The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is set to establish a joint counter-terrorism force as part of renewed efforts to confront the growing threat of violent extremism across the sub-region.
The Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government, and President of Sierra Leone, Julius Maada Bio, disclosed this on Sunday while addressing the 68th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government held at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja.
President Bio expressed deep concern over the activities of multiple terror groups operating across West Africa, warning that they continue to exploit the fragility of the region’s borders to carry out cross-border attacks and destabilise member states.
According to him, the proposed joint security force is aimed at strengthening collective defence mechanisms and enhancing coordinated responses among ECOWAS countries in the fight against terrorism.
“We must strengthen border cooperation to counter terrorism,” the ECOWAS Authority chairman said, stressing the need for closer intelligence sharing, coordinated military action and sustained political commitment to safeguard lives and restore stability across the region.
Also, President Bio has announced the appointment of the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, as the pioneer Chairman of the ECOWAS Business Council.
The appointment is expected to strengthen private-sector participation in the regional bloc’s economic integration agenda, deepen cross-border investments and mobilise business leaders in support of ECOWAS development objectives.
The ECOWAS Business Council is designed to serve as a platform for structured engagement between the public and private sectors, with a focus on boosting trade, industrialisation and economic resilience across West Africa.
A faction of the Accord Party has produced Clement Bamigbola as its governorship candidate for the 2026 Osun State election, just four days after the emergence of Governor Ademola Adeleke as the party’s flagbearer.
The Nation recalls that Adeleke had emerged on Wednesday as the party’s candidate, being the sole aspirant in the exercise.
However, a faction of the party rejected his emergence, insisting that Barrister Maxwell Ngbudem is not the legally recognised national chairman of the Accord Party.
In a fresh development on Sunday, about 300 delegates of the Accord Party from across Osun State elected Bamigbola as the factional candidate during a primary held at Regina Suite, Osogbo.
Bamigbola emerged through a voice vote conducted by the delegates, after which the Chairman of the Primary Committee, Hon. Olufemi Ogundare, declared him the party’s candidate for the 2026 Osun State governorship election.
Following his declaration, Ogundare and other party leaders formally presented the party’s flag to Bamigbola ahead of the 2026 contest.
Aliko Dangote stands at the summit of a fresh chapter, watching his refinery surge beyond Saudi Aramco’s benchmark by 250,000 barrels a day. It’s one rare feat among many by which he seduces the world into his orbit. The precocious child who once sold sweets for pocket change now commands the world’s largest single-train refinery, shepherding energy through steel corridors and silos for profit.
His Dangote Refinery is proudly Nigerian. A sprawling behemoth that remarkably stands taller than forecasts once imagined, besting the Arabian oil plant’s famed capacity of 430,000 barrels per day.
Dangote Refinery, however, is simply the first of a trifecta of feats that have reshaped global industry tables; second is the ascent of his cement empire to the world’s second summit; third is the elevation of his fertiliser enterprise to that same rare altitude; and an export arc that now bends toward the United States with 37 per cent of its output.
Dangote cuts the rare picture of the particular kind of man that history rewards: the one who walks into storms armed only with conviction, and refuses to buckle even when the odds stack to break him.
There is no gainsaying that he has spent the last decade battling an oil establishment so entrenched it once dictated the country’s economic trajectory. While the country grappled with scarcity, social upheaval and uncertainty, Dangote did what governments failed to do for fifty years: he ended fuel queues. And he did it while fighting what he openly calls “the oil mafia.”
His refinery, a $20–$23 billion undertaking, was never a venture for the faint-hearted. Describing it with a mixture of candour and fatalism, recently, he said: “It was the biggest risk of my life. If this didn’t work, I was dead.”
No billionaire speaks like that unless the stakes are daunting. And they were. From the moment the project broke ground, he found himself in a conflict with forces that have long profited from keeping Nigeria dependent on imported fuel, comatose infrastructure and chronic dysfunction. These forces moved against him with precision: flooding the market with subsidised imports, sabotaging distribution channels, undercutting prices, and, in some cases, withholding crude that legislation required they supply.
“They tried to suffocate us,” he said. “The same way they killed other sectors, they now want to use in killing us.” It was an accusation, but more significantly, a map of battle lines. Dangote understood that to successfully build and operate a refinery, he must confront an economy organised around failure.
The conflict escalated when the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) reneged on investment terms, slashed crude commitments, and forced him to import feedstock from foreign markets. Local unions accused him of endangering jobs. Marketers accused him of distorting prices and international traders moved to drown the refinery in cheap imports.
But Dangote’s response was surgical. He tightened production schedules, expanded exports and resorted to litigation when need be. He launched a media battle too, speaking bluntly about his travails, lest his silence become complicity. And through it all, he repeated one line that felt less like a boast than a warning: “I’ve been fighting battles all my life, and I have not lost one yet.”
The refinery itself became his greatest rebuttal. Within months of operations — after the shaky start, the supply interruptions, and coordinated attempts to derail it — the plant began exporting over 1.6 billion litres of petrol. Nigeria’s retail price curve, which had spiked to nearly N1,100 per litre, fell toward N841 (fuel currently sells at N885 per litre at some Lagos filling stations). Fuel queues, a humiliation that had persisted since 1975, dissipated. Distribution improved with the rollout of thousands of CNG-powered trucks, and for the first time in decades, Nigeria’s demand for imported petrol plummeted.
Some deemed this an industrial victory, while others described it as a corrective civilisation. The undeniable variable in Dangote’s endurance and defiance of the oil mafia was President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Determined to end the petroleum chaos, Tinubu backed reforms that strengthened local refining, stabilised pricing regimes, and blocked the monopoly of import cartels. This earned Dangote enemies but helped his refinery breathe.
In truth, Nigeria needed Dangote Refinery to survive. Thus, when Dangote paused naira-based petrol sales because the official exchange window made operations untenable, it was Tinubu who pushed the naira-for-crude policy that reset the market and slashed forex demand.
Dangote’s triumph is neither accident nor fortune’s fleeting kiss. It manifests in the marrow of his lineage; from recited lore in courtyards lit by patrician glow of the lanterns and legacy of the Dantatas, whose caravans traversed old trade routes across West Africa’s tracts.
Born on April 10, 1957, into an affluent and entrepreneurial Kano family, Dangote grew up under the watchful influence of his maternal grandfather, Alhaji Sanusi Dantata, one of West Africa’s most illustrious merchants. The latter who was arguably one of the richest Africans and traders of his generation, raised Dangote closely, teaching him the logic of enterprise and markets, until business felt less like a career to the lad and more like a native language.
For scholarship, he proceeded to Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, where he acquired a degree in Business Administration. Following his graduation at just 21, he chose to strike out on his own rather than settle into a comfortable role within the vast Dantata business empire. He secured a US$500,000 loan from his uncle, Alhaji Dantata, and moved to Lagos. With the capital, he began importing sugar from Brazil and rice from Thailand, and astonishingly paid off the loan within three months, thus earning the admiration of his maternal uncle and mentor, who died on June 28, 2025, at 94.
Dangote established Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) in April 1985. For two decades, he focused on importing staples—pasta, sugar, salt, and flour—before shifting into manufacturing in 1997. Dangote Industries had earlier incorporated Dangote Cement in 1981 and later acquired Obajana Cement Plc in 2002, a firm originally set up by the Kogi State government in 1992. By 2010, DIL owned the company outright, renaming it Dangote Cement Plc. The company became central to Nigeria’s push for self-sufficiency in cement production, a challenge first laid out by the Obasanjo administration in 2002.
By 2021, Nigeria had become a net exporter of cement. Today, DIL controls roughly 60 percent of the domestic cement market, manufactures cement in 10 African countries, and produces more than 52 million metric tons annually across the continent.
DIL’s most ambitious undertaking remains the US$20 billion Dangote Refinery and Petrochemicals complex. With a 650,000-barrel-per-day refining capacity, it is designed to meet all of Nigeria’s petrol demand and support a sprawling network of fertilizer and petrochemical operations.
Dangote’s next major goal is to make Africa self-sufficient in fertiliser production within 40 months. Beyond cement, sugar, fertiliser, and oil, he turns his gaze toward medicine, unsettled by how Africa’s dependence on imported pharmaceuticals chains its health systems to distant factories. Thus, he envisages a partnership with Bill Gates, to the applause and chagrin of disparate actors.
Dangote’s interest springs from philanthropy as much as enterprise. The Aliko Dangote Foundation, endowed with $1.25 billion, channels an annual $35 million into nutrition, health, education, and empowerment. His foundation runs a $100 million war against childhood malnutrition, strengthens early childhood education through community-based programs in Kano, builds hostels for universities, including the N1.2 billion complex at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, funds vocational training and scholarships.
On Thursday, December 11, 2025, through his Aliko Dangote Foundation, the billionaire magnate pledged N1 trillion ($688 million) to support education in Nigeria over the coming decade. Starting with 45,000 scholars next year, the foundation expects to eventually support 1.33 million students with a focus on the so-called STEM disciplines of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as the schooling of girls and teacher training.
That same instinct for timing and empathy surfaced on the same date (December 11) when the Dangote Petroleum Refinery announced a sharp reduction in the ex-gantry price of petrol. The refinery cut the price to N699 per litre, a N129 drop from the previous N828. The adjustment pulled prices close to levels last seen two years earlier and arrived with deliberate precision ahead of the Christmas travel rush, when millions of Nigerians take to the roads.
“My mother instilled in me the ethos of giving back,” Dangote said. “I trust my three daughters will continue this legacy, just as they will continue to grow our business and impact. I want to be known not just as Africa’s richest person but also as its biggest philanthropist.”
His wealth story arcs like a long, unpredictable journey. Forbes first listed him in 2008 with $3.3 billion. When markets shifted, his worth dipped to $2.1 billion. But the winds reversed; cement boomed, and his wealth surged to $13.8 billion by 2011. The years swung between turbulence and triumph, yet he regained his position as Africa’s wealthiest by September 2024.
Dangote attained a new milestone, with his recent attainment of the $30.3 billion net worth, in October 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Since he became Nigeria’s first billionaire, The Guardian (UK) has christened him the richest Black man on earth. TIME Magazine places him among the Titans in its inaugural TIME 100 Philanthropy list. Nigeria decorated him with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON), a distinction once reserved for senior statesmen, among several honours.
While it is easy to romanticise Dangote as merely a billionaire with an oversized dream, the reality is grittier. The man operates like a titan forged in industrial fire. He visits his plant unannounced, sits with engineers for hours, and recalibrates operations line by line. He has repaid billions in loans. He has survived sabotage attempts he still will not fully describe. He has endured public attacks, private betrayals, and political complexities few business leaders could navigate without retreat.
But what qualifies him for the symbolic mantle of Person of the Year is not the size of his refinery, nor the wealth behind his name and status as “Africa’s richest billionaire.” It is his capacity to assert in vision and practice that Nigeria’s future does not lie in crude oil exports but in value creation.
Dangote represents the industrial future Nigeria has been too timid to claim; the possibility of an Africa that refines, manufactures, exports, and competes. His refinery, sprawling over 6,200 acres, may one day be recorded as the engineering feat by which Nigeria turned from perennial crisis to continental leadership.
Dangote is not a perfect figure. No titan ever is. But in a year that demanded audacity and an almost obstinate commitment to national rebirth, he stood where others buckled, delivering what half a century of governments failed to: stability in the sector that shapes the Nigerian economy.
His success may be traced back to his lineage, which held commerce as both duty and inheritance. From the Madrasa and classrooms of Birnin Kudu, where he sold sweets to classmates for profit, to Kano’s markets and Cairo’s lecture halls, Dangote evolves fully formed. He married early and raised his daughters, building a dynasty private enough to elude tabloid intrusion yet strong enough to anchor his empire. Nothing in his personal life distracts from his mission.
To honour such a man is to acknowledge fortitude and name, plainly, the one who reshaped Nigeria’s trajectory in a year defined by flux.
The refinery subsists beyond Dangote’s personal triumph. It is Nigeria’s proof of concept: that greatness is possible here, at scale, through a citizen’s grit and refusal to bow.
And in that sense, Dangote is unmistakably the Person of the Year.
The immediate past Chairman of the Nigeria Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Bola Oyebamiji, has emerged as the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for next year’s governorship election in Osun State.
Oyebamiji was affirmed by all 1,660 delegates at the party’s primary after being nominated by Mr Kunle Adegoke, SAN, and seconded by Senator Babajide Omoworare.
Following the nominations, the Chairman of the primary election committee, Governor Monday Okpebholo, called for a voice vote, which saw the delegates unanimously endorsed Oyebamiji.
“By the power conferred on me as Chairman of the primary committee, I hereby declare Bola Oyebamiji, AMBO, as the candidate of our party,” Okpebholo announced.
Heavy security presence was recorded on Saturday at Ebunoluwa Hall, Osogbo, the venue for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary, where 1,660 delegates are expected to elect the party’s candidate for the 2026 election.
The Nation recalls that the Chairman of the APC Primary Committee and Governor of Edo State, Monday Okpebolo, had disclosed on Friday night during a meeting with party stakeholders in Osogbo that the affirmation method would be adopted for the primary.
Members of the primary committee have since concluded the accreditation of delegates, with the process conducted under tight security provided by operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).
Delegates are seated according to their respective local government areas, while prominent party chieftains continue to arrive at the venue.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT), Nyesom Wike, on Saturday said he has no regrets for openly supporting President Bola Tinubu since 2022.
Wike maintained that his position has remained consistent before, during and after the 2023 presidential election.
The Minister, who spoke at a special event organised to mark his 58th birthday anniversary, said his political decisions are guided by the principles of character and integrity, adding that he never concealed his support for Tinubu from the outset.
He recalled that during the build-up to the 2023 presidential election, he was the only leading figure from the main opposition party, who openly declared support for President Tinubu, a decision he said was based on equity, fairness and justice, as well as his conviction that power should shift to the South.
According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA), Public Communications and Social Media, Lere Olayinka, the minister further argued that his leadership capacity was demonstrated in Rivers State during the elections, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) won the presidential poll while the PDP secured victories in the National Assembly, governorship, State House of Assembly and local government elections under his watch.
At the birthday event held in the wee hours of today, in Wike’s residence in Abuja, leaders from different political divides gathered to celebrate the achievements and political impact of the former Rivers State Governor and current FCT Minister.
In attendance were National Assembly lawmakers from Rivers State, serving and former members, members of the Rivers State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Martins Amaewhule, chairmen of local government areas, as well as close friends and political associates.
Speakers took turns to extol the virtues of the Minister, describing him as an achiever and astute politician whose impacts are visible across the country, urging him not to relent and assuring him of their continued support.
Rivers State Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Ambassadors and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman, Ambassador Desmond Akawor, described the FCT Minister as the “naked wire” of Rivers politics.
Akawor, who is the ex-Director-General of Nyesom Wike’s 2015 governorship campaign, said Wike’s feat had shown that President Bola Tinubu picked the right product from the PDP to work with.
Also, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Martins Amaewhule, who led 27 members of the House of Assembly to Wike’s residence, thanked the Minister for being a leader with a strong shoulder for everyone to lean on.
He promised the continued loyalty and support of the Assembly members to him, saying; “Wherever our leader (Wike) goes, we will follow him, whoever he is supporting, we will also support.”
Chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government and River State Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), Hon. Allwell Ihunda, who spoke on behalf of Local Government Chairmen, extolled Wike’s virtues, describing as a consistent and compassionate leader.
Others who spoke were Chairman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee, Mohammed Abdulrahman, PDP Board of Trustees Chairman, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa, PDP National Vice Chairman (South South), Chief Dan Orbih, his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Hon Victor Giadom,
former Governor of Abia State, Dr Okieze Ikpiazu, Senator (Prof) Sandy Onor, Senator Magnus Abe, Senator George Sekibo, Senator Bari Mpigi, and others.
In his response, the Minister thanked his political family and associates for standing solidly behind him, acknowledging the role they have played in shaping his leadership journey.
He said he remained fulfilled working with his people and pledged to continue collaborating closely with them in the interest of the people of Rivers State and Nigeria at large.
Wike, who described criticism and abuses as one of the things that keep him going, added that he has never been bothered by those who abuse and criticise him.
The event ended with special prayers for the Minister and his family.
Govt rules out tax-related debit on bank customers’ accounts
Banks to demand TIN from taxable Nigerians
Commercial banks are now required to file reports on bank accounts with N25 million quarterly turnover and above to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) or other related agencies for effective tax monitoring.
This is in alignment with the federal government’s new tax administration framework which comes into effect on January 1, 2026, Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, said yesterday in Lagos.
Oyedele ,speaking during a media workshop on the new consolidated tax law, explained that the new dispensation has raised the threshold for mandatory reporting from N10 million to N25 million, which he said translates to “almost N100 million a year before any report is triggered.”
Addressing the misconception that banks will begin reporting all transactions, Oyedele said the 2020 Finance Act already requires accounts used for business to have a Tax Identification Number (TIN).
Oyedele said only accounts that meet the turnover threshold would be identified and monitored for proper tax payment.
Besides,he said that banks request Tax Identification Number (TIN) from all taxable Nigerians in line with the new tax regime.
According to him, Section 4 of the Nigerian Tax Administration Act, makes the possession of a tax ID mandatory for all taxable individuals.
But the requirement does not apply to students or dependents who, according to him, will be exempted from tendering TIN to maintain a bank account.
He also said there was no need for anxiety over possibility of banks directly debiting customers’ accounts over tax matters.
“Nobody will debit your bank accounts in banks. Banks will not debit customers’ accounts for tax default,” he said.
He dismissed fears that government plans to deduct money directly from bank accounts of taxpayers, insisting that such claims are “false, dangerous and capable of destabilising the economy.”
He said the speculations on social media were based on ignorance and deliberate misinformation.
“Let me say this clearly: nobody — not FIRS, not Central Bank of Nigeria, not any government agency — has the power to debit your bank account,” he declared.
“Whether you have N50,000 or N50 million, nobody is taking any money from your account. It is simply not true.”
Oyedele explained that the allegation arose from the consolidation of major tax statutes into a single code, which led many to assume that the government has introduced new enforcement powers.
He said that the only existing mechanism that allows recovery of unpaid taxes is a court-ordered garnishee, which he described as “a long legal process that is almost never used.”
“Even in extreme cases where someone owes hundreds of millions and refuses to pay, the government cannot just wake up and remove money,” he said.
“They must assess you, notify you, allow objections, conclude the process, go to court, and get a judge’s order. Without that, nobody can touch your account.”
According to him, in nearly three decades of tax administration work, he has “never seen a single instance where money was removed from an account without due judicial process.”
He recalled the attempt under the former FIRS Chairman, Babatunde Fowler to impose post-no-debit orders on accounts suspected of tax evasion — a move that failed without recovering a single naira.
His words:“that process didn’t succeed, and it created unnecessary panic.Nobody is repeating that mistake.”
The tax reform chair warned that rumours could cause harmful panic withdrawals.
“One thing that can damage the economy very quickly is people rushing to withdraw their money out of fear,” he cautioned.
“Nothing in the law authorises the government to debit accounts. Please help us educate others so we don’t create a problem where none exists.”
Oyedele maintained that the goal of the reform is to simplify compliance, expand the tax net, and reduce the burden on households and small businesses.
The Tax Reform Bills were signed into law on June 26,2025 by President Bola Tinubu.
They are the Nigeria Tax Act (NTA), The Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), The Nigeria Revenue Service Act (NRSA) and the Joint Revenue Board Act (JRBA), collectively referred to as “the Acts” hereafter).
The Acts comprehensively overhaul the Nigerian tax landscape to drive economic growth, increase revenue generation, improve the business environment and enhance effective tax administration across the different levels of government.
Highlights of the law include exemption of individuals earning NGN800,000 or less per annum from tax on their income and gains, while higher income earners will be taxed at a higher rate up to 25%.
It also increases the tax exemption threshold for compensation for loss of employment or injury from NGN10million to NGN50million.
There is also provision for the establishment of Tax Ombuds office to liaise with the tax authorities on behalf of taxpayers, and serve as an independent arbiter to review and resolve complaints relating to taxes, levies, duties or similar regulatory charges.
FCCPC expands scope of probe into exploitative air fares
Christmas travel plans are changing in many homes as air fares continue to skyrocket beyond the capacity of hundreds of thousands of families.
Interventions by federal lawmakers and some government agencies to bring about some relief have been unsuccessful so far.
Only yesterday the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) announced that it was expanding the scope of existing investigation into pricing templates behind rates charged for tickets by some airlines on some domestic routes with a view to establishing possible violations of the provisions of the law.
While the current security challenge in parts of the country, the bad state of some highways, multiple security checkpoints, banditry and other encumbrances, may have rendered the road option largely unattractive for some, others are prepared to go by air whatever the cost , an investigation by The Nation has shown.
Although the astronomical increase in airfares cuts across routes, flights from Lagos and Abuja to the Southeast cities of Enugu, Owerri, Onitsha and Abakaliki as well as the South South cities of Benin, Asaba, Port Harcourt, Calabar and Uyo are attracting higher fares.
And this is despite the entry of new carriers like Pioneer Air, Enugu Air/Xejet Airlines, Binani Airlines, UMZA Airlines into the market.
One way tickets for some of the flights range between N300,000 and N600,000 as against the average of N150,000 or N250,000.
In effect, a family of five travelling from Lagos to Enugu will have to cough out N1.5m at an average cost of N300,000 per head.
Flight booking on the portal of one of the domestic airlines yesterday for a flight from Lagos to Asaba, the Delta State capital for today showed that there were no more seat available.
The only window to connect Asaba from Lagos on the said airline is only available on Tuesday, December 16, 2025 for a fare of N432, 700.
It is the same story for Lagos to Enugu flights for this weekend.
But seats are available for the Monday , December 15, 2025 flight at a cost of N430,700.
Lagos to Port Harcourt on the same date offers a fare structure of N430,700.
As at yesterday, bus fares from the Oshodi Transport Interchange in Lagos to the Southeast were less than N30,000 for trips proposed for this weekend.
Some passengers who trooped to the local terminal in Ikeja yesterday even considered engaging limousine cabs stations at the airport under fractional charter arrangements to ferry them to their destinations.
Airline officials, travel agents and destination management companies told our correspondent that demand for seats is largely dictated by market forces..
Group Managing Director of FinchGlow Holdings, Mr Bankole Bernard told The Nation that hope of a dip in airfares for now is unrealistic as passengers keep surging to airports for their end of year travels.
Bernard said business projections for ‘Detty December’ , have also occasioned distortions in pricing , not just for airfares, but have also had a debilitating effect on e- hailing rides, hotel booking, short letting facilities, prices for events, and other products and services associated with end of year celebrations.
Bernard,a former president of the National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies (NANTA) said high airfares stem from supply/demand imbalance, but are worsened by excessive government taxes, levies, and high operating costs (dollar-denominated expenses like fuel/lease).
All these, he said, are forcing airlines to prioritise “yield over volume,” meaning fewer seats sold at much higher prices to cover costs, not passenger comfort.
He asked government to cut charges and manage airports as businesses for lower fares.
While describing the fares as about the highest in recent years, he said multiple taxes and levies factored into passengers’ tickets by aviation agencies add up to the prohibitive charge regime.
He said ticket prices would remain steep “as long as demand keeps outrunning supply.”
According to him, the market would only stabilize when more routes and frequencies open up.
“With a ₦1,000 ticket, only ₦550 goes to the airline. The rest, almost half, is swallowed by charges from agencies. These are the real pressures driving fares,” he said.
Attempts by the Federal Government to engage airlines on the matter have not yielded the expected outcomes.
The House of Representatives has raised concerns about the skyrocketing cost of domestic air travel.
During Thursday’s plenary, the lower legislative chamber asked the federal government to cut aviation taxes by 50 percent to make flights more affordable for Nigerians during the yuletide.
The House’s attention was drawn to what its members described as “exorbitant” airfares that have placed a heavy burden on families hoping to reunite during the festive period.
Members said Christmas, traditionally a season of joy and reconnection, now “looms under the weight of economic challenges” that have made travel increasingly prohibitive.
“The unprecedented rise in air travel costs is not a mere anomaly in the market. It poses a direct threat to the traditions that unite our society during this cherished festive season, they said.
Aviation and Aerospace Development Minister Festus Keyamo blamed the high airfares on aircraft scarcity and insufficient maintenance infrastructure.
Keyamo said the federal government has no power to regulate or cap airline ticket prices.
He highlighted that the industry has been fully deregulated since the Babangida era, giving private airlines the freedom to set their own prices without government intervention.
“The industry has long been deregulated. The moment the federal government under Babangida said private airlines could come in and fly, they deregulated in terms of pricing and all, just like a free market.
“And so the government has absolutely no powers to fix prices for private enterprise, including the aviation industry,” Keyamo said.
President of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association of Nigeria, Dr. Alex Nwuba, described the recent surge in domestic ticket prices as a recurring seasonal pattern.
He said fares typically rise sharply every December because many travellers book late, pushing prices into the highest fare brackets.
His words:“It’s not new. Every year, it’s the same. Prices go up at Christmas time. The forces of economics at play. It is a demand-driven price increase, and it is compensation for low fares during the low season.”
He explained that airline tickets are sold in a “bucket” system, where early buyers benefit from lower fares while prices rise as flights fill up.
With only about 0.02 percent of the population flying, he noted that the industry cannot achieve economies of scale, unlike Europe and the United States, where annual flight volumes exceed population sizes.
Additional factors, including limited aircraft capacity, a weakened naira over time, fuel costs approximately 17 percent above global rates, and multiple aviation charges, further drive up operating expenses for airlines, he noted.
Nwuba called for a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s aviation system, including reforms to taxation and operational charges, to make flying more accessible and reduce steep fare spikes during peak periods.
FCCPC expands investigations
The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) in a statement yesterday said it was expanding the scope of existing investigation into pricing templates behind rates charged for tickets by some airlines on some domestic routes with a view to establishing possible violations of the provisions of the law.
The ongoing investigation targets operators on the identified routes.
Earlier in the year, a major airline, Air Peace, instituted a court action seeking to restrain the Commission from examining its pricing mechanisms, following the commencement of an investigation into its pricing model after widespread complaints from members of the public.
However, the FCCPC said the ongoing inquiry is without prejudice to the case instituted against it by Air Peace.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we are not a price control board. But the FCCPA 2018 empowers us to check the exploitation of consumers,” FCCPC Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Mr Tunji Bello, said.
He added: “When we receive petitions or where we find cogent evidence, we will not stand by and watch Nigerian consumers being exploited under any guise.”
The EVC/CEO emphasised that the Commission would not hesitate to act where evidence shows that consumer welfare or market competitiveness is being undermined.
Bus/car fares may rise too
Although road transport fares from Lagos to the Southeast and South South remained relatively stable yesterday,operators said the fares would go up as the festivity period draws nearer.
As at yesterday,bus fares from the Oshodi Transport Interchange in Lagos to the Southeast were less than N30,000 for trips proposed for this weekend.
An operator said by Thursday,December 18,the story would begin to change.
Transport fares within and outside Abia State have also remained relatively stable with
fare to and from Umuahia, the state capital and Aba, the commercial nerve of the state costing ₦1000-₦1,500.
Fare from Aba and Umuahia to Lagos and other parts of the country ranges between ₦30,000 and ₦50,000 or more, depending on the distance.
Adelabu offered to give anything to become Oyo governor – Ayodele
The Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, has petitioned the Department of State Services (DSS), accusing Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Oke Afa, Lagos, of attempting to blackmail and extort N150 million from him under the guise of offering “spiritual intercession” to secure his emergence as governor of Oyo State.
Adelabu, a former governorship candidate who has already declared his interest in the 2027 Oyo governorship race, alleged that Ayodele resorted to malicious prophecies and character assassination after he declined the cleric’s overtures.
In the petition dated October 13, 2025, and signed by Bolaji Tunji, his Special Adviser on Strategic Communications and Media Relations, Adelabu claimed that Ayodele persistently pressured him for a large sum of money and costly spiritual items, and, upon his refusal, embarked on a campaign of false prophecies aimed at tarnishing his image.
According to the aide, “Under this guise, he had on several occasions demanded huge sums of money and expensive spiritual items, cumulatively amounting to over N150 million, as purported prerequisites for divine favour.”
He, however, noted that the minister had consistently declined his requests, believing that his political ambition is driven by genuine service to the people and not by any spiritual manipulation or fetish practice.
Tunji said following Adelabu’s refusal to accede to his extortionate demands, Primate Ayodele has embarked on a campaign of malicious and false prophecies targeted at discrediting him publicly.
The letter stressed that the Primate has gone as far as declaring through various media channels that “God told him Adelabu will not win the election,” and has recently made more provocative and inciting statements suggesting that he would fail because of his association with the ‘Èmi Lòkan’ slogan (“It’s my turn”).
Being a minister, Adelabu, according to the petition, had previously chosen to ignore his antics to avoid unnecessary public confrontation with a religious figure.
The letter stressed that Primate Ayodele’s continued propagation of these false prophecies, which are evidently retaliatory and malicious in nature, now pose a threat not only to the Minister’s reputation but also to public order and confidence in the democratic process.
The letter read, “I write to formally draw the attention of the Department of State Services (DSS) to the extortive, deceitful, and inciting activities of one self-acclaimed pastor known as Primate Elijah Ayodele, of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, whose actions have become not only personally distressing to the Honourable Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, but also capable of disturbing public peace and undermining the integrity of the political process in Oyo State.
“Since his tenure as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and particularly in the period leading up to his current aspiration to serve as the Governor of Oyo State, this individual had persistently approached him with unsolicited offers of “spiritual intercession” purportedly to guarantee electoral success.”
Continuing, Tunji said, ” I therefore urge the Department of State Services to kindly investigate the activities of the said Pastor Ayodele for extortion, blackmail, and deliberate dissemination of false and inciting information; compel him to retract his false prophecies and issue a formal written apology; and bring him under the force of the law, in accordance with relevant provisions of the Nigerian Constitution and Criminal Code, to deter similar fraudulent religious practices in future.
“We are in possession of documentary evidence, including recordings and message exchanges, which clearly show his repeated demands for money and other items under the guise of spiritual assistance. We will willingly make these available to your office for the purpose of investigation.
“I trust that the DSS, as a key institution for national security and public integrity, will handle this matter with the urgency and seriousness it deserves.”
Reacting to Adelabu’s claims, Primate Ayodele, denied allegations that he attempted to extort N150 million from the minister of power, over the latter’s political ambitions, stressing that he only discussed the cost of the musical instruments after the minister inquired about them.
In a statement issued by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, Ayodele rejected the claims, saying Adelabu sought clarification on prices, and he merely advised that the minister send someone to the market to verify costs, alongside a representative from his own church.
He explained that he told Adelabu it would be difficult for him to secure the governorship ticket but suggested he could “seek the mercy of God” by purchasing the instruments, “not necessarily for my church,” he added.
Ayodele said, “I didn’t ask Bayo Adelabu to bring money for prayers. I told him to ask someone from his end to go to the market and find out how much the said trumpet cost, while someone follows them from my end too. His personal assistant, himself, and the person he sent to me put me under so much pressure because he was desperate for governorship.
“He was the one who sent someone to me to talk to me on his behalf. He went as far as saying he was willing to give anything to become the next governor of Oyo State, and the only thing I told him was to get the trumpets for his own good.
“I told him that they won’t want to give him the governorship ticket, but if he wants it so bad, he should seek the mercy of God by buying the musical instruments for God, not even for my church, but he said he can’t do it. That’s all.”
Ayodele added that he had long spoken publicly about the challenges facing Adelabu’s governorship ambition and maintained that his prophecies were unrelated to any disagreement over the instruments.
“I have been talking about how he won’t be made governor of Oyo State for years; this is why he called me to seek solutions. I have never spoken to him before till he sent people to me and personally requested my spiritual help,” he said.
”I don’t make prophecies to make money. I am blessed already, and my subsequent prophecies after our discussion about his ambition aren’t because he failed to buy the musical instrument. It can never be.”
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Friday held separate closed-door consultations with the governors of Kaduna, Benue, and Cross River states at the State House, Abuja, amid ongoing security and governance challenges in parts of the country.
The governors, Uba Sani of Kaduna, Hyacinth Alia of Benue, and Bassey Otu of Cross River, arrived at the State House at different times before proceeding to meetings with the President.
Details of the engagements were not officially disclosed by the Presidency.
However, sources familiar with the discussions said the talks centred on security concerns and other pressing governance issues confronting the three states, including communal tensions, banditry, and mounting economic pressures.
Following the meetings, the governors declined to speak with journalists.
They exchanged brief greetings with reporters but offered no comments as they departed the State House for their waiting vehicles.
No official statement was issued at press time on the outcome of the consultations.
