Business
WITSOJ Poised To Track Budget …Enlightens Grassroots On Participatory Governance
The Co-ordinator of Women Initiative for Transparency and Social Justice (WITSOJ), Dr. Jenifer Spiff, has reiterated the resolve of the coalition to continue to ensure that th citizens of Rivers State participate in budget monitoring and tracking in order to bring the dividend of democracy down to the grassroots.
Dr. Spiff, who stated this during the group’s press conference at the Rivers State Law Centre, last week in Port Harcourt, said that the coalition has been rendering selfless service in enlightening the citizens on their rights, as it has to do with participatory governance.
The Co-ordinator said this action was in response to the charge of Rivers State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, to the civil society groups in the state to be up and doing in “complimenting his developmental strides through the monitoring and tracking of the budget”.
She noted that since the charge was also in line with the plans and target of WITSOJ, it only helped to speed up the action of the group in moving to the grassroots for enlightenment of women and the girl child before the 2015 election.
The group head also said that the action repeated itself in the past few months, when WITSOJ visited four communities (Ogoloma in Okrika, Kpor in Gokana, Ihuike in Ahoada East and Kor in Khana) in the four local government areas of the state.
“During these visits on budget advocacy training for the local women, we, in conjunction with the community women did a situational analysis of their various communities in which infrastructural deficiencies in these communities were pointed out by the women”.
Fielding questions from the newsmen, she said that the major challenge of the organisation has been political leaders who mistake WITSOJ to be opposition group.
“I quickly want to correct the impression some politicians have about WITSOJ. We are non-partisan and cannot be influenced by any faction.
We are concerned Nigerians, who in our own way, want to demand for social justice through participatory governance in order to compliment the efforts of the governor”.
She, however, called on Oyigbo chairman to quickly respond to the cry of the Egberu Community women on the equipment and rehabilitation of Egberu health centre, adding that WITSOJ will not rest until something is being down to reduce maternal child mortality rate.
Speaking on behalf of Okrika Community, Joyce Emmanuel commended WITSOJ for opening their eyes and called on the leadership of the community to organise skill acquisition for the women, adding the need to also empower them after the training.
CFAO has added to its fleet of cars in the motoring industry with the recent launch of the 2024 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, one of Toyota’s flagship models, alongside a range of others for the Nigeria market.
Unveiling the product in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the General Manager, CFAO Mobility, Port Harcourt, Julius Fasetire, said the model is exceptional tailored for Nigeria’s market.
According to him, the unveiling was an exclusive opportunity for Nigerians to explore the latest in automotive excellence, discover new vehicle options , and benefit from Toyota by CFAO’s end of year bonus.
He further explained that CFAO is an authorised distributor of Toyota vehicles in Nigeria, committed to providing high quality vehicles and services to meet the needs of customers across the country.
“With an extensive network of service centres, Toyota by CFAO offers top-notch sales, service and support to ensure a seamless ownership experience”, he declared.
By: Nkpemenyie Mcdominic, Lagos
There are indications that oil marketers may boycot patronising the newly opened Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), which commmenced crude oil production last Tuesday.
This follows their request that PHRC, under the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), must dispense its refined petroleum products below the prices of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Meanwhile, contrary to NNPCL’s claims, while reactiing to claims that its petrol price was about N1,045/litre, said the refinery had not released its prices, as products from the plant were currently dispensed to only NNPCL stations.
NNPCL’s spokesperson, Olufemi Soneye, revealed that the company was still reviewing its prices and had yet to commence bulk sales, saying that its purchasing portal is still closed.
In the midst of this, The Tide’s source also gathered that oil marketers imported 105.67 million litres of petrol into the country five days ago.
The marketers confirmed that NNPC was selling petrol at N1,045/litre, saying that they may be compelled to opt for petrol importation as a means of meeting local demands.
The source exclusively gathered that a total sum of 78,800 metric tonnes representing 105.67 million litres of petrol was imported into the country in the last five days, specifically identified November 23 and November 28.
The NNPC said the 60,000-capacity newly rehabilitated complex of the old Port Harcourt Refinery, which had been revamped and upgraded with modern equipment, is operating at a refining capacity of 70 per cent of its installed capacity.
The company added that NNPC added that diesel and Pour Fuel Oil would be the highest output from the refinery, with a daily capacity of 1.5 million litres and 2.1 million litres, respectively.
There’s also a daily output of Straight-Run Gasoline (Naphtha) blended into 1.4 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol), 900,000 litres of kerosene, and low-pour fuel oil of 2.1 million litres.
It was stated that about 200 trucks of petrol would be released into the Nigerian market daily.
However, claims that the national oil firm’s PMS price was higher than that of Dangote triggered diverse reactions from marketers.
The National Publicity Secretary of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Chinedu Ukadike, stated that though NNPC had yet to release any price for the products from the refurbished Port Harcourt refinery, a high price would discourage marketers, because Dangote currently sells his petrol at N970/litre, while imported petrol is around that price.
He, however, noted that there was the possibility that the NNPC would review its prices downward when the Port Harcourt refinery comes fully on stream.
Following its unequivocal and successive ranking as Nigeria’s top performing organisation in efficiency and transparency from 2022-date, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) has unveiled plans to mark the 2024 World Anti-corruption Day on Thursday, 5th December at its headquarters, the Nigerian Content Tower, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
The theme of this year’s celebration, according to a statement from the Board’s Department of Corporate Communications is “Effective Whistleblowers Protection Mechanism: A Critical Tool in the Fight against Corruption”.
The statement added that the celebration at the NCDMB is organised by the agency’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACTU) led by the Director of Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr. Abdulmalik Halilu.
The event, according to the Board, will be marked with a workshop that will feature paper presentations by representatives of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and key officials of the Board.
Another highlight of the day will include the grand finale of the debate competition among six federal government colleges from the six zones of the country, plus a representative from Bayelsa State, which is selected automatically as the host state of NCDMB.
The selected schools are Federal Government College, Odi, Bayelsa State; Federal Government College, Okigwe, Imo State; Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State; and Federal Government Girls College, Kazaure, Jigawa State.
Others are, Federal Government College, Ijanikin, Lagos State; Federal Government College, Maiduguri, Borno State; and Federal Government College, Rubochi, Abuja.
Two students, accompanied by an adult from each of the schools will be camped in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, by the NCDMB for four days during which preliminary debates will be held to determine the best two teams.
The debate, whose grand finale is to be held at the magnificent 17-storey Nigerian Content Tower (NCT), Yenagoa, is being organised to instill the ethics of transparency and public interest in Nigerian students to promote critical thinking, research, and public speaking skills among that segment of the population.
This segment, according to the Board, are generally viewed as potential future leaders of thought and industry in the country, and encourage students to engage with complex issues that underline good governance and democracy in Nigeria, just as prizes will also be awarded to winners.
By: Ariwera Ibibo-Howells, Yenagoa
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