Modular refineries can’t resolve fuel crisis - Kachikwu

Ibe Kachikwu, minister of state for petroleum resources, says the proposed modular refineries in Rivers and Delta states are not intended to resolve fuel shortage in the country.

Addressing state house correspondents after the federal executive council meeting on Wednesday, the junior minister said the purpose of the refineries is to stop illegal refining.

He said: “On modular refineries; modular wasn’t supposed to provide a sufficient solution to your product needs, modulars are on the average between 2,000 and 5,000 maybe 10,000 at most capacity per refinery.

“Your consumption is about 630,000 barrels per day, that is not the essence of modular, what modular was supposed to do for us is provide work within some of these communities where people are busy doing illegal refining.

“It’s not meant to address the refining product gap we have in the country, we are hoping that those gaps will be covered by a mixture of the three or four refineries that government owns currently, Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna and of course the Dangote refinery of 650,000 barrels.”

Kachikwu said the federal government does not have money to fix the state-owned refineries.

“As a seasoned professional, I have given all the guidance that is required to fix the refineries. We came into a situation where we don’t have money to fix the refineries. We had to raise the money looking into the PPP model; it has to go through a process,” he said.

“The technical committee is headed by the NNPC. Obviously, they’ll submit their report to the board when they complete their work.

“So, from a governance and guidance sense, steering point of view, I think that steering is right on track, from a management of the technical aspect of the contracting, that is something we would have to allow NNPC handle, it is not the job of the ministry to superimpose, you’ve got to let them do their work and do it efficiently.” - Cable Nigeria

Shocking !!! 29-year-old man breaks in, rapes pregnant woman in her house

One man, Monsuru Adeniji, was on Friday arraigned before Ikorodu Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos State f‎or allegedly raping a pregnant woman.

Adeniji is facing a charge of sexual assault by penetration to which he pleaded not guilty.

Police Prosecutor John Iberedem alleged that the accused committed the offence on Feb. 22 on CAC Street, off Marrass Road, Owutu, Ikorodu, at 3.00 p.m. at the woman’s apartment.

Iberedem told the court that the accused, who lives next house to the woman, who is two months pregnant, had been going to her house to pray.

“He had earlier made sexual advances to the woman, touched her buttock in the kitchen sometime ago which she shared with other neighbours.

“On the day the accused committed the assault, he noticed the woman’s husband was not at home and entered her apartment, grabbed her, covered her mouth with cloth and raped her.

“It was her noise that attracted one of the neighbours and the accused was immediately arrested and handed over to the police.

“The woman lost her two months old pregnancy due to the rape,” he said.

Ruling, the Chief Magistrate, Mrs F. A. Azeez, said the accused should be remanded in prison pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

The offence contravened Section 260 of the Lagos State Criminal Code Laws, 2015. Rape attracts life imprisonment in Lagos State.

The court adjourned the case till April 5.

Pogba not as good as Kondogbia - Valencia boss Marcelino

Manchester United's under-fire midfielder Paul Pogba is not as good as Geoffrey Kondogbia, according to Valencia coach Marcelino.

Pogba's form has faced heavy scrutiny recently, particularly in United's dismal 2-1 Champions League defeat to Sevilla on Tuesday that saw them crash out of the last 16.

The former Juventus midfielder was brought on for the last half hour with the score at 0-0, but failed to make an impact and made several errors – including a woeful misplaced pass that went straight out of play – leading United great Roy Keane to describe his performance as "schoolboy".

Conversely, Kondogbia has enjoyed a terrific loan spell for Valencia since joining from Inter and was influential in the 2-0 win against Sevilla last weekend that left them 11 points clear of their rivals in the battle for fourth in LaLiga.

However, Kondogbia was not included in France's squad alongside Pogba for upcoming friendlies against Colombia and Russia and won the last of his five caps in September 2015, something Marcelino is perplexed by.

"Kondogbia didn't only play brilliantly against Sevilla, but he has had a lot of excellent games throughout the entire season," he said ahead of Saturday's contest with Deportivo Alaves.

"He is a key player for us, he is important for how we play and although I don't follow how the other French midfielders are getting on, recently I don't think that some of them would be close to how Kondogbia is playing.

"We saw Pogba play against Sevilla and Kondogbia against the same opponent and there isn't any kind of comparison to be made.

"As always, however, I have total respect for the national team managers and as Valencia boss I am happy that he is here with us." - Goal

Transfer news : Arsenal linked with shock swoop for Real Madrid star

Arsenal are interested in making a surprise move for Real Madrid star Luka Modric, according to reports in Spain.

It’s claimed by Diario Gol, as cited by the Liverpool Echo, that the experienced midfielder could be on the move this summer, which has put the Gunners on red alert.

Modric has been a key player for Real for a number of years now but with the Croatian international now 32-years-old, it’s thought that the club could be willing to part company with the midfielder.

As per the report, Modric is keen to return to the Premier League to test himself in the English game once again. It’s believed that Arsenal are interested in helping the player achieve this, whilst Liverpool have also been touted as a potential destination for the player.

It’s stated, however, that Modric would be more receptive to a move back to London, following his successful tenure with Tottenham Hotspur. This then begs the question of whether or not he would move to his former club’s rivals, though.

Arsenal will undoubtedly be on the lookout for quality additions in the summer as they bid to force their way back into the Premier League’s upper echelons. - Read Sport

826 personnel deployed to Nigeria to contain Lassa fever - WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it has deployed its personnel to rapidly contain the outbreak of Lassa fever in more than 18 states in Nigeria.

This was contained in a statement released in Abuja by Charity Warigon, communication officer for WHO in Nigeria.

The statement said: “For the Lassa fever response, 271 are involved in active case search, 235 in contact tracing and 320 in community sensitisation activities in the 18 states active states.”

According to Warigon, from January 1 to March 4, a total of 1,121 suspected cases of Lassa fever were reported across 18 states.

The states are Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, Anambra, Benue, Kogi, Imo, Plateau, Lagos, Taraba, Delta, Osun, Rivers, FCT, Gombe and Ekiti.

“Of these, 353 are confirmed positive, eight are probable, 723 are negative and 37 are awaiting laboratory results,” she said.

“Since the onset of the 2018 outbreak, there have been 110 deaths, 78 in positive-confirmed cases, 8 in probable cases and 24 in negative cases. Case Fatality Rate in confirmed and probable cases is 23.8 percent.”

Warigon said on several instances, polio workers have provided frontline support for outbreak response, adding polio workers were essential to containing the Ebola virus outbreak in 2014.

Quoting Wondimagegnehu Alemu, WHO country representative to Nigeria, Warigon said the polio infrastructure was originally designed towards achieving the polio eradication goals.

Alemu said 2,500 WHO personnel and 390,000 ad hoc personnel are supporting polio eradication in Nigeria.

“Now polio infrastructure has expanded its support to broader disease surveillance strengthening, outbreak response and basic health care services including immunisation,” Alemu said.

“With the imminent eradication of polio globally, plans are underway to determine how best to transition polio assets including health workers to retain their knowledge and skills.” - Cable Nigeria

Face of corruption : EFCC closes cases in trial of Jonathan’s ex-aide

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Friday closed its case in the prosecution of former Senior Special Assistant to ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on Domestic Affairs, Dr. Waripamo-Owei Dudafa.

EFCC arraigned Dudafa and Iwejuo Joseph Nna before Justice Mohammed Idris of the Federal High Court in Lagos on 23-count charge of conspiracy to conceal proceeds of crime amounting to N1.6billion on June 11, 2013.

Prosecuting counsel, Mr. Rotimi Oyedepo, after tendering some documents, said he had no more witnesses to call.

Oyedepo added that he intended to file an amended charge without re-opening his case.

Defence counsel, Gboyega Oyewole (SAN) and Ige Asemudara, said they would make a no-case submission on the matter.

The defendants allegedly concealed the sum through a company, Seagate Property Development and Investment Ltd, an  offence contrary to Section 18(a) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) (Amendment) Act, 2012 and punishable  under Section 17(a).

They were also accused of knowingly concealing proceeds of crime through Avalon Global Property Development Company Ltd in the sum of N 399, 470,000.00, among others.

EFCC said Dudafa “procured” Nna and Ebiwise Resources to conceal N150million being proceeds of crime.

Gibraltar warns it could rescind citizens rights if Spain uses veto on Brexit deal

The government of Gibraltar has warned that it could rescind the rights and protections enjoyed by Spanish and other EU nationals living and working in the territory if Madrid uses its veto to exclude the Rock from any Brexit deal between the EU and the UK.

According to EU negotiation guidelines issued in April last year, Gibraltar will find itself outside any future trade deal with the UK unless an agreement is reached in advance with Spain over its status, effectively giving Madrid a veto.

Gibraltar’s deputy chief minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, described the veto clause as illegal and said its use would be challenged in court.

He said that its invocation could prompt his government to review the status of EU nationals and also to revisit an agreement guaranteeing the payment of pensions to Spaniards who worked in Gibraltar before Franco closed the border in 1969.

 “We’ve taken advice from the most senior UK lawyers and our advice is that the clause is illegal and our position is that if Spain exercises a veto under that clause, we will challenge it in court – whatever that may do to the whole of Brexit,” he said.

Garcia said that Spain was trying to draw a distinction between withdrawal and transition, even though Gibraltar insists transition is part of withdrawal.

Were Gibraltar to find itself excluded from the transition and withdrawal, he added, the government might, reluctantly, be forced to reconsider the rights of both EU nationals who live and work in the territory and the 13,000 workers who cross the border from Spain every day.

“Our view is that we are then no longer obliged to allow or provide the citizens’ rights that are provided in withdrawal or in transition, because it doesn’t apply to us,” Garcia said. “In terms of workers, it isn’t something we want to do – let me stress that. But it’s something that is an option. 

“There are 2,000 EU nationals who live in Gibraltar, quite apart from the workers. Some of them obviously work here as well. Eight hundred of those are Spanish and they’ve chosen to make Gibraltar their home.

“We welcome them in Gibraltar, but if transition and withdrawal is not going to apply to us – and it includes chapters specifically on citizens’ rights and workers’ rights and frontier workers and what have you – then we would be free to do whatever we like on those elements as well.”

Garcia said that while Gibraltar did not want the negotiations to be about “vetoes or exclusions or threats or about denying people legitimate rights”, the enduring threat of the veto had brought an “element of uncertainty” to proceedings.

“We said at the very beginning – before the UK had spoken about guaranteeing citizens’ rights – that we would honour citizens’ rights already and acquired rights in particular,” he said.

He pointed out that the question of pensions for the Spanish workers forced from Gibraltar when Franco closed the border almost half a century ago had only been resolved through an agreement following three-way talks in 2006.

“The UK continues to pay the pensions to these workers,” said Garcia. “These are acquired EU rights. There are now others who’ve worked here since who will have acquired rights as well. Spain cannot seriously put us in a position where we are forced to look into these areas, which are areas – I stress once again – where we don’t want to go.”

The negotiations, he added, “should be about lowering the temperature, sitting down and ensuring a sensible, orderly and well managed Brexit, because it’s in both our interests”.

Residents of Gibraltar, which was captured by an Anglo-Dutch fleet in 1704 and ceded to Britain in perpetuity nine years later under the treaty of Utrecht, voted overwhelmingly against Brexit. Up to 96% of voters cast their ballots in favour of remaining within the EU. - UK Guardian