President Bola Tinubu has declined to sign the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Bill, 2025 into law.

The President’s decision not to sign the bill passed by both chambers of the National Assembly was contained in a letter read in the Green Chamber on Thursday during plenary.

The President, citing Section 58(4) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), explained that the proposed law seeks to empower the NDLEA to retain a portion of the proceeds from drug-related crimes, a move he said contradicts existing financial regulations.

He noted that under the current system, “All proceeds of crime are paid into the government’s Confiscated and Forfeited Properties Account.

Disbursements to any recovery agency, including the NDLEA, can only be made by presidential approval, subject to the consent of the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly.”

The President maintained there was no compelling reason to alter a process designed to uphold accountability through executive and legislative oversight.

Details later….

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.