TheGuardian Conscience, Nurtured by Truth
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Vol. 30, No. 12,662
www.ngrguardiannews.com
N150
Governor Suntai’s letter splits Taraba Assembly From Charles Akpeji, Jalingo T was a letter meant to strike Iofthe right chord in the hearts lawmakers. It was expected that they would readily agree that the governor was fit to resume work. But the letter has turned out to be a divisive factor in the Taraba State House of Assem-
• Speaker vows gov can’t resume before public address • Says family bars House members from visiting him • Lawmakers allege governor unfit to write • Urge his physical presence, others disagree bly. Some lawmakers insisted yesterday that Governor Danbaba Suntai’s letter to the
House stating his readiness to resume work after his medical treatment abroad was not
enough. They want him to make himself physically available at the
House in order for the lawmakers to assess his fitness for work. These lawmakers even doubt that the governor was the one that wrote the letter. They insist he might not have been fit enough to write the letter. But other lawmakers disagree; they want the House to approve the letter.
Apparently, there were attempts to keep this disagreement from the public domain. This is because the members of the House only met behind closed doors yesterday to discuss the letter. Though none of the lawmakers could be reached for comments, an official of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Zainab Maina (right); United Nations (UN) Women Representative in Nigeria, Grace Ongile and representative of Minister of Petroleum, Esther Nnamdi-Ogbue, during the PHOTO: LADIDI LUCY ELUKPO launch and dissemination of National Action Plan on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 in Abuja… yesterday.
How theft, non-passage of PIB threaten oil production From Collins Olayinka, Abuja NMITIGATED oil theft, U pipeline vandalism, uncertainty over the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and the discovery of oil, shale oil and gas in commercial quantities are impediments that combine to reduce the country’s oil production. The Guardian learnt that the country’s oil production is gradually falling below the two million mark where the
country was shortly before the introduction of the amnesty programme. Nigeria is on the verge of losing its status as the largest oil producer on the continent to Angola. The country’s challenges
have largely been blamed for the upward price movement of crude oil above $100 per barrel. Nigeria budgeted for oil sales of 2.5 million barrels per day in 2013 which, combined with the high petroleum prices,
should have allowed for substantial savings in the Excess Crude Account. But instead of increasing, the fund has been run down from $9 billion in December to $5.1 billion in July. Razia Khan, head of Africa re-
search at Standard Chartered Bank, was quoted by Financial Standard of London as saying that the falling oil revenues should be a worry for the Nigerian government, especially with a presidential election scheduled for early 2015.
Editors urge govt to diversify economy - Page 4 West to attack Syria in days, envoys hint rebels - Page 10
She observed that previous elections in Nigeria had been preceded by a sharp rise in spending and leakages in revenue collection as politicians increased spending for electioneering purposes, and the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Health workers call off strike - Details tomorrow