Agora Policy, an Abuja-based think tank, says a major contributor to the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) is the foreign exchange (FX) gains.

In a report on Thursday, titled, ‘How Exchange Gain Became a Major Source of Federation Revenue’, Agora Policy said the exchange gain saw an increase after the unification of the foreign exchange (FX) market.

Exchange gain represents the difference between the exchange rate projected in the budget and the actual rate at which applicable revenue streams are converted at FAAC.

The organisation said exchange gain has been a feature of the FAAC overtime.

The FAAC is largely comprised of value-added tax (VAT) and statutory revenue (subdivided into mineral revenue and non-mineral revenue), exchange gain, excess bank charges, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL).

Agora Policy said while the other sources have been small, the exchange gain has massively increased in the past year, even surpassing VAT’s contribution to FAAC in two months: June 2023 and February 2024.

According to the report, from May 2023 to April 2024, a total of N4.23 trillion was shared as exchange gain by FAAC, representing 20.14 percent of N20.99 trillion, which was the gross FAAC revenue for the 12-month period.

“It is noteworthy that in February 2024, exchange gain recorded its best performance to date: it brought in N657.44 billion, or 28.26% of the gross FAAC revenue for the month,” the think tank group said.

“However, the picture changed following the foreign exchange reforms that commenced on 14th June 2023 with resultant effect of large spreads between the budget rate and the actual official rate.

“The increasing eminence of exchange gain rubbed off positively on its beneficiaries because they have had more money to share (or would have had much less to share without it).

“The beneficiaries of exchange gain are: the states that earn 13% derivation, and the federal government, all the 36 states and the 774 local government areas that respectively take 52.68%, 26.72%, and 20.60% share of the exchange gain less 13% derivation.

“In FAAC disbursement for January 2024, a sum of N200bn was saved in non-oil excess account from exchange gain.”


EXCHANGE GAIN IN FEBRUARY 2024 WAS 128% OF THE TOTAL FOR 48 MONTHS

Speaking further, Agora Policy said February 2024 had the highest exchange gain haul so far, both in terms of absolute number and percentage contribution at FAAC.

According to Agora Policy, exchange gain contributed N657.44 billion or 28.26 percent of gross FAAC revenue of N2.33 trillion.

This, the think tank said, is higher than the total exchange gain of N510.26 billion for the 48 months or four years from May 2019 to April 2023.

The report added that the average official exchange rate for February 2024 was N1,509.83 per dollar as against the 2024 budget rate of N800/$.

“A major reason for the consistent rise in gross revenue is the consistency of exchange gain,” the firm added.

“The monthly average for exchange gain for May 2023 to April 2024 was N352.45 billion compared to the monthly average of N10.63 billion for the May 2019 to May 2023 period.”

Agora Policy also said the lowest exchange gain in the last one year was N147.07 billion for May 2023, while the highest was N657.44 billion for February 2024.

by Leon Usigbe


President Bola Tinubu on Thursday morning received the cost Implications of an affordable, sustainable and realistic new minimum wage.

Minister of Finance and coordinating minister for the economy, Wale Edun and his budget and national planning, Atiku Bagudu made the presentation to him in his office at the presidential villa in Abuja.

It followed the directive given by the president on Tuesday that the government team in the tripartite committee should ensure that the proposals reached him within 48 hours.

Edun confirmed the submission and assured that “there is no cause for alarm” when asked about the figure.

Recall that the minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, had disclosed the president’s ultimatum in an interview with correspondents on Tuesday.

Emerging from a meeting of the president with the government team on the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage, Idris had stated: “The president has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the federal government led by the secretary to the government of the federation, the minister of finance was there the minister of budget planning, the minister of information, the minister of budget and national planning, the minister of labour and the NNPCL GMD.

“We were all there to look at all issues and the president has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”

Idris had also assured of the president’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions with the Labour in line with his commitment to the welfare of Nigerians.

He explained that the federal government is keen to ensure a balance of its commitments with the economic realities of the country.

The government’s spokesman added: “And let me say that the president is determined to go with what the committee has said and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.

“Government is not against or opponent of labour discussions, the government is not an opponent of wage increase but what is there is that government is always there to ensure that there is a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on ground.

“And therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes is a promise that will be kept that is the idea of this meeting.”

Furthermore, he said President Tinubu has directed the government representatives to work with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable and sustainable wage award for Nigerians.

Idris explained: “The President has given a matching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the federal government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub nationals to come together to have a new wage award that is affordable, sustainable and that is also realistic for Nigerians.

“The wage award is not just that of the federal government like I mentioned earlier, the sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; it was labour that stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.”

The minister assured that all parties to the negotiation of the new minimum wage will cooperate with organised labour to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week, noting: “All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and also realistic.

National Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Ajibola Basiru, has said the 2023 general elections exposed the party’s fake membership figure being paraded.

He disclosed this during the flag off of train-the-trainer workshop on e-registration of APC members, in Abuja, on Wednesday.

Recall that the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led APC National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee had embarked on membership registration/revalidation exercise in 2021, after which it announced that over 40 million party members were registered.

Bashiru said during the 2023 elections, the APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is now the President, struggled to scored less than 10 million votes, even though there were claims that the party had 45 million members.

He said, “If we have that membership of 45 million, how come we went to the poll and got votes of less than 10 million? In line with Amilcar Cabral’s doctrine of ‘tell no lies, claim no easy victories’, that has exhumed the lie.

“In exposing that, it is not to ridicule anybody. It is to know that when a child falls, he will look at the front. But when an elder falls, he will look back to see where he made a mistake. We made a mistake because the register of the party was a tool for fighting causes we don’t know. The weaponisation of the party register led to corruption.

“It was on this basis that the National Working Committee (NWC) decided that one of the cardinal programmes would be to have a digitalised and biometric-based registration system that is linked with the National Identification Number (NIN) of all members.

“This is an exercise we must take with all seriousness to ensure we have a register conducted with integrity.”

On his part, the APC National Chairman, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said only those on the e-register would be eligible to contest elections or secure appointments after the exercise.

“This process will not only drive the planning, decision-making and projection process but will serve as basis of reference for any member of our party seeking appointment at any level or desiring to contest an election,” Ganduje said.

The Federal Government and Organised Labour on Wednesday adjourned the minimum wage talks till Thursday (today) when the negotiation is expected to continue.

The Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage postponed the session in anticipation of the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, submitting the salary template to President Bola Tinubu today.

Tinubu had on Tuesday directed the finance minister to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.

The President gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the presidential villa in Abuja.

Sources in the labour unions privy to the committee meeting said the parties decided to await the outcome of the presidential template before proceeding with further negotiations.

A source who attended the meeting said, “The meeting has been adjourned until Thursday. We showed understanding because we all know that the president gave the minister of finance 48 hours to come up with a minimum wage. So, we decided to give them the time. We will be meeting by 2 p.m.”

A top labour official who is a labour representative on the tripartite committee explained that the template was crucial to the minimum wage negotiation.


The source, who cannot be quoted because he was not authorised to disclose information to the media on the negotiation, expressed confidence that the talks would record good progress once the presidential template is presented to the parties.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, had hinted that the President wished to know the financial implications of the new minimum wage in 48 hours.

Briefing journalists on the presidential directive, the information minister said, “We were all there to look at all issues, and the President has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”

Idris assured of the president’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions, adding that “The president is determined to go with what the committee has said and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.

“Government is not against or opponent of labour discussions; the government is not an opponent of wage increase, but what is there is that government is always there to ensure a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on the ground.

“And therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes are promises that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting.”

Furthermore, he said Tinubu directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.

Idris explained, “The President has given a marching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub-nationals to come together to have a new wage that is affordable, sustainable and realistic for Nigerians.

“The wage is not just that of the Federal Government; as I mentioned earlier, the sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; the Labour stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.”

The minister assured that all hands would be on deck to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.

“All of us will work together assiduously within the next week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and realistic,” Idris said.

Despite the intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly, labour embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday and Tuesday, crippling economic activities nationwide.

Banks, airports, public schools and courts were shut, forcing the Federal Government to convene an emergency meeting to find a way out of the impasse.

Following a meeting with the SGF, National Assembly leaders, and the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, on Monday, the unions announced on Tuesday the suspension of industrial action for five days after President Tinubu agreed to pay a national minimum wage higher than N60,000. The tripartite committee pledged its readiness to convene daily until a new minimum wage is announced.

In an interview on Channels television, the President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, said the unions would not insist on its N494,000 demand, indicating that the labour leaders were willing to accept a reasonable compromise.

Though the union leader refused to mention a specific amount, he said the new minimum wage must equal purchasing power to the value of N30,000 in 2019 and N18,000 in 2014.

Meanwhile, airlines lament the revenue loss incurred during the two-day strike declared by the labour unions.

The action forced airports to shut down, resulting in scores of cancelled flights and huge financial losses.

The Chief Operating Officer of United Nigeria Airlines, Osita Okonkwo, highlighted the severe impact of the strike on UNA’s operations.

He said, “For two days, we didn’t fly. Ours (revenue loss) runs into millions. We do about 24 flights every day, and for two days, we didn’t do 48 flights. I can tell you it runs into millions.

“Our passengers were continuously informed of the situation. Our call centre was busy 24/7. The fallout now is what do we do with passengers who want to continue with their businesses because they have lost two days and all want to travel tomorrow (today)?

“And then, we have passengers booked to travel tomorrow (today). We are trying to accommodate as many as we can. Where possible, we put in additional flights. But you know capacity, you can’t stress it too much. Most flights are full now because of what happened in the last two days. It is not like we are against the strike, but everybody is feeling the situation of the country.’’

Okonkwo canvassed that essential services should be exempted from strikes, lamenting the plight of stranded passengers.

“It is understandable what labour is doing. But essential services should be exempted from this type of strike. Hospitals, and air travel, because some people had connecting flights. Some were stranded in Asaba, and they were supposed to go to Europe,” he noted.

The Chief Operating Officer of Ibom Air, George Uriesi, also expressed concern over the financial losses recorded by the local airlines during the labour action.

“There was a massive loss of revenue. If you were going to take N100 of revenue a day, and you don’t fly at all, you will probably make N2 or N3. And then there’s more to it because we must accommodate all the people that didn’t fly. So, you may be unable to sell seats for a long time because you’re dealing with a backlog,” he explained.

The Assistant General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, emphasised the strike’s broader impact on the aviation industry.

“It’s not only the airlines. The aviation industry lost lots of money due to the strike. The airlines, airport terminals, concessionaires, taxi drivers, and others. In fact, the entire ecosystem lost millions of naira, even the charter flights.

“Some flights were cancelled. People are now forced to reschedule flights and see if they can get seats on a future date. And in getting those seats, ticket prices have jumped due to the rush to get seats.” he stated.

Pointing out the long-term economic effects on the aviation sector, the Chief Executive Officer of Centurion Security Limited, John Ojikutu, said, “The domestic airlines will lose some money, and that will affect the economy. The kind of money I’m talking about is not coming from local airlines because they contribute virtually nothing. If you compare the money they make from ticket sales to the money we make from foreign airlines, that is where the problem is.

“In the next two, three days, they would have cleared all those passengers, and we would now go back to our normal aviation problems, which are fuel and ticket fares,” he said.

Speaking on the long-drawn minimum wage negotiation, Debo Adeniran, the Executive Director of the Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, urged the Federal Government and labour unions to finalise their talks quickly.

“The FG and the labour unions should not waste any more time beyond the 48 hours given to the finance minister. Everything is already concluded; they need to harmonise their positions based on their capacities to raise resources,” Adeniran stated.

Stressing the need for swift negotiations, he noted, “Labour unions and the FG should be realistic, which should not take an eternity to conclude. They should aim to finalise everything by the end of tomorrow (today).”

Adeniran also cautioned the labour unions against rushing to embark on strikes.

On his part, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Auwal Rafsanjani, admonished the government to be honest and realistic during the negotiation.

“The Federal Government needs to be honest and realistic. They should be able to restore dignity in labour. Once the FG is realistic in presenting a minimum wage to Nigerians, there would not be any delay in the meeting with labour unions,” he concluded.

Organised Labour may settle for N100,000 minimum wage as the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage commences daily meetings for five days to reach a consensus.

Multiple sources in the labour movement told The PUNCH on Tuesday that the union leaders were willing to review their demand from N494,000 to N100,000, following the criticism and controversy that trailed their proposal which was considered outrageous and unrealistic.

In a statement by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim on Saturday, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said the proposed minimum wage would result in an annual expenditure of N9.5tn, a burden he described as untenable for the nation’s finances.

Despite the intervention of the leadership of the National Assembly, labour embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday, a development that grounded economic activities nationwide.

Banks, airports, public schools and courts were shut, forcing the Federal Government to convene an emergency meeting to find a way out of the impasse.

In a bid to move the negotiation forward, the unions on Tuesday announced the suspension of the industrial action for five days after President Bola Tinubu agreed to pay a national minimum wage higher than N60,000 and the tripartite committee pledged its readiness to convene daily until a new minimum wage is announced.

To show his commitment to the negotiation, the President on Tuesday directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present the cost implications for a new minimum wage within two days.

Tinubu gave the order at a meeting with the government negotiation team led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

Speaking with The PUNCH in confidence because Labour had not formally presented its final offer to the tripartite committee, a senior NLC official confirmed that the unions would insist on N100,000 minimum wage.


Agenda setting

He stated, “Today’s (Tuesday) meeting was essentially to set an agenda and plan how to complete the assignment within the five days.

“The government representatives did not mention a raise in the N60, 000. They just set the agenda on what to do and how to go about the negotiation. There was no mention of any increment. But labour planned to close the negotiation on N100,000 minimum wage.’’

The Deputy Head of NLC Political Commission, Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, also confirmed that the Tuesday tripartite meeting on minimum wage was to draw an agenda for the daily meetings.

“We met today (Tuesday) to draw up an agenda for the one-week daily meeting. We met today and drew the agenda because the agreement was that we meet daily for the meet one week and on our own, we said we are relaxing the strike not even suspending it.

“It’s more like putting everybody on red alert. It means we are not going to give any notice. Which means by this time next week, we are going on strike. There is a difference between relax and suspend. Relax is to stay on your duty post and put your hands on the trigger. It is tomorrow (today) that we are expecting the government to submit another proposal,’’ he explained.

The organised labour vowed to reject any little addition to the N60,000 offer by the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.

The President of the Trade Union Congress, Festus Osifo, made this known on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday.


TUC warns

When asked whether labour would accept a few thousand naira additions to the offer, the TUC boss said, “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding N1, N2, N3,000 as you were doing and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.”

Osifo added that labour was not fixated on N494,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country but the tripartite committee must show seriousness and offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.


Though the union leader refused to mention a specific amount, he said the new minimum wage must be equal in purchasing power to the value of N30,000 in 2019 and N18,000 in 2014.

But disclosing to journalists the presidential directive to the finance minister, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said Tinubu during the meeting directed Edun to provide the financial implications of the new minimum wage in 48 hours.

He noted, “The President has just summoned a meeting of all those who negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. The minister of finance was there, the minister of budget planning, the minister of information, the minister of budget and national planning, the minister of labour, and the NNPCL GMD.

“We were all there to look at all issues and the President has directed the minister of finance to do the numbers and get back to him between today and tomorrow so that we can have figures ready for negotiation with labour.”


Presidential directive

Idris assured of the President’s readiness to accept the committee’s resolutions, adding that “The President is determined to go with what the committee has said and he’s also looking at the welfare of Nigerians.

“The government is not against or opponent of labour discussions; the government is not an opponent of wage increase but what is there is that government is always there to ensure that there is a balance between what government pronouncement is and what the realities are on the ground.

“And therefore, we will work assiduously to ensure that whatever promises the government makes are promises that will be kept. That is the idea of this meeting.”

Furthermore, he said President Tinubu had directed the government representatives to work collectively with the organised private sector and the sub-nationals to achieve a new affordable wage award for Nigerians.

Idris explained, “The President has given a marching order that all those who have negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government and all those who are representatives of organised private sectors, the sub-nationals to come together to have a new wage that is affordable, sustainable and that is also realistic for Nigerians.

“The wage is not just that of the Federal Government as I mentioned earlier, the sub-nationals are involved, the organised private sector is involved; it was labour that stepped out during that procedure. Now we have come back to the negotiation table.”

The minister assured that all hands would be on deck to present a new minimum wage for Nigerians in one week.

“All of us will work together assiduously within the next one week to ensure that we have a new wage for Nigeria that is acceptable, sustainable and also realistic,” Idris said.

Meanwhile, Labour said it had “relaxed” its strike for one week to enable fruitful negotiations with the Federal Government on minimum wage.

The NLC and TUC announced this in a communique on Tuesday, after a joint National Executive Council meeting.

The suspension of the strike followed a six-hour meeting between the leadership of organised labour and the National Assembly in Abuja on Monday night.

The Federal Government had expressed the commitment of President Bola Tinubu to raising the N60,000 offered as the minimum wage.

The agreement stated, “The President of Nigeria, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, is committed to establishing a National Minimum Wage higher than N60,000; and the Tripartite Committee will convene daily for the next week to finalise an agreeable National Minimum Wage.”

The organised labour also agreed to “immediately hold meetings of its organs to consider this new offer, and no worker would face victimisation as a consequence of participating in the industrial action.”

The resolutions were signed on behalf of the Federal Government by the information, Idris, and the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

In its statement announcing the strike suspension, the unions said there was a greater need to create the right ambience for negotiation to continue unhindered.

“The indefinite nationwide strike action is, therefore, relaxed for one week from today (Tuesday) to allow the Federal Government to commit to a concrete and acceptable National Minimum Wage; take definitive steps to reverse the electricity tariff hike back to N66/kwh and abolish the discriminatory classification of electricity consumers into bands,” the unions said.

Labour also mandated its affiliate unions and state councils, to return to their respective workplaces immediately

On the issue of the electricity tariff, the unions said they were deeply disappointed by the government’s silence and lack of concrete action regarding the reversal of the electricity tariff hike and the abolition of the apartheid classification of electricity consumers into Bands.

“The NEC reaffirms that these issues are critical to alleviating the financial burden on Nigerian workers and the general populace. The electricity tariff hike and discriminatory Band classification remain unacceptable and must be addressed alongside the wage increase.”

In their position on the minimum wage, opposition lawmakers in the House of Representatives called on the Federal Government to implement a new minimum wage of more than N100,000 to assuage organised labour.

Speaking with The PUNCH on Tuesday, the Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda, lamented the condition of the average Nigerian worker, stressing that the failure to pay a living wage is a constitutional breach.

He said, “In Nigeria today, any wage below $200 (N298,800) is ridiculous. The Nigerian worker is heavily underpaid and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the security and welfare of its citizens. Failure to pay a living wage is unconstitutional as the welfare of citizens is neglected.

“Public and government officers should have their monthly wages while we consider the hourly rate for private or casual employees. The earlier the government concludes this matter with labour unions, the better.”

Like Chinda, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party and the lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Osun State, Oluwole Oke, also made a case for the payment of a living wage which he said would enable the majority of Nigerians to cope, given the current economic realities.

“The minimum wage the Federal Government should pay should be N120,000. I say this because wage increase has its linkages, effects and consequences. Nigerian workers deserve living wages,’’ he argued.

Not unaware of the challenges his proposal would attract, Oluwole who chairs the House Committee on Judiciary, urged the private sector to be taken into consideration.

“We need to look at productivity in the private sector. Would the private sector that feeds the government survive? We have a serious issue at hand,” he added.

Asked what is good enough to count as a living wage, the lawmaker representing Abuja Municipal/Bwari Federal Constituency of the Federal Capital Territory, Chinedu Obika said, “N150,000 based on the current reality.”

Obika, a member of the Labour Party, further urged the Federal Government to consider the inflation rate in the past few years, when negotiating the new minimum wage for the workers.

In a bid to resolve the impasse on the minimum wage, the Senator representing Abia North District, Orji Kalu, has proposed a new minimum wage of N90,000.

Speaking during a brief plenary session on Tuesday, Kalu said a new wage in the region of N90,000 may be enough for workers to return to their duty posts.

Following a motion moved by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour and Employment, Diket Plang, Kalu urged the Senate to prevail on both parties to reach an agreement in the interest of the nation.

While calling for an end to the standoff, Kalu described the complete shutdown of the power grid by the labour unions as a “daring move” which should not have happened.

He said, “Sixty thousand might sound very good but let the entire Senate see how we can persuade both labour and the Federal Government to agree between N75,000 and N90,000

“If you go by N90,000, it means in the last five years in which this law (N30,000) was made, it means if you divide 200 per cent of N90,000 by 5, it will give you 40 per cent. The food inflation, purchasing parity and other things you have in the market are around 32 per cent to 33 per cent. So, labour should be very happy with what we are doing.

“Let us send a Senate delegation to the Federal Government and Labour with the proposal of N90,000 and all the parties should agree to that.”

The lawmaker expressed dismay over the shutting down of the nation’s power grid by the unions as part of their demands for improved wages.

“Pulling down the national grid is not an easy job and it might take up to three to four days for it to come up. Shutting down and starting a national grid is a problem.

“The Federal Government and the Labour should be cautioned to agree. Though, it’s going to be difficult for the private sector to pay, they must manage,” he said.

On his part, Senator Ali Ndume urged the Senate to collaborate with the executive arm to sponsor a bill on a new wage. to address the situation.

Also speaking, former Senate President, Ahmad Lawan urged his colleagues to be mindful of the value of the naira, noting that a new minimum wage may not have much impact on the standard of living of Nigerians.

He insisted that emphasis should be paid on strengthening the value of the naira adding that the new minimum wage will be useless if the naira continues to depreciate.

“If it is N200 to a dollar, the impact will be more on the entire Nigerians, both the employed and the non employed”, Lawan stated.

In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio said though it was heartwarming that the strike had been suspended, the conduct of the unionists, he said, deserved condemnation.

“One of such excesses was the shutdown of the national grid which is more of an economic sabotage than agitation for a new minimum wage.

“Also, disruption or prevention of students from writing their West African School Certificate Examination by some labour unionists during the strike was bad because the examination is not organised by Nigeria but by West African Countries,” he said.

He also condemned the disruption of Hajj flights by the unionists, saying such a development must not occur again.

Weighing in on the matter, a former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Kingsley Moghalu, noted that Nigeria’s level of productivity cannot support the N494,000 minimum wage organised labour is demanding.

Moghalu disclosed this on his official X handle on Tuesday.

Moghalu said the demand is deserving but not realistic and therefore recommended a minimum wage of N75,000 to N100,000.

“In the debates on the national wage in Nigeria, we miss the fundamental point: there is little or no productivity in the economy,” he said.

“If we had a truly productive economy, there is no reason we can’t have the kind of minimum wage of N400k or N500K that Labour wants. But we can’t, because the level of productivity in the economy cannot support it. Remember, the minimum wage is not just about government salaries.

“There are not more than 2 million, at most 3m civil servants in Nigeria. It is even more about what is paid in the private sector to household staff, etc.

“All of this is why, all things considered, including avoiding a minimum wage that multiplies already ravaging inflation (assuming such a wage can even be paid), I recommend a minimum wage of between N75,000 and N100,000.”

He further explained that productivity can be achieved by human capital development and electricity, amongst others.

“In fact, speaking about productivity, how productive is an average Nigerian worker? How skilled is he or she, and thus how much value does he or she create?

“I know we are all upset at our insensitive political class, who do not care about the masses and only for themselves. But the economics of it all is far more complex.

“Sadly, it is quite obvious that the political will to reduce the waste in governance does not exist.

“Human capital development, skills that create value addition, which is economically quantifiable. Wealth creation and profitability increase. Wages go up naturally and of course, the almighty electricity,’’ he stated.

The Organised Labour has vowed to reject any lean addition to the ₦60,000 offer by the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage.

The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, hours after the Organised Labour comprising the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) suspended its industrial action which started at 12:01 am on Monday.

“At the meeting on Friday, they (the tripartite committee) said they would not add anything more to the ₦60,000 but in the meeting of yesterday (Monday), Mr President was able to commit to doing what is more than ₦60,000,” Osifo said.

Before the strike, the tripartite committee which has the Federal Government, states and the Organised Private Sector as members, offered Labour ₦48,000, then ₦54,000 and then ₦57,000 and later ₦60,000, all four offers which were rejected by the TUC and NLC.

When asked whether Labour would accept a few thousand naira additions to the last offer of the tripartite committee, the TUC boss said, “No, we also told them that it’s not that we’d get to the table and you start adding ₦1, ₦2, ₦3,000 as you were doing and we got some good guarantees here and there that they would do something good.”

Osifo said the Organised Labour is not fixated on ₦494,000 as the new minimum wage for workers in the country but the tripartite committee must show seriousness and offer workers something economically realistic in tandem with current inflationary pressures.

Though the union leader refused to mention a specific amount, he said the new minimum wage must be equal in purchasing power to the value of ₦30,000 in 2019 and ₦18,000 in 2014.

Osifo faulted the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, for describing the industrial action by labour as “premature” and “illegal”. The TUC boss argued that during this year’s Workers’ Day on May 1, 2024, the Organised Labour gave the government a one-month notice which ended on May 31, 2024.


‘Strike Has Awoken Everybody’

The TUC leader said the little-above-24-hour strike has achieved labour’s aim as it has awoken everyone in the country to the demand of workers.

“When it comes to the issue of Labour, it should be taken much more seriously. The attention should be there.

“What has this strike achieved today? This strike has awoken everybody. I can tell you that between now and the next one week, the entire attention is going to be on the tripartite committee. That was actually what we were trying to achieve and we have achieved that,” he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Organised Labour relaxed its nationwide strike which started at midnight on Monday after the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume said President Bola Tinubu was committed to a national minimum wage above ₦60,000.

The President also directed the Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, to present a template for a new minimum wage by Wednesday.

Former lawmaker, Senator Shehu Sani has reacted to the suspension of the nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC.

Sani said the suspension of the strike will make room for continued negotiations.

“The suspension of the strike to make room for continued negotiations is ok. Half agbado is better than none,” the former lawmaker wrote on his page.

DAILY POST earlier reported that the Labour Union said the suspension was to give room for uninterrupted meetings with the tripartite committee on the new national minimum wage.

This followed a meeting between the union and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume, and other government officials on Monday.

The SGF at the meeting maintained that President Bola Tinubu was committed to a new minimum wage higher than N60,000.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it is not fixated on a figure as negotiations continue with the Federal Government over a new national minimum wage.

Recall that Organised Labour on Monday declared a strike ove a new minimum wage and the recent hike in electricity tariff for Band A customers.

Following the strike action, the federal government and organised labour reached an agreement on a new minimum wage that will be “above N60,000.”

The figure was disclosed by the government late Monday after a meeting with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its counterpart, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF).

Speaking during an appearance on Arise TV on Tuesday, Benson Upah, Head of Department of Information NLC, disclosed that Organised Labour is not fixated on a figure but would consider a fair and reasonable figure that can take a family of six home.

His words: “We are not fixated on any figure; our first offer was N615,000, but we climbed down, and we’re now on N494,000. Let me be emphatic; our fixation is with value. If today the government takes the needed decisions to create value around the naira, we’ll be ready to take a figure that is realistic.

“In 1981, the national minimum wage was N125, equivalent to $188. If the government takes the requisite decision to create value around the naira, we’ll be ready to take a figure that is fair and square.”

Speaking further, he stated that President Bola Tinubu, since assuming office, has made decisions that have affected the country’s economy.

“The first is the ill-advised removal of fuel subsidy rather than dealing with the criminal content of the subsidy. The president admitted to the presence and existence of a cabal, and rather than deal with that, he instead chose to deal with Nigerians,” he said.

“The second one is the mindless devaluation of the naira, which took it from N350 to N1900 and it’s now hovering around N1600; the third is the tariff hike; and the fourth is the 26.5 per cent interest rate. When you look at this, it becomes highly toxic for business.”

The NLC spokesperson responded to comments made by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, stating that the union has no political sentiment.

He said, “As we speak now, we’re the only reliable voice that can speak to power at the risk of our lives. We’ve been consistent from pre-independence to the military and democratic eras. This is not the first time we’ve taken on a government. Right from 1999, the presidency of Obasanjo; then Yar’adua; and Jonathan, but Onanuga didn’t see political sentiment.

“I want to assure you that we’ve no political sentiment. Our sentiments in this matter are pure, patriotic, and in the interest of this country,” he added.

Founder of the Dangote Group and Africa’s richest person, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that by the end of 2024 he expects the total revenue from his businesses to hit over a staggering $30 billion.

Speaking in an interview on CNN, the billionaire businessman stated that the projection will catapult the Dangote Group into the elite group of the biggest 120 companies in the world.

He explained that with the recent restructuring in the company and key persons manning the key segments of the businesses, it will not be too difficult to hit the $30 billion mark by the end of the year.

“We have divided the company now into two. We have myself as group president, then we have the group president, oil and gas and we have the group president of other businesses.

“And all these ones , when you combine, by the end of this year, we will have a group that will have $30 billion of revenues and that is big. It means that we will be among the biggest 120 companies in the world,” he stated.

On the much-talked-about oil refining facility, he described it as a game changer, stressing that as ships from abroad begin to gradually halt movement into the country, since the refinery can supply all Nigeria’s petroleum products, it will reduce carbon emissions by as much as 2 million tonnes.

“This refinery is going to change the game. You know, improvements all over the place. If we take in all the crude from Nigeria, it means that we’ll take about 21 million barrels per month. And that will also help in terms of reducing the CO2 emissions.

“Rather than ships coming all the way from Europe bringing products, or the ships going out of Nigeria, that is 21 ships going out of Nigeria every month. And then you have the products coming into Nigeria. So in totality when you calculate, you are talking about 480 ships of 1 million barrels.

“That actually will save the environment almost 1.5 to 2 million tons of CO2 emissions,” he added.

On whether he had started making money yet from the $19 billion crude oil refinery in Lagos, Dangote assured that he will soon start making money, stressing that although running businesses is about making money, but it gives him great satisfaction that his activities were helping to make Africa great.

Dangote, answering a question on whether he was getting adequate crude oil from producers in the country stated that although the Nigerian National Oil Company Limited (NNPC) was doing its best, the International Oil Companies (IOCs), were used to exporting their crude and were not willing to change immediately.

“We know there are challenges here, and that’s the truth. I have to be very open to you, but, you know, NNPC, they’ve been very, very helpful. They do their own bit.

“But some of the IOCs, are struggling to give us crude, because everybody’s used to exporting, and nobody wants to stop exporting. Why do you think Africa is not growing as it should?

“Because we export raw materials and import finished goods. It doesn’t matter what it is, even if it’s gold or whatever, a raw material is always at a ridiculously priced amount compared to a finished goods,” he pointed out.

Dangote stated that he had never been known for giving up on a good cause, stressing that nothing scares him in business. “I’ve been fighting battles all my life, so, you know, I don’t get scared of anything,” he said .

Again, he complained that Africa is not doing enough trade with itself, positing that the continent only does 16 per cent trade with itself and pointing out that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCTA) could help in that direction.

“ The AFCTA will be very, very beneficial. And if you are talking about benefits, our company will almost be one of the top five in terms of benefiting from the free trade agreement,” he stated, however stating that he had not seen any improvement in trade within the continent.

“We have petroleum products to export. So we have too many things to export. We have cement also to export. What makes sense is to have the free trade agreement work. But my own thinking is that, look, for us to cross that hurdle, because the trade between us is only about 16 per cent, which is too low.

“So we have to make sure that all the regional markets, they have to work. We have to remove these requirements of visas. We have to allow free movement of people, free movement of goods and services. Then the AFCTA will work. Without that, it is almost impossible.

“I mean, you look at it today. I’m going to Egypt tomorrow, but I need a visa. They are saying that, yes, okay, fine, they will give me visa on arrival if I have an American visa. But I have an African passport and they are part and parcel of AFCTA.

“But they are saying that, no, if you have American visa, we’ll give you. So they are discounting me being an African. So how do we trade if you are not allowing me into your own country?nbsp; What I would have loved to see is to see a South African coming to even get a job in Nigeria with no hassle.

“Because if we don’t now integrate, we will never, ever see what we call prosperity. So the integration is very, very important. If you remember, most countries, they used to have Ministry of Integration. I don’t know what happened. Some of the countries they have actually dropped all this, which doesn’t make sense,” he added.

Dangote described his three children as the future of his businesses, stressing that they have enough experience to run some parts of his vast businesses along with other executives of the group.

Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, sacked 25 of the 29 directors he inherited, Daily Trust has learnt.

The other four of them recently retired on attaining the statutory retirement age of 60.

Those directors were heading various strategic departments under the directorates of the bank.

The CBN directors still in service are Rashida Jumoke Monguno, Corporate Secretariat; Aderinola Shonekan, Research, Omolara Duke, Financial Markets; Jimoh Musa Itopa; Capacity Development; Muhammad Abba, Human Resources; Rabiu Musa, Finance; Sirajuddin Kofo Salam-Alada, Legal Services; Blaise Ijebor, Risk Management and Lydia I. Alfa, Internal Audit.

Senior officials at the CBN told our reporter that the management had concluded plans to recruit new directors from outside the apex bank.

One of them said: “Why are the departments still being manned by departmental coordinators more than three months after the sack of the substantive directors?”

“Since his (Cardoso’s) appointment, no director has been appointed. He has kept all vacant departments under the leadership of acting directors,” another source said.

Since March this year, the CBN has dismissed over 600 staff.

On May 24 alone, over 300 staff were laid off; about the third time the apex bank disengaged some of its staff. Between March 15 and April 11, 2024, over 117 staff were sacked for what was described as efforts to reorganise the bank.

Below is a list of some of the directors affected by Cardoso’s storm at the apex bank:

Dr Blaise Ijebor, Director, Risk Management

Dr Mahmud Hassan, Director, Trade & Exchange;

Dr Ozoemena S. Nnaji, Director, Statistics

Chibuike D. Nwaegerue, Director, Other Financial Institutions Supervision

Chibuzo A. Efobi, Director, Payments System Management

Haruna Bala Mustafa, Director, Financial Policy and Regulation

Rakiya Shuaibu Mohammed, Director, Information Technology

Benjamin Nnadi, Director, Reserve Management

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero; has said that the union is fighting for a living wage for the Nigerian workers and not starvation wage.

Ajaero disclosed this at a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly, SGF, Ministers and NLC leadership in Abuja.

The meeting was initiated by the national Assembly to avert the planed nationwide strike that will commence tomorrow.

Recall that Labour had on Friday declared an indefinite nationwide strike from Monday, June 3rd over the failure of the federal government to conclude negotiations on a new national minimum wage and reverse the hike in the electricity tariff.

To avert the strike, NASS called for a meeting to reach a definite conclusion with Labour leaders.

During the discussion, Ajaero noted that what they are fighting for is living wages for workers and not a starvation wage.

He noted that the workers in question are brothers and sisters of the lawmakers and the ministers, stressing that they need to work for Nigerians.

On his part, the TUC counterpart, Festus Osifo who noted that the current situation in the country was difficult for Nigerians especially in the last one year, said that it has also resulted in the difficulty in negotiating a new minimum wage for workers.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared an indefinite nationwide strike starting on Monday, June 3, 2024, due to the Federal Government’s refusal to increase the proposed minimum wage above N60,000.

Despite the government’s final offer of N60,000, which included a recent increase from an initial N57,000, the labour unions found the proposal insufficient, setting a new proposal at N494,000.

The Evolution of Nigeria’s Minimum Wage

Early Beginnings

The concept of a minimum wage in Nigeria dates back to the 1950s. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as Premier of the Western Region, implemented the first minimum wage policy in 1954. Western Nigerian workers received a minimum wage that was double the amount paid to their counterparts in other regions. This initial wage policy set a precedent and sparked ongoing discussions about fair labor compensation in the country.


Post-Independence Struggles

Following Nigeria’s independence in 1960, the push for a national minimum wage continued. In 1959, Awolowo, then the President of the Action Group, campaigned vigorously for a five-pound minimum wage for federal workers. Although he lost the 1959 elections to Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the issue of a national minimum wage remained a significant political agenda.


The First National Minimum Wage Law

The first National Minimum Wage Law was enacted by President Shehu Shagari in September 1981, spurred by the advocacy of the Nigerian Labour Congress led by Hassan Sunmonu. The law set a minimum wage of 125 naira per month, equivalent to approximately US$204 at the time.


Subsequent Revisions

Over the years, the minimum wage has undergone several revisions:

2000: Increased to N5,500.

2011: Under President Goodluck Jonathan, it was raised to N18,000.

2019: The National Minimum Wage Act signed by President Muhammadu Buhari established a new wage of N30,000 per month.


The Current Debate

In January 2024, the federal government formed a 37-member tripartite committee to review the National Minimum Wage. However, the committee has not yet reached an agreement. The NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have set a deadline of May 31 for the government to establish a new wage policy. The unions are demanding a minimum wage of at least N60,000.

Some states have unilaterally announced new minimum wages. For example, Edo State approved a new wage of N70,000 effective May 1, 2024, while Lagos State has been paying a wage award of N35,000 since January 2024.

The discussions about the minimum wage are fraught with tension, particularly between state and federal governments. State governments often argue they cannot afford higher wages, while the federal government usually proposes higher rates. This discord reflects a long-standing issue in Nigeria’s wage policy, where economic realities and political promises often clash.

Former Super Falcons player Iyabo Abade, now a man and renamed James Johnson, has begged the Nigeria Football Federation to assist him with the payment of N69.7m to facilitate a corrective surgery that will enable him bear children.

Johnson, a confirmed hermaphrodite, was a member of the Falcons from 1997 to 2000 and successfully underwent a sex change operation in the United States in 2004 courtesy of then Minister, Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai.

This came after a series of failed attempts to correct the abnormality that led to his being dropped from the women’s national team.

A hermaphrodite is a person or animal with both male and female organs. While it is common with animals, it is rare in human beings.

Johnson told our correspondent he wrote to the NFF for financial assistance last year to undergo the surgery but hasn’t heard from the football body.

The 40-year-old said he would be a fulfilled man if he could conclude the final stages of the surgery and bear children.

“Anytime I think that I can’t father a child’ yet, I feel broken, that’s why I wrote to the federation for financial assistance. The NFF president Ibrahim Gusau is a man with a listening ear and hopefully, through him, the federation can help me achieve my dream,” Johnson told our correspondent.

In the letter titled ‘Appeal for financial assistance to enable me finalise my surgery of transforming from an inter sex person (male and female organs – hermaphrodite) to full fledged man so that I can father a child’, and addressed to the NFF president, Ibrahim Gusau, Johnson said he needed the money to undergo the final two phases of surgery that would make him a full man.

The letter dated April 4, 2023, read, “My President, I am using this medium to passionately appeal to you for God and humanity sake, to use your good office to assist me financially to enable me travel to the United State of America where I did the 1 & 2 phase of surgery (Midway Hospital Medical Centre, Los Angeles) for the surgery and treatment of the 3rd and 4th phase of my transformation to a full fledge man so that I can father children.

“The total cost of the surgery and treatment is one hundred and sixty thousand dollar ($160,000) equivalent to sixty nine million seven hundred and fifty thousand naira (N69,750,000:00).”

The letter to Gusau added, “I was born hermaphrodite i.e both female and male organs and was brought up as a female. I love football and played very well, that led to my selection to play for the Super Falcons in 1997. During my days of playing, an issue ensued that led to a test, which confirmed that I am a hermaphrodite, 70% male and 30% female. This led to terminating my appointment as a female player.

“The NFA (Nigeria Football Association) instructed that I should go for sex corrective surgery. The then Minister of Federal Capital Territory Mallam Nasir El-Rufai in 2004 sponsored my trip to the United State of America to undergo the sex corrective surgery.

“I was told that I’m going to undergo four phases of surgery. The first and second phase was done and I was invited to join the Flying Eagles in camp in 2005. I was coached by Samson Siasia, but I was dropped due to overage.

“I was able to sign up with NEPA Football Club of Abuja, from there I signed for Plateau United of Jos. I later went on to sign up with Crown Football Club of Ogbomoso in Oyo State, where I was discriminated against and humiliated.”

When the Katsina State Governor, Dr Umaru Dikko Radda recently described banditry as a business venture for some highly placed individuals in the country, some felt the governor of the Northwestern State was merely exaggerating issues out of context.

But he didn’t stop there as he also said poverty and injustice are major factors fuelling insecurity in the country.

At an interface with Saturday Vanguard sometime in October last year, Dr Radda had said with his newly launched Katsina Community Watch Corps, he was determined to rid the state of banditry.

Recalling how bandits had killed his biological brother, the governor said he wouldn’t spare anyone, including state appointees who connive with Fifth Columnists to destabilize the state.

He said: “In our efforts, we have come up with the intelligence unit within the Katsina Community Watch Corps. This intelligence unit, even the Corps members don’t know them. The reason for setting it up is to check the excesses of the Corps and also to gather information.

“There are some traditional rulers who are identified and those ones are already under scrutiny. So, we are not sparing anybody even commissioners in my regime, we are not going to spare anybody found to be involved in one criminal activity or the other. We are talking about the lives of over 10 million people not one single individual. No single individual is more important than 10 million people or the lives of an innocent person in the village. We are trying as much as possible to gather a lot of information together with the intelligence we are getting from the DSS so that we can build a network that we can arrest and prosecute any person found wanting”.

Seven months later when Saturday Vanguard took him up on the issue, the governor who gave an account of his stewardship in the last year, explained how a village head was paid N700,000 by bandits, to allow free access to his village, and the consequent killing of about 30 of his subjects.

He said his administration was fiercely addressing poverty having discovered how it fuels insecurity. According to him, it was disheartening that for as little as N2,000, some persons would volunteer information to bandits about their neighbours or relatives.

On the village head, the governor said; “I will say yes, that we have arrested a village head in Guga village in Bakori local government of the state because of his involvement with the bandits.

“He was given N700,000 to allow bandits access into his village to kill over 30 people.

“The government deployed so many approaches but the notable ones are the kinetic and non-kinetic approaches and within, there are tangible approaches that have gone a long way in tackling security problems”.

Gov. Radda who said some of his statements had been misrepresented, said; “I hold the security agencies in high esteem because they too are being killed daily in their pursuit to curb the insecurity in the state. But the point is, there is no set category of people who are not involved in this. What are we hiding here? Who was not arrested? Different categories of people were arrested on allegations of being involved in banditry, criminality, and many other vices even here in Katsina.

“I don’t know why people should be bothering themselves with why I said this other than the fact that some people want to fuel it. I still maintain that different categories of people, whether in government or anywhere, are involved. That is because there are several arrests and security reports we have. Even in prisons now, you will see the people we arrested from the security operatives, government officials, and traditional rulers.

“But the issue we should understand is that we have bad eggs, good people everywhere, but we can’t get away from the bad ones, and bad eggs are with us. Why should we be here and then you hear the information from the discussion we had after an hour or 30 minutes? Someone from those people who attended the meeting must have leaked the information.

“You must ask yourself who told them that. It is not rocket science but logic. We don’t want to tell the truth because we don’t want to get to the root of the problem. We are shielding ourselves from the consequences of wrongdoing. We must tell ourselves the truth. We have to examine ourselves. No organization doesn’t have bad eggs in it. We should deal with it so that we get out of it.

“But, when we keep hiding things that we don’t want to blackmail, it continues and there will be no time that it will end. So, it is high time we told ourselves the truth. When we do that, we will correct it. Somebody can challenge me for doing something wrong, and that may be the basis for my correction. Why should we be hiding things from ourselves? And that is one of the major problems affecting this country”, he declared.

On how far his administration has been able to tackle insecurity in the state, Dr Radda said 35 bandits were neutralized by the state joint security taskforce in the last year.
At the same time, 363 bandits were arrested and subjected to the state’s fair judicial system, while 565 kidnap victims were successfully rescued.

Young women, especially single mothers across the South West geopolitical zone of the country, are gradually abandoning petty trade to join the “booming business” of rice smuggling.

The women are involved in the smuggling of rice from the Republic of Benin into Nigeria through the numerous bush paths around the country’s porous borders with its western neighbour, bringing the produce into Lagos.

Daily Trust Saturday reports that some of the women moved to Lagos from other South West states and beyond to participate in the illegal venture.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it intercepted 222,285 bags of 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice, equivalent to 370 trailer-loads from smugglers in less than three years, spanning September 2021 to April 2024.

During a visit to different shops and markets in Lagos recently, our correspondent saw most rice traders in the Alaba Rago and Daleko markets, both in Ojo and Mushin local government areas, selling smuggled rice openly.

During the visit to Alaba Rago, our correspondent saw many bags of smuggled rice being offloaded from vehicles parked by the side of the road and at the same time, being hurriedly moved into wooden sharks used as stores.

The traders at the different markets in Alaba, Mushin and Alagbado seemed happy as huge sale of smuggled rice is adding to their profits, giving an indication that the illegal trade is likely to rise further in the coming days.

According to sources in Lagos and Ogun states, the smugglers have become very active ahead of the Sallah festival coming up mid-this month.


Women in action

Young women of about 30 years smuggle goods through different points of the border during the day and at night, sources added.

At the crack of dawn every day, hushed frantic activities begin in villages located along Seme and Idiroko borders as some residents set out on foot or in small vehicles to smuggle rice into the country.

Adenike Odufayo, a single mother, told our correspondent that she used proceeds from the sale of rice to fend for her three children.

“I come all the way from Ibadan to Lagos to buy rice. My husband left me years ago for another woman. One of my friends, who is also a single mother, introduced me to the business. The business of smuggling is risky because one is prone to different assaults and sexual harassment from male security operatives at the borders. The consoling aspect of it is that money comes in at the end of each trip.

“I once lost all my life savings when Customs officers seized my goods. All pleas to make them see reasons why I joined the trade fell on deaf ears. That was why I knew why they refer to smuggling as “Fi aya wo,” meaning, take whatever that comes your way with your mind.

“I started again months later after I collected a loan from a microfinance bank. I was previously hawking balm and other pain relief medicines in traffic at Molete in Ibadan,” she said, while tending to many small bags of smuggled rice.

Another rice seller who simply identified herself as Folashade said she left fish business for rice smuggling.

She said fish was becoming too expensive to buy and that she went into rice smuggling with the little money she was able to save from selling fish.

“I know that smuggling is risky. It is even riskier as a Nigerian than the trade itself. I lost my husband after six years of marriage. I have three children, a boy and two girls.

“Life was not easy for me as a single mother. I joined other young women in the market to smuggle.

“We go to Cotonou market to buy rice in group. After purchase, we give the rice to crossers to help move them across the border line. If you want them to move it to an agreed location, they will, but with an extra money,” she said.

Evangelist Enoch Ojo told our correspondent in Badagry that a lot of young women had abandoned their pretty trading for smuggling, saying it fetched them quicker and bigger money.

“They don’t have to sit in their small stores waiting for buyers under the rain and in the heat of the sun. All they need to do is walk into Benin Republic, buy two or three bags of rice, split them into smaller bags and walk back to the Nigerian side of the border, from where they will board a vehicle to their destinations,” he said.

Enoch further revealed that some of the women travel from as far as Osogbo or Ibadan to Lagos to embark on smuggling.

According to him, the women sleep inside open vehicles or wooden stores, making them prone to any form of sexual harassment.

It was also observed that some security men, and sometimes, even the elderly act as carriers for local smugglers and are paid up to N500 or N1,000 for delivering a quintal of rice to warehouses set up across the border.

Most of them make multiple trips to earn as much money as possible.

Ashipa, Gbetrome, Topo, Suntan beach, Owode-Apa, J5 park are some of the villages from where it becomes very easy to cross into Badagry with small bags of rice strapped around their waists and some hanging by their shoulders.

Seme and Idiroko, both in Lagos and Ogun states, share open borders with Benin Republic.

Jide Kalejaiye, a 52-year-old rice carrier at Idiroko said: “The big merchants have set up small warehouses along the border, where we deliver the smuggled rice. The typical warehouse, which is usually an uncompleted house, is emptied every week and the collected rice is moved to town.”

He said the carriers did most of the work at the crack of dawn, travelling several kilometers from their homes to deliver the rice.

“We embark on many trips on foot, carrying rice bags weighing 10kg or more before we can make reasonable quantity,” he said.

He said the second spurt of activities would come around 9pm when most locals are indoors enjoying the night breeze.

Some of the carriers also move rice bags in the evening, just before nightfall, meandering in-between coconut trees. They rarely move at midnight as that is when the risk of getting caught is the highest.

A police source at Seme police station said most of the people involved in rice smuggling were unemployed. These villagers take rice from the dealers and carry same into Lagos or Idiroko. In most cases, young unemployed men and women act as carriers. Sometimes, the elderly can also be involved.

Despite efforts by the authorities to check the smuggling of rice, the huge margin of profit continues to drive the illicit activity.

Local rice traders said the price of the commodity in the South West spiked in the past few months after the federal government floated the naira to strengthen the local currency.

The ban on the importation of rice also accounts for the spike. Following the import ban, the price of rice in Nigeria has gone up.

The rice that was sold at N30,000 in 2023 is now being sold as high as N70,000 per 50kg bag, claimed Tawa Ojo, a local rice trader who used to sell to buyers at Sango-Ota in Ogun State.

According to officials of the Customs Service in Zone A, more than 370 truckload of rice were seized from smugglers in three years

A former comptroller of the unit, Kehinde Ejibunu, said his position, which commenced on September 10, 2021, was a bit challenging but very successful.

He said part of the challenges encountered when he assumed duty newly was the continued rate of attacks on officers by suspected smugglers while on duty.

“To mitigate such level of attacks, the unit embarked on sensitisation programmes and courtesy visits to traditional rulers in border communities. These yielded drastic reduction in the level of deadly confrontations and attacks,” he said.

He said 386 suspects were arrested in connection with some of the seizures, while 22 of them were convicted for committing different offences.

“Unfortunately, while on legitimate duties within the zone’s area of operations, eight officers sustained different degrees of injury while five lost their lives in the line of duty,” he disclosed before he bowed out as the comptroller of the unit.

Due to rampant rice smuggling, local traders said the price of rice had also gone up over the last few months.

Before December 2023, a bag of Aroso (one of the brands) was available at N35,000 per 50 kilogram, but it is now sold between N70,000 and N80,000 per 50 kilograms.

However, the attacks on Customs officers have forced the different commands and units of the NCS in the South West to intensify efforts to check smuggling operations.

Comptroller Timi Bomodi, comptroller in charge of Seme area command, while speaking on its anti-smuggling stance said that between January and February 2024, the command successfully made 168 interventions, which resulted in the seizure of 2,193 bags of 50kg (3 trailer load equivalent) of foreign parboiled rice, 81,930 liters (3 tankers equivalent), 9 vehicles, 1,425 general merchandise, 265 parcels of cannabis sativa and other narcotics, 149 pkg of codeine and 2 locally manufactured guns.

Bomodi said all the seizures were with a combined Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N366 million.

He said a total of 13 suspects were arrested in connection with the seizures, and that six of them were granted administrative bail, while three were handed over to officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further action.

“One was handed over to the police, while three suspects are still in our custody. At this point, it is important to highlight the importance of joint security meetings held regularly here at the Joint Border Post.

“These meetings provide valuable intelligence and opportunities to cross-fertilise ideas about border management. We note that collaboration holds the key to success in border management, that’s why we insisted on information sharing among sister agencies,” he said.

Highlighting the importance of the Lagos-Abidjan corridor, of which he said the Lagos-Badagry expressway was a major composite and a singular passageway accessible via multiple tributaries. He said: “Our creeks and the Atlantic traverse this single entry point. That is why collaboration with the Nigerian Navy is imperative and significant. The Nigerian Air Force and Army have provided critical support throughout this period.

“As the lead agency in border security and facilitators of international trade, we are constantly aware of the need to balance responsibilities through the use of risk management tools at our disposal. We are also aware that those whose illicit businesses have been significantly hindered by our activities will spare no effort in devising new methods to counter us. Some of these efforts will include misinformation and disinformation.

“We would like to assure the public that we will continue to remain alive to our responsibilities and will not be deterred by naysayers or anyone intent upon casting aspersions on our officers, some of whom have paid the ultimate price for their services to their country. Others have been severely maimed and will bear the scars of their bravery to their graves.

“These are challenging times for the Nigeria Customs Service. As criminals get more desperate and daring, we at the Seme/Krake joint border post will ensure the sustainability of a more formidable defense.”


Customs tightens noose around western waters to combat smuggling

The NCS seems to be tightening the noose around the western waters to cub smuggling activities around the country’s backwaters.

The comptroller in charge of Western Marine, Paul Bamisaiye, said the command had also stood down offensive smuggling of unwholesome goods through the waterways.

He said the command achieved this through effective deployment of its patrol boats on a 24-hour basis to check smuggling.

“The command is poised more than ever to rid the waterways of all acts of smuggling and economic sabotage for the benefit of the growth of the economy of Nigeria,” he said.

Also speaking on the efforts of the Idiroko command, the public relations officer, Hameed Oloyede, said the topography of the area accounted for the reason smuggling activities is going on at the area.

Oloyede said the effective deployment of officers along the border line accounted for the humongous seizures of rice in recent times.

He said the command had also adopted enforcement duty with human face in order to avoid recording any casualty.

On the involvement of some security operatives in smuggling, he said a good number of them had been arrested in the past, adding that most of them abandoned their goods and took flight to avoid the possible consequence of their actions.

“We have impounded bullion vans, ambulance and trucks carrying sand used to smuggle rice.

“We are often at the mercy of the villagers, who are more sympathetic to the course of the smugglers. They see smuggling as a right and not a crime. We try as much as possible to avoid excessive use of force.

“My comptroller has often embarked on sensitisation of community leaders on the need to advise their young ones to stay away from smuggling. It is a difficult terrain, but we are giving the smugglers a run for their money,” he said.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Financial Derivatives Company Limited, Bismarck Rewane, has disclosed that Nigeria has fallen from the 32nd largest economy in the world to 42nd.

He added that in Africa, the nation has also descended from its 1st ranking to 4th in terms of wealth management and accumulation.

The renowned economist further explained that Ghana has also overtaken Nigeria, saying, “In the past, we were always richer than Ghana, now we are here. External reserves and GDP figures speak for themselves.”

In March this year, Rewane, the CEO of FDC, was among the appointed members of President Bola Tinubu’s Economic Management Team Emergency Taskforce (EET) with a mandate to formulate and implement a consolidated emergency economic plan.

Speaking on the first anniversary of Tinubu’s term in office on Wednesday, Rewane, during his economic scorecard and presentations on Channels Television, categorized Nigeria’s economic performance into the good, bad, and ugly based on his available metrics.

He added that the economic metrics and rankings look tough but there is room for improvement in the Nigerian economy.

He said, “Our ranking among African countries has declined. Last year, our GDP growth was 2.98 per cent; South Africa was 1.93 per cent, Kenya four per cent, and Ghana 3.8 per cent. Inflation was 33 per cent for us, five per cent for South Africa, five per cent for Kenya, and 25 per cent for Ghana.

“Our GDP per capita is $1,111, while South Africa’s is $6,700, Kenya’s is $2,000, and Ghana’s is $2,200. External reserves as a percentage of GDP illustrate a tough picture.

“In the past, we were always richer than Ghana, but now we are here. External reserves and GDP figures speak for themselves.”

He added that major policy changes were announced in 2023, including the $1 trillion GDP goal, that the time lag between policy announcements and their effects was a drag on outcomes, and unintended consequences led to social unrest.

“There’s a cost of living crisis in Nigeria, and minimum wage negotiations are a source of widespread conflict. The wrong sequencing of reforms is taking its toll on output. Nigerians and Nigeria need new borrowing to refinance existing obligations, and policy changes, institutional reforms, and new borrowings are expected to lead to positive and faster growth from 2025 to 2026.

“The economic weakness is partly structural and mostly exogenous. Exogenous means from outside, while structural means fundamental. The structural challenges include rent-seeking, market structure issues, energy crunch (4,000 MW), regulatory bottlenecks, declining labour productivity, and demographic pressures including urbanization.

“Exogenous shocks include COVID-19 disruptions, post-COVID global supply chain disruptions, political tensions, high global interest rates, transit developments, the cost of living crisis, wage agitation, and social unrest,” Rewane said.

The economist also reviewed President Bola Tinubu’s promises, policies, and announcements a year after his assumption in office.

“The first promise President Tinubu made was to increase GDP to $1 trillion in eight years. Before then, our GDP was almost $400 billion, so he aimed to double it in eight years.

“He removed petroleum subsidies, unified exchange rates, promised to overhaul the security infrastructure, and also promised to double power generation from 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW in 5 years, which means an increase of 1,250 MW every year.

“Additionally, he promised to bring inflation under control. These were the promises, policies, and announcements.”

The Presidential Economic Coordination Council (PECC) comprises distinguished leaders and key government officials, with President Tinubu serving as Chairman of the PECC.

By News Desk



Different signatures issued by Justice A.M Liman raise dusts

A fresh finding has raised suspicion of forgery in the controversial order issued by Justice Muhammad Liman of the Federal High Court, Kano on the emirship tussle in the state.

DAILY NIGERIAN reports that Mr Liman on Thursday granted an ex-parte order restraining the Kano State Government from implementing an already signed law and halted the reinstating Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

DAILY NIGERIAN findings revealed that the signature appended to the certified true copy, CTC, of the judgement on the Kano emirate tussle is different from previous signatures of Mr Liman.

Also, unlike in Mr Liman’s similar orders or judgements, where Mr Liman appended his signature on all pages of the CTC, this was not the case in this controversial order as the signature was appended only on the cover page.

Our correspondent further gathered that out of the 8th respondents in the suits, only the Inspector General of Police, IGP, was served the controversial judgement, while all other parties were not served.

The respondents include the Speaker of the Kano State House of Assembly, the state Attorney-General, the Commissioner of Police, the Inspector-General of Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the State Security Service.

Recall that Governor Abba Yusuf had assented to the repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law amended by the state house of assembly and announced the reinstatement of Mr Sanusi as the new emir.

The new law repealed the 2019 law signed by former governor of the state Abdullahi Ganduje that created five emirates in the state.

He also ordered the deposed emirs to vacate the state within 48 hours.

DAILY NIGERIAN, however, gathered that the judge gave the controversial order while in the United States.

The Benin Royal Family, on Monday morning, suspended one of its members, Professor Gregory Akenzua, “for his acts of rebellion against the Benin Traditional Institution.”

Akenzua, an uncle to the revered Oba of Benin, is the suspended Enogie (Duke) of Evbo-Obanosa community in Orhiomwon local government area of Edo State, and currently in court with the Benin Palace to seek legal redress over his suspension.

Reading the text of the statement at a press conference, which held at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat in Benin City, on behalf other members of the Royal family, Prince George Eweka said none of the royals should henceforth have any dealings with Prof. Akenzua as directed.

According to the royal family, Prof. Akenzua, among others, “has chosen to challenge the Benin Traditional Institution through acts that are utterly at variance with the customs and tradition of the Benin people, and the core values of the Benin Royal Family.

“Professor Akenzua has betrayed the core values of respect for the Benin customs and tradition; devotion and submission to the customary hierarchy of the Benin Kingdom; and respect for customary arbitration process. Instead, he chosen the path of rebellion.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the Royal Family wish to emphasise that His Royal Majesty, the Oba of Benin occupies a unique position as the father of every member of the Benin Royal Family irrespective of age. Hence the royal family doesn’t have an Okaegbe, like other families in Benin Kingdom but Odion Egbe who is required by tradition to defer to His Royal Majesty.

“The royal family also notes that in utter violation of the hierarchy of succession to the Odion Egbe position of the Benin Royal Family, Professor Akenzua has been parading himself as the Odion Egbe of the royal family, and has held meetings to assert himself as such when he knows that he is not rightfully entitled to the position being far lower in the hierarchy of seniority in the Benin Royal Family.

“The Benin Royal Family has given ample opportunities to Professor Akenzua to retrace his steps and return to the path of honour and dignity. He has snubbed and rejected the opportunities provided by the Royal Family for him to retrace his wrongful steps.

“Acting on these facts, Professor Akenzua was suspended and is no longer to participate in any activity connected to the Benjn Royal Family.”

He also asserted that members of the Benin Royal Family were “strongly directed not to relate, associate, or engage with Professor Akenzua as long as he remains suspended from the Benin Royal Family.”

Muhammadu Sanusi says President Bola Tinubu did not interfere in his reinstatement as the Emir of Kano.

On Thursday, Abba Yusuf, governor of Kano, announced the reinstatement of Sanusi after signing the new Kano Emirate Council Law.

The state assembly had passed the amended Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024.

The law repealed the 2019 version, which balkanised the Kano emirate into five jurisdictions and was relied upon to depose Sanusi as Emir in 2020.

Speaking on the development in an interview with Television Continental (TVC), Sanusi said Tinubu recognised that the Kano drama was a local matter and resisted all pressure to interfere.

The former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) added that he was not given an opportunity to defend himself after being dethroned on “unsubstantiated allegations”.

He described his return to the throne as a correction of injustice done to the people, culture and tradition of Kano.

[i]“As you know, I was appointed the 14th Emir of the single emirate of Kano in June 2014 and now I am reappointed as the Emir of the single emirate of Kano,” he said.

“In between that period, we did not have a single emirate. We had five balkanised emirates and this was an injustice to the history of Kano. It was an attack on our history, our culture, on our traditions, and it was an act of betrayal to our family.

“We thank Allah that today, the emirate has been unified again, its people have been brought together, that an injustice has been corrected because as you know, I was dethroned on an allegation of insubordination which was never specified.

“I was never given an opportunity to defend myself but I have never spoken about it because I’ve always assumed that when the time is up, it’s up. Today, I thank God that God has remained as we know, a faithful God who stands by justice.

“I would also like to express my thanks to his excellency Alhaji Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu without whose principled stance of non-interference in the internal affairs of the state, this would not have been possible.

“The president has shown that he is a respecter of the constitution and the separation of powers, he recognises that this is a purely local matter and that the government has a responsibility to do what is right for the state. I’m aware that he has resisted all pressure to get the federal government to be involved.

“This for me is a continuation of service that I started, it is also an opportunity God has given me to improve on my previous tenure.

“We all learn from our mistakes and it is our responsibility to improve on the things we did well and avoid those things we did not do well. Life is a continuous learning process. I’ve enjoyed the break of the last four years.”[/i]

He also thanked the Kano state government and the security services for maintaining law and order in the state.

He assured the state and federal government of his loyalty and cooperation, saying “they can be assured that they would find in me a friend, confidant and adviser”.

Organised Labour has said it will not accept anything less than N100,000 as minimum wage as the negotiations between its representatives and the Federal Government heighten, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

Several impeccable sources from both the Trade Union Congress and Nigeria Labour Congress who spoke to Saturday PUNCH stressed that the Federal Government and the organised private sector should not expect labour to accept anything less than a six-digit offer.

The unions said the government was not serious about the negotiations, adding that the shift from N48,000 to N57,000 was too meagre to be considered as ‘shifting grounds’.

They noted that the promise made by President Bola Tinubu when he became President and on Workers’ Day was that the Federal Government would pay a living wage, adding that N57,000 did not fall into that category.

The sources also noted that they were going to have a national executive council meeting on Monday in preparation for the meeting with the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage on Wednesday.

The meeting on the ongoing negotiations on the new minimum wage was adjourned till Wednesday after Organised Labour rejected the new N54,000 minimum wage proposal by the Federal Government.

The PUNCH had reported that the Federal Government upped its offer from its earlier proposed N48,000 to N54,000.

Tuesday’s meeting came as a result of the walkout staged by members of Organised Labour following the proposal of N48,000 as minimum wage by the Federal Government during last week’s meeting.

During that meeting, the OPS had also proposed N54,000 while labour insisted on its N615,000 living wage demand, which it later reduced to N497,000.

One of our correspondents who spoke to sources who attended the follow-up meeting on Tuesday learnt that the Federal Government upped its offer from N48,000 to N54,000.

“Well, during the meeting, the government increased its offer from N48,000 to N54,000. However, labour rejected that offer, and the meeting has been adjourned till Wednesday,” a source, who asked not to be named, said.

When asked whether the government’s side was showing any sign of seriousness, the labour leader said, “No seriousness at all. Even state governors did not show up. Those who represented them, like Bauchi and Niger states, did not have the mandate to speak on their behalf.

“As regards the private sector, we did not get to them before the meeting was adjourned but we hope they also increase their initial offer.”

Organised Labour on Monday reiterated its May 31, 2024 deadline for the implementation of the new minimum wage.

The National President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Joe Ajaero, had insisted on N615,000 minimum wage, arguing that the amount was arrived at after an analysis of the current economic situation and the needs of an average Nigerian family of six.

He blamed the government and the OPS for the breakdown in negotiation, saying, “Despite earnest efforts to reach an equitable agreement, the less than reasonable action of the Government and the Organised Private Sector has led to a breakdown in negotiations.”

In a statement released at the end of the jointly held NEC meeting by the NLC and TUC which was signed by Ajaero, and the TUC President, Festus Osifo, the unions said they acknowledged the ongoing negotiations between the NLC/TUC, the OPS and the Federal Government regarding the new national minimum wage.

Speaking on the breakdown in negotiation, the Financial Secretary of the NLC, Hakeem Ambali, said the percentage of the ground shifting by Organised Labour had been substantial, moving from N615,000 to N497,000.

“When you look at the percentage of ground shifting by Organised Labour, you can see that it is very substantial. The FG’s shifting is still very meagre. We are looking for the FG to reason and fulfil its promise of paying a living wage to Nigerian workers. That is their position.

“The meeting is adjourned till Tuesday next week. Our position is N497,000. We are watching the FG and other partners in the collective bargain to shift ground. It is now their turn to shift ground substantially and not the piecemeal figure that is being given. That is not what labour is expecting. Any approval that is not up to six digits is nothing to consider by labour,” he said.

Another senior labour leader who chose not to be named said if the Federal Government and the OPS propose an offer of N100,000, Organised Labour might consider it.

The source said, “They haven’t even brought the N100,000 that the experts they consulted have recommended. Anything less than N100,000 is an insult to us as workers.”

Another national leader of the TUC who chose to be anonymous because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said it was disappointing for the OPS to take sides with the FG.

He said, “The Organised Private Sector representatives that have followed the government to offer workers N57,000 as minimum wage are doing themselves more harm than good. The reason is that taxation is killing the OPS. You cannot stimulate the economy with heavy taxation. For instance, if the Organised Labour decides to go on strike today, the government would not suffer as much losses as the OPS. Theirs would be colossal.

“Government has a way of recouping their loss but the OPS would run away from the economy and close shop. It is expected that the OPS and FG see beyond the partnership. A sensible OPS would work with Organised Labour. The reason is that even those working in the OPS are labourers. No amount of investment you put in, labour plays a major role among the factors of production.”

Speaking further, he said, “They need to also know that whatever they produce today is going to be consumed by other workers. The government is making use of electricity and is the one not paying. But, a worker buys and pays. That demoralises the economy. What we are saying is nothing but the reality.”

The labour leader further added that anything short of a six-figure minimum wage would be rejected by Organised Labour.

The source added, “Anything short of six figures in the national minimum wage negotiation cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony. The implication of that is that, when you put the amount of manpower loss, vis-à-vis the financial implication, the government would lose heavily. We don’t have guns but we have the right to withdraw our services.”

The source further stressed Organised Labour would not fail to go on strike if the government rescinded its promise.

He said, “Even the International Labour Organisation voted to strike as a fundamental right. It therefore means that even in a court of law; strike is our right. That is why we have sent that notice for them to know. We have given them ample opportunity to decide on time.

“We are ready to shift ground but the government must be ready to negotiate a minimum wage with sincerity. This is because the ability to pay is not the problem but the willingness to pay. The government must learn to cut the cost of governance.”


N30,000 minimum wage

Speaking on states that had yet to start paying the old minimum wage of N30,000 which was agreed upon in 2019, the NLC spokesman, Ben Upah, said, “The states that have not been paying the old N30,000 minimum wage are Kogi, Zamfara, Anambra, Ebonyi, and Sokoto.”


Labour leaders to meet

Meanwhile, Organised Labour has said for it to present a lower demand, the Federal Government must be willing to bring up a reasonable offer.

Speaking with our correspondent in Abuja, a highly placed source who is a labour leader and a member of the tripartite committee on minimum wage told our correspondent that labour leaders would meet ahead of Tuesday’s negotiations.

The labour leader also noted that Organised Labour was willing to propose a lower amount as a living wage should the government present a reasonable offer.

“This is simply a case of if they go higher, we will go lower. They need to propose something reasonable for us to propose something lower too. There is no two-way approach.

“Also we have a way of meeting ourselves as members of Organised Labour before each committee meeting. This will help us to take a uniform stand by the time we get to the meeting front. So as long as the government is ready to present something reasonable, we will meet them in the middle,” the leader added.

‘Why Anambra can’t pay N30,000’

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Government has blamed the paucity of funds for its inability to comply with the current N30,000 minimum wage.

It was also gathered that the monthly contributory pension being deducted from the workers’ monthly salaries has not been remitted to the right places since 2019.

The issue has become a great concern to labour leaders who called for the stoppage of the deductions from their salaries.

A source in the state Ministry of Finance, who craved anonymity, in an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, revealed that there was currently no standard minimum wage in the state.

He stated that, while some workers in the state received N18,000 and N25,000, others received N28,500 as minimum wage, adding that the Governor, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, had set up a committee to look into the minimum wage issue to resolve the grey areas.

The source said, “The state government has not been paying a minimum wage of N30,000. A paucity of funds and dwindling resources from the federal allocation are blamed for the development. The minimum wage used to be about N18,000 until the last administration added N5,000 to it.

“But the current administration, some time ago, was paying the workers an additional N12,000, it did it for some months, until it stopped.”

State NLC reacts

When contacted, an NLC leader in the state, who did not want to be named, said seven points raised were discussed and thrashed at the meeting with the governor, adding that a tripartite committee would be set up to smoothen the grey areas.

According to him, it would have been a different thing if Anambra had workers on Grade Level 1, but that the state didn’t have that.

He said the governor has also set up another committee that will look into the issue of increasing the wages for workers and the committee would comprise the NLC, TUC, NULGE, as well as government officials, including the accountant general of the state.

‘Kogi not owing’

The Kogi State chairman of the NLC, Gabriel Amari, said listing Kogi as one of the states not paying N30,000 minimum wage was misleading.

He said the state had been paying the N30,000 minimum wage to workers on levels one to six since 2022 after much negotiating with the state government.

Similarly, the Sokoto State Government debunked media reports of not paying the N30,000 minimum wage to workers in the state civil service.

The Commissioner for Information, Sambo Danchadi, who stated this while speaking with one of our correspondents on Friday, said, “We have been paying the minimum wage in the state for the state civil service. The governor since his assumption of office has been putting the interest of workers as one major aspect of his government.”

Also speaking, the state Secretary of the NLC, Hamisu Hussain, said the government, said, “We are currently discussing with the state government on the payment of minimum wage for the state local government officials.

“The state workers have been enjoying it but the government has not captured the local government workers,”

The Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has claimed that the hike in electricity tariff is temporary

The minister said he is optimistic about the reduction of electricity tariff.

Adelabu disclosed this on Friday during the sectoral briefing by ministers in Abuja.

Recall that on April 3, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, announced a 240 per cent electricity tariff hike for band A customers who receive a 20-24 hour power supply.

After the Nigeria Labour Congress (NUC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) called for reversal, the Commission slashed the tariff by N18.

Unsatisfied with the development, the Organised Labour threatened to go on strike.

Meanwhile, Adelabu said the electricity hike for Band A customers was a temporal hardship pending an increase in power sector output.

The minister stated that the tariff is similar to the initial price surge observed in the telecommunication sector, which eventually saw prices decrease over time.

“The electricity tariff might look expensive at the moment. But I’m optimistic that these tariffs will go down. We know how much we were buying SIM cards when the telcos just came. We know how much we were buying telephones.

“But gradually, as we scale up in generation, transmission and distribution, these prices will also decrease. It’s a temporary hardship leading to a permanent gain,” Adelabu said.

In April, SaharaReporters reported how the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project said it was suing President Bola Tinubu's administration over the arbitrary increase in electricity tariff.

SaharaReporters earlier reported that the Nigerian government had approved N225 ($0.15) per kilowatt-hour tariff increment for Band A electricity consumers in the country.

Band A are those who enjoy electricity supply for 20 hours per day.

The Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Musliu Oseni, who made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday, had said the increase would see the customers paying N225 instead of the current N66 kilowatt per hour.

Protesters on Friday stormed the Presidential Villa and the National Assembly Abuja, calling on President Bola Tinubu to intervene in the ongoing crisis over Kano Emirate.

The protesters, who marched peacefully, carried banners expressing concerns about the escalating situation in Kano.

They urged President Tinubu to use his good offices to resolve the crisis and ensure the restoration of peace and stability in the State.

Kano Governor Abba Yusuf dissolved the five Emirates Council and reinstated Muhammadu Sanusi II as the Emir of Kano. This came after the Governor signed the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Bill 2024 into law.

Under the auspices of the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria, the protesters said Governor Yusuf has taken his abuse of office to another level by dissolving the traditional council.

“A lot had been going wrong in the state but the Concerned Patriots of Nigeria had thought it best to allow Kano state to sort out its thorny issues. However, Thursday’s brash actions of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State, who sacked five emirs to reappoint Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi as the 14th Emir of Kano has awoken us to the urgency of raising the alarm about the destructive excesses of the state governor, “ coordinator Abdullahi Muhammed Saleh said.

“Since being sworn into office, Governor Abba Yusuf has a string of loutish acts that run like a hardened criminal’s rap sheet. All in the name of rubbishing his predecessor, he started with a demolition spree that has served to impoverish the people whose lives he took an oath to improve. Thus he proved himself to be anti-people.

“The Governor then attempted to destroy the structures of political parties in the state. The impish fanaticism with which he pursued this illicit mission saw him intruding into the structure of other political parties, including hiring some charlatans who purportedly suspended the national chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, who is interestingly his predecessor. Thus he proved himself to be anti-democratic.

“This latest stunt of sacking five emirs to install his acolyte was achieved by manipulating the Kano State House of Assembly, which he had successfully turned into a rubber stamp for endorsing his illegal acts. He has eroded the autonomy guaranteed by the separation of powers as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

“It is inconceivable that any right-thinking person will descend low to the point of manipulating the traditional institution for political gimmicks. The humiliation meted out to the five emirs was most unbecoming and we have cause to believe that Abba Yusuf has set the stage for using the traditional institution as ancient and as esteemed as that of Kano for a political seesaw will continue since his successor will revert to the five emirates. The Kano governor has thus proven himself to be the anti-traditional institution leader.”

They added: “The Governor’s choice of actions flies in the face of reason and has no place in a sane and civilised society. We urge Governor Yusuf to retrace his steps and stop further undermining the peace of Kano state and by implication the peace in Nigeria.

“We also condemn the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) – dominated Kano State House of Assembly that they have cemented their place as a conclave of shame to have reverted into a mere rubber stamp for the megalomanic tantrums of the state governor.

“They, alongside Governor Yusuf, have taken their desperation to an extent that could set the ancient city on fire and cause breaches in the land. We are here today to appeal to President Tinubu to intervene in the Kano Emirate crisis.

“The situation would deteriorate by the day, and we need the President’s urgent attention to prevent further breakdown of law and order. We believe that President Tinubu’s intervention is crucial at this critical moment. We are counting on his leadership to find a lasting solution to the crisis and ensure peace returns to Kano State.”

Thursday’s repeal of the Kano Emirates Council Law, which saw the sacking of the five emirs and the appointment of Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir of Kano revealed how politics continued to determine the reign of traditional rulers in the foremost emirate.

Since the First Republic, emirs of the ancient city have had to contend with the whims of some political leaders holding forth in the territory.

The first to taste this bitter pill was the 11th Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi, who had a running battle with the northern regional government headed by Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto.

Relations between Sanusi and the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) government led by Ahmadu Bello was said to have turned sour when senior members of the party in Kaduna became disenchanted with the emir’s towering personality, and rising influence.

A probe panel set up by the northern regional government headed by D.J.M Muffet, the sole commissioner recommended the forced resignation of the 11th Fulani Emir of Kano.

On March 28, 1963, the then Regional Governor, Sir Kashim Ibrahim received the letter of resignation tendered by the embattled emir, which the government accepted.

Sanusi, was subsequently deposed and banished to Azare in Bauchi State, where he maintained a low profile.

He was succeeded by his uncle, Muhammadu Inuwa, son of Emir Abbas and younger brother to the late Emir Abdullahi Bayero, whom Sanusi succeeded.

His ouster created political tension in Kano leading to the formation of Kano People’s Party (KPP), which clamoured for the creation of Kano region, independent of the Northern Region.

KPP members were largely sympathetic to the deposed emir.

The Action Group, led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, tried to make political capital out of the seemingly declining political fortune of the NPC in Kano ahead of the 1964 general election.

Emir Inuwa’s reign was short, as he died on the throne six months later. Inuwa, however, managed internal rebellion from older children of the deposed emir.

Ado Sanusi, who held the traditional title of Daniya, was promoted to Galadima by Emir Inuwa, a position he rejected and instead tendered his resignation. This action angered the emir who decreed a dismissal instead.

Ado Bayero, a younger brother to Sanusi, was appointed Emir of Kano by the northern regional government on October 22,1963, to succeed Muhammadu Inuwa.

He was the longest reigning emir in the history of Kano emirate after the Sokoto jihad, but he also had collision with politicians in the course of his reign.

After the military coup of January 15, 1966, the enormous powers of the native authority, which was under the emir, was reduced and this was compounded by the local government reform of the 1970s, depriving the emir of full control over local government councils.

After the 1979 elections, the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) government led by Abubakar Rimi, had a bitter relationship with the then Emir Ado Bayero. The PRP was an offspring of the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU), whose agenda was for the emancipation of the poor from oppression, over taxation and the overbearing influence of the emirate.

Governor Rimi’s query issued to the emir led to riots in Kano in July, 1981. To further reduce the powers of the emir, Rimi created new emirates of Gaya, Rano, Dutse and Auyo, giving them first class statuses as emir Ado Bayero.

The emirs of Kazaure, Gumel and Hadejia, now in Jigawa State, were also upgraded to first class status.

In 1982, Governor Rimi relocated the deposed Emir Sanusi from Azare in Bauchi State to Wudil, near Kano, raising suspicion that he wanted to reappoint him.

However, respite came the way of Emir Bayero following the 1983 election, which saw the defeat of Rimi by PRP’s Aliyu Sabo Bakinzuwo.

The first action of Governor Bakinzuwo was to remove all the emirs appointed by Rimi and demoted them to their previous positions.

Ado Bayero will go on to survive many military administrations, including the Abacha regime that allegedly planned to balkanize Kano State, allegedly in pursuance of the self-succession bid of the military ruler.

Oral accounts had it that when Bayero got wind of the plot, he reportedly called the Commander-in-Chief to personally say ‘thank you’. Perhaps, many in Kano believed, that killed the plot.

Ado Bayero was the lone emir in the state after the creation of Jigawa, which saw the movement of Kazaure emirate to the new state.

His long reign came to an end on June 6, 2014, following his death after 50 years on the throne.

Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, who had been removed as CBN governor by ex- President Goodluck Jonathan, succeeded him on June 8.

Late Ado Bayero’s eldest son, Lamido Sanusi Ado Bayero, left Kano in protest of the appointment.

And in 2015, the new emir, who changed his official name to Muhammad Sanusi II, stripped Lamido Ado Bayero of his title of Chiroman Kano, and in his stead elevated his younger brother, Nasiru Ado Bayero, to the position and made him the district head of Nasarawa.

Sanusi also elevated Aminu Ado Bayero to Wambai from Sarkin Dawakin Tsakar Gida.

After the 2019 election, which was won by Ganduje, five new emirates were created on May 8.

This action was believed by many to be targeted at the then 14th Emir, Sanusi, whom the governor believed opposed his re-election and was critical of his policies.

The creation of the new emirates was challenged in court by two members of the State House of Assembly, who contended that due process was not followed and Justice Usman Na’Abba voided the law establishing the emirates.

But it was a temporary respite as Governor Ganduje assented to a new law establishing the emirates on December 5, the same year.

One of the beneficiaries of the new law was Aminu Ado Bayero, who was made emir of the newly created Bichi emirate.

Legal fireworks ensued thereafter over the new emirates culminating in the deposition of Emir Sanusi and his banishment to Awe in Nasarawa State on March 9, 2020.

Aminu Ado was subsequently appointed Emir of Kano.

The 2023 election in the state changed the dynamics around the new emirates as the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) led government made its intention known that the emirates created by the previous administration would go.

Muhammadu Sanusi II, the newly reinstated Emir and ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, is a figure whose life has been marked by a blend of traditional authority and progressive thought.

Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf of Kano State announced the appointment of Sanusi as the new Emir of Kano on Thursday.

He made the announcement after signing the new emirate council law at Government House, Kano.

The governor signed the law alongside his deputy, the Speaker of the State Assembly and other principal officers in the government.

Former Governor Abdullahi Ganduje had dethroned Sanusi in 2020, following a personal rift.

After his dramatic deposition in March 2020, Sanusi’s activities continued to capture public interest.

Here are seven key notable moments in Sanusi’s life outside the throne.


1. Banishment to Loko

Following his removal from the throne by the Kano State government, Sanusi was banished to Loko, a remote village in Nasarawa State, a move that was seen by many as a politically-motivated punishment.

Despite the challenging conditions in Loko, Sanusi remained composed, using the period of confinement for reflection and planning his next steps.

The legality of his banishment was widely contested, with many Nigerians seeing it as an infringement on his fundamental rights.

Eventually, a court ruling declared his detention illegal, and he was freed from confinement.


2. Academic Pursuits at Oxford

After his release from banishment, he accepted a fellowship at the University of Oxford.

At Oxford, Sanusi was appointed as a visiting scholar at the African Studies Centre of St. Antony’s College.

This opportunity allowed him to engage in academic discourse, research, and lectures, solidifying his role as a thought leader beyond the confines of traditional rulership.


3. Disputing ‘Former Emir’ title

Another notable moment after his dethronement was Sanusi’s assertion that he should not be referred to as the “former emir.”

He argued that, in the tradition and culture of Kano, an emir remains an emir for life, regardless of their deposition.

He stated this in 2021 in Kaduna State, when Muhammad Sani “Dattijo” Abdullahi, the then Governor El-Rufai’s Chief of Staff, at the Kaduna Investment Summit, referred to Sanusi as the “former Emir of Kano.”

When Sanusi spoke afterwards, he publicly rebuked Abdullahi, indicating that calling him “former emir” was unacceptable and hinted at consequences for the chief of staff.

Sanusi’s remarks made it clear his ego was bruised by the title.


4. ‘I Don’t Want To Be President’

In the buildup to the 2023 Presidential election, there were reports that Sanusi was considering throwing his hat into the ring. The monarch had ignored the reports but the news continued to gain momentum. However, during a trip to Abeokuta, Ogun State, for a reception held as part of activities marking 80th birthday of Babanla Adinni of Egbaland, Chief Tayo Sowunmi, Sanusi made it clear that he had no interest in the race.

He said “People don’t understand the role we play as traditional rulers, as religious leaders that they think you should go and be a governor, or be a president, to be honest, I think that the role I play can be more important than that of the president, it is different, it has different content.

“But to be Khalifa Tijaniyyaa of Nigeria is an office that personally, given the choice between that office and the presidency, I will choose that office. “I thank Allah that as Emir of Kano and Khalifa of Tijaniyyaa, He has given me traditional-religious authority over.”


5 Meeting Niger Regime

After the military unseated the democratically elected government of President Mohamed Bazoum of Niger, they shut door against negotiation. An ECOWAS delegation was denied access, so also were foreign diplomats. But so influential was Sanusi that the junta welcome him for talks.

After the meeting, Sanusi said the crisis in Niger was not one to leave to the government alone as Nigerians and Nigeriens need to be involved in finding a solution.

“This is the time for public diplomacy, it’s not a matter that we leave to governments. All Nigerians, all Nigeriens need to be involved to find a solution that works for Africa, a solution that works for Niger, that works for Nigeria, and a solution that works for humanity,” he had told journalists after briefing President Bola Tinubu.


6 Emergence As Khalifa

One of the highlights of Sanusi outside the throne was his emergence as the leader of the Tijjaniyya Islamic Movement in Nigeria in 2021. The Supreme Leader of the sect, Mahi Nyass, confirmed the appointment when he received the emir at the global headquarters of the movement in Senegal. Sanusi II was invited to Senegal by Nyass to confer the title of the Khalifah of the sect in Nigeria on him.

Nyass charged him to unite members of the sect in Nigeria and lead with the fear of Allah.
“Sanusi is hereby appointed as the Khalifah of Late Sheikh Ibrahim Inyas and the leader of the Tijjaniya sect in Nigeria. We pray Allah should guide him. Amin,” he had said in Arabic.

He also tasked the former emir to be a good ambassador of the sect in Nigeria. Before Sanusi’s emergence, the seat had been vacant since May 7, 2018 when its last occupant, Isyaku Rabiu, died.

Late Rabiu had succeeded Sanusi’s grandfather who was also an Emir of Kano and the first leader of the sect in Nigeria.


7 Mourning Herbert Wigwe

Sanusi showed his deeply emotional side when he publicly mourned the death of Herbert Wigwe, a close friend and former Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank.

In an emotional tribute, Sanusi described Wigwe as a visionary leader and a brother, highlighting the profound impact Wigwe had on his life and the banking industry.

A clip containing a part of the speech in which he was shading tears went viral and sparked a lot of reactions with many saying what Sanusi did illustrated the human side of a seemingly stern and unyielding public figure.

Nobel Laureate Prof Wole Soyinka has said it is a mistake for the Nigerian government to keep the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu in prison.

In a recent interview with Noble Nigeria, the literary icon stressed that Kanu had the right to pursue his cause for a separate nation of Biafra as “he was never accused of physically bombing any place or killing anyone”.

Kanu was extraordinarily renditioned to Nigeria from Nairobi in June 2021 by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration with the help of the Kenyan government.

The separatist leader has been detained by the Department of State Services since he was brought to Nigeria in June 2021 and is facing charges related to broadcasts alleged to have been made in furtherance of terrorism.

However, Soyinka described the action of the Nigerian government as “kidnapping”.

“It is a mistake keeping Nnamdi Kanu in prison, I believe. In fact, they kidnapped him,” he said.

He continued, “His language was inciteful, yes, no question about that. But you don’t arrest, you don’t kidnap people. Buhari had an obsession with kidnapping people.

“That seemed to be his trademark. It is like he couldn’t fulfil himself unless he’s put somebody in a crate and brought them back.

“I think that politically speaking, if they have any real charges against him, well, since he is in their hands, they should try him. All these technical postponements, delays, and avoiding the basic issues, for me, is counter-productive.”

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that the Abuja Light Rail will operate free for two months, after its commissioning on Monday, the 27th of May, 2024.

Wike stated this during the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update to mark the first year in office of the President Bola Tinubu administration, held at the Radio House in Abuja, on Thursday.

The Minister had earlier stated that the President, Bola Tinubu will commission the Metro rail project for commercial activities on Monday.

He however urged residents to begin use of the Metro rails from Tuesday, the 28th of May, adding that the goal was to aid the ease of commuting for residents and that the President may extend the free train rides up to 6 months.

The Minister also said the FCT Administration will begin the construction of 10,000 affordable housing units tagged the Renewed Hope City from the coking year, 2025.

The Minister of Youth Development, Jamilo Bio Ibrahim, and the Minister of Transportation, Sa’Idu Ahmed Alkali, are also expected to give briefings today.

The governor of Kebbi State, Nasir Idris, mobilises the military for surveillance operations with N500 million monthly.

The Senator representing Kebbi South Senatorial District, Garba Maidoki, disclosed this during the plenary on Tuesday.

Mr Maidoki, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), made the remarks while contributing to a motion sponsored by Isah Jibrin (APC, Kogi East) on the need to rehabilitate communities ravaged by gunmen in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State.

“My governor was telling us that every month, he spends N500 million on the Nigerian Army. Where is the money?,” the Kebbi senator queried.

The Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, asked if the senator had evidence showing that the Nigerian Army used to receive the money as claimed.

Mr Maidoki responded by saying that he is relying on what the governor of Kebbi State told him.

“Well, that was what he said. I am quoting the governor of Kebbi State” he added.

He, however, cautioned the military from relying solely on the finances of the state governors before mobilising troops for operation.

“I think if the Nigerian Army relies on the governors to give them money to mobilise for operation, I think, in this country, we are not making any headway”.


Lives under threat

Mr Maidoki also told the Senate that despite the monthly package paid to the Nigerian Army, many of the communities are still under siege by terrorists and the lives of the residents are threatened.

“Distinguished senator, my people from my senatorial district came to me during Sallah. Our lives are under threat. As a senator representing them, I told them to go and see the governor. They made a convoy and went to see the governor. Unfortunately, the governor was not on seat. They went back.

“A week later, they were attacked and 20 of them were killed and then we rushed to go and condole them,” he narrated.


Military base

The senator noted that three communities prone to attack have been identified in his senatorial district but the military is not doing enough to stop the attacks despite the money allegedly given to them monthly.

“We agreed with the Nigeria security when we were here that certain places that are prone to attacks, they will establish front bases there. In my senatorial districts, they have identified three, they set up one. That one alone has reduced our banditry by more than 80 per cent.

“The remaining two, as I am talking to you, they have not established it and if we appropriate money to the Nigerian Army and they are telling us they cannot set up a base until the governor gives them money, I think we have a problem,” Mr Maidoki said.

The Senate, on Tuesday, rejected fresh moves to create grazing routes for cattle rearers in the country.

The upper chamber also resolved to raise an ad-hoc committee to organise a national summit to probe the lingering issue of farmers/herders’ clashes in the country and come up with recommendations for further legislative action.

The resolutions were sequel to the Senate’s consideration of a motion on the attack and killing of residents in Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State allegedly by herdsmen.

The motion was moved by Senator Isah Jibrin (APC, Kogi East).

The Senate, which observed a minute silence in honour of those killed in the area, mandated the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to provide relief materials to those affected in the local government and now living in IDP camps.

The Senate, however, rejected an additional prayer by Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno (APC, Borno North) who sought the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security to create new grazing routes in the country as a way of resolving the issue of framer/herder clashes.

Senator Monguno called for the creation of grazing routes to prevent cattle from grazing into farms to avoid conflict between farmers and herders.

In his contribution, Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC, Yobe North), said, “There is nothing wrong for the federal government to provide subsidy for herders who have lost their cattle to rustlers.

“This is a security issue as much as it is an economic issue. We should say it as it is because we are looking for solutions. We must continue to protect the lives and property of our citizens, which is the essence of governance.”

By Daily Trust


One of the military personnel keeping watch at the popular Banex plaza in the Wuse 2 area of Abuja, has slapped a lady into coma.

Daily Trust reports that the plaza has remained under lock and key four days after thugs beat up some soldiers who had a disagreement with a trader.

Our correspondent had gone to the area to monitor update when soldiers accosted the lady who crossed a barricade at the plaza.

The lady was trekking on the barricaded road when she was stopped by soldiers.

After asking her some questions, one of them slapped her heavily and she collapsed.

Daily Trust correspondent at the scene witnessed how she was rushed into a van which sped off the scene.

It is unclear if she was being taken to the hospital for medical attention.

Meanwhile, traders have been counting their losses over the military action, which they said could have been resolved without the lockdown.

Our correspondent who visited the market on Tuesday afternoon found soldiers across the plaza.

Lamenting the situation, Chibuzor Ike, a phone repairer at the plaza, i said: “I am already counting losses. It doesn’t seem like they will leave anytime soon. We are pleading for the reopening of the place for business.”

Trouble started when thugs beat up some soldiers who had a disagreement with a trader in the plaza.

The trader had reportedly sold a bad phone to someone who invited soldiers. Rather than resolve the issue amicably, the trader reportedly invited thugs who assaulted the uniform men.

They descended on at least two soldiers and another man in mufti. The thugs who broke into groups slapped, kicked and beat up the soldiers.

Although the police stepped in to resolve the situation, soldiers later stormed the plaza, forcing traders to shut down immediately.

Some videos on social media showed soldiers chasing a crowd of people and punishing a few others.

The army has been silent on the action at the plaza as Onyema Nwachukwu has not made an official comment as of the time of filing this report.

Bandits in their numbers reportedly attacked Zurak village in Bashar District of Wase local government area of Plateau State, killing more than 40 persons, including vigilantes.

According to residents of the community, the incident occurred around 5: pm, on Monday, when people were going about their normal activities.

The residents said but they could not immediately report the incident due to the poor communication network in the area.

According to Sahpi’i Sambo, a youth leader in the area, who also confirmed the incident to Daily Trust, the bandits arrived at the community on motorcycles – two on a bike – with sophisticated weapons and started shooting sporadically.

He said “More than 40 people were killed while many injured. Residents of the village have fled to neighbouring communities for cover. As of yesterday, security personnel had not yet arrived at the community. It was deadly,” Sambo said.

Spokesperson of the state police command, DSP Alabo Alfred, had not responded to inquiry by our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.