The political crisis rocking Rivers State deepened last week, with shots fired from each side of the divide.
Leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state had asked the state lawmakers to begin the process of impeaching Governor Siminalayi Fubara.
Fubara’s estranged godfather and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, on his part, described the choice of his successor as a mistake.
Wike, who spoke at an event in Rivers, begged God and his political family to forgive him.
According to him: “I want to say this clearly: in life, we make mistakes. I have made a mistake. I own it up and I say God forgive me. I have said all of you forgive me. But we will correct it at the appropriate time.
“I am human. I am bound to make mistakes. So forgive me for making a wrong judgment. So nobody should kill.”
Wike also urged his supporters in the state assembly not to succumb to intimidation, saying: “Don’t be afraid. Nobody will remove you as lawmakers.
“Most of you don’t understand. This is our work. Our business is to make them to fear. That is what I am doing. We will make them to be angry every day and they will continue to make mistakes.”
Mr Edison Ehie, the Chief of Staff to the governor did not waste time to respond, as he used the opportunity of another event in the state to vow that Fubare would teach his opponents a political lesson.
He attributed the crisis in the state to the struggle for resource control.
According to Ehie: “We are going to teach them a lesson of political arithmetic. What that small boy (Fubara) will do to you, you’ll know that khaki no be leather.
“The problem we have in the state is that 11 persons said they would control the resources of Rivers State. These 11 persons now called 20 others to allocate resources to themselves.”
However, recent happenings show that the factional state lawmakers are living up to Wike’s directive.
DAILY POST recalls that the now suspended House had earlier overruled the governor when it passed into law several bills, which Fubara’s camp believes were aimed at weakening the governor’s control of the state.
But in what appeared to be a fight-back, a Rivers State High Court barred the pro-Wike speaker and 24 other lawmakers from parading themselves as members of the House of Assembly.
Meanwhile, Fubara earlier on Friday ordered an immediate relocation of the legislative business of the state House of Assembly to Government House in Port Harcourt, where the Oko-Jumbo and the other two lawmakers are expected to carry out legislative functions.
The relocation order was contained in the state’s official Gazette, Executive Order of the Rivers State Government 001-2023.
The order came about 24 hours after Victor Oko-Jumbo, a lawmaker loyal to the governor, emerged as a new factional speaker of the assembly.
DAILY POST recalls that the governor on Monday, April 6, declared that members of the state assembly, as currently led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Martins Amaewhule, were no longer lawmakers, saying they do not even exist.
Fubara noted that in seeking peaceful resolution to the political crisis that erupted in the state last year, he had attended several reconciliation meetings, whose resolutions the other party, where the state’s lawmakers belong, had rebuffed.
The comment, which marked the beginning of the current face-off, was not unconnected to the inability of the assembly to approve some requests from the governor.
This is even as the lawmakers also accused the governor of deliberately withholding his assent from bills already passed, terminating the peace deal brokered by President Bola Tinubu on December 18, 2023.
DAILY POST recalls in a bid to quell the lingering political crisis in the state, Fubara and Wike alongside other stakeholders including the Rivers Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chairperson, Aaron Chukwuemeka, and the Speaker of the state assembly, Martin Amaewhule, in December last year, signed a resolution document after a meeting with Tinubu.
However, keen watchers of the activities in Rivers say whatever is contained in the resolution now belongs to the dustbin of history as both factions have returned to trenches.
What triggered the recent crisis
DAILY POST gathered that the recent feud followed the enactment of the Rivers State Local Government (Amendment) Bill and the refusal of the governor to assent same.
On March 13, 2024, the House passed the bill and forwarded it to Governor Fubara for assent, but he declined.
Overriding the governor, the House led by its Speaker, Hon Martin Amaewhule, at its 159th Legislative sitting held at the Assembly Quarters in Port Harcourt on Monday, passed the bill into law.
The lawmakers wanted the tenure of the Local Government chairmen extended.
The chairmen are all loyal to former governor and FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
DAILY POST reports that the Chairmen in the 23 local government areas of the state are expected to bow out of office on June 17, 2024 as their tenure elapses.
A source privy to the happenings told DAILY POST that the House members, particularly the 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister, by the amended law, wants the office of the Chairmen extended at least by six months.
The source, who does not want to be mentioned, however, alleged that the governor withheld his assent because he was nursing the plan to appoint caretaker chairmen who will be loyal to him.
“His plan is to ensure that everyone in the government who is loyal to Chief Wike is pushed out. We all know that the current chairmen are not with him, in fact, they also want the governor impeached.
“From the look of things, Fubara does not want to conduct elections to replace the outgoing chairmen. He wants to install his own people first before conducting the election. This is what is happening in the state.
“All these battles against the House of Assembly are because of the LG chairmen. If you could remember, when the governor wanted to pass the budget last year, he installed a factional speaker to make it possible.
“Now, he has installed another Speaker who will allow him to appoint his boys to serve as caretaker chairmen in all the local government areas”, he alleged.
The source further alleged that the lawmakers have vowed that any attempt by the governor to appoint caretaker chairmen would lead to his immediate impeachment.
Meanwhile, PDP and APC have been trading words over the call for the impeachment of Governor Fubara.
While the APC alleged that the governor no longer respects separation of powers, accusing him of abusing his office, the PDP insisted that the seat of the 27 lawmakers plotting Fubara’s impeachment does not exist owing to their defection.
Why Governor Fubara must be impeached – APC
The spokesman of the Rivers State chapter of APC, Ikenga Chibike told DAILY POST on Saturday that the impeachment call became necessary to restore normalcy in the state, alleging that the governor had taken the law into his own hands by hijacking the state assembly.
Explaining what necessitated the impeachment call, Chibike said, “we called for his impeachment because the governor has become dictatorial.
“He has no respect for due processes and he has been attacking the House of Assembly and even the LG chairmen.
“The governor has taken the law into his own hands by trying to intimidate the state assembly and all other persons who failed to agree with his opinion on issues.
“Nigerians can recall that the president intervened in the disagreement between the executives headed by the governor and the House of Assembly headed by Martins Chike Amaewhule. The special intervention came with a proclamation of about eight items.
“In the document, the lawmakers were asked to withdraw their impeachment notice, which the assembly has graciously done.
“The governor was also asked to present the budget before the properly constituted assembly headed by Hon Martins but the governor refused.
“The governor had planned to hijack the responsibility of the assembly. All the bills that were passed, the governor decided to withhold his assent.
“The assembly decided to override him and he took offense and decided to intimidate the assembly by declaring that 27 members do not exist.
“So we called for the impeachment of the governor so that we can have a responsible person who can take care of the state.”
Asked why the APC was concerned over the crisis in the state citing the fact that the two major actors, Wike and Fubara are both members of the PDP, he said, “the 27 lawmakers are members of our party, so we must stand and defend their interests.
“Secondly, because Fubara is the governor of Rivers State doesn’t mean he should govern only PDP members. He is the governor of Rivers State and that includes those in his party, those in the opposition party and those who are non-partisan.
“We are interested because the crisis affects our people and it affects the development of our state.”
On the alleged move by the governor to appoint caretaker chairmen for the 2023 local government areas, the APC spokesman said, “I will not be surprised if the impunity continues. I won’t be surprised because the governor has again proclaimed another faction of the state assembly.
“These are the signs of impunity and I won’t be surprised if the governor continues on that line.
“It was on the basis of the fact that the tenure of the current chairmen will elapse on the 17th of June that the assembly asked the executive to conduct elections so that we can have democratically elected chairmen.
“The assembly gave the Chairmen six months extension to enable the governor conduct the election.
“If the election had been conducted before the expiration of their tenure, there wouldn’t be any need for extension.”
Lawmakers with legibility issues can’t impeach Gov Fubara – PDP counters APC
In a counter reaction, the spokesman of the PDP in Rivers State, Sydney Gbara told DAILY POST that the 27 lawmakers loyal to the FCT Minister lacked the power to impeach the governor.
According to him, “the truth is that the impeachment is not possible.
“In the first place, the 27 lawmakers have eligibility issues because they defected from the PDP to APC when there was no crisis in the party.
“Ordinarily, they are not supposed to be acting except for the presidential intervention which the governor signed and accepted to recognize the Martins’ faction.
“You know at that time, we had two factions. We had the Martins’ faction and the Edison Ehie’s faction which was recognized by a court of competent jurisdiction.
“Edison would have gone ahead to function as the Speaker that is recognized by law which has not had a contrary judgement up till today.
“Because of the governor’s stance for peace, he told Edison to resign to give way to the other faction to operate.
“So they have only been operating by the lifeline given by the governor of Rivers State, His Excellency Siminalayi Fubara but they abused the privilege. Day in, day out, they continue to push out one retrogressive law or the other against the state.
“They have been causing legislative nuisance in the Rivers State politics.
“They are only for their selfish interest and that of their pay master. The governor has pronounced them non existing and the pronouncement stands.
“Today, we have a new Speaker, Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo. He has been sworn in to continue from where Edison stopped. The new assembly is the legally recognized 10th assembly in the state.
“This is why I said the impeachment cannot work. They are illegally occupying the seats. They were there on the lifeline of the governor and since the governor has withdrawn that, they cannot function.
“The Rivers Youths have vowed that they will besiege wherever they seat to pronounce any impeachment against the Governor.”
On the allegation that the new Speaker emerged to enable the governor to appoint caretaker chairmen in the 23 local government areas, the PDP spokesman said, the new faction emerged because “Martins’ faction had laid siege on the governor and the people of the state. Nothing is working.
“The government is moving in a mechanical and arithmetic progression when they are supposed to be acting in geometric progression.
“House of Assembly in other states are making laws for the development of their various states. With or without them, the government has to move on.
“That is why we now have a government recognized assembly that will work with the government for the betterment of the state.”
Meanwhile, President Bola Tinubu has told the political actors in Rivers that he would not take sides in the ongoing crisis.
Tinubu, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, said that anyone with the belief that President Tinubu would take their side in the political crisis would be disappointed.
The Special Adviser made the President’s position known during an interview on TVC, insisting that Tinubu won’t allow any attempt to frustrate the Rivers government.
“I believe that anyone who believes that by their actions, whether it’s from the Federal level, State level or the legislative branch in the State or the executive branch in the state, if they are banking on Mr. President to take sides on this matter, they’re mistaking and they’ll be disappointed,” he said.
[DailyPost]
The International Monetary Fund has advised the Nigerian government to halt what it referred to as implicit fuel and electricity subsidies.
The Washington-based bank disclosed this in its recently published report.
The organisation told Nigeria that the subsidies would guzzle three per cent of the nation’s gross domestic product in 2024, as opposed to one per cent in the year before.
IMF projected that the implicit fuel subsidy could gulp as high as N8.4 trillion in 2024 from N1.85 trillion in 2023, N4.4 trillion in 2022, N1.86 trillion in 2021 and N89 trillion in 2020.
“Costly and regressive energy subsidies”, it said, noting that this was critical “to creating fiscal space for development spending and strengthening social protection while maintaining debt sustainability.
“As inflation subsides and support for the vulnerable is ramped up, costly and untargeted fuel and electricity subsidies should be removed, while, e.g., retaining a lifeline tariff.”
Recall that in June last year, the Nigerian government announced the removal of fuel subsidy.
Similarly, in April 2024, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission announced a 240 per cent electricity tariff increase for Band A customers, getting 20-24 hours of power supply.
Following the outcry from Nigerians, a recent minor reduction was announced.
The National Assembly and the 36 state assemblies of the federation as well as their agencies will spend about N724bn this year, an analysis of their 2024 budgets by The PUNCH has shown.
Further findings also showed that the salaries and allowances for federal and state lawmakers would cost the country about N50bn this year.
This means that the federal and state governments earmarked N673.94bn for the national and state assemblies as well as their related agencies in the 2024 budget.
The salaries and allowances are based on data collated from a document obtained from the website of the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Allocation Commission.
However, the overall allowances exceed the reported figure due to undisclosed amounts for several of the lawmakers.
An analysis shows that 109 members of the senate will get N8.67bn in salaries and allowances while 360 members in the green chamber will get N24.43bn in salaries and allowances.
A breakdown shows that the annual basic salary of the President of the Senate is N2.48m each year (about N9.92m in four years) while that of the Deputy President is N2.31m yearly (about N9.24m in four years).
Out of 19 allowances assigned to the Senate President and his deputy, only five allowances were assigned a specific figure.
The disclosed allowances include constituency allowance (250 per cent of the basic annual salary), duty tour allowance (N50,000 per night), Estacode ($1,300 per night), Recess (10 per cent of the basic annual salary) and severance gratuity (300 per cent of the basic annual salary).
The allowances of the Senate President will gulp about N33.29m, which includes a N6.21m annual constituency allowance, N248,424.25 annual recess allowance, and N7.45m for severance gratuity, which is paid at the end of the tenure.
The allowances of the Deputy Senate President are expected to cost the nation about N30.94m, which includes N5.77m annual constituency allowance, N230,916.70 annual recess allowance, and N6.93m for severance gratuity.
Other senators get N2.03m as basic annual salary (a total of N8.12m in four years) and a total allowance of N72,137,440 for each of them.
The salaries of the 107 senators will cost N868.3m, while their allowances will cost N7.72bn.
In the section for the salaries and allowances of other senators, out of the 20 allowances mentioned, only 15 were disclosed.
Similarly, the Speaker of the House gets an annual salary of N2.48m (about N9.92m in four years), while the deputy gets N2.29m (about N9.16m in four years).
The allowances of the Speaker are about N18.33m which includes N2.48m annually for constituency allowance, N247,711 annual recess allowance, and N7.43m severance gratuity.
The allowance of the deputy speaker was pegged at about N17.16m and this includes annual N2.29m for constituency allowance, N288,703 for recess, and N6.86m for severance gratuity.
Other members of the House of Representatives get N1.99m each as basic annual salary (a total of N7.94m in four years), while each got N58.76m as allowance.
The salaries of the 358 House of Representatives members will cost N2.84bn while their allowances are estimated at N21.04bn.
Also, the Speaker of a state assembly will be paid N1.64m (N6.56m in four years) as an annual basic salary while the deputy speaker gets N1.45m (N5.8m in four years).
In total, the 36 speakers will get about N59.04m as annual basic salary or N236.16m in four years while the 36 deputies will get about N52.1m as annual basic salary or N208.40m in four years.
The allowances of the speaker will gulp about N5.58m (N22.30m in four years) which includes N409,968 annual constituency allowance, N163,987.50 annual leave allowance, and N3.28m severance gratuity.
The deputy speaker will be paid about N4.92m (N19.67m in four years), and this includes N361,495 constituency allowance, N144,598 for annual leave, and N2.89m severance gratuity.
In total, the basic allowances for the 36 speakers and their deputies will cost the nation N1.51bn.
There are 784 members in the 36 state Houses of Assembly each of whom is entitled to N1.34m annual salary or N5.34m in four years and an allowance of N12.97m.
In total, the 784 members cost their states about N4.19bn in salary and N10.17bn in allowance.
Meanwhile, checks by The PUNCH indicated that the government approved a total sum of N294.7bn for the National Assembly, its affiliate bodies and infrastructure construction.
Details of the National Assembly’s 2024 budget showed that the assembly office got N36.73bn for its activities. The Senate got an envelope funding of N49.14bn while the Representatives got N78.63bn.
The political arm of the National Assembly has the Senate and the House of Representatives with 109 and 360 members, respectively, while the administrative/bureaucratic arm has the National Assembly Management headed by the Clerk of the National Assembly and the National Assembly Service Commission.
The federal parliament has affiliate bodies including the National Assembly Service Commission which got funding of N12.33bn, the National Assembly Institute of Legislative and Democratic Studies (the academic arm) got N9.1bn while the headquarters got N4.5bn.
Further checks showed that the legislative aides were given N20.34bn, the Public Account Committee of the Senate got N130m while N150m went to that of the green chamber.
Office of the retired clerks and permanent secretaries were allotted N1.2bn, the service-wide vote was N15.2bn; general services got N30.81bn, National Assembly Library building got N12.12bn while books procurement for the library got N3bn; Appropriation Committee Department – Senate (N200m); Appropriation Committee Department – House (N200m). The construction of the NASC will also gulp N10bn.
‘State Assembly’s budgets’
The statutory budgets of a state assembly and its agencies surged to N379.28bn in the 2024 budget.
An analysis of each state’s 2024 budget showed that Akwa-Ibom, Kaduna, Delta, Edo, Imo, Lagos, and Ogun governments gave the highest funding to their lawmakers.
This funding includes appropriation for the service commission, civil servants and capital expenditure.
Abia State assembly got N6.43bn, Akwa-Ibom (N5.84bn), Anambra (N7.23bn), Bauchi (5.45bn), Bayelsa (N2.04bn), Benue (N6.18bn), Borno (N8.1bn), Cross-Rivers (N10.82bn), Delta (N14.17bn), Ebonyi (N2.39bn), Edo (N26.17bn), Ekiti (N2.8bn), Enugu (N6.23bn), Gombe (N5.61bn), Imo (N26.85bn), Jigawa (N7.17bn), Kaduna (N17.11bn), Kano (N10.08bn).
Other states including Katsina (N4.83bn), Kebbi (N6.72bn), Kogi (N7.77bn), Kwara (N5.03bn), Lagos (N70.56bn), Nasarawa (N6.03bn), Niger (N4.15bn), Ogun (N14.41bn), Ondo (N11.34bn), Osun(N4.13bn), Oyo (N9.68bn), Plateau (N10.15bn), Rivers (N5.02bn), Sokoto (N10.16bn), Taraba (N9.5bn), Yobe (N3.99bn), and Zamfara (N3.83bn).
- Reactions
Meanwhile, some state parliaments have reacted. The Ondo State House of Assembly said the amount earmarked for the budget of the assembly would not be enough to take care of all its expenses in 2024.
A check on the state’s website showed that a sum of N14.9bn was earmarked for the Ondo assembly for this year.
Speaking on the budget, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Orientation, Mr Olatunji Oshati, said the sum was not enough, calling for the implementation of the assembly autonomy which has been signed into law by the President.
Oshati said, “The money (budget) is not enough; even though we have been agitating for the release of our constituency allowances to carry out our constituency projects, it has not been granted. We would be happy if the money could be increased to enable the House to function well.
“It would be great if the assembly autonomy law that has been signed could be implemented, it would enable the house to address its financial challenges without any influence of the executive. The house would also function maximally”.
- Edo
In Edo, the State House of Assembly was allotted the sum of N13bn in the state’s budget for 2024.
The Speaker of the House, Blessing Agbebaku, had disclosed this early this recently during a function.
However, efforts to get the breakdown of the budget at the weekend proved abortive as a principal officer told the PUNCH that the breakdown could only be obtained from the Ministry of Finance.
Also, the Minority Leader of the Ogun State House of Assembly, Lukman Adeleye, on Sunday, said the budgetary allocation for the legislature was around N12bn.
Adeleye, however, said that the figure was only on paper, as precedence has shown that the actual budget performance has hardly been 30 per cent.
He said, “In this case, the actual performance, I mean the money the assembly will be able to get for a whole year, may not be more than 30 per cent of the entire budget going by the past performance of the budget.
‘’The budgetary provision was designed to take into consideration the implementation of the autonomy of the state houses of assembly as enacted during the tenure of President Mohammadu Buhari.
“The budget is to take care of both the capital and recurrent expenditure like payment of salaries for the civil servants, the salaries for the lawmakers, the constituency projects, running of the assembly, training, oversight functions among other things to aid the effectiveness of the legislature.
“But as I have earlier pointed out, the budgetary allocation is on paper because I don’t know of any governor that has implemented the autonomy law, we are still at the mercy of the executive arm of the government”.
- Groups react
Meanwhile, some anti-corruption groups have reacted to the issue.
The Deputy Director of the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Kolawole Oludare, said the NASS lacked transparency and accountability, saying, “The transparency part is letting the people be aware of how much and the process of allocation. The accountability aspect is also for the actions and the procedures of the National Assembly.
“For context, the National Assembly was allocated just under N200bn in the 2024 budget in the appropriation, and they increased it on their own by say, more than 50 per cent in the 2024 appropriation before it was passed into law. So you will see that the NASS is lacking in the transparency and accountability mechanism in the way they handle their appropriation, both recurrent and capital. And perhaps that is why also the state legislature is taking a cue from the NASS”, he stated.
On his part, the Executive Director, the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre, Musa Ibrahim, lamented the “discrimination and exploitation” in the unequal pay between the legislators and officials in the security agencies, describing it as unfair.
“Because the Nigerian government has created unequal pay, some Nigerians that are contributing immensely to the growth and development of this country are being neglected, and are not being given necessary support, especially those who are even giving their lives to save the country and save Nigerians.
“There’s no way you can continue to impoverish public officials, especially serving security officials with this peanut and then you expect them to go and put their lives, to protect you and the rest of the people. I think this is unfair, we cannot continue to do this exploitation and discrimination in pay. We cannot be pampering political appointees and politicians siphoning the public taxpayers’ money when there is not much to see in terms of the contribution they are making,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, the Centre for Accountability and Open Leadership, Debo Adeniran, stated that the lawmakers’ bogus pay was insensitive.
“Ordinarily, any emolument that is not recommended by the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission is against the law and anybody that earns such income has committed an offence that is supposed to be criminal in nature. But what we have in Nigeria is that our leaders behave as if they are above the law, and they behave as if they have been elected to enjoy on our behalf.
Basically, what they have done is insensitive, is actually wickedness, and it will get to a time where Nigerians will not be able to bear it anymore, and it will snowball into a conflagration that they will find difficult to douse,” he said.
An officer of the Nigeria Customs Service, Abdulwahab Magaji, serving in the Federal Capital Territory, reportedly shot himself dead in his residence on Binta Street, Farm Estate area, Abuja.
PUNCH Metro gathered from a senior law enforcement officer that the incident happened last Monday.
According to the source, the family of the deceased had raised the alarm that Magaji had shot himself with a rifle, prompting police officers to visit the scene of the incident.
The source added that when the police arrived at the scene, the victim was reportedly rushed to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where he was confirmed dead.
The source said, “A family of the deceased had raised the alarm that CSC Abdulahi Abdulwahab Magaji, a customs officer serving in Abuja, shot himself in his house at Farm Centre with a pump-action rifle.
“Police officers dashed to the scene of the incident and took the victim to the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, where he was certified dead by the doctor on duty.”
The source added that the body of the deceased had been handed over to the family for burial, according to Islamic rites.
Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, Josephine Adeh, proved abortive as calls made to her line were not answered as of the time of filing this report.
Similarly, the Customs National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, could not be reached for comments as his line was switched off, and messages sent to him were not responded to as of the time this report was filed.
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, WTO, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said Nigeria needs to continue diversifying to attract investment and boost trade surplus.
Okonjo-Iweala stated this while addressing newsmen after a meeting with the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle and other women at the Nigerian Women in Leadership event in Abuja weekend.
Nigeria recorded N1.41 trillion trade deficit between October and December of 2023, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS.
Mr Olisa Agbakoba has reacted to the controversial cybersecurity levy imposed on Nigerians by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN.
Agbakoba described the imposition of the levy as unconstitutional and not a “good idea”.
Speaking with TheCable, the former NBA President said: “It is not a good idea at all. I believe it is a good idea to have a cybersecurity act so that we can deal with cybercrime. However, it is not a good idea to create a fund for which the national security adviser will be entitled to deploy when that is contrary to what the constitution prescribes,” he said.
“So, I am going to court to challenge the imposition by the CBN on levies on the banks which will amount to the banks paying about N3 trillion a year.
“That is unconstitutional because what the constitution says is that everything concerning revenue, whether it is tax or non-tax revenue such as the levy in the cybersecurity act, must pass through the federation account for it to now be appropriated by the National Assembly.
“So, if the same National Assembly makes a law bypassing the appropriation process and putting money in the hands of an agency, that is unconstitutional.”
Former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has insisted that he is no longer involved in partisan politics.
According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is now his former party, as he is no longer participating in party politics.
Obasanjo made the declaration on Sunday in Osun State during the commissioning of the VIP lodge at the government house in Osogbo.
He, however, commended the state governor, Ademola Adeleke, for working towards the unity of the PDP and its members in Osun State.
According to the former President, uniting members is good for the party, the state and the country as a whole.
“What I have heard and saw since three days ago that I have been here, if there is doubt in anybody that you are working, tell the person to come and see. If you remember that at one time I phoned you, I said don’t hate dancing but as you are dancing, ensure you are working.
“If I say that I don’t know what happened before you got to government, it is a lie. But you did something last week Sunday, by calling leaders of your party, it was my party but am not participating in party politics again. I am happy that you called them for deliberation. Senator Olu Alabi is here, Alhaji Fatai Akinbade, former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
We should bring everyone on board. I have talked to two out of three of them, it is a good move which is not only good for the party but for the state and the country,” Obasanjo said.
[NaijaNews]
Members of the organised labour, on Sunday night announced that they would shut down offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies nationwide.
They said the offices would be under lock and key until the Federal Government accedes to their request on total reversal of electricity tariff hike.
The Federal Government later approved a marginal slash, which labour rejected and demanded full reversal.
Both Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its counterpart from the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had last week warned the commission to immediately reverse the hike on or before Sunday, May 12.
The movement also warned the commission to announce the stoppage of what it described as “discriminatory practice” of segregating electricity consumers into arbitrary bands.
Giving an update on Sunday night, the head of information at NLC headquarters, Benson Upah, in an official notification sent to journalists, said members of the movement would converge on Labour House by 7:00am.
“NLC invites you to cover the picketing of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission headquarters in Abuja,” Benson said in the official notification sent to our correspondent last night.
[DailyTrust]
…Obasanjo, Adeleke, Oyinlola commission presidential lodge in Osun
Former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said despite that Nigeria is a complex country it is not too difficult to govern.
Obasanjo while commissioning presidential lodge inside Osun state Government House, Oke-Fia, Osogbo alongside Governor Ademola Adeleke and former governor, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola on Sunday, May 12, noted that governance is easy when leaders are honest with their conscience.
He said: “With my experience, Nigeria is a complex country but Nigeria is not a difficult country to rule, maybe one can also say the same that Osun state is a complex state but Osun State is not a difficult state to rule.
“You have to be honest with your conscience, with the people and with your God. You have to be a man of character and attributes that everybody will see that Ademola Adeleke, when he sees opportunity to dance, he would dance but is a man of integrity, honesty and hardwork, it is very important! When light comes, darkness vanishes.”
He also declared that Adeleke is his dancing partner any day because he has proven to the world that he is happy and also very hardworking governor.
He advised Adeleke that, “You are working on roads, don’t joke with it because when we make necessary provision for the people to have jobs and they will work. Many Yoruba people want to work but what is impeding that is the road to ply. When we provide wherewithal for them they would work. I will plead with you to continue with that.”
Earlier, Adeleke explained that the VIP lodge was abandoned after the administration of Rauf Aregbesola who left it at 35 percent completion.
“However, work commenced on the project three months ago and now it is completed. This lodge can accommodate 5 dignitaries with their team conveniently at a time.”
[TheNation]
A human rights lawyer Femi Falana, SAN said Governor Siminalayi Fubara can not change the sitting venue of the Rivers State House of Assembly.
Falana stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics.
He said Governor Fubara does not have the power to direct the members of Rivers State assembly to meet at the Government House.
The senior lawyer said the legislature is independent of the executive arm of the government.
He said, “I would like to assume that the governor issued that executive order before the intervention of the High Court in Rivers State.
“The house is independent of the executive. So the governor cannot tell the house where to sit,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Presidency said President Bola Tinubu will not take sides between Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike and Governor Siminalayi Fubara over the ongoing political crisis rocking Rivers State.
Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Tinubu, Ajuri Ngelale disclosed this during an interview on TVC.
Ngelale said that anyone with the belief that President Tinubu would take their side in the political crisis would be disappointed.
According to him, President Tinubu won’t allow any attempt to frustrate the Rivers government.
He said, “I believe that anyone who believes that by their actions, whether it’s from the Federal level, State level or the legislative branch in the State or the executive branch in the state;
“…if they are banking on Mr. President to take sides on this matter, they’re mistaking and they’ll be disappointed,” he added.
The President Special Adviser further stated, “Mr. President will not do that. What he will do is to ensure that everybody has what they need in order to work.
“He will also ensure that any attempt to frustrate the operation of the Rivers State Government of conducting its affairs in a way that it would benefit the Rivers people, that’s obviously not going to be allowed by this President or anybody else.
“So, I think there’s a need for all stakeholders to understand that Mr President won’t take sides.”
[Vanguard]
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Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the presidential fiscal policy and tax reforms committee, says the federal government is working on a system that will provide tax relief to 95 percent of the informal sector.
Oyedele spoke at the closing session of the committee in Abuja on Sunday.
Oyedele said the plan is to exempt businesses earning N25 million a year or less, from the various taxes hindering their progress over time.
‘’So, we think that 95 percent of the informal sector should be legally exempted from all taxes; withholding tax, company income tax, even payee on their staff,” he said.
‘’We’re using data to inform our decisions. Currently, if you earn N25 million a year or less, you don’t have to pay company income tax, you don’t have to worry about VAT.
‘’We think that the informal sector are people who are trying to earn legitimate living, we should allow them to be and support them to grow to a point where they can then have the ability to pay taxes.”
Oyedele said the new reforms being proposed would focus on the top 5 percent of that sector, the middle class, and the elite for taxes.
The tax expert said the committee is drafting the laws to effect the necessary changes in the fiscal policy and tax reform ecosystem of the country.
The new laws, he said, would ensure that reviews become sustained by all governments coming in, adding that “we don’t want this whole effort to go down the drain, after one or two years”.
‘DAYS OF BEING ABOVE THE LAW IS OVER’
On compliance, the committee chairman urged
all stakeholders to fully cooperate with the government in implementing a new fiscal and tax policy that would be used for the general good of the citizens.
“We think that the days of being above the law in paying taxes are over. The same thing we’re saying to our leaders, whether they are elected or appointed,” he said.
“We think they have to lead by example by showing that they have paid the taxes, not only on time, but correctly to the lawful authorities as contained in the various laws.”
Oyedele said some of the taxes complained about by Nigerians are those already in the constitution, which the committee has looked at and called for their review.
He said the committee report would be made to pass through the normal process of legislation in order to give it the full legal backing.
“So, our expectation is, as we progress now from ideation, proposal to implementation, you’ll see less and less of those issues and then you’ll see harmony in the direction of the fiscal system,” he said.
‘’Not only in the number of taxes we collect, you will also see an improvement in how those monies are being spent.
Oyedele added that the committee has been working with the sub-nationals and the local government councils in its task of harmonising the taxes into a single-digit system.
“So, we’re convinced, and that’s what the data tells us, that the right path we need to follow is the path where we repeal many of these taxes, harmonise whatever is left,” he said.
“We think we can keep that within single digits across local, state and federal governments combined, and then improve the efficiency of collecting those taxes.
The tax expert said he is convinced that Nigeria needs to increase the threshold of exemption for small businesses, for low income earners “because if they cannot make ends meet, the last thing you want is someone asking you to pay tax”.
[TheCable]
![[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Congratulates Justice Mary Odili on Birthday](/media/k2/items/cache/92b121965d7c0f34ae038aba14f724dd_XS.jpg?t=20240513_022955)
President Bola Tinubu extends his heartfelt congratulations to Justice Mary Odili, CFR, retired Supreme Court judge, on the special occasion of her birthday.
Justice Odili, an eminent jurist, was the Deputy Chairman of the National Judicial Council (NJC), serving as Deputy to the Chairman (Chief Justice of the Federation) at the nation's apex judicial commission.
She was also President of the National Association of Women Judges of Nigeria (NAWJN), and Chairperson of the Body of Benchers, where she led pioneering reforms, such as retooling the Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee by constituting three panels, thus expediting their processes and ensuring efficiency, and reviving the Body of Benchers' mentoring programme for all young lawyers (0-7 years post call), among others.
President Tinubu celebrates the legal savant not only for her outstanding achievements in her calling but especially for her work in uplifting the downtrodden and providing succour to the needy.
The President fondly recalls the many community development programmes and relief efforts of Mrs. Odili as the First Lady of Rivers State, some of which include, The Adolescent Project (TAP) where education, health improvement, social rehabilitation, and empowerment services to vulnerable adolescent girls were advanced, directly impacting over 500,000 citizens, and which went on to win the Global Health Council Award for Safe Motherhood in Washington D.C, in May 2001.
As Justice Odili marks this birthday, President Tinubu wishes the esteemed jurist and the Odilis many more years of service to the nation in good health.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, has absolved President Bola Tinubu of any blame in the scenario which played out over the failure of the National Assembly to confirm former Kaduna State Governor as a Minister.
Speaking during an interview with Premium Times, Bagudu submitted that Tinubu played his role by nominating El-Rufai for appointment, but going ahead to lobby the National Assembly after the former Governor was rejected, would be an abuse of power and lack of respect for the separation of power between the executive and the legislative arms of government.
The Minister added that President Tinubu was constitutionally handicapped and had to respect the decision of the lawmakers not to confirm El-rufai.
Naija News recalls that President Tinubu nominated El-Rufai for a ministerial appointment, but the National Assembly failed to confirm him after screening, citing a lack of security clearance.
El-Rufai later withdrew his interest in working for the Tinubu government.
“Constitutional democracy is based on separation of powers. The Senate has been given a constitutional role in the confirmation process. If they decide to deny any one of us, they are approving their confirmation power.”
“The president is handicapped by our constitution to do everything. Is it fair? But that is how the laws have been set up,” he stated.
Bagudu added that the president did everything constitutionally possible to have Mr El Rufai in his cabinet.
“I wish the National Assembly had confirmed him,” the Minister said.
When asked why President Tinubu did not intervene or lobby the National Assembly to confirm El-Rufai, Bagudu said he would not want to speculate, but for Tinubu to have nominated El-Rufai, it shows he wanted him as part of his government.
“What was done objectively is that the president nominated him. We know that his name was read at the Senate. He went to the National Assembly for screening. He answered all the questions that were asked of him. Although some were stepped down.
“So that’s an objective way to look at it. That is what happened. I can’t answer speculatively, but I believe for the president to submit your name, for you at least to be taken to the National assembly, it’s the best measure of the president’s willingness and confidence in the person,” he said.
The Federal Government is poised to receive fresh loan funding from the World Bank, with approval expected for loans totalling $2.25bn on June 13, 2024.
The funding will be received via two major development projects. The first project is the Nigeria Reforms for Economic Stabilization to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing, which is set to receive $1.5bn.
The second project, NG Accelerating Resource Mobilization Reforms Programme-for-Results, has proposed funding of $750m.
Recall that The PUNCH had indicated that the government might reintroduce previously suspended telecom tax and other fiscal measures in pursuit of securing the $750m loan.
A copy of the plan’s document posted on the World Bank website indicated that the government might reintroduce the excises on telecom services, and EMT levy on electronic money transfers through the Nigerian Banking System among other taxes.
However, the latest information suggests that the administration may have nearly guaranteed the loan.
The Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank last month, had announced that the nation had qualified for processing a loan, described as ‘virtually a grant’ of $2.25bn from the World Bank at one per cent interest rate.
The package, approved by the Board of Directors of the World Bank, offers a 40-year term with a 10-year moratorium and a nominal one per cent interest rate.
He stated, “We have qualified for the processing just this week to the Board of Directors of the World Bank of a total package of $2.25bn of what you can call ‘the closest you can get to a free lunch’- virtually a grant. It’s for about 10- 20 years moratorium and about one per cent interest.”
According to programme information documents posted on the international lender website, the two projects aim to enhance Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation capabilities.
It is expected that the funds will bolster Nigeria’s efforts in reforming economic policies and enhancing government resource mobilisation, essential for the country’s long-term financial sustainability and economic resilience.
The document stated that the primary aim of the PforR programme is to boost non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas revenues from 2024 to 2028 at the federal level, emphasising substantial tax, excise, and administrative reforms.
The programme includes three main result areas: implementing tax and excise reforms to increase VAT collections and excise rates on health and environmentally friendly products, strengthening tax and customs administrations to enhance VAT compliance and effectiveness of audits, and safeguarding oil and gas revenues by increasing transparency and net revenue contributions.
The PforR programme includes technical assistance, supporting the Federal Inland Revenue Service and the Nigeria Customs Service to enhance taxpayer and trader compliance.
“The principal programme development objective is to raise non-oil revenues and safeguard oil and gas revenues. This result area aims to increase the transparency of NNPCL’s financial and operational performance through audits and regular production of enhanced reports submitted to FAAC, including all relevant information; and increase net oil and gas revenues transferred to the Federation,” the report read.
Also, the proposed DPF for Nigeria consists of a standalone operation with two tranches designed to support significant reforms in alignment with the government’s economic stabilization and recovery priorities.
This operation is structured around four key results distributed across two pillars: increasing fiscal oil revenues from 1.8 per cent of Gross Domestic Product in 2022 to 2.7 per cent by 2025, boosting non-oil fiscal revenues from 5.3 per cent to 7.3 per cent over the same period, expanding social safety nets to assist 67 million vulnerable Nigerians, and raising the import value of previously banned products from $11.3m to $54.6mby 2025.