A Federal High Court on Friday granted bail to social media critic, Martins Otse, popularly known as VeryDarkMan (VDM), after his arraignment on charges of impersonation.

VeryDarkman was granted bail set at N2 million with two sureties, each required to post an equivalent amount. Additionally, the court ordered him to surrender his international passport and any other form of identification.

His arraignment followed the release of a viral video where he appeared in a police uniform, a move the Nigeria Police Force condemned as unauthorized.

Police spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, previously stated that an investigation had been launched into the video, which featured VDM referring to himself as “CSP VeryDarkMan” and Nigeria’s “number one online police officer.”

The police’s formal objection to the use of official uniforms and insignia without authorization highlights the seriousness of the case, and the court’s conditions aim to restrict further actions that could misrepresent or misuse official identities.

The bail terms released by VDM’s lawyer, Deji Adeyanju, reads, “Two million, two sureties in like terms. Sureties to deposit international passports, sureties to provide means of Identification. Sureties to depose to affidavit to provide the defendant during trial at all times.

“⁠Prosecutor to verify sureties’ address. Sureties to provide utility bills, defendant to depose to affidavit to be available at all times during trial. Sureties to reside within the Court’s jurisdiction, particularly Abuja municipal.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has shed light on the recent arrest of popular crossdresser Idris Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky.

Bobrisky was apprehended on Thursday night at Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport.

He was allegedly trying to leave Nigeria for London amid ongoing bribery accusations.

Following his detention in Lagos, Bobrisky was subsequently moved to Abuja for further questioning.

EFCC spokesperson, Dele Oyewale, speaking with SaharaReporters on Friday, confirmed that Bobrisky was arrested after he failed to respond to a formal invitation from the Commission.

According to Oyewale, Bobrisky’s arrest is tied to an alleged bribery case, and the EFCC sought his cooperation to identify officials he claimed to have bribed.

The EFCC spokesman said, “We arrested him last night and we took him to Abuja because our team investigators are in Abuja.

“He was trying to run away from mentioning those he said collected bribe from him. We have sent him invitation but he refused to honour our invitation and he was trying to leave the country.

“This was why we arrested him. We want him to come and mention the names of the official involved in the bribery but he has not shown up.”

When asked if Bobrisky would face bribery charges, Oyewale indicated that no official decision had been made on that matter yet.

In a similar event earlier in October, Naija News reported another arrest of Bobrisky as he tried to escape to Benin Republic.

The popular crossdresser was taken into custody by Customs at the Seme border during a standard passport inspection, just hours before he was scheduled to testify before a Senate inquiry panel concerning multiple accusations.

The allegations arise from a circulated voice recording by social commentator Martins Otse, known as VeryDarkMan, in which Bobrisky allegedly claimed he paid EFCC officials ₦15 million to have money laundering charges against him dropped.

Although the EFCC has refuted these claims, it has formed a committee to look into the allegations.

During a press conference on Thursday, the Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajaren, indicated that Bobrisky might face additional charges from the commission if the allegations against the EFCC were proven to be false.

Uwajaren emphasized that an individual could be prosecuted for providing misleading information to the EFCC, especially for making baseless accusations against the commission.

Pa Bibire Lamidi, the owner of the collapsed building in Ibadan, Oyo State, lost five of his children and grandchildren in the tragedy.

Some of the patients of the Octogenarian as also died when the  building collapsed. 

The one-storey building located at Jegede, Olunloyo, Ona Ara Local Government Area collapsed around 2am on Thursday.

The incident also left many occupants struggling for survival on hospital beds.

The Oyo Police Command said those rescued suffered varying degrees of life threatening injuries and receiving medical attention.

One of Pa Lamidi’s wives Alh. Yidiatu Lamidi, in an interview with reporters, said: “I was not there when the incident occurred. My husband told me that he just finished toileting when he suddenly saw the house collapsing. 

‘His children and grand children were among the victims.  My husband treats  mentally ill and other patients. Five of his children and grand children have died in the incident. Some of his mentally ill patients also lost their lives.”

When asked if the building had shown any sign, she said: “The house showed no sign of weakness.  This looks like a spiritual attack.”

Pa Lamidi was still receiving medical treatment as of press time.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has disclosed that the immediate past Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Betta Edu, is still under probe though a preliminary report has been submitted to President Bola Tinubu.

President Tinubu suspended Edu in January 2024, following a national outcry over an alleged N585 million scandal.

EFCC chairman, Ola Olukoyede, disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists at the headquarters of the commission in Abuja during a press briefing on Thursday, October 31, 2024.

According to Olukoyede, an interim report about the embattled former minister had been submitted to the President in order to take actions.

He added that there is still a gamut of documents to be cross-checked regarding her dealings when she held sway in the ministry.

He further assured Nigerians that the agency would get to the root of the matter.

Olukoyede, who was represented at the briefing by the Director of Public Affairs, Wilson Uwajaren, while reeling out his achievements in the last one year, said many pending cases would be completed in due time.

“I don’t know the outcome. But I believe that we have submitted a (preliminary) report to the president. And I believe that we are still on the matter,” he said.

“The last time I checked, we mentioned the number of bank accounts that we were monitoring. We were looking at about 140 accounts. And we know it takes time to look into and get the required information."

Singer Paul Okoye, popularly known as Rude Boy, and his wife Ivy Ifeoma have welcomed their first child together, Imani Ugomma Okoye, in the United States.

On Thursday, Paul shared a video on Instagram, expressing his joy: “This past month and a few days have been the most joyous and overwhelmingly sweet period of our lives.”

The couple reportedly welcomed their baby on Sunday, 29 September 2024.

Rude Boy married Ivy in a traditional ceremony in May 2024 after his divorce from his first wife, Anita Okoye.

The newborn is Paul Okoye’s fourth child, as he has three children from his previous marriage to Anita.

Click the link below to watch video:

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi has announced his intention to “step aside” following a significant defeat of his party in the recent general elections, as indicated by preliminary results.

Naija News understands that the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP), which has governed the diamond-rich nation since gaining independence from Britain in 1966, faced a challenging electoral outcome.

While the official results from Wednesday’s election are anticipated to be released by the electoral commission later on Friday, initial counts reveal that three opposition parties have collectively secured at least 31 out of 61 seats in the national legislature.

According to Botswana’s electoral regulations, the first party to achieve 31 seats will be declared the victor and will have the authority to appoint its candidate as president.

“I wish to congratulate the opposition on their victory and concede the election,” Masisi told journalists during a press conference Friday morning, adding it had been “a good journey”.

Masisi, who took office in 2018, said he would “begin all administrative work to facilitate the transition.”

“We are quite happy to retreat into being a loyal opposition and to hold the government accountable,” said the 63-year-old leader who had been confident of securing a second term.

The opposition coalition, Umbrella for Democratic Change, which leans towards the left, has obtained over 24 seats, as reported by party official Mike Keakopa to AFP.

The coalition is striving to achieve a total of 31 seats in order to secure a definitive victory.

Should this be validated, their candidate, Duma Boko, a human rights attorney educated at Harvard, would assume the presidency.

Additionally, the other two opposition parties, the Botswana Congress Party and the Botswana Patriotic Front, collectively garnered approximately a dozen seats.

…We can only suspend action if we get alert — SSANU

Striking members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, yesterday turned down persuasions from the Federal Government to call off the strike.

The workers insisted that until they got an alert on the withheld salaries, the industrial action would continue.

Recall that the Joint Action Committee, JAC, of the two non-teaching staff unions had embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday on the expiration of the ultimatum they gave to the government on the withheld salaries.

President Bola Tinubu had recently approved that 50 per cent of the four months’ withheld salaries be paid, but several months after the approval was made, nothing has happened.

Worried by the effect of the ongoing strike, the Federal Government convened a meeting with the aggrieved university workers yesterday, with a view to persuading them to suspend the strike.

Speaking to Vanguard on the outcome of the meeting, the President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, said: “The conversation was very cordial, very fruitful, very frank. So like I said, it was chaired by the outgoing Minister of State for Education at the instance of the Minister of Education, who joined the meeting virtually.

“So, they related the position of government that they have extracted commitment from the Minister of Finance that the payment will be made.”

Asked when the government promised to make the payment, he said: “They said before the end of the month. Today (yesterday) is 31st, so, we are still on 31st and we told them that until then, the mandate we have from our people is that we can only suspend when the money is paid.

“Remember, so many other promises were made before and so that’s our position. So we left on a very cordial note. There was this clear understanding that we’re waiting for payments, we can only suspend until we get the payment.”

On whether the government made any attempt to persuade them to suspend the strike, Ibrahim said: “What will they say? They will not say anything new.

“There were a lot of persuasions but like I told you, we went there with the mandate of our people, and the mandate given to us was that we must make sure we get the payment because there is already an approval.

‘’It’s not something that has not been approved. There’s an approval of the President. So, it’s the release that is the problem.

‘’If the President has approved, those in charge should be able to release the money and they promised to release it. Since they did not say they will not release the money, we said okay, until then.”

The Dangote Petroleum Refinery on Thursday night clarified that it has not received any payments from the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) to purchase refined pe­troleum products.

A statement by Anthony Chie­jina, Group Chief Branding and Communications Officer, Dangote Group, said “although discussions are ongoing with IPMAN, it is misleading to suggest that they (IPMAN members) are experi­encing difficulties loading refined products from our Petroleum Refinery, as we currently have no direct business dealings with them. Consequently, we cannot be held responsible for any payments made to other entities.”

The statement noted that “the payment in mention has been made through the Nigerian Na­tional Petroleum Company Lim­ited (NNPCL), and not us. In the same vein, NNPCL has neither approved, nor authorised us to release our Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) to IPMAN.

“We would like to emphasise that we can meet the nation’s demand for all petroleum prod­ucts, including petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel. At present, we can load 2,900 trucks per day and we have also been evacuating petro­leum products by sea. We advise IPMAN to register with us and make direct payment as we have more than enough petroleum products to satisfy the needs of their members.

“Furthermore, we believe it is instructive for all stakeholders to refrain from making unfounded statements in the media, as that could undermine the economic re-engineering efforts of His Excel­lency, President Bola Ahmed Tinu­bu. Conducting business through public speculation is counterpro­ductive and unpatriotic.

“In the interest of our country, we encourage all stakeholders to collaborate and heed the advice of President Tinubu, while pro­moting a unified approach, rather than engaging in media conflicts and needless propaganda.”

It would be recalled that the In­dependent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) stated that its members are unable to load petrol from the Dangote Refinery in Lagos, despite having paid N40 billion to the NNPCL.

IPMAN President, Abubakar Garima, revealed this on Chan­nels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday.

This was in response to Aliko Dangote’s claim that marketers were avoiding his refinery in fa­vour of imported petrol, noting that IPMAN members are eager to purchase from Dangote if al­lowed to do so directly.

“We have over N40 billion in outstanding debt with the NNP­CL. I was surprised when Dan­gote said he has over 500 million litres of PMS. We are ready to buy the product from Dangote if he is ready to sell it to us directly,” Garima stated.

He added that his members are not importing petrol, contrary to Dangote’s suggestion.

Instead, Garima argued, the Dangote Refinery should register independent marketers directly, bypassing the NNPCL, to allow for easier loading.

“If he (Dangote) can sell the product directly to us, we can buy because we pay upfront be­fore loading. Currently, we have N40 billion with the NNPCL, yet we can’t access the product.

“Recently, some marketers were sent to load at the Dangote Refinery but were unable to load even after waiting four days with their trucks,” he explained.

On Tuesday, Aliko Dangote met with President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, announcing he had over 500 million litres of petrol in stor­age at his refinery, but that mar­keters were not using his facility.

However, Garima noted that IPMAN, representing over 20,000 marketers, has already paid N40 billion to NNPCL but is still un­able to load from the refinery.

The Special Adviser to the President on Public Communications and Orientation, Sunday Dare, on Thursday, commended President Bola Tinubu for his instrumental role in the emergence of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Before the All Progressives Congress (APC) defeated the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015, Buhari had run unsuccessfully for the presidency in the 2003, 2007, and 2011 elections.

The turning point came when Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) merged with Tinubu’s Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and other parties, forming the APC—a platform that ultimately won the 2015 presidential election.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Dare asserted that Buhari’s victory would not have been possible without Tinubu’s pivotal contributions.

“If you look at the role Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu played in the emergence of Muhammadu Buhari, it’s clear that without his efforts in forming the party and creating the platform, President Buhari would not have emerged,” Dare remarked.

Championing Buhari’s Candidacy

When asked if he promoted Buhari as the APC’s presidential candidate, Dare affirmed it was a collective effort.

“It wasn’t just me; it was a team. The electoral victories in 2015 and 2019 had President Tinubu’s influence. Many others played significant roles,” he said.

Reflecting on Buhari’s legacy, Dare, who served as the Minister of Sports and Youth Development in Buhari’s administration, declined to label his tenure as a failure, emphasizing instead that governance is continuous.

“Buhari did his part and moved on, just like Obasanjo, Yar’Adua, and Jonathan before him. Now, President Bola Tinubu is making bold, courageous decisions that other leaders did not,” he added.

Dare praised Tinubu for his reforms, notably the removal of the petrol subsidy, aimed at realigning the nation’s economy for sustainable growth.

…Orders Integrity Review Of Nigeria’s Waterways, Dams

…Says 321 Dead In 34 States On Account Of Flooding

…Tinubu Not Against Northerners With Tax Reform Bills — Presidency

The National Economic Council (NEC), on Thursday, prevailed on President Bola Tinubu to with­draw the Tax Reforms Bills from the National Assembly.

NEC hinged it on the need to allow for wider consultations and consensus building among stake­holders, particularly Nigerians.

Oyo State governor, Seyi Ma­kinde, who briefed State House correspondents on the develop­ment, said this formed part of resolutions reached at the 144th meeting of the NECouncil at the State House, Abuja.

According to Makinde, the council members agreed that it was necessary to allow for consen­sus building and understanding of the bills among Nigerians.

President Bola Tinubu and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) recently endorsed new policy ini­tiatives to streamline Nigeria’s tax administration processes.

The Federal Government hinged it on the need to enhance efficiency and eliminate redun­dancies across the nation’s tax operations.

The reforms emerged after a review of existing tax laws since August 2023. The National Assem­bly is considering four executive bills containing these tax reform efforts.

NEC’s decision came days after the Northern governors kicked against the reform bills.

At a meeting on October 28, 2024, governors of the 19 North­ern states, on the platform of the Northern Governors’ Forum, re­jected the new derivation-based model for Value-Added Tax dis­tribution in the new tax reform bills before the National Assembly.

A communiqué read by the Chairman of the forum, Gov­ernor Muhammed Yahaya of Gombe State, said the proposition negates the interest of the North and other sub-nationals.

Makinde said, “NEC today took a presentation from the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms. Their main focus is fair taxation, responsible borrow­ing and sustainable spending.

“The council acknowledged that the country is underperform­ing on all indices as regards huge losses from major revenue sourc­es, also tax to GDP ratio and so on.

“So after extensive delibera­tion, NEC noted the need for suf­ficient alignment between and among the stakeholders for the proposed reforms.

“Council, therefore, recom­mend the need to withdraw the bill currently before the National Assembly on tax reforms so that we can have wider consultations and also build consensus around these reforms for the benefit of the entire country, and also to give people, for them to know the vision and where we are moving the country in terms of a tax re­form, because there’s really a lot of miscommunication, misinfor­mation.

“The bills will be drawn from the National Assembly, then there will be consultations afterwards”.

NEC OrdersIntegrity ReviewOf Nigeria’s Waterways, Dams

Meanwhile, the National Eco­nomic Council (NEC) on Thurs­day also directed the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation to commence a comprehensive integrity review of Nigeria’s wa­terways and dams.

The move is intended to miti­gate the ravaging impact of flood­ing in the country.

Anambra State governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, disclosed this while briefing State House corre­spondents at the Presidential Vil­la, Abuja, after the NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

He said that the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, had briefed members of NEC on the Federal Government’s intervention activ­ities across the country regarding the impact of this year’s flooding which has become a major nation­al disaster.

The Water Resources Minis­try had earlier identified 148 local government areas in the country spanning 31 states as high flood risk areas for 2024 beginning from April to November.

According to Prof. Soludo, after receiving the presentation from the minister, NEC resolved that “the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation should conduct an integrity review of all the waterways and dams across the country.

“There was a serious empha­sis on the need for a massive pro­gramme of dredging of the wa­terways. The council also urged governors who have not submit­ted their reports on the situation of flooding and management in their states to do so immediately.

“Council also noted that the Green Climate Fund should have an infrastructure resilient fund component and it was also noted that there are some critical parts of the country that are very mas­sively ravaged by this flooding particularly the South East and the South South that are com­pletely omitted in the ongoing programmes of the construction of dams at least to act as speed bumps along the highways par­ticularly in the River Niger.”

Prof. Soludo also said that the council considered the national emergency and the responses on the damages and the coordination taking place between the states and the Federal Government and outlined further steps that should be taken.

It was gathered that Prof. Utsev during his presentation informed the NEC that a techni­cal sub-committee appointed by President Tinubu October 8, 2024, is ongoing with its assignment and will be putting together an interim report to be presented to the Inter-Ministerial Committee for onward transmission to the president.

NEC also confirmed that 321 persons lost their lives in the flood disaster which has so far ravaged 34 states of the federation.

It also confirmed that 217 local government areas, 1,374,557 per­sons were adversely affected by the flood across Nigeria as at today.

Soludo, who also reeled out the statistics after the NEC meeting, said the various State Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA) have been directed to up their game to bring succour to the af­fected states.

“You know the country is facing the national emergency with regards to flooding and the reports so far identify a major na­tional disaster. We’ve been called upon to note that to date, that about 34 states have been affect­ed, 217 local government areas, 1,374,557 persons already affect­ed. And 740,743 were displaced nationwide. 321 persons dead and 2,854 persons injured and 281,000 houses, 258,000 cultivated farm­lands also destroyed, or affected by the ravaging flood.

“Council deliberated on the actions, particularly at the sub national level, and got up on the the SEMA, the various state emer­gency management agencies, to up their game and increase the collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agen­cy (NEMA).

“There was serious emphasis and the need for massive pro­gramme of dredging, or desilt­ing of the waterways and have a firm programme of continuous desilting

almost on annual basis of the waterways.”

Tinubu Not Against Northerners With Tax Reform Bills — Presidency

The Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has de­fended the proposed bills from the presidency seeking reforms in tax collection processes.

Recall that the Federal Ex­ecutive Council (FEC), which President Tinubu presided over recently, had endorsed new policy initiatives aimed at streamlining Nigeria’s tax administration pro­cesses, enhancing efficiency and eliminating redundancies across the nation’s tax operations.

But the governors of the 19 Northern states, on the platform of the Northern Governors’ Fo­rum, at their meeting recently, picked holes in the new deriva­tion-based model for Value-Added Tax (VAT) distribution in the new tax reform bills before the Nation­al Assembly.

Chairman of the forum, Gov­ernor Muhammed Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, presided over the meeting where the northern elite opposed the policy.

Onanuga, while reacting on be­half of the president, explained that these reforms emerged after an extensive review of existing tax laws.

He noted that the National Assembly is considering four executive bills designed to trans­form and modernise Nigeria’s tax landscape.

“First is the Nigeria Tax Bill, which aims to eliminate unin­tended multiple taxation and make Nigeria’s economy more competitive by simplifying tax obligations for businesses and individuals nationwide.

“The Nigeria Tax Adminis­tration Bill (NTAB) proposes new rules governing the administra­tion of all taxes in the country. Its objective is to harmonise tax ad­ministrative processes across fed­eral, state and local jurisdictions for ease of compliance for taxpay­ers in all parts of the country.

“The Nigeria Revenue Ser­vice (Establishment) Bill seeks to rename the Federal Inland Reve­nue Service (FIRS) as the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS) to better reflect the mandate of the service as the revenue agency for the en­tire federation, not just the Federal Government,” Onanuga stated.

He explained that the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill proposes the creation of a Joint Revenue Board to replace the Joint Tax Board, covering fed­eral and all states’ tax authorities.

According to him, the bill also suggests establishing the Office of Tax Ombudsman under the Joint Revenue Board, which would serve as a complaint resolution body for taxpayers.

He reiterated that it was in­structive to note that these pro­posed laws will not increase the number of taxes currently in op­eration. Instead, they are designed to optimise and simplify existing tax frameworks.

He also insisted that the tax rates or percentages will remain the same under these reforms, as they focus on ensuring a more equitable distribution of tax ob­ligations without adding to the burden on Nigerians.

The presidential media aide stated, “The reforms will not lead to job losses. On the contrary, they are structured to stimulate new avenues for job creation by sup­porting a dynamic, growth-ori­ented economy.

“Importantly, these laws will not absorb or eliminate the duties of any existing department, agen­cy, or ministry. Instead, they aim to harmonise revenue collection and administration across the fed­eration to ensure efficiency and cooperation.

“At the moment, tax adminis­tration lacks coordination among federal, state, and local tax author­ities, often resulting in overlap­ping responsibilities, confusion, and inefficiency. Without reform, this inefficiency will persist.

“The proposed laws aim to co­ordinate efforts between different tiers of government, resulting in better tax resource management and greater clarity for taxpayers.

“Under existing laws, taxes like Company Income Tax (CIT), Personal Income Tax (PIT), Cap­ital Gains Tax (CGT), Petroleum Profits Tax (PPT), Tertiary Edu­cation Tax (TET), Value-Added Tax (VAT), and other taxing pro­visions in numerous laws are administered separately, with individual legislative frameworks.

“The proposed reforms seek to consolidate these multiple taxes, integrating CIT, PIT, CGT, VAT, PPT, and excise duties into a uni­fied structure to reduce adminis­trative fragmentation.

“On the proposed deriva­tion-based VAT distribution model, which the Northern governors op­pose, it must be stressed that the new proposal, as enunciated in the bill, is designed to create a fairer system.

“The current model for distrib­uting VAT is based on where the tax is remitted rather than where goods and services are supplied or consumed. The ongoing tax re­form seeks to correct the inherent inequity in the current derivation model as a basis for distributing VAT revenue.

“The new proposal before the National Assembly outlines a dif­ferent form of derivation which considers the place of supply or consumption for relevant goods and services. This means that states in the Northern region that produce the food we eat should not lose out just because their prod­ucts are VAT-exempt or consumed in other states.

“These reforms are critical to improving the lives of Nigeri­ans and were not put forward by President Tinubu to undermine any part of the country. There is no better time than now for the National Assembly to give due consideration to these bills that will overhaul our tax systems and create the revenue all the tiers of government require to fund the development our country and people urgently need”.