₦airaland Forum

Ugboha is my dear home town. A peace loving kingdom. The host community of Esan water project. Mr. Governor abandoned this project years after the Federal government handed it over to him as the state governor. Now that the fear of losing his state house of assembly election is staring at him on the face, with lots of anger, he's running from pillar to pole. Someone should tell him that this will not make my people to vote for him or his stooges again because it's rather too late. My people will do to him exactly what they did to him during the last presidential election, wherein his party lost all the senatorial and house of representatives election.
There's always a day for the owner of a house, even though everyday is for the thief.

Peter Obi delivering a speech at Chatham House

Fact-Checking 10 claims made by Peter Obi at Chatham House
Peter Obi, the former governor of Anambra State, was the top choice in at least three opinion polls.
ByKabir Yusuf January 24, 2023 Reading Time: 5 mins read

Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, delivered a presentation on Monday, 16 January 2023, at Chatham House in the United Kingdom (UK), speaking on how he intends to govern Nigeria if elected as president in next month’s election.

Themed “Nigeria’s 2023 elections: A vision for policy change and institutional reforms,” Mr Obi spoke and answered questions on issues ranging from poverty, education, economy, energy, oil and gas, insecurity, and restructuring.

The former governor of Anambra State has come top in at least three opinion polls on the presidential election.

This fact-check examines ten claims made by Mr Obi in his speech at the Chatham House London.

Claim 1
Claim: Labour Party presidential candidate claimed that apart from Venezuela, Nigeria is the only OPEC nation not meeting its Quota.

Verification: Latest data obtained from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) shows that from September to December 2022, none of the OPEC member countries met its production quota. The OPEC member countries are Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Venezuela.


Verdict: False.

Source: OPEC production data and monthly oil market report.

Atiku-Okowa AD

Claim 2
Claim: Nigeria’s average life expectancy is about 50-something years, and the global average is 72 years.
Verification: World Bank’s latest (2020) data on life expectancy show that Nigeria’s average life expectancy is 55 years, and the global average is 72.9 years. Similarly, the United Nations World Population Prospects (UN WPP) report shows that life expectancy is 72 years.
Verdict: True

Source: World Bank, UN WPP

Claim 3:
Claim: 63 per cent of Nigerians are poor.

Verification: Last November, the Federal Government of Nigeria, through the National Bureau of Statistics, published the results of the 2022 “Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey,” saying 63 per cent of Nigerians (133 million people) are multidimensionally poor.

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Verdict: True

Source: National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Claim 4:
Claim: Nigeria has about 60 per cent of youth unemployment.


Dangote adbanner 728x90_2 (1)
Verification: The latest data on the NBS dashboard shows that Nigeria has 42.5 per cent youth unemployment.

Verdict: False

ⓘ

Source: National Bureau of Statistics

READ ALSO: Tinubu at Chatham House, speaks on election promises, age, birth
Claim 5:
Claim: Peter Obi claimed he was awarded the Best governor in Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).
Verification: Reports show that in August 2014, Mr Obi won the award for Mainstreaming the MDGs into Anambra State Development Agenda, 2006-2014. The award was presented to him at a Presidential Summit in Transcorp Nicon Hotel, Abuja.
Verdict: True
Source: Daily Independent and Vanguard

Claim 6:
Claim: There are 20 million out-of-school children in Northern Nigeria.
Verification: The total number of out-of-school children in Nigeria is estimated at 20 million, according to the latest global data on out-of-school children published in September 2022 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Therefore, Mr Obi’s claim that northern Nigeria accounts for 20 million out-of-school children in the country is false.

Verdict: False

Source: UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report (GEM) and Premium Times report.

Claim 7:
Claim: Seven local governments of Niger State are under the control of bandits.
Verification: Last year, the Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello, revealed that seven out of the 25 local governments in the state are frequently under attack by bandits and terrorists. Multiple newspapers also reported that seven local governments of Niger state are under constant attack by bandits.
Verdict: True

Source: Thisday and The Punch newspaper

Claim 8:
Claim: Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in 2015 was $2,550

Verification: A review of World Bank’s data shows that Nigeria’s GDP per capita in 2015 stood at $2,679, contradicting Mr Obi’s claim.

Verdict: False

Source: World Bank

ⓘ

Claim 9
Claim: Nigeria’s total health budget was below N2.5 trillion from 2015 – 2021

Verification: A review of Nigeria’s health budget from 2015 – 2021 shows that the federal government allocated N2.50 trillion to the health sector.

Verdict: Inaccurate

Source: Budget office of the Federation, Premium Times, and The Punch newspaper

Claim 10:
Claim: “As of 2015, Nigeria’s total debt stock is about N15 trillion. But today (January 2023), with CBN ways and means, we owe over N75 trillion.” Mr Obi claimed.

Verification: Nigeria’s public debt in December 2015 stood at N12.6 trillion, according to official data from Nigeria’s Debt Management Office. By September 2022, the Nigerian government’s domestic and foreign debts rose to N44 trillion. On the other hand, the CBN’s loans to the federal government stood at N23.8 trillion cumulatively. Therefore, Nigeria’s total debt combined with CBN’s loans is N67.8 trillion, not over N75 trillion, as claimed by Mr Obi.

Verdict: False

Source: Debt Management Office and Premium Times.

The researcher produced this fact-check per the Dubawa 2023 Kwame Karikari Fellowship partnership with Premium Times to facilitate the ethos of truth in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.

Many Nigerians say getting a passport is now cumbersome due to corruption and government inefficiency.

A Nigerian officer holds passports for his troops
A Nigerian officer holds passports for his troops preparing to board a US military plane in Abuja, October 28, 2004 [File: Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters]
By Pelumi Salako
Published On 7 Oct 2022
7 Oct 2022
Ilorin, Nigeria — In September 2021, when Akpos Malafakumo walked into the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) office in Yenagoa, Bayelsa, to apply for a new passport, she had no idea it would take 10 months to get it.

After filling the forms, an officer there told her to pay 70,000 naira ($175) for an expedited passport or wait six weeks – like others. “Six weeks sounded like a reasonable time to me so I paid 45,000 naira [$113] because I was not in a hurry to get the passport,” the 25-year-old told Al Jazeera.

It was not until mid-November that Malafakumo was called in for biometric capturing. Six weeks later, when she had still not been notified that the passport was ready, she went to the office to complain in December 2021.

“I was getting worried already … because I was applying for a graduate school outside the country and most of the applications needed my passport number,” she said.

In 2017, the NIS banned cash payments ostensibly to make the process of getting or renewing passports nationwide as efficient as possible and phase out middlemen. Two years later, it introduced e-passports to curb forgery.

But citizens say these measures have instead worsened the situation at immigration offices within Nigeria and abroad and left a long line of people waiting for passports to be issued.

Nigeria does not produce its own passport booklets despite owning a minting and printing company. And immigration officials have been repeatedly accused of bribery and corruption – hoarding booklets and introducing arbitrary charges to line their pockets.

“Nigeria is this interesting test case where the application of technology to the delivery of government services often worsens the experience for citizens and taxpayers rather than enhancing or easing the process of accessing government services,” said Ikemesit Effiong, head of research at SBM Intelligence, a Lagos-based geopolitical risk advisory firm.

‘The highest bidders’
Last year, Nigerian media reported that about 1.5 million Nigerians in Italy needed passports.

A 2021 survey by SBM Intelligence indicated that the international passport is the least owned government identification in the country because it was too stressful to obtain. Less than a tenth of the 6,954 respondents had it.

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Meanwhile, a declining socioeconomic situation and increasing insecurity in the country have spurred an immigration wave and further increased the demand for passports.

A 2021 report by the Africa Polling Institute found that seven in 10 Nigerians want to move abroad. Data from the UK government placed Nigeria third on a list of countries granted sponsored study visas in “the year ending June 2022” with an almost two-thirds increase from its 2019 figures and the largest recorded change all year.

The manufacturing and contracting issues have led to a racket within the system, according to analysts like Effiong.

“Not many Nigerians can afford to travel internationally,” he told Al Jazeera. “So the demands that underpin the passport issuance and renewal process is a unique market populated by certain kind of Nigerians who [believe] having the resources to be able to afford international travel means [people] can afford exorbitant charges.”

The lags have halted travelling plans for many looking to leave Nigeria. Overseas, it has delayed the plans of many looking to travel back home. In Rome, one man complained that immigration officers were issuing passports without appointments and demanding unofficial fees; his wife reportedly paid a 200 euros ($195) bribe.

“It is frustrating for those in the diaspora,” said Tope Fasua, Lagos-based political commentator and consultant. “Even if they are there and unable to regularise their papers, at least let them be able to have their Nigerian passports.”

After months of being told by the authorities that there was a passport booklet shortage, Malafakumo gave up trying.

“I think they have booklets and were only using it for the highest bidders,” she told Al Jazeera. “I watched people from other states who paid 100,000 naira [$250] get their passport on the same day.”

“I feel really hurt,” she said. “I actually got admission into one school in Ireland and they offered me funding. I needed my passport number to move forward with it but I didn’t get it. I wrote to them and they said the passport was the only means of identification for them.”

Play Video
Video Duration 02 minutes 43 seconds
02:43
Nigeria’s medical brain drain: Healthcare woes as doctors flee
‘You have to know someone’
Selina, a Lagos resident who asked for anonymity for fear of retribution, applied for passport renewal online in December 2021 and is still waiting. Every time she goes to the immigration office to track its progress, officials keep telling her to contact “the person helping her”.

“It has been frustrating and depressing,” she said. “Everyone expects I should have a certain someone who is helping me. When I tell them I did it online, I get the ‘ohh’ look and then the term ‘self-service’ follows me everywhere I turn to for help,” she recounted to Al Jazeera. “As they move my file from one officer to the other, they start with ‘it’s self-service’ like I am the enemy.”

The need for insider help has given leeway to middlemen who know people in the immigration service to make profits. Uthman (who refused to give his real name), who hawks this service on social media, told Al Jazeera that he gets a commission of at least 5,000 naira ($13) and the remaining sum goes to the officers who do the work.

Sometimes, applicants end up paying double the original price which NIS says is 35,000 naira ($88) and 70,000 naira ($175) for 64-page passports with five or 10 years’ validity respectively and 25,000 naira ($63) for 32-page passports with five years’ validity.

“If we are in a country with a good structure, what I do is illegal but the officers are not ready to work and they only attend to those who bribe them,” Uthman said. “I don’t see it as work or business. I am just helping people.”

NIS spokesman Amos Okpu refused to comment on the corrupt dealings, asking Al Jazeera to provide the names of officers and passport offices involved.

Play Video
Video Duration 02 minutes 43 seconds
02:43
Nigeria’s medical brain drain: Healthcare woes as doctors flee
No proper punishment
Analysts say the NIS suffers from the same structural issues as other government agencies, bureaucratic processes, being understaffed and paying little remuneration, thus creating an incentive for corrupt practices.


“What this all means for Nigerians is that they are now in a more disadvantageous position in terms of accessing and utilising global opportunities that comes their way,” said Effiong. “And there seems to be very little political will on the part of the government to actually ease this process.”

A lack of incentive to encourage best practice or proper punishment to dissuade unethical behaviours have been cited as reasons for lax standards in immigration offices.

“It is another low for us but one may not be surprised any more given that Nigeria is very adept at ploughing those lows and invariably disgracing ourselves all over the world,” Fasua said. “The government needs to punish some of the bad guys in immigration, even if you have to sack them,” he added.

Still, more Nigerians continue to apply for their passports comfortable in the knowledge that they may not get it anytime soon.

“This is not a normal thing, it is abnormal. People should not be frustrated for wanting to get a passport,” asked Malafakumo, who got her passport this June. “There should be a straightforward way to do these things. Why should I beg for something I have paid for?”


https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/10/7/nigerians-decry-extortion-delays-at-passport-offices-home-abroad

ume1000:
Here is ma unbiased analysis of his speech

Can Nigeria recruit 50 million youths in its military
Analysis : no ,the largest millitary in the word (China,USA)has at most 2 million soldiers
2. These two countries have at least 120 times our national budget

Can soldiers fight bandits on a cassava,agbado diet

Analysis :imposicant ,such improvished diet would only make them them soft targets for armed criminals

Is it true that whoever can hold a gun can equally repair a tractor in the farm

Analysis : are u kidding me

The problem is, you didn't open your mind to listen to his speech.

Just in case you still wish to refresh your memory or pick more errors, refer to the link below.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO2F5DIG5Sg.

I am sure you would hear where he mentioned that Nigeria is under-policed. 50m, even though was an exaggerated figure, was actually referring to all Nigeria security architecture, if you understand what that mean.

I am also sure you will equally notice that the mentioning of corn and cassava is in reference to the fact that we can actually produce what we eat and export in Nigeria without necessarily importing any of our consumables. This speaks to self-sufficiency, thereby reducing over dependence on foreign goods with a multiplier effects of boosting our foreign reserves and strengthening our falling naira. Those were statement of facts, if only we can set politics aside.

Cmeo:
For how much was the concession for in the first place, that they had to pay $496m as settlement claim??

Read the article again.

Vanguard News: ASUU needs to be told it is destroying its own profession
August 13, 2022

Trust the social media to make fun of everything. A foreigner was said to have asked a young Nigerian in the diaspora what ASUU meant since he often heard young Nigerians mention it. The young man said without hesitation that ASUU was the acronym for an organization which forces Nigerian Universities to close down constantly.


I thought it was a sucker punch because it rings so true. ASUU shuts down the Universities so often that the news of another ASUU strike now gets tucked down in a corner of mainstream newspapers.

It doesn’t cause the tremor it once did. And unknown to the union, every strike, often over pay and allowances, becomes an irritant to right thinking people and lowers the esteem an average Nigerian holds the union. If ASUU was the union of coal mine workers – I mean no disrespect – or people who rely more on brawn than brain to do their job, then one could perhaps understand the constant recourse to strikes because its leaders might not have the mental capacity to think things through, or to develop a plan B. But it is not. It is after all,the union of University dons, egg heads who are supposed to approximate the most cerebral in the society.


Apart from its main job of impacting knowledge into heads and minds of mostly young, eager students, its other day job is pushing the frontiers of knowledge and civilization through research.

A little research, and perhaps a little introspection on its part would have revealed that the cost of these incessant strikes has not been worth the gain. It is not also sustainable as a solution to the ASUU/Government conflict.


I will quickly give four examples among several why it is not a sustainable solution in my opinion. One is that the strikes are happening so often and at such insensitive and opportunistic times that sympathy for their cause has long changed to apathy and is gradually changing to antipathy. In case the nation has not noticed, this current strike is in its sixth month.

Which means in effect that the academic year is virtually gone. The union might negotiate to get paid for work not done during that period but the year is gone as a waste in the lives of the students. Nothing can bring it back. This is coming on the heels of COVID19 which shut down the world, including universities for an extended period. It would be hard for any parent who is having to cope with the pressure of restive youths in these difficult times, to feel any sympathy for the prolonged strike of ASUU whatever the cause.


Two, if the products of our public Universities are seen to be half-baked and unemployable,it is largely down to the constant strikes. Three, Nigeria has changed significantly from say twenty-five years ago. Nigeria is a much poorer country today and it simply can’t afford to shoulder the University bills alone even with the best of intentions. Four, just look around. There are more options now in the form of private Universities than there has ever been.

It is time for ASUU to change tactics.


In changing tactics, it doesn’t have to re-invent the wheel. It just has to follow global best practices. Most successful Universities the world over do not rely a hundred per cent on their governments. Statistics show that many do not get above a third of their revenue from government.

The remaining two thirds have to be externally sourced. This entails a lot of planning, a lot of marketing and yes, a lot of internal discipline. There are grants out there for disciplined and productive universities. But unfortunately, the corruption within the University system in Nigeria is as bad, if not worse than what is outside.

A premier University which should be attracting foreign students and grants on account of its pedigree told the National Assembly recently that it could not send its audit report to the Auditor-General for eight years because its auditor was blind. (One would not expect such an insulting lie to come from a University. Much like the lie of a snake swallowing money that once came from sources in JAMB).Yet that University – and its union – feel entitled to annual financial allocations.

The era of Universities – and State Governments – going cap in hand to the center for money will soon be gone. Perhaps forever. The earlier everybody, including the Federal Government itself realized this, the better for all of us.

Nigeria has to start treating its Institutions as Business Units. This means that whoever is going to head any of those Institutions must have a business head and marketing skills to sell their products to the outside world. Fortunately, many Senior Lecturers decry the seeming politicization of ASUU and the resultant incessant strikes. Many want a saner, calmer climate. A Senior Lecturer I discussed with said angrily ‘Nigeria is a foolish country.

Think of how we are training Medical Doctors virtually free of charge only for them to run out of the country. A Professor of medicine told me that over 80% of his students have left Nigeria. ASUU doesn’t want the Government to charge more fees but wants a higher pay. ASUU has become part of the problem.

What does one make of its insistence that State Governments must pay whatever Federal Government is paying? What about our Vice Chancellors? Many are so corrupt that even the little grant they get is misappropriated. I really don’t know anymore. Our University system may be more corrupt than the Federal Government’.

Nigeria, and this includes ASUU leaders, needs people with the political will to overhaul this unproductive system to a more accountable and productive one. This is but a part of the restructuring song many across the country are singing. ASUU must meanwhile, be savvy enough to realise that its present attitude is likely to hurt its future almost as much as it is hurting the people. ASUU, like Nigeria, needs a change of direction.

BigDaddyP:
Soludo [29 May 2004—29 May 2009]
Start: ₦139.6
End: ₦180.6

Sanusi [3 Jun 2009—2 Jun 2014]
Start: ₦166.1
End: ₦167.2

Emefiele [3 Jun 2014 — till date]
Start: ₦167.2
Now: ₦700+/-

It's well��

Source: StatiSense

What happened to the gap between Soludo and Sanusi?

This is why we must not have anything called "State Police". Politicians will always use it to their advantage. I just wished the Judiciary is truly answerable fairly to all!.

#copied

Premium Times Nigeria

BUA Group Ad
My special apologies to Senator Ike Ekweremadu, By Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo
ByRudolf Ogoo Okonkwo July 10, 2022 Reading Time: 4 mins read

Ike Ekweremadu

Part of tendering a sincere apology is to deliver an honest assessment of one’s sins.

I am one of those pretentious Nigerians often seen all over the world who are full of themselves. We carry on our shoulders a fake intellectual sophistication that makes us look at Senator Ike Ekweremadu, a man of great moral courage and integrity, and we call him a buffoon.

Yes, I said it.

Ike Ekweremadu is a learned gentleman. We just don’t understand him.

Who would have known that the man cared until he showed it by the extent he went to find the solution to his daughter’s health problem. That is what every real man would do. For him, it was “by any means necessary.”

Now that is an unquestionable fatherly commitment.

The man was ready to sell all of his 22 houses in Nigeria, Dubai, and London, to find a cure for his daughter’s illness. He deserves the Father of the Year award.

Because I am myopic, quick to judge and impatient with geniuses like Dr. Ekweremadu, I did not notice that he used his daughter’s treatment as a case study. If only the UK authorities had allowed him to finish the job, he would have used the same template to help every other Nigerian in need of medical services that cannot be provided by the numerous specialized hospitals that he has established in his last 19 years as a senator of the federal republic. As he was known to do, after the complete healing of his daughter, he would have passed a bill in the Senate for every sick Nigeria to have automatic access to medical treatment in the U.K.

ⓘ

A legislature of Ekweremadu’s caliber would always find a way to attach it to a bill. Maybe, he would have attached that provision to the reparation against slavery bill, the restitution for colonization bill, or the refund from Abacha’s un-repatriated loots bill.

He was going to do so, but in our haste to condemn every politician from Nigeria as another fantastically corrupt man or woman, we failed to appreciate his sainthood. We mock Ekweremadu’s little trouble in the U.K. and in the process deny ourselves the blessing of his ingenuity.

I hope this my apology reaches him in the half-house the UK police kept him and his wife. I hope it provides him a little relief, knowing that one of his greatest critics has come to his senses.

I hope he remembers what Jesus said when the Pharisees and Sadducees mocked and crucified him. He said, “God, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.”

Dear Ike Ekweremadu, I employ you to forgive me for I did not know what I was doing. Please pray that God forgives those U.K. authorities that did not know that you were a big man in Nigeria. They obviously did not know that you are a Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR). If they knew, they would not dare keep you in that filthy detention when you have a mansion in the UK. If they knew you were a Knight of the Good Shepherd, they would have known that you were just trying to help that boy get a better life, the same good life you gave to your kids. If they knew that you were Ikeoha Ndigbo, they would have known that the $20,000 found on you at the airport was just pocket change that you give out to homeless people in every new city you get to in the West. You have always been horrified about the poor and hungry people you see in New York City, London, and Dusseldorf. You have vowed to help them out as a good African as a way to show that aids also go from Africa to the West.

When on August 17, 2019, some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) attacked you in Nuremberg, Germany, I was one of those horrified by the incident. I remember screaming and kicking and slamming my head on the wall that it was unacceptable to do something that hideous to a man of great courage and moral rectitude like you. Watching them pelt you with eggs triggered tears rolling down my cheeks. That was the first time I joined them in calling you a buffoon because you did not travel to Germany with a battalion of DSS and mobile police, with two or three Hilux vans on your motorcade, one in front and one at the back. For an important man like you who has spent the last twenty years fighting for the wellbeing of the children of Nigeria, you deserved protection given to every icon of your stature anywhere in the world.

I have since realised that you were just a humble man who loved to interact with common people without any posturing. I respect that now.


The other time I regretted laughing at you was when the EFCC released you after a brief detention. Remember when they picked you up and wanted you to explain the 22 houses they said you owned in Nigeria, Dubai, and London. I was surprised that they did not think it was appropriate for you to make sure that you leave behind at least one house for each of your grandchildren. Every responsible father would do the same. And being that you have four kids, at an average of four grandkids each, you needed 16 houses for the grandchildren. Considering that you have to take care of the side chicks with side-children and side-grandchildren, the remaining six houses would ultimately go to them.

You were that caring, that generous, and that forward-thinking. But those useless people at the EFCC did not understand it.

ⓘ

I called you a buffoon when on August 4, 2018, you brought over 22 pastors, bishops, prophets, and all manners of church leaders to pray for you upon your release by the EFCC. You had told the EFCC that you were ill and had high blood pressure and they released you. In my ignorance of how these things work, I was furious. Please forgive my youthful exuberance. Without mincing words, I was plainly stupid. I did not understand the science in that move of yours. I thought you brought the church leaders to pray for forgiveness of your sins. I didn’t know that they were praying for stupid people like me to open our eyes and smell the coffee of targeted racism plus discrimination against you, a perfectly learned gentleman labouring day and night in the service of humanity.

Again, I apologise.

Moving forward, I pledge to pray for our leaders like you faithfully. I will ask God each day to bless you with teaching moments like the current one you face so that stupid people like me will see the glory of your sacrifices for our betterment. I will ask God to bless you with a pause every now and then. And with each pause and slow down, you will remember where you came from before becoming a big man. And for the sake of little people like us, prove to those who call us “fantastically corrupt” that we are honourable men and women, like you and your wife. And that we will do anything to save the lives of our compatriots, even if it entails selling all of our 22 houses in Nigeria, Dubai, and London.

Nonsense!

Rudolf Ogoo Okonkwo teaches Post-Colonial African History at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. He is also the host of Dr. Damages Show. His books include This American Life Sef, Children of a Retired God, among others.

Zelenskyy:
There must be Problems in the system because this is the same Chief Justice of Nigeria that Buhari imposed on the Court...

[b]Anything Buhari puts his filthy hands withers and dies... Buhari is failure and Chaos Personified [/b]

[b][i]Poor Welfare... Lack of review of their Salaries and Allowances for 14 years....[/b][/i]

And you expect this people not to collect Bribes ?

While we have those in the Executive and Legislative arms of government living large..

The Failures and Misrule of this Useless APC Government has spilled over to the Sacred Chambers of our Judiciary...

Nigerians must ensure that this wicked party called APC is voted out of Office in 2023..

APC must Fall.... APC must Fail .... APC must Scatter

Please, deduct Buhari's 7 years from 14 years referenced and tell us who and which party was in power within the answer you got. Come back to advise us on who and which party we should vote for afterward.
I come in peace.

In this country, our Lord Jesus Christ resurrection was blasphemously compared to Agege bread "AROSE LIKE AGEGE BREAD", yet, Christian community didn't descend on Sterling Bank nation wide and burnt it down, we were rather cool and peaceful. The bank eventually came out to apologise and the Christian community accepted its apology. Who wrote that blasphemous advertorial? A Christian or a Muslim? Drill down and the veil would be lifted and the man behind the masquerade would be revealed.

I am sure you now know who the peaceful religion is.

Don't fight for your God, let God fight His battle if there's one.

No wonder the song says, God fights for us while others fights for their gods.

No matter your religion, always remember that as long as the earth is big enough for all of us, the heaven is even bigger; stop the violence against each other.

May God bless you all.

conceretz:
MOSCOW, April 8. /TASS/. The European Union may soon exhaust the capability of introducing new sanctions against Russia, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told the Russia-24 TV channel on Friday.

"I think that it [the EU’s sanctions limit] is already close to exhaustion despite the fact that they continue to act tough, saying that the sanctions are crippling. They cripple themselves now more than Russia and the Russian economy," he said.

On Thursday, the envoys of EU countries approved the fifth package of sanctions against Russia which in particular provides for restrictions with regards to private individuals and financial institutions as well as introduces an embargo on importing coal from Russia and the deliveries of high-technology products.

Time will tell. Fingers crossed.

I am just wondering why UK Government would Subject Nigerians, seeking travelling VISA to UK, for either studies or visit, to compulsory TB test when we've not been known for TUBERCULOSIS pandemic.
The sad reality is that, a single hospital in Lagos, is designated for the test. You book an appointment and, in your appointment day, you still spend 6 hours or more. You see people sleeps in their cars or nearby hotels, just to get early attention.

How long shall we continue to allow the white to treat us like second class cirizens in our country?
I think the time to act is now.

#GodBlessNigeria
.

How and why the government (both Lagos state and Federal) can't stop these menace of skyscrapers on the island that's waterlogged baffles my imagination.

May God grant eternal rest to the dead in JESUS NAME.

after4:
Always wanting to shift blame away from the architect of nigerian problems. was there no bdc when dollar was N180? why was the conspiratory theory not working then?

You need to wonder how we also got to #220/$ in 2014.
This is not our battle, it's a battle between the rich and the rich to make the poor Perpetually poor.

Tobichuks08:
What is actually wrong with this administration

Your question should be "why are Nigerians sabotaging Nigeria?". Or, are you saying you don't understand that the situation of this country is all about conspiracy theory? Well, we are all in it together. If we succeeds in running away, I am not sure all our close relatives would be able to run as well; either ways, we are affected directly or indirectly.

VAT IMBROGLIO: IT’S AN ILL-WIND; ALL PARTIES MUST TREAD WITH CAUTION.

A few days ago, I obtained a copy of the judgment of the Federal High Court, Holden at Port Harcourt, presided by His Lordship, Hon Justice Stephen Dalyop Pam in suit No: FHC/PH/CS/149/2020, between Attorney General for Rivers State vs Federal Inland Revenue Service & Another (the popular case on Collection of Value Added Tax -VAT). As a scholar of law, I studied the judgment vis-a-vis all relevant laws, including those not referenced in the judgment. Upon that note, I posted on my Facebook handle that I would do an Expository on the Sentiments, the Laws and the Realities of the issues. I have received several calls from those who felt that I should not, a few throwing some uncut words here and there. On my own part, I have also engaged Lawyers, very brilliant minds on the issue, including some handlers of Governor Wike.

As a true Nigerian, I owe my country and State a duty of patriotism, and a much higher duty of loyalty and protection as my conscience and physical ability can support. At the moment, I am restrained by time and other factors from making any elaborate legal opinion, as I would have done, but a must do in future. However, at this stage, it is not out of place to call on all parties to this Tax (VAT) Imbroglio to tread with caution. Nigeria is just coming out of, not fully recovered from economic recession and should not be plunged into a more serious economic depression, on account that it is unable to collect taxes to balance expenditure.

Let me draw our attention to some of the HIGHLIGHTS and IMPLICATIONS OF THAT JUDGMENT, just in case we have not read it and did not know. Arising from that judgment itself, not even Rivers State Government or any other State Government can impose VAT, WHT, Education Tax, Technology Tax, etc on any person residing in Rivers State or any other state for that matter. The judgment held:
1. That any tax not expressly mentioned in the Constitution is null and void;
2. That taxes (not expressly mentioned in the constitution) could not be intended by the makers of the Constitution, hence all taxes must be expressly mentioned in the constitution,
3. That since VAT, WHT etc are not expressly mentioned, either in items listed as 58 or 59 of the Exclusive List in the Second Schedule or item 7(a) or (b) of the Concurrent List in Second Schedule of the Constitution, 1999 (As amended), the NASS cannot make laws to prescribe or impose them.
4. The judgment however acknowledged that it is the NASS that has power under the constitution to prescribe and impose taxes in Nigeria, that State House of Assembly only MAKES LAW for the COLLECTION of such taxes prescribed and imposed by NASS.
5. The judgment then went ahead to nullify some tax heads (including VAT, WHT, etc) in the Taxes and Levies (Approved List for Collection), Decree 21 of 1998 (now Act and part of the Laws of the Federation of Nigeria -LFN), on the ground that such taxes were not expressly listed on the schedule to the constitution, and therefore they were unconstitutional.

Because, the matter is pending on appeal, I will NOT comment on the propriety or otherwise of the decisions of His Lordship on any of the issues. I just want to highlight the implications, which is permissible within reportage.

Flowing from the same judgment therefore, there is nowhere, either in paragraph 58, 59 of the 2nd Schedule to the constitution (the Exclusive List), or paragraph 7(a), (b) on the Concurrent List, to the Constitution or any other part of the CFRN thereof where the State House of Assembly has or derives the power to prescribe and impose any tax whatsoever on the citizens, be it capital gain tax, income tax, stamp duty, personal taxes, VAT, WHT or any other tax for that matter, least of all taxes which are not expressly mentioned in the Constitution. By implication of the said judgment, not even the State House Assembly can impose taxes not expressly provided and mentioned in the Constitution. The State House of Assembly is only allowed under the Constitution to make laws for the COLLECTION OF ANY TAX PRESCRIBED AND IMPOSED BY NASS, and which the NASS has designated to be collected by the States. The judgment acknowledges this position of law. However, went ahead to hold that such taxes not mentioned in the constitution were unconstitutional. What the judgment has simply done is to declare those tax heads unconstitutional. QED. Repeated for emphasis, AGAIN, not even the State House of Assembly can make Laws in respect of taxes which have been declared UNCONSTITUTIONAL already.

Questions then to the States:
1). Under what authority or provision of the Constitution does the State House of Assembly (RSHA, LSHA, etc) derive the power to prescribe and impose any taxes at all on citizens, not being a right it has under the Constitution?
2). Under what authority or provision of the Constitution did the State House of Assembly (RSHA, LSHA, etc) prescribe and impose VAT, WHT, Technology Tax, etc, as they are currently doing, the same taxes that have been declared unconstitutional by the FHC?

The judgment has just set taxpayers free from these taxes. As a patriotic citizen, I am reluctant to say thank you yet, but if it comes to that, I shall enforce this goodwill from my state.

Reading from that judgment, the Attorney General of Rivers State (not his person, but as the chief law officer and legal representative of the State), should have limited himself to just one issue and question, and had he done so, he would have secured an appropriate answer for the state. Unfortunately, with too many questions and issues, the case was compounded, complicated and now seems bad for both the FGN and the States. The only question the AG Rivers State should have maintained was with reference to: whether having regards to the provisions of the Constitution (S.4, item 58, 59 on the Exclusive List, item 7(a) and (b) on the Concurrent List), the NASS having imposed taxes to be collected by the States it could validly assign the duty of collection of such taxes to FIRS or any other person OTHER THAN the State or any authority of the State. With due respect, this question, sadly, was complicated by other questions. Should the case fail on appeal, it may be on the account of these complications.

All other questions which purported to query the authority of the NASS to prescribe and impose VAT, etc. led to the complications in the matter, which I verily know would put both Federal and the State Governments in a BIG UNANTICIPATED AND INCALCULABLE MESS, if not properly managed. The victory in this case is neither to the FGN nor the States, but for the Taxpayers who have been relieved of so much tax burdens.

By the way, I have drawn this aspect of the matter to some of the handlers of Governor Wike. All that some of them could say, after understanding this perspective, is that I should just keep quiet. Really? Keep Quiet?

I ask myself: how does anyone keep quiet when a judgment has set us all (taxpayers) free from over 80% of our current tax burden? I should keep quiet and continue to pay the taxes, albeit to Rivers State Government, instead of keeping my money to myself? I don’t think any sober taxpayer would keep quiet. We all might be heading to the courts to enforce the benefit of this judgment which has render VAT, WHT, Education Tax, Technology Tax, etc. unconstitutional.

Overall implication of this judgment is that it has also declared in advance the State VAT laws, WHT Laws, etc. unconstitutional, even before passage and set the citizens free of these tax burdens.

Before the attacks on my person, please abreast yourself with the judgment: See page 38 to 45, on the substantive issues.

Achinike William-Wobodo
Lawyer, Public Policy Advocate/Analyst
Wrote from Port Harcourt.

Any discerning observer of what is happening with the VAT issue will recognise that there is a background to it. The facade of 'fiscal federalism' that protagonists are using is just a smokescreen for underlying causes.

Unfortunately, most people are unable to delve deeper into topical issues in Nigeria today because of a kaleidoscope of bigotry, tribalism, regionalism, sectionalism, religion and other divisive sentiments. The politicians who push these narratives understand so well that we suspend our thinking caps when these sentiments are thrown into the mix.

Furthermore, as a people, we are to shortsighted to even contemplate the medium and long term implications of some of the narratives we parrot.

Data is hard evidence, which cannot be controverted. Truth is a tyrant that doesn't campaign for votes. In the end, we shall be confronted with its brutality when reality stares us in the face.

Let's even start by examining what VAT means. VAT is an acronym for Value Added Tax. Operative word is 'Value Added'. So in a chain of operation in the production of a good or service when value is added, or form changes there is an incidence of taxation. However, the protagonists of the imposition of VAT by state governments want us to believe that VAT is wholly a consumption tax. This is very disingenuous, and far from the truth. I will follow up this with the definition of VAT after posting this.

Matter of fact, is that VAT is collected at the point of consumption of goods and services but doesn't make it wholly a consumption tax. In the chain of production, and for the purposes of taxation the point of consumption of a good or service is the end of the spectrum. In between, there are several levels of value addition and supply chain that must have taken place before the final end of the spectrum of consumption. So, for instance, a good consumed in Lagos that wasn't produced in Lagos doesn't mean that all the value and supply chains took place in Lagos. This is the fundamental principle underpinning value added taxation.

Why is VAT collected at the point of consumption? The reason is quite simple, and it is this fundamental principle that the protagonists want to destroy, which will have serious consequences for the economy and people of Nigeria. The reason for collecting VAT at the point of consumption is to prevent a situation of multiple taxation. If you consider a product or service with varying levels of value addition and supply chain, if taxed at every of these levels, the taxes will be unwieldy. Thus, every jurisdiction in the world where VAT is charged has an agreed formula for calculating value addition, which is then harmonised to come up with a single rate across board. Again, this is the principal reason why VAT in any jurisdiction is not imposed by Sub-Nationals or local authorities. I don't know of any jurisdiction in the world where VAT is imposed by Sub-Nationals or local authorities. I challenge anyone who knows to tell me.

The divisive issues thrown into the mix are simply laughable. So a serious issue has been reduced into just the issue of the restriction of the sales of alcohol in some states. I am a beer man, and I truly love my beer. In all my years of drinking beer, the only times I have recalled paying VAT for beer was when I go to some highbrow hotels or clubs. The vast majority of beer sold and consumed in Nigeria is done at roadside bars, 'abeigi', street corner shops and in-house bars. I can also tell you for free that the volume of alcohol consumed in Sabon Gari in Kano will dwarf that consumed Ado Ekiti or Ijebu Ode.

Governor Wike says that he received 2billion monthly from VAT. He failed to tell you how much the local governments in Rivers State receives from VAT allocation from the FGN. For teasers, in 2020, Rivers State contribution to VAT coffers was 42 billion. The Rivers State Government and local governments got a total of 39 billion. That's a difference of 3 billion.

Now to some data for us to have a better understanding of the issue. Proceeds of VAT is shared amongst the 3 tiers of Government after 4% collection charge in the following way:

Federal Government - 15%
State Governments - 50%
Local Governments - 35%

Of the proceeds of VAT the FG and the FCT generates about 61% via imports from the seaports and international airports while the States generate 39%

Of the 39% generated by the States, Lagos and Rivers State generates less than 70%

Now imagine a situation where the courts strikes VAT off the exclusive list. The Federal Government and FCT get to keep their 61% while the States will hussle for the remaining 39%. So, what now happens to the Local Governments where the transactions actually take place

So, in the not too distant future, the States that are enacting their own VAT laws will realise that they were chasing a mirage. The version of 'fiscal federalism', of 'food is ready' mentality obtained from the courts is just a phyric victory. They don't even have the structures the FIRS built over the last 20 years to even be able to collect the VAT.

What will be their reaction in the circumstance? Brace up for thuggish tax collectors. States will enact their own versions of the VAT law to include things like food that were exempt from the federal law. At the point of buying a goat VAT will be paid. At the point of slaughter VAT will be paid. At the point of eating it at a restaurant VAT will be paid. There will be multiple taxation, increased inflation, and the ease of doing business will be more difficult, as well as and cost of doing business will become higher.

Lagos and Rivers States pride themselves as the biggest contributors to VAT collection in Nigeria. This is another mirage. Lagos State for instance enjoys what you can term as 'headquarters effect'. What this means is that for tax reporting purposes companies with headquarters in Lagos file their VAT returns there. For instance, a company like MTN which sells airtime and internet services all across the country file their VAT returns in Lagos. In Rivers for instance, NDDC has its headquarters in Port Harcourt. If it goes to Innosson Motors in Enugu to buy vehicles, it files its VAT returns from Port Harcourt.

Let me end by going back to the background I alluded to in the beginning.

There are two basic things making the state governments to react the way they are now.

1). Local Government autonomy is bitting hard on them. They are finding it increasingly difficult to corner the resources of the LGAs especially with the NFIU breathing down their necks
2). The Governors are angry that the 3% of COPEX in the PIA is going directly to the oil bearing communities. They want it to come to the state governments just like the 13% derivation.

Interestingly, in the agenda there are sub agendas. Some are being blind sided by the sheninighans playing out. Ultimately, there will be many losers, including those cheering for the faux fiscal federalism carved in the image and likeness of the key players.

'Siddon look' mode activated�

Anthony Inaede

RealSolution001:
What do you think? Right or wrong?

Uncle Charles 110 @AkwanCharles wrote: "My uncle refused to marry a lady because she has a lot of siblings with no dad and their income level wasn't that great. Sometimes love is not enough. He was just scared of savoring too many responsibilities and I agree with his decision."

I think his decision is understandable but, wrong.
Simetime in life, we need each other's shoulder to lean on. Assisting her siblings to succeed could end up being a plus to your future success.
Let's always learn to tolerate and assist ourselves.
What if any of that girl's siblings turns out to become a well sort after influential being in the future, knowing that you contributed to their success, don't you think you or your kids would have a lot to gain from them?

Let's try not to see this life the way it appears to us.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/08/oshiomholes-purported-suspension-from-apc-applicants-withdraw-as-court-dismisses-suit/

Oshiomhole’s purported suspension from APC: Applicants withdraw as court dismisses suit
August 24, 2021
. Oshiomhole
by Onozure Dania, Abuja

Justice D.Z. Senchi of an Abuja High Court sitting at Jabi, has dismissed a suit filed by Comrade Mustapha Saliu, Oshawo Steven and four others over the purported suspension of the former APC National Chairman by his ward 10, Iyamho, Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.

Justice Senchi threw out the suit, following a Motion on Notice, No. FCT/HC/M/8148/2020, dated and filed on 1/7/2020, by the applicants / plaintiffs, seeking to discontinue the suit at the instance of the Plaintiffs/Applicants and the Defendants/Respondents.

The judge in his ruling held thus: “Pursuant to the Motion on Notice, No. FCT/HC/M/8148/2020, dated and filed on 1/7/2020 discontinuing this suit at the instance of the Plaintiffs/Applicants and the Defendants/Respondents not opposing the application for discontinuance, the application is hereby granted and suit is dismissed. Parties to bear their respective cost, if any.”

Also Read: The cross Babangida still carries at 80 (2)
An Abuja High Court had also in July 2020, dismissed the suit challenging Oshiomhole’s position over having been purportedly suspended by the party at the Ward level.


Recall that the Abuja High Court had asked Oshiomhole to step aside as National Chairman of the APC pending the determination of the substantive suit.

Consequently, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of the Lower Court, and Oshiomhole stepped aside.


The Plaintiffs were expected to return to the Lower Court to commence the hearing of the substantive suit, instead they filed an application seeking a withdrawal of the substantive suit.

Counsel to Oshiomhole, Ginika Ezeoke of D.D. Dodo & Co. had argued that the 1st and 2nd defendants were not opposed to the application for withdrawal, but that the Court should dismiss the suit on the basis that “parties had filed pleadings and issues joined.”

Oshiomhole, a former two term Edo State governor, shortly after leading the party to victory at the 2019 general elections, was in what has been described as a stab in the back, forced to exit office.

Vanguard News Nigeria

Shellsploit:
What God cannot do does not exist indeed!
E remain oba of Lagos, na when e go sing praises to God

I wonder if carved idol answers prayers

Your assertion is wrong. What God cannot do, do exist my dear.
God cannot sin but, sins of all sorts exists. So, change your narrative or assertion.

insidenaijasblog:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/punchng.com/dss-shot-igbohos-right-hand-man-adogan-48-times-butchered-him-to-death-ilana-oodua/%3famp

And you were there counting the shots or bullets. And, also supervised the butchering.

You people should continue painting this country black.

I hope when the fire is set none of you will run away?

It's just painful that some people in this country are shameless and lack integrity.
In as much as I am not a politician, I don't know PDP moral justification for crying wolf as they're being served with the same food they cooked over the years.
You clapped in Edo state, Benue state, sokoto state, Bayelsa state and, even same Zamfara state, only to turn round to weep for just Zamfara. Keep weeping and wailing. I'm sure 2023 is at the corner; all you evil politicians will learn new thing.

Keep sponsoring all the killers in the country so as to discredit one administration but, remember there's law of Karma. By the time your sponsored killers are done with killing everyone else, except you, they will turn around to kill you and, perhaps, themselves and, the country will end.
Good radiance to bad rubbish �.

Why not just remove the damn subsidy and let's follow the part of AGO (Auto mobile Gas oil or diesel)? Heaven will never fall.

Now that the PIB has been passed into law, I hope this would turn around the situation of the country for good. Slow and steady let's keep correcting the anomalies in the existing system.

Well done at least.

Next should be law regulating the cost of running governance.

Nigeria will and must be great again.

I believe in United Nigeria.