The Nigerian Senate on Thursday passed the Finance Bill which seeks to amend seven acts of the National Assembly related to taxes payable in the country.
The bill titled ‘Nigeria Tax And Fiscal Law (Amendment) Bill (Finance Bill) 2019’, sought the increment of the Value Added Tax (VAT) payable by Nigerians from 5 percent to 7.5 percent. Other amended Tax Acts as contained in the finance bill include: Company Income Tax, Personal Income Tax, Custom and Excise Tax, Stamp Duties Act and the Capital Gains Tax.
A majority of Senators expressed their opinions before voting commenced on the Finance Bill.…
President Muhammadu Buhari on October 8 presented the Finance Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly for consideration and passage into law.
The president presented the bill alongside the 2020 Appropriation Bill. He proposed an increase in the Valued-Added Tax rate from five percent to 7.5 percent.
The bill also proposes to amend the
Senators shut down a motion seeking to temporary ban generator importation into the country.
The motion which was an additional prayer moved by Francis Fadahunsi (Osun East) was aimed at curtailing generator importation as a way of making the government sit up to address the nation’s power problems.
Fadahunsi was making his contribution to a motion moved by Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu North) titled: “Addressing Nigeria’s Power Problems.” Utazi had said Nigeria, with a population of 200 million and an annual growth rate of 2.6 percent per annum, was the seventh most populous nation on earth.
According to Utazi, the …
President Muhammadu Buhari’s Finance Bills, yesterday, suffered a major setback following a face off between the Senate and House of Representatives committees on finance.
Committee members from the House of Representatives boycotted the public hearing held by the Senate Committee on Finance.
Daily Sun learnt that the aggrieved lawmakers were alleging that they were sidelined by the Senate Committee on Finance in the run up to the hearing.
They also claimed that funding of the hearing was shrouded in secrecy.
The aggrieved lawmakers said they were not briefed on how much was approved for the exercise.
It was gathered …
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has expressed confidence that when the supplementary election in the inconclusive Kogi West Senatorial district is held, its candidate, Senator Smart Adeyemi, will reclaim what the party calls his “stolen mandate” from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
The party, in a statement signed by the its National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, also commended the people of Kogi for voting for the re-election of the party’s governorship candidate, Yahaya Bello.
The statement reads:
“APC thanks the good people of Kogi and Bayelsa States over the party’s resounding victories in the governorship elections.
“We congratulate all …
The Senate has dismissed claims that it has introduced moves to elongate the tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. It said such claims were unfounded and untrue.
It said the hate speech Bill which is being tied to the move, is not meant to cage Nigerians and pave the way for President Buhari to run for another term in office.
The Bill tagged: “National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speeches”, scaled first reading on the floor of the Senate last week. The Bill is sponsored by Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who doubles as Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate.
Acting spokesman, …
Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu has called on the Federal Government to focus on the establishment of processing mini – industries in every state of the Federation to boost the Agricultural Sector of the economy.
The former Governor expressed that the mini – industries would ensure that cash crops like cashew, groundnut etc were processed into products thus creating a value chain for export and employment in the Agricultural sector.
Senator Kalu (Abia-North) who is also the Vice-chairman of the Senate committee Banking, Insurance, and other financial institutions, commended the Federal Government’s efforts in building Silos …
Chairman Senate Committee on Police Affairs, Senator Haliru Jika, said yesterday the long awaited Police Trust Fund would take off by January next year.
The Police Trust Fund bill was passed into law by the National Assembly in March and subsequently assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari in April.
Stakeholders have also called for the inauguration of the board and the setting up of the structure of the fund. They had called on the president to effect the appointments of board members and members of the implementation committee in order to fill the gaps in the funding requirements of …
The Senate, yesterday, directed the Executive to ban importation of foreign textile materials.
The upper legislative chamber said it was worried that all textile manufacturing industries in the country were comatose and importation of foreign fabrics on the rise.
It has, therefore, urged the Executive to revamp Kaduna, Kano, Aba, United Nigeria textiles, among others to promote local textile production. The decision followed a motion by Barkiya Abdullahi Kabir on the urgent need to revamp the nation’s comatose textile industry.
Leading the debate, Kabir argued that between 1960 and 1970, textile industry played a significant role in the manufacturing sector …
A law to establish a National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech has passed first reading on the floor of the Senate. The Bill is being sponsored by the the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi.
The 8th Senate tried without success to pass the Bill in 2017. The same Senator Abdullahi had sponsored it.
The lawmaker, who was the spokesman of the last Senate, had proposed a death penalty for people found guilty of Hate Speech. Following a nationwide outcry that greeted the move, …
The Sexual Harassment Bill sponsored by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, and 105 other Senators and three other bills wednesday passed through the second reading at the Senate.
The three other bills that scaled second reading at plenary are: a bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Federal University of Education, Kontagora, sponsored by the Senate Deputy Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi; a bill for an act to establish the Federal College of Education, Illo; and a bill for an act to make incremental changes to Nigeria Tax and Fiscal Law both sponsored by the …
The Court of Appeal, sitting in Kaduna wednesday depleted the rank of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Senate caucus, removing the upper chamber’s spokesman, Senator Dayo Adeyeye, and replaced him with former minority leader, Senator Abiodun Olujimi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The APC in Ekiti State immediately rejected the verdict, saying it did not reflect the wish of the people. But the PDP hailed it as the restoration of the people’s mandate.
Both senators contested Ekiti South Senatorial District seat in the February 23, 2019 National Assembly election.
The Court of Appeal nullified the election of Adeyeye and …
