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?”
African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, has accused government authorities of repeatedly targeting him, declaring that he has been a threat to the government since he was 20 years old.
Sowore made the declaration during an appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Friday, following an alleged attack on him and members of his team in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
The activist expressed frustration over questions about why he believed the authorities considered him a threat, insisting that attention should instead be focused on the circumstances surrounding the incident.
SEE ALSO: Sowore Challenges Okonjo-Iweala to Name Those Behind Alleged $2.4bn Subsidy Fraud
During the interview, Sowore alleged that the Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Falade Adegoroye Michael, knew the individuals responsible for the attack, claiming that the commissioner visited them while they were receiving medical treatment.
“So he knew the people who attacked us,” Sowore said.
He further alleged that shortly after the commissioner left, the police issued a statement describing the incident as an altercation.
Questioning the circumstances surrounding the incident, Sowore also raised concerns about the alleged removal of CCTV cameras at the location.
“And why are they trying to remove the camera?” he asked.
Sowore also recalled previous encounters with security agencies, alleging that a tracking device had once been placed under his vehicle and traced to the Department of State Services (DSS).
“They placed a tracker under my car. It was traced to the DSS,” he said.
The AAC candidate further referenced an incident during the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, alleging that he was abducted from a hotel in Lagos.
He also claimed that DSS operatives attempted to take him away from a court premises less than two months ago, but were resisted.
Responding to questions about why he believed the authorities were after him, Sowore described the line of questioning as condescending.
He subsequently declared: “I’ve been a threat to the government since I was 20 years old, and they have not given up on me.”
He added: “They want to kill me, and you know it.”
Sowore maintained that the central issue was the alleged attack in Ekiti rather than questions about his perception of the government’s attitude towards him.
“The issue is that we were attacked, unprovoked, in Ekiti State, and we have given you what happened,” he said.
He also challenged journalists not to pretend they were unaware of what he described as continued attempts to target him.
“Don’t pretend like you don’t know,” he added.
How the Ekiti Incident Happened
The controversy followed an incident at a restaurant in the Dalimore area of Ado-Ekiti on Friday, where Sowore and members of his team sustained injuries during a confrontation with some individuals.
Sowore had earlier raised an alarm on social media, alleging that armed men attacked his team and that their whereabouts were initially unknown.
In a post on his X account, he accused the attackers of being government-sponsored and alleged that the DSS provided them with his team’s location.
“We have been brutally attacked and injured by well armed government-sponsored thugs in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State,” he wrote.
He subsequently accused the security agency of providing the attackers with their exact location to facilitate the assault.
However, the Ekiti State Police Command disputed reports that Sowore had been kidnapped, explaining that officers responded to a distress call concerning an altercation involving the AAC candidate and some individuals at a restaurant.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, said operatives were immediately deployed to the scene and rescued Sowore before taking him to the Police Hospital in Ado-Ekiti for medical attention.
According to the police, Sowore sustained a minor injury during the incident.
The command also disclosed that the Commissioner of Police had ordered a discreet investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident, identify those involved and ensure that anyone found culpable was brought to justice.
Sowore subsequently rejected the police description of the incident as an altercation, insisting that he and his associates were attacked.
“There was no altercation! We were attacked!” he declared.
He also accused the police command of downplaying the severity of the incident despite what he said the commissioner witnessed during his visit.
The conflicting accounts have left questions surrounding the circumstances of the incident, with the police investigation expected to establish what transpired and identify those responsible.
The DSS had yet to publicly respond to Sowore’s allegations at the time of this report.
President Bola Tinubu has forwarded the names of six nominees for executive director positions at the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) to the Senate for confirmation, retaining three existing directors while introducing three new nominees.
The nominations were conveyed to the Senate in a letter from the President, according to a statement issued on Friday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The six nominees comprise three executive directors seeking reappointment and three new candidates proposed for different leadership positions within the petroleum regulatory agency.
SEE ALSO: Tinubu Promises to Boost Local Production with NNPC Refineries
The officials nominated for reappointment are Abiodun Adeniji, Executive Director of Finance and Accounts; Ogbugo Kalu Ukoha, Executive Director of Distribution Systems, Storage and Retailing Infrastructure; and Dr Mustapha Lamorde, Executive Director of Health, Safety, Environment and Community.
The three new nominees are Mobolaji Tajudeen Musa, proposed as Executive Director of Hydrocarbon Processing Plants, Installations and Transportation Infrastructure; Ogechukwu Modie, nominated as Executive Director of Economic Regulations and Strategic Planning; and Said Abutalib, nominated as Executive Director of Corporate Services and Administration.
If confirmed by the Senate, all six nominees will serve five-year terms.
President Tinubu urged the lawmakers to consider the nominations expeditiously, stating that the appointments would ensure institutional continuity and strengthen the Authority’s oversight capacity.
In a related development, the President has approved the appointment of Jumoke Gafar as Secretary to the Board/Authority and Legal Adviser of the NMDPRA.
Her appointment is subject to the completion of the statutory processes stipulated under Section 46 of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA).
The latest nominations follow Tinubu’s appointment of Engr. Rabiu Abdullahi Umar as Chief Executive of the NMDPRA in April.
The Senate’s consideration and confirmation of the six nominees will determine their formal appointment to the respective executive director positions.
In the bid to improve environmental sanitation, the Osun State Government plans to engage with immediate effect, able-bodied men and women as ad hoc road sweepers.
Biztellers reports that the exercise would cover designated areas of the state.
The recruitment exercise, announced by the Osun State Taskforce on Environmental Sanitation (OSTES) is open to medically fit able bodied men and women who are residents of the areas where they intend to work.
According to the public service announcement, applicants must be at least 30 years of age, medically fit and resident in their preferred areas of assignment.
READ ALSO: US Hails DPRP as Nigeria’s Petroleum Exports Surge Seven Times
The designated areas mentioned by the Taskforce include Akoda- Abere, Ataoja -Ogo-Oluwa, Olaiya -Old Garage, Igbonna -Ayetoro, Power Line – Ota-Efun and Kobongbogboe.
Other areas covered by the exercise are Ataoja- Dele Yes Sir, Stadium- Testing Ground and Ilesa- Garage, as well as Oke-Fia -Dada Estate, Dele Yes Sir- Lameco and Oroki Housing Estate.
Interested applicants are required to submit application letters to the General Manager, Osun Waste Management Agency, at its office located at the former Boreepo House, West Bye-Pass, Ring Road, Osogbo.
The announcement further stated that the deadline for submission of applications is Thursday, November 12th, 2026.
The recruitment is expected to support routine road sweeping and complement the state’s efforts to promote a cleaner, healthier and safer environment.
Applicants have been advised to ensure that they meet the stated requirements and reside within the areas where they seek to be deployed.
It would be recalled that the state governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, had earlier declared every Thursday of the week as Environmental Sanitation Day throughout the state during which offices, markets, shopping malls and homes among other public places are to be swept clean between 8am and 10am.
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