₦airaland Forum

The Southern Kaduna support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured the president of block votes in future elections, citing his administration’s support for the region.

The group’s pledge comes in response to the defection of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and his reported efforts to form a coalition against the current administration.

In a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Dr. Joseph G. Ibrahim, and Director of Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Victor Bobai Mathew, the group said President Tinubu’s emergence has changed the fortunes of Southern Kaduna.

“With President Tinubu’s leadership and the collaborative efforts of Governor Uba Sani, we have witnessed transformational policies that have given us renewed hope for a more secure and prosperous future,” the statement read.

The group stated that Tinubu’s appointment of General Christopher Gwabin Musa as the Chief of Defence Staff was a demonstration of trust in the people of Southern Kaduna.

“This appointment is a testament to our region’s contributions to nation-building and a strategic move toward ensuring security and stability,” it noted.

Among the key infrastructural and security interventions credited to the Tinubu administration was the approval and construction of a military barracks in Samaru Kataf, which the group described as a “game-changer.”

“For years, Southern Kaduna was plagued by insecurity, making life unbearable for farmers, traders, and families. This permanent security presence will deter attacks, enhance safety, and restore confidence among our people,” it stated.

In the healthcare sector, the group lauded President Tinubu for approving the establishment of a Federal Medical Center in Kafanchan, describing it as a major milestone that would improve healthcare services, reduce maternal and infant mortality, and enhance the well-being of residents.

Education was also a focal point of the group’s commendation, as it celebrated the approval of the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia.

“For decades, Southern Kaduna was marginalized in education development. This institution will provide quality education, skill development, and create employment opportunities for our youth,” the group stated.

The group further credited President Tinubu’s leadership for improving security, allowing farmers to return to their lands, and fostering an economic revival in the region.

“The proactive security strategies by the Nigerian Armed Forces, led by General CG Musa, have ensured that farmers and business owners can operate without fear.

“With improved security and infrastructure, Southern Kaduna is experiencing a business revival. Traders, entrepreneurs, and investors now have the confidence to expand their businesses, leading to job creation and economic prosperity,” it added.

Expressing confidence in the government, the group reaffirmed its commitment to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), stating that supporting the party at both state and federal levels was a demonstration of unity, patriotism, and commitment to national progress.

The group also praised Kaduna State Governor Uba Sani for his dedication to the development of Southern Kaduna, particularly in the areas of infrastructure and security.

“His collaboration with General CG Musa has yielded significant gains. We will continue to stand by him to ensure that he completes his good works for the state,” the group assured.

Are you not the same person who kept malice with Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, after he called you 'Gbajue'? Why did you quarrel with Mr. Soyinka if you genuinely believed what Raye did was right?

Can you, sir, hire such a person as Ushie Uguamaye, in your private company?

Peter, are you not the same person who threatened 'religious war' on the Muslim Ummah in your leaked audio?

Ibrahim79mantu:
You said same about Buhari

happney65:
Read the post.

It is the tension and issue with china that worsened their fuel issue and not Nigeria removing fuel subsidy.

Anyways na them know sha. The Nigerian government of Military Men are an Illegal government. So they can go fvck themselves

For several years, the country depended majorly on Nigeria for about 50 per cent of its local fuel consumption, industry players and experts confirmed. Petrol was usually smuggled into the neighbouring country through illegal routes.

Instead of negotiating, the military rulers were said to have decided to strong-arm China, slapping an $80bn tax demand on Soraz (Zinder Refinery Company) despite the state-owned oil company, Sonidep already owing Soraz a staggering $250bn.

Less than two years after President Bola Tinubu removed the fuel subsidy in Nigeria, the effect of the decision is now being felt deeply by neighbouring Niger Republic.

Also, findings by THE PUNCH on Sunday from fresh data sourced from the National Bureau of Statistics indicated that trade between Nigeria and Niger Republic surged by 82 per cent in 2024 despite ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two countries.

This came as oil dealers raised concern about the closure of filling stations at border towns, stressing that marketers were losing so much revenue due to the development.

Since the start of March, Niger Republic has been grappling with an unprecedented shortage of the most widely used petrol in the West African country.

Economic activities were brought to a halt as filling stations in Niamey, the capital, and those in other towns ran out of petrol recently.

For several years, the country depended majorly on Nigeria for about 50 per cent of its local fuel consumption, industry players and experts confirmed. Petrol was usually smuggled into the neighbouring country through illegal routes.

However, since President Bola Tinubu’s administration removed the fuel subsidy in 2023, the price of petrol skyrocketed, making the smuggling of the product unattractive to illegal traders in border areas.

Aside from Niger, countries like Benin Republic and Togo were also beneficiaries of Nigeria’s petrol subsidy which stopped immediately after Tinubu took over on May 29, 2023.

The removal of subsidy and the attendant rise in the price of petrol has mounted pressure on Niger’s refinery, which can only produce a few tankers of fuel per day.

The Commercial Director of the state-owned Nigerien Company for Oil Products (Sonidep), Maazou Oumani Aboubacar, confirmed that half of the country’s consumption used to come from Nigeria until this was halted by the current administration.

Aboubacar told AFP that the Soraz refinery in Zinder is the only one in the country, saying it “can no longer satisfy domestic demand,” which has surged for more than a year now.

The reason is principally down to the drying up of the flourishing black market supplied from neighbouring Nigeria, a major global producer. It was learnt that the country’s refinery only provides Sonidep with “25 tanker trucks of petrol a day” when the daily national requirement is up to twice that.

Domestic consumption was said to have been boosted by a cut in fuel prices introduced by the military regime that seized power in Niger in 2023. The official stated that two years ago, prices tripled after the Nigerian President ended costly fuel subsidies.

“The fuel that came into Niger illegally from Nigeria represented up to half of the market. It supplied the large regions near the border between the two countries,” Aboubacar was quoted as having said.

With Nigerian smugglers supplying up to 50 per cent of the country’s daily petrol consumption up till 2023, the country’s refinery was producing a little to augment the supply from Nigeria.

However, the country faced the reality after Tinubu declared that “the fuel subsidy is gone” and tightened up the borders

“Let them get more from us. I am confident that gradually they will come back to ECOWAS because they do not have enough resources to import food to sustain their citizens,” the source added.

Reacting, oil marketers said although they were not aware of the deal, the export of 300 tankers to Niger Republic would amount to about 13.5 million litres of petrol. It was calculated that 300 of 45,000-litre capacity trucks are about 13.5 million litres of petrol to be exported to the Niger Republic.

The dealers, however, stated that Nigeria had enough to save the junta-led country from the current fuel crisis rocking it. According to marketers, Nigeria may have passed the days of fuel scarcity as it now has the Dangote refinery, the Port Harcourt refinery, and others producing fuel locally even as importers bring more from other countries.

The National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, said he was aware of the fuel crisis in Niger Republic, adding that Nigeria had enough to bail out the country.

“I will not say we don’t have that capacity with the refineries we have in the country. I think we have enough to supply Niger Republic,” the IPMAN Vice President said

Similarly, the National President of the Petroleum Products Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria, Billy Gillis-Harry, agreed that the country had enough PMS to help its neighbours without running into any crisis. “If we have a diplomatic reason for that, it is doable,” Gillis-Harry asserted.

It was further gathered that the fuel crisis in Niger may have also been self-inflicted after a confrontation between the ruling junta and Chinese oil companies which had long dominated the country’s petroleum sector.

A security analyst, Zagazola Makama, in an article he published on X, revealed that trouble began in March 2024 when the China National Petroleum Corporation granted the Nigerien government a $400m advance, using future crude oil deliveries as collateral.

The deal was to help Niger cope with crippling economic sanctions imposed by the Economic Community of West African States following the July 2023 coup in the country. However, when it was time to repay the debt, the junta was cash-strapped.

Instead of negotiating, the military rulers were said to have decided to strong-arm China, slapping an $80bn tax demand on Soraz (Zinder Refinery Company) despite the state-owned oil company, Sonidep already owing Soraz a staggering $250bn.

According to Makama, when China refused to provide additional loans, the junta retaliated by expelling Chinese oil executives from the country and seizing Soraz’s bank accounts. The decision was said to have backfired and led to the collapse of Niger’s petroleum sector, which is heavily reliant on Chinese expertise and investment.

Aleister:
Focus on the topic, don’t digress

Make you stop to dey find wetin nor lost

dre11:
https://www.thecable.ng/falana-probing-natasha-akpotis-ipu-attendance-will-embarrass-nigeria/

Ngozi123:
Because you are trying to stoke ethnic violence. Nigeria is a powder keg right now and you people keep trying to light it.

The Nigerian government has proposed to unveil the Fly Nigeria Act to the National Assembly.

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, disclosed this during the 2025 ministerial press briefing on Thursday in Abuja.

According to him, the policy aims to boost the country’s aviation industry by mandating government officials to prioritize local airlines for official trips.

Keyamo explained that the proposed legislation will require all government-funded official trips to be taken using Nigerian airlines.

He noted that the Act is not just an aviation policy but also a strategic move to strengthen Nigeria’s economy.

The minister emphasized that the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s vision of a $1 trillion economy, with aviation playing a critical role in achieving that goal.

“We are in the process of pushing the Fly Nigeria Act to the National Assembly. There is a Fly America Act, and I believe there is also a Fly India Act. Most major countries have their own ‘Fly Act’ to promote their national airlines.

“Only when a local airline does not operate on a particular route can an international airline be used,” he said.

“This will be enacted as a law. We are unsure how nationalism will influence its reception, but it is a key policy push from us,” he added.

“The Fly Nigeria Act is almost ready in draft form. It aims to further boost business within the country, contributing to the $1 trillion economy that the President envisions,” Keyamo said.

Earlier, Keyamo unveiled recent achievements by the Tinubu administration in the aviation sector.

The President Bola Tinubu’s led administration revealed that the federal government has released 30 percent mobilisation for the commencement of construction of two bypasses on the 2nd Niger bridge, linking Asaba-Benin and Enugu-Onitsha dual carriageways.

This came as the federal government yesterday assured that between December 2025 and March 2026, the government would complete the reconstruction of the East-West Road badly damaged by flood incident years ago in Rivers State.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed this while speaking with journalists during his inspection of the ongoing federal government road projects in Rivers State.

“Just yesterday, I got an alert that 30 percent mobilisation has been paid on Abuja-Kano, section 1 and 3 and I’m so excited and I commend the President very highly for this.

“Good news also for Niger Delta and Anambra people, the second Niger bridge, finally, the section 2a and 2b are being handled by CCECC and CJC, the President has released 30 percent mobilisation to them.

“So I commend the President. At last, this project will be completed and we will engage the already completed second Niger bridge and that will be a win-win for the entire country,” Umahi added.

The Minister who had a two-day inspection of projects by the federal government in the State and beyond, visited the ongoing Eleme-Onne road construction being handled by RCC, the Bodo-Bonny major road projects by Julius Berger, Rivers-Bayelsa section of East-West Road reconstruction by SETRACO, and the rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriage way, section IV: (Aba – Port Harcourt road) by CCECC.

Umahi who expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done so far by the contractors assured Nigerians of Tinubu’s commitment to the development of the Niger Delta region.

Speaking during the inspection of the East-West Road, Umahi said,

“I am fulfilling one of the directives of Mr. President to raise local contractors because we have a lot of contracts and the expatriate contractors cannot fit totally to bridge this gap, so local contractors are being raised and this is one of them.

“I’m very happy with what they have done and they are doing at the end of the road, to protect the road from moving.

“The moment you restrain the road from moving at either ends, then the stability of the road is assured and I keep saying that the solution to the problem of instant failures of East West road from Lokoja to here and down to Cross River is concrete road and so I’m happy that the president is addressing them.

“In Ughelli, we have a similar section and it’s about 70 percent done under Mr. President. And of course, the four sections of Lokoja to Benin are being tackled.

“Three sections from Benin to Warri being tackled. In Eket, the Eket bypass, work is ongoing. In Eleme to Onne, we were there yesterday. It’s a beauty to behold, so we’re very happy.

“I want the Niger Delta people to commend Mr. President very highly, he is so much committed to this East West road, just like every other place.”
Addressing the SETRACO contractor, Umahi stressed:

“I want to express very deep satisfaction to SETRACO Nigeria Ltd. I’ve inspected the section 2, sub section 1 which is 47km that we took over from the previous administration and we completed it and we have paid them during our administration and it is ready for commissioning.

We shall commission that before the end of May.
“Then section 2:2 which is 57km I think what is left in either of the carriage way is 11km each and that is 22km.

“Anybody saying that this road will pass this year is telling himself lies, the controller and SETRACO must come up with a programme that leaves us to the end of November 2025.

“We must ensure the remaining 22 kilometers completed by the end of November, 2025. I am very enthused and I commend them very highly, they have proven that they are one of our first class indigenous contractors.”

He added: “And for Rock Results, this place, you know during the rainy season and of course last two years – 2023 before 2024 – we had very devastating flood along the entire East-West road, no thanks to climate change, the road was within the floodplain and so the flood washed away over a distance of 3km along this stretch and so we came, we studied what happened and the only solution is to raise the road by one meter from the existing road level.”

He, however, announced to SETRACO that, “we’ve almost concluded the review of your rates and so you should keep working. We know the rates are obsolete, but with cooperation, you are working and we will soon complete the procurement.”

Speaking further, the works minister stated: “We are getting very happy under President Bola Tinubu. The works of local contractors and foreign contractors, you cannot differentiate them.

“That is to tell you that even the local contractors on many occasions, their work is much better than the expatriate firms and their commitment much better.”

ISWAP terrorists, riding on over ten motorcycles, have returned to the site of their failed ambush against the convoy of Governor Babagana Zulum in Yobe State to retrieve the bodies of their fallen comrades.

This was contained in a post by security analyst Zagazola Makama on X on Wednesday night.

According to the report, the insurgents revisited the location between Buni Gari and Gujba town, where they had engaged in an encounter with security forces.

“They are picking their dead bodies. They came on ten motorcycles. Probably planning to bury them,” the post read.

Governor Zulum’s convoy, which was under the protection of troops from Operation Hadin Kai, the Police Crack Team, and other security personnel, had successfully repelled the attack, killing several insurgents and rescuing kidnapped passengers.

AMINDA:
The Agbadorians say Elrufai is not popular but they have expended all their arsenal trying to combat him for weeks, and he seems to be having the upperhand. He has single-handedly revived the opposition. Elrufai is doing exactly what he's supposed to do, taking the momentum off Tinubu's campaign in the North. The real traditional opposition figures have not even entered the conversation yet and APC is in disarray.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) Youths and Supporters Coalition has strongly rejected the defection of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, into the party, describing his membership as a threat to the party’s democratic values and progressive ideology.

In a statement signed on Wednesday by its President, Abdulsamad Bello, the coalition accused El-Rufai of anti-democratic tendencies, political opportunism, and a hidden agenda to hijack the party for personal gain.

The coalition alleged that El-Rufai’s tenure as Kaduna governor was marked by oppression, division, and exclusionary policies, making him unfit to represent the values of the SDP.

“El-Rufai has not joined the SDP to advance its vision but rather as an undertaker—one who has come to bury the party and serve his own interests,” the statement read.

The SDP youths condemned the “clandestine deal” between the party’s leadership and El-Rufai, which facilitated his defection. They also accused him of immediately attempting to dominate the party by pushing for the resignation of Dr. Olu Agunloye as the party’s national secretary.

“Just days after joining, he is already demanding the removal of a key party leader. On Wednesday, his supporters picketed the SDP national headquarters in Abuja to pressure Agunloye to step down. This proves our fears—El-Rufai has come to destabilize and dominate our party through undemocratic means.”

The statement further alleged that El-Rufai’s defection is a calculated move to reinvent himself politically, using the SDP as a platform for his vendetta against President Bola Tinubu and the APC.

“El-Rufai has never believed in democracy. His history of suppressing opposition voices, sidelining party members, and ruling through coercion is well known. How can we trust such a man to uphold the values of the SDP?”

The coalition called on genuine SDP members to resist El-Rufai’s “backdoor takeover”, insisting that the party must not become a retirement home for failed politicians or a playground for political mercenaries.

“We refuse to allow El-Rufai to use our party as a platform for personal ambition. The SDP’s future cannot be mortgaged for selfish political interests.”

The coalition vowed to mobilize against any attempt to hand the party over to El-Rufai and urged the party’s leadership to reconsider their decision before it is too late.

mynd1:
My problem with you Yoruba's is, you guys are so shameless and hypocrites. This same EL Rufai you guys are insulting up and down fought his own people because of Asiwaju. He single handed stood for Tinubu against Buhari cabals. Do you think Tinubu stand a chance during 2023 Election if not because of people like Mallam El Rufai?