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SPECIAL REPORT: “My Brother, It’s a Total Loss”: Voices from Abuja’s Marathon Traffic Nightmare

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

For hundreds of thousands of commuters, the Mararaba-Keffi road is not merely a route but a grueling daily test of endurance. On a typical morning, the passage connecting Nasarawa State to Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, transforms into a stagnant river of metal and frustration. A series of interviews with road users trapped in the gridlock paints a vivid picture of a systemic transport crisis, as filed by Nigerian Tracker’s Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa.

By 7:30 AM, Muazu, a 34-year-old banker, had already been in his private car for over an hour, stuck near Mararaba Market. He left his home in Ado at 6:15 AM for his office in Central Area. “This road is a nightmare every single day,” he lamented, gesturing at the unmoving sea of vehicles.

He identified the core issues as a catastrophic mismatch between road capacity and population. “One major road for a million people. And every morning, broken-down vehicles, carelessly parked tankers, and too many FRSC checkpoints that just seem to slow us down for no reason.” His solution echoed a common refrain: actionable infrastructure development.

“They’ve been talking about expanding this road for years. Thankfully, our voices have been heard by this current administration of President Bola Tinubu. We hope they get it fixed as soon as possible. We need action, not talk,” Muazu said.

A Commercial Driver Calculating Losses

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Quite a distance away, Sanusi, a 52-year-old commercial bus driver, was parked in front of the Sahad Stores opposite First Bank, slowly filling his vehicle with passengers. The traffic had decimated his livelihood. “My brother, it’s a total loss. Before, like 8 years back, I could do three trips to Wuse by 10 AM. Now, I’m lucky to do one. The fuel we burn in this traffic alone can take us to Kaduna.”

From his professional view point, he pinpointed the chaotic merging near Karu junction and the proliferation of illegal shortcuts as critical failures.

“Everyone forces their way in. And the buses stopping anywhere to pick passengers—we are all guilty.” He advocated for dedicated bus lanes and the completion of the long-promised road expansion.

A Teacher’s Ordeal

Inside a cramped tricycle (keke) at the Karu Bridge junction, Chioma, a 28-year-old teacher heading for Garki, watched her morning vanish.

“By the time I get there, first period is almost finished. It’s so discouraging.”

She observed a culture of impatience exacerbating the blockage, with drivers using oncoming lanes to jump the queue.

“Then causing a total block when they meet oncoming vehicles.” She also cited sand and gravel trucks spilling debris and street traders encroaching onto the roadway. Her desired fix was a reliable, scheduled bus service and a dedicated bypass for heavy goods vehicles.

An Expert’s Diagnosis

Transport economist Dr. Idris Adetola, in a phone interview with our correspondent, synthesized these complaints into a stark diagnosis. He described the Mararaba-Keffi corridor as a “textbook case of dormitory town planning failure,” where massive residential development occurred without parallel transport investment. “One over-capacity road connects everyone to their jobs in Abuja. Add poor traffic management, zero mass transit alternatives, and weak enforcement, and you have a predictable crisis.”

Dr. Idris proposed a multi-tiered solution: immediate enforced traffic management, a critical short-term launch of a high-capacity Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, and a long-term strategy to decentralize Abuja’s economy and complete stalled rail and road projects. “The people’s daily suffering,” he concluded, “is a direct result of planning neglect.”

Asked if he is hoping for an improvement in the ongoing reconstruction on that route, Dr. Idris replied: “Well, this is Nigeria! You never can tell the next news. But I hope they do better with the ongoing reconstruction.”

Together, these voices from the daily users form a unified testimony: the Mararaba-Keffi gridlock is more than an inconvenience; it is a daily economic and social drain, demanding urgent and holistic intervention.

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You’re a Hypocrite!” – Bashir el-Rufai Goes Nuclear on Brother Bello Over Uba Sani Loyalty

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

 

Bashir el-Rufai, son of former Kaduna governor Nasir el-Rufai, unleashed a barrage of slurs at his brother, Bello, on Saturday morning.

Bashir, in a series of expletive-laden posts on X, attacked Bello over his recent political moves, accusing him of abandoning the family while he was aligned with Uba Sani, his father’s successor.

Sani, the incumbent governor of Kaduna, was a former ally of el-Rufai, but both men fell out after the former won the 2023 governorship election.

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Following el-Rufai’s resignation from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in March 2025, Bello, who represents Kaduna north federal constituency, remained in the ruling party.

However, on May 7, 2026, Bello eventually defected from the APC to join his father in the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

Commenting on Saturday, Bashir alleged that his brother remained loyal to Sani until he realised he was being “dumped”, after which he began talking about family loyalty.

“Stuck with Uba Sani until he realized he is being dumped then suddenly remembered family loyalty and moved to ADC. Where was he since? Purely serving his interest,” Bashir wrote.

He accused his brother of being neutral while others criticised the Kaduna state governor.

Bashir also alleged that Bello asked him to “pipe down my criticism of his former boss,” presumably Sani.

One of Bashir’s tweets. The expletives have been redacted.
“At this stage in my life, I hate nonsense,” he added, while calling his brother a hypocrite.

Bashir also made several other allegations against his brother in the X posts, some of which were later deleted.

The allegations bordered on fertility status and unsubstantiated drug use.

Their father, el-Rufai, has been in custody since February 2026 over alleged financial impropriety during his tenure as governor of Kaduna between 2015 and 2023.

On April 13, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) arraigned him at the Kaduna high court on an amended nine-count charge bordering on alleged fraud and abuse of office.

The Department of State Services (DSS) is also prosecuting el-Rufai before the federal high court in Abuja over allegations of wiretapping.

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Court Ultimatum Forces FBI to Hand Over Tinubu’s Fraud Records to Judge—But Keeps Them Hidden from Public

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has hand delivered records of President Bola Tinubu’s 1993 drug-trafficking and money-laundering case to Judge Howell Beryl of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, saying they are for her eyes only, court filings seen by Peoples Gazette indicated.

The FBI secretly submitted the records on Friday to avoid disobeying a court order while sidelining transparency campaigner, Aaron Greenspan, who petitioned the Bureau for the Nigerian leader’s records in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.

Following years of foot-dragging on a FOI petition filed by Mr Greenspan in 2023, the FBI on Friday complied with a court order directing it to release Mr Tinubu’s records. Mr Greenspan worked with Nigerian journalist, David Hundeyin, to file the petition in 2023.

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The records submitted as “under seal, ex parte, in camera declarations were hand delivered to the Court on August 28, 2026 in compliance with this Court’s Minute Order dated August 20, 2026,” filings showed.

Mrs Beryl lost her patience with the FBI after the bureau missed several deadlines , giving excuses on why it could not immediately provide the records.

She issued August 28 as the final ultimatum to the FBI, which prompted the FBI’s decision to comply, showing it “in camera” to the judge alone, without carrying along the petitioner.

Earlier this week , FBI claimed that submitting the records would violate Mr Tinubu’s privacy and argued that FOI was established to screen the operations and records of government institutions, not necessarily private individuals.

For decades, Mr Tinubu has avoided speaking on the drug affair, refusing to clarify controversies surrounding his involvement in a case that saw him forfeit hundreds of thousands of dollars to the U.S. government.

Mr Tinubu also sought to block the release of his records, asserting his rivals only sought to use them to discredit him in a Nigerian presidential election. He begged the court to protect his privacy rights.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in 2023 released documents holding Mr Tinubu’s encounter with American authorities over allegations of narcotics trafficking and money laundering.

 

 

 

 

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NFF President Gusau Resigns

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By Yusuf Danjuma Yunusa

Nigeria Football Federation President, Ibrahim Gusau, has resigned from office, announcing his decision during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

According to the Super Eagles news account on X (@SSE_NGA), Gusau was joined by board members of the Executive Committee in resignation.

The crisis follows the Super Falcons’ failure to qualify for the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup, a first in Nigeria’s history, after a 2-1 defeat to South Africa in the play-off.

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The Falcons had earlier been knocked out of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations at the quarter-final stage by Cameroon. The Super Eagles also failed to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.

The NFF has separately faced scrutiny over its handling of a ₦17bn Federal Government intervention fund released in 2024, as well as a fact-finding committee report alleging that board members and officials influenced national team invitations for financial gain.

Gusau’s exit comes ahead of the NFF’s elective congress, scheduled for September 27 in Lafia, Nasarawa State.

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