The Labour Party has sacked its acting National Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi, barely two months before the 2023 general elections.
Our Reporter reports that the party’s National Working Committee which took the decision on Friday, also dissolved the executives of the Ogun State chapter of the party.
It was gathered that the LP’s Ogun executives were involved in alleged anti-party activities.
Details shortly…
Source: Channeltv
Anambra State government has demolished the newly constructed house of a human rights activist, Mr Osita Obi.
The building, a duplex, which was constructed at the Executive Business District area of Awka, near the abandoned government house was demolished on Wednesday.
Obi who raised the alarm over the destruction stated that he was pained because he was not even told of the intended destruction, so that he would take away some needed items in the house.
He told journalists that: “My pain is not that the house was demolished, after all, government once told us that the area had been acquired by it, and that the houses built there will be demolished.
“My pain is that when they wanted to demolish it, they didn’t as little as notify us, so that we can remove some useful items in the house. My wife has been in tears since after the demolition. She has been crying ceaselessly.
“I have heard that government has said it will pay us compensation as it was captured in the 2023 appropriation bill, but if they notified us, it would have helped us bear the shock of the demolition.
“That house was built by my wife, even one Kobo of mine did not go into it. My wife is a retiree from a federal government agency, and she used her life saving and retirement fund to buy the land and also construct the building. The land was very legally acquired, and even my building plan was approved by government.
“Now they are telling me they will pay compensation, do they want to kill my wife, so that I will use the money they will pay me to bury her?” The right activist asked rhetorically.
It was however learnt that Awka Capital Territory Development Agency has reached out to the activist, assuring that he will get compensation for the demolished building.
Comrade Osita Obi, the coordinator of Anambra Keke and Shuttle Drivers Union has been in the forefront of championing the cause of tricycle riders in the state, including engaging government, for reduction of taxes paid by the operators.
He was formerly the coordinator of Movement for the Conduct of Local Government Election in Anambra State, and held the Peter Obi and Willie Obiano administration by the jogulars over the non conduct of local government elections in the state.
Source: The Razor News
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has urged all tiers of government to spend public funds judiciously to build trust and encourage citizens to pay taxes.
Its Director, Emerging and Special Taxes, Mrs Amina Ado, gave the advice in Abuja at a “Government-to-Citizens/FIRS interface forum with stakeholders.
Ado noted that government would get more Nigerians to pay taxes if budgetary allocations were tailored to provide visible infrastructure.
“It is not just the infrastructure, but also the need to run the economy in a way that there will be confidence for people to invest because it is only when they invest that we can get the taxes.
“We also need to make sure that funds are used judiciously and in a way that will reduce the cost of governance.
“The federal budget is not too much after the expenditure of the Executive and other arms of government had been deducted.
“We need to create more trust and an environment where Nigerians are willing and able to invest and are excited to be Nigerians,” Ado said.
She challenged Nigerians to hold public office holders to account as they were the ones spending taxes collected and not the FIRS which only collected taxes.
“Citizens have to hold political office holders accountable and they hold us accountable for delivering on our target.
“They have given us a target of N10.4 trillion.
“If Nigerians need to know what their taxes are being used for, the Budget Office’s website is there; they release a quarterly budget implementation report; Nigerians can engage with it.
“During the budget process, the Budget Office also releases what it calls a citizens’ guide to the budget,” she noted.
Earlier, convener of the programme, the Senior Special Adviser on Political Matters to the President, Mr Bode Gbore, said that it was organised to open the channel of direct conversation between government and the citizenry.
“It has been proven that Nigerians are interested in making contributions to the development and well-being of the nation,” he said.
The interface had “Government to Citizen Interface: Tax in present day Nigeria” as its theme.
Protesting truck drivers on Friday blocked the River Niger Bridgehead in Onitsha, Anambra State.
The drivers said they were protesting against the state government tax imposition on trailers, lorries, truck,s and other vehicles bringing goods into Anambra.
The protest which started in the early hours of Friday led to a total lockdown of the bridge as well as the Enugu-Onitsha, Onitsha- Owerri expressway and all the roads that lead into and exit Anambra through Onitsha.
The situation rendered commuters stranded and forced some people to come down from their vehicles and started trekking.
While stating the reason for their action, the drivers lamented that the state government had imposed a levy of N30,000 for trailers loading and offloading goods in the state, while other vehicles have their own amount ranging from N20,000 to N25,000.
A driver, identified as Odion Omoroge, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved members, expressed surprise about the levy, describing the action by the government “as the worst the people of the state will see.”
He said, “Violence about the collection of money by the government revenue collectors is being witnessed daily in Anambra state, particularly in Onitsha. Violence is more pronounced now than ever before, yet the same government said it does not want touts, yet touts are having a field day on the roads on a daily basis.”
Although, the police were on the ground preventing a breakdown of law and order, but the aggrieved drivers were undaunted even as commuters battled to pass through the roads.
The Anambra Police Command’s spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, could not be reached as calls and messages to his telephone line were not responded to.
(punch)
The Nigerian military on Thursday said although it is facing constant pressure to compromise the 2023 elections, Nigerians can be rest assured that it would remain neutral.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, disclosed this to journalists at the 61st session of the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
According the him, military personnel face pressure through inducements, but the armed forces would remain apolitical as it is taking the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the directive of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to maintain neutrality.
Irabor said personnel are being trained to be more professional even as the rules of engagement have been codified for distribution before, during and after the elections.
The CDS also revealed that several military rescue operations and negotiations have led to the freeing of at least 300,000 people from the hands of their abductors since 2014 while refugees who fled the North-East due to insurgency, have started to return.
He said that former insurgents, now being trained, would graduate in February next year before their reintegration into the society. He added that the military is recruiting more personnel into all branches of the security services.
The Labour Party says it would implement a minimum wage of N80,000-N100,000 if the party wins next year’s presidential election.
A few days ago, the Labour Party unveiled its manifesto after a long wait with its presidential candidate Peter Obi touting the payment of hourly wages as against the current monthly format in the country.
While speaking to our reporter on Thursday, the party’s Deputy National Chairman Ayo Olorunfemi said the LP is looking at implementing a new minimum wage of between N80,000-N100,000 as against the N30,000 obtainable presently.
“It depends on the nature of the job that would be given out. For instance, when you take a cursory look at the manual labourer out there, he does not take less than N2,500-N3,000 per day which is still not okay as far as the reward system is concerned. If you divide N3,000 by six hours, you will be talking about N500 per hour,” he said on the show.
“So, when you benchmark that against what we have now, certainly, you would be talking of something within the range of N500-N1,000 per hour depending on the nature of work, and at the end of the day, someone can effectively say that he can make up to N4,000 in a day. And when you multiply N4,000 in a day by 20 or 25, we are talking about N80,000 or N100,000 in a month.”
When asked to further clarify his comment, the LP chieftain maintained that the party is eyeing “N80,000-N100,000” as a new monthly minimum wage, noting that “that is exactly where we are going!”
As far as he is concerned, the present N30,000 minimum wage does not reflect the realities, saying the Labour Party would pluck holes and exploit new ways to ensure the new wage structure is implemented if the party wins next year’s polls.
“As a matter of fact, you know the amount of oil in the name of oil theft that has been leaving this country,” Mr Olorufemi added. “We know where these things are coming from. They say there is no money but we know these monies have been stashed in the rooms or toilets of a few persons.”
Source:Channel tv
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Anambra State, Queen Agwu, has said about 132,623 Permanent Voter Cards are yet to be claimed in the 21 local government areas of the state.
Agwu stated this on Wednesday at the INEC headquarters in Awka, Anambra State, while raising concern about the situation.
She added that the commission would open its offices on Saturdays and Sundays, urging voters who have not collected their PVCs to go and pick their PVCs, while the new batch of PVCs from the recent voter registration exercise was still being expected.
She said the commission has equally relocated six local government areas collation centres in the state over insecurity.
According to her, the security concerns was raised during a stakeholders meeting involving all the political parties, traditional rulers, civil society groups with the commission, among others.
Agwu listed the local government areas where the relocation of collation centres took place as Ihiala, Nnewi South, Onitsha North, Orumba North, Awka North and Awka South.
The REC said the collation of PVCs had been extended to Saturdays and Sundays in Anambra State, adding that they needed enough security to carry out their function.
She said if the people did not collect their PVCs, they were shortchanging Ndigbo and doing disservice to the people of South-East.
Agwu assured that 2023 general elections would be free, fair and credible, not only in Anambra State, but the entire country.
The figures at each of the 21 local government areas not collated as announced by INEC, were as follows: Ayamelum -1,960, Dunukofia -6,222, Idemili South -4’589.
Others were,l Anaocha -885, Orumba South -6,656, Onithsa South -12,274, Idemili North -16,256, Aguata -12675, Njikoka -7,009, Ogbaru -10,755 and Anambra East -7,717;
Nnewi South -1,841, Awka North -1,153, Anambra West -1,387, Orumba North -2,393, Oyi -7,982, Onitsha North -9,990, Ihiala -4,058, Nnewi North -8,700, Ekwusigo -3,350 and Awka South -4,971.
The traditional rulers and Town Union Presidents, including Party chieftains, assured that they would carry the message to their respective areas.
“Voters who have not collected their PVCs are encouraged to go and pick their PVCs, while the new batch of PVCs from the recent voter registration exercise is still being expected,” they added.
(Punch)
The new cash withdrawals limit will have tax implications especially for individuals and MSMEs.
As many people will be forced to carry out transactions using electronic payments, small businesses that currently operate mostly on cash will become visible to the tax authorities.
This will trigger various tax obligations including:
Income tax
If your business is registered as a company you may be liable to CIT depending on your annual turnover (i.e. no CIT if your turnover below N25m, 20% if your turnover is between N25 to N100m, 30% if your turnover is more than N100m) in addition to Education Tax at 2.5%.
If your business is not registered as a company then you will be liable to personal income tax based on graduated taxable income bands between 7% and 24%.
VAT
All businesses are required to register for VAT and charge 7.5% on their goods and services except those with annual turnover below N25m.
PAYE
All employees earning more than N30,000 per month are liable to PAYE which must be deducted and paid to the tax authority by the employer on a monthly basis. You may also be liable to other statutory contributions such as pension depending on your staff strength.
Individuals
The more transactions you make electronically the more the tax authorities will get the intelligence to track your income and net worth making it easier to fish you out if you are a tax evader.
What to do
If you’re a small business owner, you need to take some steps now:
1. Register with the relevant tax authorities (FIRS and the State Internal Revenue Service where you operate)
2. Open a separate bank account for your business (or dedicate one for that purpose if you already have a business account) and don’t mix business with personal transactions.
3. Government on its part needs to sensitize the general public especially small business owners, and the CBN should ensure a proper handshake with the fiscal authorities. For instance, the conditions for excess cash withdrawals could include Tax Identification Number.
The newly digitalized Central Motor Registry Command Centre will make it possible for members of the public to report vehicles stolen from as far back as 1st January, 2018, and yet-to-be-recovered to input the vehicle details on the online platform to serve as a reliable data point for the possible recovery of the vehicle. The platform will also process motor vehicle information to support police operations and efforts toward enhancing national security.
The digitalization of the CMR is complete with 2 Command Centers in Abuja and Lagos, 37 CMR Information Center space across the Country and in the Federal Capital Territory, 200 e-Enforcement Operational Patrol Vehicles with automatic number plate recognition on each vehicle as part of the first batch.
The Inspector-General of Police has therefore admonished Nigerians and other residents in the country to take advantage of the platform at https://reportcmr.npf.gov.ng to upload their vehicle information on the website with effect from today 7th December, 2022, as a security step for preventing it from being stolen and re-registered.
How the opening will be done.
One Way Movement; No Return!
West to East:
From December 15th to January 2nd, 2023; traffic will be opened only to those retuning to the East from West (eg. Lagos, Benin, Asaba etc).
One Way Movement; No Return.
East to West:
From January 3rd, 2023 to January 15th, 2023; traffic will be opened only to those leaving the East back to the West.
Journey Makers are however advised to be mindful of the traffic direction within the period allotted to either side of the newly built bridge.
The opening is intended to help save holidaymakers from long hours on the Niger Bridge and does not translate to formal opening of the Second Niger Bridge.
