Author: Maimuna Bashir Isa

BUDGET allocations for food and catering supplies for the offices of the President, Vice-President, and State House headquarters rose by 20 per cent from 2022 to 2024. Although the allocations remained static at N702.95m for 2022 and 2023, it grew to N845.07m in 2024. While the office of the President allocated a total of N856.57m for the three years, about N650.84m was earmarked for the Vice President’s office for the period. Budget documents showed that the State House Headquarters also earmarked N743.55m for the three years. On November 29, 2023, President Bola Tinubu presented the 2024 appropriations bill to a…

THE Governor of Zamfara State, Dauda Lawal, released 31 inmates who are serving their term at the Nigerian Correctional Service facility in Gusau, the state capital. On Friday, the governor visited the Gusau Medium Custodial Centre, where he signed to pardon the inmates in accordance with Nigeria’s constitution. A statement by the governor’s spokesperson, Sulaiman Bala Idris, revealed that the decision was made after a careful investigation of the inmates’ records. He said the Constitution allows governors to reduce sentences and pardon inmates. During his remarks at the event, Governor Lawal said inmates convicted of various crimes were pardoned to…

IN July 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved an increase in the minimum wage for Nigerian workers from N30,000 to N70,000. However, the implementation across states has been gradual, with some still yet to adopt the new minimum wage. While a number of states have pledged to meet the N70,000 minimum wage, others have gone further, committing to pay amounts higher than the federal mandate. Below is a list of states that have announced plans to pay above N70,000: Lagos State: On October 16, 2024, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu announced a new minimum wage of N85,000 for Lagos State workers, N15,000 above…

HADIZA El-Rufai, the former First Lady of Kaduna State, has engaged in a public exchange with Senator Shehu Sani on X (formerly Twitter). The former senator, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th Assembly, had posted a comment on the platform about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which caught El-Rufai’s attention. In his post, Sani humorously suggested that President Tinubu’s international travels have an impact on the economy, particularly taxes and commodity prices. He wrote, “New law of economics; When the President travels out, Taxes and Prices goes up.” El-Rufai, well-known for correcting grammar on social media, pointed out the error…

THE Federal Government of Nigeria has generated N103.7bn in revenue from the Electronic Money Transfer Levies in the first half of 2024. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s statistical bulletin, this represents a 7.55 per cent increase compared to the N96.44bn collected during the same period in 2023 of last year. This figure shows the growing use of digital payment platforms and a higher volume of electronic transactions as more Nigerians and businesses embrace digital banking solutions. Electronic money transfer levy was introduced as a source of government revenue in the Finance Act 2020, which amended the…

JUSTICE Emeka Nwite, of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has granted the bail variation request of five #EndBadGovernance protesters in the sum of N5 million each. Justice Nwite had on September 11, granted the bail request of all 10 protesters in the total sum of N100 million naira. Some of the protesters arraigned and remanded in prison by the Federal Government, were struggling to meet the bail conditions granted to each of them by the court, which includes a surety with landed property in Abuja, which is part of the requirements for bail. Delivering ruling in the bail application,…

A TOTAL of 180 Nigerians stranded in Libya returned home on Wednesday evening, marking a significant effort to provide humanitarian assistance to those in need. The group arrived at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos at approximately 7:30 pm aboard a charter flight operated by Al-Buraq Airlines. The returnees included 67 adult females, 55 adult males, 24 female children, 18 male children, and 16 infants. This evacuation was facilitated by a collaborative effort involving the International Organization for Migration and the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos Territorial Office. Upon arrival, the Nigerian Immigration Service conducted a biometric profiling of the…

THE Federal Government has announced the provision of new tax reliefs for deep offshore oil and gas production to boost investments in the sector. It also announced that the importation of key energy products and infrastructure, including diesel, feed gas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Compressed Natural Gas, electric vehicles, Liquefied Natural Gas infrastructure, and clean cooking equipment would no longer require value-added tax payment. The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, announced this in a statement on Wednesday. The statement signed by the Director of Information and Public Relations, Mohammed Manga, said the initiative would…

THE federal government has commenced arrangements to evacuate Nigerians in Lebanon following continuous onslaught by Israel. Israeli troops battled Hezbollah militants inside Lebanon on Wednesday after launching what they say are limited ground operations there. The region meanwhile braced for further escalation as Israel vowed to retaliate for Iran’s ballistic missile attack the day before. Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun disclosed this on Tuesday and requested the diaspora in Lebanon to reach out to the Nigeria mission for documentation. In a tweet on X through his handle, @DOlusegun, the president’s aid alerted all Nigerians in…

FOLLOWING the consequential adjustment in salary structures by the committee set up by the government to review the new minimum wage, retirees will now receive an increment of N32,000 in their monthly pensions. This was revealed in a memo by the National Salaries, Wages, and Income Commission, sighted on Monday by this newspaper. According to the memo, dated September 27, 2024 and signed by the Chairman of the NSIWC, Ekpo Nta, the affected retirees are those who retired under the salary schemes for doctors, health workers, lecturers, police, paramilitary, armed forces, and others. “Consequent upon the implementation of the National…

AS part of the programmes lined up to formally herald the 2024/2025 legal year of the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, will swear in 87 new Senior Advocates of Nigeria on Monday at the main courtroom of the Court. A statement by the Director, Information and Public Relations, Festus Akande on Fridat said that the CJN will deliver a state-of-the Judiciary address, with a view to highlighting the performance of the Supreme Court in particular, and the Nigerian Judiciary in general, in the 2023/2024 legal year. In the same vein, other leading stakeholders in the…

SEVEN months after it began negotiations that ended with N70,000 as the new minimum wage, the Federal Government on Thursday began payment of the new salary and its consequential adjustments to public servants across all levels of the federal civil service. This means over 1.2 million civil servants on the payroll of the Federal Government will be paid the newly approved minimum wage in September. A warrant for this month’s salary signed by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Dr Oluwatoyin Madein, and addressed to the Budget Office of the Federation directed the commencement of the new payment. This was as…

AHEAD of the planned cabinet shake-up by President Bola Tinubu, several ministers and their political godfathers have intensified lobbying to retain their positions, this newspaper gathered. The Presidency on Wednesday stated that President Tinubu would soon rejig his cabinet, which confirmed this newspaper’s September 1 report that a cabinet shakeup was imminent. This happened as presidential aides told this newspaper that some ministers had started frantic lobbying to be in the President’s good books. “Yes, that is a typical thing. Some of the ministers will be calling their godfathers to influence the President. It is a normal thing. But the…

JUSTICE Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court Abuja has said she is going to “rescue” herself from Nnamdi Kanu’s case. She made the statement after Kanu asked her to rescue herself from his case since she had refused to obey the Supreme Court’s order, adding that he had lost confidence in the court. He spoke out at the open court during the resumption of his trial on Tuesday. Justice Binta Nyako then replied that she would be happy to recuse herself from the trial, and had no problem with his request. She said she would be sending the case…

PASSENGERS were thrown into a panic mode on Monday as the windshield of an Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft operated by Air Peace was shattered in Abuja. As the aircraft landed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the windshield reportedly shattered, sparking concerns for passengers and aviation workers who witnessed the development. Among the passengers onboard was human rights advocate Omoyele Sowore, who was traveling to Abuja. One of the passengers at the airport who saw the incident, who identified herself simply as Funmi, told our correspondent that it was a scary incident while expressing dissatisfaction with the airline…

THE Federal Government has called on agencies recruiting for the private sector to adhere to the N70,000 minimum wage, warning that any deviation would not be tolerated. According to the FG, the new minimum wage is necessary to address the current economic reality, emphasising that no Nigerian worker, whether in government or private employment, should be paid less than the minimum wage. The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar, stated this on Wednesday while speaking at the 13th Annual General Meeting of the Employers Association for Private Employment Agencies of Nigeria, held in Ikeja, Lagos.…

DEBT servicing costs incurred by 29 state governments consumed 80.7 per cent of their Internally Generated Revenue during the first six months of 2024, highlighting the significant financial burden the sub-nationals currently face. Governors borrowed a total sum of N446.29 billion within the same period despite a 40 per cent increase in its statutory allocation from the Federation Account. The latest information is according to an analysis of data obtained by our correspondent using the budget implementation reports from each state’s website and Open Nigerian States.This BudgIT-backed website serves as a repository of government budget data. The performance report is…

THE National Security Adviser (NSA) Mallam Nuhu Ribadu has demanded retraction of the false and malicious allegation levelled against him by the Edo State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Anthony Aziegbemi, that he was plotting to rig the upcoming governorship election in the state. The party chairman had, in a statement widely circulated on Saturday, accused the federal government of scheming to rig the election. He also alleged that the NSA released $2 million to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as part of the plot. But in a letter addressed to the party chieftain dated…

THE African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has announced the 2024 CANEX Deal Room, a platform designed to connect creatives with financiers and investors. This initiative aims to support the development and growth of the creative and cultural industries in Africa and the diaspora. Through the CANEX Deal Room, Afreximbank will provide entrepreneurs in the creative sector with the opportunity to present bankable projects and opportunities to financiers and investors. The bank and its sister financial institutions will consider debt and equity financing for transactions in segments such as film and television, music, franchising, fashion, and infrastructure for the creative industry. This…

THE Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has recorded about 12,085 suspected cases of diphtheria infections as of September 11, 2024. The NCDC, however, said that out of the suspected cases, 7,784 were confirmed in 170 local government areas across 21 states. The centre announced this at a press briefing on Wednesday in Abuja. It said the death toll is 309 with a case fatality rate of 3.9 per cent from Kano (169), Bauchi (59), Katsina (52), Borno (19), Yobe (four); Edo (two); Jigawa (two); FCT (one); and Nasarawa (one). Diphtheria is a serious bacterial infection caused by the…