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Governors back tax reform bills, reject VAT increase
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum has finally thrown its weight behind the tax reform bills submitted by President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly.
The state governors made this known in a communique issued on Thursday at the end of a meeting with the Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, in Abuja.
In the communique signed by the NGF Chairman and Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, the forum proposed an equitable sharing formula for Value-Added Tax.
The governors said the revised VAT sharing formula must ensure equitable distribution of resources of 50% based on equality, 30% based on derivation, and 20% based on population.
The communique read, “We, members of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum and Presidential Tax Reform Committee, convened on the 16th of January 2025 to deliberate on critical national issues, including the reform of Nigeria’s fiscal policies and tax system, and arrived at the following resolutions:
“The Forum reiterated its strong support for the comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s archaic tax laws. Members acknowledged the importance of modernising the tax system to enhance fiscal stability and align with global best practices.
“The Forum endorsed a revised Value Added Tax (VAT) sharing formula to ensure equitable distribution of resources: 50% based on equality, 30% based on derivation, and 20% based on population.
“Members agreed that there should be no increase in the VAT rate or reduction in Corporate Income Tax (CIT) at this time to maintain economic stability. The Forum advocated for the continued exemption of essential goods and agricultural produce from VAT to safeguard the welfare of citizens and promote agricultural productivity.”
The governors stated that there should be no terminal clause for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure and National Information Technology Development Agency in the sharing of development levies in the bills.
They also supported the continuation of the legislative process at the National Assembly that will culminate in the eventual passage of the tax reform bills.
“The Forum reiterated its strong support for the comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s archaic tax laws. Members acknowledged the importance of modernising the tax system to enhance fiscal stability and align with global best practices,” the statement added.
PUNCH Online reports that on October 3, 2024, Tinubu transmitted four tax reform bills to the National Assembly for consideration, following the recommendations of the Presidential Committee on Fiscal and Tax Reforms for the review of existing tax laws.
The bills include the Nigeria Tax Bill 2024, which is expected to provide the fiscal framework for taxation in the country, and the Tax Administration Bill, which will provide a clear and concise legal framework for all taxes in the country and reduce disputes.
Others are the Nigeria Revenue Service Establishment Bill, which will repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and establish the Nigeria Revenue Service, and the Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill, which will create a tax tribunal and a tax ombudsman.
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SHAME! WATCH moment NDLEA nabs nursing student over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of h3rd drugs
Again, NDLEA operatives have proven that there’s no hiding place for hard drug peddlers as a nursing student was nabbed over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of drugs.
Naijablitznews reports that the video clip captured the student counting such a large quantity of hard drugs she wanted to ingest.
WATCH clip below:
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NDLEA massive raids across Nigeria yields results nabs India-bound nursing student(Photos)
… over attempt to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine
…intercepts illicit consignments heading to Borno, Kano, Abuja; arrests 33 suspects in Lagos, FCT, Kano, Kwara, Kogi, Taraba raids
Attempt by 26-year-old Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, a 200-level student of nursing at the Noida International University, Uttar Pradesh, India, to swallow 76 wraps of cocaine hours before her return flight to the South Asian country through the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, MAKIA, Kano, has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India from MAKIA Kano on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday 17th January 2025 but was arrested in her room at 11:30pm on Thursday 16th January at Royal Park Hotel Sabon Garin Kano, while awaiting the cocaine consignment she was to ingest before her flight the following morning.
Her lid was blown open when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state on Thursday 16th January intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus coming from Lagos enroute Kano. Inside his black polythene bag was an audio speaker, which was used to conceal 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.340 kilograms, which he was going to deliver to Esther in Kano. A swift follow up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing university student later same day.
In her statement, Esther claimed the drug cartel she was working for recruited her in India and paid for her trip to Nigeria to enjoy her Christmas and New Year holidays.
To avoid her parents knowing she was in Nigeria, Esther did not travel to her home state, Imo but was lodged for two weeks in a hotel in Enugu, from where she was flown to Abuja and then Kano where she was lodged at Royal Park Hotel to swallow the 76 pellets of cocaine sent to her from Lagos before taking her Qatar Airways flight to India on Friday morning. She said she was promised over $5,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in India.
In other operations along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway, NDLEA officers arrested four suspects: Abdullahi Umar; Tijjani Samaila; Lucky Obotte and Abubakar Haruna, who were heading to Maiduguri, Borno state, Kano, and Abuja in commuter vehicles with over 38,000 pills of tramadol 225mg, 250mg and 100mg concealed in audio speakers and cloths.
In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit of the Agency on Tuesday 14th January raided the hideout of a 59-year-old Nwokedi Emeka Jonas in Ojodu-Berger area of the state where they recovered 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 4.9kg as well as different paper bags he uses in dispensing the psychoactive substance in retail quantities. Printed on them include street names and codes such as ‘Dead man’; ‘Gelato top shelf smoke’; ‘Topshelf’; and ‘Gelato cake’
In other operations in Lagos, operatives of the state Command of the Agency on Wednesday 15th January raided a house in Igando New Town area of Alimosho where they arrested three suspects: Isaac Vincent, 32; Ebube Ikechi, 25; and Christopher Usifoh, 43, from whom 1,610kg skunk, a strain of cannabis and 6kg pills of tramadol were recovered. Also recovered from the house were a delivery van and three other vehicles used for distributing the illicit drugs.
Two suspects: Olashile Okoya and Mohammed Ibrahim were arrested on Saturday 18th January when NDLEA officers raided their home at 5A Addison Palmer, Cadogan Estate, Castle Rock Avenue, Osapa, Lekki Lagos, where 28 kilograms of Cannadian Loud were recovered following credible intelligence.
Not less than 67kg skunk was seized from Saheed Sulaiman on Thursday 16th January when NDLEA operatives raided his Edumare street, Lagos Island hideout, while various quantities of assorted illicit substances were recovered from Adamu Abdullahi on Tuesday 14th January when Jerry Irabi Estate, Lekki hideout was raided by NDLEA officers. They include 3.7 litres of codeine syrup; 10,000 pills of tramadol; 1,670 tablets of rohypnol; 6.5kg cannabis; 3,100 tablets of diazepam; 10,090 tablets of Molly; 5,500 tabs of Exol-5; 1.2kg crisps of wrapped methamphetamine and a monetary exhibit of ₦623,650.00.
In Kano, two suspects: Usama Adamu, 25, and Isah Ibrahim, 29, were on Friday 17th January
arrested at Dawanau, Dawakin Tofa LGA where a total of 7.6kg skunk, 78 tubes of rubber solution and 356 bottles of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance were recovered from them.
In another raid in Kano, Usman Isa, 29, was nabbed along Zaria road with 114 blocks of skunk weighing 49.8kg.
Three suspects: Lawali Isiaka, Umoru Isiaka and Mohammed Kabiru were on Wednesday 15th January arrested by NDLEA operatives with 390 tablets of Molly and 65.5kg of cannabis at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State, while Samuel Ogbu, 24, was nabbed with 25,000 pills of tramadol by operatives along Wukari- Zaki Ibiam road, Wukari LGA, Taraba state.
In series of raids in Abuja, a suspect, Rufa’i Hashimu, 27, was arrested at Gwarimpa village area of the FCT with 118 bottles of codeine-based syrup, while 13 others were nabbed in other locations such as: Area1 IDP camp, Gishiri, Zuba, Dei -Dei, AYA, Lagos Street Garki, Karu, and Lugbe.
Recovered from them include different quantities of tramadol, diazepam, and methamphetamine.
With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of NUD Basic Primary School, Orile-Igbon, Oyo state; Corpus Christi College, Ilawe Ekiti; Holy Family International Schools, Calabar; Kudam Islamic School, Osogbo; Business Apprenticeship Training Centre, Kankia, Katsina, while Abia state command of NDLEA paid a WADA advocacy visit to Governor Alex Otti, among others.
While commending the officers and men of Lagos, Kogi, SOPU, Kano, Kwara, FCT, and Taraba Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) urged them and their compatriots across the country not to rest on their oars as they intensify their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
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SAD! Two Judges shot dead in Court as attacker takes own life
Two top judges in Iran were shot dead on Saturday in what has been reported as a targeted assassination directed at the Islamic regime’s enablers in the country’s Supreme Court.
The two judges, Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghiseh were killed after an armed man entered the court, in Tehran, Iran’s capital on Saturday morning.
The attacker was said to have then killed himself while fleeing the scene, according to the judiciary’s news website, Mizan. A bodyguard was also injured in the attack.
The motive for the attack is unclear, but both judges are said to have played a role in the persecution and killing of opponents of the Islamic regime throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
In a statement to state news agency IRNA, the judiciary’s media office described the attack as premeditated assassination.
It also said that, according to initial findings, the attacker had not been involved in any case considered by the supreme court, and an investigation had been launched to identify and arrest any further people who may have been involved in the attack.
The judiciary’s spokesman, Asghar Jahangir, told Iranian state TV that the attacker had entered the court carrying a handgun before opening fire.
One of the judges, Razini, had survived an assassination attempt in 1998 that shook Iran at that time. He was one of the most senior judges in Iran.
The other, Moghiseh, was sanctioned by the US in 2019, with the treasury department accusing him of having “overseen countless unfair trials, during which charges went unsubstantiated and evidence was disregarded”.
At that time, he was a judge in the Tehran Revolutionary Court. He was reportedly named to the supreme court in 2020.
Moghiseh was also among seven Iranian judges sanctioned by Canada in 2023 for what the country described as “their role in gross and systematic human rights violations”.
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