The Nigerian Senate on Wednesday passed for second reading, an amendment to the 2024 Appropriation Act to the tune of N6.2 trillion for capital and recurrent expenditure for the 2024 fiscal year.

The amended bill was presented to the Senate by Senator Michael Bamidele Opeyemi, indicating that the sum of N3.2 trillion is for capital expenditure, while N3 trillion goes for recurrent expenditure, to be spent before the end of 2024.

In his contribution, Senator Adamu Aliero representing Kebbi South, said the amendment, which would create opportunity for funding of critical projects that were not captured in the principal Act, was in tandem with the Renewed Hope Agenda. 

He reminded the Senate that the amendment will take care of the minimum wage that is being discussed with labour, adding that it was important that senators expeditiously pass it into law to avoid strike.

Speaking on the bill, Senator Seriake Dickson differed, saying that the Senate should not pass the bill in a hurry to avoid pitfalls.

He recalled the backlash from the public over a bill he said was previously passed in a hurry, noting that legislators should avoid public ridicule in the handling of legislative activities.

Dickson also disagreed with suggestions that the amendment to the Appropriation Act and the amendment to the Finance Act, 2023, be lumped together, stating: “I don’t believe we lumped the two bills together in a way and manner we are doing and if I have my way Mr President, I like to suggest that we step the Finance bill down.

“Let it not be that without the experts and critical stakeholders participating in public hearing. I think that we should be very cautious when we are discussing taxation and even these banks we intend to generate N500 billion are all running around to meet recapitalisation. These are two critical bills.”

Senator Sani Musa representing Niger North on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress maintained that banks earn enormous profit which can be inferred from their end of the year reports.

He said the profit was made possible due to robust policies of the government, hence, it should not be difficult for banks to be taxed.

He said: “Money bills are very important bills. The point is that if you look at the end of year report, you discover that commercial banks are making so much money despite the hardship pervading the country.

“I think banks should be well taxed because they make this profit out of the pronouncement made by this government. The reason for removing oil subsidy, the reason for abridging the gap is for the good of this country.”

After contribution by other senators in favour of amendment to the Act, Deputy Senate President, Jibrin Barau, who presided over the plenary called for voice votes and it was passed for second reading.

The governor of Taraba State Agbu Kefas has appointed 1,270 executive aides.

A total of 1,075 were appointed within 24 hours between Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th July 2024.

In a press statement issued by the Secretary to the State Government Gebon Kataps, the appointees are to serve as either special advisers, senior special assistants, special assistants, constituency special assistants, or members of boards, commissions, and agencies of the Taraba government.

As of Monday, the state government released a total of 573 names and subsequently released 502 Tuesday night.

The number adds to the previous 195 earlier approved by the state government. The appointees are yet to be given portfolios.

The appointment is however in addition to the five others appointed with portfolios in his cabinet on assumption of office.

The last batch of appointees is awaited as the state government says the appointment is in four phases.

Assembly Appeals Judgement

Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja has reinstated Philip Shaibu as the Deputy Governor of Edo State, months after he was impeached by the state assembly. 

In the Wednesday judgment, Justice Omotoso declared the impeachment by the Edo State House of Assembly as illegal, unconstitutional, null, and void.

The court held that the said impeachment was in gross violation of the provisions of both sections 188 and 35 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended.

The judge held that the impeachment was in gross violation of the Constitution.

Aside from restoring Shaibu, the court also ordered that his salaries and allowances should be paid to him from April when he was impeached as the deputy governor of the state.

The court issued an order of perpetual injunction restraining Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Edo State House of Assembly from stopping Shaibu from performing the functions of his office.

Justice Omotosho also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kayode Egbetokun to restore his security details. 

Meanwhile,  the Edo State House of Assembly has appealed the judgement of the High Court and has filed a motion for a stay of execution pending appeal.

Wednesday’s verdict came about three months after the lawmakers impeached the embattled 54-year-old as the state’s deputy governor.

In a move that was seen as the culmination of the long-drawn battle between him and Governor Godwin Obaseki, the lawmakers after investigations said they found Shaibu guilty of disclosure of government secrets.

The seven-man panel set up by the Edo State Assembly therefore recommended his impeachment on that ground.

The assembly then upheld and approved the recommendation of the seven-man panel and subsequently impeached him as the state’s deputy governor.

Eighteen out of 19 members present at plenary voted for Shaibu’s impeachment. Only one abstained from the headcount and voting process, ending the process.

The President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has forwarded a letter to the Senate, seeking their approval to add ₦6.2trillion to the ₦27.5trillion 2024 budget.

The President’s request was contained in a letter read during plenary on Wednesday by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

Details of the letter show President Tinubu seeks Senate approval for the withdrawal of ₦3.2 trillion from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, for capital expenditure.

The President, in the second leg of the request as contained in the letter, seeks approval for the withdrawal of another ₦3 trillion from the consolidated revenue fund for additional recurrent expenditure for the year ending on the 31st day of December , 2024.

He also requested in the letter, an Act to amend the Finance Act, 2023, to impose and charge windfall tax on banks and to provide for the administration of the tax and matters related thereto.

Naija News understands the President’s requests have already been listed on the Order Paper as Executive bills for consideration by the Senate.

The president said, “Pursuant to section 58 (2) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, I forward herewith the above-named bills for consideration and passage by the senate.

“The appropriation act amendment bill seeks to amend the principal act to provide the sum of N3,200,000,000,000 for Renewed Hope Infrastructure Projects and other critical infrastructure projects to be undertaken across the country and the sum of N3,000,000,000,000 to meet further recurrent expenditure requirements necessary for the proper operation of the federal government.

“They shall be funded by accruing to the federal government of Nigeria.

“Furthermore, the proposed amendments to the Finance Acts 2023 are required to a one-time windfall tax on the foreign exchange gains realised by banks in their 2023 financial statements to fund capital infrastructure development, education, and healthcare as well as welfare initiatives all which are components of the Renewed Hope Agenda.”

French Ligue 1 giants, Paris Saint Germain, are in the pole position to sign Super Eagles of Nigeria striker, Victor Osimhen, in this summer transfer window.
The future of Victor Osimhen has been uncertain since last December following his contract extension with Napoli which comes with an agreement that the Nigeria international is free to leave if a suitor pays his release clause.

Osimhen’s release clause in the contract which will expire on June 30, 2026, is said to be worth around €130 million. The said amount has scared most of his suitors away including Chelsea who initially looked like the favourites to sign him.

Even Arsenal and Manchester United who were reportedly ready for a player and cash swap deal with Napoli are yet to submit any concrete deal for the 25-year-old forward.

A post by transfer expert, Fabrizio Romano on his X page earlier today, July 17, confirmed that PSG and Napoli are in advanced talks over the future of Victor Osimhen.

If the ongoing talks are a success, Osimhen will become a direct replacement for French forward, Kylian Mbappe, who left the Parc des Princes for Real Madrid on free this summer.

The transfer expert wrote: “Paris Saint-Germain are advancing in talks with Victor Osimhen’s camp as their interest is now getting concrete.

“Osimhen is keen on joining PSG and open to the move if they can agree on a deal/fee with Napoli.

“He’d be very high on PSG’s list if one centre striker left.”

Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, a former NBA player and father of Basketball Hall of Fame guard Kobe Bryant, has died at the age of 69, La Salle University announced on Tuesday.

Bryant played at the Philadelphia school from 1973-1975 and coached the Explorers from 1993-96 after a career that saw him play from 1975-1983 for the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, then-San Diego Clippers and Houston Rockets as well as in Europe.

“We are saddened to announce the passing of La Salle basketball great Joe Bryant,” the school said in a statement. “He was a beloved member of the Explorer family and will be dearly missed.”

Bryant, a forward, played in Italy from 1983 to 1991 before closing his playing days with French side Mulhouse in 1991.

For his NBA career, Bryant averaged 8.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists a game.

As a head coach, Joe Bryant went 40-24 over parts of three seasons with the Women’s NBA Los Angeles Sparks. He also coached in Asia on clubs in Tokyo, Hokkaido, Bangkok and Fukuoka.

Kobe Bryant, born while his father was playing for the 76ers, was a five-time NBA champion, two-time Olympic gold medal winner and the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player who spent his entire NBA career from 1996-2016 with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Lakers legend Bryant, an 18-time NBA All-Star guard, was killed in a 2020 helicopter crash at age 41.

The planned arraignment of Yahaya Bello, former governor of Kogi State on alleged N82 billion fraud charges took a dangerous dimension on Wednesday when two senior advocates engaged in a war of words during the proceedings.

The two lawyers are Abdulwahab Mohammed, standing for Bello, SAN, and Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, standing for the federal government.

Trouble started when Mohammed announced his appearance for the former governor and left out his colleague, Adeola Adedipe, SAN.

However, the federal government counsel opposed the exclusion on the grounds that Adedipe should be included in the proceedings until discharged by the court.

Adedipe interrupted the argument of the federal government lawyer, insisting that he was not prepared to be part of the proceedings.

At this stage, Mohammed interjected and announced that Adedipe had filed a notice of withdrawal from the proceedings.

As Justice Emeka Nwite was about to deliver a ruling on the contentious appearance matter, Bello’s lawyer stood up and requested to be allowed to stay outside the proceedings if the court proceeded with the ruling.

Fuming with anger, Mohammed openly called Pinheiro, SAN, a rough lawyer who takes delight in misleading the court.

His attempt to make further abusive remarks about the federal government lawyer was aborted, but Mohammed refused to apologise, insisting that he would leave the court should the judge go ahead with the ruling.

When tempers rose beyond control, Justice Emeka Nwite, out of anger, abruptly brought the proceedings to an end by walking straight into his chamber.

At the time of this report, tension was still high in the courtroom.

Thousands of students at the University of Ibadan have protested against a hike in school fees and other issues.

As early as 8 a.m., the visibly angry students moved in large numbers to all the entrances of the institution and blocked them.

Both academic and non-academic staff were locked outside the gates.

After blocking all the entrances, they moved from one faculty to another to ensure that academic activities were totally paralysed.

The students who warned sternly that there should be no video recording of the protest explained that the school management has not been fair to them.

Some of them who spoke with Vanguard said three issues compelled them to troop out.

A male student said, “We are protesting against injustice and insensitivity of the state school authorities to our plight.”

“You can imagine the authorities saying they will be shedding power henceforth, which means there are days we will be in darkness. How do they expect us to study?”.

“Secondly, they have hiked school fees astronomically to an unimaginable proportion. Do they want us to abandon our studies? Our parents are saying there is no money. Even feeding is difficult and we are still trying to wriggle out of this they are bringing hike in tuition fees. We cannot take this any longer. Enough is enough”.

“The third issue is the victimization of some of our colleagues who protested last time. The police have arrested them and up to now, they are still being detained for saying no to injustice. They are hurting us and they don’t want us to complain.”

Three female students who are in science said the situation is worse for them as they have to pay through their noses.

One of them said when she gained admission, she paid around N78,000 but now she is asked to pay over N300,000; some are paying N200,000.

The event disrupted the early take-off of a programme scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Department of Economics, CBN Hall.

The students went to the premises and shut all the gates, while a few staff members who managed to trek from the gates scampered for safety.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, on Tuesday, threatened to shut down the country for a month in protest against plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the national minimum wage.

NLC’s threat came as the nation awaits a new national minimum wage following months of negotiations between Organised Labour, the Federal Government, and the Organised Private Sector.

NLC President, Joe Ajaero, declared the position of the union while speaking on the sidelines of the 67th Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association Annual General Meeting in Lagos.

Ajaero said, “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.

“The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month. We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it.”

The NLC president further stated that “We don’t have a situation where people determine their wages that amounts to some level of illegality. In the constitution, there is a provision for equal work for equal pay. If we go into job analysis and job evaluation, we may discover that a clerk here may be doing the same work as the clerk in Sokoto.

“The so-called decentralisation of wages to pay somebody here less than what the other person is receiving is against the concept of equity and equality before the law.”

According to the NLC president, the International Labour Organisation recognises wage as a national law, saying it is not for the sub-nationals.

The labour leader maintained that “every country has their minimum wage and some states are paying higher than the basic minimum wage, and that is the position of the law anywhere”.

However,  he said,  some people instigated by the governors were saying they would not be able to pay N60,000 even when their members were in the meeting with labour, saying this was being done in bad fate.

“We have put our members on notice that if these people succeed in coming up with such unpatriotic and obnoxious law. This democracy they are playing with, we have enough in this country in terms of hardship. Some people, based on their privileged positions want to inflict more Injuries on the workers and citizens of this country and that will not be accepted,” he stressed.

He added that the labour movement will not accept “slave wages”.

“Every worker in Nigeria across the country is seen as Nigerian workers and any attempt to discredit them in a federation will first be resisted by the NLC.

“There is no governor that is not receiving the same thing nationwide, they are not receiving according to their revenue in their states, but they want that of the workers to be so. So, the issue of using revenue as a basis for the payment of minimum wage is a lame one. If any governor is making that argument, then he doesn’t know what governance is all about,” he stated.

Such a governor, Ajaero emphasised, must use his capacity and acumen for the prosperity of the state.

“Governors can do better, and they should stop lamenting; because lamentation year in and year out that they can’t pay will not pay as far as there is a lot of money for them to control,” he cautioned.

Ajaero further argued that an average family of six live within N60,000 in a month and still go to work.

He submitted that NLC had proposed many options apart from the amount of the minimum wage, which if the government had addressed long before the removal of oil subsidies would have saved Nigeria from the current challenges.

Meanwhile, the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, said there is a proposal before the National Assembly Committees on Constitutional Review to move the minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list.

The minority leader’s clarification came against the backdrop of Ajaero’s position that the parliament had begun moves to decentralise minimum wage to enable states fix what is convenient for them to pay.

Speaking exclusively with The PUNCH in Abuja on Tuesday, Chinda stated that there were different opinions and views on whether minimum wage issues should be on concurrent or exclusive list, noting that “There is a proposal to move it to concurrent list where  states could  legislate on labour matters.”

While noting that federal laws prevail when they clash with state laws, the Peoples Democratic Party stalwart, however, advised that labour matters should remain on the exclusive list.

He continued, “On minimum wage, the Federal Government should consider a minimum living wage for all workers, both public and private. States or firms can go above the set wage, but not below.

“Labour disputes should be standardised and industrial courts should have precedents. The implication of making it a state responsibility is that states will set up their own industrial courts.”

He also added that a decentralised system “will weaken the labour movement and affect checks on the government. Governors  are more likely to pocket the labour union in their states.”

According to him, international labour issues are treated on countries basis, stressing that “It will be complex if state labour groups become independent.”