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Why President Tinubu Stopped Electricity Tariff Increase — Power Minister Adelabu

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The minister of power, Adebayo Adelabu, says President Bola Tinubu recently stopped the increase in electricity tariff and insisted on the payment of subsidy on power consumed nationwide.

Adelabu made this known at a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday.

He also said the federal government would investigate the legality of the five-year licence extension given to privatised power distribution and generation companies, stressing that the operating licences of the firms would have expired on October 31, 2023.

The minister also threatened to sack any non-performing chief executive in agencies under the power ministry, if their non-performance would put his job at risk.

Adelabu, addressing the call for a cost-reflective tariff, which would raise power tariff, said the president had insisted that stable electricity supply must be achieved before the implementation of cost-reflective tariff.

“The power sector is an industry that is very sensitive to any leader,” the minister said.

“You cannot jump overnight and implement the cost-reflective tariff. I can tell you that till today the government still subsidises power. Tariff should have been raised months back, but Mr. President said until we are able to achieve regular and incremental power supply we can’t touch the tariff.

“So, there is a gap between the cost-reflective tariff that we are supposed to charge and the allowed tariff. That huge gap the government is still handling it as subsidy. This affects liquidity in the system, investments and causes so many constraints.

“Now, I never said that it is not yet time to charge a cost-reflective tariff. Rather, I said the cost-reflective tariff is supposed to have been implemented months ago because it is the source of liquidity to the system.

“But for political reasons and empathy, you cannot cause additional burden on Nigerians. We just had the removal of fuel subsidy, we are talking about exchange rate skyrocketing, galloping inflation and so many others that bring hardship to the people.

“And Mr. President is trying to relieve this hardship through various forms of palliatives. So it is not politically expedient and reasonable to now implement a tariff that is more like dumping the existing tariff.

“We are now paying about N70 (per kilowatt-hour), and it can never be less than N130 or N140 at the exchange rate of today if we are to implement a cost-reflective tariff. Because part of the reasons for an increased tariff is the price of gas, which is paid in dollars.”

Adelabu said 75 to 80 percent of Nigeria’s power currently comes from gas power plants.

“And their raw material is gas. So, once the exchange rate goes up, the cost of gas also goes up and it affects the tariff,” he explained.

The minister, however, said tariff would be increased at the appropriate time, after a lot of sensitisation and communication with the public, adding that there must also be an assured incremental and regular power supply.

The minister said the about 4,000 megawatts of power generation in Nigeria is shameful and unacceptable, noting that efforts are being made to increase it.

Adelabu stressed that any senior official in the ministry and its agencies who fails to deliver would be fired, as the president had told his ministers that they must perform or be eased out of the cabinet.

“I’m using this medium to tell my colleagues who will work with me that if your activity is not supporting my retention, you’ll leave before me. Because for me, I don’t wait to be sacked, the moment I’m not performing, I’ll leave honourably,” the minster said.

“But before I leave I’ll explore every opportunity to ensure I deliver, because this is not personal, this is national and national interest must prevail.”

He added that all the players in the power sector must “support my vision, so that I can support Mr President’s vision”.

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My Wife Invited Her Friends To Our Home To Beat Me During Our Crisis — Oritsefemi

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Famous Nigerian singer, Oritsefemi has alleged that his wife, Nabila Fash, invited her friends to their home to beat him up during their marital crisis.

He said the ladies, numbering about 20, overpowered and physically assaulted him.

The ‘Double Wahala’ hitmaker disclosed this in a candid chat with media personality, Chude Jideonwo.

Oritsefemi stated that he has been unlucky with marriages, claiming that his first wife also dumped him after sponsoring her to Dubai.

“My wife [Nabila Fash] asked her friends to come and beat me up in my house. I said, ‘Look at me o; a whole me, lion na he women dey pursue.’ They were about 20. They dealt with me. I’m not lying,” he said.

Oritsefemi’s marriage to Nabila Fash hit the rocks in 2022, with Fash accusing the singer of incessant cheating.

In October 2022, Fash officially filed for divorce from Oritsefemi over infidelity and domestic violence.

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Chain Reactions In 7 Star Performance At 2024 SABRE Awards

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It was a seven-star performance for Chain Reactions Africa (CRA), one of Africa’s leading Public Relations and Integrated Communications Consultancy as it took home seven African SABRE trophies, more than any other public relations firm in Africa in the 2024 competition.

The awards which were held at the end of the annual African Public Relations Association (APRA) Conference, were presented by Provoke Media, organizers of the awards in Basam, Abidjan, Cote D’Ivore on May 16th 2024.

The work covered campaigns for the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), and its Lagos Blue Rail, 9mobile’s The Hack – Expand Your Hustle’, ‘Taming the Bull’ for the Presidency, ‘Next Era of Happiness’ for leading biscuit company, Pladis Foods Nigeria Limited.

Receiving the awards on behalf of Chain Reactions and its clients, was its Managing Director/Chief Strategist, Israel Opayemi, who noted that this is a seven-star performance by Chain Reactions Africa at the 2024 SABRE Awards.

In his comments Opayemi said “to emerge as the highest winner at the 2024 edition of the award with seven SABRE Awards is humbling as well as exciting for us at Chain Reactions Africa. We are immensely proud to be honoured on such a global platform like the SABRE awards which is the holy grail of Public Relations globally as the awards programme is dedicated to benchmarking the best PR works across the globe.”

He continued, “I am making a three-fold dedication of these multiple trophies to our clients who believe in us, my team members who do the brave works relentlessly and our dear country Nigeria. Ten years ago, we were at the SABRE Awards in Miami, Florida in the United States watching and applauding as winners took turn on stage. Ten years ago, we were asking for a seat at the table. Today, we are sitting in creative resplendence at the head of the table. Today, we are flying the Nigerian flag on the global stage. We are now a territory of reckon and relevance in the global PR space.”

It seems winning awards is just a Chain Reactions thing, chuckled Arun Sudhaman CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Provoke Media, organizers of the SABRE Awards as Opayemi rose up seven times to receive the awards. The PR consultancy also picked up four Certificates of Excellence in recognition of its work launching the Nigerian Youth Trend Report 2024 known as ‘ARAMANDA’, ‘Next Era of Happiness’, ‘Lagos Blue Rail’, ‘The Hack – Expand Your Hustle’, and ‘Taming the Bull’.

In his reaction, President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) described the awards by Chain Reactions Africa as “a harvest of honours for Nigeria”. He thanked the Chain Reactions Africa team for their outstanding works saying, “thank you for making us proud.”

Chain Reactions Africa has over the years won several prestigious SABRE awards and has been awarded more than 15 Certificates of Excellence. At last year’s award, the company won CEO of the Year category for the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for use of public relations to tell the story of his administration’s achievements and scooped two Certificates of Excellence in the Corporate Image category for the ‘Momentum Campaign’ for Cellulant, a flagship payment solution provider; and ‘Marketing to Consumers’ category for ‘The #NaijaHighlandah Campaign’ for William Lawson’s, Scotch Whiskey brand.

The 2024 Africa SABRE Awards shortlist included more than 120 campaigns, selected from over 500 entries in this year’s competition, which recognizes Superior Achievement in Branding, Reputation and Engagement. The campaigns were evaluated by a jury of industry leaders.

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BREAKING: Court Denies Binance Executive Tigran Gambaryan Bail

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Tigran Gambaryan, Binance executive, had his bail plea dismissed by a Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday.

In his verdict, Justice Emeka Nwite stated that the bail application is denied because, after carefully reviewing the application, he concluded that, should bail be granted, the defendant will violate it.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission filed charges against Gambaryan, his business Binance Holdings Limited, and another high-ranking executive who is presently fugitive, Nadeem Anjarwalla, for money laundering and supporting terrorism.

 

More to come…

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