News
Tinubu’s Yuletide transport slash: 163, 878 benefitted so far – FG *Mum on cost
No fewer than 163, 878 Nigerians have benefited so far from the slash largesse offered travellers by President Bola Tinubu to lighten their transportation costs during the Yuletide to the various parts of the country, The Nation is reporting, quoting, Dele Alake Minister of Solid Minerals Development.
Kehinde Bamigbetan, spokesman for the Minister, who is the chairman of the Committee on the Implementation of the End of Year Transportation Subsidy Programme of the President, was quoted by the report as saying that Nigerians benefited from the federal government transportation rebate across the country, describing the programme as a huge success.
Though it was mum on the total cost it gulped, the report released on Monday, January 1, 2024, three days to the January 4 deadline for the programme, the first of that magnitude by the Federal Government, said: “Alake said the programme, which was approved by President Tinubu on December 19, 2023, provided free transportation on the routes of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) and 50 percent subsidy on transport fares for passengers travelling on 30 routes serviced by bus operators under the umbrella association, the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria, ALBON.
“He also added the programme was a demonstration of the president’s empathy and love for the Nigerian people, who are culturally and emotionally committed to travelling to their home towns at the end of the year. According to him, the programme was also aimed to ease the financial burden of the citizens, who are facing some economic challenges due to the global pandemic and other internal factors.
“He said the committee took some remedial measures to address some identified gaps in the execution of the programme, such as adding two more routes, engaging other bus-owning stakeholders, such as the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, the State-owned Transport Companies, and the Private Transport Operators Association, PTONA, and collaborating and sensitising Nigerians through the press and other media platforms.
“He said the programme recorded impressive results, as between December 21 and December 31, 2023, the NRC conveyed 71,000 passengers, while buses operating under the auspices of ALBON carried 77, 122 passengers. The Minister in the report also revealed that 652 ‘bus trips originating travels’ from Oshodi Interchange in Lagos carried 15,766.
“Between December 21 and December 31, 2023, figures avaialable show that the NRC conveyed 71,000 passengers, while buses operating under the auspices of ALBON carried 77, 122 passengers, and 652 bus trips originating travels from Oshodi Interchange in Lagos carried 15,766. This means no fewer than 163, 878 passengers benefitted from the Presidential Yuletide Transportation Subsidy in the first 10 days of the programme.
“Secondly, while train bound passengers enjoyed total free service, road travelers paid only 50 percent of the fares. The subsidies depended on the fares ranging from a saving of N21,500 on a Lagos-Abuja road trip fare of N43,000 and N15,000 on a Lagos –Onisha bus fare of N30,000. He appealed for co-operation from the passengers and the bus companies to manage the return of passengers from their respective locations back to their bases till Thursday, January 4, 2024, as the programme is still ongoing.
“On the overall assessment of the scheme so far, Alake enthused that it has been a huge success, emphasising that the transportation rebate was a demonstration of the level love President Tinubu has for Nigerians. The programme has been a huge success. It is a vivid expression of the resonant leadership driven by emotional intelligence. The yuletide transportation programme sought to meet the mass of Nigerians at their point of need,” said the Minister.
“On the arrangement for the return leg of the trip by travellers, Allake also urged them to initiate their return journey as early as possible to secure seats on the coaches and buses, and appealed to all the bus companies involved to demonstrate faith, integrity and patriotism by applying the 50 percent subsidy and making enough vehicles available.
“The minister added that the committee would continue to monitor compliance and intervene whenever and wherever necessary, and assured that the appropriate government security agencies have been properly briefed to ensure the free embarkation and disembarkation of passengers at the parks.”
Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Governor of Oyo State, on Thursday, finally threw his hats into the ring by declaring his intention to run for president in 2027, with a message – history beckons.
The governor, whose ambition has been a matter of speculations for months now and who had teamed up with forces angling to force President Bola Tinubu, out of power, told a teeming crowd in Ibadan on Thursday that time had come to reset Nigeria.
At a mega-rally to announce the alliance between the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), and the Allied Peoples’ Movement, (APM), Makinde, expressed worry over the dwindling fortunes of Nigerians, vowing to engage Nigerians to end the drift.
Hear him: “Without a multi-party system, there is no democracy. Where is our multi-party? Where do we go from here? We have been pushed to the wall.
“They calculated and self-opposition cannot unite but I am here to say that the opposition is the everyday Nigerian. This is the time for all us to ensure Nigeria works for us. This is the time to confront it fears. It is time to engage as citizens and not spectators.
“For the opposition political parties, this is the time to unite and work in unity and give our nation the much reset it needs. The time to reset Nigeria is now. Ibadan is the city of warriors. The first grand alliance is formed. The PDP and APM is formed. This handshake will allow us to field candidates from presidency to state Assembly. And so, I declare my candidacy for office of the president of Nigeria.”
Eyo Ekpe, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH), on Wednesday, gave a detailed account on how operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) manhandled him on Monday.
He told reporters that he was at sea on why he should fall victim to the assault against his person and eventually arrested given that was not right person directly involved in the information the agency sought.
Some operatives of the EFCC who invaded the hospital, had whisked Ekpe away after firing teargas to scare away the workers, patients and visitors to the hospital, following what appeared like a fracas the ensued over what it claimed was a routine duty in the facility.
Ekpe, Deputy Chairman of the hospital’s Medical Advisory Committee (MAC), described how an operative had first entered his office to make inquiries on why the hospital was yet to give a response to an EFCC inquiry over a medical report linked to a suspect facing trial.
He detailed how he briefed the operative that the said response was being prepared and even went ahead to show him the draft of a letter in that regard, which needed to go through the gamut of official endorsement before being released.
Hear him: “The head of that internal medicine department looked at the report and also discovered that the name of the doctor that signed the report is not a member of staff of that department.
“I had prepared prepared a response to the EFCC on Monday, May 11, 2026, based on the findings. When the EFCC operative visited my office the next morning to collect the document, I told him that the response was ready in draft. I even showed him the draft, but told him that the document still needed approval from the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the hospital before it could be officially signed and released.
“He pretended to have accepted that. He left, but later later returned with another armed operative and informed me that I was under arrest. I asked him why. I was not the one that issued the medical report. My name is not on the medical report. The report was not issued from my unit.
“But he said I would get the answer when I get to their office. I then asked him to at least wait for my staff member who I sent on an errand before joining them. But they refused.
“They started pushing me. They dragged me out of the office. Then I began to cry while they were dragging me. They had warned me not to speak. They had taken my phone. My cry as they were dragging me, attracted the workers to the scene, who enquired what was going on, but because they ordered me not to speak, I couldn’t say anything. They had their guns.
The members of staff of the hospital initially blocked them from taking me away. They then made a call. After that I saw many masked and armed men came violently, broke the protector, threatening the people that were around and people ran away.
“They picked some staff that were still by me. they dragged me and other staff, five of us into their van downstairs. By that time they discovered that the gate of the hospital were locked. So, they drove towards the gate and packed and the commotion continued. We were inside the van.
“I was so emotionally and psychologically traumatised that I couldn’t even look out of the vehicle to see what was happening outside. But I know that teargas and live bullets were shot. That’s all I can say for now.”
Joyce Abdulmalik, of the Federal High Court, Abuja, heard on Wednesday, how Zenith Bank raised alarm over the huge transaction in one of its branches by Abubakar Malami, former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF-MoJ).
The bank said it immediately filed a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) in respect to the transactions, during its appearance in the ongoing trial of Malami, his wife, and son over allegation of massive looting of funds belonging to the Federal Government during his tenure.
Mashelia Bata, a compliance officer with the bank, who appeared as witness in the case, where Malami, et al, are facing a 16-count charge bordering on alleged money laundering to the tune of N8.7 billion, to which they pleaded not guilty, gave the testimony while being questioned on the bank’s roles in the matter.
Details of the testimony conveyed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), stated how the compliance officer who was cross-examined by Adebayo Adedeji, lawyer to the defendants admitted that the deposits in the account statements complied with the guidelines of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Arguments had stretched when Adedeji, opposed Jibrin Okutepa (SAN), lawyer to the EFCC, who had asked the witness to explain the meaning of a suspicious transaction report, stressing that there was no ambiguity in the term.
However, Okutepa, in response, maintained that section 215(3) of the Evidence Act did not preclude him from re-examining the witness while urging the court to allow the question for proper explanation.
After Abdulmalik, agreed and overruled Adedeji, the witness told the court that banks were required to alert the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) about fund deposits coming in a repetitive pattern, adding: “Any deposition of funds seen in a pattern or repetitive, you must escalate it to the NFIU.”
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