Author: Emmanuel Obe

A fire incident and some technical hitches have led to the shutting down of the Old Port Harcourt Refinery, which was long due to resume production of petroleum products. Technical completion of the old refinery was achieved in December 2023 after which a plan was enrolled for it to begin production of petroleum products within the first quarter of 2024. But that never occurred. Investigations by National Point indicated that after the technical completion of the old refinery, the plant was started for test running but it was brought down after a section of it caught fire. Engineers working on…

Leaders and coordinators of the Phase One Ex-agitators have condemned an alleged plot to link the Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, PAP, Dr Dennis Otuaro to a purportedly leaked confidential document about former President Goodluck Jonathan. The leaders, who rose from their meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend, warned against blackmails and attacks on Otuaro by some detractors in the Niger Delta. In a communique, the leaders took exceptions to a video circulated a few weeks ago in the social media by one Jude Gbaboyor, who claimed that Otuaro leaked a confidential document in the custody of the…

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has clarified the smooth approval given by the National Assembly to the commission’s 2024 budget of N1.9 trillion was because the assembly was impressed with the performance of the commission in its project executions. The Director of Corporate Affairs of the Commission, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, gave the clarification in response to an open petition to President Bola Tinubu and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budget by the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for the Advancement of the Niger Delta Development that NDDC ran an anti-people budget in 2024 The NDDC Director said the…

Mr Sola Adebayo, renowned Journalist and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Lawal Iyanda Farms Limited has floated a Welfare Endowment Fund for members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) Warri Correspondents Chapel. Speaking at the presentation ceremony Adebayo called on practicing journalists to make friends in the course of their practice and sustain the relationships. “As journalists, keep your friends. Journalism is a tool that makes you come in contact with people, therefore, make friends and sustain the relationship. “Develop core friendship and don’t sacrifice the ultimate for the immediate. I appeal to all of you to be responsible,” he…

The assurance given on Friday by the Accountant General of the Federation that the October allocation of Rivers State from the federation account would not be withheld had thrown civil servants in the state into celebrations. Hopes for the payment of the monthly salaries and overheads of Rivers State government were thrown into jeopardy when the Accountant General of the Federation during the week declared that the share of Rivers State from the monthly federation accounts would be withheld in compliance with a court order given by the Federal High Court in Abuja for the Central Bank of Nigeria not…

Kula and other communities within the Oil Mining Licence (OML) 25 oil fields have reached an eight-point agreement with Shell Petroleum Development Company Limited on resumption of oil producing operations in the area. The agreement was reached after a meeting on Friday in Port Harcourt between Shell, the communities, representatives of Rivers State government and regulatory authorities. Spokesman for the Communities, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, who spoke at a press briefing with the chiefs and leaders of the community after the meeting, said the resumption of operations is tied to the implementation of an eight-point agreement reached by the parties. Chief…

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has clarified why the National Assembly approved a budget of N1.9 trillion for it to spend in 2024.In a press statement issued on Friday, the NDDC Director of Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thompson-Wakama, said the National Assembly was impressed with the performance of the commission and that was why it did not waste time in approving its budget proposal for the year.Thompson-Wakama was responding to an open petition to President Bola Tinubu and the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Budget by the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations for the Advancement of the Niger Delta…

…stand against gas flaring Women resident in Eleme, a hub of heavy hydrocarbon industries in Nigeria, have taken a stand against gas flaring and other environmental pollution created by oil and gas industries in the area. The women, organized under the umbrella of Mba Okase Eleme Initiative, on Saturday played two commemorative novelty football matches at the RSTV grounds, Elelenwo and Ascension High School, Ogale to pass on their message. The event was also part of signature collection exercise for the African group attending this year’s Conference of Parties (COP) taking place in Azerbaijan. The Coordinator of Mba Okase Eleme…

Thousands of families in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States have fled their homes as devastating floods took over their homes and farmlands. The victims are also faced by the high cost of evacuating their homes in view of the high cost of doing and the and harsh economic realities. Biseni, a community in the northern part of Bayelsa State has been completely submerged by the invading flood for over two weeks now. Residents of the community have since evacuated to higher grounds and some faraway communities. Most of the victims have found refuge the bridge and road that lead to…

The Chairman of Eleme Local Government, Chief Brain Gokpa, has begun disbursement of bursaries to the over 1,500 students of Eleme origin in post-secondary institutions in Nigeria. Already the benefiting students have been acknowledging receipt of the payments in their respective bank accounts. The process of paying the bursary to the students was started when Chief Gokpa was the Chairman of the caretaker committee of the local government through the Education Committee headed by Hon. Okaka Obe, the former Supervisor for Education. The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman, Hon. Udeme Obot, said in a press statement during the week,…