By Augustine Akhilomen

…Accuses NNPCL Of Lacking Transparency And Attempting To Hide The Details Of The Deal

Former Vice President and 2023 presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has demanded the immediate suspension of the deal between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and Chinese firms aimed at reviving the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.

Atiku, through his media aide Phrank Shaibu on Friday, criticized the partnership as an “opaque” and “dangerous gamble” with Nigeria’s economic future.

He accused the NNPCL of lacking transparency and attempting to hide the details of the deal, similar to previous controversial agreements.

Atiku referred to the Chinese firms, identified as Sanjiang Chemical Company Limited and Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd, as unknown entities lacking the credibility for such a massive project.

“It is both shocking and insulting that after wasting over $2.5 billion on endless refinery rehabilitation scandals, the NNPC is once again asking Nigerians to trust another experiment built on secrecy and questionable competence,” Atiku stated.

“There is no publicly available evidence anywhere in the world showing that Sanjiang has ever built, operated, or managed a full-scale crude oil refinery of the magnitude and complexity of Port Harcourt or Warri refineries.

“Processing petrochemical derivatives is not the same as running an aging national refinery burdened with decades of operational decay,” Atiku noted.
Also, Atiku said the second Chinese firm, Xingcheng (Fuzhou) Industrial Park Operation and Management Co. Ltd., appears to have absolutely no verifiable experience in petroleum engineering, refinery operations, or hydrocarbon processing.

“By every available corporate and industry record, Xingcheng is essentially an industrial park and infrastructure management company — the equivalent of handing over a hospital’s intensive care unit to a real estate developer simply because they can construct buildings,” the statement added.

“It is unacceptable that after years of failed turnaround maintenance scams, billions of dollars squandered, and repeated lies about refinery functionality, Nigerians are now being told to celebrate a memorandum of understanding signed with companies whose core expertise does not align with the technical realities of refinery rehabilitation.

“Nigerians must not allow the same people who destroyed the refineries through incompetence and corruption to now hide behind vague Chinese partnerships to continue the cycle of deception,” he said.

“The era where NNPC signs opaque agreements abroad and expects Nigerians to clap blindly is over.

“National assets are not toys for bureaucratic experimentation. The Port Harcourt and Warri refineries are too strategic to be surrendered to uncertainty, obscurity, and corporate guesswork”, he stated.

A Plateau State High Court in Jos has fixed July 1 and 2, 2026, for a definite hearing in the terrorism case arising from the Angwan Rukuba killings, involving four defendants accused of terrorism and committing acts of terrorism.

The case came up on Thursday before Justice Gidelia Fomyon of Court 9 for a Case Management Conference (CMC), in line with the provisions of Order 4 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) 2024 and the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015.

At the commencement of proceedings, the Attorney General of Plateau State, Philemon Daffi, led the prosecution team representing the people of Plateau State. Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mustapha Shaba Ibrahim, appeared with his team for the first and second defendants, while M.M. Salihu represented the third defendant, and M.B. Abdullahi appeared for the fourth defendant.

The defendants in the matter are Isa Umar Ibrahim, Adamu Isa Alhassan, Auwalu Abubakar, and Musa Abubakar Ibrahim.

Addressing the court, the prosecution informed Justice Fomyon that the matter was slated for CMC and that the state was ready to proceed. Daffi adopted the prosecution’s case management form, filed on May 17, 2026, and urged the court to issue its report.

Counsel to the defendants also confirmed readiness for the conference and adopted their various responses to the case management forms already filed before the court. Counsel for the first and second defendants told the court their responses were filed on May 6, while the third defendant filed on May 7, and the fourth defendant also filed on May 6, 2026.

All defence lawyers subsequently urged the court to issue its report in accordance with relevant provisions of the law.

Justice Fomyon noted that ordinarily, a case management report ought to be issued within 60 days, but stated that given the circumstances surrounding the case and the level of public interest it has attracted, parties were allowed to suggest convenient dates for hearing.

During proceedings, the court also observed that some of the defendants had pending applications challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

Defence counsel argued that their notices of preliminary objection should be taken and ruled upon at the conclusion of the trial. However, the prosecution opposed the move, insisting that jurisdictional issues should first be resolved to avoid what it described as a “journey in futility.”

Daffi further urged the court to take cognisance of the significant public interest in the case and ensure speedy trial proceedings by ruling on the preliminary objections before the substantive hearing begins.

In his ruling, Justice Fomyon held that case management had been concluded in accordance with the law and adjourned the matter to May 26, 2026, for the court’s report on case management.

The court further fixed July 1 and 2, 2026, for a definite hearing and witness appearances in the terrorism trial.

Justice Mohammed Garba Umar of the Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed the no-case submission made by activist, Omoyele Sowore, in the cyberbullying charge brought against him by the Department of the State Services, DSS.

DSS had charged Sowore for cyberbullying President Bola Tinubu.

The court upheld the DSS charges against Sowore for allegedly calling Tinubu a “criminal” in his Twitter handle and ordered him to enter his defense.

Justice Umar dismissed the no case submission on Friday while ruling on the application made by the activist.

Sowore had filed the no case submission and prayed the court to discharge and acquit him from the two-count charge.

In the ruling, Justice Umar held that the DSS had successfully linked Sowore with the alleged offences, adding that a prima facie case had been established against him to warrant him to enter a defense.