Guber poll: Some persons stockpiling arm to cause mayhem in Kogi East – Makama

By Christiana Ekpa

The Director-General, Special Task Force on Illegal Smuggling of Firearms in Kogi State, Elder Friday Sani Makama, has lamented the proliferation of firearms among youths in Kogi East ahead of the November 11 governorship election in the State.

Addressing journalists in Lokoja on Sunday, Makama explained that some influential personalities in the eastern axis are already empowering some youths with dangerous weapons to cause mayhem in the next governorship election.

The former Kogi State House of Assembly lawmaker, while noting that his office cannot be distracted by ethnic bias, said the task force is ready to clamp down on any miscreant across the three senatorial districts.

He described as unfortunate the misconception of some individuals concerning the task force set up by Governor Yahaya Bello to curb illegal arms handling across the three senatorial districts.

“The Governor understudied all my achievements in the past and married it with my admission into the international police corporation and said, ‘we can still make use of this man, bring all these youths and convince them to return arms under their control so that the State can be free of armed robbery, kidnapping, thuggery and many more’.

“Since my appointment, I have received several calls, including some very highly-placed persons who call me to tell me ‘look, the target is that the Governor is trying to make sure that my office will go to Kogi East Senatorial District and disarm them so that the Governor can unleash terror against the people of Kogi East’.

They said I should not allow myself to be used. They said they don’t want these young people to be disarmed.

“So that means they have already armed them. That is the meaning. That means the Government has properly contemplated them. They said I should not allow myself to be used to disarm the youths in Kogi East. That the arm they have is the only thing they can rely upon now to do this election.

“You can see. And I asked these prominent citizens, indigenous people of this State. I asked them this question. Do you have any of your children in any part of Kogi East now that have the arms to be able to fight in the next election against the Government in power?

“And the answer is the negative. None of them have their children at home. They are simply giving arms and ammunition to innocent poor children at home so that they can create mayhem.

“My appointment by the Governor has been able to prove the fact that several youths are already being armed to create mayhem in the next election, and I don’t think that there is any reasonable government that will have that level of intelligence and watch you succeed in creating mayhem in the State. Our mandate is very simple, which is to assist security agencies to uncover arms and ammunition across the State.

“In doing this, we work with the Department of State Service (DSS), Nigeria police and other sister security agencies to achieve the targeted goal”, he explained.

Makama lauded Governor Bello for his proactive actions, which led to his appointment, saying, “Governor Bello has quickly stopped enemies from doing their evil biddings in Kogi State”.

Group rejects APC’s micro-zoning of Deputy Speakership to S’East, says it’s insult

By Christiana Ekpa

ASouth East youth-based group, Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL) has rejected the micro-zoning of the position of Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives to the South East.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) recently announced that the position had been micro-zoned to the zone and that Hon Benjamin Kalu, an Abia member-elect, has been penciled down for the position.

But reacting to the development, COSEYL, in a press release signed by its PresidentGeneral and Publicity Secretary,

Hon. Goodluck Ibem and Comrade Okey Nwaoru, respectively, said it was insulting to zone such a position to the South East.

The group also added that Kalu, who was penciled down for the office, still has his victory being contested and cannot represent the Igbo nation.

The group said: “While the political goal and aspiration of Ndigbo are beyond the post of the Senate President, we cannot identify with a character like Benjamin Kalu, not to talk of endorsing him to represent the political interest of the entire South East as a federal parliamentarian holding the post of the Deputy Speaker.

“For emphasis, the Igbo are a major ethnic group in Nigeria, also one of the tripodal arrangements upon which the nation itself stands. We cannot be reduced to the background by the APC-led Federal Government, no matter the scheming or agenda.

“How can a region like the South East, with its homogeneous makeup, be relegated when it comes to sharing the spoils if not for the phobia APC has about the Igbo nation, which the party has continued to uphold?

“The post of a Deputy Speaker is beneath the political aspiration of Ndigbo and we reject and shall continue to resist it. We call on well-meaning sons and daughters of Igboland to disregard the endorsement of Benjamin Kalu.”

The group further condemned the APC zoning arrangement, saying, “This charade by the APC is an insult to the political sensibility of Ndigbo, and we reject it in its entirety, no matter those behind it, and will continue to reject it.”

It added that if Hon Kalu was given the deputy speakership position, he would still lose it because the circumstances of his emergence are now being contested after he garnered more votes from his federal constituency than what the presidential candidate of APC got in the entire South East region.

Angola overtakes Nigeria as Africa’s top crude producer

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Angola overtook Nigeria to emerge top African crude oil producer for the month of April, data from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has shown.

According to the April 2023 Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) published by the oil cartel, Angola recorded 1.06 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production in April, up from 972,000 bpd recorded in March.

But Nigeria recorded an output of 999,000 bpd in April compared to 1.3 million bpd in March. The April output figure represented the lowest production rate the nation has recorded in 2023.

On an annual basis, Nigeria’s output level also indicated a drop of 16.7 per cent to 999,000 bpd in April 2023, from 1.2 million bpd recorded in the corresponding period of April 2022.

“Nigeria’s economy faced challenges in gaining momentum in the first quarter of 2023, with business activity and consumer spending remaining subdued, in addition to high input-cost inflation and lower employment levels compared with the previous year,” the oil cartel said in the report.

In recent years, Nigeria has recorded a surge in pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft incidents in its oil-producing region, a development that worsened the nation’s revenue challenge.

The recent drop in the country’s crude production comes at a time when the Nigerian government postponed the June deadline for subsidy removal.

Earlier in the month, data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that Nigeria produced an average of 998,602 barrels of crude oil per day in April. The figure represented a fall in production from the 1.2 million bpd recorded in March.

OPEC in its report noted that oil production from the 13 members of the cartel averaged 28.60 million barrels per day in April, lower by 191,000 bpd compared to March.

The report found that OPEC’s Gulf producers – Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates – met output targets under the OPEC+ deal with steady production.

Three producers exempted from supply cuts -Libya, Iran and Venezuela – also recorded varying output. While Iranian output was steady, Libya’s output edged lower and Venezuelan production rose slightly, boosting global supply.

Earlier in April, OPEC had agreed to cut output by about 1.27 million bpd as part of a total 2 million bpd reduction OPEC+ pledged in 2022.