₦airaland Forum

hatchy:
pk

JON01:
Guy the Heineken still remain Make I just dey here cool my throat dey read comments

Bizibi:
My brain is paining me,different news on fuel everyday.
@Beebeeooh abeg pass me that cold Heineken......

The Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association (DAPPMA) on Tuesday expressed concern over the inability of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to send petrol to its members’ depots.

DAPPMA’s Executive Secretary, Mr Olufemi Adewole, in a statement in Lagos, urged NNPC to help the Association so as to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians.

“Our members’ depots are presently empty. However, if the PPMC/NNPC can provide us with petrol, we are ready to do 24-hour loading to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians and for the fuel queues to be totally eliminated.

“We, petroleum products marketers, do empathise with all Nigerians who are going through difficulties at this time by spending hours on fuel queues because of the current fuel scarcity due to no fault of theirs.

“DAPPMA members import about 65 per cent of the nation’s total fuel consumption, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) imports about 15 per cent and PPMC/NNPC import the balance of 20 per cent.

“However this scenario changed drastically due to several challenges faced by marketers," he said.

The DAPPMA official claimed that their members pay PPMC/NNPC in advance for petroleum products.

He said fully paid-up petrol orders which have neither been programmed nor loaded is in excess of 500,000MT (about 800,000,000 litres).

“As at today, there is enough petrol to meet the nation’s needs for 19 days at a daily estimated consumption of 35,000,000 litres.

“Sadly, some people have blamed marketers for hoarding products. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth.

“Hoarding is regarded as economic sabotage and we assure all Nigerians that our members are not involved in such illicit act.

“While all kinds of allegations have been made in the media, it is important to set the records straight, as Nigerians first, and as responsible business men and women who employ Nigerians.

“As it stands today, NNPC has been the sole importer of PMS into the country since October,’’ Adewole said.

bossrillboss:
...Lwkmd..guy y u wan kill me wit laff na.choi

The fuel crisis rocking the country has helped to push subsidy being paid by the Federal Government on the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) also known as petrol to an all-time high of N2.1164 billion daily, checks by New Telegraph have revealed. A document of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari, a copy of which was sighted by this newspaper yesterday, hinted further that this new subsidy mark has been incurred “in the last 14 days,” amounting to N29.68 billion subsidy.

While the crisis has surged daily truck out of petrol to 52 million litres from an average of 40 million litres daily average consumption, according to the document, about N40.70 extra cost is incurred on each litre to ensure that they are sold at N145 per litre modulated price.

“The national truck out capacity had, in the last two weeks, been jerked up to an average of 1,500 trucks, translating to 52 million litres per day, which is much higher than the normal consumption of 850 trucks per day across the various depots in the country,” the document showed.




Though the NNPC insisted that this new cost would not lead to hike in pump price of fuel, it confirmed the surge in daily truck out and extra cost through the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru, saying that it now cost N171.40 per litre to import petrol into the country. Using the approved template of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the total landing cost amounts to N185.70 with the addition of the N14.30 per litre distribution margin approved in the last pricing template for petrol by the PPPRA.

This implies that the government is subsidising petrol consumption by as much as N40.70 per litre and N2.1164 billion on 52 million litres truck out daily in the last 14 days. On the volume of products available for supply, the NNPC GMD informed that 13 vessels laden with over 650 million litres of products were currently discharging their contents at the sea port while additional vessels have been lined up to berth in early January 2018. He said 814 million litres of petrol were currently being injected into the system to guarantee nationwide elimination of fuel queues before the end of the year.

He also talked about the cost of importing petrol into the country and the seeming pressure by marketers on the government to hike the price, in accordance with market forces. Baru explained that as of Friday last week, the landing cost for a litre of petrol was N171.40, but the Federal Government has no plan of increasing the cost at the pumps. In this regard, Baru said: “The landing cost comprising CIF (cost, insurance and freight) of petrol as of last Friday was in the neighbourhood of $620 per metric tonne, so with the official exchange rate of N305 to the dollar, the landing cost should be N171.40 per litre.” In the mid-2015, the Nigerian Extractive Transparency Initiative (NEITI) released its audit report indicating that the Federal Government spent about N4.5 trillion between 2006 and 2012, a period of seven years, as subsidy on petroleum products imported into the country. With the N2 billion subsidy being paid daily in the last two weeks, the government is paying higher than it was previously paid.

Evablizin:
Cute couple

So because he is fat means that he should not marry a pretty lady?

APC, PDP Bicker

But even as the government went into overdrive to assuage frustrated Nigerians over the fuel shortages, the two main political parties in the country – the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – traded tackles yesterday over the worsening fuel supply situation.

Whereas the ruling party described the situation as unfortunate and said it was beyond politics, the opposition PDP blamed the APC-led federal government for its “sheer incompetence and gross insensitivity”.

In a statement issued by the APC spokesman, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the ruling party said it acknowledged the difficulties Nigerians were experiencing as a result of the unfortunate fuel scarcity across the country, especially during the Yuletide period.

However, the party condemned what it described as bad politics and the desperation by the PDP to make the government and the ruling party look bad by maliciously fabricating and circulating fictitious statements in the name of government and party officials.

While empathising with Nigerians over the difficulties they were confronted with, APC appealed for patience with the federal government, assuring them that efforts were being made to improve the situation.

“We understand that the federal government is doing everything to improve the situation and bring succour to the people as soon as possible.
“We also understand the unhappiness of Nigerians with this situation, which is happening for the first time in the Christmas period since the APC administration came to power.

“We also wish to note that while we accept the choice of the opposition PDP to make political gains out of the difficulties that Nigerians are experiencing as a result of this fuel scarcity, we however condemn their desperation to make the government and our party look bad by maliciously fabricating and circulating fictitious statements in the name of our government and party officials and then attack us on the basis of those same statements that they fabricated in the first place. This is bad politics.

“Once again we empathise with Nigerians at this difficult time and appeal for patience with the federal government as it makes efforts to improve the situation and find a lasting solution to this problem that has bedevilled every administration in our country, including the PDP administration under whose government, Nigerians would recall, the oil cabal enjoyed unprecedented prosperity,” APC said.

In response, the PDP bemoaned what it described as the “gross insensitivity of the APC-led federal government” in the face of the biting economic hardship Nigerians have been facing, now worsened by the fuel shortages.

The opposition party said it was disheartening that Nigerians cannot celebrate the yuletide season due to the current biting economic hardship, worsened by acute fuel shortages brought on by the “shambolic policies, sheer incompetence and gross insensitivity of the APC-led federal government”.

The PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement described the nation’s economic situation as a national embarrassment that could not be glossed over with deceit, lies and propaganda, and urged Nigerians to overcome this very sordid situation by rallying round in true love as epitomised in the birth and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It urged Nigerians not to despair but to use the occasion of this year’s Christmas to show love, care and encourage one another, regardless of their religious, ethnic and political inclinations.

“Indeed, this is the worst yuletide ever. There is no way one can sugarcoat the fact that the anguish Nigerians face today is because of the incompetence of the APC government, which has also amply demonstrated that it does not care about the welfare and happiness of the citizens.

“Our country’s economic situation has astronomically gone from bad to worse in the last two years, and painfully, there is no hope in sight under this APC regime.
“As we speak, many families are completely stranded; many more can no longer afford their basic needs.

“Nigerians have become ravaged by economic hardship because the APC-led federal government has abandoned them and refused to channel the abundant resources available in the nation for the good of the people.

“Instead, they are heartlessly diverting such resources for their selfish political purposes while the people suffer.
“These horrendous realities imposed on us by the APC, notwithstanding, we must not become despondent.

“This Christmas season presents us very strong lessons in hope and our collective triumph over adverse situations as exemplified in the birth and teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Now that it has become manifest, even by their speeches this season that those who promised Nigerians El Dorado do not have the slightest capacity to fulfil the smallest of their promises, we as a people must not also abandon ourselves.
“We must therefore rise above all divisive ethnic, religious and political considerations and make this season merry by helping and encouraging one another in love.

“The ugly situation we all confront with today as a people must therefore serve as the catalyst for a prosperous tomorrow as Nigerians join hands with the PDP to restore our dear nation to the path of good governance and national prosperity come 2019,” it said.

Despite the discomfort occasioned by fuel shortages, PDP urged Nigerians to use this period to pray for the prosperity and unity of our nation and wished them a happy Christmas and prosperous New Year ahead.

As Nigerians face a bleak Christmas characterised by fuels shortages, soaring transportation and food prices, and their inability to even travel to their country homes to spend the season with their loved ones, President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday broke his silence on the crisis and expressed his regret over the harrowing situation. He also expressed sympathy with Nigerians.

Buhari in a statement that he personally signed and posted on his Twitter handle @MBuhari, said he sympathised with Nigerians on the “needless” queues they have had to contend with in recent times, adding that he had directed regulators in the oil and gas sector to increase their surveillance and end hoarding and price hikes by fuel marketers.

The president, who said he was being briefed regularly on the effort by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to ensure availability of fuel across the country, added that he had been assured by the NNPC that a significant improvement would be witnessed in the next few days.

According to him, the corporation had also disclosed that new shipments of fuel were being distributed nationwide, noting that the relevant agencies would continue to provide updates on the situation, even as he thanked Nigerians for their patience and understanding.

He said: “The fuel scarcity being experienced nationwide is regrettable. I sympathise with all Nigerians on having to endure needless fuel queues. I’m being regularly briefed, especially on NNPC’s interventions to ensure that there is enough petrol available during this period and beyond.

“I have the NNPC’s assurance that the situation will improve significantly over the next few days, as new shipments and supplies are distributed across the country.
“I have also directed the regulators to step up their surveillance and bring an end to hoarding and price inflation by marketers. Let me also assure that the relevant agencies will continue to provide updates on the situation. I thank you all for your patience and understanding.”

Xmas Travellers Stranded

But as the petrol shortages bit harder, passengers travelling for Christmas were stranded at the Mararaba bus park in Nasarawa State, among several others nationwide yesterday.
This was compounded by the few transporters who had fuel but cashed in on the development by increasing fares arbitrarily.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), many travellers were forced to cancel their trips and return home due to shortage of vehicles at the parks.
Ernest Obi, a businessman who was supposed to travel to Enugu State from Maraba, near the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, said he would not be able to embark on the journey.
He said had he spent four hours at the Mararaba park, but was unable to get a vehicle.

“I cannot imagine what people are going through. Our staying in this country is becoming unbearable.
“I came to the park as early as 7 a.m. and this is noon. I have not seen a vehicle to convey me to my village.
“You can see the crowd yourself. Why is it that this scarcity occurs around the Christmas season every year?”

Another intended traveller, Joy Andrew, said the Christmas period was a time and opportunity for most people to travel and meet loved ones and parents.
Ms. Andrew who was seen leaving the park, said she would try again last night.

“I think I will take a night bus after what I have experienced. May be it will be better,” she said.
She added that the situation had also caused a lot of exploitation of travellers by drivers and bus owners.
“This situation is making the drivers to exploit commuters as many of them have increased the price of transport fares.
“I used to pay N2,500 from this park in Mararaba to Benue. But today, the drivers are asking for between N4,500 and N5,000,” she said.

Another intended traveller, Jacinta Uche said: “The situation is so bad. I got here as early as 6 a.m. thinking that I will avoid the rush.

“But to my surprise, I met so many other passengers who said they got here before me. There are few cars at the park and those that are available, have doubled their fares.
“I will not be going back home. This year’s Christmas will be dull for me because I don’t think I will make it to the village,” she said.

Other than the lack of vehicles at the bus parks, the fuel crisis resulted in a traffic gridlock along the Abuja-Keffi expressway as commuters spent hours on the road; the same was replicated from Ore to Benin and several other expressways in the country.

NNPC: No Price Hike

Meanwhile, in the bid to throw more light on the efforts by government to end the fuel crisis, the Group Managing Director of NNPC, Dr. Maikanti Baru said yesterday that the president has ordered inland and border security agencies in Nigeria to improve their surveillance in order to checkmate the diversion of products to neighbouring countries and hoarding by marketers.

Baru who spoke at a briefing in Abuja, said this was the outcome of the meeting he had with Buhari on Saturday, during which they discussed the situation and its attendant pains on Nigerians.

The NNC boss said that he told the president that the situation has remained largely difficult to overcome despite the corporation’s efforts so far because of product diversion and hoarding by marketers.

He said based on this, Buhari issued a directive to the relevant security agencies in the country to checkmate the diversion of petrol, including tightening the movement of petrol tankers across the country’s borders.

He also said that on the back the presidential directives, the corporation was expecting the security agencies to complement its efforts to clear the situation within two days, especially with the 13 vessels containing up to 650 million litres of petrol at the ports that were being discharged for onward distribution across the country.

“It has become absolutely necessary for me to address this gathering and to show our concern and also sympathise with citizens for this uncomfortable situation experienced by citizens, especially in major cities of the country where Nigerians have to queue for hours with their vehicles to travel for Christmas and the New Year.

“What I can assure you is that Mr. President has already responded as part of the discussion we had yesterday. On his Twitter handle, Mr. President has indicated that part of our discussion was to get the regulatory and security agencies to beef up their surveillance and enforcement of distribution of products because part of my briefing to him was that there is still significant hoarding and diversion where trucks that are loaded to supply products to specific stations get diverted elsewhere and are smuggled out of the country.

“The immediate response of Mr. President was for him to direct the boarder agencies as well as the security and regulatory agencies to ensure that all trucks that are loading deliver to the stations they are meant to deliver,” Baru said.
He further stated: “Part of my briefing in the same light is the fact that a lot of stations outside the cities have products and they are selling at a much higher price than N145 per litre.
“If they had been directed to go to their correct locations and they delivered and sold at the control price of N145, then this should have been curtailed.”

He explained that based on the presidential directive, the corporation was confident of seeing out the situation within two days.

“With the drive and the load-out we are doing, if we get full compliance, we don’t see it going beyond the next two days.
“However, you know there is always a time-lag, but we will continue to put all the efforts to see that this does not go beyond the end of this week,” added Baru.

While buttressing his confidence in the corporation’s plan to address the situation, Baru stated: “As I am talking, NNPC has 13 vessels that are discharging products at the various ports.
“The 13 vessels will have about 650 million litres, so there are products. And we are also expecting three more vessels to come in before the end of the week.

“In terms of sufficiency, I can comfortably tell you that we have about 814 million litres of products that will be in the tank farms or distributed before the end of the month.”

On the capacity of the corporation to continue to shoulder the burden of being the sole importer of petrol in the country, considering the present supply gaps, Baru said: “NNPC is the supplier of last resort and will continue to carry that burden and that is why at the shortest possible time we deploy all the arsenal we have to satisfy the nation, but at the same time we want to see active private sector participation.”

He also talked about the cost of importing petrol into the country and the seeming pressure by marketers on the government to hike the price, in accordance with market forces.

Baru explained that as of Friday last week, the landing cost for a litre of petrol was N171.40, but the federal government has no plan of increasing the cost at the pumps.

Based on THISDAY’s calculations, with the addition of the N14.30 per litre distribution margin approved in the last pricing template for petrol by the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), the current market price of petrol in the country should be N185.70, implying that the government is subsidising petrol consumption by as much as N40.70 per litre

In this regard, Baru said: “The landing cost comprising CIF (cost, insurance and freight) of petrol as of last Friday was in the neighborhood of $620 per metric tonne, so with the official exchange rate of N305 to the dollar, the landing cost should be N171.40 per litre.

“The government has consistently indicated that N145 per litre is the price and it has mandated the NNPC to keep the depot price at N133.28 per litre, so as to maintain a cap of N145 per liter.

“So, there is a lot of profit in between after taking the transportation cost of N7 off; there is sufficient margin for marketers in that PPPRA template at the price cap.
“The government is reassuring Nigerians that the price cap of N145 per litre, irrespective of the CIF landing cost is guaranteed, so marketers should play within that margin.

“We have been doing that, and last year, it was the same regime that we were selling to them and they were able to sell at low prices. But obviously, profiteering is setting in and I find it quite obnoxious at this time of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.”

romme2u:


temper justice with mercy. Easy on him

Kirinwa:
Buhari will be sinking his mouth on what doesn't concern him. Nonsense! But those monies Us gave us, what achievement have we achieved?

The ongoing fuel crisis is having its toll on Nigerians across the country, with some people now spending the night at filling stations just to get the commodity.

The manhour loss can better be imagined. When TheCable visited some filling stations in Lagos and Abuja, motorists narrated their gruelling experiences.

A public transport driver at a Peridot Oil and Gas Station in FESTAC, Lagos spoke on how he spent the night at the station.

“We have been here since 8pm yesterday. Some of us slept here. Up till now, we have not had any chance to go and take our bath,” the driver identified as Ojo said.


“They were selling to people with gallons but when we reached the director, he gave order to the manager to stop selling to people with gallons.”

Ojo added that the crisis is “seriously affecting our business.”

“The few ones that have are selling for N230 a litre; some are selling N200.”

PEOPLE BUYING THROUGH THE ‘BACKDOOR’


The situation at Mobil Filling Station along Karu-Nyanya road in Abuja is also depressing. Some of the motorists accused the station attendants of selling the commodity to some “rich men” through the back door.

A car owner said even though “some of us have been here since 1am,…we have not been able to get any fuel.”

“At the second line, they are collecting money; from N1000 to N500 as gate fee,” he said.

“We that have been here since the night but our own line is not moving since we did not pay any money.”

WE CAN’T WORK BECAUSE OF FUEL SCARCITY’

While the crisis bites hard on some of the road users, a tricyclist at the station wants government to find a solution to the situation before the year ends.

“Government should do something about it so that it will not continue in January. Because if it continues in January, it won’t be good, December has already gone,” the man identified as Anyanwu Samson said.

“Throughout December, we did not work. We are not doing any work again. We only work for few hours in a day and park.

“From Nyanya to Jikwoyi which we used to carry N50 is now N100. People are frustrated and passengers are complaining.

“A litre of fuel at black market is N350. They are selling normal price of N145 at the filling station although they don’t give in gallons. The little you will buy, if you go a short distance, it will finish.

“If it continues next year, there will be a problem. The government will keep promising and at the end of the day, nothing will be done.”

‘BLACK MARKETERS’ EXPERIENCING BOOM

Moreover, there appears to be a particular group enjoying the current fuel crisis: small-scale sellers of the commodity better known as ‘Black marketers’.

Fuel sold for N350 a litre close to Nyanya bridge, Abuja
While some filling stations in Abuja sell the price of N145 a litre, some of the “black marketers” sell for as high as N400.

“It is very horrible,” a motorcyclist told TheCable, “I bought at N300 not because I have enough money but I needed to work. If a passenger doesn’t want to pay the high amount we charge, the person should forget it.”

NNPC HASN’T FULFILLED ITS PROMISE

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) had promised that the queues would end this week.

Maikanti Baru, group managing director of the corporation, had blamed marketers for the crisis, saying part of what caused it was the rumours about the purported planned increase in the pump price of petrol.

“But we swiftly swung into action by doubling our supply nationwide. At the time the rumour started, we had about 30-day sufficiency,” he said.

“The normal daily supply to the nation is 700 trucks, equaling about 27-30 million litres per day.”

He had also assured Nigerians that the NNPC had enough products sufficiency that would last up to 30 days.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

lilytender:
Pls post your father success story. His list of life achievement may make us to vote for your father against Buhari. Proud son, tell us about your father.

ajepako:
Tolototo ke

Abi ogongo (ostrich)

Anyhow Buhari does it we shall survive and his zombies shall suffer for their idiocy

Divay22:
Lol. Yeye
Merry Christmas in advance

Someone sometime ago said that Buhari makes failure look so simple and very interesting..

Divay22:
Hope you wee like it when you also occupy the last seat in heaven

The United States Government is considering measures to take against Nigeria and others for voting in support of the United Nations’ resolution against the US’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.

On December 6, US President Donald Trump formally recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel as well as making plans to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the Holy City.

Last Thursday, Nigeria and 127 other countries kicked against that decision.

As reported in the US and UK media, the American government said it would sanction Nigeria and other countries that voted against its decision.

At a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Trump was quoted by the UK’s The Guardian newspaper as saying, “Let them (Nigeria and other countries benefitting from the US financial aids) vote against us. We’ll save a lot. We don’t care.

“But this isn’t like it used to be where they could vote against you (the US) and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars. We’re not going to be taken advantage of any longer.”

When contacted on whether the US would stop providing financial aid to Nigeria for not supporting its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, a US Department of State official, Julia Mason, told our correspondent, “As President Trump said on December 20, it is a factor in the process of making our assistance decisions. The president’s foreign policy team has been empowered to explore various options going forward; however, no decisions have been made.”

In July, Trump had promised $639m in aid to assist people facing famine in Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

Among the quartet, only South Sudan did not vote against the US.

Nigeria was one of the 10 nations in the world to receive the most foreign aid spent in 2016 by the US government, receiving $607.5m

In 2015, the United States Agency for International Development put its total fiscal year spending in Nigeria at $355,728,911.

In 2015, the United States Agency for International Development put its total fiscal year spending in Nigeria at $355,728,911.

Asked if the Trump administration felt disappointed that Nigeria and other African countries that depend on US financial aids and other supports did not throw their weight behind the US, an official of the US agency, stated, “The outcome was not unexpected. It is a non-binding resolution that does nothing to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or advance the cause of peace.”

Reacting to the UN resolution, the US Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, had said, “Unlike some UN member countries, the United States government is answerable to its people; as such, we have an obligation to acknowledge when our political and financial capital is being poorly spent.

“We have an obligation to demand more for our investment, and if our investment fails, we have an obligation to spend our resources in more productive ways. Those are the thoughts that come to mind when we consider the resolution before us today.”

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the Federal Government on the current fuel crisis in the country.

A statement issued by Bolaji Abudullahi, the party’s spokesperson on Saturday, said the APC-led Federal Government was making efforts to address the situation.

“We empathise with Nigerians at this difficult time and appeal for patience with the Federal Government as it make efforts to improve the situation,” he said.

He added that government was making efforts to find lasting solution to the problem that had bedeviled every administration in the country.

“Our party acknowledges the difficulties Nigerians are currently experiencing as a result of the unfortunate fuel scarcity across the country; especially at this yuletide period.

“We understand that the Federal Government is doing everything to improve the situation and bring succor to the people as soon as possible,” he said.

The party had earlier downplayed the fuel crisis, saying on Friday there was “no real scarcity”.

Mr. Abdullahi said the APC also understood the unhappiness of Nigerians at the situation, which he noted was happening for the first time in the Christmas period since its administration came to power.

He further said while the APC accepted the choice of the opposition PDP to make “political gains” out of the development, it condemned its desperation to make the APC-led government look bad.

This, Mr. Abudullahi said, the PDP was doing by maliciously fabricating and circulating fictitious statements in the names of government and APC officials.

According to him, the PDP had continued to attack the APC on the basis of such fabricated statements, saying, “this is bad politics”.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44

erifeoluwasimi:
the man is the best teaching aid to explain failure to a class

The White House on Sartuday denied a report claiming President Donald Trump said Nigerians live in huts and Haitians have AIDS.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders gave the rebuttal on Saturday, saying: “General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims.

“It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway.”

The Times had cited six officials who were either there or who were briefed on the meeting in its report.

The report was published on Saturday and cited anonymous sources who told The Times reporters’ they were either there or had been told about the remarks by others who were there.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly (who was at that time the secretary of homeland security), and Domestic Policy Adviser Stephen Miller were all there.

They said on the day in question, Trump stormed into the Oval Office clutching “sheets of papers” which revealed how many immigrants had been allowed into the US since he took office.

He was angry that so many had, they said, and made derogatory remarks about the nations on the list.

Of the 40,000 Nigerian immigrants who had been granted entry, he is alleged to have said they would “never go back to their huts in Africa” now that they had seen the United States.

According to NYT, one person claimed to have heard Trump make the remark about Haitians and a second who was not there said they were told about the same remark afterwards.

Those same two sources were the only ones who said they remembered the racist “huts” remark.

Four others who were there said they did not remember Trump using that language.

The article goes on to describe how some of Trump’s most controversial policies and decisions were conceived during the campaign.

Among them was his travel ban against Muslim majority nations which caused hysteria and shock in January when it was briefly imposed and then amended.

The unnamed officials said some White House staffers were just as taken by surprise as the rest of the country and that they had to Google which countries were affected.

Miller, the sources said, held a meeting the day after it went into effect to tell them to “tune out the whining”.

Lalasticlala, Mynd44