The Federal Government has clarified that there is no age limit for students taking the National Examinations Council (NECO) and West African Examinations Council (WAEC) exams. This was stated by the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tanko Sununu, during a World Literacy Day event in Abuja on Friday.

Dr. Sununu emphasized that the age restriction only applies to candidates sitting for the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and not for NECO, WAEC, or the National Business and Technical Examinations Board (NABTEB) exams.

Addressing the confusion surrounding the issue, Dr. Sununu said, “We have made ourselves clear in different forums, but the issue keeps recurring. Neither the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, nor myself have stated anything about an age limit for WAEC, NECO, or NABTEB exams. The remarks made by the Minister were misinterpreted, leading to the false impression that there is an age restriction for these exams.

The Minister explained that the discussion on age restrictions has been focused on the UTME, in line with the National Policy on Education. This policy outlines that a child is expected to enter primary school at the age of six, complete six years of primary education, followed by three years each in junior and senior secondary school, culminating in the age of 18 before sitting for the UTME.

“This is directly related to the theme of this year’s World Literacy Day,” Dr. Sununu noted. He further explained that the policy also recommends that a child should be taught in their mother tongue or the language of their immediate environment up until Primary 3, after which English is introduced to facilitate better learning.

The clarification aims to dispel any ongoing misconceptions and to reassure students and parents that no age barrier exists for taking NECO, WAEC, or NABTEB examinations.

By Elizabeth Okwe and Ojone Grace Odaudu

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale has stepped down from his duties, citing medical and family issues as reasons.

The decision to step away from his duties temporarily was conveyed in a memo to the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila on Friday.

In his public statement, Ngelale cited pressing medical issues affecting his immediate family as the primary reason for this decision.

“This agonising decision was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days as a vexatious medical situation has worsened at home,” Ngelale explaine

The leave of absence will impact Ngelale’s multiple roles within the administration.

In addition to his position as Presidential Spokesperson, he will also temporarily step away from his duties as Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on Project Evergreen.

Ngelale acknowledged the importance of his responsibilities, stating, “While I fully appreciate that the ship of state waits for no man, this agonising decision was taken after significant consultations with my family over the past several days.

The duration of Ngelale’s absence remains uncertain, as he described it as an “indefinite leave.”

However, he expressed his intention to return to his national service roles once circumstances allow.

“I look forward to returning to full-time national service when time, healing, and fate permit,” Ngelale added.

• He said the petrol type produced at the Dangote Refinery is the best in the world, and the better the quality, the more the pricing.

By Ojone Grace Odaudu

Oil and gas expert Henry Adigun has cited production costs denominated in US dollars as one reason the $20bn Dangote Refinery in Lagos might not sell a litre of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), known as petrol, below the new pump price at the retail outlets of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

Adigun was a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.

He said the petrol type produced at the Dangote Refinery is the best in the world, and the better the quality, the more the pricing.

The expert said fuel is a dollar-denominated business and refinery owner and billionaire businessman Aliko Dangote should be able to decide the price of petrol produced by his refinery.

Adigun said, “He (Dangote) has cost. The crude is given to him at a cost. He only gets 40% of the crude from NNPC, and spends money to buy the remaining from America and co. It’s a single-train refinery, you can’t use only one crude to produce all products. This is technical in a way.

“So, you have to blend American crude with Nigerian. That’s why, if Nigeria gives him all the barrels, he still has to import and blend them. People should not forget that.

“And I keep telling everybody, the man (Dangote) did not take the loan in naira; he took it in dollars and he has to pay the loans back in dollars.”

Asked if Dangote will sell a pump price of petrol at N700, the expert said, “He cannot. I did the mathematics of his refinery and I said it in the meeting we had with his people and his team that there is no way your petrol will come out at less than N850. There is also retail cost.”

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, faces energy challenges, with all its state-owned refineries non-operational. The country is heavily reliant on imported refined petroleum products, with the state-run NNPCL being the major importer of the essential commodities.

Fuel queues are commonplace in the country. Prices of petrol tripled since the removal of subsidy in May 2023, from around ₦200/litre to about ₦800/litre, compounding the woes of the citizens who power their vehicles, and generating sets with petrol, no thanks to decades-long epileptic electricity supply.

Last December, Dangote, Africa’s leading industrialist, commenced operations at his $20bn facility sited in Lagos with 350,000 barrels a day.

The refinery, which was initially bogged by regulatory battles, hopes to achieve its full capacity of 650,000 barrels per day by the end of the year.

The refinery has begun the supply of diesel and aviation fuel to marketers in the country and now petrol.

At NNPCL outlets nationwide, the pump price of petrol was raised from around N600 to over N900.

The billionaire businessman said as soon as his company finalises modalities with the NNPCL, the product will hit the market. The NNPCL subsequently said it would start lifting fuel from Dangote Refinery in mid-September.