The story that is on every lip and also trending widely is that “life is hard.” It is indeed true. The times are tough and Nigerians are no longer smiling due to unbearable economic hardships. Who will protect the vulnerable and long-suffering masses who are struggling daily to eke out a living? Who will cover their “nakedness”?

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu told us that becoming the president of Nigeria was his life-time ambition. I don’t see anything wrong with that statement of purpose but the challenges of the moment will test his leadership skills. I have written in previous articles that he has the capacity, courage and experience to lead the country.

Now is the time to walk the talk. However, I agree with commentators who say that it is still too early to criticise the Tinubu administration that is less than 60 days old.

But Mr. President needs to act quickly in order not to lose his goodwill with Nigerians. What are the issues again? The rising cost of petrol and expensive foreign exchange rates have created a new “economic bubble” that we are not used to.

Once the pump price of petrol goes up, there is always a multiplier-effect on the prices of other goods and services. School fees, transport fares, cost of foods and medicines, house rents and electricity tariffs, etc have all gone through the roof.

It is public knowledge that efforts are being made to re-set the economy but it will take some time for the benefits to kick in. Critics argue that the “bitter pill” being forced down the throats of Nigerians ought to have been “sugar-coated” to minimise the impact of the dire economic situation that has enveloped the nation.

Palliatives that are now being discussed, according to the critics, should have been in place before the petrol subsidy was removed. I think that is a fair point, but Nigerians are suspicious of palliatives in its form, scope and implementation – in much the same way they believed fuel subsidy was a huge fraud – or “organised crime” as Peter Obi put it – that was beneficial to the rich and exploitative to the poor.

Prof Farooq Kperogi, one of my favourite columnists writing from his base in the US, criticised, the removal of “subsidies” which he described as “anti-people policy”. In America where Kperogi lives, he argued that subsidies on petrol and agriculture are retained and sustained, otherwise they could become highly toxic political issues.

I am sure Kperogi knows that subsidies in Nigeria are stolen and the thieves get away with their loot but it is not so in America where every cent is accounted for. That is the huge difference. However, I agree with him that subsidy is not a bad thing but it is the mismanagement that is bad. 

The mere fact that people have not poured out in the streets protesting the removal of subsidies – in spite of the economic pains – does not mean we have swallowed the “religious dogma” envagelised by the World Bank and IMF.

To the best of my knowledge, no “ideologue” has been garlanded with medals since the removal of petrol subsidy and unification of the exchange rates (I&E window and parallel market rates) neither is Nigeria a lackey of the World Bank and IMF.

Prof Kperogi, whether we call it “neo-liberal economics” or the “reign of market forces,” Nigeria is broke (from many years of non-stop egregious looting of the treasury) and there are no easy answers to the deep-rooted economic problems that have festered over several seasons.

The situation today is dire and different from what led to the SAP riots of the 1980s. Nigeria is poorer today than 30 years ago because our commonwealth has been stolen by the “elites” during that period at the expense of the poor and there are usually no consequences.

Every now and then, we receive “Abacha loot” from the US. The money that the late General Sani Abaca “saved” for us must have been in billions of dollars! You will agree with me that he was not the only one who looted our treasury, but we are yet to receive similar repatriation of stolen funds by others from Europe and America because they are still alive.

I agree with you that our poor people have been pauperised severely by the thieving mob, parasites, bootlickers and rent seekers of Nigeria. It explains why you support the need for subsidies but when there is no money in the treasury to pay for subsidies, what do we do? Ask NNPC Limited CEO, Mele Kyari, and he would tell you that the federal government is owing the corporation over N2.8 trillion.

Gong by the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), petrol subsidy had become illegal after February18, 2022. All the appropriations made by the Buhari administration in the 2022 and 2023 budgets were not backed by funds which explains why NNPC is being owed.

Nigeria is not a poor country but the poor are getting poorer because they have been subsidising the rich. What does it even mean nowadays when we say Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa when people are dying of hunger?

Different cycles of leaders have failed us since the days Nigeria borrowed money to IMF. You described these leaders as “unashamed sadists” because they “derive contentment from seeing others writhe in pain.”

I am equally as concerned as you in this matter because Nigeria’s revenues since 1960 does not match our growth and development. Ideally, our per capita income should have been higher that of China and Singapore by now, just to cite two examples. Each time we take two steps forward, we take 10 steps backward.

Even Dubai with eye-popping skyscrapers which our looters who hide under the demonising shadow of “elite conspiracy” travel to is a city that grew out of a desert in less than 30 years! Public officers and civil servants who own prime properties in UAE, especially Dubai, know themselves.

Can you really blame the followers whom you described as “unthinking, self-immolating masochists” because they “obtain joy from the suffering inflicted on them by their leaders” who come and go through revolving doors of shame that recycle them?

Is it possible to obtain joy from suffering that is the result of years of neglect caused by lack of visionary and purposeful leadership? In a country with over 130 million multi-dimensionally poor people, these “followers” have always resorted to self-help to survive because they believe that they are “on their own” – help does not come from those who preside over their affairs at the local council level or subnational government or the federal government.

They are easily recruited by politicians and thereafter sing their praises and pay obeisance to them. The poverty cycle continues and the net is expanded to admit more poor people yearly.

How much did Nigeria spend on petroleum subsidy payments until it was removed or is it a no-go area? If that probe is ever commissioned, the findings will perhaps be the biggest revelation yet on how the “organised crime” was perpetrated.

In order to break the poverty cycle, President Bola Tinubu has promised Nigerians that he would renew their hopes to achieve a new and better life. In the process, good and bad decisions would be made. For example, the N8,000 cash “subsidy” targeted at 12 million “poor and vulnerable” Nigerians was withdrawn because it was a rushed “quick-fix” that would have been counter-productive.

The long-term gains that would come after the short-term pains is the “hope” that Nigerians really need, but the optics from Abuja must be right. What do I mean? 1.) the Tinubu administration must be sincere in all its policy choices and implementation; 2.) this sincerity will breed trust that is badly needed at this time; 3.) display of transparency and accountability in government spending and block all the financial leakages; 4.) the poor can no longer subsidise the rich, and  5.) fairness, equity and social justice must be the abiding principle of the administration.

President Tinubu needs these “five pillars” to succeed and finish well. However, in my own reckoning, the president did not need more than 30 days to announce his list of ministers with their respective portfolios attached.

But I have come to know that things are not usually what they seem, and Nigeria is always a hard nut to crack. I do not envy any president who sits in Aso Villa; it is always the case of the more you look, the less you see.

I suspect that the “vested interests”’ and “middlemen” who are professional lobbyists have been at work tinkering with the ministerial list and it would appear they successfully boxed President Tinubu into a tight corner.

Even if that is what happened, I am still willing to give Mr. President the benefit of the doubt, and I am confident his presidency will thrive.

What is important is that we cannot give up on Nigeria, no matter the challenges that we face. In order to keep hope alive, we must work together to solve our problems. The signs are there that the economy will bounce back.

Braimah is a global public relations and marketing strategist. He is also the publisher/editor-in-chief of Naija Times (https://ntm.ng) and Lagos Post (https://lagospost.ng), and can be reached via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

What we refer to as palliative to cushion the effects of harsh economic conditions in Nigeria, could be coterminous to social security and welfare in other climes. The government must come up with a more seamless, efficient and effective deployment of social succors to the unemployed and citizens that are mostly affected by our sudden resolve as a people to finally come to terms that we have to correct and pay for our past profligacy.

This, the government must depart from the usual practice of just throwing money to the people and come up with more creative initiatives that would honestly address the suffering of the people in a most honorable and transparent way. Not like the discredited initiatives of the past that were dogged by allegations of diversion of funds and corruption

Whilst the government has taken the right decisions that have so far defined the early days of Tinubunomics- market-driven economic policies and life changing reforms, huge sacrifices have to be made by all Nigerians, irrespective of social status or office. We cannot have a different set of rules for the long-suffering Nigerians and the parasitic elect, and the ruling class. If we are all called to make sacrifices under the prevailing high cost of living and stagflation, then it must cut across boards.

A situation where some politicians and government officials continue to live large and carry on as if nothing has changed in Nigeria, whilst calling on the poor to tighten their belts, is not only outrageous but, inhumane and dangerous for the peace and progress of the country. To get the Nigerian economy up and going again in the right trajectory would demand that we all, (not some) brace up to the reality of a bankrupt and economically comatose country, currently in intensive care unit (ICU), that needs all the medication for revival and resuscitation.
To achieve this, requires extreme life style changes, monetary and fiscal discipline, both at the national and sub national levels.

On the palliatives: the distribution and administration should by decentralized to the 31 states and down to the 774 Local Government Areas. In doing this, the central government should lay down the modalities and set out minimum standards and criteria for operationalizing the initiative, along, Short, Medium to Long Term hardship amelioration plan.

Nigeria public and private sector leadership, must lead by example, so that the citizens would follow in the examples already set by their leaders.
Drastically reduce the size, and cost of both the state and federal governments.

On the short term: the FGN and the state governments, apart from reducing the size of government, must come clean with tax payers to reveal the much secretive total emolument of members of the State and National Assemblies, in line with the Freedom of information Act.

And to address the impact of the astronomical high cost of petrol and other fuels on the economy, and General cost of living, governments should resuscitate their states buses, boats and other transportation systems for mass transit with the benefit of economies of scale on transport cost

Then on the medium to long term, in order to resuscitate Nigeria's challenging economic situation and address the negative impacts of corruption, crude oil theft, insufficient foreign currency, lack of investment in infrastructure, and low foreign direct investments, the Tinubu government should be, if not already considering taking the following steps:

1. Tackle corruption: Implement strong anti-corruption measures, including the establishment of an independent anti-corruption agency, strict enforcement of existing laws, and prosecution of corrupt officials. This will help restore confidence in the government and attract foreign investments.

2. Diversify the economy: Reduce dependence on oil by promoting and supporting other sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, tourism, and technology. This will create employment opportunities, increase revenue streams, and reduce the vulnerability to oil price fluctuations.

3. Improve infrastructure: Increase investment in infrastructure development, including roads, railways, ports, and power supply. This will enhance connectivity, reduce transportation costs, and attract both local and foreign investments.

4. Encourage foreign direct investment (FDI): Create a conducive business environment by simplifying bureaucratic processes, reducing red tape, and providing incentives for foreign investors. This can be done through tax breaks, investment guarantees, and streamlined regulations.

5. Enhance security: Address the issue of crude oil theft by improving security measures, increasing surveillance, and cracking down on illegal oil bunkering activities. This will protect Nigeria's oil resources and increase revenue for the government.

6. Promote education and skill development: Invest in education and vocational training to develop a skilled workforce that can contribute to economic growth and attract foreign investments. This will also help reduce unemployment and poverty rates.

7. Strengthen institutions: Reform and strengthen key institutions such as the judiciary, police, and regulatory bodies to ensure transparency, accountability, and the rule of law. This will create a level playing field for businesses and investors.

8. Foster regional and international partnerships: Engage in regional and international collaborations to attract investments, access new markets, and benefit from technical expertise. This can be done through trade agreements, partnerships with multinational organizations, and participation in regional economic integration initiatives.

9. Promote entrepreneurship and innovation: Create an enabling environment for startups and small businesses by providing access to finance, mentorship programs, and business development support. This will stimulate economic growth, job creation, and innovation.

10. Improve social welfare: Implement social welfare programs to alleviate poverty, improve healthcare, and provide basic amenities to the population. This will enhance the standard of living and create a more inclusive economy.

It is important to note that these steps require a long-term commitment and sustained efforts from the government, as well as collaboration with various stakeholders including the private sector, civil society, and international partners.

Sonny Iroche is a 2022-2023 Senior Academic Fellow at the African Studies Centre of the University of Oxford. UK
Twitter: @IrocheSonny

The other day President Bola Tinubu announced that Nigerians are going through the equivalent of childbirth pains, but his administration is determined to ameliorate the pains, provide succor and make life better for all. During his Presidential campaigns, he told Nigerians – emi lo kan, that is in Yoruba -“it is my turn”. He also told us “e lo fokan bale”, that is don’t worry, I would be there for you as he explained that phrase. He, practically, spiritually wished himself into power and has since his assumption of office with all the baggage about unresolved court matters, confronted, through proxies, big challenges from the People’s Democratic Party and the Labour Party (LP).

What we see is that the President has continued to play “Rose Garden politics”, grab the power, hold it, and be seen to be taking charge and be seen also to be doing so, even as the opposition continues to raise questions of legitimacy. It is the courts that would determine that, eventually, but more than any other time in Nigerian history, the judex is in the eyes of the storm, exposed to the most excruciating scrutiny. Indeed, the judiciary in spite of itself has been dragged right to the bottom of the arena, in what when reviewed would come across, as one of the most difficult moments in the history and trajectory of the Nigerian judiciary. Our Lordships are in a difficult place. They carry a burden to do justice, and they also have to be seen to be doing so. They are faced with a political arena where expectations about risks and outcomes are the subjects of confrontation. The judex are expected to be above board at all times and to dispense justice without minding whose ox is gored. The more liberal characters in this conversation claim that they are looking for justice, and that justice is the “be-all-and end-all” of the judicial process. But. really, what is justice? Pontius Pilate sked “what is truth? And I wager a bet that the present imbroglio over the 2023 Presidential elections would not be resolved on the basis of questions of legitimacy, but law, public policy and public interest. I stand to be corrected if the pendulum swings otherwise.

This piece however is not necessarily about Tinubunomics, stricto senso, as the title indicates. It is about what I consider the satirical sides of the same phenomenon. Abroad, out there are the details that Nigeria’s inflation rate is now 22.79(%. Fitch, an international rating agency tells us that we should in fact be looking at 25.1% in due course, and that real GDP growth is likely to slow down to 2.7% in the face of high living costs. Debt service to revenue ratio is about 97%, so high that members of the Afenifere, a socio-cultural group, have also now become emergency economists- much better than stoking the fires of ethnic difference- and are now offering economic counsel about how to eliminate debt and increase productivity, growth and values. Meanwhile, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has just met – the first MPC since President Bola Tinubu assumed office, the first to be presided over by Mr. Folashodun Shonubi as Acting Central Bank Governor. Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) stands at 18.5%, and this is the first MPC meeting in a long while without the embattled, suspended Governor of the Central Bank, Godwin Emefiele.

Foreign Exchange Rate is as high as N868 to the dollar in the parallel market. Jobs and productivity are negatively impacted. Money supply is at an all-time high at over N9 trillion, pressuring the FX market. What should be our expectations then, today as the MPC concludes its meeting? What is the balance of risks? Nigeria’s MPC faces a dilemma like never before now: to tighten, ease or retain? Whichever way the MPC decides today, the signs look ominous. Traditional orthodox economics has not worked here for as long as we can remember because the fundamentals of this economy are askew, the necessary alignments between fiscal and monetary policies are not in place, productivity is low, growth is abysmal. Let us leave the economic jargons to the economists. If you have two or three of them in this space, they will express different opinions, quoting dead theories lacking connection with contemporary Nigerian realities and claiming, each one of them, to be right. You are better off avoiding their voodoo and mischief. Nigerian economists are only good when they gather to pick up appointments at the Policy Advisory Committees that the Federal and State Governments often aet up or when they hold their annual peppersoup-ing and jollof-ing conferences where they write reports that are at best photocopies of statements from the IMF, the World Bank, and the rating agencies. Many of them would soon show up as government appointees at both Federal and State levels, to collect government patronage and shake heads like experts. I doubt how much of an economist anybody can be in this environment, mouthing dead theories that don’t work here! Even Afenifere, a socio-cultural group is trying to fill the void! In some states, governments have declared shorter working days as if that is the solution. The economist and their clients have failed this country.

It is therefore about time that we brought this thing out of their textbooks and face hard reality to console ourselves as the affected people. There seems to be an emergency consensus that Tinubunomics, or “Jagabanomy” as it is otherwise known, is not working, 60 days in the making and implementation. We have been told “e lo fokan ba le”- our hearts are already palpitating. Mr Bayo Onanuga and Senator Dayo Adeyeye have both appealed to us to be patient, and that after these initial pains, there would be “everlasting joy”. Which everlasting joy, please, Senator Adeyeye? Our grandchildren are destined to pay back all the money that the APC government has borrowed with all the accrued interests? Nigeria is at a point right now that if it were possible, the dead would rise and carry placards in protest! The living are docile and is that because there seems to be some silver lining to this “childbirth pain”, to borrow President Tinubu’s words, that we are all going through? Tell us.

With due respect, I take my narratives from the streets. Yes, the country is hard, people are in pains, but has anyone noticed, especially in Lagos that thanks to Tinubu, people are now likely to become the most fit population in the world. Ordinarily, Nigerians do not like to walk about. They prefer the comfort of commuting up and down, and if possible, in air-conditioned buses and cars. This is beginning to change. What I have seen in Lagos is that more and more people are beginning to trek to work or wherever they want to go. Very early morning or at any other time of the day, it is normal to see people on their feet taking the entire stretch of the bridge, or the street, making small conversation by the side and heading towards a destination that is known to them. Thus, with the removal of fuel subsidy, Bola Tinubu has turned Nigeria into one large, fitness gym! Nigeria is the trek-a-thon country that may soon enter the Guinness Book of Records. Nigerians are beating the road with their feet more than the people in South Sudan, Syria, or Afghanistan due to the cost of fuel and public transportation. In the UK, the government is considering adding a few seconds to the green man at the traffic lights to give porky Brits some time to cross the road, because most of the population is obsess and slow. In Nigeria, the people are busy trekking. In due course, Nigeria would be left with persons looking like broom sticks, and no one should be surprised if Nigerian economists tell us that such a development would be a plus for public health.

Tinubunomics has also made us very attentive. I never used to check the fuel gauge in the car. But I do now. In fact, I don’t only check the gauge, I step out of the car to monitor the gauge at the fuel station and I note down the number of litres pumped into the car. This is no longer the time in Nigeria to act as a big man at fuel stations, sitting down there like a dumb fellow checking the phone while the fuel is being sold. Many of us are now fuel station policemen. It is not safe to trust the driver. It is not safe either to trust the fuel station attendant. Often, I have been tempted to take the fuel pump and serve myself. There is a way those attendants handle the pump. It looks like they have a method of reducing your purchase. Whatever happens, once I get back into the car, I ask questions about the fuel gauge. Is it full? Is it by the middle or is it around a quarter? This is something I never bothered to double-check in the past. But having now to fill a car that ordinarily takes N16, 500 worth of fuel with over N50, 000, I guess one may be excused for becoming a fuel gauge police. President Tinubu’s fuel subsidy removal has tuned all of us into vigilantes. The only fear is that the number of persons with hypertension may be increasing without our knowing it. By the way, many car owners have abandoned their vehicles. They say driving a car is no longer a status symbol in this country. It is better to join the masses in the national trek-a-thon especially if you live around Ikeja! In Lagos, many wives and husbands who work on the island no longer go home. They stay back in the part of the city where God has put them. Tinubu has effectively separated families to teach that romantic lesson that distance makes the heart fonder. People are learning to stay where they earn their daily bread, without going up and down. We, the people are learning how to save costs.

Many husbands who are able to still go up and down have also learnt to redraw the map of their movements. What I have observed in this our Lagos is that husbands now go home early. What I know in this Lagos is that it is possible, and that has been the pattern over the years, for a husband to leave his office and go around town like a piece of smallpox affliction for hours: he stops somewhere to take isi-ewu, he goes off to an “Igbinedion joint” (If you know, you know), then he stops by at a tarmac somewhere to take a “point and kill delicacy.” Some other days, he mixes that up with a stop-over at Calabar Kitchen or any other favourite restaurant/tarmac of his choice. He burns petrol driving from one point to the other meeting up with friends, before he finally makes his way home in the evening either to hit the sack or slap, hit, punch his questioning wife or snarl at the children! Omo, that lifestyle is changing oh. Husbands now go home. They can’t afford the high cost of fuel. Tinubu may have reduced fuel subsidy but he has also introduced by stealth a national family stabilization and planning programme. Many housewives are silently praising him. Their yeye husbands are adjusting to the new economic reality and learning to come home when they should. It looks like practical economics. While the National Economic Council is talking about the possibility of increasing the national minimum wage, by the way, employers of labour in the private sector have been busy playing deaf and dumb. Have you heard any private sector employer trying to increase staff salary? They are all playing deaf and dumb, making the dire situation in which Nigerians have found themselves look like a government problem. Many husbands are now under strict control.

Major losers in the equation would include Tinubu’s allies: the National Prostitutes Association of Nigeria. In the course of the campaigns in 2022, their National Executive issued a public statement saying that they were solidly behind Tinubu, and they were standing on “his mandate”. They even promised to offer discounted services if Tinubu won. Have they? It is now appropriate to ask the Oloshos of Nigeria: How market oh? The simple answer is this: market is bad. Many years ago, as a romance journalist, I used to write a weekly column on prostitutes and brothels. I am not telling that story here, certainly not today. But what I know for a fact is that customer traffic is the oxygen of a prostitute’s life, and as a patron, you must know the best time to get a good bargain. Tinubu has ruined the market for our Nigerian and ECOWAS sisters! People are adjusting their personal budgets and the olosho has been yanked off. Side-chicks are also groaning! I am just waiting for this category of allies to write the President to remind him that they also supported him during his campaigns and that it would be unkind to deny them their own already assured palliatives that do not require National Assembly approval. They may even propose their own economic blueprint.

Please note further that with one policy move, the Jagaban has also solved the problem of traffic hold ups in Lagos and the expressways. The other day, I travelled out of Lagos, something I try to avoid if I can, because the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is a prolonged nightmare for motorists. I was advised that the roads are freer these days and so I ventured out. To my utter shock, traffic moved, not just on the Expressway but also inside the city. By removing fuel subsidy, Tinubu has taken the additional title of Chief Traffic Controller of Nigeria. He has put an end to traffic congestion on many roads. On my way back to Lagos, the road was also free. Most of the problematic people who go about causing problems on the roads had gone home to their wives or concubines. Half of them are more or less stone-drunk anyway. Tinubu-mycin has put them where they should be.

I am aware nonetheless, to wrap it all up, that what I describe as the positive sides of Tinubunomics, or Jagbanomy may be dismissed as a threat to growth and productivity. But let’s look at it this way: since economists like to calculate the strategic value of the informal sector, I would like to know for example: how much value do prostitutes and brothels add to the Nigerian economy? Or perhaps, peppersoup joints? Needless traffic logjams? We have been told by at least two persons from the Tinubu camp: Mr Bayo Onanuga and Senator Dayo Adeyeye that we should all be patient and calm down. Sirs, Nigerians are the calmest and the most patient people in the world. We just want good governance, results and leadership. Is that too much to ask for?

The Labour Party’s (LP) Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of cloning electoral fraudsters as leaders and wasting the country’s time and resources.

Obi and LP warned in their final address to the Presidential Election Petitions Court on July 23, 2023, that if the court does not whip INEC into line to perform its electoral duties fairly, impartially, and independently, elections in Nigeria will remain a fraud.

Obi and LP accused INEC of abandoning its primary statutory responsibility as an electoral umpire and proudly putting on the toga of a candidate in the election.

They claimed INEC spent 5.5 pages of its address, tragically and embarrassingly, defending the ground on the non-qualification of the second respondent (Tinubu).

They stated;

In the case of PDP v. Alechenu (2019) LPELR-49199 (CA), this honourable court admonished the 1st Respondent (INEC), who appears to have misunderstood its public duty, thus: Often one finds cases where INEC plays games with election materials and would not allow the petitioner(s) access to documents used in the conduct of the election, even with court order(s) to produce same, as in this case, thus playing the cards of the declared winner, openly, to frustrate the petition.

Obi also stated that INEC used modern technology to conduct the 2023 General Election in accordance with the mandatory provisions of the Electoral Act of 2022, the INEC Regulations and Guidelines, and the INEC Manual.

By this, INEC represented and assured that it would use Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the accreditation of voters in the polling units and the upload/transmission of the results of the election in real-time on the day of the election to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

However, contrary to the requirement of the law and in manifest disregard of its own representations, the 1st respondent (INEC) abandoned and discarded the much expected upload/transmission of the result of the election in real time on the day of the election from the polling unit to the IReV.

Rather, and very strangely, blurred, unreadable and inaccessible documents/images were uploaded by the 1st respondent to the IReV purporting same to be the result of the election in various polling units. These blurred images and inaccessible documents were purported to be the result of the election in the polling units. The net result of the upload of the blurred images on the IReV, was that the result of the election could neither be authenticated nor verified, and thus, lacked credibility and transparency.

The 1st respondent’s contention that the ‘collation of the election result’ remained a manual process is patently false and seems to have disregarded the express provisions of the Electoral Act, Regulations and Manual for the election. Collation of election results at all the stages of the election process specifically provide for electronic transmission to the IReV which is part of the collation system under the Electoral Act.

The authority of the Federal High Court determination in Suit No: FHC/ABJ/CS/1454/2022 relied upon by the 1st respondent in its final address and heavily harped upon in its argument is per incuriam and in manifest contradiction of the binding later decision of the Supreme Court in Appeal No: SC/CV/508/2023, OYETOLA v. INEC delivered on 9th May 2023, in (2023) LPELR-60392 (SC).

Despite the 1st respondent’s claim that the hardcopies of the forms EC8A were allegedly used for the manual collation of the election (which by that reasoning ought to be in the 1st respondent’s custody/possession), the 1 respondent nevertheless gave to the petitioners as certified copies of the electoral forms, including alleged forms EC8As, blurred/blank/extraneous copies.

The alleged hardcopies of the forms EC8A claimed to have been used for the manual collation were neither produced in court nor certified copies thereof tendered in court by the 1st respondent.

Arsonists set fire to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) campaign office in Lokoja, Kogi state’s capital.

Suspected thugs were said to have stormed the party office in the state capital’s Paparanda Square on IBB Driveway around midnight.

According to witnesses, the attackers chased away the campaign office’s security guards before setting fire to the party office.

Valuables and documents were among the items destroyed. Vehicles parked inside the campaign headquarters were also set on fire.

The SDP Deputy governorship candidate for the November 11gubernatorial election, Dr Sam Ranti Abenemi,

said: “The hoodlums came in large numbers and set all the properties in the office on fire, including generators, computers, campaign materials, and televisions”.

However, he called on the party’s supporters to remain calm, stressing that the party would address the issue at the appropriate quarters.

Meanwhile, the Director, Communication of the SDP standard bearer, Faruk Adejoh-Audu, said;

We invite the world and all people of good conscience to come to the aid of Kogi State by rising to condemn these sustained brazen acts of abuse of power.

This trend has continued despite our repeated outcries and formal complaint to the security agencies against the known perpetrators of this acts of extreme electoral violence.

We have again formally incidented another complaint at the Kogi State Police Command for whatever it is worth but we have no confidence in the ability of security agencies in Lokoja to rein in this arsonists.

PPRO (Police Public Relations Officer) in Kogi, SP William Aya, who was contacted about the incident, promised to contact our reporter but had not done so as of the time this story was filed.

Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, the SDP’s standard bearer, was reportedly stopped in Lokoja on his way from Idah to Abuja on Sunday to inspect the burnt office, which was vandalized on June 9, 2023.

One Waliu Olamilekan, a fuel attendant, has been arrested and he is standing trial for theft and damage.

The 39-year-old was arraigned before a Badagry Magistrates’ Court in Lagos for allegedly stealing N3,464,000 at BFO filling station in Badagry.

The defendant, whose residential address was not divulged, is standing trial on a three-count charge of unlawful entry, malicious damage and stealing, for which he pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector Ayodele Adeosun told the court that the defendant committed the offences on July 9, at about 11.30am at Pipeline, Araromi-Ale, Badagry Expressway, Lagos.

Adeosun said the defendant allegedly broke into the office of the manager of the station, Mrs Titilope Falola, the complainant and made away with the money.

“He damaged the burglary window valued at N45,000, the bulk room and the drawer of the Manager’s office.

“The defendant also stole the sum of N3, 464,000 million, property of BFO Filling Station.

“The Police recovered the stolen money from where he hid it.

“The offences contravene Sections 307, 339 and 287 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015,’’ he said.

The Magistrate, Mr T.A Popoola, granted the defendant bail in the sum of N1,000,000 with two sureties in like sum.

Popoola said one of the sureties should produce evidence of a statement of account worth N1m and three years of tax address verification.

She adjourned the case until August 21, for mention. (NAN)

Reports have indicated that All Progressives Congress (APC) party chieftains are strongly against the nomination of former governor of Rivers state, Nyesom Wike as a minister in President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet.

Naija News reports that the president, who is under obligation by the constitutional provision to present his ministerial list within 60 days of his inauguration, has only three days left to the expiration of the window.

According to sources who spoke to Vanguard, there has been anxiety over the list due to information that the President has been editing the list he previously prepared.

A highly placed source told the publication that the president has made it clear that he has an interest in Rivers, Kano and Lagos states and would like to personally choose ministerial nominees from the three states, while the Vice President, Kashim Shettima is said to have been given the leeway to nominate ministers from the North-East.

However, in the case of Rivers, party leaders are divided as the majority of them have reportedly opposed the purported nomination of former Governor Nyesom Wike.

It was gathered that those against Wike have officially written to President Tinubu, while other party members who worked hard for APC victory, have threatened to dump the party should the President abandon those that laboured to ensure that the party existed in the state despite what they described as the hostile environment created by the ruling PDP.

Super Eagles’ captain, Ahmed Musa, has slashed the price of petrol per litre at his filling station in Kano.

Naija News reports that the 30-year-old professional footballer announced the reduction of the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) via his Twitter page on Monday.

Musa revealed that the product is sold at N580 at MYCA7, his petrol station in Kano, against the N620 per litre price in the state.

“Fuel #580 @MYCA -7 Filling Station Kano,” Musa wrote on his verified Twitted page.

The footballer is presumed to have reduced the price of fuel to provide succour to vehicle owners in the state.

It was gathered that motorists and citizens of Kano have been expressing their gratituted to Musa’s gesture.

The PUNCH quoted a citizen of the state, Usman Muhammad, to have said: “It’s a welcome development; I can now save some money instead of buying at a higher cost,” after buying the fuel.

Naija News understands that Musa’s action has also sparked reactions on social media.

Curious with the announcement, a Twitter user, Scala [@lakaas123], enquired, “How manage Alhaji? N580 in Kano when not in Lagos? Are you whining us?”.

Musa, however, replied saying “That is what me I decide to sell my own.”

Musa currently plays as a forward and left winger for Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor and the Nigeria national team.

Recall that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) had announced an increase in the petrol pump price to N617 per litre a few days ago, a development that has caused more untold hardship for Nigerians.

Travellers are expressing their disappointment and frustrations as airfares continue to skyrocket, making it increasingly difficult for individuals to embark on their desired trips. The rising costs, coupled with economic uncertainties, have left many passengers in a state of dismay.

About two weeks after President Bola Tinubu promised to unify the nation’s multiple exchange rates, the apex bank decided to float the naira at the Investor’s and Exporters’ Window of the foreign exchange market. Since then, the naira had fallen from N471/dollar to N867/$.

With this development, Nigerians, particularly, intending international students hoping to resume school in September, had been greatly impacted by the unpredictable fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

The prices of air tickets had skyrocketed, making it increasingly difficult for Nigerians to travel, especially when compared to neighbouring countries such as Benin and Ghana, where airfares are notably cheaper.

The current policy of floating the Naira had done little to alleviate the situation. As the exchange rate continued to rise, most foreign airlines’ funds were trapped within Nigeria, due to a scarcity of dollars in the market. This scenario created a problematic landscape for Nigerians who depended on reasonably priced flights to go about their business.

In an exclusive chat with The PUNCH in Abuja, Ade Johnson, a potential traveller, noted that although he had not yet booked his flight, he had noticed a significant increase in prices compared to a few months earlier.

He disclosed that many Nigerians had started exploring alternative options. One popular choice was to travel via the Benin Republic, where airfares were considerably cheaper. Additionally, the proximity of Benin Republic to Lagos, with a travel time of less than an hour, mades it an enticing proposition for cost-conscious travellers.

He said, “Though, I have not booked my flight, prices have gone up compared to what was obtainable some months ago. Lagos to London was around 350k in May for the airline I booked, but the same route goes for 750k or more now.

“The best alternative option is to travel through Benin republic where air tickets are cheaper and it’s less than an hour drive from Lagos.”

Moreover, the Fx situation had created additional challenges for Nigerian students, including increased payment for tuition fees, visa expenses, the International Health Surcharge, and the need to provide proof of funds for maintenance and upkeep.

Previously, Nigerian students utilised Form A for tuition payments, which was pegged at a fixed rate controlled by the Central Bank of Nigeria. However, the current circumstances had altered this arrangement, leading to further financial burdens for students.

Sharing her experience, Success Apiaka, a traveller impacted by the recent increase and fluctuation in foreign currency rates, expressed his frustration with the effect it has had on her travel plans and budget, adding that she was forced to reassess and make significant adjustments to his financial planning to accommodate the unforeseen changes.

Apiaka recounted the challenges she faced, stating, “The recent increase and fluctuation in foreign currency has affected my travelling plans, especially considering the amount I had originally budgeted for the process. I had to go back to my drawing board to replan and find the best way to achieve my travel goal. This meant cutting down on a lot of expenses, including food, clothing, and family-related costs, in order to meet the current exchange rate and make the most of every penny I have.”

Fortunately for Apiaka, being knowledgeable in economics, she anticipated the economic difficulties ahead and took proactive measures to secure her travel plans. She booked her flight as early as May after paying her tuition, having learned from past experiences with using Form A for foreign currency transactions.

“I had to cut down a lot of my expenses in terms of feeding, clothing, family, etc just to ensure I can meet up to the current rate, utilise every single penny that comes my way.

She said the mental stress that came with the entire process, the wait is really not easy, process and all. For the financial aspect, I would say a little because this is something I have been preparing for although not at this current rate but so far I must say the mental stress was quite overwhelming at some point.

Another affected traveller, Aisha Abdullahi told our correspondent that currency fluctuations and the single exchange rate policy were affecting her travel plans, strewing that with her intended budget of N12m, now only yielding 12,000 pounds instead of the expected 24,000 pounds.

Abdullahi had been forced to consider alternative arrangements to make up for the significant financial hurdle, noting that said she had to explore selling off properties and liquidating investments.

She highlights the drastic change in flight prices, with a return ticket now costing between N800,000 to over N1m, compared to the previous rates of N300,000 and above.

“I’m considering flying through Benin Republic, Contonu Airport to be precise but I’m trying to weigh the prons and coins that are involved because moving my things from my base in Abuja down to Lagos means incurring some expenses like paying for excess luggage to Lagos.

“So, I will put all this together and compare it with the air ticket in Cotonou then that would give me a clear picture of what I want and make my decision.”