ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: FRIDAY

02 Jun ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: FRIDAY

🌎President Bola Tinubu has appointed speaker of the house of representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, as his chief of staff; Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, a former deputy governor of Jigawa state, deputy chief of staff; and George Akume as secretary to the government of the federation (SGF)..

🌎The 1st first Security Council meeting: At his first Security Council meeting President Tinubu charged the heads of Nigeria’s security agencies to come up with a blueprint to tackling the security challenges bedevilling Nigeria.
The Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, who briefed journalists at the State House Abuja after the meeting, said the president also condemned the security situation in many parts of the country.
* As far as he knows, he doesn’t have the luxury of time and whatever changes will be made, have to be done as soon as possible… He is going to embark on a lot of reforms in terms of our security architecture, he will take a closer look at our misfortunes in the maritime domain focusing particularly on the issues of oil theft, that he is not going to tolerate. Wherever the problem is coming from, it must be crushed as soon as possible.”

🌎What Group Chief Executive Officer NNPCL Mele Kyari said yesterday:
* The federal government has not funded the petrol subsidies for 2022 and 2023, despite budgetary provisions. There was a provision of N6.3 trillion in 2022 and N3.7 trillion in 2023 for up to half a year, but I can tell you that not a single naira of that has been funded and what did we do because by law we are obligated to pay taxes and royalties and other obligations but we held back the fiscal obligations of our shareholders because there was nothing to do.
* The administration of President Bola Tinubu has concluded an arrangement to have one of the four refineries repaired and operating at an optimal level before the end of the year.
* I am aware that Mr President is working on this to see how the alleviation of these pains is going on. More than anything, it is going to enable the resources come back and be of use to the ordinary people.
* Kyari assured Nigerians that the fuel queues across the country will be a thing of the past in the next two days.

🌎Oil prices rose on Friday after a U.S. debt ceiling deal averted a default in the world’s biggest oil consumer, while attention turned to a meeting of OPEC ministers and their allies at the weekend. Brent crude futures rose 77 cents, or 1% to $75.05 a barrel by 0806 GMT.
* The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Delta Safe (OPDS) have destroyed 47 illegal refining sites and apprehended 65 suspected oil thieves and other criminals in the last two weeks.

🌎IGP Usman Baba, has approved the promotion of 31,465 personnel, consisting of 24,991 sergeants to inspector, 194 corporals to sergeant and 6,280 constables to corporals.

🌎Nigerian banks have begun implementing a new regulation that requires customers to present a valid Tax Clearance Certificate (TCC) for foreign exchange transactions.

🌎The Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria has announced plans to shut down port operations starting from Monday, June 5, 2023, citing the unwillingness of the management of shipping companies to discuss the welfare and working conditions of their employees.

🌎The Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) has flagged off its first Talk To The Regulator Forum (TTTRF) in Yenagoa Bayelsa State. The event spans Thursday 1 and Friday 2 June, 2023.

🌎The immediate past Governor of Ekiti State Dr Kayode Fayemi has refuted reports that he is under probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

🌎Elon Musk has reclaimed his title as the world’s richest person, knocking the boss of luxury goods giant LMVH, Bernard Arnault, off the top spot. His net worth has soared by $55.3bn (£44.44bn) since January to $192bn (£153.24bn), after a rise in the value of his electric car company Tesla.

🌎Security Stories: Defence Headquarters says troops of the Armed Forces have, in the last two weeks, neutralised 58 terrorists and bandits and apprehended 161 others in various operations. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Musa Danmadami, disclosed on Thursday in Abuja at the bi-weekly news conference on the armed forces’ operations. He said the operations took place in the North-east, North-central and North-west.
* Troops of the Joint Taskforce Northwest Operation Hadarin Daji have rescued 10 kidnap victims in Shinkafi Local Government Area of Zamfara State, and also killed scores of bandits in the Anka Local Government Area of the north-western state.
* The police in Delta State, South-south Nigeria, on Thursday, said they killed two suspected kidnappers and rescued two victims – a couple during a shootout with their abductors.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said that two people were killed after Ukraine shelled a town near the border, while officials in nearby regions reported overnight drone attacks. Separately, Ukrainian forces in Kyiv said they shot down 36 Russian missiles and drones in and around the capital overnight, with two people injured by falling debris.
* On Thursday, three people were killed by falling debris in Kyiv during an attack, including a 9-year-old girl and her mother.
* Two Russian missiles struck a plant in an industrial area close to Kharkiv, Ukrainian officials said. The mayor said the factory was “a civilian enterprise,” with no connection to the military.
* NATO’s chief said all members of the defense alliance agree “Ukraine will become a member,” as NATO foreign ministers meet in Oslo to discuss the war.
* A group of anti-Putin Russians aligned with Ukraine say they are again “fighting on Russian territory” Thursday but denied shelling civilians in Belgorod. The Russian region’s governor said five people were injured in shelling early Thursday.