OCEAN TOWN GISTS

  Governors are not considering a minimum wage that is higher than N70,000, it was learnt last night. At a meeting yesterday in Abuja, the state helmsmen reviewed the economic situation and concluded that anything above N70,000 will not be affordable and sustainable. They ruled out the N100,000 option being dangled by some people. Sources at the meeting said the governors, who met under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), considered options between N60,000 offered to Labour by the Federal Government before the strike, and N70,000, which is what the Edo State Government has started paying. Having failed to reach a consensus on a uniform amount, a committee headed by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma was set up. Uzodimma is the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) – governors elected on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Yesterday’s position of the governors is in line with a previous statement by Chairman of NGF and Kwara State Governor A...

  The All Progressives Congress (APC), has commenced the process of electronic registration of its members worldwide, but must be authenticated with the National Identity Number (NIN) of registrants. National Chairman of the party, Umar Ganduje, disclosed this on Wednesday during the opening session of the e-membership registration train-the-trainer workshop organised by the party in Abuja, where he also hinted that the e-registration could be a condition for getting endorsement for political contest, patronage/appointment from the party. He stressed that those members whose names appear on the digital register would be considered as true and faithful members of the APC. This process would drive the planning, decision-making and projection process, as well serve as basis of reference for any party member seeking appointment at any level or desiring to contest an election, he pointed out. “The APC and portal on which the prospective trainees from the Thirty-Six (36) States and FCT, ...

  Following a 48-hour ultimatum issued to him by President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, on Thursday, submitted the projected cost implications of implementing a new national minimum wage. The submission comes two days after Tinubu issued the directive to present a proposed new minimum wage figure and analysis of the associated costs. The finance minister’s report is said to outline several potential new minimum wage levels along with the anticipated fiscal impacts on the federal budget of each option. Recall that the Organised Labour had embarked on a nationwide strike on Monday and Tuesday to demand increased minimum wage for the government workers. Another of the labour demand was the reversal of the recently increased electricity tarrifs. The industrial action was suspended for five days by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) after signing a commitment with the federal governm...

  INFLATION REDUCTION AND PRICE STABILITY (FISCAL POLICY MEASURES, ETC.) ORDER, 2024 [1st Day of May, 2024] Commencement In exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 5 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), Section 38 of the Value Added Tax Act, Cap,V1, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 (as amended), and all other powers enabling me in that behalf, I, Bola Ahmed Tibubu, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria make the following Order - 1. As from the commencement of this Order, the following measures and reliefs shall apply: 2. The import duty and other tariffs on the following items are hereby suspended for a period of six months: (a) staple food items; (b) raw materials and other direct inputs used for manufacturing; (c) inputs for agriculture production including fertilisers, seedlings, and chemicals (d) pharmaceutical products (e) poultry feeds, flour and grains 3. Authorise millers to import paddy rice at zero duty and Value Added Tax...

The Nigeria Customs Service, Western Marine Command on Tuesday, handed over 17 sacks of Cannabis Sativa, containing 1, 257 parcels worth N96m, intercepted along Bar Beach in Lagos State, to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Speaking during the handover at the command in Apapa, Lagos, the Customs Area Controller of the command, Paul Bamisaiye, said that the officers of the command, in a bid to purge the Western waterways of smuggling activities, intercepted the hard drugs weighing 609kg. He stated that a patrol team at the Bar Beach station received credible intelligence on the movement of a boat on the high sea carrying suspected contraband items. Bamisaiye added that upon receiving the information, the team moved towards the described location and intercepted a fibre boat fitted with a 200Horse Power Yamaha engine, carrying the suspected items. “In a related development on May 19, 2024, officers and men of the command, while on routine patrol along Panko Creek, Badagry waterw...

  Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan has said that many politicians will not approach the court if the judiciary has been fair and upright in tackling election disputes. Jonathan made this statement on Tuesday in Asaba, Delta state at the inauguration of the state new High Court Complex. “My thinking is that 50 per cent of those who go to court go to court because they felt they were cheated by the electoral management system; they were rigged out. “When you feel naturally aggrieved, you have to go to court. So assuming the elections are properly conducted, they know they failed the election, but they feel they can use the judiciary to declare them winners. “If the judiciary doesn’t declare who doesn’t win the election that they are winners, that many 50 per cent will not go to court. “In South Africa, the electoral management body will never compromise, they all know. If you lose the election, you just wait for the next election. You don’t need to go to court. “Because if you go to co...

 The Organised Labour has vowed to reject any lean addition to the ₦60,000 offer by the tripartite committee on the new minimum wage. The President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Festus Osifo, stated this on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Tuesday, hours after the Organised Labour comprising the TUC and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) suspended its industrial action which started at 12:01 am on Monday. “At the meeting on Friday, they (the tripartite committee) said they would not add anything more to the ₦60,000 but in the meeting of yesterday (Monday), Mr President was able to commit to doing what is more than ₦60,000,” Osifo said. Before the strike, the tripartite committee which has the Federal Government, states and the Organised Private Sector as members, offered Labour ₦48,000, then ₦54,000 and then ₦57,000 and later ₦60,000, all four offers which were rejected by the TUC and NLC. When asked whether Labour would accept a few thousand naira additions to...