By staff Reporter: Rukevwe Odeh

A heavy downpour has left the popular NNPC Housing Complex Road, also known as Ekpan Link Road, submerged in floodwater in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State.

The rainfall caused significant water accumulation along the busy road, affecting movement and creating difficulties for motorists and other road users.

The condition of the road has renewed concerns over flooding and drainage challenges in the area, particularly during periods of heavy rainfall.

Residents and commuters are expected to exercise caution while using the affected route as efforts to manage the situation continue.

By Staff Reporter: Rukevwe Odeh

Dangote Industries Limited has acquired an additional 4,000 construction machines as part of its ongoing expansion of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery in Lagos.

The latest procurement has increased the company’s construction equipment fleet to approximately 6,500 units, including 330 cranes, as the group works to raise the refinery’s planned processing capacity from 650,000 barrels of crude oil per day to 1.4 million barrels per day.

The Group Vice President, Oil and Gas and Fertiliser, Devakumar Edwin, disclosed this during a briefing with editors following a tour of the refinery in Ibeju-Lekki, Lagos.

Edwin explained that Dangote initially acquired 2,563 pieces of construction equipment after some contractors indicated that they lacked the capacity required to handle the refinery’s major factory structures.

He said the group subsequently decided to build its own substantial equipment fleet rather than depend entirely on foreign engineering, procurement and construction contractors.

According to him, bringing foreign contractors and their machinery into Nigeria would have involved additional mobilisation and demobilisation expenses, with equipment depreciation potentially increasing the overall project cost.

Edwin said the company’s approach was also influenced by the limited availability of heavy construction equipment in Nigeria.

He recalled that when Dangote constructed its Apapa sugar refinery in 1998, only two large cranes with a lifting capacity of about 150 tonnes were available in the country.

For the Lekki refinery project, Dangote has since developed a much larger equipment base, including 330 cranes, to support construction activities.

The executive also disclosed that a significant portion of the infrastructure established during the first phase of the refinery would be reused for the expansion.

These facilities include a granite quarry with a stated capacity of 10 million tonnes, 82 concrete batching plants, 203 transit mixers, a private port, an oxygen and welding-gas plant and accommodation facilities capable of housing up to 50,000 workers.

Edwin further revealed that the refinery, originally designed for 650,000 barrels per day, was operating at about 700,000 barrels per day at the time of the briefing.

He said Dangote also opted to execute the expansion through its own project company after international contractors reportedly proposed fees amounting to about 12.5 per cent of an estimated $19.5 billion project cost.

That figure, according to Edwin, would have translated into approximately $2.5 billion in contractor fees.

Instead, Dangote Projects Limited was tasked with handling detailed engineering, procurement and the coordination of contractors involved in the project.

The refinery was designed to serve both the Nigerian market and international customers, with the company previously indicating that part of its output would be allocated to domestic consumption while the remainder would be exported.

The planned expansion to 1.4 million barrels per day is expected to significantly increase the refinery’s production capacity and strengthen Dangote Industries’ refining operations.

Edwin also said the group’s overall refining capacity could eventually rise to about 2.1 million barrels per day when the Lekki expansion is combined with the planned 700,000-barrel-per-day refinery project in Kenya.

The Dangote refinery is currently described by the company as the world’s largest single-train petroleum refinery.

By staff Reporter Rukevwe Odeh

Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Kogi Central Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan have not publicly responded to fresh allegations made by United States-based activist Sandra Duru, popularly known as Prof. Mgbeke.

Duru reportedly made the latest claims in a nine-minute audio recording released on social media, alleging that Akpabio engaged her to campaign against Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The latest allegation represents a different account from claims Duru made in 2025, when she accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of attempting to recruit her to make allegations against Akpabio.

Duru had at the time alleged that the senator offered her N200 million for the purported assignment. Akpoti-Uduaghan denied the allegation and rejected the claims as untrue.

In the newly released audio, Duru also shared excerpts of a conversation involving a male voice she identified as that of Akpabio. The conversation allegedly touched on political developments involving former Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and Senator Ned Nwoko.

One portion of the recording reportedly contained comments about Okowa’s decision to join the All Progressives Congress, with the speaker allegedly linking the move to concerns surrounding corruption investigations.

However, the authenticity of the recording, the identities of the voices and the full context of the conversation have not been independently established. The claims therefore remain allegations pending verification or clarification from the individuals involved.

Attempts to obtain a response from Akpabio’s media aide, Eseme Eyiboh, reportedly produced no response, while Akpoti-Uduaghan’s media aide, Mike Idoko, said the senator’s camp had no comment on the matter.

The latest development has revived a controversy that has surrounded Duru, Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan since 2025.

Following the earlier allegations, Akpoti-Uduaghan petitioned the Inspector-General of Police over issues involving Akpabio and Duru, calling for an investigation into what her representatives described as a coordinated campaign against her.

The dispute also resulted in legal proceedings. In January 2026, an Abuja High Court issued an order restraining Duru and Meta Platforms from further circulating certain materials alleged to be defamatory against Akpoti-Uduaghan while the substantive case was pending.

With the latest recording yet to be independently authenticated and no detailed response from the principal figures involved, the new allegations remain unverified.

Further clarification from the parties concerned or independent examination of the recording would be required to establish the authenticity and context of the claims.