Hundreds of persons, including members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and market women, among others, were on Friday denied access to the Edo State Government House during the celebration of Governor Monday Okpebholo’s victory at the Supreme Court.

The supporters of the party were reportedly barred from entering the Government House by security operatives who said they were acting on instructions.

Ekwutosblog recalls that the Supreme Court had on Thursday validated the decisions of the lower courts, the Election Petition Tribunal and the Court Appeal, which upheld Okpebholo as the winner of the September 21, 2024, governorship election.

As a result of the judgment, members and supporters of the APC, as well as market women and youths, gathered at the Benin Airport as early as 7:00 am to give the governor a rousing welcome.

The jubilant supporters were still at the airport at about 12.40 pm when the governor’s aircraft touched down.

Following the euphoria of the victory, the supporters, many of whom were not mobile, proceeded on foot in a road procession with Okpebholo’s convoy, chanting solidarity songs.

The procession, which lasted for about an hour, terminated at the Edo State Government House.

The supporters were, however, stunned when they were prevented by security operatives from going into the Edo State Government House with the governor.

The bewildered supporters took turns to lament the development, with many raining insults on the authorities.

One of the supporters, who simply identified herself as Mrs Omogiate, said they were informed by security operatives that only Very Important Personalities (VIPs) would be allowed into the Government House for refreshments

According to her, “in the worst moments of ex-governor Godwin Obaseki, supporters and members were not shabbily treated like this”.

Another supporter who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said, “They have won now, and they have decided to build a wall around themselves.

“I left my house before 700 am for the airport and stood under the sun for hours before the arrival of the governor.

“We engaged in a road show with him till we got to the Government House, only for us to be shut out. This is unfair.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Bayo Ojulari, has said the state-owned oil firm is planning to conclude its review of the Port Harcourt, Warri, and Kaduna refineries before the end of December 2025.

Ojuari disclosed this in an interview with Bloomberg published on Thursday, at the sideline of the a recent seminar for the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

He noted that NNPCL would make a decision on selling the refineries after it had concluded its review process.

According to him, some of the technologies brought in to revamp the refineries have not worked as expected due to the old nature of the plants.

“So our refineries, we have made quite a lot of investment in over the last several years and brought in a lot of technologies. We have been challenged that some of those technologies have not worked as expected so far. As you know, refining a very old refinery that has been abandoned for some time becomes a little bit complicated. So we are reviewing all our refineries strategies now. We hope before the end of the year we will conclude the review.

“The review will lead to us doing things differently.

When asked by Bloomberg whether selling the refineries is an option, Ojulari said, “What we are saying is that a sale is not out of the question; all the options are on the table. That decision will be based on the outcome of the review.

Ojulari’s comments come after NNPCL, on May 24, 2025, announced the shutdown of the Port Harcourt refinery for planned maintenance and sustainability assessment.

In November and December last year, the former GCEO of NNPCL, Mele Kyari, announced the successful rehabilitation and commencement of operations at the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has reduced its premium motor spirit price.

Ekwutosblog correspondent gathered that the NNPCL retail outlets in Abuja on Saturday slashed their petrol pump price to N910 per litre from N945.

This was the case in NNPCL filling stations in Zone 6, Kubwa Expressway, Wuse Zone 4, and other parts of Abuja.

The new petrol price at the state-owned oil firm represents a N30 drop from its earlier N945 per litre price.

The development comes barely four days after Dangote Refinery reduced its petrol ex-depot price to N840 per litre from N880 following a drop in global crude oil prices.

Members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association also announced a reduction in the petrol price to between N930 and N940 per litre from N945 and N975 in Abuja and N890 per litre, down from N925 in Lagos State.