Sequel to the impeachment of Philip Shaibu as the deputy governor of Edo State, a new deputy governor has been sworn in. He is Godwins Marvelous Omobayo.

Omobayo was sworn in by the State Chief Judge, Daniel Okungbowa at the new Festival Hall, Government House, Benin City.

The swearing in ceremony was performed in the presence of Governor Godwin Obaseki, Secretary to State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie; State Chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tony Aziegbemi; Speaker, Edo State House of Assembly, Blessing Agbebaku traditional rulers mainly from Akoko-Edo local government area, and other top government functionaries. 

Speaking at the ceremony, Obaseki said the nomination of Omobayo as deputy governor of the state was with wide consultation with people of the local government area and other prominent persons in the state.

The new deputy governor was the Labour Party (LP) candidate for Akoko-Edo Federal Constituency in the 2023 general election.

He is an Engineer with a proven track record of progressive professional experience in the oil and gas sector.

Born July 19, 1986, Omobayo hails from Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the State.

With a B.Eng Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering and Msc in Public Administration from the University of Benin (UNIBEN), he is well suited for the role as a professional and an expert in public administration.

He is a registered member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN). 

A thorough-bred young professional, he serves as a Senior Maintenance Engineer in Dresser Wayne West Africa Limited, cutting his professional teeth in the operations in the South South area, providing top-notch services and growing the business in the region.

He has also been active in politics in his local government.

 

Thisday

The presidency has chided Atiku Abubakar, former vice-president, over his recent comments on the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

In a statement issued at the weekend by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, Abubakar alleged that the 700-kilometre highway project was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech) owned by Gilbert Chagoury.

The former vice-president said President Bola Tinubu prioritised personal business interest over Nigerians in the handling of the project.

He alleged that Chagoury is a business partner of Tinubu.

Abubakar said the federal government has not revealed the expenses associated with the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.

He added that the road construction is shrouded in secrecy and could cost N15.7 trillion.

He also condemned the federal government for not disclosing the cost of the project as done by Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari’s administrations.

‘ATIKU’S AIDES MISLEADING HIM‘

In a statement issued on Monday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said Abubakar did not get his facts right.

“In his desperation to always want to hug the headlines as a self-appointed opposition leader, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has allowed himself to be led into a blind alley again by his poorly informed aides,” the statement reads.

Onanuga said Abubakar made “false allusions” about the project in his “futile attempt to denigrate and find faults in the audacious and transformational” road construction initiative.

“To Atiku’s chagrin and utter disappointment, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway has been rightly praised for the huge economic impact it will create and how it will be a game-changer in improving the quality of life of Nigerians, especially the economy of the nine coastal states it will pass through. Importantly, the road will boost the agricultural and tourism economy on a grand scale,” the presidential spokesperson said.

“Seeking to be a killjoy, Abubakar engaged in red-herring by raising ill-thought-out allegations that only exposed his inadequacies and those of his team in getting the basic facts on an issue he badly seeks to nail the government.

“We owe it a sacred duty to ensure Atiku and his handlers do not continue to spread disinformation as they wallow in their politics of hatred.”

‘PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION NEVER AWARDED THE PROJECT’

Onanuga said the administrations of Jonathan and Buhari never awarded the project to any company at any varied and revised amount as claimed by Abubakar.

He said Abubakar is mixing up the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project with the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail.

“So the question of costs comparison does not arise,” the presidential spokesperson said.

“The contract that was awarded was that of Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail. The rail was designed as part of the standard gauge national rail network.

“The contract was awarded on August 4, 2021, by the Federal Executive Council presided over by former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the cost of $ 11.17 billion. The contract was to be completed in six years. The project didn’t take off.

“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail project has always been on the card. It was another testament to the failure of the previous PDP-led government that it could not get it off the ground in the 16 years it held sway.

“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway and Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail are two distinct projects. It is unfortunate that the former Vice President is confused about  the two projects.”

Onanuga said Tinubu “should be praised for having the courage to embark on this transformative project and not vilified as Abubakar unsuccessfully sought to do”.

“We know there is nothing so sacred for Abubakar in the pursuit of his undying ambition to be President of Nigeria even in his advanced age,” he said.

“We, however, don’t expect a former Vice President of Nigeria to continue to fan ill-will and engage in divisive politics in his twilight.”

“Tinubu as a leader and nationalist will continue to drive and propel national progress through infrastructural development across the country.”

The presidency asked Abubakar to “act his status as a presumed statesman and desist from engaging in fruitless exercise that does not add any value to nation-building”.

 

The Cable

Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, has declared Wednesday as the first of Shawwal and Eid day, commemorating the completion of the 2024 Ramadan fast.

Deputy Secretary-General, NSCIA, Salisu Shehu, said this in a statement on Monday night.

According to him, this is due to the fact that the new crescent was not sighted in the Kingdom on Monday.

This means that this year’s Ramadan fasting would complete 30 on Tuesday.

NSCIA under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, wishes to inform the Nigerian Muslim Ummah that there was no positive report of the sighting of the crescent of Shawwal 1445 AH on the 29th of Ramadan 1445 AH.

“Consequently, Ramadan fast will continue tomorrow Tuesday, 9th April 2024 as the 30th day of Ramadan. Therefore, Wednesday, 10th April 2024 is hereby declared as the 1st day of Shawwal 1445 AH and the day of Eid-il-fitr,” Shehu said.

The Council prayed that Allah accepts the fasting and other virtuous acts in Ramadan and grant all peaceful and blissful Eid celebrations.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia had earlier declared Wednesday as the first of Shawwal and Eid day.

 

Daily Trust

ISRAELI REPORTS

Netanyahu sets date for Rafah operation, pushes back at US

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set a date for an IDF operation in Rafah to destroy the remaining Hamas battalions, as the United States reiterated its opposition to such a step, which it fears will create a humanitarian disaster.

“This victory requires entering Rafah and eliminating the terrorist battalions there. This will happen; there is a date,” Netanyahu said in a brief video message he issued to the public on Monday night.

He spoke after the IDF removed Brigade 98 from Gaza, a move believed to be necessary so the troops could rest and regroup in advance of any further military activity in the enclave.

It sparked speculation, however, that Israel had decided not to send the IDF into Rafah. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to leave the government if the IDF did not enter Rafah or if it prematurely ended the war.

** IDF: Overnight (Monday), IAF fighter jets struck and eliminated Ali Ahmed Hassin, the commander of the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s Radwan Forces in the Hajir region. The strike was carried out in the area of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon.

Ali Ahmed Hassin was a senior operative in the terrorist organization and held a rank equivalent to that of brigade commander. In his role, he was responsible for planning and carrying out terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians in northern Israel.

Since the beginning of the war, Hassin carried out numerous launches toward Israeli territory. During the strike overnight, two additional Hezbollah terrorists who were under his command were eliminated.

Attached is a video of the strike: https://bit.ly/43MvYFz

** IDF: The Spokesperson of the Islamic Jihad Political Bureau discloses to Unit 504 of the Intelligence Directorate: "Terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip are operating from all of the hospitals in the Gaza Strip; "The organization lied and fabricated a story about an Israeli rocket hitting a hospital at the start of the war."

During the precise, intelligence-based operation carried out by the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) in the Shifa Hospital, more than 500 terrorist operatives associated with terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip were apprehended. The terrorists, who were transferred to Unit 504 of the Intelligence Directorate and the ISA, included senior officials and operatives who are significant sources of information for the terror organizations. Among the terrorists detained was the spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization's Political Bureau in the Gaza Strip, Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shlouf, whose interrogation provides insight into the propaganda and incitement operations carried out by the terrorist organizations.

During the interrogation, Tariq revealed details of the operational method used by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to manipulate the Arabic and international media, with a focus on creating false narratives and lies about what is happening in the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Tariq admitted that the explosion in the Al-Ahli Al-Ma'mdani Hospital at the beginning of the war was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket, and that the organization chose to knowingly lie and blame Israel for the event.

Tariq acted to incite terror and propaganda operations from within the Shifa Hospital and admitted to the use of the hospital compound and medical equipment for terrorist purposes, such as using ambulances to transport senior operatives of the terrorist organizations into and out of the hospital.

Attached is the interrogation of the spokesperson of the Islamic Jihad's Political Bureau, Tariq Salami Otha Abu Shlouf, by Unit 504: https://bit.ly/3UaoMQ8

** IDF: A short while ago, several launches were identified crossing from Lebanon toward the areas of the western Galilee and Har Dov in northern Israel. A number of the launches fell in Lebanese territory and the rest fell in accordance with protocol. No injuries were reported.

In addition, earlier today, a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon toward the area of Metula in northern Israel was successfully intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array. No injuries were reported.

Throughout the day, IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure, military compounds, and a launch post in the area of the Kfarchouba in southern Lebanon.

Furthermore, a short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound where terrorists were identified, as well as terrorist infrastructure and an additional military compound in the area of Odaisseh in Lebanon.

 

HAMAS’ REPORTS

A little while later.. Al-Quds Brigades show scenes of targeting a vehicle and bombing the enemy’s military concentrations prior to their withdrawal from the front lines of advance in Gaza City.

#Al-Aqsa Flood

** Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri: We deal flexibly with the Cairo negotiations, while the occupation insists on limiting them to the exchange of prisoners and allowing a limited return of the displaced, and this does not lead to a successful agreement.

** In the name of God, the most gracious, the most merciful

Press Statement

During the last round of negotiations in Cairo, Hamas took over the (Israeli) position after the efforts of mediators in Egypt, Qatar, and America.

While the Hamas movement appreciates the great efforts made by the mediators, and while the movement is keen to reach an agreement that puts an end to the aggression against our people, the (Israeli) position remains stubborn and has not responded to any of the demands of our people and our resistance.

Despite this, the movement’s leadership is studying the submitted proposal with all national responsibility, and will inform the mediators of its response once this is completed.

Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas

Tuesday: 30 Ramadan 1445 AH

Corresponding to: 09 April 2024 AD

Official website - Hamas movement

 

Jerusalem Post/Israel Defense Forces/Hamas Brigade al-Qassam

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Insiders describe Trump’s Ukraine plan to Washington Post

Ukraine will have to relinquish its claims to Russian territory as part of a peace deal envisioned by former US President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing anonymous insiders.

The Republican nominee for the November election has boasted on numerous occasions that he would be able to end the Ukraine conflict in 24 hours, should he win the presidency. However, Trump has declined to provide details on his plan.

The terms that Trump wants to push through involve Kiev recognising Crimea and Donbass as parts of Russia, the newspaper said, citing people who have discussed the issue with the former president or his advisers. However, his campaign downplayed those accounts as mere “speculation” by “uninformed sources who have no idea what is going on or what will happen”.

Crimea has been a part of Russia since 2014, when residents rejected a US-backed armed coup in Kiev and voted in a referendum to seek Russian protection from the new government.

The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics also defied the post-coup authorities and took up arms, when Kiev sent in the army to quash them. Ukraine’s refusal to implement a roadmap for reconciliation with Donbass, the so-called Minsk Agreements, and preparation for renewed hostilities, were cited by Moscow as the key triggers of the current conflict.

Western officials have pledged military support for Kiev for “as long as it takes” to resist Russia. However a string of battlefield setbacks for Ukrainian forces and the Western failure to provide sufficient aid have put a dent in the strategy.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week urged foreign donors to ramp up support, with the aim of giving Kiev a stronger position during hypothetical peace talks.

“The way to convince Russia that they have to sit down and accept a solution where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent democratic nation in Europe is to give military support to Ukraine,”he told the BBC on Sunday. “Of course, at the end of the day it has to be Ukraine that decides what kind of compromises they are willing to [make].”

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has declared full the capture of lost territories, including Crimea, as the only outcome of the conflict that his government will accept. Moscow has said it is willing to negotiate, if Kiev acknowledges the “reality on the ground”.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Five killed in attacks in different Ukrainian regions

Russian attacks dispersed through different regions of Ukraine killed five people on Monday, officials said.

A missile strike killed three people and injured at least eight in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia, regional governor Ivan Fedorov said.

An industrial building, seven apartment blocks, as well as medical and educational facilities were damaged, authorities said. They did not disclose the nature of the industrial site.

Authorities reported four guided bombs had hit the town of Bilopillia in northern Sumy region, killing a woman and injuring three other people.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in his nightly video address, said the attack targeted the centre of the town of 15,000 and rescue efforts went on into the evening. Shops and a city council building were damaged, the regional administration said.

The governor of central Poltava region said a Russian attack killed one person, injured 10 and damaged several dwellings. The governor did not say in which locality the attack took place.

In Zaporizhzhia, on the Ukrainian government-held side of the front line in the south, images released by prosecutors showed a passenger car buried under rubble and concrete and iron pillars that had collapsed.

Last Friday, another industrial site in the city was also targeted by a Russian missile strike, which damaged residential buildings and killed four people.

Russian troops control the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, further along the Dnipro River to the southwest of the city, and have accusedUkraine of attacking the plant with drone strikes since last week.

Kyiv said it has nothing to do with incidents at the power station reported by Russia, describing them as "armed provocations".

 

RT/Reuters

In January 2014, a coalition of advocates, including Femi Falana, Jiti Ogunye and Tokunbo Mumuni, both senior lawyers; and I wrote to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), inviting it to “to investigate the allegations of fraud detailed by the two committees set up by President Goodluck Jonathan in the wake of the 2012 fuel subsidy crisis.” It failed to do so. 10 years later, the EFCC is now preoccupied with chasing after cross-dressers. How it got so derailed bears attention.

At the beginning of this past week, Nigerians woke up to the story that a demographic of energy users, described in the language of the industry as “Band A” and constituting roughly about 15 per cent of the approximately 12 million official subscribers to electricity in the country, will have their energy tariffs raised by 230.8 per cent. They claim the four other bands will be unaffected. That’s false.

Tariff regulation in the energy sector in Nigeria is the primary responsibility of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), a body created originally under the Electricity Power Sector Reform Act in 2005, which was repealed and replaced in 2023 by the Electricity Act.

For some time prior to last week, various news media had sought unsuccessfully to confirm from the NERC the veracity of information suggesting that it had reached a decision to upwardly review the electricity tariff or that it had plans to do so. When it broke the story on 2 April, Bloomberg, a private and foreign news agency, credited “people in the presidency with knowledge of the matter”, suggesting not only a decision with a long gestation period but also one that had the active authorisation of the presidency. The implication is that when it initially denied to Nigerian news sources that it had such plans, the NERC had dissembled.

The day after the Bloomberg story, on 3 April, NERC confirmed the accuracy of the report. On the same day, it released the text of the applicable statutory instrument, dated 28 March, which designated the commencement date as 3 April.

The energy minister, Adebayo Adelabu, chimed in, explaining that the decision was because Nigerians keep their deep freezers plugged even when absent from home. This energy minister is so out of touch, he doesn’t know that deep freezers need constant electricity. But how could he when all he does is prance about in private jets.

For context, the Energy Progress Report issued jointly by the International Energy Agency, the United Nations, the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, among others, in 2022, conservatively assessed over 92 million Nigerians as without access to electricity. This is at the very bottom of the global energy league. The NERC claims that one of its reasons for the secret energy tax is to “attract more investment into Nigeria’s power sector.” This is what one of my old teachers called “future speculative tense.”

For starters, the new tariffs foster undue discrimination contrary to Section 116(2)(e) of the Electricity Act of 2023, which requires the Commission, in setting tariffs, to “avoid undue discrimination between consumers and consumer categories.”

The principal crisis with energy consumption currently is not generation but transmission. The country is unable to evacuate anything close to what it generates. To achieve an increase in energy supplied to or enjoyed by any band, therefore, the Transmission Company will have to create energy hunger in a band somewhere in the consumption ecosystem.

So, to increase the quantity of energy supply that it guarantees to the Band A customers, NERC has to ensure reduction in what is transmitted to those at the bottom end of the bands. In other words, the increase of transmission to Band A customers is achieved by eviscerating supply to the roadside vulcaniser, the neighbourhood Mama-Put restaurateur, the welder, all of whom will suffer denial of energy.

This pricing strategy is also poorly reasoned. The Band A users, whom it supposedly favours, are mostly in a position to transfer the burdens of the higher tariffs to consumers, most of whom are in the lower bands. This hits lower band consumers with a double whammy. By imposing energy hunger on them, it threatens the livelihoods of  micro, mini and informal entrepreneurs and will put many of them out of business. At the same time, it will increase their costs of consumption. Unable to pay the new prices of goods and services, they will vote with their feet, which will hit revenues, profitability and viability of industry, leading to loss of jobs, loss of tax take and ultimately burdensome social costs.

What emerges is that the new tariffs are effectively a regressive energy tax on the poor. In a country already afflicted with prohibitive insecurity, even further rise in insecurity is foreseeable.

It became clear also during the week that NERC chose to adopt this most consequential of decisions for citizens, employers and consumers in utmost secrecy. To preclude predictable public furore about it, the NERC also garlanded the decision-making with a bodyguard of lies. Not satisfied with this, the release of the statutory instrument coincided with a pattern of coordinated online behaviour which clearly suggested that the Commission had actively recruited a gang of digital influencers and bloggers in order to create maximum distraction from the measure.

One source of such distraction was the EFCC. As the NERC rolled out this prohibitive energy tax on 3 April, the EFCC procured the high profile arrest of Idris Okuneye, a transactional transvestite better known as Bobrisky, on the impressive charges of “abuse of the Naira” and alleged money laundering. With unremitting alacrity, the Commission first paraded Bobrisky, a practice that has repeatedly been declared unlawful by courts in Nigeria. Thereafter, it arraigned him before the Federal High Court in Lagos.

The law that establishes the EFCC defines “economic and financial crimes” to mean “non-violent criminal and illicit activity committed with the objectives of earning wealth illegally either individually or in a group or organized manner thereby violating existing legislation governing the economic activities of government and its administration.” At the court, the EFCC dropped the two counts relating to money laundering, ultimately charging Bobrisky only with crimes connected with the so-called “abuse of the Naira.”

Having dropped the only charge that could remotely fall within the purview of economic or financial crime, the EFCC forfeited any claim to acting within law or in the public interest because abuse of the naira, whatever that means, is outside the statutory scope of crimes that it can prosecute. Yet, within a mere 48 hours, the EFCC processed Bobrisky through the entire gamut of criminal justice, from arrest to conviction, setting a Nigerian record in prosecutorial diligence.

It becomes evident, therefore, that the charges against Bobrisky were an artifice for persecuting a person whose life choices are a tad unusual. The EFCC lent itself to this despite the fact that Lagos, where Bobrisky lives, decriminalised the Victorian crimes of “unnatural offences” long ago in 2011. Nor does the leadership of the EFCC remember that over half a century ago, Uzoma Odimara freely promenaded as a cross-dresser and entertainer around the country under the name “Area Scatter”.

In the week in which the EFCC bungled the biggest corruption case in the country in a quarter of a century, it takes unique institutional commitment to frippery to reduce its core business to chasing cross-dressers. In targeting Bobrisky as it has, the EFCC arguably sought to achieve the twin objectives of distracting Nigerians from NERC’s steep and unlawful energy tax, while at the same time pressing home a blinkered wedge advocacy.

In so doing, the leadership of the Commission clearly abused the sacred instrument of prosecutorial prerogative and showed itself as either idle or misguided, if not both. When this was brough to their attention, they descended into threats, bluster and the cringe-worthy trade in mangled adjectives. One concerned citizen responded that “EFCC has gone rogue.” 10 years ago, citizens looked to them as part of the solution. Today the EFCC has become part of the problem.

New bosses are often promoted for the wrong reason and are unprepared for the role. On the latest episode of ‘The New Way We Work,’ we explore what it would look like to treat management like the important job it is.

One of the most universal problems with work is bad bosses. Part of the reason so many people end up with a terrible manager is that as a society, we associate personality characteristics like charisma to mean someone has strong leadership skills. Instead, it’s often a sign of narcissism. 

But personality isn’t the only reason why so many people dislike their bosses. Often people find themselves in management roles because they were good at their job, but then receive little or no guidance on how to manage others. Their managers also often never received management training and in many cases are making it up as they go. 

If you’re lucky, you end up with an emotionally intelligent manager who takes it upon themselves to figure out how to work effectively with the people they manage. More often, though, people end up stuck in the middle doing what they think is right with no guidance or becoming frustrated by a boss who doesn’t know what they are doing. And, often, they end of quitting. In fact, around 50% of people say they’ve quit a job because of a bad boss. 

But what if we treated management like the important job it is and invested in making sure people have the tools they need to succeed when they get promoted?

On the most recent episode of The New Way We Work, I spoke to Lia Bosch, the founder of the consulting firm Thrive People Strategies, about why so many managers are unable to effectively lead, and the best way to learn to be a better manager.

What’s so hard about being a manager?

The biggest hurdle for new managers is that often they are promoted for the wrong reason. New managers will often be promoted because they’ve done good work as an individual contributor and there’s an open position, or they’ve been very productive or the company wants to keep them.

But Bosch says, the company often doesn’t give the new managers enough preparation for how managing people is different from doing an individual contributor role. “There are expectations that are set for the individual that even the individual is just trying to figure out how it all works,” Bosch says. 

What makes a good manager

A good manager, Bosch says, spends 75% of their time on the job of managing. That involves building relationships and trust, managing work, overseeing career development, and dealing with problems. Only 25% of their time is spent on the technical part of their job, or whatever tasks they likely spent most of their time on as an individual contributor. Most companies don’t give managers the time to do this, and most managers don’t approach their jobs this way, which means often managers just aren’t very good at their jobs.

One of the biggest mistakes managers make (and the thing employees hate the most) is micromanaging. Bosch says inexperienced managers often resort to micromanaging because they feel like they’re losing control of the work and don’t trust their employees to do it how they would. But, she says, great managers explain the why and let their employees figure out the how. They communicate expectations clearly and then get out of the way and focus on the outcome, not the process.

How to help managers improve

If the biggest issue for new mangers is that they are thrown into the job with no training, the obvious answer might be a training course. But, as Bosch points out, one-off trainings led by HR are set up to check a box and aren’t effective. “The organization needs to make management development and employee development a strategic priority because the future depends on the skills and the knowledge that these individuals need to have,” she says. So she advises that companies look at options for longer term management programs and consider mentorships with experienced managers.

 

Fast Company

Former Vice President Atiku Abubukar has expressed apprehension about the proposed Lagos-Calabar highway project restarted by President Bola Tinubu.In a statement by his media aide, Paul Ibeh, Atiku said the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway plan should have commenced from Calabar if it were genuine, and not another project intended to merely cajole the people.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate in the last general election lamented that the road project looked dubious, with all the hallmarks of a white elephant project.

Atiku alleged that the Tinubu administration had again revealed its penchant for shady deals. The statement said, “This project returned to public discourse at the twilight of the Goodluck Jonathan administration in November 2014, wherein it was announced President Jonathan had signed the 10-state, 22-station project with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) at a cost of $11.97bn.“However, former President Jonathan could not begin the project before he lost the election. But his successor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, expressed his intention to begin it and announced in 2016 that the project had been renegotiated downward by $800m to $11.1bn and that it would be ready within three years. But it continued to stall.

“In August 2021, while Buhari was on vacation, it was announced by then information minister, Lai Mohammed, that the FEC had ‘approved the memo for the ratification of the president’s approval for the award’ of the $11.1 billion project, and that it would be completed in six years. But nothing was done.“In September 2023, barely weeks after being appointed by Tinubu, works minister, Dave Umahi, announced that the project had been awarded to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech) without any record of a competitive bidding or a decision by FEC.

”Atiku said Umahi refused to reveal how much the project would cost, explaining,

“He only explained that it would run through nine states and would have a rail road running through the middle. Most importantly, the works minister said the project would come at zero cost to Nigeria, which is currently facing an all-time high level of debt.”

Atiku further said the works minister even stated, “Let me announce that it is under public-private partnership. The Hitech group are going to look for the money. They have already found the money, and that is the good news because we don’t waste our time talking and holding meetings and wasting resources.

”The former vice president explained that the concept of the project was “build, operate and transfer”, meaning that Hitech would construct the road, operate it for some years, and recoup its money through tollgates before handing it back to the Nigerian government.

He stressed, “Because the project did not require public funds, it did not go through approval from the National Assembly, which holds the power of appropriation.

“Also, the project only went through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) with no record of a competitive bidding since Chagoury’s firm was to fund the project 100%.

“However, to the shock of many Nigerians, Umahi returned to FEC with a memo in March 2024 seeking the approval of N1.06 trillion that would be paid to Chagoury’s firm for the first phase of the project, which is wholly in Lagos.

“This pilot phase was to begin from the edge of Chagoury’s Eko Atlantic City on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, and terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Ibeju-Lekki, a distance of 47.47km.

“Till date, the Tinubu administration has refused to reveal how much the project will cost in total. Umahi, who even came on Channels Television recently, evaded questions as to the total cost of the project.”

The former PDP presidential candidate added, “But if 47.47km costs about N1.06tn, it means each kilometre is being built at N22.5 billion or $18 million. For a project that is going to be 700km, it means the total cost could be N15.7 trillion or $12.56 billion, which is higher than previous estimates.

“It is curious that the terms of such an audacious project continues to be shrouded in secrecy. Worse still, it is expected to lead to job losses, like the demolition of Landmark Beach Resort in Oniru, which will lead to the loss of over 12,000 direct and indirect jobs and over $200m in investments, according to its management.“More curious is the fact that the entire pilot phase of this project begins and ends in Lagos, especially within the axis of Bola Tinubu’s business interests. It is no secret that both Tinubu and Chagoury are business partners.”

Atiku further stated, “This same Hitech, owned by Chagoury, was unable to complete the 50km Lekki-Epe Expressway. Despite installing two tollgates along the axis, Hitech, which was part of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) consortium, was only able to construct about 20km, forcing the Lagos State Government to buy it back at the cost of N7.5 billion ($50 million at the time) in 2013, which came at a loss to the people of Lagos.”Atiku explained, “Tinubu has once again put his personal business interest ahead of that of the Nigerian people in violation of his oath of office where he swore that, ‘I will not allow my personal interest to influence my official conduct or my official decisions’.

”The so-called pilot phase from Eko Atlantic to Lekki Deep Sea Port was initially conceived as a Lagos State Government project, but because of its huge cost coupled with the fact that Lagos State has a huge debt burden, no thanks to Tinubu, the federal government is now implementing it under the guise of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. This, perhaps, explains why there are fears that the project will never get to Calabar, and this is the same reason the project is beginning from Lagos and not Calabar.

“Despite not revealing the cost of this entire project, the Tinubu administration is now on the verge of setting up a so-called Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, a fund targeted at constructing capital projects without the usual budgeting process.

“With a target of N20 trillion or $14.5 billion as seed capital, the fund targets the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway and other projects. The initiative targets Pension Funds, Concessionary Loans, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, private sector arms of multilateral development institutions, and bilateral private sector investors, among others, to secure $35bn annually. The Diaspora funding and equity and endowment funds are also expected to play their part in the plan.

“But this renewed hope fund, which will be spent at the discretion of Tinubu and without transparency, will likely become another means of siphoning public funds through shady projects.”

Atiku said, “With the current Lagos-Calabar highway already being handled in secrecy, it remains to be seen how such a fund will be managed.”

 

Thisday

The Agro Rangers of the NSCDC have repelled an attack by suspected bandits on the federal government’s grain silo in Dutsinma Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Buhari Hamisu, spokesperson of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), said in a statement in Katsina on Sunday that the attack occurred on 6 April at about 1 a.m.

According to him, the bandits wanted to destroy the silo and abduct its Manager, Lawal Shitu-Yar’adua.

The agro rangers responded swiftly, engaging the bandits in a fierce gun duel for over two hours, Hamisu said.

“The valiant operatives overpowered the criminals, who scaled the rear fence of the reserve and escaped with serious injuries.

“The silo was not damaged, nor did the criminals succeed in their nefarious act,” the NSCDC spokesman added.

Hamisu said the NSCDC had detailed more personnel to the location and increased the firepower of the operatives to prevent a recurrence of such attack.

According to him, the silo is used to store grains being distributed to people of Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto states.

“The Command remains dedicated to promoting safety and security for the good people of the state and Nigeria as a whole, as well as providing adequate protection of critical national assets and infrastructure.”

 

NAN

The federal government has declared Tuesday and Wednesday as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, minister of interior, announced the public holidays in a congratulatory message to the Islamic faithful in the country.

Eid-el-Fitr festival is celebrated by Muslims worldwide after observing Ramadan fasting for 29 or 30 days.

The minister congratulated all Muslims in the country for the successful completion of the fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.

He called on faithful to imbibe and practice the virtues of kindness, love, tolerance, peace, good neighbourliness, and compassion as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

“The Minister wishes all Muslim Ummah a happy Eid-el-Fitr celebration and prays that the peace, blessings and favour of Allah be with everyone and our Great Nation,” the statement reads.

Tunji-Ojo urged Nigerians to continue in the spirit of unity to improve and achieve peace and oneness in the country.

 

The Cable