By Modupe Gbadeyanka

President Bola Tinubu will today, Thursday, August 14, 2005, leave Nigeria for a two-nation trip to Japan and Brazil, though he is expected to have a stop-over in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) before proceeding to Japan.

A statement issued on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, disclosed that the President would be spending about two weeks outside the country.

According to the statement, in Japan, President Tinubu will attend the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) in the City of Yokohama from August 20 to 22.

With the theme Co-create Innovative Solutions with Africa, TICAD9 will focus on Africa’s economic transformation and improvements in the business environment and institutions through private investment and innovation. It will also promote a resilient and sustainable African society for human security, peace, and stability.

In addition to attending plenary sessions on themes linked to the conference, the Nigerian President will hold bilateral meetings and meet the chief executive officers of some Japanese companies with investments in Nigeria.

Initiated in 1993 by the Japanese government and co-hosted by the United Nations, UNDP, the African Union Commission, and the World Bank, TICAD is a triennial conference held alternately in Japan and Africa. The last one took place in August 2022 in Tunisia.

 The forum fosters high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners.

At the end of the TICAD9, Mr Tinubu will leave for Brasilia in Brazil for a two-day state visit from Sunday, August 24, to Monday, August 25, following an invitation by the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

While in Brazil, he will hold a bilateral meeting with his host and attend a business forum with Brazilian investors.

His delegation—comprising key ministers and senior officials—will explore opportunities to strengthen cooperation and sign agreements and Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the Brazilian government.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The judgment of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja mandating the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited to pay its former board chairman, Mr Ifeanyi Ararume, the sum of N5 billion as damages has been upturned by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal.

The former lawmaker secured the judgment against the state-owned oil agency at the lower court in April 2023, but this was challenged at the appellate court.

Ruling on the matter on August 8, 2025, according to a statement from the NNPC on Wednesday, August 13, the court upheld the appeal of the energy firm against the Federal High Court’s judgement that annulled Mr Ararume’s removal from the board.

According to the Appeal Court, the Federal High Court’s earlier decision was delivered in error, noting amongst others, that the claim was statute-barred.

In the statement, NNPC said this decision of the appellate court “sets a corporate governance precedent in Nigerian law, and upholds the validity of board resolutions critical to the oil and gas industry’s investment and policy direction.”

It also stated that the judgement spares it of “a massive financial payout and removes a legal risk that could have invalidated all decisions of the board since 2021.”

Recall that in 2023, the late former President Muhammadu Buhari removed Mr Ararume as the chairman of NNPC but he approached the court to challenge this, arguing it was illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and a total breach of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), asking N100 billion as damages.

Though his prayers were granted by Justice Inyang Ekwo, the compensation awarded was N5 billion and it was for the disruption of his appointment because it was unlawful and illegal.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) has disclosed that average litres of fuel consumed daily by the country decreased by about 18.6 per cent to 48.0 million litres in June 2025 from the 59.0 million litres recorded in May 2025.

The Director of Public Affairs for NMDPRA, Mr George Ene-Ita, confirmed this in a report on Wednesday, noting that for the full month, the fuel consumption also went down by 16.4 per cent or 290 million litres to 1,440,768,129 litres from the previous month’s 1,768,812,804 litres.

Breaking down the fuel supply figures, the NMDPRA report stated that in June, the Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), called diesel, saw a slight increase in supply by 1.73 per cent, reaching 432.18 million litres compared to May’s 424.83 million litres.

In spite of this, diesel distribution (truck-out) declined by 23.23 per cent, falling from 552.35 million litres in May to 424.06 million litres in June.

It further showed that the Household Kerosene (HHK) supply and distribution both recorded a 13 per cent decrease, with June figures at 7.79 million litres, down from nearly nine million litres in May.

The sharpest decline was seen in automotive gasoline supply, which dropped by nearly 48 per cent from 72.36 million litres in May to 37.66 million litres in June.

Distribution also fell by 16.54 per cent within the same period.

The NMDPRA’s report also detailed fuel truck-out volumes to individual states, totalling the 1.44 billion litres evacuated in June.

The report showed that Lagos received the highest volume at 205.66 million litres, followed by Ogun with 88.69 million litres, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with 77.51 million litres, and Oyo with 72.81 million litres.

The decline in overall supply and distribution suggests continued challenges in the petroleum midstream and downstream sectors, impacting national fuel consumption patterns in June.

The NMDPRA, then, pledged to work closely with relevant stakeholders to strengthen distribution and guarantee the uninterrupted supply of petroleum products across the country.