News Update

The Federal Government of Nigeria says it has removed Value Added Tax (VAT) on diesel, cooking gas, among others. Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, disclosed this while unveiling two major fiscal incentives, on Wednesday.

Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State has declared Thursday and Friday as public holidays to enable residents of the state to travel to their various communities ahead of the Saturday local government elections. The governor also announced restriction of vehicular movement from midnight on Friday, October 4 to 5pm on the election day.

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 The military high command has announced the dismissal of a naval rating, Seaman Haruna Abbas, who was reportedly detained for about six years. Haruna’s dismissal came on the heels of his wife, Hussaina Iliya’s claim on a popular radio station in Abuja that her husband was detained unjustly by the military, since 2018.

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 The federal government has commenced arrangements to evacuate Nigerians in Lebanon following escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran. Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun disclosed this on Tuesday and requested the citizens in Lebanon to reach out to the Nigeria mission for documentation.

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 The House of Representatives, on Wednesday, asked the Presidency to note that as one of the chambers that make up the National Assembly, it is not inferior to the Senate. This was as the House rejected the national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic conferred by President Bola Tinubu on the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, demanding that the Speaker should get the title of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, just like the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.

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 No fewer than 10 people, including three children and seven adults lost their lives to a road crash in the late hours of Tuesday along the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, while three others sustained varying degrees of injuries. The Lagos State Traffic Management Authority blamed the accident on wrong-way driving and excessive speeding.

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 A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt presided over by Justice G. O. Ollor has granted bail to the tune of N1m each to three ex-soldiers and seven civilians facing trial over alleged armed robbery, burglary and receipt of stolen property in the state.

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. The Senate on Wednesday stood down a bill for an act to prescribe standard and condition of licence for operation and practice of private investigations in the country. The piece of legislation, sponsored by Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) was rejected by the majority of lawmakers during debate on the floor of the Red Chamber.

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 With a few weeks to the gubernatorial election in Ondo State, the deputy governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, Mrs. Susan Gbemisola Alabi, has resigned her membership from the party. Alabi disclosed this after notifying the governorship candidate of the party, Bamidele Akingboye of her decision to step down as his running mate in a letter addressed to the party’s standard-bearer and the National Chairman of the party, Shehu Musa Gabam.

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The Nigerian government through the Bank of Industry, BoI, said it disbursed loans amounting to N77.65 billion to businesses especially medium, small and micro-enterprises, MSMEs, in the last nine months of 2024.
The Managing Director of BoI, Olasupo Olusi, disclosed this at an event held on Wednesday in Abuja.
He revealed that the loans were given to MSMEs across the country.
He stressed that MSMEs remained the bedrock of Nigeria’s economy.
According to him: “MSMEs which represent 90 per cent of all businesses, contribute 80 per cent to employment and 50 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product.
“So far this year, the bank has supported MSMEs across the country through the disbursement of loans totaling about N77.65bn. These loans were given to almost 1,000 MSMEs across the country to enable them to boost their operations. Those who have benefitted through several of our financing facilities range from the local palm kernel oil processor in the east to the woman with a printing press in the north and a local furniture maker in the south, amongst others.”
This comes as the majority of Nigerians grapple with economic hardship occasioned by high inflation which stood at 32.15 per cent in August 2024.

from dailypost