Tag: Federal Government of Nigeria

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FG Paying Bandits, Empowering Them – El-Rufai Cries Out

Former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has made a damning allegation against the federal government.
According to him, FG is paying bandits in Nigeria.
He said the policy of negotiating and compensating armed groups was a national directive championed by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
Speaking during an appearance on Channels Television, the former governor argued that the best way to handle bandits is to kill them and not negotiate.
He said, “What I will not do is to pay bandits. They are paying bandits. They are empowering bandits. This is what this government has done. We have the evidence. They are paying bandits. They are empowering bandits.
 
“It’s a national policy driven by the Office of the National Security Adviser, and Kaduna is part of it. Many states are objecting to that. But that is the policy now.”
El-Rufai maintained that dialogue with terrorists is dangerous.
“My position has always been that the only repentant bandit is a dead one. Let’s kill them all. Let’s wipe them. Let’s bomb them until they are reduced to nothing. And then the 5% that still want to be rehabilitated can be rehabilitated,” he declared.
He argued that the so-called non-kinetic strategy only strengthens criminal groups.
“You do not negotiate from a position of weakness. You don’t empower your enemy. You don’t give him money to go on and buy more sophisticated weapons. That’s why the security problem has not gone away. It will not go away. As long as this policy continues,” he added.
The former governor also cited intelligence and media reports to back his claims.
“Just last week, SBM published a report that showed that the security situation in Kaduna and Zamfara has actually deteriorated under this government’s watch. A week earlier or two weeks earlier, Sahara Reporters published another credible report that actually, insecurity has been increasing. What the government has been doing both at the national and state levels is buying the media from reporting it,” he said.
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News

FG Defends Passport Price Hike To N100,000, N200,000

The Federal Government on Thursday justified the recent increase in Nigerian passport fees to ₦100,000 and ₦200,000, stating that the adjustment is aimed at sustaining service quality, curbing corruption, and ensuring timely issuance of travel documents.

The Nigeria Immigration Service, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, ACI AS Akinlabi, on Thursday, announced that from September 1, 2025, applications made within Nigeria will attract new fees of N100,000 for the 32-page, five-year validity passport and N200,000 for the 64-page, 10-year validity passport.

“The review which only affect Passport Application fees made in Nigeria, now set a new fee thresholds for 32-page with five-year validity at N100,000 and 64-page with 10-year validity at N200,000,” the statement read.

The NIS, however, said Nigerians in the diaspora will continue to pay $150 for the 32-page, five-year passport and $230 for the 64-page, 10-year passport.

It explained that the adjustment was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the document while making issuance processes more efficient.

The increase comes barely a year after the Federal Government approved an earlier adjustment in August 2024, which raised the 32-page, five-year booklet from N35,000 to N50,000, and the 64-page, 10-year booklet from N70,000 to N100,000.

At the time, the NIS said the hike was necessary to sustain the quality of the passport and improve service delivery.

On Thursday, the Minister of Interior, Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, defended the new hike.

Speaking in Abuja during the ministry’s mid-tenure performance retreat, Tunji-Ojo said the hike would ensure timely delivery of passport and eliminate corruption,

He said, “Our target is very clear: within one week of enrolment, every Nigerian should have their passport in hand. Not just delivering quickly, but delivering quality passports that reflect our integrity as a nation,” he said.

He noted that the new system was designed to eliminate long delays and extortion that once forced citizens to wait up to seven months or pay as much as N200,000 to fast-track processing.

“The system that we inherited that had six months backlog which we were able to clear in two and a half weeks. Nigerians will apply for passports and wait endlessly, or be asked to pay hundreds of thousands of naira.

“My own daughter had that bad experience. Even when I was chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, my daughter wanted passport, it was a problem. I had to pay hundreds of thousands to be able to get a passport for my daughter, a 12-year-old girl. That era is over,” Tunji-Ojo said.

The minister disclosed that the centralised personalisation centre, the largest in Africa, would ensure faster processing and tighter security.

“With this facility, we can print five times more passports than we currently need. Once you enrol, it doesn’t take us more than 24 hours to vet. Printing capacity is no longer our problem,” he explained.

As part of the reforms, Tunji-Ojo announced that Passport Control Officers will no longer have the power to approve or delay applications.

“Some PCOs had so much power that they could decide not to approve or not to print a passport until they were settled. That abuse of power ends now,” he declared.

According to him, centralising the approval process would curb corruption and restore credibility to Nigeria’s travel documents.

“We realised that the best way to cut corruption is to remove human contact to the barest minimum. Passport approval will no longer rest with PCOs. My responsibility is not for them to like me — it is to deliver efficiency. Let Nigerians be happy,” he said.

He added that the reforms will also protect the integrity of Nigeria’s passport.

“My responsibility is not just to make passports available, but to ensure that anybody carrying it is a Nigerian. If you are not a Nigerian, you cannot carry it. It’s about our national integrity.”

Citing past abuses, he recalled how foreigners once procured Nigerian passports illegally.

“In one incident, a Ugandan woman carrying a Nigerian passport was arrested at Lagos Airport after paying $1,000 to procure it. That cannot continue. Our passport must remain a true symbol of Nigerian identity,” the minister stressed.

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Strike threat: ASUU, VCs lament professors earning N525,000 monthly

After wrapping up its nationwide protests on Tuesday, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is preparing to hold congresses to determine its next steps.

This development comes ahead of a Federal Government meeting scheduled for today to address long-standing grievances tied to the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, which fueled Tuesday’s protests across universities.

Earlier in the year, the Tinubu administration released ₦50 billion to clear earned academic allowances owed to lecturers and university staff.

Today’s meeting is expected to include the Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa; the Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi; and officials from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. The session aims to produce a timetable for signing and gradually implementing the renegotiated agreement alongside related reports.

According to government insiders in the Education and Labour ministries, discussions will center on harmonizing the Yayale Ahmed committee draft completed in December 2024 with the original 2009 agreement and subsequent recommendations, such as the Nimi Briggs report. Another key focus will be determining how to spread the financial obligations across the national budget while creating a legally binding framework.

Speaking on Wednesday, ASUU president, Prof. Chris Piwuna, stressed that the union expects genuine commitment from the government.

He said …

“I truly hope they will come up with something tangible. Our members are tired of words and no action.”

Piwuna, however, made it clear that ASUU was not invited to participate in today’s meeting.

He emphasized that the union had concluded its nationwide protests and was now set to convene congresses to determine its next course of action.

“We don’t have any meeting with the Federal Government tomorrow (today). It’s their meeting, we’re not involved. We have not received any invitation yet for a meeting with the Federal Government.

“However, we’ll let Nigerians know our next line of action after the protests. We operate from the bottom up. The protests are over, so we’ll go back to our members and ask them what is next, and we’ll do exactly what they want us to do as elected representatives,” he added.

Today’s meeting is taking place against the backdrop of persistent complaints by ASUU members over poor remuneration and the declining state of academia. Reports indicate that professors, who earn around ₦500,000 monthly, are forced to reside in officers’ quarters and sometimes struggle to board buses meant for students.

According to documents obtained by The PUNCH, the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure shows that Graduate Assistants receive between ₦125,000 and ₦138,020 monthly, while professors earn between ₦525,010 and ₦633,333.

Assistant Lecturers earn between ₦150,000 and ₦171,487; Lecturer II between ₦186,543 and ₦209,693; Lecturer I between ₦239,292 and ₦281,956; Senior Lecturers between ₦386,101 and ₦480,780; and Readers between ₦436,392 and ₦522,212.

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News

Student Loan to Start With Federal Institutions — Nigerian Govt

The Federal Government has revealed where the student loan scheme will begin.
FG said the student loan scheme would be rolled out in phases, beginning with the federal institutions.

The Managing Director, Nigerian Education Loan Fund, Akintunde Swayerr, who made this disclosure in an interview with Arise Television on Friday said the student loan application portal will be opened on the 24th of May for loan applications.
He further said the government is currently “in the midst of a sensitization campaign to inform Nigerians how the scheme will work.”
Swayerr explained that the loan scheme seeks to bridge the financing gap for students in Nigeria, enabling them to become more resourceful, and eventually aiding the country.
“On the 3rd of April 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed into law a monumental act that seeks to bridge the financing gap for applicants who want to get a higher education that is tertiary level.
 
“…and who wants to get vocational training to get proper qualifications that enables them to be more marketable and useful to the Nigerian society.
 
“The fund covers 100 percent of all the fees of tertiary institutions. There’s also upkeep for the student,” he said.
Swayerr noted that this plan will be rolled out in schemes, the first being the public institutions because of the large number of students in that sector requiring financial aid.
“We’re going to roll this plan out in phases. The first phase will be with federal institutions then to others. It’s going to be the public sector at the beginning because that’s where we find the bulk of students who perhaps need the financing cover and are most vulnerable.
 
“We have a system that hopefully makes this have a national spread and some degree of equal opportunities for those who have the desire, capacity, eligibility to engage in this scheme,” he said.
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Fuel Price: Subsidy Removal Now Looking Like A Scam – CUPP Slams Tinubu Govt

The Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) has reacted to the new increase in price of petrol.
CUPP while slamming President Bola Tinubu‘s government, said the subsidy removal is now looking like a scam.
The price of petrol shot up from N540 to N617 per litre on Tuesday following an announcement by the federal government through the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.
The NNPCL Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari, in a subsequent statement, attributed the recent rise in petrol pump prices to market forces.
Kyari offered this explanation shortly after a meeting with Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Villa.
Reacting, however, to the hardship brought upon Nigerians as a result of the latest development, CUPP said fuel subsidy removal by President Tinubu’s administration is now looking like a scam to the citizens.
CUPP criticized the ‘crazy and unending fuel price hikes’ which, according to it is driving inflation to the rooftops and making life increasingly unbearable for Nigerians generally.
In a press release signed by the group’s national co-spokesperson, Mark Adebayo, on Wednesday, CUPP frowned at the sudden increase barely a month after the fuel price was hiked over 300% on May 29th this year.
The press release reads: “It has come to the attention of the CUPP the sudden and surreptitious increase yet again in the pump prices of petrol by NNPCL which has immediately started having negative domino effects on all other commodities and services in the country and further drowning most Nigerians into excruciating poverty and unprecedented economic woes.
 
“This subsidy removal scheme is increasingly looking like a scam to cage Nigerians inside a preprogrammed regime of socioeconomic slavery dictated by leadership insensitivity. This is not about opposition Parties. The opposition actually felt that the president had something better to offer Nigerians after the subsidy removal but what we are witnessing now is a double negative impact on Nigerians in every way imaginable.
 
“The way NNPCL is behaving now suggests that there is a hidden agenda of crazy and unending fuel price hikes that will be driving inflation to the rooftops and making life increasingly unbearable for Nigerians generally.
 
“No purposeful government would recklessly abandon its citizens to the unpredictable and inhumane market forces that are essentially atrocious and callous in nature without a robust intervention to protect the citizens. Such a policy is not only antisocial but also outrageously iniquitous. Nigerians have shown enough understanding of the subsidy removal; this administration should not push them to the wall and thereby instigate unmanageable mass crises that could further jeopardize the life of the common man.
 
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu must immediately show himself as a compassionate leader by ensuring that the NNPCL is not hijacked by the same forces that stole the fuel subsidy monies leading to its removal and finding a backdoor to continue claiming the subsidy by other means and making Nigerians bear the brunt of their economic terrorism. We demand the immediate removal of the NNPCL GMD, Mele Kyari, to allow for a breath of fresh air in the organization and for his tenure to be forensically investigated and all discovered infractions to be comprehensively prosecuted before the NNPCL is turned into the terrorist arm of the economic cabal.”
CUPP urged the federal government to, without further hesitation, do something to reverse the recent fuel price hikes and stop any future plans to clandestinely increase the pump prices with the predictable value of increasing the sufferings of Nigerians.
 
“When will Nigerians be free from the wickedness of their governments?”, CUPP asked.
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FG Reappoints UCH CMD For Another Four Years

President Muhammadu Buhari has given approval for the reappointment of Jesse Otegbayo to serve another four-year term as the Chief Medical Director of University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Buhari had approved the appointment of Otegbayo as the CMD in January 2019.
The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, announced this on Monday in Ibadan, the state capital.
Ehanire had also handed over his letter of reappointment to him at the board room of the teaching hospital in Ibadan.
It will be recalled that Otegbayo took over from Temitope Alonge, who completed his tenure as the CMD.
He hails from Otan-Ile in Obokun Local Government in Ijesaland, Osun State. He graduated from the University of Ibadan College of Medicine in 1989.
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Almost Two Million Nigerians Have Been Receiving N5K Allowance Monthly – FG

The Buhari-led federal government disclosed yesterday that 1,940,004 vulnerable Nigerians are currently receiving N5K cash allowance monthly.

Speaking on Thursday in Abuja at a One-Day Stakeholders’ Retreat On National Social Investment (Establishment) Bill organized by Senator Yusuf Yusuf, APC, Taraba Central led Senate Committee on Special Duties, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajia Sadiya Umar Farouq explained that the objective of the National Social Investment Programme Establishment Bill is to provide a statutory and institutional framework for the implementation of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).

Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Nasir Sani Gwarzo, Farouq who noted that the NSIP was created in 2016 by President Muhammadu Buhari to address social and economic inequalities and alleviate poverty among Nigerians, said that there are four social support programs that are meant to empower the poorest and most vulnerable Nigerians to enable them to attain an acceptable standard of living.

She said:

“Since the inception of the NSIP in 2015, one million youths have been empowered through the N-Power Programme and additional 500,000 others are currently undergoing various trainings under the program as approved by the President.

The cash transfer has enrolled 1,975,381 poor and vulnerable households from the National Social Register into a National Beneficiary Register. The NBR alone has 9,841,700 household individuals in the 36 states of the federation.

The Cash Transfer support the poor and vulnerable to improve consumption and develop savings skills to reduce poverty line and building their resilience to withstand shocks. A total of 1,940,004 beneficiaries are currently receiving cash transfer each monthly.”

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2023 Elections

INEC declares Bola Tinubu winner of 2023 presidential election

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Bola Tinubu as the winner of the 2023 presidential election.

INEC chairman Yakubu Mahmood declared Tinubu the winner of the election and president-elect Wednesday morning at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

A total of 18 presidential candidates contested the election held across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, on Saturday.

The election was postponed till Sunday in some polling units in different states due to violence, logistical problems, theft of BVAS and other issues.

After collation at state INEC collation centres, the election results were presented by state collation officers for the presidential election (SCOPs) before the INEC chairman at the National Collation Centre.

Mahmood announced that Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor and the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the election with the majority of votes cast in 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT.

The APC candidate polled 8,794,726 votes to defeat fellow contenders – Atiku Abubakar of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,984,520 votes, Labour Party’s Peter Obi had 6,101,533 votes to come third and candidate of the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso with 1,496,687 votes.

Of the 36 states and FCT, Tinubu, Obi, and Atiku won 12 states each while Kwankwaso won only Kano State.

The 12 states won by Tinubu are Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara, Benue, Rivers, Borno, Zamfara, Jigawa, Ondo, Kogi and Niger State.

Atiku of the PDP won Taraba, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Kaduna, Sokoto, Yobe, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe and Katsina.

Obi won the following states; Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo, Anambra, Abia, Delta, Edo, FCT, Plateau, Nasarawa, Lagos and Cross River.

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Social Commentary & World Business

FG lifts ban on Emirates Airline

The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika confirmed the Federal Government have lifted the ban on Emirates Airline,10 months after the airline company and the government had issues over Covid-19 travel requirements on Nigerian passengers.

fly emirates
fly emirates

He sad;

hadi sirika
hadi sirika

“Today, we received communications from Emirates removing some of the conditions for travelling for which we had concerns,” he said.

Having done that, it is necessary to lift the ban on Emirates.

This subsequent lifting of the ban is a product of lengthy negotiations between us and them.”he said

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