Election Drops Oil Price In Nigeria

Oil prices fell to about $112 a barrel on Tuesday as traders looked forward to the outcome of elections into government houses in the Niger Delta and other states in Nigeria.
The fall was buoyed by a Federal Reserve meeting in the United States (U.S), consumer of over 1 million barrels of oil from Nigeria.

The oil rich Niger Delta area of Nigeria had hitherto been plunged by armed struggle and militancy, which were said to be a result of arming of youths and political thugs during the 2003 elections.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 20 cents at $112.08 a barrel by midday European time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost a penny to settle at $112.28 on Monday.
In London, Brent crude for June delivery was up 21 cents to $123.87 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Traders are mulling how the Federal Reserve may ease a programme of buying Treasuries known as quantitative easing that has helped keep the U.S. economy flush with cash.

"There can be little doubt that the Federal Reserve's hyper-accommodative monetary policy has caused commodity and asset inflation around the world," said Richard Soultanian of NUS Consulting.

"The likely transition of the Fed's monetary policy, albeit gradual, will begin to remove some of the more speculative fervor from the market, bringing prices slowly down."
A weaker dollar and violent political uprising in the Middle East and North Africa have helped push prices up about 33 percent since mid-February. The euro rose to $1.4620 on Tuesday from $1.4579 late Monday.

Investors are also closely watching escalating violence in Syria. On Monday, thousands of soldiers backed by tanks and snipers attacked suspected anti-government protesters in the southern city of Daraa and other areas, killing at least 11 people.
The crackdown since mid-March has killed more than 350 people throughout the country, with 120 alone dying over the weekend.
"While Syria is not an actual oil producer, it has broader ramifications on other countries in the region and could keep oil well bid in the short term," IG Markets in Melbourne said in a report.
In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil fell 1.0 cent to $3.21 a gallon and gasoline slid 1.0 cent to $3.29 a gallon. Natural gas futures were down 1.0 cent at $4.39 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Elections Marred by Violence In Nigeria

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The Stete Election held across the Federation of Nigeria yesterday has been reported tio have been  marred by snatching of ballot box and thuggery.
Although there was little of the orchestrated mob violence which has undermined similar votes in the past.
The state governorship races are the last stage of an election process so far deemed by observers and many Nigerians to have been the fairest in decades, but which has also seen some of the country's worst political violence for years.

Rioting left hundreds dead in the mostly Muslim north last week after President Goodluck Jonathan, a southern Christian, beat northern rival Muhammadu Buhari in presidential polls.

There were localised problems on Tuesday but nothing on a similar scale.
Soldiers arrested people stealing ballot boxes in several states around the country, including parts of the oil-producing Niger Delta in the south and Kano in the north.

Security forces shot dead one man accused of trying to steal a ballot box in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, while witnesses reported gunfire as ballot boxes were snatched in at least one polling unit in the southern state of Akwa Ibom.

"There have been some disturbances and abuses across the country which are a concern ... voter turnout has been quite low in a lot of areas," said Clement Nwankwo, head of Nigeria's Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre.

The opposition candidate in Akwa Ibom, one of the fiercest races, said there had been widespread rigging there.
"This is not an election, this is not the voice of the people, it doesn't represent anything other than criminality," said James Akpanudoedehe of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), calling for a partial cancellation of the vote.

Amosun Emerges Ogun State Governor

The State Governorship election held across the thirth six states of the Federation in Nigeria, including the Federal Capital Teritory (FCT) has witnessed a great boar of lost seats to the formal ruling party of the country, People's Democratic Party (PDP).
Ogun State of Nigeria is not an exception as Governorship aspirant for the state acclaimed to have won the previous electrion but outrightly denied of the position by the ruling party in 2007 now have it all as he has been announced to have won the governorship election held in the state on tuesday.
Speaking in an interview with our corespondent, Senator Ibikunle Amosun reiterated that the reality of democracy is about to be actualised as all hand is on deck to rescorcitate the state economy. We are the voice of the voiceless...

NAFDAC To Improve Health Sector In Nigeria

The Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Dr. Paul Orhii has reteirated his effort at improvin health sector in Nigeria.
Mr. Paul made this known by  calling for improved partnership with Nigerian Medical association (NMA) in order to combat drug counterfeiting as well as promote medical education.
Orhii, made the call when he received the NMA Chairman, Abuja, and his team who were on a courtesy call at the NAFDAC head office on Tuesday.

He assured the NMA officials of support from the agency in the area of continuous medical education and called on the hospitals to join resources to acquire Truscan machines to detect the authenticity of drugs dispensed to patients.

He stated that his agency was willing to improve its collaboration with NMA as it was difficult to rid the country of fake drugs without the contribution from doctors who give prescriptions.
Though he acknowledged that the incident of fake drugs had reduced from 44 per cent to 16 per cent, he argued that owing to relentless attitude of drug counterfeiters, NAFDAC would not stop until all incidents of sub-standard drugs become a thing of the past.
Earlier in his remarks, NMA Chairman, Dr. Nicholas Baamlong, Orhii that the purpose of the visit was to intimate the agency with their activities and seek collaboration on medical education.
Baamlong commended Orhii for sustaining the momentum in the battle against fake drugs, adding that the introduction and use of technology showed that the agency was ahead of criminals on importing sub-standard drugs into the country.
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Mixed Reactions As 20011 Election Proceeds In Nigeria

The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate for Benue South Senatorial District, Lawrence Onoja, on Tuesday called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to cancel last Saturday's National Assembly poll in the district that returned Senate President, David Mark, for a record fourth term.


He alleged that the poll was marred by what he termed as wide spread irregularities.

This was contained in the petition Onoja, one time military Administrator of Plateau State, submitted at the office of Chairman of INEC, Attahiru Jega.

 

However, Onoja who spoke to journalists after submitting his petition, had a little brush with some policemen at the INEC headquarters who had approached him questioning why he was talking to the media.

But the policemen, led by Assistant Commissioner of Police in charge of INEC Headquarters, Chuks Enwonwu, were rebuffed by Onoja who complained about the menacing approach of the security agents.
But just as Onoja was making his case at the INEC headquarters, Mark issued a statement describing his (Onoja's) allegation as "spurious".

"More disheartening is why Onoja will continue to chase shadows after the good people of Benue South had decided overwhelmingly through the ballot that he (Onoja) is incompetent and incapable of representing them at the National Assembly," Mark's Campaign Organisation replied.
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inside nigerian voice: IVN : Latest in the World of News

inside nigerian voice: IVN : Latest in the World of News: "Elections 'have changed Nigeria' BBC News Preliminary parliamentary poll results revealing big losses for the ruling party show Nigeria 'h..." We are the voice of the voiceless...

IVN : Latest in the World of News

Elections 'have changed Nigeria' BBC News Preliminary parliamentary poll results revealing big losses for the ruling party show Nigeria "has changed", an analyst has told the BBC. "It tells a story to every politician: You can no longer take Nigerians for granted," Victor Burubo said. ... See all stories on this topic »

BBC News

Nigeria's Exchange Rate to Stay Within 3% Band, Central Bank Governor Says
Bloomberg
By Emele Onu - Tue Apr 12 12:45:30 GMT 2011 Nigeria's official foreign exchage rate will remain within the projected band of 3 percent above or below 150 naira per dollar even as demand for foreign currency keeps growing as the country holds general ...
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