President Bola Tinubu is scheduled to inaugurate the $400m Otakikpo Onshore Crude Oil Export Terminal in Rivers State on October 8, the first new crude export facility to be built in Nigeria in over 50 years.

The facility, developed by Green Energy International Limited, operators of the Otakikpo field in OML 11, Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, is the first wholly indigenous onshore terminal built in Nigeria. The last such facility, the Forcados Terminal, was commissioned in 1971.

The inauguration is expected to attract top government officials, including the Minister of State for Petroleum (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and key stakeholders across the oil and gas sector.

According to a statement signed by GEIL’s Executive Director of Legal and Corporate Services, Olusegun Ilori, on Thursday, the terminal aligns with President Tinubu’s drive to boost crude oil production and address Nigeria’s long-standing evacuation challenges.

“This project is a strategic infrastructure that supports the administration’s commitment to raising output while reducing costs,” Ilori said.

Industry operators have consistently highlighted evacuation bottlenecks as a major obstacle to meeting the Federal Government’s production target of three million barrels per day.

The Otakikpo terminal is expected to serve as a lifeline to more than 40 stranded oil fields by providing a reliable evacuation outlet, potentially unlocking millions of barrels of crude previously trapped underground.

With an initial storage capacity of 750,000 barrels, expandable to three million barrels, and a loading capacity of 360,000 barrels per day, the facility is also projected to significantly reduce production costs for indigenous producers.

Chairman and Chief Executive of GEIL, Professor Anthony Adegbulugbe, described the terminal as a “game-changing national infrastructure.”

“What we have achieved here is not just a storage solution, but a pathway for about 40 stranded oil fields to finally contribute to the economy,” Adegbulugbe said.

The inauguration underscores renewed efforts by the Federal Government to restore investor confidence in Nigeria’s oil sector, which has struggled with declining production, pipeline vandalism, oil theft, and rising operational costs in recent years.

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The Nigerian Bar Association has vowed to provide free legal services to Nigerians harassed by the police over the controversial tinted glass permit, which it described as “illegal.”

The NBA, through its Section on Public Interest and Development Law, said the police had no constitutional basis to impose fees or annual renewals on motorists, warning that enforcement of the policy was both unlawful and a revenue-driven scheme.

In a statement on Thursday, the Chairman of the NBA’s Public Interest Litigation Committee, Olukunle Edun (SAN), said: “We shall invoke the powers of the court to ensure that the Nigeria Police Force does not trample on the rights of Nigerians. Any citizen who is harassed by the police in the purported enforcement of the illegal tinted glass permit should feel free to contact any of the NBA branches.

“The Human Rights Committees of the 130 branches of the NBA in Nigeria are ready to offer pro bono services to anyone who is harassed. It has been estimated that the police may generate at least N3bn within a month from monies that will be collected, thus turning the police into a revenue-generating agency of the Federal Government instead of focusing on the more serious issue of crime.”

Edun stressed that the matter is already in court and accused the police of being “lawless” by commencing enforcement.

In a letter to the Inspector General of Police dated October 2, 2025, the NBA reminded the force of the pending suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1821/2025 before the Federal High Court, Abuja, which challenges the legality and constitutionality of the policy. The association said the police have a duty to maintain the status quo ante bellum until the court rules.

The suit, filed by the Incorporated Trustees of the NBA, seeks declarations that the Motor Vehicles (Prohibition of Tinted Glass) Decree 1991 is unconstitutional and inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution, and that motorists cannot be compelled to pay fees or renew permits. It also seeks an injunction restraining the police from further arrests, harassment, or extortion under the policy.

An affidavit filed by NBA lawyer, Godspower Eroga, alleged that the police intended to divert funds through a private account—Parkway Projects A/C No. 4001017918—instead of remitting payments into the Treasury Single Account.

He further argued that the law cited by the police provides no measurable standard for tinting and is incompatible with modern vehicles that often come with factory-installed tinted windows.

Eroga also noted that successive Inspectors General of Police had at various times suspended the permit regime, declaring it free, indefinite, or unnecessary.

He added that senior police officers themselves use SUVs with heavily tinted windows, often without permits.

The NBA insisted that the police cannot impose what amounts to taxation without legislation.

“The Nigeria Police Force is not a revenue-generating agency of the Federal Government,” it stated.

Meanwhile, the association expressed outrage that on the very first day of enforcement, police officers in Asaba, Delta State, impounded the vehicle of a National Industrial Court judge, Justice O. A. Ogunbowale.

NBA-SPIDEL described the action as “an embarrassing and avoidable situation” that underscored its warnings about the dangers of the policy.

The body revealed it had made a last-minute attempt to secure an injunction to halt the enforcement, but the Federal High Court’s vacation judge declined to hear the application, citing procedural limitations.

“A simple order to stay the police action could have protected the public and, as it turned out, one of his own colleagues,” the NBA said.

It concluded by urging the judiciary to act decisively in matters of urgent public interest:

“The judiciary’s authority and integrity are best protected when its members act to prevent chaos, even if it means bending a procedural rule on the ‘last day’ on the bench.”

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Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), has said that every Nigerian is now legally entitled to compulsory health insurance under the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) Act of 2022.

In a statement made available to The PUNCH on Friday, Falana explained that the NHIA Act repealed and replaced the National Health Insurance Scheme Act of 2004, which he said had failed to achieve “significant population coverage or integration” of Nigeria’s fragmented health insurance system.

According to him, the 2022 law “represents a major policy and legal shift toward making universal health coverage a legal and operational reality for all Nigerians.”

He noted that the Act mandates the enforcement of a Basic Minimum Package of Care for all citizens, while also establishing the Vulnerable Group Fund to subsidise care for the poor, elderly, children under five, and persons living with physical or mental disabilities.

Falana added that state governments are required to operate their own health insurance schemes or engage third-party administrators until such schemes are established.

“In accordance with the NHIA, on September 3, 2025, President Bola Tinubu directed all Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to enrol their employees in the National Health Insurance Authority scheme,” he said.

“To ensure compliance across all MDAs, the directive mandates all entities participating in public procurement to present a valid NHIA-issued Health Insurance Certificate,” Falana added.

He explained that the directive also empowers the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to enforce enrolment and monitor compliance, potentially expanding health coverage significantly across public institutions.

Falana further said the NHIA Act mandates the governments of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to provide a basic minimum package of care to all residents of Nigeria, in line with the Basic Health Care Provision Fund under the National Health Act 2014.

He noted that “state health schemes will manage the fund and monitor its implementation,” while states without established schemes may use third-party administrators pending the creation of their own.

“The primary aim of the NHIA Act is to ensure that every Nigerian and legal resident has access to affordable, quality, and comprehensive health care services through mandatory health insurance,” he said.

Falana pointed out that the NHIA had now set up “a regulatory and institutional framework for the promotion, administration, supervision, and regulation of all health insurance schemes in Nigeria — whether public or private.”

Citing the Health Care Providers Association of Nigeria, Falana lamented that “over 90 per cent of Nigerians are still not covered by any form of health insurance,” warning that the country remains far from achieving universal health coverage.

He attributed the situation largely to poverty, noting that “millions of citizens have become dimensionally poor.”

Quoting Section 25 of the NHIA Act, Falana said health insurance for vulnerable people “shall be fully funded by the government,” while Section 31 requires employees to contribute on a contributory basis.

He explained that the law defines the “vulnerable group” to include “children under five, pregnant women, the aged, the physically and mentally challenged, and the indigent as may be defined from time to time.”

“Since the majority of citizens have become indigent and vulnerable, the federal, state, and local governments should provide adequate funding for the health insurance of all citizens,” Falana stated.

He said this demand aligns with Section 17(3)(d) of the Nigerian Constitution, which imposes a duty on the government to ensure “adequate medical and health facilities for all persons,” as well as Article 16 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which guarantees every individual “the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”

PUNCH Online on September 25, 2025, reports that President Bola Tinubu’s directive to enforce the National Health Insurance Authority Act (2022) across all ministries, departments, and agencies has been hailed as a significant step forward for Nigeria’s health system.

The order mandates MDAs to enrol their employees in the NHIA scheme and makes possession of a valid Health Insurance Certificate a prerequisite for public procurement, licensing, and other official approvals. It also provides for the creation of a digital verification platform to enhance transparency and prevent forgery.

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