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Appoint a substantive management, governing board, PANDEF tells Buhari
Pan-Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, led by the South South leader, Chief Edwin Clark has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, put in place a substantive management and governing board for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NNDC in line with the Act establishing the interventionist agency. Rising from its extraordinary meeting in Abuja yesterday, PANDEF while describing the appointment of Interim Administrators for the NDDC as awful, said that the people of the Niger Delta are tired of having Administrators rather that substantive management running the affairs of the agency. President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday sacked the Interim Administrator of NDDC,Effiong Akwa and directed the most senior director in the commission, Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, to take over the running of its affairs.
In a Communique at the end of the meeting, the group said, “PANDEF received news of the sack of Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa, interim administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) today (Thursday) and the subsequent appointment of Engr. Emmanuel Audu-Ohwavborua, from Delta State, to head the commission pending the appointment of a substantive management team and governing board. “PANDEF notes that Mr. Effiong Okon Akwa was the 3rd interim head of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in about three years; describes the situation as awful and hopes that the substantive management and governing board for the Commission will be constituted, in line with the NDDC Act, without further delay.” The Communique was signed by PANDEF’s National Leader, ChiefEdwin Kiagbodo Clark; PANDEF’s National Chairman, Senator Emmanuel Ibok Essien; Board of Trustees, BoT member, Senator Bassey Ewa Henshaw; National Woman Leader, Dame Betty Igbeyi; Member, Advisory Council, Chief Denzil Amagbe Kentebe and the National Publicity Secretary, Ken Robinson.
PANDEF has also cautioned the federal government against what it described as any ill-advised plan to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme against the backdrop of rumours that the government was scheduling to wind up the programme before the end of the Buhari administration. The group warned that considerations that the Presidential Amnesty programme could be scrapped due to a pipeline Surveillance contract awarded to a private firm, are not only illogical but unacceptable, even as it said that the Amnesty Programme was put in place to promote peace and stability in the Niger Delta, adding that any attempt to prematurely end the programme would be detrimental to the peace and stability of the Niger Delta. It said, “PANDEF cautions the federal government against any ill-advised plan to terminate the Presidential Amnesty Programme given the rumours that the government is scheduling to wind up the programme before the end of the Buhari administration;
“The meeting further warns that considerations that the Presidential Amnesty programme could be scrapped due to a pipeline Surveillance contract awarded to a private firm, are not only illogical but unacceptable; Notes that the Amnesty Programme was an intervention to promote peace and stability in the Niger Delta; thus, any attempt to prematurely end the programme would be detrimental to the peace and stability of the Niger Delta; Going forward, the Amnesty Programme should be extended to include the full re-integration of all beneficiaries.” While condemning the high level of crude oil theft in the Niger Delta, the criminal act of oil theft that has led to what it described as dwindling revenue for Nigeria as a country and sabotaging its economy, PANDEF called on President Buhari to immediately carry out a full scale investigation into the matter, with a view to dealing with those involved and there should be no sacred cows.
The leaders said, “PANDEF joins all well-meaning Nigerians to express total shock over the recent startling revelations of massive and systematic oil theft. “Commends the efforts of Chief Government Ekpemupolo (Tompolo) and the youths of the Niger Delta, who by their diligence and patriotic zeal, recently uncovered the mind-boggling mechanisms of those pillaging our oil resources. With the admission by the management of the NNPC, of the existence of the sophisticated syndicate, which for several decades, has continued to siphon the wealth of the country; PANDEF calls for an apology to the people of the Niger Delta, who have been falsely accused over the years. Urges the President as substantive Minister of Petroleum, to urgently take steps to launch a full-scale investigation into this matter, including constituting a Judicial Panel of Inquiry to ascertain the perpetrators of this outrageous thievery. THERE MUST BE NO SACRED COWS! This huge state of oil theft further re-enforces our call for True Federalism to afford our people better participation in the operations and management of the wealth in the Niger Delta. We further request the Federal Government to set up the mechanism for setting up modular refineries around the Niger Delta to bring an effective end to artisanal refining.”
A new technology transfer agreement between the Nigeria–China Strategic Partnership (NCSP) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT) is expected to open more job opportunities, improve local skills, and expand access to advanced technology for ordinary Nigerians.
In a press statement reaching Vanguard on Friday, the MoU aims to strengthen industrial development, support local content, and create clearer pathways for Nigerians to benefit from China’s growing investments in the country.
PICTT Chairman, Dr Dahiru Mohammed, said the partnership will immediately begin coordinated programmes that support local participation in infrastructure and industrial projects.
Special Adviser to the President on Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr John Uwajumogu, said the deal will help attract high value investments that can stimulate job creation and strengthen Nigeria’s economy.
NCSP Head of International Relations, Ms Judy Melifonwu, highlighted that Nigerians stand to gain from expanded STEM scholarships, technical training, access to modern technology, and collaboration across key sectors including steel, agriculture, automobile parks, and cultural industries.
The NCSP Director-General reaffirmed the organisation’s commitment to measurable results, noting that the partnership with PICTT will prioritise initiatives that deliver direct national impact.
The MoU signals a new phase of Nigeria–China cooperation focused on practical delivery, local content, and opportunities that improve everyday livelihoods.
EU regulators launched an antitrust investigation into Meta Platforms on Thursday over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in its WhatsApp messenger that would block rivals, hardening Europe’s already tough stance on Big Tech. The move, reported earlier by Reuters and the Financial Times, is the latest action by European Union regulators against large technology firms such as Amazon and Alphabet’s Google as the bloc seeks to balance support for the sector with efforts to curb its expanding influence.
Europe’s tough stance – a marked contrast to more lenient U.S. regulation – has sparked an industry pushback, particularly by U.S. tech titans, and led to criticism from the administration of U. S. President Donald Trump. The European Commission said that the investigation will look into Meta’s new policy that would limit other AI providers’ access to WhatsApp, a potential boost for its own Meta AI system integrated into the platform earlier this year.
EU antitrust chief Teresa Ribera said the move was to prevent dominant firms from “abusing their power to crowd out innovative competitors”. She added interim measures could be imposed to block Meta’s new WhatsApp AI policy rollout. “AI markets are booming in Europe and beyond,” she said. This is why we are investigating if Meta’s new policy might be illegal under competition rules, and whether we should act quickly to prevent any possible irreparable harm to competition in the AI space.”
A WhatsApp spokesperson called the claims “baseless”, adding that the emergence of chatbots on its platforms had put a “strain on our systems that they were not designed to support”, a reference to AI systems from other providers. “Still, the AI space is highly competitive and people have access to the services of their choice in any number of ways, including app stores, search engines, email services, partnership integrations, and operating systems.” The EU was the first in the world to establish a comprehensive legal framework for AI, setting out guardrails for AI systems and rules for certain high-risk applications in the AI Act.
Meta AI, a chatbot and virtual assistant, has been built into WhatsApp’s interface across European markets since March. The Commission said a new policy fully applicable from January 15, 2026, may block competing AI providers from reaching customers via the platform. Ribera said the probe came on the back of complaints from small AI developers about the WhatsApp policy. The Interaction Company of California, which has developed AI assistant Poke.com, has taken its grievance to the EU competition enforcer. Spanish AI startup Luzia has also talked to the Commission, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Marvin von Hagen, co-founder and CEO of The Interaction Company of California, said if Meta was allowed to roll out its new policy, “millions of European consumers will be deprived of the possibility of enjoying new and innovative AI assistants”. Meta also risks a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover if found guilty of breaching EU antitrust rules.
Italy’s antitrust watchdog opened a parallel investigation in July into allegations that Meta leveraged its market power by integrating an AI tool into WhatsApp, expanding the probe in November to examine whether Meta further abused its dominance by blocking rival AI chatbots from the messaging platform. The antitrust probe is a more traditional means of investigation than the EU’s Digital Markets Act, the bloc’s landmark legislation currently used to scrutinize Amazon’s and Microsoft’s cloud services for potential curbs. Reuters
The spouses and children of billionaires inherited more wealth in 2025 than in any previous year since reporting began in 2015, according to UBS’s Billionaire Ambitions Report published on Thursday. In the 12 months to April, 91 people became billionaires through inheritance, collectively receiving $298 billion, up more than a third from 2024, the Swiss bank said. “These heirs are proof of a multi-year wealth transfer that’s intensifying,” UBS executive Benjamin Cavalli said.
The report is based on a survey of some of UBS’s super-rich clients and a database that tracks the wealth of billionaires across 47 markets in all world regions. At least $5.9 trillion will be inherited by billionaire children over the next 15 years, the bank calculates.
Most of this inheritance growth is set to take place in the United States, with India, France, Germany and Switzerland next on the list, UBS estimated. However, billionaires are highly mobile, especially younger ones, which could change that picture, it added. The search for a better quality of life, geopolitical concerns and tax considerations are driving decisions to relocate, according to the report.
In Switzerland, where $206 billion will be inherited over the next 15 years according to the bank, voters on Sunday overwhelmingly rejected 50 per cent tax on inherited fortunes of $62 million or more, after critics said it could trigger an exodus of wealthy people.
Switzerland, the UAE, the U.S. and Singapore are among billionaires’ preferred destinations, UBS’s Cavalli said. “In Switzerland, Sunday’s vote may have helped to increase the country’s appeal again,” he said. Reuters
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