National Economic Council Meeting - Chaired by VP Osinbajo

Just about 24 hours after the Federal Executive Council meeting, another major executive meeting; the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, has been summoned by the Presidency.

The meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has most of the governors in attendance.

The meeting which ended at about 4:50PM, discussed the lingering fuel scarcity and the need for state authorities to pay salaries.

Also discussed were strategies to boost Nigeria’s reserves in the Excess Crude Account and then the power challenges in the country.

At the Federal Executive Council meeting held on Wednesday, short-term and long-term plans were made to revamp the nation’s refineries before the end of 2017 and also put an end to importation of petrol by 2019.

The FEC also said that petrol supply would be available before the end of May, with Port Harcourt and Kaduna Refineries supporting supplies.

It is expected that the ongoing National Economic Council meeting would be discussing ways to implement the plans by the Federal Executive Council.

The NEC comprises of the 36 state governors, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and other co-opted members.

The NEC is chaired by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

CCT dismisses Saraki’s application again, orders counsel thrown out by security agents

The Code of Conduct Tribunal has dismissed an application filed by a counsel to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, asking the tribunal’s chairman, Danladi Umar to disqualify himself from the case.

Mr. Saraki is standing trial for alleged false and anticipatory asset declaration.

On Thursday, one of his counsels, Rapheal Oluyede, who was appearing for the second time at the tribunal, rose up shortly after appearances were announced and attempted to introduce a motion which he said had been communicated to the tribunal on Wednesday.

The prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, objected strongly to the motion, and interrupted Mr. Oluyede.

The tribunal chairman dismissed the motion swiftly.

“That motion as far as the tribunal is concerned is of no consequence; not worthy to be entertained and is hereby thrown away,” said Mr. Umar.

The tribunal soon became rowdy as the counsel holding brief for Kanu Agabi, Mr. Saraki’s lead counsel, insisted they be heard.

After making his point, Mr. Oluyede got into a fierce argument with Mr. Danladi and was almost escorted out of the tribunal by the police, following the order of the tribunal chairman, before Mr. Jacobs intervened and pleaded with Mr. Danladi to calm the situation.

Seun Kuti blasts Senators’ Careless Wastefulness

Seun Kuti

The demands of members of the Nigerian senate have attracted the scorn of Afrobeat musician Seun Kuti.

Seun, who is following in the footsteps of his late father, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, of condemning extravagant spending by politicians and government officials, took to his Facebook account yesterday where he posted a picture of a Sunday newspaper of April 17, 2016, with a headline ‘Senate buys 108 jeeps at twice price’.

The headline bulleted that Senate ‘pays N35m for each Land Cruiser’ despite a  ‘showroom price of N17m each.’ The story also bulleted that ’36 vehicles distributed, others to arrive in May.’

The Afrobeat musician made reference to Senator Ben Murray-Bruce who advocates ‘Common Sense’ and ‘Buy Naija’ revolution in the Senate.

‘When it comes to luxury ‘common sense’ is quiet ooooo. Lol. What happened to (Innoson) the motor guy? Na Toyota dem wan drive? Wake up people.’

He then added the hashtags:

• #ýtearitdown and
• #ýhouseofmisrepresentatives and continued in a second post.

‘OK dear Nigerian, you have to answer this question please,’ he said.

‘If one Land Cruiser is 35 million naira, how much is Rolls Royce Phantom?’

He then took a swipe at the children of the lawmakers, writing, ‘If you are their kids, your hashtag should be:

• #ashamedofmyparents
• #ýchildrenofthieves.’

Doha oil producers meeting ends without an agreement

A summit in Doha among the world's largest oil producing countries ended without an agreement on Sunday, as country leaders failed to strike a deal to freeze output and boost sagging crude prices.

The conference's failure sent crude prices tumbling in early trading on the NYMEX, which fell by more than 6 percent as traders resumed the commodity's sell-off. Stock futures also fell in sympathy, indicating a lower open on Wall Street on Monday.

Initially, the meeting's outcome was thrown into doubt after Iran made a last minute decision not to attend and Saudi Arabia vowed not to halt or freeze production unless other major producers did the same. Amid strains between the regional rivals, nearly 20 of the world's largest oil exporters could not find enough common ground to hold the line on output after marathon talks.

Mohammed Saleh al Sada, Qatar's oil minister, told reporters that the group "needs more time" to construct the outlines of a deal to freeze output. However, he cited "improved fundamentals" as a reason why an immediate agreement wasn't necessary. Earlier in the day, a draft accord proposed to hold output at January levels until at least October.

The dynamic has left the world awash in oil supply that has sent prices reeling. All eyes now turn to June's meeting of OPEC countries, where the cartel's hand may be forced if crude prices begin another downward spiral. The failure of the summit could also lead to a renewed drop in crude prices, which only recently have begun to recover.

Zuma's Saudi deal is history repeating itself - Democratic Alliance

Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula

The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Friday raised the spectre of the “1999 Arms Deal” after the president and defence minister “went under the radar and unveiled a military industrial complex in Saudi Arabia last month”.

The party said on Friday that it pushed Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula “to make a ministerial statement…addressing allegations that South Africa has partnered with Saudi Arabia in the production of weapons and armaments in an offshore joint venture which saw the opening of a new military industrial complex”.

Specific questions the party would likely ask include:

• "Why was Treasury nor Parliament advised on a new arms merger between South Africa’s Denel and Saudi Military Industries Corporation?

• “Which countries will use these arms besides Saudi Arabia. If exported‚ which countries will they be exported to?; and

• “Why was the South African National Defence Force not notified nor consulted for recommendations?”

ICC Probes Nigerian Army, Boko Haram over Human Rights Abuses

The International Criminal Court has started the process of investigating alleged human rights abuses by the Nigerian Military.

The court will also study cases of abuse by the Boko Haram sect.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have accused the military of illegal killings and incarceration.

In the meantime, the federal government says it is committed to upholding the highest standards of human rights in the conduct of all international affairs, including counter-insurgency operations.

The Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami explains the Nigerian Army has conducted its operations in the north east of the country in a highly professional manner while imbibing best practices.

Google to Train 1million Young Africans in Digital Skills

The US tech giant will‚ in partnership with Livity Africa‚ run two training programmes namely ‘Digify Bytes’ which will give digital skills to young people looking to develop a digital career; and ‘Digify Pro’, a 3-month immersion programme for digital specialists.

Google plans to train 300,000 people in South Africa, it said in a statement Tuesday, a country where 35% of 15-to-34-year-olds are unemployed. A further 400,000 Nigerians and 200,000 Kenyans will receive free digital training, while another 100,000 people will be selected from other sub-Saharan Africa countries.

In addition to the two programmes to be offered‚ Google on Tuesday launches online learning portal digifyafrica.com‚ offering a range of digital skills courses for anyone in Africa for free.

Currently‚ nine training courses are available‚ with the aim of increasing the number of courses on offer to 50 by July.

“The Digify programmes (which are all free) will provide tools and knowledge on subjects including building an online presence‚ creating content‚ understanding web design and user experience‚ social media and app development”‚ said the company in a statement.

Google South Africa’s Country Director‚ Luke McKend‚ says “the internet is at the heart of economic growth and the Digital Skills Programme is aimed at helping more Africans play a part in the digital economy”.

“Google is in Africa for the long haul and we are making an investment in talent,” he said. “We hope that the people trained will become pioneers in the field and do great things in digital for companies and for Google.”

“Everyone can succeed online‚ start a new business‚ grow their existing one‚ or share their passion”‚ he added.