The Geometric Power built by Nigeria’s former power minister, Barth Nnaji, in Aba City, is now up and running.

The plant, the only integrated power project in Nigeria, was commissioned Monday to generate and distribute its power outside without the national grid.

This separates the electricity company from the others that only generate or distribute power.

The Geometric Power chairman, Professor Nnaji, told journalists at the commissioning that the project cost $800 million.

One of the buildings at the plant was named after former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who approved the plant concession.

The Labour Party presidential candidate in the 2023 election Peter Obi was at the commissioning. He made a case for government support for ambitious private projects.

He said Nigeria will only grow when the government encourages efforts that encourage production.

The plant was licensed to produce 188 MW of power. Three 47-MW turbines purchased from General Electric are already installed. A fourth will be installed soon.

It is imperative that the Federal Government reveal to the public the assets and deficits they inherited from the previous administration to ensure transparency and accountability.

This is the view of the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Peter Obi. 

The former Anambra state governor gave this call on his official X handle in a series of posts on Thursday and in reaction to National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu’s claim on Monday that the current administration was left a bankrupt country by the previous administration. 

According to Obi, the previous APC administration equally made the same claim of inheriting debts. 

“One major characteristic of responsible governance is transparency and strict accountability”, said Obi. 

He added: “This demands that the government disclose exactly the degree of deficit they inherited. What is inherited should be disclosed to enable the public to know where we are and where we are headed.

“Recall that the previous APC Government made a similar claim in 2015 against the PDP administration that handed over to them without telling the nation what it actually inherited.

“Rather, they took our debt profile from N12.6 Trillion in 2015 to N87 trillion in 2023 when they left office without improving on any indices of development: Education, Health, Poverty eradication, and Security.” 

Obi further criticized the government’s stand on the country’s current financial state which he believes raises more questions about the recently signed supplementary budget.  

“The alarm raised by the government about the bad state of our finances raises questions about the rationale behind some expenditure items in the supplementary budget recently signed into law.

“The present revelation also goes to buttress the argument that I have made since electioneering season that the cost of governance is too high and must be drastically reduced. A bankrupt country should channel every available resource into funding critical development sectors”, he said.  

The former Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele, has been granted bail by  the Federal Capital Territory High Court after 151 days in the custody of  Federal Government’s security agencies.

Presiding judge,Justice Olukayode Adeniyi, granted Emefiele’s bail ordering that he be released immediately to his lawyers.

Justice Adeniyi in his ruling explained that he is granting the former CBN boss bail because he had stayed in government custody beyond the time stipulated by law.

The judge also predicated his decision on the fact that the Federal Government had completed an investigation into the allegations against the former CBN Chief and had even prepared the charges against him as far back as August this year.

Emefiele was ordered to submit his travel documents before the chief registrar of the court, pending his arraignment while his lawyers were charged with the responsibility of producing him in court for his arraignment next week or at any other day. 

Recall that Emefiele was suspended as the head of the apex bank by President Bola Tinubu on June 9. He was subsequently arrested at his Lagos residence by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

Since then, Emefiele has faced a two-count charge of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition before the Federal High Court in Lagos, as well as a 20-count corruption charge that the Federal Government entered against him and two others before an Abuja High Court sitting at Maitama.

Nigerian chef Hilda Baci no longer holds the record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.

Irishman, Alan Fisher was named by the Guinness World Records (GWR) on Tuesday as the new record holder after completing over 118 hours of cooking. 

The Irish Chef according to the GWR “cooked for an incredible 119 hours and 57 minutes at his restaurant in Japan”, eclipsing Hilda Baci’s by more than 24 hours.

Hilda broke the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes back in June.

The previous record of 87 hours 45 minutes was set by Lata Tondon (India) in 2019. 

New GWR holder Fisher also bagged the crown of the longest baking marathon (individual).

Setting a new time of 47 hours and 21 minutes, he beat the previous record of 31 hours and 16 minutes previously held by USA’s Wendy Sandner. 

Meanwhile, the Nigerian chef has congratulated her successor, Fisher following his achievement. 

In a statement on her X account, the 26-year-old while commending the Irish chef, also expressed gratitude for having achieved the feat.

She said: “Huge congratulations to Alan Fisher! 119hrs 57mins is a huge achievement, and I wish him all the best as the new world record holder!

“I’m so happy to have held a record so prestigious and profound I will forever be honored and grateful for all the love and support.”

Peter Obi has described the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Bola Tinubu’s election as Nigeria’s president as a breach of citizens’ trust in the judiciary.

“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives,” Obi stated this during a world press conference at the LP National Headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

He added that “the judgment mixed principles and precepts Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment, have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, (JSC) on Friday 27th October 2023.”

LP presidential candidate further added that “our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria.”

“Our commitment is to a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring transparency and accountability in the equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges,” he noted.

Obi noted that he and his vice presidential candidate, Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed have exhausted all legal avenues to challenge the 2023 general election and have decided to engage in full opposition.

Peter Obi has described the Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Bola Tinubu’s election as Nigeria’s president as a breach of citizens’ trust in the judiciary.

“Without equivocation, this judgment amounts to a total breach of the confidence the Nigerian people have in our judiciary. To that extent, it is a show of unreasonable force against the very Nigerian people from whom the power of the Constitution derives,” Obi stated this during a world press conference at the LP National Headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

He added that “the judgment mixed principles and precepts Indeed, the rationale and premise of the Supreme Court judgment, have become clearer in the light of the deep revealing and troubling valedictory remarks by Hon. Justice Musa Dattijo Muhammad, (JSC) on Friday 27th October 2023.”

LP presidential candidate further added that “our mission and mandate remain unchanged. From the very onset, our mission has been more about enthroning a new Nigeria.”

“Our commitment is to a nation anchored on the principles of prudent management of resources to quickly pull millions out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring transparency and accountability in the equitable distribution of opportunities, resources, and privileges,” he noted.

Obi noted that he and his vice presidential candidate, Dr. Datti Baba-Ahmed have exhausted all legal avenues to challenge the 2023 general election and have decided to engage in full opposition.