Foreign airlines have disclosed that about 90 per cent of their $783m trapped funds have not been paid.

The airlines stated this during a stakeholders’ forum convened by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in Lagos recently.

According to data from the International Air Transport Association, as of August 2023, Nigeria accounted for a substantial $783m of airlines’ blocked funds.

Despite recent efforts to alleviate the situation, the airlines said a significant portion of those funds remained inaccessible to them.

Chairman of International Airline Operators, Chima Kingsley, emphasised that while international banks had received some funds from the Central Bank of Nigeria that only accounted for a fraction, less than 10 per cent of the trapped funds.

“The bulk of the blocked funds are with Nigerian commercial banks. The bulk of the money has not been paid,” he said.

President Bola Tinubu two weeks ago had promised to clear the estimated $7bn outstanding foreign exchange obligations of the Federal Government on forex forwards contracts owed to commercial banks.

CBN, last week, started clearing the forex backlog to commercial banks to ease pressure on the foreign exchange.

The CBN had initiated steps to clear the forex backlog to ease pressure on foreign exchange, but challenges persisted in disbursing the funds effectively.

Domestic carriers, represented by the Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Obiora Okonkwo, highlighted their struggles, with trapped funds and limited access to forex impacting their operations.

He cited examples, including aircraft maintenance fees accumulating due to the inability to source forex for payments.

The Area Manager of West and Central Africa for IATA, Samson Fatokun, underscored the need to reduce operating costs in the Nigerian aviation sector, advocating for sector-specific support.

Keyamo assured stakeholders that efforts were underway to address the forex challenge.

While the minister did not disclose the exact disbursement figures, he reiterated the government’s commitment to resolving the issue in the coming weeks, offering a glimmer of hope for the airlines grappling with financial constraints.

Punch

Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC Ltd on Tuesday said it had launched a new grade of crude called Nembe, as Africa's largest oil producer aims to ramp up crude production.

The country has long dealt with output declines due to crude theft, attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta and a lack of investment, causing a dwindling of government revenue and large fiscal deficits. But output has picked up in recent months.

Nembe production was formerly added to the Bonny Light stream more than three years ago, until instances of sabotage on the Nembe Creek Trunk Line (NCTL) hamstrung output, an NNPC source told Reuters on the sidelines of the Argus European Crude conference in London.

Now, the country has managed to resurrect Nembe as a separate grade, he added.

The first cargoes of Nembe were sold in October, consisting of two 950,000 barrel shipments sold to France and the Netherlands, a second NNPC source told Reuters.

The first Nembe cargo was sold to UAE-based trading firm Gulf Transport & Trading, which loaded the cargo onto the Suezmax tanker Maran Orpheus for a voyage to an unknown end buyer in Fos, France, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Nembe is similar to Nigeria's other distillate-rich grades such as Forcados, Bonga and Egina, Maryamu Idris, executive director of crude and condensate at NNPC Trading told the conference.

The low-sulphur grade commands a premium to the global Brent benchmark, and is a good candidate to compete with Brazilian and Azeri crude grades for European refiners, she added.

Production of Nembe is currently around 50,000 barrels per day, but the NNPC is aiming for a rise to 80,000 by the first quarter of next year and 150,000 barrels per day by the start of 2025, the source added.

An October Reuters survey showed Nigeria produced roughly about 1.5 million barrels per day (bpd), up from 1.39 million bpd in September, according to OPEC figures. But the country hopes to ramp up production to about 1.8 million bpd by the end of 2023, a third NNPC source told Reuters.

Last week, sources told Reuters that NNPC was set to supply the keenly anticipated Dangote oil refinery with up to six cargoes of crude oil in December to be used in test runs.

Nigeria imports almost all its refined fuel needs to inadequate capacity and poor maintenance. The country is now pinning its hopes of ending fuel imports on the 650,000 bpd refinery being built to by Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest man.

The refinery is expected to run on crudes that carry an API gravity of 29 to 34 degrees, the first NNPC source said.

API gravity is an index of the density of a crude oil - typically in the range of 15 and 45 degrees. Higher API indicates a lighter, lower density crude. Nembe carries an API gravity of 29, the source added.

Reuters

Israel fights Hamas deep in Gaza City and foresees control of enclave’s security after war

Israel said Tuesday that its ground forces were battling Hamas fighters deep inside Gaza’s largest city, signaling a major new stage in the month-old conflict, and its leaders foresee controlling the enclave’s security after the war.

The push into Gaza City guarantees that the already staggering death toll will rise further, while comments from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about controlling Gaza’s security for “an indefinite period” pointed to the uncertain endgame of a war that Israel says will be long and difficult.

Israeli ground troops have battled Palestinian militants inside Gaza for over a week, cutting the territory in half and encircling Gaza City. The army’s chief spokesman, Daniel Hagari, said that Israeli ground forces “are located right now in a ground operation in the depths of Gaza City and putting great pressure on Hamas.”

Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad, speaking on Tuesday from Beirut, denied that Israeli forces were making any significant military gains or that they had advanced deep into Gaza City.

“They never give the people the truth,” Hamad said. He added that numerous Israeli soldiers were killed on Monday and “many tanks were destroyed.”

“The Palestinians fight and fight and fight against Israel, until we end the occupation,” said Hamad, who left Gaza days before Hamas’ Oct. 7 rampage in southern Israel, which sparked the war.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims of either side.

Israelis commemorated the 30th day — a milestone in Jewish mourning — since the Hamas incursion, which killed 1,400 people. About 240 people Hamas abducted during the attack remain in Gaza, and more than 250,000 Israelis have evacuated homes near the borders of Gaza and Lebanon amid continuous rockets fired into Israel.

A month of relentless bombardment in Gaza has killed more than 10,300 Palestinians, two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry of the Hamas-run territory. More than 2,300 are believed buried from strikes that reduced entire city blocks to rubble.

Around 70% of Gaza’s 2.3 million people have fled their homes, and many of them are crowded into U.N. schools-turned-shelters. Civilians in Gaza are relying on a trickle of aid and their own daily foraging for food and water from supplies that have dwindled after weeks of siege.

FLEEING SOUTH

Israel unleashed another wave of strikes across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday as hundreds more Palestinians fled Gaza City to the south.

Some arrived on donkey carts, most on foot, some pushing elderly relatives in wheelchairs, all visibly exhausted. Many had nothing but the clothes on their backs. “There is no food or drink, people are fighting in the bakeries,” said one man who didn’t want to give his name.

Hundreds of thousands have heeded Israeli orders to head to the southern part of Gaza, out of the ground assault’s path. Others are afraid to do so since Israeli troops control part of the north-south route. Bombardment of the south has also continued.

An Israeli airstrike destroyed several homes early Tuesday in Khan Younis. An Associated Press journalist at the scene saw first responders pulling five bodies — including three dead children — from the rubble. One man wept as he carried a bloodied young girl, until a rescue worker pried her from his arms, saying, “Let her go, let her go,” to rush her to an ambulance.

AP video at a nearby hospital showed a woman desperately searching for her son, then crying and kissing him when she found him, half-naked and bloodied, but apparently without serious injuries. A girl sobbed next to a baby on a stretcher, apparently dead.

“We were sleeping, babies, children, elderly,” said one survivor, Ahmad al-Najjar, who is the general director at the Education Ministry in Gaza.

In the town of Deir al-Balah, rescue workers brought out at least four dead and a number of wounded children from the wreckage of a flattened building, witnesses said. “My daughter,” screamed a woman as she ran behind them.

Israel says it targets Hamas fighters and infrastructure and accuses the group of endangering civilians by operating among them.

At a school in Khan Younis, thousands of displaced were living in classrooms and the playground. One of them, Suhaila al-Najjar, said the last month had been filled with sleepless nights.

“What’s to come? How will we live? Bakeries have closed, there’s no gas. What will we eat?” she said.

ISRAEL TO MAINTAIN CONTROL

Israel has vowed to remove Hamas from power and crush its military capabilities — but neither Israel nor its main ally, the United States, has said what would come next.

Netanyahu told ABC News that Gaza should be governed by “those who don’t want to continue the way of Hamas,” without elaborating.

“I think Israel will, for an indefinite period, will have the overall security responsibility because we’ve seen what happens when we don’t have it. When we don’t have that security responsibility, what we have is the eruption of Hamas terror on a scale that we couldn’t imagine,” he said.

Netanyahu did not make clear what shape that security control would take. The White House on Tuesday reiterated that President Joe Biden does not support an Israeli reoccupation of the Gaza Strip after the war.

“We do think that there needs to be a healthy set of conversations about what post-conflict Gaza looks like and what governance looks like,” said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, adding that he would leave it to Netanyahu to clarify what he means by “indefinite.”

Israeli officials say the offensive against Hamas will last for some time and acknowledge that they have not yet formulated a concrete plan for what comes after the war. The defense minister has said Israel does not seek a long-term reoccupation of Gaza but predicted a lengthy phase of low-intensity fighting against “pockets of resistance.” Other officials have spoken about establishing a buffer zone that would keep Palestinians away from the Israeli border.

“There are a number of options being discussed for The Day After Hamas,” said Ophir Falk, a senior adviser to Netanyahu. “The common denominator of all the plans is that 1) there is no Hamas 2) that Gaza is demilitarized 3) Gaza is deradicalized.”

Israel withdrew troops and settlers in 2005 but kept control over Gaza’s airspace, coastline, population registry and border crossings, excepting one into Egypt. Hamas seized power from forces loyal to President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007, confining his Palestinian Authority to parts of the occupied West Bank. Since then, Israel and Egypt have imposed a blockade on Gaza to varying degrees.

In his ABC interview, Netanyahu also expressed openness for the first time to “little pauses” in the fighting to facilitate delivery of aid to Gaza or the release of hostages. But he ruled out any general cease-fire without the release of all the hostages.

HEAVY FIGHTING IN THE NORTH

For now, Israel’s troops are focused on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, which before the war was home to about 650,000 people. Israel says Hamas has extensive militant infrastructure within residential areas, including a vast tunnel network.

The military says it has killed thousands of Hamas fighters. The Gaza Health Ministry’s death toll does not distinguish between civilians and combatants — and slain fighters not brought to hospitals would not be in its count. Israel also says 30 of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the ground offensive began.

Several hundred thousand people are believed to remain in the north in the assault’s path.

Residents in northern Gaza reported heavy battles overnight into Tuesday morning on the outskirts of Gaza City. The Shati refugee camp — a built-up district housing refugees from the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation and their descendants — has been heavily bombarded over the past two days, residents said.

The war has also stoked wider tensions, with Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group trading fire along the border. More than 160 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war began, mainly during violent protests and gunbattles with Israeli forces during arrest raids.

Hundreds of trucks carrying aid have been allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt since Oct. 21. But humanitarian workers say the aid is far short of mounting needs. Egypt’s Rafah Crossing has also opened to allow hundreds of foreign passport holders and medical patients to leave Gaza.

AP

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine increasingly conscripting older men – media

Ukraine’s military has been forced to conscript more older men to fill its battalions amid the heavy losses suffered in its conflict with Russia, reportedly increasing the average age of its troops by nearly ten years since shortly after the crisis began last year.

The average age of a Ukrainian soldier has risen to around 43, Time magazine reported in a cover story posted last week. That compares with an average of 30-35 in March 2022, when thousands of men were rushing to enlist voluntarily, according to the Financial Times. The heavy toll of dead and wounded “has eroded the ranks of Ukraine’s armed forces so badly that draft offices have been forced to call up ever-older personnel,” Time said.

An unidentified aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told the magazine that the shift in age has changed the makeup of Kiev’s forces. “They’re grown men now, and they aren’t that healthy to begin with. This is Ukraine, not Scandinavia.” The article detailed Zelensky’s struggles with alleged betrayals by Western allies, as well as corruption and discord within his own government as the conflict with Moscow drags on.

Ukraine hasn’t publicly reported its casualty figures, but as of August, US officials pegged the number of killed and wounded on both sides at nearly 500,000. The Russian Defense Ministry estimated last month that Kiev had lost more than 90,000 troops just since June, when a foundering Ukrainian counteroffensive began.

Zelensky’s regime forbade adult males under the age of 60 from leaving the country when the conflict began. Ukrainian authorities have reportedly filed more than 8,200 criminal cases against alleged draft dodgers, according to a local media report posted on Monday. Zelensky fired the directors of Ukraine’s enlistment offices in August, after a government investigation found that officials were selling fake medical exemptions to reluctant recruits for up to $6,000 each.

Aleksey Arestovich, a former senior adviser to Zelensky, said last month that Ukraine should conscript younger recruits because they are better-suited to endure the rigors of the battlefield and are easier to manipulate into an aggressive fighting force. “What is needed are wolves, who are 25 to 28, who want to fight and enjoy that, who still have things to prove,” he said.

Ukraine’s manpower struggles are worsening at a time when US public support for continuing to send massive military aid to Kiev is waning. However, a Zelensky aide told Time that even if Washington were to send all the weapons to Ukraine that have been promised, the country’s military simply doesn’t “have the men to use them.”

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine says troops repel Russian attacks along front line

Ukraine's military said on Tuesday its troops had repelled Russian assaults in widely separated sectors of the war and braced for a fresh attempt to capture the key frontline eastern town of Avdiivka.

Russia is engaged in a slow-moving campaign in eastern areas of the 1,000-km (600-mile) front line after failing in its bid to march on Kyiv in the conflict's early days. Ukraine has registered only limited progress in a counteroffensive launched in the east and south in June.

Ukraine's General Staff, in its evening report, said its forces had beaten back 15 attacks near Kupiansk in the northeast and 18 attacks near Maryinka further south, where battles have raged for months.

Nine attacks were repelled in and near Avdiivka, where Moscow launched the latest of several drives in mid-October.

Vitaliy Barabash, head of Avdiivka's military administration, said several days of rain had for the moment ruled out any new Russian advance - what he described as the "third wave".

"We've had nearly a week of heavy rain," he told the public broadcaster Suspilne. "The terrain is too difficult and equipment cannot move."

Barabash said Russian troops had been targeting the town's vast coking plant with artillery for the past week.

The last 16 workers keeping the plant operating had finally been evacuated, he said and only two doctors and four nurses remained in what was a town of 32,000 before Russia's February 2022 invasion.

"These are our city's angels," he told the television.

Avdiivka has become a hallmark of Ukrainian resistance - and is seen as a gateway if Ukraine is to retake main areas in the east, including the town of Donetsk, 20 km away.

Occupied briefly when Russian-backed separatists seized large areas of eastern Ukraine in 2014, the town was retaken by Ukrainian forces who subsequently erected substantial fortifications around it.

Russian accounts of the fighting said Moscow's troops had launched strikes on Ukrainian men and equipment in villages near the eastern town of Bakhmut, seized by Russian forces last May.

Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield accounts made by either side.

RT/Reuters

OpenAI announced its new, more powerful GPT-4 Turbo artificial intelligence model Monday during its first in-person event, and revealed a new option that will let users create custom versions of its viral ChatGPT chatbot. It's also cutting prices on the fees that companies and developers pay to run its software.

OpenAI's announcements show that one of the hottest companies in tech is rapidly evolving its offerings in an effort to stay ahead of rivals like Anthropic, Google and Meta in the AI arms race. ChatGPT, which broke records as the fastest-growing consumer app in history months after its launch, now has about 100 million weekly active users, OpenAI said Monday. More than 92% of Fortune 500 companies use the platform, up from 80% in August, and they span across industries like financial services, legal applications and education, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati told reporters Monday.

The event also included a surprise appearance by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"The systems that are needed as you aggressively push forward on your road map require us to be on the top of our game, and we intend fully to commit ourselves fully to making sure you all... have not only the best systems for training and inference, but also the most compute," Nadella told OpenAI CEO Sam Altman while onstage together. He added, "That's the way we're going to make progress."

Earlier this year, Microsoft's expanded investment in OpenAI — an additional $10 billion — made it the biggest AI investment of the year, according to PitchBook, and in April, the startup reportedly closed a $300 million share sale at a valuation between $27 billion and $29 billion, with investments from firms such as Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz. As recently as last month, OpenAI was reportedly in talks to close a deal that would lead to an $80 billion valuation.

In his speech Monday, Altman said the day's announcements came from conversations with developers about their needs over the past year. And when it comes to GPT-5, Altman told reporters, "We want to do it, but we don't have a timeline."

Here's what OpenAI announced Monday:

GPT-4 Turbo

GPT-4 Turbo is the latest AI model, and it now provides answers with context up to April 2023. Prior versions were cut off at January 2022. For example, if you asked GPT-4 who won the Super Bowl in February 2022, it wouldn't have been able to tell you. GPT-4 Turbo can.

"We are just as annoyed as all of you, probably more, that GPT's knowledge about the world ended in 2021," Altman said in a speech Monday.

It also accepts a lot more input. While earlier versions limited you to about 3,000 words, the GPT-4 Turbo accepts inputs of up to 300 pages in length. It means you could ask it to summarize entire books.

GPT-4 also supports DALL-E 3 AI-generated images and text-to-speech. It also has six preset voices to choose from, so you can choose to hear the answer to a query in a variety of different voices.

OpenAI said GPT-4 Turbo is available in preview for developers now and will be released to all in the coming weeks.

OpenAI said it's also cutting the prices for developers. "GPT-4 Turbo input tokens are 3x cheaper than GPT-4 at $0.01 and output tokens are 2x cheaper at $0.03," the company said, which means companies and developers should save more when running lots of information through the AI models.

Personalized chatbots

Personalized chatbot builder

OpenAI

Until now, ChatGPT's enterprise and business offerings were the only way people could upload their own data to train and customize the chatbot for particular industries and use cases. Now it's adding the option for anyone to create custom chatbots.

AI "agents" are one of the buzziest uses of the technology recently, with many startups vying to offer the kind of personalized AI tools that consumers may already be familiar with via pop culture representations, such as Tony Stark's J.A.R.V.I.S. in Marvel movies, or Pam in Disney Channel's Smart House.

"Anyone can easily build their own GPT—no coding is required," the company wrote in a release. "You can make them for yourself, just for your company's internal use, or for everyone. Creating one is as easy as starting a conversation, giving it instructions and extra knowledge, and picking what it can do, like searching the web, making images or analyzing data."

More than two million developers building their own tools using ChatGPT's API will also be able to customize the chatbot, meaning consumers will likely see personalized AI chatbots popping up in many more places, including apps and websites they use regularly.

Open AI's version of the App Store

Now that users and developers can launch their own, personalized AI chatbots, OpenAI is introducing a new revenue driver for the company: Its own version of the app store.

The GPT Store allows people who create their own GPTs to make them available for public download, and in the coming months, OpenAI said people will be able to earn money based on their creation's usage numbers.

"Once in the store, GPTs become searchable and may climb the leaderboards," the company wrote in a release. "We will also spotlight the most useful and delightful GPTs we come across in categories like productivity, education, and 'just for fun.'"

As for revenue share for people who create custom chatbots featured in the store, the company will start with "just sharing a part of the subscription revenue overall," Altman told reporters Monday. Right now, the company is planning to base the payout on active users plus category bonuses, and may support subscriptions for specific GPTs later.

"What OpenAI is really in the business of selling is intelligence -- and that, and intelligent agents, is really where it will trend over time," Altman told reporters.

New all-in-one image-generation, browsing and summarization

Until Monday, ChatGPT users had to hop between different apps and websites to use all of OpenAI's tools, which contributed to a slightly higher learning curve. On Monday, the company announced it has streamlined its AI tools into one place: Using ChatGPT now offers image generation via DALL-E, browsing, data analysis, document upload and PDF search. Before now, Anthropic's Claude was the only competitor chatbot to allow PDF search.

CNBC

Optimism and pessimism are hard to deal with.

Pessimism is vital for survival, and it helps us prepare for risks before they arrive. But optimism is equally essential. The belief that things can — and will be — better even when the evidence is murky is one of the most essential parts of everything from a sound relationship to making a long-term investment.

Optimism and pessimism seem like conflicting mindsets, so it’s more common for people to prefer one or the other.

But in my book, “Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes,” I write about why knowing how to balance the two has always been — and always will be — one of life’s most important skills.

Successful people find a balance between pessimism and optimism

Bill Gates is a great example of how effective this hidden skill is. From the day he started Microsoft, he insisted on always having enough cash in the bank to keep the company alive for 12 months with no revenue coming in.

In 1995, he was asked by Charlie Rose why he kept so much cash on hand. Things change so fast in technology that the next year’s business wasn’t guaranteed, he said — “including Microsoft’s.”

In 2007, he reflected: “I was always worried because people who worked for me were older than me and had kids, and I always thought, ‘What if we don’t get paid? Will I be able to meet the payroll?’”

Here, optimism and confidence is mixed with heavy pessimism. What Gates seems to get is that you can only be an optimist in the long run if you’re pessimistic enough to survive the short run.

Why you should strive to be a ‘rational optimist’

An important thing to recognize here is that optimism and pessimism exist on a spectrum.

At one end, you have the pure optimists. They think everything is great, will always be great, and see all negativity as a character flaw. Part is rooted in the ego: they’re so confident in themselves they can’t fathom anything going wrong.

At the other end, you have pure pessimists. They think everything is terrible, will always be terrible, and see all positivity as a character flaw. Part is rooted in the ego: they have so little confidence in themselves they can’t fathom anything going right. They’re the polar opposite of the pure optimist, and just as detached from reality.

In the middle is the sweet spot, what I call the rational optimist: those who acknowledge that history is a constant chain of problems and disappointments and setbacks, but who remain optimistic because they know that setbacks don’t prevent eventual progress.

They sound like hypocrites and flip-floppers, but often they’re just looking further ahead than other people.

So the trick in any field — from finance to careers to relationships — is being able to survive the short-run problems so you can stick around long enough to enjoy long-term growth.

Save like a pessimist and invest like an optimist.

Plan like a pessimist and dream like an optimist.

Those can seem like conflicting skills. And they are. It’s intuitive to think you should either be an optimist or pessimist. It’s hard to realize that there’s a time and place for both, and that the two can — and should — coexist.

But it’s what you see in almost every successful long-term endeavor.

** Morgan Housel is a money expert and the author of “The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness” and “Same As Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes.” A partner at The Collaborative Fundand former Wall Street Journal contributor, he is a two-time winner of the Best in Business Award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers. Follow him on Twitter @morganhousel.

CNBC

PRESS RELEASE

Full text of Peter Obi’s reaction to Supreme Court verdict:

1. Fellow countrymen and women. Gentlemen of the Media, Good day and welcome to this press conference. Kindly permit me to make some brief remarks on the recent ruling of the Supreme Court, the highest court in Nigeria.

2. About a fortnight ago, I was traveling abroad on a prior scheduled engagement when I received the notice that the Supreme Court would give judgment on Thursday 26th October 2023 on our challenge of the ruling of the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC). That judgment has since been delivered as scheduled. The leadership of the Labour Party has already pronounced its position on the judgment.

3. As someone who has previously benefited from the rulings of the Supreme Court on electoral matters, I have, after a period of deep and sober reflection, decided to personally and formally react to the recent judgment as most Nigerians have. Because we are confronted with very weighty issues of national interest, I will speak forthrightly. As students young lads at CKC, Onitsha, we were taught values and admonished to always; “choose the harder right, instead of the easier wrong.”

4. Setting legal issues aside, the Supreme Court exhibited a disturbing aversion to public opinion just as it abandoned its responsibility as a court of law and policy. It is, therefore, with great dismay that I observe that the Court’s decision contradicts the overwhelming evidence of election rigging, false claim of a technical glitch, substantial non-compliance with rules set by INEC itself as well as matters of perjury, identity theft, and forgery that have been brought to light in the course of this election matter. These were hefty allegations that should not to be treated with levity. More appalling, the Supreme Court judgment willfully condoned breaches of the Constitution relative to established qualifications and parameters for candidates in presidential elections. With this counter-intuitive judgment, the Supreme Court has transferred a heavy moral burden from the courtrooms to our national conscience. Our young democracy is ultimately the main victim and casualty of the courtroom drama.

5. Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives. This Supreme Court ruling may represent the state of the law in 2023 but not the present demand for substantive justice. The judgment mixed principles and precepts. Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment, have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by the retired Justice, Musa Dattijo Muhammad, (JSC) on Friday 27th October 2023.

6. In disagreeing very strongly with the ruling of both the Presidential Petitions Court (PEPC) and the Supreme Court on the outcome of the 25th February 2023 Presidential election as declared by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), as democrats who believe in the rule of law, we recognize that the Supreme Court is the end stage of the quest for legal closure to the matter. As a party and as candidates, Datti and I have now exhausted all legal and constitutional remedies available to us. However, this end is only another beginning in our quest for the vindication of the hope of the common man for a better country. After all, sovereignty belongs to the people! If only for historical purposes, it behooves us to place our disagreement with and deep reservations about this judgment on public record.

7. We have long been aware of how weak national institutions have negatively affected our democracy. This year 2023 has been quite remarkable and revealing. INEC has displayed incompetence in the conduct of its statutory duty. The judiciary has largely acted in defiance of constitutional tenets, precedents, and established ground rules. Political expediency has preceded judicial responsibility. A mechanical application of technicalities has superseded the pursuit of justice and fairness. Both INEC and the Supreme Court as the referees, respectively shifted the goalposts in the middle of the game.

8. Where the value and import of the recent Supreme Court ruling ends is where our commitment to a New Nigeria begins. Our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria. It is a new nation where things work, where the country is led from its present waste and consumption orientation to a production-driven economy. Our commitment is to a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring transparency and accountability in the equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges. In the new Nigeria, we aim to address all unmet needs by showing compassion for all those left behind by the present system.

9. Going forward, we in the Labour Party and the Obidient Movement are now effectively in opposition. We are glad that the nation has heard us loud and clear. We shall now expand the confines of our message of hope to the rest of the country. We shall meet the people in the places where they feel pain and answer their needs for hope. At marketplaces, motor parks, town halls, board rooms, and university and college campuses, we’ll carry and deliver the message of a new Nigeria. As stake holders and elected Labour Party officials, we shall remain loyal to our manifesto. We will continue to canvas for good governance and focus on issues that promote national interest, unity, and cohesion. We will continue to give primacy to our Constitution, the rule of law, and the protection of ordered liberties. We will offer the checks and balances required in a functional democracy and vie robustly in forthcoming elections to elect those who share our vision of a new Nigeria.

10. Given our present national circumstances, there is a compelling need for a strong political opposition. We shall, therefore, remain in opposition, especially because of the policies and the governance modalities that we in the Labour Party campaigned for, especially reducing the cost of governance, moving the nation from consumption to production, reducing inflation, ending insecurity, promoting the rule of law, guaranteeing the responsibility to protect, and stabilizing the Nigerian currency; are clearly not the priorities of the present administration nor is it interested in achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

11. If there is one thing that has immensely gladdened my heart in the course of the struggle of the past 18 months, it is the passionate desire of our people, especially our young people from across ethnic and religious divides, to construct a new and restructured Nigeria that will work for all Nigerians. That goal remains my guiding light and abiding inspiration.

12. Finally, I thank all Nigerians who believed in what is now only a revolution postponed. We deeply appreciate the unalloyed non-partisan moral support millions of youth and ordinary Nigerians across ethnic, religious, and geopolitical divides have continued to give to Baba-Ahmed and I.

13. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Nigerians who have supported this mission from the onset. We salute the leadership and members of the Labour Party, the Obidient Movement, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council, Nigerians in the Diaspora, Support Groups, and all people of goodwill who worked diligently and hoped for the realization of the beginnings of a New Nigeria in this election cycle.

14. Nigerians who supported our cause have done so out of patriotism and their sincere conviction that our nation requires and deserves dedicated and visionary leaders who will lead Nigeria toward a brighter future. The energy and dedication of Nigerian Youths and the Obedient Movement have been simply amazing. I appreciate and salute them! I want to assure them that this is not the end of our journey; but in fact, the beginning. Nigeria heard you. The world has taken note and will not forget so easily. We shall endure, persist, until we get to our destination because a new Nigeria is our destination. A destination not an event.

15. We thank, in a special way, our legal team. We also thank our elder States-Men, whose wise counsel were immeasurable. To them, we wish to state unequivocally that this judicial outcome – an obvious misrepresentation of substantial justice – has by no means foreclosed the realization of a new Nigeria that is Possible.

16. On a personal note, I take personal pride and express gratitude to those who share our vision; and who have also exhibited rare courage to challenge the nefarious system, the genuineness of individuals’ identities and their defining and qualifying particulars up to the highest extent allowed by law. Nigeria holds out hope of infinite possibilities leading to our desirable greatness. I remain consistent in my belief in the possibility of a new Nigeria built on character competence, capacity, compassion, integrity, and respect for the rule of law based on justice and fairness.

17. God bless us all. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Signed:

Peter Gregory Obi, Presidential Candidate of Labour Party.

Obi –Datti Campaign Organization Office Abuja, FCT.

Monday 6th November 2023.

PRESS RELEASE

Labour Party Presidential candidate in the last election, Peter Obi, addressed a press conference, just like Atiku Abubakar, where he cast aspersions on the Supreme Court and the Independent National Electoral Commission for not declaring him the winner of the February 25, 2023 election.

We are at a loss as to how the copy-cat Obi and his faction of Labour Party convinced themselves they won an election in which they came a distant third.

The grand delusion that made Obi believe he could have won a national election where he ran the most hateful, divisive and polarising campaign that pitched Christians against Muslims and one ethnic group against the other in a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society like Nigeria should be a matter for deeper examination.

At the press conference where he tried, in vain, to gaslight Nigerians with false claims and innuendos, Obi contradicted himself. Here was a beneficiary of judicial pronouncements in the past now castigating the same court because its judgment did not go his way.

Obi claimed the Supreme Court justices didn't consider public opinion in delivering what has been applauded as a most profound judgement in an election appeal where the Labour Party candidate presented the most watery and unreasonable petition before any court in the history of electoral cases in Nigeria.

He made false allegations of rigging and other electoral malpractices yet could not produce any evidence to back up his claims at both the court of first instance and at the apex court. In a failed effort to mobilise and retain the support of his supporters, Obi gave them a forlorn hope that he won the election and would prove it before the courts. Throughout the trial, his lawyers didn't present any alternative results different from the results INEC uploaded on the IReV portal and the ones signed by all party agents from the 176,000 polling units.

We wonder how the Labour Party candidate expected  the courts to do justice on the basis of rumours, lies and false narratives by sponsored partisans and fanatical members of his Obidient Movement.

We expected the Labour Party candidate to know that the Supreme Court or any other court does not give judgment based on public opinion and mob sentiments. Judicial pronouncements are based on evidence, precedents and the rule of law.

Having admitted that the Supreme Court ruling brought an end to litigation and any challenge to the bona-fide of President Bola Tinubu as the validly elected leader of Nigeria and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Obi should have congratulated Tinubu for his victory and pledged his support, in the spirit of statesmanship.

But instead, he brought up extraneous matters that he thought the apex court should have considered to declare him the winner. In our view, the drowning Obi, just like Atiku, was merely attempting to hold on to a straw in raking up new allegations, which exist only in his imagination and that of his hordes of supporters.

Our admonition to Obi is to find another worthwhile vocation to engage his time henceforth, having been rejected by majority of Nigerians who didn't consider him qualified to lead our country.

Nigerians rejected Obi and his demagoguery at the poll because he posed  present and future danger to the peace, progress and stability of our country.

Obi’s antecedents as Governor of Anambra for eight years didn't inspire any confidence as someone capable of running a country like Nigeria. No tangible records of achievement in the state he governed recommended him for the Presidency of Nigeria.

If Obi truly believes in Nigeria, the time to prove it is now when all men and women of goodwill are rallying support for Tinubu in his determination to lead a new era of prosperity, inclusive governance and economic growth in Nigeria.

Finally, we welcome Obi and his party to play the role of the opposition and start preparing for another shot at the presidency in 2027.

We hope by then he would campaign on issues and not whip up religious and ethnic sentiments as he did in the last campaign.

Bayo Onanuga

Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy

November 6, 2023

The naira crashed against the dollar on Monday, falling to 1,030/$ on the average in the parallel market, losing the momentum it gathered last week.

This represents a N80 loss or a 8.42 per cent decline of the local currency compared to the N950 it closed the week at last Friday.

This is also the first time the naira is falling since the Central Bank of Nigeria began to clear some of its FX backlog last week.

Currency traders, also known as Bureaux De Change operators, told our correspondent that the naira was trading at between N990 to N1,030/$.

A trader who gave his name as Awolu said, “The dollar is N995 if you want to sell. If you want to buy from me, it is N1,020.” Another trader, Kadri, added, “The dollar is N960 if you want to sell. If you want to buy, it is N990.”

According to the President of the Association of Bureaux De Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, the dollar has gained against the naira because people who had bought it at a higher price are resisting its fall following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s move last week.

Last week, the apex bank commenced payment of outstanding matured FX forwards owed to various banks.

This was meant to boost liquidity in the foreign exchange market following weeks of the naira falling to record lows. According to the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, the amount of overdue forward payments was about $6.7bn.

This move quickly led to the appreciation of the naira with the naira gaining about N220 after closing the week at N950/dollar at the parallel market. The naira has now seemingly lost this momentum.

Confirming the closing price of the dollar, Gwadabe said, “In the afternoon, it was N1,015 and N1,020/$. It closed at N1,030/$.”

He highlighted, “Speculators are always looking at elements of sustainability. Once they sense that it (the injection) is not continuous, they begin to react. They begin to react. It is the reaction of the market we are witnessing. Also, there is resistance. There are people that bought at a higher price that this does not favour. People are not willing to take further losses.

“The only way we can continue to achieve the rate is by continuing to send confidence to the market. Tell the market that another window is opening, and boost liquidity. The parallel market is where the retail end is. And as of now, there is no information as to how liquidity will come into that sector. All we have is that BDCs will be included to advance the official foreign exchange market. We cannot wait in the FX market.”

Also, the naira declined by 3.6 per cent at the official market to close at N809.02 to the dollar on Monday from N780.23/$ on Friday according to details on FMDQ OTC Securities Exchange.

Punch

• Business Insider Africa presents 5 worst cities to live in Africa.
• Cities such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Algiers (Algeria) have gained ground, with some improvements in their healthcare and education systems.
• The list is courtesy of Economist Intelligence Unit.

Africa is a continent of remarkable diversity, and its cities are a testament to it. Each city has its unique mix of culture, history, and opportunities. However, in certain pockets of this varied landscape, daily life is marred by challenges arising from ongoing political instability, economic hardships, and a shortage of basic services.

The Economist Intelligence Unit in its report "The Global Liveability Index 2023," featured the world's top 10 most liveable cities and the 10 cities considered the least liveable.

This report evaluates the livability of cities worldwide based on a combination of five key factors: stability (crime and conflict levels), healthcare (availability and quality), environmental/cultural factors (climate, religious restrictions, food, and drinks), education (availability and quality), and infrastructure (roads, public transport, water, housing, energy, and telecommunications quality).

According to the report, African cities such as Lagos (Nigeria) and Algiers (Algeria) have gained ground, with some improvements in their healthcare and education systems.

Although corruption continues to be an issue, some additional public funding has been made available for infrastructure and public services, which have also benefited from the decline in Covid cases.

However, among the ten cities with the lowest liveability rankings, half of them are located in Africa. Below are the liveability rating for these African cities::

1. Tripoli, Libya is ranked as the least liveable city in Africa.

• Rank: 172
• Rating: 40.1
• Stability: 30.0
• Healthcare: 45.8
• Culture and Environment: 37.5
• Education: 58.3
• Infrastructure: 41.1

2. Algiers, Algeria

• Rank: 171
• Rating: 42.0
• Stability: 35.0
• Healthcare: 50.0
• Culture and Environment: 45.4
• Education: 58.3
• Infrastructure: 30.4

3. Lagos, Nigeria

• Rank: 170
• Rating: 42.2
• Stability: 25.0
• Healthcare: 37.5
• Culture and Environment: 54.4
• Education: 41.7
• Infrastructure: 53.6

4. Harare, Zimbabwe

• Rank: 166
• Rating: 43.8
• Stability: 40.0
• Healthcare: 29.2
• Culture and Environment: 56.7
• Education: 66.7
• Infrastructure: 35.7

5. Douala, Cameroon

• Rank: 164
• Rating: 46.4
• Stability: 60.0
• Healthcare: 29.2
• Culture and Environment: 51.2
• Education: 41.7
• Infrastructure: 42.9

Business Insider