The Department of State Services (DSS) said it has uncovered a plot by some political actors to forestall the inauguration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the winner of Nigeria’s 2023 presidential election.

In a statement signed by its spokesperson, Peter Afunanya on Wednesday, the secret service said it “considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis.”

The statement follows a petition by the spokesperson for the All Progressive Congress (APC) presidential campaign, Festus Keyamo, to the DSS, accusing the candidates of the Labour Party, Peter Obi and the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, of heating the polity to cause anarchy.

The DSS had on Saturday, issued a statement, warning politicians to desist from peddling “hate speech” and false narratives capable of stirring chaos that could scuttle the inauguration of the president-elect.

Both Atiku and Obi have approached the court, challenging the outcome of the presidential election, which they say does not represent the wish of the people. Atiku also led a protest to INEC headquarters, to register the displeasure of Nigerians over the conduct of the election.

The DSS is believed to have been prompted by these developments to issue the statements. The service said “the illegality” of the recent events “is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to the peace-loving Nigerians.”

The DSS, which describes the conduct of the election as “peaceful”, said “the planners, in their many meetings, have weighed various options, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency.” It added that they’re also planning to “obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels.”

The service said it will collaborate with the Presidential Transition Council and sister security and law enforcement agencies to ensure seamless inaugurations come 29th May, 2023, warning stakeholders, judicial authorities, media and the Civil Society, to “avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability of the nation.”

Against the backdrop of these statements, Nigerians have expressed concern that the DSS, which is supposed to be apolitical, has become blatantly partisan. Many said that the Nigeria’s secret service is now working as an arm of the ruling APC.

Read the full statement below:

The Department of State Services (DSS) has identified some key players in the plot for an Interim Government in Nigeria. The Service considers the plot, being pursued by these entrenched interests, as not only an aberration but a mischievous way to set aside the constitution and undermine civil rule as well as plunge the country into an avoidable crisis. The illegality is totally unacceptable in a democracy and to the peace-loving Nigerians.

This is even more so that the machination is taking place after the peaceful conduct of the elections in most parts of the country. The planners, in their many meetings, have weighed various options, which include, among others, to sponsor endless violent mass protests in major cities to warrant a declaration of State of Emergency. Another is to obtain frivolous court injunctions to forestall the inauguration of new executive administrations and legislative houses at the Federal and State levels.

The DSS supports the President and Commander-in-Chief in his avowed commitment to a hitch-free handover and will assiduously work in this direction. It also supports the Presidential Transition Council and such other related bodies in the States.

It will collaborate with them and sister security and law enforcement agencies to ensure seamless inaugurations come 29th May, 2023.

Consequently, the Service strongly warns those organizing to thwart democracy in the country to retract from their devious schemes and orchestrations.

Stakeholders, notably judicial authorities, media and the Civil Society, are enjoined to be watchful and cautious to avoid being used as instruments to subvert peace and stability of the nation.

While its monitoring continues, the DSS will not hesitate to take decisive and necessary legal steps against these misguided elements to frustrate their obnoxious intentions.

Peter Afunanya PhD, fsi

Public Relations Officer

Department of State Services

National Headquarters

Abuja

29th March, 2023

Fuel prices will rise significantly after the removal of subsidy in June, selling between N360 and N400 per liter, according to the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN).

This was disclosed to journalists by PENGASSAN president Festus Osifo, during the association’s National Executive Council meeting (NEC) held in Abuja on Tuesday.

Osifo made the disclosure as concern mounts over what the cost of petroleum products will be in coming months, following a claim by petroleum marketers and stakeholders in the downstream sector, that fuel will sell as much as N750 per liter when the subsidy is removed.

In August 2022, the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, announced that the subsidy removal will be implemented by the first half of 2023. The announcement has triggered speculation that fuel will be sold at international market rate, making it unaffordable for the majority of the Nigerian people.

Allaying the concern, Osifo said that fuel prices will be determined by the sole importer of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), using the official exchange rate.

“Today, the sole importer of PMS into Nigeria is the NNPC. The NNPC is using an exchange rate of the CBN which gives about N400 to N450 depending on the day and depending on the window that you are looking at. So, if you compute that into the model today, PMS should be selling for a region of about N360 to N400,” he said.

But NNPCL, which was inaugurated as a limited liability entity in July last, lamented in February that it has been running at loss due to subsidy payments, which it said gulps more than N400 billion monthly. The NNPCL Group Chief Executive, Mele Kyari, said the payments, which cover 66 million liters per day at the cost of N202 per liter, are being made by NNPCL even though there is provision for that in the Budget.

The CEO said the payments are impacting the company’s financial flow, scuttling its objective, which is to make profit as a private entity.

The Nigerian government has been looking for ways to break away from the shackles of the fuel subsidy, which gulps significant percent of the country’s budget each year. Ahmed said in January that the fuel subsidy regime plays a very significant contributory role in revenue loss that has forced Nigeria to borrow. She had described Nigeria’s situation of borrowing to pay subsidy as “double tragedy.”

Both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have repeatedly advised Nigeria to remove the fuel subsidy and channel the fund to the development of the nation’s economy, giving needed attention to education and health sectors.

However, lack of political will – buoyed by the government’s failure to address the potential economic hardship that will result from the subsidy removal, has held the federal government back.

With the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) sounding warning of nationwide industrial action if the subsidy is removed without adequate provisions to cushion the resulting effects, the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration had chosen to bequeath the responsibility to the incoming government.

The federal government is understood to be counting on Dangote Refinery, which was expected to begin operation mid-last year, to boost the quantity of locally refined PMS, significantly reducing Nigeria’s dependence on importation and saving the country its much needed forex.

Nigeria’s lack of functioning refineries sits at the center of its petroleum crisis – from fuel subsidy payment to fuel scarcity, which leaves the Nigerian public at the mercy of petroleum marketers every given time. Although the federal government has been working to rehabilitate dormant Warri, Port Harcourt and Kaduna refineries, it doesn’t look like they’re going to be ready any time soon.

Osifo said that functional local refineries will make fuel affordable and also create jobs for Nigerians, urging the government to increase the pace of the rehabilitation exercise.

“While maintaining our support for the full deregulation of the sector and the significant milestone achieved in this regard, we counsel that efforts be made to increase the pace of the current rehabilitation exercise of refineries and get them back on track in due time,” he said.

He added that the incoming administration must make palliatives available to Nigerians to mitigate the impact of the removal of petroleum subsidy.

Ahmed said last year that the federal government plans to introduce a transport subsidy to ameliorate the economic impact of the fuel subsidy removal on the Nigerian people.

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