• Tinubu appoints Yahaya Bello as his campaign council youth co-ordinator
• Nigeria hosts global investment forum in New York
• Woman dies in car crash while chasing husband, ‘side chick’
• NDLEA impounds 18 pump action guns, 2,300 cartridges in Kogi
• Nigeria’s oil production crashes to 900,000b/d

Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn‘t miss:

Tinubu appoints Yahaya Bello as his campaign council youth co-ordinator

Bola Tinubu, the APC’s nominee for president in the 2023 election, has named Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello to the position of National Youth Coordinator of the Tinubu-Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.

A letter with Mr. Tinubu’s signature that was addressed to Mr. Bello announced the appointment.

In a letter dated 8 August, Mr. Tinubu emphasized that Gov. Bello, a candidate in the party’s June presidential primaries, deserved the appointment due to his outstanding political accomplishments and the exceptional leadership he had shown while serving as governor of his state and as a party member.

In order for the party to run an effective, message-driven campaign and win the 2023 presidential election, the former governor of Lagos State added that he was convinced the Kogi governor would do his best in the new role entrusted to him.

In the letter, which was titled “Appointment as National Youth Coordinator for Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council,” it was stated, in part, that “We are glad to formally announce your appointment as National Youth Coordinator of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.”

Nigeria hosts global investment forum in New York

According to the Presidency, Nigeria will host the second Nigeria International Economic Partnership Forum (NIEPF) in New York, United States, in partnership with the Africa Business Roundtable.

The 77th UN General Assembly will be held in the American city on September 22. NIEPF, a worldwide economic investment platform, is slated for that day.

The investment platform is being organized as part of ongoing efforts to further open up the nation’s economy to outside money and encourage foreign investment, according to a statement by Garba Shehu, the President’s spokesperson.

He stated, “Holding alongside the annual global meeting, the NIEPF is expected to draw the presence of world leaders in politics, economy, and media, as well as Civil Society organizations and foreign media, to focus on the immense economic potentials of Nigeria and Africa’s leading economy.

President Muhammadu Buhari will give the event’s keynote speech, according to Mr. Shehu.

The president would also host a High-Level Presidential Session on Issues That Need Joint Action for African Countries on the Development Drive, such as the Post COVID-19 Recovery and Financing Priorities.

Additionally, it will cover the market and investment climate in Africa as well as de-risking the region.

He said that the NIEPF will bring together prominent members of the Nigerian government as well as prominent figures from the public and commercial sectors around the world to discuss Nigeria’s economic outlook.

He added that they will concentrate on Nigeria’s role in the global economy as well as international collaboration for Nigeria’s development drive.

“Due to the vast range of personalities attending the event, there will be cluster sessions on the following topics:

I Developing Nigeria’s agriculture for food security and access to export markets, with a particular emphasis on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine War, which presents prospects for G7/G20-Nigeria agricultural partnerships.

(ii) Increasing the amount of international resources used to fund education in Africa, with a focus on creating infrastructure to connect the public sector, deal sponsors, and global pools of capital for education.

(iii) Scaling Up Investment into the Gas Market—Plants, Parks, Cylinders, and Reinjection: Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector Reforms, Results, and the Road.

The following topics are also on the agenda: “Scaling Up International Resources for Healthcare in Africa bordering on:

1. Improving and expanding Nigeria’s healthcare infrastructure in order to transform Nigeria into Africa’s “healthcare hub.
2. Climate Change and Clean Environment, with a focus on Clean Economy, Clean Energy, and Clean Development.
3. Financing Nigeria’s infrastructure with a focus on developing infrastructures like the Farm-to-Market Corridor, Farm-to-Port Corridor, Export Transport Corridor, Railway network, Road network upgrade and expansion, Airport upgrade, including dedicated export airports, and Power generation, transmission, and distribution.

Aliko Dangote, the president of the Dangote Group, Bill Gates, a co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Satya Nadella, the chairman of the Business Council of the United States and the CEO of Microsoft Corp., are among the speakers and panelists at the event.

Others include Geoffrey Onyeama, the minister of foreign affairs, Antony Blinken, the secretary of state of the United States, Florie Liser, the president of the Corporate Council on Africa, and members of the Business Council of International Understanding.

John Kerry, the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Change, Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, and Abdul-Samad Rabiu, the Executive Chairman of BUA Group,

Additionally, Mr. Rabiu serves as the head of the France-Nigeria Business Council.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Executive Officer of Facebook, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization, and Amina Mohammed will all speak at the event. 

Woman dies in car crash while chasing husband, ‘side chick’

FRSC Sector Commander in Cross River, Maikano Hassan, has confirmed a single incident that resulted in the death of a middle-aged woman in Calabar on Sunday when she was hotly pursuing her husband over his “lover.”

In a conversation with the Vanguard on Sunday night, the Sector Commander said that excessive speeding was to blame for the occurrence.

He said that the sole female driver of a Toyota Highlander who ran off the road and into a ditch next to the road after an accident on the Murtala Mohammed Highway in Calabar was killed.

Although the woman was brought to a local hospital right afterward, according to him, she passed away a few minutes later as a result of the injuries she got in the incident.

According to information obtained, the woman was reportedly chasing after her husband, who was allegedly driving around with a “side chick,” when she lost control of her car and killed herself.

According to a source who did not want her identity published, a woman tried to block her husband’s car with the Toyota Highlander she was driving when she saw him leaving the SPAR shopping mall with another woman.

According to reports, her husband drove around the attempted barricade and onto the Murtala Muhammed Highway while his wife pursued him aggressively.

The insider said, “In an attempt to outrun her husband, she lost control of the speeding car, drove off the road, and crashed head-on into a tree, wrecking the car beyond repair and also killing herself.”

NDLEA impounds 18 pump action guns, 2,300 cartridges in Kogi

The NDLEA reports that on Saturday, its agents seized a Peugeot J5 vehicle in Kogi that was hauling 18 pump action rifles and 1,300 cartridges.

The car was stopped on the Okene-Abuja Highway after leaving Onitsha, Anambra, on its way to Zaria, Kaduna State.

Chukwudi Aronu, 51, and Shuaibu Gambo, 23, were two suspects discovered in the vehicle, according to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, who made the announcement on Sunday in Abuja.

He continued by saying that on Saturday, a bus carrying a 37-year-old man named Anthony Agada and 1,000 ammo cartridges from Onitsha to Abuja was stopped.

He added that a different truck, which also left Onitsha and was traveling to Sokoto, had 2,040 ampoules of pentazocine injection and 1,404 bottles of codeine syrup that had been seized.

Stanley Raymond, the prearranged recipient of the narcotics, was detained in Sokoto, according to Mr. Babafemi, who also said that Shadrack Ifediora, the sender, was detained in Onitsha at the same time.

Meanwhile, Mohammed Dalhatu alias Dawa, a drug dealer from Kaduna State, was detained with eight bags of Indian hemp totaling 67kg at Sabon Gari in Zaria.

A second suspect, Maikudi Hassan, was also detained with five bags of Indian hemp totaling 54.2kg in Gubuci village, Ikara Local Government Area, Kaduna State.

“On Thursday, September 15, agents also apprehended Mary Ugwu and Hawwa Idi in Anchau town, Kubau Local Government Area, Kaduna State, with 6.8 kg of rubber solution, 9 ampoules of diazepam injection, 37,000 Exol-5 pills, and 721 ampoules of pentazocine injection.

“On Friday, September 16, the NDLEA conducted two searches at Okpuje, Owan West Local Government Area, and seized 285kg of Indian hemp.

“At Lagos, 972.5kg of Indian hemp was found in an electronics store at Alaba Market, and Mrs. Ebere Aja, 38, was detained as one of the suspects”

Usman Garba and Najib Ibrahim, two suspects, were detained during the raid at Kwanar Kundum in Bauchi town, where not less than 335.1kg of Indian hemp was also found, according to Babafemi.

According to Mr. Babafemi, NDLEA Chairperson Buba Marwa ordered that the police receive the Kogi-seized weapons and ammunition for further investigation.

Nigeria’s oil production crashes to 900,000b/d

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ recently issued Monthly Oil Market Report for September revealed that Nigeria’s crude oil output dropped to 900,000 barrels per day (b/d) in September. As a result, the country’s crude oil revenues have continued to decline.

According to statistics provided by direct sources, Nigeria’s crude oil production decreased from 1 million barrels per day in July to 900,000 barrels per day in August, according to the OPEC report.

In addition, the price of the nation’s premium crude, Bonny Light, fell by 10% in a single month (July-August). Bonny Light’s price, which was $117 per b at the time of sale, fell to $106 per b in August.

However, the price of Bonny Light increased by 64% between August 2021 and 2022, resulting in a considerable year-over-year increase in the nation’s crude oil revenues.

The article states that Bonny Light costs $67 per barrel as of 2021. But in August 2022, this price rose to $110 per barrel.

Nigerian refiners produce the light-sweet crude oil grade known as Bonny Light. It serves as a crucial benchmark for all petroleum output in West Africa and is typically $1 or more expensive than Brent, the benchmark international crude.

Nigeria last reported a 1.4mb/d in 2020, and since then, crude oil production has been declining significantly.

Production continued to progressively decline, reaching 1.3 mb/d at the start of 2021 and 1.2 mb/d in the first quarter of this year.

The output decreased to 1.1 mb/d as of the second quarter of this year, to 1 mb/d in July, and to 900 kb/d in December.

The country’s rig count decreased from 16 in August of 2019 to 10 in August of 2022, according to additional research

Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Uyo in Akwa Ibom State, Akpan Ekpo, told us in an interview that Nigeria needs to diversify because oil money was no more dependable even if crude oil accounted for 80% of all commerce.

Oil prices are unpredictable, therefore we need to find alternative ways to increase money, he said.

According to energy services company Baker Hughes Co., the U.S. oil rig count increased by four to 763 in the previous week to September 16—it was at its highest level since August.

According to Baker Hughes, this brought the total number of active rigs to 251, up 49% from this time last year.

According to OPEC, demand for its crude in 2023 will be 29.8 mb/d, up about 0.9 mb/d from 2022 and unchanged from the previous MOMR.

Nigeria’s low output puts its profitability at danger because the nation hasn’t been able to fully capitalize on the increase in demand for OPEC crude despite the demand for the commodity continuing to climb.

In a late-month interview, the Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mele Kyari, attributed the nation’s low crude oil production on theft brought on by pipeline vandalism in the Niger Delta.

He claimed that 295 illicit connections had been discovered near the pipeline, which caused the output to stop.

Ayodele Oni, a partner at Bloomfield Law Practice and an attorney representing NNPC Ltd on oil and gas projects and transactions, urged the Federal Government to address the problems with oil theft.