The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called for the suspension of the tax bill currently before the National Assembly, emphasizing the need for more inclusive consultations with Nigerian workers.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, NLC President, Joe Ajaero, alongside General Secretary, Emmanuel Ugboaja, highlighted the deepening crisis during the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held in Owerri.

The union criticized the politicization of the bill, stating that it failed to account for the concerns of essential stakeholders, diminishing its potential to effectively boost the economy.

“Only through inclusive dialogue can we ensure a just and equitable tax system that benefits all citizens,” Ajaero said.

The union also urged the Federal Government to urgently address the ongoing cash scarcity that has plagued the country, urging swift action to alleviate the economic burden on citizens.

Ajaero expressed the NEC’s deep concern over the persistent scarcity, which he described as an “exploitative burden” on the already struggling population.

He noted that Nigerians are losing up to five percent of their funds every time they withdraw cash, an unsustainable situation that worsens the financial struggles of millions.

The NLC president called for immediate intervention from the government and urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to take effective steps to ensure the availability of cash for everyday transactions, particularly to support small businesses and stimulate economic activity.

“The impact of this on small businesses and other informal economy operatives is huge, as the situation poses serious disproportionate challenges to the poor and struggling workers and masses.

“The NLC demands immediate government intervention to rectify this systemic failure and protect citizens’ financial rights.

“We expect the Central Bank Governor to take steps to ensure that cash is made available to the citizenry to enable small business transactions and stimulate economic growth,” he said.

The NEC also voiced grave concerns about the rising insecurity in Nigeria, citing troubling reports that Nigerians paid over N2.23 trillion in ransom this year alone due to the increasing frequency of crime incidents.

Ajaero stressed the need for urgent government action to restore security, protect citizens, and ensure that the rule of law prevails.

“This appalling state of insecurity underscores the urgent need for the government to take decisive action to safeguard lives and property, restore public confidence, and ensure the rule of law prevails.

“The majority of the citizens who either lost their lives or are maimed as a result are workers,” he said.

Furthermore, the NLC condemned the recent invasion of the NLC Edo State Council Secretariat by police and the state governor.

Ajaero described the invasion as a flagrant violation of workers’ rights, including the unlawful removal of items and an attempt to impose an illegitimate leadership.

The NEC has given the Edo State government and the police a deadline of 14 working days, until January 8, 2025, to vacate the premises, return all confiscated items, and halt any further interference in union activities.

“This brazen act of impunity included the ransacking of properties and the unlawful removal of items, all in a bid to impose an illegitimate leadership on the workers.

“The NEC, therefore, resolved to give the Edo State government and the police a deadline of 14 working days, up to January 8, 2025, to vacate the secretariat.

“They should return all confiscated properties to Congress and commit to refraining from further interference in trade union activities,” he said.

Ajaero warned that failure to comply would lead to significant actions by the NLC to defend the rights of workers.

“The NEC, therefore, reaffirms its unwavering commitment to defending the rights and welfare of workers and the broader Nigerian populace,” Ajaero said.

He concluded by encouraging Nigerians to remain hopeful and united during the festive season, despite the numerous challenges facing the country.

Oil marketers lifting Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), commonly known as petrol, from the Dangote Petroleum Refinery have reduced the price of the product by 11.8%, bringing it down from ₦1,060 to ₦939.50 per litre.

As of yesterday, petrol was still being sold at ₦1,060 per litre, as observed in Lagos and its surrounding areas.

However, fresh checks today by Vanguard revealed that major marketers, including MRS, have now revised their pump prices to reflect the change.

While Alhaji Sayyu Idris Dantata, Chairman of MRS, declined to comment on the matter, a visit to the company’s filling station in Ojota, Lagos, confirmed that MRS has begun selling petrol at ₦939.50 per litre.

In a related development, the Dangote Petroleum Refinery reduced the ex-pump price of its petrol from ₦970 to ₦899.50 per litre.

This move is aimed at easing the financial strain on Nigerians, especially as the holiday season approaches.

Commenting on the price reduction, Anthony Chiejina, Chief Branding and Communications Officer of Dangote Group, said, “To alleviate transport costs during this holiday season, Dangote Refinery is offering a holiday discount on PMS. From today, our petrol will be available at ₦899.50 per litre at our truck loading gantry or SPM.

‘‘Furthermore, for every litre purchased on a cash basis, consumers will have the opportunity to buy another litre on credit, backed by a bank guarantee from Access Bank, First Bank, or Zenith Bank.”

The ICPC unveiled the report on Thursday at its headquarters in Abuja, stating that none of the 330 Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) assessed achieved full compliance with established standards.

The Supreme Court, alongside the other non-compliant MDAs, scored zero per cent on the compliance scorecard, highlighting systemic failures in critical areas such as whistleblower policies, strategic planning, and financial accountability.

“These agencies failed due to systemic issues, including the absence of whistleblower policies, inadequate strategic plans, and ineffective stock verification systems,” the ICPC stated.

The report also noted that many of the MDAs failed to produce financial reports or conduct audits, further eroding public trust in their operations.

The EICS evaluated MDAs based on five key indicators:

– Management Culture and Structure (MCS)

– Governance and Executive Management

– Financial Management Systems (FMS)

– Finance, Revenue, and Audit Processes

– Administrative Systems (AS), which includes ethics education and whistleblowing mechanisms.

The 15 institutions with 0.00 score include: Supreme Court of Nigeria, Nigeria Press Council (NPC), Legal Aid Council (LAC), National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), Council of Nigerian Mining Engineers and Geoscientists (COMEG), and Institute of Chartered Chemists of Nigeria (ICCON).

The rest are Federal Teaching Hospital (FTH), Gombe; National Obstetrics Fistula Centre, Ningi, Bauchi State; Institute of Archaeology and Museum Studies, Jos; Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State; Federal College of Forestry Mechanization (FCFM), Mando, Kaduna State; Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State; and Federal Polytechnic, Ede, Osun State, and University of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Ado Ekiti Magistrate Court granted bail to Dele Farotimi on the following conditions:

1. ₦30 million bond

2. Two sureties (one of whom must be a property owner), submission of his passport, and

3. A prohibition on granting media interviews.

Dele Farotimi’s bail was also confirmed by human rights activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, on his X handle on Friday.

Recall that a petition filed by a prominent lawyer and Senior Advocate in Nigeria, Chief Afe Babalola (SAN), prompted Farotimi’s arrest.

He was remanded in prison custody on December 7, 2024, after being arrested on 16 counts of criminal defamation, following the publication of his book, Nigeria and Its Criminal Justice System.

Super Eagles winger, Ademola Lookman has seen a significant rise in his market value, now estimated at €55 million.

The increase of €15 million places Ademola Lookman ahead of Bayer Leverkusen’s Victor Boniface, who stands at €45 million, making Lookman Nigeria’s second most valuable player, just behind Victor Osimhen at €75 million.

Winning the 2024 CAF Player of the Year award is a testament to Lookman’s outstanding performance, as he triumphed over notable contenders, including Simon Adingra from Ivory Coast, Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi, South African goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, and Guinea’s Serhou Guirassy. Additionally, Lookman was ranked 14th in the 2024 Ballon d’Or standings.

The 27-year-old winger’s rise over the past two seasons has firmly established him among Nigeria’s top football talents. At the end of 2023, he was valued at €30 million, but a remarkable year saw an impressive €25 million increase in his market value, reflecting an 83.33% growth.

By June 2024, after delivering a standout performance in the UEFA Europa League final—scoring a hat-trick in Atalanta’s 3-0 victory over Leverkusen to clinch the club’s first European title—his valuation rose to €40 million.

Jatin Dietl, Transfermarkt’s Italy Area Manager, noted, “Lookman capped off his impressive 2024 with the African Ballon d’Or, and rightly so. He has been in exceptional form, playing a pivotal role in Atalanta’s success and leading the club to its first international title.”

Before reaching this pinnacle, Lookman attracted interest from major European clubs such as PSG, Arsenal, and Liverpool, who expressed a desire to sign him last summer. However, retaining his talents may pose a challenge for Atalanta as the season progresses.

Despite the growing interest, Atalanta President Antonio Percassi has emphasized the club’s intention to keep Lookman during the January transfer window, stating, “Our plan is not to change anything in the January window,” regarding the forward’s future

House of Representatives member for Kaduna North Constituency, Mohammed Bello El-Rufai, has called for the scrapping of some yearly expenses of ministries, departments and agencies.

Bello El-Rufai noted that ministries, departments and agencies cannot include vehicles and furniture every year in their budgets.

He stated this during the debate on the 2025 budget on Wednesday. He explained that some items ministries, departments and agencies included in the 2024 budgets in their recurrent expenditure should not be allowed in the 2025 budget.

“Sir, the recurrent issue is in every budget, even a young person like myself, we budget for vehicles every year, we budget for utensils every year. So what I would like us to do, sir, to open more revenues or block loopholes is to look at all these ministries that are bringing their budgets.

“If they bought vehicles last year, please, they should just relax now. Vehicles do not expire. These are the little things, Mr. Speaker, that if, unless we start looking at them, the loopholes we talk about will not come out. I want to thank the leadership for sessions like this and other experienced members. It’s a learning opportunity, but on this, the Orasanye report, sir, should be implemented. It is key. That is one,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker further demanded financial discipline from leaders just as Nigerians are encouraged to endure the current hardship in the country.

“The second and most important thing to me, since I was a, well, I’m still a young man, since I was a boy, budgets every year come with new computers, new furniture. These things don’t expire, sir. We should cut them out totally. We can’t be asking Nigerians, we can’t have a tax reform bill that could shape the fiscal shape of this country. Well, as leaders, we are not cutting anything.

“So I urge the chairman, I’m honored, sir, that I chair a committee that has CBN, but my budget is not on here. But committee chairmen that are more experienced than myself should look into this. Nigerians are tired of every agency buying fork and knife every year,” he added.

A ₦9.36 billion budget has been made for domestic and international travel and refreshments for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Vice President Kashim Shettima for the upcoming year.

Naija News reports that this information is detailed in the 2025 Appropriation Bill released by the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

On Wednesday, the president presented a budget proposal amounting to ₦49.7 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly.

The fiscal document is titled: ‘Restoration Budget, Securing Peace and Building Prosperity.’

As per the budget proposal, President Tinubu is set to spend ₦7.44 billion on travel and refreshments, while Vice President Shettima will allocate ₦1.9 billion for similar expenses.

In 2025, the president’s international travel is expected to cost ₦6.14 billion, with local trips amounting to ₦873.9 million.

Additionally, ₦431.6 million has been designated for the president’s refreshments, meals, and catering supplies.

For the vice president, international travel expenses are projected at ₦1.31 billion, with local travel costing ₦417.5 million.

The budget for refreshments, meals, and catering supplies for the vice president is set at ₦186.02 million.

In the first quarter of 2024, President Tinubu, Vice President Shettima, and First Lady Remi Tinubu incurred travel expenses totalling no less than ₦5.24 billion for both local and international trips, as revealed by an analysis conducted using GovSpend, a civic technology platform that monitors and analyzes federal government expenditures.

Budget For Presidency On Cars, Fuel, Honorarium, SAs Office

Meanwhile, the Office of the President has put forward a budget of ₦4,760,035,960 for vehicles, which includes ₦3,661,566,123 allocated for the acquisition of operational vehicles for the State House and ₦1 billion designated for the replacement of Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs).

Additionally, ₦255,728,214 has been allocated for the purchase of cars, with ₦127,864,107 specifically reserved for the procurement of SUVs for both the president and vice president and another ₦127,864,107 set aside for operational vehicles within the Presidential Conference Car Unit (CCU) fleet.

Furthermore, a total of ₦5,938,883,548 has been proposed for honorarium, the construction of an office complex for Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants, and fuel for generators.

The budget outlines that ₦2,118,521,128 is designated for sitting allowances/honorarium, ₦1,989,579,359 for fuel, and ₦1,830,783,061 for the construction of the office complex for Special Advisers and Senior Special Assistants.

Nigerian singer, Tiwa Savage, has spoken about the effects of the divorce from her ex-husband, Tunji Balogun, popularly known as TeeBillz.

Recalls that TeeBillz announced their divorce in 2018 on social media.

However, in an interview with ‘The Receipts’ Podcast, Tiwa Savage accused TeeBillz of being responsible for the divorce, stating that she did not break up with him.

She explained that TeeBillz announced the divorce while she was still struggling with postpartum depression after the birth of their son.

Tiwa Savage also stated that it was heartbreaking how the public blamed her for the marriage breakup, adding she became ‘African Bad Girl’ afterwards.

She said: “The way our situation happened, he announced it online. I did not break up with him, but I was the one being attacked.

“My baby was just a few months old at that time. My body wasn’t the same because I was dealing with postpartum and depression. Only a few people came to see me. Everyone went to him.

“It got worse after I did an interview to tell my side of the story. People were like, ‘How dare you go and talk? You are a woman, and you are supposed to build the house. It’s your fault.’

“It was very heartbreaking how the public blamed me. Ever since then, I was like, ‘I won’t ever talk about the situation.’ It was an eye-opener for me. It made me depressed and angry for so long. Then I became the ‘African Bad Girl.’ I started getting tattoos and wearing bikinis and short skirts.”

The Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) has said the words British Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, used in describing Nigerian Police was unfair.

The National Chairman of PCRC, Mogaji Olaniyan, said while the Nigeria Police have its challenges, they are also doing great work in the nation.

Olaniyan, who stated this in an interview with newsmen on Friday, advised Kemi Badenoch to use her good office for the country’s good.

The PCRC Chairman said that there are many good and decent police officers in the country, like the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 2, Adegoke Fayode, who rejected N20 million bribe.

He emphasized that United Kingdom and United States policemen in the 1960s and 1970s were also accused of corruption and unprofessional practices.

“While we are not denying the fact that there are challenges and room for improvement, we must not forget the great dangers of ridiculing our country.

“It is an undeniable fact that many horrible things happened and are still happening in foreign countries, particularly in the UK and US, that are not reported by their media.

“Rather than ridiculing the Nigeria Police, it would have been better for Badenoch to use her good position to impact positively on the system,” he said.

He emphasized that Kemi‘s outburst could be a result of an experience she had with some police officers, but that should not take away the great work of some of the personnel.

“It is possible that Badenoch or her family members were stopped or interrogated by the Police in Nigeria over an issue which prompted that derogatory comments.

“This should never take away or ignore the great works of the police in Nigeria, especially, under the current leadership,” he stated.