News
Court Strikes Out APM’s Suit Against Shettima, Tinubu
The Presidential Election Petition Court has dismissed the suit of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) seeking to nullify President Bola Tinubu’s election.
The court, in its ruling delivered in Abuja on Wednesday, dismissed the petition for lacking in merit and being incompetent.
The Chairman of the panel, Justice Haruna Tsammani, who read the judgement, held that issues the APM raised in its petition contained pre-election matters that could only be determined by the Federal High Court.
The court further upheld the preliminary objections of the respondents who challenged the competence of the suit.
Justice Tsammani noted that since the petition centred on the qualification of President Tinubu to contest the presidential election, the APM ought to have gone to court within 14 days after Tinubu was nominated by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He held that since the cause of action bordered on a pre-election matter, the APM lacked the locus standi to challenge Tinubu’s nomination.
Furthermore, the court held that the Supreme Court had earlier decided that a political party does not have the right to challenge a nomination that was made by another political party.
He held that sections 131 and 237 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, made provisions for the qualification or disqualification of candidates in an election.
The court noted that the main grouse of the APM was on the alleged invalid nomination of Tinubu’s running mate, Vice-President Kashim Shettima.
He further held that Section 84(3) of the Electoral Act, 2022, stipulates that political parties should not impose qualification criteria on a candidate, except as provided for in the constitution.
It held that where an election has already been conducted and the result declared, the qualification of a candidate could no longer be challenged on the basis of sections 131 and 137 of the Constitution.
The court held that since the APM failed to challenge President Tinubu’s nomination within the constitutionally allowed period, its case, therefore, had become statute-barred.
It held that where the constitution has qualified a candidate for an election, no other law can disqualify such candidate except the constitution itself.
The court held that the issue of double nomination as alleged by the APM, was not a legal ground for disqualification.
The court held that it found no reason why Ibrahim Masari was cited as the 5th Respondent in the petition since he would not in any way be affected by the outcome of the case.
News
Mokwa flood victims get N1m each, Shop Owners N500k
Aside from the cash grant, the state government also distributed food items to the affected families to ease their burden
Niger State Government has commenced the disbursement of its earlier pledge of N1 billion in relief funds to victims of Mokwa flooding in Mokwa Local Council of the state.
The state governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago, said that the relief funds aimed at providing immediate relief and temporary resettlement support for the victims while awaiting the Federal Government’s intervention in constructing permanent housing units for the displaced people.
Represented by his deputy, Yakub Garba, Bago explained that each household that was affected by the flood received N1 million cash grant.
He also said that shop owners, whose means of livelihood were disrupted, received N500,000 each.
Aside from the cash grant, the state government also distributed food items to the affected families to ease their burden.
President Bola Tinubu will, on Thursday, sign into law four groundbreaking tax reform bills that will transform Nigeria’s fiscal and revenue framework.
According to the press release signed by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy) the four bills, the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, were passed by the National Assembly after extensive consultations with various interest groups and stakeholders.
When the new tax laws become operational, they are expected to significantly transform tax administration in the country, leading to increased revenue generation, improved business environment, and a boost in domestic and foreign investments.
The historic presidential assent to the bills at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, will be witnessed by the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Senate Majority Leader, House Majority Leader, chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, and his House counterpart.
The Chairman of the Governors Forum, the Chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum, the Minister of Finance and Coordination Minister of the Economy, and the Attorney General of the Federation will also attend the ceremony.
One of the four bills is the Nigeria Tax Bill (Ease of Doing Business), which aims to consolidate Nigeria’s fragmented tax laws into a harmonised statute.
By reducing the multiplicity of taxes and eliminating duplication, the bill will enhance the ease of doing business, reduce taxpayer compliance burdens, and create a more predictable fiscal environment.
The second bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, will establish a uniform legal and operational framework for tax administration across federal, state, and local governments.
The Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, the third bill, repeals the current Federal Inland Revenue Service Act and creates a more autonomous and performance-driven national revenue agency— the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS).
It defines the NRS’s expanded mandate, including non-tax revenue collection, and lays out transparency, accountability, and efficiency mechanisms.
The fourth bill is the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill. It provides for a formal governance structure to facilitate cooperation between revenue authorities at all levels of government.
It introduces essential oversight mechanisms, including establishing a Tax Appeal Tribunal and an Office of the Tax Ombudsman.
The Lagos State enforcement squad of the MOE&WR led by KAI operatives on Wednesday burst an illegal abbatoir which was being operated at a private residence at Succo road directly opposite the RRS Barracks and LASTMA Yard in Oko Oba, Agege, arresting some of those found slaughtering animals for public consumption in the location.
The operation followed a tip-off from a whistle blower.
“The enforcement team said, the contaminated meat from cows and goats have been confiscated to prevent it from entering the food chain”.
“This action of the operators of the abbatoir is in defiance of the closure of the Oko Oba Abbatoir and poses great health dangers and environmental risks to the law abiding residents of the area”.
“We need to make it clear that such disregard for public health and sanitation will not be tolerated in Lagos State” .
“Every Government’s primary responsibility is the protection of lives and properties and we will not shirk that responsbbility.”
“We will continue to ensure that only safe and approved public facilities are allowed to operate within our communities.”the statement reads.
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