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NBS dismisses report on Statistician-General’s death

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has dismissed the report on the death of the Statistician-General of the Federation, Dr. Simon Harry.

In a statement issued on Sunday in Abuja by its Director of Communication and Public Relations, Ichedi Joel, NBS described the report as an outright falsehood.

The agency, however, confirmed that the statistician-general was recuperating from an undisclosed illness.

It urged Nigerians to ignore the report of his death.

The statement read: “The Bureau wishes to state that there is no iota of truth in what was published by an online medium and considers the publication as the height of irresponsible journalism and a figment of the imagination of the publisher.

“The fact of the matter is that the Statistician-General was slightly indisposed on Saturday and following medication is now recuperating.

“We are well certain that he would, in a matter of a few days, be back to his desk and continue his work in repositioning the NBS as the foremost national statistics agency in Africa and among the best globally.”

The Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday the average bus fare paid by Nigerian commuters within the city increased by 79 percent in one year.

NBS, which disclosed this in its Transport Fare Watch, said the average fare paid by Nigerians increased from N198.58 in December 2019 to N354.9 in December last year.

According to the report published in December, the average bus journey within the city was up 79 percent Year-on-Year; and 6 percent on Month-on-Month basis.

The average intercity bus journey also went up by 41 percent year-on-year and 5 percent in month-on-month basis

For Okada ride, the average price paid by Nigerians was up 125 percent on year-to-year and 60 percent on month-to-month.

Average airfare went up by 19 percent, year-on-year and 0.42 percent month-on-month.

“Residents of Zamfara, Bauchi and Cross River paid the highest bus fare while those in Abia, Anambra, and Borno paid the lowest within the city,” the report stated.