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Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, the lawmaker Representing Bonny Local Government Area State Constituency at the Rivers State House of Assembly, has emerged as the new speaker of the state assembly.
Jumbo emerged as the speaker of the three-man assembly members that is loyal to the state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, during its sitting in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
Jumbo is emerging after the resignation of Rt. Hon. Edion Ehie, now the Chief of Staff to the state government.
This emergence is coming when the APC and the LGA chairmen in the state are calling for the impeachment of the governor.
APC said the impeachment process was necessary given the governor’s blatant refusal to honour the peace agreement initiated by President Bola Tinubu between Fubara and the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike, some months ago and his recent declaration of the lawmakers’ seats vacant.
Recall that on Monday, Fubara had declared, for the first time since the commencement of the crisis, that the APC lawmakers do not exist in the eyes of the law.
In his reaction, the caretaker committee chairman of the Rivers State APC, Chief Tony Okocha, who addressed newsmen in Port Harcourt, said the statement of the governor was tantamount to re-writing the constitution of Nigeria.
He said: “He has re-written the books. Elementary politics taught us there are three organs of government and their roles. And goes further to talk about the separation of powers and checks and balances.
“What the governor was implying clearly is that he is ruling Rivers State without laws. That Rivers State runs an executive arm and judiciary. So, what that implies is simply absurdity.
“You can now see the tendencies of a dictator. As an opposition party in Rivers State, we will not keep quiet, we will shout. Regrettably, the governor has taken up to this point and we will not take it.
“The governor said that the President’s intervention in Rivers State which he signed was not constitutional but a political solution. But he assented to it, not under duress. The agreement was signed in a friendly environment and the governor assented to the proclamation and had the opportunity to speak where he thanked Mr President.”
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will arraign Hadi Sirika, a former aviation minister, before the federal capital territory (FCT) high court on Thursday.
Sirika would be arraigned on six-count amended charges related to an alleged N2.7 billion contract fraud.
NAN reports that the former minister will be arraigned alongside Fatima, his daughter; Jalal Hamma; and Al-Duraq Investment Ltd.
The EFCC was said to have detained the former minister on April 23, as part of investigations into the financial malfeasance allegedly committed by him, including fraudulent contracts awarded by the ministry under his watch.
“The former minister (Sirika) was invited for questioning by investigators handling the alleged contract fraud under his watch in the ministry,” NAN quoted an EFCC source as saying.
“He honoured the invitation and has been detained as I am talking with you.”
The source also said the EFCC had been investigating the alleged contract fraud when Sirika was in office as the minister, noting that he also met with investigators at the time.
The arraignment was earlier slated to take place on Tuesday, but due to an EFCC prayer to amend the charge, a new date was given.
[TheCable]
..States, LGs to get 90% VAT revenue
The presidential committee on fiscal policy and tax reforms says there is a need to increase the value-added tax (VAT) rate.
Taiwo Oyedele, chairman of the committee, spoke on Monday while disclosing the VAT revenue-sharing formula would be reviewed.
He spoke at a policy exposure and impact assessment session organised by the committee.
Nigeria’s VAT rate is currently 7.5 percent.
Oyedele also said the committee has proposed reviewing state and local governments’ share of VAT revenue to 90 percent.
According to section 40 of the VAT Act, the federal government gets 15 percent of the tax revenue, states share 50 percent, and local governments share the balance of 35 percent.
However, Oyedele said the committee is recommending reducing the federal government’s share from 15 percent to 10 percent.
“We are proposing that the federal government’s portion should be reduced from 15 percent to 10 percent. States’ portion will be increased but they would share 90 percent with local governments,” he said.
Oyedele said the committee proposed adjusting the sharing formula for VAT because it is a tax of the states.
“In 1986, we had sales tax collected by states. The military came up with VAT in 1993 and stopped sales tax so they said it would collect VAT and return 15 per cent as cost of collection and that is the 15 per cent charged today came about. But we think it is too much,” he said.
The tax expert added that the burden of VAT should be on the ultimate consumer.
“So we must make it transparent and neutral and this is what over 100 countries where they have VAT are doing,” Oyedele said.
“Nigeria’s economy is more than 50 percent in services and if I just stop at this, many states will be broke because VAT collection will go down by more than 50 percent and it won’t even fly.
“So we therefore need to adjust the VAT rate upward. We would ensure that it doesn’t affect businesses. The only thing is to look at basic consumption from food, education, medical services and accommodation will carry zero percent VAT. So for the poor and small businesses, no VAT.”
Oyedele said other consumers will pay a bit more.
“We have spoken to businesses about it and they won’t increase the product price. We want to make sure when we do VAT reform, no one will increase the price of commodities. We will work the mathematics with the private sector,” he said.
Oyedele also said each state should not be granted exclusive custodianship of their collections– because it would likely result in chaos.
The house of representatives has denied demanding bribe from Binance, a popular cryptocurrency platform.
On Tuesday, the cryptocurrency giant said some unknown persons in Nigeria demanded huge payments in digital currency to make their “problems in the country go away”.
On February 28, the federal government detained two top executives of Binance as part of a probe bordering on illegal operations in the country and foreign exchange rate manipulations.
The detained executives included Nadeem Anjarwalla, a 37-year-old British-Kenyan and Binance’s regional manager for Africa; and Tigran Gambaryan, a 39-year-old US citizen and Binance’s head of financial crime compliance.
Nigeria’s government, on March 25, filed a criminal charge against Binance for “tax evasion” — the same period Anjarwalla fled detention.
Speaking on the issues, Richard Teng, Binance’s chief executive officer (CEO), in a blog post shared with TheCable, said despite multiple requests, Binance has still not received details of the allegations, “and our employees, therefore, inquired if there was an opportunity to submit our responses in writing and in the absence of a public hearing”
Teng said Binance held a meeting with the house committee on financial crimes (HCFC).
“There were a number of reasons for that, including the sensitivity of the information and getting the opportunity to see the allegations in full and prepare a thorough substantive response,” he said.
“On January 8, Binance employees had a face-to-face meeting with three members of the HCFC and a clerk in Abuja at the House of Representatives building for a scheduled pre-hearing engagement in private.
“The meeting was chaired by the Honourable Peter Akpanke, the Honourable Philip Agbese, and the Honourable Peter Aniekwe, as well as a clerk.
“During the conversation, the Committee highlighted the important nature of the issues at hand and the lengths to which they were prepared to go to summon Binance, including issuing arrest warrants against our team and CEO and preventing our team from leaving the country.
“While concerning, it was understood that the HCFC does not in fact have the power to issue arrest warrants.
“The meeting ended with the Chair confirming they would consider the matter and revert through Binance’s local counsel.
“However, as our employees were leaving the venue, they were approached by unknown persons who suggested to them to make a payment in settlement of the allegations.
“Later that day, our local counsel — representing us at that time — was summoned by the Committee through someone purporting to be their agent, who relayed the Committee’s terms and instructed our local counsel to advise us.”
‘NOTHING LIKE THAT EVER HAPPENED’
During plenary on Wednesday, Kama Nkemkanma from Ebonyi state, raised a “point of privilege”, saying the house never met with Binance and no bribe has ever been demanded.
“This house can never allow itself to be talked down,” he said.
The lawmaker said the allegation is capable of “bringing the house into disrepute” and should “never be taken lightly”.
Ruling on the point of privilege, Tajudeen Abbas, speaker of the house, said the clerk should “take note”.
“We need to use whatever media available to us to refute this allegation,” Abbas said.
“Nothing like that has ever happened. No committee of the house has ever engaged this man.”
THE INVESTIGATIVE HEARING
The house committee on financial crimes has been investigating Binance for multiple crimes, including alleged money laundering, illegal operations, financial terrorism, and tax evasion.
The committee is chaired by Ginger Onwusibe, lawmaker representing Isiala Ngwa south/Isiala Ngwa north federal constituency.
The committee invited the management of Binance on several occasions but the cryptocurrency firm sent legal representatives instead.
In one of the committee sittings in early March, the lawmakers turned back Senator Ihenyen, the legal representative of Binance.
It is unclear why Nkemkanma and Abbas said Binance never met lawmakers.
REPS TO PROBE ESCAPE OF BINANCE EXECUTIVE FROM CUSTODY
Meanwhile, the house of representatives has resolved to investigate the circumstances surrounding the escape of Anjarwalla, the Binance regional manager for Africa, from custody.
Anjarwalla escaped from custody in March but was reportedly rearrested in Kenya in April.
Workers under the aegis of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives; the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees; and the Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government-Owned Companies on Wednesday protested against the sacking of 391 of the Lagos State Water Corporation (LWC) by the state government.
The protest rally kicked off at Ikeja under-bridge.
The protesters carried different banners with inscriptions like “Water Corporation needs more staff not sack!”, “Recall sacked staff of Lagos Water Corporation”, “Sanwo-Olu, employment is a right”, among others, are demanding the reinstatement of the sacked workers.
In April, the state announced the disengagement of the staff members, which it described as “redundant staff”.
LWC in a statement shared by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s senior special assistant on New Media, Jubril Gawat, on his official X handle, stated that the disengagement of the staff was part of ongoing restructuring in the corporation aimed at enhancing operational efficiency.
According to LWC, the decision to streamline the workforce was in response to the perennial challenge of water scarcity in the state.
No fewer than 425 staff of the corporation were served last year.
The corporation explained that its inability to reliably supply water has led to the shrinkage of its customer base, thereby affecting revenue generation.
“The Lagos Water Corporation has announced the disengagement of 391 redundant staff as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and meeting the evolving demands of the organization. The decision to streamline the workforce is in response to the persistent challenge of water scarcity in the state despite extensive infrastructure projects.
“LWC has faced substantial financial and operational challenges, struggling to generate adequate revenue to meet its obligations. The corporation’s unreliable water supply has resulted in a shrinking customer base and declining revenue.
“In October 2023, the Corporation initiated a comprehensive Personnel Audit to realign its operations. Engr. Mukhtaar Tijani, the Managing Director, stated that the audit, led by the Office of the Head of Service since August 2023, identified the need for phased actions. The first phase involved the disengagement of 425 temporary staff with outdated contracts. The ongoing second phase targets permanent staff whose roles or offices have become redundant. The upcoming third phase will focus on retaining competent technical staff to enhance the utility and commercial efficiency of the Corporation.
“As part of the restructuring efforts, a performance improvement process has been established for the retained permanent staff, along with the formulation of precise job descriptions and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to foster organizational excellence and efficiency,” LWC said.
The corporation noted that in line with the public service rules, the state government has approved the payment of three months’ salary in lieu of notice and redundancy payments. This, it said, is in addition to other statutory benefits.
“In line with the Public Service Rules, the State Government has approved the payment of three months’ salary in lieu of notice and redundancy payments, in addition to statutory benefits such as pensions for the affected staff.
“Furthermore, the Corporation has adopted a new organogram to enhance operations and financial sustainability. This strategic shift underscores the Corporation’s commitment to delivering sustainable and reliable water supply to the residents of Lagos State.
“The Lagos Water Corporation appreciates the hard work and dedication of the affected staff members over the years; however, this action is deemed imperative for the development of the state,” the statement added
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Jesutega Onokpasa, has alleged that certain appointees of President Bola Tinubu are plotting to succeed him before the end of his tenure and are seriously wishing that he will not make it to 2027 for their selfish reasons.
He also accused them of responsibility in the current ordeal of former governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello and his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai.
Onokpasa, a lawyer and former member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who lamented the alleged hypocrisy, pull him down syndrome and anti-party activities going on in the governing party, laid curses on those he accused of wishing Tinubu dead.
He said, “If they don’t repent, Asiwaju will attend their funeral.”
He stated this in a video, where he addressed party members and drew their attention to the belief that the ongoing drama around the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC’s) allegations against former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello and the continued attack on former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, were plans mapped out by these individuals to allegedly perfect their plans.
While expressing concern over ill treatments, selective prosecution and hounding meted out on some prominent chieftains of the party since the emergence of Tinubu’s presidency, Onokpasa alleged that the particular appointees he was referring to in Tinubu’s government were behind the ordeals of former Governors Yahaya Bello, Nasir El- Rufai and Abdullahi Ganduje in order to perfect their “satanic” succession plans, while allegedly wishing that the President would no longer be around by 2027.
Referring to a particular appointee of Tinubu whose name he did not mention, the APC chieftain said, “You drive el-Rufai away, you start hounding Ganduje, although there are other things involved, you start attacking Yahaya Bello, what did you do? You don’t have a mandate my friend, you are just an appointee… you think we don’t know what is going on?
“Listen, Asiwaju is a child of God. Asiwaju will rule this country for eight years. There is nothing anybody can do about that. He will rule this first four years, he will perform, Nigerians, again, will vote for him and next time around, we will win a majority of the total votes cast. So, all these satanic plans, plotting that our President will not make it to 2027, you are wasting your time. Get that through your head,” Onokpasa said.
The APC chieftain, who Nigerians know to be a die-hard supporter of Tinubu, bemoaned what he called the attitude of “using and dumping” people who worked for the victory of the president in 2023, while those who were against him and even insulted him, were being given priorities “over authentic supporters and genuine Batists.”
Onokpasa, who was also a member of the APC Presidential Legal Team and Chairman, Tinubu Media Support Group, said, “Of recent concern to me is the case of my younger brother, His Excellency, the former Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello. In this party, we have had our brother, the former governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El Rufai basically chased out of our party despite what he did for us to make us win. Now, it is Yahaya Bello. A few weeks or months ago, it was our National Chairman, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje that was basically almost being chased from our party.”
On the Bello-EFCC controversy, he said it was for the court to decide, stating, “Nobody is supporting corruption. However, we fight corruption according to law and you will not have a personal indifference with somebody and then you use the instrumentality of office to torment that person. We will not tolerate that in this party. We must not.”
He also lambasted a particular appointee that he portrayed to be high-handed, alleging that the appointee funded an opposition member against the APC candidate, Usman Ododo, during the Kogi State governorship election.
The Presidency has announced that President Bola Tinubu and his aides will return to Nigeria from Europe today.
Recall that the President travelled for a meeting with the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, over two weeks ago, from where he took a trip to Saudi Arabia to attend a special World Economic Forum, WEF.
He subsequently travelled to Europe after the summit
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, who announced the development in a post on his X handle yesterday, said: “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, along with his aides, will return to Nigeria tomorrow (today) from Europe.”
On April 22, Tinubu left Abuja, the country’s capital, for the Kingdom of The Netherlands on an official visit.
Ajuri Ngelale, presidential spokesperson, said the president was visiting The Netherlands at the invitation of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
After the engagements in The Netherlands, Tinubu proceeded to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia to attend a special World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting between April 28 and 29.
The president was expected back in the country after the forum in Saudi Arabia, but he did not return, which fueled speculations about his whereabouts.
Some reports said the president travelled to London from Saudi Arabia for a private visit before heading to France, a European country.
The Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has criticized the renovation work done in the Chamber, describing it as a poor job.
Ndume spoke in an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today on Tuesday.
Under Order 42 of the Senate Standing Rules, Ndume described the Chamber as a conference hall.
The lawmaker said the Chamber is fraught with inadequacies such as poor sound system, evident in the echoes, poor sitting arrangements, lack of provision of voting devices, amongst others.
He said, “Since day one, precisely last week Tuesday, when we moved into this Chamber that supposed to have been renovated, there have been complaints here and there.”
Reacting to Ndume’s argument, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, however, explained that complaints on sitting arrangements among Senators have been sorted out 99.9%.
Akpabio said the contract for the renovation work was not done by the 10th National Assembly.
Shallow, insignificant – NLC, CSO, others knock Nigerian Govt over N18 electricity tariff reduction
AFOLABINigerians, the organised labour, Civil Society Organisations and power sector experts have knocked the Nigerian Federal Government and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, over the N18 downward review of electricity tariff for end-users under Band A.
Recall that NERC announced a tariff decrease for customers under Band A feeders on Monday.
The Commission slashed electricity to N200.6 per Kilowatt-hour from N225.
Ikeja Electric, Abuja, Kaduna, Ibadan, Enugu, and other discos effected the new tariff implementation on Monday.
The development comes a month after NERC approved a 240 per cent tariff hike for electricity customers getting between 20-24 hours of supply.
However, Nigerians, organised labour and other organisations have kicked against the hike, insisting on its reversal amid Nigeria’s economic hardship.
Recall that on Sunday, TUC issued a two-week ultimatum to NERC to reverse April tariff hike.
But, contrary to Nigerians and Organized Labour’s demand for an immediate electricity hike reversal, NERC settled for a downward tariff review.
NERC sighted Improved macroeconomic parameters as the reason for the downward review.
The Naira appreciated N1353.21 per Dollar on Monday at the foreign exchange market, up from N1400.4 on Friday last week.
Explaining the decision, NERC said, “The Commission has considered changes in the macroeconomic parameters over the preceding month of April 2024 and especially the appreciation of exchange rates – consequently, the Commission has approved a downward review of end-user tariffs for Band “A” customers from NGN225/kWh to NGN206.8/kWh”.
Barr Dafe Akpeneye, Commissioner of Legal, Licensing and Compliance at NERC, stressed that, “It is based on other macroeconomic variables that the tariff was reduced”.
Meanwhile, the development did not go down well with NLC, Civil Society Organisations and many other Nigerians.
They described the reduction as silly, insignificant, tokenism, and shallow.
In an exclusive interview with DAILY POST on Monday, Benson Upah, the spokesperson of NLC, described the development as tokenism, stressing that it would not positively impact consumers.
He said the downward review of electricity for end-users under Band A fell short of Nigerian workers’ demands and expectations.
He called for a total reversal of April’s tariff hike and a review of Nigeria’s power sector privatisation.
“This is tokenistic. It falls far below our demand or expectations. Doubtful if this will make a positive impact on consumers.
“A total reversal and a review of the privatisation of the power sector is our demand”, he told DAILY POST.
On his part, the national secretary of the Network for Electricity Consumers Advocacy of Nigeria, Uket Obonga, said NERC was confused and was making a mockery of the sector.
“NERC is confused. You wake up to issue electricity price hike. Is that the methodology of tariff fixing? NERC should not mock themselves.
“A methodology designed by the Commission has yet to be followed. All their claims about the benefit of electricity subsidy removal are scams,” he noted.
According to the 2023 Electricity Act, Section 116(6) provides that the proposed tariff will be published in Newspapers and the official gazette to enable stakeholders to raise concerns and representation to the Commission.
Additionally, it provides that the Commission shall issue notice to relevant stakeholders to submit their input within the timeframe determined by the Commission for consideration before the Commission updates the tariff methodology, which is why Obonga alleged that NERC failed to follow due process in issuing May’s tariff order.
Also, Ewetumo A A, a retired staff member of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, formerly the National Electric Power Authority, NEPA, said the recent review shows how shallow and misdirected NERC personnel have become.
“It only shows how shallow and misdirected our bureaucrats and technocrats in NERC headquarters are.
“They refused to condemn a Gas-to-Power Policy denominated in US Dollar but are quick to pass on to hapless Nigerians the Forex fluctuations.
“NERC has no feasibility studies on Load Demand or a blueprint for building Power Plants to meet citizens’ energy needs nationwide but only to ration and price the little Megawatts remaining on the Grid”, he stated.
Similarly, the Lead Director of the Centre for Social Justice, Eze Onyekpere, said the tariff reduction is a silly manoeuvre by NERC.
He urged for a reverse to status before April’s tariff hike.
“It is a silly manoeuvre. It is above the market cost of electricity. How sustainable is the Naira appreciation?
“If the Naira slumps tomorrow, will the tariff be increased? That is why I call it a silly manoeuvre.
“They should go back to the status quo. Nigerians should know the actual cost of electricity. I am not impressed”, he told DAILY POST.
Nigerian government received $1.36 billion and $1.09 billion in corporate taxes and royalties from Shell Nigeria through its operations of the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company of Nigeria Limited in 2022 and 2023.
The company disclosed this in its recently published 2023 Shell Briefing Notes, according to a statement by the firm’s Media Relations Manager, Abimbola Essien-Nelson.
The figure showed that the SPDC paid $442 million, while SNEPCo remitted $649 million in taxes in 2023 alone to the Nigerian government.
However, the figure showed a $27 billion tax remittance decline in 2023 when compared to 2022.
“These payments are Shell exclusive and do not include those made by our partners,” said SPDC Managing Director and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor.
He noted that the firm was focused on Deepwater and Integrated Gas investment in Nigeria.
The development comes months after Shell Nigeria announced in January 2024 that it would exit onshore oil production in Nigeria.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced 44 lists of licensed deposit money banks in Nigeria.
The apex bank disclosed this in a list released on its official website on Tuesday.
According to CBN, Seven banks, including Zenith Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, United Bank of Africa, Fidelity, and Guaranty Trust Bank, have Commercial Banking licenses with international authorization as of April 26, 2024.
Also, fifteen banks have commercial banking licenses with National Authorization.
Similarly, four banks have commercial banking licenses with regional authorization, and four non-interest banks have national authorization.
The bank said the country has six merchant banks licensed with national authorization.
It stated that financial holding companies increased to seven.
CBN added that the country has a Mauritius commercial bank representative office.
The list comes months after the CBN raised the minimum capital requirement for all banks in Nigeria to strengthen the country’s financial sector.
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has initiated plans to reconcile all warring members of the party in a bid to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress in the state.
This was according to a chieftain of the party, Chief Olabode George, during Tuesday night’s edition of Newsday on Arise TV.
Since the poor performance of the party at the 2023 general elections, growing discordant tunes among stakeholders in the party have lingered on.
Even after a committee was set up by the leadership of the party to reconcile warring and aggrieved members, the party crisis lingered.
Recall that in February 2024, a chieftain of the PDP in Lagos State, Dr Adetokunbo Pearse, attributed the poor outings of the party in recent elections in the state to a lack of unity in the Lagos chapter.
He said the political party had also not been functioning well in the state because its structure had been weakened and had no leader serving as a rallying point in the chapter.
However, after several indoor meetings, some stakeholders of the party last Wednesday held a reconciliatory meeting to put the state chapter of the party in order ahead of the 2027 general election.
At the stakeholders’ meeting, which was held in Ikeja, the party chieftains stressed the need for forgiveness and unity within the party to increase the party’s chances at the forthcoming elections.
Shedding light on the series of efforts made at uniting the party ahead of the 2027 elections, the party stalwart noted that there was light at the end of the tunnel.
He, however, admitted that though there were some pockets of aggrieved members yet to be sorted out, the reconciliatory process was making meaningful headway.
He said, “In any organisation, any political party, you will have a kind of turmoil immediately after you lose an election; but the ability of the party and the managers of the party to get everybody back to a discussion table where we will do an in-depth postmortem analysis of what happened. How did we lose the elections, who were the people who were committed and loyal to the party, who were the other people who didn’t perform, who are the other people who are pretending that they are members of your party when they are working for your opposition?
“This is what we are going through now and I’m very happy that yesterday’s meeting in Ibadan that was chaired by the governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, and with all the other leaders from all the states of the Southwest came out to be a brilliant move. It shows that we still have leaders with the ability to rise above the pettiness, the inuendos of those who are struggling to get into positions in the party. You’ve got to work for it.”
Speaking further, George affirmed that efforts at ensuring the party was well-positioned for the 2027 general elections have been so far successful.
He stated, “We have been very successful in trying to move forward, it’s still a long time, 2027, the national meeting we had, the NEC meeting we had, plus the caucus meeting, the Board of Trustees meeting, to me was quite successful. So, we we told ourselves some truths, we are setting up committees for reconciliation, we had started our own in Lagos, and it’s been very highly successful.
“The one we did in Ibadan yesterday ended up on a very high note, very successful and I pray that by the next few months, people will see that unity, because once you are not united and you go to war as a General, you know you’ll be defeated. The same if we are not united to go into an election, we will be perpetually defeated.
“It’s high time, the electorate in Lagos are now fed up, they are looking for an alternative and if they see that we can weave ourselves as an indivisible group, they will now want to see how we can manage ourselves. One thing I will say is that there are discordant voices, a few that are throwing tantrums all over the whole place, those who got the ticket who were candidates, they collected humongous amounts of money, how they managed it and what they did were not quite plausible and the national itself, the managers at the national level they have realized it and they have given us the go-ahead to start mending fences.”
George said at the Ibadan meeting, they were able to close ranks for the leaders in Ondo, and it would be a reflection on state by state.
He added that the leadership of the party was determined to wrest power from the ruling APC in 2027.
“But we are determined that we are going to forge ahead, even if the numbers who are going to remain as members of the party are small. The members of the public can see that yes, these people are managing themselves very well.
“You can see even the party in government. Are they also completely trouble-free? No. Anytime you have any organisation, people will come with different tones and different voices, but the leaders first must respect their constitution and work according to the constitution.
“Yes, people will have interests in one thing or the other, but play the game according to the set rules. Once you do that, then you have no problem,” he said.
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered banks to stop charges on cash deposits.
The apex bank disclosed this in a May 6, 2024, circular signed by its Director of Banking Supervision, Adetona Adedeji.
The apex bank noted that the suspension will last until September 30, 2024.
The development comes as Nigerian banks charge two per cent on deposits above N500,000 for individuals, while corporate account holders were to be charged two per cent on deposits above N3 million.
However, according to the latest circular to financial and non-financial institutions, CBN said the processing fees have been suspended.
“Please refer to our letter dated December 11, 2023, referenced BSD/DIR/PUB/LAB/016/023 on the above subject, suspending processing charges imposed on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3,000,000 for corporates as contained in the ‘Guide to Charges by Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Non-Bank Financial Institutions’ issued on December 20, 2019.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby extends the suspension of the processing fees of 2 per cent and 3 per cent previously charged on all cash deposits above these thresholds until September 30, 2024,” the circular reads.
The development comes as money outside the banking system rose by 10.67 per cent to N3.63 trillion in March 2024.
[STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE] President Tinubu Condoles with NSA Nuhu Ribadu Over Brother's Passing
AdminPresident Bola Tinubu has condoled with the National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, over the passing of his brother, Salihu Ahmadu Ribadu, who died on Sunday in Yola, Adamawa State.
The President was represented by his Chief of Staff, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who led a federal government delegation on a condolence visit to Yola, on Tuesday.
Speaking at the Ribadu family home in Yola, the Chief of Staff said President Tinubu is saddened by the loss and describes it as "painful and irreparable."
"Mr. President has mandated us to come to Yola and condole with a valued member of his team, the National Security Adviser, and by extension the rest of the family over the sad loss suffered by them.
"The loss of a close family member like this is very painful, and it is therefore important for friends and family to come together and commiserate with the bereaved family," Honourable Gbajabiamila said.
The Chief of Staff was accompanied by the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris; Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman; Minister of Arts and Creative Economy, Barrister Hannatu Musawa; Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and Special Adviser to the President on General Duties (Office of the Vice President), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar.
Chief Ajuri Ngelale
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)