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Saraki Urges PDP Leaders To End Litigation, Hold Fresh Convention

Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, has appealed to all leaders and stakeholders in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to resolve the ongoing litigations over the party’s disputed national convention and focus on organising a fresh one in line with electoral guidelines.

Saraki made the appeal on Tuesday in a statement posted on his X handle and signed by the Head of the Bukola Saraki Media Office, Yusuph Olaniyonu.

He was reacting to the Court of Appeal judgment that upheld earlier rulings invalidating the PDP national convention held in Ibadan, Oyo State, in November 2025.

The former Kwara State governor said the party must accept the verdict and move swiftly to organise a new national convention in line with the timetable of the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“My own position is that the Court of Appeal has ruled. However, with the revised timetable by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), it is obvious that there is no time to wait for the Supreme Court decision. Otherwise, we would not meet the deadlines for completing the process of nominating candidates.

He warned that continued litigation could jeopardise the chances of party members seeking to contest the 2027 general elections on the PDP platform.

READ ALSO: Appeal Court Affirms Judgment Barring INEC From Validating PDP Convention

“Also, uncertainty will continue to hang over the validity of the tickets issued to those nominated on the PDP platform. If our motive is to see that we do not jeopardise the chances of our numerous members who want to contest elections on our platform, then this consideration should be the priority of all of us in the party.

“One of the key essentials of a political party is to provide a platform for candidates seeking to serve the people by contesting elections. We should not defeat this purpose. It is for these reasons that I believe the only option open to all of us is to end all litigation and work with the arrangements that are on the ground for holding a national convention within the INEC timetable.

“From the beginning, some of us have warned and advised about the dangers of travelling this route. We know that it will only imperil the party. However, since we have found ourselves here, our focus should be on how to get back on the path of full recovery, stability, and progress.”

He also called on aggrieved leaders within the party to set aside personal interests and focus on the collective future of the PDP.

“I know that at this stage, egos have been bruised. However, the difference between an ordinary man and a statesman, between a person and a patriot, between a follower and a leader is the ability to rise above the din and ignore personal interests to serve the larger common interests and public good.

“Thus, some leaders of the party who did not get what they desired from the courts should now consider the bigger interest of the PDP in the 2027 elections and beyond. This is a more noble, dignified, and responsible position to adopt than to embark on a journey that leads to nowhere.

“My concern is how to save and preserve this great party for the benefit of the numerous members who have hinged their aspirations on the PDP platform. There are many Nigerians in the grassroots who have been investing their time and resources in mobilising support for the party because they want to contest elections on the PDP platform. These are members who want to contest elections into the Houses of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate, Governorship, and the presidency.

“Feuding leaders should not allow their ego and personal differences to jeopardise, undermine, and defeat the aspirations of these honest, devoted, and committed party members by depriving them of the opportunity to subject themselves to the verdict of the electorate. That is what these leaders will be doing if anybody continues with the litigation.

“The only viable option open to all of us is to sit down, discuss, and work towards holding an all-inclusive national convention at a time that will comply with INEC guidelines. What should be paramount to all of us is to adopt a give-and-take attitude that will ensure we accommodate all interests in the election of officers at the national convention. We should let the sleeping dog lie peacefully. There is really no time for continuous bickering and grandstanding,” Saraki stated.

Channels Television earlier reported that the Court of Appeal in Abuja dismissed an appeal by the PDP against the October 31 judgment by Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja restraining INEC from recognising the outcome of the national convention planned by the PDP for Ibadan, Oyo State, on November 15 and 16.

In a unanimous judgment, a three-member panel of the appellate court resolved the four issues for determination against the PDP.

The court held that the appeal by the PDP was without merit and that the Federal High Court was right to have delivered the October 31 judgment and granted all the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs.

The Court of Appeal faulted the PDP’s claim that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case on the grounds that the issues involved were solely the internal affairs of the party.

The court also held that the plaintiffs had the locus standi (the right) to institute the suit to protect their democratic rights and that the PDP was not denied fair hearing, as it claimed in its appeal.

Police Arrest Kidnap Ringleader In Ondo

Police authorities in Ondo State say they have arrested a suspected kidnapping ringleader, Abdullahi Lawal, at Aderoju Camp in Ugbe-Akoko, within the Akoko Local Government Area of the state.

The spokesperson of the Ondo State Police Command, Abayomi Jimoh, disclosed this in a statement issued to journalists in Akure, the state capital, on Tuesday.

According to him, the suspect was arrested following months of intelligence gathering and coordinated operations by security operatives.

Jimoh explained that Lawal had been identified as the mastermind behind the kidnapping of one Aremu Tijani, which occurred on August 18, 2025, at the victim’s bush farm in the Ikare-Akoko axis.

“Following sustained intelligence gathering and coordinated operational strategies, operatives of the Command have successfully arrested one Abdullahi Lawal of Aderoju Camp, Ugbe Akoko Town, who has been identified as the mastermind of a kidnapping incident involving one Aremu Tijani that occurred on August 18, 2025, at the victim’s bush farm in the Ikare-Akoko axis,” he said.

READ ALSO: Amotekun Arraigns Three Over Alleged Kidnapping, Assault In Ondo

The police spokesperson added that security operatives had earlier engaged members of the criminal gang in a tactical operation, which led to the neutralisation of three suspects and the arrest of four others.

However, the gang leader, Abdullahi Lawal, managed to escape from the scene at the time, despite sustaining gunshot injuries during the encounter with police operatives.

Jimoh noted that detectives later intensified efforts and eventually tracked down the suspect in Ikare-Akoko.

“After months of sustained intelligence-led operations and coordinated efforts by security personnel, the suspect was successfully apprehended by police operatives in Ikare-Akoko.

Simpson and guide Poth win Paralympic silver for GB

Katie Falkingham

BBC Sport senior journalist in Cortina
  • 7 Comments

Neil Simpson and his guide Rob Poth won Great Britain’s first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with silver in the alpine combined.

It is a third Paralympic medal overall for the visually impaired skier, who had recorded two fourth-place finishes earlier in these Games.

In the alpine combined, skiers complete a run of both the super G and slalom, with their factored times combined to determine the final standings.

Simpson and Poth had sat in fourth after the morning’s super G, 0.57 seconds short of third place.

But in the slalom, they recorded the fastest time of the day to move up two places as Canada’s Kalle Ericsson and his guide Sierra Smith fell out of contention.

Related topics

  • Winter Sports
  • Disability Sport
  • ParalympicsGB

More on this story

    • 19 hours ago
    Milano Cortina logo for the Winter Paralympics
    • 2 March
    Andrew Simpson skiing

Banchory’s Simpson and guide Poth win Paralympic silver for GB

Katie Falkingham

BBC Sport senior journalist in Cortina
  • 7 Comments

Neil Simpson and his guide Rob Poth won Great Britain’s first medal of the Milan-Cortina Winter Paralympics with silver in the alpine combined.

It is a third Paralympic medal overall for the visually impaired skier, who had recorded two fourth-place finishes earlier in these Games.

In the alpine combined, skiers complete a run of both the super G and slalom, with their factored times combined to determine the final standings.

Simpson and Poth had sat in fourth after the morning’s super G, 0.57 seconds short of third place.

But in the slalom, they recorded the fastest time of the day to move up two places as Canada’s Kalle Ericsson and his guide Sierra Smith fell out of contention.

Related topics

  • Winter Sports
  • Disability Sport
  • ParalympicsGB

More on this story

    • 19 hours ago
    Milano Cortina logo for the Winter Paralympics
    • 2 March
    Andrew Simpson skiing

How will soaring oil prices caused by Iran war impact food prices?

For the first time since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the price of oil skyrocketed past $100 per barrel this week, driven by ongoing energy uncertainty after the United States and Israel’s war on Iran began on February 28.

About 20 percent of the world’s oil comes from the Gulf region, and most of it is shipped on massive tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. This narrow waterway, located between Iran and Oman, is only 21 nautical miles (39km) wide at its narrowest point.

More than 20 million barrels transit through the strait per day, which is one-fifth of global petroleum consumption and accounts for one-quarter of all oil traded by sea.

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), more than three-quarters of the world’s oil supply (79.8 million barrels per day) travels by sea, funnelled through a handful of critical chokepoints with no easy transit alternatives.

Why are oil prices surging?

Since the Iran war began, marine traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has nearly ground to a halt. Attacks on vessels and interference with navigation equipment have pushed most operators to anchor their ships at the waterway’s edge rather than risk the crossing.

Without the flow of this oil, global supply chains are severely disrupted. With a limited supply and rising demand, prices are likely to increase, putting pressure on consumers and businesses.

While prices briefly dipped on Monday after US President Donald Trump said, “The war is very complete, pretty much,” analysts warned that high prices could persist if no agreement is reached between Washington, Tel Aviv and Tehran to stop the war.

“It’s all about risk,” Ismayil Jabiyev, supply chain analyst at CarbonChain, told Al Jazeera.

“Think about the Strait of Hormuz and cheap drones. It’s not a physical blockage – Iran hasn’t built a wall across the sea. Cheap drones will always pose a risk, even if all the launch sites are destroyed because hidden drone launches could continue for months. As long as hostilities continue, the disruption is likely to persist. I don’t see any real progress or resolution on the horizon,” Jabiyev added.

Which countries rely most on Middle Eastern oil?

About 89 percent of the oil that flows through the Strait of Hormuz is bound for Asian markets with China, India, Japan and South Korea the top buyers.

If traffic remains restricted, Gulf exporters will be forced to seek alternative routes, but options are limited with Saudi Aramco’s East-West Crude Oil Pipeline and the United Arab Emirates’s Abu Dhabi Crude Oil Pipeline (Habshan-Fujairah pipeline) offering a capacity of about 4.7 million barrels per day (bpd).

The Saudi pipeline runs from eastern oilfields to the port of Yanbu on the Red Sea, one of the few arteries that bypasses the strait entirely. However, of the 7.2 million bpd that Saudi Arabia exported in February, 6.38 million bpd relied on passage through the strait, according to Kpler, a global trade data and analytics firm.

Gavekal Research, an independent macroeconomic research firm, estimated that Gulf exporters, including Iran, could reroute at most an additional 3.5 million bpd to terminals outside the strait. But as long as the bulk of tanker traffic remains suspended, the world would still be facing a sudden supply shortfall of about 15 million bpd.

“I’m somewhat sceptical about those alternatives. Yes, the East-West pipeline and the Fujairah pipeline exist, but capacity-wise, they don’t come close to the main route.” Jabiyev told Al Jazeera.

“There’s also the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline from Iraq’s northern provinces to Turkiye, but that’s limited to northern field production. The major Iraqi output comes from the southern fields, so again, it’s a partial replacement, not a full one.”

What is the highest oil price ever recorded?

Oil prices rose to their highest levels during the global financial crisis. On July 11, 2008, Brent crude, the European benchmark, hit $147.50 per barrel while West Texas intermediate crude, the US benchmark, hit a peak of $147.27. That spike was driven by a mix of a weakening US dollar and a massive influx of speculative money rather than a physical disruption to supply.

Throughout history, there have been a handful of energy market shocks when oil supplies were actually threatened, most notably the 1973 oil embargo, the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, the 1990-1991 Gulf War, the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq and the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

INTERACTIVE - Oil soars past $100 a barrel - March 9 , 2025-1773125106
(Al Jazeera)

“I think the Gulf War of 1990-91 is the most instructive comparison. Iraq and Kuwait together represented two major producers, and the disruption was serious and prolonged – lasting roughly half a year or more, even though the military phase was fairly brief,” Jabiyev told Al Jazeera.

“The world experienced high crude oil prices for an extended period and eventually faced some economic slowdown as a result. That makes it most analogous to our current situation: a likely long-term disruption, sustained high prices and a meaningful risk of economic slowdown. The key variable, as in 1990, was how quickly the affected countries could restore their production infrastructure and bring supply back online.”

How does crude oil become petrol?

Crude oil is a yellowish-black fossil fuel pumped from the ground and refined into fuels like petrol, diesel and jet fuel. The refining process also produces numerous household items.

Oil is graded by thickness and sulphur content. Light, sweet crude is low in sulphur and easy to refine and thus more valuable. After extraction, crude oil is sent to refineries where heat separates it into products. Lighter fuels form at lower temperatures while heavier products, such as asphalt, require much higher heat.

A barrel contains 159 litres, or 42 gallons, of crude oil. Once refined, a barrel typically produces about 73 litres, or 19.35 gallons, of petrol to power cars and trucks.

INTERACTIVE-CRUDE OIL-USED-MARCH 9-2026 copy-1773138978
(Al Jazeera)

What products are made from oil and gas?

Oil and gas are used for far more than just fuel. They are raw materials for thousands of everyday products.

Plastics, including water bottles, food packaging, phone casings and medical syringes, are all derived from crude oil.

Crude oil is also the hidden ingredient in synthetic fabrics, such as polyester, nylon and acrylic, which is in everything from sportswear to carpets. It also underpins the cosmetics industry in products that include petroleum jelly, lipsticks and concealers.

Household items also rely on oil-based ingredients with laundry detergents, dishwashing liquids and paints all derived from petroleum products.

The global food supply is essentially built on natural gas in the form of fertilisers, used to enhance crop yields and ensure that food production can meet demand.

INTERACTIVE-CRUDE OIL-USED-MARCH 9-2026-1773138980
(Al Jazeera)

How high oil costs drive up the price of food

Oil prices and food prices move in lockstep with energy prices affecting every stage of the food supply chain from the fertilisers used in the fields to the trucks that carry food from the fields to supermarket shelves.

Rising oil prices directly affect shipping and the cost of transportation.

“The lifeblood of the global economy is transport,” economist David McWilliams told Al Jazeera. “It’s getting stuff from A to B. It’s a logistics problem, a supply chain problem, and ultimately, transportation is the energy of the global economy.”

Fears of stagflation – rising inflation and rising unemployment, which major oil shocks have historically summoned – are rising. Economists pointed to the crises of 1973, 1978 and 2008 as evidence that every significant spike in oil prices has been followed, in some form, by a global recession.

In lower-income countries, where populations spend a far greater share of their income on food and import large quantities of grain and fertiliser, rising oil prices could rapidly translate into food shortages.