₦airaland Forum

Adeosun, who spoke on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, explained that tax compliance had historically been weak, particularly among wealthy individuals and large corporations.

She referenced initiatives such as the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), which targeted tax evasion.

“When you’re minister of finance, the word ‘no’ becomes your watchword. If your finance minister is loved by everybody, they’re probably not doing much of a job,” she said.

Adeosun also praised the Tinubu administration for pushing data harmonisation across government agencies, describing it as critical to improving tax collection and governance.

“I was excited when I saw moves to harmonise data. We’ve had TIN, NIN, BVN—too many numbers. Once you harmonise data, it becomes very difficult to hide,” she said.

The former minister further stated that access to integrated data allowed the government to identify individuals and companies benefiting from public resources without paying taxes, adding that “once you have data, and with AI, you can see very quickly who is not playing the game fairly”.

On insecurity, Adeosun said the current administration was demonstrating the political will to confront the challenge, though the challenge remained complex and longstanding.

She also recounted a personal experience during her time in office when her home was invaded, and she was robbed at knifepoint.

“It was extremely scary. I never slept in that house again,” the minister said.

“Insecurity didn’t start overnight, and it won’t end overnight. But what matters is that there is now a clear will to tackle it,” Adeosun added.

StillDtruth:
Charging him is already injustice. It is an accident. Yes he was wreck full but that is the meaning of an accident. The liability he has is to compensate the families of the dead and repair/replace Joshua's vehicle.

Wickedtruths:
You people said more than this about Odili when Peter was supporting Fubara.
Senior man wey no fit settle fight between Fubara and Wike na nobody.

Them bring Calabar man to rule Rivers for 6 months and all senior men for Rivers run inside house.

blessgreg:
This is not right, this might cause problem bye passing the SHOA. I pray it not true sha

richmond500:
Fergie001
So house of assembly members no see budget pass.

marksonrick:
Wonderful. So Speaker no see budget pass.

amadil14:
Governor Fubara and notable mistakes.

ambale:
How do you expect the governors to be up and doing, when the president wants to be emperor general of the country??

He's not allowing them function well with his one party policy, so every lazy governor runs under his umbrella and they are free to do whatever they like

femi4:
She didn't forge it

A govt official issued it to her. It was an exempted certificate

She sued the govt n won the case

DeepSight:
+
Are you not the same person who says the godfather in Rivers must be allowed to steal Rivers money?

Joker.

The Rivers State Executive Council has approved a N1.8 trillion budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year.

The approval was made at the State Executive Council meeting held on Friday evening.

The newly sworn-in Special Adviser to Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Economic Matters and Social Development, Prof. Peter Medee, said the budget was designed to enable the state to complete and advance key projects in critical sectors.

Medee said the budget was christened the “Budget of Resilience for Growth and Development.”

He said the state government remained committed to meeting its developmental targets for the people of Rivers State despite the challenges confronting the administration.

He said, “The main thrust of the year 2026 proposed estimate has been fashioned to enable the state accomplish and conclude ongoing projects as well as clear our outstanding obligations in key critical sectors such as infrastructure, health, education, agriculture, human capacity development, youth empowerment, culture, tourism, information and communications technology.

“It is against this backdrop that the state Executive Council has respectfully approved and considered that the budget theme for 2026 is the Budget of Resilience for Growth and Development.

“This budget is so christened because the priority of the State Government for the year 2026 is for recovery, restoration, reassurance, consolidation and inclusivity.

“This is because in spite of many challenges, the State Government has remained resilient, dogged and focused, and achieving the key targets as our commitment to the people of Rivers State.

Speaking earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications, Dr Honour Sirawoo, said, “As you are aware the Goveenor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration is determined to bridge the lost grounds, upon that reason a very robust budget figure has been arrived at after a very conscious deliberation to put our State where it needs to be.”

festacman:
Subsidy has been removed and they said state governors are getting more money. However, the reality is that our roads are still bad, our healthcare delivery hasn't improved and there is no improvement in our infrastructure.

Nothing has changed, really. Yet we pay more for fuel.

Adeosun, who spoke on Channels Television’s Inside Sources, explained that tax compliance had historically been weak, particularly among wealthy individuals and large corporations.

The former minister resigned in 2018 following allegations that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate she submitted as part of her official records was forged.

President Bola Tinubu, in May 2023, announced an end to fuel subsidies after it gulped cumulatively $74 billion (N112.94 trillion) from 2005 to 2021.

President Tinubu’s administration, despite declaring subsidies “gone,” faced massive “under-recovery” costs, with NNPC reporting N17.5 trillion in energy security/subsidy-related expenses in late 2024 for the prior period, highlighting a massive drain on government revenue, according to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI).

While explaining her take on the removal of subsidies, Adeosun revealed that although the federal government eventually discovered that fuel was being smuggled to neighbouring countries, it was unable to summon the courage to remove subsidies.

“There was no minister who did not see that subsidy was killing us.

“We tried different things to stop fuel subsidy. Do you remember Sure-P? We knew that Nigeria has four international borders. And then you are subsidsing, but your own fuel was 44 per cent lower than that sold in other countries, and they are land borders.

“So, sometimes we ended up with a consumption base of like 65 million litres per day. So we did the maths.

“Nigeria had had like 10 million cars at the time, so what’s going on? It was not just possible!

“We concluded that we could not just remove the subsidy because it was going to affect the people.

“So we agreed to put trackers, and in no time, we found out the truth.

“What it meant was that the federal government was not subsidising just Nigeria, but the whole of West Africa, which we could not afford to do.

“Now, the money you spend on subsidies was money you could not spend on roads, education, or health. And there was nothing to show for the fuel subsidy. So, everybody knew that policy had to go,” she said.

Adeosun, however, added that since the subsidy has been removed by President Bola Tinubu, the federal government has to deploy the savings from its removal to provide structural amenities for the masses.

She urged the masses to ask their leaders questions on how the budget was being utilised.

Adeosum, however, called for patience from the masses, saying that fuel subsidy removal would eventually pay off.

“Now that the policy is gone, of course, there are some overspills, but in the long run, Nigerians are going to be so much better off on that, because if you look at the revenues going to FAAC, they are significant.

“So, the question has to be…how do you convert those savings to help the people? We call them policy overspills. I don’t like the word palliative. The government has to do something structural to help people adapt to these policy changes.

“When governors publish their budgets, people have to look and ask intelligent questions. Not emotional ones, and conclude that the government is stealing money. They may not be stealing. They may just have a huge workforce and bloated budgets, but people need to ask questions,” Adeosun said.

While speaking on Thursday’s edition of Inside Sources, the former minister said the NYSC certificate issue was used as an “opportunity to get rid of her” by those opposed to her continued stay in the cabinet.

She explained that before resigning, she informed President Buhari of the development and her intention to initiate legal proceedings against the federal government over the matter.

Her words, “I’m not confused about the fact that I had powerful enemies who I believed saw an opportunity. Let’s get rid of her.

“No one resigned in finance, but I did. Why did I resign? The day I resigned, I went to go and see the president. I said, ‘Mr President, I need to go, but I will go to court to clear my name.

“He said, ‘I absolutely support you. Because these names are leased for our children and grandchildren, right? They are going to inherit them.

“And then you destroy your name because you want to stay as a minister. For what?”

According to Adeosun, she decided to step down because she could not remain in the Federal Executive Council while pursuing legal action against the government.

“I sued the federal government. You can’t be suing the government and staying in the government. You can’t. You have to go. I think it is the right thing to do,” she said.

ChoCho54:
Only one person liked your post and that could be you using alternate moniker. Where are your fellow Agbadorians?
Have they ditched Wike for the sitting governor?
This is just a harmless observation, don't take it personal.

Agugbadin:
You are a crocodile from your place.

southsouthking:
But He didn't mention Wike name na.

Jakumo:
My experience in Nigeria has been DRAMATICALLY different from yours, sir, and I will leave it at that.

Jakumo:
Having spent enough years residing in America and in Nigeria, I disagree 100% with the opinion expressed by this rapper who claims that the USA is more dangerous than Nigeria. If the rapper had claimed that GHETTOES in America are more dangerous than Nigeria, his statement would be factual due to the prevalence of "Saturday Night Special" cheap and disposable $50 handguns in most American ghettoes, where the gang and drug culture has decimated generations of semi-educated black Americans.

From coast to coast USA, the odds of falling victim to gang violence drop off steeply as soon as one leaves the inner-city ghetto, and moves into any middle class suburb, even if that safe haven is just a few blocks from the ghetto's boundary lines.

In Nigeria, however, there is NO "safe neighborhood" because kidnappers and armed robbers can strike anywhere and any time, against any and all Nigerian citizens who cannot afford to have armed police guards. When driving along any highway in Nigeria, the risk of getting ambushed and kidnapped that is prevalent all over Nigeria, simply does NOT exist in ANY American city or rural area.

Unless one is wealthy and connected enough to charter helicopters for routine inter-city travel in Nigeria, literally ANY road trip could wind up becoming a one-way trip into hell. The absence of any such ambush danger along ALL highways in the USA , taken as a single factor of consideration, makes Nigeria orders of magnitude more dangerous than any part of America, including the Deep South.

More than likely, the American rapper visiting Nigeria spent his entire holiday in an up-scale area like Lekki or Victoria Island in Lagos, and on noting that there was no gunplay as is a normal occurrence in American ghetto night clubs, concluded WRONGLY that the entire nation of Nigeria must be safer than his ghetto "hood" stateside.

fergie001:
Na dem 😂

Their daughter has been Health Commissioner since 2023.

Kukutente23:
You only engaged in strawman arguments only to drop out when it was exposed
The fact still remains that godfatherism does not portend any good for society
The idea of an agreement outside the constitution is inimical to democracy and you as a lawyer should know this especially

Kukutente23:
The topic is godfatherism not other forms of control and influence
The reality is still that Wike and the House have constituted themselves to a stumbling block to governance in Rivers
No matter what anyone thinks of Fubara, we know those who are derailing the governance of the state. Those are the effects of godfatherism I highlighted so you see that I'm talking reality not ideal
You also failed to mention the fact that the judgement of the FHC was in spite of an agreement to withdraw all cases in court

Kukutente23:
It is false to claim that godfatherism exists so over the world. Democracy itself detests the idea of godfatherism. Lobbyists and super PACs are not godfathers. Go and understand what both imply.
If an agreement says you answer to a person, how do you honour it without violating the constitution?
If Fubara violates the constitution, there are courts and the legislature to call him to order.
It's not about whether he cares for the people or not. It's about what the constitution that created the office of governor says
If caring for the people is one of the functions of the office of gov, it will be written there. The big issue is how you can please the godfather and still please the people

Jayce242:
Una go cry tire
Let your master go to Tinubu to declare another state of emergency

Ofunaofu:
Burob, learn to follow a conversation before jumping in and around like a headless chicken. My comment was a direct response to a Nairalander who falsely claimed Wike is a PDP member.

Wike was expelled. That’s a fact. What he belongs to now is Wike & Co Caretaker Committee Ltd, a private political drama troupe loyal to Tinubu and parading as the PDP.

As for INEC and Ekiti & Osun, that issue has absolutely nothing to do with Wike’s membership status. Internal party crises and court recognized structures determine candidates, not your desperate attempt to drag Tinubu into every discussion like a comfort blanket.

Listen, the real problem isn’t people like me deceiving ourselves; it’s people like you confidently missing the point, projecting Tinubu maladministration induced frustrations, and turning every conversation into a tired we vs them brickbat session.

brain54:
A dog barks for different reasons and situations...