CNPP To Tinubu: Transfer of Crude Oil Proceeds To CBN Is the Way To Go

 

Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has described the speculated directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, transferring revenue from crude oil sales to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as the way to go. 

Since on Monday, there has been unconfirmed reports that the President has relieved the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) of its monopoly control over the proceeds from crude oil sales. 

The CNPP in a statement signed by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema, said that “if indeed the directive was issued by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, it is the way to go. 

“We have always criticized the NNPC Limited for not meeting its OPEC quota as well as non-remittances or under-remittances of proceeds from crude oil sales due to corruption. 

“Therefore, we welcome the speculated directive to the NNPC Limited to submit receipts for crude oil sales to the CBN for vetting and documentation. 

“While we urge the Federal Government to confirm the directive without fear or favour, we call on President Bola Tinubu to make it a policy of government that all payments for oil sales and all other revenues accruable to the federation account be forwarded to the apex bank without any delay. 

“This will reduce renenue losses as every kobo should be accounted for in the current revenue realities where the country's debt servicing takes a large chunk of the country's earnings. 

“The NNPC's monopoly over crude oil sales has been a ground for the unbridled corruption bedeviling the federal government owned oil company. 

“The initiative should also be extended to all other revenue generating agencies of the federal government, including the Nigeria Customs Service, the Nigeria Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigerian Immigration Service, among others”, the CNPP said.

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CUPP Disagrees With President Tinubu For Travelling On A Private Visit While Nigeria Is In Dare Need Of Leadership

 

…….We in CUPP are disturbed and not happy by the frequency of President Tinubu's so-called private trips to France.

…,.We are back to the Buhari era

……Comprehensive Health fitness test should be made compulsory so that Nigerians will avoid this situation in future.

It is our hope and belief that these private trips do not involve something untoward that is hidden from Nigerians who voted for him to salvage the country which has been on downward spiral.

Tongues have begun to wag, and speculations beginning to abound about the real reasons for these private trips. 

We hope that Nigeria is not about to witness another Buhari 2.0 presidency where from time to time without any form of announcement, the President would sneak out of the country to a foreign country for medical treatment in the name of private visit.

President Tinubu should realise that Nigeria is beset on all sides by insecurity, galloping inflation, hunger and starvation, unemployment that is running wild, and out of control, etcetera. The value of the naira is speeding southward with our currency exchanging at almost a thousand five hundred naira to the United States Dollar.

CUPP feels and recommends that the country needs a hands on deck president, and whatever the reason for these private visits can be conveniently handled in Nigeria or in the absence of such facility being available, provision should be urgently made to have it brought to Nigeria.

Nigeria needs the physical presence of their president to have that assurance that the job of Mr. President has not been outsourced to those who have no business exercising it.

High Chief Peter Ameh,

National Secretary,

CUPP.

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CNPP, CSOs Blame Smear Campaign Against Naval Chief Ogalla On Frustrated Oil Thieves

 

Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) and over 38 Civil Society Organisations, under the umbrella of the Coalition Of National Civil Society Organisations (CNCSOs) have described online reports linking Nigeria's Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla, to alleged multibillion naira oil bunkering and contract-splitting fraud as “the handiwork of a frustrated syndicate involved in stealing of Nigeria's crude oil.” 

Some online media platforms had reposted an allegation that a preliminary investigations estimated that the Naval Chief had accepted over $170 million in bribes over the past six months alone.

However, in a statement jointly signed by the CNPP's Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema and the National Secretary of the CNCSOs, Alhaji Ali Abacha, they described the allegations as “dead on arrival as efforts to truncate the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration's renewed quest to mitigate the stealing of the country's crude oil is the target of the disgruntled ring's attack on Ogalla. 

“We strongly believe that it was based on Ogalla's track records of service that prompted Mr. President to trust him with the appointment in the first place and he has in the last six months shown that President Tinubu did not make any mistake in his choice of the Naval Chief. 

“It has since become evident that since the Chief of Naval Staff launched the Nigerian Navy's “Operation Delta Sanity”, which has been embraced by the government and leaders of the Niger Delta states, the oil thieves are increasingly uncomfortable. 

“The new anti-crude oil theft tactical operation initiated by the Chief of Naval Staff and his effort to provide necessary equipment for personnel have become a serious nightmare for the enemies of the country's economy due to its holistic and robust roadmap against crude oil theft and other forms of illegalities on Nigeria's territorial waters. 

“The Nigerian Navy in its reaction to the syndicated allegations expressly disclosed that all the vessels alleged to have been released, which was the basis of the bogus $170 million allegedly received by the Naval Chief in bribes, are still in the custody and undergoing investigation. 

“The Navy said unambiguously and we quote: “Indeed, all arrested vessels mentioned in the publication that were involved in crude oil theft and illegal oil bunkering are being investigated and none of such vessels has been released as alleged.” 

“So, if the basis for the allegation, which is the arrested vessels, are still in custody, we call on the Chief of Naval Staff to disregard the detractors and continue with his renewed efforts against oil thieves in support of President Tinubu's Renewed Hope Agenda. 

“Nigerians are currently suffering from severe economic hardship and we urge President Tinubu and the Naval Chief not to be deterred by the smear tactic and discrediting actions of the oil stealing syndicate who are increasing unable to continue in their nefarious trade. 

“It is on record that the CNPP and CNCSOs have been in the forefront of the agitation for an end to the brazen thieving of Nigeria's crude oil in the last eight years and we will back every genuine efforts aimed mitigating the age-long economic sabotage for the benefit of the suffering masses. 

“On the contract splitting allegation, the Navy has issued a clear response and there is no need over-flogging a dead horse as we call on President Tinubu not to succumb to the antics of the already drowning oil thieves who would naturally fight back by all means possible, including the ongoing syndicated blackmail”, the CNPP and the CSOs said.

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PRESIDENT TINUBU'S APPROVAL OF THREE BILLION NAIRA FOR VERIFICATION OF NATIONAL REGISTER AND THE UNENDING PROFLIGACY OF THE PRESIDENCY

 

Coalition United Political Parties CUPP is distressed by the report emanating from Saharareporters of the approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the Chief of Staff Femi Gbajabiamila to the suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation to expend an outrageous and mind-boggling sum of N3,000,000,000(three billion naira) to verify the national register of the poor. 

CUPP frowns and condemns this mindless attack on our collective purse in the name of verification of the national register.

This reckless and mindless spending on verification of national register reflects a lack of fiscal discipline and responsibility that has become a hallmark of President Tinubu's government who in the guise of helping the poor, keeps elevating cronyism as an art, which we ignorantly thought had gone with President Buhari's administration.

CUPP believes that a prudent approach could have achieved the same goal with less of our tax money through the acquisition of the same national register from the thirty-six states of the federation and FCT wherein the rural areas are predominantly domiciled and is pained that this elementary form of conservation of public funds was wilfully neglected on the alter of cronyism, raising CUPP's concern and that of majority of Nigerians about the financial stewardship and the efficient allocation of our scarce resources by this government to projects that will trully be beneficial to the masses. 

It is CUPP's belief that this mindless spending through cronies such as New Planet Projects Limited, a company controlled by the family of Dr. Bunmi Tunji Ojo, the Minister of Interior undermines whatever little confidence Nigerians may have had in the present government, and therefore brings to the fore the urgent need for more rigorous budgetary oversights by the National Assembly, which has from day one begun to exhibit all the symptoms of a rubber stamp parliament that abdicates its oversight functions when most needed.

High Chief Peter Ameh

National Secretary CUPP.

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CNPP Urges Tinubu Govt To Do More Working Than Talking, Says FDI Won't Increase in Absence of Security And Rule Of Law

 

Conference Of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has encouraged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration to begin to do more of working than talking as “the current decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country will worsen unless the government tackles insecurity and improve in the area of institutionalising the rule of law.” 

The CNPP spoke while reacting to the president's New Year Message, saying that “it is obvious that investment tops the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration's agenda but will be very difficult to achieve in the obvious absence of security and rule of law.” 

This was contained in a statement signed by the CNPP's Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade James Ezema. 

According to the statement, the CNPP maintained that “though President Tinubu affirmed that on every foreign trip he has embarked on, his message to investors and other business people has been that `Nigeria is ready and open for businessʼ, it is not enough.

“The Tinubu administration has continued to make promises over the past seven months as if the government is campaigning in an election rather than walking the talk.

“For the Tinubu administration to succeed, the government and its officials should stop praise-singing and celebration of its achievements. Nigerians can differentiate between a government that is working for them and the one that is not.

“It's time to deal with insecurity and end the killing of the innocent in the country. That is the primary purpose of government; to protect lives and property of the citizens.

“Secondly, upholding the rule of law is an important factor if Nigeria must attract key Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as no investor will invest in a society where the government does not obey court judgments or where court orders can be procured at the black markets.

“This explains why the recent capital importation data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the total FDI that came into Nigeria in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023 was only $48 million, and compared to the previous quarter, the FDI inflow to the country experienced a decline, dropping from $84 million in Q4 2022 to $48 million in Q1 2023, which is about 43%. But on a year-on-year comparison, there was a substantial 69% decrease, as FDI fell from $155 million in Q1 2022 to $48 million in Q1 2023.

“The CNPP therefore encourages the President Tinubu administration to do more in practice than talks as the country's FDI won't increase in the absence of security and rule of law”, the statement concluded.

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