Fuel subsidy to end by June 2023 — Finance Minister
Zainab Ahmed, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, has said that the Federal Government will do away with fuel subsidy by June 2023.
Ahmed said this on Tuesday in Abuja, during a press conference to mark the end of the 28th National Economic Summit (NES).
According to the minister, the fuel subsidy, which is a costly public expenditure, has consumed N2.565 trillion between January and August 2022.
The Federal Government had proposed to spend N3.3 trillion on fuel subsidy between January and June 2023, as captured in its Medium-Term Expenditure Framework.
NAN reported that Ahmed, said the removal of fuel subsidy is part of the federal government’s medium-term plan in the budget.
She, however, said that the challenge now is how to go about removing the subsidy.
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Reps panel summons Total, others over $85bn tax
The House of Representatives ad hoc committee on the structure and accountability of Joint Venture (JV) business and Production Sharing Contracts (PSCS) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Ltd. has summoned Total Upstream over tax claims of 85 billion dollars.
Abubakar Fulata, the chairman of the committee, said this at an investigative hearing in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said almost all the oil companies in Nigeria collected capital allowance and investment tax claims without a Certificate of Acceptance of Fixed Assets (CAFA), which constituted a breach of Nigeria’s existing laws.
CAFA is generally issued to evidence approval for the purchase of assets valued at ₦500,000 and above.
Fulata also summoned AGIP Energy Natural Resources Ltd., Shell Nigeria Exploration Company, Ltd., Chevron, and other oil companies, saying that most of the companies were making claims of capital allowances from the government without the certificate.
Companies found to be culpable, he said, would be forced to make necessary refunds to the government coffers. This is according to NAN.
8,520 farmers, SMEs benefit from World Bank “APPEALS Project” in Enugu
According to the Enugu State Government, 8,520 farmers have so far benefited from the World Bank-assisted Agro-Processing, Productivity Enhancement, and Livelihood Improvement Support (APPEALS) Project in the state.
Cecilia Ezeilo, the Enugu State Deputy Governor, disclosed this during a two-day World Bank 9th Implementation Support Mission held in Enugu on Tuesday.
According to her, the project has empowered Small Medium Enterprises (SME) totaling 3,478, Women and Youths Empowerment Programme (WYEP) and 1,700 farmers.
She added that APPEALs project which is a brain project of the World Bank has impacted greatly on the agricultural sector in Enugu State.
“Many farmers in the state have also benefited through capacity training, technology demonstration, and the construction of aggregation and processing centres,” Ezeilo said.
She added that the support provided by the APPEALS Project had impacted farmers by enhancing their productivity across the three priority value chains of rice, cashews, and poultry.
She concluded that the project would enhance the state’s profile as a “treasury basket” for food production in the shortest possible time.
Over 1,000 APC members defect to PDP in Lagos
No fewer than 1,000 members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos Mainland Local Government Area (LGA) defected to the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Tuesday.
The defectors cited the lack of internal democracy in the ruling party as one of the reasons for their defection.
The NAN reported that the defectors, who are from Ward J, Iwaya Area of the LGA, were received into the party at the PDP LGA Secretariat in the Alagomeji area of the council.
The leader of the defectors, Nurudeen Daudu, a former aide to Olanrewaju Oshun, who represents Lagos Mainland II in the Lagos Assembly, said that more APC loyalists would join them in the PDP in batches.
Daudu, who thanked the leaders of the opposition party in the council, said that so many ambitions and aspirations had been allegedly buried in the APC because of a lack of internal democracy.
Donald Trump launches 2024 presidential bid
Former US President Donald John Trump has announced his intention to return to the White House in 2024.
His bid will be the third for the presidency—an announcement he made on Tuesday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, a week after midterm elections in which Republicans failed to win as many seats in Congress as they had hoped.
In a speech broadcast live on US television, Trump spoke to hundreds of supporters in a ballroom decorated with several chandeliers and lined with dozens of American flags.
“In order to make America great again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” Trump told the cheering crowd of donors and longtime supporters.
“I am running because I believe the world has not yet seen the true glory of what this nation can be,” he said.
“We will again put America first,” he added.
Earlier in the day, aides filed paperwork with the US Federal Election Commission setting up a committee called “Donald J Trump for President 2024.” This is according to Al-Jazeera.
There is a long road ahead before the Republican presidential nominee is formally selected in the summer of 2024, with the first state-level contests more than a year away.
