₦airaland Forum

DAYO OYEWO, who visited the headquarters of LASTMA in Oshodi, Lagos, writes about the plight of motorists, who are arrested on trumped-up charges by officials of the agency

A distraught-looking Moses Salami was seen limping and pacing along the corridor of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority around 2:55pm under the scorching sun on Friday, September 2, 2022.

The 72-year-old commercial bus driver needed someone who would either help him add N3,500 to the N11,500 with him so he could retrieve his bus or assist in talking to one of the LASTMA officials who had arrested him, impounded his vehicle and asked him to pay a sum of N15,000.

Having watched him roam helplessly while his bus conductor trailed after him for close to thirty minutes, our correspondent decided to approach him. Salami, who saw this as an opportunity he had been waiting for, did not waste time as he started narrating his ordeals.




Moses, who plies Idumota to Oshodi, said the officials stopped him and claimed to have snapped him at Ojuelegba bus stop for violating traffic rules. Although shocked by the allegation, Salami said he demanded for the picture but his request was rebuffed.

“I was coming from Ikorodu and when I got to Anthony, this man called Yemi stopped me and put the iron across the road. I asked what my offence was but he did not answer me. He just said I should come down. That was when the other officer called Fashola dragged me out of the bus. I know them. Look at me, I am an old man and I have been on this road for 22 years. I cannot tell a lie. So, I came down, and then Yemi asked them to tow my vehicle to Oshodi. That was when he said they snapped my picture when I stopped at Ojuelegba, which was untrue.

“Before God and man, I loaded at Idumota and my first stop was Onipanu. Whenever we load at Idumota, we tell Ojuelegba, barracks and Agip passengers not to board the bus. So, Fadeyi had always been our first bus stop, even on the said day, I did not stop at Fadeyi but at Onipanu. And after Onipanu, I stopped at Palmgrove, then Anthony, where they arrested me. And when I asked them to show me the picture, they did not show me.’’

When asked if he was booked for an offence, Moses said he was not booked, adding that proof of his offence was also not shown to him. He said, They did not give me any ticket. They just asked me to go and bring N15,000 and I only had N11,500 with me. What they are doing is illegal work I know them very well. Yemi, who they call Yemiton has one star and one eagle. If you can assist me, I will appreciate it. If I don’t bring my bus out today, the next opportunity will be on Monday. I don’t know what to do and my wife is in the village asking me to send money to her.’’

Much as our correspondent did not want to disclose his identity, all efforts to intervene on the driver’s behalf proved abortive. One of the officers who arrested him was also seen to have changed from his uniform to a mufti and perhaps was ready to go home but had to wait for Moses to pay the money. “How far, you don bring am?” he asked Moses, who led our correspondent discreetly to where his bus was parked since people were not allowed to go into the yard where the impounded vehicles were parked.

While looking around to help Moses, our correspondent stumbled on Godfrey, another bus driver who was arrested for the same offence. The fair-looking middle-aged man was similarly pleading with the officer who arrested him. When asked what led to his arrest, Godfrey, who plies Yaba to Oshodi and was arrested at Anthony bus stop, said he was told that he committed a traffic offence a few days back, with a picture of his bus taken in the process.

Godfrey said, “I asked them what my offence was, but they did not tell me. One of them later said I committed a traffic offence some days ago and they took a picture of my bus. When I asked them to show me the picture, they started to scroll through their phones but they still failed to show me. This got my passengers, most of whom are students angry as they joined me in demanding that they provided the picture. One of the students started to record the officers and this got them angry and they insisted on bringing my bus to Oshodi. When I got here, they still did not show me any record or photo of my offence when I asked, but since my bus has been impounded, there was no point claiming any right again other than to look for the money. I am a widower and I have children to fend for.”

It was not too long after that the officer, Akiode S. who arrested him showed up and they began another round of negotiation after insisting on collecting N20,000.

While Moses eventually paid N13,000, Godfrey paid N15,000.

LASTMA rules, background


The agency, which was established on the 15th of July, 2000, operates under the Ministry of Transportation to transform the state transportation system, ensure free flow of traffic in the state and also reduce road accidents.

With a city growing and expanding by the day, the agency has contributed in no small way in decongesting traffic in most parts of the state.

However, the high handedness of some of these officials when dealing with motorists has become a major source of concern.

Lagos residents and motorists have accused some of them of unprofessional conduct and being unruly, especially for deliberately arresting motorists without providing evidence of wrongdoing or infraction.

This has fuelled the allegation that the officers deliberately set traps for unsuspecting motorists so as to arrest them.

Our reporter visited the yard three times. The first visit was on September 2, then on October 3 and lastly on November 3, to monitor the activities of the officials. This reporter also pretended to be an arrested driver to enable him relate closely with other victims and observe proceedings.

A large number of the commercial bus drivers at the compound seemed to be familiar with most of the officers.

A commercial bus driver, Qudus Adekunle, said he and some other drivers pay certain dues to the LASTMA officials at Anthony bus-stop to avoid their trouble. He said, “The money we give them is just to delay evil days. They have collected money from me twice this morning and they still arrested me because my door was slightly open.”

It was however a different case with Musa Tajudeen, who was headed to Ikeja from Ojuelegba when a team of LASTMA officials led by one Igbimo accosted him, seized his vehicle and asked him to pay N35,000.

He said, “I was about connecting the service lane from Maryland under bridge when I saw them trying to arrest the vehicle ahead of me. They didn’t successfully get him arrested, and next they approached me and started to ask for my driver’s licence and my LASDRI which I provided and before I knew it, they entered my car and when I demanded to know my offence, their team leader who initially sat in their operational vehicle stepped out and told me that he deliberately wanted to punish me. That was how I found myself here. I brought Quran the following day for him to swear that I indeed committed an offence but he refused to. He insisted I pay 35,000. I eventually paid N20,000 through a third party. The person gave him the money in my presence, and he was even threatening me that my vehicle would have rotten in the yard if I had not paid the money.”

Pattern of arrest

The pattern of arrest by the officials and the double mode of payment by the drivers arrested for traffic offences piqued the curiosity of our correspondent. It was discovered that some of the drivers in the corridor of the LASTMA office were arrested for offences they did not commit, as the officials that arrested them failed to show evidence of their offences or reasons for their arrests. This added fuel to the wide held insinuation that the innocent motorists were arrested for offence spuriously contrived by the traffic officials. This mode of payment further corroborated the scam.

The PUNCH learnt that any driver arrested for a traffic offence is meant to be handed a fine equivalent of the offence but it was observed that while those who were genuinely caught and booked for a fine went about processing their payment, those clandestinely arrested were charged any amount from N25,000 naira upward.

Findings at the head office also revealed that once a vehicle is forcefully taken from a motorist for an alleged offence, the LASTMA official drives it down to the yard and will be nowhere to be found, while another official will take over the negotiation process.



Meanwhile, the questionable activities in LASTMA was further highlighted when our correspondent was accosted by one of the police officers attached to the agency who asked him to remove his phone from his shirt pocket and keep it in his trouser pocket. He was repeatedly ordered to do so when he kept returning the phone to its former position. This move must have been to prevent any recording of the happenings in the office.

The “beer parlour” remittance

Motorists have constantly complained about the alleged notoriety of the officials at Anthony bus-stop for a long time. Findings by our correspondent also revealed how the LASTMA officials allegedly use a drinking joint tucked in the taxi park as a point of remittance/collection after arresting motorists.

This became known to this reporter when Eto, a commercial bus driver who was waiting for the release of his vehicle, made a veiled remark about the circumstances that led to his arrest. According to him, a patrolling LASTMA officer had arrested him for failing to remit a sum of N7000 to a “beer parlour” somewhere around Anthony.

He said, “My bus has been here for four days. I was arrested because I did not deliver the money I was asked to take to a beer parlour at Anthony. I drove from Iyana-Ipaja to Yaba and one of the officers, Rasheed, who is always riding their patrol motorcycle, stopped me about two weeks ago and said he was arresting me for illegal parking. I was surprised and before I could say anything, he threatened to impound my bus. It was after I begged that he asked me to take N7,000 to a beer parlour at Anthony. Though I said the money was too much, he insisted. And just because I did not take the money to the place, he trailed me, arrested me and brought my vehicle here.”

Out of curiosity, this reporter tried all he could to get him to mention the specific location of the ‘’beer parlour’’ but he felt did not bulge. He, however, collected Eto’s phone contact in an attempt to further probe his claim. This was after he had also followed the driver to the point where he retrieved his vehicle, without being given a ticket.

A call made to him about a week later confirmed the location of the said “beer parlour.” Our correspondent, who pretended to have found himself in a similar situation, told Eto he needed to locate the spot to pay the money before he gets rearrested. The sympathy for a fellow bus driver made him tell our reporter that the spot was inside the taxi park by Anthony bus-stop. Except for commercial drivers who are familiar with the officers, no one could easily notice the said drinking joint in the park. A visit to the place, however, confirmed Eto’s claim as there were three shops backing the exit inward Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. Although the one in the middle, which Eto specifically mentioned does not have the outlook of a beer parlour, some of the officers were however seen seated around a middle-aged woman who supplied them drinks.


The LASTMA patrol officer, Rasheed was not sighted during the period spent at the taxi park. A source within LASTMA later confirmed that he had been moved to the Oshodi axis where he currently patrols.

On the alleged raid by the officials, the source said there used to be a special operation being carried out by the officials. This is a covert operation codenamed – Operation No Mercy. According to him, the officials set out on a day like this to arrest motorists whether they commit an offence or not.

He said, “On days like these, we set out to meet targets, and we have a certain number of vehicles we must arrest. We don’t care whether they commit an offence or not. Once we enter your vehicle, we would give you reasons why you cannot hesitate to have your car impounded. For those of us who have friends among the commercial bus drivers, we try as much to notify them when embarking on the exercise. We understand that people are becoming more conscious about traffic offences, and if we don’t arrest traffic offenders, how do we meet our targets?

A chubby-looking senior LASTMA official at the Lagos State Driver’s Institute, whose job is to retrain traffic offenders, corroborated the claims of the source. Our reporter, who sauntered into the institute on the last day of his visit, saw the officer who identified himself simply as “Eja” engaging in a shouting match with a new set of arrested motorists. The motorists, who demanded the evidence of their arrest, alleged that the officers who arrested them did not provide evidence of their offence. When asked if LASTMA officials embark on raiding, he said it is called a special operation.

He said, “It is called a special operation, they just call it raiding. It is during special operations that they really go after commercial buses.’’

Our correspondent also observed the urge of motorists to pay and get their car out of the yard, as attempts to challenge the veracity of their claims are often frustrated by the officers. A random engagement shows how motorist pay.


Stephen Ikide, who appeared exhausted while processing the release of his vehicle said, “All that I am after now is to get my car out of this place. I am told to be attending training, where do I have all the time?’’

Disciplinary actions
The agency had over time taken disciplinary actions against erring officials. Meanwhile, there have been reservations about the defensive position of the leadership of the agency regarding the complaints of motorists about the activities of its officials.

This was a similar instance in an investigation carried out by this reporter on July 7, 2022, in a report titled, “Traffic light: How policemen, LASTMA officers extort motorists in Lagos community,” where a group of police officers and LASTMA officials were caught in an extortion scheme. While the police commenced an investigation of its officers, the leadership of LASTMA stood in defence of its officials despite the photo evidence in the report.

Expert opinion

A legal expert, Yemi Omodele, said the government should give the officials orientation about the advantages and disadvantages of collecting bribes, and also train and retrain them as a way of correct the impression people have about them.

He said: ‘’For instance somebody who comes from maybe Ogun State or Ondo State for the first time, immediately LASTMA officials discover the plate number is not that of Lagos, they wave him down. Sometimes, they would say, he beats traffic light, some they will say he was making phone calls. That are the allegations they always give. From there, they threaten to impound the vehicle. One of the officers will come to the front, tell him to move forward and find somewhere to park. They will intimidate him and at the end of the day they will collect money. They will even go to the extent of telling the person to go and pay three years tax to the Lagos State government. But at the end of the day, their major target is to collect money. It happened in all parts of Lagos State. The law I know is that LASTMA is to correct motorists whenever they commit a traffic offence, but the reverse is the case in Lagos State.

“Aside from that, when a motorist sees that a LASTMA official is about to extort them, bring out a phone and record them and upload it online. In a situation that the motorists succumb out of fear and give them money, that is uncalled for. This is what encourages those LATSMA officials to be involved in such acts.

LASTMA reacts

However, the spokesman of LASTMA, Taofeek Adebayo, said no official of traffic agency negotiates with any motorists to release a vehicle in exchange for money. He also said every vehicle taken into the yard has documentation.

He said, “None of our officials bring any motorist to our head office in Oshodi and started to negotiate money with them. Whenever any vehicle is impounded for any infraction or traffic offences, they issue a referral to appear in court. So, the video and picture evidence that they have is to present to the magistrate to convince them that the motorists really committed the offence so that it will not look like we are the judge in our own case. The magistrate looks at the evidence we present and the position of the violator and the judge compares the two and comes up with the position of the law. The referral motive also has a serial number. Any vehicle brought into our yard must have proper documentation. We have the records.

“These recordings are being carried out by the cameras provided by the Lagos State Government to LATMA officials. The essence of the cameras is to reduce physical contact with traffic violators. So that when you have videos and pictures taken from a far distance, then you issue a referral and take it to the court. Commercial bus operators are being charged to mobile court. We also have to be careful of LASTMA impersonators. Any violators being apprehended should demand referral from them and not to give them money.

“We only have an enforcement unit and not special operations. They go out to enforce traffic rules as regulation and it is a routine thing. There is nothing like a special operation. For example, like Eko Bridge that was partially closed by the Fderal Government, last Tuesday, the enforcement operation of LASTMA went there to make sure it does not impede free flow of traffic within Apogbon, Idumota and Nnamdi Azikwe. That is a special one and it has a purpose.”

https://punchng.com/anger-as-lastma-officials-clamp-down-on-motorists-with-trumped-up-charges/

The Nigerian Broadcasting Commission’s imposition of a N2m fine on AriseTV for the sin of airing a contrived report about a presidential candidate is one of those curious instances of bureaucratic efficiency. Coming after some government agencies had indicated they would not be pursuing the substantial issue of this presidential candidate’s association with narcotics, it is funny how the shoddy reporting quickly stood out to the NBC as worth a penalty. I am skeptical that the NBC would have taken similar action if a false report had been about a different politician or another candidate not of the ruling party. Not much about their conduct suggests that they know how to adhere to the ethical code that prescribes political neutrality for government bureaucracies.

The NBC did not jump at the throat of AriseTV because there are values that they needed to enforce. This is the tyranny of a bunch of partisan hacks and moral cowards pretending to enforce some ethical codes. Just in case anyone is about to ask, this is not a defence of AriseTV. Yes, their reporters could have been more circumspect, especially in an election season where different shades of madness collide in the public sphere. At the same time, rushing to fine the station over a minor infraction is an abuse of power. Media houses get something wrong now and then. It should have been enough that the Independent National Electoral Commission—the agency from where the letter in contention purportedly emanated—disassociated itself from it and the station apologised.

If the NBC officials who flip through several broadcast channels while handling a sledgehammer have not thought about it by now, I am happy to break it to them: the punitive measures they keep applying on the media houses backfire. What sells a media organisation is not all news reports but integrity. When a media house serially reports false stories, it steadily destroys its own business. When agencies like the NBC rush to swing their hammer to force a media station into supposedly maintaining standards, they achieve the opposite effect of garnering public sympathy for them. They come across to the public as persecutors and arouse the sentiment that will make an otherwise discerning observer excuse the ‘fake news.’

In an earlier article, I raised the question of the usefulness of organisations like the NBC in the age of globalised media technology where you can broadcast through multiple channels and potentially garner far more viewership worldwide than all the electronic stations in the whole of Nigeria put together can achieve. Even the NBC administrators seem to have realised that they have outlived their usefulness, and they are trying too hard to push back on reality. That is why they are all over the place, micromanaging the exchange of information by slapping sanctions and issuing fines.




In August, they fined both the BBC and Trust TV N5m each for broadcasting documentaries on banditry in Nigeria. Their sin? They glorified terrorism. Now, here is the hilarious part of the charade of the code NBC claims they enforce. We already live in a country where governors have serially confessed to paying off bandits, lawmakers stand up in the Senate and say bandits should be sent abroad to be educated, and a state agency like the Department of State Services pays bandits a hefty sum to retrieve dangerous weapons, but the journalists that featured the bandits is the one that glorifies terrorism? How do the people who sit in their executive lairs manage to contrive this nonsense and pronounce them in public without reflecting on the deformity of their thinking? We should laugh to keep from crying!

In 2020, the NBC also fined Arise TV, African Independent Television and Channels Television between N2m and N3m for their coverage of the #EndSARS protest, claiming their report escalated violence across the country. This is another funny example of their warped logic when they wield the big stick. The government’s poor handling of issues during the protest did not cause the mayhem, but the reporting did? The same 2020, they also fined Nigeria Info 99.3 FM N5m for interviewing a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria. He supposedly promoted ‘unverifiable and inciting views’ that could lead to public disorder. In 2021, they fined Channels TV and Inspiration FM N5m each for their reporting of the Indigenous People of Biafra activities claiming the broadcasts “promoted secessionist, divisive, violent, and inflammatory comments.” In 2017, they fined 23 radio and television stations for “hateful speech, vulgar lyrics and unverifiable claims.” In 2019, they fined another 45 more stations for a range of offences such as “hate speech, abusive, and inflammatory broadcast.”

You look at the chain of fines and wonder, but by which objective means did the NBC officials calibrate the weight of these speeches to conclude they were dangerous? Who are those people taking it upon themselves to determine what is hateful and inflammatory, and what exactly qualifies them to make such ethical valuations? I have serious problems with a government agency that looks the other way when the All Progressives Congress errand boys go on television to defend their scandal-prone presidential candidate through blatant lies, but easily sanction others for hate, vulgarism, and falsehood. Do these people even think through the contradictions in their judgement, or hiding behind ‘the code’ has sapped them of rudimentary reflective capabilities?

Their whole claim of protecting society from combusting because one or two people said something on the radio or the television is suspect. The main threat to the country is not the media houses being punished, it is the leadership and its failures. It is irresponsible and merely tyrannical of the NBC to cede the responsibility for social order to electronic broadcast stations while overlooking the real sources of tension in the polity. If Nigeria goes up in flames, it will be because people are deprived, not because they listened to some broadcasts. If someone reports fake news, let them be called out; let the listening public determine whether they want to keep buying what a media station shorn of integrity sells. By clamping down on the media, the power-drunk NBC officials are stifling private businesses.

Businesses cannot flourish in an atmosphere where the government either uses taxes as a punitive measure or cheaply imposes fines for every perceived infraction. How much is the annual revenue of many of these electronic stations that the NBC imposes fines to the tune of millions of naira? If money were that easy to come by, why has the government not raised the minimum wage?

Rather than keep paying the fines, the media houses should learn to stand up to NBC and demand a complete overhaul of an agency that has become malicious and malevolent. Part of me wanted to blame Nigerian media houses for not doing enough diligence to report the Bola Tinubu’s chain of scandals, but can one blame them at this rate? Regulatory agencies like the NBC constrain initiatives to what some humourless tin-pot dictators in their airless offices approve.

In a democracy, media houses cannot always be expected to conduct themselves perfectly because they will cater to a segment of the public disaffected with the government of the day. Dealing with their output should be a matter for critical reflection and public education, not this tireless resort to Decree 4. Nigeria is no longer in a military era, but NBC’s organisational psyche is still so militarised that broadcast stations can hardly take two breaths before being slapped with punishment.


https://punchng.com/nbcs-tyranny-cannot-hide-their-moral-cowardice/

Rising inflation drove Nigerians’ consumption expenditure to N57.08tn in the first half of 2022.

This is a 14.39 per cent increase from the N49.89tn that was spent in the corresponding period of 2021, according to the ‘Nigerian Gross Domestic Product Report (Expenditure and Income Approach)’ report by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The NBS defined household final consumption expenditure as spending, including “imputed expenditure, incurred by resident households on individual consumption goods and services. This is calculated as a residual.”

The agency further disclosed that household final consumption grew by 6.94 per cent and 17.64 per cent in Q1 and Q2 2022 respectively, on a year-on-year basis, in real terms.

It stated that the growth rates were lower compared to those of the corresponding quarters of 2021, which recorded 47.16 per cent and 42.40 per cent respectively.

It said, “The observed trend since 2020 indicates that real household consumption expenditure declined in Q1 and Q2 accounting for negative growth rates informed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“However, positive growth rates were recorded in Q3 and Q4 of 2020 as well as the four quarters of 2021. As the economy recovers from the shock of the pandemic, Q1 and Q2 2022 growth rates have shown lower rates relative to the corresponding quarters of 2021.

“On a quarter-on-quarter basis, real household consumption expenditure grew by -8.50 per cent in Q1, and 2.32 per cent in Q2 2022. In nominal terms, household final consumption expenditure grew by 8.14 per cent in Q1, and 20.99 per cent in Q2 2022.”

In its report, the NBS revealed that household consumption accounted for 76.79 per cent of real GDP at market prices in Q1 2022, and 78.99 per cent in Q2 2022, leaving little for investments and others.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, household spending was the amount of final consumption expenditure made by households to meet their everyday needs such as food, clothing, housing (rent), energy, transport, durable goods, health costs, leisure, and miscellaneous services.

It added that it was about 60 per cent of GDP and was an important variable for economic analysis of demand.

Since 2021, headline inflation rose from 16.47 per cent in January 2021 to 18.60 per cent as of June 2022. It rose further to 18.60 per cent in September 2022.

In its September inflation report, the NBS stated that the disruption in the supply of food products, increase in import cost due to the persistent currency depreciation, and the general increase in the cost of production were driving higher prices for goods and services.

https://punchng.com/rising-inflation-drives-consumption-expenditure-to-n57tn/

Manchester City host Brentford on Saturday lunchtime to kick off the final weekend of Premier League football before the World Cup.

Pep Guardiola's reigning champions are cantering into the midseason hiatus. City knocked Chelsea out of the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night to rack up a 16th consecutive home victory.

Brentford, by comparison, are stumbling towards what must feel like a merciful break from club football. With Ivan Toney entangled in betting allegations off the pitch, the Bees have won just one of their last nine matches, bowing out of the EFL Cup in midweek to fourth-tier Gillingham.

Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming meeting between this pair.

Tankers spend over one week at loading terminal
NNPC’s supply drops, many filling stations empty
Scarcity may drag till festive season, operators say
The cost of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, has risen to as high as N200/litre at depots, which means that motorists should brace up to buy PMS above N200/litre at filling stations.

It was learnt on Monday that PMS cost, which was about N178 to N185/litre recently, had been jerked up by private depot owners due to the drop in supply by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, among other operational concerns.

This came as both the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria and the Petroleum Retail Outlet Owners Association of Nigeria told our correspondent that tankers were now spending more than one week on queues for petrol at depots.

This, they said, had led to empty filling stations nationwide, a development creating chaos among motorists at some of the few outlets dispensing petrol in Abuja, Nasarawa, Niger and neighbouring states on Monday.




The National Vice President, IPMAN, Abubakar Maigandi, confirmed the reduction in supply by NNPC and the hike in the ex-depot price of petrol at depots in Lagos and Warri, Delta State.

NNPC has remained the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for several years running. Other marketers halted petrol imports due to their inability to access foreign exchange without hassles.

“Firstly, due to that flooded road issue, the products at most filling stations became exhausted. Then, we noticed that there is not enough availability of products because most of our trucks are stuck in various depots,” Maigandi said.

He added, “This is due to the fact that there is not enough supply of products from the NNPC. These are the challenges we have been facing. Your truck will go there and queue for more than one week.

“And you know that when a truck spends one week on a queue without loading, it will cause a serious issue in terms of availability. Again, because independent marketers rely on private depot owners to get products, when we go there to purchase, they sell at almost N200/litre to us.

“They now sell between N190 to N200/litre in Lagos and Warri depots. You can now imagine the cost at filling stations. People should definitely be ready to buy above N200/litre if this situation continues.”

On whether the NNPC was providing any explanation, Maigandi stated that the national oil firm now described itself as a player in the business following its transition to a limited liability company in July.

“Since their transition to a limited liability company, when we raise some of our concerns to them, they will tell us that they are just marketers like us,” he stated.

The IPMAN vice chairman said the situation had increased the sufferings of the masses and the oil marketers, stressing that the way out was not just to deregulate the downstream oil sector but to get Nigeria’s refineries working.

“Deregulation alone will not solve the problem because we don’t have the refined commodity in excess. And if they deregulate, the price of petrol may exceed N500/litre,” Maigandi stated.


He added, “This is because the dollar is now about N900 at the parallel market. So, if they deregulate, marketers will have to go to the parallel market to source dollars for petrol imports.

“So, if the dollar is N900, when you import PMS, you can only imagine the cost. Therefore, I’ll say the way forward is basically to put our refineries in order. That is the only major way. You cannot deregulate what you don’t have. If you do that, you will be causing a lot of hardship.”

The President, PETROAN, Billy Gillis-Harry, confirmed that his team had moved round the country and figured out that most depots had limited products to dispense.

“The reality is that there are no products,” he stated.

The oil marketers president added, “There are no products to lift in many states and once there are no products to lift, then you’ll have scarcity. So, the NNPC, being the only supplier, should act fast.”

Gillis-Harry also called for the prompt rehabilitation of Nigeria’s refineries, stressing that marketers had consistently asked the government to involve PETROAN in getting the refineries running.

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“We have repeatedly stated that we cannot continue importing petrol. It is not sustainable and not healthy to the slim funds at our disposal. We must get our refineries working and marketers are ever willing to support the government in this,” he stated.

On his part, the Executive Secretary, Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, earlier stated that MOMAN had been calling for the deregulation of the downstream oil sector and the rehabilitation of refineries.

He said, “Of course, we want our refineries to come back on stream. It is important to make sure that people have fuel to buy at filling stations. This is why we keep saying, ‘deregulate and make life easier for everybody.’

“This is because it is not that simple to get petrol to customers on the street. It is difficult and people don’t know and may not appreciate this.”

Also speaking, the Secretary, Abuja-Suleja IPMAN, Mohammed Shuaibu, stated that the current challenges of poor distribution and supply shortage of petrol might lead to widespread queues for PMS during the festive period in December.

“Our worry as marketers is that the festive month is at hand and if nothing is done quickly to address the current concerns around supply, I am afraid that it would escalate during the festivities, because it has started,” he stated.

Shuaibu described the situation as very precarious, stressing that it was the government that had capacity to address it, through NNPC.

He said, “We are in a very precarious situation and we pray it does not escalate beyond this. But then the government has to wake up to its duties, because as you know, none of the four refineries are productive. They are more or less obsolete.


“We also have 21 depots across the country, nine in the North and 12 in the South. But these depots, which are supposed to be storage facilities, are not productive because the pipelines that supply products to them are old or are vandalised.

“So, the only way to get petroleum products into Nigeria today is through imports. That is only done by NNPC and when it imports the product, it dumps it in private depots. Who now takes charge of the products?”

Shuaibu added, “But right now the private depots have raised the price of products. This is making everyone apprehensive. Those who have paid at the government-approved price would wake up to find out that they can no longer buy products.

“We also have a shortfall in supply. So, the government has to wake up and do the right thing, because they are the sole importer of the product. If the refineries were working, it wouldn’t be like this.”

The IPMAN official further said the supply chain was poor, adding that the floods posed a challenge recently because roads were covered with water between Lokoja and Abuja.

He, however, stated that the water had receded “and still we have scarcity.”

Shuaibu said, “As it is now, all the Northern parts of Nigeria have been affected and the depots that are supposed to be the storage facilities do not have products. Everybody now relies on going down South to bring in products.

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“And when you go there, you are not even sure of getting it. Some trucks spend weeks on roads before they arrive at their destinations due to the bad road network in Nigeria.”

He said a lot of retail outlets owned by independent marketers had been shut due to lack of products to sell, giving rise to the activities of black marketers of petrol.

“Many petrol stations have been closed. These outlets were built to sell petroleum products, but when you don’t have the product, what do you do? This is why you see black marketers selling petrol in jerry cans everywhere,” Shuaibu stated.

NNPC was mute when contacted to speak on the issue despite the massive queues that had repeatedly greeted the Conoil and Total filling stations located directly opposite the headquarters of the company in Abuja.

Its spokesperson, Garba-Deen Muhammad, did not answer calls to his phone, neither did he reply a text message on the matter.

https://punchng.com/marketers-say-tough-times-as-petrol-hits-n200-litre/

Commercial drivers in Lagos State under the aegis of the Joint Drivers Welfare Association of Nigeria have since Monday embarked on a warning strike and boycott of transport services across the state over extortion by the Lagos State Parks and Garages Management. The President of the association, Abiodun Akintade, discussed issues surrounding the strike with SODIQ OJUROUNGBE

Why did you embark on the strike in the first instance?

There is a court order by the Federal High Court, Ikoyi. The order has been out since June 24, 2022, banning these people (agberos) from collecting money from us on the road. The court order also banned them from harassing, intimidating, beating our conductors, and damaging our property.

The court order also said they should stop collecting any money whatsoever from us but the Lagos State Government refused to act on the court order; that is one of our grievances.




The second reason we embarked on the strike was that early this year, the Lagos State Government introduced a ticket of N800. The Lagos Commissioner for Transportation went to a radio station, telling the masses that the government had introduced the ticket and it would be the only ticket they would assume as our tax, and anybody that asked for money again should be arrested.

After the introduction of the N800 ticket, we don’t know whether by omission or commission, the Lagos State Government gave the ticketing job to the agberos. We believe that the ticket should have been given to the local government authorities, but the reason they gave it to them is left to them; our duty is to pay for the ticket.

But after collecting that N800 ticket, these agberos still harass us. For example, where I drive, after loading in their park, while going to my destination, there are 25 checkpoints on the road before I reach where I am going. And I have to drop N100 or N200 at each of these checkpoints.

After loading in their park, whatever they demand, we will give them. Like in my park, they collect three passengers’ money out of our money. Before we load, there is what we call booking money; that is N500. After loading, two to four kilometers, we will start reaching different checkpoints where we have to drop money as well.

By the time you calculate all the money altogether, it is about N6,000. And when you drop passengers, they will still collect what they call offloading money.

With the announcement by the commissioner for transportation, we were all excited that the government has now recognised our predicament and is ready to come to our aid. Unfortunately, that was not the case because they added the N800 to the expenses we incur daily. So, the problem is getting worse every day; they will just wake up one day and create a checkpoint and there is nothing we can do about it.

All these led to the protest. What we are trying to push out is that we agreed that we don’t have parks, so let’s be using their parks to load passengers. We are ready to give them whatever they want; it is negotiable but we want them to put an end to all these illegal checkpoints. We are just trying to be lenient with them because in the court order, it was stated that they should not collect any money from us again.

Why don’t you get an injunction to make them obey the court order?

We do take actions but the judiciary in this country is zero. The government that is preaching rule of law is the one not obeying the court order. They are aware of that court order but they just decided to disobey it knowing that heaven will not fall.

Do you plan to take them back to court or you have lost hope in the judiciary?


Before we can say anything on that, let’s see how our Friday’s meeting with them will go. Then, we will now organise ourselves during the weekend and see the next action to take. We are meeting them around 11am. The outcome of the Friday meeting will decide our own action.

What was the outcome of the meeting you had with the government on Thursday?

We had a meeting with the Lagos State permanent secretary under the ministry of transportation. The meeting was successful in the sense that we expressed our displeasure at the meeting and he promised to look into our predicament. But he said that since those we accused were not at the meeting, he would advise us to be there again on Friday so that we could all be there, and see how to move forward.

Before embarking on strike, what efforts did you make to reach out to the authorities?

Before we embarked on the protest, a letter was sent to governor’s office. It was sent to the Ministry for Transportation and Ministry of Justice. Last week Friday, we held a meeting with their liaison officer, a retired AIG, Akeem Odumosu.

What we have observed is that anywhere we have meetings with these agberos, they will not turn up. We reschedule Wednesday’s meeting because they did not turn up. But the PS promised they will be available on Friday.


We put that into consideration; we know our people. But mind you, our eyes are open. All they are saying are just mere propaganda. During COVID-19, we were at home for more than a month, and nobody died.

If it will take one month to liberate ourselves, so be it. We are aware some people are working; we told our members to leave them because we are law-abiding citizens.

The agberos are just trying to be funny, it is just pure propaganda, but we know what we are doing.

Do you think the government and agberos are working together to frustrate you from getting what u want?

Yes, we believe they are working together. The way the agberos terorrize and intimidate us shows that they have government backing. Government cannot say they are not aware of the atrocities committed by agberos on daily basis.

When agberos assault your drivers or conductors, do you make complaints to the police?

Yes, we have on several occasions made complaints. Some of us are bold enough to take then to police station, but if you don’t know your way, you will be the one the police will lock up, and they will ask the agberos to go and continue his work.


By the time they lock you up, you will start looking for money to get yourself and also to bail out your vehicle, while the person that committed the atrocity will be move freely.

Are you not concerned with what commuters are going through because of the strike?

We are aware of what they are going through. It is just that it is important to put ourselves first. They are our customers; we can’t do without them, but we need to put an end to this modern-day slavery.

By the time we come out and we are able to achieve our aim, the commuters will also benefit because whether you like it or not, we are going to reduce the cost of transport fares. We can’t help it, we need their support; they know what we are passing through on Lagos roads.

Everybody is afraid of confrontation, but we are ready to ensure we put an end to this modern-day slavery. The majority know how these people are treating us, we can’t continue like this.

How have your members been coping with the strike?

It has not been easy, but we are coping. We need to fight this once and for all.


https://punchng.com/lagos-agberos-untouchable-because-of-government-backing-drivers-president/

Manchester City host Fulham on Saturday afternoon in a meeting between the reigning champions of England's top two tiers.

Pep Guardiola's side have spent much of the season trailing Arsenal in their pursuit of a third consecutive Premier League title but would go top - for at least one night - with a victory on Saturday.

Fulham, unlike recent Premier League iterations of the Cottagers, have begun post-promotion life strongly, sitting in the lofty reaches of seventh with a third of the campaign elapsed.

Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming meeting between these high-flyers.

Manchester City and Sevilla will face each other will face each other for the Matchday 6 of the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League group stage. Here you can find all you need to know about this game, such as when, where, at what time, and how to watch or live stream it free in the United States. It will be broadcast in the US on Paramount + (free trial) and DAZN in Canada and Germany.

It will be one of the most interesting duels of this Matchday 6 of the 2022-2023 UEFA Champions League group stage, as both teams have something at stake. Manchester City, with the draw nothing ensures the first place in the group, although obviously they will try to take the victory so as not to have to depend on what happens with Borussia Dortmund.

Sevilla still have a small chance of progressing to the round of 16, although to do so they first need Copenhagen to beat Borussia Dortmund and they win by a good margin. It is little short of a miracle, but the possibilities exist. Although perhaps the best thing is to try to secure third place and play in the Europa League, for which a tie is enough for them.