A former President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Dr. Samson Ayokunle, has expressed his concerns regarding the issue of multiple taxations imposed on struggling Nigerians by the incumbent government.

During his appearance on the socio-political program Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, which aired on Channels Television on Friday, the former president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention appealed to President Bola Tinubu to explore other rich sides of the country instead of taxing the citizens. on every side.

In his plea, Ayokunle emphasized the importance of revitalizing the country’s economy and encouraging investments in the agriculture and mining sectors.

He highlighted the untapped potential and valuable resources within these sectors, waiting to be harnessed for the nation’s benefit.

By focusing on these areas, Ayokunle noted that President Tinubu has the opportunity to unlock the goldmines that can contribute to Nigeria’s growth and development.

“Let’s delve into other aspects of our economy. Nigeria is rich, let’s explore, not just taxing, taxing. If you tax people, people will die,” Ayokunle said on the show.

Naija News reports that Ayokunle’s response comes after Tinubu’s administration drew the ire of a large section of Nigerians by introducing new taxes as citizens continue to grapple with the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades.

It could be recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a memorandum last month, instructing all commercial banks to enforce a 0.5% levy on specific electronic transactions.

This levy allocates funds to the Office of the National Security Adviser, specifically to enhance cyber security measures.

It is important to note that the levy is imposed on the individual initiating the transaction, rather than the recipient.

“The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, Cybersecurity Levy,” the memo read, adding that it was in line with the new cybercrime law signed by the president in February.

The levy was, however, later suspended after the outcry that greeted its introduction.

The spokesman of the Obi-Datti organisation, Yunusa Tanko, on Friday, clarified that the Obidient Movement is bigger than the Labour Party.

Tanko, while speaking on Channels TV, stated this despite the movement being supporters of the LP presidential candidate in the 2023 election, Peter Obi.

He said, “It’s bigger than the Labour Party. It is so because it is a move of its own that has a life of its own. What they are interested in is good governance

“Even if the Labour Party is doing something that is wrong, they are able to challenge it. Let me go further. Even His Excellency [Peter Obi], if he does something that is not aligned with good governance, we would challenge it.”

According to Tanko, the Obidient Movement is all about good governance, which Obi preaches.

He said, “They are loyal to the messages that connect to good governance and Peter Obi is championing that particular good governance.”

Recall that the Labour Party, after a backlash, recently renamed a directorate of the party named the Directorate of Obidient Affairs.

According to the National Publicity Secretary of LP, Obiora Ifoh, the Obidient Directorate is now renamed as the Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration.

Obiorah said, “Following the controversies arising from the creation of the Directorate of OBIDIENT Affairs, in the party, the Directorate is hereby renamed the Directorate of Mobilisation and Integration.

“The inauguration will take place on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at the party’s National Secretariat, Utako, Abuja, by 10 a.m. Party members and the general public should take note.”

In the wake of the move, Obi said the movement is beyond the LP and cuts across party, gender, and ethnic divides.

Obi said, “There may be a youth mobilization directorate in political parties, but the Obidient Movement is far beyond a particular political party. The Obidient Movement is a diverse and inclusive collective that transcends traditional political, religious, and ethnic affiliations

“It is not domiciled within any particular party or headquartered in any particular part of the country.”

A former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Deputy National Chairman, Bode George, has maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s lack of prior experience in the presidency warrants a grace period.

The PDP chieftain stressed that President Bola Tinubu might not have been able to achieve much in one year because he was studying the failures of his predecessors.

The elder statesman, therefore, called on Nigerians to give President Tinubu an additional year to deliver on his promises and fix the country’s challenges.

George highlighted in an interview with AriseTV on Friday, June 7, that Tinubu, being a first-time president, requires additional time to enact his policies and gain Nigerians’ trust in his vision.

The elder statesman said, “He (Tinubu) had never served at that level (presidency). Well… you will say he was part of the party (APC) that formed the government (of Muhammadu Buhari), but it’s a hell of a different thing taking over and now leading the team.

“To be fair to my conscience, he has had that one-year holiday of trying to study the failures of the past administration. I have given him that one year of grace because now he has seen it and lived there.

“I expect his ministers to have come back in one year with those areas of lapses. Even when Baba (Olusegun Obasanjo became president in 1999, he was still trying to figure out what happened there or vise-versa in his first year. Let’s give him more time.”

Nigerian ace singer, Oladapo Daniel Oyebanjo, popularly known as D’banj, has declared himself ‘a new cat’ (up-and-coming artiste).

Naija News reports that the ‘Koko’ master, who will celebrate his 20th anniversary in the music industry on June 7, 2024, made the declaration in a recent interview with Hip TV.

The 43-year-old singer spoke about his role in the global acceptance of Nigerian music through international collaboration.

D’banj noted that the music industry has evolved over the years, and despite the number of years he has spent in it, he still feels like he is scratching the surface again.

The singer also disclosed that he would be working with some new-generation artistes on his upcoming album, ‘Entertainer,’ which he said was a sequel to his critically acclaimed 2008 album, ‘The Entertainer.’

He said, “I am not the first [Nigerian artist] to have done an international collaboration. We were just the first to have done it the way we did it. Usually, when you want to do a collaboration with an international artist, it seemed before ours, like they were doing you a favour. But with the kind of grace that God gave us and the kind of team that we had, we were able to deliver one of the biggest [‘Mr Endowed’].

“I think that actually gave hope and visibility to the kids [new artists] to know that they can do it. So, I feel like a very proud father if I may say. That’s why I am a cat again [up-and-coming artiste]. Now, I want to feature not even international artistes but local artists. I want to feature Ayra Starr, Rema, Ruger and Don Jazzy. Collaboration is the new competition.”

The Nigerian government said it is releasing N20 billion to provide electricity meters for Band A customers before the end of September 2024.

Adebayo Adelabu, the minister of power, disclosed this on Friday at the BusinessDay Conference in Lagos.

“We are releasing N20 billion for the electricity distribution companies to procure meters for the unmetered Band A customers before the end of September,” he stated.

“The government has put in place the required framework to enable an injection of 1.5 million meters into the power sector through the World Bank Distribution Support Recovery Program.

“The Presidential Metering Initiative will ensure an additional 2 million meters will be procured annually for 5 years. This will ensure accurate billing, reducing revenue loss and improving cash flow for a more liquid power sector.”

According to latest data from the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, electricity customers in Nigeria without meters stood at 7,319,846 million which is 55.61 per cent of a total of 13,162,572 power consumers.

Consequently, only 5,842,726 electricity customers are metered of 13,162,572 registered consumers who get supply from the national grid, according to NERC.

The development comes as NERC announced a 245 per cent electricity tariff hike for Band A customers, getting 20-24 power supply in April.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress embarked on strike on Monday, calling for the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

Leicester City have announced the departure of Super Eagles forward Kelechi Iheanacho.

Iheanacho is leaving the Foxes after seven years.

The 27-year-old’s contract will expire at the end of this month.

The Nigerian joined Leicester City from Manchester City in 2017.

Iheanacho scored 61 goals in Leicester’s colours, including the winner against his former club in the FA Community Shield final at Wembley in August 2021.

The Foxes also announced they are in talks with his compatriot, Wilfred Ndidi, over a new contract.

Ndidi’s current contract will end at the end of the month.

The report of an autopsy conducted on 4-year-old Miguel Ovoke, a pupil of Brickhall School, Abuja, who died on April 24, 2024, has been revealed.

The report, which was released by the management of the school on Friday, revealed that the pupil died after choking on a piece of meat in his homemade lunch.

DAILY POST recalls that the incident occurred during the school’s lunch break. The incident triggered controversy on social media.

According to the school’s statement, Miguel started choking on the meat in his lunch, which consisted of rice, stew, plantain and assorted meat.

“When the emergency manoeuvres to free his throat proved futile, he was rushed to the sick bay where our certified nurse also carried out the appropriate emergency medical responses to dislodge the piece of meat, but to no avail,” the school said.

Miguel was then rushed to Excel Specialist Hospital, where he was unfortunately confirmed dead.

Subsequently, the hospital issued a medical report saying that the cause of death was asphyxiation.

The school said it immediately notified Miguel’s parents of the incident.

The autopsy was conducted at the National Hospital, Abuja, with representatives from all interested parties, including members of the victim’s family.

“The autopsy result showed that Miguel choked on a piece of meat in his homemade lunch,” the school said in its statement.

Following the release of the autopsy report, Miguel’s parents have “accepted the incident as ‘an act of God’,” the school said.

Super Eagles of Nigeria mount more pressure on themselves in the race to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup by failing to defeat South Africa in Uyo.

Ahead of the World Cup qualification match which went down at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium earlier today, June 7, it was clear that the South African side had the aim of beating or drawing with the Super Eagles in Uyo.

Unfortunately for the Nigerian side, the Super Eagles played into their hands as they failed to stamp their authority in the game during the first half.

The Nigerian side looked completely uncoordinated in the first 45 minutes as they struggled to put passes together, especially in the final third.

As for the Bafana Bafana, they maintained their game plan which was to wait and launch counter-attacks. The tactics paid off for them in the 29th minute when Themba Zwane opened the scoring for the visitors.

The Bafana Bafana side ended the first half with the slim lead which didn’t last up to one minute in the second half of the encounter. Turkish-based Nigerian midfielder, Fisayo Dele-Bashiru of Hatayspor scored the equalizer for Nigeria in the 46th minute.

After that, the Super Eagles continued with their uncoordinated display, especially in the opposition’s penalty box as the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

The draw leaves the Super Eagles in the 5th spot in Group C, a point below 4th placed South Africa and two points below first-placed Lesotho.

As it stands, every game in the qualification series matters for the Super Eagles starting with their next game which is against third-placed Benin Republic in Abidjan on June 10.

The Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Federal Government has increased its offer of a new national minimum wage to N62,000.

Organized labour has reduced its demand from N494,000 to N250,000.

Already the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage has adjourned as there was no consensus at the meeting.

The organized private sector also backed the government offer of N62,000, Vanguard reports.

The Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage, NNMW, adjourned following their inability to reach an agreement.

According to the source, “there was disagreement on the amount. The government offered N62,000 and Labour offered N250,000.

“The report is to be communicated to the President for further deliberation on the next line of action. Let us wait for the President to receive the report.”

Recalls that organised labour’s negotiating team walked out of the committee meeting on Tuesday, May 22, for the second time in two weeks after the Federal Government increased its offer to N60,000 from the N57,000 it offered on Wednesday, May 22.

Labour, represented by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterpart, walked out of the tripartite committee meeting on May 15 after the government offered N48,000 and Organised Private Sector, OPS, offered N54,000, against the N615,000.

Big Brother Naija Reality TV star and chef, Uriel Oputa, has urged critics questioning her single status to back off as marriage is not for everyone.

Uriel, who is an entrepreneur and chef, took to her Instagram to address the issue.

She said marriage is not an achievement, the reason why she does not feel any pressure from the family or the public. 

Uriel maintained that she does not need validation from social media to prove that she is married or not.

She added that posting her partner or relationship status on social media was a prohibition for her.

“Marriage isn’t for everyone. If you think marriage is an achievement, that’s on you. How do you know I’m not married? Do you think everyone needs validation from social media?”, Uriel wrote.

She went ahead to reiterate that she would never post about her partner or relationship status on social media.

“I would never post my marriage or my partner’s full face here. Age-shaming and marriage-shaming is so 2018. Let’s maintain this energy and save the lives of young men and women”.