Daily Watch – Official petrol prices to go up, Violence rocks rallies in Edo & Rivers

The FG has given approval to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority for an upward review of the official retail price of petrol to ₦185. An official announcement is expected anytime soon, BusinessDay reported. According to the paper’s sources, the increase is to compensate for the current market realities associated with escalating foreign exchange and high lightering charges such as the cost of chartering shuttle vessels for the discharge of petrol. This comes as the Lagos State Government announced a timetable for filling stations operating along major roads and traffic-prone areas within the state. A statement from Transportation Commissioner Frederic Oladeinde said that major and independent petroleum marketers whose filling stations are situated on major highways and areas susceptible to traffic will henceforth be allowed to operate only between the hours of 9 am and 4 pm daily, pending when the fuel shortage crisis abates.

Pandemonium broke out at the Rumuwoji Playground in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital on Thursday following a twin explosion that rocked the campaign rally of the All Progressives Congress. It was gathered that at least three persons were seriously injured in the unfortunate incident. According to reports, two of the victims are women, all of whom were rushed to the hospital for medical attention. The Punch reported that the APC governorship candidate Tonye Cole and the other candidates vying for various positions were present at the rally when the blast occurred. A similar event held by the Peoples Democratic Party in Edo State ended in disarray after unknown men fired gunshots at the campaign ground. The campaign rally was proceeding peacefully in Ward 7 of the Edo Central Local Government Area when the sounds of gunshots fired by suspected political thugs filled the air, forcing the party faithful to scamper in fear. The police has launched investigations into both incidents in which several persons were injured.

Ghana’s government and representatives of individual bondholders have agreed to set up a technical committee to review the bondholders’ petition against their involvement in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). The Committee met on Thursday, with two reps of the bondholders. Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta expressed excitement about the fruitfulness of the engagement to the media after a closed-door meeting with the representatives. In his words, “everyone has understood the country’s economic situation and is ready to support the recovery.” Mr Senyo Hosi, the Convener of the Individual Bondholders Forum, also lauded the efforts of the Minister to engage them for an amicable settlement of the issues. He said they were committed to working with the Minister on the revenue mobilisation streams and expressed hope that they would find a common path going forward as a country.

South Africa announced, on Thursday, the organisation of joint manoeuvres with the Russian and Chinese navies off its coast, in February. “South Africa will host the Chinese and Russian Federation navies in a multilateral maritime exercise between 17 and 27 February,” the South African military confirmed in a statement. “In order to strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China,” the joint manoeuvres will take place off Durban, the largest port in southern Africa, and Richards Bay some 180 km further north, the statement said. “This will be the second time that such an exercise is held in the presence of the three naval forces, the first having taken place in November 2019 in Cape Town,” recalls the army. These manoeuvres will involve more than 350 South African military personnel “from several services and divisions” alongside “their Russian and Chinese counterparts with the aim of sharing skills and operational knowledge,” the statement further said.