NEWS AGENCY OF NIGERIA
Group urges INEC to jettison Warri constituency delineation proposal

Group urges INEC to jettison Warri constituency delineation proposal

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By Emmanuel Oloniruha

A group of constituents from Itsekiri community in Delta, known as Warri Reclamation Trust, has called on INEC to jettison its report on the proposed delineation of Warri Federal Constituency which was presented to stakeholders on April 4.

 

The group’s Convener, Mrs Tsaye Mene, while presenting a petition to INEC at the commission’s headquarters on Monday in Abuja, described the document as fraudulent and that it must not be allowed to scale through.

 

Mene urged INEC to do proper job on the matter, in line with the Supreme Court judgment, before the implementation of any delineation in the constituency.

 

She said that the group had carried out a thorough analysis of the document presented by INEC and discovered some distortion of facts on the units and wards proposed for the federal constituency by INEC.

 

Mene said it was discovered that communities from Edo and Ondo states were imported into Warri North to create more wards for the Ijaws.

 

She also alleged that communities from other local government areas, such as Ughelli South, Udu and Burutu were erroneously imported into Warri South-West Local Government Area to create more wards for the Ijaws.

 

Mene also claimed that fictitious communities were created, while some Itsekiri communities were renamed with Ijaw names in favour of the ijaws to have more wards against the Itsekiris.

 

Mene said that all these were being done in spite court judgements, up to the supreme supreme, all of which declared Itsekiris as landlords and historical owners of all the lands in Warri federal constituency.

 

Mr Bright Omaghomi, Co-Convener of the group, said that going by the evidence uncovered from the report, it showed that INEC did not do diligent work, hence the report should be jettisoned in its entirety.

 

Omaghomi syated that the document also claimed that the Ijaws had more population than the itshekiris, against the 2006 population census report.

 

He said that INEC lacked the power to create constituency and rename communities or give them something that belonged to Itsekiri to the Ijaws.

 

“If INEC is going to delineate, it should do so in accordance with the rule of law. They should delineate according to their own guidelines.

 

“INEC must also follow the supreme court as far as land ownership in Warrington federal constituency is concerned.

 

“This document that has been submitted is unacceptable. We are asking INEC to withdraw this document and do the proper thing,” he said.

 

Omaghomi also called on the commission to investigate and prosecute its staff members who participated in the exercise.

 

He also alleged said that the Resident Electoral Commission in the state was an interested party in the exercise, being of Ijaw ethnic nationality.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria NAN reports that the the protesters displayed placards with various inscriptions, such as “Address our petition before final delineation report, in line with supreme court judgment” and “Discard the fraudulent proposed ward delineation document in Warri federal constituency.”

 

Others included: Edo and Ondo states, Udu, Ughelli South, Burutu and Bomadi LGAs not part of Warri federal constituency and should be expunged from the delineation report” and “INEC cannot assume voting strength and population outside the voters registered and last census data.”

 

Receiving the petition, an INEC National Commissioner, Abdullahi Zuru, commended the peaceful conduct of the protesters.

 

Zuru said that the commission would look into the evidence of errors allegedly committed by INEC.

 

He said that the commission, in collaboration with relevant authorities, was already looking into the concerns raised in the petition submitted by the group to the commission on June 5.

 

“if there is an additional evidence, you should bring it out so that we will know these are additional documents; otherwise, if it is that same document that you have submitted and acknowledged by us, we are working on them,” he said.

 

Zuru assured the protesters that the commission would communicate with them at the appropriate time. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by ‘Wale Sadeeq

Video: Warri Refinery on board with Naphtha, Diesel, Kerosene

Video: Warri Refinery on board with Naphtha, Diesel, Kerosene

719 total views today

 

By Emmanuella Anokam

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) says it has revived the Warri Refinery with the re-streaming of the plant’s Crude Distillation Unit (CDU).

 

 

The NNPC Ltd. said the restreaming of the CDU on Monday, marked the beginning of the gradual start-up of the refinery following its successful rehabilitation.

 

 

The NNPC Ltd. in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye said it had delivered on its promise to revive the Warri Refinery by the end of 2024.

 

 

Speaking at a tour of the Warri Refinery Complex in Ekpan, Delta State, the Managing Director of the Warri Refining and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC), Mr Chu Efifia, explained that the CDU was successfully re-streamed.

 

Efifia said the plant had commenced the production of petroleum products such as Automotive Gas Oil (Diesel), Household Kerosene (HHK), Naphtha, and Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO).

 

 

Giving further details about the production status of the refinery, the Managing Director said the plant was currently processing 75,000 barrels per day (bpd) which translated to 60 per cent of installed capacity.

 

 

He said that the plant was currently producing 2.9 million litres of diesel, 1.9 million litres of kerosene and 4.9 million litres of fuel oil.

 

 

He added that the production of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol, will follow in the days ahead as other units of the refinery come on stream.

 

 

Highlighting its significance, Mr Mele Kyari, Group Chief Executive Officer, NNPC Ltd., said it was the beginning of Nigeria’s journey to becoming a net producer and exporter of refined petroleum products.

 

 

The Chairman of the Board of Directors, NNPC Ltd., Chief Pius Akinyelure, also expressed satisfaction with the development, adding that soon Nigeria would exit petroleum products importation and become a net exporter.

 

 

Mr Farouk Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA),  congratulated NNPC Ltd. on the feat.

 

Ahmed said with the coming on stream of more refineries, there would be more competition in the market.

 

He said that this would in turn force down the pump price of petroleum products to the benefit of Nigerians.

 

The 125,000bpd capacity Warri Refinery was commissioned in 1978.

 

It was shut down for rehabilitation in 2021 with Daewoo Engineering as the EPC contractor.(NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Ismail Abdulaziz

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