President Muhammadu Buhari’s message to Muslims on the celebration of Mawlud Nabbiy, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad is one of the leading stories in Nigerian newspapers on Tuesday.
The Nation reports that President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday led other Nigerian leaders and the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) to felicitate Muslims on today’s celebration of Mawlud Nabbiy, the birthday of Prophet Mohammad (SAW).
In a statement in Abuja by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, President Buhari urged Muslims to strive for “forgiveness and closeness to the noble life and teachings of the Prophet (SAW) whose birthday is being marked on this blessed day. On this auspicious occasion, I wish you all the blessings of today”.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan advised the Muslim Ummah on the need for peaceful coexistence, love and tolerance among Nigerians and other people across the world.
“Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) set clear examples through his life of piety and fervent worship of Allah for all true Muslims to emulate at all times,” he said in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Ola Awoniyi.
The senator representing Lagos Central in the National Assembly, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, also rejoiced with Muslims on the Islamic celebration.
In a personal statement, she said: “I felicitate our Muslim brothers and sisters in the Lagos Central Senatorial District, Lagos State, and across the Federation on the commemoration of the birthday of Prophet Mohammad (SAW).
“The birth, life, and teachings of the Prophet are lessons in devotion and dedication, and indeed, worthy of celebration.”
The Punch says that the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and the Petroleum Equalisation Fund are all officially scrapped and do not exist anymore, the Federal Government said on Monday.
It also said while workers of the three agencies would be protected, their chief executives had been relieved of their various appointments.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, stated this while speaking on the side-lines of the inauguration of the boards of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority and the Nigerian Upstream Regulatory Commission in Abuja.
He explained that with the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act, the NPRA and NURC had taken over the functions of the DPR, PPPRA and PEF.
Responding to a question on what would happen to DPR following the inauguration of the board of NURC, Sylva said, “It is now a matter of law.
“The law states that all the assets and even the staff of the DPR are to be invested on the commission and also in the authority. So that means the DPR doesn’t exist anymore.
“And, of course, the law specifically repeals the DPR Act, the Petroleum Inspectorate Act, the Petroleum Equalisation Fund Act and the PPPRA Act. The law specifically repeals them. It is very clear that those agencies do not exist anymore.”
On what would happen to the chief executives and employees of DPR, PEF and PPPRA, the minister replied, “The law also provides for the staff and the jobs in those agencies to be protected.
“But I’m sure that that doesn’t cover, unfortunately, the chief executives, who were on political appointments.”
The newspaper reports that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has said it spent a total of N32.56bn on pipeline security and maintenance from February to July this year.
The NNPC spent N5.81bn on pipeline security and management in February; N5.32bn in March; N2.64bn in April; N5.26bn in May; N6.17bn in June, and N7.35bn in July.
A total of 261 pipeline points were vandalised in the first five months of this year, the latest data obtained from the NNPC showed.
The number of vandalised pipeline points rose from 27 in January to 54 in February.
In March, 70 pipeline points were vandalised, representing a 29.63 per cent increase from the 54 points recorded in February.
A total of 64 pipeline points were vandalised in May, representing 39.13 per cent increase from the 46 points recorded in April.
The NNPC said the Port Harcourt area accounted for 65 per cent in May while Mosimi and Kaduna areas accounted for 30 per cent and five per cent respectively of the vandalised points.
“NNPC in collaboration with the local communities and other stakeholders continuously strive to reduce and eventually eliminate this menace,” the corporation said.
The corporation had repeatedly said product theft and vandalism had continued to destroy value and put NNPC at disadvantaged competitive position.
A total of 441 points on petroleum products pipelines were vandalised last year, compared to 1,484 points in 2019, the NNPC data showed.
The Guardian says that the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has delisted the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) from armed groups recruiting children as soldiers in the North East.
According to him, the move is a step towards child protection.
UNICEF Chief of Maiduguri Field Office, Phuong Nguyen, in a statement yesterday in the Borno State capital, confirmed: “Guterres credited the delisting to a significant reduction in the number of children recruited into the ranks of the CJTF and the armed group’s commitment.”
She said the promise was to implement an action plan signed with the UN country task force on monitoring and reporting in 2017.
“This is to stop the recruitment and use of children in conflicts,” Nguyen restated in the statement.
She recollected that the group was formed in 2013 to support efforts of the Nigerian military to protect communities from Boko Haram attacks, stating that: “The Civilian JTF expanded in size and influence in the North East region.”
Besides, Nguyen added that since signing the agreement, the body has released more than 2,000 children from its ranks.
According to her, many of the kids have also been enrolled in school and provided with psychosocial support by UNICEF.
The newspaper says that the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) has sought laws to back debt recovery in Nigeria with a view to strengthening the nation’s financial system.
It had on several occasions argued that obligors were getting daring and hiding under legal technicalities to frustrate repayment.
Speaking on the sidelines of the award presentation organised yesterday by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Abuja, AMCON Executive Director, Aminu Ismail, stressed that the importance of a national policy on debt recovery cannot be over-emphasised, noting that a financial system “is only as strong as its ability to collect debt in parallel to an existing legal system.”
He explained that the organisation was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in achieving its mandates.
Speaking on the sidelines of the award presentation organised yesterday by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in Abuja, AMCON Executive Director, Aminu Ismail, stressed that the importance of a national policy on debt recovery cannot be over-emphasised, noting that a financial system “is only as strong as its ability to collect debt in parallel to an existing legal system.”
He explained that the organisation was working with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in achieving its mandates.
GIK/APA