Across Nigeria’s 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, these are the five top Nigerian news stories you shouldn’t miss:

‘ASUU yet  to meet our demand on UTAS’ — FG

The Federal Government Wednesday, said it was still waiting for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to upgrade and return to it the Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), which was said to have failed the integrity test.

The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa disclosed this while fielding questions from State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja.

FG removes electricity subsidy quietly, petrol in phases

The Minister of Finance, Budgets and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that the Federal Government has quietly removed all subsidies in the power sector, with a plan to gradually end subsidies on petrol.

Ahmed who spoke at a virtual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with the theme: “The Political Economy of Fiscal Reforms in Africa”, said the current high price of crude oil has further increased the petrol subsidy burden on the Federal Government.

She stated, “We are cleaning up our subsidies. We had a setback, we were to remove the fuel subsidy by July this year but there was a lot of push back from the polity. We have elections coming and also because of the hardship that companies and citizens went through during the COVID-19 pandemic, we just felt that the time was not right, so we pulled back on that.

“Fuel subsidy is a huge problem for us. It has thrown up our deficits too much higher than we planned. What is happening now with the global oil prices is also going to worsen matters but the current review that we are doing is to hold the subsidy at the level in which we planned.”

Airline operators allege cartel hijack of aviation fuel, warn of safety of flights

The Aviation Operators of Nigeria (AON) has warned that the safety of flights in Nigeria may be in danger because of the persistent hike in the price of aviation fuel.

The operators disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at the public hearing organised by the House of Representatives ad hoc committee investigating the scarcity of aviation of fuel.

They also said they are struggling to maintain their aircraft as fuel now takes over 115 per cent of operating costs.

Banks suspend ATM, PoS transactions abroad

Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have announced temporary suspension of overseas Automated Teller Machine (ATM) card services and Point of Sale (PoS) transactions.

The banks’ decision followed consistent dollar scarcity and challenges faced by manufacturers and real sector operators in sourcing foreign exchange from the economy.

Lagos suspends NURTW from parks, garages

Members of the National Union of Road Transport were suspended last night from operating in motor parks and garages in Lagos.

The government announced the ban in a statement last night through its Information and Strategy Commissioner Gbenga Omotoso.

The statement reads, “The government has a duty to ensure the safety of lives and property of all Lagosians and visitors. Therefore, there is an urgent need to douse the unnecessary tension generated by the leadership tussle in the NURTW and protect the citizenry from the likely fallout of the situation.

“After considering the provisions of the law, the Government hereby suspends the activities of NURTW, which must cease to operate in all parks and garages in Lagos. The government will set up a committee to immediately take control of the parks and garages. Members of the committee will be key stakeholders in the sector.”

This followed the suspension of the Lagos Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, after which the state Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alabi, deployed policemen in various parts of the state, including motor parks, to forestall a possible breakdown of law and order.

The national body of the transport union, in a statement on Thursday, suspended Akinsanya for insubordination and gross misconduct.

The Lagos State Council of the union with over 200 branches has resolved to immediately withdraw its membership and operation from the National body of NURTW.