Dignitaries on Tuesday gathered in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, to inaugurate the rehabilitated and refurbished Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, Abuja.
The event was attended by President Bola Tinubu; Senate President Godswill Akpabio; Ministers Wale Edun (Finance and Economy) and Lateef Fagbemi (Justice), among others.
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The Federal Government’s first quarter 2025 savings following the removal of petrol subsidies increased by more than 500% compared to previous periods, according to data released by the National Orientation Agency (NOA).
The Agency, in its newly released report titled “Two Years Later: Key Benefits of Subsidy Removal”, noted that the subsidy removal has led to a significant increase in government revenue as the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) began transferring savings to the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
The 45th edition of NOA’s ‘The Explainer’ focuses on President Tinubu’s 2023 subsidy removal, which ended decades of economic strain.
The savings from the declaration that stopped the subsidy freed vast resources, boosting government revenue from ₦154 billion to ₦836 billion in Q1.
As a result, states saw FAAC allocations jump to ₦15.26 trillion in 2024, allowing salary payments and ₦1.85 trillion debt reduction.
Foreign reserves also grew to $38.9B despite forex obligations.
The savings also funded major investments such as a N20 trillion infrastructure fund, NELFUND student loans of ₦54 billion, agriculture, ₦1.5 trillion, solid minerals, ₦ 1 trillion, and CNG transport conversion to lower costs, the report explained, adding that capital expenditure now exceeds recurrent spending.
The removal of the petrol subsidy by President Bola Tinubu ended a historic financial drain that cost Nigeria over $84 billion.
The report added that the savings have helped finance 40 critical road projects across the country in the two years of President Tinubu’s administration.
“For decades, particularly since the advent of the current democratic dispensation, a major albatross of the Federal Government had been the oil subsidy regime. Successive administrations’ zeal to tame the menace had proved a fiasco while the economy continued to haemorrhage profusely. However, by 2015, many Nigerians had reached a consensus that it was high time the subsidy was consigned to the dustbin of history, as the subsidy budget in 2022 rose by 700 per cent to N4tn, the highest ever in subsidy history.
According to the report, the subsidy removal saved Nigeria from bankruptcy.
“Between 2005 and 2022, successive governments spent $84.39bn on fuel subsidies. These subsidies consumed over 70 per cent of potential federal revenue, pushing the country to the brink of bankruptcy. But with the bold decision to remove it, Nigeria is now saving billions and investing in real infrastructure,” the agency stated.
According to the NOA, Tinubu’s widely debated “subsidy is gone” declaration on his first day in office ushered in tough reforms that have since yielded tangible fiscal gains across various sectors. One of the major outcomes of subsidy removal, the NOA noted, was the improved financial autonomy of state governments.
It said, “Removal of subsidy not only saved the entire economy from imminent collapse, it also rescued several states of the federation from bankruptcy. Upon the take-off of this incumbent administration, Nigeria was spending 97 per cent of its revenues to service debts until its debt profile exceeded N100tn.
“Fuel subsidies consumed more than 70 per cent of the potential Federal Government’s revenue, forcing both the central and state governments to resort to heavy borrowings to finance their budgetary expenditures, but the removal helped the country to save billions.”
However, the NOA insisted the reforms were necessary to reset the economy and redirect resources toward long-term growth. It likened the pains of subsidy removal to “a woman in labour,” whose suffering eventually gives way to new life, adding that “Nigerians are already reaping the gains.”
READ ALSO: Nigeria’s Oil Revenue Rises As Bonny Light Hits $78/b, Above 2025 Benchmark
It also stated that most states, previously struggling to pay salaries, have become financially stable despite recent increases in the minimum wage.
“States now swim in inflows of funds, paying salaries as at when due despite more than 100 per cent minimum wage increase and drastically reducing their debt portfolios because subsidy removal puts more money into their hands.
“In 2023, the 36 states of the federation and 774 local government areas got a total of N6.16tn as FAAC allocations, implying a 28.6 per cent increase from the N4.792tn they received in 2022, but in 2024, revenues rose astronomically to N15.26tn as a result of subsidy withdrawal, giving the states and 774 LGAs N9.58tn, which was N3.42tn higher than what they received in 2023.
“Thus, as records from the Debt Management Office have shown, in the last 18 months, the total domestic debt profile of the 36 states and FCT had declined from N5.82tn in June 2023 to N3.97tn in December 2024. This implies that subnational administrations had repaid N1.85tn debts within one and a half years.”
The government also disclosed that it is investing part of the savings in large-scale infrastructure. For the first time in decades, capital expenditure in the 2025 Appropriation Act surpassed recurrent spending.
The 2025 Hajj pilgrimage ended Monday, the thirteenth of Dhul Hijjah, corresponding with the ninth of June, with over 1.6 million Muslims from more than 150 nations that participated in this year’s exercise.
Saudi authorities from the Hajj and Umrah Committee announced the conclusion in Mina, declaring it free of any health, security, or service-related incidents.
On Monday, the Deputy Emir of the Makkah Region, Prince Saud bin Mishaal, who made the announcement, praised the Kingdom’s leadership for ensuring the event was incident-free.
Prince Mishaal, who commended the efforts of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, attributed the smooth and successful conduct of the 2025 pilgrimage to their leadership.
READ ALSO: [Hajj] Saudi Authorities Deploy 40,000 Security Operatives
While maintaining that the Kingdom and its leadership take great pride in serving the holy sites and visitors, they revealed that preparations for Hajj 2026 have commenced immediately.
Marking the end of Hajj 2025, pilgrims left Mina, the tent city, after spending three days performing the stoning of devil ritual and other acts of worship and returned to Makkah, where they performed the Dawaaf Al-Ifadah: circumambulation of the Holy Ka’abah and the Sa’e: the running between the hills of Safa and Marwah and exited the state of Ihram; the state of ritual purity.
This year, Saudi authorities put in place several measures, including amenities, security, health, and infrastructure, ensuring that pilgrims performed a comfortable and safe pilgrimage.
As the 2025 Hajj came to an end, the authorities announced that there were no major health, security, or service-related incidents recorded.
Some Nigerian pilgrims who participated in the pilgrimage narrated their experience to Channels Television in Mina, the tent city.
A Nigerian pilgrim from Osun State, Muritala Fakunle, said, “This year’s Hajj has a greater impact on the pilgrims than last year. More facilities are deployed, I must confess to you in Mina, Muzdalifah, as well as Arafat, we have more facilities. The beddings and the cooling are of high quality.’
“For this year, the people who came here last year and came this year, they will know that this year is a top-notch year.”
Another Nigerian pilgrim from Katsina State, Nasir Yahaya, shared similar remarks, saying, “Operations for this year’s Hajj 2025 are excellent, there is no problem with the Nigerian Hajj pilgrims. There is no problem, 100 percent in terms of food, the activities, even in Mina, very neat, not like before, not like last year. This year is excellent, there is not too much crowd.’
A first-time Nigerian pilgrim, Nurudeen Babajide, noted that, “This is my first time coming to Hajj, I always heard some complaints from people that used to come before but for this year, I think they changed the system entirely because what I have seen for this year Hajj is quite different from what I heard before. It is perfect, the service from Madina to Makkah, and we have visited different places. I think the services are well-arranged.”
Another Nigerian pilgrim, Qomorudeen Bello, hailed the people of Saudi Arabia for their warm reception of visitors.
He said, “Saudi Arabia is one of the forefront countries in the world because there is nowhere in the world that people are congregating or converging for a religious purpose that cuts across the world except Saudi Arabia. Another thing I observe in them is sincerity and love above all, they are so magnanimous, they give Sadaqah (charity) at any time, so with this, I believe there is beauty in Islam.”
This year, over 1.6 million pilgrims from more than 150 nations were served with more than 130 digital services, over 50,000 healthcare personnel and 40,000 security forces deployed, seven new hospitals opened, 23,000 trees planted, 300,000 square meters of shaded areas introduced, emergency care expanded by 60 percent, over 20,000 buses and trains used among other services with the goal primarily to ensure that the Hajj journey is comfortable and spiritually fulfilling.
According to official figures, over 1.6 million pilgrims performed the 2025 Hajj, comprising 877,841 male pilgrims and 795,389 female pilgrims, with 1,506,576 pilgrims from outside Saudi Arabia, and 166,654 domestic pilgrims, comprising citizens and residents.
Britain’s unemployment rate has reached the highest level since July 2021, official data showed on Tuesday, after businesses were hit by a UK tax rise and US tariffs kicked in.
The rate climbed to 4.6 percent in the three months to the end of April, the Office for National Statistics said.
That compared with 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year, the ONS added.
Tuesday’s data covers the start of a hike in business tax laid out in the Labour government’s inaugural budget last October.
April also saw the beginning of a baseline 10-percent tariff imposed on the UK and other countries by US President Donald Trump.
READ ALSO: UK Economy Grows Above Forecasts, But Tariffs Threaten Progress
“There continues to be weakening in the labour market, with the number of people on payroll falling notably,” said ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown.
“Feedback from our vacancies survey suggests some firms may be holding back from recruiting new workers or replacing people when they move on.”
Analysts said the data, which included slowing growth to wages, would likely see the Bank of England continue to cut interest rates into 2026, weighing on the pound but lifting London’s stock market in early trade on Tuesday.
“With payrolls falling, the unemployment rate climbing and wage growth easing, today’s labour market release leaves us more confident in our view that the Bank of England will cut interest rates further than investors expect, to 3.50 percent next year,” noted Ruth Gregory, deputy chief UK economist at Capital Economics research group.
Residents of 25 communities along the Olu-omo Junction-Kelebe area to the ATMAN area in Osogbo, Osun State, staged a protest on Monday to draw the government’s attention to the deplorable state of their access road.
The protesters, carrying placards with inscriptions such as “Osun Govt., Road project is our primary” and “Gov. Adeleke, our road is no longer motorable,” demanded government intervention to address the road’s poor condition.
The affected communities, including Araromi, Asejere Oke-odo, Aratumi, Akogun, Kuliya, and Alagbede, among others, have been facing numerous challenges due to the road’s deplorable condition.
According to the protesters, the bad road has caused significant damage to their vehicles, and commercial motorcycle riders now refuse to ply the route.
They said the road has multiple failed portions, with some areas threatened by erosion.
READ ALSO: Sustain Peace Or Face Dethronement, Adeleke Warns Osun Monarchs
Despite communal efforts to maintain the road through periodic grading, the protesters argue that the situation has become unsustainable and demand total construction.
They expressed disappointment that despite reaching out to the government and relevant agencies, their pleas have gone unanswered.
The communities appealed to Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration to prioritize their road project, noting that while the current administration has constructed several roads in the state, theirs has been neglected.
The protesters emphasized that the road has never been constructed by any government and urged the state government to yield to their demands.
In fresh efforts against oil theft and pipeline vandalism, troops of the Nigerian Army have arrested 43 suspects and uncovered 27 illegal bunkering sites across the Niger Delta region.
The operation, which took place between May 26 and June 8, 2025, also led to the recovery of over 161,000 litres of stolen petroleum products in coordinated raids spanning four states.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Acting Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Lieutenant Colonel Danjuma Jonah Danjuma.
“In Rivers State, troops intercepted a fibre boat, a wooden boat and a large wooden barge filled with over 27,000 litres of stolen Premium Motor Spirit (PMS),” the statement read.
It also confirmed the arrest of eight suspects in connection to the intercepted products.
READ ALSO: Troops Arrest 16 Persons, Seize Over 24,000 Litres Of Stolen Crude Oil
Around Dorger Land in Okrika LGA, a wooden boat laden with 18,980 litres of PMS was also seized, with three suspected oil thieves apprehended. Troops made further seizures in Okarki Forest, Banana Creek in Ahoada West and Degema LGAs of Rivers State. At Egbema-Okolomade in Abua/Odual LGA, an illegal refining site was uncovered with drums, cooking ovens, receivers and over 3,000 litres of crude oil recovered.
In Oyingbo, a truck with registration number SML 204 VJ was intercepted with crude oil hidden in sacks. Similarly, at Omoku waterside, 2,700 litres of illegally refined Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) were intercepted in 45 sacks.
“In Bayelsa State, along Zarama-Joinkrama 4, troops discovered an illegal connection point at Wellhead 10 connected to a refining site,” the Army noted. Five cooking ovens, dugout pits, reservoirs, a generator and over 30,000 litres of crude were recovered.
At Biseni in Yenagoa LGA, troops found two more illegal connection points, along with 19 pots, 36 drum receivers and over 31,000 litres of stolen crude and AGO.
In Akwa Ibom, a suspect was arrested at Ekparakwa in Ikot Abasi-Oruk Anam LGA with 63 nylon bags containing over 1,900 litres of AGO in an Infinity Jeep.
Two others were nabbed in a Toyota Camry along Abak-Ikot Abasi Road with 31 bags filled with 840 litres of PMS.
“In Delta State, troops discovered two wooden boats loaded with over 3,600 litres of stolen crude stored in 120 cellophane bags concealed in a creek,” the Army added.
Meanwhile, in the Bennett Ogboloja area of Warri South LGA, troops also uncovered illegal refining sites with ovens, pumping machines and drums of illegally refined AGO, estimated to be over 500 litres. At Urakpa Gana in Sapele LGA, four suspects were arrested with 57 sacks of stolen condensates, while two vehicles loaded with 1,630 litres of condensates were also intercepted.