BREAKING: UK court blocks Niger Delta pollution claims against Shell

A British court ruled in favor of Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell on Thursday in a case brought by more than 40,000 Niger Delta residents over spills in the region.


The court agreed with the multinational’s argument that the high-profile case should be heard in Nigeria, while the claimants had argued they could only get justice in British courts.

Details Later…

Source:  punch newspaper

BREAKING: Govs not meeting over Buhari’s rumoured death – FG

The Federal Government has debunked the rumor making the rounds in some quarters that governors would meet in Abuja today and deliberate on the health of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It said while the report was false, it also added that the governors were also not planning to send representatives to London to see the President.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this when he received members of the Presidential Initiative Committee on the North-East who visited him in Abuja.

Mohammed said there was no need for the visit, saying that the President was merely observing his leave as stated in the letter sent to the Senate before leaving the country.

Source:  Punch newspaper

Buhari was the right candidate to beat PDP — TINUBU

NATIONAL Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, yesterday, outlined steps that can urgently take Nigeria out of recession, if taken and that Buhari was the right candidate to beat Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Tinubu, who for the first time spoke on the inside strategy that catapulted the APC to power, gave reasons he backed President Muhammadu Buhari for the 2015 presidential election, adding that in a short-while Buhari had done what the ousted Peoples Democratic Party, PDP could not do in the war against the Boko Haram insurgency.

Tinubu made the disclosures while addressing participants of Course 25 of the National Defence College, NDC. He commended the military for its exploits against the Boko Haram insurgents and warned that Nigeria must be on her guard. ‘’I commend the Nigerian military for what it has achieved against Boko Haram. You have battled and defeated this evil enterprise. This vile force has been reduced to where it no longer poses a strategic threat. You have done as well as a military can in putting down this amorphous danger. The nation thanks you. I must say here, however, that we cannot lower our guard. ‘’We have learned cardinal lessons from the Boko Haram crisis. First, we must govern justly and for the benefit of the people to prevent the recurrence of violent extremism in the future,’’ he said. Unjust allocation of resources To wriggle out of recession, Tinubu said we must ensure just allocation of resources and shift primary focus to the economic front. His words: ‘’The decline of high oil prices threatens to be a long-term phenomenon. 

It placed the nation in recession last year and revealed the structural weaknesses of our national economy. ‘’Strategic objectives during this period of economic uncertainty must be to re-engineer the economy bottom up, diversify the economic base, strengthen our industrial base, modernize infrastructure, enhance agriculture, and provide employment. And of course, ease of doing business must not be overlooked in order to attract foreign investment. ‘’The lower oil prices also reduced hard currency earnings. This undermined the naira, causing a steep rise in the cost of imports. The higher prices have suppressed aggregate demand, causing a decline in business activity. ‘’The challenge before us is a difficult but not impossible one. If we stick to the progressive beliefs of the APC, we shall overcome these difficulties to place the economy on surer permanent footing. ‘’Government has shown its commitment to these ideals via its budget for this year and by the strong help it is giving state governments to meet their budgetary requirements. The unprecedented stipend programme for the poorest highlights the government’s concern for those who have been left unattended by the dynamics of the marketplace. Economic restructuring ‘’Achieving the desired economic restructuring will require a change in economic mindset and strategy. We must avoid the nostrums of mainstream orthodoxy that say government deficits are always bad. In the situation we face, deficit spending is essential to bolster aggregate demand and direct funds to projects that build infrastructure and bolster employment. ‘’We must better harmonize monetary policy with fiscal policy. It undercuts our goals if monetary policy is unduly tight at a time fiscal policy begets deficit spending. ‘’We must also realign trade policy with our need to create a meaningful industrial base and more potent agricultural sector.

source: vanguard newspaper

[Updated] Oil subsidy fraud: Court jails Ontario Oil MD 10 years, orders refund of N754m to FG

Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Thursday sentenced the Managing Director of Ontario Oil and Gas Limited, Mrs. Ada Ugo-Ngali, to a jail term of 10 years for a fuel subsidy fraud of N754m.

The judge ordered the refund of the N754m to the Federal Government.

Justice Okunnu had on January 13, 2017 convicted Ugo-Ngali, Ontario Oil and Gas Limited and its Chairman, Mr. Walter Wagbatsoma of eight counts pressed against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes.

The judge had been unable to pass the sentence on the judgment day as Ugo-Ngali slumped in court after being convicted and just before the judge could pass the sentence.

The convict was subsequently rushed out of the courtroom and and taken to Havannah hospital in Surelere from where she was later moved to the intensive care unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.

Ngo-Ngali came to court on Thursday straight from LUTH and on a wheel chair, with plasters on her body.

In passing the sentence, Justice Okunnu rejected the plea of the convict’s lawyer, Mr. Edoka Onyeke, praying that the sentence should be non-custodian in view of his client’s health.

“I have considered the plea of the defence counsel for non-custodian sentence of the 2nd defendant. I have to say that the request to grant a non-custodian sentence must be rejected and I can only exercise my discretion on the length of time the convict will spend in prison,” Justice Okunnu held.

She subsequently sentenced the convict to a cumulative jail term of 69 years, which would, however, run concurrently for only 10 years.

The judge said the jail term would begin to read from January 13, 2017, when Ngo-Ngali and her accomplices were pronounced convicted.

Wagbatsoma, who is the first convict in the case, is said to be currently under house arrest in the United Kingdom, where he is being held for money laundering, relating to a £12m National Health Service Trust fraud.

Drama ensued soon after Ngo-Ngali was sentenced as the convict’s relatives and prison officials pounced on the official photographer of the EFCC, for attempting to take Ngo-Ngali’s shots as she was being wheeled towards the waiting prison van.

The EFCC had on August 1, 2013 arraigned the Ngo-Ngali, Wagbatsoma and their company, accusing them of defrauding the Federal Government of N1.9bn, which they fraudulently obtained as subsidy sum for purportedly importing Premium Motor Spirit into the country.

Also charged with the three convicts was an official of the Petroleum Products Price and Regulatory Agency, Mr. Babafemi Fakuade, who was, however, discharged and acquitted by the judge on January 13.

In finding Wagbatsoma and Ngo-Ngali guilty, Justice Okunnu held, “The defendants defrauded the Federal Government of N340m in the third quarter of 2010 and N414m in the fourth quarter of 2010.

“According to a forensic audit by Akintola Williams Delloitte, the defendants did not remit an excess of N754m to the Federal Government.

“The first defendant knowingly received the sum in excess of what the fourth defendant (Ontario Oil and Gas Limited) was entitled to.

“In my opinion, he contributed to the false pretence.”

Justice Okunnu further held, “The second defendant is the MD of the company, she is the alter – ego of the fourth defendant and was aware of the going ons of the company.”‎

Copyright: Punch Newspaper

I drove taxis and worked as a guard – Kayode Fayemi

Dr Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, has challenged Nigerian youths to explore and utilise their creative ability to develop the society.

Fayemi gave the challenge while delivering the 2016 convocation lecture of at the University of Lagos.

He said that one of the failings of the society was its inability to give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities.

The theme of the lecture is: “Building a Successor-Generation: Reflections on Values and Knowledge in Nation Building.’’

According to him, there is need for young people to be given chance for self expression and make mistakes to avoid repeating same later in life.

He further said that young people did not optimally take advantage of opportunities where they existed.

The minister said that a university, being a “macrocosm and microcosms’’ of the larger society ought to be the ground for students to explore and make mistakes in a protected environment.

‘’Macrocosm and microcosm refers to a vision of cosmos where the part (microcosm) reflects the whole (macrocosm) and vice versa.

“The earlier we realise that no one owes us anything, the better for us and the more prepared we will be to face challenges of life.

“Do not think you are entitled to a job just because of your parents’ influence or what they have.

“Do not think things will be all rosy because you graduated from UNILAG with good grades.

“Be prepared for surprises and disappointments, because life is bound to hand you a couple of them.

“The only guarantee you have in this life is what you do for your selves with the grace God has bestowed on us all,’’ he said.

Fayemi urged youths to be prepared to bend backwards and do those things they might consider to be beneath them.

“What you need to know, however, is that as a UNILAG graduate and a postgraduate student in the United Kingdom, I have driven taxis and worked as a guard among other several menial jobs to survive.’’

Sources: the punch newspaper

War brews as Trump threatens China over South China Sea

President Donald Trump and his aides are sabre-rattling on South China, vowing to prevent China from taking over territory in international waters in the South China Sea. Chinese state media have already warned the move would require Washington to “wage war.” China believes South China Sea belongs to China.

The comments at a briefing from White House spokesman Sean Spicer signalled a sharp departure from years of cautious U.S. handling of China’s assertive pursuit of territory claims in Asia, just days after Trump took office on Friday.

The U.S. is going to make sure that we protect our interests there,” Spicer said when asked if Trump agreed with comments by his Secretary of State nominee, Rex Tillerson, on Jan. 11 that China should not be allowed access to islands it has built in the contested South China Sea. “It’s a question of if those islands are in fact in international waters and not part of China proper, then yeah, we’re going to make sure that we defend international territories from being taken over by one country,” he said. Tillerson’s remarks at his Senate confirmation hearing prompted Chinese state media to say the United States would need to “wage war” to bar China’s access to the islands where it has built military-length air strips and installed weapons systems. 

Tillerson, who was expected to be confirmed as secretary of State on Monday, was asked at the hearing whether he supported a more aggressive posture towards China and said: “We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops and, second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed.” The former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and chief executive did not elaborate on what might be done to deny China access to the islands. But analysts said his comments, like those of Spicer, suggested the possibility of U.S. military action, or even a naval blockade, that would risk armed confrontation with China, an increasingly formidable nuclear-armed military power. It is also the world’s second-largest economy and the target of accusations by Trump that it is stealing American jobs. Spicer declined to elaborate when asked how the United States could enforce such a move against China, except to say: “I think, as we develop further, we’ll have more information on it.” Military experts said that while the U.S. Navy has extensive capabilities in Asia to stage blockading operations with ships, submarines and planes, any such move against China’s growing naval fleets would risk dangerous escalation. Aides have said that Trump plans a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter China’s rise. China’s Foreign Ministry said earlier this month it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washington’s longstanding and highly sensitive “one-China” policy over Taiwan. Washington-based South China Sea expert Mira Rapp-Hooper at the Center for a New American Security called the threats to bar China’s access in the South China Sea “incredible” and said it had no basis in international law. “A blockade – which is what would be required to actually bar access – is an act of war,” she added. “The Trump administration has begun to draw red lines in Asia that they will almost certainly not be able to uphold, but they may nonetheless be very destabilising to the relationship with China, invite crises, and convince the rest of the world that the United States is an unreliable partner.” Dean Cheng, a China expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation, said Spicer’s remarks showed the South China Sea was an important issue for the Trump administration.

Femi Kuti in Maiduguri; urges stars, fans to focus on Boko Haram victims

Renowned Afrobeat musician, Femi Kuti has urged celebrities and their fans to work with the government to help millions of people struggling to survive in Boko Haram-hit northeast Nigeria.