Headline

Group Drags Buhari To Court For Spending N1.48trn On Refineries Maintenance In 5yrs Without Crude Oil

Published

3 years ago

May 15, 2022

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, has sued President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration over failure to probe N1.48 trillion allegedly spent on maintaining the country’s four refineries between 2015 and 2020 believed to have been stolen, mismanaged or diverted into private pockets.

Joined in the suit as Respondent is Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN.

The government reportedly spent N10.23 billion in June 2020 on three refineries that processed zero crude. Also in 2021, the government approved $1.5 billion (about N600 billion) to repair the Port Harcourt refinery. Despite the huge spending, the refineries are still not working while fuel scarcity persists.

In the suit filed last week at the Federal High Court, Lagos by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Adelanke Aremo, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to investigate the spending on Nigeria’s refineries, and alleged mismanagement of public funds budgeted for maintaining the refineries since 1999.”

SERAP is also seeking “an order of mandamus to compel President Buhari to ensure the prosecution of anyone suspected to be responsible for the importation and distribution of dirty fuel into Nigeria, and to identify and ensure access to justice and effective remedies to affected victims.

“An order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to instruct appropriate anti-corruption agencies to jointly track and monitor the spending of public funds to rehabilitate, operate, and maintain Nigeria’s refineries.”

The filed suit read in part: “Nigeria has made legally binding commitments under the UN Convention against Corruption to ensure accountability in the management of public resources. These commitments ought to be fully upheld and respected.

“Directing and compelling President Buhari to probe allegations of corruption and mismanagement of the money meant to repair the country’s refineries would advance the rights of victims of corruption to restitution, compensation and guarantee of non-repetition.

“Combating the corruption epidemic in the oil sector would alleviate poverty, improve access of Nigerians to basic public goods and services, and enhance the ability of the government to meet its human rights and anti-corruption obligations.

“High-ranking public officials, including officers of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited suspected of complicity in the allegations of corruption and mismanagement in the oil sector, and the importation and distribution of adulterated fuel have continued to enjoy impunity.

“According to reports, petroleum products with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification were recently imported into the country.

“NNPC reportedly stated that the methanol-blended petrol was imported into the country by a few suppliers through four premium motor spirit cargoes under its Direct Sales Direct Purchase (DSDP) arrangement.

“According to reports, for every 200 litres of the adulterated product, 800 litres of petrol with good quality would be required for the blending to be done.

“According to reports, the government spends over N264 billion annually to operate and maintain the country’s refineries. Successive governments have reportedly spent trillions of Naira to rehabilitate, operate and maintain the refineries that have produced little or no fuel.

“The government reportedly spent $396 million for maintenance of the country’s refineries between 2015 and 2020 alone. Despite this huge spending, millions of Nigerians continue to lack access to full and unhindered supply of fuel.

“About N82.82 billion was reportedly spent in 2015; N78.95 billion in 2016; N604.127 billion in 2017; N426.66 billion in 2019; N218.18 billion in 2019, and N64.534 billion expenditure was recorded from January to June 2020.”

However, no date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit,” VANGUARD reports.

Headline

Ghana Jails Three Nigerians For 96 Years Over Car Theft

Published

12 hours ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

A court in Ghana has sentenced three Nigerians to a combined 96 years in prison for stealing cars in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

The convicts – Francis Friday, Linus Agwazie, and Russell Ekenze – were arrested on June 20 after being accused of stealing parked vehicles.

According to the Ashanti Regional Police spokesperson, Godwin Ahianyo, the suspects were taken to court on July 22 at Atasemanso, where they were found guilty of car theft.

Headline

Tinubu, French President Macron Hold Private Meeting

Published

13 hours ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday met with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron.

Tinubu met Macron for a working private lunch at the Élysée Palace, Paris.

This was disclosed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, via X.

According to Onanuga: “President Bola Tinubu, with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, during a working private lunch at the Elysee Palace, Paris. Wednesday, September 10, 2025.”

At the time of filing this report, the agenda of the meeting had yet to be made public.

On September 4, Tinubu commenced his annual working leave.

He departed Abuja to commence his 2025 annual leave, which is expected to last for 10 working days.

During his leave, the president is expected to visit France and the United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria.

Headline

UN Report Places Nigeria 4th Globally In Attacks On School Children

Published

14 hours ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

Nigeria has been ranked fourth among countries with the highest levels of “grave violations” against school children in armed conflict, according to a United Nations report.

The UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report on children and armed conflict, released in 2025, revealed that it verified 41,370 attacks — the highest number of grave violations against children in nearly three decades.

The violations, which include abduction, recruitment, and sexual violence, placed Nigeria behind Israel (and the occupied Palestinian territory), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Somalia.

According to the report, Israel recorded 8,554 cases of grave violations in 2024, followed by 4,043 in DRC, 2,568 in Somalia, 2,436 in Nigeria, and 2,269 in Haiti.

While non-state armed groups were linked to half of the attacks, the report noted that government forces were the main perpetrators of killings, maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as the denial of humanitarian access.

It further disclosed that attacks on schools surged globally by 44 per cent between 2022 and 2023, while the use of schools for military purposes rose by 20 per cent. Over 10,000 students and teachers were either killed, abducted, arrested, or injured during this period.

“These violations threaten not only individual lives but the future of entire communities,” the report said.

Virginia Gamba, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, warned that children caught in conflicts are being “robbed of their childhood” as governments and armed groups persist in violating international laws.

The report also revealed that more than 3,000 children were detained for alleged involvement with armed groups, an increase from the previous year. Gamba urged governments to treat these children primarily as victims and explore alternatives to detention.

It recommended the full implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, calling on countries to strengthen resilient education systems.

The report’s release comes ahead of a high-level event in Geneva to mark the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

Nigeria, which endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2018, developed a policy on violence-free schools in 2021 and established the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre to oversee funding and coordination of security measures.

However, implementation has faced challenges, with the initiative’s enrollment rate reported at 11,000 by mid-2025.