SOUTH AFRICA RELAXES VISA RULES FOR NIGERIAN INVESTORS, TOURISTS Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa, has announced a new visa policy for Nigerians, saying investors and tourists could apply for a visa without submitting passport. The South African President revealed this on Tuesday at the opening of the 11th session of the Nigeria-South Africa Bi-National Commission (BNC) in Cape Town, …

WHY WE WITHHELD IDENTITIES OF OWNERS OF SEIZED 753 UNITS DUPLEXES IN ABUJA – EFCC The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has responded to the criticisms following its record-breaking asset recovery of a 150,500-square-meter estate in Abuja, which includes 753 duplexes and other apartments. The estate, located in Lokogoma District, was forfeited to the Federal Government after a successful …

FG CONDEMNS ETHNIC SLURS ON TAX REFORM BILLS, ASKS FOR INPUT The Federal Government has said there should be no room for name-calling or the injection of unnecessary ethnic and regional slurs into the national conversation on the Tax Reform Bills before the Senate. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, made the appeal in a statement commending …

HALT RETIREMENT OF 1000 STAFF PENDING INVESTIGATION – REPS TO CBN The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, directed the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN to suspend the retirement of 1,000 staff and the associated payoff scheme until an investigation is completed. The House decided to investigate the mass retirement of over 1,000 CBN employees to evaluate the criteria, process and …

UPROAR IN HOUSE OF REPS OVER TAX REFORM BILLS There was a shouting match among members of the House of Representatives on Tuesday over President Bola Tinubu’s controversial Tax Reform Bills. Tempers flared when the House spokesperson and Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee, Akin Rotimi, made a remark concerning the tax bills. The commotion began when Rotimi, standing …

AGF FAGBEMI ASKS ICC TO STOP PROBE OF NIGERIAN MILITARY The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, has asked the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands, to stop the prolonged investigation of the Nigerian military.The AGF stated the country’s position on Monday in a statement made available to the …

OVER 61,000 FCT RESIDENTS ON HIV/AIDS TREATMENT No few than 61,384 people living with HIV/AIDS have been placed on treatment, by the Federal Capital Territory Administration. This was made known in Abuja by the mandate Secretary, Health Services and Environment Secretariat, FCT Administration, Dr Adedolapo Fasawe, at a press conference to commemorate the 2024 World AIDS Day. He explained that …

NLC BLASTS EBONYI GOVERNOR, SAYS THREAT TO SACK WORKERS IRRESPONSIBLE, UNHELPFUL The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has criticized the Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, over the threat to sack striking workers over the non-implementation of the N70,000 new minimum wage. Nwifuru, while addressing journalists on Monday in his office at the new Government House, Centenary City, Abakaliki, threatened to withhold …

FIVE KEY TAKEAWAYS FROM THE TAX BILLS BY OPEYEMI BAMIDELE The first takeaway specifically revolves around the review of the sharing formula of the value added tax (VAT) accrued to all the federation. Under Section 77, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill proposes a reduction of VAT distributable to the federal government from 15% to 10%. The bill also concedes 55% …

MINIMUM WAGE: STRIKING WORKERS SHUT DOWN KADUNA, NASARAWA, EBONYI, CROSS RIVER Workers in Kaduna, Nasarawa, Ebonyi, and Cross River states on Monday commenced a one-week warning strike to demand the implementation of the new national minimum wage and consequential adjustments. In Nasarawa State, public offices, including the State House of Assembly, courts, and ministries, were shut down. Stunned by thousands …

YORUBA, HAUSA LIVING IN ABIA FAULT REUBEN ABATI, SAY WE’RE NOT DENIED LAND PURCHASE Contrary to the wrong insinuation held by some uninformed persons like Arise TV anchorman, Reuben Abat, that the people of the Southeast do not sell their lands to outsiders to build houses, investigations have revealed the true position. Findings showed that the Hausa and Yoruba, as …

EARLY MORNING FIRE KILLS CUSTOMS OFFICER, WIFE, FOUR CHILDREN A fire incident killed six family members in the early hours of Monday in Ede, Osun State. The victims were identified as a Customs officer, Tijani Kabiru, attached to the Oyo/Osun Command, his wife, and four children. The fire reportedly started around 2 am at the family’s residence in the Olowopoku …

LACK OF AUTONOMY, CORRUPTION CRIPPLING LOCAL GOVTS –HOUSE OF REPS SPEAKER , TAJUDEEN ABBAS The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajuddeen has reiterated that lack of autonomy, corruption, inadequate funding, among others constitute significant challenges to the effectiveness of local governments. He stated this in an opening remark at the ‘National Dialogue on Local Government and Constitution Amendment’ …

FG BEGINS ROAD REPAIRS IN ENUGU, EBONYI, ANAMBRA FOR CHRISTMAS The federal government says all palliative repairs on bad spots of Federal and state roads within Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu have been ongoing smoothly and seamlessly. The federal controller of Works in Enugu, Smart Okpi, said requests had been made and approval granted for contractors handling various roads to effect …

GOVERNORS SAYING TAX BILLS WILL CAUSE HARDSHIP ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR POVERTY IN NORTH – SANI SHINKAFI Sani Shinkafi, executive director of the Patriots for the Advancement of Peace and Social Development (PAPSD), has criticised the state governors who are opposing the proposed tax reforms. On October 3, President Bola Tinubu asked the national assembly to consider and pass four tax …