I’ve no plans to resign, says embattled PDP chair

There is no end in sight to the crisis rocking the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as its embattled National Chairman, Senator Iyiochia Ayu has stated he has no plans to resign.

He said he will not resign now or in the foreseeable future having been given a four-year mandate to lead the opposition party.

There has been pressure on Ayu to resign in line with an alleged agreement he entered into prior to his emergence to step down if the presidential candidate emerges from the north.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar won the party’s presidential ticket with Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike coming second.

The Wike’s camp has insisted on the resignation of Ayu as a major condition to support Atiku in the 2023 presidential poll.

But Ayu, according to a tweet by his Media Aide, Simon Imobo-Tswam, on Monday said he won’t resign.

The tweet reads: “The PDP National Chairman, Dr. Iyiochia Ayu, has not resigned and has no plan of resigning.

“For clarity and emphasis, he was elected for a tenure of four years.”

(Nation)

Shell discharges five barrels of oil into Rivers environment

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) Limited has discharged five barrels of crude oil from the Trans Niger Pipeline into the Bodo community in Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers State.

A Joint Investigation (JIV) report signed by the host community, National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) Rivers State Ministry of Environment and SPDC, disclosed the development.

The JIV report said Shell’s TNP discharged 98 water and two percent crude into Bodo following the ongoing flushing of the TNP, with the residual crude oil of about five barrels.

SPDC spokesperson Michael Adande said the impact of the spill, both within and outside the SPDC JV right of way, was minimal since the TNP had not transported crude oil since mid-June 2022.

Adande said that the report of the JIV would soon be available on the SPDC oil spills site.

He said: “The spill from the Bomu-Bonny section of the SPDC JV’s Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of Rivers State on 3 August 2022 was largely water (98%) from the ongoing flushing of the TNP, with the residual crude oil of about five barrels as established by the signed report of the Joint Investigation Visit led by regulators, and involving representatives of the Rivers State Ministry of Environment and the community.

“Owing to the high level of theft, the SPDC has not processed crude oil through the TNP since mid-June 2022.

Cleanup of the impacted area and repair work on the pipeline are underway”.

(Nation)