President Bola Tinubu on Thursday appealed to all state governors to set aside their political differences and focus on governance.

He also said the country is no longer in the state he met it since assuming office nine months ago, assuring Nigerians that the “tunnel is not as dark as when we started”.

“Since we recognise the need to build our nation together, the time for politics is over. It is now time for governance,” Tinubu said when he hosted Governors for a Ramadan Iftar (breaking of fast) at the Banquet Hall of the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, revealed this in a statement on Thursday titled ‘President Tinubu to Governor: It is time for governance; let us set aside political differences.’

Highlighting the significance of the holy month of Ramadan and the Lenten season for Christians, President Tinubu urged Nigerians to use the solemn season for reflection, prayers, and charity towards others.

He said, “Your excellencies, it is a very great honour to have you here to share the breaking of the fast. What I just want to say is the promotion of the message of the month of Ramadan which coincides with the Christian Lent.

“This overlapping period is very valuable to our country. And we should utilise it to pray more for our country and be good to one another and our neighbours.

“We are of the same family and parents; living in the same house, but sleeping in different rooms. We must cooperate and spread love among each other.”

Acknowledging the difficulties facing the nation, Tinubu expressed optimism about the future, noting that the challenges are beginning to respond to the solutions being implemented by his administration.

“I am glad that the headwinds are almost over. The tunnel is not as dark as when we started. It is going to be brighter and brighter. We must communicate with each other, stick together, and share joy,” the President said.

Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq commended the Federal Government for distributing 42,000 tons of grains, emphasizing the importance of collaborative efforts between the national and sub-national governments in addressing collective challenges.

On the payment of wage awards to workers, the governor promised that the states would do the right thing.

”Wet season farming is almost here, and I want to implore all governors to engage in the farming business, so that we can all appreciate the challenges of ordinary farmers and ensure that we have a bumper harvest at the end of the farming season,” the NGF Chairman said.

The governors are the President’s first set of Iftar guests, and he is expected to host more such gatherings with senior government officials in the course of the holy month.

In past Ramadan fasts, former President Buhari had hosted the leadership of the National Assembly, the Judiciary, the All Progressives Congress, members of the diplomatic corps, and traditional rulers, among others.

Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has asked the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to withdraw orderlies attached to lawmakers in the National Assembly and those attached to politicians in the country.

Ndume stated this in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Wednesday.

He said, “I support that they should take away all their police (officer).

“One Senator will be going around with 10 policemen, seven, members of House of Reps, everybody. That is for those who are mobile. Some even give security to their wives, others give security to their children. I am against that.”

According to Ndume, Nigeria, with about 300,000 policemen, does not have enough to police the country, hence, orderlies of Very Important Personalities should be withdrawn to protect the people.

“Let’s have like 2 million police, 500K soldiers,” he said.

He urged President Bola Tinubu to give security agencies a blank cheque, give them all they want in terms of funding and weapons to fight the menace of banditry, kidnapping and insurgency.

Ndume said the President should empower the police to increase their manpower to two million men and the military to 500,000.

The Senator from Borno South Senatorial District, however, said he won’t vote for state police if it comes up in the constitution amendment process, adding that it would be abused by governors.

The Executive Chairman of the Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Ayodele Subair said about fifty taxes will be cut down to a single digit.

Subair disclosed this in an interview with Arise Television.

According to Subair, the tax policy will be implemented sometime during the year 2024.

He said the Lagos State Government is looking at archaic and ancient tax laws and trying to make amendments to them.

The chairman said, “We are all aware that the commander in chief has appointed Mr. Taiwo Oyedele, who used to be the head honcho at Price Water House. So, there’s a committee called the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms.

“So, they’re doing a lot of work right now trying to harmonise taxes. They’re looking at the ancient or archaic tax laws and trying to make amendments to them.

“So, we expect a lot of good news on that front for taxpayers. I’m sure they’ll be relieved to know that some of the taxes that bring the multiple taxation conversation will be dealt with.

“And he’s presently talking, from his interim report, he said that forty, fifty taxes will be thrown down to single digit. So, we are expecting the laws to come out sometime this year.”

The LIRS chairman urged Lagosians to file their tax returns before the deadline that is March 31st, saying that the filing of tax returns is “not only a constitutional obligation, it’s also a legal obligation, and also a moral or social obligation. It’s important that everybody files their returns before the end of the deadline.”

Subair said, “You’re supposed to report your global income. So basically, whether you’re in employment, or you’re in trade or vocation or some profession, you’re expected to aggregate all the incomes from all the sources and report it truthfully.

“All residents of Lagos are supposed to report all income, whether it is local income earned or foreign income earned. Now, we have a challenge with the local Japas as they are called, and they are expected to truthfully file what they’re earning, even if it comes from offshore,” he added.

He however revealed that there were incentives and specific types of tax returns when taxes are filed on time.

Subair said, “When we talk about tax credit, usually, it comes by way of repayment, perhaps they’ve made certain repayments. For instance, if you have rental income and you have a tenant, your tenant is expected to withhold a certain percentage of the rent and remit on your behalf, so, that becomes a credit to you.

“Also, if you have dividends in maybe a Plc, it’s also subject to withholding tax deductions. So, you’re allowed to set that off your eventual tax liability. So, those are the sorts of incentives. There’s also the fact that if you file within good time, then you’re entitled to 1% discount off the tax payable.”

He listed the consequences of not filing tax returns, saying, “If you fail to file, for instance, we will take you to court. And upon conviction, you will pay a fine of N50,000. Also, we can go the other route and do a best of judgement assessment on you.

“Usually, the best of judgement is based on probably what you filed the previous year, and when we issue that assessment notice against you, you have 30 days to respond, to pay, and if you don’t pay, we can go to a law court.

“And we don’t need to go to an open court, all we need to do is to go into the chambers of the judge, and once we lay all the records before him, we are likely to get that judgement against you. So, it’s not a good thing to be on the wrong side of the law.”

The LIRS chairman said, “Well, that’s very robust, because as a responsible organization, we subscribe to the NDPR- Data Privacy Act, and all data within our confines are treated as highly confidential. And this is a point we constantly, during our training with officers, we over emphasize this point, it’s got to be confidential.

“People have got to be able to come and tell the state that these are the economic activities that I’ve been involved in and this is the income that I’ve earned. And if they do not feel that they’re acting in a confidential way, it may deter some people from coming.

“So, confidentiality is key. And we have audits on data protection, and we have an annual audit, and we have to be certified. We have a data protection officer who is assigned specifically to ensure that confidentiality is maintained at all levels,” he said.

Barring any further change in date, the Port Harcourt refinery will begin delivering refined petroleum products two weeks from now.

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mr. Mele Kyari, stated this in Abuja on Thursday.

Kyari, who spoke at the National Assembly shortly after meeting with the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on Turnaround Maintenance of the country’s four refineries, disclosed that the rehabilitation of the refinery had been completed, having passed its “completion mechanical” procedure.

He disclosed that the Warri refinery was almost ready too, while the refinery in Kaduna would be completed and ready to go into production in December this year.

Kyari spoke further, “Completion mechanical means that you are done with your rehabilitation work; now you are to test if this completion is okay.

“As for the Warri refinery, we have also completed the mechanical works on it and it is undergoing the regulatory compliance processes that we are doing with our regulator.

“This also will be completed and it will be ready.

“Kaduna will be ready by December. We have not reached that stage (of Port Harcourt and Warri) with Kaduna.”

Kyari explained that there were no challenges with the pipelines to deliver crude to the refineries, as the existing lines were fully pressurized to deliver crude.

“All crude lines are active and have actually delivered over 450,000 barrels into the Port Harcourt refinery.

“We are confident in its integrity. Yes, there may be security issues, but the government is also responding to the situation,” he stated.

Kyari earlier met with the committee, chaired by Sen. Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra-South).

To verify the state of readiness of the Port Harcourt and Warri refineries and the extent of work done in Kaduna, the committee said its members would conduct oversight tours of the sites.

Kyari and the committee agreed to liaise and agree on the dates to commence the oversight visits.

The senator representing Katsina Central in the National Assembly, Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua, has emerged as the new chairman of the Northern Senators’ Forum.

Yar’Adua, an All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmaker, was appointed as the forum’s new chair two days after the suspension of Senator Abdul Ningi.

Ningi, who represents Bauchi Central, accused the upper chamber of padding the 2024 budget to the tune of N3.7 trillion.

Although the issue of budget padding is not new in Nigeria, it is however the first time a serving senator who actively participated in the passage of the budget will accuse the lawmakers of such an act.

On Tuesday, Ningi blamed his resignation on unfolding events in the National Assembly, the north, and the nation at large.

The forum also named Senator Tahir Mungono representing Borno North as its spokesperson to replace Senator Sumaila Kawu who was warned by the Senate to stop sharing posts capable of causing unrest in the country.

The Federal Government has said that it plans to spend N178.9 billion on the implementation of the eight priority areas of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Minister of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, Zaphaniah Jisalo, made this known in the executive summary of the 63-page FMSDIGA strategic plan 2024-2028 presented on Wednesday in Abuja.

According to the minister, the key priority areas of the strategic plan includes food security, ending poverty, economic growth/job creation, access to capital, inclusivity, security, fairness and rule of law and anti-corruption stance.

Jisalo said his ministry is among the three Federal Ministries saddled with the responsibility to contribute to the implementation of President Tinubu’s developmental policies and National Development Plan (NDP) 2021-2025.

The minister also pledged strict monitoring of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs’) projects, including constituencies’ projects across the country.

He said: “On our own part as a ministry and as part of our mandates, is to monitor, do evaluation and also certify the payment.

“You know some of the projects are not in our ministry, they are in other ministries, we will collaborate with them to know what the national assemblies are doing.”

President Bola Tinubu has sent a new bill to the National Assembly regarding the student loan scheme.

Naija News reports that the development comes less than 48 hours after the federal government announced the indefinite suspension of the student loan scheme.

The new bill repeals the current Act and replaces it with a new one, aiming to facilitate a smoother scheme implementation.

In a letter addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas, President Tinubu emphasized the necessity of this action to ensure the seamless execution of the scheme.

It is worth noting that the existing Act was among the first legislations signed by Tinubu after his inauguration.

The bill itself was sponsored by former speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who now serves as the Chief of Staff to the president.

Despite the government’s efforts, they have faced challenges in implementing the scheme, leading to multiple postponements of its launch.

A couple of days prior, a high-ranking official of the Tinubu government declared the permanent halt of the student loan program.

In his statement, Tinubu mentioned that the recent legislation aims to tackle issues concerning the organizational framework of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), qualifications for applicants, loan objectives, sources of funding, and distribution and repayment processes.

“TRANSMISSION OF STUDENT LOANS (ACCESS TO HIGHER EDUCATION) (REPEAL AND RE-ENACTMENT) BILL, 2024

“Pursuant to Section 58(2) of the Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). I forward, herewith, The Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re-Enactment) Bill, 2024 for the kind consideration of the House of Representatives.

“The Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) (Repeal and Re- Enactment) Bill, 2024 seeks to enhance the implementation of the Higher Education Student Loan Scheme by addressing challenges related to the management structure of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELF), applicant eligibility requirements, loan purpose, funding sources and disbursement and repayment procedures.

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“Whilst hoping that this submission will receive the usual expeditious consideration of the House of Representatives, please accept, Rt. Honourable Speaker, the assurances of my highest consideration.”

The military has vowed to rescue the over 200 schoolchildren who were recently abducted by bandits in Kaduna State.

While addressing a press conference in Abuja on the activities of the Armed Forces in the last two weeks, the Director of Defence Media Operations, Major General Edward Buba, says the military is committed to rescuing all kidnapped victims unhurt.

The defence spokesman during the Thursday event, however, blamed school owners for failing to report cases of abduction to security agencies on time.

He also blamed the recent kidnapping of some internally displaced persons in Gamboru-Ngala, Borno State on their disobedience to instructions as they left the camp in search of firewood without informing camp officials.

The abduction of 287 students in Kaduna State has triggered a flurry of comments from authorities in Nigeria.

In the wake of the abduction, President Bola Tinubu mandated security agencies to fish out the kidnappers and rescue the students, insisting his government would not pay ransom.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation Muhammad Idris said this on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja.

He told State House Correspondents that President Tinubu also reiterated his directive to the defence to ensure that the children are rescued and brought back safely to their homes.

The minister reiterated that under the current government, kidnapping, especially mass abduction will not be tolerated.

The Katsina State Command of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) on Wednesday handed over six trucks and their contents to the owners as directed by President Bola Tinubu.

The released trucks were mostly intercepted along the Kongolam Border Patrol Checkpoint in Mai-Adua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The presidential directive aimed to ensure food security and alleviate the hardship faced by most citizens of the country.

The Katsina State Customs Area Comptroller Muhammad Umar while releasing the trucks loaded with assorted grains that were hitherto under the custody of the Nigerian Customs Service recalled that the Controller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, had during his official work visit to Katsina, passed across the presidential directive which mandated the return of the detained food items to the owners on the condition that they would be sold within the Nigerian market.

He announced that the released trucks will be closely monitored by the Katsina Customs Area Command in collaboration with the Customs Intelligence Unit, Federal Operation Unit, and the Joint Border Patrol Team, to ensure that they are not smuggled out of the country again.

He added that the service is committed to fostering constructive dialogue and collaboration with the border communities to ensure prosperity and security in the whole thing.

He, therefore, pleaded with the general public to provide information that would assist in curtailing the smuggling of foodstuff out of the country.

In his remarks during the brief ceremony, the Chairman of the State Taskforce Committee on Food Security and Promotion, Jabiru Abdullahi Tsauri, warned smugglers and owners of the released trucks to adhere strictly to the presidential directive by selling these assorted grains to Nigerians particularly citizens of Katsina State.

“We have already instructed the Local Government Chairmen to form a Committee to monitor strictly in conjunction with the task force, the sales of these Grains,” Tsauri added.

The N1.1tn Federal Capital Territory Appropriation Bill, 2024 has scaled the second reading at the Senate.

A breakdown of the N1.1tn showed that N280bn was booked for overhead, N726bn for capital projects, and N140bn for what was termed “personnel”, bringing the total budget to N1.147tn.

Leading the debate on Thursday, the sponsor of the bill and Senate leader, Opeyemi Bamidele, noted that the appropriation bill took into cognisance the FCT administration’s revenue and expenditure forecasts which are in tandem with fiscal and developmental policies of the Federal Government.

It also contemplates the consideration of the 2024-2026 Economic Recovery Growth.

During the debate, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, assured that the bill presented earlier than usual will be expeditiously considered and passed to encourage the minister of the FCT to advance reforms in the nation’s capital.

The bill has been referred to the committee on the FCT to report back on the next legislative session.