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Update : The four tax reform bills are not against the interest of the North and No dissolution of key federal agencies, Says Onanuga

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….No plan to scrap TETFund, others

.,…Dogara, Dickson: Bill in order
Kano House kicks

Apart from refuting the claims that the bills will undermine the economy of any region, the Presidency also clarified that the reforms are designed to streamline tax administration and promote equitable economic development across the country.

The bills have scaled the second reading in the Senate. It is now at the committee stage where it will undergo public hearing.

Also yesterday, Senator Seriake Dickson and former House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, gave reasons why the tax reform is desirable and passage of the bills is necessary at this time.

While Senator Dickson (PDP Bayelsa) is optimistic of the bills’ passage, Dogara said the bills would make the North self-reliant hence the region should support it.

Also, House of Representatives spokesman, Akin Rotimi, confirmed that member of the House of Representatives had been informed of the postponement of discussions on the tax bills. The debate ought to hold today.

He said: “The postponement is due to the need for further and broader consultations with all relevant stakeholders.”

Kano State House of Assembly yesterday kicked against the bills, calling on the National Assembly to reject them. It made this position known after its sitting.

Presidential Spokesman Bayo Onanuga also refuted claims that the bills recommended the dissolution of key federal agencies, such as the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

Onanuga said: “Since the public debate around the transformative tax bills before the National Assembly began in the last few weeks, various political actors and commentators have tried to obfuscate the facts, deliberately misinforming and misleading the public.

“Unfortunately, most reactions are not grounded in facts, reality, or sufficient knowledge of the bills. While some commentators have attempted to incite the people against lawmakers, others have polarised one section of the country against another.

“The tax reform bills will not make Lagos or Rivers more affluent and other parts of the country, as recklessly canvassed, poorer. The bills will not destroy the economy of any section of the country. Instead, they aim to enhance the quality of life for Nigerians, especially the disadvantaged, who are trying to make a living.

“Contrary to the lies being peddled, the bills do not suggest that NASENI, TETFUND, and NITDA will cease to exist in 2029 after the passage of the bills.

“Government agencies, such as NASENI, TETFUND, and NITDA, are funded through budgetary provisions with company income tax and other taxes paid by the same businesses that are being overburdened with the special taxes.

“One reason President Bola Tinubu embarked on the Tax and Fiscal Policy Reforms is the need to streamline tax administration in Nigeria and make the operating environment conducive for businesses.

“For decades, businesses, investors, and private sector players in Nigeria have complained of being overburdened by a myriad of taxes and levies, including those earmarked to fund various government agencies and initiatives.

“The multiple taxes complicate the economic environment, making Nigeria uncompetitive for investment and preventing many businesses from growing or continuing their operations.

“Some companies have had to make the rational decision to relocate to other countries. We cannot continue on this path or wait for 20 years if this country is to deliver the prosperity we need for our people.

“The proposal, as contained in Section 59(3) of the Nigeria Tax Bill, only seeks to consolidate some of the earmarked taxes imposed on companies and replace them with a single tax to be shared with the key agencies as beneficiaries in a phased manner until 2030.

“The time frame offers ample opportunity for the affected agencies to explore other funding sources in addition to budgetary allocations in line with the constitution and international best practices.

“It is a misrepresentation of facts to conclude that changing an agency’s funding source amounts to scrapping it. None of the countries leading globally in education, science, engineering, or information technology have similar earmarked taxes.

“The government imposes major taxes, be it income tax, consumption tax, or other taxes, to channel resources to its areas of priority at the time. Imposing a separate tax to fund an agency is an aberration that has yet to yield results despite the huge burden on businesses. The tax bill seeks to address this problem.

“Relevant stakeholders and public analysts owe it a duty to properly educate themselves about the bills’ contents and avoid misleading the public for any reason. We may be entitled to our opinions, but such views must be informed and based on facts, not emotions targeted at inflaming passions.

“In a period like this, when our people across the country look up to leaders for guidance and direction on matters of public importance, such as the Tax Reform Bills, leaders should be more measured in their public utterances to avoid heating the polity and polarising the country unduly.

“President Tinubu welcomes the public interest these bills have generated. He encourages leaders across the country, including governors, traditional rulers, civil society activists, students, trade associations, professional associations, and the general public, to take advantage of the Public Hearings that the National Assembly will organise to present their views on how best to reform our taxes and fiscal regime.

“What is never in doubt is the imperative of changing the existing tax laws and administration that have become obsolete and unhelpful in achieving the growth and development we desire for our country”, the statement said.

National Assembly will pass bills, says Dickson

Dickson, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Climate Change, said the opposition to the bills notwithstanding, the Senate would pass them in national interest.

He also allayed the fear in some quarters that the planned public hearing would be chaotic, if it is not postponed for further consultations.

“Those opposed to the bills should come to the public hearing with facts, if they have issues with any section of the bills.

“During the debate on the PIB, the Niger Delta leaders asked for 10% of the Operating Expenses or Expenditure (OPEX) of oil companies for host communities, but only 3% was granted.

“The late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua proposed 10% for the host communities, the National Assembly passed three per cent after about two decades without any protest.

He said: “The Senate has passed the Tax Reforms Bills for second reading. Public hearing will take place and people should get ready to present their positions. The tax bill is a law like every other law and it has to go through the normal legislative process.

“Right now, taxes from Bayelsa State are paid to Lagos State and I don’t want that to continue. When there is consumption of goods or services from any state it should be calculated and paid to that state.

Why I’m opposed to Tax Reform Bills, by Zulum
RHAN commends Senate as Tax Reform Bills scales through second reading
“Now there is an opportunity to review the tax laws, to correct the anomalies and that’s why I’m in support.“I know there are states that are feeling that when they apply the new sharing formula, they will earn less. It’s for them to raise those issues and bring the statistics. I don’t go by sentiments. I go by what is right and in the national interest.”

“Forget about uproar, there will be no uproar. Public hearing is an opportunity for people to present their matters, and nobody is going to be intimidated by uproar.

“The PIA was passed. We wanted 10%, which was what Yar’adua proposed. They (federal lawmakers) reduced it to 3%. Heaven did not fall. This tax reform bills will pass and heavens will not fall.”

Dickson spoke during an interaction with reporters at the National Assembly.

Dogara: North should accept reforms

Speaking on a national television programme last night, Dogara said: “We should remove the cap of regionalism, the cap of sectionalism, the cap of religion and put on the cap of leadership because that is what will resolve the quarrel that we have.”

He added: “I think one of the major objections is related to the issue of timing. I’ve heard this from leaders that I respect.

“But in leadership, when you talk about timing, the way I have heard them talk about is a tragic misconception of the notion of time itself because there’s nothing like the future, there’s nothing like the past,” he said.

“All we have is now. It is what you are doing now that will become your past. It is what you are doing now that will affect your future”.

“I don’t even care if it was part of the president’s agenda. All I am bothered with as a leader is: is it the right thing?”

“Secondly, I have heard about insufficient consultation. I had even heard legislators speaking as if they were spokespersons for some governors’ forum or others instead of looking at what is right, and proffering solutions.

“Now, I don’t know why he [Taiwo Oyedele), who leads the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee and a panelist for the event] didn’t address some of these issues. But I believe in the course of our interface, he will address whether there was enough consultation with the governors.

“But I want to say this: at the state level, how many people do governors consult when they are making laws? I’m not challenging them. As a matter of fact, in some cases, state laws are written from the living rooms of governors.”

On derivation, Dogara said: “I say to them, if that is the case, let us define it.”

“I want to talk to my brothers in the North. I don’t think this is the time to begin to condemn the President and be saying that these bills are anti-North.

“So, we, as northerners, should better embrace this opportunity to build our region, and for our people to be generating wealth and building our economy.

“These bills will make us more independent and to look inwards to generate wealth.

“These bills discourage us looking at the government every time for money.

“I want to remind us that the President has done something that is significant. And in my life-time, if the President can pursue this to the end, it will mean that no Northern leader in my life-time has done what the President has done for the North. And that is the creation of the Livestock Ministry.

“There is a global business around that. The global market size of dairies, of beef in the next three years will rise to about $2.5 trillion. You can Google it. So if in the north, we are able to organize ourselves in such a way that we can corner just 5%, just 5% of this global market size of dairies and beef, I tell you that gives us $250 billion.

“We don’t need VAT from any state in Nigeria to survive. The North can survive on its own. We are the most endowed part of Nigeria.”

“We have all the resources, we can survive”, Dogara added.

Dogara, who noted that the President has done much for the North, said the claims that the bills are against the region are unfounded.

Kano House kicks

At the plenary presided over by the Speaker Isma’il Falgore, the lawmakers rejected the bills after extensive deliberation.

Majority Leader Lawan Husseini (ANPP-Dala) introduced a motion of ‘urgent public importance,’ emphasising the need for northern lawmakers and the Conference of Speakers to prevent the passage of the bills.

Husseini argued that if passed into law, the bills would not benefit the Northern States.

He condemned the Senate’s decision to approve the bills, saying, “we view it as a deliberate effort to sabotage the economy, increase hardship and further impoverishing the region.”

Husseini expressed concern over the proposed Value Added Tax (VAT) allocation system, noting that states like Lagos, where major corporations such as banks, telecommunications companies and multinational companies have their headquarters, would receive the largest share of the VAT.

“Lagos and its environs would account for 80 percent of the VAT collected in Nigeria, leaving northern states with a minimal share,” he said.

He warned that if allowed to scale through, the bill would further weaken northern states, potentially rendering some unable to pay salaries and worsening poverty and hardship.

Supporting the motion, Salisu Mohammed (APC-Doguwa) urged the upper legislative house to focus on more pressing national issues, such as attention insecurity and unemployment, instead of rushing the tax reform bills through the legislative process.

Murtala Kadage (ANPP-Garko) called for unity among lawmakers to prevent the bills from passing, for the benefit of the region.

The house called on northern members of the Senate and House of Representatives, along with the Conference of Speakers, to take a swift and decisive action to block the passage of the bills

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Breaking : TInubu appoints Bashir Ojulari as new CEO group of NNPC and GMD mele kyari get sacked, Says Onanuga

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President Bola Tinubu has sacked the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) including its Group Chief Executive Officer, Mele Kyari and board chairman Pius Akinyelure.

The decision, effective April 2, 2025, was announced in a statement by presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga.

President Tinubu cited the need for enhanced operational efficiency, restored investor confidence, and a more commercially viable NNPC as the driving forces behind the decision.

Invoking his powers under Section 59(2) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021, he reconstituted the board with new leadership aimed at repositioning NNPC Limited for greater productivity and alignment with global best practices.

Kyari was first appointed NNPC chief by former President Muhammadu Buhari but was reappointed in 2023 by President Tinubu.

As part of the overhaul, Bayo Ojulari takes over from Kyari as the new group CEO, while Ahmadu Musa Kida has been appointed as NNPC’s new non-executive chairman, replacing Pius Akinyelure. Also, Adedapo Segun has been confirmed as the company’s chief financial officer (CFO).

In line with the PIA, the president also appointed six non-executive directors from each geopolitical zone.

They include Bello Rabiu representing the north-west, Yusuf Usman from the north-east, and Babs Omotowa, a former managing director of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), for the north-central.

Others are Austin Avuru for the south-south, David Ige for the south-west, and Henry Obih for the south-east.

Meanwhile, Lydia Shehu Jafiya, the permanent secretary of the federal ministry of finance, and Aminu Said Ahmed of the ministry of petroleum resources will represent their respective ministries on the new board.

“This restructuring is aimed at repositioning NNPC Limited for greater productivity and efficiency in line with global best practices. We are taking bold steps to transform the company into a more commercially driven and transparent entity,” the statement reads.

The changes take effect immediately, and the new board has been handed a strategic action plan, which includes a “review of NNPC-operated and Joint Venture Assets to ensure alignment with value maximisation objectives”.

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Tinubu commended Nandap for her leadership, extends Comptroller-General tenure till 2026, says Onanuga

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President Bola Tinubu has approved the extension of the tenure of the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Kemi Nandap, until December 31, 2026.

Nandap, who joined the NIS on October 9, 1989, was appointed as Comptroller-General on March 1, 2024, with an initial tenure set to end on August 31, 2025.

A statement by the president’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Monday, said for her leadership, noting improvements in border management, immigration modernisation, and national security under her watch.

“Under her leadership, the Nigeria Immigration Service has witnessed significant advancements in its core mandate, with notable improvements in border management, modernisation of immigration processes and national security measures.

“President Tinubu commended the Comptroller-General for her exemplary leadership and urged her to continue dedicating herself to the Service’s strategic priorities, which align with his administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda,” the statement read.

He also reaffirmed his commitment to supporting the NIS in safeguarding Nigeria’s borders and ensuring safe and legal migration.

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Update : Fubara ordered bombing of Rivers Assembly, I am not under duress I resigned, Says ex-Rivers HoS Nwaeke

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• Says suspended gov plotted Tinubu’s downfall through pipeline bombings

• ‘Fubara ordered Ehie to pull down Assembly to avert impeachment’

• Nwaeke links Bala Mohammed to sinister plot against President

• Says emergency saved Rivers, Nigeria from major disaster

The immediate past Rivers State Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke, yesterday gave what appears to be yet the most revealing insider’s account of some of the events that culminated in the March 18 suspension of Governor Siminilayi Fubara and the state Assembly for six months.

Nwaeke, who claimed to have been an eyewitness to some of the actions taken by Fubara, spoke of how the suspended governor allegedly plotted the destruction of the State House of Assembly and economic sabotage to ensure the downfall of President Bola Tinubu.

Nwaeke, in a video press conference and a statement, claimed that Fubara masterminded the bombing of the state House of Assembly, using his Chief of Staff, Edison Ehie.

Nwaeke was appointed as head of service by Fubara.

He said he was prompted to set the records straight following “the loads of misinformation on print and electronic media.”

He said he was not sacked neither or pressured to resign but resigned “willingly from the depth of my heart.”

He said: ”However, as an insider and a key player in this administration by my position, who worked closely with Siminilayi Fubara, it will be unfair for me to keep silent or not to address some key factors that has affected or will affect our state if we continue on this trajectory.”

He thanked the President for “a swift intervention in Rivers State crisis, especially on the state of emergency that was declared and assented to by the National Assembly.”

He added: “You will recall that when the governor was suspended, as the head of service, I was the next in command. So I am not speaking from outside, I am speaking as an insider.

“If not for the intervention of Mr. President, Nigeria would have faced the worst economic sabotage and Rivers State would have been up in flames.

“First, it all started with the Rivers State House of Assembly where the Governor, Siminilayi Fubara, directed his Chief of Staff (Edison Ehie) to burn down the assembly in a way to avert his impeachment.

“That evening, Edison was in Government House with two other boys, including the former Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA, one Chijioke. I was there with them when a bag of money was handed over to Edison for that operation, though I do not know the amount inside.

“I want to tell Rivers people today that the House of Assembly complex in Moscow Road was clearly brought down by Edison Ehie under the instructions of Governor Siminilayi Fubara, I challenge him to an open confrontation and I will throw more light on it.

“A day after that incident, I almost resigned, but I was very scared because I know the power of a sitting governor and he knew that I am aware of the whole plan and that I am discomforted with the unconscionable act and deliberate posture of innocence and mien of a sheep.”

He also alleged that another attempt was made to “destroy the residential quarters of the House of Assembly members.”

Continuing, he said: “If not for the press conference that was held there by Rivers youths, Rivers elders and National Assembly members, that would have been another barbaric demolition in Rivers State.

“I came to realise that they actually wanted to demolish that second building, because after some weeks, he personally told me that if he knew early, he would have gone to pull down their hall before visiting the residential quarters of the assembly, and that he didn’t actually know that they had such a beautiful hall where they are using now for their sitting.

“I was shocked and I asked myself how could a man that wants to lead his people be destroying his state assets and wasting public funds on a needless ego fight.”

Nwaeke appealed to critics of the declaration of emergency rule by President Tinubu to retract their statements, saying without the urgent intervention, a lot of things would have gone wrong in the state.

Such critics, according to him, ”are only seeing the surface. If the President did not take proactive step, no one knows who would have been affected by the sinister plans that were cooking.”

He asked the President “not to give up on Rivers State affairs because a lot is going on there with Governor Fubara.”

He said one of the factors that “got me removed was when Governor Fubara told me that they would use the Ijaw to decide who would become the next president of Nigeria, and I asked him how will that work? Is it by votes or by what means?”

On alleged plan to shoot down the second term of President Tinubu, Nwaeke said: “He clearly told me that he is the chief security officer of Rivers State and his brother is in charge of Bayelsa State, and all the pipelines are under their care; that at the appropriate time, they would tell the boys what to do, and fund was not an issue.

“That was why when he made that statement in his public function that “I will tell the boys what to do at the appropriate time” I knew something was up and perhaps the time was near.

“He boasted to be the ‘David that will bring down the Goliath of Rivers State.’ That he has the backing of the cream-de-la cream in the state.

“The plan was to start from non-Ijaw speaking areas to destroy oil facilities to remove attention from the Ijaw and make it have a statewide look. The Ogoni, Oyibo, Ahoda areas were to be bombed first before the Ijaw zones. This would have brought down the government of President Tinubu and usher in a new President from the coalition of political parties with a Vice President from the Ijaw.

“The media was to be captured by paying heavily for airtime and retaining the social media influencers and known social critics on their payroll.

“I am not unaware of what this revelation means, but I am doing this to free my conscience and warn those innocent persons that are used to sway public sentiment that there is more than meets the eye in the Rivers matter.

“Sometimes I slept over in Government House. But I started being uncomfortable when Governor Bala Mohammed and some other stakeholders started nocturnal visits to Rivers State.

“I recall after one of such visits he told me that he would support Bala Mohammed or any other northerner for president; that discussions were ongoing.

“Although I was not bothered about whom he supports, I was more concerned about the quantum of state resources that he releases to these visitors at each visit.”

Nwaeke asked the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to call their Rivers labour leaders to order to avoid politicising labour in the state.

He said he was privy to several private meetings between the governor and labour leaders in the state and the largesse that accompanied each meeting to compromise the Labour Union.

“More worrisome is several meetings between the governor, his chief of staff and some militant leaders. The details of which meetings I was not privy to since I was not allowed into the meetings.

“However, each meeting ended with huge sums of money paid to attendees.”

He said Rivers people and the generality of Nigerians are “the beneficiary of the declaration of state of emergency rule in Rivers State and not Governor Fubara or Minister Wike.”

He stressed the need for the state’s Sole Administrator, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), to “step up his guards and be very vigilant, because I am aware of the sinister arrangement and dastardly plans to continue to hatch their plans if not put in check.”

He said: “This accounts for the organised media condemnations and seeming public outcry against Mr. President and National Assembly.

“Those who love democracy and humanity will always protect humanity and democracy. Mr. President, you have just protected democracy and humanity in Rivers State. I can now sleep with my conscience clear.”

Wike slams NBA for ‘hypocrisy’ on state of emergency

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister Nyesom Wike yesterday faulted the Nigeria Bar Association’s (NBA) stance that the declaration of state of emergency in Rivers by President Bola Tinubu was unconstitutional and illegal.

Wike alleged that the NBA discredited Tinubu’s decision because the Rivers Government had promised to host its annual general conference.

The minister stated this when officials of the Body of Benchers, led by its Chairman, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), visited him in Abuja.

He added that the association did not support the declaration of the state of emergency because there would be no money to give to the NBA for the conference.

“What kind of hypocrisy is this?” he queried.

The minister called on the Body of Benchers to call the NBA to order over the association’s unnecessary criticism of the judiciary.

He said that the body should not sit and watch, while the NBA and its members destroy the legal profession.

He said that some of the members of NBA, often without reading a judgement, go on national television to condemn the judgment and criticise the judges.

He said that such actions have continued with no sanction.

“If you don’t discipline somebody, nobody will learn any lesson.

“We shall no longer allow our profession to be pulled down. I cannot believe, as a lawyer, that you make a contribution to help the legal profession, and you will be criticised by your fellow lawyers.

“Sir, time has come that we need to say look, enough is enough. We cannot continue to discourage our judges and justices. It is not done anywhere.

“I have never seen where members of a profession are the ones that are bent on bringing the profession down,” he said.

The minister also accused the NBA of describing any support rendered by the executive arm of government to the judicial arm as a bribe.

Wike recalled that when NBA was building its National Secretariat, the leadership wrote to the executive for support, adding that nobody saw that as a bribe.

“I was the only one who contributed to the NBA to build the National Secretariat. The NBA didn’t see it as a bribe.

“When you contribute to the Body of Benchers, it is a bribe, but when you contribute to NBA, it is not a bribe, they will take it.

“The same NBA will rely on state governments to sponsor their activities, but when the state government supports the judiciary it is bribery,” he added.

Wike said that the constant taunting of judges and justices had made them to avoid attending social gatherings or going to church or mosque for fear of molestation.

He added that judges could no longer shake people’s hands freely because lawyers would accuse them of collecting bribes.

“It has gotten to the stage that our Judges are so scared of going to a mosque or church or even greeting somebody they know because of fear of bribery.

“They run away from shaking people’s hands because they will start accusing them of collecting bride. This must stop,” he said

The immediate past Rivers Head of Service, George Nwaeke, has denied claims by his wife, Florence, that he was kidnapped and under duress.

Nwaeke, who recently released chilling allegations against suspended Governor Siminalayi, said contrary to his wife’s emotional outbursts, he was safe in Abuja.

He disclosed that he went to Abuja to voluntarily report himself to security agencies over the ongoing crisis in Rivers State.

The former HoS spoke in a trending video released early hours of Saturday.

He insisted thatwife’s claim was false and suggested that she had been misled and given a script to read.

He said: “I am in Transcorp Abuja. I arrived this morning from Port Harcourt to meet security agencies and report myself, as well as the troubling events happening in Rivers State. I resigned as Head of Service on Monday because of these developments”.

Addressing his wife, he said: “I just saw a video of my wife trending. She was told I had been kidnapped and given a script to read. I want to make it clear—I am not kidnapped. I am in Abuja, working.

“When I was Head of Service, my wife was not involved in my official duties. That script she read is null and void. I am safe and sound. I will report myself to the appropriate security agencies because Abuja houses their headquarters, and I feel safer making my report here.”

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