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PDP Prays For Yar’Adua
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has offered special prayers for President Umaru Yar’Adua and tasked state chapters of the party to organize special prayers for the ailing president who is receiving treatment in a Saudi hospital.
This is part of resolutions of the 49th meeting of the national executive committee (NEC) of the (PDP) which took place yesterday in Abuja.
The Resolutions Reads in part:
NEC commended the National Working Committee for the wise decision taken to exercise its powers as enshrined in Article 17.1 of the PDP Constitution in nominating the governorship candidate for Anambra State. NEC called on all stakeholders in Anambra State to rally round the candidate of the Party and warned against anti-party activities.
NEC mandated the National Legal Adviser to ensure that all pending court cases regarding the candidature of our Party in Anambra State are resolved in order not to jeopardize our campaign activities.
NEC also commended the constitution of the Campaign Committee for Anambra State under the able leadership of the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and expressed confidence that with all stakeholders cooperating with the campaign team and the Caretaker Committee, victory is assured.
Secondly, NEC commended the Vice President and The Fund Raising Committee for their efforts in collecting funds for the building of the new National Secretariat. About 4.9 Billion Naira has so far been collected. NEC further directed the National Working Committee to immediately commence the process for the award of contract for the new National Secretariat.
Thirdly, NEC observed cases of indiscipline still exist in the Party and re-emphasized its earlier position on stemming this. It therefore directed that henceforth, any member who takes the Party to court without exhausting the internal conflict resolution mechanism as enshrined in Article 21.1 (1) of the PDP Constitution be referred to the Disciplinary Committee for severe and prompt sanctions.
Furthermore, NEC declared that any member of our Party that supports or sponsors a candidate from another political Party in any election is guilty of anti-party activity and will be punished accordingly.
NEC expressed its total confidence in the capability of President Yar’Adua to discharge his duties and warned those playing politics with his health to have a rethink.
NEC commended Nigerians for their goodwill, solidarity and prayers for President Umaru Musa whose health has steadily been improving and is determined to return as soon as possible to continue his good works.
In a similar vein, NEC condemned in strong terms the call by some disgruntled opposition politicians on the President to resign from office. NEC particularly frowned at the dirty antics employed by some of these politicians in forging the names of some prominent Nigerians in an attempt to gain unmerited legitimacy.
Finally, since this is the last meeting for the year, NEC wished Nigerians a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Justus Awaji, Abuja
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
