Author: Alade Adisa

As part of its latest fiscal reforms, the Federal Government has exempted 63 items from Value-Added Tax (VAT). The Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele revealed this via a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday. Oyedele said the exemptions are outlined in the official ‘Value Added Tax (Modification) Order, 2024,’ dated September 3, 2024. The announcement follows the recent introduction of fiscal concessions aimed at revitalizing Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, as disclosed by the Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.The key incentives unveiled include the VAT modification…

Port Harcourt, Rivers State Tensions are running high in Rivers State as Governor Siminalayi Fubara remains steadfast in his decision to proceed with the local government elections scheduled for tomorrow. The governor has raised serious allegations against the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the entire Police Force, accusing them of acting in the interests of an Abuja-based politician to disrupt the electoral process. Fubara made these claims during a press conference at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Friday. He asserted that all necessary preparations for the elections logistical, security, and voter mobilization had been completed and could…

With each Nigerian senator reportedly being paid a whopping N21 million monthly, while a whole university is given a paltry N5 million to run the affairs of the school in the same period, university unions are aghast at how insensitive the Nigerian government can be. The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, raised this concern on Thursday during the opening of a two-day national conference organized by the union in Abuja. According to him, universities receive only N15 million monthly from the federal government for all running costs, including electricity, a figure he claimed…

The governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, has launched a scathing attack on the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun over the controversy surrounding the conduct of local government election in the state. The visibly angry governor spoke to journalists at the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) office in Port Harcourt on Friday morning, stressing that there appeared to be a more-than-professional relationship between the police boss and “someone who says he is more powerful than the state”, in an apparent reference to the Federal Capital Territory minister and his predecessor, Nyesom Wike. The governor said, “The Inspector General…

Following years of severe condemnation, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye has apologized for saying that any believer who does not pay tithes will not make heaven. The highly revered cleric tendered his apology on Friday while delivering a message at the ongoing annual national youth convention at the RCCG Redemption City on Lagos – Ibadan Expressway. He said: “I am going to be talking to everybody as soon as God permits me. I am going to apologize for making a mistake by saying that if you don’t pay tithe, you…

After weeks of arduous efforts to meet the bail conditions imposed on them by the trial court, three of the 10 persons charged with treason over the August #EndBadGovernance protest have been released from detention. The defendants, Opaluwa Eleojo, Michael Adaramoye and Mosiu Sadiq, were released from the Nigerian Correctional Centre in Kuje, Abuja, on Thursday after fulfilling their bail conditions and completing all necessary paperwork. They joined three other co-defendants who were released earlier. The development was confirmed by their lawyer, Abubakar Marshall of Falana and Falana chambers, on Thursday. The lawyer noted that “efforts are being made to…

Perceived selective payment of the N70,000 new minimum wage by the Federal Government is already generating tension among federal public workers, as those yet to be paid have lamented the development. Also, the workers are worried and angered by the delay in the payment of their salaries. Most of those affected are workers of federal universities and some staff of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, (MDAs), who lashed the government, lamenting that at this time of hardship and hunger, the action smacks of insensitivity and lack of empathy on the part of the government. However, sources in the Accountant-General’s and Budget…

With a day to the October 5 local government election in Rivers State, the Rivers State Police Command has said it would comply fully with the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja which barred it from participating in the election. Disclosing this in a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday, the spokesperson for the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said the decision is a sequel to the directives by the Force Legal Department that the ruling from the Federal High Court on September 30, 2024, takes precedence. Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, however, noted that while adhering to…

The online experience is bound to get better for internet users as tech giant, Google has released a new feature that will allow people to search the internet by taking a video. Video search will let people point their camera at something, ask a question about it, and get search results. Android and iPhone users globally will gain access to the feature from 1700 GMT by enabling ‘AI Overviews’ in their Google app, but it will only support English at launch. The latest move from the tech giant is to change how people search online by utilizing artificial intelligence (AI).…

As the Middle East gallops dangerously towards a regional war, at least 18 people have been killed in an Israeli air strike in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm, the Palestinian health ministry said late on Thursday. According to the Palestinian Authority-run news agency, Wafa, the air strike had hit a cafe in the Tulkarm refugee camp where many civilians had been present. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said the air force had conducted a strike in Tulkarm in a joint operation with its Shin Bet security service and had killed the head of Hamas in Tulkarm and “other…