As the 2023 Supplementary budget forwarded to the Oyo State House of Assembly by Governor Seyi Makinde scales 2nd reading, the State lawmakers have harped on the need for the State Government to put new measures in place towards expanding and broadening the tax net of the State in order to fund the budget increment.
This was part of the submission of the lawmakers as the 2023 Supplementary budget is referred to the House Committee on Finance, Appropriation and Budget for further scrutiny.
It would be recalled that Governor Seyi Makinde is seeking the upward review of the 2023 budget from #310,432,500,000 to #352,282,500,000.
The Governor said the supplementary became necessary due to the adverse economic effects of removal of subsidy on Premium Motor Spirit PMS and the floating of the exchange rates by the Federal Government.
While deliberating on the supplementary budget, the lawmakers noted the vital need for the State Government to increase and expand its tax revenue base to fund the budget so as to avoid placing additional burden on the citizens who are already feeling the adverse effects of the two Government policies.
They appealed to the State Government not to increase the tax rates but to ensure that more people who have not been paying taxes are captured in the tax nets.
This is just as they appealed to the State Government to ensure that adequate and necessary tax remittances are made to the coffers of the State Government to avoid leakages
The Speaker, Hon. Adebo Ogundoyin who appreciated his colleagues for their various contributions assured that the State legislature would continue to perform its oversight functions on Government activities.
The residents of Ariyibi/Ajibode axis have lamented poor state of the road linking the area to Ajibode/UI axis, Ibadan.
Recall, ODUDUWA NEWS had reported how many community roads in Oyo State have been in the dilapidated state calling the attention of the State government for rehabilitation.
A tricycle rider who spoke today with ODUDUWA NEWS correspondent under the condition of annonymity, decried the poor condition of the road. He claimed that motorists find it difficult to ply the road as most of their cars and motorcycles get damaged and often taken to the mechanic workshops everytime.
A motorist, Abdulateef Olamide in his words, said, “we are begging Gov Makinde to come to our aide because the road is no longer motorable”.
He lamented poor state of the road especially at the time people have taken the route as alternate access to their various destinations to poor condition of intra community roads.
The residents of the area who spoke with ODUDUWA NEWS all lamented the effect of the bad road on their economic activities. Some of the residents spoke on how their goods felt spoilt on the road while going to their various shops.
“We are appealing to State Govt to come to our aide as the road has been badly damaged, many people find it difficult to get to their shops on time and when they close they get home late hours especially when it rains”, concluded Mr. Olapade.
Gates leading into the Oyo State House of Assembly were shut as legislative staff under the umbrella of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), Oyo State chapter commenced an indefinite strike, on Monday.
Holding up placards with inscriptions to drive home their demands, the legislative staff blocked the entrance with some sitting while others gyrated to the sounds of music that blared to enliven the spirit of the protest.
The Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila has said no amount of propaganda can derail the current administration’s focus.
In what appears to be a reaction to the news making the rounds, especially on social media, that cabal has hijacked Tinubu’s administration, Gbajabiamila said the agenda of the current administration is not driven by pecuniary politics.
In a post on his X account on Sunday, the Chief of Staff said the Tinubu administration has a critical assignment to deliver and the objectives will not be interrupted by baseless accusations from unverifiable quarters.
“Last Thursday, the SC gave the renewed hope agenda a stable platform to deliver good governance to Nigerians. Our agenda is not driven by pecuniary politics, and no amount of propaganda can derail our focus. We have a critical assignment to deliver and our objectives will not be interrupted by baseless accusations from unverifiable quarters. Nigerians can rest assured that the President and his strong team will deliver without distractions,” he wrote.
A Man Identified as Wasiu Oyekan has beaten one of his neighbours to death over N4,500 in Ogun State.
ODUDUWA NEWS reports that the neighbour, Ibrahim Lateef, died on Sunday when the suspect allegedly punched him in the neck and he fell, hitting his head against the ground.
The incident happened around Kobiti Central Mosque, Kobiti, Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
The said Wasiu Oyekan of Ile-Elewe Family in Kobiti was reported to have accused the deceased’s son and one other boy of spoiling his PS video game while playing same sometimes in August.
Oyekan had demanded a sum of N9,000 to repair the game, out of which the boy’s 50-year-old father gave him N4,500, with a promise to pay the balance later.
The delay in paying the N4,500 balance prompted Oyekan to drag the deceased’s son to the police station on Sunday.
“When his father returned home and discovered that Wasiu had taken his son to the police station, he went straight to him and while he was trying to ask why Wasiu took his son to the police station, he attacked him with a blow in his neck. Lateef fell down immediately, and his head hit the ground. He started bleeding from his nose and ears. He eventually died,” an eyewitness said.
The eyewitness, who did not want her name in print, said the suspect is presently at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Police Headquarters in Eleweran, Abeokuta.
Lateef, also known as Tijuuku, is reportedly survived by his mother, a wife, who is nursing a two-month-old baby girl, his other children and younger siblings.
It was gathered that the victim’s aged mother fainted when she received the news of her son’s death.
Contacted, the Ogun State Police Command confirmed the incident to our correspondent.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, referred our correspondent to the Divisional Police Officer of Oke-Itoku, CSP Hadiza Abu Oganyi, under whose jurisdiction the incident happened.
The DPO confirmed the incident, saying she had transferred the case to the force headquarters the day it happened.
According to her, the deceased went to fight Oyekan for reporting his child at the police station, saying that was the beginning of the incident.
The DPO said she would forward other details to the PPRO as she is not allowed to talk to the press.
Former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele, who had been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), was reportedly released on Thursday night but swiftly apprehended by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), according to insider sources.
A high-ranking security official revealed, “Emefiele regained his freedom last night, but he was immediately picked up by operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,” confirming the transfer of his custody to the EFCC as directed by the Presidency.
Emefiele had been detained by the DSS in June, coinciding with his suspension from office by President Bola Tinubu. He faces serious allegations of terrorism financing and fraud. Reports indicated that Emefiele was on the verge of being released by the DSS due to a plea bargain agreement with the federal government. This arrangement hinged on his willingness to return a sum of N50 billion, which he was accused of embezzling.
The delay in Emefiele’s prosecution reportedly stemmed from the requirement for President Tinubu’s approval, which was pending because he was out of the country. While Tinubu was still out of the country, a source had then stated, “The exclusive deal has been finalized awaiting Tinubu’s order. Tinubu is expected back in Nigeria this weekend after a medical visit to France.”
Allegations have surfaced concerning substantial sums of money traced to Emefiele’s accounts, which he allegedly intended to use for his presidential campaign.
Notably, the Ministry of Justice spokesperson denied the existence of any non-prosecution plea bargain involving Emefiele. This development follows the recent release of Abdulrasheed Bawa, the former chairman of the EFCC, who had been detained by the DSS for 134 days without trial. Bawa’s arrest had come following allegations of abuse of office, coinciding with his suspension by President Tinubu on June 14, 2023.
The aunty of late musician Ileriouluwa Oladimeji Aloba, professionally known as Mohbad, has chastised his widow wife.
Since his death, many have pointed accusing fingers at his widow’s wife for supposedly murdering the singer.
In a video that has gone viral, Mohbad’s mother’s sister questions why there were clothing soaked in blood when the singer died.
She claimed to have visited their home and seen the blood-soaked garments, which perplexed her.
She swore that if Omowunmi had any role in the singer’s death, she would not get off lightly, and she cursed her.
“Wunmi do you want to tell me that Mohbad’s dad is lying against you? When I got to your house after MohBad d!ed, I saw many clothes that were soaked in blod. I was so surprised, I had to ask my sister why is there so much blood on these clothes. Nobody asked you anything. If you know about Mohbad’s deah, you will never go scot-free. God will use the blood relationship between me and Mohbad to punish you. I have so many things I want to say but I am still holding on. You will not escape it”, she said in her dialect,
President of African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi A. Adesina, disclosed this at the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue, World Food Prize 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America.
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who is attending the event in pursuance of the food security and diversification policy of the Tinubu administration, had on Wednesday delivered his keynote address at the ongoing Dialogue.
Delivering his own speech titled, “From Dakar to Des Moines,” Dr. Adesina noted that the decision to pump such huge funds into Nigeria’s agribusiness was part of the resolve to develop Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) in 13 countries.
Explaining that it was the core of the food and agriculture delivery compacts from the Dakar 2 Summit held earlier this year in Dakar, Senegal, the AfDB President said, “We are investing heavily in the development of SAPZs to support the development of agricultural value chains, food processing and value addition, enabling infrastructure and logistics to promote local, regional, and international trade in food.
“The African Development Bank Group is investing $853 million in the development of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, and it has mobilized additional co-financing of $661 million, for a total commitment of $1.5 billion. We are deploying effective partnerships at scale. We are currently implementing 25 Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones in 13 countries.
“For example, the African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development provided $520 million for the development of 8 special agro-industrial processing zones in Nigeria. The second phase of the program aims to mobilize an additional $1 billion to deliver special agro-industrial processing zones in 24 States of Nigeria”.
Dr. Adesina regretted that while much progress had “been made in African agriculture, 283 million people still go to bed hungry in Africa, about a third of the 828 million people that suffer hunger globally.”
He however described the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue World Food Prize 2023, as a “journey and narrative of how we are combining the power of science, technology, policies, and politics to ensure that Africa fully unlocks its agricultural potential, and feeds itself, with pride.”
The AfDB President thanked Vice President Kashim Shettima, and the President of Ethiopia, Sahle-Work Zewde, for participating in the global event, saying their presence is an indication “that Africa has the political will and is fully ready to tackle food insecurity and make hunger history” on the continent.
Also speaking during the fire-side chat with the AfDB President, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, Vice President Kashim Shettima who spoke on the Tinubu administration’s initiatives for food security said the quality of present leadership in Nigeria and the rest of Africa will drive transformation in agriculture and other sectors.
According to him, “a nation falls or rises fundamentally due to the quality of its leadership. Right now Africa is blessed with quite a handful of quality leaders that have the drive, passion and skills set to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.
“Bola Ahmed Tinubu, my boss, is a good example, Macky Sall of Senegal and of course, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt are doing wonderfully well, just to mention a few of the African leaders that are distinguishing themselves in leadership.
“I want to assure this gathering of investors and stakeholders in the agricultural sector that my boss, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is a quintessential 21st century modern African leader who is determined to redefine the meaning and concept of modern leadership.
“Be rest assured that there will be a sea change in the fortunes of the Nigerian nation and by extention the African continent in the next couple of years because Nigeria is an anchor nation,” the VP added.
On wheat production, Sen. Shettima said “our target towards wheat production in Nigeria is to achieve 50% self sufficiency in the next 3 cycles. It is inconceivable that we are the second largest wheat importer in the world.
“Luckily, we have already procured the heat tolerant variety of wheat seeds and we are going to drive that process by supporting the farmers with the heat tolerant variety, agricultural extention services, fertilizer and also hope to increase the irrigation areas to 1 million hectares in the next cropping cycle.
“We need to produce about 2.4 million tonnes of wheat grains in Nigeria. We are going to reach out to our farmers through small irrigation schemes and through digitalisation. All the actors in the value chain will be sufficiently taken care of through innovative finance, partial credit guarantees and crop insurance,” the VP emphasized.
For rice production, the VP said the major challenge for Nigeria is the insufficiency of paddy rice. He noted that Nigeria has adequate milling capacity but “we need to produce 3 to 4 million tonnes of paddy rice to meet our requirement of about 2.5 million tonnes per annum. We have 75 million hectares of arable land and most of it suited for rice cultivation.”
He added that “we will provide our farmers with certified seeds, fertilzer, extension services, the digitlization of services, inputs, finance and market information. Our target is to achieve self sufficiency in rice latest by 2027.”
The VP also spoke about the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), reiterating the Tinubu administration’s commitment to providing an enabling environment for investors in the zones.
He said government would create an SAPZ development authority that will operate like a one-stop shop where regulatory and associated issues will be addressed.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has visited President Bola Tinubu at the State House.
The purpose of the visit was not disclosed, but it may not be unrelated to Tinubu’s recent victory in court.
The visit comes a day after the Supreme Court upheld Tinubu’s election victory and dismissed the appeals of his main challengers, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).
Former President Goodluck Jonathan described himself as a “roving ambassador” while speaking to newsmen.
He spoke on Friday while fielding questions from State House reporters after a closed door meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The former president called on political leaders and former presidents to come together so that citizens would not suffer.
When asked about the Supreme Court verdict, he said: “We need to bring all our political leaders including all our former Presidents together, we will not be fighting, if top leaders continue fighting they will not suffer that much but the down trodden will suffer. And we want to end that tension so we move forward.”
