News
N54.2 trillion budget: Peter Obi questions Tinubu govt on transparency, accountability
Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, says there is no corresponding breakdown of expenditures to justify the increase in the 2025 national budget.
The statement comes after President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, increased the appropriation bill for the 2025 fiscal year from N49.7 trillion to N54.2 trillion.
Recall that Tinubu announced the increment in separate letters, which he forwarded to both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Reacting to the development, Obi said that Nigerians need to know how the resources generated are being allocated for the sake of transparency and accountability.
This, he said, was to ensure that they were judiciously spent on the country’s development and the well-being of the people.
In a statement issued on Friday via his X handle, the former Anambra state Governor said Nigerians were still waiting for a detailed account of the execution and expenditures of the Renewed Hope budget passed in December 2023.
Obi further called on the National Assembly to seize this opportunity to obtain and make public the full details of the 2024 budget.
He said: “Yesterday, I read about the increase in the Budget of Restoration to N54 trillion due to increased revenue.“
While the sources of this revenue were detailed, there is no corresponding breakdown of expenditures to justify the increase.
For transparency and accountability sake Nigerians need to know how the resources generated from them are being allocated to ensure that they are judiciously spent on the country’s development and the well-being of the people.
“Such expenditures should be directed toward critical areas of development; education, healthcare, security, and poverty alleviation.“
Furthermore, Nigerians are still waiting for a detailed account of the execution and expenditures of the Renewed Hope budget passed in December 2023 to ensure that it has been properly utilized for the country’s future development and the well-being of its citizens.
“I call on the National Assembly to seize this opportunity to obtain and make public the full details of the 2024 budget of Renewed Hope budget
“Transparency in this regard is crucial for ensuring accountability, learning from past budgets, and making informed decisions for the nation’s progress.
“As we work towards passing the Budget of Restoration for 2025, let us uphold openness, accountability, and the welfare of the Nigerian people.
We owe it to ourselves, our children, and the future of our great nation.
News
FIRS says NIN to serve as Tax ID for individuals
The new tax law is scheduled to come into force in January 2026 and mandates the use of a Tax ID for certain financial and economic transactions, including banking-related activities.
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has announced that the National Identification Number (NIN) issued by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) will now automatically serve as the Tax Identification Number (Tax ID) for individual Nigerians under the country’s new tax regime.
FIRS also said that registered businesses will also no longer need a separate Tax Identification Number, as their Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) registration (RC) number will now function as their Tax ID.
The Service made the disclosure on its official X handle on Monday, ahead of the passage of the Nigeria Tax Administration Act (NTAA), one of the new tax laws introduced as part of the Federal Government’s broader fiscal and tax reform agenda .
The new tax law is scheduled to come into force in January 2026 and mandates the use of a Tax ID for certain financial and economic transactions, including banking-related activities.
News
Tanker crushes Akpabio’s dispatch rider to death
We went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague, but the vehicles that came to pick me up at the Ibadan airport, unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver, and his head was shattered.
Ibrahim Hussaini, a dispatch rider attached to the convoy of Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, has been killed after a petrol tanker rammed into the motorcade.
Although the Senate President did not state the precise location of the crash, he said that it happened in Ibadan, Oyo State, shortly after members of his convoy picked him up from the Ibadan Airport.
Akpabio announced the death during the plenary on Tuesday; he extended condolences to the family of the deceased.
Dispatch riders, who are police officers, form part of the security detail of top government officials and typically escort convoys on motorcycles.
Dispatch riders, who are police officers, form part of the security detail of top government officials and typically escort convoys on motorcycles.
“We went to Oyo State for the installation of our colleague, but the vehicles that came to pick me up at the Ibadan airport, unfortunately, my dispatch rider was run over by a tanker driver, and his head was shattered.
“We just buried him 15 minutes ago in Kogi State. He left two wives and four children,” the Senate President told lawmakers
News
Public holidays: FG declares December 25, 26, and January 1
The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the public holidays on behalf of the Federal Government.
The Federal Government has declared Thursday, December 25, and Friday, December 26, as well as Thursday, January 1, 2026, as public holidays to mark the Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year celebrations.
The Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, announced the public holidays on behalf of the Federal Government.
In a statement by the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Interior, Dr Magdalene Ajani, the minister extended warm Christmas and New Year felicitations to Christians in Nigeria and across the world.
He extended the same gestures “to all Nigerians as they celebrate the end of the year and the beginning of a new one”.
Tunji-Ojo urged Christians to reflect on the virtues of love, peace, humility, and sacrifice as exemplified by the birth of Jesus Christ, noting that these values are critical to promoting unity, tolerance, and harmony in the nation.
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