Jonathan fires IGP Abba, appoints Arase

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday sacked Mr. Suleiman Abba, as the Inspector-General of Police.

According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, the President has named a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, as Abba’s replacement in acting capacity.

No reason was given for the President’s decision to relieve Abba of his appointment.

The statement read, “President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has relieved the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba of his appointment and duties with immediate effect.

“President Jonathan has also appointed Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase as Acting Inspector-General of Police, also with immediate effect.

“Until his appointment as Mr. Abba’s replacement, Mr. Arase was the Head of the Force Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department.

“Mr. Arase holds Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Law, as well as Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Political Science and Strategic Studies.

“He is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Defence College.”

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday sacked the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, less that nine months after his appointment on July 31, 2014.

The President has named a Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, as the acting IGP.
Abba, who was the AIG Zone 7 before his appointment as the IG, succeeded Mohammed Abubakar, who retired after 35 years in service last year.
No reason was given for the sacking.

Keshi signs fresh contract as Super Eagles coach

Stephen Keshi has signed a new contract to coach Nigeria’s senior national team, the Super Eagles.

The former international signed the contract in Abuja on Tuesday afternoon.

Keshi’s contract with the Nigerian Football Federation to coach the Super Eagles expired in June, 2014 – after the FIFA World Cup.

Only OPEC Ministerial Meeting Can Increase Crude Oil Production – OPEC.............refutes 810,000 bpd increase

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, Tuesday morning disclosed that oil production in member countries remain at 30 million bpd.

The body said that reports in the media especially in Nigeria that it has increased production by 810,000 bpd are figures gathered from secondary sources.

 OPEC said that it might have been based on calculations gathered from its monthly oil market report which is based on marketers, secondary and independent sources.

TOTALNEWS247 gathered that the Head of OPEC media relations, Mr. James Griffin said that only at the ministerial meeting can the issue of crude oil production increase be discussed and decisions made. He further stated that production remains at 30 million bpd.

According to secondary sources, total OPEC crude oil production averaged 30.79 mb/d in March, an increase of 0.81 mb/d over the previous month. Crude oil output increased mostly from Saudi Arabia and Iraq, while Libya saw a return of about 165 tb/d from shut-in wells in active oil fields.

According to the secondary sources report, OPEC crude oil production, not including Iraq, stood at 27.16 mb/d in March, down by 0.49 mb/d over the previous month. 

TOTALNEWS247 gathered that independent markers and other secondary sources revealed that preliminary data in world oil supply indicates that global oil supply increased by 0.90 mb/d to average 94.52 mb/d in March 2015 compared with the previous month. The increase of non-OPEC supply as well as OPEC crude oil production in March caused the rise in global oil output. The share of OPEC crude oil in total global production increased by 0.6% to 32.6% in March, compared with the previous month.

According to the OPEC crude oil production report based on direct communication, there has been a decline in Nigeria's production by -112.7mb/d for the months of February/March 2015. While secondary sources     said the decline is -38mb/d.

The decline also affects all production in Africa as non-OPEC producers in Africa is expected to decline by 10 tb/d to average 2.41 mb/d. This indicates a downward revision by 10 tb/d compared with the last monthly report. Some growth is forecast in Congo as well as Equatorial Guinea at 10 tb/d each.

TOTALNEWS247learnt that this estimates are based on preliminary data for non-OPEC supply as well as OPEC NGLs and non-conventional from direct communications, while estimates for OPEC crude production come from secondary sources. 

OPEC President, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, at the 166th  Ordinary Meeting of the organization in Vienna, Austria, last November disclosed that world oil demand in 2015 will grow by around 1.1 million barrels per day, with total consumption at around 92.3 million barrels per day with the bulk of this net oil demand growth coming from non OECD countries.

The recent price developments signaled that the oil market is currently searching for stability and balance, which will be focus of deliberations at the next ministerial meeting scheduled for June 2015.

According to a top Iranian official, Iran, once OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia, hopes to boost crude exports by as much as 1 million barrels per day (bpd) if Tehran and six major powers finalize a nuclear agreement by a June 30 deadline.

Sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have halved Iran's oil exports to just over 1 million barrels per day since 2012.

NFF not dribbling Keshi- Pinnick

Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick

President of Nigeria Football Federation, Mr. Amaju Melvin Pinnick has called a lie on insinuations that the Federation is deceiving out of contract Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi with a new contract that would never be signed.

“I am shocked at these insinuations because the NFF Executive Committee gave the go-ahead for a new contract with Keshi at its meeting in Uyo last month, and Keshi and his lawyers have looked at the contract agreement and are satisfied with every word in the final draft.PINNICK-NFF

“As a Federation, we have gone ahead to arrange some refresher programmes for Keshi, at nobody’s prodding, and which are meant to enhance Keshi’s knowledge and improve the man’s capacity as a world-class strategist. We would not be doing that if we are not ready to work with him. No one is forcing Keshi on us. We have sat down with him and he has agreed to all terms that we put down and he is ready to work to lift the Super Eagles back to glorious days.”

There have been dark innuendos from some quarters following the postponement of the signing of the fresh contract, but Pinnick, who is on a private visit to London, said on Sunday that the contract would definitely be signed early this week.

“There were a few ends to tighten and Keshi himself understands perfectly and is comfortable with the arrangements to have the contract sealed early this week. We are not dribbling him. He won the Africa Cup of Nations with the team and led Nigeria to the Round of 16 at the World Cup in his first term. It is the belief of the NFF that Keshi can still perform at the highest level.”

The NFF supremo called on Nigerian ball fans and Nigerians in general to have faith in the NFF administration that he leads, saying positive results will certainly continue to flow even as the team concentrates on building capacity of various workers in the game and engineering a sustainable football culture in the land.

Man Utd hero Scholes tips Bayern’s Guardiola to take Man City job

Pep Guardiola is likely to become Manchester City manager in the not-too-distant future.

That is the opinion of former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes who is of the belief that the Bayern Munich boss will head to the Etihad Stadium when his contract at the Allianz Arena expires in the summer of 2016.

In his column for the London Evening Standard, Scholes wrote of the ex-Barcelona boss: ‘…all the information that comes back to me in Manchester is that Pep Guardiola will take that job (at City) when his contract at Bayern Munich expires in one year’s time.

‘As for Guardiola, establishing Manchester City as European champions would be bigger than any of the challenges he has faced so far in his career.

‘While City have many good players, they have never gone beyond the second round of the Champions League, much less won it.

‘It would not be easy, but then Guardiola is not there to do the small jobs. He is there to make the difference between a good team and a great team. I met him when I played a friendly game in Munich last summer and he was a very likeable man who was easy to talk to.’

Pellegrini won't consider Man City resignation

Manuel Pellegrini

Manuel Pellegrini says he won't resign from Manchester City.

Pellegrini is adamant he will not quit regardless of the pressure he has been under.

"I have walked away from a club once before, many years ago, but I would not quit here because it is a different case," he said.

"You don't quit just because it's a bad moment. I think we play the football I want, attractive football. At this moment we are not getting the results that we need, but we are going the right way. 'You cannot guess the future. You must say what you think about what happened and the solution. All the other things are a matter of trust."

Chelsea winner should never have been allowed

Liverpool legend Graeme Souness insists Chelsea's winner against Manchester United should never have stood last night.

Souness says Radamel Falcao was fouled by Blues skipper John Terry in the lead up to Eden Hazard's goal.

Souness said, "It's a decent forearm smash. I mean he does stick his elbow in the back of Falcao's head and that's a foul.' He added, 'If that elbow's not there he's not going down like that."

Former Arsenal captain Henry, meanwhile, felt sympathy for Falcao as a fellow striker.

Asked if he would have wanted a foul in that position as a player, the Frenchman responded, "Yes, all day long."