SENATE, AGF REVIEW CONTROVERSIAL TAX REFORM BILLS TODAY The Nigerian Senate will be reviewing the controversial Tax Reform Bill with the Attorney General of the Federation. This comes after Deputy Senate President Senator Jibrin Barau suspended further actions on the tax reform bill on Wednesday. However, Senator Barau revealed that the AGF would meet with the committee to ensure that …

FIVE HOUSE OF REPS LAWMAKERS DUMP LP. JOIN APC The Labour Party caucus in the House of Representatives lost five members to the ruling All Progressives Congress on Thursday. The lawmakers Who lost left LP to APC are Tochukwu Okere (Imo), Donatus Mathew (Kaduna), Bassey Akiba (Cross River), Iyawe Esosa (Edo) and Daulyop Fom (Plateau). Confirming the development, Matthew who …

FG SACKS CIVIL SERVANTS WITH DEGREES FROM BENIN REPUBLIC The Federal Government has terminated the appointments of civil servants who obtained degrees from private tertiary institutions in Benin Republic and Togo between 2017 and now. According to Punch, Segun Imohiosen, Director of Information and Public Relations in the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, confirmed the …

BITCOIN PRICE CROSSES $100,000 MARK FOR 1ST TIME The price of the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, on Thursday surpassed the 100,000 dollars threshold for the first time on the Bitstamp platform. The oldest and best-known cryptocurrency climbed by about 4.8 per cent more than 24 hours, reaching 103,252 dollars at about 0300 GMT. In the past seven days, the leading cryptocurrency has …

MILITARY RETIREES PROTEST UNPAID ENTITLEMENTS, SHUT DOWN FINANCE MINISTRY Some retired military personnel grounded activities at the Federal Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Thursday over their unpaid entitlements. The retirees accused the Federal Government of not paying them a 20% to 28% salary increment from January to November 2024. Among their demands are their owed payments for palliatives from …

PETER OBI BACKS TINUBU’S TAX REFORMS, SAYS THEY ARE OVERDUE The 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, has expressed support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration over its proposed tax reform bills, describing the reforms as critical and long overdue. President Tinubu’s Tax Reform Committee, headed by Taiwo Oyedele, has faced backlash in Northern Nigeria, with various …

HOW DELE FAROUNBI DEFAMED ME, Byy Afey BABALOLA The petition by Aare Babalola, dated November 9, 2024, to the Commissioner of Police in Ekiti State explicates the gravamen of his complaints to the police and the pedestal of his action against Farotimi. Asterisked are defamatory portions in Dele Farotimi’s foreword in his book that stirred the hornets’ nest Dear Sir, …

TRUMP SEEKS TO OVERTURN BIDEN’S PARDON OF SON Donald Trump’s legal team has filed a motion to dismiss his historic criminal fraud conviction, citing President Joe Biden’s recent pardon of his son, Hunter Biden. The 69-page filing argues that Biden’s rationale for pardoning Hunter—a claim of selective and unfair prosecution—mirrors Trump’s allegations of politically motivated legal actions by the Department …

NAMIBIA ELECTS FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, from the governing South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo), has been voted in as Namibia’s first female president after last week’s disputed election. The electoral commission said she had won more than 57% of vote, with her closest rival Panduleni Itula, getting 26%. Following logistical problems and a three-day extension to polling in …

WHAT DELE FAROUNBI WROTE ABOUT AFE BABALOLA This is not a biography for I have painstakingly provided glimpses of my early life in an earlier sequel to my first book. My purpose here is to tell you the story of my sojourn within the Nigerian legal system and to show you how our justice system- the Nigerian justice system is …

OUR GAINS FROM VISIT TO FRANCE, BY ENUGU GOVERNOR, PETER MBAH Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah has described President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to France as a significant step toward strengthening bilateral relations and opening new opportunities for subnational governments like Enugu State. Speaking on the sidelines of the visit to reporters in Paris, Governor Mbah, who was on the …

POLICE ARRAIGN DELE FAROUNBI OVER ALLEGED DEFAMATION OF AFE BABALOLA Human rights lawyer and activist, Dele Farotimi, has been arraigned before an Ekiti State Magistrate Court. Farotimi, who was arrested in Lagos on Tuesday by operatives of the Ekiti state police command was brought to the court at about 10:25am Wednesday. The activist lawyer is being prosecuted on a 16-court …

TINUBU ORDERS REVIEW OF TAX REFORM BILLS AS PROTEST PERSISTS IN NASS Following the controversy trailing the Tax Reforms Bills, President Bola Tinubu has directed the Ministry of Justice to work closely with the National Assembly to address the concerns raised by Nigerians. The President, who is in South Africa, handed down the review order on Tuesday as some northern …

IF YOU CONTINUE THIS WAY, YOU WILL MILK NIGERIA TO DEATH – OBI OF ONITSHA TO POLITICIANS The Obi of Onitsha, His Royal Majesty Nnaemeka Achebe has warned the political class over the increasing level of corruption in the country. The monarch urged those in leadership to put public interest above personal and individualistic desires, insisting that this is the …

UK TO DEPORT NIGERIAN PASTOR OVER ALLEGED FRAUD A Nigerian pastor whose church was shut down over an alleged £1.87 million fraud has lost his fight against deportation, despite claiming it would breach his human rights, News360 Nigeria reports. An immigration tribunal has ruled that Tobi Adegboyega, 44, the cousin of John Boyega, the Star Wars actor, should be deported …