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Demand Palliatives From Govs, FG Tells Nigerians …Denies Sharing Palliatives Among APC Members
The Federal Government has distanced itself from the allegation that most of its projected palliative measures to cushion the economic hardship of Nigerians are being shared among members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The rebuttal was made by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Idris Mohammed, when responding to questions on what the Federal Government was doing to ameliorate the sufferings of the masses ahead of the Yuletide season.
The minister admonished that it would be unfair for people to leave out state governors and blame the administration of President Bola Tinubu for noticeable lapses in the distribution of palliatives to the vulnerable in society.
He said, “That is not true. The FG is not sharing palliatives with party members. It is targeting Nigerians irrespective of political affiliations. In any case, nothing stops party members from enjoying it too. They are equally Nigerians. But we should not believe the narrative of the Federal Government targeting only party people for these palliatives.
“Remember that these have gone to the 36 states and the FCT. So, not all of them are controlled by the party. The distribution is also largely done by the state governors; even the N15m poorest of the poor initiative is also handled in conjunction with them.
“So, there is nothing the Federal Government is doing in isolation. That was why in the wisdom of the President (Bola Tinubu), the palliatives should go to the governors who know the people better and know how they would be distributed.
“If there is a problem with the distribution, especially for the immediate palliatives released by the President, we should ask the governors. The FG knows that it is not in Abuja that the people reside, it is the states.
“So, if there are accusations as you claimed, it shouldn’t just be targeted at the FG, it should also be directed to them at the state level.
“Even when grains were distributed, the FG gave it out for onward distribution to the states. So why will anybody leave the state governors and accuse the FG for things like this?”
Mohammed stated that it would be unreasonable for certain people to think that President Tinubu had not been having a sleepless night over the plight of his people.
According to him, Tinubu has never stopped pacifying Nigerians to exercise more patience as he works to improve the living standard of the people and revive the dwindling fortune of the country.
“The President said in his October 1 broadcast that he was aware that many Nigerians are feeling economic hardship occasioned by the removal of fuel subsidy. Again, whenever the Yuletide approaches, things naturally go up and that could lead to inflation in some areas.
“That is the reason the Federal Government decided to give immediate palliatives to state governors and the minister of the FCT because they are the ones closer to the people. The move is to ensure the palliatives reach them as an interim measure.
“Secondly, it is also the reason the government is giving out what we call the wage award to Labour. You will recall in the October 1 broadcast of the president where he said N25,000 was awarded to Labour.
“In the course of negotiation the FG had with Labour, the President added another N10,000, making N35,000 that they will keep getting for three months. That will be from October 2023 to March 2024.
“Those who are not working, on the other hand, were given some stipends from the N15m for poorest of the poor and vulnerable households for three months, which has started running from October to December to cushion the effect of the hardship,” he stated.
Continuing, the minister expressed a strong conviction that once the two measures are properly channeled, it will minimise the economic challenges people are facing.
He said, “Of course, we know these are interim measures. The FG is putting up more concrete measures that will ease the pains of Nigerians in the long run.
“Very soon, considerable changes will be seen. I am saying this because there are some long term measures the FG has also put in place.”
Nigerians may experience an increase in the prices of premium energy products diesel and petrol as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery temporarily halts the sale of petroleum products in Naira.
“This decision is necessary to avoid a mismatch between our sales proceeds and our crude oil purchase obligations, which are currently denominated in US dollars,” the company said in a statement yesterday.
The $20billion refinery based in Lagos said the sales of its products in Naira have exceeded the value of Naira-denominated crude it has received from the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).
“As a result, we must temporarily adjust our sales currency to align with our crude procurement currency,” the company explained.
The refinery said it remained committed to serving the Nigerian market and would resume the sale of its product to the local market in Naira as soon as it received crude cargoes from the NNPCL in Naira.
“As soon as we receive an allocation of Naira-denominated crude cargoes from NNPC, we will promptly resume petroleum product sales in Naira,” it said.
The announcement by the refinery comes amid its price war with the NNPCL.
As part of moves to reduce the strain on the US dollars, and guarantee price stability of petroleum products, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in July 2024, directed the NNPCL to sell crude oil to Dangote Refinery and other local refineries in naira and not in United States’ greenback.
In the beginning of March 2025, the NNPCL said its Naira-denominated crude sales agreement with the Dangote Refinery was structured for six months with March 2025 as the expiration date.
The state company, however, said that talks were on to replace the contract, and that over 48 million barrels of crude oil have been made available to Dangote Refinery since October 2024 under the Naira-denominated arrangement.
The NNPCL also said it had made over 84 million barrels of crude oil available to the private refinery since it commenced operations in 2023.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational for decades until 2024. The country was heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.
Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol more than quadrupled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, from around ¦ 200/litre to about ¦ 1,000/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.
Last December, the billionaire industrialist commenced operations at the facility situated in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day. The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year. The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.
Nigeria’s Quadri Aruna has overtaken Egypt’s Omar Assar to become Africa’s highest-ranked player in the world, now sitting at 18th in the week 12 ranking released on Tuesday.
Aruna moved up from 19th place in week 11 to 18th in the latest ranking, while Assar dropped from 17th to 19th.
Denmark’s Jonathan Groth took over Assar’s 17th place, moving up from 18th.
Despite finishing as runner-up at the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup, Aruna’s impressive performances at the WTT tournaments this year have boosted his ranking.
Aruna remains the only African male player to have reached the semi-finals of the WTT Contender Doha, repeating his 2023 feat earlier this year in January.
This achievement has propelled him ahead of Assar, who beat him to become the champion of the 2025 ITTF Africa Cup.
Aruna’s next tournament is the WTT Contender Chennai which serves off in India from March 23 to 20.
In the women’s singles, Egypt’s Hana Goda maintained her top spot in Africa, moving up one place to 26th in the week 12 ITTF ranking. Her compatriot, Dina Meshref, remained static at 33rd, holding her position as the second-best-ranked female player in Africa.
China’s Wang Chuqin retained his position as the second-best player globally, behind his compatriot Lin Shidong, who continues to hold the top spot. Japanese superstar Tomokazu Harimoto dethroned China’s Liang Jingkun as the third-best player in the world after his semifinal finish in Chongqing.
In the women’s ranking, the top five remained unchanged, with China’s Sun Yingsha holding onto her top spot after retaining her WTT Champions Chongqing title.
