AMID the ongoing controversy surrounding the proposed tax reform bills by the current administration, the Federal Government and 21 out of the 36 states in the federation have projected a combined Value Added Tax revenue of N2.5 trillion for 2025 in their respective budget estimates. This projection excludes additional funds that may accrue from the implementation of the contentious tax reform bills. VAT, a consumption tax on goods and services, is levied at each stage of the supply chain where value is added. This newspaper previously reported that VAT revenue collected under the current administration increased by N549bn within six…
Author: Abdullahi Maitama Sani
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu is set to attend the 2025 edition of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week in the United Arab Emirates. Disclosing this in a statement on Friday, presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, said the summit will take place from January 12 to 18. Tinubu’s planned trip to the Middle East is at the behest of the President of the United Arab Emirates, Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “The Summit will bring together global leaders to accelerate sustainable development and advance socioeconomic progress,” the statement read. “The event, ‘The Nexus of Next; Supercharging Sustainable Progress,’ will enable policymakers, business, and…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Thursday urged the government of the People’s Republic of China to increase the $2 billion currency swap between Nigeria and China to enhance trade between the two countries. He also called for an upward review of the $50 billion aid package for Africa, which China’s President Xi Jinping announced last year. China and Nigeria recently renewed their currency swap agreement, valued at 15 billion yuan (approximately $2 billion), to enhance trade and investment. Receiving the Minister of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi, at the State House Abuja, the President said increasing the level of currency…
THE Peoples Republic of China has promised to provide one billion Yuan in military grant to Africa to enable the continent tackle its security challenges. This was disclosed by the Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Yi, during a joint press conference with his Nigerian counterpart, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Thursday. Yi said it is only through global solidarity and response that security challenges can be brought to an end. “China would like to work with Africa to deliver on the global security initiative and together achieve a modernization featuring peace and security and build…
NASARAWA State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, says the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) can’t do anything about the ministerial nomination ordeal of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai. Sule, who is a member of the PGF, the governors’ forum of the All Progressives Congress (APC), also said El-Rufai has not left the ruling party despite his rejection as a ministerial nominee by the National Assembly in August 2023. “El-Rufai has not left our party; he is still part of our party,” Sule said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday monitored by News Point Nigeria. “What led to his (El-Rufai’s) nomination,…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has returned to Abuja after nearly three weeks in Lagos. The Airbus A330 conveying the president and his personal aides arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, at about 10:30pm. Tinubu was received by his Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila; the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu and other top security officers. He returned from Accra, Ghana, where he attended the inauguration of President John Mahama earlier on Tuesday. Tinubu also visited Enugu State while he was away from Abuja. On December 18, 2024, the President departed Abuja for Lagos, where he spent the Christmas and New…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has congratulated John Mahama on his swearing-in as Ghana’s president and said Nigeria will support the West African country. Mahama was inaugurated on Tuesday in Accra, marking his return to office years after he served as Ghana’s president. Tinubu who was among world leaders at the event noted his friendship between him and Mahama, pledging Nigeria’s backing for Ghana. “President John Mahama and I share a deep friendship. My dear brother, I am here to work with you,” Tinubu who was a special guest said in his remarks at the event. “You know you can count on…
THE Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Adeola Olamilekan, has affirmed January 31, 2025, as a provisional date for the passage of the 2025 ₦49.7tn budget as the committee prepares to begin budget defence on Tuesday. He made this disclosure on Monday during a meeting with the chairmen of relevant committees on the template for the 2025 Budget Defence Session to guide the budget process towards its eventual signing into law. Olamilekan further revealed that upon the resumption of plenary by the 14th of January 2025, the Senate would immediately commence a two-week break for the seamless continuation of…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on January 6, 2025, for Accra, the capital of Ghana, to attend the inauguration of President-elect John Mahama on January 7, 2025. This was contained in a statement on Sunday by presidential spokesman Bayo Onanuga. Mahama, who served as the 12th president of Ghana between 2011 and 2017, was reelected in December 2024. He will succeed President Nana Akuffo-Addo (2017-2025). Onanuga said, “Tinubu’s trip to Accra is at the invitation of the president-elect, who had visited the Nigerian leader earlier in December. “Mahama and Tinubu have a longstanding personal relationship, just like Nigeria and…
NIGERIA and three other African countries will this month play host to a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi. As part of his yearly routine, the visits to commence on Sunday the 5th of January through January 11, 2025, will also see Yi visit other African countries such as Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, and Chad. This was revealed in a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning on Friday. The planned visits were based on invitations by the countries. This will be…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has tasked the 36 state governors with leading development at the grassroots, saying the financial autonomy granted to local governments is not an attempt to snatch the third tier of government from governors. The President said the leadership of governors at the subnational level is central to achieving food security, economic prosperity and rapid national growth. Tinubu stated this on Wednesday when members of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) led by Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazak paid him a New Year homage at his Ikoyi residence in Lagos. The President stressed the importance for grassroots development and…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu, early this morning, assured Nigerians that all their sacrifices in the last over 19 months that he took over power and in the months ahead, would not be in vain. In his New Year message, the president, who promised to continue to serve the people diligently and wholeheartedly, also listed some of his achievements in the year that just ended, despite the challenges his government faced. However, setting agenda for the New Year, the president who listed some of the plans in the offing, intended to make 2025 a much better year, urged the citizens, too, to…
THE Australian government has issued a stern travel warning, urging its citizens to reconsider the need to take a trip to Nigeria. In a statement obtained by News Point Nigeria on Tuesday, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) cited a volatile security environment marked by terrorism, kidnapping, and the potential outbreak of civil unrest as reasons for the advice. The travel advisory read “Reconsider your need to travel to Nigeria overall due to the volatile security situation and threat of terrorism, kidnapping, violent crime, and the risk of civil unrest. “There’s a high risk of terrorist attacks…
BARRING any last-minute change of plan, councils will begin to get direct allocation from the Federation Account next month. It will begin with the disbursement of this month’s allocation to the tiers of government, a source told our correspondent at the weekend. The direct receipt from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) will end the delay in the implementation of the July 11 judgment of the Supreme Court granting financial autonomy to councils. Since the judgment was delivered, the Federal Government has been making an effort to ensure minimal disruption to state/local government operations. The umbilical cord of the state/local…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will announce his ambassadors within the next few weeks, one of his aides, Ademola Oshodi, has said. Oshodi, a Senior Special Adviser on Foreign Affairs and Protocol to Tinubu, stated this on Channels Television’s 2024 Year-In-Review programme on Sunday monitored by News Point Nigeria. “I believe in the next few weeks, there will be a pronouncement for the ambassadors, and steps will be taken by the Senate and accreditation to put them in place in their various missions around the world,” he said. During the programme, Nigeria’s former Ambassador to the Benin Republic, Lawrence Obisakin; and former…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has expressed deep condolences to the government and people of India over the death of former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh. A statement released by the State House on Friday and signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu described Singh as a visionary leader whose contributions to Nigeria-India relations remain significant. Singh, who served as India’s Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014, passed away on Thursday at the age of 92. “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu extends heartfelt condolences to the government and people of India on the passing of…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu says the Federal Government has subsidised transportation costs for Nigerians as part of moves to ease the hardship during the festive period. In his Christmas message for 2024, Tinubu said the government has provided free train rides and subsidised road transport. “For those travelling during this festive period, I wish you safe journeys. Rest assured, the government is taking all necessary steps to ensure our transportation routes are secure and convenient,” Tinubu said in a message he signed. “We also provide free train services and subsidized road transport costs on 144 routes nationwide to ease your travels.”…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has advised Nigerians to step up their management skill in reducing electricity bills. News Point Nigeria reports that the President made the disclosure during the first presidential media chat aired by NTA, Monday night. “It’s not negative to learn to manage. You learn to control your electricity bill, switch off the light, let’s learn to manage,” Tinubu said on Monday in a chat with reporters at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos State. The All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain also said he does not believe in price control and he won’t go that…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu on Monday unequivocally responded to critics who described his cabinet as “bloated” by saying he is unprepared to reduce the size of his 48-man cabinet. News Point Nigeria reports that the President stated this during the first presidential media chat aired by NTA on Monday. “I am not ready to shrink” the size of my cabinet, Tinubu said during a media chat at his Bourdillon residence in the highbrow Ikoyi area of Lagos State. The former Lagos governor argued that “efficiency” has been at the core of his selection of ministers. The All Progressives Congress (APC) powerhouse…
PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will hold first presidential chat since assuming office on Monday night. Accoding to a statement released by presidential spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, the chat will be broadcast at 9 p.m. on the stations of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN). All television and radio stations are requested to hook up to the broadcast. “The first Presidential Media Chat with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be broadcast at 9pm on Monday, December 23, on the Nigerian Television Authority and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. “All television and radio stations are requested to hook up…