NASS Leadership: PDP adopts Saraki, Dogara

The Peoples Democratic Party  has adopted Senator Bukola Saraki for the position of Senate President.

In the same vein, the PDP has also adopted Mr. Yakubu Dogara for the position of the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The party, in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Olisa Metuh, in Abuja  on Tuesday morning at 1:50am, therefore urged its senators and reps to act accordingly by voting for these two men.

These two were not those adopted by the ruling All Progressives Congress for the positions.

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While the APC nominated Senator Ahmed Lawan for the office of the Senate President, it also asked its members to support Femi Gbajabiamila as Speaker.

Members of the National Assembly are due to elect these officers and others today in Abuja.

The then opposition party had refused to vote Mrs. Mulikat Akande for the Speaker in the last House of
Representatives but joined angry members of the PDP to rally support for Aminu Tambuwal, who eventually became the Speaker.

Tambuwal later defected to the APC where he contested and won as the Governor of Sokoto State.

Gas demand to displace 1.5mbpd of oil demand by 2030

By Oluwagbenga Bankole    

A new research has projected significant growth and value in the market for natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) as transportation and its demand could displace more than 1.5 Million barrels per day of oil demand by 2030.

The study, LNG in Transportation: Challenging Oil’s Grip by business information provider HIS, says a combination of drivers—environmental, technological and commercial—will drive greater adoption of natural gas in transport, the study says. The highest level of adoption will be in high-fuel consuming applications such as trucks and ships.

The Chief strategist for global gas, IHS Energy Michael Stoppard said that the fall of oil prices has diminished much of the glow from what was an overly optimistic market opportunity for natural gas in transportation, adding that nonetheless, the shift to greater use of gas in trucks is set to continue.

He said it is widely accepted that power generation is the primary growth market for natural gas demand, but gas as a fuel offers a new market with potentially more value.

The study’s project manager, Rafael McDonald said that; “At a time of abundant LNG supply in search of insufficient markets, this extra demand could be critical for mitigating oversupply. Companies will need to adapt their business models to take advantage of the market opportunity.”

The study says that worldwide oil consumption in trucks is almost as high as in cars but notes that it is often more economic for truck fleets to switch to alternative fuel sources. Truck fleets have a relatively quick turnover which could lead to faster adoption of new technology.

IHS forecasts that gas demand in trucks will reach 81 BCM by 2030 and be split between LNG and compressed natural gas (CNG). An additional 17 BCM in LNG demand is expected to come from ships by that same year. LNG demand in the truck and marine sectors is expected to account for 10 percent of all globally traded LNG at that time.

The study examines the impact of lower oil and fuel prices on the adoption of natural gas. Utilizing a detailed analysis of IHS Automotive data of global truck fleets, it finds that lower oil prices may slow adoption in the short term but unlikely to halt it. Much of the “launch pad for expansion” such as critical infrastructure is either in place or close to being in key markets such as the United States and China, awaiting a rebound in diesel prices, the study notes. China, the world leader in LNG-vehicle adoption with annual sales orders of magnitude higher than in any other market, will remain critical to continued growth.

While the growth outlooks for gas demand in fuel are strong globally, the study does find big differences between drivers and outcomes in key regions. However, in all regions the tax treatment of fuels will be critical in determining consumer choice especially as oil prices fluctuate, and a minimum level of fuelling infrastructure is essential to jumpstart adoption, the study finds.

DPR threatening to Shut Filling Stations Hoarding Petrol

By Oluwagbenga Bankole

Following the indications that emerged last week that some marketers of refined petroleum products, who were not sure of the new policy direction of the President Muhammadu Buhari, have resulted to hoarding the product, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) have threatening to shut down any petrol filling station engaged in hoarding.

The marketers believed that stockpiling petroleum products ahead of a likely deregulation would boost the value of the products when eventually they were made available to consumers after the sub-sector might have been fully deregulated, which automatically would result in petrol and kerosene being sold for higher prices.

Speaking with TOTALNEWS247, Head, Downstream Monitoring and Regulation, DPR Mr. Maigida Mudei said the DPR will destroy any attempt by the marketers to hoard fuel, adding that adequate measure have been put in place to checkmate their activities.

Mudei said that DPR’s surveillance teams would clamp down on filling stations hoarding petrol or selling above the approved rate of N87 per lite

 “We are going to shut down any filling stations found hoarding petroleum products in any locality. Our surveillance team will monitor filling stations and identify those that were under-dispensing products to unwary customers,” he said.

He noted that those filling stations that were horading petroleum products to customers were committing a crime and flouting DPR regulations.

He stated that She DPR would continue to ensure compliance at the filling stations and depots across the country until “normalcy returns to the system and the DPR is ready to sanction marketers and seal more depots that are found wanting.”

“The DPR would have sanctioned many more stations that were caught with sharp practices but decided to warn them due to the situation at hand.” Mudei.

Man City target De Bruyne open to Wolfsburg exit

Wolfsburg star Kevin De Bruyne admits he would be open to a summer departure if the right club came along.

The 23-year old Belgium international has been heavily linked with Manchester City recently along with the likes of Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain.

Regarding his possible exit after a stellar season with Wolfsburg, De Bruyne says he would only leave the Volkswagen Arena for a team in the very top European leagues.

“We will discuss my future, the club and me, once the season is finished,” he said. “I have not caused any problems. I am going to take my time.

“But the squad really has to be reinforced because it will be harder next season to play both the Bundesliga and the Champions League.

“If I leave, I have no preference where I go. In my head, it is 95% I won’t go to Russia or Italy. It is not my style of play.


"But England, Spain, France or the Bundesliga, yes. They are the best leagues. They are some very good teams. That appeals to me.”

Man City bid for Liverpool forward Sterling ‘imminent’

Manchester City are set to make an offer for Liverpool’s Raheem Sterling.

The Manchester Evening News reports that a potential bid from City for the 20-year old is ‘imminent’ as the club is determined to increase its number of British players.

It is believed that Manchester United have already come forward with a proposal of £25million for the England international and now City are poised to make their presence felt with a bid of their own.

Buhari’ll deliver on campaign promises – Kumuyi

The General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Pastor William Kumuyi has assured Nigerians that President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osibanjo will bring about the change they promised Nigerians during their campaigns.

Kumuyi, who spoke with journalists at Kaduna Airport weekend after presiding over a revival crusade, said he hinged his optimism on the two men’s past achievements.

He said: “With the past records of the President as well as the Vice President, I believe they meant what they said during the campaigns and I want to say they will really focus on the drive to bring the change they actually spoke about and I believe we will see change.

”The emergence of Buhari as President was ordained by God and l urge the President to rule with the fear of God.”

According to him, “Anyone in position of government is there by the ordination of God, and so should rule with the fear of God. We should look at whatever mistakes the past government made and see how to sincerely correct those mistakes and not only to dwell on the mistakes but move us forward so that we can have a better country for a new generation of Nigerians.”

Also commenting on how the church in Nigeria can help in combatting the endemic corruption, the clergy man noted that corruption is a sin against God and urged religious leaders to teach their members to live a righteous and godly life.

“The church cannot solve the problems of the whole country, but obviously we can solve part of the problems. We, who are preachers in churches should help our people to understand that corruption is an evil thing, a sin against God, a sin against society and a sin against humanity in general.

“Therefore our ministers in the churches should preach to help the people live a commendable, righteous and godly life.”

“But everybody is not in church, other leaders of religious groups should influence people who come to their places of worship, whether christians or not to see that we all join hands together to combat corruption.

“Of course the government too will do its own part among the civil servants so that we can all join hands and fight against the monster of corruption”, he said.

What I went through for believing we could defeat PDP – TINUBU

National leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has noted how he and other party officials were mocked at and derided when they conceived the idea of forcing the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from power two years ago.

Speaking at the African Young Entrepreneurs Empowerment Nigeria, AYEEN 2015 programme in Lagos, weekend, the party leader thus urged youths not to ever give up on their ideas “even if no one believes in you.”

The APC leader who was represented by the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, said that the youths should learn from APC’s story, as they strive to achieve their dreams.

The former governor of Lagos State, who stressed that the journey of the party’s merger started in the minds of a select few said: “If I didn’t believe in the bold initiative, I wouldn’t have lent myself to the unprecedented merger of the political parties that became the APC. We wouldn’t have challenged the incumbent party controlling the central government, People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

“There is no incumbent that has ever lost an election in this country. At the beginning of that journey, we were laughed at, we weren’t given a chance. We were told that we have embarked on an exercise in futility. Yet we believed in the justness of our call. The criticism didn’t deter us but encourage us.

“That exercise has become a history-making exercise. The party that was described as dead on arrival has, however, given birth to a new government, spirit and better democracy.”