WE’LL PRIORITIZE PASSAGE OF TAX REFORM BILLS – SPEAKER, ABBAS
Dons Eze
- January 14, 2025
WE’LL PRIORITIZE PASSAGE OF TAX REFORM BILLS – SPEAKER, ABBAS
WE’LL PRIORITIZE PASSAGE OF TAX REFORM BILLS – SPEAKER, ABBAS The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen has said the priority of the House is to ensure the passage of the Appropriation Bill and the Tax Reform Bills. The Deputy Speaker, Ben Kalu, while delivering a speech on the resumption of the House from the Christmas and new year recess on behalf of Abbas said both bills are pivotal to economic recovery and fiscal stability. He said: “The legislative agenda of the House for 2025 prioritises the passage of the Appropriation Bill and the Tax Reform Bills, both of which are pivotal to economic recovery and fiscal stability. “These reforms are essential for broadening the tax base, improving compliance and reducing dependency on external borrowing. “The House will ensure that these reforms are equitable and considerate of the needs of all Nigerians, particularly the most vulnerable.” Abbas said as the lawmakers engage with the budget and other legislative priorities, they must remain meticulous in their scrutiny, ensuring that every proposal aligns with national objectives and delivers tangible benefits to the citizenry. He was of the opinion that the planned Citizens’ Town Hall on the budget would further reinforce transparency and inclusivity in our decision-making processes.
19 WEDDING GUESTS DIE IN ROAD CRASH IN PLATEAU
19 WEDDING GUESTS DIE IN ROAD CRASH IN PLATEAU No fewer than 19 wedding guests died and 11 others were injured in a road accident in the Kwana Maciji area of Pankshin Local Government Area, Plateau State. The Chairman of the Pankshin Local Government Area Emergency Management Committee, John Dasar, confirmed the incident. Dasar said the guests, who came from Kano State to attend a wedding in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area, were returning home when the accident occurred. He added that as the travelers were being helped out of the affected vehicle, it caught fire, burning the 19 people who had not yet been evacuated. He said, “The accident happened on Saturday. The people were from Kano; they came for a wedding ceremony in Barkin Ladi. They were returning home and were passing through Gindiri to Bauchi, which is a shorter route. “The driver and a few others survived, but 19 of them were burnt beyond recognition. When the accident happened, the people were being helped out of the vehicle when it caught fire and trapped the deceased,” he said. Dasar further stated that the survivors were rushed to the Pankshin General Hospital.
UZODINMA HAPPY WITH REMOVAL OF OIL SUBSIDY, SAYS STATES NOW GET MORE MONEY
UZODINMA HAPPY WITH REMOVAL OF OIL SUBSIDY, SAYS STATES NOW GET MORE MONEY Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State has declared that state government are currently getting more funds under the President Bola Tinubu’s administration. Uzodinma said the fuel subsidy removal is responsible for the current development. Speaking during the inspection of some projects to celebrate the first year of his second term on Monday, the governor said the fuel subsidy removal is a blessing to state governments. He said, “In reconciling the negative effects of the fuel subsidy removal and the benefits in terms of socio-infrastructure, social benefits, and then the ease of doing business occasioned by the provision of the enabling infrastructure, I think it is a blessing. “It is a direct blessing, it is not a disguise to the sub-nationals because more monies are now coming to states and state governments must do things to show citizens that they are able to do these things because they now get more monies as a result of the fuel subsidy removal by the Federal Government.” Tinubu had declared an end to fuel subsidy regime on May 29, 2023. Speaking during his inauguration as president in Abuja, Tinubu said his administration would no longer pay the subsidy on fuel.
POLICE DEMAND APOLOGY FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OVER PROTEST REPORT
POLICE DEMAND APOLOGY FROM AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL OVER PROTEST REPORT The Nigeria Police Force said it has written and demanded an immediate retraction and public apology regarding a publication titled “Bloody August: Nigeria Government’s Violent Crackdown on and Bad Governance Protests” written to Amnesty International. A Tuesday statement by the Force’s Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumiyiwa Adejobi said the letter was dated 6th January 2025. The NPF said the publication which included numerous unsubstantiated claims, falsely accused the Nigeria Police of human rights violations, police brutality, and excessive violence during the August 2024 End Bad Governance protests. The statement said “Upon careful review and investigation, the NPF categorically rejects these baseless allegations, affirming that the claims are entirely false and without foundation. “The NPF emphasizes that during the protests, the Police acted with restraint and professionalism, even at the highest point of provocation and violent attacks, adhering to global best practices and using minimal force where necessary. “Evidence, including national media coverage, demonstrates the Police’s efforts to maintain law and order while safeguarding peaceful protesters. Criminal elements attempting to exploit the protests were however arrested and dealt with according to law. “The Nigeria Police Force strongly believes that this misleading publication undermines the trust and confidence it has worked diligently to build with Nigerian citizens and residents. “The Force further underscores that such false claims harm the reputation of the organization and demoralize its officers who risk their lives to protect the public. “In light of these falsehoods, the NPF has demanded that Amnesty International issue a formal retraction and public apology within seven days.” The statement added that the failure of Amnesty to comply will prompt the NPF to consider legal actions to protect its reputation. “The Nigeria Police Force remains committed to its duty of safeguarding the lives and property of Nigerians, upholding the law, and earning the trust of the people it serves,” the statement added. Amnesty had accused the Nigerian police of using excessive force against protesters during the nationwide #Endbadgovernance demonstrations between 1-10 August, killing at least 24 people in the states of: Borno, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Niger. In all cases, Amnesty said the victims were shot by the police, firing live ammunition at close range often at the head or torso, suggesting that officers were shooting to kill. Two survivors suffered injuries after being shot by police in the arm and legs, others were suffocated by the indiscriminate use of tear gas, according to the human rights organisation. “People in Nigeria witnessed unbelievable lawlessness as security personnel fired live ammunition at peaceful protests. The death toll could be higher than 24 because of the authorities’ desperate efforts to cover up the atrocities. Peaceful protest over government policies is now a matter of life and death in Nigeria,” said Isa Sanusi, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria. “The Nigerian authorities must hold the police and other security agencies to account for unleashing deadly force on people who did not constitute an imminent threat to lives. It is shocking that police have engaged in flagrant denials of wrongdoing despite public evidence to the contrary, and this speaks to their utter disregard for the sanctity of human lives. President Bola Tinubu must constitute an independent and impartial investigation of human rights violations during the #Endbadgovernance protests.”
HOW YAHOO BOY BEHEADED ABUJA CORPS MEMBER PACKED DISMEMBERED BODY IN BAG – POLICE
HOW YAHOO BOY BEHEADED ABUJA CORPS MEMBER, PACKED DISMEMBERED BODY IN BAG – POLICE Operatives of the Nasarawa State Police Command have arrested a suspected Yahoo boy, internet fraudster, identified as Ajayi for allegedly killing his girlfriend, Salome Enejo for rituals. The suspect was caught with a fresh human head in Agwan Sarki, Orozo, a boundary area between Nasarawa State and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT on Sunday. The Nasarawa State Police Public Relations Officer, Ramhan Nansel, who confirmed the development to DAILY POST on Monday, said the suspect was rescued from being lynched by an angry mob. The PPRO noted that after the suspect was rescued, he led the operatives to his residence where the dismembered body of the young lady was recovered. According to the police, the deceased was later identified to be a serving member of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC in Abuja. The PPRO said, “On Sunday evening, police operatives attached to the Karshi Division rescued one Ajayi from an angry mob that had beaten him to pulp. “A sack containing a fresh human head was subsequently recovered from him. A follow up investigation led Police operatives to his room where dismembered human body packed into sacks were recovered. “The suspect has been taken to the hospital for treatment. The victim was later identified to be one Salome Enejo, a 24-year-old resident of Nyanya Abuja and a serving corps member. The Commissioner of Police has ordered an investigation into the case”.
ABDUCTED ANAMBRA REVEREND SISTERS REGAIN FREEDOM
ABDUCTED ANAMBRA REVEREND SISTERS REGAIN FREEDOM The two abducted reverend sisters, identified as Vincentia Nwankwo and Grace Okoli, have regained freedom after spending about six days with their captors. The reverend sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Christ, were kidnapped on Tuesday, along the Ufuma Road in Orumba North Local Government Area of the state, on their way back from a vocational association’s meeting in Ogboji. Although the actual date of their release could not be ascertained, their release was confirmed in a press statement issued on Monday and signed by the Secretary General of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Maria Ikeotuonye. According to Ikeotuonye, the two reverend sisters were released unconditionally and are in good health. The statement read in part, “I bring to your notice in joy that our dear Sisters Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, who were kidnapped in the evening of Tuesday, January 7, 2025, have been released unconditionally and in good health. “We thank God and thank you all for your prayers and support all through these rough and uncertain days. May God forever be blessed through Mary our Mother.” When contacted, the Anambra State Police Command Spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed their release but said the command was yet to take brief of what happened. “Yes, we are hearing that the two nuns have been released, but the command is yet to take the brief from the victims to ascertain what happened. Further details shall be communicated,” Ikenga added.
MARKETERS RAISE PRICES OF PETROL BY 4.75% AT DEPOTS
MARKETERS RAISE PETROL PRICES BY 4.75% AT DEPOTS The loading cost of Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) and other refined petroleum products at the depots increased on Monday. The PUNCH gathered that marketers raised petrol and diesel prices at depots by N43 or 4.74 per cent due to the rising crude oil prices. Recall that the cost of Brent, the global benchmark for crude, reached $79.76 per barrel on Sunday. This current situation indicates that filling stations nationwide may adjust their pump prices to reflect the higher costs of refined products. Data obtained by our correspondent while analysing petrol price movements at loading depots on Monday showed that Swift depot increased its loading price to N950 per litre from N907 last Friday. Wosbab Depot increased its price to N950 from N909, while Sahara Depot made a similar change to N950 from the N910 it sold a litre of petrol last Friday. Also, a private depot, Shellplux, increased its loading costs to N960 from N908. Chipet Depot asked retailers to pay N960 per litre to receive products. It sold at N908 per litre last week Friday. Nipco Depot increased its price by N38 from N912 to N950 while the Matrix Warri Depot increased its cost from N925 per litre to N945. Our correspondent also gathered that marketers who picked products from the Dangote refinery and resell to other retailers increased their costs to N923 per litre despite picking products from the refinery at N899 per litre. For diesel, some loading depot prices including Stockgap depot increased its price from N1,080 to N1,150. Ibeto Depot approved an increase from N1,050 to N1,150 per litre. Sahara Depot sold its product at N1,150 from N1,045 last week. Nipco Depot increased its price to N1,150 from N1,120 while Optima Depot approved a N72 increase to N1,120 per litre from N1,048. The average increase in depot prices for PMS stands at approximately 7-10 per cent while AGO prices have surged by 5-10 per cent, depending on the depot and location. Reacting in an earlier interview, an oil and gas expert, Olatide Jeremiah, said depots are poised to increase the loading price of refined petroleum products. Jeremiah, who is the Chief Executive Officer of petroleumprice.ng, said, “It implies that there is a possibility of increased fuel prices, particularly diesel prices. “As of Friday, when Brent crude neared $80, prices selectively increased in some depots in Lagos, and on Monday, prices might be jacked up by importers because a large chunk of oil marketers import petroleum products and Brent crude is a major determining factor in the refining process.” Another marketer, Bayo Adelaja said, “Depot rates have escalated sharply, and this is directly affecting pump prices. Consumers should expect further fluctuations in the coming weeks,” he noted. With depot rates showing no signs of stabilising, the coming weeks may bring further adjustments, emphasising the need for long-term strategies to mitigate the impact on consumers and the economy.
THE MANY SINS THAT COST FORMER LAGOS SPEAKER, OBASA, HIS SEAT
THE MANY SINS THAT COST FORMER LAGOS SPEAKER, OBASA HIS SEAT Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa had his eyes on the governorship seat of Lagos when his colleagues booted him out of office on Monday. Reports on Obasa’s interest in the coveted seat were discarded as mere rumour in some quarters, but the message became clearer after the Archbishop of Methodist Church Nigeria (Lagos), Most Rev. Isaac Ayo Olawuyi, indirectly drummed up support for the three-term speaker during the Lagos House of Assembly’s 22nd Annual Thanksgiving Service. At the event which the former Speaker attended, Olawuyi had said in the interest of religious tolerance, Lagosians should elect a Muslim as governor in 2027. “I also want to add that we have consideration for religious inclination in Lagos State. It would be 12 years in 2027 that we have been in the system together and we have been having Christians as governors. Now, it’s time to give our Muslim brothers a chance to govern us in Lagos State. We want to pray that when it’s time for the election, it would be a time for us to elect who will govern us in Lagos State effectively,” the Archbishop had said. He went further to praise the former Speaker for his leadership and collaboration with the other arms of government, saying these have kept the state strong. “You have been a true and sensitive leader with a big heart. You have proved yourself worthy. We pray that God will continue to use you to make us smile in Lagos and also grant you your heart desires,” he said. After that event, the campaign for Obasa regained momentum while the former Speaker carried on with glee. However, he was impeached on Monday, about a month after that endorsement. For a man who lasted that long in a slippery political environment, how did such fate befall him? How did his adversaries get him? According to reports, Obasa’s travail began after the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos reported him to President Bola Tinubu. Putting it mildly, a chieftain of the ruling party who spoke off the record said, “The seemingly insurmountable walls around him started crumbling during the End-of-The Year break. His fate was sealed after our elders visited the president. That meeting nailed his political coffin.” During the visit, insiders said top on the agenda of the GAC was the cold war between Obasa and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Although Sanwo-Olu and Obasa have had a running battle, the matter came to a head during the 2025 budget presentation. Obasa stoked controversy when he declared that he was not too young or lacked experience to run for Lagos governor. He had said, “I am not too young or lacking experience to run. Those who have been before me are not better off… I have made it a personal task to mobilize people on the platform of Mandate, which some political detractors have misconstrued as being a selfish aspiration on the ground for me to become governor of the state.” Making such remark on live TV and right in the presence of Sanwo-Olu had drawn the ire of the party leadership in the state and they waited for a ripe time to tender their grievances before their leader. The chairman of GAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, was said to have started the discussion by reminding the president of how highly the governor’s office was when he governed between 1999 and 2007. He reportedly told the president how disrespectful Obasa had been to Sanwo-Olu, citing several instances. Tinubu was said to have openly lashed the former speaker for not just disrespecting the governor but also the GAC and party elders. Since that…
ARTHUR NZERIBE, THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA AND GHANA
ARTHUR NZERIBE: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN GOVERNMENTS IN NIGERIA AND GHANA When people talk or think of Senator Arthur Nzeribe, they often associate him with the infamous Association for Better Nigeria, which Mr. Nzeribe formed as a special-purpose vehicle to scuttle the June 12, 1993, Presidential election. For two years, they waited and lurked in the dark for the opportune time to strike, which came on June 10, 1993, when every other effort to stop Chief Moshood Abiola had failed. When the National Electoral Commission proceeded with the election, Arthur Nzeribe and his cronies went again to Abuja to secure an order from Justice Ikpeme’s boss, Justice Dahiru Saleh, to stop it. Justice Dahiru Saleh had actually assigned the case to a female Justice of Igbo origin, but the woman had a fear of God and fell ‘sick’ and had to be flown out of Nigeria. Some people who knew her later reported seeing the sick judge shopping in Europe. When other judges refused to get entangled in what they rightly or wrongly considered a dirty job, Justice Dahiru Saleh was left to do it himself. And just like that, Arthur Nzeribe and his cronies wasted the ₦40 billion (equivalent to $2 billion at the time) Nigeria has spent on the transition programme. But that was not the first time Arthur Nzeribe had played the spoiler. Kwame Nkrumah, the charismatic founding father of Ghana and its first President, was on a state visit to China and North Vietnam when a group of military and police officers overthrew his government in an unnecessarily bloody coup. The coup was led by General Joseph Arthur Ankrah, who emerged as the new Ghanaian leader on February 24, 1966. It was widely believed in Ghanaian military and intelligence circles that Mr. Nkrumah, a political foe of the first Nigerian Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa-Balewa, had sponsored the Emmanuel Ifeajuna coup of January 15, 1966, in which mid-level Igbo officers wiped out the Federal leadership, as well as those of the Northern, Western, and Midwestern governments while sparing Igbo leaders. When the coup failed, Ifeajuna fled to Ghana and was given a very comfortable refuge by Mr. Nkrumah. He was also known to have met with Nkrumah’s intelligence officers. Three years before Ifeajuna’s coup, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was convicted and later imprisoned by the Central Government in a federal prison in Calabar on September 11, 1963, for charges of conspiring with the Nkrumah administration in Ghana to overthrow the democratically elected government of Nigeria. Ifeajuna remained in Ghana until he was forced to flee after Nkrumah was ousted in a coup on February 24, 1966. But back to General Ankrah. While he was Chairman of the National Liberation Council, his government commissioned a poll to identify the most popular Ghanaians. The survey contract was awarded to a firm owned by a Nigerian named Arthur Nzeribe. This upset Mr. Nkrumah, who was in exile in Conakry, Guinea, because Arthur Nzeribe was his friend and ally. When the poll, not unsurprisingly, named Ankrah as the most popular Ghanaian, his rivals smelt a rat and made a stink until a Commission of Inquiry was set up. The Commission established that Mr. Nzeribe had paid Ankrah a kickback of 6000 Ghanaian Cedis, which opened a can of worms that forced Ankrah to tender his resignation as Ghanaian Head of State on April 2, 1969. Prior to this, Mr. Nzeribe, though an Igbo, had sold weapons to the Nigerian government to use against his fellow Igbos during the Nigerian Civil War
NASS QUERIES JAMB FOR SPENDING N1.85BN ON MEALS, INSECTICIDE, OTHERS
NASS QUERIES JAMB FOR SPENDING N1.85BN ON MEALS, INSECTICIDE, OTHERS The National Assembly Joint Committee on Finance on Monday queried the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) over “excessive spendings” on meals, refreshments, mosquito killings and others in 2024. The committee also threatened to cut off the federal government’s allocation to the board in the 2025 budget. This was after JAMB Registrar, Prof Ishaq Oloyede, presented the board’s 2025 budget proposal to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives. Oloyede said JAMB had remitted N4 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund in 2024 but received a grant of N6 billion from the federal government. But Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) queried JAMB over its spendings and asked the registrar to justify N850 million spent on security, cleaning and fumigation last year. He said, “You spent N1.1billion on meals and refreshments. Are you being freely fed by the government? What this means is that you are spending the money you generate from poor students, many of them orphans. “You also spent N850 million on security, cleaning and fumigation in 2024. What did you fumigate? Is it mosquitoes that took all this money?” Oshiomhole further criticised JAMB for spending N600 million on local travels. Similarly, Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Abiodun Faleke, wondered why JAMB, a revenue-generating and self-sustaining agency, should rely on federal allocations. The lawmaker said, “You remitted N4bn and got N6 billion from the federal government. Why not keep the N4 billion and we stop the government from funding JAMB?”