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NLNG gets 7days deadline to appear before Senate for non payment of N18.448bn to 73 Communities in Rivers State
Senators have given Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas a seven day deadline to appear before it to show cause why it has not paid compensation to communities in Rivers State. NLNG is said to have refusal to appear before its Committee to clear its name on allegations raised against it over Land compensation dispute with Rivers Communities between the multinational gas company and 73 communities in Rivers State, According to the Senate, NLNG will be made to face the consequences for failing to appear this time, just as it insisted that if the authorities of the NLNG fails to appear before its Ethics Committee within seven days, the company would be made to pay the sum of N18.448billion recommended by the panel as compensation to the 73 communities. The position of the Senate was sequel to the consideration of Senator Ayo Akinyelure, led Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petition. The report was against the backdrop of a petition received from one Chief Enyinna Onuegbu on behalf of the communities located in Obiafu, Soku to Bonny, respectively.
The petitioners accused the NLNG of refusing to pay compensation for acquiring their land and loss of use of the affected land to Pipeline Right of Way (ROW) through the communities. The Rivers Communities had petitioned the Senate accusing NLNG of refusing to pay compensation for acquiring their land. While the Senate sets aside the recommendations of its Committee, it gave NLNG 7 days to appear before it with relevant evidence it had paid compensation to the affected communities. NLNG was incorporated as a Limited Liability company on May 27, 1989 to harness Nigeria’s vast natural gas resources for export. The consideration of the report was, however, stepped down midway by the chamber, pending the outcome of the summons on NLNG. In his presentation, Senator Akinyelure said that, “following the incorporation of the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), it acquired landed properties in Rivers State in 1996 spanning over 210 kiln for use as its pipelines Right of Way (ROW) which ended at the export terminal of the NLNG in Finima Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State.
He observed that the NLNG did not pay any compensation to the communities following acquisition of their land, said that the Committee found: “That following the incorporation of the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) limited, it acquired landed properties in Rivers State in 1996 spanning over 210km for use as its pipelines Right of Way (ROW) which ended at the export terminal of the NLNGin Finima Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State. “That there were over 73 communities and over 200 families whose hitherto agrarian source of livelihood were negatively impacted upon by the said acquisition. That NLNG neither proved nor showed evidence to the Committee that it paid compensation to the 73 communities for loss of use of their land to pipelines Right of Way (ROW; and that there was no Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the communities and the NLNG on future obligations in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility with the impacted communities.
“That there was evidence that oil companies such as Shell Petroleum Development Company, Totalfina, Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd, Agip Oil Corporation paid compensation for loss of use of land to their host communities; and That the communities were claiming the sum of N18,448,842,500.00 being compensation for the loss of use of their land as at May, 2020.” The President of the Senator Ahmad Lawan who issued the summon said, “Instead of just saying NLNG should go and pay 18 billion and at the end of the day nothing happens, let us give NLNG one more chance, and this should be by the Senate itself, not our committee.
I am sure NLNG is listening. NLNG should appear within one week before our Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions with their evidence of compensation. If they fail, then the Senate will take a decision on NLNG in this respect.”
Meanwhile, the Senate has urged the Federal Ministry of Education to forthwith issue one Mr. Sunday M. Akinwale a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) exemption certificate. This was contained in a resolution reached sequel to the consideration of a report by the Ethics Committee on a petition received from Mr. Akinwale against the Minister of Education and the Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps for non-release of his NYSC exemption letter. Akinyelure, in his presentation, stated that the petitioner “graduated with LLB (Hons.) in Law at the age of 41 and has proceeded to Bar 1 and 2 and has been called to the Nigerian Bar and he currently practices as partner at Lawville Chambers in Akure, Ondo State; “That Birmingham City University was an accredited institution in the United Kingdom and wondered why the Federal Ministry of Education should not evaluate his credential and process the release of his exemption certificate after he had proceeded to Law School, and having been called to the Nigerian Bar and currently, a practicing Lawyer;
“That the Federal Ministry of Education subjected Sunday Akinwale to harsh conditions by compelling him to go and re-sit for Mathematics;
That the policy of the National Standing Committee of the Federal Ministry of Education on foreign qualifications negates section 11 of the National Youth Service Corps Act CapN84, Laws of the Federation of 2004. The Act empowers the NYSC among other duties to issue a discharge certificate to every member that has successfully completed the one year mandatory service. However, in place of the discharge certificate an exemption certificate may be issued to those that graduated at age 31 years and above. That the policy stood in the way of the release of the exemption certificate to Sunday Akinwale; and That the policy of the National Standing Committee on candidates who had already obtained their first degrees with deficient entry qualifications should re-sit for the affected papers before being cleared for NYSC, was not backed by law and so, could not stand.”
Cardano (ADAUSD) climbed amidst tight trading activities in the crypto market, up by 1.05% in the past 24 hours, showing resilience near key support.
The price ticked up on Sunday amidst negative movements in the global crypto market. The gain has reduced its negative movement in the week to 1%. Cardano is showing strength with a $70 million ADA treasury push and a bullish December setup, but it faces key resistance amidst competing traders.
The token is trading at $0.4165 at the time of filing the report on Sunday, gaining more than 1% on the day as volume traded reached $359.252 million. The token is in a notable correction from its November highs. Recent trading activity reflects pronounced investor caution. Over a 30-day period, ADA has declined approximately 15%, mirroring the broader pressure on risk assets from macroeconomic uncertainties.
Sentiment trades mixed, as retail and mid-sized investors are accumulating at lows, but large holders remain sceptical. Cardano’s privacy-centric Midnight Network went live after years of development, introducing NIGHT – the first native asset on Cardano.
According to crypto analysts, Short-term speculation around NIGHT airdrops and interoperability boosted ADA demand. ADA rebounded from $0.371–$0.416 after testing an ascending trend line connecting 2023–2025 lows. Traders interpreted the bounce as a bullish divergence, but ADA remains below critical resistance of $0.5113 and its 200-day EMA of $0.68.
ADA’s minor rally reflects optimism around Midnight’s launch and oversold technicals, but scepticism about its ecosystem impact and whale selling caps upside. While the price surges, analysts stated that Cardano balances technical hope against macroeconomic headwinds, with Midnight’s adoption trajectory and $0.51 resistance serving as critical watch points.
While governance upgrades signal maturing decentralisation, crypto analysts are still querying whether ADA can leverage these developments to reverse its 2025 underperformance.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has recovered over 7.6 million pills of tramadol and a total of 76,273.4 kilograms of different strains of cannabis.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja. Mr Babafemi said that the drugs, including Colorado, Loud and Skunks, had several members of drug trafficking organisations linked to the seizures arrested.
He said that out of the total opioids seized during the raids, not less than 3,874,000 pills of tramadol, 225mg and 100mg, and others, as well as 252.2litres of codeine syrup were recovered. He said that they were recovered from a warehouse at Oko market, Asaba, Delta, on Saturday. He also said that no fewer than 1.2 million tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from a suspect on December 3.
This, he said, was when NDLEA operatives on patrol at Orogwe, along the Onitsha-Owerri road, Imo, intercepted his vehicle conveying the consignment, which was loaded at Aba, Abia, and heading to Onitsha, Anambra. Meanwhile, in Adamawa, NDLEA officers on December 1 intercepted a Toyota Hiace bus marked MGU 554 XB along Maraba-Mubi, coming from Jos, Plateau state, and heading to Mubi, with a total of 1,577,112 capsules of tramadol.
“Other drugs intercepted were Exol-5 tablets, all concealed inside jumbo bags mixed with new rubber sandals and slippers. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure. Similarly, another 27-year-old suspect was nabbed along Zaria-Kano road, Kano state, with 197,000 pills of exol-5,” he said.
The NDLEA chairman, Buba Marwa, commended the officers and men of the SOU commands in Delta, Adamawa, Imo, Ondo, Lagos, and Kano for the arrests and seizures. Mr Marwa said that their operational successes, along with those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction, were well appreciated. NAN
The Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC) has released the 2025 Subnational Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) Report, with Lagos emerging as the best-performing state, scoring 85.6 per cent.
The report released by the director-general of PEBEC, Zahrah Mustapha-Audu, has Kaduna in second position with 65.1 per cent. Oyo, FCT, and Ogun rounded up the top five with scores of 62.7 per cent, 61.0 per cent, and 59.9 per cent, respectively. Others include Enugu (56.2 per cent) in sixth position, with Plateau (56.2 per cent), Ekiti (55.8 per cent), Kano (54.8 per cent), and Nasarawa (53.4 per cent) rounding out the top 10 states.
The EoDB report is a comprehensive data-driven assessment of how Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT are shaping business competitiveness through regulation, infrastructure, and administrative efficiency.
The report assesses performance across 16 indicators and 36 sub-metrics covering electricity, infrastructure, digital connectivity, land administration, taxation, trade logistics, justice delivery, investor support and skilled labour readiness.
According to the DG, these states distinguished themselves through consistent reform momentum, improved digital processes, and more predictable regulatory environments. “The 2025 Report also highlights five priority interventions states can implement immediately. These include establishing investor aftercare systems, strengthening MSME credit enablement, harmonising interstate trade rules, upgrading commercial justice processes, and improving power reliability for industrial clusters,” she said.
According to her, PEBEC will continue to support state-led reform adoption, particularly under the $750 million State Action on Business Enabling Reforms (SABER) programme. She added that “the 2025 Subnational EoDB Report provides a critical foundation for policy action, investment decisions, and long-term competitiveness across Nigeria.”
The DG said the Subnational Ease of Doing Business Report is available for download at www.pebec.gov.ng/reports
PEBEC had earlier released its 2025 Business Facilitation Act (BFA) Performance Report, covering MDAs’ performance from January to October. This performance report is part of the council’s effort to track and measure the compliance of federal government MDAs with the BFA’s requirements on promoting Transparency and Efficiency of government-delivered services to the business community.
The report presents a data-driven assessment of 69 priority MDAs, drawing on monthly compliance submissions, independent mystery shopping, website audits, ReportGov analytics, and targeted process-verification exercises.
According to the report, the top five performing MDAs include the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), with an impressive 90.6 per cent score, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at 89 per cent. The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), ranks third with 86.6percent, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) secured the fourth and fifth positions, scoring 85.3 per cent and 84.2 per cent, respectively.
PEBEC, currently chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, was established in July 2016 by the federal government to oversee Nigeria’s business environment intervention. It has a dual mandate of removing bureaucratic and legislative constraints to doing business and improving the perception of the ease of doing business in Nigeria. NAN
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