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BREAKING: President Tinubu has announced plans to waive debts owed by domestic airlines to aviation agencies and to scrap multiple levies, taxes, and fees on domestic tickets, as part of measures to cushion the impact of the ongoing Jet A1 fuel crisis.

Minister of Aviation Festus Keyamo made the disclosure during a meeting with airline operators and oil marketers today in Abuja. The meeting was convened to address the astronomical rise in the cost of Jet A1 fuel.

Keyamo said, “I had the privilege of meeting Mr. President to brief him about the meeting, and Mr. President mandated us to quickly bring a request to him. The first request that he will consider and grant is a generous discount on the debts the airlines are owing the aviation agencies, NAMA, FAAN, NCAA, and so on and so forth.

“The percentage of discounts and all that Mr. President will decide, he is so concerned about what is happening. He asked me in particular to express his deep appreciation to the airline operators. He knows the conditions under which we operate.

The minister added that the president would also consider broader reforms to reduce the burden of multiple charges on domestic air travel.

“The second request Mr. President has asked that we should bring for him to consider fully and grant is that he wants to set up a committee to address the issue of levies, taxes, and fees on domestic tickets once and for all. This request has been on for a long time. So Mr. President will put the team together, and he’ll give them a deadline to report to him as quickly as possible on the government fees and charges and levies that we can remove from domestic tickets for now to give respite to Nigerians who are also buying their tickets.

“And of course, he’ll consider a date for the airline operators to meet him one-on-one for the other more robust discussions regarding access to capital and all of that,” he said.

Responding on behalf of the airline operators, the Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, asked Minister Keyamo to tell the president not to decide the percentage of discount to give the airline operators, but to rather approve a total waiver of all the debts they owe.

Onyema also asked President Tinubu for a suspension of further payment by airline operators until the Strait of Hormuz reopens.

Onyema also commended President Tinubu for being a businessman president who is very, very responsive, recalling how he removed the 4 per cent Free on Board (FOB) for airlines within 24 hours.

Additionally, Onyema asked President Tinubu to look into the cost of acquisition of funding for airlines. He said all over the world, they acquire at 3 per cent.

“In Nigeria, we acquire at 30 to 35 per cent. This is killing. That’s why airlines owe FAAN, owe NCAA, owe everybody, because we are the sacrificial lambs. It’s not a lucrative business. So we ask Mr. President to please fund the Bank of Industry.

“That is the only bank that is still doing single-digit or at least 10 per cent interest to airlines. But they don’t have funds now. Mr. President should please help us to fund the Bank of Industry very well because that is another way of helping us in the long run and permanently,” he added.

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Customs’ first female pilot earns US commercial licence

Superintendent of Customs Nafisat Balogun has secured a commercial multi-engine pilot licence in the United States, becoming the first female pilot in the Nigeria Customs Service to achieve the feat.

The milestone highlights growing gender inclusion within the service, with officials describing her journey from cabin crew to pilot as inspiring.

BREAKING NEWS ⛔️ Former Senate President Saraki, Ex-Kwara Governor Ahmed To Face Trial June 4 Over 2018 Offa Armed Robbery
Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and former Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed, are set to face trial on June 4, 2026, over a fresh 20-count charge filed against them by the Kwara State Government.

The charges, which include culpable homicide, criminal conspiracy, and other offences, stem from the April 2018 Offa armed robbery incident.

Also named as defendants in the case before Justice Haleemah Salman of the Kwara State High Court are Yusuf Abdulwahab, former Chief of Staff to ex-Governor Ahmed, and Alabi Olalekan, a former political aide.

The charge, dated April 9, 2026, was filed by the state’s Attorney-General, Ibrahim Sulyman, SAN, and is scheduled to be served on the defendants on April 17, 2026.

The trial, registered under charge number LWS/114C/26, comes after the Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of the principal suspects, including Ayo Akinnibosun, who confessed during trial to being a hitman for Saraki’s political structure.

Prosecutors allege that the defendants conspired to sponsor and arm individuals involved in the deadly robbery, which claimed multiple lives and provoked widespread outrage.

Central to the government’s case are confessional statements reportedly made by Akinnibosun, who described himself as a “hitman” operating within a political network allegedly tied to the accused persons, according to The NigeriaLawyer.

Prosecutors allege that Akinnibosun, one of the convicted suspects, claimed he received two AK‑47 rifles from Yusuf Abdulwahab ahead of a political congress, along with a Toyota Lexus SUV bearing Saraki’s number plate and cash described as “empowerment funds.”

According to the state, the armed group was allegedly tied to operations connected to the political networks of both Saraki and Ahmed.

The charge further cites claims that some of the convicted suspects accompanied Saraki during a condolence visit to Offa shortly after the robbery, and references the recovery of vehicles and other exhibits allegedly traced to Kwara State government facilities at the time.

On January 30, the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Judicial Division, upheld the death sentences of the five individuals convicted over the 2018 Offa bank robbery, dismissing all grounds of appeal filed by the convicts as lacking merit.

The court has dismissed all their grounds and upheld that their conviction should stand.

The convicts, Akinnibosun, Azeez Salahudeen, Niyi Ogundiran, Ibikunle Ogunleye, and Adeola Abraham, were found guilty of illegal possession of fi****ms, armed robbery, and culpable homicide.

The sixth suspect, Michael Adikwu, a retired police officer, died in custody before the trial began.

The offences were linked to a violent robbery that targeted five banks in Offa Local Government Area, Kwara State, leaving at least 32 people dead, including nine police officers, two of whom were women.

Justice Haleemah Salman of the Kwara State High Court initially handed down the death sentences after a six-year trial that drew nationwide attention.

Delivering a judgment that lasted over four hours, Justice Salman stated that the convicts “acted contrary to the law and allowed their connections with those in power at the time to lead them astray.”

In addition to the death sentence by hanging, the court imposed three-year prison terms for illegal possession of fi****ms, in accordance with Nigeria’s penal code.

Investigators recalled that vehicles and exhibits linked to the crime scenes were recovered from the Kwara State Government House and a government ministry in 2018, and were later tendered as evidence leading to the conviction of the main suspects.

Saraki has consistently denied any involvement, dismissing the allegations as politically motivated and describing them as a “witch‑hunt” aimed at tarnishing his reputation and undermining his political career.”

Former Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed has likewise denied the allegations, insisting the claims against him are baseless.

The high‑profile trial, scheduled to begin on June 4, 2026, is expected to draw significant national attention, given the stature of the defendants and the gravity of the Offa robbery case, one of the most notorious violent crimes in Kwara State’s recent history.

Lagos 4,000MW Power Hub Projects!!!

Lagos State is currently developing four strategic electricity generation hubs under its Clean Lagos Electricity Market plan, designed to support up to 4,000MW of gas-fired power.

These hubs, aimed at bridging the power deficit from the national grid, will each host projects with a minimum generation capacity of 500MW.

Each of the four hubs is slated to provide 500 MW or more, aiming for a total of 4,000MW.

The purpose is to address the gap between the state's estimated 6,000 MW requirement and the current sub-2,000 MW supply from the national grid.

The hubs are designed to be located near existing DisCo (Distribution Company) substations, such au7s Eko and Ikeja, for optimized distribution.

The four hubs being developed by the state are all located near existing distribution substations. These are ; Egbin, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agbara, and Ogudu.