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PDP, APC Bicker over $5.6Bn NLNG Dividend

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed Nigeria’s ruling the party, All Progressives Congress (APC) for insinuating that the past administration hid the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) dividends from Nigerians.

Chief Olisa Metuh, PDP National publicity secretary, in a statement on Sunday in Abuja, stated that none of its (PDP) successive led governments ever tampered with the NLNG dividends in the last 10 years.

Metuh noted said that the fund at the end of President Goodluck Jonathan tenure had risen to a cumulative 5.6 billion dollars.

“It is imperative to note that by the end of the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan, NLNG dividends had risen to a cumulative $5.6billion and not a single cent was ever taken from the funds,” the statement read.

PDP noted that its attention had been drawn to the “misleading and outright falsehood” by the APC on the issue. “The truth is that the NLNG had been on a 10-year tax haven until 2014.

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“Within this period, successive governments, right from President Olusegun Obasanjo, never shared nor tampered with the cumulative dividends over the years.

“Whatever taxes paid from the NLNG go through the Federal Inland Revenue Services (FIRS) and recorded as part of the income of the Federal Government.

The statement said although it was within the rights of the APC administration to spend the funds in any way it might decide, it was, however, wrong for APC to try to insinuate that the past PDP-led governments had hidden the fund.

Meanwhile APC has called on the Federal Government to probe how various revenues and incomes were paid into the federation account during Jonathan’s administration.

The party said president Muhammadu Buhari should urgently uncover how Company Income Tax/Education tax as well as dividends paid to the Nigerian government by the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) was utilised.

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In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by Alhaji Lai Mohammed, national publicity secretary, the party said the call for the probe was against the background of published reports that the funds were never paid into the Federation Account as they should have been.

It also described as example of grandstanding opposition, PDP’s move to “distort the facts about the source of the $2.1 billion that was approved for sharing by the three tiers of government by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

It said, “Whereas the Presidency corrected the initial erroneous report that the shared money was sourced from the Excess Crude Account (ECA), the skittish opposition continued to insist it was from the ECA and that it was part of the ‘savings’ by the Jonathan Administration.”

The APC said “in addition to paying it into the Federation Account for sharing, hence those who call it their ‘legitimate’ earnings should be asked why they did not demand the sharing of such ‘legitimate’ earnings in the past.

‘’We can tell Nigerians that apart from the said $1.6 billion NLNG payment for 2015, NLNG also paid $1.4 billion as Income Tax/Education Tax in May 2014, paid $0.3 billion as Education tax to the FG in 2011, 2012 and 2013 and $1.2 billion in VAT and With-holding Tax to the FG since 2009. These payments are just those made in the past six years alone, hence there were other payments before then.”

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The ruling party also said “dividend payments totaling $4.7 billion was paid to the FG between 2004 and 2009, out of which only $128 million was credited to the FG’s Independent Account with JP Morgan,” leaving a balance of over $4 billion.

“The questions to ask therefore are why all the past taxes and dividends were neither fully paid into the Federation Account nor shared by the three tiers of government and what happened to the funds,’’ it said.

The party also said that as part of the investigation, the PDP must be asked where it kept the $5.5 billion which it said was the dividend paid to the FG by the NLNG before the 29 May handover.

‘’Since, according to the PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan asked that the money be ‘left for the incoming administration to manage’. it is important for the party, therefore, to tell Nigerians in which account the money was ‘saved’ because it is definitely not in the Federation Account,’’ it said.

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Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

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Chinonso Akujobi, former staff of Access Bank in Lagos, has been remanded in Ikoyi prison after she was arraigned on a five-count charge bordering on stealing to the tune of N294.5m.

Court Remands Akujobi, Ex Access over alleged Theft of N294.5m

Akujobi who is being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was arraigned before Justice I.O. Ijelu of the State High Court sitting in Ikeja, Lagos.

EFCC alleged that Akujobi stole the money between January and December 2025 while under the employment of Access Bank Plc.

As stated in one the charges, the defendant stole the money through unauthorized payments from the general ledger of Access Bank to her account number 0036668871 with the name Chinonso A., Uchechi A. and Florence A., thereby committing an offence of stealing, contrary to Section 280 and punishable under Section 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015.

‎The defendant pleaded “not guilty“ to the charges when they were read to her.

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‎In view of this, S.M.Yabo, prosecution counsel, asked the court for a trial date and also prayed for the remand of the defendant in a Correctional centre.

Justice Ijelu, thereafter, adjourned the case till October 8, 2026, for the hearing of the bail application and the commencement of trial.

The Judge also ordered that the defendant be remanded in the Ikoyi correctional Centre.

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NSIB Faults Runway Identification, Reveals Cockpit Disagreement in Asaba Jet Incident

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) says the flight captain of the VMO Aero aircraft that landed on a roadway near Asaba Airport in Delta State told investigators that the observer pilot mistakenly identified the paved road as the runway before touchdown.

The bureau disclosed this in a preliminary report released on Thursday on the June 10 incident, which prompted the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to ground the private jet.

The aircraft had seven people on board, including the pilot-in-command (PIC), second-in-command (SIC), an observer pilot, a cabin crew member and three passengers.

According to the report, the aircraft was cleared by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to approach Runway 11 at Asaba Airport after the crew requested a right orbit.

The crew initially discontinued the approach, executed a missed approach and repositioned for a second landing attempt.

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NSIB said the crew reported that the aircraft’s navigation systems indicated it was correctly established on the published RNAV Runway 11 approach.

“The PIC and SIC reported that the observer pilot identified the paved surface ahead as the runway,” the report stated.

However, the observer pilot gave investigators a different version of events.

According to NSIB, he said the aircraft remained inside cloud until late in the approach and that the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) repeatedly issued “TERRAIN, TERRAIN, PULL UP” alerts.

He also said he observed a telecommunications mast directly ahead and instructed the flight captain to abandon the approach and climb immediately.

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The bureau further disclosed that a cabin crew member reported that one of the passengers became concerned after overhearing discussions among the pilots and asked whether one of them was undergoing training. The passenger was reportedly reassured that all three pilots on board were experienced captains.

NSIB said no abnormal events were reported in the cabin before touchdown.

The aircraft eventually landed at about 8:57 a.m. on an under-construction paved roadway near Asaba Airport instead of the designated runway.

The bureau said its investigation into the incident is ongoing, while the preliminary report highlights conflicting accounts among the cockpit crew over the circumstances that led to the erroneous landing.

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EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

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European Union has warned Meta Platforms Inc. that it could face a significant financial penalty unless it changes what regulators describe as the “addictive design” features of Facebook and Instagram.

EU warns Meta over addictive Facebook, Instagram designs, threatens fines

The European Commission issued the warning in preliminary findings released on Friday, saying Meta had failed to sufficiently address risks posed by its platforms, particularly to children and vulnerable users.

The Commission said features such as infinite scrolling, personalised content recommendations and automatic video playback were designed in ways that encouraged excessive engagement with the platforms.

EU Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy, Henna Virkkunen, said protecting the physical and mental well-being of European citizens should be a priority for social media companies.

The Commission said Meta should consider introducing design changes, including disabling autoplay and infinite scrolling by default, providing effective screen-time reminders and adjusting recommendation systems to reduce the focus on maximising user engagement.

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The findings were issued under the European Union’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which sets obligations for major online platforms to address risks associated with their services.

Meta, however, rejected the Commission’s conclusions, saying it disagreed with the findings but would continue engaging with European regulators.

The company said it had already implemented measures aimed at protecting younger users, including Teen Accounts that allow parents to manage screen time limits and restrict access during night hours.

The EU said its investigation, which began in 2024, found that existing time-management tools on Facebook and Instagram could easily be bypassed, while parental controls required technical knowledge that limited their effectiveness.

Regulators also expressed concerns over children’s nighttime use of the platforms and the possibility that features such as Reels and Stories could encourage compulsive behaviour.

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If the Commission’s preliminary findings are confirmed, Meta could face a fine of up to six per cent of its annual global revenue under the DSA.

The warning comes as the EU steps up efforts to strengthen online safety measures for children, with an expert panel established by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expected to present recommendations on protecting minors online.

Several EU member states, including France, have also supported discussions on restricting social media access for children, following Australia’s decision to ban users under 16 from accessing social media platforms.

Meanwhile, the Commission is continuing a separate investigation into whether Meta’s recommendation algorithms create “rabbit hole” effects by directing users towards increasingly extreme content.

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