ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: FRIDAY

22 Sep ALL THE RELEVANT NEWS: FRIDAY

🌎President Bola Tinubu has declared that African nations will no longer accept a situation in which human rights advocacy is used by developed nations to stop developing economies from dealing decisively with malign actors who illicitly siphon and smuggle out the continent’s vast mineral resources, while smuggling in western-made weapons, which enrich the wealthiest economies in the world at the expense of African stability and wealth creation. He spoke while meeting with United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, at his UN Headquarters Office in New York City

🌎Oil prices rose on Friday as renewed global supply concerns from Russia’s fuel export ban counteracted demand fears driven by macroeconomic headwinds and high interest rates. Brent futures were up 80 cents, or 0.86%, at $94.10 a barrel by 1154 GMT
*The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has signed up as a participant of the United Nations Global Compact, thereby becoming the first state-owned oil company to join the global initiative.

🌎The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has postponed the 293rd Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, September 25 and 26, 2023. This was disclosed in a Thursday press statement by the bank’s Director of Corporate Communications, Dr Isa AbdulMumin. But no reason was given for the decision.

🌎The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority has inaugurated a joint audit committee on all aviation fuel activities in Nigeria. The committee was set up against the discovery of fuel contamination in the aircraft tank of Max Air about three months ago, in Yola, which generated a lot of attention in the country and among stakeholders.

🌎The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited said 234 incidences of illegal connections, refineries, amongst others, were recorded in several oil-producing states in the Niger Delta region between September 9 to 15, 2023. NNPC said the total incidences recorded were higher compared with the 148 incidences of illegal connections and refineries reported between September 2 to 8, 2023.

🌎The National Pension Commission (PenCom) says pension assets increased to N17.07 trillion at the end of July 2023. PenCom director-general Aisha Dahir-Umar, disclosed this at a sensitisation conference for civil society organisations (CSOs) in Abuja.

🌎Service disruptions and others have influenced 19,321 telecom subscribers to switch network providers in the first seven months of 2023. Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) date showed that this was 11.99 per cent increase from the 17,251 that was recorded in the corresponding period of 2022.

🌎FCT Minister Nyesom Wike has approved the immediate revocation of 165 plots of land in the serviced districts of the Federal Capital City (FCT). The FCTA said in a statement Thursday that the revocation was premised on the failure of the allotted owners to develop the plots. The owners include some high-profile individuals.

🌎Security Stories: Bandits have reportedly kidnapped a significant number of students of the Federal University Gusau, Zamfara State, in the early hours of Friday (today).
*Catholic priest, Marcellinus Okide, kidnapped on Sunday by gunmen in Enugu State, South-east Nigeria, has been set free. He was released at about 8:00 p.m. on Thursday
*Three displaced persons in the Agagbe camps, Gwer West Local Government Area of Benue State, have been reportedly killed by suspected herders in their farms.
*Security agencies along with vigilantes and residents, have reportedly killed 21 suspected bandits in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State.
*In furtherance of sustained onslaught against the remnant of terrorists in the Northeast, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) aircraft under Operation Hakin Kai, while on armed reconnaissance mission took out a gun truck with about 8 terrorists at Baranga village in Marte Local Government Area of Borno state.

🌎Russia-Ukraine War: Ukrainian cities from east to west were hit overnight in Russia’s largest wave of missile attacks in more than a month, as at least two were killed and dozens wounded on United Nations World Peace Day. The Russian strikes, the biggest since 15 August, came a day after reports of sabotage at a Russian military airfield in Chkalovsk, near Moscow, and in the week Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented a Ukrainian “peace formula” to the UN general assembly summit in New York.
*Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is to deliver an address to Canada’s Parliament as he visits the country for the first time. Zelensky will also meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said Ottawa will strengthen economic ties with Ukraine and “apply more economic pressure on Putin’s regime.”
*Zelensky vowed Ukraine will liberate Bakhmut and two more unnamed cities. “We have the plan. Very, very comprehensive plan,” he told US media.
*Zelensky met with President Joe Biden at the White House as the US announced a new support package for Ukraine including $128 million in security assistance and $197 million in arms and equipment.
*Poland’s president said he is willing to talk to Zelensky as “friends” after Warsaw signaled it would stop sending arms to Kyiv amid a dispute over grain imports.