Connect with us

News

Fuel queues hit Abuja, other cities after Tinubu suspended subsidy

Published

on

FG to shut errant filling stations as petrol hits N1,000/litre
File: Motorists on long Fuel queues at NNPC Petrol station at CBD Abuja
Spread the love

Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources, says Tinubu

Fuel queues returned to Nigerian cities Monday as many motorists scrambled to get petroleum products hours after President Bola Tinubu announced that the government will put an end to the fuel subsidy regime.

Tinubu on Monday in his inaugural address at Eagle Square, Abuja, declared that there would no longer be a petroleum subsidy regime as it was not sustainable.

He said the current 2023 budget only has provision for the fuel subsidy till June, adding that the funds meant for subsidies will be diverted to creation of public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs.

“We commend the decision of the outgoing administration in phasing out the petrol subsidy regime which has increasingly favoured the rich more than the poor. Subsidy can no longer justify its ever-increasing costs in the wake of drying resources.

“We shall, instead, re-channel the funds into better investment in public infrastructure, education, health care and jobs that will materially improve the lives of millions,” Mr Tinubu said.

Maduka College Advert

But hours after the declaration, fuel queues resurfaced in major cities across the country amid uncertainty over the effect of the new policy.

Queues

A PREMIUM TIMES correspondent who visited petrol stations around Abuja metropolis Monday evening found that queues have yet again resurfaced in the city.

Across the nation’s capital city, some filling stations were under lock and key while some were besieged by motorcyclists, tricycle owners, as well as private and commercial drivers.

Many filling stations in the Lugbe area of Abuja sold petrol at prices ranging between N194 and N198. Outside Abuja, residents said fuel stations sold petrol for N230.

On Monday evening, a long queue of motorists was observed at the NNPC filling station along Airport Road, Lugbe.

Shafa, Fynefield and NNPC fuel stations at Apo sold petrol to motorists at prices ranging between N194 and N198, while Mobil, MRS and Ashafa along Lugbe Airport Road were also open to customers.

Some other filling stations were, however, shut against motorists and tricycle riders.

A car owner, Nwekefero Munachi, at the NNPC filling station along Airport Road, Lugbe, said: “As I was driving down from town, I saw a queue at the filling station but I don’t know what the cause may be. So as I approached Lugbe, I noticed another queue. I can’t place my hand on what the queue is all about. But all I know is that there are queues in filling stations.”

The same trend was witnessed in Lagos, Ogun, and Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State Lagos, Ogun

In Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, fuel queues surfaced around the Ojodu and Berger axis Monday evening as motorists scrambled to get fuel ahead of resumption of work Tuesday

A commercial motorcyclist, Ibrahim Adeleke, said he noticed the queues about two days ago but things got worse Monday after Mr Tinubu said the subsidy regime has ended.

“People don’t know what will happen and petrol station owners too are not certain of what the new government will do,” he said.

In Akute area of Ogun State, some of the popular fuel stations were shut Monday evening.

Ekiti

In Ekiti, there were long queues at some of the major fuel stations visited. The filling stations were seen dispensing petrol at N230 while many remained shut.

At the Furasat filling station Okebareke, in Ido Ekiti, Tunde Ajayi, a motorist at the station, attributed the fuel queue to subsidy removal.

“This is surprising, people have started panic buying just with the announcement of subsidy removal.

“We used to buy it for N230 per litre before and now it is still the same price but people already believe that with the president’s announcement fuel price might go up,” Mr Ajayi said.

“I’m here to buy and store so I can manage it before the filling station starts increasing their litre price,” he added.

Kenneth Onyebuchi, a civil servant said: “I’m not sure this is because of the subsidy removal announcement, I think this is because of the long holiday. You know tomorrow is work so I just think people are just coming out to fill their cars.

“If it’s because of what the president said we will know within the week,” he said.

A car owner, John-wisdom Nwali, said “As I was driving towards my house, I observed a queue in the filling stations and I decided to stop and refill my tank. Another round of fuel scarcity should not be encouraged in this regime because we have suffered a lot in Buhari’s tenure because of scarcity.

“I heard that this recent queue is caused by the government announcement of removing fuel subsidies but I don’t know how true it is,” he said.

Fuel subsidy

The Nigerian government has, for decades, subsidised fuel and fixed retail prices of petroleum products. The payment has, however, threatened the nation’s fiscal position and impacted the government’s ability to fund developmental projects across the nation.

In November 2021, the federal government announced its plan to remove the fuel subsidy and replace it with a monthly N5,000 transport grant for poor Nigerians.

But the government later suspended the plan after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) threatened to embark on mass protests.

The Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, in January last year said the government had realised the timing of its planned removal of petrol subsidy is “problematic”, and will worsen the suffering of Nigerians.

She said the government will retain fuel subsidy indefinitely and will work on amending the 2022 budget to provide funds for that purpose. The government added that it would spend N3 trillion on subsidies in 2022.

In the first quarter of 2023, Mrs Ahmed said that it will be more appropriate for the government to begin the implementation of its fuel subsidy policy in the second quarter of the year. She noted that the country needs to exit the fuel subsidy regime because it is a very significant contributory factor to revenue loss.

As concerns were raised over the sustainability of the subsidy regime, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) also announced that the country was spending over N 400 billion monthly on petroleum subsidies.

The government subsequently said that it will phase out the subsidy regime by the end of the first half of the year.

But in April, the National Economic Council (NEC) suspended the planned removal of subsidy on petroleum products by the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Mrs Ahmed said that the council deliberated on the matter and resolved that the subsidy cannot be removed for now.

On Monday, Mr Tinubu announced that the subsidy regime has ended because it’s not sustainable. (PREMIUM TIMES)

Business

Enugu Air Launches New Website

Published

on

Spread the love

…moves online services to www.enuguairlines.ng

Enugu Air has announced the launch of its new official website, enuguairlines.ng, as part of efforts to provide passengers and customers with a better, safer and more convenient digital experience.

The airline said the migration to the new website is designed to improve how passengers connect with Enugu Air and access its services online, including flight bookings, schedules and the latest updates.

Announcing the development, the airline said: “We’ve moved! We’re innovating! We’ve migrated to a better, safer and convenient website to connect you to the world.”

Passengers can now access Enugu Air’s online services through its new web address, enuguairlines.ng, which the airline described as its new digital home.

The airline urged passengers and prospective travellers to save the new web address and use it for flight bookings, checking schedules and obtaining the latest information about its operations.

Maduka College Advert

“Same Enugu Air. New web address,” the airline stated, emphasising that the change represents an improvement in its digital platform while retaining the Enugu Air brand and services.

The airline further encouraged customers to visit, www.enuguairlines.ng for all flight-related information and online services.

It further stated that the old website, enuguairlines•com has been discarded and no longer in use.

Continue Reading

News

Kidnapped female Police officer found dead in Ebonyi

Published

on

Spread the love

A kidnapped female police officer has been found dead in Ebonyi State after a suspected member of a kidnapping syndicate was arrested and led police operatives to the scene where her remains were recovered.

The Nigeria Police Force disclosed this in its state-by-state operational update issued by Force Public Relations Officer
Force Headquarters, Ani Iniedu on Monday, detailing several arrests, rescues and recoveries recorded across the country between September 19 and 20, 2026.

According to the police, the suspect was arrested following a sustained intelligence-led and technology-based investigation into the kidnapping of the female officer.

The suspect reportedly led combined police teams to the crime scene, where the remains of the officer were recovered.

The police said the case is being investigated by the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) in Abakaliki.

Maduka College Advert

In a separate operation in Adamawa State, police operatives rescued two kidnapped victims from a suspected kidnappers’ hideout in Shako Forest, Toungo Local Government Area.

The operation, carried out on September 20 following actionable intelligence, also led to the recovery of two magazines containing 10 rounds of 7.62×39mm live ammunition.

A National Identification Number (NIN) card, mobile phone, passport and chain were also recovered from the suspected hideout.

In the Federal Capital Territory, police arrested 334 suspects during coordinated raids on criminal hotspots, black spots and uncompleted buildings across several locations.

The operation, conducted on September 19, also resulted in the recovery of various quantities of substances suspected to be illicit drugs.

Meanwhile, police in Anambra State arrested a suspected child trafficker who was allegedly intercepted while travelling with a six-month-old baby boy.

The baby was recovered and handed over to the appropriate authorities for necessary action, according to the police.

In Kaduna State, four suspected members of a kidnapping syndicate were arrested following intelligence-led operations.

Police said the suspects confessed to their alleged involvement in kidnapping and provided information about fleeing accomplices. A locally made Dane gun was recovered.

Another suspected kidnapping syndicate member was arrested at Soba Market in the state. Police said the suspect also confessed and gave information implicating five fleeing accomplices.

In Ogun State, police arrested a suspect linked to a fatal shooting incident in Isara, Remo North Local Government Area.

One single-barrel gun, one live cartridge and one expended shell were recovered during the operation.

In Imo State, a suspect was arrested during a raid on a suspected criminal gathering at Nekede, Owerri West Local Government Area, with police recovering a locally made cut-to-size single-barrel gun.

Police in Ekiti State also arrested two suspects linked to multiple shop-breaking and stealing incidents in Ado-Ekiti and recovered suspected stolen iron rods.

In another operation in Ado-Ekiti, police recovered an abandoned white sack containing a pump-action gun loaded with two live cartridges and a locally made single-barrel gun from a farmland.

In Benue State, police tactical teams, supported by personnel of the Police Mobile Force and military, intervened in a renewed communal conflict at Akpa-Mbakor Community in Tarka Local Government Area.

The security teams dispersed the rampaging youths and restored normalcy in the area, according to the police.

In Oyo State, police arrested a truck driver allegedly involved in a fatal road traffic incident along the Ijebu-Ode/Idi Ayunre Road.

The truck was impounded for further inspection and investigation.

The police said all the cases remain under investigation by the respective State Criminal Investigation Departments.

Continue Reading

News

UK excludes Nigerian, Ghanaian-trained teachers from teaching qualification list

Published

on

Spread the love

Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no longer eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England under the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route.

The change took effect on September 9 and means teachers trained in the two West African countries can no longer use the route to obtain QTS, a status recognised by many schools in England.

The UK Department for Education said countries included in the scheme must meet specific requirements to ensure that applicants’ qualifications, professional standing and teaching experience can be properly verified. One of the requirements is that a country must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional status and providing authenticated references.

According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana did not meet the reference-verification requirement.

“Our data shows that more than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain. This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications,” the department said.

Maduka College Advert

The UK department said about 90 percent of applications are assessed within 12 months.

India was also removed from the eligible list because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.

South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the list of countries whose teachers can use the QTS application route.

The department said the verification process was necessary to ensure that information provided by applicants was genuine and that teachers awarded QTS possessed the required skills and experience to teach in England.

To apply for QTS, overseas-trained teachers must have a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in the country where they trained.

Applicants must also have completed any mandatory induction requirements needed for full teacher registration in their country of qualification.

They are required to demonstrate that they are qualified to teach children aged between five and 16 and have at least nine months of teaching experience gained after qualifying as a teacher.

Applicants must also provide employment references that verify their work history and use an email address linked to the school’s official domain.

Depending on the country where a teacher trained, additional requirements may include qualifications to teach pupils aged between 11 and 16 and a specialism in subjects such as mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish.

However, because teachers in England are employed by individual schools rather than the Department for Education, schools may consider alternative routes into teaching.

The department said teachers who are no longer eligible to use the QTS application service can explore other routes into teaching in England.

Continue Reading

Trending

Maduka College Advert