President Tinubu orders immediate resolution to disagreement with Emirates Airline

Nigeria's president, Bola Tinubu, has ordered an immediate resolution to disagreements with Emirates Airline (EMIRA.UL) and visa issuance by the United Arab Emirates, the president's spokesman said on Thursday.

The UAE stopped issuing visas to Nigerians last year after Dubai's Emirates suspended flights due to an inability to repatriate funds from Africa's biggest economy.

Tinubu's office said in a statement on Thursday that he met with the UAE's ambassador to Nigeria, Salem Saeed Al-Shamsi, and that Tinubu is prepared to "personally" intervene in the dispute.

"We must work together. We need to agree on core aviation and immigration issues," Tinubu said in the statement.

Al-Shamsi was quoted in the same statement as saying; "We are getting somewhere. These are small issues, all within a family, and they will be resolved."

Emirates Airline said in March it has "substantial" revenue trapped in Nigeria and has made slow progress in repatriating the blocked funds.


Nigeria has withheld at least $743 million in revenue earned by international carriers operating in the country, global airline industry association IATA said in March.

Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, faces shortages of foreign currency despite some reforms.

The dollar shortages have made it difficult for some foreign

airlines that sold tickets in the Nigerian naira currency to get their money out of the country.

By Felix Onuah, Reuters

Former oil minister of Nigeria Alison-Madueke charged with bribery by UK police

 

 

 

 

 

 

British police said on Tuesday they had charged former Nigerian oil minister Diezani Alison-Madueke with bribery offences, saying they suspected she had accepted bribes in return for awarding multi-million pound oil and gas contracts.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and top oil producer, has one of the most corrupt political systems in the world and its former colonial ruler Britain has been a destination of choice for Nigerian kleptocrats seeking to enjoy their wealth.

Alison-Madueke, 63, served as petroleum minister from 2010 to 2015, under former President Goodluck Jonathan. She also acted as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 2014-2015.

"We suspect Diezani Alison-Madueke abused her power in Nigeria and accepted financial rewards for awarding multi-million pound contracts," said Andy Kelly, Head of the National Crime Agency's (NCA) International Corruption Unit.

"These charges are a milestone in what has been a thorough and complex international investigation."

Alison-Madueke was arrested in London in October 2015, a few months after leaving office, and has also been the subject of investigations in Nigeria and the United States.

She has previously denied allegations of corruption but could not be reached on Tuesday. A London lawyer who was acting for her in 2015 did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The NCA said she was currently living in St John’s Wood, an upmarket area of west London, and would appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Oct. 2.

It said Alison-Madueke was accused of benefiting from at least 100,000 pounds ($127,000) in cash, chauffeur-driven cars, flights on private jets, luxury holidays for her family, and the use of multiple London properties.

Charges against her also detail financial rewards including furniture, renovation work and staff for the properties, payment of private school fees, and gifts from high-end designer shops such as Cartier jewellery and Louis Vuitton goods, the NCA said.


It added that assets worth millions of pounds relating to the alleged offences had been frozen, and that it had provided evidence to the U.S. Department of Justice that enabled them to recover assets worth $53 million linked to Alison-Madueke.

Nigerian courts have also ordered the seizure of tens of millions of dollars' worth of assets including properties, cars, large quantities of jewellery and a gold iPhone in a series of rulings in recent years.

News of the British charges comes a month after a London court ordered the confiscation of $130 million from a former Nigerian oil state governor, James Ibori, in an unrelated but equally high-profile case involving political corruption in Nigeria.

With its highly developed legal and financial industries and lucrative property market, Britain is a global money-laundering hub and the NCA's anti-corruption unit is part of the authorities' effort to stem the tide of dirty money.

By Michael Holden and Estelle Shirbon, Reuters

Related stories: Ex-Oil Minister of Nigeria Seeks $215 Million in Defamation Lawsuit

Nigeria former oil minister Alison-Madueke arrested

Possible Trans Niger oil pipeline leak investigated by Shell Nigeria

Shell's (SHEL.L) Nigerian business is investigating a possible leak on its Trans Niger oil pipeline, which passes through the Bodo community in Rivers state, after being alerted to the potential problem on Aug. 18.

Oil theft and pipeline sabotage are common in the southern oil production heartland of Nigeria, with Shell blaming most spills on pipeline vandalism and illegal tapping of crude.

The 180,000 barrel per day (bpd) pipeline is one of two conduits that export Bonny Light crude from Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer.

"We are working with the community and other stakeholders to ensure we can safely look into and resolve this situation," said company spokesperson Bola Essien-Nelson without providing further detail.

No force majeure has been declared.

The investigation into the Trans Niger pipeline comes days after another Shell pipeline in Nigeria resumed exports.

The medium sweet grade Forcados was scheduled to ship 220,000 bpd in July, but loadings were suspended for about a month because of a potential leak at the export terminal.

The cause of the Forcados suspension has yet to be determined by a joint investigation between company and community representatives in tandem with government agencies.

By Tife Owolabi, Reuters

Related story: The Criminals Undercutting Nigeria’s Oil Industry

Two dozen Nigerian soldiers die in air crash and evacuation mission gone awry

At least two dozen Nigerian security operatives have died in total after a helicopter conveying dead and wounded soldiers from an evacuation mission in Niger state, 249km (155 miles) north of Abuja, crashed on Monday.

The evacuation mission had been to retrieve soldiers wounded or killed in an ambush by armed bandits in Chukuba village in the Shiroro local government area of Niger state.

The figures were given by a spokesperson for the Nigerian military, Major General Edward Buba, during a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday. He said there were 14 soldiers and seven wounded ones aboard the aircraft when it crashed, alongside two pilots and two crew members.

Buba said an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the crash.

Authorities have yet to disclose the details of the evacuation mission or any more information about the crash, including whether there were any survivors.

“These officers and men were answering the call of duty while on an evacuation mission. In their dedicated service to our beloved country, they paid the ultimate price,” President Bola Tinubu said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We will forever remember them, not just as servicemen, but as national heroes who gave their all for the peace and security of our country,” Tinubu said.

Local news outlet Leadership reported that the helicopter was evacuating the bodies of security operatives killed by bandits before crashing in Chukuba. The newspaper said sources confirmed the armed men carried sophisticated weapons that could bring a helicopter down.

The helicopter took off from Kaduna Airfield to Minna but lost contact with control towers from both Kaduna and Minna, Leadership reported.

Dogo Gide, the notorious leader of a group of bandits that has been a source of terror across parts of northwestern Nigeria bordering the countries of Niger and Chad, has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Premium Times, another local outlet.

The warlord, an ethnic Fulani from Niger state, has been linked to Ansaru, a faction of Boko Haram that drifted westwards from the restive northeast.

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the claim at the time of this report. 

Al Jazeera

Nigeria gives $235 million to states to buy rice, maize to ease food shortages

Nigeria has approved a total of 180 billion naira ($235 mln) for its 36 states to procure rice and maize to cushion the effects of food shortages across the country and hardship caused by reforms, Borno state governor Babagana Zulum said on Thursday.

President Bola Tinubu has embarked on Nigeria's boldest reforms in decades, including scrapping a popular but costly petrol subsidy and devaluing the naira, a move he hopes will boost growth.

But the actions have stoked inflation which climbed to an 18-year high in July. Food prices have soared due to widespread insecurity, flooding in farming areas, a weaker currency and higher transport cost, worsening a cost of living crisis in the country.

Nigeria will release its second-quarter growth data on Aug. 25, the first after Tinubu initiated reforms.

Zulum said 5 billion naira will be given to each state as partly a grant and a 2-year loan to buy 100,000 trucks of rice and 40,000 trucks of maize, he said after a National Economic Council (NEC) meeting headed by the vice president in Abuja.

"NEC ... expressed serious concerns regarding increasing costs of food items, increasing costs of transportation, amongst others as a result of subsidy removal," Zulum told reporters.

Tinubu is under pressure from unions to offer relief to households and businesses. Labour unions have criticised his ending of the fuel subsidy without measures to mitigate rising prices.

Last month, Tinubu announced a 500 billion naira package to boost employment and directed the release of more than 200,000 metric tons of grains to families to ease hardship.

Tinubu has said subsidy savings will be used to set up a fund to build infrastructure. The government plans to deploy mass transit buses powered by natural gas and electric vehicles with charging points in Nigeria to reduce transport cost. 

By Felix Onuah, Reuters

Related story: President Tinubu Unveils Broad Plan to Ease Cost of Living Pain