We can’t go back to IMF because we have a positive relationship with them—Yaw Buaben Asamoah
The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) has revealed that the Akufo-Addo government is already implementing the measures that the IMF is likely to bring forward if the country decides to seek for an intervention. Apexnewsgh.com report According to former President John Dramani Mahama, the Akufo-Addo government should organize a national economic forum as an antecedent to returning to the IMF. Meanwhile, responding at a Press Conference organized in Accra on Wednesday, 9 February 2022, the Communications Director of the governing NPP, Yaw Buaben Asamoah condemned Mr. Mahama’s pronouncement. According to Mr. Asamoah, the former President John Dramani is castigating the government for not having a plan for fiscal consolidation that development partners will buy into, “but he says this without realizing that the development community have accepted the cost-cutting measures of 20percent in expenditure and E-Levy as the building block of our recovery”. “So, where is the lack of plan that he is mentioning, usually his focus is three things, increasing revenue internally, cutting waste and managing debt, these are the three prescriptions the IMF proposes,” Mr. Buaben Asamoa pointed. “So, at this stage for the former president to insist that we should go to a Senchi-like event where we will then march off to the IMF for relief, it doesn’t really work, we are already implementing the measures that the IMF is likely to bring forward.” “Having gone to the IMF and we are now struggling to fund roads including in the cities, we can’t go back to that and we will not go back to that because we have a positive relationship with the IMF already in terms of Article 4 consultation that we do annually, in our last Article 4 consultation the IMF stated clearly how we have dealt with COVID.” Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen
Bolga: Terrible accident consumed life of a young man
A terrible accident took away a life of a young man believed to be in his early 20s in the street of Bolgatanga early hour of Wednesday, February 9, 2022. The unfortunate incident occurred at the Upper East Regional Library Junction around 10:45 am. According to the eyewitnesses who were around when the incident happened, the deceased tried maneuvering his way but coincidentally got knocked down by another vehicle in front of the traffic light. Though, as at the time of filing this report details of the deceased are yet to be known, However, eyewitness accounts suggest he’s a motor mechanic in town. Police were also sighted at the scene.
Breaking News: GACL Managing Director Sacked
The Managing Director of the Ghana Airport Company Limited (GACL), Mr Yaw Kwakwa has said he is unaware of the purported termination of his appointment by the President “I don’t know what you are talking about, my appointment has not been terminated. I don’t know about it but when I get to that bridge I will cross it,” he told TV3’s Komla Kluste in an interview while conducting members of the Roads and Transport Committee around on a fact finding mission of the Macdan Aviation. More to come soon…
Navrongo: Late Kofi Adda’s family received NPP Constituency Executives, MCE with their items- no one rejected it
The Constituency Executives of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Navrongo Constituency have paid a condolence visit to the family of the late former Aviation Minister Joseph Kofi Adda with some items to support the family ahead of his final funeral activity. The late Kofi Adda died on Thursday, October 14, 2021, at the Legon Hospital where he was rushed for medical care after he complained of feeling dizzy. Earlier, there was a rumor in town that the items given to the family of the late Kofi Adda by the Constituency Executives and MCE were rejected by the family. Meanwhile, according to Apexnewsgh.com investigation, the rumor was ‘FALSE’ because evidence shows the items were received by a family representative Mr. Jacob Felli on behalf of the family. The constituency Chairman also confirmed that nothing of that sought happened, he urged the general public to disregard such rumors. Per the evidence intercepted, the constituency executives visited the family with one bull, 5 bags of rice and 2 gallon of oil. Kofi Adda become a Member of Parliament for Navrongo in 2003 after he won the by-election in the constituency after the demise of the then incumbent who doubles as the Deputy Minister of Communication and Technology, Mr. John Setuni Achulivor. A pre-burial service will be held for former Minister of Aviation Hon. Joseph Kofi Adda at the forecourt of the State House in Accra on February 10, 2022, the family has confirmed It would precede the wake-keeping burial service and Memorial Thanksgiving Service on February 11, 12and 13 respectively in Navrongo in the Upper East Region He died at the age of 65 and was survived by a wife and two children. Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 05555568093
Dr. Bawumia believes that Ghana can be our future’—Christian Council
The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Cyril Fayose has recommended the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for his love for the church despite being an Islamic brought up. Rev. Dr. Cyril Fayose did hide his feelings whiles introducing the Vice President as the Special Guest of Honour at the opening ceremony of the Ghana Youth Congress at Gomoa Fetteh in the Central Region on Tuesday. According to him, sometimes he gets confused, about whether Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is a Christian or a Muslim. He added: “Whatever the case is, he is a friend of the Church. And when we invited him to this programme, he readily said Yes; that shows his love for the church as well as for young people”, He said. Meanwhile, the Ghana Youth Congress is organized by the Christian Council of Ghana as a precursor to the upcoming African Youth Congress to be organized under the auspices of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), under the theme, “Ghana, My Home, My Future”. Rev. Dr. Cyril Fayose said the Vice President was chosen as the Special Guest for the programme because “He is one person who believes in Ghana and believes that Ghana can make it. He believes that Ghana can be our future”. However, during his speech, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia promised the youth delegates that Government will continue to do its best to help them develop their potentials and capabilities and provide the enabling environment to meet the growth aspirations. He advised the youth to be focused.
Adulterated petrol: Govt may return fuel to suppliers, 100 million litres affected, say marketers
The Federal Government through its Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority may return to the overseas supplier, the contaminated Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, which was imported into the country by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited. Oil marketers estimated that about 100 million litres of contaminated petrol were imported into Nigeria and had been recalled by the Pipelines Product Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the NNPC. The recall caused severe queues in Abuja, Lagos, Niger, Nasarawa and many other states, as the few petrol outlets that dispensed products were crowded by motorists and other PMS users. Many other filling stations were shutdown on Tuesday for lack of products to sell, while black marketers greeted various major roads in Abuja, selling products to interested consumers. It was also gathered that though efforts were being made to address the concerns, the queues and shortage of petrol might drag till this weekend. The NMDPRA said in a statement it issued in Abuja that limited quantity of PMS with methanol quantities above Nigeria’s specification was discovered in the supply chain. NNPC increases supply to bridge supply gap, recalls polluted fuel It said methanol was a regular additive in petrol and usually blended in an acceptable quantity, adding that contaminated product had been isolated. The statement read in part, “To ensure vehicular and equipment safety, the limited quantity of the impacted product has been isolated and withdrawn from the market, including the loaded trucks in transit “Our technical team in conjunction with the NNPC Limited and other industry stakeholders, will continue to monitor and ensure quality petroleum products are adequately supplied and distributed nationwide. “The source supplier has been identified and further commercial and appropriate actions shall be taken by the authority and the NNPC Limited. The NNPC Limited and all oil marketing companies have been directed to sustain sufficient distribution of petrol in all retail outlets nationwide.” Nigeria does not refine crude oil due to the dormancy of its refineries, hence the NNPC imports the commodity from international refiners. This implies that the source supplier is an overseas firm. The NMDPRA further stated that the NNPC had intensified efforts at increasing the supply of petrol into the market in order to bridge any unforeseen supply gap. When specifically asked whether the NNPC would return the contaminated petrol to the supplier, its spokesperson Garba-Deen Muhammad, referred our correspondent to the NMDPRA statement where it talked about the identification of the source supplier. Also, industry sources stated that the standard thing to do was to inform the source supplier and possibly return the product to it based on the terms of agreement reached between parties. On measures adopted to ensure that the product did not further get to consumers, the National President, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Debo Ahmed, stated that IPMAN had alerted all its units. Fuel queues at a filling station in Lagos. Photo: Stanley Ogidi He said, “We’ve discussed with all our zonal and unit chairmen to tell their members not to sell the products. And some of the products that got to the depots were not released to the public. “So on our part we’ve taken that precaution and we are waiting for the PPMC to call the trucks back to evacuate the products. So majority of the products are in the depots.” On whether the volume of the contaminated products was much, Ahmed replied, “Well, I don’t know the exact volume, but what I know is that we lifted from various depots in Lagos. But we don’t know the quantity, they say it is about 100 million litres or so.” On ways to avoid a recurrence of such situation, Ahmed stated that the agencies of government should carry out thorough inspection on products before releasing them to the Nigerian market. He said, “The PPMC has the whole gamut of officers, the NMDPRA has to take care of the quality through its sections on quality and safety. And even at the depots, before they load, there should be preloading and after-loading inspection. “They have to know the quality of the product before sending it out. But I think there was a mix-up somehow and the PPMC has already accepted that it is from their place and that they will evacuate the whole product. “So they stopped most of the trucks from going out when they discovered the situation and these trucks are right now in the depots.” On his part, the President, Petroleum Products Retail Outlets owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, said PETROAN was still looking for solutions to address the scarcity caused by the imports of contaminated products. He, however, noted that the queues across the country might drag till the weekend, as the impact of the recalled products would be felt in the supply chain. “We are trying to see how the situation can be remedied so that the country don’t run into any kind of crisis, but we see it dragging and hope that before the close of this week we will find a solution to it,” he stated. An energy law specialist, Prof. Dayo Ayoade, told our correspondent that aside from the huge adverse environmental impact of such contaminated fuel, the product had already knocked the engines of some motorists. He said, “It is a big issue because the contaminated fuel has to be taken out of the system. It has to be extracted from the filling stations and depots and disposed off. This is because since it is contaminated, you can’t sell it to another person. “It has to be disposed in an environment that is sustainable, and in a proper manner. Now, do we have the equipment to properly take care of this contaminated fuel? That is a big issue. “Secondly, there is the issue of who is liable for the cost of replacement of the engines that have knocked? Because contaminated fuels have negative impact on engines and I heard that the engines of some customers have knocked.” But