Lagos State Government Gives 25% Transport Discount Amid Public Outcry

The Lagos State Government has responded to public outcry by reinstating a partial transport subsidy through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Unit (LAMATA). The subsidy, which was previously set at 50%, had been removed by the federal government, causing concerns among residents. In a statement by Kolawole Ojelabi, the Head of Corporate Communication at LAMATA, it was announced that the reinstated subsidy will be effective from Tuesday (today), until further notice. The official statement declared, “Following appeals to the governor, he has extended the passenger fare reduction by 25% across the regulated bus and rail transport services until another review is announced.” The statement emphasized the notable increase in diesel prices over the past three months, soaring from N867 in August to N1,300 in November 2023, representing a substantial 50% increase. Responding to the calls for the reinstatement of the 50% fare discount for regulated bus and rail transport, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu directed the implementation of a 25% discount starting from Tuesday, , addressing the concerns raised by the public.

Reps Throw Out N5bn Presidential Yacht From Supplementary Budget

*Increase Students’ Loan To N10bn The House of Representatives has yanked off the budgetary allocation of N5.09 billion for purchase of a presidential yacht in the N2.176trn supplementary budget submitted to the lawmakers. The House, instead, moved the proposed sum to students’ loan thereby increasing allocation for students’ loan to 10bn as against 5. 5bn earlier provided in the supplementary budget. The action of the lawmakers followed the public outcry that trailed the provision made a presidential yacht amidst the hardship Nigerians are facing following the removal of fuel subsidy and other policies by the current administration. Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Abubakar Bichi Abubakar (APC, Kano) made this known while addressing newsmen after the passage of the N2.176 trillion supplementary budget. He said the need became necessary following low budgetary allocation for students. He said the committee also increased budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Defence from 476bn to 546bn following security concerns. Bichi also disclosed that the minimum wage for workers was considered and approved for onward transmission to the executive while promising proper legislative oversight to ensure 100 percent implementation. In the supplementary budget sent to the National Assembly by the president, the federal government allocated N5.09 billion to purchase a presidential yacht. The proposed sum was under the capital expenditure of the Nigerian Navy’s budget. According to the breakdown, the Navy will require N62.8 billion for its operations, with recurrent expenditure and capital expenditure gulping N20.4 billion and N42.3 billion, respectively. But Bichi said the five billion naira for the presidential yacht has been yanked off from the budget. On the presidential yacht, Bichi said, “Actually, as far as we are concerned, we don’t have that anymore. We have increased the student loan. Initially, the student loan was N5bn in the budget but we have increased it to N5bn so that our students can access that facility in order for them to go to school. We don’t have the yacht anymore in budget.