.

The Nigerian Senate, during a plenary session presided over by Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, amended the 2024 budget and further extended the deadline set for implementation of the capital component from 30 June 2025 to 31 December 2025.

A bill for an act to amend the 2024 Appropriation Act to further extend the capital component of the Act from 30th June 2025 to 31st December 2025 and for other related matters 2025; third reading taken and passed,” the Deputy Senate President declared.

Continue Reading

News

Thugs invade SDP headquarters over chairman, others’ suspension

Published

on

By

Violence erupted at the national headquarters of the Social Democratic Party in Abuja on Tuesday as a group of armed thugs dressed in black outfits stormed the premises, unleashing violence on journalists and party staff.

The attack comes amid a deepening crisis within the party, triggered by the suspension of key national officers, including the National Chairman, Alhaji Shehu Gabam.

The party’s National Working Committee had announced the suspension of Gabam, National Auditor, Nnadi Clarkson, and National Youth Leader, Chukwuma Uchechukwu.

They were accused of gross financial misconduct, including embezzlement, misappropriation, and unauthorised diversion of party funds running into hundreds of millions of naira.

Journalists who had gathered at the party office for a press briefing were caught in the fray as hoodlums descended on the premises.

Cameras and phones were seized while some reporters, including our correspondent, were physically assaulted, before security agents intervened.

The violence became public knowledge after the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Rufus Aiyenigba, released a statement announcing the suspensions.

“The decision followed resolutions made by members of the NWC, where overwhelming evidence was presented linking the suspended officials to a series of unauthorised financial transactions, personal enrichment schemes, and movement of funds from the party’s accounts without the committee’s approval,” the statement read.

According to the party’s leadership, the situation escalated when Gabam allegedly submitted an unauthorised financial statement to the Independent National Electoral Commission and caused a summary of the accounts to be published in the media.

This, insiders say, prompted alarm within the party’s inner circle.

“The NWC resolved to alert law enforcement agencies and commence a full-scale internal investigation,” Aiyenigba revealed, emphasising that the party “has zero tolerance for corruption and abuse of office.”

In the wake of the crisis, the NWC has appointed Dr. Sadiq Abubakar, Deputy National Chairman (North), as Acting National Chairman, pending the outcome of ongoing investigations.

Aiyenigba also disclosed that an interim investigative panel has been constituted to audit all financial records and recommend possible legal action against those found culpable.

The committee is expected to scrutinise all transactions, especially those related to the proceeds from nomination forms sold ahead of the 2023 general elections, funds believed to have been misappropriated.

“The party will not shield any individual found guilty.

“Our goal is to restore public confidence in the SDP as a credible alternative for national leadership,” Aiyenigba added.

The suspensions have already been formally communicated to INEC and other relevant agencies.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Naija Blitz News