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MEND Issues Two-Week Ultimatum To FG
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), has given President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration two weeks to open talks with its “Reach out to ‘Aaron Team’” or face dire consequences.
MEND also responded to a recent piece titled: ‘President Buhari Sharpens Focus On Niger Delta’, authored by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.
Garba had lambasted the Niger Delta Avengers for “killing soldiers and policemen, kidnapping and killing of oil company workers, and asking oil companies to stop operations and pack out of the Niger Delta region”.
In the piece, Shehu had alluded to the fact that: “they blow up oil pipelines, power and other infrastructure. They attack and kill prominent individuals,
ransacking homes up and down the coastal areas, including lately, Lagos and Ogun states. All these for what?”
But in a swift reaction, yesterday, MEND, denied that Niger Delta militants were behind the killings and attacks on some coastal communities in Lagos and Ogun.
The statement, made available to The Tide via email, called on Buhari to act fast in addressing issues it had earlier raised, and listed names of those the government must negotiate with.
It also warned that: “If we don’t hear from the Federal Government, MEND shall safely assume that it is truly not sincere about dialogue on the Niger Delta question, and responds only to the threat of violence or industrial action”.
The statement reads in full: “The attention of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has been drawn to an article titled: ‘President Buhari Sharpens Focus On Niger Delta,” written by Mr. Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.
“We have carefully studied and analysed the article. We wholeheartedly applaud and welcome President Buhari’s sharpened focus on the Niger Delta, even though, in our estimation, Mr. Shehu’s article ironically did more to obtuse the focus.
“Shehu’s piece was unfortunately marred by sweeping assumptions; hasty generalization; illogicality and poor analysis of the Niger Delta question and, above all, the article merely provided lame excuses for government’s inability to proffer sustainable solutions to the Niger Delta crisis.
“It would tactless of Shehu to arrive at a conclusion in his article that, Niger Delta militants were behind the killings of prominent individuals and attacks on some coastal communities in Lagos and Ogun states. This casual but hasty generalization from a Presidential spokesperson is, to say the least, steeply divisive and capable of sparking a tribal war of unimaginable consequences between the Ijaws (whose youth are perceived to constitute a large number of the rank and file of Niger Delta militants) and the Yorubas.
“Quite apart from the fact that none of the Niger Delta Avengers operatives have so far, been arrested by security agencies to establish Shehu’s sweeping assumption, the comment by Shehu is regrettable and infra dig his office.
“Going forward, three salient issues which clearly reveal the seeming inability of President Buhari’s government to find sustainable solutions to the Niger Delta crisis can be distilled from Shehu’s article.
“Firstly, he made heavy weather about the Punch newspaper editorial of July 1, 2016, as a basis to justify government’s reluctance to negotiate with the NDA and other militant groups. Thereafter, he cited National Security Adviser (NSA), General Babagana Monguno’s alleged encounter with about 14 different militant groups who were all “claiming leadership to the renewed onslaught on the nation’s economic jugular vein.”
“Secondly, Shehu revealed in his article, the reluctance of government to take “the strongest possible military action” against the NDA and other militant groups while appealing to elders and traditional rulers from the Niger Delta region such as HRH King Alfred Diette-Spiff, the Amanyanabo of Twon-Brass in Bayelsa State to beg the militants to ceasefire.
“Thereafter, Shehu informed that President Buhari would take action (presumably, military action) after receiving reports from Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, who was interfacing with stakeholders; Special Adviser on Niger Delta/Co-ordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brigadier General Paul Boroh (rtd); and the new management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
“Thirdly, Shehu, in his article, bemoaned the proliferation of solutions to the Niger Delta crisis while asking rhetorical questions, to wit: “How many of those agreements, joint statements, ceasefires and peace declarations do we have on record so far? Why haven’t they given us peace? What is wrong with those agreements that they don’t last?”
“Shehu failed to proffer answers to his own questions. He also failed to apportion blame on successive governments and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) who have repeatedly reneged on agreements entered with the people of the Niger Delta.
“For instance, Shehu needs to be reminded that government and the IOCs are owing the NDDC billions of Naira in withheld funds. But that is a discussion for another day.
“There is a marked distinction between negotiation with criminals and fraudsters who force concessions from government using the strategy of attacks on oil installations, on the one hand; and dialogue with genuine militant groups such as MEND, who are committed to meaningfully engage government on the vexed Niger Delta question, on the other hand. While the former engage in militancy for their own personal aggrandizement; the latter are patriots who are fighting a just cause and are equally desirous of peace, stability and development of the Niger Delta region for the common good.
“As unfolding events in Nigeria have since revealed, the major challenge of President Buhari’s government lies in its inability to distinguish between NEGOTIATION (emphasis supplied) with criminal elements such as the Avengers, who are sabotaging the nation’s economy and whose demands range from the mundane to the outright ridiculous, on the one hand; and DIALOGUE (emphasis supplied) on the Niger Delta question with a serious-minded group such as MEND, on the other hand.
“The way and manner criminal gangs such as the Avengers hold government to ransom and force concessions; is the same way and manner pressure groups such as PENGASSAN, NUPENG or even the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) oftentimes held government to ransom, regardless of the risks posed by their actions to the national economy and to the lives of ordinary Nigerians. The only difference here is that Avengers ups the ante with their senseless and unprovoked attacks on oil installations. Willy-nilly government must negotiate with them even though their belligerent and bellicose conducts may be inimical to the national interest.
“The government is, therefore, at liberty to negotiate with arm-twisting unions and criminal groups like the Avengers so long as such negotiations were done in the national interest. After all, even in the United States and other Western countries, professional negotiators were often engaged by those governments to negotiate with criminals who may have held innocent citizens hostage; while at the same time, placing snipers on standby to take out the threat to national security whenever the opportunity presented itself.
“MEND is, therefore, not opposed to government’s plan to negotiate with the recalcitrant Avengers through the office of the NSA. However, government must not delude itself into thinking that negotiation with the Avengers was tied to the resolution of the Niger Delta question. Negotiation with NDA is merely a temporary respite, as another opportunistic group is lurking in the shadows. But dialogue and resolution of the Niger Delta question is a sustainable solution for all stakeholders.
“MEND has repeatedly reiterated that the Niger Delta struggle was beyond attacks on oil installations. In fact, destruction of oil and gas pipelines is an elementary course in guerilla warfare which can be carried out by any militant group. MEND, therefore stopped attacks on oil installations more than two years ago when the group unilaterally declared a ceasefire of hostilities on May 30, 2014, against Nigeria’s key economic and strategic interests. Since then, the group had relentlessly sought to engage government in a sincere DIALOGUE (emphasis supplied) on the release of Prisoners of Conscience, including Henry and Charles Okah, as well as addressing the root issues bedevilling the Niger Delta region, without success.
“On January 6, 2015, when MEND realised that former President Goodluck Jonathan – an indigene of the Niger Delta – was not interested in dialogue, on the Niger Delta question, the group endorsed Muhammadu Buhari as its candidate in the 2015 Presidential election; in the earnest belief that President Buhari would sincerely welcome dialogue on the Niger Delta question. MEND, therefore, calls on President Buhari to refrain from being deceived by the recent visit of King Alfred Diette-Spiff to the Presidential Villa under the pretext of a hurriedly formed Niger Delta Dialogue and Contact Group (NDDCG).
“Throughout the 6-year tragic rein of former President Goodluck Jonathan, King Diette-Spiff said or did nothing on record to draw the attention of the former President to the resolution of the Niger Delta question. He and other elders and elites of the region, including Chief Edwin Clark, certain ex- militants, tribal assemblies such as the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) as well as a coterie of so-called Niger Delta activists; embarrassingly kept mute and turned a blind eye during the 6 years of colossal waste, unmitigated corruption, monumental fraud in the unsustainable amnesty programme, environmental decay and neglect, infrastructural stagnation such as the wicked and criminal abandonment of the East-West Road project, among others.
“Regardless of the fact that there is a consensus of opinion that the Federal Government is not sincere about the kind of dialogue advocated by MEND, the group has nevertheless, named an Aaron Team comprised of Henry Odein Ajumogobia, SAN (Rivers) – team leader; Bismark Jemide Rewane (Delta) – awaiting re-confirmation; Senator Florence Ita-Giwa (Cross River); High Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Delta) – awaiting confirmation; Ledum Mitee, Esq. (Rivers); Lawson Omokhodion (Edo); Ibanga Isine (Akwa Ibom); Senator Adolphus Wabara (Abia); Alfred Isename (Edo); and Timipa Jenkins Okponipere, Esq. (Bayelsa) as team secretary.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the MEND Aaron Team shall not dialogue with the NSA given that the office of the NSA lacks executive power; that the root issues surrounding the Niger Delta question are on the exclusive legislative list; and that the proposed dialogue is not an interrogatory session.
“We, therefore, hope that the Federal Government shall reach out to “Aaron Team Leader”, Odein Ajumogobia to signal its intention to commence the dialogue. If after two (2) weeks from the date of publication of this Right of Reply, we don’t hear from the Federal Government, MEND shall safely assume that government is truly not sincere about dialogue on the Niger Delta question and responds only to the threat of violence or industrial action,” it added.
Susan Serekara-Nwikhana
President Bola Tinubu yesterday signed into law four tax reform bills aimed at transforming Nigeria’s fiscal and revenue framework.
The four bills include: the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill.
They were passed by the National Assembly after months of consultations with various interest groups and stakeholders.
The ceremony took place at the Presidential Villa, yesterday.
The ceremony was witnessed by the leadership of the National Assembly and some legislators, governors, ministers, and aides of the President.
The presidency had earlier stated that the laws would transform tax administration in the country, increase revenue generation, improve the business environment, and give a boost to domestic and foreign investments.
“When the new tax laws become operational, they are expected to significantly transform tax administration in the country, leading to increased revenue generation, improved business environment, and a boost in domestic and foreign investments,” Special Adviser to the President on Media, Bayo Onanuga said on Wednesday.
Before the signing of the four bills, President Tinubu had earlier yesterday, said the tax reform bills will reset Nigeria’s economic trajectory and simplify its complex fiscal landscape.
Announcing the development via his official X handle, yesterday, the President declared, “In a few hours, I will sign four landmark tax reform bills into law, ushering in a bold new era of economic governance in our country.”
Tinubu made a call to investors and citizens alike, saying, “Let the world know that Nigeria is open for business, and this time, everyone has a fair shot.”
He described the bills as not just technical adjustments but a direct intervention to ease burdens on struggling Nigerians.
“These reforms go beyond streamlining tax codes. They deliver the first major, pro-people tax cuts in a generation, targeted relief for low-income earners, small businesses, and families working hard to make ends meet,” Tinubu wrote.
According to the President, “They will unify our fragmented tax system, eliminate wasteful duplications, cut red tape, restore investor confidence, and entrench transparency and coordination at every level.”
He added that the long-standing burden of Nigeria’s tax structure had unfairly weighed down the vulnerable while enabling inefficiency.
The tax reforms, first introduced in October 2024, were part of Tinubu’s post-subsidy-removal recovery plan, aimed at expanding revenue without stifling productivity.
However, the bills faced turbulence at the National Assembly and amongst some state governors who rejected its passing in 2024.
At the NASS, the bills sparked heated debate, particularly around the revenue-sharing structure, which governors from the North opposed.
They warned that a shift toward derivation-based allocations, especially with VAT, could tilt fiscal balance in favour of southern states with stronger consumption bases.
After prolonged dialogue, the VAT rate remained at 7.5 per cent, and a new exemption was introduced to shield minimum wage earners from personal income tax.
By May 2025, the National Assembly passed the harmonised versions with broad support, driven in part by pressure from economic stakeholders and international observers who welcomed the clarity and efficiency the reforms promised.
In his tweet, Tinubu stressed that this is just the beginning of Nigeria’s tax evolution.
“We are laying the foundation for a tax regime that is fair, transparent, and fit for a modern, ambitious Nigeria.
“A tax regime that rewards enterprise, protects the vulnerable, and mobilises revenue without punishing productivity,” he stated.
He further acknowledged the contributions of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reform Committee, the National Assembly, and Nigeria’s subnational governments.
The President added, “We are not just signing tax bills but rewriting the social contract.
“We are not there yet, but we are firmly on the road.”
The Senate has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) over its failure to appear before the Senate Committee on Public Accounts probing alleged financial discrepancies amounting to over ?210 trillion in its audited reports from 2017 to 2023.
Despite being summoned, no officials or external auditors from NNPCL showed up yesterday.
However, representatives from the representatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and Department of State Services were present.
Angered by the NNPCL’s absence, the committee, yesterday, issued a 10-day ultimatum, demanding the company’s top executives to appear before the panel by July 10 or face constitutional sanctions.
A letter from NNPCL’s Chief Financial Officer, Dapo Segun, dated June 25, was read at the session.
It cited an ongoing management retreat and requested a two-month extension to prepare necessary documents and responses.
The letter partly read, “Having carefully reviewed your request, we hereby request your kind consideration to reschedule the engagement for a period of two months from now to enable us to collate the requested information and documentation.
“Furthermore, members of the Board and the senior management team of NNPC Limited are currently out of the office for a retreat, which makes it difficult to attend the rescheduled session on Thursday, 26th June, 2025.
“While appreciating the opportunity provided and the importance of this engagement, we reassure you of our commitment to the success of this exercise. Please accept the assurances of our highest regards.”
But lawmakers rejected the request.
The Committee Chairman, Senator Aliyu Wadada, said NNPCL was not expected to submit documents, but rather provide verbal responses to 11 key questions previously sent.
“For an institution like NNPCL to ask for two months to respond to questions from its own audited records is unacceptable,” Wadada stated.
“If they fail to show up by July 10, we will invoke our constitutional powers. The Nigerian people deserve answers,” he warned.
Other lawmakers echoed similar frustrations.
Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) insisted that NNPCL’s Group CEO, Bayo Ojulari, must personally lead the delegation at the next hearing.
The Tide reports that Ojulari took over from Mele Kyari on April 2, 2025.
Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (Ebonyi North) said the two-month request suggested the company had no answers, but the committee would still grant a fair hearing by reconvening on July 10.
Senator Victor Umeh (Anambra Central) warned the NNPCL against undermining the Senate, saying, “If they fail to appear again, Nigerians will know the Senate is not a toothless bulldog.”
Last week, the Senate panel grilled Segun and other top executives over what they described as “mind-boggling” irregularities in NNPCL’s financial statements.
The Senate flagged ?103 trillion in accrued expenses, including ?600 billion in retention fees, legal, and auditing costs—without supporting documentation.
Also questioned was another ?103 trillion listed under receivables. Just before the hearing, NNPCL submitted a revised report contradicting the previously published figures, raising more concerns.
The committee has demanded detailed answers to 11 specific queries and warned that failure to comply could trigger legislative consequences.
The National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA) said over 17 million Nigerians travelled out between 2023 and 2024.
This is as the association announced that it would be organising a maiden edition of Eastern Travel Market 2025 in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital from 27th to 30th August, 2025.
Vice Chairman of NANTA, Eastern Zone, Hope Ehiogie, disclosed this during a news briefing in Port Harcourt.
Ehiogie explained that the event aims to bring together over 1,000 travel professionals to discuss the future of the industry in the nation and give visibility to airlines, hospitality firms, hospitals and institutions in the South-South and South-East, tagged Eastern Zone.
He stated that the 17 million number marks a significant increase in overseas travel and tours.
According to him, “Nigerian travel industry has seen significant growth, with 17 million people traveling out of the country in 2023”.
Ehiogie further said the potential of tourism and travel would bring in over $12 million into the nation’s economy by 2026, saying it would be a major spike in the sector, as 2024 recorded about $4 million.
“The potential of tourism and travel is that it can generate about $12 million for the nation’s economy by 2026. Last year it was $4 million.
“In the area of travels, over 17 million Nigerians traveled out of the country two years ago for different purposes. This included, health, religious purposes, visit, education and others,” Ehiogie said.
While highlighting the potential of Nigeria’s tourism, he said the hospitality industry in Nigeria has come of age, saying it is now second to none.
The Vice Chairman of NANTA, Eastern Zone further said, “We are not creating an enabling environment for business to thrive. We need to support the industry and provide the necessary infrastructure for growth.”
He said the country has a lot of tourism potential, especially as the government is now showing interest in and supporting the sector.
Ehiogie emphasized that NANTA has been working to support the industry with initiatives such as training schools and platforms for airlines and hotels to sell their products.
He added, “We now have about four to five training schools in the region, and within two years, the first set of students will graduate. We are helping airlines sell tickets and hotels sell their rooms.”
Also speaking, former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of NANTA, Stephen Isokariari of Dial Travels, called for more support from the industry.
Isokariari stated, “We need to work together to grow the industry and contribute to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.
“With the right support and infrastructure, the Nigerian travel industry has the potential to make a significant contribution to the nation’s economy.”