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JUST IN: Bread Bakers Declare Nationwide Strike Over Increasing Prices Of Baking Materials

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Premium Breadmakers Association of Nigeria (PBAN), comprising owners, Managing Directors, and Partners of premium bakeries in Nigeria, has concluded plans to embark on a four-day warning strike beginning on Thursday, July 21, 2022.

The bread makers took the decision in protest against the increasing prices of baking materials in the country, saying it has become impossible to operate bakeries in Nigeria.

President of the Association, Emmanuel Onuorah, and Public & Industrial Relations Officer, Babalola Thomas, also asked the Federal Government to stop charging a 15% Wheat development levy on wheat import.

In addition, they requested NAFDAC to review downwards the N154,000 penalty charged to bakeries on the late renewal of certificates.

PBAN also called on the government to grant members access to grants and soft loans being given by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Minor, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs).

The association also called for the stoppage of multi-agencies regulation of the breadmaking industry.

It said, “Operating a bakery in Nigeria has become near impossible as the incessant increase in the prices of baking materials and diesel rendered the industry comatose. Bakeries are mostly running on huge losses and this is no longer sustainable.

“Bread is a staple food and one of the cheapest ‘grab and go’ food that is available for both the poor and rich. It, therefore, behooves the federal government to be mindful of this and ensure the survival and sustainability of the industry.

“In a move to ensure the survival of the Premium breadmaking industry in Nigeria, we have decided to embark on a withdrawal of services beginning from Thursday 21st July 2022 for four days in the first instance, and where no intervention from the government, we shall escalate the duration of the withdrawal.

“Our efforts to ensure the survival of the industry led to a series of meetings with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Abuja (FMITI) with our sister association in the breadmaking industry in 2021. Our best attempts to ensure that the suggestions we put forward for the survival of the breadmaking industry have not yielded the desired result.

“Therefore, the withdrawal of service is the only way we believe we can use to get to Federal Government and Nigerians and let them know our plight and how difficult it has been with the breadmaking industry in Nigeria.”

BIG STORY

Avoid Panic Buying, We’re Not Changing Petrol Prices — NNPCL To Nigerians

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says there is no place to change the prices of petroleum products.

In a statement on Thursday by Femi Soneye, its spokesperson, the NNPC asked Nigerians to avoid panic buying.

The national oil firm said the limited availability of petrol in certain regions of the nation is a result of logistical problems.

However, the company said the challenge has been fixed.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved,” the statement reads.

“It also wishes to reiterate that the prices of petroleum products are not changing.

“It urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there is a sufficiency of products in the country.”

On March 24, the NNPC denied adjusting the pump price of petrol across its retail outlets.

This came after the organisation had promised Nigerians that there would not be any increase in the cost of petrol on February 9.

The NNPC also reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in the supply of petroleum products across all its retail stations in the country.

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Former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi Wins Ondo PDP Gubernatorial Primary

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A former deputy governor of Ondo, Agboola Ajayi, has emerge winner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary election in the state.

Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, who chaired the electoral committee that supervised the poll, announced the results on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

Ewhrudjakpo said Ajayi scored 264 votes to defeat other aspirants.

“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.

Ajayi was the deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021.

Kolade Akinjo, who came second in the election scored 157 votes while Olusola Ebiseni polled 99 votes to clinch the third position.

On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.

He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.

He then joined the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.

Ajayi had served as a councillor, chairman of Ese-Odo LGA, and house of representatives member before he was nominated by the late Akeredolu as his deputy in 2016.

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Former Senate Spokesperson Ayogu Eze Dies At 66

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Ayogu Eze, a former spokesperson for the Senate, passed away at the age of 66.

Eze, the senator from Enugu North Senatorial District from 2007 to 2015, died on Thursday in a hospital in Abuja following an undisclosed illness.

In May 2023, the Senate confirmed Eze as a federal Commissioner for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Eze is also among the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party.

In his years at the Senate, he also served as the chairman of the Senate Committee of Works and a member of committees on Constitutional Amendment, Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs.

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