President Bola Tinubu has cancelled all his official events in Lagos today, including his attendance at the 2024 Lagos Boat Regatta in honour of the stampede victims in Abuja and Okija, Anambra State. The two tragedies claimed many lives and left many others injured. President Tinubu was scheduled to watch the boat parade and other activities of the Boat Regatta from the waterfront of his Queen’s Drive residence in Ikoyi. Dignitaries, including top officials of the Lagos State government and white cap chiefs from the State, were already seated when the President cancelled his appearance following briefings on the tragedies.…
Author: Michael Chibuzo
By Bernard Okri On Wednesday, December 18, 2024, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu delivered a speech to the Joint Session of the National Assembly as he presented his ₦49.7 trillion 2025 budget estimate to the legislature. The budget marks the President’s second within his 19 months in office and the second under this administration. His speech provided a concise overview of Nigeria’s economic trajectory under his leadership. Christened the “Budget of Restoration: Securing Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity,” this budget builds on the gains achieved during the administration’s initial efforts to stabilize the economy. It promises to improve lives and enhance productivity nationwide.…
Super Eagles of Nigeria forward and Atalanta superstar, Ademola Lookman has been named the African Player of the Year at the 2024 Confederation of African Football Awards taking place at city of Marrakech in Morocco. Ademola Lookman had a phenomenal year both at the club level and at the national team level. He mesmerised football fans with his incredible skill, blistering pace, and clinical finishing from unbelievable angles. Lookman was instrumental in both his club’s success in at the Europa League where he bagged an insane hatrick at the finals and Nigeria’s qualification for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.…
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has welcomed the announcement by Shell and its partners of their Final Investment Decision (FID) on the Bonga North Deep Offshore Field. This is according to a State House press statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. According to the statement, the landmark investment in Bonga North, which is Nigeria’s first deepwater oil project in over a decade, underscores the transformative impact of the President’s policies and reforms in attracting investments in the oil and gas sector. The Bonga North oilfield, located 130 kilometres offshore in Oil Mining…
In a major piece of good news for Nigeria, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo), a subsidiary of Shell plc, has announced a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North, a deep-water project off the coast of Nigeria. According to a statement by Shell, Bonga North will be a subsea tie-back to the Shell-operated Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility which Shell operates with a 55% interest. The Bonga North project, the statement added, involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (8 production and 8 water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO…
For the first time in 19 years, Nigeria has made its first full payment of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) levy as a member of the regional bloc. On December 13, 2024, Nigeria paid the sum of N85.54 billion and $54 million for its 2023 levy and part of its 2024 levy. This payment was made known by Omar Touray, president of the ECOWAS Commission during the 66th ordinary summit of ECOWAS in Abuja on Sunday. The ECOWAS Commission President described the payment by Nigeria as a vote of confidence in ECOWAS and a demonstration of Nigeria’s…
The ranks of the crisis-ridden Labour Party has continued to shrink following a spate of defections that have hit the party. Today, on the floor of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ajang Iliya, who is the member representing Jos South/Jos East Federal Constituency, has officially left the Labour Party, to join the All Progressives Congress, APC. Hon. Ajang Iliya cited leadership crisis rocking the Labour Party as reason for his defection. He becomes the sixth Labour Party House of Representatives member to dump LP for APC in the past one week. On 5th December, four lawmakers from the Labour Party…
Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, has revealed that the pilot phase of the Presidential Power Initiative also known as the Siemens power deal has so far increased the wheeling capacity of the transmission company of Nigeria by 750MW. He said that an additional 150 megawatts (MW) of electricity would be added to Nigeria’s national grid before the year ends. Adelabu who spoke to journalists after a closed-door meeting with President Bola Tinubu and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, at the presidential villa said to that the pilot phase of the presidential power initiative (PPI) has reached 80% completion and the…
By Michael Chibuzo On 7th July 2023, just over a month after assuming office, President Bola Tinubu appointed a tax and fiscal policy expert, Mr. Taiwo Oyedele to head a Presidential Committee he established to work on fiscal policy and tax reforms. On August 8, the Committee was inaugurated by the President and given its terms of reference which include deep reforms of various aspects of Nigeria’s tax laws, fiscal policy design and coordination, harmonisation of taxes, and revenue administration. The Committee, in the first instance, was expected to deliver a schedule of quick reforms that can be implemented within…
By Michael Chibuzo As the temperature of the debate around the landmark tax reform bills sent to the national assembly by President Bola Tinubu increases exponentially, so also is the amount of misconception and misinformation around the bills, some of which are quite deliberate, I must add. It is for this reason that I want to chronicle the top 10 misinformation about the bills being peddled around by mostly uninformed and sometimes mischievous commentators. 1. The Tax Reform Bills will increase tax burden on poor people: This is definitely not true. The Nigeria Tax Bill in section 58 and the…