By Mario Deepromoter

11plc, Total Energies, AA Rano, and other marketers have begun lifting Dangote Petrol through Nigerian National Company (NNPC) Trading Limited for N765.99 to retail outlets nationwide.

Findings showed some petroleum marketers who were able to complete their payment process on the NNPC trading payment portal commenced the lifting of petrol earlier this week under the existing agreement between marketers and the refinery.

Tunji Oyebanji, managing director, 11Plc confirmed to BusinessDay on Thursday evening that some marketers have started lifting the products at N765.99 from Dangote Refinery through NNPC who remain the sole off-taker of product.

“We were among the first marketers to complete the payment on the NNPC portal. We have no direct arrangement with the refinery,” Oyebanji said.

It was gathered that NNPC Retail, 11plc, Total Energies, A.A Rano are among the marketers that have picked up products from the refinery.

He added, “We don’t know the contractual financial arrangement between NNPC and the refinery but what I can confirm is we are buying at N765.99 from NNPC to lift Dangote petrol”.

Efforts to get the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to confirm if its members have picked up products at the Dangote Refinery proved abortive at the time of writing this report.

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Adedapo Segun, executive vice-president, downstream at NNPC said marketers cannot purchase petrol directly from the refinery because the product is still sold at a subsidised rate.

“That is the same thing happening with Dangote. I said earlier that Dangote is a company and it is going to sell at market price,” he told Journalists.

According to Segun, “The market value of PMS is still higher than what N766 or N765 or N799 that NNPC is selling.

“The situation has not changed there. So, NNPC’s off-taking is only because the others would not buy at the price Dangote will be willing to sell, which is reasonable.

“As soon as the price allows for it, you will see the marketers go to Dangote and buy.”

By Ojomah Austin.

Gov. Godwin Obaseki of  Edo state has stated that “Nigeria is technically bankrupt” during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics, while elaborating on his concerns over the country’s financial health.

While criticising the Federal Government for being stuck in the past, the governor emphasized the urgent need for restructuring to facilitate progress.

“You restructure your affairs so that you can reorganize and be able to meet your obligations. But Nigeria is still behaving as if they have money like it used to.

“Nigeria has been in trouble for a while. We don’t have enough to cover our expenditures and we are not reducing our expenditures and we are not earning more. The federal government does not have the capacity anymore to manage the economy”.

The governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Kennedy Iyere, has officially withdrawn from the upcoming 2024 Edo Gubernatorial election, citing a desire to serve Nigeria at a higher level and address pressing social and economic challenges, particularly the food crisis.

He referenced his previously proposed multi-billion dollar initiative, the ‘Food4All Initiative,’ which he presented to President Bola Tinubu.

This program aims to achieve food security and create mass employment for youth and women through the “One-Family-One-Farmer Scheme.”

In a statement announcing his decision, Iyere highlighted his commitment to leveraging his expertise to implement effective solutions for the country’s challenges.

Iyere also revealed that internal party conflicts played a significant role in his withdrawal, explicitly mentioning a conspiracy involving his running mate, Bright Enabulele, who allegedly sought to undermine his candidacy. ‘

Despite these challenges, Iyere urged voters in Edo State to remain peaceful and vote their conscience, stressing the importance of equitable power rotation among the three Senatorial Districts.

Looking ahead, Iyere expressed his commitment to focusing on national development and assisting the federal government in creating a roadmap for economic inclusion.

He emphasized the need for social intervention programs aimed at engaging and deradicalizing youth.

In closing, Iyere reiterated that his alignment with the Federal Government stems from a selfless desire to serve humanity through public service rather than engaging in partisan politics.

He said, “My focus is no longer on the governorship seat but on a higher and bigger portfolio than a Governor. I want to serve Nigerians at large and not just Edo indigenes. I want to help rebuild Nigeria’s lost economic greatness.

“Serving as a Governor will actually place limitations on me. So, when I saw the plots displayed by Enabulele and some leaders of Accord Party at the State Level, then I knew it was time for me to embrace a higher calling, which was to step up my game to the federal level where I am presently hugely contributing my efforts towards national development.

“I am assisting the federal government to devise a road map for the economic inclusion, engagement, self-emancipation and deradicalisation of youths by designing and driving social intervention programmes that aim to mitigate unemployment and enhance youth and women entrepreneurial opportunities for mass self-employment, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.

“These programmes will fully kick-start in the month of October 2024 and Nigeria will be placed yet again on the pathway of rapid economic recovery. Our intervention programmes will enhance opportunities for youth entrepreneurship engagement in multiple sectors, especially agriculture, food and beverage, technology, entertainment, innovation and creativity.

“More than six million youth and women entrepreneurs (as MSME owners and operators) shall be created or produced within the first one year of the official kick-off of this entrepreneurship programme. Nigerian youths and women lack access to the business capital required as entrepreneurs to either start up a new business or operate an existing business. This programme will squarely address that essential need.”