ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, has increased the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit, PMS at its retail outlets for the second time in less than 48hours.

According to a market survey by DAILY POST showed that NNPCL raised its petrol price to N1,335 per litre on Wednesday from N1,270 per litre on Tuesday.

This means that the state-owned filling station increased its fuel price by N65 per litre.

The new price has been implemented at NNPCL filling stations in Wuse Zone 6 (Berger), Zone 4, and other outlets in Abuja and its environs.

Recall that on Tuesday, NNPCL increased its petrol pump price by N115 per litre to N1,270 per litre.

The latest increase comes amid continued petrol price volatility in the country’s downstream oil sector following Dangote Refinery’s resumption of the sale of refined petroleum products in U.S. dollars.

Daily Post

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Federal Government has received the final report of the National Technical Working Group on the World Bank-supported $500 million Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains for Growth Programme (AGROW).

This was disclosed by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday.

Mr Shettima noted that the receipt of the final report marks the conclusion of the programme’s design phase and its transition to implementation.

He said the government, through the AGROW programme, is bridging the gap between farmers and national planning and policy-making decisions at the centre.

The VP noted that while the challenge in the agricultural sector had been the distance between farmers who till the earth and the systems that determine what their labour is worth, the government is set to implement the process of shortening that distance.

The US$500 million World Bank-supported programme was developed through seven zonal consultations involving 32 states, reflecting the increasing commitment of subnational governments to agricultural development.

It also reflected the state’s readiness to assume greater responsibility for productivity, infrastructure, extension services and market development.

The Vice President described the AGROW programme report as the conclusion of a design process that restores the farmer to the centre of our national economic reasoning, where he has always belonged.

“Today marks the transition of AGROW from programme design to implementation,” he added.

Mr Shettima maintained that the World Bank US$500 million Nigerian agriculture programme is targeted at developing a programme rooted in the realities of farmers, delivered through Nigeria’s states, and capable of attracting the private investment required to move agriculture from subsistence to scale.

The Vice President noted that agriculture, a sector that accounts for 23 per cent of the nation’s GDP and sustains 34 per cent of its workforce, must not be treated as a negligible sector, attended to at leisure and financed at the margins.

He said no other sector carries as many livelihoods or touches as many households as the agriculture sector, noting that most Nigerians earn a living from the tilling of the soil.

“When yields rise, food prices ease, rural incomes recover, industries receive raw materials, and the pressure on our cities and foreign reserves begins to relax. When yields fall, the entire economy discovers the price of hunger.

“Productivity on the farm is therefore a question of growth, employment, food security and poverty reduction. What we do to the farm, we do to the nation,” Mr Shettima stated.

The Vice President expressed satisfaction with the response from states, saying it reveals the scale of the opportunity before the nation.

He stressed that the participation of 32 states in seven consultations to shape AGROW reflects “both the urgency of the challenges confronting agriculture and the growing appetite across Nigeria for agricultural development and investment.”

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

The Federal Government has clarified reports surrounding a budgetary provision for churches in Abia State, stating that the allocation is not a ₦1 billion expenditure solely for the purchase of musical instruments but part of a broader youth re-orientation and community support initiative.News In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Office of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the office explained that the actual allocation stands at ₦780 million after Value Added Tax (VAT) and other statutory deductions.

According to the statement signed by the Deputy Speaker’s Chief Press Secretary, Levinus Nwabughiogu, the funds are earmarked for a Youth Re-orientation and Social Support Programme to be implemented through faith-based organisations across Bende Federal Constituency in Abia State.

The office said the programme will benefit more than 130 churches, with each expected to receive between ₦5 million and ₦6 million in the first phase of implementation. It explained that Bende Federal Constituency has 13 electoral wards and over 200 churches, adding that about 10 churches will be selected from each ward to participate in the initial phase.

According to the statement, the funds will be used to procure evangelical musical instruments and public address systems to strengthen church-led youth engagement initiatives aimed at tackling social vices, including drug abuse, sexual offences and violent crime, while promoting discipline, peace, moral values and character development among young people.

The Deputy Speaker’s office stressed that the intervention should not be viewed as an expenditure on musical instruments alone but as part of the government’s broader non-kinetic approach to addressing insecurity and promoting national unity through trusted community institutions. It argued that nation-building involves not only physical infrastructure but also investment in the moral and value systems of citizens, noting that faith-based organisations have long played critical roles in community development and youth mentorship.

The statement also pointed out that traditional institutions have similarly received government support through the provision of town halls and community engagement centres to preserve cultural values.

Responding to criticism generated by earlier reports, the office said claims that ₦1 billion was budgeted exclusively for church musical instruments misrepresented the purpose of the allocation.

It further disclosed that a technical error was identified in the procurement description contained in the budget, adding that a letter of corrigendum had already been initiated to correct the description through the appropriate budgetary process before implementation. The office also clarified that no funds have been released for the programme because the 2026 budget has not yet been funded or implemented.

It noted that Nigeria is currently operating under the 2024 and 2025 budgets and that procurement will only begin after the necessary releases are made.

The Deputy Speaker’s office urged the media and members of the public to disregard what it described as sensational reports and support initiatives aimed at promoting youth development, peace and moral values across communities.