Over the weekend many telecom subscribers/consumers were unable to access their phone lines because of the inability of many telecom consumers to verify their National Identification Numbers (NINs) with their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIMs). This meant that their numbers were blocked by their telecom service providers in keeping with laws and policies of the NIN-SIM linkage.

Telecoms consumers and the public will recall the compulsory linkage of NIN with SIM which began in December 2020 when the government directed telecommunication companies to bar unregistered SIM cards and SIMs that were not linked to NIN.

Since December 2023, the Commission has since reviewed the deadline a few times; April 15, 2024 was set as the deadline for the full network barring of subscribers with four or fewer SIMs that had unverified NIN details. This deadline was then reviewed to July 31, 2024, to give consumers more time to ensure their submitted NIN details are properly verified. Despite these extensions, many phone lines are yet to be linked with verified NINs.

The objectives of this exercise by the Federal Government of Nigeria include enhancing national security and ensuring the national SIM ownership database is accurate. The NIN-SIM linkage policy aids in verifying and protecting users' identities while also providing a critical infrastructure that assures access to the benefits of a robust digital economy for the citizenry.

The consumer is our priority, therefore, considering the challenges the blockages have caused, the Commission has directed all operators to reactivate all lines that were disconnected over the weekend in view of the short time available for consumers to undertake the verification of their NINs with their SIMs. Reactivated consumers are to note that this is for a limited period to allow them to properly link their NIN to their SIM.

Members of the public who are yet to verify their SIMs are encouraged to do so as soon as possible to maintain access to their lines.

Signed:
Reuben Muoka
Director Public Affairs
29th July 2024

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Nigerian Communications Commission PUBLIC NOTICE

UNAUTHORISED USE OF 5.4GHZ FREQUENCY BAND

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) hereby informs operators, private/public organizations and the public that the 5.4 GHz frequency band spanning 5.430 - 5.725 GHz range is a licensed frequency in Nigeria.

Therefore, the transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on this band without a Frequency license obtained from the Commission is illegal.

All telecommunications service providers, private/public organizations or any person(s) using this band in any location across the country should note that pursuant to Section 122 of the Nigerian Communications Act (NCA), 2003, it is a criminal offence to operate in any frequency not duly assigned by the Commission. The consequences of such act may lead to imprisonment, sanction and confiscation of equipment used in operating the illegal services.

In view of the above, the Commission hereby gives a 14-day ENFORCEMENT NOTICE to all unlicensed operators on the 5.4GHz frequency band, spanning 5.430- 725GHz to, forthwith, vacate and desist from further transmission of signals or use of equipment in any form on this band without authorization obtained from the Commission.

The Commission shall, without further recourse and upon expiration of the stipulated deadline, commence appropriate enforcement action including, but not limited to, prosecution, fine, and confiscation of equipment used in the illegal transmission of services.

A detailed regulatory provision for the deployment of services on the entire 5GHz band is contained in the Guidelines for Deployment of Broadband Services on the 5.2-5.9GHz band. This is available at ncc.gov.ng, under Licensing and Regulation (Regulatory Functions) for guidance.

This is a pre-enforcement notice.

Signed:
Reuben Muoka
Director, Public Affairs Department,
Nigerian Communications Commission

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Nigeria’s Tax-to-GDP ratio which, in the last 12 years, hovered between 5% to 6% rose to 10.86% by the end of 2021.
 
The new ratio was communicated to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), via a letter signed by the Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, on the 25th of May 2023, following a joint review by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the FIRS, using data from 2010 to 2021.
 
The revision took into account revenue items hitherto not previously included in the computations; particularly, relevant revenue collected by other agencies of government.
 
Tax-to-GDP ratio is a measure of a nation's tax revenue relative to the size of her economy as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The ratio is a useful tool for assessing the "health” of a country's tax system, and highlighting its tax potentials relative to the size of the economy. It is the ultimate measure of the effectiveness of a nation's tax system compared to other countries.
 
In a statement announcing the new Tax-to-GDP ratio, the Executive Chairman of FIRS, Mr. Muhammad Nami, explained that sources which previously put the country’s Tax-to-GDP ratio at between 5% and 6% did not consider tax revenue accruing to other government agencies in their computation. Particularly, revenues collected by agencies other than the FIRS, Customs and States Internal Revenue Service were excluded. This situation was peculiar to Nigeria as most other countries operate harmonised tax system (all or most tax revenues are collected by one agency of government) with single-point tax revenue reporting.  As such, all relevant tax revenues are included in the computation of the Tax-to-GDP ratio.

“In order to correctly state the Tax-to-GDP ratio, the FIRS initiated a review and re-computation of the ratio for 2010 to 2021. In recomputing the ratio, key indicators that were previously left out were taken into account. This resulted into a revised Tax-to-GDP ratio of 10.86% for 2021 as against 6% hitherto reported,” the statement noted.

Mr. Nami further noted that Nigeria’s Tax-to-GDP ratio should ordinarily be higher than 10.86% but for certain economic and fiscal policy factors, including tax waivers and leakages occasioned by the country’s fragmented tax system.
 
“It is important to note that the Tax-to-GDP ratio for Nigeria should be higher, but for the impact of tax waivers contained in our various tax laws (including exemptions to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises brought-in by Finance Act, 2019), low tax morale, leakages occasioned by the country’s fragmented tax system and the impact of the rebasing of the GDP in 2014”, he explained.
 
The FIRS boss implored the government to consider reviewing its policies on tax waivers thereby guarantying increased revenue to prosecute its programmes and positively move the needle of the country’s tax-to-GDP ratio.
 
The Statistician-General of the Federation, Prince Adeyemi Adeniran, in his letter to the Executive Chairman of FIRS, described the revision as a facelift to the Tax-to-GDP ratio for Nigeria in comparison with other countries.
 
He further noted that the NBS had “carefully and diligently reviewed the methodology used for computing the revised estimates, as well as the various items that have been included in the new computation,” and that the NBS as an outcome of its review and meetings with FIRS has adopted the new Tax-to-GDP computation.

President Muhammadu Buhari came into office in 2015 to find that a law, which stipulated for the collection of a token on banking transactions existed but was not being correctly implemented

This anomaly arose because certain characters apparently formed a cartel with collaborators in the Nigerian Postal Service, NIPOST and were allegedly collecting and pocketing this money.

Soon after, a non-government organization posited to the administration that the Nigerian government had lost the sum of over N20 trillion to the Nigerian Inter-bank Settlement System ((NIBSS) between 2013-2016 in this regard, claiming that the said sum could be recovered and paid back into the government coffers.

The consultants asked to be paid a professional fee of 7.5 percent and were placed under the supervision of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF.

Following the lack of progress in the promised recovery, the late Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari wrote on March 8, 2018 to the SGF conveying a presidential directive that following the lack of progress and several expressed concerns received, the activities of the consultants be discontinued.

In the aftermath of this dismissal, the consultants sued the government.

A court of competent jurisdiction subsequently ruled in favour of the government.

Arising from the outcome of the litigation and the well known controversy on the legally responsible agent for collecting this levy, the administration went to the National Assembly and caused an amendment to the law and removed NIPOST from the duty of its collection.

Having lost a potentially “lucrative” line of “business,” the sacked characters returned to the drawing board to formulate one form of trick or another to intimidate the government but the vigilant teams of the administration kept them at bay.

Lately, they returned to the government through Hon. Muhammadu Gudaji Kazaure with a plan to track the so-called lost stamp duties with the erstwhile consultant as chairman and Hon. Gudaji as secretary.

When it emerged that the petitioner and lead consultant of the committee the President had dissolved via the late Abba Kyari’s letter of March 28 had masqueraded himself and re-emerged as the chairman of the new recovery committee championed by the Hon. Gudaji, the President rescinded the approval he gave and asked that it be stopped from operating under the seal of his office.

In addition to this committee being chaired by a petitioner, there were also other concerns relating to natural justice and fair hearing in having the Chief Justice of the Federation as a committee member and a serving member of the House of Representatives as Secretary, which are not in line with Section 5(1),(a)&(b) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

Once the President rescinded his approval to constitute this Committee, lost all legitimacy.

Arguments have in recent days been flying left and right over the rightfulness of a committee being dissolved.

People are entitled to hold opinions. But these opinions do not change the fact that under our constitution, the power of the president to appoint and remove persons or groups is duly entrenched and unless such powers are shared with the Parliament, the President can hire and fire literally at will, and in line with the law.

To go back to the main issue though, it is now evident that the consultants and petitioners’ claims of a missing N89 trillion from stamp duty appears false and a figment of their malicious imaginations.

The same set of consultants claimed in 2016 there was N20 trillion to be collected. It was found to be false. The entire banking sector deposit is not even up to half of N89 trillion.

Indeed, if the Federal Government can find N89 trillion Naira, it can pay off all its debt, both foreign and local currency and all state government debts and still have over N10 trillion left.

So, the claim by these so-called consultants and the disbanded committee is totally ridiculous and a complete mockery.

Our good friend and a committed party member, Hon Gudaji has tried to draw me into a public debate which I don’t consider a good idea.

In a video clip in Hausa and a press release in English both by this good friend of the administration, Hon. Gudaji Kazaure, invited me to answer questions, some of which are completely lacking in imagination.

I would have ignored the allegations therein. Yet, a wise man once said that a lie can travel the world while the truth is still wearing his shoes.

It is on the basis of the above that I decided to put some things straight and respond directly to Hon. Kazaure’s questions posed to me.

Specifically, I will respond to each of his questions as follows:

(A) “The money with CBN I & E window Account stood at $171 billion dollars as at 2020 what is the source of that money?”

To my knowledge, the CBN-established Investors and Exporters (I&E) Window is a foreign exchange trading platform where banks and other authorized dealers can buy or sell foreign exchange. These trades are recorded by the CBN daily and reported as turnover or activity in the market.

Contrary to Hon. Kazaure’s assertion, the I&E window is NOT an “account” where foreign exchange is deposited. It is simply a platform for trading foreign exchange. As of April 2020, the total amount of foreign exchange traded (either bought or sold) in the window was about $171 billion. The size of this amount suggests that there is adequate liquidity or availability of foreign exchange and that anyone who wants to buy or sell would easily find a counterparty to trade with. The amount does not mean that we have $171 billion stacked away in some vault or saved in any account.

Note that both the CBN and authorized dealers are free to bring foreign exchange to the window, and in fact, the CBN is not the major seller of Foreign Exchange in that segment of the market.

(B) “The N23.4 trillion CBN gave as a loan to some banks, what is the source of that money?”

The CBN is best placed to respond to this question though I must say the assertion itself is both baseless and misleading. The total balance sheet of the CBN is not anywhere near N23 trillion. So how can it give such an amount in loans to any or some banks?

(C) “The N13 trillion loan to the federal government from FMDQ, what is the source of that?”

According to the DMO, the total amount of Nigeria’s domestic debt as of September 2022 is N21.6 trillion. Is Hon. Kazaure suggesting that a small company in Lagos holds over 60 percent of Nigeria’s domestic debt? More also, of the N21.6 trillion domestic debt, only N4.5 trillion are in Treasury Bills? How then can a company in Lagos hold more treasury bills (N13 trillion) than the entire treasury bills issued by the Federal Government? For the avoidance of doubt, I also took time to reach out to the FMDQ ( Financial Markets Derivative Quotes) and understand from their audited financial statements that their holdings of FGN Treasury bills is just N7.99 billion as of December 2021.

(D) “Finally, what is the total equity of CBN and its National budget?”

Anyone who understands this question should provide an answer. I can offer this information: on an annual basis and in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, the CBN transfers 80 percent of its operating surplus to the Federal Government as part of the budget revenues. In the last 6 years, this contribution has amounted to over N150 billion.

Let me inform, that Mr. President has not completely ignored these matters. Indeed, a duly authorized committee under the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) is working to reconcile, recover and transfer all Stamp Duties into Stamp Duties Central Account.

The work is ongoing, it is not finished yet and the President will continue to show his keen interest in the matter of Stamp Duty collection.

Garba Shehu
Senior Special Assistant to the President
(Media & Publicity)
December 13, 2022

From January 1st 2023 Taxpayers Will Be Able To Get Their TCCs In Less Than 1-Minute!

https://twitter.com/FIRSNigeria/status/1602589261349388289?t=7LLIZtlLyOy3xLx9Xph1bg&s=19

On repeated occasions, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has cautioned the general public to be vigilant and circumspect not to deal with scam artists who pose as recruitment agents for the Service and collect huge sums of money from unsuspecting victims with the promise to provide them employment.

Again, the Management of the FIRS wishes to caution the public to be wary of these employment scam artists.

The Service wishes to emphatically state that it is not conducting any recruitment at the moment, and importantly that it does not conduct recruitment exercises through back door channels. Should the FIRS at any instance have need to expand its workforce and consequently seek to recruit competent hands to carry out the task of revenue mobilization for the nation, the public can rest assured that the Service would follow appropriate channels and processes in doing so; including advertisements on public channels of communication, followed by rigorous screening, interviews and examination exercises.

The FIRS also wishes to caution media practitioners not to allow their mediums to be used as platforms for publishing unauthorized fake application processes and recruitment portals that hoodwink the unsuspecting public. The Service would take all necessary legal action against any platform found to be engaged in such fraudulent advertisement.


Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola
Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman, FIRS
(Media & Communication)
August 1, 2022

The programme has supported the poorest families, job seekers, traders and artisans in the country through the following:

• Conditional Cash Transfers to the poor families

• N-Power jobs for young jobseekers School Federal Government school Feeding program for primary and secondary school children

• GEEP soft loans for traders, artisans and farmers

The Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF)

The Nigerian Jubilee Fellowship Program (NJIF)

The COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facilities

Undoubtedly, the Osinbajo-led Economic Sustainability Plan, ESP was voted as the best blueprint for economic growth and recovery by the IMF and the World Bank.

As President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo will consolidate on the progress made by the social investments programme by expanding it to reach even more Nigerians.

He will work with the National Assembly to enact a legal framework to institutionalise the programme.

*Osinbajo Means Business!*

he Management of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) wishes to draw the attention of the taxpaying public and its staff to claims across the media that it is spending certain sums on uniforms, meals, miscellaneous, amongst other budget sub-heads. These reports are to be ignored as they are sensational and unfairly misleading.

One of these reports claim that the Service had delivered its budget estimates to the two chambers of the National Assembly. This is not true. Instead, the draft budget estimate was submitted only to the House Committee on Finance. Also, the claim that “the total budget of the FIRS stands at N228 billion” is blatantly untrue.

Furthermore, staff of the FIRS do not wear uniforms. It should be obvious to everyone that the reference that has been made to the budget for uniforms is not only false but also a misrepresentation of the facts. What has been referred to as Uniform is the Corporate Outfit (Dressing Allowance) enjoyed by all the staff. It is nothing short of deliberate mischief that the word “uniform” was used in place of the dressing allowance statutorily provided for the over 11,000 staff of the Service, in order to misinform the Nigerian public.

Similarly, the sum of N17.8 billion being bandied as an estimate for miscellaneous expenses is grossly false. Surely, the correct figure is N11.36 billion which represents the estimate for key administrative expenses for the whole year that the Service proposed to the National Assembly, being an amount that would be incurred when approved, in respect of its over 500 operating offices and functions as well as for its 11,300 workforce. For clarity, the estimated expenses are for medical costs for over 11,300 staff, publicity, adverts & taxpayer education, welfare packages & festivity allowance to staff, corporate outfit grant (dressing allowance to staff), honorarium & sitting allowance for staff/stakeholders, sporting activities, postage and courier services.

The public is therefore to note that the amount budgeted for the above-listed items represent merely 5.26% of the total budget estimate for the year, 2022.

Rest assured, the FIRS will fully justify the estimates it has put forward in its budget proposal. The sums were duly and carefully provided after due needs assessment of the Service and beyond.

With these details of well-intentioned provisions in the budgetary estimates which were put together by the relevant departments in the Service, it is crystal clear that the Management is conscientiously committed to quality service delivery and staff welfare. Therefore, Management will continue to do everything within the limits of available resources to motivate and buoy up the morale of the staff.

As a revenue-generating agency, the FIRS has an enormous task, especially with dwindling revenue from the oil-sector, to expand and harness the untapped tax-base of the country and mobilise revenue for the Federation, so that governments across the three tiers can deliver on their mandates to Nigerians.

The Management of the FIRS, therefore, frowns at uncharitable attempts to drag its well-wrought tax administration efforts into the murky waters of politics, as doing so will not serve any positive purpose.

The first of its kind in the world, the brand new #COVIDLawSeries puts a new spin on the global phenomenon that has been our collective reality for nearly two years: the coronavirus pandemic. While there has been no shortage of worldwide coverage about the pandemic (the tragic death toll, health ramifications, economic crises, the political fallout, and the changing cultural landscape), there has been no series focused solely on the myriad of legal issues surrounding COVID-19. That is until now, of course.

The nine-part limited series, slated to premiere from the 1st of Ocotber 2021, explores the ways in which citizens’ rights and legal obligations are being re-contextualized in the face of a world-altering health disaster. It provides the public with substantive and analytical information on the law as it relates to COVID-19. It features expert dialogue on various issues such as legal requirement for COVID-19 status disclosure, labour and employment relations, implementation of COVID-19 vaccinations, the criminality of spreading false information on COVID, rules of travel compliance to COVID-19 regulations, COVID-19 and disability rights, among many others.

The series is set to be helmed by Jake Okechukwu Effoduh, a lawyer and human rights activist whose breadth of professional and research experience has linked him to the BBC, World Economic Forum, Harvard University’s Library Innovation Lab, the ECOWAS, the African Human Rights Commission, and the UN Human Rights Council. In 2019, he received the Vanier Scholarship, the Canadian government’s highest doctoral award.

Effoduh will be joined on the show by guests spanning various fields including specialist lawyers, medical experts, prominent scientists, and celebrities in immersive discussions about the arising legal issues surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria and beyond. The show will also feature interviews with everyday citizens and field questions and contributions from the online community via the social media hashtag #COVIDLawSeries

Tax experts have continued to share their thoughts and experiences on global best practices on the administration of Value Added Tax (VAT). One fact that runs through the conversations so far is that no country across the world administers VAT through states or sub-national units; and the reason is that VAT is operated on input-output mechanism which shields taxpayers from incidences of double taxation. Another reason is around capacity and convenience to administer VAT.

Currently, given the fact that VAT is administered centrally by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), the VAT system in Nigeria has an in-built refund or credit mechanism which eliminates the cascading effect that is a feature of the retail sales tax. This means that the final consumer is protected from bearing the brunt of the cascading effect of retail sales tax. Tax experts advise that this shield will be removed if sub-national units take the responsibility of VAT administration.

Further to above, a finance analyst, Ashabi Vincent noted that the input-output tax mechanism in VAT also makes it self-policing. “In essence, it is the Output tax less Input Tax that constitutes the VAT payable and it is the equivalent of the VAT paid by the final consumer of the product that will be collected by the government. Although VAT is a multiple stage tax, it has a single effect and does not add more than the specified rate to the consumer price no matter the number of stages at which the tax is paid”, he said.

In a recent meeting with journalists in Abuja, the FIRS corroborated the above. According to the Group Lead, Special Tax Operations Group, Matthew Gbojunbola, the current VAT Act in Nigeria is in line with global best practices as it allows taxpayers to offset their input VAT (Allowable Input VAT) against their output VAT, to the extent that such input VAT only relates to such goods that are purchased or imported for resale or form the taxpayers’ stock-in-trade used for the production of new products on which output VAT will be charged.

He said where the output VAT exceeds the recoverable input VAT, the taxpayer is expected to remit the excess to the FIRS.

Mr. Gbojunbola explained that in the case where the input VAT exceeds the output VAT, taxpayer will be entitled to a refund of the excess after following the due process as contained in the FIRS Establishment Act. He said that such refund may not be possible if VAT is administered by states because the administration of VAT will be done by different states tax authorities.

He said: “As to the incidence of VAT, VAT is practiced on an input and output mechanism. What it means is that for a business either importing or buying products, that business will pay VAT either at the port if it importing or with the manufacturer if it buying from a local manufacturer.

“And when that business pays VAT, it is accounted for that business as an input tax, such that if it begins to sell in any part of Nigeria, and charges VAT from its own customers, it is able to rescue the importers pay either by port if it is an imported item or to the manufacturer if it was obtained from local producers.

“And this works only at the national level, VAT can’t work at the sub-national level and there is no country in the world where VAT works at a sub national level. This is because the VAT depends on the input-output mechanism.

“For instance, if a business person buys an item in Osun State and paid VAT, takes the goods to Sokoto state to sell, remember this business person had paid VAT when purchasing the product in Osun state.

“So, when selling in Sokoto state, he will be charged VAT and by the operation of the input-output mechanism, this business person will deduct the input VAT payment in Osun state, from the output charged in Sokoto state, and remit any difference to the relevant tax authorities, in this case because there is a single tax authority handling VAT, it is the same Authority that will receive the VAT in Osun and Sokoto states.

“And so, it is easy to work out the input-output mechanism, businesses won’t be short-changed; there is no issue of consumers having to pay VAT more than once.
“However, if this operating at a sub national level it will mean that when businesses are paying VAT at the state level, the business would have to pay VAT twice in two different states.”

According to him, the revenue from VAT is administered under an arrangement that allows the Federal Government to collect 15 per cent, States 50 per cent and Local Government 35 per cent.

The implication of this, according to him, is that the State and Local Government takes about 85 per cent of VAT proceeds

He said, “The VAT is not paid to the Federation Account but to VAT pool account for distribution to the three tiers of government. It is after the sharing that the portion of the Federal Government is paid to the Consolidated Revenue Fund Account.

“VAT works only at a national level but not at a sub-national level. There is no country in the world where VAT works at the sub-national level.”

He said the VAT Act differentiate between two kinds of VAT; Input VAT and Output VAT.

On the issue of capacity, analysts agree that it takes capacity to administer VAT. In line with this, the FIRS explained that it took the system about ten years to get to where it is now in terms of human capital capacity and deployment of technology for tax administration.

Mrs. Chiaka Ben Obi while shedding light on the capacity of FIRS to collect VAT said: “We are deploying technology. And what has that achieved for us? It has enables us to block leakages that were hitherto present in tax declarations and coming up with tax liabilities. And what bis the name of the technology we have deployed? It is TaxPro Max. TaxPro Max is our own in-house developed tax administration system. For the past ten years, we have been trying to achieve non-human intervention in tax administration, from end to end. We had deployed many third-party technologies for tax administration solution which left up with gaps and we were running like a mini-manual or semi-automated system.

“What we have now with TaxPro Max is that we are managing the life-cycle of taxpayer using technology. From the time a taxpayer registers up until the time ultimately the taxpayer getting their Tax Clearance Certificate. Recall that in the past, when a taxpayer is registering to get their Tax Identification Number, you typically will bring your CAC registered document, your C07, team of directors etc, we don’t do all that now.

“A taxpayer can actually go and register online and do that validation online and be integrated with the CAC. And they check the validity and the authenticity of the taxpayer. And thereafter, a taxpayer can then filing their tax returns and entering all that they need to enter. Another aspect of that has happened again as a result of deploying TaxPro Max that, what is important to a taxpayer is issued a contract and they are paid, the PAYE automatically deducts their Withholding Tax from the taxpayer and remits same to the FIRS”.

She said once the payee deducts that Withholding Tax and remits to FIRS, a receipt is automatically generated which goes to the email of profile of the taxpayer.
“Now, once that receipt is generated, the system also recognises a Withholding Tax receipt has been generated and then converts that to a Withholding Tax Credit Notes which then becomes a credit on the ledger of the taxpayer.

“When the taxpayer therefore goes to file for tax, at the end of declaration of all the requirements in all the schedules, there is a request to the taxpayer if they want to use the credit in their ledger. If the taxpayer says yes, let’s assume that the tax liability of the taxpayer is N100 million, and they have a credit of N85 million in their ledgers, the system will deduct the amount and present N15 million for the taxpayer to pay. The system will also give them the option to pay at the bank or pay immediately.

“If they click to pay at the bank, a document reference number is generated which they can take to the bank. If they go to the bank, that is what they give to the bank teller to process their payment and issue them receipt. If you also choose to pay right away, you will be presented different payment gateways, you will whichever one you prefer and then you pay online.

“So, we have been able to achieve an end-to-end processing of the life cycle of that taxpayer, from the time that taxpayer registers to the time they pay their tax liability and receive their Tax Clearance Certificates. When they make their payments, the next thing a taxpayer wants is to receive their TCC which is a statutory requirement for most of the agencies that give contracts if not all of them. So, those days of going to the Tax Office and applying for TCC are gone. Most time the Tax Controllers who approve issuance of TCC are online. So, you can give a timeline from 10 minutes to at most two days and you will have your TCC sent to your email which you registered with the Tax Office and then you can print it and do whatever you want to do with it. So that is how FIRS has been able to block leakages and we are able to generate more taxes from taxpayers because we have been able to overcome the challenges of the issues of under-declaring and underpayment”, Mrs. Chiaka Obi said.

Tax defaulters who plan to institute legal cases against the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) now have to pay 50% of the assessed amount in dispute into an interest-yielding account of the Federal High Court before the court can hear such matters.

Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr Muhammad Nami, disclosed this on Friday during a public hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts investigating revenue leakages arising from tax waivers and incentives to foreign companies granted pioneer status.

According to Mr Nami, the new rule is contained in a recent Practice Direction issued by the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abuja, Hon. Justice John Terhemba Tsoho, under Order 57 rule 3 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules, 2019. He also confirmed that the Practice Direction took effect from 31 May 2021.

Mr Nami also stated that the Management of FIRS "has initiated a process for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with critical stakeholders as far as information sharing and amendments to the relevant laws are concerned".

He revealed further: "We have gotten several amendments to our tax laws which require companies operating in the Free Trade Zones to file tax returns on their operations to the FIRS". These amendments are aimed at checking the activities of taxpayers currently taking advantage of some gaps in our tax laws and fiscal policy by establishing businesses in the nation’s tax-free zones. He emphasized that such companies produce goods that are meant for export and then sell the goods to our custom’s zone thereby making it impossible for the companies operating in our custom’s zone to operate competitively with them.

However, as part of efforts to attract investment vis-a-vis raising revenue for the government, Mr Nami also hinted that as a first step, "FIRS has set up a high-power committee which is made up of senior officials of FIRS and the National Investment Promotion Commission(NIPC) to look into issues patterning to tax waivers and granting of pioneer status".

Mr Nami, who maintained that tax evasion and tax avoidance were global phenomena, also said that such practices were equally fiscal policy issues. He then urged the National Assembly to, as a second step, amend the relevant tax laws that would make it almost impossible for these companies to exploit loopholes in our tax laws to shift both profits and taxes to their countries of origin. He pointed out that taxes not paid to Nigeria or waived by the Nigerian Government are returned to the treasury of defaulting companies’ home countries operating in Nigeria, hence the need for legislation to address the issue.

As part of its efforts at modernizing tax administration in the country, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), has introduced a new Tax Administration Solution (TaxPro-Max) for ease of tax compliance.

  A Public Notice signed by the Executive Chairman, FIRS, Mr Muhammad Nami, disclosed that “TaxPro-Max enables seamless registration, filling, payment of taxes and automatic credit of withholding tax as well as other credits to the Taxpayer’s accounts, among other features. The TaxPro-Max also provides a single-view to Taxpayers for all transactions with the Service”. The TaxPro-Max platform is accessible at www.taxpromax.firs.gov.ng

 Mr. Nami disclosed that as “from 7th June, 2021, the TaxPro-Max becomes the channel for filing Naira-denominated tax returns” in the country. Consequently, Mr. Nami notifies all Taxpayers as follows: “All Naira-denominated tax returns are to be filed via the TaxPro-Max Solution in order to generate the obligatory Document Identity Number (DIN)”.

  He added that henceforth, “Taxpayers will not be able to pay without DIN; as such taxpayers wanting to submit their tax returns manually must visit the relevant tax office where FIRS personnel will be on hand to assist them to upload the returns and generate the DIN;

“In view of the time it might take to upload manual returns and generate the DIN, taxpayers are encouraged to bring manual returns for upload, at least, two weeks before the due date; Qualified Personnel of the Service are on hand to assist taxpayers experiencing challenges in filing returns on the TaxPro-Max. They may be reached via email, taxpromax@firs.gov.ng”.

Mr. Nami advised “taxpayers that are yet to get their user credentials to visit the nearest FIRS Tax Office to be on board immediately”.

The Saudis expelled Usama Bin Laden because of his terrorism tendencies, the same Saudis employed Pantami to lecture in its University because they know that Pantami does not have terrorism tendencies.

The US and UK did not see the Pantami as a threat when he studied there and even became an instructor in the prestigious HARVARD UNIVERSITY. Those two countries would not allow someone to ask them to enlist him in their watch list. Yet Pantami was cleared to study there.

The DSS did their thorough investigation before they cleared Pantami to head NITDA and Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.

Those calling and linking Pantami with terrorism are basically Yahoo boys whose criminality would be hampered after the success of NIN/SIM registration of the Ministry of Communication headed by Pantami.

Those calling for Pantami's resignation are treading the same path of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Boko Haram, who wants him killed because he brings to bear NIN/SIM registration that would drastically curtail the terror of Boko Haram.

Pantami is never accused of under performance and misconduct in the Ministry he heads.

Those trailing Pantami were well with him when he was DG NITDA because his work did not trail them, but they want him out because his performance is trailing their criminalities.. They also want kidnappers to continue their onslaughts on Nigerians.

Pantami's performance brought the Ministry of Communication to limelight. He was one of the Ministers that were appointed on merit, given his sterling performance at NITDA.

If other Ministers of Nigeria are as performing as Pantami, Nigeria would uptimally changed to the better.

Pantami should not succumb to the cheap blackmail to resign. He should redouble his performance for the betterment of the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy.

Megatrix:
OP please answer this question, is someone that supports Al Qaeda not a terrorists sympathizer?

So why is United State signing a peace agreement with Al Qaeda

Let us face it, the recent coordinated media campaign against Pantami to label him by all means a sympathiser of jihadists and terrorists are products of a grand population of Nigerians who are unschooled outside their learned religion and simply #islamophobia at play.

Dr Pantami is an Islamic scholar. He serves as a Member of Shari’ah Board of Jaiz Bank. He was also a Shurah member and Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Shari’ah (SCS) in Nigeria.


Dr Pantami is a Jumu’ah Chief Imam who has been leading the Jumu’ah prayer for over 20 years in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. He still preaches in the mosque and does Tafsir during Ramadan. He is your typical Muslim devout. His trousers are jumper, in line with the Sunnah.

This is the picture of a Northern man who our brothers would describe as a konk muslim.

Forgive me, but my brothers are fearful of his kind.

The very fact that a Twitter user swore without evidence that he was on a watchlist of terrorist because he spoke Hausa on a debate with the founder of Boko Haram, several years ago, tells us that he posted that out of fear and far from reason.

#Islamophobia is real. Lets not pretend it does not exist.

Harmless comments by a muslim are given innuendoes and untrue interpretations.

If there was no #Islamophobia, why didn’t those who were amplifying the resignation of Dr. Pantami take time to understand the video that was shared of him where he was in fact attacking the ideology of Boko Haram.

Hardly ever do we see anyone here taking on the extremist views of El Zakzaki.

But Dr Pantami seems to be an easy target because he is a successful Muslim academic and scholar?

We need to dig deep down into our biases.

Pantami is not the problem here. His teachings today are more liberal than ever, why is there the obsession with his past and not his current message?

This is a smokescreen for Islamophobia. We need to fix our biases and hate-tendencies.

We have watched with amazement how hired propagandists who hide under the cloak of 'analysts' and 'social media influencers' have spent the last 24hrs disgracing and ridiculing themselves by trying to push further their heavily sponsored propaganda against His Excellency Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

They try to sell yet another failed one that the VP was out of touch, sleepy, not in control and so was not aware of plans to relieve former IGP of his job and so went on to travel with the IGP on an official assignment to Owerri the Imo state capital, and that the IGP was 'fired' while on the assignment with the VP.

However, the narrative didn't fly as the propagandists were stunned to see the same VP decorating the newly appointed IGP earlier today.

*The truth:*
The fact of the matter is that the VP and the former IGP did not go to Owerri together, neither did they even meet in Owerri.

The VP already had a scheduled official working visit to Imo State to commission some projects at the instance of the state government, and only used the opportunity to visit scenes of the attacks that happened recently in Owerri, as a concerned and empathic leader.

It is interesting to also note that the VP and the ex Police Chief never met in Owerri, as the former IGP was already on his way back to Abuja when the VP's aircraft was about to touch down and every other flight was put on hold (including that of the former IGP) for the presidential jet to be cleared first.

Although the former IGP was in Imo state, he didn't go there with the VP, and we challenge the mischief makers to prove otherwise by presenting to the public any photo or clip showing the former IGP and the VP in Owerri.

Lest they forget, the VP is still overseeing the 2.3 trillion naira Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP), as chairman of the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC), which was charged with the task of pulling Nigeria out of the recession occasioned by the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic; an assignment that had already produced tangible and measurable result by bringing the country out of recession even faster than stronger economies affected by same pandemic.

Recall also that the VP was the same person who summoned the immediate past IGP before President Buhari over #EndSARS and didn't stop there but also ensured that at least 30 states in Nigeria set up judicial panels of inquiry to investigate allegations of police brutality and compensate victims accordingly.

A Vice President who chairs the Nation's Economic Council and has been the brain behind the social investment programmes of the Buhari administration, which have been confirmed to be the most ambitious social investment programmes in Africa, however, cannot be said to be relegated, sleepy or sidelined.

We clearly understand how frustrating their job has been, as they have to continue to justify and earn their pay from their principals and paymasters and wish we could help.

Our greatest strength comes from the firm realization that President Buhari and the majority of Nigerians still believe in and trust the Vice President to continue his job.

The United Kingdom Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the party's national leader as a political icon too important to be ignored.

The APC UK said this in a statement issued by Mr. Jacob Ogunseye, its Publicity Secretary on Sunday in Abuja while congratulating Tinubu on his 69th birthday.

The statement quoted Prince Ade Omole, leader of the chapter as saying that Tinubu is an exceptional and extraordinary person, adding that his doggedness and tenacity had reshaped the county's political space in the last few decades.

"Tinubu has become an icon in Nigeria's politics too important to be ignored by anyone irrespective of party, he has made his mark in the international, national, and political arena," Omole said.

According to him, Tinubu has redefined politics and given a new meaning to mentoring and progressive leadership.

Omole added that the APC national leader had shown what it takes to be a leader over the years through his resilience, strength, determination, and hard work.

This, he said, had further positioned him for the future as he celebrates his 69th birthday.

He added that at 69, Tinubu had raised the bar for many political leaders across the country by bequeathing a style of leadership that completely altered the landscape of the nation.

Omole said Tinubu is a master nation builder and elder statesman whose progressive solutions to national issues could not be faulted.

He said Tinubu was one politician in the country who meant well for her development and the well-being of the people.

He noted that as a detribalised politician, Tinubu had always rallied support for the socio-economic progress of Nigeria, irrespective of religious or ethnic sentiments.

"Asiwaju had always come through for his political friends in times of trouble irrespective of religion and tribal sentiments.

"He remains the one political pillar in Nigeria that political big wigs across the country run to for support, "Omole said.

He prayed to God to continue to grant Tinubu divine health, long life, and prosperity and to bestow on him more wisdom as he continues to provide his patriotic services to the country and humanity.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that over the years, Tinubu gathers intellectuals and politicians to discuss contemporary political and social issues, while proffering solutions where necessary at his colloquium which also marks his birthday.

This year's colloquium would be held in Kano on March 29th.

(NAN)

The National Leader of All Progressive Congress (APC) Bola Tinubu arrives in Kano for the 12th Bola Tinubu Colloquim

Nigeria’s leading Islamic figure, the Sultan of Sokoto, HRH Muhammadu Sa’adu Abubakar as well as the Governor of Kano State, Dr Umar Ganduje would play a prominent role in the unveiling of Tinubu’s Presidential 2023 Campaign, in Kano, on Monday.

Kano State Governor, who is playing host to the yearly Tinubu Colloquium, would lead a host of Northern elites to flag off the unofficial campaign of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential ambition come 2023.

Among those that are expected to be in attendance is Nigeria’s most revered Islamic leader, the Sultan of Sokoto, who would be joined by several Emirs from across Northern Nigeria.

Dr Ganduje is reported to be seeking to be the major sponsor of Asiwaju’s 2023 campaign, as there are reports that he is to be given the Vice Presidential slot.

It is no longer news that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is geared towards pushing to become the President in 2023. He has begun consultations in the North and has met with most of its leaders.

Rice Pyramid from Niger state

Niger state has been ranked since 2017 as the highest rice producing state in Nigeria. This survey was made by National Agricultural Extension and Research Liason Services (NAERLS) of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria

https://twitter.com/nupenchi_/status/1336980923393470464?s=21

The MPs quoted and repeated the same unsubstantial narrative of "massacre" and fake numbers on alleged #Lekki deaths, from 35 - 78. Anyway the UK govt minister had a shocker for them all

_*Summary*_:

- No sanctions oooo! (dem be our trade partners)

- The UK Minister has spoken with Nigeria Foreign Minister, G. Onyeama and PMB CoS, Alhaji Gambari

- We thank President Buhari for the disbandment of SARS

- We will keep working with Nigerian govt

- We will ensure human right is guaranteed in Nigeria

- The UK/Nigeria has a long relationship; we appreciate them all and the country, Nigeria.

- UK govt will keep monitoring the judicial panels in Nigeria

- We will keep trading with Nigeria

- UK to use all diplomatic avenues to work with Nigeria and ensure things go right from now

Hello,

We are pleased to inform you that the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Foundation, in collaboration with the Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room, Department for International Development (UKAID), Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) and Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) has deployed an online platform to support national surveillance efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria.

The platform receives, documents and analyses reports of individuals displaying COVID-19 symptoms. A team of volunteers managed by the Yar’Adua Foundation will escalate reports to the relevant health authorities for action.

CSOs and citizens are encouraged to file reports using the link below:
https://c19nigeria.org/report

A dashboard showing information about reports received is available at the following address:
https://c19nigeria.org

Kindly share the links t within your networks to encourage citizens to report probable COVID-19 cases.

Thank you.

The focus of the Buhari administration, from the outset, was to empower young people, and ensure that the resources of the country are used for the benefit of all Nigerians instead of a few individuals, according to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN.

The Vice President stated this today at the launch of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Clinics in Bauchi.

According to him, "Our focus from the beginning of the administration is that there must be jobs, enough resources for young men and women to be able to do their work and to contribute their quota to Nigeria's growth. 

"That is why the President started the N-Power programme, the Market Moni programme and TraderMoni; that is the reason why the President said that we must have Home-Grown School Feeding programme, to provide opportunities for people.

"President Muhammadu Buhari's commitment to Nigeria is that he will not steal Nigeria's resources, he will use Nigeria's money for the benefit of Nigerians, that is the pledge he made the day he became President and he has maintained that pledge till now. The determination of our government is to see to it that Nigeria's resources are used for the benefit of Nigerians."

Prof. Osinbajo who spoke about several efforts made by the present administration to improve the lot of the people despite earning less said, " this country can afford to provide for our people that is why we are determined and committed by making sure that we provide for our people everywhere they are, especially the young men and women."

He said: "For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we are spending 30% of our income on infrastructure. That is why we are able to build the Lagos-Kano railway, the Mambila Hydro project and all of the several roads that we have started building.

"We are spending Nigeria's money in the right places and we make sure that nobody steals Nigeria's money."

He enjoined the people of the state to be committed to the objectives of the Federal Government, which according to him, "is to make sure that we give our people the best possible."

Aside from the launch of MSMEs clinics, the Vice President also launched the Trader Moni Scheme (the collateral and Interest-free loan scheme for petty traders in Bauchi) and also commissioned the One-Stop Shop for MSMEs in Bauchi and environs.

There are claims that the Executive Director (Engineering and Technical Services) of Niger Delta Power Holding Development Company Limited (NDPHC), Mr Ifeoluwa Oyedele, is allegedly making efforts to unseat the Managing Director, Mr Chiedu Ugbo from office.

Findings showed that Enginner Oyedele, who assumed position in 2016, has vowed to use his connections and influence as a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), to malign the image of Mr Ugbo.

Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari, in 2016, appointed Mr. Ugbo as Managing Director of NDPHC and Mr Oyedele, as the Executive Director (Engineering and Technical Services), respectively.

The appointment followed the dissolution of the James Abiodun Olotu-led management.

Recent happenings within the company however revealed that Mr Oyedele is not happy with the appointment of Mr Ugbo as the Managing Director.

Engineer Oyedele and Malam Babayo Shehu, Executive Director (Finance and Administration), are framing him up on unfound allegations.

One of Mr Oyelede’s mission is to sponsor a faceless group to submit a petition to the Federal House of Representatives, accusing Mr Ugbo of financial discrepancies.

Mr Oyedele had accused Mr Ugbo of abdicating his authority to Mrs Nkechi Mba, the General Manager of Procurement.

These allegations follow Mr Ugbo’s refusal to yield to the tunes of Mr. Oyedele and Mr Shehu to allow them breach the public procurement act, and initiate inappropriate award process for the procurement of goods and services.

Mr Ugbo’s strong adherence to due process and diligent financial transaction has earned him enemies who are hell bent on frustrating his stay in the office and have vowed to use their influence in the Aso Villa to remove him from office.

Thus, efforts made by Mr Ugbo to ensure power stations under constructions across the country are completed are being countered by Mr Oyedele and Mr Shehu.

The many sins of Mr Ugbo, as been allegedly confessed by Mr Oyedele to his friends include Mr Ugbo’s continued opposition to the unprofessional manner procurement is being handled and the many illegalities being committed by Mr Oyedele and Mr Shehu.

Mr Oyedele confessed to his friends that on different occasions, Mr Ugbo has stopped the award of “loaded and frivolous” contracts unilaterally processed for award by him.

These contracts planned using incompetent companies are drain pipes aimed at siphoning the resources of the company.

Mr Oyedele’s alleged dubious effort to blackmail Mrs. Mba to succumb to his will met a brick wall.

The refusal of Mba to yield to his request resorted to personal attack against her person and the Managing Director, which has already been described as “completely false and lacking in substance and a mere exercise of the twisted imagination”.

With the coast not clear for Mr Oyedele to orchestrate his inappropriate award process, all his wrongful allegations against Mr Ugbo has been debunked by, Yakubu Lawal, the NDPHC general manager, communications and public relations.

Responding to the allegations of improper procurement and breach of the public procurement act, Lawal said the company had been using the services of the current law firms before the appointment of the new executives.

On the installation of CCTV at two power plants, Mr. Lawal explained that Chubas Ideal Communications Limited, the company involved, was asked to survey and suggest security equipment required at the plants.

He said, however, the company went ahead to fix the cameras without approval from NDPHC. However, when management refused to pay for the equipment since there was no contract; Chubas reported its non-payment to the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).

“As part of its efforts to resolve the matter, NDPHC decided to pay for the work done, but only upon audit and verification of the works,” Lawal explained.

Also on the contract for the construction of the Ugwuaji road in the “princely sum” of N649, 218, 186.90, lawal said contract for the road is yet to be awarded by NDPHC.

According to him, the road leads to a town that hosts one of the major transmission substations constructed by NDPHC and in which NDPHC still maintains a large warehouse.

“The road was seriously damaged during the construction process. NDPHC’s heavy equipment and machinery continue to ply the road.  This has been a source of agitation for repair of the road by the host community,” he said

Is this how Atiku wants to run the economy?

The PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, keeps saying based on his antecedents, he is the best man to fix the country’s economy. He must really think Nigerians are either daft or are suffering from amnesia. Below are records of his ‘achievements’ when he was head of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s economic team and chairman of the National Council on Privatization (NCP) from 1999 to 2007.

~16 billion dollars set aside for the upgrade of power supply infrastructure disappeared into thin air. No improvement in power supply to show for the humongous figure.

~In 2007, both a Senate panel, chaired by Victor Ndoma-Egba and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) indicted Atiku for diverting 145 million dollars meant for the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) to various bank accounts linked to him between 1999 and 2006.

~In 2010, the United States Senate Permanent Sub-Committee on Investigations exposed a pattern of wire transfers of more than 40 million dollars from offshore companies like Siemens into bank accounts controlled by Atiku and one of his wives, Jemila Abubakar (formerly Jennifer Iwenjora, later Jennifer Douglas). To avoid being arrested and jailed for this and other scandals, Atiku has avoided the US like a plague for years.

~He was also indicted by the former IGP Mike Okiro panel for sharing the 74 million dollars proceeds of the famous Halliburton bribe scandal to other top officials of the very corrupt administration in which he served.

~He sold national assets in fraudulent circumstances to himself and cronies and was heavily involved in the corruption-laden incorporation of Transcorp.

~US investigators also named Atiku as the collector of the famous 6 million dollars bribe from officials of Willbros Group, Inc., a global engineering and contractor company based in Houston, Texas. He was said to have demanded and collected the bribe to facilitate illicit and illegal deals for the company in Nigeria.

Written by Sirajo Sabo Gassol.

There are at least 4,000 delegates participating in PDP's presidential primary election. Saraki is paying each delegate $1,000 (N350,000), that is potentially $4Million (N1.4 Billion) for delegates alone, his opening bid as at yesterday. Atiku opened his own bid at $5,000 (N1,750,000) per delegate, or $20,000,000 (N7 Billion) for all the delegates. Nyesom Wike was paying $10,000 per delegate, or $40,000,000 (N14,000,000,000) for delegates alone. These figures were part of the early bids as at yesterday. Nobody knows how much they finally paid, but some inside sources said it's been up to $15,000 (N5,250,000) per delegate.

There are at least 12 aspirants contesting in this election, and by the time they're done hundreds of billions of naira must have changed hands. Only that they're not spending it in naira, they're spending it in dollars. When we told you that the recession that happened due to the hoarding of dollars and depletion of our foreign reserves and excess crude account was caused by the PDP you denied...

So where did they get the dollars they're spending now from? How many of them have any private business that generates so much wealth? Or are they simply spending money belonging to poor people? What exactly are they buying that they have to spend so much? Is it only vote they're buying or our future with it? Are these the same bunch of hypocrites who like to release press statements condemning vote buying when election does not go their way but who are shamelessly buying votes right under our noses? Can we honestly expect anything good from this same characters who said they have repented and that we should forgive them their sins but who have not shown any sign of repentance at all? How exactly will they "change the change" if they have not even changed their own corrupt ways?

The signs are always there, right before our very own eyes. Everything to show that the one who promises El Dorado is nothing but a fraud, but we almost always chose to ignore them because of our own prejudice and personal interests. How exactly is a Saraki, a Tambuwal, a Kwankwoso, an Atiku who is being sponsored by money stolen from poor people better than a Buhari who was voted in by the ordinary masses of Nigeria without a single dime changing hands? I trust some of you would like to remind me that when Buhari first came into power that he was sponsored by stolen money too, but you're saying that that Buhari should give way for someone better... So how exactly is the one you're supporting today better? Would you not rather stick with the "devil" you know than the wolves in sheep clothing that we all know are even far worse?

If you think Buhari is bad then wait for Kwankwoso, wait for Atiku, wait for Saraki and wait for Tambuwal. These are people who have no pity for the poor. At least Buhari pities the poor, which is why he pays them NPOWER, gives their children free feeding in school, gives them conditional cash transfers, invests heavily in food production through his agric revolution, gives bailouts to state governments to pay salaries, and refused to devalue the naira...

So, if you see all that and say Buhari is bad then wait for a people who have no respect for poor people. Saraki is today the Senate President, what has he done to restructure the country which is a constitutional matter? What has he done to improve the welfare of poor people? Tambuwal is today the governor of Sokoto State, should he not first transform Sokoto State before coming to ask for a bigger responsibility? When he was speaker of the House of Reps, what did he do about the restructuring he's deceiving us with today? That one called Atiku was the most powerful Vice President in Nigerian history, yet only used his powers to enrich himself and his cronies at the expense of the poor masses.

Listen to them talk today, none of them says anything about corruption... Is that because corruption is dead in Nigeria or because they simply do not have the moral ground to speak against it? None of them tells us what they're going to do to strengthen institutions like the police, judiciary, INEC etc... None of them has any clearcut plan on the economy, security, restructuring, power supply, job creation, education, healthcare, restructuring. The only thing they say is "Buhari has failed, we're going to do better because he who failed woefully before have repented", even though there is no evidence to that.

I just pity the gullible wailers who don't know their left from their right, this is why these people are playing them like football.

Sirajo Sabo Gassol.

Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has directed the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to immediately overhaul the management and activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The order follows persistent complaints and critical reports about the activities SARS. The complaints border on allegations of human rights violations.

Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande, announced the directive in a statement signed on Tuesday.

According to the statement, Osinbajo instructed the IGP to ensure that any unit that emerges from the overhaul is intelligence-driven, restricted to the prevention and detection of armed robbery, kidnapping, apprehension of offenders linked to the stated offences, and nothing more.

The Acting President also directed the IGP to ensure that all operatives in the emerging unit “conduct their operations in strict adherence to the rule of law and due regard to International Human Rights Law and the constitutionally guaranteed rights of suspects.

“The operatives should also bear proper identification anytime they are on duty,” he added.

Also, Osinbajo ordered the National Human Rights Commission to set up a Special Panel that will conduct an investigation into the alleged unlawful activities of SARS.

He said the panel would afford members of the public the opportunity to present their grievances and get justice.

https://thestar.com.ng/news/yemi-osinbajo-orders-sars-overhaul/1360/?amp

300,000 more unemployed graduates to be engaged 
 
In fulfilment of its promise, the Buhari administration has concluded arrangements to deploy and formally engage 300,000 new beneficiaries in the second batch of its N-Power Volunteers Corp effective from 1st August, 2018.  
 
With 200,000 beneficiaries currently benefitting from the programme, this means that by August, 500,000 unemployed Nigerian graduates will be beneficiaries of the scheme, which is a crucial part of the administration’s National Social Investment Programmes (N-SIP).
 
The N-Power Volunteer Corp scheme is designed to benefit all Nigerians irrespective of their backgrounds and is currently in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
 
It would be recalled that Vice President Osinbajo noted that, “President Muhammadu Buhari made it clear that the SIP would be a major programme of the administration because he was concerned about poverty and unemployment.” 
 
In conjunction with all State N-Power partners, the new beneficiaries will be promptly deployed to their assigned Primary Places of Assignment (PPA) on or before the said date.
 
The final selection lists broken down in States/Local Government Area (LGA) for each of the (3) N-Power component would be circulated to all focal persons in the states and FCT by Friday, July 20, 2018.
 
All successfully deployed N-Power beneficiaries in the second batch will be engaged for a period of two-year period starting from August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2020.
 
In order to qualify for their first monthly payment stipend of N30,000 by August 31, 2018, all deployed volunteers are expected to upload on their N-Power portal page their stamped and signed confirmation of resumption on or before Friday, August 10, 2018.
 
Through the N-Power scheme, hundreds of thousands of young, unemployed Nigerian graduates have been empowered through training and skills acquisition in different areas of public services, including education (N-Teach), health (N-Health), agriculture (N-Agro), and building/construction (N-Build).
 
Each N-Power beneficiary learns entrepreneurial skills to enable them become business persons and become professionals on their own, while beneficiaries are given electronic devices to enhance their work and paid a N30,000 monthly stipend.
 
State-based N-Power partners comprise, but are not limited to the following: N-Teach - State Universal Board for Education (SUBEB); State & Local Government Area (LGA) Offices for Adult Education Centres; State & LGA Offices for Nomadic Education; N-Agro - State & LGA Offices for Agriculture Development Programme (ADP); and N-Health - State & LGA Offices for Primary Health Care Board.
 
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President, Media and Publicity,
Office of the Vice President.