Connect with us

News

APC: Stop manufacturing figures, attaching to my proposal – Atiku to Tinubu’s aide, Ogra

info

Published

on

Abubakar Atiku.jpg

The African Democratic Congress, ADC, presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, on Saturday, accused President Bola Tinubu’s Senior Advisor on Digital/New Media, O’tega Ogra, of manufacturing figures and attaching them to his proposal on production subsidy to local refineries in Nigeria.

Atiku had said his proposed production subsidy would support locally refined crude, reduce the cost of fuel production and ultimately make petrol and other essential goods more affordable for Nigerians.

But the presidency said Atiku’s proposal failed while he was vice president during the past administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Posting on X, Ogra wrote: “Nigeria already tried your production-subsidy to local refineries idea while you were Vice President. We know the shambolic results of that production subsidy. You know it too.

Recommended

“By 2002, data shows NNPC’s domestic crude allocation had risen to 445,000 barrels a day, supplied on preferential terms to the local refineries that were still working well then. The IMF estimated the revenue forgone from that arrangement at 3.2% of GDP in 2002 and 2.9% in 2003.

“I stated a fact which your boss and his then boss will agree with. The fact is that the Obasanjo/Atiku administration supplied domestic crude to local refineries under a below-market/implicit subsidy arrangement, just like he is proposing now. No wonder you are afraid to share your numbers.

“Did they give a production subsidy to local refiners then? YES

“Was the production subsidy illegally diverted, exported, corrupted and stopped? YES

“So, as Rufai would say, I put it to you that you still haven’t answered my question from two weeks ago. So, please leave @aonanuga1956 and answer this.”

Reacting, Atiku said that, contrary to Ogra’s questions, supplying crude to refineries under an old pricing arrangement is different from his proposed production subsidy.

In a statement by his media aide, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said: “@otegaogra, the problem is not that your question has not been answered. The problem is that you keep manufacturing your own numbers, attaching them to H.E. Atiku’s proposals, and then demanding that we defend your arithmetic.

“Supplying crude to refineries under an old pricing arrangement is not the same thing as Atiku’s proposed Production Subsidy. The proposal today is specific: support is tied to fuel actually refined in Nigeria; it is capped and budgeted, subject to appropriation, monitored against abuse, and must translate into lower pump prices for Nigerians.

“No subsidy for imported fuel. No blank cheque. No licence for arbitrage.

“So your N21.9 trillion “annual bill” is not Atiku’s figure. It is yours. You invented the assumptions, supplied the arithmetic and then congratulated yourself on the conclusion.

“That is not economic analysis. It is political fan fiction with a calculator.”

The former vice president charged Ogra to stop inventing price tags and claim that he supplied them.

Atiku added: “And since you have suddenly discovered concern for health, agriculture, salaries and capital expenditure, perhaps turn some of that energy towards the government you defend. Ask where the trillions supposedly saved from subsidy removal have gone.

Ask what record revenues and record borrowing have delivered while Nigerians pay more for fuel, food, transport, electricity and virtually everything else.

​

“Atiku’s argument remains simple: produce here, refine here, create Nigerian jobs and use targeted support to make energy and therefore daily life more affordable.

“You may disagree with the policy. But stop inventing a price tag and pretending Atiku supplied it.”

The NDC’s presidential candidate also criticised the presidential aide for failing to make the list of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Presidential Campaign Council.

He added: “And @otegaogra, here is the part that should really concern you.

“You have spent weeks behaving like the APC’s self-appointed attack squad, auditioning loudly for relevance.

“Yet when the same APC assembled its bogus campaign team, your name was nowhere to be found.

“Not in the front row. Not in the back row. Not even in the footnotes.

That is quite a verdict, my dear brother.

“You are fighting desperately to prove your value to people who have already publicly demonstrated how little political value they place on you.

“Sometimes exclusion says more than any press release ever could.

“The APC left your name out. Consider that their own assessment.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

News

Another Bauchi lawmaker withdraws from 2027 race

info

Published

on

Bauchi.jpg

Yusuf Abdullahi Itas, a member of the Bauchi State House of Assembly representing Itas/Gadau State Constituency, has withdrawn from the 2027 general election.
Itas, who is seeking re-election on the platform of the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM), announced his decision in a letter dated October 5, 2026, addressed to the party’s state chairman.

In the letter titled, “Withdrawal of Candidature for the Itas/Gadau State Constituency Seat in the Bauchi State House of Assembly,” the lawmaker formally informed the party that he would no longer contest the seat in the 2027 election.

He described his decision as “entirely voluntary and personal”.

He thanked the APM leadership and its members for giving him the opportunity to represent the party.

Recommended

Itas also expressed appreciation to residents of the constituency for their encouragement and support during his time in office.

The lawmaker is the Chairman of the House Committee on Petitions and Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

His withdrawal comes less than three weeks after the Bauchi Assembly Chief Whip, Musa Wakili Nakwada, also announced that he would not contest the 2027 elections.

Continue Reading

News

JOS GHETTO STORIES: THE STORIES OF RESILIENCE, DREAMS & GREATNESS

info

Published

on

Photo output 1 681x1024.png


Views: 7

JOS GHETTO STORIES

Your Beginning Is Not Your Ending.

Welcome to Jos Ghetto Stories — a new Jos Events series created to tell the stories that are often overlooked, but should never be forgotten.

From the narrow streets of Gangare, Nasarawa, Angwan Rogo, Jenta-Adamu, Congo-Russia, Tudun Wada, Katako, Dadin Kowa, Bukuru and other communities across Jos, there are children growing up surrounded by challenges many of us may never fully understand.

Some wake up without knowing where their next meal will come from.

Some go to school with torn shoes.

Some live in crowded homes, struggle to afford basic needs, or watch their parents battle every day just to keep the family going.

And some are already beginning to believe that because they were born into hardship, hardship is all life has to offer them.

But we are here to tell them something different.

YOU CAN STILL BECOME GREAT.

Your address does not determine your destiny.

The street you grew up on does not decide the height you can reach.

Poverty may be part of your story, but it does not have to be the final chapter.

Look at Jos.

This city has produced and nurtured people who have gone on to make their mark far beyond the streets where their journeys began.

John Obi Mikel and Ogenyi Onazi, Ahmed Musa went from Jos to becoming aome of Nigeria’s most recognisable footballers, they all grew up from the Ghetto streets of Jos and made it in life through football to the point of representing Nigeria at the highest level.

Jeremiah Gyang, M.I Abaga and Ice Prince carried the sound and creativity of Jos into the Nigerian music industry and beyond.

P-Square and 2Baba are among the major names whose stories are connected to Jos.

Saint Obi,Dayo Okeniyi took their journey from Jos into international acting, while filmmakers Dimbo Atiya and Kenneth Gyang, have used film to tell stories that travel far beyond home.

And there are many more whose names may not yet be famous—but whose stories prove that greatness can rise from ordinary beginnings. 

So when we walk through the streets of Jos and meet these children, we are not looking at “ghetto children.”

We are looking at future doctors, engineers, footballers, musicians, filmmakers, entrepreneurs, teachers, leaders, creatives and nation builders.

We are looking at potential.

We are looking at dreams waiting for an opportunity.

Because sometimes, all a child needs is somebody to look them in the eyes and say:

“I believe in you.”

That is what Jos Ghetto Stories is about.

We will tell the stories of the streets.

We will show the struggles.

We will celebrate the talent.

We will listen to the dreams.

And most importantly, we will remind every young person watching that you can become the best version of yourself, regardless of where you started.

Your parents may not have everything.

Your environment may not be perfect.

You may not have the opportunities others have.

But never allow your circumstances to convince you that you cannot become somebody.

The world may see a child from the slum.

We see a future star.

The world may see a difficult beginning.

We see a story waiting to become extraordinary.

This is Jos Ghetto Stories.

Stories from the streets.

Stories of struggle.

Stories of hope.

Stories of talent.

Stories of resilience.

Stories of people who refuse to let their circumstances define them.

Because from the streets of Jos, greatness can rise.

And perhaps, the next great story is the child standing beside you.

JOS EVENTS PRESENTS: JOS GHETTO STORIES.

Your Beginning Is Not Your Ending.

Dream. Believe. Rise.

Continue Reading

Trending