Operatives of the Enugu Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC have commenced investigations into the activities of one Ralph Chinazum Ajah, Managing Director, Paramount Energy Limited for an alleged case of obtaining by false pretence and stealing to the tune of N72, 300, 000. 00 (Seventy two million, Three Hundred Thousand Naira).

A petitioner alleged that he sent the said sum to Ajah for the supply of petroleum products to some of his branches. The said money was paid in six tranches between April 11, 2022 and May 24, 2022. “After he collected the money, he kept promising to supply the products as agreed but failed to do so which then prompted us to do preliminary investigations and we discovered that Chinazumah Ajah and his company do not have the capacity to supply the products and he deliberately defrauded us of our business capital”, the petitioner said.

However, investigations revealed that the suspect used the account of his company, Paramount Energy Limited, to receive the said sum after which he transferred the money into his account for personal use.

The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.

Since the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) suspended recognition of all leadership factions in the African Democratic Congress (ADC) following a ruling by the Court of Appeal and ongoing litigation over the party’s leadership, the polity has been on edge. That is understandable given the status of the party as an emerging opposition platform.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Mohammed Haruna, the electoral commission hinged its decision on an order by the Court of Appeal. In obedience to the court order, the commission decided to stop engaging with any of the two warring factions until there is a substantive court judgement after it received conflicting letters demanding recognition from both sides. Pointedly, the judgement did not favour the faction led by David Mark, prompting INEC to decline recognition of his chairmanship.

The point, then, is that the court ruling of the Appeal Court undermines the legitimacy of David Mark’s leadership, and INEC’s position reinforces the legal effect of the judgement, effectively limiting his authority in dealing with the electoral body. To say that the decision places the party in a contested leadership situation, pending possible appeals or internal resolution, is to put it very mildly.

Not just ahead of the 2027 general election but in politics generally, it is a no-brainer that internal divisions impair coordinated campaign efforts across states. If the ADC refuses to put its house in order, it risks disintegration and utter irrelevance, both in the build up to the election and thereafter.

Disputes over legitimate party leadership will inevitably lead to conflicting candidate lists, risking disqualification or exclusion from ballots. Besides, the party’s ability to form alliances or coalitions ahead of elections will be significantly diminished. If the party continues to present a picture of instability, voters will simply look the other way.

The question they would be asking themselves is how a party that cannot properly organise, harmonise and manage its internal issues can hope to govern Nigeria effectively. The inescapable conclusion, given ADC’s antics so far, is that it is not prepared for the 2027 polls but is only interested in bickering and wrangling, intent on leading Nigerians, particularly undecided or swing voters, down a slippery slope.

If unresolved before key electoral deadlines, the ADC risks reduced participation or irrelevance in the forthcoming elections. The party is likely to experience operational disruptions unless a legally recognized leadership emerges quickly. Its performance may decline significantly in comparison to more stable parties, unless the crisis is resolved and unity restored.

The best-Case Scenario would be for swift judicial clarification or internal reconciliation restores leadership legitimacy and stabilizes party operations, while the worst-case scenario would be prolonged litigation and factional conflict result in parallel structures, disqualification risks, and electoral underperformance.

The court ruling and INEC’s response represent a critical inflection point for the African Democratic Congress. Without rapid resolution, the party faces a high-risk trajectory that could significantly undermine its competitiveness in the forthcoming elections.

The genesis of the current crisis plaguing the party is the decision by a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to drag its factional chairman, Senator David Mark to the Federal High Court, seeking an ex parte order. The judge didn’t grant it outright. Instead, he asked Mark to come and show cause why the request shouldn’t be approved.

Rather than argue his case at that court, the former Senate President proceeded to the Court of Appeal. The appellate court was clear: go back to the Federal High Court and argue your case. More importantly, the Court of Appeal cautioned INEC not to take any action that could render the pending suit useless. In simple terms “dont recognize anybody”. Not Mark. Not Nafiu. No faction

.Until the court settles the leadership tussle, there is officially no recognized leadership. INEC didn’t pick sides; it simply obeyed the court. However, in their typical manner, members of the party have been clutching at straws, accusing the electoral body of bias when the real bias and lack of objectivity lies within their own ranks. Rather than going through the legal process dictated by the laws of the land, they have been scheduling press conferences, issuing acerbic statements, and attempting to reap political capital from their own self-inflicted wounds. This move is, for want of a better position, patently illogical.

To the extent that INEC’s action is in tandem with the orders of court, to that extent is its position grouned in law, logic and democratic ethos. There is no basis for an alternative conclusion at the moment.

Thomas Akor a public analyst sent this piece from Gboko, Benue State

The country lost between $300 million and $500million monthly while the Port Harcourt Refinery was operating, Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Bayo Ojulari said yesterday.

He said: “When I resumed, one of the first priorities I focused on was the refinery. I did a quick review to see if we could quickly fix it. What I found is that we were losing between $300 million to $500 million on a monthly basis in the refinery. We were pumping about 50,000 barrels of crude to go into the refinery. What was coming out was less than 40 per cent equivalent of what was coming in.”

Ojulari said this when he met with the leadership of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) in his office at Abuja.

The Port Harcourt Refinery, after years of being in comatose, started working in November, 2024 when former GCEO Mele Kyari announced the reopening to a wide applause by Nigerians, but the operation was halted in May, barely one month after Ojulari’s resumption.

Ojulari, who assumed office on April 2, the same day Kyari was relieved of the job, said he halted the operation of the refinery to prevent further losses and work towards a sustainable arrangement.

Ojulari explained: “The first thing we said was rather than continue to lose, let’s quickly stop and look for a way to put this refinery into a sustainably profitable venture.”

He said the NNPCL was working to revive the moribund refineries to operate at full capacity by adopting the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) model (Public, Private, Partnership), which PENGASSAN advocated during the meeting.

The NNPCL chief said talks were on to find a viable solution to the refining crisis, ensuring the refineries become a sustainably profitable venture.

He said the national oil company had concluded a technical review for the three refineries, pointing out that the long term neglect and lack of maintenance were major reasons behind the huge losses recorded monthly, despite the huge investments to make them work

The NNPCL chief explained that a lot of money has been spent on these refineries, but admitted that it’s been challenging to translate those funds into profitability.

He likened the situation of the refineries to parking an old car for some time without any greasing and oiling. He added that the Port Harcourt refinery has been difficult to put back because of years of neglect and it’s been difficult: when you fix one thing, the other thing is still there.

Turning to PENGASSAN, Ojulari said: “The solution you are proposing (the NLNG model) is what we are working on. We’ve completed technical review of the three refineries, but it’s not just about technical. It’s also about commercial viability, it has to make money. Maybe not a lot, but it should not be making a loss.

“We’ve completed the commercial review for the Port Harcourt refinery and from that commercial review, we have come to the conclusion that the best way forward is to get a true professional refinery company to join us and co-operate with us.

“We’ve been having meetings with potential parties, but we need to find the pathway that will work. We’ve also realised that it was not in the best interest of Nigeria, not in the best interest of NNPCL, that we will continue to put money into a place where we do not have the full ability to fully operationalise. So, when we bring in partners, we can work with them.”

Ojulari appealed to Nigerians, contractors, traders and beneficiaries to be patient with the shutdown of the refineries.

In the course of the briefing, the NNPCL chief said his team was facing attacks, but said he will not be deterred. “We are under attack. We will not budge to short-term pressure, as it will not be in the best interest of Nigerians. You cannot drive change without a price, and the transformation is tough,” he said, adding that patience will be required from Nigerians to get to the other side of change, which will benefit the citizens.

He restated his commitment to stay focused in driving the mandate given to the team by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“Tinubu did not put pressure on me to go and do the wrong thing. The baseline was to go and ensure that whatever we’re doing, going forward, sustainably works. There’s no need for us to pretend, there was no negative political pressure for NNPCL to just continue to run at a loss, so we decided to freeze on it, and we’ve been working astutely fine.

“My commitment is that when this refinery is reworking, everybody will be back to work but for now, we all need to co-operate and work together to ensure that whatever we put in place is sustainable.”

Ojulari declared that he is not a politician, saying that he will have to learn a bit more about politics. “I’m not hiding from anybody. I’m not a politician. I will have to learn a bit more about politics, but for me, it is a development plan, and I’m ready to learn.”

The NNPCL chief raised concerns about threats to his life, and some members of the company’s management, saying his major “offence” was the reforms he introduced in the oil and gas sector in line with President Tinubu’s directive to revive the country’s ailing refineries. He said some powerful interests were plotting to unseat him, but insisted that he remained focused on ensuring the success of the refinery rehabilitation plan.

Osifo said the pipelines have been working optimally since Ojulari became the GCEO, leading to an increase in production.

He commended the management of NNPCL for moving beyond addressing the welfare of members.

While seeking answers to the reasons behind the shutdown of the refineries, Osifo noted that PENGASSAN was committed to supporting the NNPCL to stabilise the system, which has been bedevilled with so many challenges, including non-producing fields, to boost production to 2.6 million barrels per day next year.

The PENGASSAN president, who is also president of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), said: “Managing institutions as this and trying to bring about change, we know that there are always ups and downs, which is expected in life. But at PENGASSAN, we assure you that we are solidly behind you, that we will work with you, we will collaborate with you and your team to ensure the stability of the system, because for us, when the system is not stabilised, it has a way of trickling down to our members.

“We will work with you to ensure that the system is stabilised and to ensure that NNPCL continuously remains vibrant, the way it has been, and even to take it a notch higher, because today we are doing approximately 1.8 million barrels of crude.

“We believe that with a lot of capacities and experience that will be brought in, we’ll be able to bring about an improvement in our production”.

The tale surrounding the new development with the nation’s refineries, as painted by Ojulari, runs counter to that of his predecessor, Mele Kyari, who described the reopening of the Port Harcourt Refinery Company in Novembe,r 2024, as a monumental achievement for Nigeria, which signified a new era of energy independence and economic growth for the country.

In a statement, Kyari had said: “The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has fulfilled its pledge of re-streaming the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), signalling the commencement of crude oil processing from the plant and delivery of petroleum products into the market.”

Ojulari’s briefing yesterday is coming barely nine months after the Port Harcourt Refinery was adjudged fit for production by Kyari.