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Okonjo-Iweala Narrates Encounter With Ruthless Fuel Subsidy Cabal

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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?”

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Profit Margin Still Below 10% as NNPC Ltd Reports N13tn Revenue in Four Months

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) recorded a total revenue of nearly N13 trillion trillion between January and April 2026, although the company continued to grapple with a relatively thin net profit margin of less than 10 percent during the same period.

This is detailed in the NNPC Ltd’s monthly report summaries for the first four months of 2026.

The report showed a high-volume operational model with a significant portion of earnings directed toward statutory obligations rather than net profitability.

The NNPC Ltd’s revenue trajectory across the four-month period showed significant volatility and growth, specifically reporting a total revenue of N12.996 trillion during the period under consideration.

Overall, the company reported revenue of N2.571 trillion in January. The figure moved to N2.680 trillion in February, rose to N2.774 trillion in March, and climbed to N4.971 trillion in April.

ALSO READ: Workers Suspend Strike at NUPRC

However, profitability remained modest in comparison to the scale of revenue. The national oil major recorded a Profit After Tax (PAT) of N385 billion in January, followed by N136 billion in February, N276 billion in March, and N481 billion in April.

In all, the total profit after tax for the four-month period reached N1.278 trillion.

Measured against the total revenue of N12.996 trillion, the net profit accounted for roughly 9.8 percent of the total earnings, underscoring the substantial impact of operational costs, inefficiencies and perhaps, statutory payments on the company’s bottom line.

Also, statutory payments remained a primary driver of financial outflows for the state-owned energy firm. The cumulative statutory payments recorded from January through April totalled N3.714 trillion, representing a significant portion of the total revenue.

Besides, a review of the four-month data indicated that operational performance in the upstream sector demonstrated substantial volume when calculated across the 120 days of the period.

Operational performance in the upstream sector demonstrated substantial volume when calculated across the 120 days spanning the period. Total crude oil and condensate production, calculated by multiplying daily averages by the number of days in each month, reached approximately 191.88 million barrels.

A breakdown showed that the NNPC Ltd reported 1.64 million barrels per day in January; 1.51 million bpd in February; 1.56 million bpd in March and 1.68 million bpd in April, the highest so far in 2026.

In the same vein, natural gas production remained consistently stable throughout the period, with a cumulative total of approximately 906.158 Billion Standard Cubic Feet (BSCF).

Gas output in January was 7.283 BSCF per day in January; 7.454 BSCF per day in February; 7.731 BSCF per day in March and 7.730 BSCF per day in April.

The operational challenges and successes driving these numbers were varied. For instance, production metrics were influenced by factors such as the completion of Turn Around Maintenance and various infrastructure integrity issues, including the Trans Forcados Pipeline outage and asset-specific leakages identified throughout the first quarter.

Despite the hurdles, the NNPC Ltd maintained improved oil and gas output, supported by the continuous strategic effort to improve asset reliability and resolve evacuation constraints.

During the period, infrastructure development remained a core pillar of the company’s strategic efforts, including steady progress on the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline and the successful completion of the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben (OB3) River Niger crossing.

Since the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) transformed the former Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation into the commercially oriented NNPC Limited in 2022, the expectation was that it would operate as a profit-driven company rather than a government agency. However, the company has continued to grapple with legacy operational challenges. One of the most visible challenges has been the state-owned refineries, where the national oil company has incurred substantial liabilities. Despite billions of dollars spent on rehabilitation, the facilities have remained shut, but continue to incur debts.

In 2025, the federal government approved the write-off of more than $1.4 billion and trillions of naira in historical obligations owed by NNPC as part of efforts to clean up its balance sheet and improve transparency.

While NNPC Ltd’s commercialisation has altered its legal structure, the company continues to navigate the difficult transition from a state-run oil corporation to a fully commercial energy enterprise, burdened by ageing assets, legacy debts, political expectations and operational inefficiencies.

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NEWS

Workers Suspend Strike at NUPRC

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Work has resumed fully at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) after workers suspended the one-day strike that shut the commission’s offices nationwide on Monday over welfare and administrative concerns.

The commission disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday.

Workers had downed tools following the collapse of negotiations between staff representatives and management over issues bordering on institutional governance, staff welfare, promotions and training opportunities.

Among their demands were a review of the current cost-of-collection structure, particularly the one per cent allocation to the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), which the workers argued had weakened the upstream regulator’s operational efficiency and financial capacity.

The aggrieved workers also accused the commission of adopting an operator-style approach to regulation that created overlaps in responsibilities within the broader petroleum regulatory framework.

ALSO READ: ASRI Urges FG to Allocate Crude to Local Refiners

They further demanded remuneration comparable to what obtains across the oil and gas industry and expressed dissatisfaction with what they described as inadequate attention to staff development, career progression and capacity building.

Although the strike led to the closure of NUPRC offices nationwide, the commission had maintained that oil and gas production activities were not affected, noting that operational staff were exempted from the industrial action.
Providing an update on Tuesday, the NUPRC said the strike had been suspended following successful discussions between its management and the workers’ unions.

In a statement signed by the NUPRC Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Eniola Akinkuotu, the commission said, “Work has fully resumed at the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission following the suspension of the one-day strike called by workers’ unions.

The industrial action was called off on the night of June 1, 2026, after successful negotiations between the top management of the NUPRC and the two in-house unions – the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers.”

According to the commission, the industrial action lasted only 12 hours and had no impact on regulatory oversight of oil and gas facilities.

“The strike, which lasted for 12 hours, affected only administrative work while regulatory activities in oil and gas facilities remained unaffected,” the statement noted.

The NUPRC also dismissed reports suggesting that crude oil production was disrupted by the strike or that the dispute was primarily about foreign training opportunities.

“The commission, therefore, calls on members of the public to disregard false reports on crude oil production disruptions as well as misleading publications stating that the disagreement centred on foreign training,” Akinkuotu stated.
The regulator further pledged to address workers’ concerns and improve staff welfare and development.

“Lastly, the NUPRC promised to improve the operating environment of its workforce and prioritise staff development in line with the Petroleum Industry Act,” the statement added.

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“Stop Spreading Fear” — Presidency Slams Nasboi Over Alleged Fake Terror Clip

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The Presidency has cautioned popular comedian and content creator, Nasboi, over a viral video he posted online, accusing him of spreading fear with what it described as a misleading terror-related clip.

The Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, raised the concern in a post on his X handle on Tuesday, saying the footage being circulated does not originate from Nigeria and was wrongly presented in a way that could cause public panic.

ALSO READ: I’m Getting Death Threats For Criticising Wizkid – Nasboi Calls Out

He alleged that the video shared by Nasboi was originally taken from another online page that identified the armed men in the clip as terrorists operating in the Republic of Benin, not Nigeria.

According to him, sharing such content without proper context was irresponsible, especially given the sensitive security situation in the country.
He wrote: “You cannot continue to intentionally use your page to spread fear @iamnasboi for whatever reason you might think you have.

“The video you posted was clearly quoted from a page that says these are Beninese terrorists. This means the footage is from Benin Republic and has nothing to do with Nigeria.

“We have our challenges, but you using your wide reach to spread fear with a fake footage is the highest form of irresponsibility. You can do better!”

The presidential aide did not give further details on when the video first surfaced or whether any official verification was conducted on its origin.

Nasboi had earlier shared the clip with the caption “PRESIDENT @officialABAT,” showing armed men on motorcycles carrying out an attack in a rural setting.

The post sparked mixed reactions online, as users debated whether the footage was genuinely from Nigeria or another West African country.

Although similar videos have previously been linked to extremist groups operating in the Sahel region, there has been no independent confirmation that the viral clip originated from Nigeria.

 

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