The completion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals in Lagos State is remarkable one.
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Monday commission the plant which is arguably Africa’s biggest oil refinery and the worlds biggest simple-train facility.
There is no doubt that this venture will create more employment opportunities for Nigeria’s teeming population.
Beyond this, here are 21 facts about the refinery that everyone interested should know.
1. It is located in Ibeju, Lagos, Covering a land area of approximately 2,635 hectares.
2. World’s Largest Single-Train 650,000 barrels per day Petroleum Refinery with 900 KTPA Polypropylene Plant.
3. The Refinery is powered by a 435 MW Power Plant.
4. At full capacity, it can meet 100% of the Nigerian requirement of all refined products and also have surplus for export.
5. Designed for 100% Nigerian Crude with flexibility to process other crudes.
6. Self-sufficient marine facility with ability for freight optimisation. Largest single order of 5 SPMs anywhere in the world.
7. Diesel & gasoline from the refinery will conform to Euro V specifications.
8. The refinery design complies with World Bank, US EPA, European emission norms and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) emission/effluent norms.
9. It incorporates state-of-the-art technology.
10. It is designed to process large variety of crudes including many of the African Crudes, some of the Middle Eastern Crudes and the US Light Tight Oil.
11. About 65 million cubic metres of sand dredged, costing approximately €300 million, using the world’s largest dredgers.
12. Over 1,200 units of various equipment were bought to enhance the local capacity for site works.
13. Dangote Group bought 332 cranes to build up equipment installation capacity.
14. Also built is the world’s largest granite quarry to supply coarse aggregate, stone column material, stone base, stone dust & material for break water (10 million tonnes per year production capacity).
15. In a bid to bring over dimensional cargoes close to the site directly, Dangote Group had to develop a port and constructed two quays with a load bearing capacity of 25 tonnes/sq metre.
16. Constructed two more quays in the port with a capacity to handle up to Panamax vessels to export, two quays to handle liquid cargoes.
17. The port will have 6 quays, including a roll-on/roll-off quay.
18. In the course of the civil works, 700 piles were drilled on some days, with total number of piles up to 250,000.
19. It has 177 tanks of 4.742 billion litres capacity
20. Dangote is one of the few companies in the world executing a Petroleum Refinery and a Petrochemical complex directly as an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) Contractor.
21. Training of 900 young engineers in refinery operations abroad. Mechanical Engineers trained in the GE University in Italy. Process engineers trained by Honeywell/UOP for six months.
Meanwhile, everyone, it seems, looks forward to the production of Petroleum products from the plant after this symbolic activity.
BVI Channel 1 wonders why Nigeria refineries cannot work optimally to serve the interest of 200 million Nigerians but allowed a monopolist like Dangote to exploit consumers . We are watching .
Ahead of today’s ruling on the application for live transmission of the proceedings of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress have disagreed over the need for the hearing to be broadcast by the media.
The PDP and LP told The PUNCH on Sunday that the live telecast of the court sittings would remove any doubts about the transparency of the judiciary and promote fairness, but the APC argued that it would not advance the course of justice.
The PDP and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, who came second behind the President-elect, Bola Tinubu in the February 25 election, had prayed the tribunal to broadcast its sittings live to Nigerians to enable them to have firsthand information of the processes that would guide the tribunal in determining the authentic winner of the contest.
Atiku and the PDP in an application dated May 5, filed by their counsel, Chris Uche, SAN, specifically prayed to the court for an order directing the court’s registry and the parties on modalities for admission of media practitioners and their equipment into the courtroom.
The LP and its standard bearer, Peter Obi filed a similar application through their lead counsel, Awa Kalu, SAN, in which they argued that Nigerians being stakeholders have a right to have real-time information about the election petition proceedings.
However, the Independent National Electoral Commission, the president-elect and the APC vehemently opposed the application, describing it as frivolous.
They argued that the application relates to policy formulation of the court, which is outside the PEPC’s jurisdiction as constituted.
Counsel for APC, Lateef Fagbemi, asked the court not to concede the request to turn the court into “a Big Brother electoral series.”
The counsel to the president-elect, Wole Olanipekun, SAN, noted that the live broadcast if approved, would expose both the judges and lawyers to danger while the counsel to INEC, Abubakar Mahmoud, SAN, argued that the application was needless since already, “the court is a public place and is accessible to all, subject to the availability of space.”
After hearing the arguments from all the parties last Thursday, the court reserved a ruling on the application till Monday (today).
But speaking on the issue ahead of the ruling, Obi is insisting on the live broadcast of the court proceedings.
Obi, who spoke to our correspondent through his media aide, Emeka Obasi, urged the tribunal to rule in favour of his application in the interest of transparency and democracy.
He said, “We are in the modern age where transparency is required. An election is being disputed by four political parties. To be fair and for equity, it is very much expected that processes are steamed live for people to follow. We are talking about over 200 million Nigerians. The courtroom cannot contain 1,000 people.
“Every interested Nigerian should be given the access to see for himself or herself the proceedings of the most important ruling in the history of the country. So, if we are practising democracy, the tribunal has nothing other than to approve the live streaming.”
Buttressing his principal’s arguments, the Spokesperson for Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Yunusa Tanko noted that the approval of the live broadcast would build trust and restore “the hope of the common man as the judiciary is seen to be the hope of the common man, especially now that the judiciary is seen also to be on trial.”
PDP insists on broadcast
In a telephone conversation with The PUNCH on Sunday, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba gave strong reasons for the party’s demand for a live telecast of the hearing.
According to him, voters needed to be carried along by the tribunal throughout its sittings to give them a sense of participation.
He noted, “Live telecast is consistent with democracy because participatory democracy provides that the people have the right to know. As a party, we are saying that elections are a process, not an event.
‘’The Independent National Electoral Commission in its guidelines to the elections under the Electoral Act enjoins parties to be transparent and in most cases, what the political parties did were televised.’’
“The process which led to the emergence of the candidates which is an internal process of the parties was witnessed by INEC. That is a process. Starting from the party primaries to the sponsorship of candidates, everything was done in the open. The next part is the actual election conducted by INEC.
INEC has been televising its processes-voting, collation, counting, announcement, and declaration of results were done in the open. In the presidential election, in particular, INEC’s collation and declaration of results were in the open and televised live worldwide.
‘’The other part of the election is the tribunal. Now, if the first two processes can be televised, we expect that the last one which involves the judiciary should be televised live,” he submitted.
Similarly, the Media Adviser to the PDP standard bearer, Mr Paul Ibe maintained that the live telecast would enhance the transparency of the court proceedings, stressing that it is of primary interest to Nigerians.
He added, “The live telecast is to give Nigerians, who were participants in the election as citizens, whether they voted or not, an opportunity to be part of the process. It (live telecast) is good for transparency too. All eyes are on the judiciary and what the tribunal will make out of it.
‘’We are of the view that the court should grant this request because it is one made on behalf of Nigerians regardless of their political affiliations. It will make sense for the process to be open to Nigerians. We don’t know what INEC is saying because it is acting as if it is a political party in the election. It should stop acting as if it is an agent of a political party.
‘’Let’s hope they are not hiding anything and in any case, what they are hiding is what they don’t want Nigerians to know. The commission conducted elections in the negation of its own rules. People should be able to see in real-time the tribunal’s proceedings.”
The supporters of the LP presidential candidate who took to social media on Sunday, are also insisting on a live broadcast of the proceedings of the court.
They endorsed the prayers of their candidate with various hashtags one of which read, ‘#LivebroadcastInTheCourtRoom.’
As of the time of filing this report, our correspondent observed that the hashtag had a total of about 200,000 tweets on the microblogging site, Twitter.
A Peter Obi supporter, Ndi Kato said, “We are seeking to have a live broadcast of the election tribunal on tv stations but the court which we are depending on for that ruling has now banned phones in the court. Which way Nigeria? Why is our judiciary like this?”
A lawyer, Malcom Omirhobo noted that the INEC and the APC were opposed to the live broadcast due to “unclean hands.”
He said, “INEC and Tinubu are opposing the live broadcast of P/election tribunal proceedings because they turned Nigeria into a reality show by shamelessly asking the opposition to go to court after rigging elections. Now, they are afraid to entertain the world with their crime.”
Similarly, a member of the PDP, David Titiloye said on Twitter, “The lawyers of the PDP have been insisting on the live broadcast of the presidential election tribunal because Atiku is confident that it will be tougher for the judiciary to pervert justice when the whole country is watching but APC and INEC have been insisting otherwise. Why ?”
Also, the lead pastor, of Household of Love Church, Yinka Yusuf, who posted via his Twitter account, @rev-yinkayusuf, said, “ Mr Judiciary, please shock the world by allowing live broadcast of the presidential election tribunal. Only a thief is afraid of stop and search!. Go to court is not go to a secret society. We can’t wait to congratulate whoever is the true winner.”
Meanwhile, over 9,222 Nigerians had signed a petition demanding a live broadcast of the tribunal proceedings as of 2.50 pm on Sunday.
The petition by a citizen, Jane Peter and addressed to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, National Judicial Council and one other, is titled, ‘Live Broadcast The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal-PEPT.’
The petitioners contended that allowing the live coverage of the proceedings would ensure transparency and openness in the conduct of the tribunal.
“We believe that the judiciary in Nigeria can also save time and earn the trust of Nigerians by working to terminate the case and give its judgment before the inauguration date,” it also stated.
‘Not people’s opinion’
But the Chief Spokesman for the dissolved Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo, believed the matter should be subjected to the court and not the people’s opinions.
While urging Nigerians to await the final verdict of the tribunal, the senior lawyer stressed that people must understand that this is not the first time an election petition would be decided in the country.
He said, “I sincerely don’t think this is a matter we subject to press analysis. We subject the ruling to an analysis but not before it is given. Let us be patient. As a senior member of the bar, I cannot begin to speculate now.
“We have made our submission where we asked ‘How does this advance the case?’ Everything they say the court should do would be to advance the course of justice.
“For me, I prefer to wait and see what the court says and abide by it. The matter has been submitted to the court for ruling tomorrow (today). Let them be patient. It is not the first time the court is deciding election petitions in Nigeria. Justice will be served one way or the other at the end of the day.”
The APC Director of Publicity, Bala Ibrahim said the matter is in court and declined to speak further.
A federal high court in Abuja has ordered the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to account for the spending of a $460 million Chinese loan to fund the “failed” Abuja closed-circuit television (CCTV) project.
Emeka Nwite, the judge, gave the order while delivering judgement in the freedom of information suit ‘FHC/ABJ/CS/1447/2019’ brought by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The judge ordered the government to publish the total amount of money paid to Chinese and local companies and contractors, specific details of the identities of the companies and contractors as well as the implementation of the project.
In December 2019, SERAP filed a lawsuit against Zainab Ahmed, finance minister, over failure to disclose information and specific documents on the total amount of money paid to contractors from the $460 million loan obtained in 2010 from China to fund the Abuja CCTV project.
Ahmed had disclosed that Nigeria was servicing the loan, adding that she had no explanations on the status of the project.
In his judgement, Nwite agreed with SERAP that there was a reasonable cause of action against the government.
“Accounting for the spending of the $460 million Chinese loan is in the public’s interest. It will be inimical for the court to refuse SERAP’s application for judicial review of the government’s action,” he said.
“The Minister of Finance is in charge of the finances of the country and cannot by any stretch of imagination be oblivious of the amount of money paid to the contractors for the Abuja CCTV contract and the money meant for the construction of the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau.”
The judge ordered the government to provide the “details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5 billion paid for the failed contract meant to construct the headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau was part of another loan obtained from China”.
Nwite granted an order of mandamus compelling the federal government through the minister of finance, “to provide and make available to SERAP information on the total amount of money paid to contractors, with specific details of names of companies local contractors involved, from the $460 million loan obtained in 2010 from China by the Federal Government of Nigeria to fund the failed Abuja CCTV contract”.
The judgment reads: “An order of mandamus is hereby made directing and compelling the government (through the Minister of Finance) to provide the details of the local companies and Chinese contractors that have received funds from the $460 million loan for the finance of the Abuja CCTV contract as well as details of the status of implementation of the project.
An order of mandamus is hereby made directing and compelling the government (through the Minister of Finance) to provide the details clarifying whether the sum of N1.5 billion mobilisation fee reportedly paid to the contractors for the construction of the Headquarters of the Code of Conduct Bureau in Abuja was part of another loan from China.”
Our attention has been drawn to a misleading report in the Punch Newspaper @MobilePunch of 20th May 2023, captioned “Give me seven weeks to produce witnesses, Obi tells Tribunal” which is a misrepresentation of what our Counsel presented yesterday, before the Election Petition Tribunal.
Peter Obi did not ask the court to give him seven weeks to bring in his witnesses. He only implied he will be through with all 50 of them in seven weeks.
In proposing his schedule of witnesses, Eme Awa Kalu, SAN leading the team in court, had told the court that Peter Obi and Labour Party would be presenting 50 witnesses and that these 50 witnesses, will require 7 weeks to present their evidence before the Tribunal.
At no time did the Counsel say that he required ‘Seven weeks to produce witnesses’ as misreported by the Punch. The correct interpretation of what our lawyers told the court unambiguously is that the presentation of our witnesses, from start to finish, will take seven weeks. We are not asking the court to wait for seven weeks before we bring in the first witness as the Punch story tries to imply.
It is expected that every media house will assign competent reporters to cover this important case.
We expect the Punch Newspaper to immediately correct this misrepresentation with the same front page headline with which it was presented to the public.
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has accused the chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, of demanding $2 million bribe from him.
He made the allegation amid the growing rift between the governor and the anti-graft agency.
In a statement on Wednesday, Matawalle called for Bawa’s resignation, saying he had questions to answer on corruption.
But the EFCC Chairman responded that he had nothing to hide and asked Matawalle to petition appropriate authorities if he had any evidence against him.
In an interview with BBC Hausa, Matawalle insisted that Bawa could not be trusted.
But the EFCC Chairman responded that he had nothing to hide and asked Matawalle to petition appropriate authorities if he had any evidence against him.
In an interview with BBC Hausa, Matawalle insisted that Bawa could not be trusted.
“It is not just to always blame governors. It is not only governors who have treasury, the federal government also has. What does the EFCC boss do to them? As he is claiming he has evidence on governors, let him show to the world evidence of those at the federal level.
If he exits office, people will surely know he is not an honest person. I have evidence against him. Let him vacate office, I am telling you within 10 seconds probably more than 200 people will bring evidences of bribe he collected from them. He knows what he requested from me but I declined.
“He requested a bribe of $2 million from me and I have evidence of this. He knows the house we met, he invited me and told me the conditions. He told me governors were going to his office but I did not. If I don’t have evidence, I won’t say this.”
Contacted for reaction, Wilson Uwujaren, spokesman of the anti-graft agency, said he had not seen the story so he could not respond.
Told it was on BBC Hausa where Matawalle spoke, he said he could not speak Hausa and asked that the story link be sent for a response, but he had not responded at the time of filing this report.
The court, however, said it nullified the election of the candidates for Kano Labour Party (LP) that contested during the 2023 General Election.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a plaintiff, Mr Ibrahim Haruna-Ibrahim, had filed an application seeking the court to revoke and set aside the certificate of return issued to all LP candidates declared winner in Kano and the 35 states of the Federation including the FCT Abuja.
NAN reports that the respondents in the suit are: Labour Party and Independent National Electoral Commission.
Justice Muhammad Nasir-Yunusa, said the candidates who participated in the 2023 general election in Abia were not parties before his court.
“This court lacks jurisdiction to make an order for the issuance of certificate of return.
“They are at liberty to seek redress in the appropriate Division of the court,” he said.
He said INEC was bound to receive the registered members of the first respondent and that of other political parties 30 days before primary election in compliance with section 77(3) of the electoral act 2022.
The section states that a party that has not complied with the section 77(2)(3) of the electoral act 2022 cannot be declared winner of the election.
“The court declared the primary election of LP in Kano as null and void,” Nasir-Yunusa said.
Recall that it was earlier reported based on document that the court nullified the election of Otti’ and other candidates of Labour Party in Abia and Kano states following the failure of the party to submit its register to the Independent National Electoral Commission 30 days before the 2023 general elections.
Presidential Election: Tribunal Adjourns Peter Obi, LP’s Matter, Fixes Date For Judgement On Motion To Televise Proceedings
Justice Haruna Simon Tsammani, the presiding justice for the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal, has adjourned the pre-hearing of Peter Obi, Labour Party, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and All Progressives Congress.
On Friday, the court adjourned the pre-hearing to May 20, 2023, in order to allow Muslims observe their prayers.
Mr Tsammani, said that the adjourned pre-hearing would focus on concluding the number of witnesses to be called in the course of hearing the petition and the time for cross examination of the witnesses.
Mr Tsammani also said that the ruling of the motion for the televised broadcast would be done on Monday, May 22.
The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brig Gen YD Ahmed, has said the discharge certificate being paraded by Enugu State Governor-elect, Peter Mbah, was not issued by the body.
Brig Gen Ahmed, while speaking on Arise TV’s breakfast programme on Friday said the argument on whether Mbah has a valid NYSC certificate or not did not arise because he has told the People’s Democratic Party’s candidate in the 2023 governorship elections that what he presented as a certificate was fake.
“He came to me and I called my director to confirm the certificate and we discovered that the certificate was fake and I told him…I wonder how elites who have gone to school will resort to black market certificates.
“Everyone knows how we issue our certificate in NYSC we don’t give it in hotel rooms or houses,” the DG said.
Meanwhile, the Enugu state governor-elect, Peter Mbah has filed a case against the NYSC, demanding N20 billion for injuries he claimed to have been inflicted on his person due to the controversies surrounding his certificate.
Recall that controversy surrounding Mbah’s discharge certificate became known publicly in February 2023, when the NYSC, in response to an inquiry by a non-governmental organisation, released a letter stating that the certificate submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission was not issued by them.
Based on this Judgment Order, this case was filed on the 11th day of May, 2023.
Alex Otti emerged as the gubernatorial candidate of LP during primaries held in June 2022.
Section 285 of the Constitution states that all pre-election matters must be filed within 14 days of event.
A case relating to election is either a pre-election matter or a post election matter (election petition).
If the case filed by Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim at the Federal High Court in Kano was/is a pre-election matter, it should have been filed within 14 days of the primaries.
How can a court assume jurisdiction in a matter that is indisputably statute barred?
This is shocking.
Also, no candidate was joined as a party in this suit. I have noted that Abia is specifically mentioned in the judgment. A court in Kano cannot nullify primaries outside Kano.
The jurisdiction of the Federal High Court cannot be invoked this way.
Nullifying primaries of candidates, and even declaring votes scored as wasted votes in this circumstance, goes against all established principles of law and fair hearing.
The court lacked jurisdiction.
This type of judgment has the potential of exposing the judiciary to avoidable public ridicule.
Governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti, has called on Abians to remain calm and not be alarmed by the recent ruling of a Federal High Court in Kano, dismissing his candidacy.
Our Reporter reports that Otti reassured the public that the purported judgment should not be a cause for concern, as it is an unjust decision that cannot undermine the will of the people.
Speaking in Abia, Otti confirmed that preparations for his scheduled inauguration on May 29 are proceeding as planned.
He declared that the enemies of democracy cannot thwart the wishes of the Abia populace.
Meanwhile, the Labour Party has dismissed the court ruling as a futile exercise, emphasizing that it holds no significance.
Recall in the case with suit number FHC/KN/CS/107/2023, filed by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Federal High Court in Kano nullified the candidature of Dr. Alex Otti and all Labour Party candidates in Abia and Kano states.
The court based its decision on the argument that their emergence did not comply with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.
A copy of the judgment was made available to journalists on Friday, with the court ruling that the Labour Party’s failure to submit its membership register to INEC within the required 30-day period before the primaries rendered the entire process invalid.
