News
NNPC supplies 1.523bn litres of fuel in three weeks, Abuja queues persist
Latest updates on the evacuation of Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited show that the oil firm evacuated 1.523 billion litres of PMS between May 16 and June 5, 2022 in a bid to keep the country wet with fuel.
However, this huge supply volume has not completely eradicated the queues formed by motorists daily in filling stations in Abuja and environs, while many other outlets still do not dispense petrol due to lack of products.
Also, the presence of PMS black marketers on major roads in Abuja has remained a normal sight for weeks, as they hustle to meet the fuel supply needs of motorists but at higher prices than the regulated rate.
Figures obtained from NNPC on Monday showed that between May 16 to 29, 2022, the oil firm recorded an average national evacuation of 69.04 million litres. This implies that NNPC evacuated about 966.56 million litres during the two-week period.
Additional data from the company indicated that it evacuated a total of 556.71 million litres between May 30 and June 5, 2022. A summation of the volumes of fuel evacuated from May 16 to June 5 showed that 1.523 billion litres was supplied across the country.
NNPC, being the sole importer of petrol into Nigeria for several years, had often described itself as supplier of last resort and had continued to assure Nigerians that it had enough supply despite the queues in filling stations, particularly in Abuja.
“It is surprising that the queues in Abuja have refused to clear completely, though not severe today due to the Democracy Day holiday. We wonder when most filling stations will again start selling products,” a motorist, Anyaogu Collins, stated while in queue at the NNPC mega-station close to Gwarimpa along the popular Kubwa-Zuba expressway.
It was observed that many outlets on same road were closed on Monday, for instance Eterna filling station at the Dutse end of the expressway, as the Conoil opposite NNPC headquarters, that usually dispensed products, also shut its doors to motorists when our correspondent checked activities at the outlet and others in the city centre.
But oil marketers aligned with NNPC on the availability of products in Nigeria regardless of the queues in the nation’s capital.
They told our correspondent that the queues in Abuja and parts of neighbouring Nasarawa and Niger states were due to challenges associated with logistics.
“It is due to the problem of logistics. There are products and I say this because if there are no products, you will find out that within two to three days the queues will hit Port Harcourt and Lagos,” the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chief Ukadike Chinedu, stated.
He added, “Anytime you see serious scarcity is when it hits Lagos and Port Harcourt. So the problem has to do with logistics, there are concerns about gridlocks in some loading areas due to the overlapping effect of what happened in the downstream oil sector some months ago.
“But I know that the NNPC is trying as much as possible to load products to Abuja and its environs.”
Ukadike noted that statistics at the disposal of IPMAN showed that products were being evacuated from depots in large volumes to various parts of the country.
He said, “I want to be sincere with you on this, because if you look at most of the barges of trucks that I have their statistics which have loaded between Port Harcourt, Calabar and Lagos, you will find out that NNPC is giving more volumes and priority to marketers who are loading in these areas.
“You will also find out that in Port Harcourt depots, they are also giving priority to trucks that are going to Abuja and environs. So I believe that before long, Abuja will be wet with products.”
By Okey Maduforo Awka
Movement For Actualization Of A Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB) has declared May 30th Biafran Day celebration stating that the Sit-At-Home Order is voluntary for all Biafrans .
This year’s celebration is to mark the 59th year anniversary of Biafra declaration by General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu on 30th May, 1967
According to the Spokesman of MASSOB Comrade Edeson Samuel nobody is going to be forced to observe the Sit At Home Order adding that it is optional to all Biafrans.
“MASSOB in the spirit of true Biafrans and brotherhood among Biafra agitators and Biafrans in general have declared 2026 commemoration of Biafra Anniversary ceremony with sit at home exercise in Biafra land for sober reflection”
“MASSOB declares that all markets, public, private motor parks, schools, banks, and other public business premises shall remain closed from 6 am to 4 pm on 30th May, 2026”
“It is a mark of appreciation and acknowledgement of the numerous sacrifices and prices our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters rendered for Biafra during the three years war of genocide against Biafra by the British backed Nigeria”.
The body further recognizes the contributions of the leader of Indigenous People Of Biafra IPOB Mazi Nnamdi Kanu towards the Biafran emancipation demanding for his unconditional release.
“MASSOB is also using the Biafra declaration anniversary to show solidarity to our brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu who is wrongly imprisoned for the sake of Biafra”
“We demand his immediate release and call for justice for all Biafrans who have been unjustly detained or persecuted”
Edeson further reiterated that the celebration is annual activity that has never been a threat to security law and order noting that it has already been non violent.
“The call for stay at home has been our annual and recalling measures and steps for effective civil disobedience ceremonial exercise”
“MASSOB reminds the people of Biafra that this exercise has always been the life wire of the Biafran struggle which boomed the potency and acceptability of the non violence Biafra self determination struggle.
“The request for closure of Markets, public/private motor parks, schools and other public business premises is a one day mandatory exercise that Biafrans shall stand, it is a mark of respect and love for our fatherland.
“Biafrans shall not be compelled, pressurized or forced to observe the stay at home exercise.
“MASSOB and other pro Biafra agitators will not molest, compel or intimidate anybody to observe the stay at home exercise as all our members shall stay indoors in observance of the great day of Biafra.”
“There shall be no physical demonstration, street march, procession or any other public functions in Biafra land on May 30th 2026”
The body stated that it is aware that there would be heavy presence of security operatives urging Biafrans to conduct themselves well and peaceful in order not to engage themselves is a senseless face off with the personnel .
“MASSOB knows that there will be heavy presence of armed Nigeria Army, Mobile police, DSS operatives and Civil Defence in major cities of Biafra land during our annual Biafra Day Anniversary Celebration”
“They are all signs of jittery, fear and cowardice of Nigeria state over Biafra”
“No amount of security intimidation, mesmerization, killings, detention, oppression, incarceration etc will ever stop the will power of an indigenous people for self determination. the use of force can never stop the inflow of the spirit of Biafra” he said.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The Igbo Community Association FCT and the Ohaneze Ndigbo have commenced massive mobilization of over 1.2 million Igbo residents living within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to participate in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
The mobilization is targeted at ensuring that eligible Igbo citizens utilize the registration window opened by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), running from May 11 to July 10.
The association strongly warned against voter apathy, urging the 1.2 million Igbo residents in Abuja to arm themselves with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as a critical tool for political representation and socio-economic survival.
“Today, the most powerful weapon in the hands of the Igbo person is the PVC and the absolute ability to vote on election day. Our PVC is the new ‘Ogbunigwe’—the ultimate defensive tool for our future”
According to the duo of it’s President General Engr Ikenna- Elis Ezenekwe and the Secretary General Mazi Chinwoke Onah ;
“We will no longer be fooled by reckless calls to boycott elections or abstain from registration; doing so is simply shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The leadership emphasized that Ndigbo represents a massive, foundational voting bloc across Nigeria.
The group noted that any upcoming national demographic census tracking tribal distribution will firmly validate that the 1.2 million Igbo residents and the broader Igbo populace constitute the largest voting bloc in Nigeria.
To ensure the success of this mobilization grid, the association is making a direct appeal to major political stakeholders and leaders of Igbo extraction resident in Abuja.
Specifically, the group called on Hon. Ben Kalu, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, to lead the cause of getting the Igbo political leaders in Abuja to join this very important exercise.
Continuing the Association noted that;
“To eliminate barriers to registration, the Igbo Community Association FCT is establishing localized assistance centers and a dedicated citizen helpline”
“The 1.2 million Igbo residents who require support with online pre-registrations, biometric capture locations, profile corrections, or PVC transfers are urged to reach out immediately”
The Igbo Community Association FCT is the apex socio-cultural body representing the interests, welfare, and cultural heritage of over 1.2 million Igbo residents living within Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. The association works in tandem with national bodies like Ohanaeze Ndigbo to promote unity, civic responsibility, and progressive representation for Ndigbo on the national stage.
Findings m also revealed that the disbursements, made into the Presidential Air Fleet naira transit account operated by the Presidential Air Fleets (State House), were recorded in eight separate transactions across three months of June, July and December 2025, with the bulk of the transfers concentrated in July, when four transactions totalling N2.43bn were made in the space of a week.
A breakdown of the transactions shows that N1.285bn was disbursed on June 12, followed by N430m on July 24, N1.28bn on July 25, N92m on July 29, and N626m on July 31.
In December, three further disbursements were recorded. They include N9m on December 18, described in the GovSpend database as “Presidential Air Fleet forex transit funds,” N343.9m on December 30 and N90.9m on December 31.
Four of the eight transactions carry no accompanying description, listed simply as “None,” a pattern consistent with previous disbursements to the transit account.
Most disbursements to the Presidential Air Fleet transit account are labelled “Forex Transit Funds,” typically funds allocated for foreign exchange requirements to facilitate international transactions, covering expenses related to operations outside the country, including fuel purchases, maintenance or services in foreign currencies.
The new figures add to a growing cumulative spend that has accelerated significantly since Tinubu assumed office.
At least N26.38bn was spent on the operations of the Presidential Air Fleet from July 2023 to December 2024, with N14.15bn disbursed in 2024 alone.
The Presidential Air Fleet’s total budget allocation stood at N17.32bn in 2025, declining to N14.70bn in 2026.
The reduction was driven mainly by decreased capital expenditure.
Engine overhaul projects across the fleet consumed N4.58bn in 2024, N8.65bn in 2025 and N6.05bn in 2026, bringing the three-year aggregate to N19.27bn.
Since 2017, under the Buhari administration, budgetary allocations for the fleet have shown a growing trend, with one exception in 2020, rising from N4.37bn in 2017 to N20.52bn in 2024, a 370 per cent increase in running costs over seven years.
In an interview with our correspondent, the General Secretary of the Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, had blamed the meteoric rise on the age of some of the aircraft in the fleet and the declining value of the naira, as well as the “commercial use” of aircraft by the Nigerian Air Force.
Ohunayo explained, “The cost will definitely increase over the years because, for one, this issue of the naira against the dollar.
“As the naira keeps falling to the dollar, we will see a rise in cost because most of the costs of training crew and engineers and replacing aircraft parts are all in dollars.
“Also, some of these aircraft are not new. The older the aircraft, the higher the cost of maintenance and operation.
“Lastly, during these past years, terrorism and insecurity have increased in Nigeria, which has also affected the cost of insuring the aircraft.”
The episode had prompted the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence to recommend the procurement of two new presidential aircraft.
In August 2024, the official Boeing 737 business jet for the President was replaced with an Airbus A330 purchased for $100m through service-wide votes.
The nearly 15-year-old plane, an ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), is “spacious and furnished with state-of-the-art avionics, customised interior and communications system,” Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said, adding “it will save Nigeria huge maintenance and fuel costs, running into millions of dollars yearly.”
From February through July 2025, the President flew a San Marino-registered BBJ (REG: T7-NAS).
Sources who spoke to one of our correspondents confirmed that the primary aircraft had been flown to South Africa to change its colours to reflect the office of the President. It was flown back in July 2025.
The Presidential Air Fleet comprises a fixed-wing fleet that includes the Airbus ACJ330-200, a Gulfstream G550, a Gulfstream G500, two Falcon 7Xs, a Hawker 4000 and a Challenger 605, three of which are reportedly unserviceable.
The rotor-wing fleet includes two Agusta 139s and two Agusta 101s, operated by the Nigerian Air Force under the supervision of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
The CEO of Centurion Security Limited, John Ojikutu, argued that the disbursements for the air fleet operations were justified considering all related expenses.
“That’s not a big deal. If they are going for repair, particularly for C-checks. It’s always around that range.
“They will fly it abroad, buy fuel, catering, and hotel bills are also involved; pilots will fly it back, and the figure likely includes far more than the direct cost of repairing the aircraft,” Ojikutu explained, adding that the figure likely includes far more than the direct cost of operating the aircraft.
The Presidency did not respond to inquiries on the nature of the specific disbursements captured in the recent data.
As of the time of filing this report, calls to the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, went unanswered.
In an earlier interview with our correspondent, Onanuga had argued that the costs of maintaining the air fleet are not for the President but in the interest of Nigerians.
“It’s not President Tinubu’s plane; it belongs to the people of Nigeria, it is our property…the President did not buy a new jet; what he has is a refurbished jet, but it is a much newer model than the one President Buhari used.
“Nigerians should try to prioritise the safety of the President. I’m not sure anybody wishes our President to go and crash in the air.
“We want his safety so that he can hand it over to whoever wants to take over from him,” Onanuga said.
Source: PUNCH
President of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has revealed that the company rejected attempts by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited to increase its 7.25 per cent stake in the Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
Dangote disclosed this during an interview with Nicolai Tangen, stating that the decision was taken because the refinery plans to go public and allow more Nigerians to own shares in the facility.
According to him, the national oil company had sought to acquire additional equity in the multi-billion-dollar refinery, but the proposal was turned down.
“We are the ones that said no; we want to now spread it and have everybody be part of it,” Dangote said.
The refinery, located in Lekki, Lagos, is valued at about $20bn. In 2021, NNPC acquired a 7.25 per cent stake in the plant for $1bn, with an option to increase its ownership to 20 per cent by June 2024. However, the company later decided against purchasing the remaining shares.
Dangote had earlier clarified in 2024 that the NNPC’s actual ownership in the refinery was 7.2 per cent and not the widely reported 20 per cent, explaining that the oil company failed to pay the balance required under the agreement.
“The agreement was actually 20 per cent, which we had with NNPC, and they did not pay the balance of the money up until last year,” he had said.
Dangote also identified government policy inconsistency as one of the biggest risks facing businesses in Nigeria, alongside the possibility of civil unrest.
“The other biggest risk is government inconsistencies in policies,” he stated.
Findings further showed that petrol supply from the refinery rose significantly in the first quarter of 2026, reaching about 3.18 billion litres, while fuel imports dropped sharply to 965.52 million litres within the same period.
The average domestic ex-depot petrol price from the refinery between January and March 2026 stood at about ₦1,000 per litre, indicating that the refinery supplied over ₦3.2tn worth of petrol into the Nigerian market during the review period.
The refinery has also reportedly benefited from rising global tensions involving the United States and Iran, with disruptions in the oil market boosting exports of refined petroleum products.
Speaking on the company’s investment strategy, Dangote said future investors in the group’s businesses, including cement, petrochemicals, fertiliser and refining, would receive dividends in dollars because most of the company’s revenue now comes from exports.
“What we are announcing is that when you invest in any of our businesses going forward, we guarantee to pay you a dividend in dollars because we are very well into exports. Eighty per cent of our revenue will be in dollars,” he said.
Dangote also recounted how he sold his luxury properties in the United States and the United Kingdom to focus fully on industrial development in Nigeria.
“When I decided to go into the industry, I sold all my properties in the US and the UK. I wanted to really sit in Nigeria and concentrate,” he said.
He explained that his business philosophy is driven by identifying products Nigerians heavily import and producing them locally through backward integration.
According to him, the refinery project received financial backing from several institutions, including Afreximbank, Africa Finance Corporation, Zenith Bank, Access Bank, United Bank for Africa, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered.
Meanwhile, former NNPC spokesman, Olufemi Soneye, had previously explained that the company reduced its intended refinery stake to channel funds into compressed natural gas projects.
…as SSDO calls for improved youth policy implementation
By Chinedu Adonu
Stakeholders have urged Nigerian youths to unite and take active roles in political leadership in line with the youth policy framework aimed at shaping the future of the nation.
They also cautioned youths against engaging in praise-singing for politicians or allowing themselves to be used as political thugs against fellow youths for token benefits.
The call was made during a stakeholders’ engagement on the Enugu State Youth Policy Implementation Framework organised by the Enugu State Ministry of Youth and Sports in collaboration with the South Sahara Social Development Organisation (SSDO), with support from ActionAid Nigeria and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
Speaking during the engagement, the Head of Programme at SSDO, Udochukwu Egwim, said the programme was designed to deepen understanding and improve implementation of the Enugu State Youth Policy, which was domesticated into state law in 2025.
He clarified that the exercise was not intended to review the policy, which remains valid until 2029, but to help ministries, departments, agencies, and young people understand their responsibilities and the provisions of the policy.
According to him, the programme, supported by ActionAid Nigeria and DANIDA, was timely as preparations for the 2027 budget cycle would soon commence.
“We want MDAs to align their projects and budgets with the youth policy and ensure young people are considered in decision-making,” he said.
Egwim lamented the absence of effective reporting structures to monitor implementation of the policy since it came into effect, noting that local governments and ministries were expected to submit reports on youth-related programmes to the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
“The issue is not the absence of the document, but the implementation structure. We cannot accurately assess progress because reporting mechanisms have not been fully operationalised,” he stated.
He added that the engagement would also focus on strengthening coordination, accountability, and funding mechanisms needed to drive effective implementation of the policy.
Also speaking, the President of the Enugu State Youth Parliament, Chibuike Okechi, described the programme as an important platform for uniting youths across the state and enabling them to make submissions on challenges affecting them in their various communities.
“I believe that at the end of this programme, youths will gain valuable insights that will help unite us towards achieving a common goal,” he said.
A Director in the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Mrs Ezezuo Chidimma, expressed satisfaction that Enugu State now has its own youth policy similar to the National Youth Policy.
“Before now, we relied on the national policy to implement youth programmes, but today we are using the Enugu State policy, which will make implementation easier and more effective,” she stated.
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