NEWS
Okonjo-Iweala Narrates Encounter With Ruthless Fuel Subsidy Cabal
This isn’t the first time the idea of petrol subsidy removal would be mooted. The Jonathan administration under which the incumbent Director General of the World Trade Organization, WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, served as Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy also had its fair share of mention in the saga.
In fact, former President Jonathan said at that time severally that fuel subsidy was unsustainable and tried unsuccessfully to remove it.
In a video that went viral last week, Okonjo-Iweala is seen narrating how she spearheaded efforts to scrap payment of questionable subsidies and how beneficiaries viciously fought back, culminating in her mother’s kidnapping and demand for her resignation.
She narrates in the video: “My second example has to do with a very specific one in my country, the clean-up of the fuel scarcity regime in 2012 during my second stay as Finance Minister.
“Nigeria has a physically challenging force of fuel regime, the country exports crude oil and imports fuel because their refineries are in a very bad shape and provides a subsidy for the refined oil as support.
“At the end of 2011, a total of N1.73tr, US $11b equivalent, was submitted as claims for subsidy by 143 marketers, who were importing the product.
“These numbers seemed horrendously large compared to what I had last when I was in government in 2006, which was close to $2b in subsidy.
“So, we decided to study these claims. We audited about $8.4b worth of claims and we found out $2.5b worth of fraud. That is, many of these marketers were trying to claim $2.5b fraudulently.
“With the full backing of the President and the Economic Team, we decided that we were not going to entertain these claims or to pay.
“The pressure from affected marketers was tremendous…not only to say we would not pay but also to say we would clean up the whole mechanism for the subsidy claims and put in place something more transparent, something clearer.
“This did not go down well with them. When we insisted on our position of non-payment and implementation of the new verification regime, these, and well-connected interests, were angered, and came to blame me personally for this.
“There were personal consequences. My 83-year-old mother, a retired professor of sociology, was kidnapped by four young men and held for five days.
“She was totally terrified. She asked them why she had been kidnapped and they told her ‘Because your daughter, the Finance Minister, refused to pay oil marketers their dues’.
“The kidnappers, negotiating with my brother, demanded my resignation, publicly; that I should go on television, publicly and announce my resignation and depart from the country as a condition for my mother’s release.
“Needless to say these were some of the worst days of my life. Imagine when you are in a position, you want your parents, all of whom are here with you today, and your relatives to be proud of you. You want to be a source of good for your family.
“You can imagine how I felt, sitting there and thinking, just because of trying to do something right. To implement a policy that was good for the country, to lead to the taking of my mother’s life. These were some of the worst days of my life.
“With my father’s support and the firm resolve of the President, we all decided I should not give in to the blackmailers and I refused to resign.
“Following a manhunt for my mother by security agencies, she was able to make a dramatic escape after five days in captivity, where she was only given water and half of a sausage roll.
“So, here with the well-justified clean up and reform of a policy, but implemented in a dangerous reform environment where the losers in the reform, where the entrenched vested interests decided to fight back to derail implementation.
“The decision not to resign was a very difficult and risky one but, as it turned out, it worked.
“But on my down days, I ask myself, what if it hadn’t? What if they had gone ahead and murdered my mother, as she overheard them planning to do with one of the handlers on the phone? Could I have justified trading firmness on policy and standing up to blackmailers, implementing a good policy for my mother’s life? What decision would you have made?”
Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two Pakistani nationals, Roman Gull, 19, and Aftab Ahmad, 28, for allegedly leading a kidnapping syndicate that lured and abducted a fellow Pakistani in the state.
The victim, a 48-year-old man from Kano State, was tricked into traveling to Lagos with a fake job offer as a chef.
Upon arrival, he was kidnapped by the suspects and their five accomplices, who then demanded a ₦50 million ransom from his employer.
READ MORE: Edo Govt Demolishes Houses Linked To Kidnappers in Uromi, Ekpoma
The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident in a statement on Thursday, noting that officers from the Ikeja Division responded to a distress call and successfully rescued the victim.
However, five of the suspects managed to escape.
“A distress call was received at the Ikeja Division of the Lagos State Police Command on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, about the kidnap of a 48-year-old Pakistani within Ikeja.
“Anti-crime patrol teams were swiftly deployed, leading to the rescue of the victim and the arrest of two of his captors, Roman Gull and Aftab Ahmad, both Pakistani nationals, while five others escaped,” Hundeyin stated.
Investigations revealed that the suspects arranged the victim’s flight from Kano to Lagos and accommodated him in a hotel upon arrival on February 28, 2025.
The next day, they ambushed him, tied his hands and legs, and contacted his employer in Kano, demanding ₦50 million while threatening to kill him if the ransom was not paid.
To buy time, the employer transferred ₦1 million three days later before informing the police.
During the operation, security operatives recovered the following items from the suspects, A grey Toyota Camry, $2,000 cash belonging to the victim, Three ATM cards, A green card, A driver’s license, A National Identity Number (NIN) slip.
Hundeyin assured that efforts were ongoing to track down the fleeing suspects and that those in custody would face prosecution after investigations.
Meanwhile, the rescued victim is said to be in good health, and his family has been contacted.
Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Olohundare Jimoh, commended the officers for their swift intervention and reassured residents of the command’s commitment to tackling crime in the state.
The Nigerian Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpabio-Uduaghan for six months following her sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The decision was reached during plenary on Thursday, March 6, 2025, after the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions recommended her suspension.
READ MORE: I Slept In Dangote Cement Factory,’ Says Akpabio As Senate Suspends Natasha
The committee also advised that her salary and security details be withdrawn throughout the suspension period.
When the recommendations were put to a voice vote, lawmakers unanimously supported them.
As the voting process unfolded, Senator Natasha strongly condemned the decision, insisting she was being unfairly targeted.
“This injustice will not be sustained,” she declared before her microphone was turned off.
Her suspension follows a standoff in the Senate after she refused to move to a seat assigned to her, citing Order 10 of the Senate Standing Rules, which protects members’ privileges.
This led to her referral to the ethics committee for disciplinary review.
The matter escalated when Natasha, during a live television interview, accused Akpabio of sexual harassment, alleging that he was trying to frustrate her politically because she rejected his advances.
Earlier on Thursday, she resubmitted her petition against him after her initial complaint was dismissed over procedural issues.
Senate President Akpabio has denied the allegations, stating that he has “never harassed any woman.”
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has officially announced the reopening of the Onitsha Drug Market and other adjoining markets after nearly a month-long closure.
The South-East Zonal Director of NAFDAC, Mr. Martins Iluyomade, made the announcement on Thursday following a crucial meeting between the agency, the Anambra State government, and market union leaders.
Business operations in the affected markets are set to resume on Friday.
The closure, which began early last month, was part of NAFDAC’s crackdown on the sale of illicit drugs.
READ ALSO: Four-Storey Building Collapses In Onitsha
Several markets, including the plumbing materials market, timber market, surgical materials market, and science laboratory materials market, were also shut down after large quantities of illegal pharmaceuticals were discovered.
Illicit Drugs Found Across Markets
Addressing government officials and market leaders, Iluyomade explained that NAFDAC’s actions extended beyond the Ogbogwu drug market due to the widespread presence of counterfeit and banned drugs.
“People were asking why we locked other markets that had nothing to do with drugs, but we found illegal pharmaceuticals in all the markets we closed.
“The quantity we discovered in adjoining markets was just as much as in Ogbogwu. If we hadn’t taken this action, we wouldn’t have been able to cover the extent of the problem,” he stated.
Iluyomade also highlighted the security concerns surrounding the market, recalling past incidents where NAFDAC officials were attacked while carrying out enforcement operations.
“Last year, our officers were beaten, and even a government official was stripped naked for performing his duty. We had to lock up the entire area to prevent collateral damage. This market plays a major role in drug distribution nationwide, and any contamination here would affect the entire country,” he warned.
Iluyomade commended Anambra State Governor Charles Soludo for backing NAFDAC’s efforts despite attempts by some individuals to politicize the issue.
“Fake drugs kill indiscriminately, regardless of ethnicity. The governor understood this and supported us in ensuring that harmful medicines are eliminated from circulation,” he said.
He revealed that NAFDAC had confiscated over 50 trailers of counterfeit and substandard drugs, with many more still hidden in warehouses across the city.
“The volume of narcotics we found here is enough to destabilize any nation. There is a clear link between drug abuse and insecurity. Countries battling lawlessness often have a high circulation of illicit substances,” he explained.
Additionally, the agency uncovered storage malpractice that rendered even genuine medicines unsafe.
Some warehouses were found to be storing temperature-sensitive drugs, such as those for women in labor, in hot and poorly ventilated environments, compromising their effectiveness.
Despite the market reopening, Iluyomade stressed that approximately 4,000 shops would remain sealed until their owners explain the presence of illegal drugs found in their stores.
He warned that any future attacks on NAFDAC officials or a resurgence of illicit drug sales would result in another market shutdown.
Market union leaders expressed relief over the reopening and pledged to cooperate with NAFDAC to identify those involved in illegal drug activities.
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