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Food insecurity: Govs speak on strategies adopted to tackle hardship
Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) have reeled out strategies their various states are adopting to end the current economic hardship and food crisis in their states.
In a report by its Acting Head of Media, Halimah Salihu Ahmed, on Sunday, the NGF reiterated that the governors are dedicated to alleviating the pain and suffering of citizens nationwide.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu met with state governors at the Presidential Villa in Abuja recently to discuss ways to alleviate the economic hardship faced by Nigerians following removal of fuel subsidy which resulted in a significant increase in the prices of essential goods and commodities.
According to the statement, Kwara State Governor and NGF chairman, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, along with Governors Agbu Kefas of Taraba State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State, and Ahmed Ododo of Kogi State, are advocating for enhanced crop production through collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to tackle food shortages.
The statement revealed plans in Akwa Ibom for a state agency to procure and sell food items at lower prices. Similarly, in Kano and Yobe, authorities cracked down on food hoarding, banning bulk purchases and exports.
According to the report, Governors Mohammed Umar Bago of Niger State and Peter Mbah of Enugu State are tirelessly working to eliminate hunger and poverty by investing in agriculture and rural economic development.
The statement read in part, “In the same vein, in Kano State, authorities raided warehouses where traders are suspected of hoarding food supplies.”
“In Yobe, the State government banned bulk purchases of grain from local markets to stop hoarding and exports across Nigeria’s borders saying it was to stem the tide of food scarcity and high cost of grains.
“In Niger State Governor Mohammed Umar Bago announced a ban on the mass purchase of foodstuffs from local markets. He ordered security forces to confiscate trucks carrying products in bulk and share the food with the people.
“In Enugu State, Governor Peter Mbah said his administration will eradicate hunger and poverty in the state and unlock the rural economy through investment in agriculture and agro-industrialisation.
“In Zamfara state, last week, Governor Dauda Lawal hosted the Sweden Ambassador, Annika Hahn-Englund, in partnership on how to grow the state economy and address the current hardships.”
Governor Abdulrazaq also explained that the Anchor Borrowers Programme that was previously implemented by the Central Bank of Nigeria did not achieve much.
According to the statement, the NGF chairman said, “We could not achieve much with the CBN Anchor Borrowers program; it was very challenging. The issue of food security is a one-stop-shop and we need to concentrate on what we are doing. We need to concentrate on what we are doing for the dry season farming.”
It stated, “The minister has come up with a program on cassava, rice, and maize and we want to engage in that program and urgently make sure we improve on our yield and deliver to the Nigerian population.
“We want to get to a stage where we export our food. What we have now is that, because of the devaluation of our naira, Nigeria’s food is being exported to West Africa and is the cheapest in the region today.
“The governors had realised that we have a new Ministry of Agriculture, because over the last four years, before this administration, the engagement was not too productive,” he concluded.
News
Stop using repressive laws to intimidate journalists – SERAP, NGE tell FG
The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, SERAP, and Nigeria Guild of Editors, NGE, have called on Nigerian authorities at all levels of government to stop using repressive and anti-media laws to target, intimidate and harass journalists, critics and media houses.
The groups made the demand after an interactive session on ‘the state of press freedom in Nigeria’ held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Ikeja.
In a joint statement, SERAP and NGE said that, “the government of President Bola Tinubu, the country’s 36 governors and FCT minister must now genuinely uphold press freedom, ensure access to information to all Nigerians, obey court judgments, and respect the rule of law”.
They expressed concerns about the escalating crackdown on the right to freedom of expression and media freedom and the flagrant disregard for the rule of law by authorities at all levels of government.
The groups note that the suppression of the press in recent times takes various forms ranging from extrajudicial to unlawful detentions, disappearances, malicious prosecutions and wrongful use of both legislation and law enforcement.
The statement read in part: “We would continue to speak truth to power and to hold authorities to account for their constitutional and international obligations including on freedom of expression and media freedom.
“Nigeria as a country has a long and unpleasant history of press gagging and clampdown on media freedom, which is evidence of extensive state censorship of media and in some cases, the utter control of state-owned media houses.
“This position has not changed considerably despite almost 25 years of unbroken democratic rule in the Fourth Republic.”
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FG adds 625MW to national grid – Minister
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Tax: Court orders FCT-IRS agency to seal off defaulting coys
A Magistrate Court sitting in Wuse Zone 2, Abuja, on Friday, ordered the Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) to seal off a company, Ifedi A.K. Nigeria Ltd, over allegations bordering on non-filing of annual returns.
The Magistrate, Janada Balami, gave the order after lawyer to FCT-IRS, Michael Towolawi, moved the application to the effect.
Towolawi told the court that the company had failed to file its annual returns from 2019 to 2023 in breach of Section 81 of the Personal Income Tax Act, LFN, 2004, and amended in 2011.
He said all efforts to make the company comply with the law proved abortive.
The lawyer, therefore, applied that the company be compel to appear before the court to explain why it acted in breach of the law.
Balami, who held that the application by the agency against the company had merit, accordingly granted same to seal the No 6, Rudolph Close, Off Katsina-Ala Street, Maitama, Abuja.
She, consequently, ordered the company, the sole defendant in the matter, to appear before the court on May 16.
The Director, Legal Services of the FCT-IRS, Festus Tsavar, told journalists after the proceeding that the service would move against companies that do not file their annual returns as provided by law.
“You know that we have a new minister in FCT that is doing a lot of projects and that hinges on money.
“And of course, you are aware that FCT has come out of TSA.
“So it is the internally generated revenue that will make the government of FCT to be able to do those projects completely within required time,” he said.
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