Headline

$9.6bn Judgment Debt is Fraudulent Attack on Foreign Reserve – FG

Published

6 years ago

August 31, 2019

Eric

The Federal Government has alleged that the awarded 9.6 billion dollar judgment debt against Nigeria over a botched gas contract is a calculated attempt by international and local scammers to deplete the country’s rising foreign reserves.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the allegation on Friday when he featured on a TV Continental programme, “This Morning’’, monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria.

“Anytime the foreign reserves of the country is rising, there is always this attempt by vultures that will come with one scam targeting the reserves.

“It is also important to state here that, these international scammers will not have succeeded without the collaboration of the people within.

“That is why the federal government is focusing its searchlight on this particular contract to unravel those behind the move to inflict economic injury on Nigeria and its people,’’ he said.

Mohammed said that 9.6 billion dollar (about N3.5 trillion) translates to 20 per cent of the nation’s foreign reserves.

The minister reiterated that the contract as conceived was designed to fail and there were deliberate efforts to circumvent all the checks and balances to prevent a breach.

Specifically, he said the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources which signed the contract had no technical knowledge and the capacity and competence to execute a gas contract of such magnitude.

The minister also disclosed that the contract was not approved by the then Federal Executive Council as required by law.

He said when the contract was signed in 2010, there were about seven other gas development projects that were signed about the time that followed due process.

Mohammed reassured that government would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the judgment is set aside, the case is resolved and Nigerian assets not attacked.

A UK court had in a ruling authorised an Irish engineering and project management company, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd. (P&ID), to seize 9.6 billion dollars in Nigerian assets over the failed contract.

The judgment was a fallout of the contract purportedly entered into in 2010 between the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources and P&ID.

(NAN)

Headline

Breaking: Dele Momodu Resigns from PDP, Cites Hijack by Antidemocratic Forces

Published

3 days ago

July 17, 2025

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

Chairman, Ovation Media Group and a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Dele Momodu, has resigned his membership of the party.

Momodu announced his membership via a letter dated July 17, 2025, and addressed to the Chairman, PDP Ward 4, Ihievbe, Owen East Local Government Area, Edo State.

The veteran journalist said he was resigning because the party has been ‘unarguably hijacked by antidemocratic forces from within and outside in broad daylight’.

He insisted that “it is therefore, honorable to abandon the carcass to them while the majority of us earnestly sign up with the new coalition party known as African Democratic Congress (ADC).”

He thanked the PDP for the opportunity and support he received ‘at all times’.

Momodu’s resignation from the PDP came barely 24hours after former Vice President Atiku Abubakar dumped the party.

Headline

Finally, Atiku Resigns Membership of PDP

Published

3 days ago

July 16, 2025

Eric

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has formally resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), ending a decades-long relationship with the opposition party he co-founded.

The resignation was confirmed in a letter dated Monday, July 14, and addressed to the chairman of the PDP in Jada 1 Ward, Jada Local Government Area of Adamawa State. A copy of the letter was shared publicly on Wednesday by Atiku’s media aide.

Atiku, who was the PDP’s presidential candidate in the 2023 general election, stated that his decision to leave the party came after reflection on the current direction of the PDP, which he said no longer aligns with its founding values.

The letter read, “I am writing to formally resign my membership from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) with immediate effect.

“I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound gratitude for the opportunities I have been given by the party.

“Serving two full terms as Vice President of Nigeria and being a presidential candidate twice has been one of the most significant chapters of my life.

“As a founding father of this esteemed party, it is indeed heartbreaking for me to make this decision.

“However, I find it necessary to part ways due to the current trajectory the party has taken, which I believe diverges from the foundational principles we stood for. It is with a heavy heart that I resign, recognising the irreconcilable differences that have emerged.

“I wish the party and its leadership all the best in the future. Thank you once again for the opportunities and support.”

Headline

Buhari’s Remains Arrive Nigeria from London for Burial

Published

4 days ago

July 15, 2025

Eric

The body of former President Muhammadu Buhari has arrived in Nigeria from London.

The Nigerian Air Force aircraft carrying his remains touched down at the Katsina airport, where it was received by President Bola Tinubu and Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State, along with senior military officers.