Following mounting concerns from beneficiaries of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP) regarding the non-receipt of their stipends for the month of March, United Bank for Africa (UBA) has come forward to clarify the cause behind the unusual delay.

In a formal communication addressed to the Programme Administrator, Dr. Dennis Otuaro, the UBA acknowledged that certain delegates who bank with them had experienced delays in receiving their payments due to technical glitches within the bank’s processing system.

In a statement signed by, Mr. Igoniko Oduma Special Assistant, Media to the Administrator, Presidential Amnesty Programme, the bank assured that it has promptly rectified the issue by processing refunds for the failed transactions directly into the beneficiaries’ accounts.

Responding to the grievances raised by some beneficiaries, the Amnesty Office had previously initiated correspondence with UBA, seeking an explanation for the delay. It is important to note that the Amnesty Office had disbursed March stipends to all beneficiaries’ accounts, and the funds had already been transferred out of its accounts.

Moving forward, the Amnesty Office pledged to work closely with UBA to ensure that all outstanding payment issues are effectively resolved.

”We extend our gratitude to all beneficiaries for their patience and commend their display of patriotism in response to this unforeseen circumstance” the statement reads.

Dear President

The Ijaw Youth Council, under the leadership of Dr. Alaye Theophilus commends you for your reforms in governance since you became the president of this great nation.

As Council, we know that the removal of fuel subsidy is long overdue. Hence, it was expected, but the hardship that followed this decision is one that Nigerians can not continue to bear. The Niger Delta region is not left out of this sufferings.

We also know that the agitations of the NLC do not represent the entire country as they are only agitating for salary increase for civil servants who represent less than 50% of the country population.

The IYC is proposing that the federal government should focus on regulatory agencies, particularly food agencies and other essential household items.

Regulation of food prices has become docile.

Improve and focus on the local economy as regards food production and security. The government must be intentional in improving our local economy.

The federal government should harness the economy of the Niger Delta region, our marine resources, and crude oil to reduce the recurrent sufferings of our people.

We also solicit that the government should stop the continuous stealing by government agencies, parastatals, and politicians who have caused our naira to be hidden in various places outside the country. These funds should be returned to the country for more cash flow in our economy, thereby making the naira to have relevance.

The issue of oil theft that has been micromanaged by an independent security outfit such as Tantita Security is highly appreciated by the Council, which has gone along the way to fight against oil theft in the Niger Delta. However, the government should go after the real thieves and bring them to face the full wrath of the law. We are yet to see the prosecution of oil theft offenders. Also, when vessels are accosted, they should not be burnt as they cause air pollution, which is environmental terriorism against our people.

However like every other sector, the Oil and Gas sector requires an improvement, we demand that the government urgently formulate a Presidential bill to legalize and manage Artisan engagement and involvement in oil and gas produce as a way of participation and an advantage in local production.

We recommend that the President should order and read the book Riddles of the Oil thief by our King Bubaraye Dakolo, which would give more insight into who the real oil thieves are.

we recommend that the federal government also implement the PIA that has been passed to law and engage locals in order to put to rest issues in the oil and gas sector.

We commend the Central Bank of Nigeria for their consistent review of policies that gives advantage to the naira, however the peculiar economic situation we are faced in the country cannot be improved by just monetary policies for it is not in the framework of the CBN to promote local production.

Therefore, we urge the federal government to sack all directors of agencies responsible for the improvement of local economic progression.

We are proposing that 5 % of the subsidy removal fund should pass through PPP and other well meaning strategic partners for direct local economy booster and these funds should be accessible to local farmers, trade unions and transport companies to effectively subsidize the cost of living in Nigeria.

Your Excellency, sir, the current situation I the country requires urgent attention as neglect to the plight of the people is a call for revolution and a replay of the Venezuela situation in the country.
Youths across the country are agitated over the heart aching economic disaster in the county. If nothing is done urgently, the lingering issues can go beyond control.

We perceive an alleged interference by the military if the situation of the country persists

Controversial street hop musician, Habeeb Okikiola, popularly known as Portable has appealed to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to forgive him for spraying money on his fans in the past.

Portable’s plea is coming after the six-month jail sentence handed down to crossdresser Okuneye Idris, also known as Bobrisky, for Naira Mutilation offence.

Portable once declared he gave his followers almost N2 million daily in spray paint.
The street artist asserted in a recent live chat that his actions bring kindness to people.

The head of the Zeh Nation label, appearing fearful of the consequences following footage showing him splattering cash, pleaded for forgiveness from the government and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Portable announced that he would never engage in spraying money as he encouraged his supporters to open bank accounts, adding that he would only make transfers.

“I didn’t deface the Naira, I help a lot of people, after God na government, please forgive me if you have videos of me spraying money, no more spraying of money”, he said.

Bobrisky was handed a 6-month jail term on Friday.

The judge ruled that the jail-term commenced from March 24, 2024, the day of his arrest.

Recall that the court had on April 5, 2024, convicted him after pleaded guilty to the four counts charge of abusing the Naira currency made against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

One challenge that the Tinubu administration has is modesty. 

Surprisingly so, because we thought that those who made noise instead of news under Buhari would naturally flow into this regime, like a river flowing into the ocean. But gone are the days of Lai Mohammed and his Goebbels-level propaganda. Now, this is a double-edged sword. Modesty is, after all, a virtue. But when you have networks like Arise TV and a movement, like Obidients, you might have to do a little more chest-beating. If not, you may receive a good beating in the media.

The Obidient movement cannot match BATists in savvy politics, political networking and getting out the votes. But they can and will defeat this administration in gaslighting and propaganda if they do not step up their game.

The new Ministry of Information and National Orientation has moved away from the propaganda of the past to a more engaging one. Every MDA is invited to engage with Nigerians in critical areas that affect them. The recent outing of the Minister and his team to Lagos, Kano, Jigawa, kebbi etc and others to meet with Nigerians in town hall meetings is unique, and Lanre Onilu of the National Orientation Agency’s efforts to keep even us in the opposition informed, via his ‘The Explainer’.

Without the information ministry and Lanre, I would still have been fighting this government, being ignorant of their strides.

First, the economic miracle that the Tinubu administration has pulled off with the floated Naira needs to be studied at ivory towers around the globe. Harvard Business School would have to develop a course to learn and replicate Nigeria’s recent economic revamp.

Never in the history of human endeavour has a nation’s currency gone from being the worst-performing currency on Earth, to becoming the undisputed best-performing banknote in the world, in the space of just four months.

How did they do it? Central to this is the National Security Adviser. Yes, his decisiveness against Binance sparked the recovery of the Naira from the price-gouging mafia that operated on that platform. But his clinical surgery on our economy goes beyond that.

The revocation of the licenses of 4173 allegedly shady Bureau de Changes, which has reduced speculation against the Naira, also the brainchild of Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, played a significant role in first stabilising, then appreciating the Naira. Because, as my sources in the Central Bank of Nigeria told me, many commercial banks had cyclical relations with these Bureau de Changes, which was an avenue for economic sabotage against the Naira.

Now, with all eyes on Bureau de Changes, everybody is shaping up. What the Central Bank of Nigeria is now doing is procedural regulatory functions, which, coupled with what the National Security Agency had done, sanitised the system.

And then we just had Eid el Fitri, and contrary to expectations, the prices of foodstuffs did not go up throughout Ramadan and during Sallah. How was that achieved?

Because the Tinubu administration took the unique step of sending agents to the border to stop grains from leaving Nigeria, while simultaneously releasing 42,000 metric tonnes of grains from the Strategic Grain Reserves into the market. These grains were tracked by operatives domestically from silos to markets, and not just at the border, to prevent racketeering. But for the action at the border, the grains would have left the silos and ended up in Niger Republic, Chad and Cameroon. Others would have been hoarded in warehouses. And the result would have been artificial scarcity, just so the usual suspects could make their unusual money.

So, we saw financial and food security restored by proactive security measures. A reflection of the fact that National Security has extended from the nonsensical level of rehabilitating Boko Haram and romancing bandits under Buhari, to a much more intellectual level of preventing discontent amongst the citizenry by ensuring their economic viability.

And speaking of that, let me ask you this question. What do the bandit leaders, Ali Kachala, Boderi Isyaku, and Sani Dangote, have in common? The answer is that they have all been killed this year by the Tinubu regime in security operations organised by the National Security Adviser.

That is why you can now drive from Abuja to Kaduna without being kidnapped. Or am I lying? When was the last time you read, heard, or even imagined an abduction on that route? The Abuja-Kaduna trains are safe. The Kaduna airport is secure. We are gradually moving from the dystopia of hundreds of bandits riding with their motorcycles right on the tarmac of the Kaduna International Airport, to a utopia where they are being bombed by air, gunned down by land, and cordoned off in the forests.

Yes, there are still incidences of opportunistic kidnappings and abductions here and there, which my party and I will use against Tinubu if they continue until 2027. We also know that a high incidence of these crimes are self-organised by unpatriotic Nigerians to extort money from their families.

But for now, I must admit that the government has dramatically improved on what it inherited from the Buhari administration.

As this administration is on the cusp of marking its first anniversary in office, we seem to have moved from eight wasteful years of Buhari to at least one tasteful year of Tinubu.

The Naira is now the world’s best-performing currency, according to Goldman Sachs.

In the Northwest, bandits are now being kidnapped themselves by our military and are being tried.

Every weekday is now a working day in the Southeast.

Boko Haram is now reduced as a threat in the Northeast.

The coastal highway is becoming a reality, and the Abuja metro is now ready for commissioning.

Fuel importation had reduced by more than 50%.

The Dangote and Port Harcourt Refineries are crashing the price of diesel.

The Federal Government has negotiated direct Lagos-London flights for Air Peace.

Our GDP is now grieving at 3.4%

Passport shortages are now a thing of the past, as Nigerians now get their passports speedily and with ease.

Wage support of ₦35,000 is being paid to all federal employees

And Nigeria has a trade surplus

Say what you will about Tinubu, but you cannot deny the fact that the President is gradually making us feel proud to be Nigerians again. I repeat that If God spares my life, my party and I will challenge him in 2027. Until then, I will commend him when he does well. And for now, he is doing well.

Reno Omokri

Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022.

The leadership of the Ijaw Youths Network has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to ignore sponsored media attacks on the productive pipeline surveillance contract awarded to Tantita Security Services Limited by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.

The IYN said that the recent coordinated publications about the pipeline security contract shows in clear terms that the cabal of oil thieves, who are targeting the nation’s economy, are not relenting.

The IYN Coordinator, Frank Ebikabo and Federal Ebiaridor, Secretary, said in a statement on Wednesday that those behind calumnious campaigns are not patriotic citizens who have the interest of the nation and its economy at heart, and should be ignored.

The duo noted that the sudden latter-day critics of the pipeline security contract were all silent when the nation’s daily crude oil production dropped to an historical low of 900,000 barrels per day before Tantita’s engagement.

According to the IYN, the hypocrites calling for the cancellation of the contract are not unaware of the tremendous improvement and gains made by the Federal Government from the contractual benefits of this well-thought out move against oil thieves.

Ebikabo and Ebiaridor noted that all Nigerians of good conscience are aware of, and applaud the fact that the gains of the contract are not in anyway comparable to the contract sum.

The group said that while there is still room for improvement, the nation’s oil production has witnessed commendable improvement from 900,000 to 1.64 million barrels per day.

They noted further that the number of rogue vessels arrested in connection with oil theft through the collaborative efforts of Tantita and the nation’s military are testament to the fact that President Tinubu has acted well in the nation’s interest.

The IYN commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his leadership qualities and genuine concern for the economy of the country.

They stressed that the President deserves commendation for the rare political will to confront the scourge of oil theft with the renewal of the Tantita Security Services Limited’s contract in spite of the massive resources deployed by oil thieves and others who lost out in the bidding process, against its renewal.

The IYN also commended the NNPCL for taking the critical decision in the pursuit of the economic wellbeing of Nigeria, saying that Nigerians are happy over the deal with Tantita, which is yielding very positive results.