Headline

Petroleum Minister, Sylva, NNPC Boss, Kyari Sabotaging Refineries Investigation, Reps Alleges

Published

3 years ago

April 21, 2022

The House of Representatives on Thursday accused the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipreye Sylva and the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari of sabotaging refineries investigation.

Chairman of the House adhoc committee investigating rehabilitation of the refineries, Ganiyu Johnson, accused Kyari and the minister of frustrating efforts by the parliament to unravel why Nigeria’s refineries are not working despite billions of dollars spent on their rehabilitation.

He spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday, stressing that the Minister, the Group Managing Director and Managing Director of Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries have refused to appear before the committee on three different occasions.

While summoning them to appear before the House on Thursday, April 28, Johnson said if those concerned had nothing to hide from Nigerians, they would have honoured the invitation from the parliament, adding that failure on their part to honour the invitation is a sign of disrespect for the National Assembly.

The Committee was constituted by the Speaker of the House in January to investigate why the nation is still depending on the importation of petroleum products and a huge amount of money spent on the rehabilitation of the refineries.

He said the NNPC recently awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of the refineries in Kaduna (1.3 billion dollars), Port Harcourt (1.5 billion dollars) and Warri (900 million dollars).

The Committee Chairman said “You may all recall that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila in January 2022 constituted this Committee to determine the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries and what is needed to bring them back to maximum refining capacity.

“The Committee was mandated to determine the true state of the Refineries, ascertain the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries and what is needed for the refineries to function at maximum refining capacity.

“The Committee therefore relying on relevant laws and pursuant to the provisions of sections 62, 88, and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), requested the GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to forward a Status Report on the Nation’s Refineries and the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries from 2012 to date.

“The Committee specifically requested the GMD to provide relevant information and documents that will help in the investigations.

“We are compelled to make this Press Statement because of the continued refusal and flagrant disregard of the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries to the invitations to appear before the Committee.

“We consider this continued refusal and negligence to appear before the Committee as disrespect to the Leadership of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“The Committee is worried that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC) had all been operating at gross losses since 2010 before they were finally shut down in 2019.

“This Committee has the mandate of the House of Representatives and the Constitutional responsibility to demand accountability from those in positions of
managing our resources.

“It is worrisome that the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries have refused on three invitations to appear before the Committee to account for the Billions of Dollars spent on the rehabilitation of the refineries over the years.

“The Committee is aware that the NNPC recently awarded contracts for Rehabilitation of Refineries (WRPC $900 Million, PHRC $1.5 Billion and KRPC $1.3 Billion)

“As Chairman of this Honourable Committee, I hereby summon the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries to appear before the Committee on Thursday 28 April, 2022 to avoid legal, constitutional and parliamentary measures to be taken against them in order to compel them to appear.

“As members of the National Assembly and Representatives of the people, we have the constitutional duty to name and demand from those responsible; the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the GMD of NNPC and the Operators of the Refineries to let us know the problems besetting our refineries in order to proffer solutions for a sustainable future and for the benefit of all Nigerians

“We represent the people and we own the people this responsibility and until they appear, they are stalling our investigation. Unless they have something to hide. Otherwise, by now, we should have made progress. So this should be the last time we are calling on them to appear. Why is the refinery not functioning if they do not have anything to hide.”

DAILY POST

Headline

India Issues Health Alert After Spike In ‘brain-eating’ Amoeba Deaths

Published

1 hour ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

India has issued a health alert after infections and deaths caused by a rare water-borne “brain-eating” amoeba doubled compared to last year in the southern state of Kerala.

Numbers are still tiny but Altaf Ali, a doctor who is part of a government task force to arrest the spread, told AFP that officials were “conducting tests on a large scale across the state to detect and treat cases”.

Officials reported 19 deaths and 72 infections of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba this year, including nine deaths and 24 cases in September alone.

Last year, the amoeba killed nine people out of 36 reported cases.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says it is often called a “brain-eating amoeba” because it can “infect the brain and destroy brain tissue”.

If the amoeba reaches the brain, it can cause an infection that kills over 95 per cent of those affected.

Infections are “very rare but nearly always fatal”, the CDC notes.

The amoeba lives in warm lakes and rivers and is contracted by contaminated water entering the nose. It does not spread from person to person.

The World Health Organisation says that symptoms include headache, fever and vomiting, which rapidly progresses to “seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations, and coma”.

“It’s worrying that new cases this year have emerged from across the state, as opposed to specific pockets in the past,” Ali said.

Since 1962, nearly 500 cases have been reported worldwide, mostly in the United States, India, Pakistan, and Australia.

AFP

Headline

Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger

Published

23 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.

The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.

A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.

“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.

“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.

Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.

Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.

Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.

The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.

Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.

Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.

AFP

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

2 days ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP