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Senate vows to ensure IOCs pay contributions to NDDC, no-one is above the law—Nwoko
The Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), says it will ensure International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country, pay their contributions to the coffers of the commission. Sen. Ned Nwoko member Senate Committee on NDDC, made the disclosure while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Abuja. Nwoko said that the IOCs were owing the commission hundreds of billions of dollars, adding that the committee would invite, investigate them and ensure they did what was right. According to him, some of the IOCs are making their money in Nigeria, yet failing to make their contributions to the commission. He said nobody should be seen as above the law when dealing with issues of oil theft and spillage in the country.
He said that he found it unacceptable when people say that there were cabals who were untouchable and were involved in oil theft and spillage. He said that nobody was above the law of the country, adding that whether nddcas a former Military General, or current General or former Head of State, if indicted in oil theft and spillage, the senate would name and expose that person. “Yes, but what I don’t accept, and I find very unacceptable is when people tell me, oh, there’s a cabal. They are untouchable. “Nobody is above the law. Whether you are a former Military General, current General or former Head of State, if you are involved in this, you will be exposed. You will be named, because nobody is a sacred cow,” he said. He said that these categories of people causing oil spillage known as “the big boys, and untouchables” were either vessel owners or those who chatter vessels or badges to steal crude in large quantities. According to him, they are more difficult to deal with because they have the capacity to connive with those who ought to have stopped them.
On NDDC he said “We must also insist that they do that. They must do that. You know, they are owing hundreds of billions of dollars to NDDC coffers. So we will invite them, we will investigate them and we will make sure they do what is right. We don’t want to interfere with their work, but they have an obligation under the laws of Nigeria, they have an obligation to host communities. They must deal with that. I don’t think any member of the committee on NDDC will be compromised because we will not accept it.” He also said that the tenth assembly and the committee were poised to ensure effective project execution by the NDDC. The work of the NDDC is well explained in the act establishing it; yes, this is the tenth assembly and we are different from the previous assemblies. And I know that it will not be business as usual, we have made it clear to members of the committee that they cannot turn to substantive contractors like we had in the previous assembly.
“If they must oversight properly and without fear of reproach, they must do things properly. The fact that there is enough budget or work to be done will make a difference in the lives of the people and that is important,” he said. The lawmaker added that if there was a need to make more money available to the commission through budgetary allocation, that would be done. He also expressed satisfaction with the composition of the current NDDC leadership put together by President Bola Tinubu, saying he had confidence in their capacity. “They understand that this is a new era, and things will not be done like in the past where contractors are paid money and they run away with it,” he said. Nwoko stressed the need for all contractors to deliver on their undertakings, adding that there would be no excuses.
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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