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PDP Crisis: Tambuwal Visits Benue Gov, Ortom

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3 years ago

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Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, on Sunday received his counterpart from Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal, in Makurdi.

The meeting was part of the moves to resolve the internal crisis rocking the Peoples Democratic Party.

Tambuwal is the Director-General of the campaign council of the party’s presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, while Ortom is one of the five PDP governors known as Integrity Group currently insisting on the resignation of the party’s national chairman, Iyorchia Ayu.

Ortom said the Sunday meeting was at the instance of Tambuwal.

He said, “This meeting is at his instance. We have discussed quite many issues, including the division in the PDP; the G-5 which I am a member. He is here principally to see how we can team up and work together as a party.

“I have told him he is welcome, we are together, we are members of the PDP. But I have said that the leadership of this party has failed to take advantage of the challenges of the party and make it stronger.

“From when we held our convention, instead of the leadership deploying its internal dispute resolution mechanism to look at the grievances that arose as a result of the primaries, no matter how stupid they were, they have failed to do this.

“Rather it is arrogance, nonchalant attitude; and nobody has cared to reach out to us even when we voiced out that things were not going on well.”

Ortom commended Tambuwal for the visit and expressed optimism that the crisis will soon be resolved if the group heed his advice.

Tambuwal, on his part, described the move to resolve the crisis in the party as a work in progress.

The governor said, “Even in our families, we have reasons to disagree and agree. At some other times when you have such disagreement and you come back together, you bond stronger and wax stronger.

“So, it is a work in progress and we have met several times but we are working to bring everybody together to work for this party. That is the mission of my being here in Makurdi.

“He (Ortom) is a principled person on the issues we are handling and we have had a very strong conversation with him of course, I will engage with the rest of our colleagues and our leaders to see how best we can come back together as one family and work towards making sure that the PDP comes out stronger and win the election of 2023.”

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Senate Approves Tinubu’s N1.15tr Domestic Loan Request to Fund 2025 Budget Deficit

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1 day ago

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November 12, 2025

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The Senate has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to raise N1.15 trillion from the domestic debt market to cover the unfunded portion of the 2025 budget deficit.

The approval followed the adoption of a report by the Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debt during plenary on Wednesday.

The committee noted that the 2025 Appropriation Act provides for a total expenditure of N59.99 trillion, representing an increase of N5.25 trillion over the N54.74 trillion initially proposed by the Executive.

This expansion created a total budget deficit of N14.10 trillion. Of this, N12.95 trillion had already been approved for borrowing, leaving an unfunded deficit of approximately N1.15 trillion (N1,147,462,863,321).

In a related development, a motion by Senator Abdul Ningi was adopted, directing the Senate Committee on Appropriations to intensify its oversight to ensure that the borrowed funds are properly implemented in the 2025 fiscal year and used strictly for their intended purposes.

President Tinubu had on November 4th requested the approval of the National Assembly for a fresh ₦1.15 trillion borrowing from the domestic debt market to help finance the deficit in the 2025 budget.

The President’s request was conveyed in a letter. According to the letter, the proposed borrowing is intended to bridge the funding gap and ensure full implementation of government programs and projects under the 2025 fiscal plan.

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APC’s Joe Igbokwe Calls for Dismissal of Soldier Who Stood His Ground Against Wike

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2 days ago

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November 12, 2025

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A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Joe Igbokwe, has called for the dismissal of the soldier who resisted the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.

The soldier had blocked Wike and officials of the FCTA from accessing a portion of land in the FCT.

The officer, claiming he was acting on instructions, told Wike that he would not be allowed into the property. Wike, however, questioned his authority, leading to a heated confrontation and name calling.

Reacting on Facebook, Igbokwe questioned who was behind the military officer in challenging the FCT Minister.

He wrote, “Who is this man in uniform? Of what meat is he fed? Who is beating the drum for him? This is unacceptable? His uniform has to be removed.”

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Senates Rejects NNPCL’s Explanation, Orders Refund of N210trn to Govt

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2 days ago

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November 12, 2025

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The Senate has rejected the explanations provided by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) regarding the ₦210 trillion outstanding against the oil firm.

It came to the conclusion on Wednesday that the money, which had not been accounted for, must be refunded to the Federation Account by the company.

The Senate Committee on Public Accounts chaired by Aliyu Wadada, which has been on the probe for months, took the decision on Tuesday after the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the NNPCL, Bayo Ojulari, failed to turn up at its resumed sitting at the National Assembly.

The session was called to give the NNPCL the opportunity to make clarifications on the answers the company provided to the 19 questions the panel asked the firm about the ₦210 trillion.

Following a review of the operations of the NNPCL from 2017-2023, the committee sighted the unexplained transaction, totaling ₦103 trillion (accrued expenses) and ₦107 trillion (receivables) in the audited financial statements of the firm, prompting it to raise the queries.

After weeks of back-and-forth between the committee and the NNPCL, the NNPCL eventually responded to the 19 questions.

However, at a resumed session, Senator Wadada frowned at the absence of  Ojulari, whom the committee said gave no reasons for staying away, consequently rejected the explanations.

The Chairman of the committee, Senator Aliyu Wadada, while speaking on the panel’s findings, said the responses were not only unsatisfactory, but were also contradictory.

“NNPC claimed ₦103 trillion as accrued expenses and ₦107 trillion as receivables -amounting to ₦210 trillion. On question eight, NNPC’s explanation on the ₦107 trillion receivables -equivalent to about $117 billion -contradicts available facts and evidence provided by NNPC itself. The committee is duty-bound to reject this,” he stated.

Wadada further questioned how the firm could pay ₦103 trillion in Cash Calls to Joint Venture (JV) partners in 2023 alone, despite generating only ₦24 trillion in crude revenue between 2017 and 2022.

“Cash Call arrangements were abolished in 2016 under the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. How can NNPC claim to have paid ₦103trn in one year, when it only generated ₦24trn in revenue over five years? Where did NNPC get that money?

“As far as this committee is concerned, that figure is unjustifiable and unacceptable. The ₦103 trillion must be returned to the Treasury. This will be concluded when the NNPCL appears before us,” he stated.

The committee said it would have been better for the current management of the NNPCL to admit that it encountered challenges in explaining what happened to the funds than giving contradictory answers to the questions.

“If the present management of NNPCL is finding it difficult to provide acceptable answers, it is better they say so. The committee will not hesitate to subpoena former officials of NNPCL and NAPIMS,” Wadada added.

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