President Bola Tinubu, on Monday night, in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, advanced negotiations concerning a multi-billion dollar infrastructure finance facility from the Islamic Development Bank to fund a multi-sectoral portfolio of infrastructure projects at the federal and sub-national levels in Nigeria.

This development was the outcome of substantive investment discussions held between President Tinubu and the Vice-President (Country Programs) of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Mansur Muhtar, after the President’s return from evening prayers.

“Nigeria is the candle of hope that will light the way for Africa. And once Africa is illuminated, the world will be a brighter place for all of humanity. We are determined to create a future for our gifted youths. Investments in Nigeria will be among the world’s most high-yielding.

Investor money will flow easily in and out of our country. Processes will be seamless. And your bank has always been a faithful partner in progress.

“We have serious deficits in port infrastructure, power infrastructure, and agro-allied facilities that will enable sustainable food security in our country.

These deficits present unrivalled opportunity for savvy investors in a market that is by far the largest on the continent. Yes, we had the vision to enable Lekki Deep Seaport before others saw it. We must be bold again.

“We inherited serious liabilities, but also assets from our predecessors. We do not make any excuses. There are several sectors replete with investment opportunity for smart investors. Access to finance and guarantees can be a hindrance in some cases. You can come in there. We see you as a critical enabler. You have partnered with us before. We want to scale it up now and do much more with greater ambition and clear vision,” the President stated.

Noting the historic essence of President Tinubu’s swift and decisive economic reforms, the Vice-President of the Islamic Development Bank said the financial world has been monitoring events in Nigeria and has concluded that Africa’s largest economy means business this time.

“Mr. President, we know you inherited a very tough set of circumstances. It is to your credit that you have taken very bold steps without delay. We are ready to work with you. We are ready to support big investments in Nigeria. We agree that if Nigeria succeeds, Africa succeeds. And the world needs Africa to succeed.

“The Islamic Development Bank President announced the provision of $50 billion U.S. Dollars of new investment for the African continent from the Arab Coordination Group (ACG). This was announced at the Saudi-Arab-African Economic Summit. As the largest market and the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria will certainly receive a significant share. We look forward to supporting Nigeria’s economic transformation,” the Islamic Development Bank Vice-President said.

The President concluded by thanking the Islamic Development Bank management while pledging the unwavering commitment of his administration to win investors’ trust and confidence, just as he did in Lagos State many years ago.

Members of the Nigerian delegation present at the meeting in Mecca were: Governor Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State; Governor Umar Bago of Niger State; Minister of Budget & Economic Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu, and others.

Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni said his administration planned to spend the sum of N217,000,000,000 billion for the 2024 fiscal year.

Buni disclosed this while presenting the 2024 Appropriation and Finance Bills before the State House of Assembly on Tuesday.

Tagged the “BUDGET OF CONSOLIDATION AND ECONOMIC RECOVERY”, Buni informed the lawmakers that N94,156,000,000 representing 43.39% of the budget is proposed as recurrent expenditure while N122,844,000,000 representing 56.61% is allocated to capital expenditure.

“The 2024 Budget is geared towards the completion of ongoing projects and funding of new ones.

“In the light of the financial constraints and our commitment to move the state forward, our budget for the year 2024 will prioritize key sectors and programmes that directly impact the lives of our citizens”, he said.

While highlighting the overall performance of the 2023 budget, the governor said it has achieved 58.2% success as of 30th September 2023, covering N94,859,528,492 for both recurrent and capital expenditures.

“Let me use this opportunity to especially commend and appreciate the leadership and entire members of the Yobe State House of Assembly for your support and cooperation.

“The cordial working relationship between the legislative and executive arms of government has no doubt contributed to the modest achievements recorded by this administration”, he said.

The 2024 Finance and Appropriation Bills have passed the first and second readings with the Speaker of the Assembly assuring to give the Bills speedy scrutiny and pass them into law before the end of December 2023.

Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa has won his second term bid after scoring 175,196 votes to defeat his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 115,262 votes.

On Monday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) returning officer, Farouk Kuta, declared Mr Diri the duly elected governor after a fiercely contested battle with Mr Sylva, a former petroleum minister.

The incumbent governor won in six of the eight local government areas of the state, while Mr Sylva only clinched Brass and Nembe.

Mr Diri polled 24,675 votes in the highly-contested Southern Ijaw Local Government, a major local government thought to be a stronghold of the APC where Mr Sylva’s running mate, Maciver Joshua, is a native.

Mr Sylva, on his part, scored 18,174 votes in Southern Ijaw, promoting APC agents at the collation centre in Yenagoa to reject the results on the grounds of alleged manipulation.

The agents asserted that the party polled over 70,000 votes in the LG.

Property owners in Abuja should get ready to start paying taxes on their properties as the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has approved a draft property tax regulation for the city.

It was gathered that the FCT-Internal Revenue Service had commenced the implementation of Capital Gains Tax in Abuja, as stipulated in the Capital Gains Tax Act 2004.

The CGT imposes a tax of 10 percent on the total amount of chargeable gains (after making allowable deductions from the computation of such gains) accruing to any person on the disposal of chargeable assets in a year of assessment.

The Executive Chairman, FCT-IRS, Haruna Abdullahi, who disclosed this to journalists in Abuja on Sunday, also stated that the capital city’s revenue service had been able to grow its Internally Generated Revenue to about N140bn.

Commenting on measures being put in place by the service to drive revenue for the FCT, Abdullahi said the minister had approved some key initiatives to achieve this.

He said, “In the last three weeks, the minister has approved some initiatives that are huge and will certainly change the dynamics in terms of the bottom line. Just the other day, we submitted a draft proposal to the minister for the FCT property tax regulation.

“The FCT-IRS Act empowers the minister to come up with a property tax regulation for the FCT. So we had a long conversation and we suggested it to the minister, and he asked us to come up with a draft regulation, which we did, and he has approved the initiative.

“So we have an inter-agency collaboration whereby we review it because the draft was just done by the FCT-IRS, but that’s not enough, you need other stakeholders. So he approved the initiative to go ahead and review the draft and then come back.

“Subsequently at the end of the day, he will sign the regulation and is gazetted and implemented. So that alone should tell you that there is a huge positive impact on the bottom line of the IGR in the city.”

He further pointed out that the minister also approved the full implementation of the Capital Gains Tax in Abuja, stressing that this would also increase the revenue targets of the FCT.

“Also, just recently we inaugurated another committee, we are now implementing the Capital Gains Tax law. Previously people just voluntarily go and pay, so there is very little payment in terms of capital gains tax.

“But now we have briefed the minister and he has approved the inter-agency collaboration and so we are now going to begin to implement the Capital Gains Tax fully.

“So you can imagine an FCT with a property tax, a fully implemented Capital Gains Tax, and then about a month ago there was a circular where the minister approved the implementation of Section 85 of the Personal Income Tax Act and Section 31 of the FCT IRS Act,” Abdullahi added.

The FCT-IRS boss noted that when he assumed office two years ago, “in my first meeting I told the staff that we cannot do much if we don’t implement Section 85, but it is a huge section that needs political support. And, of course, the minister came and he endorsed that.”

He explained that the impact of this would be huge, adding that “what that means is that all of us must have a tax clearance certificate. You must file your returns, you must get a tax clearance certificate.

“You cannot get a building permit, for before the development control unit can give you the permit to go ahead, you need to show that you are paying your tax and you have a TCC and it must be verifiable by the appropriate tax authority.”

Abdullahi stated that these three major initiatives, the implementation of Section 85 of Personal Income Tax and 31 of FCT-IRS Act 2015, implementation of Capital Gains Tax and then now the Property Tax regulation, “should take us to certainly above 50 to 60 percent of what we are doing at the moment. And that is a huge positive impact on the bottom line.”

On whether the service was facing challenges in terms of collecting taxes in the city, Abdullahi stated that revenue issues were political issues because the agency required the political will of the minister to overcome a lot of challenges.

“This is why I mention the fact that the minister has given us the required political support and that has lessened the burden. Other ones are general operational issues and lack of information in terms of clarity of what happens and what is supposed to happen.

“We face significant challenges from many stakeholders when you consider the kind of letters we receive here. But we try as much as possible to deal with them.

“However, now that the minister has come to show that revenue issues are in the forefront for him, all stakeholders in the city now see that the political will is there and have seen the direction of the administration and will not joke with it,” he stated.

Nigeria’s ruling party has overwhelmingly won the governorship election in the south-eastern Imo state amid a boycott by some voters.

Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress won with more than 540,000 votes – his closest rival had 71,500.

Some Imo residents were seen queuing to buy water rather than going to vote as a strike has cut supplies of drinking water and electricity.

Saturday’s elections in three states saw reports of violence and rigging.

The results of elections for the powerful position of governor in the southern, oil-producing state of Bayelsa state and the central state of Kogi are expected later on Sunday.

Under Nigeria’s federal system, governors control huge budgets – larger than those of some countries in West Africa.

However, there have been numerous reports that some of this money has been stolen. Some former governors have been prosecuted and jailed for misappropriation of funds and money laundering.

In Imo state, Samuel Anyanwu of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second with 71,500 votes, with the Labour Party’s Athan Nneji Achonu third on 64,000.

Some clashes were reported in Bayelsa state during voting on Saturday. An electoral official was abducted a day before the polls before being released.

In Kogi state, two people accused of trying to steal ballot boxes have reportedly been shot dead, while the electoral body says it’s investigating opposition allegations that the results had been written before voting had even started.

These elections are seen as a test of how much confidence people still have in the country’s electoral process after February’s presidential election results were challenged by the two main opposition candidates.

They had alleged irregularities and sought to have the results overturned in court.

But President Bola Tinubu’s election victory was upheld, with the judges saying the opposition had failed to present any evidence of rigging.

The Katsina government has banned large religious, social and other night gatherings.

The information commissioner, Bala Salisu-Zango, made the announcement in a statement on Saturday.

LThe commissioner said, “This ban includes large religious and social public gatherings with the exception of obligatory prayers.”

The commissioner, however, said permission must be obtained in the case of such gatherings during hours of the day.

“When it becomes necessary to hold the gathering, permission must be sought from a police divisional officer within the local government area where the gathering will take place.

“This announcement is in the best public interest and safety,” he said.The commissioner said that the ban took immediate effect.

Mr Salisu-Zango, therefore, urged the public to strictly comply with the directives, as violators would face the full wrath of the law.

Voting has commenced at Agbadu Bunu village in Kaba/Bunu Local Government Area in kogi state on Saturday.

Governorship election is taking place across polling units in the state.

President Bola Tinubu on Monday swore in three new ministers during the second Federal Executive Council held at the council chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The new cabinet members are Balarabe Lawal from Kaduna State as Minister of Environment, Jamila Bio-Ibrahim from Kwara, Minister of Youths and Ayodele Olawande from Ondo, Minister of State for Youths.

The ministers were the three nominated by Mr Tinubu to take charge of the newly created Ministry of Youths and a replacement for former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai.

The Ministry of Youth was formerly with the Ministry of Youths and Sports Development.

Mr El-Rufai was rejected during the Senate ministerial screening process when a member brought up a petition against him.

The council also observed a minute of silence for a former member of cabinet, Mobolaji Ajose-Adeogun, who died on July 1 at the age of 96.

He was appointed the FCT Minister in 1976 by the Murtala Mohammed military administration and served until 1979.

The Lagos State House of Assembly ad hoc committee has visited those whose buildings were demolished by the state task force in Mosafejo Oworonshoki community of the state.

The committee, led by its chairman, Nureni Akinsanya (Mushin I Constituency), visited the area for an on-the-spot assessment of the demolished buildings on Tuesday.

The other members of the committee included Lukmon Olumoh, Sanni Okanlawon, Kehinde Joesph and Obafemi Saheed.

The Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa, last Thursday at plenary inaugurated an eight-man committee to investigate the demolition of buildings in Kosofe area by the state’s task force.

Mr Akinsanya said the committee was visiting the affected areas with a plea to the victims to maintain peace as the issue was being investigated by the assembly.He said:

“We are at the scene at the behest of the speaker who shares his pain and had asked the agency to stop the demolition with immediate effect.

“We are also at the scene to see the extent of the demolition and to know the number of victims that are involved in the exercise.”

He said the committee would invite officials of the community development committee (CDC) and the community development area (CDA) in the area.

Mr Akinsanya urged the affected victims to avail the committee with any information needed to help the investigation.

In their responses, the affected community confirmed that the agency stopped the demolition exercise after the order from the House of Assembly.

A resident of the community, Olarenwaju Olusegun, who spoke on behalf of the affected residents, thanked Mr Obasa and members for their swift response to the community’s plight.

He told the committee that the community would be glad if there was a provision for the children whose schools were also demolished.

He promised the committee that the community would continue to be law-abiding and peaceful.

The Osun government says it will commence free medical care and surgical palliative for the residents of the state to minimise the effects of fuel subsidy removal.

Jola Akintola, the state’s commissioner for health, said this at a news conference on Tuesday in Osogbo.

Mr Akintola said that the medical care programme tagged “Imole free medical care” which was the second phase, would serve as health care palliative to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal on the people.

The commissioner said that in furtherance of the governor’s love for his people, he had instructed that palliative measures be given to the people of the state in the areas of medical care.

He said medical palliative became necessary in view of the current situation of things in the country.

He said the first phase of the programme, which was carried out between February and March 2023, catered to 22,000 people.

“As a way of touching the lives of sick people in the state, the governor assembled qualified health workers in the state, spearheaded by those at the Uniosun Teaching Hospital, to take health care to our people.

“Although the initial plan was to have 2,000 people taken care of at each of the nine federal constituencies, which equals 18,000 people, the medical team, however, ended up taking care of 22,000 people,” he said.

Mr Akintola said the medical palliative would commence on Aug. 16, and it would be flagged off at the Ilesa General Hospital.

He said medical care and surgeries such as general surgical care, eye surgery, eyeglasses and medical care would be provided for free by the state government.

The commissioner said that the six centres in the six towns of Ilesa, Ile-Ife (Osun East), Ede, Iwo (Osun West) and Ila and Osogbo (Osun Central) would be used for the medical outreach programme.

Also, Peter Olaitan, the chief medical director (CMD) of UniOsun Teaching Hospital said that only minor surgical procedures would be attended to during the programme.

Mr Olaitan, who is also the chairman, implementation committee of the Imole surgical and medical outreach, said people that requires major surgical operations would be given referrals to the teaching hospital for their treatment

Governor Dikko Radda has appointed ex-Deputy Governor Abdullahi Garba as secretary to the state government.

A statement by Mr Radda’s chief press secretary on Monday, Ibrahim Kaula, said Mr Abdullahi would replace Ahmed Dangiwa, who was nominated as a minister.

“The appointment is with immediate effect; Abdullahi is expected to bring on board his vast wealth of experience as a technocrat.

His contributions to the development and growth of the state, while serving as deputy to former governor Ibrahim Shema, remain unmatched,” Mr Radda said.

The new SSG had served as Katsina’s attorney general and commissioner for justice from 2003 to 2009 and later as education commissioner.

He is currently the pro-chancellor and chairman of the governing council of the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Katsina.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has set up a palliative committee for the Sustainable Action for Economic Recovery (SAfER).

This is according to a statement issued on Monday in Ibadan by the chief press secretary to the Governor, Sulaimon Olanrewaju.

SAfER is meant to mitigate the effects of the removal of fuel subsidies and the resultant economic difficulties on the citizens of the state.

The 15-man committee is headed by the chief of staff, Segun Ogunwuyi, while Musibau Babatunde, who is the state commissioner for budget and economic planning, will serve as its secretary.

Other members of the committee include the finance commissioner, Akinola Ojo; the commissioner for agriculture and rural development, Olasunkanm Olaleye; the commissioner for local government and chieftaincy matters, Segun Olayiwola; the commissioner for information, Dotun Oyelade; and the special adviser, labour matters, Bayo Titilola-Sodo.

The statement further indicated that Bayo Lawal, senior executive assistant on general duties; Kolawole Gafar, executive assistant on finance, budget, and economic planning and Rtd CP Sunday Odukoya, executive assistant on security, are members of the committee.

Also, Ololade Ajibola, senior special assistant on special duties; Bishop Daniel Oluwajimade, representative of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); and Muniru Ogundipe, representative of the Muslim Community.

Ademola Babalola will represent the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) while Jide Bamgbose will represent the civil society organisations (CSOs) as members of the committee.

The governor advised the committee to let the sufferings of the masses propel their loyalty and admonished them to move with speed and efficiency.The committee will have its inaugural meeting on Tuesday.

Stakeholders from the Niger Delta region have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to appoint an indigene of the area as his minister of Niger Delta Affairs.

Frank Oyosongo and Godwin Edikan, chair and secretary of the Movement for the Protection of Oil-Producing Communities in Niger Delta, made the appeal on Sunday in Yenagoa.

In a joint signed statement, the stakeholders said an individual from the oil-producing areas understands the plight of the people and would be in the best position to advise the president.

They noted that the Niger Delta affairs ministry was more about political expediency and required someone from the area.

According to the stakeholders, by the Nigerian constitution, every state is entitled to produce a minister, and the president has fulfilled that requirement.They argued that experts and a minister in the relevant field would man each ministry.

“The Ministry of Justice will always be manned by a lawyer. The Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs is more about political expediency and requires someone from an oil-producing area within the Niger Delta region,” they said.

They urged the president to “put square pegs in square holes” when allocating portfolios to his team of ministers.

“This is one of those responsibilities he must discharge to the satisfaction of well-meaning Nigerians and to the people of the Niger Delta region in particular,” the group added.

A chieftain of the Labour Party in Edo, Monday Eboigbe, says the party has perfected plans to transform the state through technology advancement, improved healthcare, education, agriculture, commerce, tourism and tight security in four years.

In an interview in Abuja, Mr Eboigbe, who is leading the committee of global experts, explained that they had researched thoroughly and submitted the first phase of implementable solutions to Edo challenges.

“As I speak with you today, you cannot access my state unless through Benin,” said the Labour Party chieftain.

“The moment we are able to do that in the three senatorial districts, we would have succeeded in removing our youths from the streets to a meaningful business,” he said.

“It is our dream to ensure that every son and daughter in Edo does not have to wait to be employed by anybody. The moment you finish your vocational school, the government will ensure we provide those facilities you will need in the microfinance bank and give you some time to work and start paying,” Mr Eboigbe stated.

He further stated, “At the end of the day, the issue of unemployment will become history in this state. We are going to create a market along the road so that people can come from other states and patronise our agriculture, to patronise products that we will be bringing out from our university of technology.”

He added that the Labour Party would create that “type of commerce,” adding, “We are going to encourage our traders, give them a good market so that at the end of the day, we will make at least 35 per cent of Edo people millionaires.”

The party’s candidate, Peter Obi, in the February 25 presidential poll, is in court seeking to replace incumbent President Bola Tinubu.

Mr Obi promised during electioneering that he would turn the fortunes of Africa’s most populous nation around and fight corruption head-on.

The police command in Lagos State says it is investigating the death of Mr Adeniyi Sanni, a senior aide to the chairman of the Senate committee on appropriations, Sen. Solomon Adeola.

The command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development to journalists on Sunday.

“Police confirmed the killing of Mr Adeniyi Sanni. The wife told the police that her husband called saying he was stopped by ‘some soldiers’ demanding to see his papers.

“He was later found dead with about five bullet holes in his back and three shells of expended ammunition by his body. Investigation has commenced,” Hundeyin said.

A statement signed by Kayode Odunaro, spokesperson for Sen. Adeola (APC/Ogun West) said the lifeless body of Mr Adeniyi was found with gunshot wounds and was dumped at Toyota Bus Stop in the Oshodi area of Lagos on Saturday morning.

According to Mr Odunaro, information available to the bereaved Senator in Abuja indicates that Sanni was stopped at a checkpoint around Berger area of Lagos on his way to his home at Isheri.

“He was asked to provide the documents of the car he was driving, which he did through his wife who sent all the documents to his phone WhatsApp.

“It was gathered that the wife called a while later and the late Mr Sanni told him they were still checking the vehicle’s papers.

“His apprehensive wife later called on Mr Sanni’s associates to say he could no longer reach her husband on phone necessitating the mobilisation of a search party,“ he said.

The statement said that the Sanni’s wife was later called by passersby through the next-of-Kin phone number on his driver’s licence that the body of her husband was dumped around Toyota Bus Stop, Oshodi, with gunshot wounds.

“Sen. Adeola, who is involved in the ongoing ministerial screening at the Senate, is shocked beyond words and devastated by the news of this sad incident.

“Mr Sanni was his close aide for over two decades,” Mr Odunaro said in the statement.

The Senate has rejected President Bola Tinubu’s request to send military intervention to remove the coupists in Niger Republic, a move that cancels any hope of Nigeria marching to war against the neighbouring nation as the ECOWAS 7-day ultimatum to the junta approaches its last hours.

Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, “condemned in totality the coup that took place in Niger Republic” but asked Mr Tinubu to explore lasting resolutions that would still preserve the “cordial relationship” both Niger and Nigeria have enjoyed for years.

“The Senate recognises the fact that President Tinubu, by the virtue of his correspondence, has not asked that we should approve a request to go to war, but he expressed a wish to solicit support in the successful implementation of the ECOWAS communique,” Mr Akpabio said after a two-hour closed-door session on Saturday.

“The Senate is mandated to further engage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on how best to resolve the issue in view of the cordial relationship between Nigeria and Niger,” Mr Akpabio stated.

A military junta spearheaded by Abdouramane Tchiani last week ousted Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, and has since been running the nation.

Since Mr Tchiani gained the support of Mali and Burkina Faso, he has cut off ties with Nigeria, U.S., Togo and France.