Connect with us

Headline

IPMAN Woos Soludo On Oil And Gas Sector Reforms

Published

on

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria has congratulated Prof. Chukwuma Soludo on his assumption of office as the newly-elected Governor of Anambra State.

Chairman of IPMAN, Enugu Depot Community in charge of Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu States, Chinedu Anyaso, gave the congratulatory message in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Awka on Friday.

Advertisement

Anyaso lauded Soludo’s proposed revitalisation of the economy of the state that would be independent of oil, by activating its internally generated revenue base, as well as strengthening its fiscal regime.

The IPMAN boss noted that the exploration of oil in commercial quantities and recognition of Anambra as an oil-producing state, provided a propitious opportunity for Soludo to revitalise the state’s oil sector.

“We are happy that Gov. Soludo in his inaugural address showed leadership. With his experience and reach, he has the capacity to help build the South-East economy.

Advertisement

“IPMAN believes that it is an opportunity to develop the oil and gas sector of Anambra and the entire South-East,” Anyaso remarked.

He, however, agitated that the absence of a functional petroleum depot in the zone was posing a serious challenge to marketers in the area, as marketers in the zone now relied on Lagos, Calabar and Warri for products – with attendant risks and additional costs.

Right now, we don’t have a functional NNPC depot, tank farm, or refinery in the zone and all these are affecting our operations of sourcing materials.

Advertisement

“So we are hoping that with the oil exploration activities, Prof. Soludo in collaboration with his colleagues in the area will look in the direction of citing a tank farm or refinery in the state; this will not only ease our business, but also boost the economy,” he said.

READ ALSO: Bianca, Obiano’s Wife Fight: Disgrace To Anambra – Nollywood Actress

Following his landmark victory at the November 6, 2021 polls under the umbrella of the All Progressives Grand Alliance party, Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo was sworn-in as Anambra State Governor on March 17, 2022, taking the gubernatorial baton from his predecessor, Willie Obiano, who had spent two-terms as governor of the state.

Advertisement

The apex bank chief, loved by many, has been described as the ‘liberator’ of Ndi Anambra, in repositioning the economy of the state, just as the opposition fringe are all fingers-crossed in stark anticipation of his liberationist wonderments.

(NAN/PUNCH)

Advertisement

Headline

Iran Has Executed At Least 841 People This Year — UN

Published

on

At least 841 people have been executed in Iran since the start of the year, the UN said Friday, decrying “a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation”.

The United Nations’ human rights office said there had been a “major increase in executions” by Tehran during the first half of 2025.

Advertisement

Iranian authorities have executed at least 841 people since the beginning of the year,” spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.

“The real situation might be different,” she added. “It might be worse, given the lack of transparency.”

In July alone, she said, Iran had executed at least 110 individuals — twice the number of people executed in July 2024.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Why Nigeria Needs Female President – Presidential Aspirant

The high number of executions indicates a systematic pattern of using the death penalty as a tool of state intimidation, with disproportionate targeting of ethnic minorities and migrants,” Shamdasani added.

She cited the executions of Afghan nationals, and of Baluch, Kurdish, and Arab citizens.

Advertisement

In the first six months of the year, at least 289 people were executed for drug-related offences.

Shamdasani said the pattern witnessed across multiple countries showed that when their governments perceive threats to their grip on public order, they become increasingly repressive and less tolerant of dissent.

– Hangings before children –

Advertisement

The spokeswoman in particular criticised the staging of public executions in Iran. The rights office documented seven such cases since the beginning of the year — some reportedly in front of children.

READ ALSO:We Would Have Killed Iran’s Supreme Leader If Given Opportunity – Israel

Public executions add an extra layer of outrage upon human dignity… not only on the dignity of the people concerned — the people who are executed — but also on all those who have to bear witness,” she said.

Advertisement

“The psychological trauma of bearing witness to somebody being hanged in public, particularly for children, is unacceptable.”

The UN human rights office said there were serious concerns over due process in capital punishment cases.

What we are particularly worried about is that a lot of these death sentences are imposed based on vague laws,” the spokeswoman said, such as charges of enmity against God.

Advertisement

Shamdasani said that 11 individuals were currently facing “imminent execution” in Iran, including six charged with “armed rebellion” due to alleged membership of the exiled opposition People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (MEK).

READ ALSO:US Struck Iran With B-2 Bombers, Submarine-launched Missiles – Top US General

The other five had been sentenced to death over their participation in large-scale protests in 2022, she said. Iran’s supreme court last week confirmed the death sentence against workers’ rights activist Sharifeh Mohammadi, she added.

Advertisement

The UN rights office was urging Iran’s government “not to implement the death penalty against these and other individuals on death row”, Shamdasani said.

The death penalty is incompatible with the right to life and irreconcilable with human dignity,” she added.

“It creates an unacceptable risk of executing innocent people. It should never be imposed for conduct that is protected under international human rights law.”

Advertisement

UN human rights chief Volker Turk is calling on Tehran to impose a moratorium on the application of capital punishment, as a step towards abolition.
AFP

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Russia Hits Out At Macron For Calling Putin ‘Ogre’

Published

on

Moscow on Friday slammed Emmanuel Macron for what it called “vulgar insults”, after the French president called Russian leader Vladimir Putin a “predator” and “ogre”.

Macron warned European leaders not to trust Putin in an interview with the LCI broadcaster last week.

Advertisement

“For his own survival, (he) needs to keep eating … That means he is a predator, an ogre at our gates,” Macron said.

READ ALSO:Russia Claims More Ukraine Land As Hopes For Summit Fade

He made the comments after a landmark meeting with US President Donald Trump along with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies in Washington.

Advertisement

Russia’s foreign ministry slammed the remarks: “They cross the line of not just reasonableness, but decency, becoming vulgar insults against Russia and its people,” spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a televised briefing.

Moscow has long criticised France’s support for Ukraine and accused Paris of provoking the conflict. France has been one of Kyiv’s staunchest backers since Russia launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022, supplying weapons and financial aid.

AFP

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Headline

Trump Moves To Cut More Foreign Aid, Risking Shutdown

Published

on

US President Donald Trump has moved to block $5 billion of congressionally-approved foreign aid, the White House said Friday — raising the likelihood of a federal shutdown as Democrats oppose the policy.

The cuts “affect programs of the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development,” Trump wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives.

Advertisement

The Republican president “will always put AMERICA FIRST,” the White House Office of Management and Budget said on social media, releasing a copy of the letter.

The Trump administration has effectively dismantled USAID, the chief US foreign aid agency, since taking office.

READ ALSO:Russia Hits Ukraine With ‘Massive’ Deadly Overnight Strikes

Advertisement

Founded in 1961 as John F. Kennedy sought to leverage aid to win over the developing world in the Cold War, USAID has been incorporated into the State Department after Secretary of State Marco Rubio slashed 85 percent of its programming.

Trump, after taking office for the second time in January, launched a sweeping campaign to downsize or dismantle swaths of the US government.

Republicans control both chambers of Congress, but need Democrat support in the Senate to pass new spending laws.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Two US Pastors Arrested In $50m Human Trafficking, Fraud Case

Trump, deploying a little-tested legislative tactic, has sought to claw back the spending late in the fiscal year so that Congress may not have time to vote before the funding expires next month.

Democrats have warned that any attempt to reverse funding already approved by Congress would end any negotiations to avoid budgetary paralysis, the so-called shutdown, after September 30.

Advertisement

The United States last averted shutdown, with hours to spare, in March.

Shutdowns are rare but disruptive and costly, as everyday functions like food inspections halt, and parks, monuments and federal buildings shut up shop.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending