Author: Saint Augustine

…Indicts top military brass of illegal oil bunkering Ijaw leader and delegate at the National Conference, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on Federal Government to revoke the pipeline security contracts awarded to ex-militant leaders including  Government Ekpemukpolo, (aka Tompolo) and Asari Dokubo. Clark, who was commenting on the report of the National Conference Committee on Public Finance and Revenue, also indicted top military personnel for oil theft in the Niger Delta region. Tompolo is a former commander of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, MEND, while Dokubo is the leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante Force, NDVF,…

The Nigerian Shippers’ Council has called on the Federal government to embark on the review of the subsisting port concession agreement it entered into with the private terminal operators in the concession period of 2006. The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Hassan Bello who made this call at an interactive session with senior media practitioners in Lagos recently said that the port concession agreement signed between the two parties in 2006 was long overdue for review. Bello regretted that the port concession agreement, which should have been reviewed every two years to accommodate the emerging…

Freight forwarders in Lagos on Tuesday disagreed with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council over its plan to introduce a minimum share capital for companies and individuals engaged in the freight forwarding activities in the nation’s seaports. The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barr. Hassan Bello was quoted as saying in a parley with senior media practitioners in Lagos recently that the Council was concluding work on the plans to introduce a minimum share capital for freight forwarders in order to root out touts in the industry. However, the plan seemed not to go down well with the freight forwarders for whom…

Contrary to the reports in some sections of the media over its planned relocation from Abuja to Lagos, the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) has faulted the reports saying that the council’s head office was based in Lagos. Clarifying the report in a telephone interview with Daily Champion on Tuesday, the Registrar of the council, Sir Mike Jukwe hinted that it was erroneous for anyone to think that Abuja houses the head office of the council informing that Abuja is only a liaison office for the council. Jukwe admitted that although there was a relocation…

Seven journalists were recently honoured in the 2014 Promasidor Quill Awards at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The journalists who won the awards in different categories were rewarded for their reports through which they brought changes to bear in the various areas of the economy which they report. Gbenga Salau of the Guardian Newspapers went home with the best report on Nutrition award,Adekunle Yusuf of the Nation Newspapers went home with the best CSR and Industry report award while Ayodele Ojo of Daily Sun won the best Photo story of the year. Others are Kunle Falayi of…

Following the disagreement that trailed the choice of the date for the all important All Nigerian Political Parties Summit between the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Sen. Ben Obi and the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), the New Nigerian Peoples’ Party (NNPP) has called on the both sides to bury their ego and reconcile their differences. The call was contained in a press release issued and signed by the National Chairman of the Party, Dr. Boniface Aniebonam, a copy of which was obtained by Primetime Reporters. The release stated that NNPP was deeply concerned about the discordant tunes…

In its move to reposition the service for improved revenue collection, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has redeployed a total of eight Assistants Comptroller General (ACGs) and twenty-two Comptrollers of Customs amongst them, the Zonal Coordinator of Zone A, ACG Banke Adeyemo. Primetime Reporters gathered that ACG Banke Adeyemo who was posted as the Zonal Coordinator  Zone A comprising Lagos and most south-west states barely five months ago has been redeployed to Tariff and Trade (T & T) at the Customs headquarters in Abuja. It was said that her redeployment may not be unconnected to the failure of the zone to…

…calls for a halt to blame game syndrome A security meeting involving the Commissioner of Police, Western Ports Police Command and the leaders of the various association operating in the Western Ports has ended in Lagos with a call on all concerned to take the security, especially that of the ports as a challenge. The meeting which was at the instance of the Commissioner of Police in-charge of the Western Ports, Mr. Kayode Aderanti had most of the associations operating in the ports in attendance, with top officers of the Western Ports Command and the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs). The…

…says it is counterproductive The former Chairman, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Farintho has faulted the early implementation of the new auto policy by the Nigeria Customs Service last month. Farintho who spoke in an exclusive chat with Primetime Reporters in his office in Lagos recently said the policy was not going to help the economy of this country as well as its citizens. He observed that since the country was yet to produce its own vehicles, it was counterproductive to begin implementation of the new auto policy targeted at discouraging importation of used vehicles into…

…Calls for market for second hand goods     The President, Shippers Association of Lagos Rev. Jonathan Nicol has lauded the Federal Government’s efforts over the arrival of jumbo vessels at the Onne Port in Rivers.   Nicol, who was delighted at such feat said that the calling of the West African Maximum (WAFMAX) vessels at Onne port would boost the turn-around time of cargoes.   Nicol disclosed that the capacity of the ship was 4500 Twenty Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU), adding that this was a big success for the President GoodLuck Jonathan administration.   He said that if the…