The Federal Government on Thursday in Abeokuta began the sale of rice at a subsidised rate in Ogun.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, while speaking during a ceremony to signify the commencement, said it was “one of the numerous programmes initiated to bring succour and relief to Nigerians”.

Kyari, who was represented by Mrs Toyin Ayo-Ajayi, the ministry’s State Director, explained that the distribution was being monitored by several Federal Government agencies to ensure transparency, fairness and adequate security.

The Minister stated that the government had put measures in place to ensure that the rice got to the intended beneficiaries.

He said all that was needed was an individual’s National Identification Number (NIN) and Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card to buy 50kg of rice at N40,000.

“However, I want to specifically applaud Gov. Dapo Abiodun for his commitment to the welfare of the citizens of the state.

“Ogun is one of the first set of states in Nigeria to enjoy the benefit and this can be attributed to the governor’s tenacity and visionary leadership.

“Ogun has one of the most organised templates ensuring that this gets to the three Senatorial districts of the state and all at the grassroots,” he said.

Kyari urged citizens of the state to support the government to make sure that all the efforts by different levels of government were appreciated.

In his address, Gov. Abiodun noted that President Bola Tinubu’s initiative testified to his commitment to ensuring he tackled the issue of food inflation and also improved the people’s livelihood.

He expressed his appreciation of the President for his unwavering dedication to supporting the agricultural sector and ensuring food security for citizens.

“This is especially in the light of the present economic realities facing the nation.

“Government has shown responsiveness, thoughtfulness.

“This is appreciated and welcomed, particularly following the removal of petroleum subsidy, as this will go a long way in cushioning the impact of the subsidy removal,” the governor said.

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has called on the federal government to revert petrol prices to their June 2023 rates.

The union’s call follows a recent increase in fuel prices by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

Before President Bola Tinubu’s removal of the petrol subsidy on May 29, 2023, the product was priced between N195 and N238 per litre across the country.

However, the latest adjustments have seen petrol prices soar to N998 per litre in Lagos and N1,003 per litre in Abuja.

The Petroleum Products Retail Outlets Owners Association of Nigeria (PETROAN) attributed the price hike to the challenges of importing the product.

This increase has attracted criticism, with the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) warning that it will exacerbate inflation.

At a press conference in Abuja on Thursday, TUC President Festus Osifo urged the government to intervene by providing foreign exchange support to Dangote refinery to address the sector’s challenges.

“We want the price of the product to go below what it was before; not just reverse to what it was before but to go below,” Osifo said.

He emphasised the need for the government to offer foreign exchange to Dangote refinery at $1/N1,000 rather than the current rate of over $1/N1,600 to effectively reduce petrol prices.

“The solution we are proposing, if implemented, will take us to the price we had as of June last year,” he added.

Osifo stressed that no government in the world neglects its critical sectors and that the federal government should not leave the oil sector to the “vagaries and gyration of our naira.”

Additionally, Osifo urged the government to issue licenses to independent marketers in the country.

“We want the Federal Government, through the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), to give all marketers licenses to lift petrol from the Dangote Refinery,” he said.

The TUC president noted that if the availability of petrol is compromised, it will pose a significant problem to many Nigerians.

“If, for example, the production from Dangote Refinery is less than 15 million litres per day, it is not sufficient,” Osifo said.

“So, while efforts are being made to ramp up production from Dangote Refinery, what we are demanding is that we should look for every other means as we are ramping up production.

“We should source for that difference and bring it in for a while until Dangote can get to that level where the production is sufficient to get to all nooks and crannies of Nigeria.

For us, that is key because it will address the issue of availability.”

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) says it has completed the implementation of the federal government’s policy to link all phone numbers in the country to a national identification number (NIN).

Aminu Maida, the executive vice-chairman (EVC) of the NCC, spoke on Thursday at the 2024 annual corporate governance conference held in Lagos.

Stressing the significance of the concluded NIN-SIM linkage initiative, Maida acknowledged the challenges faced by Nigerians during the process.

“We have recently concluded the implementation of the federal government’s 2020 policy of linking every phone number to a NIN,” he said.

“Though it was a bit painful for Nigerians, I think we also need to appreciate what that does for us.

“Today, there is no phone number that we cannot associate with a verified NIN. Not just a number, but a number that has been verified.”

Maida said while some may question the authenticity of the linked identities, the initiative is an important starting point for accountability.

“If this phone number is involved in fraud or any crime, I can now authoritatively say, based on the NIN linked to it, this is the person who is using that phone number,” he said.

The NIN-SIM linkage policy began in December 2020, following a federal government directive to telecommunication companies to block unregistered SIM cards and those not linked to NINs.

Prior to the success recorded, the NCC had struggled to implement the policy as it consistently revised the deadline many times to allow Nigerians to comply with the directive.

On August 28, the agency announced September 14 as the “final deadline” for the NIN-SIM linkage exercise after an attempt to block unlinked lines in July triggered violence in some parts of the country.

Speaking further at the event, Maida said the commission is partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to establish a robust framework that will address fraud-related issues associated with mobile financial transactions.

He said mobile channels are increasingly becoming the primary means for banking transactions, whether through mobile apps or USSD codes.

The NCC EVC acknowledged the existing challenges within the system and noted that there are insufficient consequences when a phone number is used to commit fraud.

“A lot of the time, the channels for financial services are your mobile and it comes down to that phone number that is used to either perform a banking transaction over a mobile app or a USSD transaction,” Maida said.

“Today, we have to admit where we are. We could do a lot better, because there are not very strong consequences when a phone number is used to perpetrate fraud.”

The NCC chief said the same phone number involved in financial fraud could potentially be used for fraudulent activities in other sectors, such as pensions, adding that it is an area the commission is looking to focus on.