President Bola Tinubu has suspended his plan to give cash transfers of N8,000 to 12 million poor households for a period of six months as a government palliative to lessen the effects of the nation’s recent removal of the fuel subsidy due to widespread opposition.

Many Nigerians opposed the proposal, arguing that it was pointless and a waste of money because the funds were insufficient to have any real impact and there was no accountability to ensure the poorest households would be reached.

Tinubu ordered that the proposal be “reviewed” after Nigerians rejected the policy, according to a statement made by his spokesman Dele Alake on Tuesday night.

Even though the Tinubu administration adheres to the dictum that “when there is prohibition, there must be provision,” Alake claimed that “a lot of ill-informed imputations have been read into the programme by not a few naysayers.”

Accordingly, Alake declared that Tinubu had commanded that “the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programd envisaged to bring succour to most vulnerable households be reviewed immediately.” This is done in respect for the opposition that Nigerians have voiced.

“That Nigerians be given full access to the government’s comprehensive palliative package.”

His complete quote is as follows: “You will concur with me that it has become part of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration’s culture to constantly dialogue with Nigerians who voted him into office.

“The President made a promise to Nigerians that their security and welfare would be the top priorities of his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The government intends to start conditional cash transfers to vulnerable households, most of which will be impacted by the difficult but necessary decision to remove petrol subsidy, according to reports that have been flooding traditional and new media platforms over the past few days.

According to widely circulated reports, the Federal Government is planning to provide N8,000 per month for six months to 12 million of the poorest of the poorest households as a government palliative to ease the discomfort that Nigerians are feeling as a result of the removal of subsidies.

Not a few detractors have interpreted the programme in ways that are inaccurate. When there is a prohibition, there must also be a provision, according to administration theory.

“The government has put in place a wide range of reliefs to help Nigerians ever since subsidy, the hydra-headed monster threatening to kill the economy, was stopped.

Although it should be noted that the cash programme is not the only component of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s comprehensive relief package, in his capacity as a listening leader who has sworn to always put Nigerians at the centre of his policy and programme, the President has directed as follows:-

that a quick review be done of the N8,000 conditional cash transfer programme designed to help the most vulnerable households. This is done in respect for the opposition that Nigerians have voiced.
Nigerians should be given access to the full scope of the government’s palliative package.
immediate distribution of grains and fertilisers to all 36 states and the FCT’s 50 million farmers and households, respectively.In addition, the President assures Nigerians that the N500 billion approved by parliament to ease the suffering brought on by the end of the subsidy regime will be wisely used. No matter their ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation, Nigerians will be the recipients of the reliefs.

“President Bola Tinubu has made a commitment to always put the welfare of Nigerians first, and he is unwavering in that commitment. This position has been supported by a number of the administration’s decisions so far.

You’ll recall that the President made a similar choice in response to complaints from the business community and other stakeholders about onerous taxes, particularly the multiplicity of taxes they must pay. As a result, four (4) Executive Orders were issued, cancelling some tax classes and delaying the implementation of others.

A Tax Reform/Fiscal Policy Committee has also been established by the President in order to develop recommendations that will foster a stable fiscal environment for the nation and remove barriers to business.

“I want to reassure Nigerians that President Tinubu will continue to be a listening leader who will pay attention to what the populace has to say. President Trump has made it abundantly clear that he believes that the purpose of government is to serve the needs of the people.

Sen. Godswill Akpabio, president of the Senate, announced that in order to mitigate the impact of eliminating fuel subsidies, the Federal Government will review worker salaries and raise them.

This was said by Akpabio when Abiodun Oyebanji, the governor of the state of Ekiti, and state legislators paid him a visit on Tuesday in his office at the National Assembly.

The Senate President reassured Nigerians that the Federal Government was aware of the challenges brought on by the removal of fuel subsidies.

He asserted that the removal of fuel subsidies was a component of the current administration’s efforts to combat corruption because the fuel subsidy system reeks so strongly of corruption.

If the fuel subsidy had not been eliminated, according to Apabio, “Nigeria as a country would not have survived the next few years.”

He emphasised that if the government’s budget is raised, it will be able to pay salaries and wages.

For his accomplishments in office over the previous month, Oyebanji praised the Senate President.

The governor reaffirmed the government’s and people’s readiness to work with the legislature to advance the nation as well as their commitment to supporting the success of his term as the 10th Senate’s President.

Matthew Edegbe, a Beninisian, and Joshua Dansu, a Nigerian, were detained by Nigerian Army soldiers as they attempted to smuggle a truckload of a substance thought to be marijuana into the nation.

During a stop-and-search operation on Tuesday along Ajilete road in Ogun State’s Yewa South Local Government Area, the troops detained the suspects.

According to a statement by Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director of Army Public Relations, the suspects transported the drug in a truck without a licence plate.

He continued by saying that the troop investigation had shown the marijuana had been brought from Ghana.

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“Troops of 192 Battalion Nigerian Army operating in 81 Division Area of Responsibility have again on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, intercepted a suspected international drug syndicate smuggling a truckload of substance believed to be Cannabis Sativa (Marijuana) en route Sango Otta in Ogun State,” the statement read.

“In response to actionable intelligence, troops conducted stop-and-search operations along Ajilete Road in Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State, during which they impounded the suspected truck without a registration number that was loaded with 397 wraps of an unknown substance that they believe to be marijuana.

“Igholo-Idiroko was used to transport the illegal substance from Ghana to the Benin Republic on the way to Sango Otta, according to the preliminary investigations that followed.

The suspects who are currently assisting in ongoing investigations are Mr. Matthew Edegbe, a citizen of the Benin Republic, and Mr. Joshua Dansu, a resident of Idiroko.

He mentioned that among other items found on the suspects were a driver’s licence and a national identification card for the Benin Republic that belonged to one George Benyagbe.

The truck’s registration number (T 1826 LA Lagos), which was removed and hid inside the vehicle to prevent identification, as well as an iPhone, an Infinix and Itel phone, a Benin Republic national identification card, George Benyagbe’s driver’s licence, and the sum of Seven Thousand Naira (N7000) were all recovered from the suspects.

Onyema, however, claimed that the suspects, the car, and the evidence had all been taken into custody and would soon be turned over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

On Wednesday, members of the various transport unions that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had partnered with during the 2023 General Elections met with Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, the INEC chairman, and his National Commissioners.

Electoral officers also attended the meeting, whose main goal was to review how the General Elections of 2023 were conducted.

A review of the engaged transport unions’ behaviour with regard to the MOUs they signed with other unions regarding the provision of logistics is sacred, according to the Commission.

The meeting also evaluated the tasks that the electoral officers, who served as field supervisors, completed.
Here is the complete statement that the INEC Chairman read during the meeting.
COMMENTS MADE BY PROF. MAHMOOD YAKUBU, CHAIRMAN OF THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION (INEC), AT THE POST-ELECTION REVIEW MEETING WITH ELECTORAL OFFICERS HOLDED AT THE ABUJA CONTINENTAL HOTEL ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 19, 2023

Leaders of the Road and Marine Transport Unions serve as national commissioners.

Members of the INEC Press Corps, a cross-section of our electoral officers from the states of the federation, and other senior commission officials
1. I am pleased to extend a warm welcome to everyone here. Some of you in attendance today may remember that the Commission announced the start of the review of the 2023 General Election at the meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) held two weeks ago on Tuesday, July 4, 2023. A week later, meetings at the state level were held across the country with participation from both regular staff and special officials. Today, we begin a more concentrated engagement with the Electoral Officers (EOs), the Commission’s front-line representatives, at the national level. By inviting the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and the Maritime Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN), we also thought it appropriate to interact with transport providers to review logistic arrangements.

2. There is no question that the ability to distribute personnel and resources to various locations plays a key role in the outcome of any election. This entails the largest logistical deployment Nigeria periodically makes across vast terrain and frequently challenging topography. This has long been a problem, but infrastructure and security concerns have made it worse recently. However, the Commission must deploy personnel and resources not only for activities on Election Day but also for all other electoral activities that take place prior to, during, and after the elections. Numerous of these tasks, including the Continuous Registration of Voters (CVR), the monitoring of party primaries for the nomination of candidates for the election, and the acquisition and deployment of sensitive and non-sensitive materials, must be finished before the election otherwise vital Election Day procedures will not be possible.

3. As a result, this gathering offers the chance to discuss a variety of topics, ten of which are particularly important are highlighted for discussion:

i. the general level of preparedness for the general election in 2023; ii. the process of registering voters and the issues surrounding timing, the display of the voter list for claims and objections, the cleaning up of the voter register, the collection of PVCs, etc.;

iii. The hiring, training, placement, and compensation of ad hoc staff, including particular concerns with the mode of hiring, the manner in which training is conducted, the timing, the suitability, the efficacy, and the utility of e-learning training platforms, and a strategy for effectively paying ad hoc staff.

iv. Issues resulting from the expansion of voters’ access to polling places;

v. Receiving and distributing election-related materials;

vi. The use of technology during elections, including the various portals for ad hoc staff nomination, candidate nomination, accreditation of observers, accreditation of media, accreditation of polling/collation agents, voter registration, accreditation, and result management;

security during elections;

Election Day procedures in relation to:

i. forward logistics in terms of personnel transportation and material delivery to Registration Area Centres (RACs) and Polling Units (PUs), including particular concerns regarding engagement with transport unions and the execution of State-level obligations; and

ii. Reverse logistics, personnel movement, and field asset retrieval.

ix. An inventory of election materials, in particular how reusable items like ballot boxes, voting booths, and power generators are stored and in what condition; and

x. The structural integrity of storage facilities and other permanent structures.

4. In keeping with the Commission’s policy, a thorough report will be created after the review engagements are finished. In order to identify areas of strength and weaknesses for immediate improvement in upcoming elections, particularly the three off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States scheduled to hold on Saturday, November 11, 2023, I therefore implore you to contribute your wealth of experience to the discussions.

5. I want to reassure Nigerians that the Commission plans to engage more internal and external stakeholders, such as political parties, civil society organisations, the media, and security agencies, over the course of the next two weeks.

6. With that, allow me to once again extend a warm welcome to this gathering.

7. God bless you all, and I thank you.

Mansur Abdullahi, a former Super Falcons assistant coach, has said that the team’s defence is its weakest area ahead of their Women’s World Cup Group B opener against Canada on Friday.

At Melbourne Rectangular Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday, the Falcons face the current Olympic champions.

According to Abdullahi, Onome Ebi, 40, is the Falcons defense’s weakest link.

Abdullahi thinks it is unacceptable that the nine-time African champions, led by Ebi, have only managed to keep three clean sheets in their last 12 games across all competitions.

“Our defence hasn’t been that tight in recent games. The defence is what worries me the most, Abdullahi said. How adaptable is Onome Ebi at the age of 40? She won’t be a good addition to the team, in my opinion.

But our best and most talented players, including Asisat Oshoala, Rasheedat Ajibade, and Gift Monday, are in the attack. Although the offence appears to be strong, the team’s major World Cup failure may come from the defence.

Osasu Obayiuwana, a seasoned journalist, also questioned the selection of the former Levante Las Planas player for the squad.

“How can a player who is 40 years old, exhausted, and who hasn’t played club football in a full season, make the Falcons World Cup squad? On Twitter, Obayiuwana questioned how a coach could be proud of such a careless action.

Ebi’s inclusion, in the opinion of former Falcons coach Godwin Izilien, may hurt the team’s chances of having an impact at the competition.

Why must Onome be used in the Falcons when she is no longer having an effect on the team?

“Onome has no place on that squad. Our team has talented players. As you can imagine, Ebi was present when we won the championship in Johannesburg in 2004. Her quick reflexes are gone, and she can no longer run quickly.

“The World Cup is not an exhibition match. We have the players who can help us win titles, so we must strive to do so.