Bill to increase VAT in Nigeria passes second reading in Senate
An Executive bill forwarded to the National Assembly seeking to make changes in the Nigerian tax and fiscal law scaled second reading at the upper chamber on Wednesday.
Senators however protested the non-inclusion of details of the bill, which seeks among others, raising the current Value Added Tax from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.
The lawmakers said the absence of the bill details would not enable them to make informed contributions.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, however insisted that the bill be discussed without the details made available to senators.
Senators Yaroe Binus (Adamawa South) and Betty Apiafi (Rivers West) separately raised points of order, drawing the attention of the President of the Senate to the issue.
Lawan ruled both of them out of order and maintained that the details of the bill would only be made available at the committee level.
Lawan said, “To handle that, we have already asked that our secretariat distributes all the Acts that we want to amend and I want to urge the committee to work very assiduously.
“This should not be compromised at all. Our colleagues who raised the issue did so because they wanted to contribute.
“I think what we have done is still within our tradition and our convention of debating the general principles.
“The issue of revenue in Nigeria today is the major issue affecting our economy.
“The economy of this country like most developing economies depends on public expenditure and until we are able to get it, collate them efficiently and effectively we will not be able to fund public expenditure well.
“This bill will help in generating and collecting this kind of revenue.”
Leading the debate on the bill, the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, said the bill sought to promote fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation; reforming domestic laws to align with global best practices; and introducing tax incentives for investments in infrastructure and capital markets.
A Lagos Division of the Federal High Court on Tuesday ordered the suspension of the military exercise tagged Operation Positive Identification which the Nigerian Army said it would begin this month across the country.
A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, had on October 25 filed a suit against the Nigerian Army, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Attorney-General of the Federation over the exercise.
Mr Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, asked the court to declare the operation scheduled for November 1 to December 23 as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void.
At the hearing of the matter on Tuesday, the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff who were listed as 1st and 2nd respondents in the matter had no legal representation. But Mr Falana informed the court that they were duly served and that he had spoken with their counsel on a probable date to commence substantial hearing of the matter.
The Attorney-General was represented by Fiyinfoluwa Sobowale from the Ministry of Justice.
Seeking an adjournment, Mr Sobowale said they would be applying for a suitable date to enable them properly respond to the issues.
Mr Falana, however, insisted on the closest date possible, arguing that the case was time-bound and there would be no point in the case if the parties continued with their actions while the matter is yet to be heard in court.
He stressed that the only way the date suggested by Mr Sobowale would be acceptable is if the ministry agreed to ensure that the status quo is maintained.
Agreeing with Mr Falana, the judge, Rilwan Aikawa, said that due to the nature of the case, a delay would reduce the case to a mere academic exercise.
Delivering his ruling, Mr Aikawa said ” in view of the agreement between counsel, I hereby order the 1st and 2nd defendants to maintain the status quo pending the determination of the case.”
He also adjourned the matter to November 18 for the substantive hearing of the matter.
‘Intelligence-led exercise’
The Nigerian army initially began Operation Positive Identification in the north-east last September to check fleeing Boko Haram and ISWAP members in the region.
The military later announced it would extend the exercise nationwide, prompting Mr Falana to approach the court.
Last week, the chief of army staff, Tukur Buratai, while defending the army’s decision before a House of Representatives committee said the exercise would focus on intelligence rather than deployment of troops or mounting roadblocks across the country.
In his suit against the army, Mr Falana argued that the operation violates his right and that of other Nigerian citizens to liberty, “as encapsulated in Section 35 respectively of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended and Article 6 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act, (Cap A10) Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.”
He also argued that the respondents have no constitutional authority to act in the proposed manner. “Neither the Constitution nor the Armed Forces Act Cap A20 LFN, 2004 has empowered the Nigeria Army to arrest any citizen who is not subject to service law.”
“By virtue of Section 215 (3) of the Constitution, the Nigeria Police Force ‘has the exclusive power to maintain law and order and secure public safety and public order in the country’ and not the army.”
He further argued that by section 217(1) of the Constitution, the Nigerian President could only deploy the armed forces for the suppression of insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore law and order.
“There is no insurrection in every part of the country which the Nigeria police cannot contain to warrant the deployment of armed troops all over the country from November 1, 2019 to December 23, 2019.
“The 1st respondent (the Nigerian Army) under the leadership of the 2nd respondent is not empowered to take over police duties and the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces lacks the power to deploy members of the armed forces in the maintenance of internal security in any part of the country by virtue of Section 217 (a) (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.”
President Buhari Appoints SA On Finance And Economy
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Mrs Sarah Omotunde-Alade, as Special Adviser on Finance and the Economy, the Presidency has said.
The office is domiciled in the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.
“Dr Alade, who holds BSc (Economics) and PhD in Management Science (Operations Research), retired from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as Deputy Governor in 2017 after spending 23 years in the apex bank.
“She had also acted briefly in 2014 as the CBN Governor”, a State House statement by Buhari’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said on Tuesday.
The leader of God’s Crown Chapel, Ghana, Prophet Reindolph Oduro Gyebi has predicted untimely death in the Nigerian music industry.
In a viral video, the prophet called out names such as Psquare, DJ Spinal, DJ Blaze and DJ Perez, asking them to pray against assassination.
He said that God told him that some popular Nigerians will be assassinated.
According to him, “And I asked God what is this? And God said there is an attack coming after the music industry in Nigeria.
“And I saw some popular people that were being assassinated in the music industry of the Nigerians.
“With all due respect as the voice of God and the mouth-piece of the lord, this message needs to be carried to them and they have to be fortified in their prayer.
“In the music industry of Nigeria, there’s a wind that is blowing demonically entering into the music industry.
“Some of them are the bread-winners of their families, some of them will one day become transformers of peoples’ lives and we have to pray and preserve their lives.
“I saw a list, to be honest with you, I saw a list, on the list I saw, I cannot mention all the names but I’m urging them to pray as a prophet of God with the eyes of an eagle that travels.
“I saw a clear vision. If there’s any person called DJ Perez, DJ Spinal, DJ Blaze and others I pray for their lives. I pray for their destinies. The PSquares and whatever. I don’t know their names but I’m standing as a voice.”
A Lagos-based musician, Lobaloba Ajanaku, has accused a yet-to-be-identified female officer of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority of assaulting him for recording how she deflated the tyres of an Uber driver.
Ajanaku, in a post on his Instagram page, said he ordered an Uber and while the driver parked for him to get into the car, the officier deflated two of the tyres of the vehicle with an iron rod.
The musician noted that while he was recording the incident, the officer allegedly slapped him and tore his shirt, adding that he was made to sleep in police cell for two days and part with money before he was freed.
He wrote, “So, I will be telling you guys a story of how the Nigerian system has failed us again. I ordered my Uber as a normal civil Nigerian with rights; the Uber driver parked and this LASMA officer came and deflated two of his tyres with the iron deflator they carry about.
“The driver was so scared. I started getting pissed off because why would you just do that? I got down from the car and started recording on my phone but the LASMA officer, who happened to be a woman, slapped me, tore the shirt I was wearing and kept trying to collect my phone.
“So, I got angry and tried to get her off me, then the other officers started recording at this point. I was shirtless already when they started recording. They took me to the police station and deleted the videos I had on my own phone; they even deleted it from my recently deleted folder.
“At the end of the day, they locked me up and I just want to say that this woman made me sleep in jail for two days and they demanded money from me to treat the officer that got into physical argument with me and I had to pay the money, because they only had their evidence against me. Anyways, if you dey cell for two days, you will appreciate freedom Oloun.
“Is it the guys that are there for something they know nothing about like myself or the fact that I did not have my bath for two days? I was just in the cell thinking if heavenly CCTV could just let me show the police officers what the woman did to me initially #freedom.”
Calls put across to the Public Relations Officer, LASTMA, Olumide Filade, on Monday were not picked and a text message sent to his mobile telephone was not replied as of the time of filing this report.
President Muhammadu Buhari government has come under attack following the recent signing of the amended Deep Offshore Act.
Buhari signed the bill on Monday in London, stating that the amended Bill will generate at least $500m additional revenue for the Nigerian government
The Chief of Staff to the President, Malam Abba Kyari, was with him when he signed the Act.
This did not go down well with some Nigerians, as they posed questions about the function of the office of Vice President, Osinbajo.
According to them, Osinbajo should have signed the bill, rather than have Abba Kyari take a trip to London.
Here are some comments gathered by DAILY POST from Twitter:
@Aisha Yesufu “Is Muhammadu Buhari back in Nigeria? Did he cancel his private visit to London? Is he in London with his Chief of Staff while on private visit? Who’s paying? Did the CoS fly to meet him in London to get the bill assented? Why the heck do we have a Vice President?
@Gimbakakanda “You can no longer convince me that there’s no deliberate ploy to relegate and undermine @ProfOsinbajo ahead of 2023. This function in a foreign country could’ve been performed by the Vice President, as done in the past, if power had been handed over to him. This is bad optics.”
@_Muffasa “Osibanjo that has been relegated since, he himself knows it, but shame won’t let him resign from the comedy .”
@Ojogiwaso “Does the SGF has constitutional right to do the function? Does the President has constitutional rights to sign a bill while outside the shore of the country? Does the President has constitutional rights not to transcend power to his Vice while he will not exceed certain days 1.“
@Bardenkurmi “President Buhari has for the second time this year failed to empower the VP as acting President, knowing he will be away for 3 weeks. Abba Kyari now run a courier service between Abuja and London instead.”
@Iamswaga01 “Osinbande is already getting sidelined in that government.”
@Gabrielchima3 “Buhari signing an offshore bill in an offshore location, that’s perfect.”
@Mansur_ahmed “Abba Kyari took the bill to UK for him to sign, while VP academic is doing nothing here in Nigeria.”
@Amasyn99 “Assenting from UK vacation very absurd to my thinking. Buhari should learn how to transmit responsibility. This doesn’t make any sense.”
@Paulakioyamen “Is he not suppose to be on vacation? His Vice President Osinbajo is just as capable to assent to this bill. This is a picture that surpasseth all wisdom. Na wa oh.”
@Karovoni “In the past, Buhari would handover to Osinbajo, but now, his CoS is taking documents to him abroad to sign.”
@Tobymaribe1 “It’s unfortunate you as a young person posted this story. You should question why our government is run this way. Did Kyari travel with out tax payers money to London for a task that will take the Vice President two seconds to do?
@Iamswaga01 “From the UK? They took the document to him, when he can easily have handed over to Osinbande to do such job for him here. Nigeria is really on autopilot.”
Former Arsenal star, Charlie Nicholas has predicted some of this midweek’s UEFA Champions League fixtures.
Chelsea will take on Ajax at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night, while Atalanta will tackle Manchester City on Wednesday in Italy.
Speaking with Sky Sports, Nicholas gave his predictions thus;
Chelsea vs Ajax: “We’ve seen a lot of what Ajax have done recently. They sold three or four key men in the summer and it makes them weaker, but it does not change their style or the manager’s philosophy. Chelsea wining there was a sensational result, but there is not much between the two sides.
“I still feel there are a few hiccups along the way. You cannot bully Ajax with the ball, but you can without it. Chelsea will want to get the technical edge over Ajax so we have a great game in prospect here. You can still see weaknesses in both teams, but it will be another fantastic result for Frank Lampard.”
Liverpool vs Genk: “I watched the Liverpool game at the weekend. It was a cracking game and end-to-end with drama too. Liverpool are not at their best. People might suggest that once they get going, they will be ruthless, but they are getting away with it currently. The Napoli and Manchester United matches were reality checks, but they could have been two or three down by the time they rescued things at Aston Villa.
“Liverpool have a dramatic amount of games coming up. Mohamed Salah was really average at the weekend, as was Roberto Firmino, so Jurgen Klopp may leave a couple out and change it up. The full-backs will stay the same and you have to leave Sadio Mane in, but Fabinho could also come back in.
“It is normally Firmino who he rests, but I would leave him in with Mane and leave Salah out. He may not like it but it needs to happen. Divock Origi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will come in and I think it will be a fairly comfortable night nevertheless for Liverpool.”
Atalanta vs Man City: “Atalanta got battered after taking the lead at the Etihad. Pep Guardiola is not overly happy with his side. He said the possession and patience was good but he wasn’t happy after the victory against Southampton.
“This was partly due to the way Southampton played. City’s defence is all over the place. John Stones is not in control at the moment and it has been a major step back for him. Fernandinho is not a centre-half, but Nicolas Otamendi is back so it should help.
“Pep will want to get this done and dusted as quickly as possible with the Liverpool game on Sunday. Both respective sides will want to get their games over with so they can make preparations for Sunday’s massive clash. Atalanta will attack and this will open the game up for City. It will be tricky to navigate but they will get there.”
Dele Momodu Under Fire After Posting Picture Of Aisha Buhari And Dolapo Osinbajo
A photograph of Aisha Buhari and Dolapo Osinbajo, wives of President and Vice President respectively, have led to controversial tweets between the publisher of Ovation magazine, Dele Momodu, and his teeming Twitter followers.
Mr. Momodu had tweeted a photograph of the two front-line Nigerian women on Monday, noting that he took the photograph while he was drumming up support for their husbands in London towards the 2015 general election that brought in the Buhari presidency.
The publisher had tweeted: “In life, play your part & leave the rest to God.
“The best form of sacrifice is when you do good without expecting rewards.
“I remember this day in London while campaigning for ‘Buhari for President’ with the wives of those who became principal officers…”
The tweet has since generated responses that ranged from commendation to outright condemnation.
Davido might just be ranked Africans wealthiest artiste following revelation made by Nigerian billionaire King Power who took to his Instagram handle to share his intention to sign the DMW boss
The big question is, will Davido accept this mouth watering offer?
A church protocol officer, Victor Duru, 23, has been arrested by the police for allegedly luring his female church members to hotels and taking their nude pictures, which he used to blackmail them into giving him money.
Duru, who is a Madonna University dropout, was said to have blackmailed not only his girlfriends in the church, but also other girls, who were not members of the church, before he was apprehended by the police in Surulere, Lagos State, last Thursday.
One of his girlfriends, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Duru took her nude pictures and those of another of his girlfriends at a hotel in Ijeshatedo at gunpoint.
She added that she had to call the Rapid Response Squad headquarters to report her experience.
It was learnt that Duru, who is based in Oregun, Ikeja, was investigated and discovered to have been using the nude pictures of the victim to blackmail her into giving him money.
He was also alleged to be keeping the nude pictures of other girls, whom he lodged in hotels and his apartment in Ijeshatedo.
A source added that the suspect obtained the nude pictures of the victims at gunpoint with the assistance of an accomplice.
It was gathered that there was a growing suspicion that Duru also laced the drink of another girl with a sleeping drug as the photographs obtained from one of his mobile phones revealed.
Duru, in his confessional statement, stated, “The victim, who reported me was my girlfriend. We are members of the same church. We have been dating for almost two years. We were having breakup issues.
“So, I invited her to a hotel in Ijeshatedo. I excused myself and invited my friend, Frank Obinna, to meet me in the hotel. Obinna and I had planned this together.
“The gun was a toy gun. Obinna entered the hotel room and held the lady at gunpoint. I told her to cooperate and strip naked for Obinna to take her pictures. We took seven different nude shots of her with my phone. I discharged her that day. That was in September.
“By early October, I called her to give me N80,000 or I would post the nude photographs on the Internet. She was only able to offer me N10,000, which she transferred into my brother’s account.
“Last week, Obinna called her again and requested N40,000. She promised to send something. She was a wonderful girl, who had been assisting me before the problem started. On many occasions, she had assisted me financially.”
It was learnt that Duru attempted to escape from custody in handcuffs, while the police were trying to arrest his accomplice, Obinna, in Ijeshatedo.
According to the victim’s statement, she thought Duru’s friend was a waiter when he entered the hotel room.
She said, “He brought out his phone and I asked my boyfriend what was going on, but he slapped me and told me to remove the blanket covering my body.
“I refused. He yanked it off my body and told me to cooperate. I refused again. He asked his friend for the gun, threatening that if I didn’t cooperate, they would waste me.
“His friend took several shots of my nudity. Both of them abandoned me in the hotel room afterwards.
“I asked him almost a week after what he wanted to do with my pictures and he told me that was the beginning.
“The following Saturday, he threatened to post the pictures on the Internet unless I paid N80,000 in order to delete them. I paid N10,000 with a promise to pay the balance later.
“After a week, his friend called and offered me another option of paying him N40,000 and a night out with him. I refused. He threatened that I would hear from them very soon.”
The source noted that some of the ladies, whose nude pictures were found on Duru’s mobile phones, when contacted by the police to come forward as prosecution witnesses, declined.
The suspect, along with some of the exhibits recovered from him, has been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, for further investigation.
The police boss in charge of the state Command, Assistant Inspector-General Zubairu Muazu, asked parents to keep watch over their children and know the kind of company they keep.
