The Wall Street Journal has reported that billionaire industrialist Aliko Dangote is among the biggest beneficiaries of the disruption caused by the recent US-Iran conflict, with his $20bn refinery enjoying rising demand for refined petroleum products.

In a report published on Friday, the newspaper said Dangote was now reaping the rewards of the refinery after enduring years of delays and cost overruns that pushed the project’s cost to about $20bn.

“The huge refinery reached full capacity in February—just in time to supply the world with diesel, jet fuel and gasoline that doesn’t need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Surging demand for refined petroleum products has boosted Dangote’s wealth by some $4.86 billion since the start of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, bringing his net worth to about $34.8 billion.

“Dangote’s repeated bets on the rise of Africa’s middle class, from cement to sugar to salt, have helped the 69-year-old become the world’s 65th-wealthiest person,” the report read.

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It added that output from the refinery had risen by more than 70 per cent this year, driven by stronger demand for refined petroleum products.

The newspaper quoted Dangote Industries Group Vice-President, Devakumar Edwin, as saying the company plans to list the refinery on the Nigerian Exchange later this year, targeting a valuation of at least $50bn, while also pursuing a secondary listing, likely in New York.

According to the report, the energy market disruption triggered by the US-Iran conflict has benefited producers outside the Middle East, with Nigeria recording increased demand for its crude oil and refined petroleum products.

It added that the development had supported the naira and helped moderate domestic petrol prices.

Edwin also told the newspaper that demand for the refinery’s products had increased across sub-Saharan Africa, while exports of jet fuel to Europe had grown significantly this year.

He said the company plans to expand the refinery’s capacity to 1.4 million barrels per day by 2028, an investment expected to cost about $13bn.

The report stated that Dangote Industries is planning another refinery project in Lamu, Kenya, alongside a new port, with the project estimated to cost about $15bn and take about three years to complete.

However, the Wall Street Journal noted that securing sufficient local crude oil remains one of the refinery’s biggest challenges, saying the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has been unable to supply the volumes required because of existing export obligations and oil-backed loan commitments.

The report added that Dangote also plans to expand its distribution network by acquiring vessels, establishing a distribution hub in Namibia and constructing a pipeline to supply refined products to landlocked African countries, including Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia.

Courtesy – The Punch

The pupils and teachers who were abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State have finally regained their freedom following a successful rescue operation by Nigerian security agencies.

The development was announced on Friday by the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, in a post on X.

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Onanuga wrote: “Finally, all the kidnapped pupils and teachers in Oriire, Oyo have been rescued by our security agencies. One of the rescued teachers in Oyo sends a thank you message to President Tinubu and the security agencies.”

According to information released on Friday, the rescue followed coordinated security operations carried out by federal authorities.

In a video shared by Onanuga, one of the rescued victims, Rachael Alamu, Principal of Community High School, expressed appreciation to President Bola Tinubu and security operatives for securing their freedom.

She said: “President sir, our father, we are grateful, we understand your commitment to our safety and we appreciate all you did for us…. And every security operatives, they tried so much and that is why we are still alive by now, God bless you.”

The successful operation brings to an end the ordeal of the pupils and teachers, whose abduction had raised concerns over the safety of schools and communities in Oyo State.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has revealed how he narrowly escaped what he described as a fabricated $2 million blackmail plot involving his son and a purported land allocation in Abuja.

Speaking during a media parley on Thursday, Wike said an individual falsely alleged that he paid $2 million to one of his sons in exchange for securing a land allocation in the Federal Capital Territory.

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According to the minister, the alleged blackmailer claimed that his son had called him to ask if land was available before the payment was made.

“As I’m sitting as the minister of FCT, somebody has done that, claiming that he knows my children, and that there was a day that he was with my son, and that my son called dad, ‘Is any land available?’, and I said yes. And that they gave him two million U.S. dollars. So look at the game,” Wike said.

Wike disclosed that the alleged scheme came to his attention after someone at the Presidential Villa alerted him to documents containing the claims that were being circulated.

“Somebody called me from the Villa that he has this thing going on. I said, ‘What is that?’ He said, ‘Oh, you get this document for me.’ Somebody’s trying to do it. I said, ‘Okay, no problem.’ I sent my CSO: ‘Go and get this person.’ We got him arrested. He said that two million was given at night, that’s 9 p.m., 8 p.m., two million dollars,” he said.

The FCT minister explained that investigators quickly dismantled the allegation after establishing that his son had travelled out of Nigeria on a British Airways flight on the morning of the day the alleged payment was said to have taken place.

“But see how, unknown to him, that day in the morning, my son travelled on British Airways. Meanwhile, the money was given at night. So we had to tell the police. They went to British Airways, everything,” he added.

Wike also revealed that he was later advised by some individuals to quietly resolve the matter to avoid public embarrassment, but he rejected the suggestion.

“One of them came to me and said, ‘Look, before it embarrasses you, why not settle it?’ I said, ‘Settle what? Settle what? This is cheap blackmail. I will not allow that.’ And we didn’t do it,” he said.

The minister said the incident highlights how senior government officials are often targeted with fabricated allegations aimed at damaging their reputations or forcing them into concessions.

Drawing a comparison with allegations recently made by Adewale Adeyemi against the President’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, Wike argued that genuine allegations should be presented to security agencies rather than aired through the media.

“There are people you target in government to do bad thing to the boss. This is chief of staff. This is the person who is in charge of finance and secretary to government. If you want to embarrass any government, this is the first target,” he said.

Questioning Adeyemi’s approach, Wike added: “If it was indeed correct, eyeball to eyeball, go to the security agency. Look at my communications with him. Look at the phone I’ve been talking with him. These are what we have done.”

The controversy involving Adeyemi began on June 25, when he accused Gbajabiamila of demanding 48 per cent of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council’s (PFIPC) alleged ₦27.4 billion take-off grant and receiving ₦400 million through proxies linked to appointments within the agency.

The Presidency has maintained that the PFIPC is fictitious, although reports indicate the council secured office space at the Federal Secretariat, opened Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accounts and received a ₦1.3 billion allocation in the 2026 Appropriation Act.

President Bola Tinubu has directed the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to investigate the matter within 30 days.

Meanwhile, Adeyemi is standing trial before the Federal High Court in Abuja on forgery charges, including allegedly forging an appointment letter bearing Gbajabiamila’s signature.

He is expected back in court on July 27, while Gbajabiamila’s legal team has threatened him with a ₦10 billion defamation suit, describing the allegations as “false and gravely defamatory.”

Although the Presidency has expressed confidence in Gbajabiamila, civil society organisations, including the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), as well as human rights lawyer Femi Falana, have called for an independent investigation into the allegations involving both men.