Newscast - Africa

The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, Mr Gbenga Komolafe, solicited the support of Nigeria’s armed forces to tackle the menace of crude oil theft in the country.
The latest report from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative recently stated that Nigeria lost 42.25 million barrels of crude oil valued at $2.77 billion to oil theft in 2019.
Komolafe told the CDS that the new NUPRC was now responsible for the technical, operational and commercial regulation of the upstream sector, geared towards optimising the benefits of the nation’s hydrocarbon resources.
He reiterated the critical role of the defence chief to the success of upstream investments in the oil and gas industry in Nigeria and appealed for stakeholders’ collaboration and partnership to deal with all security issues affecting the industry.

The Executive Vice Chairman of the National Communication Commission, Prof. Umar Danbatta has assured Nigerians of their health safety.
Danbatta says the commission’s response was a sequel to the fear being expressed by Nigerians over the deployment of the new technology.
He says they would realize the revenue through the sales of the 5G spectrum, fines among others.
He emphasised the economic importance of the 5G Spectrum network to the country and the nation’s social transformation.
Danbatta also disclosed that with the launch of the Computer Incidence Response Team and telecommunications networks across the country were secured against any form of cyber-attack.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has cautioned members of the public against engaging in panic buying of petrol, stressing that the national oil company has over 1.7 billion litres of the product in stock.
A statement by the NNPC Spokesman, Mr Garba Muhammad, reiterated that the corporation was also not aware of any plan by the government to cause an increase in the pump price of petroleum.
The NNPC stated that more product was expected to arrive in the country daily over the coming weeks and months, insisting that it was therefore unnecessary to entertain any fear of scarcity of petrol throughout the festive season and beyond.
The NNPC says it was engaging all stakeholders to ensure smooth supply and distribution of products to every part of the country during the festive season and beyond.

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum says the Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, was working against the public’s interest by insisting on the payment of $418 million to private consultants from the accounts of state governments.
The consultants are claiming a percentage of Paris Club refunds as payment of services they said they rendered to the states and local government.
The spokesman of the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Umar Gwandu, says the AGF suggested the states and local governments had acted in bad faith for taking the case to court.
The NGF, says the AGF’s actions raise questions of propriety and the spirit of justice.

UK visitors are now able to travel to the US for the first time in nearly two years.
The border reopened at 05:01 GMT and the first flights take off from Heathrow at 08:30 - but all UK visitors over 18 will have to provide proof of vaccination to enter the US.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has called this a significant moment for UK-US travel. He added that transatlantic flights are at the heart of UK aviation.
The travel ban is being lifted for people from Brazil, China, India, Ireland, South Africa, Iran and the Schengen countries - a group of 26 European nations.

A federal appeals court in the United States has frozen a vaccine mandate by President Joe Biden’s administration that is intended to push workers at businesses with more than 100 staff into getting COVID-19 shots or be tested weekly.
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that there are grave statutory and constitutional issues with the mandate.
It says the mandate hereby stays pending further action by this court.
Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda says the Labor Department was confident in its legal authority to issue the rule, which will be enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

A stampede of fans surging toward the stage during rapper Travis Scott’s Astroworld music festival in Houston killed at least eight people and injured dozens more as panic rippled through the crowd of largely young concertgoers, according to officials.
City Police Chief Troy Finner says that his department has opened a criminal investigation following unconfirmed reports that someone in the audience was injecting other people with drugs.
Officials told reporters that People began to fall unconscious, some apparently suffering cardiac arrest or other medical issues.

Libya’s ruling presidential council has suspended Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush for administrative violations and barred her from travelling.
A spokeswoman for the council says the three-member body suspended Mangoush on Saturday for carrying out the foreign policy without coordination with the council.
Libya’s transitional Government of National Unity rejected the council’s decision in a statement early on Sunday.
It says that the presidential council has no legal right to appoint or cancel the appointment of members of the executive authority, suspend them or investigate them adding that these powers are exclusive to the prime minister.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government has rejected fresh accusations of corruption after a newspaper investigation found major donors to his Conservative Party were offered seats in parliament’s upper chamber.
Eustice also described the furore over Conservative politician Owen Paterson, who quit parliament after the government’s U-turn on plans to overhaul the system for combatting parliamentary corruption
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told Sky News it was difficult to see a future for Kathryn Stone, the independent parliamentary commissioner for standards after Conservative MPs blocked her recommendation to suspend Paterson.

Iran’s army is holding a large-scale sea, land and air military drill, which comes shortly after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and United States Navy had a confrontation in the Sea of Oman over a seized oil tanker.
The drill was launched on Sunday morning and is expected to incorporate soldiers, vessels, armoured vehicles, manned and unmanned aircraft, and missile and radar systems in both offensive and defensive capacities.
Abdolrahim Mousavi, commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, told state television that the exercises will be held in an area encompassing one million square kilometres east of the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.