President Bola Tinubu has arrived in Abuja from the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Tinubu, who departed Addis Ababa in the morning on Monday, arrived in Abuja around 3:40 pm.

While in Ethiopia, the Nigerian leader actively participated in the 44th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council, held bilateral meetings and attended other events on the sidelines of the AU summit.

Tinubu joined other African leaders in high-level meetings on institutional reforms of the African Union; peace and security; specific thematic issues such as climate change, as well as modalities of participation and priorities of the continental body in the G20.

The theme of the year’s summit is ‘‘Educate an African Fit for the 21st Century: Building Resilient Education Systems for Increased Access to Inclusive, lifelong, quality, and Relevant Learning in Africa’’.

The President, who was accompanied on the trip by some ministers and other top government officials, spent three days in the East African country.

David Umahi, minister of works, has summoned cement manufacturers over the rising cost of the product.

The price of cement has been oscillating between N8,000 and N10,000 per bag from about N4,000 a few weeks ago.

Dangote, BUA, and Lafarge are some of the cement manufacturers summoned by the works ministry.

Orji Uchenna Orji, media aide to the minister, said: “Worried by the escalating cost of cement despite huge patronage by road and housing contractors to cement manufacturers, the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen Engr Nweze David Umahi CON, has summoned an urgent meeting of all cement manufacturers in Nigeria”.


Orji quoted his principal as saying that the disparity between ex-factory price and market price is huge.

“It is common knowledge that the manufacturers have their challenges, which we shall look into, but from our findings, the disparity between ex-factory price and the market price is wide,” Umahi was quoted as saying.

“We therefore need to look into the situation and other issues with a view to finding a common front.”

The Lagos State Government on Thursday said it would penalise homeowners found guilty of renting out their apartments at exorbitant fees.

Commissioner for Housing Moruf Akinderu-Fatai in a statement, said the government would wield a big stick on allottees who engaged in sharp practices.

According to him, residents of various state housing schemes have filed complaints about the high rent being charged by homeowners.

He added that the state government will withdraw allocation from culpable homeowners.

He said: “The essence of asking allottees to make a five per cent down payment and spread the remaining amount for ten years was to make life bearable for Lagosians.

“This is what Mr Governor wants to achieve, but some people seem to be taking Mr Governor’s magnanimity for granted. They are renting those apartments out to make money. The question is why do people try to inconvenience others when the government intended to make life bearable for citizens?”

Akinderu-Fatai called on the facility managers and association members in the estates to report culpable allottees to the ministry, adding that those homeowners would forfeit their apartments with their payment refunded.

The commissioner assured that the State Government will continue to cater to the needs of first-time buyers who are in dire need of such accommodation facilities through outright purchase and rent-to-own platforms.

Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Housing, Abdulhafis Toriola, an engineer, said a lot of complaints have been received from some of the estates that some homeowners harbor people of questionable character hence posing a threat to residents.

He noted that the ministry as a matter of urgency shall investigate and take the right step towards safeguarding the lives and prosperity of residents in the affected estates.

The Permanent Secretary also urged allottees to take ownership of joint facilities and follow the rules put in place to maintain the estates.

The federal government says it plans to set up a commodity board to regulate the soaring prices of food in the country.

Vice President Kashim Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday at a two-day high-level strategic meeting on climate change, food systems and resource mobilisation held in Abuja.

His statement comes after the federal high court in Lagos ordered the federal government on February 7, 2024, to fix the prices of goods and petroleum products within seven days.

According to Shettima, the board would be given the mandate to assess and regulate food prices, as well as maintain a strategic food reserve for stabilising prices of crucial grains and other food items.

He said food security was one of the eight areas of priority declared by President Bola Tinubu as part of his Renewed Hope Agenda.

“Our solution to the potential food crisis has become immediate, medium, and long-term strategies,” he said.

“The short-term strategy entails revitalising food supply through specific interventions like the distribution of fertilizers and grains to farmers and households to cushion the effects of subsidy removal.

“It also entails fostering collaboration between the ministries of agriculture and water resources for efficient farmland irrigation, ensuring year-round food production; and addressing price volatility by establishing a national commodity board.

“This board will continually assess and regulate food prices, maintaining a strategic food reserve for stabilizing prices of crucial grains and other food items.”

The vice president said Tinubu’s administration was fully investing in the restoration of degraded land.

According to him, there are ongoing plans to restore four million hectares, or nearly 10 million acres of degraded lands within the nation’s borders as its contribution to the AFR100 Initiative.

“I wish to assure you that we will engage our security architecture to protect the farms and the farmers so that farmers can return to the farmlands without fear of attacks,” he said.

“We won’t only make it safe for farmers to return to their farms, but we will also ensure the activation of land banks.

“There is currently 500,000 hectares of already mapped land that will be used to increase the availability of arable land for farming, which will immediately impact food output.”

Shettima also announced a collaboration between Tinubu’s administration and mechanisation companies to increase farmland availability, boosting agricultural production.

He further highlighted the ongoing support for the agricultural sector through funding from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“We will deploy concessionary capital to the sector, especially towards fertilizer, processing, mechanization, seeds, chemicals, equipment, feed, labour, among others,” he said.

“The concessionary funds will ensure that food is always available and affordable, thereby having a direct impact on Nigeria’s Human Capital Index (HCI).

“This administration is focused on ensuring the HCI numbers, which currently rank as the 3rd lowest in the world, are improved for increased productivity.”

The rising cost of food in the country has become an alarming issue, as data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on January 15, 2024, placed Nigeria’s food inflation at 33.9 percent.

Despite the government declaring a state of emergency on food security, prices continue to climb.

President Bola Tinubu has asked the senate to confirm five people as directors of the board of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Tinubu’s request was contained in a letter read by Senate President Godswill Akpabio on the floor of the upper legislative chamber on Tuesday.

The president premised his request on sections 6(1a) and 10(1)(2) of the CBN establishment act.

“In compliance with the provision of sections 6(1a) and 10(1)(2) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) establishment act 2007, I am pleased to present for confirmation by the senate the appointments of the underlisted five persons as directors of the board of the CBN,” he said.

The directors of the board are; Robert O. Agbide, Ado Yakubu Wanga, Murtala Sagaley, Urom Eke, and Olayinka Aliyu.

Members of the Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association of Nigeria has given the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) 14 days to reverse its ban on sachet alcohol.

The association, an affiliate of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), issued the threat during a protest at the NAFDAC headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday.

Members of the association threatened to increase protests across the Agency’s offices nationwide if nothing is done about it.

The National President of the association, Jimoh Oyibo, led the protest and submitted a letter containing the demands of the union.

According to Oyibo, the ban hurts the union, as most of its members work in the distilling and blending companies.

On February 1, NAFDAC started the enforcement of the ban on alcoholic beverages in sachets, and glass bottles of 200ml and below.

NAFDAC boss Mojisola Adeyeye, said as of January 31, 2024, no such beverages were registered with the NAFDAC.

The Registrar of the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN) Faruk Abubakar says 42,000 nurses have left the country in the last three years.

Faruk’s comment came on the heels of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) protest against the new certification verification guidelines issued by the Council.

NMCN had issued a circular saying applicants seeking verification of certificates to foreign nursing boards and councils must have two years of qualification experience and also pay a non-refundable application fee.

But speaking about why the Council issued the guidelines, he said the development is in line with international best practices, adding that so many nurses in the country have left in the past few years.

“Let me make it clear today, in the last three years over 42,000 nurses left this country and the country needs them,” he said on Tuesday’s edition of Channels Television’s The Morning Brief.

“Government policies especially the present Renew Hope Agenda, a lot of policies are coming onboard, the Federal Ministry of Health came up with so many policies where Nigerian healthcare system will be improved.”

He maintained: “Now if we allow every Nigerian to leave as they graduate, who is going to handle our healthcare services? Who is going to provide these services? We are Nigerians and it is our responsibility to these services.

“So, we are not against anybody travelling but Nigerians must be served and must be provided with this quality healthcare since we are producing the quality and best nurses that are working anywhere in the world.”

According to him, the Council has gotten several complaints about the relocation of nurses from the country. But he said such relocations should be done rightly.

“Just last year, a number of nurses were found with fake documents in America and when we did a background search, about eight of them were not in our database, they hadn’t collected their verification letter or letter of good standing and they faked the documents,” he said.

“We don’t want to recall the individual because it will dent the image of the country. So we decided to strengthen the verification process before they leave and that’s what we did.”

Whatever prompted scores of women in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, to take to the streets to protest on Tuesday was no doubt serious. Similarly, any circumstance that could make a couple less inclined to perform an important marital obligation cannot be less serious.

The women, mostly married, stormed the office of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company near the Isaac Adaka Boro Park in Port Harcourt to protest the poor power supply which they claimed had taken a toll on activities in the ‘other room’.

The angry women came from the Mile 2 and Mile 3 axis of Diobu, a densely populated area in the state capital with poor urban planning. Checks showed that most of the residential buildings in the area lacked adequate ventilation.

The aggrieved women had gathered on Dim Street, matching through Wokoma lane, then Wokoma Street, Ojoto, Obaziolu, Egbuagu, Illabuchi, and Azikiwe in the metropolis, singing and chanting choruses to express their grievances over the prolonged blackout.

Marching like soldiers with placards, the protesters barricaded the entrance of the Port Harcourt Disco, lamenting that their husbands barely had time for them at night due to the intense heat caused by the power outage.

Some of the inscriptions on their placards left no one in doubt about how they felt. Some of the inscriptions read, ‘We lack romance with our husbands,’ ‘Our husbands no longer touch us at night,’ ‘No light no payment’, ‘The heat is too much,’ and ‘PHED help us to sleep well with our husbands’.

Speaking to our correspondent, one of them, who gave her name as Chinasa, described the situation as tiring.

The mother of two said, “I stay on Dim Street. This matter don tire me. I’m a married woman with two kids and I want to complete am three, but no opportunity. When you want to touch oga him go complain say heat too much.

“Na that side be my problem o because I don’t want another woman collect my husband. That is why we are telling the government and PHED to help us.

She lamented that many men in the affected areas had been forced to remain outside and not return home to their wives due to the unbearable heat.

“They (husbands) go want to do their thing outside. Then when they return late and you touch them, they will tell you to give them space. If you touch them again, they will tell you to move because the heat is too much. I cannot take it.

“That is why we are calling on the PHED and government to help give us light, especially because we pay our bills every month.”

When our correspondent asked her why the emphasis was on intercourse, Chinasa said, “Yes, it is because that one is my field and I don’t want my husband to go outside. When he goes to work and returns at night, that (intercourse) is what I use to make him happy; that was why I said the lack of it is my problem.

However, another protester, Mercy, who said she was single, said she accompanied her neighbours to protest because she suffered the impact of the power outage.

“For over two weeks now, there has been no power and we have paid our bills. I’m a single lady but the married women are my friends and neighbours. They have been complaining that their husbands no longer touch them because of the heat.

“Also, my soup always goes sour because there is no way to preserve it. Business is also not moving because customers complain that the drinks we sell are not cold

“That is why I joined them to protest. Let them increase the time (duration) of the power supply. Thirty minutes of light is too small. At least when you pay for something, you should enjoy it,” Mercy said.

But a landlord in the Mile Three axis, Nelson Ogbuji, wondered why the Disco denied the area access to power supply when the residents paid their bills promptly.

He said, “We pay the bills but don’t see the light. Three days after collecting their bills, the PHED interrupted the supply for weeks just like that.

“Then when you get home later in the night it would be dark. When everywhere is dark like that, a man would take something to drink to enable him to sleep well.

“But when he touches madam, she would say everywhere is hot. My brother, that is one of the problems. Some men said instead of doing something (sleeping with their wives) in a hot place, they would find their way; it is very unfortunate that PHED is full of disappointment.

“My brother, tell me how can I perform my matrimonial duties when before the air conditioner starts cooling, the light is gone. My wife is fat and you know fat people feel hot easily.”

Commenting on the situation, a medical doctor and public affairs commentator, Alabo Kurubo, said several factors might be responsible for the unwillingness of the men to sleep with their wives.

“It is not only a blackout that will make men stay away from their wives. There is erectile dysfunction which is a problem that men can have.

“Finance is a key component. For a man who does not have money, cannot secure food for his children, and is worried about paying school fees when his salary is exhausted in the first week of a new month, touching his wife may be difficult,” Kurubo said during a newspaper review segment on Wave FM 91.7, Port Harcourt.

He added, “I am just saying that there may be other factors. So, the light we want to shine should not just shine in the bedroom, we want the light in the pocket of the man and other aspects.”

Reacting to the protest and the claims of the protesting women, a public relations officer with the Disco, Livingstone Koko, said the current power situation was beyond the control of the company.

Koko stated, “It is a value chain constraint. It is beyond our control. However, we also share their sentiments and try to let them know that we are working with other players in the industry to ensure that supply is restored.

“It is nothing short of what is being experienced around the country. So, we are aware of the challenge and we apologise and ask them to bear with us.”

When rising cost of living provoked anger in Niger

Unlike the protest in Rivers, the one in far away Niger State did not look serious a market woman, Aisha Jibrin, mooted the idea of publicly lamenting the plight of women who could no longer fend for their children due to the harsh economic reality to her fellow market woman.

But what looked like a joke soon snowballed into a full-blown protest. Together, the two started bemoaning their inability to purchase items from the market and feed their families. Shortly after, other women gathered around them.

“We no go gree o, we no go gree, this hardship is too much, it is unbearable,” the women chorused as they marched towards the Bida-Minna Road.

Not long after, some youths and male traders joined them to chant and lament that the cost of living was getting out of hand and call on the government to provide a solution. They also barricaded the road, leaving motorists with no other option than to stop and listen to the cries of the aggrieved protesters.

The protesters also converged on the Kpakungu roundabout where they were later joined by passersby in solidarity, chanting and accusing the government of failing the residents.

Coincidentally, the Niger State Deputy Governor, Yakubu Garba, who was on his way to a function had to alight from his vehicle to appeal to the protesters to be patient with the state government as it was working to address the hardship, but the placard-carrying protesters did not take any of that.

Sensing danger, the police were deployed to the scene to prevent the angry residents from resorting to violence, but that angered the protesters more. As the police fired teargas canisters at them, some angry youths surged forward in a manner that suggested that they were ready for a showdown with the security agents.

It took several hours for calm to return to the area after joint efforts of other security agencies.

Saturday PUNCH later learnt that about 25 protesters were arrested by the police and the Department of State Services. The police spokesman, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement, said the Jibrin and others chose to be violent.

He explained, “It could be recalled that on February 5, 2024, at about 0700hrs, a large number of women and miscreants mobilised themselves and blocked the Minna-Bida Road and Kpakungu Roundabout claiming to be protesting against (an) increase in foodstuff prices, causing (a) major obstruction on the highway and deprived motorists, travellers and other road users from gaining access to attend to their lawful businesses.

“The Command immediately drafted police patrol teams led by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, DCP Shehu Didango, to the scene, and after much persuasion by the police, the protesters deliberately refused to clear the road for public use, while the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba, equally availed himself at the scene and addressed the group, yet they turned deaf ears and chose to be violent.”

The PPRO said the security agency applied to disperse the protesters who he said were armed with dangerous weapons “such as stones, bottles, sticks, cutlasses and damaged police patrol vehicles and parts of the Kpakungu (Police) Division’s roof”.

“In the course of this, the police arrested the initiator of the protest, one Aisha Jibrin, 30 years; Fatima Aliyu, 57 years; Fatima Isyaku, 43 years, all of Soje ‘A’ of Kpakungu area of Minna and 22 other miscreants,” Abiodun said.

The police PRO claimed a bench and a stick used as a barricade, three knives, one scissors, one cutlass, one saw blade, one iron pipe, four other sticks, two wraps of hemp, and charms, among others, were recovered from the protesters.

According to the police, the initiator of the protest, during an interrogation, claimed that she was not aware that mobilising over 100 women and others to block the highway for a violent protest was illegal. The security also said she claimed further that she informed a youth leader, one Hassan, in the area, who promised to inform the police of their plan to protest, but did not do so.

Our correspondent further learnt that Jibrin and the other suspects were taken to the State Criminal Intelligence Department in Minna for investigation and would be charged in court.

Residents back protest

However, many residents threw their weight behind the protesters and called on the state government to address the issues raised, especially the rising food prices.

A trader, Suleiman Ibrahim, described Jibrin and the other women arrested as heroes of democracy. He also blamed hoodlums for hijacking the protest.

Ibrahim said, “Aisha Jibrin, Fatima Aliyu, and Fatima Isyaku are the 2024 heroes of democracy in Niger State and Nigeria as far as I am concerned; they initiated a peaceful protest on the current economic hardship faced all over Nigeria.

“Daily, the prices of commodities keep increasing, sometimes tripling and nobody is saying anything; we only grumble or rain curses on the leaders. The women in police custody took it upon themselves to send a strong message to the relevant authorities.

“Unfortunately, hoodlums hijacked the protest by stoning the deputy governor and his entourage. The police had no choice but to protect him and disperse the protesters. The hoodlums destroyed government property, police vans, and other vehicles.

“The actions of our heroes have forced the state and federal governments to take necessary measures and actions in addressing the rising food prices in the country. The women have played their part; it is left for us Nigerians to play our part in making sure we secure their release and not allow them to suffer at the hands of the authorities.”

A seamstress, Miracle Kingsley, said the agitation of the people of the state showed the high level of hunger in the state.

“The living conditions of Nigerians are very bad. Nigerians are hungry and dying every day due to the high cost of living. It is not as if the government has improved the people’s income but things keep rising every day.

“The average Nigerian can no longer cope with the situation. I believe that was what was responsible for the protest in Kpakungu,” she said.

Kingsley also lamented that the current administration at the centre had not lived up to the expectations of many Nigerians who were hopeful that their lives would be made better.

“We were thinking that the (Muhammadu) Buhari government was very bad and did not have the interest of Nigerians at heart, but this one is worsening. It is not explaining anything to Nigerians and it is obvious it cannot find a solution to our problem.

“I am a seamstress but I cannot explain what I am going through. First, the cost of buying the materials for my business has tripled since last year. People no longer come to the shop to patronise us. To feed is now very difficult; I don’t know if this world is coming to an end,” she added.

A tricycle operator in Tunga, Monday Fidelis, said the President should not be blamed for the hardship since Nigerians willingly voted to make him their leader.

“Truth be told, I do not blame President (Bola) Tinubu for the hunger in the land. He did not promise us anything; he only said, ‘It is my turn,’ and APC politicians sold the party’s presidential primary to him. After which Nigerians also sold the number one office to him. What do you now expect him to do?

“When I bought my tricycle two years ago, it was N700,000 but today, it is N2.3m. Tell me how anybody will want to make returns from that kind of money. I went to the market yesterday with N40,000 and a small sack, but what I bought with the money did not fill the bag. This government must do something about this situation because Nigerians are dying,” Fidelis said.

Gov blames syndicate for food price hike

While addressing journalists at the Government House shortly after the protest, Governor Mohammed Bago, who said his administration had been holding meetings on the situation in the state, blamed the increase in the prices of food items syndicates who he said hijacked trucks and mopped foodstuffs.

“Yes, we had restiveness of youths and women in Kpakungu who were yearning and clamouring for a reduction in (the) price of food. However, since that time, we have been having (a) series of meetings.

“We have discovered the latest happening now in Nigeria. So, we are discussing with the road transport union,” he said.

FG orders release of 102,000 metric tons of grains

In response to the growing agitation over the increasing price of food items in the country, the Federal Government ordered the immediate release of over 102,000 metric tons of various grain types from the strategic reserve and the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria.

Speaking after the final leg of three meetings of the Special Presidential Committee on Emergency Food Intervention at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said, “The first one is that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has been directed to release about 42,000 metric tons of maize, millet, garri, and other commodities in their strategic reserve so that these items will be made available to Nigerians.”

Amnesty International demands protesters’ release

Similarly, civil society groups, including Amnesty International Nigeria, condemned the arrest of protesters in Minna and demanded their release.

The Country Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, described the arrest of the protesters by the police as “unfortunate, uncalled for, and unacceptable”.

“We believe it is the right of the people to express their discontent with the government. And what happened in Niger State is nothing but a peaceful expression of discontent. So, the duty of the government is to make sure that people have the freedom, and the security to do their protest peacefully and to express themselves.

“Protest is not a crime, and instead of trying to harass the protesters, the government should use that energy they are using to harass the protesters, in making sure that the condition of the country improves, the economy is better, and living conditions are better.”

Also, the Chairman of the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, said governments at all levels should not expect the citizens to remain silent when their welfare is jeopardised.

“As long as our welfare is put in jeopardy by policies of the government that were implemented without the input of the majority of the people, they should expect that people have the right to complain.

“It does not matter what explanation the government has as to why we are facing the hardship that is ravaging the life of an average Nigerian. They should live above excuses; there is no excuse that is good enough. They should expect that people will protest.”

Babatunde Fashola, former governor of Lagos, says many services that Nigerians are expecting President Bola Tinubu to provide are not his responsibilities.

Fashola said the constitutional powers of the president make Nigerians expect that he or she can do everything for them.

Speaking on Untold Stories with Adesuwa, the former minister said it is not the responsibility of the president to provide water for citizens and ensure environmental sanitation.

Fashola said the idea that the president has too much power is premised on the fact that some people still have the mindset of “militarisation of the Nigerian politics”.

“The president is not an absolute custodian of power but a custodian of power in a constitutional democracy with checks and balances,” he said.

“There are differences between his powers, functions, and duties. We should not conflate them. That power vests us perhaps with the expectation that the president can make everything happen. There are certain things the president cannot do.

“These are the kinds of questions that we should be asking ourselves: Are we expecting so much from the president?

“What constitutional role does the president have with regard to things that affect the majority of people – water supply, sanitation, getting a business permit, paying rent?

“Those are things that are not the responsibilities of the Nigerian president.”

‘I DIDN’T STAGE-MANAGE LEKKI TOLLGATE CAMERA INCIDENT’

Fashola also spoke about the discovery of a hidden camcorder at the Lekki tollgate following the October 2020 ENDSARS protest.

The former governor of Lagos, while visiting the scene alongside other government officials and south-west governors, discovered a hidden camcorder, which he said must have been planted by “some subversive elements”.

The discovery sparked backlash on social media, as many Nigerians, including celebrities, took to their pages to air their different views.

The clip of Fashola picking up his discovery was turned into memes that trended on the internet for months.

Reacting to the incident, Fashola said the discovery of the camera was not stage-managed noting that he only wanted to help with the investigation regarding the shooting.

He said the question that should be asked is the whereabouts of the camera, adding that the issue was not raised at the Lagos judicial panel.

“Events at the Lekki tollgate and the way some sections of Nigerians turned it into comedy appeared to have helped defuse the tension. And for me, if that helped the country pull itself back from the precipice, it was worth the allegations,” he said.

“I won’t contrive that kind of thing. Those who know me know who I am. I don’t invent facts. I deal with facts as they are.

“That is what we all saw, and we handed it over if maybe it would be helpful in the inquiry as to what happened that night.”

Patrice Motsepe, president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), says President Bola Tinubu will be watching the final of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Ivory Coast.

CAF president spoke at a press conference on Friday.

Nigeria will be playing in the country’s first AFCON final since 2013. The Super Eagles qualified for the ultimate round of the competition after beating South Africa on penalties in the semi-final.

The team will face Ivory Coast at the Olympic stadium, Ebimpe, Abidjan, on Sunday by 6 pm.


Motsepe said he has been informed that Tinubu will be at the stadium for the match as Nigeria aim to win a fourth AFCON title.

“I was told the president of Nigeria is coming [for the final]. I was sitting close to the vice president when they were playing South Africa,” the CAF president said.

Vice-president Kashim Shettima was present at the stadium for the Eagles semi-final game in Bouake.


Tinubu has been following the Eagles’ progress at AFCON. He spoke to the players ahead of their quarter-final match against Angola.

OVER TWO BILLION PEOPLE WATCHING AFCON, SAYS CAF PRESIDENT

Motsepe added that the AFCON in Ivory Coast has garnered over two billion viewers across the globe since its commencement on January 13.

He said Africans should be proud of the competition while promising that the next edition “will be even better”.

“We have had close to two billion people watching AFCON globally. We should be proud as Africans, and the next one will be even better,” Motsepe said.

“The success of Africa depends upon Africa working together, trading together, and in football, countries competing and playing together.”

President Bola Tinubu has congratulated Aliko Dangote, chairman of the Dangote group, on the conferment of the national order of the lion by President Macky Sall of Senegal.

National order of the lion is the highest order of Senegal instituted to recognise civilians and military leaders for distinguished contributions.

In a statement on Thursday, Ajuri Ngelale, the presidential spokesperson, said the award would be bestowed on Dangote on February 2.

“President Tinubu applauds the industrialist for his enterprise and ingenuity, creating jobs and opportunities for many in Nigeria and across West Africa, as well as contributing to their economies, which the award further affirms,” the statement reads.

“The President commends Mr. Dangote and wishes him the very best in his endeavours.”

In 2011, former President Goodluck Jonathan awarded Dangote Nigeria’s second-highest honour of the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON).

Dangote was recently displaced by Johann Rupert, a South African business mogul, as the Africa wealthiest person.

Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms, says the federal government is not recruiting ‘area boys’ to collect taxes.

During an interview on Channels Television on January 17, 2023, Oyedele said his team is planning to involve all stakeholders in implementation — including louts popularly called area boys.

The proposal to involve area boys in tax collection has sparked public outcry.

Following criticisms, Oyedele, in a statement on X on Saturday, said his comment was taken out of context.

According to him, you cannot recruit a person to do the job they are already doing, whether they are legally engaged or otherwise.

“We have over 40 taxes and levies which States and Local Governments are authorised by law to collect across Nigeria including road taxes on trucks, buses and bicycles, wheelbarrow, kiosks and shops levies,” he said.

“In many cases, area boys are engaged to collect these taxes which they often do through crude, unorthodox means and harassment.

“Painfully, these taxes yield very little revenue to the government despite the huge burden they place on small businesses, artisans and transporters.”

Oyedele said the issue he raised in the interview was not about employing more tax collectors but about finding common ground with those already involved, who have an unofficial stake in the system.

“We propose to eliminate many of these taxes and harmonise a few of them that may be appropriate and devise a civil means of collection using mobile phones,” he said.

Oyedele said the issue he addressed was sensationalised and taken out of context.

According to the tax expert, he was talking about how to “get the buy-in of those who currently collect these taxes (and obviously benefit from doing so beyond whatever they are being paid officially)”.

“I did not mention any word like recruit or employ,” he said.

“My thought on it beyond the legal aspect was to consider the social dimension and find a practical solution that has a high chance of success.

“The idea being that government could train the collectors to behave in a civilised manner and pay them decently so that it is comparable to what they currently make.

“Their new role will be to drive and monitor compliance. The payers will pay less and be treated with dignity. Government will earn more, and society will benefit – a win-win outcome for everyone.”

In October 2023, the presidential committee led by Oyedele presented a quick win report which contained 20 recommendations.

President Bola Tinubu, upon receiving the document, directed an immediate implementation of the recommendations.

The Office of the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has issued a warning to the public regarding a fraudulent online loan application circulating on social media platforms.

The fake offer, titled “N200,000 Palliative Loan By the Senate,” features a misleading image of Senator Akpabio alongside the coat of arms and the logo of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

This deceptive scheme, posted on Facebook under the account name Templeshort, falsely claims to provide instant loan approval.

Members of the public are asked to pay no attention to the advertisement as it did not originate from the Office of the President of the Senate. Instead, it is the work of fraudsters and unscrupulous individuals seeking to exploit unsuspecting Nigerians.

The official spokesperson for the President of the Senate, Hon Eseme Eyiboh, emphasized that the Senate has no affiliation with Templeshort and is not associated with any Facebook handle operating under that name.

Furthermore, the President of the Senate is not involved in any loan program or palliative arrangement.

“Senator Godswill Akpabio is not collaborating with the CBN or any other financial institution on any loan facility as a form of palliative,” Hon Eyiboh stressed.

The public is strongly advised to exercise caution and vigilance in the face of these criminal elements who employ deceitful methods to target unsuspecting Nigerians.

The advertisement and similar ones claiming to be sponsored online by the Senate for loans or palliative measures are false. There is no such loan or palliative initiative within the office of the President of the Senate or under the name of Senator Godswill Akpabio.

Hon Eyiboh urged the public to disregard such scams and report any suspicious activities to the appropriate authorities.

Suspected kidnappers have abducted Philip Aivoji, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, and some members of the party.

Hakeem Amode, the spokesperson of the party in the state, who confirmed the incident, said Aivoji and his party members were abducted on Friday on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway while returning from a meeting.

Amode said the PDP chairman was in Ibadan to attend a meeting convened by Seyi Makinde and Ademola Adeleke, governors of Oyo and Osun states, respectively.

Amode said security agencies and government authorities at all levels should intervene promptly and secure the release of the party’s chairman.

“It is disheartening that kidnapping has become a prevalent issue in our country, and the government’s inability to address this menace is deeply concerning,” he said.

“The abduction of Aivoji underscores the pressing need for decisive actions from the government and stakeholders to eradicate this menace.

“Aivoji’s abduction was a violent incident, and his current whereabouts or any communication from the abductors remain unknown.

“We implore the governments of Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, alongside security agencies, to expedite efforts and secure his safe return to his family and well-wishers.”

Meanwhile, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, the governorship candidate of the PDP in the 2023 elections in Lagos, has called on officials of the south-west security network, code-named Amotekun, to support the security agents in rescuing Aivoji and others.

In a statement by Gbenga Ogunleye, his spokesperson, Adediran, also known as Jandor, said the government’s abysmal failure to provide security has put the lives of the citizens in grave danger.

“Dr Adediran described the unfortunate incident as a disturbing dimension to the growing insecurity in the country, especially in the South West,” the statement reads.

“JANDOR demands urgent action from the security agencies to facilitate the immediate release of the abducted party chairman. He also advised that the regional local security outfit, Amotekun should collaborate with the police in this rescue mission.”

Cases of burglary are on the increase in Ijede community in Ikorodu, Lagos. For a long time, residents have become afraid of going to church on Sundays because while in Service, their houses are burgled. Week days are not spared these days.

One Sunday, a resident who couldn’t avoid attending Church Service, decided to go home before Service ended, only to notice his roof was broken. Lo and behold, a burglar was in his house; he escaped from the man. The house owner raised an alarm leading to neighbours joining him to chase the thief. After he dribbled the people through some bush paths like Okocha, they gave up chasing after him.

The burglar thought he was free after some minutes, so he decided to come out from hiding. On coming out, someone with experience grabbed him. As usual, they beat hell into him before handing him over to the police. Don’t rejoice yet, the burglar has been freed since. After his statement was said to be taken, the owner of the house said he was asked to not only keep reporting to the station, but also, feeding the burglar. What? Guess you understand why the burglar is free.


These thieves are also causing so much confusion in the life of residents. Last week, burglars broke into a new building a Septuagenarian was handling for a client in the community and stole it dry. While neighbours gathered discussing the case, the man saw two Mallams (Aboki) scavenging in the community, he went after them, throwing stones as he chased them. After his neighbours calmed him down, he started begging them to help him search for at least two Mallams that will work as security in the building. Hahahaha!

These thieves now operate without fear. In this same community, any completed but yet to be inhabited building is stripped of all accessories. Trips of sand, concrete and blocks not immediately used, are stolen too.

Peoples’ shops are looted mercilessly; mostly sewing machines have been targeted recently. Keke Marwa (tricycles) and Okada (motorcycles) had been stolen on several occasions. In all the cases, the thieves scaled through the fence at night, opened the gate and left with their loot.

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG), along with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and economy experts yesterday indicated that the Nigerian economy will achieve some stability leading to a reduction in the inflation rate, unemployment and poverty.

CBN Governor, Mr Olayemi Cardoso, speaking at the launch of the NESG 2024 Macroeconomic Outlook, hinted that Nigerian will heave a sigh of relief from the sustained rise in prices of goods and services when the implementation of its inflation targeting policy, measures to improve liquidity in the forex market as well as expected reduction pump price of petroleum products begin to yield impacts.
Consequently, the CBN projected these measures will trigger improved productivity in the agricultural sector and a reduction in the inflation rate to 21.4 per cent in 2024.


Meanwhile, the NESG projected a decline in unemployment to 5.0%, while the poverty level reduces to 41.5 per cent, if implementation succeeds in a combination of ongoing reforms and other measures outlined it its Economic Transformation Roadmap.

These measures, according to the NSEG, will help the economy achieve Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth of 3.5 per cent, an increase in external reserves to $40 billion, decline in inflation to 21.5 per cent while the exchange rate will stabilize at N900 per dollar in the official forex market.

Titled, “Economic Transformation Roadmap: Medium Term Policy Priorities”, the NESG 2024 Macroeconomic Outlook, outlined three phases that will lead to enhanced socioeconomic well-being of Nigerians.

Speaking in this regard, Chairman, NESG, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, stated: “Building on the NESG #NES29 theme, “Pathways for Sustainable Economic Transformation and Inclusion”, this year’s macroeconomic outlook underscores “Medium-term Policy Priorities” to expedite the transformation process and enhance the socio-economic well-being of Nigerians.

“The Economic Transformation Roadmap outlines three phases of policy sequencing, focusing on monetary stability, effective fiscal management, local content improvement, domestic productivity enhancement, incentives to motivate private sector investments, and human, social, and natural capital development.

“As we delve into these policy priorities, we must emphasise the pivotal role of a robust policy environment in laying the foundation for sustainable Macroeconomic stability and “economic transformation.

“We recognize the current administration’s efforts in stabilizing the economy, but given the depth of the problems, more still needs to be done and quickly too. We must not relent to build the Nigeria of our dreams. I implore every stakeholder to rise to this occasion and contribute to our quota in rebuilding our economy.

“The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) stands ready to continue its collaborative efforts with the Federal and subnational governments to achieve these transformative goals. A concerted and coordinated approach and effective policy implementation will propel Nigeria towards a more resilient, inclusive and prosperous future.”


Outlining the targets for 2024, Cardoso stated: “The anticipated moderation in pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) due to the expected operational status of the country’s key Government and privately-owned refineries in 2024 is a pivotal factor in the economic equation. “The expected stabilisation or reduction in fuel costs is poised to have far-reaching implications across various sectors, contributing significantly to overall economic efficiency and resilience.

“Inflationary pressures are expected to decline in 2024 due to the CBN’s inflation-targeting policy, which aims to rein in inflation to 21.4 percent. This will be aided by improved agricultural productivity and the easing of global supply chain pressures, benefiting businesses by boosting consumer confidence and purchasing power.

“The CBN’s adoption of the inflation-targeting framework involves clear communication, use of monetary policy instruments, and collaboration with fiscal authorities to achieve price stability, fostering market confidence and positively influencing consumer behaviour.

“The outlook for decreasing inflation in 2024 will have a profound impact on businesses, providing a more predictable cost environment and potentially leading to lowered policy rates, stimulating investment, fueling growth, and creating job opportunities.

“Additionally, the Bank has reverted to the conventional monetary policy approach with a focus on attaining price stability, which fosters sustainable economic growth for Nigeria.”

Cardoso also assured that the apex bank is making efforts to boost liquidity and transparency in the forex market with the aim of ensuring fair exchange rate of the naira and confidence of global investors.

He said: “Our initiatives on FX, am pleased to note our collaboration with Ministry of Finance and NNPC to ensure that all FX inflow are returned to the CBN

“This coordinated effort will greatly enhance the Bank’s FX flow and contribute to accretion of reserves.

“The expected stability of FX market in 2024 can be attributes to the expected to the expected reduction in petroleum products import and the recent implementation of the market determined exchange rate policy by the CBN

“This reform is designed to streamline and unify forex rates fostering transparency and reducing opportunities for arbitrage.
“The resulting consistent and stable exchange rate will not only boost investor confidence but also attracting foreign investment, elevating Nigeria’s appeal to global investors.

“We are implementing a comprehensive strategy to improve liquidity in our FX market in the short, medium and long term
“Our focus is on addressing fundamental issues that have hindered the effective operations of our market over the years.
“Upholding the integrity of financial markets is crucial for building confidence.

“With the completion of an independent forensic review, we are addressing the backlog of valid FX transactions and we remain steadfast in our commitment to decisively address any infraction and abuses.

“In our efforts to stabilise the exchange rate, it is important that we prioritise transparency and create a market environment that enables a fair determination of exchange rates, ensure stability for businesses and individuals alike
“We believe that the Naira is currently undervalued and couples with coordinated measures with the Fiscal side we will expedite genuine price discovery in the near term.

“This coordinated approach will contribute to a balanced and stable exchange rate”.

It’s been a difficult ride so far – World Bank

Sharing the same optimism, Nigeria’s Lead Economist, World Bank Group, Dr. Alex Sienaert, said that Nigeria is on the start of the road to transformation with some of the policy initiatives that have been taken by the Federal Government.

Speaking during the panel discussion on the NESG report, Sienaert said: “Fuel subsidies have been removed. There’s been a move to reform the exchange rate, but still, when the government came in, they moved fantastically in terms of all the energy and great information that’s been shared so much already.

“I think it’s a very central question to the perspective of stabilization, which is the starting point of the report we’re discussing today, I think and rightly so, it relates with the latest report that we at the World Bank put out on the economy just about a month ago, which was entitled ‘Turning the Corner’.

This NSG report has the idea of a roadmap to transformation. So our perspective is, maybe, that we’re on the start of this road to transformation. We’re turning that sort of first corner, and it’s been a difficult ride so far.

“We heard this morning how 2023 was a tough year. I think it’s just kind of standing back and recognizing the distance that’s already been travelled, the tough decisions that have been taken, as the CBN Governor mentioned. It’s hard to reorient policy to the extent that has already been done.

“And then the question becomes, if you’ve made those hard decisions, and embarked on a journey in the new direction, how do you consolidate and bring that down in such a way that you achieve the gains you’re looking for from having made those difficult calls?

Nigeria facing important policy trade off – IMF

Speaking at the panel session, Country Representative, International Monetary Fund, IMF, Dr Christian H. Ebeke, said that Nigeria needs reforms that will jumpstart economic growth.

He stated: “Nigeria is facing a lot of critical challenges, and the way we have to think about structural reforms in an environment where the country is facing important policy trade off; it’s really a new thinking. You have to think about the reforms that will have a positive impact on the economy taking into account existing policy trade off. It is no longer the traditional structural reform agenda where you want to leave productive growth in a medium term and you start deploying labour market reform. You have to prioritise the reform that will have three major characteristics; One that have to jumpstart growth very fast because you need the reform with speed. You have to sequence these reforms and bundle them in packages so that you maximise the impact they will have.”

To sustain additional reform, he said: “Giving the social challenges that the population faces, you need reform; right reform that will have an impact, pretty fast to jumpstart the economy, then you have to sequence these reform pretty well. So you have to bundle them in packages. So that you increase or you maximise the impact that they will have. So the sequencing, the second test is very necessary. And then you also have to make sure that the reform that you put in place will be interacting with a policy that is consistent.

“Stabilisation is also very important and how these reforms interact with the people; unfortunately it has to be given the challenges they face is high inflation, high interest rate. We should focus on structural reforms and also governance issue. When you combine governance reform and structural reforms together the better. What we found in that report is that the combination of these three before; so it’s no longer that you have to wait four years because usually policymakers wanted to reform the economy because The benefits are uncertain and materialise after a couple of years.”

On agriculture and its potential, Ebeke said: “On agriculture, it is important to move up that sector which the report has included. There is a lot of talk about the need to transition to mechanise agriculture, but the machines that you’re going to use, you have to import them because we don’t build them here. And then in advanced economies, agriculture is less than like one or two percent of GDP. So do you really believe that we have enough time to boost productivity that is required? Nigeria does not even that time to wait for longtime .

“ There is need for fiscal and monetary consolidation in order to address the domestic imbalances. Inflation targeting in a credible manner with tightening policy. Effort from the fiscal authority is not to work against the monetary tightening but to work on boosting production and socio economic activities.

Structural factors are affecting the monetary policy; it is difficult to have fair rate of the exchange rate when the country is in consolidating phase. Nigeria needs tightening and boosting of the forex narket. Policy response is very important also. In their thinking monetary authority believe the challenge will just fizzle out on its own.”

On how to bring the informal sector to the formal sector he stated that the perception of the people is that if they come to the formal sector there will be tax pressure. He stressed that the multiple tax system is the major concern. “The government does not need to use force to bring them to the formal sector. The government needs to provide the incentives to them that will make them attractive and boost their businesses. Once that is done, the people will be concerned and be interested to come in because of the see the result” he added.

We have to transition from passive interventionism – Sagagi

Also speaking at the panel, former Vice Chairman, Presidential Economic Advisory Council, Dr. Muhammad Sagagi, said the quest to economic transformation also requires the need to strike a balance between protecting the domestic industries and unrestrained openness of the economy.

He stated: “We have to transition from a regime of passive interventionism into something that is a more open, even if guided, market system.

“Over time, we have seen that interventionist policies in this country, meddlesomeness in the economy, have led to where we are today.
“It is true that in the past, protection had supported Nigeria to grow, not only the economy, but, especially, the industrial sector.
“But if Nigeria aspires to realize its potential, to be a global player, to lead the continent, we must endeavour to open the economy and leverage private capital, private skills, and private sector technology. This is the path that Nigeria must take.

“But I want to caution that unrestrained openness of the economy can be as detrimental to us as blanket protectionism.
“We have to guide the market. But that guidance must be judicious and must be responsible.

“Therefore, I think, we must seek to create that balance. Strike that balance to maximise and restrict openness in the economic system.”

Need to integrate inclusive devt – Osasuyi

Also speaking at the event, the Executive Director, Policy Innovation Centre, NESG, Dr. Osasuyi Dirisu, stressed the need to integrate inclusive development into the economic transformation agenda.

Osasuyi noted that policy makers need to view conversations about economic transformation as conversations that have to happen at the same time with inclusive development.

She said: “To avoid a situation where we come back and have these conversations over and over again, we need to begin to view conversations about economic transformation as conversations that have to happen at the same time with inclusive development not after. This is because sometimes we have all these conversations, we put down the projections and they look good on paper but when you go out to the street, how do you want the common man for example to listen to even a simplified version of these conversations.

The price of 1 kilogram (Kg) of rice increased year-on-year, YoY, by 81 percent to N917.93 in December 2023 from N506.17 in the corresponding period of 2022.


The National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, disclosed this yesterday in its Selected Food Price Watch for December 2023.

NBS also said the average price of 1kg of Beans brown (sold loose) rose by 48.5 percent YoY to N870.67 in December 2023 from N586.14 in December 2022.

Similarly, the average price of 1kg onion bulb rose by 122.9 percent YoY to N971.86 in December 2023 from N435.93 in December 2022.

In addition, the average price of 1kg of Tomato rose by 77.6 percent YoY to N814.16 in December 2023 from N458.42 in December 2022.

Meanwhile, the NBS in its Transport Fare Watch for December 2023 released yesterday said transport fare for bus, motorcycle (Okada), air and water transport journeys increased during the period.

It stated: “The average fare paid by commuters for bus journeys within the city per drop declined to 13.83 percent from N1,047.64 in November to N902.70 in December 2023. “On a YoY basis, it rose by 40 percent from N644.66 in December 2022.

“In air travel, the average fare paid by air passengers for specified routes single journey was N85,692.12 in December 2023, showing an increase of 5.36 percent while compared to previous month (November 2023).

“On a YoY basis, the fare rose by 14.8 percent from N74,597.30 in December 2022. The average transport fare paid on Okada transportation was N419.73 in December 2023 which declined by 11.29 percent when compared with the value recorded in November 2023 (N473.13). On a YoY basis, the fare declined by 9.04 percent when compared with December 2022 (N461.45).

“For water transport (waterway passenger transportation), the average fare paid in December 2023 increased to N1,386.76 from N1,352.70 which indicates an increase of 2.5 percent on a monthly basis.

“On a YoY basis, it increased by 34.77 percent from N1,029.00 in December 2022.”

The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, has, on behalf of the Federal Government, met behind closed doors with prominent members of Nigeria’s business community to deliberate on new strategies for engaging the private sector in providing financing for the nation’s road infrastructure.

The meeting, which was part of a series of consultations over the involvement of the private sector in infrastructural development, was held at the headquarters of the Works Ministry on Wednesday.

The Special Adviser (Media) to the Minister, Hon. Orji Uchenna Orji, shed light on some of the issues discussed.

He said, “In keeping with the road infrastructure initiatives of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, has been engaging with concessionaires and other private sector organisations on the need for private sector investment in our road infrastructure as done in advanced economies around the world.

“This informed the closed-door meeting the Hon. Minister of Works had with the Governor of Taraba State, His Excellency, Dr. Agbu Kefas, the founder and CEO of Dangote Group Conglomerate, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, and the founder and chairman of Heirs Holdings, Chief Tony Elumelu, on January 24, 2024, at the Federal Ministry of Works.

“It would be recalled that the Hon. Minister of Works, in his zeal to change the ugly narrative of road infrastructure in Nigeria, had set up three committees to work on the contracts executed by some concessionaires with the Federal Ministry of Works to review the scope and cost implications of the projects they undertook to execute under the Highway Development and Management Initiative( HDMI).

“This private sector initiative will fastrack the road infrastructure revolution and bring order, accountability, and profitable entrepreneurship to the operations, management, and maintenance of Federal Highways.

“The Governor of Taraba, who retired as a military professional, was a one-time chairman Governing Board of Directors of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) before he became governor.

“The founder and CEO of Dangote Group is one of Africa’s foremost captains of industry who has made ambitious investments in the development of infrastructure in Nigeria, just like his counterpart and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, who is also one of Africa’s leading investors who has shown manifest commitment in the transformation of Nigeria’s infrastructure through long-term investment in strategic sectors of Nigeria’s economy, including financial services and infrastructure development.

“It is hoped that investors, local and international, will take advantage of the willpower of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope administration and the private sector experience and professional capacities of the Hon. Minister of Works to invest in the over 35,000 km of the national road network being managed by the Federal Government of Nigeria, as this network carries more than 70% of the vehicular traffic, making it a critical infrastructure for the movement of goods and services across the nation.

“This initiative will trigger economic development, job creation, local content development, and wealth creation for the Nigerian population. Mr President means business with his efforts to prosper our country and make it the pride of the African continent. Your support is critical.”

The senate has called for a ceasefire in the war between Isreal and Hamas, saying that more than 8,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict.

The upper legislative chamber took the position on Tuesday after a motion sponsored by Mohammed Aliero, senator representing Kebbi central, and Kawu Sumaila, lawmaker representing Kano south.

The ministry of health in Palastine said more than 10,000 people have lost their lives in the conflict.

The war begun after Hamas attacked Isreal in October.

While moving the motion, Aliero said the war has claimed the lives of over 8,000 women, children and journalists.

“From October 2023 to date, Israeli air attacks and shelling aimed at houses and apartment buildings have displaced some 123,538 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the UN humanitarian relief agency,” the senator said.

“Disturbed that the latest media reports, citing the Gaza Ministry of Health, indicate that the number of people killed in Gaza since October 7 has risen to over 8,000.

“Women, children and members of the press have made up more than 62 percent of the fatalities, while more than 15,273 people have been injured.”

Contributing to the debate, Jibrin Barau, deputy president of the senate, said the conflict must be put to an end.

“So many people have lost their lives, when you watch the television, you’ll see many dead persons.

“We should add our voices for permanent peace to prevail. Let the killing stop.”

On his part, Sani Musa, senator representing Niger east, said Nigeria should be on the side of peace in the conflict.

“It is all about humanity. It is not about who is right or wrong. It is about the killing. If we are calling for peace, I don’t think there is any big deal,” Musa said.

“Nigeria should be seen to have voted on the side of peace. My heart bleeds when I see children and ladies being killed and schools being burnt.”

The motion was adopted after Senate President Godswill Akpabio put it to vote.

Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector-general of police, has deployed three deputy inspectors-general of police (DIG) to Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa ahead of the November 11 gubernatorial polls in the states.

Habu Sani, DIG in charge of the department of force intelligence, has been deployed to Kogi; Daniel Sokari-Pedro, DIG in charge of the department of information and communication technology, has been deployed to Bayelsa; and Frank Mba, DIG department of training and development, has been deployed to oversee elections in Imo state.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, police spokesperson, said the IGP has also ordered the deployment of an additional 220 operational vehicles, five police helicopters and over 15 gunboats for land, air and waterways patrol in the three states.

Adejobi said the force is committed to ensuring that the off-cycle elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi are “free, fair, secure, and credible”.

“We have strategically deployed our personnel to these states to provide security and maintain law and order throughout the electioneering process following training on professionalism, neutrality, and best practices carried out for officers and men deployed for the election duty,” he said.

“Our objective is to create an environment where all citizens can exercise their right to vote without fear or intimidation.

“The Nigeria police force will play a pivotal role in safeguarding the democratic process and upholding the integrity of these elections as we are committed to ensuring that every eligible voter can participate in the electoral process without fear or hindrance.

“In the pursuit of our commitment to neutrality and part of the bid to enhance the supervision of the elections, the IGP has deployed deputy inspectors general of police (DIGs) to oversee the security arrangements and ensure the elections run smoothly in the respective states.

“This added layer of supervision is intended to guarantee that the elections meet the highest standards of transparency and credibility.

“Therefore, the deputy inspector-general of police in charge of the department of training and development, DIG Frank Emeka Mba has been deployed to oversee elections in Imo state; DIG Habu Sani in charge of the department of force intelligence to Kogi state; and DIG Daniel Sokari-Pedro in charge of the department of information and communication technology to Bayelsa State.

“In a bid to ensure smooth electioneering processes, the inspector-general of police has ordered the distribution of an additional 220 operational vehicles, including water canons, armoured personnel carriers, gunboats for riverine areas, helmets, bulletproof vests, tear gas canisters etc, to the three affected states to intensify security arrangements for the elections to augment the already deployed assets.”

Traders at various markets in Lagos State, particularly Balogun Market in the Lagos Island Local Government Area of the state are lamenting the multiple levies they pay to the government, alleging extortion.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday, some traders at the Balogun market claimed that they are compelled to pay N50,000 in six months, while others pay over N100,000 annually.

The traders also claimed that they pay N700 in taxes daily while stating that they will be forced to vacate their stalls if they fail to make the payment.

A trader at Balogun Market simply identified as Emmanuel claimed that traders pay more than N100,000 a year.

Emmanuel said “We pay N50,000 or N60,000 in six months we pay N100,000 or above yearly.”

Another trader identified as Iya Biliki claimed that the traders pay weekend taxes in addition to annual taxes.

She said “For me, per year they collect N50,000 and every Saturday and Sunday they collect N300 from traders. What they are doing is illegal but the thing is that we don’t have any other choice because we don’t have shops in the market.”

A trader at Ikeja market identified as Mummy Mercy said, “We pay to stay on the roadside. Even the hawkers pay money daily. Some of them pay N500 daily while some of them pay N200 daily. There is nothing free in Lagos. We traders that stay close to the rail tracks pay N400 daily.”

When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Gboyega Akosile, said “Although every working person must pay tax, whether petty trading or big stores.”

Justice Nathaniel Ayo-Emmanuel of the Federal High Court in Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday, sentenced five men tried for cyber-stalking and defrauding ex-Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Timothy Owoeye, of a sum of N38m.

Sometime in 2018, a 13-second nude video of Owoeye had gone viral on the Internet.

In the video, Owoeye was accosted by some people, who accused him of coming to their community to perform a ritual.

The Osun State Police Command arrested those in the video, who were alleged to have used the clip to obtain around N38m from Owoeye before the clip was reportedly released on the Internet.

The convicts, Kazeem Agbabiaka, Rasheed Ojonla, Babatunde Oluajo, Adebiyi Kehinde, Femi Oseni, and Oyebanji Oyeniyi, were arraigned before the court on October 19, 2018, on five counts bordering on conspiracy; advance free fraud and cyber-stalking.

Delivering judgment on the case, Justice Ayo-Emmanuel said the convicts operated like a web syndicate, subjecting their victims to hardship and so, they deserved no leniency.

He subsequently passed a guilty verdict on them and sentenced Agbabiaka, Oyeniyi, Ojonla and Oluajo to five years imprisonment for conspiracy and advance-free fraud.

The judge, however, discharged and acquitted Ismaila Azeez, on the count bordering on cyberstalking, but found Oseni guilty of the same charge and sentenced him to five years imprisonment.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities have described the plan by the Federal Government to automatically deduct 40 per cent from the Internally Generated Revenue of universities in the country as an attack on the university system.

The FG, in a letter dated October 17, 2023, and titled ‘Implementation of 40% automatic deduction from internally generated revenue of partially-funded Federal Government institutions,’ said it would begin the deduction with effect from November 2023.

The letter signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, Director of Revenue and Investment, Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, Felix Ore-ofe Ogundairo, also said the auto-deduction policy of gross IGR was in line with the Finance Circular with reference number FMFBNP/OTHERS/IGR/CRF/12/2021 dated December 20, 2021.

However, the National President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, insisted that FG’s decision was disheartening, saying universities were not generating any revenue from the user chargers/service fees they gave students.

He argued that it was surprising that the government still wanted to collect from the subsidised charges on ID cards, hostel accommodation, lab coats, etc, of students.

“This is what we saw when we were fighting that the government should fund universities and Nigerians think ASUU is the problem.

“Universities are not revenue-generating agencies, so the 40 per cent of the subsidised money students pay for a hostel, medicals, ID cards, lab coat, chemicals in the laboratory should still be shared with the government?

“This is an extreme, that such is happening in Nigeria.. Will the Presidency ask the NASS, NNPC, to give a return of 40 per cent?”

Osodeke called on parents, students and Nigerians as a whole to rise against what he described as an attack against the universities, adding that ASUU would also meet with the Federal Government agencies in charge of the policy to take the next line of action.

He said, “Parents, students, Nigerians need to rise up to this. This is an attack on universities. Universities are already paying taxes. They pay withholding taxes and it goes to government. There is nothing like IGR in universities. What we have are charges.

“We need to know the 40 per cent of what they want to collect from universities. They are even saying lecturers should pay them accommodation fees too.

“They want 100 per cent of what they pay as accommodation. It is sad. Give us some time to interact with the government,” Osodeke said.

On his part, the Secretary-General, Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, Prof. Yakubu Ochefu, revealed that the amount deducted by the FG from universities was 25 per cent but was increased to 40 per cent recently.

He called on the AGF to specify what it meant by IGR, saying universities only get user charges from students and not profits or revenues.

He added that universities were being run in deficit already, arguing that a deduction of 40 per cent would completely run the universities down.

Ochefu said, “The Federal Government, through the Accountant General of the Federation, is citing the Finance Act of 2021 as the basis for the decision.

“We also have to look at the provision of the law. It says that it is when you have surplus in terms of your Internally Generated Revenue, that is when you can make the return to the government. But many universities don’t have IGR, because most universities charge students’ fees as user charges. Paying N2,000 for an ID card, which has already been subsidised by the university; they pay health insurance, sports, ICT, accommodation, these are all the charges that come together and universities must provide all these for their students.

“If a user charge is considered as IGR, then we have a problem with the nomenclature. The accountant general should clearly specify what he was referring to as IGR.

“If it is all these subsidised charges that the government wants to collect 40 per cent, then the universities will lead towards financial catastrophe.

“We will open our books to the world to let them know that this is how much we get in terms of user charges. Universities are being run in deficit and FG still wants to collect 40 per cent; that means you want the universities to run down.”

Meanwhile, he insisted that if Federal Government wished to collect 40 per cent of what universities generate, they should fund the universities fully.

“If this happens, the financial challenges of the universities will get worse because the university is not a profit-making institution, it is not a revenue-generating entity. It is a service-providing entity.”

He also said the committee of VCs would consult with the Ministry of Education, accountant general and others.

The Independent National Electoral Commission is yet to prosecute 197 electoral offenders months after the 2023 general elections, The PUNCH gathered.

The commission had on May 2, 2023, said it would prosecute the 215 case files handed over to it out of the 774 persons arrested for various electoral offences by the Nigeria Police Force during the 2023 polls.

The commission said it was partnering with the Nigerian Bar Association, which offered pro bono legal services for the effective prosecution of the electoral offenders arrested during the 2023 general elections.

However, a top INEC official, who spoke to our correspondent on Monday on the condition of anonymity, noted that out of the 215 files received by the commission, 197 cases that are electoral offences would be handled by INEC and the NBA.

Among the various grounds of arrest were dereliction of duty, criminal conspiracy, disorderly conduct at the election, possession of weapons, destruction of election materials, political thuggery, electoral violence, snatching of ballot boxes, and stealing of sensitive election materials, among others.

He clarified that the remaining 18 case files, including murder, were returned to the police as they did not fall under electoral offences.

The source stated, “There are 197 NBA lawyers handling the 197 electoral offenders’ cases.

“The remaining 18 cases were returned to the police because they did not fall squarely under electoral offences provided by the Electoral Act, 2022.”

The official also noted that about 19 cases that relate to financial crimes would be handled by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission legal officers and that of INEC.

He stated, “These 19 cases were investigated and compiled by the EFCC. They are not part of the cases forwarded by the police.

“The commission has only one case file forwarded to INEC by the ICPC.”

However, he further admitted that the INEC had yet to commence prosecution as the members of the NBA appointed to handle these electoral offences were yet to be issued letters of instruction by the commission.

He said, “The commission is yet to commence prosecution. It is hoped that the letters initiating the NBA lawyers to start the prosecution would be issued this week.”

The source also added that there may be a likelihood of more electoral offences from the off-cycle polls scheduled for November 11 in Kogi, Bayelsa, and Imo states.

When contacted, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, promised to get an update on the cases and provide a response later. He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

The Anambra State governor, Chukwuma Soludo has lost his father, Simon Soludo.

It was gathered that the nonagenarian died in the early hours of Monday after an illness.

However, no official announcement has been made about the demise.

When contacted on the telephone, Soludo’s Press Secretary, Christian Aburime, said, “Yes it is true. I will soon issue a statement on it.”

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has sacked Musa Ilyasu Kwankwaso of the All Progressives Congress and reinstated Yusuf Umar Datti of the New Nigeria People’s Party in the Kura/Madobi/Garun Malam Federal Constituency Election.

The three-panel led by Justice Tunde Oyebamiji Awotoye allowed an Appeal by Yusuf Datti and averred that the tribunal was wrong to have counted the date of the Appellant’s resignation on the date of his party’s primary election and that Section 77 of the Electoral Act was misapplied, saying no court has jurisdiction on the issue of membership of the party.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is deploying back-channel strategies to restore constitutional order in Niger Republic.

The regional bloc, while trying to avoid bloodshed in the West African nation, would also explore diplomatic interventions.

This was disclosed on Friday by President Bola Tinubu who received the Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, Catherine Colonna, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

According to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the Nigerian leader said he has to guide the regional bloc carefully to protect detained President Mohamed Bazoum who was ousted from power on July 26.

President Tinubu noted that Nigeria is monitoring the situation in the neighbouring country, and exploring diplomatic channels to avoid bloodshed.

“I am deploying all appropriate back-channel strategies to avoid bloodshed in Niger Republic. We recognize the wishes of our people; they do not want war, but that does not mean we can not take bold and decisive action,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.

“We have a colleague and a democratically-elected leader, President Bazoum, being used as a human shield. If we are not careful, he and his family can be endangered.

“Leadership is about responding to the needs of the people; their cries, and their frustrations. Nigeria shares a border with Niger across the expanse of seven Nigerian states, and most of these states are very populated. Therefore, I need to guide ECOWAS carefully and steadily so that we manage our anger carefully.”

In her remarks, the French minister commended President Tinubu’s leadership in handling the affairs of the regional bloc, saying: “We support your efforts at ECOWAS. We are behind you because we believe that constitutional order is a treasure for all countries, and democracy must be a reality”.

Colonna also conveyed the goodwill of President Emmanuel Macron and expressed the readiness of France to expand mutually beneficial collaboration with Nigeria across multiple sectors.

She proceeded to extend a formal invitation to President Bola Tinubu to attend the forthcoming Paris Peace Forum.

Rwandan President, Paul Kagame, on Thursday announced the lifting of visa restrictions for all Africans wanting to visit the Central African nation.

This introduction makes Rwanda the fourth African country to do so.

“Let there be no mistake about it. Any African can get on a plane to Rwanda whenever they wish and will not pay a thing to enter our country,” President Kagame said in Kigalki when he pitched the potential of Africa as “a unified tourism destination”

For decades several African leaders have entertained the idea of free movement by citizens across the continent, even going as far as advocating for a unified single African passport.

Late Libyan strongman, Muammar Gaddafi, had been a strong proponent of the free movement of people and services.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta during his inauguration speech in 2017, took the giant step to announce that the tourism hub will now give visas on arrival to all Africans.

“The freer we are to travel and live with one another, the more integrated and appreciative of our diversity we will become,” Kenyatta said.

Rwanda has been on a campaign to boost its tourism sector, partnering with European football clubs like Arsenal and Bayern Munich to promote the country as a tourist destination.

According to Kagame, “We should not lose sight of our own continental market.”

“Africans are the future of global tourism as our middle class continues to grow at a fast pace in the decades to come.”

The African Union has hailed the decision of Rwanda and Kenya to improve free trade across the continent.

“I urge all African states that have not yet done so to take similar measures,” AU Commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat said on Twitter after Kenya’s announcement,” AU said.

Trade among African countries is at just 16 per cent, while trade among European Union states is at 70 per cent, Mahamat told AU trade ministers on Friday.

Several African countries have also entered bilateral agreements for visa-free travel, most recently Ghana and South Africa, and Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Supreme Court has fixed January 26, 2024, for judgment in the appeal by a former member of the House of Representatives Farouk Lawan who is presently in jail.

A five-member panel led by Justice John Okoro chose the date after lawyers to parties made their final submissions and adopted their written briefs.

Lawan’s appeal is seeking to set aside the February 24, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja, which sentenced him to a five-year jail term and discharged him on two out of the three counts on the corruption charge brought against him by the Federal Government.

Although it was his motion for bail, pending the determination of his appeal, that was listed for hearing, the court elected to take the main appeal rather than dissipating energy on the interlocutory application when the appeal was, on its own, ripe for hearing.

While urging the court to first take the bail application, his Counsel and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Daudu, said his client’s health was threatened.

Daudu says Lawan has stage three prostrate cancer, noting that if it gets to stage four, there is no assurance that he will remain alive.

But, on realising that the court was unwilling to walk back on its position, Daudu applied to withdraw the application for bail following which the main appeal was taken.

He urged the court to allow his client’s appeal and set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

While adumbrating, Daudu noted that the Court of Appeal discharged on counts one and two, which attracted a maximum of seven years.

Daudu argued that if the Court of Appeal could discharge his client on the two counts, which he claimed, have the same ingredients as the third count, the Supreme Court should equally let off the hook in relation to the third count.

Counsel to the Federal Government, Bagudu Sanni, urged the court to affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal and dismiss the appeal.

The Court of Appeal had, in its judgment, reduced Lawan’s initial maximum jail term from seven to five years.

Lawan was convicted by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on June 22, 2021, on a three-count charge of soliciting a bribe, agreeing to accept a bribe, and actually accepting a $500,000 bribe from businessman, Femi Otedola.

A US multinational financial services firm, JP Morgan, on Wednesday projected that the naira would trade at N850/$ at the Investors’ and Exporters’ Forex window before the end of 2023.

However, the US bank said the recent efforts to restore a flexible FX regime may be sustained given the willingness to accompany it with tighter monetary conditions.

“The interbank FX rate has risen in recent days to over 900, from 750, thereby significantly closing the gap to the parallel rate which is now just above 1,000.

“We expect USD/NGN to eventually move lower towards 850 by year-end as the combination of tighter policy, as well as more attractive rates and FX levels deter incremental dollarization and perhaps attracts some foreign capital,” JP Morgan asserted.

In addition to the policy actions, JP Morgan averred that authorities may need to consider further measures such as requiring commercial banks to adhere to regulatory limits on FX net open positions.

Other measures, JP Morgan said, include exploring the introduction of a cash reserve ratio on FX deposits as well as the issuance of dollar assets onshore.

On the fiscal side, the financial services firm advised the government to require all taxes to be paid in local currency.

It added that some of the measures may have already been incorporated in the Federal Government’s forthcoming revision of guidelines relating to the operations of the forex market.

JP Morgan also urged oil exporting companies to consider selling forex proceeds on the interbank market, rather than directly to the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The company also said the willing buyer-willing-seller nature of the foreign exchange market is contributing to the extreme volatility in the FX market.

It said the willing buyer-willing-seller model impeded price discovery, so the financial regulator should reconsider the strategy.

The bank also commented on Nigeria’s plan to obtain $10bn in foreign currency inflows in the next few weeks to ease liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

It added that the ability of the government to raise such an amount may be challenging given the “US$3bn expected from Afrexim has been delayed for months, while Nigeria LNG Limited’s historical dividends to the government have fallen well short of US$2bn annually”.

Meanwhile, the President of the Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria, Aminu Gwadabe, had called on the Federal Government to consider the securitisation of domestic remittances as part of the planned new forex rules.

In an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, he commended the plan by the Federal Government to address the forex crisis by operating a single exchange market.

He said, “The plan by the Federal Government to address the forex crisis is a good one and will yield results. Of course, it is going to add value to the local currency. We are only waiting to see how it would be implemented, especially on confidence-building measures.

“However, I think instead of securitising inflows from NLNG, they should look towards securitising diaspora remittances for Bureau de Change. It has been done in Malaysia, Lebanon, China, South Africa and other countries.

“We have to scrutinise diaspora remittances. It is stable and heavy. We should leave energy proceeds; the government should focus on remittances from the diaspora. It is about $20bn annually compared to that of NLNG that is from our future revenue of 14 years.”

He urged the government to use the Bureau de Change as a vehicle to implement that.

The management of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife said it was meeting the officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission following the arrest of 69 suspected Internet fraudsters, many of whom are students of the university.

Fifty eight of the students were later released late Wednesday.

Officials of the EFCC in a midnight raid stormed hostels outside the OAU campus, including Fine Touch and Superb hostels in the Oduduwa Estate, Ile-Ife, broke into rooms, and arrested the students.

The Students’ Union President, Akinremi Ojo, said on Wednesday morning the union had details of “72 students picked up from the hostel with phones and cars taken away.” The president demanded the release of the students while condemning the approach of the arrests.

A former union official, Joy Abiola, told our correspondent that the students were beaten during the arrests.

Abiola told PUNCH Metro that, “The EFCC officials came between 1:40 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.,” saying, “Only students stay in those hostels. How can you arrest people for owning iPhones, laptops, and cars? Some of the students are only tech experts.”

In a video shared with our correspondent by one of the students, several young persons said to be students of the hostel were seen being marched into a white Hummer Bus with some security officials hitting them and ordering them to move and enter quickly.

In another video, about six vehicles were seen alongside the white Hummer Bus as they left Ile-Ife for the EFCC zonal office in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

Meanwhile, the EFCC in a statement on its verified Facebook page hours later confirmed that it arrested 69 suspects in Ile-Ife. The anti-graft agency listed the names of the suspects but was silent on their identity as students.

“They were arrested on Wednesday, November 1, 2023, at the Oduduwa Estate area of Ile-Ife, Osun State, following actionable intelligence on their suspected involvement in fraudulent Internet-related activities. Credible intelligence linked Oduduwa Estate with activities of suspected internet fraudsters,” the statement said.

The agency disclosed further that, “The suspects have made useful statements to the EFCC and will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

Hours after the arrests, several OAU students led by union officers mobilised from Ile-Ife to the EFCC office in Ibadan to demand the release of their colleagues. They were seen protesting as the armed security operatives barricaded the EFCC premises.

“We’re here until they release the students,” the PRO of the Students’ Union, Elijah Omisore, told PUNCH Metro in a telephone interview.

The Osun Joint Campus Committee arm of the National Association of Nigerian Students in a statement also condemned the arrest of students.

“Without any justification or evidence, they invaded the residence of the OAU students and transported them (the students) to Ibadan. We condemn this action in the strongest possible terms,” the spokesperson for the student body, Adedapo Emmanuel, said in a statement.

While speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday evening, the Public Relations Officer of the university, Abiodun Olarewaju, said, “we (the management) are currently at the EFCC office in Ibadan to meet the officials.”

He later confirmed that “58 of the students were released to us. The remaining 11 of them have cases to answer.”

A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, says ex-President Muhammadu Buhari “rarely supervised” members of his cabinet.

Shittu, who spoke on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday, said the President Bola Tinubu administration should learn from the past government and do better in terms of the coordination and supervision of his ministers.

Tinubu, on Wednesday, while declaring open, a three-day Cabinet Retreat at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, challenged his 48 ministers to deliver on their responsibilities or get sacked.

Commenting on the President’s warning to his ministers, Shittu lauded Tinubu for putting his cabinet members on pressure to deliver. The ex-minister said the President should not hesitate to sack ineffective members of his cabinet.

Shittu, who was minister from November 2015 to May 2019, said sacking a minister is not a difficult task in as much as a replacement will be provided from the same state as the dismissed official.

Reminiscing about his time as minister during the first term of the Buhari administration, Shittu said, “Buhari did not give anybody any threat as such. As I said, Buhari is not Tinubu and Tinubu is not Buhari.

“What I do know of Buhari, with all due respect to him, is that he is a more reserved person. He’s one person who gives you job (with due respect to him) and he rarely ask how you are going about it. It’s unfortunate but I have to say this in national interest so that government coming after him will learn lessons. Once you are there, you are there.

“In Buhari’s government, if you don’t go and meet him, for the next four years, he probably would not ask of you.

“Every Wednesday, people bring their memos and they are debated and all of that but in terms of policy formulation and supervision, we rarely did have such things and I am happy that President Tinubu is trying to do things differently.

“In his statement today, that is a sign that he (Tinubu) wants to do things differently. What I think he needs to add to it is to create transparent, quantifiable milestones for each ministry.”