Emirates Airlines, flag carrier of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), says it will reduce its flight operations to Nigeria over the inability to repatriate $85 million in revenue. 

Last month, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Nigeria was withholding revenue worth about $450 million earned by foreign airlines operating in the country. 

The airline said this in a letter addressed to Hadi Sirika, minister of aviation, dated July 22, 2020, and signed by Majid Al Mualla, Emirates airline’s divisional senior vice-president (DSVP), international affairs. 

Emirates said the planned reductions in its operations in Nigeria would take effect from August 15, 2022. 

It added that flights would be reduced from 11 per week to 7 per week at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA).

“We have had no choice but to take this action, to mitigate the continued losses Emirates is experiencing as a result of funds being blocked in Nigeria,” it said. 

“As of July 2022, Emirates has US$ 85 million of funds awaiting repatriation from Nigeria. This figure has been rising by more than $US 10 million every month, as the ongoing operational costs of our 11 weekly flights to Lagos and 5 to Abuja continue to accumulate.”

It said the funds are urgently needed to meet its operational costs and maintain the commercial viability of its services to Nigeria. 

“We simply cannot continue to operate at the current level in the face of mounting losses, especially in the challenging post-Covid-19 climate. 

Emirates did try to stem the losses by proposing to pay for fuel in Nigeria in Nairas, which would have at least reduced one element of our ongoing costs, however, this request was denied by the supplier,” the statement reads. 

“This means that not only are Emirates’ revenues accumulating, we also have to send hard currency into Nigeria to sustain our own operation. Meanwhile, our revenues are out of reach, and not even earning credit interest.

“Your Excellency, this is not a decision we have taken lightly. Indeed, we have made every effort to work with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to find a solution to this issue. Our Senior Vice-President met with the Deputy Governor of the CBN in May and followed up on the meeting by letter to the Governor himself the following month, however no positive response was received.

“Meetings were also held with Emirates’ own bank in Nigeria and in collaboration with IATA to discuss improving FX allocation, but with limited success. Despite our considerable efforts, the situation continues to deteriorate. We are now in the unfortunate position of having to cut flights, to mitigate against further losses going forward.”

Emirates added the issue was primarily a financial constraint, urging the Nigerian government to support.

“We are confident that your valuable involvement would make a real difference in improving this very difficult situation. Should there be any positive development in the coming days, we will, of course, re-evaluate this decision,” it said.

Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto state has received into the fold of the state People’s Democratic Party (PDP) a chieftain of the state branch of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dahiru Maishanu Yabo.

The defector, a former Commissioner for Information as well as Solid Minerals in the state, was received by the Governor, his Deputy, Manir Muhammmad Dan Iya, the Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Muhammad Mainasara Ahmad (Mni), the state PDP Chairman, Alhaji Bello Muhammad and other government officials at the Government House, Sokoto on Thursday. 

This was contained in a statement released by the Special Adviser Media and Publicity to the Sokoto State Governor Muhammad Bello. 

Yabo explained that he dumped the APC because it lacks internal democracy and the party is wrought with favoritism and bootlicking. 

According to him, “the APC in Sokoto has formed a cabal of which you must be a member in order to have anything to do with the party or to be involved in the progress of the nation or the state.”

Yabo, in his words said now that he has switched allegiances, “by the grace of God, we’re going to support Team Tambuwal, the PDP governorship candidate in the state and all other candidates in the state under the PDP: and, even beyond, at the Presidency.

“We’re ready. We have the energy. We have the power and the resources to be part of the PDP nationwide,”. 

Yabo, who was a founding member of the APC and member of the defunct ‘Amaechi for President’ campaign team pledged to unveil his status and followership in his constituency within a fortnight.

He said apart from his army of supporters and grassroots appeal in Yabo and Shagari  local government areas of the state, as a former Commissioner, his reach cut across the state.

“I have been actively involved in the politics of the APC and also in governance,” he affirms.

Christian Association of Nigeria on Wednesday dissociated itself from ‘Bishops’ who attended the unveiling of the vice presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Kashim Shettima, saying they were desperados who went there for themselves.

The organisation said that although the presidential candidate of the APC, Bola Tinubu, was free to “hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them”, that effort would only add to their many ropes but would not change the need for fairness and justice.

Vice President of CAN (19 Northern States and Abuja) and its chairman in Kaduna State, Joseph Hayab, said this in an interview with journalists in Abuja.

He said, “The people we saw at the unveiling of Shettima paraded as Bishops are people who did not have enough time to learn how to wear Bishop garments. Take a closer look at their photo and you will see another Nollywood movie.

“CAN wonders why the desperation. First, a story was out claiming to have come from the Chairman of CAN Borno state only to be refuted. Secondly, there was another lie that BAT (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) and his running mate were on their way to meet CAN President one night. A meeting that was not true and was on a night that the CAN President was in Alabama USA attending the Baptist World Alliance Conference of which he is the Vice President.

“Another desperation story was that they met Papa Adeboye which the RCCG later refuted. If Christians are not important why the desperation?

“BAT is free to hire mechanics and other artisans and sew clerical garments for them. An effort that will only add to their many ropes when the political exercise is over but will not change the need for fairness and justice that CAN is calling for.

“CAN appreciate that we are in a democracy, no need to do funny and dubious things just to prove a point because it will in the end bounce back. BAT team should simply do what is right and stop the drama.”

Workers under the aegis of the Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PTECSSAN) on Wednesday picketed MTN Nigeria PLC plaza in Falomo, Lagos to drive home some demands.

They held placards with inscriptions such as “Workers Rights are Human Rights”; “Unionism is a Right and not a Privilege”, and chanted solidarity songs.

Some of the union’s grievances include MTN’s alleged resistance to workers’ right to freedom of association, freedom to organise and collective bargaining.

The union also accused MTN of paying exit packages to its management staff but refusing to do the same to the lower cadre.

PTECSSAN’s General Secretary, Okonu Abdullahi, accused MTN management of not giving the union the opportunity to negotiate the working conditions of workers in the organisation.

He said that every effort made to reach the management by way of communication through correspondence by emails proved abortive.

“When you have a trade union, there must be a collective bargaining agreement, which is a pointer to the existence of the union in any organisation.

“But, MTN is running away from negotiating the CBA: the procedural agreement was signed and as a result of this, it escalated to the Ministry of Labour.

“A very good example which the management is running from is the exit benefits: how can workers be working for several years and you are not giving them terminal benefits

“We insisted as a responsible union that there must be an exit benefit. In the procedural agreement, it was agreed that no item should be exempted, but now to come to the table to start negotiating, MTN took off,” he said.

The secretary said that the picketing exercise would be a continuous one unless MTN negotiated and agreed on the collective bargaining agreement within the shortest possible time.

Abdullahi said: “Ultimately if they are still refusing like they have always been doing to sit down with us and negotiate, we can assure them that their network will have to be disrupted.”

Meanwhile, a source in MTN, who pleaded anonymity, said that the issues raised were still pending before the Ministry of Labour.

“Since February, MTN has filed a trade dispute with the Ministry of Labour, which statutorily is obligated to look into the dispute, which is still pending,” the source said.

PRESS RELEASE

Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has suspended Dana Airlines' Air Transport Licence (ATL) and Air Operator Certificate (AOC) indefinitely, with effect from midnight of Wednesday, 20th July, 2022.

The suspension was made pursuant to Section 35(2), 3(b) and (4) of the Civil Aviation Act, 2006 and Part 1.3.3.3(a)(1) of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs), 2015.

The suspension order, handed down by the Director General, Musa Nuhu, has since been communicated to the management of Dana Airlines.

The decision is the outcome of a financial and economic health audit carried out on the Airline by the Authority, and the findings of an investigation conducted on the Airline's flight operations recently, which revealed that Dana Airlines is no longer in a position to meet its financial obligations and to conduct safe flight operations.

NCAA acknowledges the negative effect this preemptive decision will have on the Airline's passengers and the travelling public and seeks their understanding, as the safety of flight operations takes priority over all other considerations.

Signed:

Musa Nuhu

Director General

Central Bank of Nigeria’s plan to rein in inflation that’s a at five-and-a-half-year high may prove to be even more difficult after diesel prices tripled in June and show little signs of relenting, Bloomberg has reported.

Average diesel prices increased 203% from a year earlier in June to 733.8 naira ($1.74) a liter, according to data published by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

That’s the highest level since at least June 2016, its data shows. Diesel prices have risen further to 780 naira a liter this month. 

The statistic office does a monthly survey of fuel prices that are deregulated and used to calculate inflation data. 

The high prices are likely to stoke inflation that the CBN’s monetary policy committee said Tuesday it is focused on quelling as it raised its benchmark interest by 100 basis points.

Governor Godwin Emefiele said high levels of price growth has “negative consequences, particularly on the purchasing power of the poor, as well as retarding growth.”

Diesel prices have surged since Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Nigerian businesses and most of its population rely on the fuel because of a shortage of power.

Poor maintenance and insufficient investment in the transmission network have resulted in only about a third of the country’s installed capacity being dispatched by the grid daily -- a fraction of what’s needed in a nation of more than 200 million people.

Spurred by an unflinching desire to strengthen developmental journalism and uphold public accountability, the Platform Times (online) newspaper has launched a foundation, PLATFORM TIMES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM FOUNDATION, with the goal of training, mentoring, and assisting new generation journalists in making positive impacts. 

This was disclosed in a statement by the Acting Director of the organisation, Mr Sodiq Ojurongbe in Abeokuta on Wednesday.

According to the Statement Mr Ojurongbe went memory lane, explaining that, "PLATFORM TIMES hit the news stand in 2013 as a community newspaper, but later restructured and elevated its status to an online newspaper with national coverage. Its website, www.platformtimes.com.ng reaches over one million readers daily with news reports, analysis, features, and investigative reports". 

"Occasionally, it also produced hardcopy magazines which were distributed free of charge to various stakeholders such as ministries, Local government secretariats, state house of assembly, palaces, political party secretariats, eateries, hotels, banks, super markets, schools, religious centres, and other private enterprises across the country."he said.

Mr Ojurongbe disclosed that "Platform Times reporters had partnered with reputable organisations to expose corruption in government and hold public officers accountable. Some of the organisations that had offered our reporters such assistance include the African-China, the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development, the Nigeria Health Watch, and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting, among others".

“We look forward to having more productive partnerships with them now that we have launched a foundation,” says the Acting Director, Sodiq Ojuroungbe .

In his word, Mr Ojurongbe said "the idea is to advance its vision of advocating community development, exposing social ills and corruption, and upholding public accountability, the management launches The PLATFORM TIMES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM FOUNDATION (PTIJF)".

"The foundation will provide training for young journalists and breed a new crop of politically- aware, socially-conscious, and solution-seeking leaders bearing in mind that the young generation represents the future of journalism practice and democratic leadership".

"The PLATFORM TIMES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM FOUNDATION will focus its scope of operation on the following areas: Fact-checking and investigative reporting, climate and gender reporting, solution journalism and Free press advocacy. Its operations will be based on credible data gathering, and human interests, in line with best global practices. It will uphold the principles of democracy, including public accountability, social justice, equality, and freedom of expression".

"In providing training opportunities for young and budding journalists, our target is to train not less than 2,000 journalists across the country in our first year of establishment. The training will cover Investigative and Data Journalism, Fact-Checking, Climate and Gender Reporting, and Solution Journalism".

"PLATFORM TIMES INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM FOUNDATION will also serve as an avenue for mentorship and training on leadership, contemporary journalism practice and democratic principles by equipping young folks with adequate knowledge of the numerous opportunities in journalism. The foundation will help journalists in accessing financial support and also ensure the protection of journalists against injustice".

The Federal government has extradited a wire fraud suspect, Fatade Olamilekan, to the United States to face charges.

Spokesperson for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Wilson Uwujaren, said in a statement on Tuesday, that Olamilekan was flown to the U.S. last Thursday.

The suspect, who is on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), is accused of stealing over $3.5 million worth of equipment in various cities across the U.S.

He allegedly committed the offences through impersonation in various cities, states and academic institutions across the United States, according to the EFCC.

EFCC said it coordinated his extradition following a notice from the FBI in New York, through the US Legal Attaché.

Olamilekan was indicted by a grand jury in the Southern District of New York for offences of wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and identity theft.

The suspect was arrested on September 30, 2021, by the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation filed the extradition proceedings against him in November 2021 at the Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos.

On May 1, 2022, the judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, granted the request to extradite the suspect to the United States to answer the criminal charges against him.

Upon his arrival in the United States, the suspect is billed to appear before a United States District Court.

In April, EFCC announced the extradition of another wire fraud suspect, Adedunmola Gbadegesin, accused of money laundering and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

His extradition followed a February 11, 2022 decision of the Federal High Court in Lagos granting the request by the Attorney-General of the Federation’s office for Mr Gbadegesin’s extradition to the U.S.

“His extradition was coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following a request from the office of the Attorney General of the Federation, pursuant to a February 11, 2022 order by D.E Osiagor of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in Suit No. FHC/L/CS/765/21, which granted a request to extradite the suspect to the United States to answer to criminal charges bordering on a romance scam, wire fraud and money laundering,” EFCC said in its statement on Wednesday.

Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) says Enoch Adeboye, its general overseer, will not endorse the presidential ambition of any candidate for the 2023 general election.

The RCCG was reacting to online reports that Adeboye met Bola Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), over the weekend. 

The reports also claimed the clergyman is not opposed to the APC’s Muslim-Muslim ticket and that he is in support of the presidential bid of the former Lagos governor.

But in a statement on Tuesday, RCCG described the report as false.

While asking Nigerians to disregard the report, RCCG said legal action will be taken against any news outlet that purveys such false news in the future.

“It has come to our notice that some news outlets are reporting that a meeting Between E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God Worldwide and the former Governor of Lagos State Bola Tinubu was held a few days back at the Redemption camp where our esteemed father in the Lord was said to have supported the preferred candidature of the party the former governor as a member of,” the statement reads.

“This is to inform the general public that Adeboye is under the authority of God, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), and as such will not speak on behalf of Christians on issues regarding policies.

“Adeboye and the RCCG have not and will not endorse any candidate for the 2023 General elections in Nigeria.”

In a tweet accompanying the statement, the RCCG also said no such meeting held between Adeboye and Tinubu on the latter’s presidential ambition.

President Muhammadu Buhari has given Adamu Adamu, minister of education, two weeks to resolve issues of contention regarding the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The president gave the directive on Tuesday at a meeting with the minister and other stakeholders.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over the federal government’s failure to honour an agreement on issues bordering on funding of universities, as well as salaries and allowances of lecturers.

According to sources at the meeting on Tuesday, the minister is expected to report back to Buhari on the development in two weeks.

The president, who received briefing from relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on Tuesday, also reportedly directed that Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, must be present at all the meetings involving the federal government and the union.

The education minister is also expected to address issues raised by other unions such as the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation (SGF), is also expected to be involved in discussions with ASUU and other unions currently on strike.

Present at the meeting were Adamu; Ngige, Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance; Isa Pantami, minister of communications and digital economy; Folashade Yemi-Esan, head of the civil service of the federation; Ekpo Nta, chair of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission; and Ben Akabueze, director-general, budget office

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would embark on a nationwide protest on July 26 and 27 over the ongoing strike.

Also, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) has threatened to shut down airports over the ASUU strike.