News

Just In : INEC vows to bar some CSOs from monitoring future elections

Published

8 months ago

March 21, 2024

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says it will no longer register any election observer that fails to submit its report, after monitoring elections it conducted.

INEC chairperson, Mahmood Yakubu, stated this at the commission’s first quarterly consultative meeting with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), for 2024 in Abuja on Wednesday.

Mr Yakubu while assuring the CSOs of INEC’S continued partnership, urged those yet to submit their observation reports for the 2023 general elections and other off-cycle and re-run elections to do so.

He said that INEC always appreciated the observations and recommendations contained in the CSOs’ election observation reports.

“Some of the reforms and innovations introduced by the commission over the years were drawn from your observation reports.

“However, while many of you submitted their reports, some accredited observers are yet to do so for the last general elections, supplementary elections, off-cycle elections, by-elections and re-run elections.

“May I, therefore, seize this opportunity to remind those yet to submit their observation reports that it is a mandatory condition for eligibility to observe future elections.

“Going forward, the commission will operate strictly on the policy of no observation report, no accreditation,” Mr Yakubu said.

The INEC chairperson also advised CSOs to engage and observe political parties’ primaries for the Ondo State governorship election for inclusivity and credibility.

“Political parties in Ondo State will begin their primaries for the governorship election in the next two weeks. Sixteen political parties have indicated interest to participate in the election.

“I urge CSOs to engage with political parties and observe their primaries just as you engage with INEC and deploy observers to the main election conducted by the commission.

“By doing so, you will strengthen your advocacy for inclusivity for groups such as women, youths and persons with disabilities that are under-represented in elective offices at national and state levels,” he said.

For the Edo governorship election, Mr Yakubu said that so far, eight out of the 18 political parties that conducted primaries for the election had uploaded the particulars of their candidates to its dedicated portal.

He urged other parties yet to upload the particulars of their candidates to do so before 24 March, being the deadline when the portal automatically shuts down by 6pm.

He said that thereafter, INEC would publish the personal particulars of the candidates (Form EC9) on 31 March, for public scrutiny as required by law.

In her remarks, the Executive Director, Sustainable Gender Action Initiative, Mufuliat Fijabi, pledged that the CSOs would also strengthen their observations of parties’ primaries, leading to the emergence of candidates for elections.

Mrs Fijabi said observation of the primaries remained important because there was a need for more inclusive elections in the country that truly would reflect representation of more women, youth and PWDs.

Mrs Fijabi, who said that political parties have critical roles to play in the deepening of the electoral processes, advised parties yet to upload particulars of their candidates for the Edo governorship election to do so without delay.

She urged CSOs which were yet to submit their observation reports for previous elections to INEC to also do so.

“I am quite optimistic that my colleagues here, who are yet to turn in their reports will expedite actions to ensure that all pending reports are forwarded to the commission.

“I also agree with the fact that to have a robust electoral process in Nigeria, feedback is very important from both INEC and the CSOs,” she said.

Mrs Fijabi assured INEC that the CSOs would continue to work with the commission and others to improve on Nigeria’s electoral and democratic processes.

News

Nigerian government secures €300m development finance deal with France

Published

2 hours ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Nigerian government has announced that it has secured a €300 million worth of development financing partnership with the French government.

Nigeria’s Ministry of Finance disclosed in a statement on Friday through its official X account.

According to the statement, the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, led the Nigerian government to the partnership with the French government.

The ministry noted that the partnership will strengthen key sectors of Nigeria’s economy and drive sustainable development, including healthcare, transportation, agricultural value chains, and renewable energy.

“The Letter of Intent [was] co-signed by Mr. Edun and France’s Minister of Economy, Finance, and Industry, Mr. Antoine Armand.”

In Edun’s remarks, he said: “This partnership goes beyond financial support. It is about building robust, sustainable systems that foster development and empower Nigerians. It reflects the confidence of international partners in the progress of Nigeria’s economic reforms.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his wife, Remi, are in France for an official state visit.

News

P’Harcourt refinery halts operations, loading bay empty

Published

2 hours ago

November 30, 2024

Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The fanfare that greeted the resumption of activities at the Port Harcourt Refining Company on Tuesday may have melted away leaving the hope and expectations of many Nigerians hanging.

A visit by Saturday PUNCH to the refinery on Friday revealed that there was no activity on site, as some workers met by our correspondent claimed that the refinery was undergoing calibration which might last till next week.

The Port Harcourt Refinery has faced numerous delays and missed deadlines to resume operations.

However, the Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited, Melee Kyari, inaugurated the new plant at the Area 5 terminal of the refinery on Tuesday. It was claimed that 200 petrol trucks were loading daily from the plant.

However, the announcement was met with skepticism as reports circulated that the trucks were loaded with old products in the storage tanks.

Upon visiting the Port Harcourt Refinery Area 5, our correspondent observed no signs of activity.

An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that the loaded trucks contained “dead stock”.

He said, “Before the refinery was shut down between 2015/2016, we had dead stock left in the tank, including some Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) DPK (kerosene), and Automated Gas Oil (diesel).

“So, these products were in large quantities in stores in those tanks. During the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery, Old Area 5, those products were evacuated from the tanks for storage.”

However, he noted that the large quantity of refined petrol was “off-spec,” requiring separation from water to obtain the main product in preferred colours.

“But for DPK, it is in large quantity but they have not pushed it from the tank where it was kept after refined ready for commercial purposes.

“So, the product that was loaded was dead stock, that is the old product that was in the system. So, after these dead stocks, they will have to clean the tank, remove all the debris before pumping the new project into that tank, and redye it,” the source said.

The worker highlighted that refineries worldwide should operate electronically, not manually.

“But what they are trying to do at the Port Harcourt Refinery is manual, which cannot match the new digital pumps. Most of the pumps used for the event were refurbished,” he added.

He explained that during Kyari’s visit on Tuesday, seven trucks were prepared for loading, but only five were filled with petrol.

The Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Taken Ikpaki, while speaking to journalists during the inauguration of the facility on Tuesday, had expressed optimism.

He stated that more trucks were expected to come into the facility to load products in the coming days.

But rather than more trucks coming into the refinery, the number of trucks has dwindled.

Around 1.30pm when our correspondent visited, he observed that most workers and drivers appeared idle as no machinery was operational.

Nine trucks were seen parked, but the loading bay, numbered from one to 18, was empty and deserted, with some workers lying down.

When asked about the lack of loading activity, a worker in overalls said, “They are de-watering, removing the water under the PMS. Maybe there will be loading after that, but we don’t know what time today.”

Another worker at the loading bay mentioned that ongoing calibration was the reason for the delay.

“They are calibrating the meters,” he said tersely.

Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the PMS left in the storage might not be enough to fill five trucks.

A source indicated that calibration would continue until Monday, with the loading of DPK (kerosene) and AGO (diesel) expected to start by then.

Speaking to our correspondent, a resident of Alode in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State, who simply identified himself as Osaro, said, “After that ceremony with Mele Kyari where they said the refinery had started operation and loading was taking place, what happened afterwards? They continued loading on air, that is on the pages of newspapers and social media.”

When contacted for his reaction on the lack of activities on Friday, the National Public Relations Officer of the Petroleum Product Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Dr Joseph Obelle, said it was as a result of ongoing calibration.

Obelle, the PETROAN spokesman, said, “They are calibrating the loading pumps. They will be done today.”

Meanwhile, it was gathered that the Senate Committee on Petroleum visited the refinery on Thursday on a facility tour. The outcome of the visit had yet to be made public.

Calls and text messages to the spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, were not replied as of the time of filing this report.

But the NNPC had in a statement denied claims by an Alesa community leader, Timothy Mgbere, that the Port Harcourt refinery was not producing fuel.

Soneye accused Mgbere of crass ignorance of how a refinery runs.

He said, “The old and new Port Harcourt refineries have since been integrated with one single terminal for product load-out. They share common utilities like power and storage tanks. This means that storage tanks and loading gantry which he claimed belongs to the new Port-Harcourt Refinery can also receive products from the Old Port Harcourt Refinery.”

He called on the public to disregard claims borne out of “sheer mischief and blatant display of ignorance.”

Credit: PUNCH