The Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) has raised concerns over alleged plans by undemocratic elements to use the military to mar the 2023 general elections. The Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor disclosed on Thursday that security agencies and most especially the military have come under pressure to compromise during elections through various financial inducements. However, the TMG in a statement by its chairman, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani specifically warned politicians against involving the military and other security agencies to undermine the credibility of the popular demand and aspirations of Nigerians to have free, fair and credible elections, which similar incident…
Author: Newsdesk
Nothing can be so mockingly debasing than going out for a political campaign only to be welcomed by a scanty crowd in a metropolitan city like Lagos. The PDP candidate, Atiku Abubakar, was in Lagos this week and what he saw was not only palpably discomforting, it also revealed many lows about his chances in the 2023 general election. His Lagos scanty crowd was being covered up by his publicists through a deliberate distraction, using Asiwaju Tinubu’s appearance in London as a subject of scorn just because Atiku was not welcome in Lagos. Reno Omokri, Atiku’s diaspora attack dog, was…
The Debt Management Office (DMO) says Nigeria’s public debt has reached N44.6 trillion in the third quarter of this year (Q3 in 2022). The DMO in a statement posted on its website explained that the increase in public debt was due to new borrowings by the Federal Government to part-finance the deficit in the 2022 Appropriation Act, as well as new borrowings by sub-nationals. This represents a 2.9 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline when compared to N42.84 trillion recorded in Q2 in 2022. According to DMO, the total public debt stock comprises domestic debt of N26.92 trillion and external debt of…
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Civil Society Organisations have called for deliberate measures to curb revenue leakages in order to boost tax generation in the country. The call was made at a National Tax Conference organised by International and National Civil society organisations known as Tax Justice and Governance Platform in Abuja. The theme of the conference is “Tax Expenditure and the Implication for National Development.” Mr John Ikata, Head Tax Expenditure, FIRS, advised the public to be more responsive to taxation adding that tax all over the world drives the nation. Ikata said that without taxation, the…
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…
“Every country has its own model of democracy. There is no system that governs democracy in absolute terms. In Equatorial Guinea, there is a presidential democracy. A peaceful election” Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo I holds the world record of 43 years in power ahead of any living head of state, excluding monarchs. He is sworn in for a sixth, seven-year term. Members of the international community, including the US government, have raised concerns over the legitimacy of the landslide victory of the president’s PDGE party which claimed 94.9% of the vote. Members of the government of the…
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele has replied the both Chambers of the National Assembly (NASS) that there is no going back on the planned withdrawal limits announced by it. ASHENEWS reports that Emefiele also disclosed that the new naira notes have already been disbursed to various commercial banks and expect that banks would begin distribution to the public. The CBN governor made the declaration on Thursday after a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in his country home in Daura, Katsina state. Reacting to dissenting voices from the National Assembly and the public over the…
On the directives of the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, the Senate Committee on Banking will today grill the two re-appointed deputy governors of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Aisha Ahmad and Edward Adamu on the new cash withdrawal policy. The resolution on the new CBN policy followed Senator Philip Aduda’s attempt on Wednesday, to move a motion on the development. Aduda had sought to rally other senators to deliberate on the policy but the Senate President, Lawan, interrupted him, saying it was too early to debate the circular. But Senator Gabriel Suswam supported Aduda telling Lawan, “I…
“We insisted that the fuel distribution must improve and all challenges eliminated in 48hours and after 48hrs, we will as a matter of urgency carry out operations across the country” The Department of State Services (DSS) has warned Nigerian stakeholders in the oil sector over the worsening fuel scarcity. ASHENEWS reports that the Service, which issued the warning during a stakeholders meeting in Abuja on Thursday, also gave 48 hours’ ultimatum within which to end the fuel crisis. According to the Service, “We have set our commands and platforms nationwide on high alert to get information on any element who…
Retired Justice Olufunlola Adekeye of the Supreme Court says rule of law is the bedrock of every democratic society. Adekeye made this known in Abuja at a-two-day forum organised by the National Human Rights (NHRC) for the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) on civil liberties and rule of law. “It is a concept that suggests that no one is above the law and that government decisions must be made only by applying known legal and moral principles. “The doctrine of the Rule of Law limits the powers of government and helps to prevent dictatorship as well as to protect the rights…