Political Marginalisation of Igbos a Dangerous Trend, Salis Warns

 Political Marginalisation of Igbos a Dangerous Trend, Salis Warns

Former gubernatorial candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Lagos State, Chief Owolabi Salis, has warned that the continuing marginalising of the South East and other minorities in the political equation of Nigeria is a time bomb that is about to explode.

Salis who said this in a statement insisted that the trend “is a potential time bomb capable of causing incalculable damage to the advancement of the nation,” even as he stressed that “no nation pushes the issue of marginalization under the carpet and sleeps with her two eyes closed because it is an issue that will not go away without justice.”

Further according to him, “For there to be unity in Nigeria, we must restructure the country to eradicate discrimination in our political and economic life. My late Uncles, Adeniran Ogunsanya, TOS Benson and Prof. Ayodele Awojobi who were icons in the country shared the same views against marginalisation in the 60, 70, and 80’s politics and I still remember their words of wisdom as a young man till today.

“Thankfully, President Bola Tiunbu, acclaimed democrat, activist, and advocate of restructuring, is now in the saddle and has the opportunity to practice what he has been preaching before now. This is an opportunity for him to write his name in gold by removing the hate and distrust that has been with us all along, through bringing about fairness, equity, and justice across board.”

Salis, who holds the traditional title of Onyeama Ndigbo Gburugburu of Etiti Mgboko, Abia State, stressed emphatically that no nation brushes aside the issue of marginalisation and fully realises its potentials.

“Thankfully, the National Assembly has told the world that it would cooperate with this President and is even proposing the creation of Orlu State to bring the South-East at par with other zones.

“The same lawmakers are also proposing rotational presidency, and creating the South-East Development Commission, as a way of addressing Igbo marginalization.

“I enjoin the Ohaneze Ndigbo to show leadership in this regard by talking to the people on the need to stop the bloodletting and instead build cordial relationships among themselves and other Nigerian diverse interests.

“The Chief Iwuayanwu-led group should develop plans alongside South- East governors to protect Igbo culture and heritage from being destroyed by miscreants.

“The presidential system we are operating now makes the minorities in the South South, North Central, and North East second-class citizens, which should not be. We need to restructure beyond the parliamentary and presidential systems to create a sense of belonging to all.”

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NUPRC Offers Additional 17 Deep Offshore Oil Assets for Sale, Extends Pre-qualification Deadline

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Breaking News

NUPRC Offers Additional 17 Deep Offshore Oil Assets for Sale, Extends Pre-qualification Deadline

Breaking | 2 hours ago

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) yesterday announced that with the acquisition of additional data on the oil assets up for sale, it was making available an extra 17 deep offshore for bids.

 In May, the commission had invited investors to bid for 12 oil blocks and seven deep offshore assets in the 2024 marginal licencing round.

In an update on the latest licencing round, the Gbenga Komolafe-led organisation stated that it had extended the date for pre-qualification from June 25 to July 5 this year.

“Furthermore, in pursuit of the commission’s commitment to derive value from the country’s abundant oil and gas reserves and increase production, the commission has been working assiduously with multi-client companies to undertake more exploratory activities to acquire more data to foster and encourage further investment in the Nigerian upstream sector.

“As a result of additional data acquired in respect of deep offshore blocks, the commission has added 17 deep offshore blocks to the 2024 licencing round. Further details on the blocks can be found on the bid portal,” it said.

It recalled that some deep offshore blocks were put on offer for the 2022/23 mini bid round and other blocks which cut across onshore, continental shelf and deep offshore terrains were also put on offer for the Nigeria 2024 licencing round.

In order to vacate entry barriers, the commission added that it had sought and obtained the approval of President Bola Tinubu, the petroleum minister, in line with his avowed determination to create enabling and attractive investment regimes in the upstream oil and gas sector.

According to the NUPRC, the president approved attractive fiscal regimes and also minimised entry fees for both licencing rounds by putting a cap on the signature bonus payable for award of the acreages.

“Consequently, it is necessary to ensure that the same bid criteria, in addition to the uniform signature bonus criteria, are applicable for both licencing rounds, to promote transparency and provide a level playing ground for all bidders.

“Since the criteria for the award of the oil blocks are now much more attractive than they initially were during the 2022/23 mini bid round, it is in the interest of equity and fair play to give all investors the same opportunity to bid for the assets.

“Consequently, all blocks in the 2022/23 and 2024 Licencing Rounds are available to all interested investors on br.nuprc.gov.ng and br2024.nuprc.gov.ng respectively, and the 2022/23 mini bid round registration phase is reopened to new applicants.

“The public is therefore invited to take advantage of this development and attractive entry terms and conditions and participate in the exercise,” the upstream regulator stated.

However, it said that all the prequalified applicants published on the 2022/23 mini bid round portal will not be required to go through a new pre-qualification process, as their technical submissions remain valid and eligible even for the 2024 licencing round.

It said that they may however wish to resubmit new commercial bids to take advantage of the more attractive criteria applicable to both licencing rounds and revise their bid bonds to adapt to the new bid criteria.

The NUPRC stressed that they were also free to bid for blocks on offer in the 2024 licencing round, explaining that to allow interested investors to take advantage of the expanded opportunities, the 2024 licencing round schedule has been amended.

“Registration/submission of pre-qualification documents which was initially scheduled to close on 25 June 2024 has been extended by 10 days and will now close on 5 July 2024.

“Data access/ data purchase/evaluation/bid preparation and submission which was initially scheduled to open on 4 July 2024 and close on 29/11/24 will now start on 8 July 2024 and close on 29/11/24 as previously scheduled,” the NUPRC said.

All other dates in the published 2024 licencing round schedule, it said, remained the same unless otherwise communicated.

In accordance with the published guidelines, the NUPRC noted that it had earlier indicated that some of the assets on offer should be applied for as clusters, namely: PPL 300-CS & PPL 301-CS, PPL 2000 and PPL 2001.

“Bidders are hereby advised that they may, at their option, bid for those blocks as clusters or as single units,” the commission said.