Buhari To Inaugurate Onochie, Others As NDDC Board

 President Muhammadu Buhari have departed Abuja to inaugurate the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

A letter from the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, signed by Permanent Secretary, Adebiyi Olufunso, said the event will hold today.

Olufunso, in the letter, dated December 29, said: “Following recent confirmation and clearance of the newly constituted board of NDDC by the Senate, the President has further granted approval for the inauguration of the board to commence work immediately.”

Expected at the event is Buhari’s Special Assistant on New Media, Lauretta Onochie, who is the substantive chairman for the Board. She is from Delta State, representing South-South geopolitical zone on the board; Major-General Charles Airhiavbere (rtd) from Edo State as the (Executive Director, Finance); and Charles Ogunmola from Ondo State, as Executive Director, Projects.

Others are Dimgba Erugba, representing Abia State; Dr. Emem Willcox Wills (Akwa Ibom State), Elder Denyanbofa Dimaro (Bayelsa State), Orok Duke (Cross River State) and Dr. Pius Odudu (Edo State).

Also on the board are Anthony Ekenne (Imo State), Gbenga Edema (Ondo State), Elekwachi Dimkpa (Rivers State), Alhaji Mohammed Kabir Abubakar (Nasarawa State) representing North-Cenral zone), Alhaji Sadiq Sami Sule-Ikoh (Kebbi State, North-West) and Prof. Tahir Mamman, SAN, (Adamawa State, North-East).

Chief Samuel Ogbokwu from Bayelsa State will serve as the Managing Director. He will serve for a term of two years to complete the term of his predecessor in office.

ASUU Protests As FG Withholds Union Dues

 The check-off dues deducted by the Federal Government from the November 2022 salaries of university lecturers were not remitted into the account of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, The PUNCH has learnt.

Check-off due is the money deducted from an employee’s pay for membership in a union or an organisation that represents workers in a particular industry.

Speaking with our correspondent in Abuja, the chairman of the Federal University of Technology, Minna chapter of ASUU, Prof Gbolahan Bolarin, confirmed to our correspondent that the government failed to remit the check-off dues for November.

Bolarin said, “Despite the pro-rata salaries that were paid for the month of November, those who got their pay slips observed that check-off dues and cooperative dues were deducted, but the issue now is that the account of ASUU was not credited.

“The government credited the cooperatives but refused to credit ASUU. Now, this is the question: since you claimed you paid us pro-rata, from where did you deduct the check-off and cooperative dues? And since the check-off dues were deducted, why wasn’t ASUU’s account credited? You deducted union dues from the source, but you failed to credit the union.”

FG justifies decision

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, in an interview with our correspondent, justified the government’s decision on the check-off dues.


Oshundun said, “Constitutionally, there is a provision of the Trade Union Act (Section 37, Subsection 1) that says every year ASUU must render an account of money remitted to the body. All ASUU members get a monthly deduction, which is usually given to ASUU every month to run their secretariat.

“They are also to submit an audited report of this money every year, but for four consecutive years, ASUU didn’t do that.

“The ministry wrote to ASUU, asking them why they haven’t submitted the audited report of monies collected for four years. ASUU got that letter and didn’t respond to it. They didn’t even write to acknowledge the receipt of the letter. A reminder letter was subsequently sent to ASUU, which was also ignored.

“Then the ministry decided that the check-off amount due, deducted by IPPIS for November, should not be released to ASUU. So, when they respond and explain how they spent the money released, the money held by IPPIS will be released to them.”

But Bolarin faulted the ministry’s position on the audit report.

He insisted that ASUU submitted the said report.

Nigerian Arrested In India Over Scam Advert

 A Nigerian national, Eze Ndubuisi, has been arrested in India for duping a trader using fake websites.

The 42-year-old was arrested in Navi Mumbai where he was residing, following a complaint from a trader from Tuticorin, Panimaya Manoj.

According to Times of India, Manoj filed a complaint with the cyber police stating that he had given almost 37 lakhs (approximately N20 million) to a man after coming across an advertisement on WhatsApp.

In an advertisement for a fake export order, Manoj was asked to send medicines to Togo-based Vetis Animal Health Industry by collecting them from Sharma Enterprises in Maharashtra and Krishna Industries from Sikkim.

Manoj had received multiple emails claiming to be from these industries, and transferred the amount.

After Manoj realised that he was neither getting medicines nor any response from the person communicating with him after transferring the money, he lodged a complaint with the cyber police at Tuticorin.

Based on the instructions of senior police officials, a special team was formed to investigate the case.

The team found that Ndubuisi was responsible for the fake advertisement on WhatsApp, and had cheated Manoj via fake emails and Whatsapp numbers.

Following investigations, Ndubuisi was arrested at his house at Ulwe Node in Navi Mumbai around 2am on December 29, 2022.

The police seized a laptop and three mobile phones from Ndubuisi upon his arrest.

FIRS Introduces Instant Tax Clearance System

 The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) said taxpayers can now get their Tax Clearance Certificate in a single click via its flagship Taxpro Max solution.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by Mr Johannes Oluwatobi Wojuola, a Special Assistant to the Executive Chairman of the FIRS, Mr Muhammad Nami.

It stated that the generation of Tax Clearance Certificates, which used to be issued within two weeks, would now be available with a single click by the taxpayer.

The TaxPro Max, a tax administration solution introduced by the apex tax authority in June 2021, is a one-stop shop for taxpayer registration, tax returns filing, tax payment, and tax clearance certificate requesting, among other functionalities.

The service stated that the instant tax clearance system is on the heels of wide-scale technological reforms that the service has embarked on as part of the effort to achieve a hundred per cent automation of its tax administration functions.

The Executive Chairman of the FIRS, while commenting on the development, explained that this functionality was in line with the objectives of the service to make the lives of taxpayers easier and ensure the ease of doing business in the country.

According to him, one of the core objectives of tax service is to build a customer-centric institution.

The statement said, “That means an institution that has the customer at the heart of its innovations and solutions. It is for this reason that we have tuned the operations of our TaxPro Max solution to be able to deliver Tax Clearance Certificates in the shortest possible time to taxpayers.

“At the click of a button, a taxpayer will get their Tax Clearance Certificates, as long as they have no outstanding liabilities.

“This would impact in no small measure on the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria.”

Mr Nami also stated that the taxpayer could only generate their Tax Clearance Certificates on the TaxPro Max platform when they did not owe any liabilities, among other conditions set out for the use of the platform.

He noted that this innovation was aimed at appreciating taxpayers for their trust and contributions to national development, stating that the Service would continue to come up with innovative solutions that would make the taxpayers’ lives easier.

Mr Nami also implored governments at all levels to continue to give taxpayers value for their money whilst also urging taxpayers to trust in the government.

Recall that Business Post had recently reported that the Finance Bill 2022, once signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, will see the FIRS become Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).

Makinde Absent As Oyo PDP Plans Pro-atiku Rally

 There seems no end in sight in the crisis rocking the Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, as the state Governor, Seyi Makinde, and his loyalists were conspicuously absent at the pre-Atiku Freedom March press conference for the presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, held at the state Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Iyaganku, Ibadan, on Tuesday.

The press briefing was jointly addressed by a former Minister of Federal Capital Territory (State), Jumoke Akinjide; former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Wole Oyelese; former Deputy Governor of the state, Hazeem Gbolarumi, and another chieftain of the party, Femi Babalola.

The Freedom March is scheduled for Wednesday (today) in Ibadan, the state capital.
Delivering a prepared speech, Oyelese said prominent members of the party would give speeches and justify to members of the public why they should vote for Atiku in the forthcoming election.

He said, “Since the return of democracy in 1999, Nigerians can now see the difference between the PDP government and the APC government. During the Obasanjo and Jonathan years when PDP was in power at the centre, the Nigerian economy was much better than what it is now Nigerians never had to suffer like this.

“Now that Nigerians have experienced the APC government and what they got was unimaginable suffering, the difference is clear. Our people are going to bed hungry every night and they still have to sleep with only one eye closed because of insecurity as bandits, terrorists and common criminals prowl the land in search of victims. Prices of goods and services have skyrocketed and become unaffordable for the majority of our people.

“The Buhari administration has piled up debt. The infrastructural deficit can be seen in the absence of the most basic amenities.  We are virtually in a hopeless situation. Another four years of APC will throw Nigeria into the Stone Age.”

Speaking on five aggrieved party governors, the former Deputy Governor of the state, Gbolarumi, and former Minister of State for FCT, Akinjide, said the outcome of the G-5 meeting would not have any effect on the chances of their presidential candidate during the election.

“We are dissipating energy on what is inconsequential. We should concentrate on what affects over 50% of the nation’s population. Nigeria has been tagged as the poverty capital of the World. The APC has impoverished the nation. The unemployment rate is unprecedented.

“Nigerians are being killed daily. The GDP growth is worrisome. Nigerians are seeing PDP as the best alternative,” they submitted.

Court Rescinds Judgement Against Edirin Oghenejode In Wife Battery Case

In a landmark judgement, Hon. Justice Suleiman B. Belgore of FCT High court in his judgement asserted that from the totality of the evidence before it, it is clear no iota of evidence was led to prove the accused committed the crime. For to establish the alleged offence against the accused person, the prosecution must establish the essential ingredients of the offence before coming to the conclusion that the offence has been committed and the trial court must be satisfied that the ingredients have been established beyond reasonable doubt by the prosecution.
 

Afegbua To Daniel Bwala: I Am Not One Of Those Atiku Can Threaten

 Prince Kassim Afegbua, a former Commissioner for Information in Edo state on Tuesday described Dr. Daniel Bwala, a spokesperson to the Atiku Abubakar presidential campaign council as a quack spokesperson to a failed presidential candidate.

Bwala had in a chat with DAILY INDEPENDENT described Afegbua as a mercenary employed by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu for his nuisance value.

However responding to Bwala, Afegbua accused him of telling lies in order to sell the candidacy of Atiku which is already dead on arrival

The full statement reads " I have just read the diatribe of one Daniel Bwala, who claims to be a Spokesman to a desperate-for-nothing of a candidate, and I had a good laugh; I laughed at his hollowness. I am happy that Bwala acknowledges that he, himself, is an unknown entity; the reason he repeatedly said he's a Presidential Spokesman; at which job, he spends his time conjuring lyrics of infamy to the warped consciousness of a guango, while masquerading as the image maker of that poisoned chalice".


"When quacks talk in The Public Relations dormain, they unwittingly expose their quackery, by their choice of words and delivery. Why doesn’t Bwala go to courts to handle briefs for his clients, as a trained Lawyer? How can a "good" and supposedly well informed lawyer spend his time bootlicking, in the name of Spokesmanship, just because of a one million naira salary per month, pouring saliva all over the place like an uncultured rottweiler. From Office Assistant to Deputy Senate President, to being Spokesman to a beleaguered candidate of the PDP, Bwala has been salivating like Pavlov dog, for the crumbs he gets. Not impressive at all for a trained lawyer".

"Know very succinctly, Bwala, that I was a member of The PDP Presidential Campaign Council in 2019, when Atiku Abubakar ran for the same position that he is running for today. My stance against Atiku today, is based on the need to balance the power algorithms of the country after Buhari’s presidency. His insensitivity to this singular sentiment, a co-factor of our unity in diversity, has become his nemesis in this present voyage that is terminally headed for the rocks. As far back as 2002 till date, Bwala, I have been Spokesman to former President IBB. I was National Director of Publicity of the National Democratic Party, National Chairman of National Democratic Party in 2007, former Special Adviser, Media to the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, and later former Commissioner for Information of the same Governor".

"I was a member of the campaign of the PDP presidential campaign in 1999, and was also actively involved in the presidential primaries in Jos. I was a foundational member of the APC in 2014 in Edo State. I left the APC in 2017 out of my personal conviction and volition. I have not joined any party since my recent exit from the PDP, when Atiku, Bwala's paymaster, usurped the throne, breaking all known zoning provisions in its constitution".

"With all these credentials, and in line with my training, I am in pole position of authority on issues of politics, governance, and information management and dissemination. I am neither an alarmist like Bwala nor a propagandist with no clue as to the real issues behind the issues. I am seasoned enough to understand the undercurrents of Nigeria's political emanations, and am not one, who is left outside the corridors like Bwala, when serious meetings are being conducted".

"Be informed Bwala, that I have acquired a media image of my own and run my media office in Wuse 2, in Abuja; without being anybody's lapdog like you".

"You told a wild lie when you said that eleven Governors and thirty five Senators of APC are supporting your boss's aspiration; an aspiration that is dead on arrival. A man with zero credibility, a so-called unifier that cannot unify his opposition party; a person running amok trying to clutch at flotsam like a sinking man. Bwala, you should learn to give respect to your seniors who are cut out for their jobs, rather than attacking noble professionals like me, in your struggle to no avail to do damage control for the jaded aspiration of a turncoat politician".

"That claim on the APC Governors, is an outright lie! I dare you to mention just five of them, if you are not a liar. If I can tell the fact that you were hired with a one million naira salary per month as contained in your letter of appointment, that should tell you that I am conversant with what obtains in Atiku's camp. All my predictions in political engagements have always proven correct. Those who I warned in time past, that ignored my warnings and predictions, are today lamenting their political cul-de-sac".

"Bwala, you should go and read about your paymaster, Atiku, in Obasanjo's "My Watch" so you can get a more detailed characterisation of the man you brag about and whose image you launder. A person who left PDP for AC, then back to PDP, again to APC, and APC for PDP; he should after such circumnavigation, like in Lord Lugard's voyage to nowhere, by now, be tired of frolicking in contradiction".

"A serious minded leader, claiming to be of such huge stature, should not be seen as a mobile politician, who is dithering, politically promiscuous and fickle, and has only one constant desire -his presidential aspiration. A character in contradiction. Your recruitment into his noisy attack dogs colony, is enough reason to take your paymaster, far away from the corridor of Aso Villa".

"No matter the backdoor plots, what I can promise you, Bwala, is that, I will be exposing you all one after the other; be they in Dubai, your paymaster, Atiku's home town and or in Abuja, his habitue. I am not like you that cannot visit your village but sit here, in Abuja raising the roof all around town. I am not one of those you and your paymaster can threaten. I am a freeborn of Nigeria, my country. I will live in it with the best of traditions as a law abiding citizen".

"The only reason you are attacking me is because I am telling the truth to all Nigerians, that your paymaster, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, is not good for Nigeria and should not be voted for. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the man who best fits the office of the president of Nigeria at the moment. Should you, Bwala, desire to engage me further, I am always available".