Daily Watch – Buhari reverses Seplat deal, Tinubu warns Obi over supporters
11th August 2022
President Buhari has reversed his authorisation of the acquisition of ExxonMobil Corporation assets by Seplat Energy. In February, Seplat had agreed to acquire the entire share capital of MPNU from Exxon Mobil for $1.3 billion. Presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu said that Buhari had decided to support the position of the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) in the deal. He said previous confusion was because “various agencies involved in (the) decision had not coordinated well among themselves”. On Monday, President Buhari had approved the acquisition of ExxonMobil Corporation assets by Seplat Energy despite moves by the state-owned oil company to block the deal. But in a twist of events, the NUPRC frowned at the approval, describing it as a regulatory matter. In May, the commission declined to approve the proposed acquisition due to “overriding national interest”. In a corporate filing on Wednesday, Seplat Energy said it followed due process in the acquisition of the assets.
The hike in diesel price has forced the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) to reduce the number of trips on the Lagos-Ibadan Train Service by about 66.67 percent. It was also learnt that the corporation had sent recommendations to the Federal Ministry of Transportation for an adjustment in the transport fare on the train service. The Managing Director, NRC, Fidet Okhiria, told The Punch that though the service was still running, its trips had been reduced due to the persistent hike in diesel price. “The Lagos-Ibadan train service is running but we have reduced the number of trips on that route because of the diesel problem. We reduced the number of trips we are running because of the hike in diesel price,” he stated. Asked whether the NRC would raise its transport fare as a result of the increase in diesel price, the corporation’s boss stated that it was outside the powers of the corporation to hike fares. He explained that it was the federal government’s responsibility to make such a decision, but noted that the NRC had made recommendations for adjustments.
The All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu has called on his Labour Party opponent, Peter Obi, to caution his supporters against purveying fake news. Speaking on behalf of Asiwaju, the Director of Media and Communications of the Tinubu Campaign Organisation(TCO), Bayo Onanuga alleged that the supporters of Obi have been disseminating fake news to the general public, damaging the reputation of the APC candidate. Reacting to the tweet by the Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo that he never wrote a letter to Tinubu, asking him to step down for Peter Obi and take care of his health, the TCO media Director asked Obi to disavow his supporters who are employing fake news against the former Lagos State Governor. “We have come to a point where it becomes imperative to tell Obi to show leadership and disavow his supporters who are employing fake news and disinformation as deliberate tools to deceive and poison the minds of unsuspecting Nigerians,” Onanuga stated.
A major collective that has been opposing the ruling junta in Guinea for several months and which had spearheaded the protest against former President Conde,, has been dissolved by a government order as it prepared a new demonstration. “The de facto grouping known as the National Front for the Defence of the Constitution is dissolved” and “this order (…) takes effect from the date of its signature”, says the document signed by Mory Condé, Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralisation. The National Front for the Defence of the Constitution (FNDC), a coalition of parties, trade unions and civil society organisations, was at the initiative of the demonstrations organised on 28 and 29 July, banned by the authorities and in which five people were killed, to denounce the “unilateral management of the transition” by the junta. The announcement of the dissolution was leaked on social networks following a new call for demonstrations by the FNDC on 17 August throughout Guinea to denounce the absence of “credible dialogue” between the junta, political parties and civil society. “Their modus operandi is structured by violent actions during banned demonstrations, attacks against individuals who do not share their ideology, and targeted actions against the forces of order,” the government said in the order. “This de facto grouping (…) provokes armed demonstrations on public roads and places, having the actions of a fighting group and private militias,” it continued.