Month: July 2020

EKEDC goes tough on saboteurs, prosecutes three for fraud, impersonation

ADEOLA YUSUF

Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC), one of the leading power utility firms in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has gone tough on saboteurs as it began the prosecution of three persons over offenses bothering on fraud, conspiracy and impersonation. The three persons were arraigned before Magistrate A. A. ADESANYA of the Ojo Magistrate Court on Thursday 9th July 2020 on a four-count charge of conspiracy to commit fraud, impersonation, forgery and tampering with electricity installations within the Ojo District of EKEDC. The three, identified as Magnus Obinali a cleaner within the Ojo District;…

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South Africa prepares 1.5m gravesites as COVID-19 cases, deaths surge

ADEOLA YUSUF

  South African official has said a single province in the country is preparing 1.5 million gravesites as COVID-19 cases and deaths surged in late Nelson Mandela’s country. A report by The Associated Press reads that just a day after confirmed virus cases across Africa surpassed the half-million milestone the total was over 522,000 and climbing, with more than 12,000 deaths. “With testing levels low, the real numbers are unknown,” the report read. South Africa has the most confirmed cases with over 224,000, and for the first time Gauteng province…

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Prepare to bear petrol price burden, Oil Minister Tells Nigerians

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Nigerian Minister of state for petroleum resources says President Buhari never promised to keep petrol price low The Government of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crude oil exporter, has bluntly told millions of Nigerians that they would henceforth bear the burden of higher prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise known as petrol. The country’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who declared this in a statement published on the ministry’s Instagram page siģhted by Platforms Africa, declared that at no time did the Federal Government promise to…

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Kenyan school pupils to repeat classes as nation embargoes resumption until 2021

ADEOLA YUSUF

  All Kenyan primary and secondary  schools will remain shut until January 2021 The country’s education ministry, which declares this, noted that it would explore how to make online learning accessible to all students All schools in Kenya will remain closed until next January because of the coronavirus pandemic, the ministry said. Final year exams, usually taken in October and November, have also been cancelled. Education Minister George Magoha said students would repeat a year as schools had closed in mid-March, three months after the school calendar had begun. But…

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US firm battles Nigeria over $80m Yacht linked to Diezani, Aluko

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Enron Nigeria Power Holding rejects Nigeria’s power deal suspension, demands $22 million from sale of seized Galactica Star   A former unit of Enron Corporation, the United States energy-trading giant, Enron Nigeria Power Holding Limited, has began a legal battle with Nigerian authorities over suspended power deals. The company has also joined the country and the United States (U.S.) authorities in serious bickering over the proceeds of the sale of a luxury yacht, Galactica. The U.S. authorities seized the Galactica in 2018 after filing a lawsuit to recover assets…

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NNPC: Remittances to Nigeria’s Coffers hit N1.7trn In One Year

ADEOLA YUSUF

  The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) paid a whooping N1.7 trillion to the country’s Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), between February 2019 and February 2020. The national oil company, which said this in its Monthly Financial and Operational Report (MFOR) for April, 2020 obtained by Platforms Africa, revealed that it recorded a total export of $370.69 million in February, a decrease of 14.75 per cent compared to the previous month. It added in a statement by its spokesperson, Dr. Kennie Obateru, that crude oil export sales contributed $281.14 million…

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Why Nigerian Schools May Remain Shut till 2021 – Minister

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Africa’s Most Populous Country Makes U-Turn on participation in 2020 West Africa Exams as COVID-19 Cases Exceed 30,000 mark Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, has given a hint on possibilities of keeping doors of its schools under lock and key till 2021. Kenya, a leading economy in East Africa, has earlier come out clear on this: No Schools’ resumption until next year. Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who conveyed opinion of the government while briefing State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting held at…

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Why 600 firms jostled for Nigeria’s 57 marginal oilfields – DPR

ADEOLA YUSUF

More companies owned or managed by women joined the race in an unprecedented gender-balance participation in Nigeria’s bid round history.   The Director of the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Auwalu Sarki, has said that investors’ belief in tranparent process put in place by his agency for the 57 oilfields’ bid round was partly responsible for the spike in number of firms who have joined the race for the oil acreages. Over 600 companies have, as at the last count, applied to be prequalified for the ongoing bid rounds in  Nigeria’s 57 Marginal Fields, the first in…

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Nigerian Court remands Mother, Daughter in Prison over Energy theft on Ikeja Electric Network

ADEOLA YUSUF

  A Nigerian Court has remanded a mother and her daughter in prison pending the perfection of their bail conditions over alleged energy theft on the network of Ikeja Electric, one of the two utility companies that connect Lagos – Nigeria’s commercial capital – to the grid. The two, who, according to a statement made available to Platforms Africa by Ikeja Electric, are residents of Fatokun Street in Abule Taylor, Off Abeokuta Expressway, Lagos, were arraigned before Ogba Magistrate Court. The duo of Latefat Shofidiya, 65 and Ekundayo Taiwo, 40…

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COVID-19: Nigeria’s biggest power plant, Egbin Power reacts as employee’s newborn dies

ADEOLA YUSUF

  Newborn of our staff dies from post-delivery, not COVID-19 complications – Egbin MD   Egbin Power, one of Africa’s largest thermal electricity generation companies, has denied report that a newborn by one of its staff died on its premises due to COVID-19 protocols. Acting Chief Executive Officer of the plant that provides a quarter of Nigeria’s total power generation, Paul Harriman, declared in a statement to Platforms Africa that though the newborn of one of its staff died due to post-delivery complications outside the facility, the death has nothing…

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