By Adedapo Adesanya

An explosion has rocked the Trans-Niger Pipeline at Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State.

According to reports, the affected section of the major pipeline occurred on Monday night, though the exact cause of the explosion remains unknown as of press time.

Authorities have yet to determine whether the incident resulted from human interference, especially amid recent threats by militant groups to attack oil installations in response to the federal government’s withholding of Rivers State’s allocation due to the ongoing political crisis.

A Federal High Court in Abuja in October 2024 ordered the stoppage of the release of federal monthly allocations from the consolidated funds to the Rivers State government

The infrastructure is a critical export pipeline that transports crude to the Bonny Terminal and could affect Nigeria’s oil production which has continued to make recoveries despite security and infrastructure challenges.

This development comes as the Rivers State House of Assembly moved to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara and Deputy Governor Ngozi Odu.

The Martin Amaewhule-led Assembly loyal to the former governor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, served Mr Fubara and Prof Odu with a notice of alleged gross misconduct, signalling an imminent impeachment process.

The notice listing the alleged misconduct sent to the Speaker was a sequel to a letter dated March 14, 2025, signed by 26 members of the Assembly.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The chairman of Honeywell Group, Mr Oba Otudeko, has been ordered to appear before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos at the next adjourned date, May 8, 2025.

Mr Otudeko is expected answer questions raised by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over a loan controversy involving N12.3 billion, believed to have been taken from First Bank.

At the court on Monday, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke noted that no preliminary objections would be considered until the businessman responds to the charges against.

The judge ruled that Mr Otudeko must be arraigned before the court considers any arguments about its authority to handle the case, referencing previous legal rulings, specifically the cases of Onnoghen v. FRN and Bello v. FRN, to support this decision, reinforcing the principle that a defendant’s plea must be addressed before any other applications can be heard.

“The issue before the court is whether the processes can be taken before the arraignment of the defendants. Any preliminary objection to the validity of a charge can only be heard after the plea is taken. This is now a condition precedent, and this court is bound by the decision.

“I agree with the learned counsel for the prosecution—no preliminary objection can be taken without the arraignment of the defendants. This is my view,” Justice Aneke said.

At a hearing on February 13, Mr Otudeko’s lawyers had argued that their objections should be heard before they take their plea, but the court has now ruled against that request.

Despite the ruling, Mr Otudeko’s lead lawyer, Chief Wole Olanipekun (SAN), told the court that efforts are being made to settle the matter out of court, noting that a meeting was held on March 12 with key parties, especially the first defendant and the prosecution.

Other defence lawyers, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), and Charles Adeosun-Phillips (SAN), supported Olanipekun’s request for the case to be postponed so that settlement talks could continue without disruption.

However, the prosecuting counsel, Bilkisu Buhari-Bala, requested an adjournment for either an arraignment or a settlement report.

Despite the defence’s insistence on a settlement report, Buhari-Bala maintained that proceedings should continue with either an arraignment or an update on settlement efforts.

In response, the court granted the defence’s request and adjourned the case until May 8, 2025, for a report on the settlement efforts.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Dangote oil refinery has commenced operating its polypropylene facility in Lagos.

Polypropylene is a thermoplastic polymer that is commonly used in plastic packaging, textiles, reusable shopping bags,  surgical equipment, household chairs, and kitchen utensils.

According to S&P Global, the starting up of Dangote’s 830,000 metric tonnes per year polypropylene site was one of the last outstanding milestones for the oil refining and petrochemical complex in its commissioning sequence, which has been taking place since January 2024.

“Polypropylene production has now started, with supplies being distributed in 25kg bags, and has already threatened to upend the domestic market,” two market sources had told Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.

When it becomes operational, the Dangote facility is set to become Africa’s largest polypropylene production site, producing from two polypropylene units with capacities of 500,000 metric tonnes per year and 330,000 metric tonnes per year.

The President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, previously set out hopes that the complex would fully cover some 250,000 metric tonnes per year of domestic demand for polypropylene.

S&P Global cited that the new capacity could quickly capture market share in the existing polypropylene homopolymer market, which has so far been concentrated at Indorama Eleme’s Port Harcourt refinery in Nigeria and drawn imports from the Middle East.

The company had previously said its $2 billion petrochemical plant located in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos State, is designed to produce 77 different high-performance grades of polypropylene in the country.

With a turnover of $1.2 billion, the Dangote Petrochemical plant, situated alongside the Dangote Refinery, is positioned to cater to the demands of the growing plastic processing downstream industries, not only in Africa but also in other parts of the world.

Speaking then, Mr Devakumar Edwin, now the Vice President of Dangote Industries Limited, said the Dangote Petrochemical will drive massive investment in the downstream industries, generating huge value addition in the country, creating employment, increasing tax revenues, reducing foreign exchange outflow, and increasing the country’s Gross Domestic Product.

“We have 77 types of polypropylene, which can be used for different purposes, and we can produce it from our petrochemical plant. Currently, the plant is capable of producing about 900,000 tonnes of polypropylene per annum. Our Petrochemical plant should be the biggest in Africa,” he said.