News
Save NDDC From Collapse, Union Urges Buhari, Others
The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), yesterday, called for the inauguration of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The General Secretary of the union, Comrade Sikiru Wahid, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen, yesterday.
Wahid said the call had become imperative to save the commission from destruction.
He, therefore, appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari; the President of the Senate, Dr Ahmed Lawan and other stakeholders to take urgent steps to ensure the NDDC delivered on its mandate.
“As critical stakeholders in the Niger Delta Development Commission, and of the regional development efforts, after taking a critical review and appraisal of all the happenings within and around the NDDC since January, 2019, we have resolved as follows:
“That we, as staff of the NDDC, collectively, under the umbrella of AUPCTRE, cannot fold our hands while different political actors from the region through their actions or inactions undermine the enabling Act of the NDDC, and so threaten the corporate existence of the commission.
“That as a union, we say to all political heavy weights from the Niger Delta region, that enough of putting personal interest over and above the development of the region for which the vehicle of the Niger Delta Development Commission was setup,” Wahid stated.
According to AUPCTRE, however, political gladiators from the region for whatever reasons, ill-advised Buhari to dissolve the board of the commission, and in its place, appointed an Interim Management Committee.
The union said the commission did not fully represent all the NDDC states, a situation that had culminated into anger and lack of support by the aggrieved persons towards successive interim management committees.
“Thus, instead of focusing efforts on driving development of the commission, these committees either fights back or focuses on pacifying the aggrieved stakeholders.
“And since that January 2019, therefore, it has been one interim administration or the other. We, as members of staff, as a union, are saying enough of all these. Let the right thing be done,” AUPCTRE reiterated.
The union also faulted the forensic audit being carried out on the NDDC’s activities.
“Enough of these unending audits which fritter away the funds of the commission.
“A forensic audit, meant to take between three to six months to complete, but eventually took almost two years to complete, has been undertaken.
“A forensic audit that could have been carried out without suspension of the inauguration of a board, but for some personal reasons, one or two politicians from the Niger Delta region ill-advised the president against the inauguration of the board.
“At the moment, auditors from the office of the Auditor-General for the Federation, have been in the NDDC for about two months auditing the books of the commission, including personnel staff files,” AUPCTRE stated.
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.
