Officers from the Department of State Services have taken control of the Abuja office of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.

SERAP described the action as an ‘unlawful occupation’.

This was contained in a statement released by SERAP on its X handle on Monday.

SERAP said the officers are demanding to meet with the organisation’s directors.

It called on President Bola Tinubu to intervene.

“President Tinubu must immediately direct the SSS to end the harassment, intimidation and attack on the rights of Nigerians,” SERAP urged.

This is coming barely 24 hours after the organisation urged Tinubu to leverage his leadership and authority to instruct the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to promptly reverse the seemingly illegal and unconstitutional hike in the pump price of premium motor spirit, commonly known as petrol, at its retail outlets.

Misinformation on new petrol pricing sprang from between the Dangote Group and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited between Thursday and Saturday.

According to FIJ the seed of the misinformation on new petrol pricing came from Dangote.

Dangote has since deleted a post on microblogging platform X in which it claimed that the NNPC had “the sole authority” to determine the price of petrol in Nigeria.

Since the Dangote Refinery and Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Group, announced its readiness to begin selling its petrol product into the domestic market, there has been much public debate on the appropriate cost of the refinery’s petrol per litre.

On Thursday, the company posted a media flyer, featuring Aliko Dangote with a quote, to the effect that only the NNPC could decide how much a litre of petrol sold for in Nigeria.

“NNPC has the sole authority to determine price of petrol,” Dangote Group said in the post.

This claim made the news. However, it has now been deleted, but not without forcing a rebuttal from the NNPC, which is the petroleum industry regulator.

“WE DON’T DETERMINE PRICES”
Hours after the Dangote Group’s claim, the regulator told Nigerians that it had no such power to determine a price. It claimed that it was a decision strictly in the invisible hands of the market forces envisaged by the law.

Rightly so, Section 205 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), the NNPC’s establishment law, states that prices of petrol would be determined by the unrestricted market conditions. It says, “Subject to the provision of this section, wholesale and retail prices of petroleum products shall be based on unrestricted free market pricing conditions.”

Olufemi Soneye, the NNPC chief corporate communications officer, also said in a statement on Thursday that the market had been deregulated.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) has stated that foreign exchange (forex) illiquidity has been a significant factor influencing the fluctuation in prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), which are governed by unrestricted free market forces, as provided for in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), 2021.

“The market has been deregulated, meaning that petrol prices are now determined by market forces rather than by the government or NNPC Ltd. Additionally, the exchange rate plays a significant role in influencing these prices.”

Prices of petrol hover around N900 to N1,200 per litre in major parts of Nigeria.

As the government claims it has withdrawn subsidy payments completely, some have argued that the prices would remain unstable and petrol could sell higher than they currently do.

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, has been apprehended by operatives from the Department of the State Services.

ThePAPERS gathered that the NLC President was arrested on Monday morning at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, on his way to the United Kingdom for an official assignment.

Ajaero was billed to attend the Trade Union Congress conference in London, which begins today.

Confirming the development in a post via its official X handle, the NLC said Ajaero’s arrest is an assault on Nigerian workers.

It reads, “The assault on Nigerian workers continues. President of the NLC, Joe Ajaero, was arrested and abducted by men of the DSS at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, this morning on his way to attend an official engagement of TUC United Kingdom, and he is now detained at the office of the NSA.

“This intimidation and assault must stop!!!”

Recall that the Nigeria Police Force had invited and interrogated Ajaero over allegations of terrorism financing, cybercrime, subversion, criminal conspiracy, and treasonable felony.

His invitation came in the wake of a night raid by the police on the NLC national secretariat in Abuja.

The police are alleging a link between the labour leader and a Briton, Andrew Wynne, who has been accused of financing the recent #EndBadGovernance or #Hunger protest in the country to allegedly overthrow the government of President Bola Tinubu.

Following Ajaero’s first appearance on August 29, the police, in another letter signed by the Commissioner of Police, Operations, Ibitoye Alajide, on behalf of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department, Abuja, asked him to appear again on Thursday, September 5, alongside with the NLC General Secretary “to answer questions over alleged criminal intimidation, conducts likely to cause a breach of public peace, and malicious damage to property.”

The letter read: “In furtherance of investigations into the alleged case of criminal intimidation, conducts likely to cause breach of public peace and malicious damage to properties in which your name featured, you are requested to come along with Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja for an interview with the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department, FID, through the undersigned, at SPO’s Room 112, 2nd Floor, Force Intelligence Department (FID) Complex, Shehu Shagari Way, opposite Force Headquarters Area 11, Garki, Abuja on Thursday, 5th September 2024 at 11 am.”

New details have surfaced about the resignation of Ajuri Ngelale, President Bola Tinubu’s spokesperson, as reported by PREMIUM TIMES.

Ngelale cited family medical issues as the reason for stepping down from his position. However, it is suspected that he may have left due to concerns of facing potential humiliation in office.

The administration has been actively searching for a skilled and proficient media expert to take over from Mr. Ngelale in recent weeks. Sources within the administration have indicated that the current journalist has not shown adequate capability to effectively fulfill the requirements of the position.

Mr Ngelale held two key positions simultaneously – special adviser to the president on media and publicity and special presidential envoy on climate action/ chairman, Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

However, sources said, the presidency recently directed Mr Ngelale to focus on his climate action role while another individual is appointed to serve as media adviser and spokesperson to the president.

But when Mr Ngelale expressed a preference to retain the media adviser position while stepping down from the Climate change role, the presidency declined.

Those familiar with the matter said he was told he could remain on the president’s media team but that he would still have to be bossed by a new appointee to the position.

This exchange and subsequent events that happened in the presidential villa rattled Mr Ngelale. For weeks, he was blocked from meeting Mr Tinubu and was also not included in the president’s delegation to China, our sources said.

President Tinubu, who came to power last year, appointed Mr Ngelale as his spokesperson in August 2023, urging him to bring his wealth of experience to the assignment.

Government sources told PREMIUM TIMES that Ngelale was appointed on the recommendation of Seyi Tinubu, the president’s son.

But not long after the appointment, sources said it became clear to the president, his son and some members of his cabinet that Mr Ngelale lacked the requisite “experience, contacts and networks” needed for the job.

Before becoming Tinubu’s media adviser, Ngelale was one of the spokespersons for the presidential campaign council of the All Progressives Congress ahead of the 2023 general elections.

He started his journalism career in 2011 as a broadcaster with the Africa Independent Television and later with Channels TV. His total media experience is below eight years.

Mr Ngelale previously served as senior special assistant on public affairs in the office of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Sources in the presidency said when Ngelale saw that he could no longer access the president, he decided to withdraw from the job. “He was isolated even by those who brought him to take the position,” one of our sources said.

President Tinubu and his team expected better performance from Ngelale, presidency insiders told PREMIUM TIMES.

“Except for his occasional TV appearances, Ngelale was unreachable even to journalists,” an official said. “He hardly responds to messages or return calls.”

Another official said the spokesperson had little contact with local and international media and commanded little respect from media owners, editors, and leading journalists in Nigeria.
“It is a misnomer and a miscalculation for the President to have appointed such a junior journalist to such a senior position. It is no surprise that he could not deliver as expected,” the official said.

Last year, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) queried Mr Ngelale’s qualifications and competence as the president’s spokesperson.

The NIPR said Mr Ngelale was not ‘fit’ to hold that “exalted position” because he lacked the basic “knowledge and requisite training on public relations.”

In a statement on Saturday night, President Tinubu accepted Ngelale’s exit plan and “sympathises with the circumstances that have led to this seemingly difficult decision.” Mr Tinubu extended his heartfelt prayers and best wishes to Ngelale and his family during this challenging moment.

Ngelale said his decision to depart was “agonising” even though it was taken after “significant consultations” with family over the past several days.

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, on Sunday, tackled President Bola Tinubu’s administration over its lavish spending.

Primate Ayodele said the lavish spending of Tinubu’s administration was destroying and killing Nigeria’s economy instead of looking for ways to repair it.

In a statement signed by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, the clergyman noted that Nigeria’s economy will not smile with the attitude of the government, which he said involved unnecessary spending.

According to Primate Ayodele: ‘’President Tinubu is further destroying Nigeria’s economy instead of looking for ways to repair it. The unnecessary lavish spending isn’t helping the country.

“Sometimes I wonder if these government officials don’t know what is going on because if they do, the government shouldn’t be buying some things at this trying time.

‘’I still don’t see our economy smiling in 2025, the government should cut cost, the government is killing the economy with all these unnecessary expenditure, Nigeria is in real trouble but the government is acting like it doesn’t care.’’

The Senate has postponed the public hearing for the alleged sabotage in the petroleum industry in tackling the lingering crisis in the sector.

The Leader of the Senate and Chairman of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee to investigate the crisis, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele made this known in a statement on Sunday.

Recall that the Senate had invited some key stakeholders in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector to appear before the committee at a public hearing scheduled for September 10 to 12, 2024.

The stakeholders include the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dangote Refinery and the Nigeria Ports Authority.

However, as an update, the Senate explained that the hearing was postponed “to consult more widely with expanded stakeholders within and without the petroleum industry and legislative exigencies to further deepen due diligence in the conduct of the investigative hearing.

“While we deeply regret all inconveniences it may have caused all the stakeholders collectively or individually, this decision was taken purely and solely in the national interest.”

This comes amid the recent petrol pump price hike by NNPCL which the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and other Nigerians have called for its immediate reversal.