₦airaland Forum

Of the 11 million Nigerians who registered to vote this year, about 1.5 million records were flagged as suspicious, and about 268,000 are still being checked before the final register on 15 December. Eligible voters should not be removed, INEC says, but trust in the process has taken a hit. The cost of living matters just as much. Oil fell more than 4% on Monday, yet it is unclear whether petrol and other energy costs will follow, and energy inflation already more than doubled to 10.85% in September. If you are a retiree, pension arrears have been paid to 18,822 pensioners, some covering 65 months. If you borrow, a new phone code now offers loans, but they must be repaid, and over 353,000 Nigerians have already borrowed through the corporation’s programmes. If you need your National Identification Number fixed, use an approved centre, since illegal operators were arrested in Abuja. And if you save, a federal savings bond now pays up to 14.25% a year from ₦5,000, and the offer closes on 6 November.

The naira is 8.73% stronger than at the start of the year, and reserves are about $55 billion. Yet in the Mushin, Daleko, Mile 12 and Oyingbo markets, 31 of 67 food items cost more in October than in September. A 50kg bag of maize now costs ₦55,000, up from ₦40,000 in September, and a bag of yellow garri has gone from ₦18,000 to ₦23,000. Tomatoes are the exception, with a big basket down 22.22% to ₦35,000. If you rent in Abuja, a House bill would stop landlords asking for more than 12 months upfront, with fines up to ₦5 million for individuals who break the rule. If you ride a bus in Kano, five new electric buses are meant to bring fares down by at least 40%. Meanwhile, the Ebola alarm in Adamawa ended with two negative tests, and 62 contacts of the one confirmed case are still being monitored. If you plan to vote, INEC says the final voters’ register comes out on 15 December, after more than 5,000 requests for corrections.

If you drive the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, the government says all 375 kilometres will get solar street lights, and the first 118 kilometres of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria section took 30 months to finish. On the road, 21 states have now passed one common tax law that replaces more than 100 separate levies, and the Joint Revenue Board says collecting cash at roadblocks is banned, with enforcement with the police to start soon. On the Owerri-Orlu Road, a motorist says he refused to pay “fuel money” and was assaulted on video by a patrol leader, and Imo police have promised discipline. Meanwhile, the Senate says it intends to send a state police law to the President by December. If you are a parent, from the 2026/2027 session you will be able to enter your child’s matriculation number on a NELFUND portal and see whether a loan has already paid the school fees, so you are not asked to pay them again. In Lagos, the health insurance plans listed cost from ₦15,000 to ₦150,000 a year, and the deadline to get one is 31 December.

A federal worker will get ₦70,000 a month for transport from November, for six months. The TUC says that is a stopgap, and that a similar ₦40,000 award in 2023 reached some workers late and others not at all. It wants the lowest-paid federal worker moved from ₦70,000 to ₦300,000. Other costs and deadlines are lining up. A Lagos resident has until 31 December to take out health insurance before enforcement starts on 1 January. A Nigerian applying for a UK student visa from 30 November must show £14,130 for living costs in London, held in the bank for 28 days. A Nigerian contributing to the National Housing Fund can now apply for a lease-to-own home, but FMBN has not said what it costs or how long repayment lasts. And in Ebonyi, a man allegedly collected ₦650,000 from a client while posing as a lawyer, and the Nigerian Bar Association’s website lets anyone look up a lawyer’s name before paying.