Nigerian passengers on an Air France flight from Paris to Abuja are currently stranded in Chad following a flight disruption.

Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, disclosed this in a post on his X page on Saturday.

In a video shared by Keyamo, the Air France airline passengers called on the minister to “do justice to this as you have always done”.

Speaking on the matter, the minister said the aircraft, which had earlier stopped in Chad to drop off some passengers, left the Nigerian travellers stranded.

He called on the appropriate regulators to probe the airline concerning the incident.

“It has come to my attention that some Nigerians on an Air France flight from Paris to Abuja are presently stranded in Chad, from where the flight earlier dropped some passengers,” the statement reads.

“I have immediately directed the Consumer Protection Department of NCAA to swing into action and engage Air France. We shall inform everyone of the outcome soon.”

Keyamo urged Air France to immediately issue a statement on the fate of the Nigerians.

On May 22, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) said over 300 passengers were affected by the discord involving the Turkish Airlines and aviation unions, as the carrier cancelled flights in and out of Nigeria from May 21 until May 23.

Following the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) action, passengers of Turkish Airlines were stranded at the international wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport in Lagos, as the airline failed to airlift them to Istanbul.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) have declared an indefinite strike over the federal government’s refusal to increase the minimum wage from N60,000.

Confirming the development to TheCable, Ben Ukpa, NLC spokesperson, said the planned strike is expected to kick off on June 3.

“The strike is because of the government’s refusal to increase the minimum wage and also their refusal to reverse the electricity tariff hike,” Ukpa said.

The organised labour had given the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and the federal government an ultimatum of May 31 to reverse the electricity tariff hike.

On April 3, NERC approved an increase in the electricity tariff for customers in the Band A classification—from N66 to N225 per kwh.

The tariff hike attracted public outcry and calls for its reversal.

The labour unions had also given a May 31 ultimatum for the federal government to finalise the new national minimum wage fixing process for workers.

So far, the federal government has proposed a minimum wage of N48,000, N54,000, and most recently, N60,000.

The NLC and TUC rejected all proposals and insisted on N615,500, which they demanded citing the high cost of living.

In a statement announcing the industrial action on Friday, the labour unions said it is disheartening that the government has neglected its responsibility to the workforce despite repeated calls and warnings.

“In light of this persistent inaction, we, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), hereby issue a notice of commencement of an indefinite nationwide strike to the Federal Government,” the statement reads.

“We reiterate that since the national minimum wage negotiation exercise has not been concluded and the agreed wage passed into law, the hike in electricity tariff not reversed and categorization of consumers into Bands not stopped as demanded; Nigerian workers are compelled by these failures to embark on an indefinite nationwide industrial action beginning on Monday, the 3rd of June, 2024 to press home our demands.

“The NLC and TUC are united in this cause, and we call on all our affiliates and state Councils, Civil Society Organizations, market men and women and the general populace to prepare for a decisive action. We cannot and will not accept any further delays or excuses.”

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) has apologised for the glitch on its results viewing portal.

The results page had gone blank early Friday morning but was later restored after roughly two hours.

At the time of the glitch, the IEC said local offices continued to capture results while its technicians were working on restoring services.

The commission did not state a reason for the disruption but assured that results have not been compromised.

“All services have since been restored and the leaderboard is working normally. Result processing continues unaffected,” the IEC said in a statement.

When the portal returned, results had come in from 54.9 percent of polling stations, giving the ruling African National Congress (ANC) 41.86 percent of votes cast.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) had 23.67 percent while the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) secured 19.98 percent.

A final result near the current preliminary 42 percent would be a steep tumble for the ANC which achieved its lowest victory margin of 57.5 percent in the 2019 elections.

It would also coerce incumbent President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is seeking re-election, to begin negotiations for a coalition government — stoking political uncertainty that could bleed into the country’s shaky economic prospects.