It has been revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari agreed, in 2015, that APC Chieftain, Bola Tinubu would succeed him in office as President in 2023.
This revelation came from a man who should know. He is no other than Rufai Hanga.
Hanga, a politician of note, was the founding Chairman of Buhari’s defunct political party, the Congress for Progressives Change, CPC.
Buhari had contested for the office of the President under the CPC and failed. But he won in 2015 when, thanks to Tinubu, the CPC merged with Tinubu’s ACN, and a couple of other fringe political parties to form the All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to Tinubu in an angry statement when he lost the Vice Presidential slot, Buhari had offered him the position, but he rejected it. That was when he, allegedly, nominated Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who was his Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, during his tenure as Lagos State Governor.
But a couple of people, including former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, faulted Tinubu’s narrative. They said he did not reject the offer, but was stopped from taking it because of their opposition to a Muslim-Muslim ticket which they felt will not be acceptable to many parts of the country.
Rufai Hanga
But According to Hanga, Buhari made another commitment to Tinubu. He revealed an agreement to hand over power to Tinubu in 2023.
He said the agreement to hand over to Tinubu which he described as an “open secret”, remains the only reason why Tinubu has not dumped the APC. Hanga did not say why Tinubu would have dumped the party, but he said that but for Buhari’s agreement to hand over power to him in 2023, Tinubu would have left the APC after Buhari’s first tenure.
Hanga, in an interview with Dailly Post, disclosed: “This is an open secret. There was an implied agreement. Even in law, there is an implied and expressed act. If something is expressed, there are no two ways about it.
“There was an implied agreement that he, (Tinubu),would take over. That is why he didn’t back out after the (Buhari’s) first tenure.
“If Tinubu knew that he would not benefit, he would have backed out during Buhari’s first tenure. But he knows there was an agreement.”
Although Tinubu has not openly acknowledged his interest in 2023, he has not disowned the open campaign for him to run for the Presidency by a good number of his associates. He already has endorsements from a couple of Yoruba Traditional Rulers, including the Ooni of Ife.
But a former Governor of Jigawa State, Sule Lamido, in a recent interview, insisted Buhari would never allow Tinubu to succeed him.
Asked why, Lamido said that it is because Tinubu would rubbish Buhari’s tenure by outshinning him, and Buhari wouldn’t allow that.
Meanwhile, the South-east is saying it is its turn to produce the President in 2023, having not produced any since the return of democracy in 1999. It is strongly speculated that a number of South Easterners who defected to the APC had that in mind.
Dave Umahi, Ebonyi State Governor, had cited the delay by the PDP to zone the Presidency to the SE, as his reason for defecting to the APC. As it is, it is not likely that the APC would do so.
In an undated BBC Pigeon English interview, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, took a swipe at those who claim not to like money. He called them liars.
The interviewer had asked Wike: “Are you corrupt?”
And in response, the Governor answered: “I cannot say I am corrupt. I am not perfect. But I like money. If I don’t like money, how will I pay my children’s school fees, or take care of my mother that is in the hospital?”
In a mockery of those who claim not to like money, Wike dismissed them in a one-liner:”They are lying.”
Governor Wike’s predecessor in office, Chibuike Amaechi, currently the Minister for Transportation, had, a number of times, during interviews he granted, claimed not to like money.
“I don’t like money.”, is his signature tune.
A Nigerian Military Alpha Jet reportedly crashed Sunday morning, “within Kaduna State.”
According to a report first carried by Daily Post, the Aircraft was on its way from Yola, its base, to Kaduna, in pursuit of Bandits when it crashed.
The Nigerian Military has not confirmed the crash, and there is no news, yet,of the crew members. It is not known if there are fatalities, or they were just injured, or they ejected to safety.
If the alleged crash is, eventually, confirmed by Military authorities, it will be one too many.
Within a period of a few months, the Military has witnessed about four fatal crashes. In one of the crashes in May, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru, then Chief of Army Staff, perished with six others, including two Brigadier-Generals. They were on an official trip to Kaduna when the Aircraft crashed. There were no survivors.
Mr. Peter Obi will be 60 years old tomorrow. We do not yet know the colour the celebration will take tomorrow but we can venture some surmises: somber to reflect the mood of the time? Noisy to reflect some of what we observe helplessly amongst some of us? A time for reflection on the journey of life so far? Visits to schools and hospitals as a way of continuing a show of gratitude to God and giving back to the society? All this are conjectural.
However, what I can authoritatively let you know now is that the celebration commenced Sunday with the Mass of Thanksgiving being presided by the Catholic Bishop of Minna, Bishop Martin Uzoukwu assisted by Rev. Fr. Theo Odunukwe. What a reverential manner to start!
The venue: an intriguing Obi always pulls surprises. Not the Basilica, not the Cathedral, not the parish Church, but at St. ALOYSIUS Church of Divine Mercy, the Chaplaincy of The Recdot Centre at Ozubulu.
Have you been to Recdot? You need to. It is the home for orphans, physically challenged and the tramp. Such a home is an ideal place for retreat and reflection about life.
The place of the challenges in Obi’s life reminds us of how dear such people are to the Church as could be seen from the life of St. Lawrence of Rome.
Obi is accompanied by his wife, Margaret, one in a million, and unarguably the best First Lady of Anambra, going by any indices.
The PDP flag bearer, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, is also in the Church. The man with the singular capacity to win the coming Anambra election convincingly.
Almost all Obi EXCO members, during his eight-year tenure as Governor, led by Prof. Chinyere Stella Okunna, the former Commissioner for Economic Planning/Budgeting and Chief of Staff, are in the Church.
Th Nigeria Security And Civil Defence Corps,(NSCDC), is collaborating with the Media in Ondo State to train Journalists on some rudiments of security.
This is to enable them to be able to identify and address security challenges they are confronted with in the course of practising their profession.
The State Commandant of NSCDC, Hammed Abodunrin, stated this during a courtesy visit to the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Correspondents’ chapel on Friday.
According to him, the current security challenges in the country have behove it on Nigerians, no matter their work to be security conscious and responsive to any threat.
“Everybody must be security conscious and that’s why there is need for us to upscale the security skill of everybody particularly the media who will be reporting so many things including the criminalities of people, political campaigns among others.
“So we want to see how we can be preventing it from happening. The essence of this training for journalists is for them to know what are the things causing insecurity.
“What are the possible things to do to save ourselves; what are the little skills we can display if we have attack, among others security tips for our benefits.
“Also we are going to look at some self-defence tactics. These are the things we all need as journalists in order to reduce the issue of insecurity in our society.”
The Commandant, was of the view that after the training, the beneficiaries should endeavour to share their experiences with their families and associates with a view to reduce rate of crimes in the society.
He described personal security as the best anyone could enjoy, adding that the more people are becoming security conscious, the less the people become the victims.
Promising to ensure that crime rate in the state is reduced to the barest minimum, Commandant Abodunrin disclosed that he was prompting up officers of the command to be able to respond to any distress call within five minutes.
“One of my focus here in Ondo State is quick response time and I have been discussing with the governor that I want my quick response time to any emergency to be within five minutes and I need equipment to do that. I need more power bikes that any of our men can ride to any place at any time for quick rescue.”
On some of the activities of the command since he resumed in the state, Mr Abodunrin said that some suspects dealing in adulterated diesel using the state as their transit route were apprehended.
“Our call mandate is also anti-vandal and in the last one month now, we have arrested seven heavy duty vehicles, three tankers that carried adulterated diesel.
“We have taken the sample of the diesel to the Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) for proper verification and we are still waiting for the outcome.
“Four trailers loaded with cows, but inside which containers, loaded with 200 litres of diesel each were hidden, were also arrested.
Some suspects linked with the products are currently under trial,” Abodunrin said.”
The Federal Government has intervened in the simmering face off between Benin monarch, Omo N’oba Ewuare and Edo state Governor, Mr Godwin Obaseki over the final destination of the would-be repatriated Benin invaluable artworks looted by British imperialists back to their owners.
In doing that, the FG, citing international best practices, is poised to reap where it did not sow.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, announced on Saturday that the looted 1,330 Benin artifacts to be returned to Nigeria by Germany, will be in possession of the Federal Government.
Apart from the fact that the Federal Government, according to the Minister, has the right to do so, Oba Ewuare had earlier pleaded with the it to take possession of the artefacts rather than their going to private hands as being canvassed by Governor Obaseki. The artefacts are the handiwork of the ancestors of the Bini Kingdom which were looted by Britain.
According to Alhaji Mohammed, “That is why the Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments have always involved both the Edo State government and the Royal Benin Palace in discussions and negotiations that have now resulted in the impending return of these antiquities.”
The Minister pointed out that in line with international best practice and the operative conventions and laws, the return of the artifacts was being negotiated bilaterally between Nigeria and Germany by international law as the authority in control of antiquities originating from Nigeria.
He noted that the relevant international conventions recognize that such monuments belong to nations and not to individuals or sub-national groups.
“For example, the 1970 UNESCO Convention, in its Article 1, defines cultural property as property specifically designated by that Nation.
“This allows individual Nations to determine what it regards as its cultural property.
“Nevertheless, the Nigerian state – through the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Commission for Museums and Monuments – has been working assiduously over the past years to repatriate our looted artefacts carried along our important traditional institutions and state governments,” he said.
Mohammed disclosed that the Federal Government is not only limiting the battle to repatriate the stolen Benin Bronzes, but also working on repatriating Ife Bronzes and Terracotta, Nok Terracotta, Owo Terracotta, the arts of the Benue River Valley, the Igbo Ukwu, the arts of Bida, the arts of Igala, Jukun among others.
He cited the Government’s efforts over the Igbo statues that were auctioned at Christie’s in the Year 2020, and the fact that we took the British and Belgian authorities to ICPRCP in 2019 over an Ife object as examples.
He assured the repatriation of the Benin objects are unconditional and would not be staggered.
“We agreed to have a definitive timeline for the repatriation of the artefacts because Nigeria is tired of an indefinite timeline.
“Therefore, we resolved that the agreement on the repatriation should be signed in December 2021 and the repatriation should be concluded by August 2022.
” I told the Germans that Nigeria is averse to attaching pre-conditions to repatriating the Benin Bronzes.
“These are our properties, do not give us conditions for releasing them. We, therefore, agreed that the release will be unconditional, neither will it be staggered.
“At the meetings in Germany, I insisted, and it was resolved that provenance research on the Benin Bronzes cannot and must not delay their return, since the origin of Benin objects is not a subject of dispute as such objects are only associated with the Benin Kingdom.
“Concerning recording the artefacts in 3D formats for posterity and academic sake under the ‘digitalbenin’ project, of which we are a part. I have told the Germans that this work of digitalizing the Benin Bronzes must not delay the return of the artefacts and that issues related to copyrights ownership and other rights over the digitalized objects will be discussed soon.”
Recall that the Oba of Benin and Governor Obaseki have had a disagreement over where to keep the artefacts.
While the Oba insisted the right place would be the Benin Royal Museum, as he claimed he has agreed earlier with the Governor, the Governor preferred that a newly registered private company be the custodian.
Feeling betrayed, the Benin Monarch, uncharacteristically, addressed a Press Conference and asked the Federal Government to take custody of the Artefacts. The Federal Government has listened to him, and confirmed it would.
Not a few people see this as a loss to the Benin people, and hold both the Oba and Obaseki responsible for it. They wonder why both of them could not sort out the problem instead of going public, thus making the Federal Government to reap where it did not sow.
I don’t know who advised former Minister of Finance, the sassy Mrs Kemi Adeosun, to issue a public statement in celebration of her recent victory at a Federal High Court, Abuja. In her shoes, I wouldn’t do that. To me, the statement was like waking a wild dog from sleep. It drew an unnecessary attention to her. And reminded people of the untidy circumstances which surrounded her resignation from President Muhammadu Buhari’s Cabinet in 2018.
For the period she was Nigeria’s Minister for Finance, I met Adeosun twice. Both times were at stakeholders’ meetings in Lagos to which I was invited. She was not the only member of Buhari’s Cabinet present. There were about five others. But my focus was on her. I had eyes and ears only for her.
Here is why.
I have a lot of admiration for women who are not only beautiful but professionals and brilliant. Adeosun stole my heart on both occasions – just as she stole it the day she was screened by the Senate for her ministerial appointment.
I can still see her as she climbed down the stairs, making her way to the Senate floor to be grilled by Senators. She was young. Beautiful. Classy. And sassy. She wore a skirt that was a little above the knee. As she climbed down, she oozed self- confidence, self-esteem and more. “There is no way anybody would fail this one”, I said to myself. As she took their questions, she did not disappoint. She was in charge. She took charge.
During the two times I met Adeosun, she and her colleagues came to discuss Nigeria. I am terribly bad when it comes to the economy and things that follow it. I hardly understand them. Or how they work. As long as I can put food on the table for my family, and meet-up with the ever present demands of life, the economy is okay.
I hate the big grammar and figures associated with explaining it. I neither have the patience nor the brain for figures and big words. I hardly listen when it comes to that. But not this time.
For the two times Adeosun spoke, I listened. I followed. I understood. And, even contributed by making reasonable comments.
Here are why.
She simplified her presentation. She made it as easy as ABCD. There were no big words. No complicated figures. Her illustrations came from things I could easily relate to, and with. I was, at once, cool and comfortable with everything she said.
My interest in her was to later force me to pay attention to things I ordinary ignored. I began to read business stories, stories that had to do with economy. You can imagine my heartbreak when, excuse this cliché, she ran into stormy waters while in office. I was downcast. As the pressure piled on her, I prayed I would wake up and read that it was all a mistake.
You already know her story. Why she resigned from her high profile job. But for the purpose of this write-up, a brief recap.
Mrs Adeosun, no thanks to those “nosey parkers” who hardly mind their own business, was discovered not to have participated in the mandatory National Youth Service. She is a British citizen, and acquired the Nigerian passport at the age of 34 years.
At the time she graduated in London, she was 22 years old, but she was not a Nigerian citizen. And, obviously, not entitled to the fun that was the NYSC.
It used to be fun. When I participated, I couldn’t wait to do so. I was posted to Bauchi State. And even though my mother of the blessed memory worried about the distance, having lost her husband, my father, a year earlier, I couldn’t wait to leave her clutches. And did I have fun? When I remember our adventures now, my heart skips.
We went to everywhere. We explored. We went to Jos, just for picnics. We went to Kano, just to see the walls of the Emir’s Palace. We went to Maidugiri. A group of us went to Yankari Game Reserve. We just wanted to see the animals. Our excitement was infectious when we saw elephants, lions, tigers, leopards, giraffes, the lot. We were screaming like kids. We ended up spending the night in the chalets there.
That was when Bauchi was Bauchi. That was when North was North. That was when Nigeria was Nigeria. And that was when NYSC was NYSC.
No longer.
Nigeria has lost its fun. And so has the NYSC programme. Both have become dangerous. Imagine going to the Yankari Game Reserve now.
Or Kano and Maiduguri, just for the fun of it. We would have bandits to answer to.
Nigeria has been reduced to a country of bandits, kidnappers, rogue herdsmen, unknown gunmen, and Boko Haram.
No Region in Nigeria is safer than the other.
Mrs Adeosun missed all that fun. But quite often, the old saying, “East or West, North or South, home is the best”, rings through. In her case, it rang through when she had a need to acquire a Nigerian passport to be able to work in Nigeria after she had worked in London for years. So, at the age of 34, she acquired a Nigerian passport. But to work in any Government establishment, she needed the NYSC certificate, either for participating or for exemption.
Since she was more than 30 years old when she first came home, she needed only an exemption letter from NYSC. She badly needed it, or so she thought, or was meant to believe, when her home State, Ogun, appointed her a Commissioner under the Government of Senator Ibukunle Amosun.
According to her, she applied for an exemption letter. The Management of the NYSC confirmed. One was brought to her. But it turned out it was forged. Meaning it was procured for her from wherever. In our country, that’s easy.
At the notorious Oluwole, Lagos, for example, its two for a kobo. Everything is “forgeable” there. Even Doctorate degrees from any University in the world. You have to give it to those people. They are geniuses. A number of people one sees parading some of those certificates are flaunting fake. They got it from the “University of Oluwole.”
So, Adeosun had one like that. She was deceived. She was promised an Exemption latter, and she got one without asking questions. It happens.
From when the story broke, I always held the view that since she is a British citizen, not a Nigerian citizen, at the time she graduated, she didn’t need the NYSC Exemption letter. My problem was that she had a forged one. That sounded desperate and fraudulent.
However, once she knew the status of the Exemption letter, Mrs Adeosun did the un-Nigerian. She resigned. Nigerians don’t resign from their positions. Examples abound. It doesn’t matter how much humiliation they had been subjected to, they hold tight. They know very soon, nobody will remember. And it continues to be business as usual.
But not Kemi Adeosun.
She followed the footsteps of another exceptional woman – Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, now the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO. When President Olusegun Obasanjo, during his Government, reassigned Okonjo-Iweala from the Ministry of Finance to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she quit after a couple of months. That was not her beat. And, before anybody knew anything, she was back to “the world where she belonged.” The day Adeosun resigned from office was the day she left Nigeria.
From then, nothing much was heard of her as such, until she launched her pet project, a Foundation -“The Dash Me Store”, meant to help the less privileged in the society. I was excited.To prove that her dignity and credibility remain undiminished, no less a person than the Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was the Chairman of the event. See, her heart is still in Nigeria.
But last week, she entered our consciousness, again, with a bang. It was a bang to clear her name, and clean up the NYSC mess which put a stain on her, otherwise, glittering life.
Giving judgment in a suit at a Federal High Court, Abuja, which she instituted against the Attorney General of the Federation, Honourable Justice Taiwo Taiwo, gave Adeosun a clean bill. The Judge said she didn’t need an NYSC certificate to serve as a Minister. He said Adeosun was not qualified for the programme because she was over 30 years when she came back to Nigeria.The Judge declared that if she had participated in the programme, she could have broken the law.
I was happy for her. But I kept saying to myself that for many people, her qualification to serve, or not to serve, was not the main issue. The issue was the criminal aspect of that business – forgery. But I was happy to ignore it. I prayed other people would too. In heart of hearts, as the saying goes, I knew she couldn’t have endorsed forgery. She seems too polished for that. One smart Alec, capable of selling ice blocks in the Artic region simply deceived. A smooth operator. But I was surprised when Adeosun drew attention to herself, and to her aborted Ministerial journey to Nigeria.
Kemi Adeosun
She took to a celebration. Sure, why not? But I expected her to celebrate quietly. With her family and friends. But no. She went public. And mispoke, perhaps, in relief and excitement.
Mrs Adeosun issued a statement, and said she has been vindicated. She said she always held the view that she didn’t need the NYSC certificate to serve. She said her battle was for all Nigerians in the Diaspora. Well?
Actually, my view, recently, is that those of them who studied abroad should be given the choice of taking part in the NYSC programme or not. For them, it should not be compulsory, especially when they had passed the age of the service, like in Adeosun’s case.
But Adeosun did not stop there. She crossed the boundary. She threatened to sue. She said she would sue those who put her through the trauma she went through. Part of her statement read: “I wish to add, in the light of the Court’s ruling, I will at the appropriate time, and without hesitation, take all further steps necessary within the law to protect my reputation.”
This was where Adeosun lost me. I thought the Court had done that for her already, without bringing up the forgery aspect.
I have been asking myself since then who she would sue to protect her reputation. The person(s) who blew the whistle? The Media House which investigated, found it to be true, and published it? The Federal Government? Or who?
She found a strong support in the Pan Yoruba Socio-political Organisation in Canada and the United States. In a statement it issued, signed by its President and Secretary, Engr. Babatunde Shinaba and Dr Durojaiye Akinduri, respectively, the Organisation asked the FG to apologise to Adeosun. The question are: for what? Over what For? For her resignation? I’m not so sure anybody forced her to resign. Seeing the untidiness of the situation, she took the wise and appropriate decision to resign.
For the records, the Court which gave her a clean bill did not touch the forgery aspect of what pushed her to resign. No Court has touched that yet. My hope is that no Court should be asked to do so.
If Adeosun is looking for those to sue, I will give her a list. Number one on that list is the person who procured the forged exemption certificate for her. Number two is the person who forged it. Number three is the “Oluwole company” where it was forged. I am surprised nobody has taken anybody to task on those. Who forged that Exemption Certificate and gave it to her. I’m sure she knows who.
I have an unsolicited advice for Mrs Adeosun. She should let sleeping dogs stay asleep. She should not wake them up. And, she should not, but I guess she already knows, think of accepting any Government appointment in Nigeria.
Knowing Nigerians, and how “wisened-up” we have become, she will always be reminded that her NYSC exemption certificate was forged. That, really, is the crux of the matter.
In a swift move, perceived as a trap to track dissenting States against cattle ranching, President Muhammadu Buhari has favoured Katsina State with a sum of N6. 25 billion approval to establish and develop ranching projects in the state.
Katsina is the home state of President Buhari and predominantly occupied by the Hausas and Fulanis.
The State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari broke the news at the commissioning of Zobe Regional Water Scheme.
According to him, already a sum of N5 billion has been released to the State for the take off of the Ranch.
Elated Governor Masari announced that “Mr President has graciously approved the sum of N6.25 billion for ranch development purposes in Katsina State.
“Part of this amount, N5 billion is already in the account of the state government and within few weeks you will see advertisements calling for interested companies and consultants that will participate in construction.”
The Federal Government has been dangling the option of establishment of cattle ranching before state governors as an option to roaming and destruction of farmlands by Fulani herdsmen.
Some States, especially in the southern part of the country have vowed to do everything possible to frustrate cattle ranching in their domains.
It was of their view that the move is an opportunity to take over community lands by the itinerant Herdsmen.
The Southern Governors, at its meeting in Lagos, early this month, set a timeline of Wednesday, 1st September, 2021 for the promulgation of the anti open grazing law in all member States.
They had earlier, at a meeting in Asaba, Delta state, in May, resolved to ban open grazing in their respective states, a decision which generated reactions from the Attorney General of the federation, Mr Malami.
The All Progressive Congress, (APC) National Caretaker Committee has foisted on all levels of the party consensus arrangement in picking members of their Executives.
Rather than seeing the forthcoming Wards, Local Governments and States Congresses of the party as a war, the party charged members to see the contests as purely ‘family affair.’
National Chairman of the Caretaker Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) of the party and Governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni disclosed this on Friday in Abuja at a meeting with the Forum of State Caretaker Chairmen of the Party.
The Chairman, who was represented the National Secretary of the CECPC, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe said that the States were called to ensure they were on same page with the National leadership of the party.
“This very exercise is so important for the progress of this party and we must get it right. A lot depends on you seated here. No hoarding of forms shall be tolerated.
“The party urges all stakeholders to encourage consensus arrangements because this is a family affair. It is also a constitutional provision in our party.
“The Local organizing Committees and selection of ad hoc officials should be done in consultation with all the stakeholders in each state.”
Earlier in his remarks, Akpanudoedehe, who hailed Governor Buni for the successes recorded by the party in recent times, said “at a time when some of the leaders of other parties are telling us that their own National Chairman is a liar, we in APC are blessed to have a very focused leadership, calm and collected, who is honest and is achieving tremendous results, day by day”.
Chairman, Forum of APC State Caretaker Chairmen and Caretaker Chairman of APC in Borno state, Hon. Ali Bukar Dalori, lamented what he called “use and dump” method of the party leaders, especially the state governors.
“We are very happy; we are proud. You people who are steering the party, we are proud of you. Why I said this is that the Caretaker Committee brought three executive Governors into our party.
“But let me also declare my anger and my worry. Why I said this is that -publicly I am saying this – we are not happy with some of our governors, they used the Chairmen and dumped them.”
He, however, commended the successful implementation of the CECPC’s mandate to bring peace, reconciliation and reposition the APC.
He hailed the successful membership registration, revalidation and register update excercise which has seen the APC swell its membership to over 40 million
The National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) has released figures for the month of June, as it disclosed that urban inflation increased by 18.35 percent from the record of the preceding month of May.
The Bureau noted that Nigeria’s inflation rate reflected a marked increase in urban inflation across Nigeria’s urban centers in the months of June in contrast to the preceding month of May 2021.
The increase, it explained, however, did not positively reflect on the overall national inflation which dipped marginally.
The ‘Consumer Price Index (CPI) Report for June’ released Friday in Abuja by NBS indicated that prices continued to increase in June.
The report outlined that “The CPI measures the average change over time in prices of goods and services consumed by people for day-to-day living.
“On month-on-month basis, the Headline index increased by 1.06 percent in June 2021 This is 0.05 percentage points higher than the rate recorded In May 2021 (1.01 percent).
“The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve months period ending June 2021, over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve months period was 15.93 percent, representing a 0.43 percentage point Increase over 15.50 percent recorded in May 2021.
“The urban inflation rate increased by 18.35 percent (year-on-year) in June 2021 from 18.54 percent recorded in May 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.16 percent in June 2021 from 17.36 percent in May 2024.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban Index rose by 1.09 percent In June 2021, up by 0.05 points compared to the rate recorded in May 2021 (1.04 percent), while the rural index also rose by 1.02 percent in June 2021, up by 0.04 percentage points over the rate that was recorded in May 2021 (0.98) percent.
“The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 16.54 percent In June 2021.
“This is higher than 16.09 percent reported in May 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in June 2024 was 15.96 percent compared to 14.94 percent recorded in May 2021.”
