Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State shared details of his conversations with the late former President Muhammadu Buhari following his retirement, including a discussion on President Bola Tinubu’s decision to remove petrol subsidy at the start of his administration.

While addressing reporters at the late president’s burial in Daura, Radda recounted his interactions with Buhari after he left office in 2023. He described gaining insights from Buhari’s leadership and patriotic values during this period.

He said that once Buhari returned to Daura after completing his term in 2023, they were able to engage more frequently, which allowed him to benefit from the former president’s wisdom and humor.

Radda mentioned that their conversations often focused on the challenges facing Nigerians and national service.

He shared that Buhari once told him, Your Excellency, go and do your best and be honest as a leader. You cannot satisfy Nigerians; only God can do that. He added that Buhari often spoke about the burdens he faced in office but felt relieved after retirement.

According to Radda, Buhari also said, I pity Bola (President Tinubu) for what he is doing. He is a brave man for removing the fuel subsidy. When I was president, whenever I made an attempt to remove the subsidy, a lot of people would give me too many reasons not to do so. But Bola did it immediately. If he had consulted people, he could not have removed the fuel subsidy now.

Radda emphasized that this was one of the conversations with Buhari that will stay with him. He said Buhari’s passing has left a significant void in Katsina State that will be difficult to fill.

President Tinubu ended the petrol subsidy on 29 May 2023, the day he assumed office after Buhari. He said the move was necessary to support economic growth and advance national progress.

He also stated that the Nigerian economy had long been underperforming due to various structural issues that hindered its development.

Aliko Dangote, who leads the Dangote Group, has revealed plans to construct what he describes as the “biggest, deepest seaport in Nigeria”.

Speaking with Bloomberg, Dangote mentioned that he has submitted an application to initiate development of the planned Atlantic seaport located in Olokola, Ogun state.

He explained that the project is aimed at simplifying the export process for products — including liquefied natural gas (LPG) — and will contribute to the rapid expansion of his industrial ventures.

Dangote noted that the initiative “to build the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria” progressed after submitting the necessary documentation for approval last month.

“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves, but I think doing this will encourage other entrepreneurs to come into it,” he said.

The proposed port marks Dangote’s return to the same location where he had once halted plans for a refinery and fertiliser plant due to disagreements with local authorities.

Back in March, Dangote stated he had resumed construction in Ogun state “because of His Excellency, our governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun”.

In a separate interview, Devakumar Edwin, Dangote Group’s vice-president, disclosed that the company also intends to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Lagos.

He added that this effort will involve laying pipelines from the Niger Delta to the coast.

“We want to do a major project to bring more gas than what Nigeria LNG is doing today,” he said.

“We know where there is a lot of gas, so run a pipeline all through and then bring it to the shore.”

On May 26, Dangote announced that Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) aims to generate $7 million in daily fertiliser sales within the next two years.

Roughly a month later, the company declared that it would commence nationwide distribution of diesel and premium motor spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, starting August 15.

The organisation also revealed that it has procured 4,000 new compressed natural gas (CNG)-powered tankers to improve its fuel delivery network across the country.

On June 27, Dangote further stated that the continent will become self-reliant in fertiliser production within 40 months.

The total amount of electricity tariff subsidy shortfall borne by the Federal Government in 2024 reached ₦1,949 billion.

This figure, based on data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s 2024 Annual Report, resulted from electricity tariffs that were set below cost-reflective levels for the year under review.

To bridge the gap between actual cost-reflective tariffs and the approved ones, NERC stated that the government provided tariff shortfall funding totaling ₦1,949.17 billion in 2024.

However, the report did not clarify whether the Federal Government had already disbursed this subsidy amount.

An in-depth look at the data reveals that in Q1 2024, the Federal Government incurred ₦633 billion in gross tariff shortfalls. In Q2, the amount dropped to ₦380 billion. By Q3, it rose again to ₦464 billion and further increased to ₦471 billion in Q4.

Meanwhile, electricity Distribution Companies recorded a significant 40 percent year-on-year increase in revenue for April 2025, with total billing amounting to ₦257.57 billion for the month.

During this period, electricity companies collected ₦199.85 billion in revenue, marking a notable increase in recent records, according to NERC.

Despite this collection milestone, the efficiency rate stood at 77.6 percent — an improvement from March’s 71.1 percent — but still not sufficient to meet the full liquidity demands of the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

The surge in billing occurred even as total energy received by Discos declined to 2,622.46 gigawatt-hours, reflecting a 9.2 percent decrease compared to the previous month.

Out of that, 2,184.61 GWh were actually billed to customers — a 5.8 percent drop — indicating that the increase in revenue was driven primarily by higher tariffs rather than improved electricity supply. This especially affected Band A customers, who began paying cost-reflective rates of about ₦209 per kilowatt-hour after the April 2024 tariff revision, up from ₦66/kWh.

The new tariff structure, which significantly raised power costs for Band A customers, was designed to better reflect the actual cost of supply, lessen the government’s subsidy burden, and enhance investor confidence by improving cash flow for Discos and Gencos.

In Q1 2025, the power sector billed a total of ₦744.27 billion and collected ₦553.63 billion, leading to a quarterly collection efficiency of 74.4 percent, slightly lower than the 77.4 percent recorded in Q4 2024.

From January to April 2025, total billing climbed to around ₦1.02 trillion, while unrecovered revenue amounted to ₦260 billion. This reflects ongoing issues with consumer payments, rising energy poverty, and inconsistent service levels.

A key concern remains the Aggregate Technical, Commercial, and Collection (ATC&C) losses, which averaged 39.6 percent in Q1 2025. This is nearly double the MYTO target of 20.5 percent, resulting in estimated losses of ₦200.5 billion.

In April, Eko Disco achieved full revenue collection, totaling ₦38.7 billion — a 28.82 percent increase. Ikeja Disco brought in ₦34.68 billion, marking a 6.1 percent rise, while Abuja Disco earned ₦30.27 billion, reflecting a 4.3 percent decline.