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Agip Retirees Lament over 17 Years Outstanding Pension after Oando Takeover
Former staff members of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (Oando Energy Resources Nigeria Limited), have staged a peaceful protest demanding payment of their pension salary, which has not been paid in the last 17 years.
The senior citizens, who protested under the platform, Agip Oil Company Pensioners Association of Nigeria (AOCPAN), accused the management of the company of unilaterally stopping the payment without any reason. The retirees, who brandished placards with different inscriptions, lamented that their members were dying in numbers because of hardship and inability to meet their daily needs.
They condemned the inhumanity of Oando’s management towards the vulnerable retirees, stressing that the company has blocked its gate concerning any issues about the retirees.
Some of their demands are: “Oando management is strategically out to exterminate the retirees through zero welfare support for the retirees.
“Oando bought the assets and liabilities of Agip; but, has trickishly taken the assets and abandoned the major liabilities – the retirees of Agip that bought.”
Chairman of the group, Engr. Elder Paul Sito, who addresses newsmen at the front of the company in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, alleged spouses of late retirees were denied access to medical services which are supposed to be for lifetime.
According to Elder Paul, the management of the company does not have a welfare plan for the retirees, adding that senior citizens have been abandoned without any economic and welfare support.
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Speaking further, the chairman claimed that the management has refused to follow the steps of other companies concerning retirees’ welfare.
He said: “The reasons for the protest are many; we were retirees of Agip Oil Company and as a retiree, there is a pension act concerning retirees. There are welfare and pension monthly payments for these retirees. We received this pension welfare or pension salary for years until it stopped in 2009.
“Management unilaterally stopped it. We don’t even know why, they gave us reasons that are not obtainable in the world, the reason is that because a new management came, they were looking for documents to show that the payment they have been doing should continue (a payment that they were making should continue, they are looking for a document to approve that payment) and because they didn’t see it they stopped unilaterally?”
Paul explained further: “And the association picked it up, when the association was so new and its major focus was on increase in minimum wage, which they continued with the management.
And at that time, we never had what we now call (HIPAN) Hydrocarbon Industry Pensioners Association of Nigeria – the gathering of all the five companies’ retirement representatives.
“They meet and check their books to see who is doing less and who is doing more, so that those who are doing less will go back to their management and inform them appropriately like it has always been done when we were in service and that continued until 2009 when they stopped it.
“Up till today, we have never gotten a dime. In 2023, we came out like this and they gave us 1% or less; in 2024, we also came out, they gave us another half of 1%; and now, they have cut short the welfare for our deceased spouses which was supposed to be for life, they have cut it short to two years.”
The chairman emphasized: “We are asking them to reinstate it. It is for life, every other IOC (International Oil Company) is serving for life. “We are saying whatever the retirees of each of these companies get during negotiations should be applied to the retirees in Oando.”
He lamented: “All this while, we have been suffering, we have written letters to them telling them that we want to meet so that we can give them our charter of demand; we did that last year July. they replied that okay, they have heard from us officially, that they’ll go and look for it, they went and kept looking at it for months. When our letters will not be replied anymore.
“We planned to come out and they heard of it and they immediately called us for a meeting. We went and they still promised us and up till now, they brought nothing. The other oil companies are increasing pensioners salaries every year, but here, it’s a different story.”
One of the retirees, who simply gave her name as Mrs. Regina, lamented that the stipend they receive from the company is of no value to the current economic condition in the country.
High Chief Oluwa Oluwaneye said: “You can see me, I was not like this, I was a good player and a good wrestler and now what God gave to me to satisfy my family, I can’t provide it again because of the condition.
“I entered this Agip in 1955. He (owner of Oando) said he is fit to buy the company; he should know that the people who worked in the company and gave him the power to come and buy, he should empower them.”
Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke on Thursday commissioned the 3.5km phase one of the Ila township road dualisation.
This was revealed in a government house statement issued in Osogbo on Thursday.
Speaking at the commission exercise, the Governor noted that the dual carriage is more than a road but a lifeline for commerce, mobility and safety for the people adding that the project alongside other township roads, market and health facility shows that this administration believes that development must get to the grassroots.
He added that his administration is opening Ila to more investments, easier movement of farm produce and better access to schools, hospitals and the palace.
“The dual carriage is more than a road. It is a lifeline for commerce, mobility and safety for the people. This project alongside other township roads, market and health facility shows that this Administration believes that development must get to the grass roots. Ila is a historic town, it is a center of learning, culture and commerce.
“With this dualised road, we are opening Ila to more investment, easier movement of farm produce and better access to schools, hospitals and the palace.
“We also know that this road connects Ila to other town, that is why we are also working on Intercity Roads to ensure Ila is not left behind in the Osun infrastructure agenda. Apart from this dual carriageway, my administration has equally completed over 7km length of intracity roads in Ila Orangun.”
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Earlier, the Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr Tokunbo Salam stated that Gov Adeleke’s era is a landmark one. An era that will be hard to forget in the history of Osun State. He added that the road was constructed within 12 months as mandated by the Governor.
“Your Excellency, You will recall that, 12 months, 2 days ago, you were here to flag off this road and you gave us a mandate at the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure that we have to finish this road within 12 months and we are here today for the commissioning of this road.
“Your Excellency, I believe people are counting because this is one of several projects and they are still counting. Your excellency, your era is a landmark era and era that will be hard to forget in the history of Osun State. What we have commissioned today never happened and in many other places never happened and history will never forget.
“What is happening is described as urban renewal and as we are renewing, this is the first phase of the road and the second phase of the road will be pronounced by His Excellency and I know that by the time he comes back for his second term, total transformation will come to Ila”, he stated.
Briefly describing the project before its commissioning, Director of Research and Planning, Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Engr Olalekan Salami explained that the Governor gave an approval for a 10km road to be executed in three phases, 3.5km for phase 1 and 2 and 3km for phase 3.
He said, “Your Excellency, you approved that the dualisation of Ila road should be 10km in length and phased into three and you gave us a mandate that the first phase be delivered within 12 months.
“Exactly 21st of July 2025, we were here to flag off this road, and we are here today 23rd of July 2026 for the commissioning of the first phase which is 3.5km”
“It is the intention of the Governor that this road will lead to the Federal University of Health Sciences, first phase of 3.5km is completed within 12 months, another 3.5km will be completed within the next 12 months and the last one will be 3km to complete the 10km dual carriageway.”
The Commissioning was witnessed by the Orangun of Ila, Oba Abdulwahab Olukayode Oyedotun (Bibiire I), Members of the Imole Campaign Council as well as other members of the Executive Council and party Chieftains.
Former adult film actress Deyci Alejandra Omaña Ortiz, popularly known by her stage name Amaranta Hank, has made history after being sworn in as a senator in Colombia, becoming one of the country’s most talked-about political figures.
Ortiz secured the Senate seat following her victory in Colombia’s March elections on the platform of the left-wing Historic Pact coalition, where she campaigned for greater rights and legal protections for workers in the adult entertainment industry.
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According to Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, the newly inaugurated lawmaker will represent the Norte de Santander region during the 2026–2030 parliamentary term after placing 23rd on the coalition’s closed electoral list.
The Historic Pact emerged as the country’s strongest political force in the election, winning 22.72 per cent of the Senate vote—more than 4.4 million ballots—to secure 25 seats, according to Colombia’s National Registry.
Before entering politics, Ortiz worked as a journalist before transitioning into the adult film industry. She has maintained that her previous career should not define her ability to serve in public office.
Responding to critics who questioned her suitability for office, Ortiz defended her candidacy in a TikTok video, saying:
“¿Por qué una mujer que estuvo en la industria para adultos no puede aspirar a un cargo de elección popular?”
The statement translates to: “Why can’t a woman who was in the adult industry aspire to a popularly elected office?”
According to Infobae Colombia, Ortiz believes women who have worked in the sexual economy make meaningful contributions to the country’s economy and deserve legal recognition instead of continued stigma.
Born in the city of Cúcuta, the senator said her legislative agenda will also focus on mental health, sexual abuse prevention, and broader social welfare reforms.
Her political rise follows months of public debate after she and fellow former adult film performer Juan Carlos Florián were appointed to positions in President Gustavo Petro’s Ministry of Equality, a move that sparked widespread discussion in Colombia.
Ortiz’s swearing-in marks one of the most closely watched moments in Colombian politics in recent years, with supporters describing it as a victory for inclusion and equal opportunity, while critics continue to question her unconventional path to public office.
A South African court has ordered a temporary halt to impeachment proceedings against President Cyril Ramaphosa over the controversial $580,000 Phala Phala farm cash scandal, pending the outcome of his legal challenge against an earlier investigative report.
The Western Cape High Court ruled on Friday in favour of Ramaphosa, granting his request to suspend the parliamentary impeachment process while the court reviews a November 2022 independent panel report that concluded the president “may have committed” serious violations and misconduct.
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In his ruling, Judge Andre le Grange ordered that Parliament’s impeachment committee must not proceed with public hearings until the judicial review has been concluded.
“Pending the determination by this court of the applicant’s review… respondents are interdicted from proceeding with a public impeachment hearing,” the judge ruled.
The controversy dates back to a 2020 burglary at Ramaphosa’s luxury Phala Phala game farm in Limpopo Province, where thieves allegedly stole $580,000 hidden inside a sofa.
Ramaphosa has consistently denied any wrongdoing, maintaining that he reported the break-in to the police and that the money was the legitimate proceeds from the sale of 20 buffaloes.
The complaint was filed by a former South African intelligence chief and one-time ally of former President Jacob Zuma.
The complainant alleged that Ramaphosa concealed the robbery from both police and tax authorities and claimed the amount involved was as much as $4 million.
Despite mounting pressure from opposition parties demanding accountability, Ramaphosa has repeatedly ruled out resigning over the scandal.
Reacting to Friday’s ruling, the South African president reaffirmed his commitment to the country’s constitutional principles and judicial system.
“The President will continue to cooperate with and abide by processes of accountability,” a statement from his office said, adding that he remains committed to respecting the independence of the judiciary and the separation of powers.
The impeachment process had initially been rejected by South Africa’s National Assembly, where Ramaphosa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) held a parliamentary majority, effectively blocking impeachment proceedings at the time.
Although prosecutors dropped related charges in 2024, the Constitutional Court overturned Parliament’s earlier decision in May 2026, paving the way for the establishment of a parliamentary impeachment committee.
If the impeachment proceedings eventually resume, Ramaphosa would become the first sitting South African president to face such a process.
The High Court is expected to hear his application seeking to overturn the 2022 independent panel report in September.
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