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NDUME THE PETREL AND TINUBUS TAX REFORMS OF TROUBLE.By: Inuwa Bwala

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NDUME THE PETREL AND TINUBUS TAX REFORMS OF TROUBLE.By: Inuwa Bwala

Intrigues, intimidation, blacknail,bribes, and lobbying were said to be part of the strategies used in the moves to get the 4 Tax Reform Bills presented to the National Assembly by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu passed.

Unconfirmed reports had it that, Senators were offered N50m each, while N30m was dangled before each member of the House of Representatives.

Recalcitrant Senators and members were either threatened or blackmailed, even as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s foot soldiers employed lobbying tactics to get the bills passed.

But like the infamous Third Term Bill of the Olusegun Obasanjo era, the bills seem to be heading for the dustbin. Nigerians, especially Northerners, have never been so united in opposing a particular government policy, as they did over the obvious ill-fated tax reform bill of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In what could be described as a courageous stance against their own government, members of the rulling All Progressives Congress, APC, were in the vanguard of campaigning against the bill and may eventually shoot it down.

Both Senators and members of the House of Representatives, seem to tow the lines of the Northern Governors Forum, the Arewa Consultative Forum and the National Economic Council: all of whom advocated for the withdrawal of the bills, to allow for wider consultations and Public sensitization.

To them, the tax reform bills are delicate and require a deeper reflection on the mood and socio-economic realities of the country, before presentation, and passage.

In the face of attempts by their leadership to have the bills sail through, the lawmakers were vehement in opposing the passage of the bills, arguing that the mood of the country and the socio- economic realities in Nigeria cannot accommodate the assumed bebefits.

The petrel in the red chambers, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume: who represents Borno South Senatorial District, seem to have spoken the minds of other Nigerians, in the crusade against the tax bills.

To him, the benefits of the bill were only apparent to the President and his tax reform experts, but the generality of Nigerians are bound to suffer in the long run, if the bills are allowed.

Ndume, during plenary and in an interview with Channels Televission insists that the seeming desperation on the part of the leadership of National Assembly smacks of a plot to further deprive Nigerians of the dividends of democracy.

Ndume’s position was re-echoed in the House of Representative, where members shouted down attempts by the Speaker, Honorable Abbas, to get a soft landing for the bills.
While the Senate President, Godswill Akpadio seem to have had his way with the bills, using the gavel: referring all four bills to the Finance Committee, the story with the House of Representatives is a different ball game.

Debates on the bill have been differed for Tuesday in the House of Representatives apparently buying time to further lobby. But most vocal memberst of the house: names with held told me in confidence that, since the law requires the passage of the bills by both chambers of the National Assembly, any action taken by the Senate will be an exercise in futility, as the House of Representative is determined to shoot the bills down.

Whatever becomes the fate of the President’s four tax reform bills, it is clear that, the Executive and the leadership of the National Assembly may have their ways but as Senator Ndume said, the lawmakers will have their says.

NDUME THE PETREL AND TINUBUS TAX REFORMS OF TROUBLE.By: Inuwa Bwala

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Armed robbery foiled by Bauchi Police, three suspects arrested in Bauchi

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Armed robbery foiled by Bauchi Police, three suspects arrested in Bauchi

By: Zagazola Makama

Three persons were arrested following a foiled armed robbery along the Bauchi–Gombe Federal Highway in Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State on Jan. 26.

Sources said the incident occurred at about 12:16 a.m. when armed robbers blocked the road near Kalajanga Hamlet via Bara Village.

Officers on routine patrol responded promptly, engaging the hoodlums and forcing them to abandon their operation and flee into the surrounding bush.

The trail of the robbers led authorities to the house of one Nasiru Ibrahim of Saddiya Hamlet, where two of his children, Isya Nasiru, 20, and Umar Nasiru, 18, were also arrested in connection with the case.

Recovered items included two sticks, a touch light, three bags, a local bullet-proof shirt, face masks, two pairs of shoes, an Oppo android phone, and several local charms.

Sources say Investigations are ongoing.

Armed robbery foiled by Bauchi Police, three suspects arrested in Bauchi

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Four killed, 15 injured in lone motor accident on Ibadan–Oyo Expressway

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Four killed, 15 injured in lone motor accident on Ibadan–Oyo Expressway

By: Zagazola Makama

Four people were killed and fifteen others injured in a lone motor accident involving a Glynlyon truck along the Ibadan–Oyo Expressway on Jan. 26.

Sources said the truck, with registration number LSD 221 YM, was coming from Kebbi State to Ogun State, carrying rocky stones as well as 23 passengers seated on the stones at the back of the vehicle.

The driver, identified as Muhammed Jibril of Adamawa State, reportedly lost control of the vehicle after hitting a pothole in the Fiditi area, causing the truck to overturn.

The heavy stones reportedly fell on the passengers, killing four instantly, while fifteen others sustained varying degrees of injuries.

The injured were rushed to General Hospital Oyo for treatment, and the bodies of the deceased were evacuated to the hospital mortuary for preservation and autopsy.

Four killed, 15 injured in lone motor accident on Ibadan–Oyo Expressway

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Six people abducted by armed bandits in Maru, Zamfara State

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Six people abducted by armed bandits in Maru, Zamfara State

By: Zagazola Makama

Suspected armed bandits on Jan. 25 abducted six people at gunpoint in Tauji village, Kanoma District of Maru Local Government Area, Zamfara State, while the victims were observing Isha’i prayers.

Sources said one of the victims has been identified as Yahuza Mikailu, 40, while the identities of the remaining five are yet to be confirmed.

The abductors reportedly took the victims to an unknown location.

Efforts are ongoing by security operatives to track the bandits, rescue the victims, and apprehend the perpetrators.

Six people abducted by armed bandits in Maru, Zamfara State

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